Not like Sarah, or Joyce for that matter, necessarily know that only one of them was culpable in Ross’s release on bail, but yeah, right now, I don’t know if Joyce wants to hear or see either one of them.
Hank called to warn them (and Sarah picked up first and got the ‘It’s safe now, THIS is why I have to speak to Joyce urgently’ message firsthand,) and only THOUGHT they were bailing him out, not knew. Carol called like, ten minutes later (and while Sarah wasn’t present right at the call, she showed up very soon after so she probably got the update offscreen) with the Incredibly Ominous Message that Joyce took as ‘He may already be out and she probably helped and definitely approves of this.’ Pretty sure Sarah has enough context clues from that to figure out Hank either didn’t know or is one INCREDIBLY elaborate liar to pose as the Good Parent.
But there is no good way to have this conversation by phone, four hours away from being in person. Just ain’t gonna happen.
Shit, I think it’d be much better for Joyce to have this conversation not-in-person, though. She can hang up any time she feels overwhelmed, and also, it will be substantially easier to not snap and kill her mother!
Good recall. So while Sarah knows Hank would deserve a “Please fuck off”, I also think Hank — were he the one to get that response — would think “Okay, fair. Hope that means Joyce is safe.”
“Frightfully sorry but, ah, how shall I put this? I hate to ask, but if you would be so kind could you perhaps see your way to fucking right the fuck off, you fucking fuck-faced fuckitty fuck-fuck-fuck? Much obliged.”
Actually, by this point, that was an entirely justifiable response on Sarah’s part. She couldn’t know for sure that Joyce’s father was complicit in or aware of the church releasing Toedad from jail, but the natural assumption is that he would be. Seeing as he did not rush to watch over and protect Becky and Joyce, he was thoroughly neglectful as a parent.
While there’s still room for “Oh, oh shit, I somehow missed all of that- I would have been there, had I known!” it’s still an outlier assumption at this point, and- considering what they’ve been through- there’s no reason to be generous to those involved.
That is to say, we’re at a “guilty until proven innocent” stage, and given their present emotional and physical wear, they’ve no need to endure dealing with other humans more than they absolutely have to.
[Honestly, keep that in mind with any relationships- people don’t necessarily want to talk when things are going south, and especially not if you’ve some association with the negative circumstances the person is dealing with, even if you’re not directly responsible. Don’t take it personally, it’s entirely normal and reasonable.]
So, in short, right now Hank is part of “THEM” and needs to really decide how he’s going to be moving forward. Sarah is emphasizing that fact to him. Ergo, while it doesn’t seem as such initially, her actions are in fact entirely constructive. Even if Hank didn’t have direct culpability or awareness of the matter, he still has preexisting associations with both the church and the toxicity-fueled mother, and he doesn’t deserve a pass on associative culpability until he cuts all ties with those.
To recontextualize that, it’s like being brutalized because a gang sent a hitman after you, and having your father be part of that gang. Until he leaves that gang, why SHOULDN’T he take credit for their actions? It’s not like he was even forced or trapped in the gang, he’s continuing to willingly associate with them.
So, no. The whole “she should be polite to Hank” thing is utter nonsense. Don’t get me wrong, I’m entirely behind proper contextualization of responses. The problem is, he’s actually within the context in question, if only by association.
Besides, it’s Sarah. It’s good enough if she’s polite to strangers on a good day. When she has legitimate cause to be pissed at them? Look, sometimes people need a wake up call. I’ve known plenty of brusque but well-intentioned people, and they’re plenty better to be around than shallow, self-serving, emotionally unstable, socially-oriented people. I’d rather take hostile and well-meaning honesty over toxicity hidden behind superficial masks, any day.
So, under ideal circumstances, sure, Sarah coulda been nicer. But at the moment, her actions can be justified, and Hank has no reasonable basis for complaint.
Oops, I didn’t recall that part, and missed seeing it on my first glance at the nesting. Okay, maybe a bit less one-directional on fault association, then, since my comment above was based fully on Hank not having commited anything. As-is, yeah, Sarah probably shoulda been nicer. There was a pause though, so there’s still room for her to have had time to learn who was on the phone (and thereby, have her outcry NOT be directed to Hank).
Absolutely awful idea: Amber gets ‘custody’ while the emancipation paperwork goes through (Because we need some wacky hijinks) as the rest of Faz’s immediate family gets swept away in a RICO investigation.
Faz is on his best behaviour with Amber slowly disintegrating as she waits for the bang. The bang never comes.
“Faz has- I have taken a long look at how I behaved, and decided to do better for you, my beloved older sister. *hand up to stave off Amber’s comment* Not a sister of blood, but a sister of the heart. Though frankly Faz wouldn’t be surprised if we are in fact half siblings. Our dad is TRAsh with a capital Tee Arr Ayy.”
Unfortunately Amber sees Yuri the same way Joe sees Amber’s mom if not more so. This impression is not unjustified but unfortunately it means that she thinks Blain is the only one hurting Faz. And frankly Amber is the person most invested in his well being.
Like Julian just said/wrote, didn’t Joyce’s Mum use her Dad’s phone to call Joyce? If so, wouldn’t matter who was on the caller ID, if JoyceMum rang from JoyceDad’s mobile it would come up as Dad, but her Mum would be on the phone…
Considering everything they’ve just been through, even I can agree this is the right thing to say…
Yeah but she did that because the phone was lying around and she thought it would trick Joyce into answering. Her Dad has no reason to trick Joyce into thinking he is her mom so if the caller ID says Mom it can be assumed it is her. I would also assume her dad isn’t leaving his phone lying around anymore after being clued in that she was using it.
my parents live in the boonies and the power goes out prolongedly, so they need at least one landline (with corded phone) for calls. They also have a second for my dad’s business, which helps screen calls after business hours are over and stuff. Plus they’ve at the same phone numbers and address for just shy of 27 years, so I think they kind of want to keep them.
on the other hand eveyone I know who is under 30 never bothered getting one when after moving out (I mean why would we, there’s no housing security and we keep having to move, amongst other reasons.). 30somethings vary.
I’m in my early thirties and I have a landline, mostly because I’m a friggin’ nerd and I like playing with old phones and modems and stuff.
It’s cheap through the cable company, and easier than trying to set up a SIP connection or jump through hoops to connect Asterisk to Google Voice, so why not. How else am I supposed to get an authentic BBS experience on my Apple IIgs? (There are many ways, but the old fashioned way is fun. Just don’t try to browse the modern web at 9600 baud. Just today’s comic, never mind everything else, would take 5 minutes to download!)
I kinda hope it was Hank and Carol both on speakerphone, and after the call ended, Carol got huffy and indignant, and Hank just looked at her for a moment then walked out to pack without saying a word.
I ~will~ feel bad for Hank–once he kicks Carol to the curb, and starts rebuilding his life without her in it. Until then, he’s still enabling her behavior by letting her believe it’s acceptable. He’s been unwilling to tell his wife that she’s crossed several lines in the last few months, and so she’s gone from bad to worse without restraint.
I’m stingy–I reserve my empathy for folks who are actually attempting to change their ways.
Home? Land line?
It’s 2020, parents of college age kids are usually around my age, and I haven’t had a land line in at least a decade. I had it turned off when I switched from DSL to cable and realized that I never used it, the only time it rang was telemarketers calling.
For what it’s worth, Joyce is their youngest. So her parents are likely closer to her grandparents’ generation (probably similar to my parents; both my siblings are 0-4 years out of high school). Likely they have their own cells, but keep a landline “for emergencies” and for calling a household (rather than an individual).
It can be useful to have a landline. They run on different networks than the power grid, for example, so they’re less likely to get taken down if the cell tower does.
Something (and I’m probably of Joyce’s parents generation myself) that I tend to remind Zoomers and younger Millennials when we get into these generational tiffs is that just because something is pre-Internet doesn’t mean it’s always bad. We all got to pick and choose, you know?
Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox and go pick up my metamucil.
something I said above was that for young people the housing market (including renting) is super insecure, and having a home phone, and having to have it set up and actually change the number sometimes, etc, feels like an extra chore on top of having to move every couple years (or more). the only time we almost got one was for our apartment’s pager.
When the blizzards snap the power lines and all the toilets freeze, in January in the Colorado Rockies…
Then the Land line works. FiOS also works … for about 8 hours, then nada. Cell tower works for two, mebbe three hours, then nothing, if the power goes out.
