I’m actually thinking this little exchange could turn out very well. You might be thinking of Joyce, but so long as Ethan doesn’t leave out his complicity in the earlier sham when he explains, things should be a-ok.
That’s why I’m optimistic here. Each of them has a viewpoint that the other needs to hear. Ethan’s more likely to consider the realities of dealing with questionable/nonexistent support from the family units. Becky will show him it’s okay to go after some cock… if he doesn’t get hung up on how Becky’s made damn near all of her interactions for the entire day about her love of boobies.
I can’t imagine Ethan will go so far as to explain his own situation. If he starts pressing this issue too hard though Becky will probably take offense. Like say if he were to imply Becky’s decision is poorly thought out, that she doesn’t really understand what it can be like living as an openly gay person, or anything like that.
If anything it’ll be more abrasive since Becky will assume he’s just some straight guy mouthing off about how gay people ought to conduct themselves.
I’m kinda hoping for Sarah. Like Becky’s continuing on how she has been, wasting free money on stupid things and being loud and obnoxious and Sarah just has enough and explains the reality to her. Doesn’t need to eb rude, doesn’t need to make her less cool with herself or less happy, just need some sense.
And that’s been largely Sarah’s function. The tough-but-loving Big Sis. Her giving Becky the run down in that manner would indicate to me at least that she’s adopted a second Little Sis. Sarah doesn’t bother with stuff she doesn’t care about.
You forget that neither of these guys are very antagonistic. Ethan is much more likely to subtly ask more about Becky’s reasoning than to assume he knows better. Becky is much more likely to either change subject, laugh it off, or shut it down than to get irked by Ethan of all people.
Yeah, and Ethan’s usually pretty sensitive to delicate subjects. He knows that not all parents are worth keeping around and I think he knows not to probe too deeply into that sort of stuff just in case.
Still, he’s pretty personally invested in this particular subject. They both are. Deeply invested with opposing viewpoints. Conversation could definitely go sour.
But it might end hilariously. If Becky realises he’s gay she’s not going to assume Joyce is trying to de-gay him at his own urging, she’s going to laugh, go for a high five and loudly announce to Joyce that her boyfriends’ a ‘mo like her.
On this tangent, think if Jocelyne ever comes out to her parents as trans, it might be effective to make her dad wear fake breasts for a day. He will be super uncomfortable and Jocelyne can be all “Yeah Dad, that’s about how I feel EVERY DAMN DAY.”
Ethan’s parents are full of shit.
But despite everything they came to parents weekend, told their son they still loved him, and shelled out the money for him to go to college by himself with no safeguards against dude-loving.
I think that is way alot much better at dealing than pulling your daughter out of school to ‘fix’ her, and cutting her off when she doesn’t listen.
To be fair, his mom only says she loves him after he says he has a girlfriend.
But yeah, you have an excellent point. Ethan is going against his parents religious views too, but they didn’t cut him off and still came to visit.
I interpreted that strip as Naomi being surprised that Ethan could think that they didn’t like him anymore, and rushing to reassure him that they do (and then negating it immediately by spouting more BS). Does it matter, though? Ethan might be loved, but he clearly doesn’t feel loved, and for good reason. That’s probably the part that Naomi should be paying attention to.
but tl;dr I know people who have been disowned and that’s the line for me. It really takes an incredible amount of cruelty to do something like that, whatever the reasons. As long as your talking with your kids and trying to come to an understanding of one another, you can mess up. But when you give up on your kids completely, like Ross – it’s just incomparable to the kind of mistakes Ethan’s family is making.
Abusers don’t see their behavior as abuse, usually – Ross probably believes he’s using ‘tough love’ on a child who’s dangerously close to ruining her life. That’s why it’s usually the abusee who ends the abusive relationship.
Ross probably doesn’t even see their relationship as ‘over’ – he just views financial severance as an escalation in their battle for control. Like most control freaks, he figures if he just escalates high enough, the other will give in, and accept his dominance. It’s how they learn to parent, and it has always worked in the past. Nevermind that it leads to kids that hate their parents…
Yeah, I agree with this. Probably Ross thinks Becky will come crawling back and everything will be peachy keen between them. (He failed to factor in that Becky is his daughter and thus unlikely to give into anything.)
Ross should be able to tell that this isn’t just any other escalation of their battle though. It’s one thing if he’s arguing with Becky and trying to convince her that blah-blah-blah girl-loving is wrong. But saying she must go somewhere to be ‘fixed’ or she’s out on her own is a threat on her livelihood. That’s not trying to get your kid to understand and agree with your POV. People operating under duress aren’t really agreeing. That’s just trying to get your kid to do what you want, no questions asked.
In some ways Ethan’s probably having a harder time with his parents than Becky with hers, for exactly this reason. Is it better to receive a larger burden you can throw away, or a smaller one you feel you have to carry? Can’t say. And probably differs depending on the person going through the struggle and all. But from the perspective of what was given: the message Becky’s father is giving is that his principles are more important to him than knowing his child is safe and fed and educated, and the message that Ethan’s mom is giving is that her principles aren’t.
“The strangest thing happened today. Some big guy came in, saw a bag of fertilizer, and completely flipped out. He yelled at us, claiming we’d done something to his wife, then he grabbed the bag of fertilizer and bolted! Steve was out in the parking lot, and swore that the guy was talking to that bag of fertilizer as he was getting in his car.”
Not that there’s anything great about Ethan’s parents (or at least mom) stubbornly denying his sexuality and being passive-aggressively “disappointed” or whatever, but at they didn’t pull him out of school and try to cart him off to get “fixed”.
That said, the fact that Ethan’s parents may have the capacity to fully accept him some day means he’d feel guilty writing them off entirely, so their bullshit will probably persist for some time, which is obviously not great either. 🙁
Ah yes, Dad “lie back and think of England” Siegal. You know, it kind of makes me wonder about the household Naomi grew up in, that she automatically assumes that any development in a (hetero) relationship originates with the woman. Like, what is/was Ethan’s grandmother like, or is Naomi just that bullheaded?
I’m aware. My thyroid doctor keeps telling me I might meet a nice boy one day. Granted an endocrinologist is a bit more vested in the “fixing” of asexuality, but it’s not exactly a priority and we’ve been over…and over…and over…my opinion that it isn’t something that needs to be fixed. I’ve told him that if I’ve got numerical levels of whatever that need sorting out or there will be long-term health consequences, then we can talk, but boosting my libido won’t change the fact that I don’t want to bang anyone…anyway.
I was more referring to Naomi practically blaming Amber for Ethan being gay. Though I guess that’s a roundabout way of saying she blamed her for not being the right woman for Ethan or something.
Honestly I don’t think he understands why Becky did what she did at all and thinks her choice was pretty stupid. Ethan has pretty much always seen his sexuality as second to friends, families, and toy robots. (And it’s fine if it’s not first priority, but Ethan’s making the mistake of thinking he can or should disregard it completely.)
Probably he’s just feeling lucky that his parents, however badly they are handling things, are not the nightmare that is Becky’s dad.
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I don’t see Becky’s dad being worse than Ethan’s mom making her actions and statements less disgusting. She hasn’t told Ethan that she knows a place where he can be fixed. That’s the only advantage she has so far. She has however made it explicitly clear that she consider him a disappointment. She told him so very recently in fact.
Of course at some point in the comic she could change her mind, but we have absolutely no implication that she’ll do so. Based on the evidence we have, she is horrible. Not as bad as Becky’s dad, but horrible none the less.
Naw, I’m just messing around. But Christian universities don’t take kindly to premarital hanky-panky, and some will expel you if you get caught in the act.
Ohh OK I wasn’t sure if you were or not sorry about that , but ya certain Christian institutes tend to act rashly over situations like this. The community as hole doesn’t really agree with it but this still happens
Had a bit of a kerfuffle over here in Nova Scotia this past summer: the provincial bar association was trying to have certification from Trinity College in BC declared invalid in the province (and Ontario), since while they will nominally accept gay students, all their students have to swear to only have heterosexual sex (and even then, only within marriage) for the rest of their lives.
In the end the province agreed that was a shitty thing to do but decided they couldn’t invalidate the legal training because of it.
