they often get extremely freaked out by even a little bit of friendly physical contact.
Was there a case where Faye even allowed a little bit of friendly physical contact from Marten while sober?
There was the time he slapped her butt.
Have there been any recent developments that invalidate any of this? (Don't worry about "spoiling" me if there have been.)
Faye doesn't act like a victim of childhood sexual abuse. I've known a few women who were sexually abused as children or teenagers, and in some ways they tend to act more like Hannelore than Faye - they often get extremely freaked out by even a little bit of friendly physical contact. And that's all I'm going to say on the subject for now.Well, how a real person might behave after sexual abuse has no bearing on how a fictional character might; it depends purely on what the author knows. Jeph might just not know how a sexual abuse victim would act.
"Abandonment issues" might be more precise. Fear of emotional closeness was I think why she jumped Sven, thinking that she could use him as a human vibrator without risking emotional attachment (not that it worked).Absolutely, I agree 100%. Plus, it's more true-to-life. Although it's not common, sometimes people do commit suicide without having shown any signs of distress and without leaving any kind of note. For their loved ones, there's never any grand reveal, there's never any closure. For Jeph to hand The Truth to us from on-high would cheapen the emotional and character importance of the event.
On the other hand, her response to the prospect of someone being sexually attracted to her even secretly was disproportionate.
In my irrelevant opinion, it's better art if we never find out why David Whitaker shot himself.
I'd say misery counts as a compromised mental state. She doesn't let people touch her (even, say, Dora) when sober and happy, only when drunk and/or miserable. Also, a hug isn't necessarily sexual.Was there a case where Faye even allowed a little bit of friendly physical contact from Marten while sober?
Tthree times, when Faye was miserable: when he hugged her outside CoD (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=342), but lost the chance to do it again! During the Talk (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=505) (thanks ThomasEll), and shortly before the breakup (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1741).
Yeah, I just read that one. She decked him clean to the floor (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=378). Although I wouldn't necessarily say a lady clobbering a guy who slapped her butt is evidence of sexual problems. I mean, I know I would never in a million years slap any of my ladyfriends' butts. Granted, I myself have issues, but still. Someone slaps your butt, I say you're well within your rights to...well, certainly not visit cartoonish violence on them, but this is a webcomic, after all.There was the time he slapped her butt.
She did punch him for it though I'm fairly sure.
Ah, okay. Thanks.Have there been any recent developments that invalidate any of this? (Don't worry about "spoiling" me if there have been.)
Nope. The most recent time this was discussed was in a situation involving Faye and Angus, but it did not shed any new light on anything.
I had the same thought as Eddie on first reading The Talk, and in my naivete and before discovering the forum might even have asked Jeph (no answer that I recall). What reinforced the thought was the top panel here (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=503), and the looks from mom and sis.I didn't and don't think that particular panel meant or means anything. Amanda's just being jerky to Faye like always, and Mrs. Whitaker's scowling her disapproval at Amanda, not Faye/David. It's not any one thing that I can point towards and say "see? evidence!" It's just an overall feeling I get from the whole situation.
But later, I decided I'd read too much into that. And I agree with IICIH, that it's better and better art not to know.
Faye doesn't act like a victim of childhood sexual abuse. I've known a few women who were sexually abused as children or teenagers, and in some ways they tend to act more like Hannelore than Faye - they often get extremely freaked out by even a little bit of friendly physical contact. And that's all I'm going to say on the subject for now.Well, how a real person might behave after sexual abuse has no bearing on how a fictional character might; it depends purely on what the author knows. Jeph might just not know how a sexual abuse victim would act.
Well, how a real person might behave after sexual abuse has no bearing on how a fictional character might; it depends purely on what the author knows. Jeph might just not know how a sexual abuse victim would act.
On the other hand there's the outright fear of Marten that she had even after long experience with him: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=453I wouldn't frame that as fear of Marten, just irrational fear that happens to be manifesting itself as the ludicrous proposition of being sexually assaulted by Marten. Which does seem like sexual dysfunction. Her fearing that Marten would abandon her if his mom didn't like her would be Faye exhibiting the trust issues one might expect from a child whose parent committed suicide. It makes no sense whatsoever that she'd worry about sexual violation in the aftermath of parental suicide, though.