You need to jury-rig a bigger 12v battery to the FiOS ONT. If its little 7 amp SLA runs that long, you’d probably get days out of a deep cycle marine battery! (Assuming the grid infrastructure stays up, that is.)
it had its moments, but currently feeling kinda same, though might try a reread later when I’m not just physically/emotionally tired out to see if it flows better for me when read all-at-once
I feel this arc will be better off read in one go instead of everyday for months. Seeing all the characters in life threatening distress, with no one knowing if Mike was dead or alive, with the knowledge that if they all get out of it safely that there will still be huge repercussions, was stressful. I think the storyline will shine best in the collected books.
On that note, I gotta see if my library will buy them.
Yes! Same! RIGHT NOW happening at the same time is really coloring my feelings on the dramatic parts happening day after day. Sometimes I had to wait a few days so I could read 2-3 strips at a time. I think I’ll enjoy it more on a re-reading when the world is – well – still on fire but maybe not so hot and smokey like it is right now.
I did enjoy the real-time agony of waiting to know what happened to Mike, but I like those kinds of cliffhangers in web comics. I’m weird.
This is a good end-storyline strip, though. Sarah says what we’re all thinking.
Harder for libraries when it’s sold by the creators. Easiest books for libraries to purchase are from big distributors like Ingram. Big orders, one bill, one source. A bunch of small vendors are more work. Plus bigger distribution means a review in a library magazine is more likely. With Marvel / DC eating up a bunch of the budget not to mention manga it hard for a webcomic to break through. If they sell through Amazon that helps, but cuts into creator profits. The smaller the library the greater the barrier becomes. But make the request because most libraries love requests.
Right, and comforted her when she was still drugged, as well as telling Becky for her about what happened with Ryan to spare Joyce at her request. She does do nice things for Joyce, it’s usually just grand gestures as Joyce put it.
Carol is broken. Joyce is just hurt. The difference being that she’ll heal, while Carol will stay the same because she doesn’t see anything wrong with herself
Didn’t Carol steal Hank’s phone once, precisely to trick Joyce into picking up? Knowing that, I think this response was justified no matter which number was calling.
She did and Joyce has actively avoided Hank’s calls before just because as she put it ‘sometimes kids are butts and if it was important, he’d text or leave a voice mail’.
I suspect if Hank’s seen Twitter by now… or the local news… or possibly the NATIONAL news… I suspect he’ll understand on at least some level. He had reason to believe Carol was involved with Ross’s bail/generally untrustworthy on the subject, even if he didn’t know about the call afterwards, and well. Ross got bailed. Ross kidnapped Joyce. Hank may or may not know Ross got dead, in front of Joyce.
Even if she WEREN’T reeling with ‘the community I grew up in is fundamentally unworthy of trust’ in general, a phone call ain’t gonna cut it on the comfort front after a KIDNAPPING. She was up at 4 AM and kidnapped for AT LEAST four and a half hours, she needs sleep badly. And Hank’s four hours away. Text if you’re coming and let her sleep.
If he is, I do hope he doesn’t show up at the dorm until Joyce clears him first. She is emotionally SPENT and probably not up for surprises for the next week.
I think most people here think Hank deserves the benefit of the doubt.
He wasn’t involved in bailing Blaine out of jail, and even tried to warn Joyce he was released (even going as far as to keep it from Carol.) And in the story arc where Joyce returned home, Hank showed true empathy for Joyce. (He has also been supportive of Becky.)
Carol is overbearing. But if it was Hank calling, it could be attributed to real concern.
This is absolutely true; what we’ve seen of Hank so far has been supportive and mostly self-aware. But Carol didn’t raise her kids to bow to authority all by herself. Joyce barely knows one of her older brothers for a reason, and whatever the “Jordan situation” was, it didn’t happen in a vacuum with Carol as the sole catalyst. Obviously I can’t really judge without more information, and maybe Hank is just as trapped as his children, emotionally (if with a different relationship dynamic), but…I don’t know.
Likely this is a Me Problem more related to my own upbringing than anything else. As much as my dad is supportive in one-on-one conversations, he never did much to intercede on my behalf when my mom was on a rampage. So far we’ve seen some of Hank’s internal conflict and we’ve seen Hank stick up for the kids in a roundabout way…but he did say then that it was more about him not wanting to lose an argument, and his concern with “not squeezing too hard” was more “not creating another Jordan situation” and less “our daughter deserves some autonomy” so I’m not sure how much weight that would carry in Joyce’s eyes. (Granted, that might just be Hank using language that Carol is more likely to accept.)
But yeah. I like Hank, I do, and I’m happy to give him the benefit of the doubt in terms of intent and probable outcome. But even if it is Hank on the phone, I’m still with Sarah. Overbearing is overbearing, no matter what face it wears or how supportive it may be. Joyce needs time to rest and process, without the immediate input of her authoritarian family.
I really agree with this assessment. I think it’s really beneficial for Joyce to have someone who’s willing to look at the way her parents have treated her and NOT give them the benefit of the doubt. I totally agree that Hank is likely an okay guy in this… and also he was in no way powerless to push back on the bail situation etc. He was sneaking around like a teenager to tell Joyce and I haven’t seen anything to suggest that his safety or financial stability would be compromised if he took a stand. Perhaps his marriage but… his wife was working to bail out a kidnapper. I feel like that’s worth rocking the boat for.
Yeah, if “Dude pointed a gun at our daughter and kidnapped her best friend who we spent almost as much time with and who I have now taken some legal responsibility for (cosigining for her bank account for instance) because she’s a good kid and deserves better. I think him being in jail isn’t actually about the state interfering in his rights to parent and practice our religion, and if he’s bailed out he will almost definitely try again.” isn’t worth rocking the boat over then what’s the point of being on a boat?
So much this. What we’ve seen of Hank actually standing up to Carol, at all, is hopeful… but it’s also VERY recent (he was anti-Dorothy back at family weekend, for a start) and still very conflict-averse. Jocelyne still doesn’t feel safe coming out to him, and I don’t blame her because we haven’t seen NEARLY enough to know if he’d be supportive of this very big, very new thing… or that even if he WAS, he’d have her back on this very important thing when Carol’s definitely going to be outraged.
We don’t know what the relationship dynamics between Hank and Carol are, but up until the trip home they at least appeared to be a united front to Joyce and Jocelyne. And Hank admits Joyce standing up made him reevaluate things. He can learn, but he was onboard with a LOT of indoctrination for Joyce’s entire childhood. Or at least not against it enough to actually stop it, or at least sneak her to a Disney movie on occasion.
You know, I fully expect Willis to do something horrible and reveal that Jordan was genuinely horrible. Like he was abusing his fellow youth group campers or something beyond the pale evil. Maybe Carol thinks Hank shouldn’t have driven him out for it.
Then again, maybe I’m just feeling overwhelmed by all the revelations about Ellis, Chris Avelone, and others this week.
I doubt it. When Joyce stood up to them about Dorothy, Hank said she reminded him of Jordan and that while he disagreed a lot with his parents, Hank still thought he was a good kid.
There are other signs that Hank was less extreme — isn’t it strongly implied, if not outright stated, that he was the one who made them switch from at least one church because he thought they went too far (possibly the anti-dancing Baptists)?
Yes, but he also agreed with quite a lot of it – according to Joyce, he’s the one who enforced strict gender roles in what toys the children could play with. He made sure Joyce always had dolls and her brothers were playing with things like footballs and trucks instead.
I have to disagree with you here. If I heard that one of my children was kidnapped and in danger, I sure as hell would be calling to make sure they were ok, I wouldn’t call this being overbearing. On the other hand, they may not have heard anything yet and this could have been just a routine call, in which case, there is going to be a very confused parent.
On it’s own, calling is a totally reasonable response. In context and from Joyce’s perspectives, “We’re not going to protect you from the man with a history of kidnapping who predictably kidnapped you as soon as he was out but you need to answer the phone when we call” would feel overbearing and ingenuine.
True, Carol used Hanks phone once to bypass Joyce’s filter.
But its unlikely that Hank would be using Carol’s phone. So if the incoming call says ‘Carol’ Sarah would know its likely her. If it says ‘Hank’, then it could be either of them. That’s why I said ‘hopefully the call was coming from carol’s phone’… because we’d be sure about who it was from.