It depends on the type of Christian. It’s not a rule for Andersen University though; my friend went there. It’s a regular old liberal arts college, albeit small and with Christian theology taught throughout the different subjects. Becky’s dad was able to pull her out of school because he was paying, and Becky was not. No cash = no college.
Stop paying the checks, basically. If Becky doesn’t have some sort of full-ride scholarship, she’s out the door. Dad assumed she had no other options than coming home.
Also, I’m just gonna say: Of the parents, only Dorothy’s and Dina’s get to stay on the island, and Amber’s mom. The rest of them can just swim for some other landmass, and Amber’s dad… well, he can be useful for shark bait, I suppose.
Dany’s parens talk o him the same way the fanbase does. Think about the opinion of the fanbase and why that’s definitely not okay to think and say to your child.
Ooh, I’d kind of forgotten about Sierra’s folks, but yeah, they can stay. After all, you bring up a kid as awesome as Sierra, you’ve gotta be doing something right.
I believe Joe mentioned wishing he could say his dad’s behavior began *after* the divorce. Not quite up to Blaine levels, but not exactly father/husband of the year either.
Well jackets sure that’s different. I mean that vest was more like an outer bra than a jacket. Sorta like how superheros wear their underwear on the outside.
I have to ask: are you American? Because I haven’t met an American who didn’t know what a cardigan is. Even my fashion-challenged fiance knows what one is, hahaha. If so, which state are you from, and what do they call it there. If nut, what country are you from, and do they have a word for it there? Ever since I learned some places in Canada call hoodies “bunnyhugs”, I want to know what different people call clothing items <3
Oh yeah I’m an American. I mean I’ve heard the word before I just never actually knew what the hell it was. Actually I’ve seen em before too, I probably just called em a coat or something like that.
But if you wanna know about people calling clothing something different what we call a hoodie the Japanese call a parka.
I was in that situation, but after Dolores Umbridge was repeatedly mentioned as wearing an awful pink one Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix I looked it up.
When I was a kid and they weren’t as ubiquitous as they are now, we called them Kangaroo jackets (because of the pocket in front). But I guess around 20 years ago ‘hoodie’ started to sneak in there, and I don’t even think I’ve heard ‘kangaroo jacket’ in the past ten.
I should probably follow this up by noting that yes parka was taken from English they just used it for the wrong thing.
(Or at least I think it was English. I can at the very least assure you it’s a foreign loan word.)
Huh. That was neat. I’d always assumed “parka” was Inuit; but it ends up that while “anorak” is, “parka” is actually from an indigenous Russian people.
Which is weird because in Canada here I’ve only heard us use “parka” (or “winter coat”); always assumed “anorak” was strictly an American thing. Go Wikipedia!
Tried to think what the American term for cardigan was myself (I’m Canadian so I’m used to the whole bathrobe/housecoat flannel/facecloth/wash cloth flip-flops/thong thing) and drew a blank. I don’t think I’ve ever hard an alternate term for them. ‘Button-down sweater jacket’? That just seems clunky…
I’m pretty sure that the American term for ‘cardigan’ is ‘cardigan’. That’s what I’ve always called them, anyway. But then I live less than 200 miles from Canada, so possibly WA has a few Canadianisms.
Yup, the American word for cardigan is cardigan. I think MeghanTheWorldEater just happened to not be familiar with the term. They were cardigans back when Mr. Rogers was still on the air and if you search for cardigans on Amazon.com, they still come up (and they’re also on various shopping websites I visit), so they’re still around today. 🙂 I have four in my office at work.
Cardigan is any full front opening sweater, also sometimes called a button-down. Non opening sweaters are pull-overs. If it only opens halfway, I just call it a pain in the butt 😀
Stupid knitter’s joke: Cop sees a lady speeding down the road. He looks, sees her busily knitting away, her hands not even on the wheel. He pulls up beside her and hollers into her open window, ” Pull over!”
Side note: I don’t know if this is universal, but before we called hoodies by that name, we used to call them “zippies”, as in a sweatshirt that zipped up in the front instead of one that you had to pull over your head.
I prefer the animal pens. Wrathful energy is pretty productive when applied by a pitchfork and wheelbarrow to mucking out the place.
Alternatively, the dojo is good, but it’s easier to go overboard and hurt oneself there.
Watching Becky and Ethan interact made me realize that Becky willingly kissed someone in a committed relationship in the hopes of getting Joyce to break up with Ethan and get together with her instead.
It isn’t that bad when you remember that Becky assumed that Joyce was closeted and using Ethan as a beard, for which she had some legit evidence (since Joyce WAS using Ethan as a beard, just not for being gay).
Personally I’d still frown on interfering with anybody’s relationship unless it’s clearly toxic to one or multiple parties involved. Whether or not Joyce was actually gay shouldn’t have been a factor.
Plus Becky didn’t actually have any evidence.
I mean, she needed to confront her feelings and kissing Joyce was one way to do it, but outside of the Interests of Becky it’s not a very nice move.
People have a tendency to not care about the feelings of strangers. Especially when they’ve convinced themselves they’re right and the other people’s feelings are fake anyway.
I’m with you on that one. It was am emotionally charged moment though, but if it was a guy who kissed Joyce, I think a lot more people would feel for Joyce rather than Becky.
Becky’s not really a very positive character though, is she? She’s like the poster child of what not to do or say in so many areas. I really can’t wait for Sarah to lose all patience…
Becky comes from the same background Joyce does. If Joyce hasn’t lost patience with Joyce’s utter lack of tact, don’t hold your breath too long on that.
I hope Becky and Ethan become friends! Could always use more gay guy/lesbian friendships in the media! Right now you’d assume they don’t exist if you watch TV or something lol, but they really, really do 😉
Well this settles why Becky was wearing the same outfit when she arrived that she was wearing in the last scene of her flashbacks. She didn’t even get home to change.
I don’t think jokes have sexual orientations to be honest. Though…. who knows, ‘knock knock who’s there’ jokes always feel straight to me, while ‘3 people walk into a bar’ jokes are probably pansexual and polyamorous.
Well you see Ethan heard the first time she screamed it. The whole damn world heard the first time. Now she’s just double checking that he got the message.
Perhaps Becky doesn’t worry about her mothers opinion or maybe she thinks she’ll accept it and no worries. Hence, all Dad focused discussion.
It is unusual that her father could haul her out of school in the middle of the semester: even if he doesn’t pay for the rest of the year. If she’s 18 it should be her call. On the other hand, Christian private may have own rules.
Heaven only knows what Becky will do with the knowledge that Joyce is/was dating a gay man. She may not believe that Joyce is gay, or she may think that’s she’s a liar, or that she’s a beard. With Becky, who knows?
Be interesting to see how this works out with Ethan and Becky. Maybe Becky will give him some balls and he will give her some sensitivity.
At Andersen, students with less than a certain amount of credits (I think 80) have to live on campus. They charge dorm fees per month, so Becky’s dad could have just refused to pay the dorm fee. Not paying for dorms = not living on campus = can’t be in school, since Becky certainly doesn’t have 80 credits as a first semester freshman.
I definitely read it as “it’s just my dad [that’s a problem],” although her mom being dead would explain why she has no one- she could still call her mom, otherwise.
I read the text and imagined for a moment it was Sal saying Becky’s words. Maybe not in the same accent, but still. Think the two of them would be cute as friends.
Oh, that’s what she’d say, yeah, because Sal is unwilling to let anyone see her liking anyone. But I bet she’d develop a pretty quick respect for Becky’s defiance of her dad, plus her general reluctance to give a shit about stuff.
Sal can barely tolerate Joyce, and she is the well socialized of the two as well as adorable. I think Sal would throw Becky in the general direction of Malaya and hope for the best.
Whoa, Becky meeting Malaya. That is a highly entertaining thought. I keep assuming Becky is the solution to Daisy’s loneliness, but any encounter between her and Malaya would surely sell more popcorn.
I don’t know; I think it’s less ‘Sal barely tolerates Joyce’ and more that ‘Sal sees Joyce as a sometimes-annoying puppy who is adorable but not quite housebroken yet’. She’s never really snapped at Joyce, and she’s done a lot of little kind things: signing up with ‘Joyce dresses everyone today’ without a blink, rescuing Joyce from Walky being a jerk by making him stop, seemingly willingly sitting next to her in math class every day. And let’s not forget that even though it was probably mostly the joy of the moment, Sal shared her good quiz grade with Joyce first.
