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Characters get accused of being bad people.

31 (20.4%)

Someone chimes in that they miss Claire, or that they're glad she's still gone.

47 (30.9%)

Moderators forced to moderate.

22 (14.5%)

A pun is made. Forums spiral into madness.

47 (30.9%)

Kosh makes a appearance.

5 (3.3%)

Total Members Voted: 76

Voting closed: 29 Mar 2015, 17:59

[Perfectly Reasonable]

An insane Baroness could also have enough money to buy a mansion made of several smaller mansions every day of the year.

"I'll take your largest mansion. With your second largest mansion in the front hallway."

[Neko_Ali]

We probably will never know much more than we currently know about Faye's dad's drinking. However, the fact that he drank in secret, coupled with Faye's own alcoholic tendencies, is very suggestive. I don't see why it should be just dismissed out of hand as an inconsequential thing.

I'm not dismissing it out of hand. I just don't feel the evidence we have supports the theory that Faye's dad was an alcoholic. Since we're almost certainly not going to find out more evidence, all we know his he had one drink a week away from his wife who didn't approve of drinking. If he drank at other times that Faye didn't know about, maybe. But the evidence we have doesn't say he was hiding his drinking since it was an open secret with Faye. He was just hiding it from his wife.

[YourBuddyBill]

New comic refutes (note: refutes, not disproves) some prior theories/hypotheses about the group (aside from Arthur) being inconsequential. Not that I've read all the discussion, cause I gotta go to bed.

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

I suspect if Jeph does have one of Faye's parents as an alcoholic it will be her mother.  Her father having a booze problem would be a bit too obvious, and her mother is alive, allowing for more storyline possibilities.

In general I'd like to see her mother and sister turn up.  Especially since it's possible they don't know about Faye's overdose, since they didn't turn up in person, or have an uncomfortable conversation with Faye over the phone.

[tywren]

I suspect if Jeph does have one of Faye's parents as an alcoholic it will be her mother.  Her father having a booze problem would be a bit too obvious, and her mother is alive, allowing for more storyline possibilities.

Except that it's already established cannon, that her father is the one who was sneaking drinks behind the mothers back. But then, i guess it could be that Faye's mother is a Dry Drunk, and getting on her husbands case about drinking could be part of the "I can't drink, so ON ONE can drink!" mindset.

Also, did anyone else notice that she slipped back into her southern drawl in the last panel, Something she rarely does, sober? Odd that.

[Consilium]

Also, did anyone else notice that she slipped back into her southern drawl in the last panel, Something she rarely does, sober? Odd that.

I did notice that, but remember that earlyFaye abstained from contractions as a conscious effort; her use of "y'all" here seems to me like she's realizing she's not alone in her struggle and she just isn't thinking about language at the moment.

The look on her face between the last two panels makes me smile. It really shows her defenses coming down in regards to the group as she begins to understand that it's a group of real people. The Buddhists call that kind of realization "satori."

[Mr. Skawronska]

Fantastic comic, I love Faye's expression in the last two panels. I know it's a strange thing to say about a fictional character, but I'm glad to see that this looks like it'll be something that's really good for her.

Wow.  Way to kill my buzz, pal.

[Energia]

Satori?  I like that.
I also like that Jeph included the guy who doesn't have an easy narrative to explain his problem.  Is he getting advice about how to manage this arc?  People seemed to be very appreciative of how he handled the alcohol poisoning strips.  It's not that we expect a cartoonist to be an expert on human affairs and support services, but a lot of us do value what Jeph writes.  I read XKCD with an expectation that I'll learn something, but not Dilbert.  I'd kinda put QC more in the former camp.

[Aziraphale]

A drink a week doesn't make an alcoholic, but someone sneaking it does tend to raise red flags.

I'm just guessing here, but there are a lot of churches in the South that advocate abstaining from alcohol completely, to the point where even the communion "wine" is actually grape juice.  (I'm sure they have them up north, too, but... Bible belt.)  My guess is that Faye's mom is or at least was a member of one of these churches.

So sneaking a drink a week to avoid getting in trouble with a religious wife... less of a red flag than it might otherwise be.

There's also entire denominations that abstain completely from alcohol (the church I was raised in being one of them, that being Seventh-Day Adventist). We certainly had grape juice to go with our communion bread - which I somehow managed to get even though I was never baptized 

Yeah, my in-laws are Seventh Day Adventists. Well, my MIL is. My FIL cuts some corners (loves his beer and pernil too much).