The problem isn’t that funds were raised to bail Ross out of jail, if anything it was wrong that the bail was set so high in the first place. This country has a huge fucking problem with unfairly high bail amounts, forcing people into predatory lending schemes in order to organize their defense and feed their families while they are accused of a crime.
Ross shouldn’t have been offered bail at any amount. No one to support besides the victim of assault and false imprisonment, no signs of remorse, every indication he’d do it again. That was the problem.
Remember: No one should be in jail because of a bail amount that they cannot afford.
Considering Ross was unquestionably guilty and was had every indication he’d do it again, I’m gonna say raising bail to get him released was morally wrong.
I’d prefer it if Indiana amended the rules so that bail could be denied but as it currently stands, it could not.
Unfortunately, in Indiana, bail is a requirement for pretty much every crime below murder as people have mentioned on multiple strips previously and in such a case, setting such a high bail was still more morally correct than a low bail for someone like Ross who had no remorse. It was definitely morally wrong for them to bail him out knowing he had no remorse as well.
I agree that, all things considered, Ross in particular shouldn’t have been allowed out on bail. And I’ll definitely agree that the bail system as it presently exists is predatory. I’d also add that high bail and the prospect of lost wages can create (especially among the poor) an extortionary pressure to take a plea deal even when they’re innocent.
But I balk a bit at changing the system in a way to make people like Ross ineligible for bail. Giving judges and prosecutors the ability to push for that sort of determination, especially in cases where the accused can’t afford competent representation to push back against it, would likely open up all sorts of avenues for making the bail system even more predatory. And for every person like Ross who needs to be denied bail, there would be a hundred or thousand others who should get bail, but would be denied under such reforms as a way of pressuring them into just taking a guilty plea.
Ideally the system would be reformed to get rid of the idea of cash bail and replace it with something based more directly on likelihood of harm or flight. Certainly wouldn’t remove all bias from the system, but at least it wouldn’t be directly based on paying to stay out of jail.
I think idealy we need to fix things so we can more easily make good on people’s right to a speedy trial. I’m pretty sure part of the problem is the system is to tough on certain types of crimes. Then we can try to figure out how to let people live their lives while insuring they don’t run off or reoffend.
If anyone is responsible for keeping an eye on that whackjob, it’s the witless fuck who married her. That includes taking responsibility for what she gets up to. And the decades leading to Carol helping to bail out Ross were lined with red flags, row after row, inches apart.
1) If it’s Hank, I don’t think he really deserves that.
2) OTOH, I think Sarah and Joyce right now deserve to not have to parse through such granular details like whether or not Hank deserves it.
I was going to argue that, even if it was Carol, she should’ve said something like “she’s been through hell today, she’s not injured, try again tomorrow” before tomorrow…
…then, yeah, I remembered that Sarah had been through hell as well today, so it’s probably wrong to demand anything from her today…
Carol supports people going after their children who misbehave with guns. Carol supports people going after her daughter with guns.
Carol might never actually go after any of her children with guns, but frankly fuck off is the correct response for Carol.
Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying that Carol doesn’t deserve a metric fuckton of fuck-offs here. She totally does.
But there’s also the reality of this all. Do you really think that Carol would fuck off if told to, especially right now? Starting off coldly diplomatic in the hopes that it would get her to fuck off, and then escalating to an outright “Fuck off” if she refuses to get the hint is all.
Yeah, that was my thought — lot of discussion above about Sarah knowing Joyce can’t deal with her parents right now, but Sarah was in fact also just kidnapped and afraid for her life and probably hasn’t got the bandwidth to deal with her tiny emotionally shattered roommate’s crazy fundie parents right now either.
I wonder how much Hank and Carol know at this point. Do they know about the kidnappings? That Joyce was a victim? That Ross is dead? Do they know how he died?
I mean, they may have heard of the kidnapping through texts that Becky sent. Perhaps they heard about the kidnapping on the news.
But Becky’s texts were sent before the murder. And since Hank/Carol were not next of kin, they may not have been notified by the police. And the police may not have released all the details to the media yet.
I would love to hear Joyce describe events to her mother. (Although it would be very dialog-heavy, and probably wouldn’t make a good comic strip.)
The Tweets, and therefore the kidnapping, Ross’s involvement, and Blaine’s involvement (which Carol will probably get the significance of but Hank won’t, dude put his real name on the bail signing, he probably didn’t hide it from them because he’s a DUMBASS): I’m putting that as likely, it’s gonna be major Indiana news, minimum, and possibly even going to make national.
The murder: I’d say much less likely, but I can see a release saying ‘all hostages alive, one of the kidnappers dead’ depending on how long it’s been since everything settled down. But even then they don’t know if it was Ross who died, Blaine, or Possible Accomplices, or who (if anyone, sudden heart attacks happen I guess) was responsible.
Joyce getting to Tell Carol What Happens: Hooooo boy, THAT will be interesting next storyline, won’t it? *Ominously pulls out the popcorn bag*
True. More the ‘It’s going to blow up and Becky’s name is going to be ALL OVER IT’, so even if Hank doesn’t actually USE Twitter he’s going to hear. If anything makes you check a site you don’t use, ‘my daughter’s best friend is discussing a kidnapping that may involve my daughter there’ will do it!
(Robin’s been clear enough about using Becky that even just ‘campaign manager of Congresswoman DeSanto’ could be enough data.)
To my mind, though it is not shown, Joyce off panel rolled from lying on her back to facing directly away. Sarah took this as the rejection of her parents that it was and duly translated (in the very best way). Then Sarah climbed up and Joyce just silently rolled over the other way in acceptance of her Big Sister.
This strip loaded slowly enough for me that I read the speech bubbles before seeing the characters beneath them, and for a brief incredulous moment I thought this was Joyce’s first F-bomb. (I mean, if ever a situation called for a good hearty inaugural “fuck off”, this would be it, but maybe she’ll get the opportunity for one in the next storyline??)
I feel bad if that was Hank on the line, but if that was Carol couldn’t have said it better. Of course if that was Hank maybe this will get a much needed ball rolling.
I like how much Sarah’s expression resembles Mike’s going “Hail Satan.”
That being said, how exactly is Sarah managing to make the “f” sound that long with her mouth open? “Fuuuuuck ooooooooff” I can hear, but “Fuuuuuck offffff” is a bit weird.
Possibly; there is no doubt that Joyce’s parents, directly and indirectly, were responsible for the trauma Joyce is suffering now. Not only by his mother’s indirect involvement in Ross’s release but also in both parents sending her away to college with no real survival skills or any understanding of how the world works, only the illusion that they wanted her to believe.
Joyce’s mother helped release Ross on bail, which directly led to the results of this storyline, which resulted in a traumatic experience for Joyce and Sarah. At this point, Sarah has every right to be pissed off at Joyce’s parents, both on Joyce’s behalf, and her own.
Yes, Hank might have been on the call, too, and he’s currently improving enough for us to hope that he, Joyce and Jocelyne could have a healthy family relationship once they cut ties from the community they grew up in (and they can all support each other as best they can in the meantime), but Sarah doesn’t have the information to appreciate that nuance, and even if she did, it would unreasonable to expect Sarah to not tell Carol to f*ck off immediately after she’d been kidnapped simply because Hank is also there.
Hell, not just a “traumatic experience”, that’s underselling it. They were literally in danger of being murdered because of it. Fuck Joyce’s mom. I really want to believe her dad is a good person who is learning, so, yeah, he should be talking to a divorce lawyer -yesterday-.
Yes. Yes you are. Joyce’s mother endangered the life of her daughter and numerous other kids by aiding the release of a dangerous individual. She’s also now responsible for those kids all being kidnapped, threatened, nearly killed in the case of one of them, and is responsible for the death of Ross. Joyce’s mom deserves to be told to fuck off a million billion times.
I feel like the argument here shouldn’t be “do either or both of Joyce’s parents deserve this response?” (a complex question) but rather “can we reasonably expect either Sarah or Joyce to respond reasonably to much of anything right now?” (hell no).
All I can do is repeat what Sarah is doubtless saying to herself: “Fuck this world for doing this to such a wonderful person with such an innocent heart.”
I’ve been wondering for a while whether this will be the killing blow for their marriage. Hank’s clearly been humoring Carol about her more cultish behavior for a long time, and honestly? This warrants “I can never trust you again” from Hank, Joyce, *and* Jocelynne.
I don’t think there’s any sane parent who loves their child who could stay with a partner who pays to have a demented gunman released from jail that threatened their child.