I might go so far as to say that Sal likes Joyce better than she thinks she does.
That’s a good point. I retract my earlier statement. When you put it like that, Sal also took time to tutor Joyce in the art of being cool which is just adorable.
I still stand by my point that Becky is too similar to Walky for Sal not to be annoyed by it, though.
That I agree with. Joyce is sweet and generally harmless, and even her offensiveness is 1) out of entirely correctable ignorance and 2) immediately apologized for and corrected as soon as she really understands. So far Becky’s offensiveness has not been mitigated by any particular care for others – which depending on the circumstance can be seen either as ‘telling it like it is!’ or ‘so rude!’ and I can see either one irritating the hell out of Sal.
Also, given Sal’s struggles and hard work, and probable insecurity about her intelligence, I doubt Becky’s ‘Wow, I thought you’d be stupid!’ comment earned Becky any points despite being technically a compliment.
Actually she “hoped” Sal would be stupid, which isn’t much better. Given the choice between baseless assumptions and spite from acquaintances, I’d prefer neither.
And tech support, and manly hugs, and wise paternal advice…
Though I doubt Toerag McBecky’sDad provided those. Well, maybe the hugs.
Come to think of it, he must be pretty torn up about this whole mess too. His wife is dead, and now he gets blindsided by his daughter’s homosexuality? That might shock anyone, let alone someone with so little family left (Becky’s an only child, right?) who views gayness as a sinful abomination.
That’s a pretty good point. One I had not initially thought of… As much of an ass as he has been I kind of hope he comes around eventually because he realizes that having a relationship with his daughter, and only family left, is more important than some outdated and, in my own Christian opinion, completely wrong belief in the damnation of homosexual peoples.
Of course he is torn up. “Oh woe, my bad parenting made my child chose the path of sin. It’s not too late. If you just let me, Becky, we can help each other, there are these camps that…”
And that’s when I stop regard him as a distraught parent and starts regard him as a toe-shaped butthole.
Anger is not an unusual way to react to fear, or regret or loss of control or whatever. He would probably have reacted the same way if Becky did drugs or took up drunk driving or whatever transgression we would deem to be an acceptable cause to pull her out of school for. In his mind he’s acting in such a justified manner.
But it doesn’t matter how sad or woeful or regretful or frightened or loving or righteous or whatever he is – he is still betraying the trust his child should be able to place in him. He might be angry for the disobedience or he might be terrified that his child is going to hell, I don’t care, neither makes his actions any more excusable.
This observation might bite me in the ass in a day or two, but I feel like Willis is actively trying to keep Becky’s appearances relatively angst-free right now, aside from the obvious awkwardness of her talking to Ethan about gay stuff. After her ordeal with Toebutt McPornstache and before she starts dealing with her uncertain future or finds out about Joyce’s terrible world of Ryans, it’s probably best if she gets a little room to breathe and talk about boobies.
Becky in panel three has my favorite Becky face so far. David, can you make that the next Becky avatar, please?
Ehn. I’ve been in positions in my life where everything had crumbled apart, and the only thing I could do to retain sanity was to just focus on light and superficial stuff, ignoring the big horrible problems entirely.
So… I can kind of see why Becky’s acting this way instead of freaking out about her uncertain future.
Fair enough. The relationship is useful for both Joyce and eathan. No joyce didn’t agree to it at first, being his beard I mean. However, she needs him and he wants her for now. Joyce is not being held back by him, though he is providing a support for her. Do you really think she’s ready to try dating after only a few weeks ago she was raped? It takes time to heal, and being with someone who isn’t a threat is helpful. Ethan is not ready to come out because he doesn’t want to cut ties with his family yet. he does need to make a choice eventually, (being probably a few months) but right now he wants to figure out for himself that he can live with his family being less supportive (even financially, you do realize he may not be there on scholarships and he may have school as a priority) College is not only about finding out about ones self, it’s about makeing yourself the best version of you you want to be. Ethan isn’t ready to go in that direction yet, and joyce is just starting.
This is great and all but I really want Jocelyn to be a main character now please! That or more Becky Ethan banter. I want to pretend the love triangle with Amber Danny and Ethan isn’t still a thing.
And that answers that question. Her father has no legal power over her. If he tries to force her back, they’re legally allowed to beat the crap out of him in defense of a third party.
Becky and Ethan can be each other’s beards. That way they’d be protecting each other while continuing to be themselves.
I still think that if Becky decides to stay at Indiana, she should room with Sal. Sal has a free bed due to Billie unofficially moving out, and while a bit obnoxious at first, Sal could warm up to Becky given Becky’s recent history of rebelling against authority.
Becky could even be the bridge that gets Joyce’s and Sal’s group a bit closer as friends, giving all sorts of possible interactions between them. There will also be a tighter circle of friends surrounding Joyce, Ethan, Becky, and Billie (and by extension, Ruth) if trouble ever occurs. This also puts Amber closer to Sal because of the strengthened connections via Danny, and perhaps gives the two a stable ground to possibly talk things out.
Ignoring the beards part (see crumplepunch), this also made me think, that would help with Sal’s friend possessiveness, maybe. Meeting someone new, and also someone with a forever best friend who has made new friends.
Especially since she was raised around boys (and Jocelyne, but she doesn’t know that yet). My brother and I shared a bathroom, and I’ve gotten in the habit of yelling “I’m pooping, butthead, be patient!”
Although I think she mentioned she had her own bathroom?
Yeah, but she’s talking “adult time” as Daniel the Human apparently has called it since he was a kid. They say second, but it’s several minutes, they say it’ll be a minute, but it turns into 15ish, just a few is an hour…
He tries to avoid it, but I catch him out every now & again. He’s pretty good at avoiding it tho…
Just remember, if Becky completely settles down and becomes a fully realized character in a week in-strip, that’s still several months down the road. I counsel patience.
Plus, there’s no point in hurrying up character development this early – it would leave no more room for that character to grow. Then you get Garfield.
There is a category of dads that are worth giving up boobies for. But I can’t think of a scenario where the dad DEMANDING you give up boobies doesn’t immediately disqualify him from that category.
I kinda suspected that Becky’s mom might not be around, but having it confirmed is really saddening.
Also I agree with Becky: I prefer boobs to my father. Of course, my father makes tasteless jokes and thinks he’s funny, so…
translation: be true to yourself and be proud of who you are. If anyone (especially those who claim to love you) doesn’t support you in that or even actively DISCOURAGES you from being who you are, they aren’t worth having in your life.
Good on ya, Becky, for realizing this and being the one to teach this to Ethan and Joyce. In a really awesome way.
Burying herself into another craze now that generalised religious beliefs couldn’t sustain her happiness? Yep, sounds like a teenager whose mental age is lower than her physical one.
And here, before you have a go at me over that, I get the impression that that’s a quality of being segregated into ANY kind of closed-minded group. School cliques for another example.
I doubt her reflection is going to be easy for Becky, but I won’t empathise with her even a fifth as much as I did when Joyce was confronted with her sense of sexuality & it’s ingrained shame. (There was a shower scene. No, not that kind!)
Some people have different priorities. I don’t agree that people should be told what they should do with thier lives in order to fulfil themselves. They need to discover that on their own and make their own choices.
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“Of course, my dad IS a boob, but that doesn’t count, ’cause only the one”
Well, I thought he was a toe.
He’s shaped like a toe “butt” he’s actually an ass.
He can be both! Don’t limit boobie toe dad to your little boxes! );
Most dads in the comic are some sort of body part.
Some, like Blaine, are either a dick or an ass.
I believe the term fuckhead fits him better…
I refrain from calling any of them dicks. Somebody might get clever and say one should treat them with deferens.
Either that, or something in the same vein.
Those are vas-tly different things.
Urine for a world of hurt!!
Is this a relation growing? I think so!
Or the best support group ever.
The “I kissed a Joyce and my parents can’t accept the extent to which I liked it” support group.
That sounds like yet another unpopular Katy Perry cover
This…this will not end well.
Maybe Becky can help Ethan get the self confidence to embrace his love for dicks.
I’m actually thinking this little exchange could turn out very well. You might be thinking of Joyce, but so long as Ethan doesn’t leave out his complicity in the earlier sham when he explains, things should be a-ok.