Well, that's not my argument though; that was just me deflecting the notion that my argument is invalid because real people in real life don't act that way after sexual abuse. I actually don't really have an "argument," it's just the overall impression that I got.Faye doesn't act like a victim of childhood sexual abuse. I've known a few women who were sexually abused as children or teenagers, and in some ways they tend to act more like Hannelore than Faye - they often get extremely freaked out by even a little bit of friendly physical contact. And that's all I'm going to say on the subject for now.Well, how a real person might behave after sexual abuse has no bearing on how a fictional character might; it depends purely on what the author knows. Jeph might just not know how a sexual abuse victim would act.
Maybe not, but Jeph is notorious for doing his homework on this kind of thing.
Besides, arguing that Faye suffered sexual abuse because you think that she acts how you imagine Jeph imagines a sexually abused person would act is kind of a stretch.
I can kinda see where you are coming from, but my opinion is "no. just no."Not automatically, no, it's just the impression I got from this particular situation. Honestly, as the child of one alcoholic non-entity parent and one physically abusive parent, I really, really envy people who have super-close relationships with their parents. If I was ever so lucky as to get married, and have children of my own, my only hope could be to be as close to them as Faye and her dad were (assuming no abuse, which is probably correct, but it's still fun to speculate).
From the story point of view, I just don't see any reliable indication that might have been the case. Yes, he had issues, and he was pretty close with Faye, but jeez. Does that automatically mean that he molested her?
This part about the argumentation bothers me the most:Yeah, 'cause Jeph totally hates interjecting drama into his characters pasts :pWell, how a real person might behave after sexual abuse has no bearing on how a fictional character might; it depends purely on what the author knows. Jeph might just not know how a sexual abuse victim would act.
This basically gives way to ignoring all evidence to the contrary because you can counter it with "well, maybe Jeph doesn't know that". And in this case, absence of evidence is evidence of absence. I think Zebediah voiced my argument better than me while I was typing.
From an audience point of view, I cannot see Jeph giving Faye such a troubled past. I still wish we had Word Of God on this, though.
I had the same thought as Eddie on first reading The Talk, and in my naivete and before discovering the forum might even have asked Jeph (no answer that I recall). What reinforced the thought was the top panel here (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=503), and the looks from mom and sis.
But later, I decided I'd read too much into that. And I agree with IICIH, that it's better and better art not to know.
Honestly, as the child of one alcoholic non-entity parent and one physically abusive parent, I really, really envy people who have super-close relationships with their parents. If I was ever so lucky as to get married, and have children of my own, my only hope could be to be as close to them as Faye and her dad were (assuming no abuse, which is probably correct, but it's still fun to speculate).
Because the truly horrifying thing about suicide is, sometimes, there is no reason.
When he last mentioned the matter, Jeph had no plan to end the comic at any time.
But if you want, ask the question on his Tumblr - Jeph makes regular posts of answers there, and might well simply say "no" if he knows that.
Why would Mr. Whitaker kill himself?
Certainly wasn't physical health problems, the medical examiner proved that.
Certainly wasn't financial trouble, it would have come up when Faye told Marten about what happened, and when she visited her mother and sister. If it was for the insurance money, than that was a complete screw-up of a plan because insurance companies will not pay out on suicide.
Certainly wasn't unemployment because that would have come up as well.
Certainly wasn't to escape an abusive relationship or environment, because as much as Faye's mother may have disapproved of Faye's father adding bourbon to his milkshake, its quite apparent from what we've see, Faye's father deeply loved his family. And it's shown afterwards by Faye's mother commenting on the headstone.
Was it stress? Or grief? Depression? Was Mr. Whitaker actually an believer that all life was absurd and that there was no point in living? Or was he told he had Parkinson's or early onset Alzheimer's and decided that rather than letting his family see him fade away a little bit everyday, he would get up, watch the sun rise and pull the trigger.
Who knows. Because we don't. All we can do is speculate until Jeph decides what happened. And to be honest, I can tell you that isn't going to happen, ever. People rarely have a reason as to why they commit suicide; its often a case that it happens and then you have family and fiends left behind trying to make sense of why someone they loved would kill themselves. I say this from experience, not personal, from seeing the effect of suicide. There is a town near where I grew up, maybe a population of 8,000, about a decade ago, it was named as the town with the second highest rate of suicide in the world. Just let that sink in for a moment, small town, maybe 8,000 people. And it's suicide rate was enough that it elevated it to the second highest in the world. 34 young men killed themselves over the course of three years, nearly a rate of 1 every 34 days. And many of the families still have no idea why their loved ones killed themselves.
