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Angus and Faye: The Quickening

46 (33.3%)

Dora Tells Her Parents (To Predictable Results)

10 (7.2%)

The Library Implosion: Emily Finds Out!

19 (13.8%)

Moms Meet!

8 (5.8%)

Momo and May - The Odd Couple Revisited!

12 (8.7%)

Hanners FREAKS OUT!

7 (5.1%)

Pintsize!

7 (5.1%)

Love and Pancakes!

7 (5.1%)

Waffles and Spathe Ham!

1 (0.7%)

...Wait, who IS that blue guy lying on the ground?

11 (8%)

CLINTONSPOLSION!

10 (7.2%)

Total Members Voted: 127

[cesariojpn]

Anyone is feeling the urge to comfort Faye and tell her that everything will be alright?

What about puppets?

[mvdwege]

Well can't say I am surprised. Also looked like angus gave it a half hearted try and just gave up.

Why are so many people so insistent on vilifying Angus?

As pointed out, Faye was the one not being open about her fears to him; this basically comes as a thunderclap from a clear sky to him.

I wouldn't like to hug Faye. I'd like to slap some sense in her: "Why didn't you talk about this? Now it may be too late!".

[BenRG]

I can't help but feel bad for both of them. You only have to look at Faye to see how upset she is right now. Angus, on the other hand looks like she's blindsided him. It seems that Faye had fooled him with her halfhearted support. Or, maybe, he did the human thing and only saw and heard what he wanted to see and hear. When you want something badly, it is sometimes difficult to objectively judge others' feelings on the matter.

What is particularly sad is how both seem so willing to just give up. Yes, Faye was practically oozing defensive body language. That didn't in any way excuse Angus from trying to comfort her in some way. Faye was running away rather than fight; I'm sure that Dora would have gladly given her a day to get her head back on straight. Angus didn't even protest; It's clear he thinks it's over and also isn't willing to fight for them. I'm not an Angus-hater but I've got to wonder right now just how much, emotionally, he has invested in this relationship verses his career. I really do see him just walking away and not realising how stupidity he reacted to a woman who he knows is emotionally vulnerable in a moment of anger and disappointment until it is far too late.

Faye is going to feel awful but I wonder if, on some level, she feels she is just doing now what is inevitable at some point.

[HiFranc]

I think the fact that both parties have accepted this is proof that this was inevitable.  If their emotional investment in each other was stronger, they would have worked things out.  As they didn't have that investment they were going to break up at the first sign of tension.

I don't see Faye not telling Angus about Sven as a hint that she would get back with Sven, I see it as a pulling away from Angus.  She was not willing to let him in her life.  She was trying to fulfill a role rather than give Angus herself.  At the same time that conversation showed just how far apart they were.  Angus did pick up on the fact that she was not herself and that something was probably wrong.  However, when she asked him about the callback he forgot all that.  That's a sign that he, subconsciously, was pulling away from the relationship.

Thinking about it, I think that this is a positive development for Faye.  Her emotional life went into reverse when her father committed suicide.  I think that she, like Marten was, is finding out what she wants in a relationship.  For her, Angus filled the role of a high school romance -- nice but likely to end as both parties figure out what they want and grow up.  I get the impression that Angus was looking for something more.

Given both Angus's jobs and the type of woman he's attracted to, I get the impression that Angus lives the life he projects.  His career isn't just a good career but it's what derives meaning from and it's his guiding light.  It might take him a while to work out but I suspect that the woman he settles down with would come from the media world and would be able to keep up with him.

[Dr.No]

Anyone is feeling the urge to comfort Faye and tell her that everything will be alright?

Nope. Not at all.
If you love someone, you try to be supportive. BE supportive. Not just SEEM supportive.
Like: how can I help my partner accomplish his dreams? (ESPECIALLY with long life dreams!)
The way it is, I question she actually loved him.