I’m actually hoping if/when Ethan comes out to Becky, the perspective of someone who’s also gay but not into chicks will help stabilize her.
That’s why I’m optimistic here. Each of them has a viewpoint that the other needs to hear. Ethan’s more likely to consider the realities of dealing with questionable/nonexistent support from the family units. Becky will show him it’s okay to go after some cock… if he doesn’t get hung up on how Becky’s made damn near all of her interactions for the entire day about her love of boobies.
I can’t imagine Ethan will go so far as to explain his own situation. If he starts pressing this issue too hard though Becky will probably take offense. Like say if he were to imply Becky’s decision is poorly thought out, that she doesn’t really understand what it can be like living as an openly gay person, or anything like that.
If anything it’ll be more abrasive since Becky will assume he’s just some straight guy mouthing off about how gay people ought to conduct themselves.
There goes my optimism. Nice while it lasted.
It’d still be good for Becky, since someone needs to confront her about the realities of her situation sooner rather than later.
It probably won’t be Ethan though, he’s not very good at giving harsh truths. Probably Sarah or Dorothy.
Actually, I kind of want Amber to talk to Becky. Both have jerky dads.
I’m kinda hoping for Sarah. Like Becky’s continuing on how she has been, wasting free money on stupid things and being loud and obnoxious and Sarah just has enough and explains the reality to her. Doesn’t need to eb rude, doesn’t need to make her less cool with herself or less happy, just need some sense.
And that’s been largely Sarah’s function. The tough-but-loving Big Sis. Her giving Becky the run down in that manner would indicate to me at least that she’s adopted a second Little Sis. Sarah doesn’t bother with stuff she doesn’t care about.
You forget that neither of these guys are very antagonistic. Ethan is much more likely to subtly ask more about Becky’s reasoning than to assume he knows better. Becky is much more likely to either change subject, laugh it off, or shut it down than to get irked by Ethan of all people.
Yeah, and Ethan’s usually pretty sensitive to delicate subjects. He knows that not all parents are worth keeping around and I think he knows not to probe too deeply into that sort of stuff just in case.
Still, he’s pretty personally invested in this particular subject. They both are. Deeply invested with opposing viewpoints. Conversation could definitely go sour.
But it might end hilariously. If Becky realises he’s gay she’s not going to assume Joyce is trying to de-gay him at his own urging, she’s going to laugh, go for a high five and loudly announce to Joyce that her boyfriends’ a ‘mo like her.
…a ” ‘mo “? Abbreviation of what?
‘Homo’. And not ‘sapiens’.
I’m a little worried she’ll out him. That is how I see it ending poorly.
Out him to who? They’re in Joyce’s room and both Joyce and Sarah, and now Walky and Dorothy, already know.
Everybody.
The whole cafeteria. Total strangers. Joyce’s whole hall. Ethan’s whole hall. Ethan’s room mate. Anyone within earshot of the window. Everybody.
Hey, everyone, this guy you don’t know is gay!
We don’t care *immediately forgets*
Dunno. *Maybe* it will, but it’ll certainly get worse before it gets better.
If you are reading this comment, try really hard not to think about your dad with boobs.
Leslie’s kids in shortpacked don’t need to imagine that.
Did Robin or Leslie identify as a father?
I think technically Leslie was the father.
You are correct, sir.
Robin is the mother, Leslie is the father, and Ethan is the surrogate penis.
We call those moobs.
That’s easy for me. I’m having trouble what the guy looks like WITHOUT boobs.
On this tangent, think if Jocelyne ever comes out to her parents as trans, it might be effective to make her dad wear fake breasts for a day. He will be super uncomfortable and Jocelyne can be all “Yeah Dad, that’s about how I feel EVERY DAMN DAY.”
My dad was built like a rail. Even if he’d had some, he wouldn’t have.
Huh. Maybe Ethan’s going to be the one to help with the long-term planning stuff.
Ethan doesn’t know how to talk to Becky.
“But… bo-“
“I like boobies” should be the title of book…whatever this strip will be in
Book 5. It’s in the URL.
It’s the title of my autobiography.
There probably is a few people who would also like yo use that title…
One can’t really argue with the logic.
I know, right? Boobs are pretty damn good.
Ethan: “I really don’t get you, Becky.”
heh, poop
everybody does it
Well…she has a point!
I count at least five points that she has. We are talking about her new hair-style, right?
She looks like she’s wearing a giant leaf on her head.
Actually, Ethan has the point. She has an opening specifically designed to fit the point though.
Just because the screw is phillips, doesn’t mean you can’t use a slot. Or even use the ‘driver has a pry-bar.
There are tools that use a opening to hold an adapter to work with the screw… 😉
I wonder if Ethan feels kinda cowardly compared to Becky after hearing this from her.
Really I wonder why…oh right.
I’m pretty sure at this point he’s feeling cowardly next to Joyce. Pretty much everyone is handling his homosexuality better than he is.
Except his parents.
From what’s been revealed in previous strips it sounds like Ethan’s family wasn’t much better at dealing with him coming out.
Ethan’s parents are full of shit.
But despite everything they came to parents weekend, told their son they still loved him, and shelled out the money for him to go to college by himself with no safeguards against dude-loving.
I think that is way alot much better at dealing than pulling your daughter out of school to ‘fix’ her, and cutting her off when she doesn’t listen.
To be fair, his mom only says she loves him after he says he has a girlfriend.
But yeah, you have an excellent point. Ethan is going against his parents religious views too, but they didn’t cut him off and still came to visit.
Of course, Ethan’s mom is still in full displacement mode, focusing a bunch of anger at Amber.
I interpreted that strip as Naomi being surprised that Ethan could think that they didn’t like him anymore, and rushing to reassure him that they do (and then negating it immediately by spouting more BS). Does it matter, though? Ethan might be loved, but he clearly doesn’t feel loved, and for good reason. That’s probably the part that Naomi should be paying attention to.
but tl;dr I know people who have been disowned and that’s the line for me. It really takes an incredible amount of cruelty to do something like that, whatever the reasons. As long as your talking with your kids and trying to come to an understanding of one another, you can mess up. But when you give up on your kids completely, like Ross – it’s just incomparable to the kind of mistakes Ethan’s family is making.
So continuing emotional abuse is better than just ending it for good?
Abusers don’t see their behavior as abuse, usually – Ross probably believes he’s using ‘tough love’ on a child who’s dangerously close to ruining her life. That’s why it’s usually the abusee who ends the abusive relationship.
Ross probably doesn’t even see their relationship as ‘over’ – he just views financial severance as an escalation in their battle for control. Like most control freaks, he figures if he just escalates high enough, the other will give in, and accept his dominance. It’s how they learn to parent, and it has always worked in the past. Nevermind that it leads to kids that hate their parents…
So it’s kinda like Blaine’s relationship with Amber, except as far as we know Ross has never physically harmed Becky.
Yeah, I agree with this. Probably Ross thinks Becky will come crawling back and everything will be peachy keen between them. (He failed to factor in that Becky is his daughter and thus unlikely to give into anything.)
Ross should be able to tell that this isn’t just any other escalation of their battle though. It’s one thing if he’s arguing with Becky and trying to convince her that blah-blah-blah girl-loving is wrong. But saying she must go somewhere to be ‘fixed’ or she’s out on her own is a threat on her livelihood. That’s not trying to get your kid to understand and agree with your POV. People operating under duress aren’t really agreeing. That’s just trying to get your kid to do what you want, no questions asked.
In some ways Ethan’s probably having a harder time with his parents than Becky with hers, for exactly this reason. Is it better to receive a larger burden you can throw away, or a smaller one you feel you have to carry? Can’t say. And probably differs depending on the person going through the struggle and all. But from the perspective of what was given: the message Becky’s father is giving is that his principles are more important to him than knowing his child is safe and fed and educated, and the message that Ethan’s mom is giving is that her principles aren’t.
I’m holding out hope Becky’s mom is not a total shitbag and is willing to keep her in college or come home fixed or not.
Becky’s mom may technically be a literal shitbag, as she is currently fertilizer.
Confirmed for wormchow. I’m… not sure if that’s a better or worse relationship than the one with her father.
You should be a grief counselor, Willis.