Because the truly horrifying thing about suicide is, sometimes, there is no reason.
Honestly, as the child of one alcoholic non-entity parent and one physically abusive parent, I really, really envy people who have super-close relationships with their parents. If I was ever so lucky as to get married, and have children of my own, my only hope could be to be as close to them as Faye and her dad were (assuming no abuse, which is probably correct, but it's still fun to speculate).
I should probably note that my opinions of how close normal families are, too, rely on observation from afar.
We've seen her therapy sessions. Dr. Buenvenida should know what sexual abuse looks like and how to probe for it, but didn't seem to suspect anything of the sort.
I don't think "people rarely have a reason to commit suicide" is correct, though. Think about how crazy that would be -- people just killing themselves for no reason at all. Just waking up one day and being all, "I think I'll kill myself today. No real reason, just because." I'm pretty sure in most cases, it's either due to depression or illness.
Hm. It's part of a larger document I had started typing up about my life, so here goes.
So what's your story vis-a-vis family drama? Mine's pretty standard, as you saw. Almost boringly standard.
I actually wish I had something more exciting. Like, "Well, I'm the product of consentual incest and was raised in a circus, and when I'd miss a jump my father would make me eat hákarl while my mom read me explicit love-letters from their courtship days at the family reunions."I might have to steal that one.
"dangerous radiation"(tm)
Heh, I have this theory -- a parent's job is to be so horrible to their children that they'll wanna move out and start lives of their own when they turn eighteen.That is an excellent quote.
Because the truly horrifying thing about suicide is, sometimes, there is no reason.
He did it for his daughter's sake, to spare her the embarrassment of having a breakdown and years of being emotionally crippled for no good reason.
I've figured it out!
He did it because it was necessary for the plot.
More evidence of Faye's sexual dysfunction -- she's always just had a generally negative, pessimistic attitude towards sex. Can't find the comic, but in one Faye and Marten talk about all the great stuff about being older, and Faye goes, "Yeah yeah, get the typical male example of sex out of the way." Maybe it was Faye and Dora.
Anytime sex is brought up, Faye always exhibits a really negative attitude. Especially compared to someone like Raven (who's probably the most psychologically healthy of the cast), who has a really positive view of sex.
Even nudity, even in a presumably-platonic setting, is upsetting for Faye...
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=997
Not to mention her unhealthy body image, always complaining about her weight and such. You could potentially frame the sex and nudity stuff as a type of trust issue brough on by her father's suicide, but you can't really make the logical leap from parental suicide to negative body-image. The leap from sexual abuse to negative body-image is much shorter and more logical.
He did it for his daughter's sake, to spare her the embarrassment of having a breakdown and years of being emotionally crippled for no good reason.
Lol, well that backfired.
There's now a "Dysfunctional Families" thread in Relate containing the posts about forumgoers's own families of origin, where discussions of same should continue.Actually, I could see this as a guest comic. WILLIS! MILHOLLAND! FRONT AND CENTER!
Back on topic, I was just afflicted by a mental picture of Faye somehow crossing into the real world and confronting Jeph: "Hello. My name is Faye Whitaker. You killed my father. Prepared to die."
Link to the strip in question (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1350).
It was not presented as being a reason, but I think Faye's mom had a point when she said "He was a God-damned Jackass who didn't deserve the wonderful family he had". As good an explanation as any and truer than any excuse he could have come up with.
True, but she was sexually active before she even left for college.And the areas of the US that use shame and abstinence-only education to deter sex, are the areas with the highest teenage pregnancy rates (and IIRC the highest rates of sexual activity amongst teenagers, too).
Summarizable as "he killed himself because he was a stupid jackass".
Was there a case where Faye even allowed a little bit of friendly physical contact from Marten while sober?
Tthree times, when Faye was miserable: when he hugged her outside CoD (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=342), but lost the chance to do it again! During the Talk (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=505) (thanks ThomasEll), and shortly before the breakup (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1741).
Don't forget my favorite strip, which is even somewhat relevant!
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1564
My reaction would be utterly different if he'd had any history of depression. Someone would have noticed.
It is entirely possible that I can't see straight on this subject due to my family background.
With regards to Faye's attitude towards sex, bear in mind that from the looks of it, Faye comes from a very religious family, quite possibly in one of the stronger Baptist areas. Growing up in an area like that, well the religious education system practically whacks it into people's head that sex outside of marriage is wrong and that positions other than the missionary position means you're going to hell.