Perhaps you’re trying to make a point, but Jocelyne has no reason to be at her parents this early in the morning, or at all, really.
To generalize from earlier points made in this story, one’s sperm and/or egg donor and/or (former) legal guardian, and their residence(s), are not always safe.
Come to think of it, Jocelyne can probably get in touch with Becky if she needs to talk to someone who was involved with everything and who knows how Joyce is.
Undoubtedly Joyce’s mother would be a danger to Jocelyne but, for the time being they seem to be having a cordial built on false premises relationship. Which is tragic for Big Sis.
Given she was there for Joyce’s return, I don’t think there’s any sign Jocelyn stays away from her family. She doesn’t seem financially independent either.
I had temporarily checked out since March… Willis said the storyline was going to get dark, and didn’t have the spoons at the time to do the waiting each day… but also that it was ending today, so I bookmarked the last comic I read (just when Amber decided to leave the basement) with today’s date noted.
So… my catch-up reactions. I know Toe-Dad/Ross dying was a somber, sad moment… but I’m not sorry to see him go. I’m glad Becky is stronger than him.
Since Blaine knows the cop, Gorram-it, he’s going to walk, isn’t he? I’d be happy to see him go. (Jeez… all of that just to stop Amber from going to college so he didn’t have to pay for it. If he had a working-brain he’d have realized that paying for all the resources, bail, goons, and whatnot that he did… it’d have been cheaper to let her finish the dang degree)
Faz deserves only a little bit of sympathy, because he’s a kid. But only a little.
And while Mike was a casualty, I hope he wakes up after any time jump. And I hope that Joyce’s parents start being VERY apologetic… but her mom probably won’t.
We’re hoping the mob thinks Blaine’s more of a liability than an asset and takes care of him. He drew a lot of attention to himself, and presumably threw a lot of bail money at Toedead. The local cops can’t sweep all of his crimes under the rug with all the attention they’re getting, and Blaine’s selfish enough that he might try to turn state’s evidence to get a lesser sentence.
Sorry, in Dina mode here, I don’t understand the last panel. Sarah looks pained and Joyce is asleep (or ruminating), I thot it’d be the other way around?
There’s a little extra line under one of Joyce’s eyes that helps indicate that she’s upset. If she is asleep, and not just shutting out the world by closing her eyes, it’s an uncomfortable sleep. Like the aftermath of crying oneself to sleep. Hope this helps!
Sarah is awake and pained because she’s worried about Joyce. Joyce is asleep because she’s both physically and emotionally exhausted. Note that neither the ringing phone nor Sarah’s scream woke her up.
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This would’ve been amazing to run on Father’s Day tho
or better, Mother’s Day
And that’s this storyline over at last
Finally.
That’s the correct response, Sarah. Let Joyce sleep.
Yeah it’s the right joyce, for sure.
I’d have at least waited for a reply to see if it was the Father or the Mother. If it was the father, I’d have added a “please” after Sarah’s reply
I mean, there is no reason to be rude
It is more fun though.
“Please” is often used if its a suggestion or a request. I get the impression that it was meant as an order this time 😛
Please is also often used in orders.
“I’d like to have a Big Mac, please”
Sounds about right.
“Soldiers! Ten-Hut!”
“You didn’t say the magic word! Sir!”
“Please!”
“Would you kindly”
No Gods, No Kings, Only Man.
Not like Sarah, or Joyce for that matter, necessarily know that only one of them was culpable in Ross’s release on bail, but yeah, right now, I don’t know if Joyce wants to hear or see either one of them.
Hank called to warn them (and Sarah picked up first and got the ‘It’s safe now, THIS is why I have to speak to Joyce urgently’ message firsthand,) and only THOUGHT they were bailing him out, not knew. Carol called like, ten minutes later (and while Sarah wasn’t present right at the call, she showed up very soon after so she probably got the update offscreen) with the Incredibly Ominous Message that Joyce took as ‘He may already be out and she probably helped and definitely approves of this.’ Pretty sure Sarah has enough context clues from that to figure out Hank either didn’t know or is one INCREDIBLY elaborate liar to pose as the Good Parent.
But there is no good way to have this conversation by phone, four hours away from being in person. Just ain’t gonna happen.
Shit, I think it’d be much better for Joyce to have this conversation not-in-person, though. She can hang up any time she feels overwhelmed, and also, it will be substantially easier to not snap and kill her mother!
Good recall. So while Sarah knows Hank would deserve a “Please fuck off”, I also think Hank — were he the one to get that response — would think “Okay, fair. Hope that means Joyce is safe.”
“Frightfully sorry but, ah, how shall I put this? I hate to ask, but if you would be so kind could you perhaps see your way to fucking right the fuck off, you fucking fuck-faced fuckitty fuck-fuck-fuck? Much obliged.”
Actually, by this point, that was an entirely justifiable response on Sarah’s part. She couldn’t know for sure that Joyce’s father was complicit in or aware of the church releasing Toedad from jail, but the natural assumption is that he would be. Seeing as he did not rush to watch over and protect Becky and Joyce, he was thoroughly neglectful as a parent.
While there’s still room for “Oh, oh shit, I somehow missed all of that- I would have been there, had I known!” it’s still an outlier assumption at this point, and- considering what they’ve been through- there’s no reason to be generous to those involved.
That is to say, we’re at a “guilty until proven innocent” stage, and given their present emotional and physical wear, they’ve no need to endure dealing with other humans more than they absolutely have to.
[Honestly, keep that in mind with any relationships- people don’t necessarily want to talk when things are going south, and especially not if you’ve some association with the negative circumstances the person is dealing with, even if you’re not directly responsible. Don’t take it personally, it’s entirely normal and reasonable.]
So, in short, right now Hank is part of “THEM” and needs to really decide how he’s going to be moving forward. Sarah is emphasizing that fact to him. Ergo, while it doesn’t seem as such initially, her actions are in fact entirely constructive. Even if Hank didn’t have direct culpability or awareness of the matter, he still has preexisting associations with both the church and the toxicity-fueled mother, and he doesn’t deserve a pass on associative culpability until he cuts all ties with those.
To recontextualize that, it’s like being brutalized because a gang sent a hitman after you, and having your father be part of that gang. Until he leaves that gang, why SHOULDN’T he take credit for their actions? It’s not like he was even forced or trapped in the gang, he’s continuing to willingly associate with them.
So, no. The whole “she should be polite to Hank” thing is utter nonsense. Don’t get me wrong, I’m entirely behind proper contextualization of responses. The problem is, he’s actually within the context in question, if only by association.
Besides, it’s Sarah. It’s good enough if she’s polite to strangers on a good day. When she has legitimate cause to be pissed at them? Look, sometimes people need a wake up call. I’ve known plenty of brusque but well-intentioned people, and they’re plenty better to be around than shallow, self-serving, emotionally unstable, socially-oriented people. I’d rather take hostile and well-meaning honesty over toxicity hidden behind superficial masks, any day.
So, under ideal circumstances, sure, Sarah coulda been nicer. But at the moment, her actions can be justified, and Hank has no reasonable basis for complaint.
@Regalli “Hank called to warn them”
Oops, I didn’t recall that part, and missed seeing it on my first glance at the nesting. Okay, maybe a bit less one-directional on fault association, then, since my comment above was based fully on Hank not having commited anything. As-is, yeah, Sarah probably shoulda been nicer. There was a pause though, so there’s still room for her to have had time to learn who was on the phone (and thereby, have her outcry NOT be directed to Hank).
Meanwhile Faz is still sitting on the curb.
He’s with Aslan now, waiting for the bus.
(Captain America meme) I got that reference.
Captain America went to Narnia???
Something something Winter Soldier something something.
Always Winter Soldier and never Christmas Soldier.
I prefer The Chocolate Cream Soldier.
“So you’ve ended up on a bus to Narnia . . .”
I’m honestly concerned for the little twerp. Did he just go back home to his mother, who is just as hostile to Amber as Blaine is?
I hope not. Kid really needs a parent who actually gives a shit.
Absolutely awful idea: Amber gets ‘custody’ while the emancipation paperwork goes through (Because we need some wacky hijinks) as the rest of Faz’s immediate family gets swept away in a RICO investigation.
Faz is on his best behaviour with Amber slowly disintegrating as she waits for the bang. The bang never comes.