I also agree that you could say Angus is half-assing his efforts, but if we're going to say that, we might as well call it like it is with Faye: she's not putting in any effort at all. Not just in the latest strip, but throughout the whole arc. Sure, she's been outwardly supportive, but has she really given any thought to how the situation could work, or how she could come to terms with a less than desirable scenario?

Amen!

[pwhodges]

This is looking sad; and I know the feels from only a short while ago when my wife was interviewing for a job in another country (we talked...).  But remember, Angus and Faye's relationship hasn't even reached the stage of moving in together; promising though it seemed, it was still very much work in progress.

[plusorminus]

I think the fact that both parties have accepted this is proof that this was inevitable.  If their emotional investment in each other was stronger, they would have worked things out.  As they didn't have that investment they were going to break up at the first sign of tension.

I don't see Faye not telling Angus about Sven as a hint that she would get back with Sven, I see it as a pulling away from Angus.  She was not willing to let him in her life.  She was trying to fulfill a role rather than give Angus herself.  At the same time that conversation showed just how far apart they were.  Angus did pick up on the fact that she was not herself and that something was probably wrong.  However, when she asked him about the callback he forgot all that.  That's a sign that he, subconsciously, was pulling away from the relationship.

Thinking about it, I think that this is a positive development for Faye.  Her emotional life went into reverse when her father committed suicide.  I think that she, like Marten was, is finding out what she wants in a relationship.  For her, Angus filled the role of a high school romance -- nice but likely to end as both parties figure out what they want and grow up.  I get the impression that Angus was looking for something more.

Given both Angus's jobs and the type of woman he's attracted to, I get the impression that Angus lives the life he projects.  His career isn't just a good career but it's what derives meaning from and it's his guiding light.  It might take him a while to work out but I suspect that the woman he settles down with would come from the media world and would be able to keep up with him.

You bring up really good points. I especially like your analysis of Faye's emotions immediately after her dad's suicide and going forward.

I think you're right in that possibly subconsciously, both of them knew it wasn't going to go anywhere on the night Angus asked where she saw herself in five years. On the surface, yeah, it was to gauge how open she might be about moving to New York, but I think deep down Angus was thinking that this small town was not going to be his final destination and he wanted to see if Faye would be willing to pull up stakes. When she said no, I think - again, subconsciously - Angus thought "Nope. Not The One." And vice-versa for Faye.

I think that if there is a breakup, it could be amicable. Someone will talk to Faye the way Faye talked to Marten when he blew off a last chance to see Padma because he was pissed at her. I do think that this is the beginning of the end of Faye/Angus, but it doesn't have to be a horrible thing. You've pointed out all the reasons why this could be a growth experience for both of them.

[dreed]

Poor Angus.

and the f--- is wrong with Faye?

There is nothing holding her back from actually following Angus.  She had done that before... moving to different city, different state that is.

or at least see how it works out.  not give up just because in next few months angus is going to be away from home often. 

no pity for Faye!

[valkygrrl]

Again with the slapping.

This talk about casual violence against a woman is disturbing

[efrumttr]

Also, the pace and tone of Angus's speech about having everything worked out to me seemed like he was expecting a response right then and there, after hitting her with what is a massive life changing decision out of nowhere.

I don't see how it's out of nowhere. He's had at least two separate auditions over the span of several weeks. They've talked multiple times about how him getting the part will necessitate a move to NYC. And this is his dream job, he was never going to consider turning it down.

From the sound of Tuesday's comic, Angus has been making plans for awhile on how he'll proceed if this shot works out (place to live, store his stuff, etc.). Faye doesn't sound like she's given it much serious thought at all apart from 'I kind of hope he doesn't get it, I like things how they are but I want to be supportive.' That's just not enough, and it's why I have to agree with some others that it doesn't sound like she was seriously invested emotionally in her and Angus' relationship. Could be a product of time, her issues, or just plain chemistry. Either way, I think they're done and Angus will likely move on to bigger and better things. Hopefully this helps Faye to realize more what she wants out of life and maybe, if she thinks she needs it, to get some more help.