Or at the very least sex was not something openly discussed in Faye's family. Thus Faye has had limited experience talking about sex, which would have been particularly jarring when she moved north and started working with Dora.
It is entirely possible that I can't see straight on this subject due to my family background.
On the other hand we have me picturing people openly saying and wanting to put "[*He] was an idiot who didn't deserve to be loved" over my grave and how I deserved to be spoken of like that for not being able to keep going. Feels great.
*Because let's face it: They would have.
I'm sorry, but Faye does not come from a very religious family. (http://questionablecontent.net./view.php?comic=232)
I think it's pretty clear that any dysfunction Faye had was with intimacy in general, not sex. This is why she would sleep with (but not date) Sven.
I give you my word that I will not let my pain and anger over what my brother did to us interfere with my respect for you in any way.
It does, however, predispose me to understand the feelings of the surviving Whitakers.
Social conservatism topic: Mrs. Whitaker did not react well to Amanda being gay! Her eventual acceptance was grudging.Social conservatism is not limited to the religious, I can attest to this from experience, but it was fairly well established that Faye's mom is Baptist, a decidedly conservative religious sect.
Faye and Sven in an actual relationship? What would that be like?(click to show/hide)
He did it for his daughter's sake, to spare her the embarrassment of having a breakdown and years of being emotionally crippled for no good reason.
Lol, well that backfired.
I think you missed IICIH's point (see the emphasized part). IICIH is implying that Faye's father knew Fay was about to have a breakdown and be emotionally crippled for years, and he didn't want that to happen to her for no good reason. So he committed suicide to give her a good reason... :roll:
Yes, that's what I meant.
Yet another factette to toss in the soup is that she managed a physical relationship (Sven) before she could handle attachment. That could be used as an argument either way.
Here's an answer: he didn't kill himself. He's actually the director of the DoKYA and what Faye saw was an acephalic clone being controlled by an AI. Steve knows of Director Whitaker of course, but either hasn't made the connection (does he even know about Faye's story?) or has been sworn to secrecy. As for why? Plausible deniability; who better to head up an ultra-secret paramilitary organisation than a dead man?
It was not presented as being a reason, but I think Faye's mom had a point when she said "He was a God-damned Jackass who didn't deserve the wonderful family he had". As good an explanation as any and truer than any excuse he could have come up with.
With regards to Faye's attitude towards sex, bear in mind that from the looks of it, Faye comes from a very religious family, quite possibly in one of the stronger Baptist areas. Growing up in an area like that, well the religious education system practically whacks it into people's head that sex outside of marriage is wrong and that positions other than the missionary position means you're going to hell.
Or at the very least sex was not something openly discussed in Faye's family. Thus Faye has had limited experience talking about sex, which would have been particularly jarring when she moved north and started working with Dora.
Summarizable as "he killed himself because he was a stupid jackass".
Or, you know, mentally ill. As someone with a long history of mental illness, as well as knowing many who succumbed to it, I find the way so many people write off suicide as cowardly or selfish to be very insulting. Mental illness is a real thing, it is a medical condition as real as cancer or lupus, not something to be dismissed as a moral failing. In a society that places such a heavy stigma on mental illness, especially for men, it is quite common for a condition to go untreated until it becomes overwhelming.
There are varying degrees of depression. It can be relatively easy to appear normal when you are around other people (and it may even lift your spirits a bit), but that doesn't mean that when you are alone, sitting in front of your computer at one o'clock in the morning, because you just cannot bring yourself to stand up and walk a few steps to your bed; that then thoughts don't start creeping up about how worthless you are and how much you suck because you cannot even stand up and because you won't seek help either and the others won't understand anyway and even if they did they would only pretend to care because they don't really like you and you are painfully aware of the fact that most people care about 150 other people at most anyway and why should anyone care about YOU.
Was there a case where Faye even allowed a little bit of friendly physical contact from Marten while sober?
Tthree times, when Faye was miserable: when he hugged her outside CoD (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=342), but lost the chance to do it again! During the Talk (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=505) (thanks ThomasEll), and shortly before the breakup (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1741).
Don't forget my favorite strip, which is even somewhat relevant!
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1564
My reaction would be utterly different if he'd had any history of depression. Someone would have noticed.