He and Randy Milholland could team up and write a children’s book about losing a parent.
“There’s No One Left Alive to Unconditionally Love You,” a Willis/Milholland collaboration
That sentence conjures up the weirdest mental image of Becky’s parents…
And now I’ve gone and drawn it.
http://psibakaonna.tumblr.com/image/112592552651
Damn you Willis, making me draw Ross…
lol
So would Jesus’ remains be Miracle Grow then
“How was work today, honey?”
“The strangest thing happened today. Some big guy came in, saw a bag of fertilizer, and completely flipped out. He yelled at us, claiming we’d done something to his wife, then he grabbed the bag of fertilizer and bolted! Steve was out in the parking lot, and swore that the guy was talking to that bag of fertilizer as he was getting in his car.”
“…uhh”
“Our reaction, exactly”
I don’t think ANYONE would want to see their “personal time”… O_O
Didn’t Joyce mention that it was her “parents” who didn’t let her have a cell phone?
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/sarcasm/
Has Ross remarried or just a retcon?
If it hasn’t been that long since Becky’s mom died she still might be in the habit of using the plural.
I’m still in the habit of referring to “my grandparents” despite the fact that my grandpa died five years ago
IMO, Becky’s situation is way worse.
Not that there’s anything great about Ethan’s parents (or at least mom) stubbornly denying his sexuality and being passive-aggressively “disappointed” or whatever, but at they didn’t pull him out of school and try to cart him off to get “fixed”.
That said, the fact that Ethan’s parents may have the capacity to fully accept him some day means he’d feel guilty writing them off entirely, so their bullshit will probably persist for some time, which is obviously not great either. 🙁
Ah yes, Dad “lie back and think of England” Siegal. You know, it kind of makes me wonder about the household Naomi grew up in, that she automatically assumes that any development in a (hetero) relationship originates with the woman. Like, what is/was Ethan’s grandmother like, or is Naomi just that bullheaded?
“You’re only gay/lesbian because you haven’t found the right girl/boy” and “You’re only gay/lesbian because someone hurt you” are pretty common ideas.
I’m aware. My thyroid doctor keeps telling me I might meet a nice boy one day. Granted an endocrinologist is a bit more vested in the “fixing” of asexuality, but it’s not exactly a priority and we’ve been over…and over…and over…my opinion that it isn’t something that needs to be fixed. I’ve told him that if I’ve got numerical levels of whatever that need sorting out or there will be long-term health consequences, then we can talk, but boosting my libido won’t change the fact that I don’t want to bang anyone…anyway.
I was more referring to Naomi practically blaming Amber for Ethan being gay. Though I guess that’s a roundabout way of saying she blamed her for not being the right woman for Ethan or something.
HE SHOULD. ETHAN IS THE bongoIEST bongo THIS SIDE OF bongoLAND.
He just wants to bang on his drums all day.
And occasionally bang Danny and/or Jacob too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1YB8oOLsjw
Bang The Drum All Day – Todd Rundgren
Alright I’ll keep it PC. I can take a hint.
Oh, I thought you were “bongo”ing on purpose
Me too. 😀
Oh, did you miss the bongo filter going in?
Yeah, it’s just that particular one word being autofiltered. Use other words! It raises your swearing game to the next level!
Honestly I don’t think he understands why Becky did what she did at all and thinks her choice was pretty stupid. Ethan has pretty much always seen his sexuality as second to friends, families, and toy robots. (And it’s fine if it’s not first priority, but Ethan’s making the mistake of thinking he can or should disregard it completely.)
Probably he’s just feeling lucky that his parents, however badly they are handling things, are not the nightmare that is Becky’s dad.
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I don’t see Becky’s dad being worse than Ethan’s mom making her actions and statements less disgusting. She hasn’t told Ethan that she knows a place where he can be fixed. That’s the only advantage she has so far. She has however made it explicitly clear that she consider him a disappointment. She told him so very recently in fact.
Of course at some point in the comic she could change her mind, but we have absolutely no implication that she’ll do so. Based on the evidence we have, she is horrible. Not as bad as Becky’s dad, but horrible none the less.
“he pulled me out of school”
I’ve been confused for a while now–how was he even able to do that if she’s 18?
Christian school. Girls are viewed as owned by their parents until they find a husband. Yes, even after they turn 18.
wow that’s…not actually surprising. still sad
You ought to read about the “quiverfull” movement
Which I first learned about, perhaps appropriately, from a Charlie Stross novel before I realised it was a real thing.
Apocalypse Codex?
Is that like a Protestan Opus Dei? Like, no contraception or family planning, just have as much offspring as God will send?
…that a fact or are you kidding ? Because I don’t think that’s true.
Naw, I’m just messing around. But Christian universities don’t take kindly to premarital hanky-panky, and some will expel you if you get caught in the act.
Most of them will make you leave the dorms, but not the school.
Ohh OK I wasn’t sure if you were or not sorry about that , but ya certain Christian institutes tend to act rashly over situations like this. The community as hole doesn’t really agree with it but this still happens
Had a bit of a kerfuffle over here in Nova Scotia this past summer: the provincial bar association was trying to have certification from Trinity College in BC declared invalid in the province (and Ontario), since while they will nominally accept gay students, all their students have to swear to only have heterosexual sex (and even then, only within marriage) for the rest of their lives.
In the end the province agreed that was a shitty thing to do but decided they couldn’t invalidate the legal training because of it.
I’m so excited every time I hear about this, because fuck Trinity Western.
Well, this wasn’t an expulsion. But, it is pretty hard to stay if the person paying tuition decides that you’re leaving.
It depends on the type of Christian. It’s not a rule for Andersen University though; my friend went there. It’s a regular old liberal arts college, albeit small and with Christian theology taught throughout the different subjects. Becky’s dad was able to pull her out of school because he was paying, and Becky was not. No cash = no college.
Is that an actual law or just tradition?
If they were paying for it, easy.
He’s paying for it? No money = no classes.
I guess you weren’t paying attention in Gender Studies class.
The same way Sarah’s old roommate was? It’s pretty simple when you’re the one paying for everything.
Even I, someone who’s effectively paying for college, signs my mom’s name off on everything because it assists with the loan process.
No job no scholarship, someone was probably paying.
Stop paying the checks, basically. If Becky doesn’t have some sort of full-ride scholarship, she’s out the door. Dad assumed she had no other options than coming home.
Also, I’m just gonna say: Of the parents, only Dorothy’s and Dina’s get to stay on the island, and Amber’s mom. The rest of them can just swim for some other landmass, and Amber’s dad… well, he can be useful for shark bait, I suppose.
Getting chummy with the fishes. I like the idea.
Emphasis on the “CHUM” part. if you want good shark bait, it helps if they’re in the area…
Danny’s seemed alright, and I have hopes for some of Joyce’s progress rubbing off on her parents.
Dany’s parens talk o him the same way the fanbase does. Think about the opinion of the fanbase and why that’s definitely not okay to think and say to your child.
Weren’t Sierra’s parents also fairly cool and helpful in the one strip they were in?
Ooh, I’d kind of forgotten about Sierra’s folks, but yeah, they can stay. After all, you bring up a kid as awesome as Sierra, you’ve gotta be doing something right.
I know Joe’s dad was embarrassing, but I don’t recall him actually being a terrible person.
I believe Joe mentioned wishing he could say his dad’s behavior began *after* the divorce. Not quite up to Blaine levels, but not exactly father/husband of the year either.
I believe the implication from his brief appearance with Joe is that he was unfaithful to his wife.
Also, guy’s pretty obviously the root cause of Joe’s issues with expressing himself.
What did the Warners do wrong, besides giving the world Mike?
Well I was expecting this exchange but it doesn’t have the impact I was hoping for.
Eh, give it a few strips for things to happen.
Becky wants to have some impact with Joyce.
Bow-chika-bow-wow…
…So I can’t help but wonder…did Joyce take her vest off just to go to the bathroom?…
You don’t wanna know how ugly it might get in there.
I don’t wanna, but I do.
Just be thankful if the shower never gets involved.
Its not really weird to take your jacket off in your own home.
Well jackets sure that’s different. I mean that vest was more like an outer bra than a jacket. Sorta like how superheros wear their underwear on the outside.
… I take of my vest or cardigan when I get home…
Okay fair enough.