[HiFranc]

dreed, before she moved away from reminders of a bad situation.  It may or may not have been a good idea but she had the strong feeling that it would was unlikely to be worse.  Now, she's built a life and doesn't know if New York would be better or worse for her.

Faye is still in the process of healing and may not be as resilient as Angus.  Research has shown that the most important thing for psychological/emotional resilience is access to people you can trust and confide in.  Moving to New York would take her away from her support network.

[snubnose]

Okay, seems like Faye needs time to process this information.

Guess that could have gone worse. And it actually looked a lot worse, yesterday.

[Thrillho]

Poor Angus.

and the f--- is wrong with Faye?

There is nothing holding her back from actually following Angus.  She had done that before... moving to different city, different state that is.

or at least see how it works out.  not give up just because in next few months angus is going to be away from home often. 

no pity for Faye!

Question: have you ever actually done that? Because it can be a fucking nightmare. I did this. The relationship then shattered and it's taken me well over two years to get my life back on track.

[pwhodges]

Well can't say I am surprised. Also looked like angus gave it a half hearted try and just gave up.

Why are so many people so insistent on vilifying Angus?

As pointed out, Faye was the one not being open about her fears to him; this basically comes as a thunderclap from a clear sky to him.

It's not one-sided either way around; not unless you assume in a sexist way that what the man wants the man gets without any question!  This was a potential tragedy for both of them as soon as he was invited to the audition, and they both must have known it; but y'know, life is sometimes about hard choices.

I wouldn't like to hug Faye. I'd like to slap some sense in her: "Why didn't you talk about this? Now it may be too late!".

Slapping is not a substitute for talking.  Don't do it; not in this forum, and preferably not anywhere!

[Tub]

Monday: Angus goes home, tries to talk to Marigold, but she's busy boning Dale. Angus decides to go drink instead.
Tuesday: Faye goes home, tries to talk to Marten, but he's busy boning playing scrabble with Claire. Faye decides to go drink instead.
Wednesday: Faye and Angus and lots of alcohol meet at the horrible revelation.

This talk about casual violence against a woman is disturbing

FYI, adding the qualifier "against a woman" makes you a sexist. As if violence was acceptable as long as it was only against men.

Slapping is not a substitute for talking.  Don't do it; not in this forum, and preferably not anywhere!

Let's also pretend that it has never been done in comic.

[Mlle Germain]

This is sad...
It is a pity this has to end like this... I mean, Faye always said "It's fine, I support you; no there's nothing wrong with me", so there was no chance for Angus to actually try and address her fears (I think Angus noticed that this wasn't true; he repeatedly tried to address the issue, but what are you supposed to do when the other person doesn't want to talk about it?). I am not sure whether Faye had already given up the relationship internally before (maybe without realising) or whether she just realised she really can't do long distance at this moment.

Anyway, I can't blame Angus at all for wanting to take this unique chance to do his dream job and for putting it above staying close to Faye -- and also not for any of his behaviour leading up to this. I am absolutely sure that Angus passing up this opportunity in order to stay with Faye would have been a terrible decision and would make neither of them happy in the long run.
That being said, while I wish Faye would have tried to do the long-distance thing, I absolutely don't blame her either. If she knows that long-distance with Angus is not what she wants, it is a good idea to stop now -- no point in dragging something out that is already dead. I just hope that the separation is then really what she wants and she doesn't regret not having tried to keep it up later.

Edit in response to new post: ... Ok, I'm not going to try and say it. We've been over both of these things (sexism & violence against men&women + what happens in comic is absolutely not a justification to do the same in the forum) before and I urge the poster (Tub) to read up on this in other parts of the forum.

[Carl-E]

I wouldn't like to hug Faye. I'd like to slap some sense in her: "Why didn't you talk about this? Now it may be too late!".

I'm willing to assume it's a metaphorical "slap in the face" based on using the words  "Why didn't you talk about this? Now it may be too late!".  Not an actual, physical slap. 

Rather like what Faye did to Dora. 

[pwhodges]

Let's also pretend that it has never been done in comic.