*Ahem* (http://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,27809.msg1142776.html#msg1142776)
BULL! (http://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,28862.msg1146924.html#msg1146924)
SHIT! (http://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,28862.msg1146927.html#msg1146927)
Also I'll just go "+1 Sitnspin" and add that I'm incredibly sick of people essentially trying to guilt suicidal people into staying alive with how it'd traumatize their family. Just.. very sick of it. You're not entitled to have someone stay alive and it's not them being immoral for "hurting you", even if I'm familiar with having the instinctual response of telling someone "If that happened it'd break me, please don't.." and I hate myself for that. Looking at the stuff associated Mr. Whitaker's suicide is actually pretty unnerving.
"He was a God-damned Jackass who didn't deserve the wonderful family he had"
"I'm willing to bet that most cemetaries have a rule prohibiting negative epitaphs. I'd say if anyone deserves one it's certainly Faye's dad."
I recently told someone at work about my issues with depression as it was affecting my work. I told them about the last time I had a bad rut, which was a couple months long and I was working at the same place. They said, "I never knew." It took so much of me to respond, "You weren't meant to."
Whatever pushed Faye's dad over the edge, it must have been very personal and/or very private. If it was, for example, terrible debt, the family would have found out after his death. If the issue was an outside source.
So I think that really the two most likely contenders for him killing himself are it either being some internal depression that he had been keeping secret, possibly for a long time (the most likely), or that it was actually a cover up so he could become the Director of DoKYA (the version I prefer, although probably not actually very likely :-P).
I don't think that him sexually abusing Faye is likely at all, if that was the case then it would have been (or should have been) picked up during Faye's therapy sessions, not to mention the fact that she was about twenty when he did it, so I would think that she would be able to remember that. I also don't agree with the idea that she has any sexual dysfunction, her problem comes from not being able (or rather wanting) to form the emotional attachment necessary for a healthy relationship. This is why she is able to have sex with Sven and at the same time justify to herself that it's not a relationship because she didn't particularly like him (although I think that if he hadn't cheated on her then it could have possibly become a relationship).
Faye and Sven in an actual relationship? What would that be like?(click to show/hide)
This thread title makes me think of horrible responses that are purely mean spirited.
I'm thinking of the guy mentioned in one of the hardcopy books who wrote Jeph to say that he'd gotten help instead of killing himself when he read The Talk and realized he couldn't do something like that to his daughter.
It is entirely possible that I can't see straight on this subject due to my family background.
It is entirely possible that I can't see straight on this subject due to my family background.
On the other hand we have me picturing people openly saying and wanting to put "[*He] was an idiot who didn't deserve to be loved" over my grave and how I deserved to be spoken of like that for not being able to keep going. Feels great.
*Because let's face it: They would have.
Depends on "rurality". The bigger metro areas are ... well, pretty metropolitan. Atlanta, Memphis, Charlotte, and of course, New Orleans. Being southern doesn't automatically mean religious or repressed!
On Mr. Whittaker's potential mental illness, I'd also like to point out some of the later onset things that can happen. Depression is one, of course, and can strike at any time; so are things like schizophrenia, early onset dementia and / or alzheimers, and several other illnesses.
Now, before someone shouts that the family would have noticed, I'd like to point out that in the early stages of all these (and many other) problems, the first person to notice is the subject / victim / patient. And if her father thought he might be going insane, and perhaps thought he'd "wind up like crazy uncle Joe" or something, he may have thought that the only way to avoid such a fate was suicide.
Or perhaps the illness itself convinced him that it was what he had to do. And that, until it convinced him of this, he had to keep up appearances. Go through the motions. It's surprisingly easy when people expect you to be a certain way to just give them what they expect, rather than go through the questioning and problems that bizarre behaviour leads to...
Social conservatism topic: Mrs. Whitaker did not react well to Amanda being gay! Her eventual acceptance was grudging.
Once we, as a society, learn to see mental illness as a real medical condition rather than weakness of character perhaps we can put aside the blaming and stigma and actually start to help those affected, both the ill and their families.
There is one aspect that I think may have contributed: the Kentucky Bourbon Milkshake.
Perhaps alcoholism ran in the family, and Dad kept it to himself - until he realized that one day that he was turning into his father/uncle/whatever?
I'd be grabbing at straws with that theory, but it's something Jeph could have left himself an out for if he ever wanted Faye to discover a reason.
Not necessarily alcoholism, but it is entirely likely he was using the alcohol to self-medicate whatever illness he did have. That is quite common with undiagnosed and untreated mental illness.