We probably will never know much more than we currently know about Faye's dad's drinking. However, the fact that he drank in secret, coupled with Faye's own alcoholic tendencies, is very suggestive. I don't see why it should be just dismissed out of hand as an inconsequential thing.

I'm not dismissing it out of hand. I just don't feel the evidence we have supports the theory that Faye's dad was an alcoholic. Since we're almost certainly not going to find out more evidence, all we know his he had one drink a week away from his wife who didn't approve of drinking. If he drank at other times that Faye didn't know about, maybe. But the evidence we have doesn't say he was hiding his drinking since it was an open secret with Faye. He was just hiding it from his wife.

It's also possible that  neither of her parents are, but that another close relative (a grandparent, for instance, since I don't think we've heard aunts or uncles mentioned) is. I know people who won't touch alcohol because of what they grew up with, or because they're concerned about genetics. It could be that Faye's mother just didn't want to be reminded of someone else's habit, or didn't want to see someone else go down the same road.

[Kugai]

That cheered her up

[Tova]

Just a note regarding Faye's Dad, just because I find this topic interesting... of course we have no evidence that he was alcoholic, but neither do we know the correctness of Faye's assertion that he only had one drink per week.

Edit: this possibility had already been mentioned, but I'll leave my support for this theory anyway.

[Kugai]

There is that.

One drink a week is probably what she knew about, but that doesn't mean it was all he had.

[explicit]

I liked it. HELLO EVERYBODY.

Just a note regarding Faye's Dad, just because I find this topic interesting... of course we have no evidence that he was alcoholic, but neither do we know the correctness of Faye's assertion that he only had one drink per week.

Unreliable narrator, sure, but we have no reason not to trust her on that as of yet. I feel like if she didn't lie about her dad shooting himself she wouldn't lie about him drinking a bit more, but who knows.

[Penquin47]

I liked it. HELLO EVERYBODY.

Just a note regarding Faye's Dad, just because I find this topic interesting... of course we have no evidence that he was alcoholic, but neither do we know the correctness of Faye's assertion that he only had one drink per week.

Unreliable narrator, sure, but we have no reason not to trust her on that as of yet. I feel like if she didn't lie about her dad shooting himself she wouldn't lie about him drinking a bit more, but who knows.

Lie, no, but she might not have known.  If he snuck drinks at work, for instance.

[Omega Entity]

We probably will never know much more than we currently know about Faye's dad's drinking. However, the fact that he drank in secret, coupled with Faye's own alcoholic tendencies, is very suggestive. I don't see why it should be just dismissed out of hand as an inconsequential thing.

I'm not dismissing it out of hand. I just don't feel the evidence we have supports the theory that Faye's dad was an alcoholic. Since we're almost certainly not going to find out more evidence, all we know his he had one drink a week away from his wife who didn't approve of drinking. If he drank at other times that Faye didn't know about, maybe. But the evidence we have doesn't say he was hiding his drinking since it was an open secret with Faye. He was just hiding it from his wife.

It's also possible that  neither of her parents are, but that another close relative (a grandparent, for instance, since I don't think we've heard aunts or uncles mentioned) is. I know people who won't touch alcohol because of what they grew up with, or because they're concerned about genetics. It could be that Faye's mother just didn't want to be reminded of someone else's habit, or didn't want to see someone else go down the same road.

My uncle was an alcoholic, or at the least a very heavy drinker. It's part of the reason why I only very rarely have a glass of wine, and didn't have my first (and only) buzz (unintentional!) until I was 29. I now know not to chug the leftover half a glass of wine after dinner, that I felt guilty about wasting since my employer at the time had paid for my meal.

[explicit]

Maybe, but I feel like we should go by the assumption that he didn't unless told otherwise. We really have no reason to suspect that he did other than we weren't explicitly told that he didn't.

[Dark Matter]

New comic refutes (note: refutes, not disproves) some prior theories/hypotheses about the group (aside from Arthur) being inconsequential. Not that I've read all the discussion, cause I gotta go to bed.

I agree. For one thing, the designs of these new characters seem too detailed and distinctive to be for throwaway characters. If anything, they oddly seem more unique to me than Arthur's design, which is more "generic QC guy/Clinton clone." Maybe I'm just imagining it, though.