The comic illustrates both good and bad things in life, and gives us the opportunity to choose the better path.

[Mlle Germain]

Well said.

[BenRG]

That last panel of today's comic; I could hear Peron's lament from the end of Evita as he's holding his dying wife in his arms.

"So what happens now?
So what happens now?
Where am I going to?
Where am I going... to...?
(Don't ask anymore!)"

I wouldn't like to hug Faye. I'd like to slap some sense in her: "Why didn't you talk about this? Now it may be too late!".

I'm willing to assume it's a metaphorical "slap in the face" based on using the words  "Why didn't you talk about this? Now it may be too late!".  Not an actual, physical slap. 

Rather like what Faye did to Dora. 

You forgoet just how completely screwed up Dora was during her time with Marten. I, too, wonder if, on Monday, Dora will return the favour.

[FilliamHMuffman]

Very disappointed. This relationship from what I can tell in QC time, is several months old and in real time several years in the making. Poor moment on Faye's part with the lack of support. Knowing that a relationship is no longer going to work sucks, but what sucks even more is having one party completely disconnect from the other and refuse to be an adult about it.

[BenRG]

@FilliamHMuffman,

The point to remember is that, in a very real sense, Faye is not an adult. She's a sixteen year old girl in a twenty-six year old woman's body who's just watched her father blow his brains out in front of her. She's made progress over the past 18 or so in-universe months but not that much; certainly not enough to be willing to give up her surrogate family and hometown (or at least that is what she is being asked to do in her darker subconscious) for what is emotionally on a par with a schoolyard love affair.

[Carl-E]

Excellent summary. 

[Signal Firefly]

@FilliamHMuffman,

The point to remember is that, in a very real sense, Faye is not an adult. She's a sixteen year old girl in a twenty-six year old woman's body who's just watched her father blow his brains out in front of her. She's made progress over the past 18 or so in-universe months but not that much; certainly not enough to be willing to give up her surrogate family and hometown (or at least that is what she is being asked to do in her darker subconscious) for what is emotionally on a par with a schoolyard love affair.

Is anyone else deeply disturbed by the concept of "mental age" and this idea that someone isn't an adult if they're emotionally stunted?

[HiFranc]

Ben, your summary has given me an idea.

I'm starting to wonder if Marten realises that the thumps she used to give him were the equivalent of playground expressions of interest.  If so, then maybe he would be the best person to talk to Angus?


Signal Firefly,

It's a bit of an over simplification but it does explain (mostly) where she is when it comes to relationships.  There are differences but one of the reasons we use shortcuts like that is that saves pages of examination.

[lot_jockey]

@FilliamHMuffman,

The point to remember is that, in a very real sense, Faye is not an adult. She's a sixteen year old girl in a twenty-six year old woman's body who's just watched her father blow his brains out in front of her. She's made progress over the past 18 or so in-universe months but not that much; certainly not enough to be willing to give up her surrogate family and hometown (or at least that is what she is being asked to do in her darker subconscious) for what is emotionally on a par with a schoolyard love affair.

She was 19 or 20 when her father killed himself.

[T]

And again people resort to violence to deal with mental issues... A kid with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? Give him a good beating! Aspergers? Beat the kid until it start behaving like a normal human! Post traumatic stress disorder? A good beating will teach you to stop being such a scared kid!

[Signal Firefly]

The issue is that the idea of "mental age" is often a factor in the dehumanization and mistreatment of people with mental disabilities. It may make things easier to conceptualize, but it tends to do more harm than good in people's perception of those it's applied to.

[reicreature]

Man, this is pretty shitty of Faye. Regardless of whether she doesn't want a long distant relationship or not she could at the very least be good enough to be happy for Angus in what would be an amazing opportunity to follow his dreams. It's a rare and coveted success and that she cannot even extend enough support to TRY and live up to her "I love you" and help him out.
I realize that she has severe trauma that she is working though, but this kind of thing is just...

Really selfish.