“Faz has- I have taken a long look at how I behaved, and decided to do better for you, my beloved older sister. *hand up to stave off Amber’s comment* Not a sister of blood, but a sister of the heart. Though frankly Faz wouldn’t be surprised if we are in fact half siblings. Our dad is TRAsh with a capital Tee Arr Ayy.”
Unfortunately Amber sees Yuri the same way Joe sees Amber’s mom if not more so. This impression is not unjustified but unfortunately it means that she thinks Blain is the only one hurting Faz. And frankly Amber is the person most invested in his well being.
This is such a good end of storyline strip. Though I do feel bad for Hank, if that was him.
Hank warned Sarah and Joyce about Ross, so I think Sarah would have enough judgement to know that he’s okay.
Not sure why she wouldn’t just say ‘it’s your mum’ though since that would have definitely warranted the F-bomb.
Didn’t Joyce’s mom use her husband’s phone to get Joyce to answer? At this point there’s no way of knowing who is actually calling between them.
I don’t think she waited to hear which one it was.
Caller ID should have presumably said ‘Mom’ or ‘Dad’.
Like Julian just said/wrote, didn’t Joyce’s Mum use her Dad’s phone to call Joyce? If so, wouldn’t matter who was on the caller ID, if JoyceMum rang from JoyceDad’s mobile it would come up as Dad, but her Mum would be on the phone…
Considering everything they’ve just been through, even I can agree this is the right thing to say…
Yeah but she did that because the phone was lying around and she thought it would trick Joyce into answering. Her Dad has no reason to trick Joyce into thinking he is her mom so if the caller ID says Mom it can be assumed it is her. I would also assume her dad isn’t leaving his phone lying around anymore after being clued in that she was using it.
And I think we can assume that Hank has realized that, so if it is him he’ll take Sarah’s actions with the appropriate grain of salt.
It might be their home phone
…right, landlines still technically exist…
My mom still has one.
With a rotary phone connected to it.
my parents live in the boonies and the power goes out prolongedly, so they need at least one landline (with corded phone) for calls. They also have a second for my dad’s business, which helps screen calls after business hours are over and stuff. Plus they’ve at the same phone numbers and address for just shy of 27 years, so I think they kind of want to keep them.
on the other hand eveyone I know who is under 30 never bothered getting one when after moving out (I mean why would we, there’s no housing security and we keep having to move, amongst other reasons.). 30somethings vary.
I’m in my early thirties and I have a landline, mostly because I’m a friggin’ nerd and I like playing with old phones and modems and stuff.
It’s cheap through the cable company, and easier than trying to set up a SIP connection or jump through hoops to connect Asterisk to Google Voice, so why not. How else am I supposed to get an authentic BBS experience on my Apple IIgs? (There are many ways, but the old fashioned way is fun. Just don’t try to browse the modern web at 9600 baud. Just today’s comic, never mind everything else, would take 5 minutes to download!)
Ah, the good old days, when the internet was mostly text and I could still read faster than it downloaded.
I assume Joyce’s phone showed “Home” for the landline instead of “Mom cell” or “Dad cell” on the caller ID, so Sarah played it safe.
I kinda hope it was Hank and Carol both on speakerphone, and after the call ended, Carol got huffy and indignant, and Hank just looked at her for a moment then walked out to pack without saying a word.
I ~will~ feel bad for Hank–once he kicks Carol to the curb, and starts rebuilding his life without her in it. Until then, he’s still enabling her behavior by letting her believe it’s acceptable. He’s been unwilling to tell his wife that she’s crossed several lines in the last few months, and so she’s gone from bad to worse without restraint.
I’m stingy–I reserve my empathy for folks who are actually attempting to change their ways.
Sarah is the friend Joyce needs right now.
She’s the Big Sister.
Home? Land line?
It’s 2020, parents of college age kids are usually around my age, and I haven’t had a land line in at least a decade. I had it turned off when I switched from DSL to cable and realized that I never used it, the only time it rang was telemarketers calling.
And that’s weird, I clicked reply on a different comment.
I’m the same age as Ruth (I think) and we still have a landline that we regularly use
For what it’s worth, Joyce is their youngest. So her parents are likely closer to her grandparents’ generation (probably similar to my parents; both my siblings are 0-4 years out of high school). Likely they have their own cells, but keep a landline “for emergencies” and for calling a household (rather than an individual).
It can be useful to have a landline. They run on different networks than the power grid, for example, so they’re less likely to get taken down if the cell tower does.
Something (and I’m probably of Joyce’s parents generation myself) that I tend to remind Zoomers and younger Millennials when we get into these generational tiffs is that just because something is pre-Internet doesn’t mean it’s always bad. We all got to pick and choose, you know?
Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox and go pick up my metamucil.
something I said above was that for young people the housing market (including renting) is super insecure, and having a home phone, and having to have it set up and actually change the number sometimes, etc, feels like an extra chore on top of having to move every couple years (or more). the only time we almost got one was for our apartment’s pager.
When the blizzards snap the power lines and all the toilets freeze, in January in the Colorado Rockies…
Then the Land line works. FiOS also works … for about 8 hours, then nada. Cell tower works for two, mebbe three hours, then nothing, if the power goes out.
You need to jury-rig a bigger 12v battery to the FiOS ONT. If its little 7 amp SLA runs that long, you’d probably get days out of a deep cycle marine battery! (Assuming the grid infrastructure stays up, that is.)
@Victor, I was reading some old pages and Hank is 60 (Joyce: “but to be fair, if he’s not your dad he’s just a 60-year-old dentist”)
Hail Satan
Ironic, considering your name.
as it says under my name over on Jeph’s forum, “not actually a saint”.
Mike’s spirit is alive and well.
((And watching over your Mom for a nickel.))
There’s a forum?
Yep!
Probably meant the Questionalble Content forum
Yep!
I really hope it was Carol the one who called.
Plot twist, this was Snoop the family dog calling
Fortunately, Snoop is a flurfy doofus who probably just thinks “Yay, we’re making loud sounds!”
And now he’s barking his adorable head off a few feet from Carol’s ears 😈
Big sis <3
That comment was well earned.
YAY SARAH!!!!!!
Power move. Good on ya’ Sarah!
Sarah is the best big sister.
Oh thank goodness this storyline is over.
It got better towards the end but aside from this strip I don’t think a lot of it was very fun, just frustrating.
it had its moments, but currently feeling kinda same, though might try a reread later when I’m not just physically/emotionally tired out to see if it flows better for me when read all-at-once
here’s hoping
I feel this arc will be better off read in one go instead of everyday for months. Seeing all the characters in life threatening distress, with no one knowing if Mike was dead or alive, with the knowledge that if they all get out of it safely that there will still be huge repercussions, was stressful. I think the storyline will shine best in the collected books.
On that note, I gotta see if my library will buy them.
It definitely did not help that an arc this heavy also occurred at THIS particular time in world history.
Yes! Same! RIGHT NOW happening at the same time is really coloring my feelings on the dramatic parts happening day after day. Sometimes I had to wait a few days so I could read 2-3 strips at a time. I think I’ll enjoy it more on a re-reading when the world is – well – still on fire but maybe not so hot and smokey like it is right now.
I did enjoy the real-time agony of waiting to know what happened to Mike, but I like those kinds of cliffhangers in web comics. I’m weird.
This is a good end-storyline strip, though. Sarah says what we’re all thinking.
Harder for libraries when it’s sold by the creators. Easiest books for libraries to purchase are from big distributors like Ingram. Big orders, one bill, one source. A bunch of small vendors are more work. Plus bigger distribution means a review in a library magazine is more likely. With Marvel / DC eating up a bunch of the budget not to mention manga it hard for a webcomic to break through. If they sell through Amazon that helps, but cuts into creator profits. The smaller the library the greater the barrier becomes. But make the request because most libraries love requests.
At worst it can make the librarian buy it for themselves
Or you could buy the book yourself and donate it TO the library. I did that with Kadi Fedourek’s “Blindsprings” book that she Kickstarted a few years.
Then she apparently burned out and hasn’t updated the strip in almost a year. Dang!
I liked it.
It was fun trying to guess what happened next from the blurry Patreon previews, and seeing whose plot armor held up.
Nicest thing Sarah has done for Joyce.
I mean, she literally smacked her would-be rapist with a bat.