I'm curious how you'd explain her negative body-image and general negative attitude towards sex itself, if there was no sexual abuse.
Pokemon fans care about 151 other people.I lol'd. Incidentally, "hardcore" Pokémon fans will insist there are only 150 Pokémon and Mewtwo "doesn't count".
So I think that really the two most likely contenders for him killing himself are it either being some internal depression that he had been keeping secret, possibly for a long time (the most likely), or that it was actually a cover up so he could become the Director of DoKYA (the version I prefer, although probably not actually very likely :-P).
I don't think that him sexually abusing Faye is likely at all, if that was the case then it would have been (or should have been) picked up during Faye's therapy sessions, not to mention the fact that she was about twenty when he did it, so I would think that she would be able to remember that. I also don't agree with the idea that she has any sexual dysfunction, her problem comes from not being able (or rather wanting) to form the emotional attachment necessary for a healthy relationship. This is why she is able to have sex with Sven and at the same time justify to herself that it's not a relationship because she didn't particularly like him (although I think that if he hadn't cheated on her then it could have possibly become a relationship).
My thought was that he sexually abused her when she was a little kid, not when she was twenty. It just so happened to overwhelm him and cause him to take his own life after she left for college. Possibly because her leaving for college made him really think about his relationship with his little girl, and finally put enough distance between them, temporally and spatially, for him to self-analyze and become distraught.
I'm curious how you'd explain her negative body-image and general negative attitude towards sex itself, if there was no sexual abuse.
By the way, everyone always says Sven "cheated on Faye." Is this later on, or are you all referring to the Gina Riversmith thing? He and Faye weren't in a monogamous relationship, I wouldn't call that cheating. They were "just two people having fun," they even talked about it. Clearly, Faye was working up the courage and mental energies to turn it into something more, but at the time Sven banged Gina, he and Faye weren't dating.
but, Valdis, the fact remains that over 90% of people who are forcibly prevented from committing suicide are later happy about it, and go on to recover. Being depressed completely warps and twists your fundamental view of reality, so you also can't say, "suicide is a right, who cares what it does to other people, you just don't understand."
As for negative attitudes towards sex, I'll drum up some specific strips later (I'm too tired right now), but like I said before, compare Faye's response anytime anybody's talking about or mentions sex to Dora's or Raven's. Dora and Raven clearly have a positive view of sex, they see it as fun, they're comfortable making jokes, etc. Faye's response is always "ugh, sex." It typically comes off as denigration -- Faye acting like Dora is somehow lowering herself or acting improper by liking sex, Faye presenting the attitude that she's above such base desires.I'm curious how you'd explain her negative body-image and general negative attitude towards sex itself, if there was no sexual abuse.
...can we have have sources on her having negative body-image and negative attitude towards sex and not relationships? Because while girl certainly has abandonment issues, I have yet to see evidence of her having problems with sex. Are we talking about how she went to buy a vibrator with Dora or what?
As to the body-image: she has a Rubenesque body shape. Society will gladly tell you this is bad.
QuotePokemon fans care about 151 other people.I lol'd. Incidentally, "hardcore" Pokémon fans will insist there are only 150 Pokémon and Mewtwo "doesn't count".
So I think that really the two most likely contenders for him killing himself are it either being some internal depression that he had been keeping secret, possibly for a long time (the most likely), or that it was actually a cover up so he could become the Director of DoKYA (the version I prefer, although probably not actually very likely :-P).
I don't think that him sexually abusing Faye is likely at all, if that was the case then it would have been (or should have been) picked up during Faye's therapy sessions, not to mention the fact that she was about twenty when he did it, so I would think that she would be able to remember that. I also don't agree with the idea that she has any sexual dysfunction, her problem comes from not being able (or rather wanting) to form the emotional attachment necessary for a healthy relationship. This is why she is able to have sex with Sven and at the same time justify to herself that it's not a relationship because she didn't particularly like him (although I think that if he hadn't cheated on her then it could have possibly become a relationship).
My thought was that he sexually abused her when she was a little kid, not when she was twenty. It just so happened to overwhelm him and cause him to take his own life after she left for college. Possibly because her leaving for college made him really think about his relationship with his little girl, and finally put enough distance between them, temporally and spatially, for him to self-analyze and become distraught.
I'm curious how you'd explain her negative body-image and general negative attitude towards sex itself, if there was no sexual abuse.