This is his dream job and a rare coveted success in a field that is very difficult to break into. I can imagine that he is both thrilled and terrified and that she's not even trying to be supportive, not even willing to be a friend to him through this is just awful. It taints the success and is borderline vengeful.

Ugh...

[Mordhaus]

Well, this 'could' go one of three ways:

1. Angus decides that his dream job means nothing without the person he loves being there with him. He embraces Faye and tells her this, tells her that the decision is in her hands now. He then gives her some time to decide if he stays or they both go, perhaps talking to her friends in an unbiased way to get them to help her make the decision.

2. He decides that he doesn't love her enough to sacrifice his dream job, tells her this gently, and moves on. She realizes that she didn't love him enough to risk change and tries to find ways to grow mentally so this doesn't happen again.

3. They both go complain to friends, strangers, and drink heavily. They simply leave one another in the worst way, with everything unresolved. Sven sees this as his golden opportunity to swoop in and snag Faye, leading us back to a dead relationship and no issues resolved for Faye's mental state at all. She remains non-adult in her persona and doesn't grow as a character.

Normally I would say option 3 is the safest bet to happen, since characters learning to be adults and find happiness is sort of the anti-QC storyline. However, the recent Marten/Claire storyline could indicate a turning point for how the characters react going forward.

[Somnus Eternus]

Okay, first and foremost, mental trauma doesn't forever "lock" you in one stage of maturity. It scars you, it causes you to have certain kinds of trust issues, but you're not forever "locked" at a specific mental or emotional age.  Faye is an adult.  With that said...

I think that, if Faye already knows she's not going to be able to handle a long-distance relationship with Angus - and that really is, absolutely, a perfectly valid decision for her to make, guys - then this really is the best way for her to handle it. Again, keep in mind that Angus has already made it clear that he expects a LDR with Faye coming to visit periodically. He made it clear without even asking her - and it's understandable that he'd think that, and I don't think he was trying to be insensitive or anything; he's just excited. Nevertheless, if Faye already knows it isn't going to work, then she should absolutely be telling him sooner rather than later. Dragging it out and letting him make all these plans for them both, even just in his own head, only to have her shatter them later is infinitely worse. Why get his hopes up by humoring him?  Yeah, it sucks that it brought him down from his high, but he also deserves to know where her head is at very clearly and as soon as possible, especially as fast as things are moving.

That's why I have to reject the idea that Faye basically telling him she can't do it is in any way "shitty."  She's giving him the one thing that's the hardest to give but is crucial in all relationships - honesty.

[BenRG]

I essentially agree with Somnus. Basically, what happened here is both Angus and Faye were trying to get what they wanted out of the deal. For understandable reasons, they were both ignoring problems focussing on their excitement (Angus) or denial (Faye). Consequently, neither of them were really prepared for when Angus got the job and Faye wasn't ready or even emotionally able to move to New York or handle a LDR.

They were both human - humans make mistakes like this all the time. The unhappy fact is that I think they've left it too late to realise and it may thus be too late for any kind of fix to work out.

[hedgie]

I just hope that it doesn't go into what seems to be the relationship formula, where one talks to one friend, the other talks to another.  It'd actually seem better if they worked out stuff just between them (whether its a split or not, I don't really mind either option) after Faye gets off of work, or even (as someone else mentioned), Momo giving some involuntary ECT.

[Conzy]

This is the first time I've ever looked on these forums and at first I was pretty surprised by the amount of Angus hate on here, I'd always just read the comics myself and to me he seemed a pretty chill guy, one of the few people in the QCverse that I'd probably enjoy having a pint with.

Then it occurred to me that people perhaps don't want that in this comic. I mean, when you think about it Angus is a confident, well natured guy, who's proactive about achieving his goals. His one hang-up is that he can be a little insensitive at times when he's caught up a train of thought. It's almost like he isn't messed up enough to be one of the gang, which is kind of sad. I'm looking forward to seeing him go from the comic, as it's clear that's where it's all heading, but I'm looking forward to it because I only see Faye holding him back from ever being happy, due to her self-destructive, toxic nature. I completely understand why people have a sense of compassion for Faye, but for me it wore out a long time ago. It's one thing to have massively damaging trauma, but it's another thing to still be a complete bitch to everyone close to you (and sometimes to near strangers) after so many years.