Also the fucks a cardigan? (I mean I could google it but nah)
It’s one of those thin, knit button-ups, sort of halfway between a blouse and a sweater.
Here, I googled cardigan for women, because the results that come up for just cardigans are kind of lame mens cardigans (I mean guy’s cardigana can look nice, but the ones that come up on google are just okay.)
https://www.google.com/search?q=cardigan&client=ms-android-att-us&espv=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sboxchip=Images&sa=X&ei=sUj1VIeZDsmZgwT0v4K4CA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=360&bih=559#sboxchip=Images&tbm=isch&q=cardigan+for+women&revid=276983173
I have to ask: are you American? Because I haven’t met an American who didn’t know what a cardigan is. Even my fashion-challenged fiance knows what one is, hahaha. If so, which state are you from, and what do they call it there. If nut, what country are you from, and do they have a word for it there? Ever since I learned some places in Canada call hoodies “bunnyhugs”, I want to know what different people call clothing items <3
Oh yeah I’m an American. I mean I’ve heard the word before I just never actually knew what the hell it was. Actually I’ve seen em before too, I probably just called em a coat or something like that.
But if you wanna know about people calling clothing something different what we call a hoodie the Japanese call a parka.
I was in that situation, but after Dolores Umbridge was repeatedly mentioned as wearing an awful pink one Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix I looked it up.
When I was a kid and they weren’t as ubiquitous as they are now, we called them Kangaroo jackets (because of the pocket in front). But I guess around 20 years ago ‘hoodie’ started to sneak in there, and I don’t even think I’ve heard ‘kangaroo jacket’ in the past ten.
I should probably follow this up by noting that yes parka was taken from English they just used it for the wrong thing.
(Or at least I think it was English. I can at the very least assure you it’s a foreign loan word.)
Ah, yes. Most of my wardrobe is from Angelic Pretty, which is a Japanese company, so I have a bunch of “parkas” and “cutsews”and “salopettes”
Huh. That was neat. I’d always assumed “parka” was Inuit; but it ends up that while “anorak” is, “parka” is actually from an indigenous Russian people.
Which is weird because in Canada here I’ve only heard us use “parka” (or “winter coat”); always assumed “anorak” was strictly an American thing. Go Wikipedia!
Tried to think what the American term for cardigan was myself (I’m Canadian so I’m used to the whole bathrobe/housecoat flannel/facecloth/wash cloth flip-flops/thong thing) and drew a blank. I don’t think I’ve ever hard an alternate term for them. ‘Button-down sweater jacket’? That just seems clunky…
I’m pretty sure that the American term for ‘cardigan’ is ‘cardigan’. That’s what I’ve always called them, anyway. But then I live less than 200 miles from Canada, so possibly WA has a few Canadianisms.
Yup, the American word for cardigan is cardigan. I think MeghanTheWorldEater just happened to not be familiar with the term. They were cardigans back when Mr. Rogers was still on the air and if you search for cardigans on Amazon.com, they still come up (and they’re also on various shopping websites I visit), so they’re still around today. 🙂 I have four in my office at work.
It’s a Mr. Rogers sweater.
Hah it kinda is.
Cardigan is any full front opening sweater, also sometimes called a button-down. Non opening sweaters are pull-overs. If it only opens halfway, I just call it a pain in the butt 😀
Stupid knitter’s joke: Cop sees a lady speeding down the road. He looks, sees her busily knitting away, her hands not even on the wheel. He pulls up beside her and hollers into her open window, ” Pull over!”
“No!,” she calls back, “Cardigan!”
Ha! I like the joke!
Side note: I don’t know if this is universal, but before we called hoodies by that name, we used to call them “zippies”, as in a sweatshirt that zipped up in the front instead of one that you had to pull over your head.
*plays “Love Me Do” on the Muzak*
Wasn’t someone just yesterday speculating on the existence of pantsless Joyce?
No such thing. She’s just sitting in a chair in her skin tone slacks.
Ethan: Boobs are great!..yeah…You know how a breast feels like..like a bag of sand?
“It’s ok guy. I know Joyce won’t let you round 2nd base that quickly. No need to fake it.”
I wonder if Becky means that only her dad knows or that her mother is deceased. Hm.
Also, I never realized how convenient bunk beds could be for staging scenes with tall people
Hoping against hope that Becky’s mom is actually totally cool with her liking ladies.
pretty sure Becky’s mom isn’t a factor in her life. Probably dead but maybe long gone.
Willis stated somewhere above that she’s long since wormfood.
This is as close as the link goes, but a little bit down in this chain Mr Willis confirms she’s dead & buried. Unless they introduce zombies in here (and I have seen unofficial artwork of it too), I doubt we’re gonna meet her, probably not even then. It seems like it was a while ago, probably too decayed to get out by now…
Someone knows they’re priorities.
The best priorities!
Don’t you mean the breast priorities?
Becky is indeed priorities.
Toilet priorities?
Priorititties?
Hear Hear. I also like boobs more than my dad.
Same.
Agreed!
I concur!
Indeed my Friend Tititeis are truly a wonderful and beautiful thing in this world
I believe my dad and I have an equal appreciation for boobs.
Ha! Language jokes!
Sorry, I’ll go.
You could say you both enjoy a piece of that pai.
Other languages jokes!
Nice!
Up top! ^5
Joyce sure spends a lot of time being distraught on the toilet.
When you’re pissed off or just dealing with emotional shit, the toilet is the best place to be.
I prefer the animal pens. Wrathful energy is pretty productive when applied by a pitchfork and wheelbarrow to mucking out the place.
Alternatively, the dojo is good, but it’s easier to go overboard and hurt oneself there.
For some reason I thought of animal-themed writing instruments instead.
You realize just how crappy that joke was? Totally piss-weak…
Is it weird that I totally agree with that?
Watching Becky and Ethan interact made me realize that Becky willingly kissed someone in a committed relationship in the hopes of getting Joyce to break up with Ethan and get together with her instead.
That’s… not really cool.
It isn’t that bad when you remember that Becky assumed that Joyce was closeted and using Ethan as a beard, for which she had some legit evidence (since Joyce WAS using Ethan as a beard, just not for being gay).
Yeah, she honestly thought Joyce loved her back, and Joyce does, but just not in the same way.
Personally I’d still frown on interfering with anybody’s relationship unless it’s clearly toxic to one or multiple parties involved. Whether or not Joyce was actually gay shouldn’t have been a factor.
Plus Becky didn’t actually have any evidence.
I mean, she needed to confront her feelings and kissing Joyce was one way to do it, but outside of the Interests of Becky it’s not a very nice move.
People have a tendency to not care about the feelings of strangers. Especially when they’ve convinced themselves they’re right and the other people’s feelings are fake anyway.
I’m with you on that one. It was am emotionally charged moment though, but if it was a guy who kissed Joyce, I think a lot more people would feel for Joyce rather than Becky.
Becky’s not really a very positive character though, is she? She’s like the poster child of what not to do or say in so many areas. I really can’t wait for Sarah to lose all patience…
Becky comes from the same background Joyce does. If Joyce hasn’t lost patience with Joyce’s utter lack of tact, don’t hold your breath too long on that.
I hope Becky and Ethan become friends! Could always use more gay guy/lesbian friendships in the media! Right now you’d assume they don’t exist if you watch TV or something lol, but they really, really do 😉
Well this settles why Becky was wearing the same outfit when she arrived that she was wearing in the last scene of her flashbacks. She didn’t even get home to change.
Who needs home when you have long lonely bus rides? woo…
There were Joyce-hugs in the end of the ride, so that’s worth it.
Can’t argue with that logic.
I’m more of a thigh and ass person myself.
Turn this into a homosexual joke and I’ll send you to the void dimension!
Well you know what they say.
“The thighs the limit”.
Can I be sent to the Butts dimension instead? Sure it smells bad but the scenery is wonderful.
So basically the “baby got back” music video
I suppose a mammal like timemonkey wants to go to a place like that, but the same cannot be said for our reptilian friends. I know my anaconda don’t.
Actually the Butts dimension is more likely controlled by Yelling Bird than Sir Mix-a-lot.
We can turn it into a chicken joke.
I personally prefer drumsticks.