Right, and comforted her when she was still drugged, as well as telling Becky for her about what happened with Ryan to spare Joyce at her request. She does do nice things for Joyce, it’s usually just grand gestures as Joyce put it.
This is still might nice, though.
think this is my favorite ending to a storyline
I think Joyce is broken, but Sarah understands. Also I am betting that was the mom.
Carol is broken. Joyce is just hurt. The difference being that she’ll heal, while Carol will stay the same because she doesn’t see anything wrong with herself
Drop mic.
I just imagined Sarah hovering in mid-air, wearing a toga and radiating light “Come Joyce, join me on the path of Pessimism and Snark.”
Sometimes you need to tell the world to fuck off so you can go to bed.
“Hi mom, I met your new friend Blaine, he’s a bit of a jerk.”
Sarah is the BEST big sister.
Though that said, I think Jocelyne’s going to make her play for that very very soon.
Now I want to see Sarah and Jocelyne interact.
I wonder if this will be big enough news that Jordan hears about it, then finally makes an appearance.
*looks like somebody ran my C.Lo Green disks through the shredder too*
I’ll take over music duties from here.
[Plays “It’s So Easy” by Guns N’ Roses]
It might not be their first call.
Depending on which parent it was that might have been uncalled for.
If Hank didn’t have the sense to call from his cell so Joyce would know it was him then tbh it would be pretty called for
Didn’t Carol steal Hank’s phone once, precisely to trick Joyce into picking up? Knowing that, I think this response was justified no matter which number was calling.
I don’t think so? I don’t remember Joyce avoiding Carol’s calls but not Hank’s before
Hank had to be sneaky to warn Joyce w/o her getting suspicious, but I think that’s it
She did and Joyce has actively avoided Hank’s calls before just because as she put it ‘sometimes kids are butts and if it was important, he’d text or leave a voice mail’.
Hank leaves his cell on the kitchen counter to charge.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/dozen/
Whether he’s lying to throw Carol off, or if she was using it because Joyce was dodging her calls, is still up in the air.
Yes, she did. This line included mostly to keep this from being spambinned for just being a link. >_>
Ah. I looked through the tags but didn’t find that
I suspect if Hank’s seen Twitter by now… or the local news… or possibly the NATIONAL news… I suspect he’ll understand on at least some level. He had reason to believe Carol was involved with Ross’s bail/generally untrustworthy on the subject, even if he didn’t know about the call afterwards, and well. Ross got bailed. Ross kidnapped Joyce. Hank may or may not know Ross got dead, in front of Joyce.
Even if she WEREN’T reeling with ‘the community I grew up in is fundamentally unworthy of trust’ in general, a phone call ain’t gonna cut it on the comfort front after a KIDNAPPING. She was up at 4 AM and kidnapped for AT LEAST four and a half hours, she needs sleep badly. And Hank’s four hours away. Text if you’re coming and let her sleep.
Yeah come to think of it Hank might be en route.
If he is, I do hope he doesn’t show up at the dorm until Joyce clears him first. She is emotionally SPENT and probably not up for surprises for the next week.
Sarah wins the Best F-bomb Award.
The proper reaction.
Sarah is best roommate. Good big sister. T^T
This may have been called for.
And soggies may rule.
Big sister.
BEST BIRTHDAY STRIP
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday! Mine was yesterday, so not quite as delightful.
If there’s a Boxing Day but for birthdays, have a good one.
I wonder how Hank will adapt to his new family dynamic
This is both the best and the worst cliffhanger.
I feel like the Browns are gonna need to have a talk.
Eloquently put.
💜 Sarah is a continual delight
Finally we’re at the good part.
Okay, but was that Carol or Hank? Hank had nothing to do with the bailing.
Until proven otherwise, we can believe it was Carol.
My money is on Carol, but…I don’t think it matters, really. Overbearing parents are overbearing parents and Joyce needs time to rest and process.
I think most people here think Hank deserves the benefit of the doubt.
He wasn’t involved in bailing Blaine out of jail, and even tried to warn Joyce he was released (even going as far as to keep it from Carol.) And in the story arc where Joyce returned home, Hank showed true empathy for Joyce. (He has also been supportive of Becky.)
Carol is overbearing. But if it was Hank calling, it could be attributed to real concern.
This is absolutely true; what we’ve seen of Hank so far has been supportive and mostly self-aware. But Carol didn’t raise her kids to bow to authority all by herself. Joyce barely knows one of her older brothers for a reason, and whatever the “Jordan situation” was, it didn’t happen in a vacuum with Carol as the sole catalyst. Obviously I can’t really judge without more information, and maybe Hank is just as trapped as his children, emotionally (if with a different relationship dynamic), but…I don’t know.
Likely this is a Me Problem more related to my own upbringing than anything else. As much as my dad is supportive in one-on-one conversations, he never did much to intercede on my behalf when my mom was on a rampage. So far we’ve seen some of Hank’s internal conflict and we’ve seen Hank stick up for the kids in a roundabout way…but he did say then that it was more about him not wanting to lose an argument, and his concern with “not squeezing too hard” was more “not creating another Jordan situation” and less “our daughter deserves some autonomy” so I’m not sure how much weight that would carry in Joyce’s eyes. (Granted, that might just be Hank using language that Carol is more likely to accept.)
But yeah. I like Hank, I do, and I’m happy to give him the benefit of the doubt in terms of intent and probable outcome. But even if it is Hank on the phone, I’m still with Sarah. Overbearing is overbearing, no matter what face it wears or how supportive it may be. Joyce needs time to rest and process, without the immediate input of her authoritarian family.
I really agree with this assessment. I think it’s really beneficial for Joyce to have someone who’s willing to look at the way her parents have treated her and NOT give them the benefit of the doubt. I totally agree that Hank is likely an okay guy in this… and also he was in no way powerless to push back on the bail situation etc. He was sneaking around like a teenager to tell Joyce and I haven’t seen anything to suggest that his safety or financial stability would be compromised if he took a stand. Perhaps his marriage but… his wife was working to bail out a kidnapper. I feel like that’s worth rocking the boat for.
Yeah, if “Dude pointed a gun at our daughter and kidnapped her best friend who we spent almost as much time with and who I have now taken some legal responsibility for (cosigining for her bank account for instance) because she’s a good kid and deserves better. I think him being in jail isn’t actually about the state interfering in his rights to parent and practice our religion, and if he’s bailed out he will almost definitely try again.” isn’t worth rocking the boat over then what’s the point of being on a boat?
So much this. What we’ve seen of Hank actually standing up to Carol, at all, is hopeful… but it’s also VERY recent (he was anti-Dorothy back at family weekend, for a start) and still very conflict-averse. Jocelyne still doesn’t feel safe coming out to him, and I don’t blame her because we haven’t seen NEARLY enough to know if he’d be supportive of this very big, very new thing… or that even if he WAS, he’d have her back on this very important thing when Carol’s definitely going to be outraged.
We don’t know what the relationship dynamics between Hank and Carol are, but up until the trip home they at least appeared to be a united front to Joyce and Jocelyne. And Hank admits Joyce standing up made him reevaluate things. He can learn, but he was onboard with a LOT of indoctrination for Joyce’s entire childhood. Or at least not against it enough to actually stop it, or at least sneak her to a Disney movie on occasion.
You know, I fully expect Willis to do something horrible and reveal that Jordan was genuinely horrible. Like he was abusing his fellow youth group campers or something beyond the pale evil. Maybe Carol thinks Hank shouldn’t have driven him out for it.
Then again, maybe I’m just feeling overwhelmed by all the revelations about Ellis, Chris Avelone, and others this week.
I doubt it. When Joyce stood up to them about Dorothy, Hank said she reminded him of Jordan and that while he disagreed a lot with his parents, Hank still thought he was a good kid.
There are other signs that Hank was less extreme — isn’t it strongly implied, if not outright stated, that he was the one who made them switch from at least one church because he thought they went too far (possibly the anti-dancing Baptists)?
Yes, but he also agreed with quite a lot of it – according to Joyce, he’s the one who enforced strict gender roles in what toys the children could play with. He made sure Joyce always had dolls and her brothers were playing with things like footballs and trucks instead.
I have to disagree with you here. If I heard that one of my children was kidnapped and in danger, I sure as hell would be calling to make sure they were ok, I wouldn’t call this being overbearing. On the other hand, they may not have heard anything yet and this could have been just a routine call, in which case, there is going to be a very confused parent.