[aphanisis81]

Okay, first and foremost, mental trauma doesn't forever "lock" you in one stage of maturity. It scars you, it causes you to have certain kinds of trust issues, but you're not forever "locked" at a specific mental or emotional age.  Faye is an adult.  With that said...

I think that, if Faye already knows she's not going to be able to handle a long-distance relationship with Angus - and that really is, absolutely, a perfectly valid decision for her to make, guys - then this really is the best way for her to handle it. Again, keep in mind that Angus has already made it clear that he expects a LDR with Faye coming to visit periodically. He made it clear without even asking her - and it's understandable that he'd think that, and I don't think he was trying to be insensitive or anything; he's just excited. Nevertheless, if Faye already knows it isn't going to work, then she should absolutely be telling him sooner rather than later. Dragging it out and letting him make all these plans for them both, even just in his own head, only to have her shatter them later is infinitely worse. Why get his hopes up by humoring him?  Yeah, it sucks that it brought him down from his high, but he also deserves to know where her head is at very clearly and as soon as possible, especially as fast as things are moving.

It's totally a valid decision. It's just unfortunate that she let him believe they'd work it out if he got the gig, and is now basically breaking up with him via stony passivity and silence rather than actively doing it. I understand the position she's in and I sympathize. But I also think it's more on Faye than Angus.

That's why I have to reject the idea that Faye basically telling him she can't do it is in any way "shitty."  She's giving him the one thing that's the hardest to give but is crucial in all relationships - honesty.

[Skewbrow]

Ok points raised, Conzy. I agree what you say about Angus, but I think you are a bit too critical about Faye. "... after so many years", you say? In our time, yes, but in QC time? Not necessarily very many! I have (luckily) no idea how long it would take to heal from that kind of a traumatic experience. Probably the speed of progress varies greatly from one patient to another, so I refuse to be judgemental about her rate of recovery. She's been a supportive friend to Marten and Dora when they needed one.

[Conzy]

Ok points raised, Conzy. I agree what you say about Angus, but I think you are a bit too critical about Faye. "... after so many years", you say? In our time, yes, but in QC time? Not necessarily very many! I have (luckily) no idea how long it would take to heal from that kind of a traumatic experience. Probably the speed of progress varies greatly from one patient to another, so I refuse to be judgemental about her rate of recovery. She's been a supportive friend to Marten and Dora when they needed one.

I was going on the basis that she was 19ish when it happened and I'm presuming she's 24-26 now. I didn't mean to imply that I thought she'd be completely recovered by now, not by any means, but it's the nature of what I see as an active refusal to even try to heal and being downright abusive in many cases, that I take a pretty critical view on.

[gopher]

This is the first time I've ever looked on these forums and at first I was pretty surprised by the amount of Angus hate on here, I'd always just read the comics myself and to me he seemed a pretty chill guy, one of the few people in the QCverse that I'd probably enjoy having a pint with.

I think a lot of the hate is redirected Faye-love. In some people's eyes she can do no wrong, she is their avatar and so Angus must be at fault.

[Conzy]

This is the first time I've ever looked on these forums and at first I was pretty surprised by the amount of Angus hate on here, I'd always just read the comics myself and to me he seemed a pretty chill guy, one of the few people in the QCverse that I'd probably enjoy having a pint with.

I think a lot of the hate is redirected Faye-love. In some people's eyes she can do no wrong, she is their avatar and so Angus must be at fault.

Good point, and as I said I've already run out of patience with Faye so perhaps I'm predisposed to jump to Angus's defence. It's a testament to the way Jeph creates his characters that people automatically identify with some but don't have too much time for others.

[Aziraphale]

clue-by-four.

I like that.