I don’t think jokes have sexual orientations to be honest. Though…. who knows, ‘knock knock who’s there’ jokes always feel straight to me, while ‘3 people walk into a bar’ jokes are probably pansexual and polyamorous.
….. I took this too far, didn’t I? :p
[insert joke here]
“Very funny. was that joke pansexual?@
*blank stares*
“Hey. Did you hear? I’m a lesbian.”
This is probably the most subdued Becky has been about the topic thus far.
Well you see Ethan heard the first time she screamed it. The whole damn world heard the first time. Now she’s just double checking that he got the message.
As opposed to just shouting it again, which is a thing she would totally do– and has totally done.
No she wou-…okay fine she would >.>
Be true to yourself, Becky, and by extension, to boobs.
…Only then can you become one with the boobs…
*motorboats*
Can’t argue with her there.
Perhaps Becky doesn’t worry about her mothers opinion or maybe she thinks she’ll accept it and no worries. Hence, all Dad focused discussion.
It is unusual that her father could haul her out of school in the middle of the semester: even if he doesn’t pay for the rest of the year. If she’s 18 it should be her call. On the other hand, Christian private may have own rules.
Heaven only knows what Becky will do with the knowledge that Joyce is/was dating a gay man. She may not believe that Joyce is gay, or she may think that’s she’s a liar, or that she’s a beard. With Becky, who knows?
Be interesting to see how this works out with Ethan and Becky. Maybe Becky will give him some balls and he will give her some sensitivity.
At Andersen, students with less than a certain amount of credits (I think 80) have to live on campus. They charge dorm fees per month, so Becky’s dad could have just refused to pay the dorm fee. Not paying for dorms = not living on campus = can’t be in school, since Becky certainly doesn’t have 80 credits as a first semester freshman.
Her Mom’s dead. “It’s just my Dad” can’t be read too many different ways.
I definitely read it as “it’s just my dad [that’s a problem],” although her mom being dead would explain why she has no one- she could still call her mom, otherwise.
Yeah, Mr Willis confirmed she’s dead further along the comments chains, starting from this post.
Still had the link saved, figured may as well use it…
Lookie, Becky! And she is a lesbian! Yey!
Becky has no mommy and her father is a butt. Booo.
Becky and Ethan are bonding. Yey!
Ethan is getting scared further into the closet. Booo.
I’m not sure he’s being scared further into the closet. Becky’s kinda sending a ‘there’s worse things than being disowned by asshole parents’ message.
In that case – yey!
And that boobs are awesome – Yay 🙂
becky is fantastic
Boobies are pretty awesome.
S’pretty simple: she’s got bigger balls than you, Ethan.
Yes, I know that was mean.
I read the text and imagined for a moment it was Sal saying Becky’s words. Maybe not in the same accent, but still. Think the two of them would be cute as friends.
Not sure I buy it. I can’t see Sal lasting more than a couple of minutes without going “Do ya never shut up?”
Oh, that’s what she’d say, yeah, because Sal is unwilling to let anyone see her liking anyone. But I bet she’d develop a pretty quick respect for Becky’s defiance of her dad, plus her general reluctance to give a shit about stuff.
Sal can barely tolerate Joyce, and she is the well socialized of the two as well as adorable. I think Sal would throw Becky in the general direction of Malaya and hope for the best.
Not to mention how similar Becky is to Walky…
Whoa, Becky meeting Malaya. That is a highly entertaining thought. I keep assuming Becky is the solution to Daisy’s loneliness, but any encounter between her and Malaya would surely sell more popcorn.
What about Becky meeting Carla? There are all sorts of possible outcomes of those two having any interaction.
They’d make a heck of a prankster team
I don’t know; I think it’s less ‘Sal barely tolerates Joyce’ and more that ‘Sal sees Joyce as a sometimes-annoying puppy who is adorable but not quite housebroken yet’. She’s never really snapped at Joyce, and she’s done a lot of little kind things: signing up with ‘Joyce dresses everyone today’ without a blink, rescuing Joyce from Walky being a jerk by making him stop, seemingly willingly sitting next to her in math class every day. And let’s not forget that even though it was probably mostly the joy of the moment, Sal shared her good quiz grade with Joyce first.
I might go so far as to say that Sal likes Joyce better than she thinks she does.
That’s a good point. I retract my earlier statement. When you put it like that, Sal also took time to tutor Joyce in the art of being cool which is just adorable.
I still stand by my point that Becky is too similar to Walky for Sal not to be annoyed by it, though.
That I agree with. Joyce is sweet and generally harmless, and even her offensiveness is 1) out of entirely correctable ignorance and 2) immediately apologized for and corrected as soon as she really understands. So far Becky’s offensiveness has not been mitigated by any particular care for others – which depending on the circumstance can be seen either as ‘telling it like it is!’ or ‘so rude!’ and I can see either one irritating the hell out of Sal.
Also, given Sal’s struggles and hard work, and probable insecurity about her intelligence, I doubt Becky’s ‘Wow, I thought you’d be stupid!’ comment earned Becky any points despite being technically a compliment.
Actually she “hoped” Sal would be stupid, which isn’t much better. Given the choice between baseless assumptions and spite from acquaintances, I’d prefer neither.
Hah! Good point.
Boobies are nice, but I like food and a warm room too ._.
And tech support, and manly hugs, and wise paternal advice…
Though I doubt Toerag McBecky’sDad provided those. Well, maybe the hugs.
Come to think of it, he must be pretty torn up about this whole mess too. His wife is dead, and now he gets blindsided by his daughter’s homosexuality? That might shock anyone, let alone someone with so little family left (Becky’s an only child, right?) who views gayness as a sinful abomination.
That’s a pretty good point. One I had not initially thought of… As much of an ass as he has been I kind of hope he comes around eventually because he realizes that having a relationship with his daughter, and only family left, is more important than some outdated and, in my own Christian opinion, completely wrong belief in the damnation of homosexual peoples.
Of course he is torn up. “Oh woe, my bad parenting made my child chose the path of sin. It’s not too late. If you just let me, Becky, we can help each other, there are these camps that…”
And that’s when I stop regard him as a distraught parent and starts regard him as a toe-shaped butthole.
THe image of Becky’s dad in the flashback did NOT look at all sad or woeful or regretful. Just angry.
Anger is not an unusual way to react to fear, or regret or loss of control or whatever. He would probably have reacted the same way if Becky did drugs or took up drunk driving or whatever transgression we would deem to be an acceptable cause to pull her out of school for. In his mind he’s acting in such a justified manner.
But it doesn’t matter how sad or woeful or regretful or frightened or loving or righteous or whatever he is – he is still betraying the trust his child should be able to place in him. He might be angry for the disobedience or he might be terrified that his child is going to hell, I don’t care, neither makes his actions any more excusable.
Straight men, lesbians, bisexuals, and pansexuals all agree that boobies are pretty great.
A lot of the gay men of my acquaintance do too, actually.
Correction: everybody thinks boobies are pretty great.
Well yeah, look at them. So majestic.
That’s why boob physics are kinda a thing. lol
Wait, did you just give us the bird?
Well no, as an asexual haver of boobs, imo they’re pretty over-rated.
Except those with lower back problems. That’s what happens eventually when your bust is too big, right?
Infants, too!
Don’t forget some Cybertronians 😛
This observation might bite me in the ass in a day or two, but I feel like Willis is actively trying to keep Becky’s appearances relatively angst-free right now, aside from the obvious awkwardness of her talking to Ethan about gay stuff. After her ordeal with Toebutt McPornstache and before she starts dealing with her uncertain future or finds out about Joyce’s terrible world of Ryans, it’s probably best if she gets a little room to breathe and talk about boobies.
Becky in panel three has my favorite Becky face so far. David, can you make that the next Becky avatar, please?
Ehn. I’ve been in positions in my life where everything had crumbled apart, and the only thing I could do to retain sanity was to just focus on light and superficial stuff, ignoring the big horrible problems entirely.
So… I can kind of see why Becky’s acting this way instead of freaking out about her uncertain future.
… Oh, damn, you’re right. This is gonna come crashing down and it will be PAINFUL.
Meanwhile: Ethan’s ex girlfriend sits on the toilet and worries about how Ethan gets along with the friend she just left him alone with
She’s worried they’ll fly of to Gayland together or something.