I wouldn’t call it being overbearing but it likely feels overbearing to Joyce, who I don’t think can stand to talk to them right now.
On it’s own, calling is a totally reasonable response. In context and from Joyce’s perspectives, “We’re not going to protect you from the man with a history of kidnapping who predictably kidnapped you as soon as he was out but you need to answer the phone when we call” would feel overbearing and ingenuine.
Hopefully the call was coming from Carol’s phone, so Sarah would have recognized who it was from.
Hank’s can’t be totally trusted either, though – Carol’s used it to bypass ‘Joyce won’t answer’ at least once.
And even if it is him, she is way too fried for a difficult phone conversation with difficult emotions. Not the time. At all.
True, Carol used Hanks phone once to bypass Joyce’s filter.
But its unlikely that Hank would be using Carol’s phone. So if the incoming call says ‘Carol’ Sarah would know its likely her. If it says ‘Hank’, then it could be either of them. That’s why I said ‘hopefully the call was coming from carol’s phone’… because we’d be sure about who it was from.
The problem isn’t that funds were raised to bail Ross out of jail, if anything it was wrong that the bail was set so high in the first place. This country has a huge fucking problem with unfairly high bail amounts, forcing people into predatory lending schemes in order to organize their defense and feed their families while they are accused of a crime.
Ross shouldn’t have been offered bail at any amount. No one to support besides the victim of assault and false imprisonment, no signs of remorse, every indication he’d do it again. That was the problem.
Remember: No one should be in jail because of a bail amount that they cannot afford.
Period.
Considering Ross was unquestionably guilty and was had every indication he’d do it again, I’m gonna say raising bail to get him released was morally wrong.
I’d prefer it if Indiana amended the rules so that bail could be denied but as it currently stands, it could not.
Unfortunately, in Indiana, bail is a requirement for pretty much every crime below murder as people have mentioned on multiple strips previously and in such a case, setting such a high bail was still more morally correct than a low bail for someone like Ross who had no remorse. It was definitely morally wrong for them to bail him out knowing he had no remorse as well.
In this case, setting bail up in the stratosphere “should have” been “as good as” having no bail set.
The judge didn’t foresee a desperate congregation and a vindictive money launderer coming together to post bail, though.
Judge: “You’re very likely to re-offend. Bail is set at $750,000”
Blaine: “Sure, here you go.”
Judge: *Surprised Pikachu face*
I agree that, all things considered, Ross in particular shouldn’t have been allowed out on bail. And I’ll definitely agree that the bail system as it presently exists is predatory. I’d also add that high bail and the prospect of lost wages can create (especially among the poor) an extortionary pressure to take a plea deal even when they’re innocent.
But I balk a bit at changing the system in a way to make people like Ross ineligible for bail. Giving judges and prosecutors the ability to push for that sort of determination, especially in cases where the accused can’t afford competent representation to push back against it, would likely open up all sorts of avenues for making the bail system even more predatory. And for every person like Ross who needs to be denied bail, there would be a hundred or thousand others who should get bail, but would be denied under such reforms as a way of pressuring them into just taking a guilty plea.
Ideally the system would be reformed to get rid of the idea of cash bail and replace it with something based more directly on likelihood of harm or flight. Certainly wouldn’t remove all bias from the system, but at least it wouldn’t be directly based on paying to stay out of jail.
I think idealy we need to fix things so we can more easily make good on people’s right to a speedy trial. I’m pretty sure part of the problem is the system is to tough on certain types of crimes. Then we can try to figure out how to let people live their lives while insuring they don’t run off or reoffend.
If anyone is responsible for keeping an eye on that whackjob, it’s the witless fuck who married her. That includes taking responsibility for what she gets up to. And the decades leading to Carol helping to bail out Ross were lined with red flags, row after row, inches apart.
1) If it’s Hank, I don’t think he really deserves that.
2) OTOH, I think Sarah and Joyce right now deserve to not have to parse through such granular details like whether or not Hank deserves it.
I was going to argue that, even if it was Carol, she should’ve said something like “she’s been through hell today, she’s not injured, try again tomorrow” before tomorrow…
…then, yeah, I remembered that Sarah had been through hell as well today, so it’s probably wrong to demand anything from her today…
Carol supports people going after their children who misbehave with guns. Carol supports people going after her daughter with guns.
Carol might never actually go after any of her children with guns, but frankly fuck off is the correct response for Carol.
Becky didn’t “misbehave”. Like, at all.
“Disobey” would be a better word here.
Misbehave, from Carol’s warped perspective and by her bigoted standards.
Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying that Carol doesn’t deserve a metric fuckton of fuck-offs here. She totally does.
But there’s also the reality of this all. Do you really think that Carol would fuck off if told to, especially right now? Starting off coldly diplomatic in the hopes that it would get her to fuck off, and then escalating to an outright “Fuck off” if she refuses to get the hint is all.
Yeah, that was my thought — lot of discussion above about Sarah knowing Joyce can’t deal with her parents right now, but Sarah was in fact also just kidnapped and afraid for her life and probably hasn’t got the bandwidth to deal with her tiny emotionally shattered roommate’s crazy fundie parents right now either.
Sarah is best mom.
Big sister.
Big sister. <3
Well, that was a wild ride from start to finish. Holy hell.
I wonder how much Hank and Carol know at this point. Do they know about the kidnappings? That Joyce was a victim? That Ross is dead? Do they know how he died?
I mean, they may have heard of the kidnapping through texts that Becky sent. Perhaps they heard about the kidnapping on the news.
But Becky’s texts were sent before the murder. And since Hank/Carol were not next of kin, they may not have been notified by the police. And the police may not have released all the details to the media yet.
I would love to hear Joyce describe events to her mother. (Although it would be very dialog-heavy, and probably wouldn’t make a good comic strip.)
The Tweets, and therefore the kidnapping, Ross’s involvement, and Blaine’s involvement (which Carol will probably get the significance of but Hank won’t, dude put his real name on the bail signing, he probably didn’t hide it from them because he’s a DUMBASS): I’m putting that as likely, it’s gonna be major Indiana news, minimum, and possibly even going to make national.
The murder: I’d say much less likely, but I can see a release saying ‘all hostages alive, one of the kidnappers dead’ depending on how long it’s been since everything settled down. But even then they don’t know if it was Ross who died, Blaine, or Possible Accomplices, or who (if anyone, sudden heart attacks happen I guess) was responsible.
Joyce getting to Tell Carol What Happens: Hooooo boy, THAT will be interesting next storyline, won’t it? *Ominously pulls out the popcorn bag*
Eh, there’s a strong possibility that Joyce’s parents don’t use Twitter, especially considering how secular their church is in the first place.
True. More the ‘It’s going to blow up and Becky’s name is going to be ALL OVER IT’, so even if Hank doesn’t actually USE Twitter he’s going to hear. If anything makes you check a site you don’t use, ‘my daughter’s best friend is discussing a kidnapping that may involve my daughter there’ will do it!
(Robin’s been clear enough about using Becky that even just ‘campaign manager of Congresswoman DeSanto’ could be enough data.)
Does anyone wonder if Carol knew about the kidnapping plot, specifically? Maybe she wanted Joyce to come home.
The tweets are being reported in the news. You don’t need Twitter for that.
And even if they do use Twitter, they might not be following Desanto/Becky.
But as I and others have suggested, the tweets may have been covered in the news.
Did you mean to use some word other than “secular” there?
Crazypants Fanatical?
Sarah is so good.
I love this!
annnnd i’ll be swiping that middle panel for later use
Hugs bosom
good work Sarah. both on the cuddle and the phone
I like to imagine that Sarah took her cue from Joyce vigorously flashing the double bird off-panel.
To my mind, though it is not shown, Joyce off panel rolled from lying on her back to facing directly away. Sarah took this as the rejection of her parents that it was and duly translated (in the very best way). Then Sarah climbed up and Joyce just silently rolled over the other way in acceptance of her Big Sister.
Perfect final scene. I love Sarah a little bit more. She’s so good.
That’s the second person to tell Joyces parents to fuck off over the phone. Radiate that mike energy sarah
Umm… are you referring to when Mike answered Joyce’s phone?
Technically he didn’t tell them to ‘fuck off’… he said ‘hail satan’. Totally different sin.
Same general vibes.