I'm making a prediction now:
Angus seriously considers turning down the job
Faye ends up telling him that, no, he really needs to go do this
They part.... not necessarily irrevocably, because they do love each other.... but love isn't always enough by itself

(click to show/hide)

And another important man in her life 'choosing' to 'abandon' her certainly makes the odds more difficult

The core of Faye's story for a while is her thinking on and exploring whether or not she really *is* content with where her life is now.
Ultimately ambivalent, which in and of itself is rather an answer in the negative
Quietly works on a serious sculpture
Visits Angus one evening
And it doesn't change that maybe this isn't a wall she can climb, that this might not be a hurdle they can jump
But maybe right this moment they can just hold each other against the darkness, for a little bit more at least

Regarding the spoilered part:

(click to show/hide)

I agree with you, to an extent. But there's the potential for one huge difference here: Faye didn't, and likely couldn't, have seen the situation with her father coming. In this case, she's not only somewhat seen it coming, but she also gets to do something she couldn't do before: approach it more on her terms, and hopefully take some control over how this one plays out. Even if it doesn't work out as she'd like, it's a significant difference when you're not reduced to a bit player in your own story, left with no input into the consequences and little choice but to deal with them.

[Angelus_Primus]

Again with the slapping.

This talk about casual violence against a woman is disturbing

 No.
 First its not casual violence, its directed violence.
 Second its not against a woman its against a person who is acting in a way that a quick hard shock could be a good thing for the thinking process.
 Angus needs a slap too.
 So maybe someone could slap both of them. Or poke them with a charged cattle prod.

[BenRG]

From what she said to Marten, Faye was borderline-disabled by her father's suicide for a couple of years, including debatably-effective medicinal regimes, being institutionalised to prevent violent self-harm or suicide attempts and also periods of what she described as being "disassociative". So, I suspect Faye suffered pretty extreme trauma to the point where I think she deserves a little leeway. When you take that into consideration, the fact that she can function in adult life, live with Marten as a bratty sister and actually kept up her end of a relationship with Angus for several in-universe months is nothing short of astounding progress.

I'm not saying that she did nothing wrong or that Angus is solely to blame. What I'm saying is that Faye's failings are excusable and comprehensible. Frankly, so are Angus's. Sometimes, both sides just screw up and get it wrong. It's just a shame that it doesn't look like they're going to be granted enough time to fix it.

[Soulsynger]

 ...

(╯'ᴖ')╯︵ ┻━┻

 ... sad table flipping. That is all. But at least the comic-wide happy-sad-balance remains a dramatic equilibrium.

[aliensporebomb]

I feel bad for both of them.

I see why Faye did what she did; faced with abandonment she just sort of shuts down.

Angus - we don't know if she talked about her dad with him so all of a sudden he's met with a wall - what can he do but walk?

[Conzy]

From what she said to Marten, Faye was borderline-disabled by her father's suicide for a couple of years, including debatably-effective medicinal regimes, being institutionalised to prevent violent self-harm or suicide attempts and also periods of what she described as being "disassociative". So, I suspect Faye suffered pretty extreme trauma to the point where I think she deserves a little leeway. When you take that into consideration, the fact that she can function in adult life, live with Marten as a bratty sister and actually kept up her end of a relationship with Angus for several in-universe months is nothing short of astounding progress.

I'm not saying that she did nothing wrong or that Angus is solely to blame. What I'm saying is that Faye's failings are excusable and comprehensible. Frankly, so are Angus's. Sometimes, both sides just screw up and get it wrong. It's just a shame that it doesn't look like they're going to be granted enough time to fix it.

Once again, not trying to say she isn't making progress, but for me you can't keep taking out your own problems, however large, on those around you and expect them to keep taking it. Not wanting to make this a gender argument but for the sake of argument and as a way of putting things in perspective, if the Marten/Faye dynamic were reversed, and Marten was the one with trauma who basically acted like an aggressive ass all the time, would it have washed the way it has with Faye? I honestly doubt it, and even think a lot of people would have gotten very offended at the idea being portrayed in such a slapstick way.