That’s it, I’m breaking out the Scandinavia and the World reference (sometimes a bit risqué for work, but not this time. Always hilarious).
OMG SATW!
It’s been forever ago since I read that. I lost the link and forgot about it like two computers ago!
I don’t care what anyone else says, you’re all right in my book, Bagge.
Awwww, thank you Sailor. You’ll see, I said. I’ll show you, I’ll show you all. In Sailor’s book I’m all right. 🙂
For extra fun, check Humon’s other comics (links from the SATW page), but maybe not at work…
Aah, Scandinavia and the World <3
…
Wow, that’s cool catch.
Compared to the father she seems to have, I approve of her priority set.
Willis, I love you for writing this comic.
Not this strip. I mean, the comic in general.
YAY TAT TATS!!
Yay! Meeting of the minds – well, the gay ones I mean.
“Decide”
yeah. ethan……
Fair enough. The relationship is useful for both Joyce and eathan. No joyce didn’t agree to it at first, being his beard I mean. However, she needs him and he wants her for now. Joyce is not being held back by him, though he is providing a support for her. Do you really think she’s ready to try dating after only a few weeks ago she was raped? It takes time to heal, and being with someone who isn’t a threat is helpful. Ethan is not ready to come out because he doesn’t want to cut ties with his family yet. he does need to make a choice eventually, (being probably a few months) but right now he wants to figure out for himself that he can live with his family being less supportive (even financially, you do realize he may not be there on scholarships and he may have school as a priority) College is not only about finding out about ones self, it’s about makeing yourself the best version of you you want to be. Ethan isn’t ready to go in that direction yet, and joyce is just starting.
This is great and all but I really want Jocelyn to be a main character now please! That or more Becky Ethan banter. I want to pretend the love triangle with Amber Danny and Ethan isn’t still a thing.
I remember having similar feelings about my parents when I came out.
Somehow they did get me in the car, though.
And that answers that question. Her father has no legal power over her. If he tries to force her back, they’re legally allowed to beat the crap out of him in defense of a third party.
The thought makes me smile.
Dude’s built like a brick shithouse, though. They’ll wanna borrow Sarah’s bat.
Oh, we have someone here who is quite capable of dealing with beefy, abusive father-types, in a fully satisfying fashion.
Amazi-Girl, Amazi-Girl, does whatever an… Amazi… can.
Yup, worked better in my head.
When you said legally allowed to beat the crap out of him it made me think of this one
The hard part is where Becky can stay long-term and how to provide any income.
In other words, “Welcome to adulthood! And poverty, also like most of us.”
Was Becky even 18 yet? I was 17 for the first three months of freshman year.
Derp, she says so TODAY. I need my caffeine to kick in already.
She’s droppin’ the deuce.
Phrasing Becky! Phrasing! It sounds like you got an Electra Complex.
Oh! Oh! Idea!
Becky and Ethan can be each other’s beards. That way they’d be protecting each other while continuing to be themselves.
I still think that if Becky decides to stay at Indiana, she should room with Sal. Sal has a free bed due to Billie unofficially moving out, and while a bit obnoxious at first, Sal could warm up to Becky given Becky’s recent history of rebelling against authority.
Becky could even be the bridge that gets Joyce’s and Sal’s group a bit closer as friends, giving all sorts of possible interactions between them. There will also be a tighter circle of friends surrounding Joyce, Ethan, Becky, and Billie (and by extension, Ruth) if trouble ever occurs. This also puts Amber closer to Sal because of the strengthened connections via Danny, and perhaps gives the two a stable ground to possibly talk things out.
I need to make a venn diagram/web graph for this.
I’m 99% sure Becky is not interested in concealing the fact she is a lesbian.
“Um… hi mum, here is my NEW, new girlfriend, a friend of the last one. She is…”
“I’m a lesbian”
“Yeah…”
Sad part is his mom might think they’re trying to fix each other.
Ignoring the beards part (see crumplepunch), this also made me think, that would help with Sal’s friend possessiveness, maybe. Meeting someone new, and also someone with a forever best friend who has made new friends.
Come on. COME ON.
Prioritits.
Turn that into “Guys are great but it turns out I like boobies better!” and I think you could sell quite a lot of t-shirts…
Heck I’d buy five!
And it works as a unisex shirt, too!
I agree with the lesbian.
can’t help but wonder if Joyce normally announces how long until she is done while on the toilet
“Okay, so I ate like ten tacos today, so maybe just come back in an hour or so.”
She has several siblings, so bathroom time is probably in high demand in her house growing up. It’s probably a custom for her.
Or she’s just been hanging out too much with Walky.
Especially since she was raised around boys (and Jocelyne, but she doesn’t know that yet). My brother and I shared a bathroom, and I’ve gotten in the habit of yelling “I’m pooping, butthead, be patient!”
Although I think she mentioned she had her own bathroom?
Yeah, but she’s talking “adult time” as Daniel the Human apparently has called it since he was a kid. They say second, but it’s several minutes, they say it’ll be a minute, but it turns into 15ish, just a few is an hour…
He tries to avoid it, but I catch him out every now & again. He’s pretty good at avoiding it tho…
please, get becky her wake-up call to reality and character development soon, oh man.
COMPLETELY AGREE!!
Just remember, if Becky completely settles down and becomes a fully realized character in a week in-strip, that’s still several months down the road. I counsel patience.
Plus, there’s no point in hurrying up character development this early – it would leave no more room for that character to grow. Then you get Garfield.
Garfield’s grown a lot. Especially laterally.
You think she’s bad now, just wait until she meets Joe and they team up to go looking for girls.
So which one is the wingman/wingwoman for whom?
Both. Both is good.
If 1 isn’t what the lady’s into, then the other steps up to the plate, & if both of them are an option…
There is a category of dads that are worth giving up boobies for. But I can’t think of a scenario where the dad DEMANDING you give up boobies doesn’t immediately disqualify him from that category.
I think maybe if you’re one of those girls whose breasts wouldn’t stop growing in adolescence to the point of causing you serious permanent health problems, your dad would be pretty justified in demanding that you give up your boobies and taking you for reductive surgery
That’s a pretty fringe case though
Happened to my friend in Highschool.
KK wasn’t fun for her.
She much prefers her C cups.
I find myself agreeing with Becky, and it makes me feel dirty. DIRTY!
I kinda suspected that Becky’s mom might not be around, but having it confirmed is really saddening.
Also I agree with Becky: I prefer boobs to my father. Of course, my father makes tasteless jokes and thinks he’s funny, so…
I hear you there. Never met a boob with a bad sense of humor.
translation: be true to yourself and be proud of who you are. If anyone (especially those who claim to love you) doesn’t support you in that or even actively DISCOURAGES you from being who you are, they aren’t worth having in your life.
Good on ya, Becky, for realizing this and being the one to teach this to Ethan and Joyce. In a really awesome way.
Amen to that Becky
Hold up, I was Sarah prior to this! I want to be the lovable grouch again!
First, you need a metal trash can to call home…
Just get an account on gravatar and upload your fav icon as avatar ?
At least she is straight forward about the whole mess.
I feel like this will leave even Ethan saying “Well who the hell did just talk to….”
Sound, logical reasoning
Sounds like Becky thought long and hard on this.
On boobies? Heck yes.
…among other things, because that means she doesn’t have to think too hard of her current situation. Better laughing than crying.
If someone wants to make you laugh all the time, they may very well be trying to flee the tears.
Burying herself into another craze now that generalised religious beliefs couldn’t sustain her happiness? Yep, sounds like a teenager whose mental age is lower than her physical one.
And here, before you have a go at me over that, I get the impression that that’s a quality of being segregated into ANY kind of closed-minded group. School cliques for another example.
I doubt her reflection is going to be easy for Becky, but I won’t empathise with her even a fifth as much as I did when Joyce was confronted with her sense of sexuality & it’s ingrained shame. (There was a shower scene. No, not that kind!)
You know, depending on how unpleasant her dad was even before this she may not actually want to cry.
My dad’s pretty awesome.
Plus I’m straight.
And a chick.
I like my boobs though.
They’re my pleasing sacks of chest fat.
Some people have different priorities. I don’t agree that people should be told what they should do with thier lives in order to fulfil themselves. They need to discover that on their own and make their own choices.