By the way, everyone always says Sven "cheated on Faye." Is this later on, or are you all referring to the Gina Riversmith thing? He and Faye weren't in a monogamous relationship, I wouldn't call that cheating. They were "just two people having fun," they even talked about it. Clearly, Faye was working up the courage and mental energies to turn it into something more, but at the time Sven banged Gina, he and Faye weren't dating.
Faye directly tells Sven that if he sleeps with someone else then that will be the end of it. (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1307) Now Sven doesn't actually say "OK" to that, but still.
As for her negative attitude towards her body, that's not really hard to explain. I mean, I think that pretty much everyone has something about their body that they aren't happy with, and some more than others. She never really shows any negative attitudes towards sex though, the main problem for her before the talk was that she had massive anxiety towards someone leaving her.
but, Valdis, the fact remains that over 90% of people who are forcibly prevented from committing suicide are later happy about it, and go on to recover. Being depressed completely warps and twists your fundamental view of reality, so you also can't say, "suicide is a right, who cares what it does to other people, you just don't understand."
[Re: You're crazy] ..That's not true. I don't see how you could try to justify saying depressed people have lost all touch with reality. Sometimes being in touch with reality doesn't exactly help. Which is also why I'd personally describe it more as a remission than a recovery - just hoping for an indefinite one.
[Re: Forcible prevention] Only potentially true if for the right reasons, not as a general success/failure rate. Personally I would've rather died if not. Again, comes down to the selfishness of the people who say not to 'do that to them'. It would not be in my best interest to "make me adjusted" to that life (through drugs/therapy/ECT/whatever). Many a time has that gone through my head, the only conclusion those thoughts have ever pictured is bleeding out.
[Re: Can't say..] Watch me: Suicide is a right and bodily autonomy is sacrosanct - yes, even when someone says you're crazy. I don't care how it hurts the rest of us when it happens, including how badly it ends up hurting myself. Just because this is an undesirable outcome to hopefully be prevented doesn't mean there aren't fates worse than death or decisions others ultimately don't have the right to make for you.
society schmoschmiety; nobody's making fun of her for being fat.
Just because Faye was hurt by Sven's actions doesn't make his actions wrong; he was well within his rights to have sex with whoever he wanted to.
Obviously people have a right to commit suicide, but that doesn't mean that right should be exercised, nor does it mean that the effects of one's suicide on others should be completely ignored.
There was no family history of depression on Fayedad's side of the family: Fayemom said so explicitly.
Summarizable as "he killed himself because he was a stupid jackass".This was probably covered, but I think you have that backwards. I see that more as "he was a stupid jackass because he killed himself"
society schmoschmiety; nobody's making fun of her for being fat.
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=170
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=754
Marten's complained about not being strong enough to hold up a couch or an unconscious friend (too lazy to dig up the references right now).
Whatever Fayedad's reasons were, he had the ability to pick up a phone or say "I'm thinking of killing myself" at a routine physical exam. With ability comes ethical responsibility. Whatever pain he was in, he should have tried pills first and bullets last.
Just because Faye was hurt by Sven's actions doesn't make his actions wrong; he was well within his rights to have sex with whoever he wanted to.
I suppose; he broke no law. But society is a way of people getting along, and hopefully not hurting each other unnecessarily - and society says he was in the wrong, in the sense of being a major dick.
QuoteObviously people have a right to commit suicide, but that doesn't mean that right should be exercised, nor does it mean that the effects of one's suicide on others should be completely ignored.
Bear in mind that it is not agreed by all that it is a right. In the eyes of much of the church it is a sin, and under the laws of some countries it is still a crime (Singapore and India, for instance, though most Western countries have dropped this). In North Korea, legal sanctions are applied against surviving relatives...
Almost no one agrees that homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't.
I'm curious how you'd explain her negative body-image and general negative attitude towards sex itself, if there was no sexual abuse.
Even Dora has had body image problems, related to her bust size.And Raven has had body image problems related to her weight (and to stretchmarks caused by the weight).
But getting control of her weight changed her attitude (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=562).She changed her attitude on the outside. The thing is, the fact that she may have once been a bit heavyset is still a deep, dark secret suggests she still has some internalized body issues.
As Dora says, "mostly". Body issues are always there, because... your body is.
And for what it's worth, society is pretty hard at work at trying to give men body image issues too. It's really not at the same point as what women have to put up with, but give it time.