[BenRG]

If it helps, I, personally, treat all the strips before The Talk as being only semi-canonical. Jeph changed direction quite significantly at that point to the level where the earliest characterisations now come across as vaguely OOC and parodaic.

[Neko_Ali]

sigh... All this misunderstanding of mental illness, it's effects and how to handle situations like this make me cringe. And quite honestly, it's giving me panic attacks and making me want to run from the boards. And my psychological scarring is nowhere near as bad as Faye's. That is exactly what I am seeing in Faye right now. Her words, her body language. She wants to, she needs to GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE NOW! She looks maybe 1-2 steps away from a full on break point. She doesn't need a hug from Angus. She doesn't need to talk it out right now. She needs him to go away so she can complete her emotional and possibly physical collapse, and then hopefully with the help of friend pull herself back together enough to talk with Angus. But right now he is the source of a MASSIVE amount of stress for her. An actually physical representation of everything she's feared about relationships since her father's suicide. At this moment she is very much in danger of regressing back to where she was shortly after that happened, and if she does pull back from that edge, it's going to be with the help of her friends, not Angus.

Everyone around her except Angus knows how badly his getting the job was going to affect her, except Angus. A little bit because he's been blind with giddyness about his career dreams maybe coming true and part because he doesn't understand Faye's mental illness and how bad it affects her. Most of that fault lays right at Faye's feet since she hasn't been telling him how she really feels. She's been trying so very hard to be the supportive girlfriend even though the thought of him moving away just makes her want to scream and go run and hide in a bottle again. Faye doesn't want things to change. Change terrifies her. People leaving terrifies her. She's on the verge of breaking down and has been heading that way for a while now. Angus actually getting the job is the last bit that kicked her over the edge.

It's not Angus' fault, really. He's being a little insensitive and lacking some knowledge. But he's not to blame for any of this. It's not Faye's fault either, really. She can't control her reactions. She should have been more honest. She should have told him before it exploded into a full blown panic how this was going to work out, that she couldn't do the LDR thing. But she was doing what society says a good partner should do. Be supportive of your mate. Even if your heart is breaking, even if you're about to snap. Smile, put on a happy face and don't let them know how bad you are. Suck it up, pack it down and hope it doesn't explode on you. While we don't know the reasons why. I'm willing to bet this was at the very least in part this is what drove Faye's father to committing suicide and her not thinking it was so sudden and unexpected. People just don't wake up one day and think "Well, I'll go kill myself now". It's a lot of stress, over a long time, often building up in suffered silence until it feels you can't escape anymore and you need to escape.

I can't blame either of them in this. As I've said.. I've seen this coming since the whole thing started. In some ways, I've been there myself. Either Angus wasn't going to get the job and things would go back to the way they were. Or he would get the job and they would have a stress and mental illness fueled break up, either right away, or a short time after Angus moved. It's not nice, it's not fair to either of the and both are going to hurt like hell. But there is no real blame here. I can't even blame Faye's father for causing all of her psychological wounds because I have no idea what was going on in his life that was bad enough to drive him to take his own life in order to escape it. The only hope now is that people around them won't freak out and start playing the blame game, but instead are supportive friends who help them to gather up their emotional pieces and stand by them while Faye and Angus try to put themselves partly back together.

Now, I'm going to go look at cute animals or something and try to get my heart rate and panic levels down.

[hakko504]

I just realised, Jeph very often puts the large reveals around Thanksgiving (US). That's still about a month away, and there has already been two major developments in the last weeks (Claire/Marten hookup and Faye/Angus breakup). There may be more to this than we can imagine right now.

[ZoeB]

Dammit, where's a good Deus Ex Machina when you need one?

Anyone know a genius with an invisible VTOL aerospace ship?

[Mafarfloune]

I just realised, Jeph very often puts the large reveals around Thanksgiving (US). That's still about a month away, and there has already been two major developments in the last weeks (Claire/Marten hookup and Faye/Angus breakup). There may be more to this than we can imagine right now.

The turkeys already acknowledged it.