Dumbing of Age Book 10: Fuuuuuck Offffffff
This strip loaded slowly enough for me that I read the speech bubbles before seeing the characters beneath them, and for a brief incredulous moment I thought this was Joyce’s first F-bomb. (I mean, if ever a situation called for a good hearty inaugural “fuck off”, this would be it, but maybe she’ll get the opportunity for one in the next storyline??)
Yes, I ended up with the lower half missing on the first few tries. The seldom happens.
I wonder if Joyce signaled to Sarah in some way or Sarah just decided that by herself.
I feel bad if that was Hank on the line, but if that was Carol couldn’t have said it better. Of course if that was Hank maybe this will get a much needed ball rolling.
I like how much Sarah’s expression resembles Mike’s going “Hail Satan.”
That being said, how exactly is Sarah managing to make the “f” sound that long with her mouth open? “Fuuuuuck ooooooooff” I can hear, but “Fuuuuuck offffff” is a bit weird.
Quite doable, though.
I hope it was her Mom, her Dad didn’t really deserve it…
It occurs to me that if it were Hank calling, he would be doing so to get reassurance that Joyce is OK.
Technically, Sarah’s response achieves this goal.
He might be undeserving of it, but I think he’s an adult and can understand and cope with a little vented outrage.
If it were Carol, well, I can’t make myself care if she can understand or cope with it or not.
Yes, I think that Sarah’s words pretty much work as a ‘Joyce Status Report’.
End of Storyline…?
But… where’s the “Sustained Sense of Danger??”
The Earth-shattering kaboom is coming next chapter.
It’s June 23rd – that’s when we were told to come back if we didn’t want to deal with said Sustained Sense of Danger.
Am I the only one that thinks that was a little uncalled for?
God, I hope so!
heh, “uncalled”
Possibly; there is no doubt that Joyce’s parents, directly and indirectly, were responsible for the trauma Joyce is suffering now. Not only by his mother’s indirect involvement in Ross’s release but also in both parents sending her away to college with no real survival skills or any understanding of how the world works, only the illusion that they wanted her to believe.
I was just pointing out the choice of words ^^’
Joyce’s mother helped release Ross on bail, which directly led to the results of this storyline, which resulted in a traumatic experience for Joyce and Sarah. At this point, Sarah has every right to be pissed off at Joyce’s parents, both on Joyce’s behalf, and her own.
Yes, Hank might have been on the call, too, and he’s currently improving enough for us to hope that he, Joyce and Jocelyne could have a healthy family relationship once they cut ties from the community they grew up in (and they can all support each other as best they can in the meantime), but Sarah doesn’t have the information to appreciate that nuance, and even if she did, it would unreasonable to expect Sarah to not tell Carol to f*ck off immediately after she’d been kidnapped simply because Hank is also there.
Hank needs to divorce Carol. This is one of those beyond the pale moments.
Their child was put directly in danger by her actions.
Endangering BECKY is enough of a reason.
Hell, not just a “traumatic experience”, that’s underselling it. They were literally in danger of being murdered because of it. Fuck Joyce’s mom. I really want to believe her dad is a good person who is learning, so, yeah, he should be talking to a divorce lawyer -yesterday-.
Yes. Yes you are. Joyce’s mother endangered the life of her daughter and numerous other kids by aiding the release of a dangerous individual. She’s also now responsible for those kids all being kidnapped, threatened, nearly killed in the case of one of them, and is responsible for the death of Ross. Joyce’s mom deserves to be told to fuck off a million billion times.
I feel like the argument here shouldn’t be “do either or both of Joyce’s parents deserve this response?” (a complex question) but rather “can we reasonably expect either Sarah or Joyce to respond reasonably to much of anything right now?” (hell no).
handled it like a boss
I love Sarah!
All I can do is repeat what Sarah is doubtless saying to herself: “Fuck this world for doing this to such a wonderful person with such an innocent heart.”
Wooooo! Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!!!
Sarah is such a sweetie.
She never wanted to make emotional connections but it turns out that she did with Joyce anyway.
It’s been a day. One day.
One.
Worse. It’s been a morning, not even an entire day yet.
Probably is the whole day – though we focused on the morning events.
Unless Willis has decided to break the one storyline per day rule.
Or maybe everybody just rests for the afternoon…
Sarah is awesome. She always knows the right word to say in difficult times. Hug Joyce Sarah, hug her♡.
Hank to Carol as she comes into the kitchen: “Good morning dear. Would you like some coffee? Breakfast? How about we turn on the news, Carol?”
“Big Sister”. <3
Fuck Joyce mom , hope her parents divorce..
I’ve been wondering for a while whether this will be the killing blow for their marriage. Hank’s clearly been humoring Carol about her more cultish behavior for a long time, and honestly? This warrants “I can never trust you again” from Hank, Joyce, *and* Jocelynne.
I don’t think there’s any sane parent who loves their child who could stay with a partner who pays to have a demented gunman released from jail that threatened their child.
I think Jocelyn was already at that point, or on the brink of it, to be fair.
How much is this answering machine?
Sarah’s the big sister Joyce never had.
Or so she thinks.
Go Sarah! That’s right up there with “All Hail Satan” for best clapbacks at Joyce’s mom.
Sarah is beat girl
I meant best but give her a bat and shes that too.
Actually, it was Jocelyne calling from her parents’ landline, worried frantic and hoping to catch Joyce.
She’s now standing there, eyebrows way up the air with the phone in her hand going, “Who the hell was THAT?”
The answer being: “Her other big sister”
Perhaps you’re trying to make a point, but Jocelyne has no reason to be at her parents this early in the morning, or at all, really.
To generalize from earlier points made in this story, one’s sperm and/or egg donor and/or (former) legal guardian, and their residence(s), are not always safe.
Come to think of it, Jocelyne can probably get in touch with Becky if she needs to talk to someone who was involved with everything and who knows how Joyce is.
Undoubtedly Joyce’s mother would be a danger to Jocelyne but, for the time being they seem to be having a cordial built on false premises relationship. Which is tragic for Big Sis.
I’m pretty sure that Jocelyne keeps things cordial by keeping away as much as possible.
Given she was there for Joyce’s return, I don’t think there’s any sign Jocelyn stays away from her family. She doesn’t seem financially independent either.
Given what all has happened with cops, EMTs and the like, it is way past dawn.
What time do you perceive it to be?
That was an incredible chapter.
I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING
Sarah is a better mother than Joyce’s own mother is.
Dumbing of age book ten: “FUUUUUCK OFFFFFFFF”
They really needed to be told that
Any guesses as to how long the next time skip will be?
I had temporarily checked out since March… Willis said the storyline was going to get dark, and didn’t have the spoons at the time to do the waiting each day… but also that it was ending today, so I bookmarked the last comic I read (just when Amber decided to leave the basement) with today’s date noted.
So… my catch-up reactions. I know Toe-Dad/Ross dying was a somber, sad moment… but I’m not sorry to see him go. I’m glad Becky is stronger than him.
Since Blaine knows the cop, Gorram-it, he’s going to walk, isn’t he? I’d be happy to see him go. (Jeez… all of that just to stop Amber from going to college so he didn’t have to pay for it. If he had a working-brain he’d have realized that paying for all the resources, bail, goons, and whatnot that he did… it’d have been cheaper to let her finish the dang degree)
Faz deserves only a little bit of sympathy, because he’s a kid. But only a little.
And while Mike was a casualty, I hope he wakes up after any time jump. And I hope that Joyce’s parents start being VERY apologetic… but her mom probably won’t.
We’re hoping the mob thinks Blaine’s more of a liability than an asset and takes care of him. He drew a lot of attention to himself, and presumably threw a lot of bail money at Toedead. The local cops can’t sweep all of his crimes under the rug with all the attention they’re getting, and Blaine’s selfish enough that he might try to turn state’s evidence to get a lesser sentence.
Well said, Sarah, well said.
Sorry, in Dina mode here, I don’t understand the last panel. Sarah looks pained and Joyce is asleep (or ruminating), I thot it’d be the other way around?
There’s a little extra line under one of Joyce’s eyes that helps indicate that she’s upset. If she is asleep, and not just shutting out the world by closing her eyes, it’s an uncomfortable sleep. Like the aftermath of crying oneself to sleep. Hope this helps!
Sarah is awake and pained because she’s worried about Joyce. Joyce is asleep because she’s both physically and emotionally exhausted. Note that neither the ringing phone nor Sarah’s scream woke her up.
*what* lol
This is the most heartwarming strip ever