[explicit]

I dunno, Jeph never seems to half-ass his characters, regardless of how brief their appearances (at least once his artwork improved). It would be highly unlikely for him to introduce that many characters at once.

[ZoeB]

OK, I'm weird.

I have this strong urge to give hugs. To complete strangers. In a comic strip.

To try and make it all better.

I can't. So I'll try to do what I can in Reality instead. Messier, but Real.

[Is it cold in here?]

[BenRG]

For Faye, I think that the great revelation in today's strip is that she isn't alone. She's not a unique failure or has any special weakness or flaw; there are lots of people who share similar stories and intractable problems which they will be fighting all their lives. Is she turning the corner? Perhaps but she certainly has been given the gift of hope. I'm sure that there will be no question about whether she will attend another meeting now.

Her smile in panel seven is perhaps the happiest expression that she has worn for some time.

We probably will never know much more than we currently know about Faye's dad's drinking.

I don't think that he was necessarily an alcoholic or even a problem drinker. However, his doctoring his milkshakes is indicative of a wider continuum of problems that contributed to his suicide. That he felt the need to do it in secret is a clue to problems for which he felt unable to reveal to his family.

New comic refutes (note: refutes, not disproves) some prior theories/hypotheses about the group (aside from Arthur) being inconsequential. Not that I've read all the discussion, cause I gotta go to bed.

I disagree. These members have already fulfilled their one plot function. We may see them at future meetings or Faye may meet one on the street but we may not even get names! Arthur  is most likely to fill the 'sponsor/support' role right now.

[explicit]

Ah fuck, now that I'm drunk, is it weird that I wanna contribute to that circle?

Goddamn it.

[rfrank dodelijk]

faye's dad may just have enjoyed having a secret from his wife. faye might have joined the deception because she enjoyed excluding her mother.

like faye, the support group seem to have some actual problems. being around those people rather than just a bunch of self obsessed idiot children who spend all their time staring up their own backsides, may well do faye a lot of good.

excellent comic today.

[APersonAmI]

I, too, am glad to meet the people in today's comic. I like them a lot.

[ZoeB]

Ah fuck, now that I'm drunk, is it weird that I wanna contribute to that circle?

Goddamn it.

Maybe it is. If so - join the club. We are a circle here, you know. If you could do with some help, a sympathetic ear, free advice (only if you ask for it and worth what you pay for it) but mostly someone to listen and tell you you're not alone - we're here. Part of humanity, as you are.

[Pilchard123]

A couple pages late, but I also don't think we'll see Farthur. He shot himself.

[bhtooefr]

Is he getting advice about how to manage this arc?

http://jephjacques.com/post/11016004407/high-and-dry

I suspect that Jeph is writing from personal experience right now.

[explicit]

Ah fuck, now that I'm drunk, is it weird that I wanna contribute to that circle?

Goddamn it.

Maybe it is. If so - join the club. We are a circle here, you know. If you could do with some help, a sympathetic ear, free advice (only if you ask for it and worth what you pay for it) but mostly someone to listen and tell you you're not alone - we're here. Part of humanity, as you are.

Hey, yall are good people, that's why I stay here. We disagree on a lot (hey look down there in the discuss subforum!), but for the most part everyone is very respectful and that's freakin' wonderful.

I think this last comic hit home for me a lot because my brother died last year as a passenger in a drunk driving accident. I do the opposite that Faye does in these comics. I drink to actually feel something.

[WareWolf]

We probably will never know much more than we currently know about Faye's dad's drinking. However, the fact that he drank in secret, coupled with Faye's own alcoholic tendencies, is very suggestive. I don't see why it should be just dismissed out of hand as an inconsequential thing.

I'm not dismissing it out of hand. I just don't feel the evidence we have supports the theory that Faye's dad was an alcoholic. Since we're almost certainly not going to find out more evidence, all we know his he had one drink a week away from his wife who didn't approve of drinking. If he drank at other times that Faye didn't know about, maybe. But the evidence we have doesn't say he was hiding his drinking since it was an open secret with Faye. He was just hiding it from his wife.

Remember, all we know about Faye's dad's drinking is what she's told Marten.  Sneaking booze into a milkshake--in front of your kid, no less--is ominous, and could be only that tip of the iceberg that Faye has allowed us to see. But as noted elsewhere, it's only a hint, not real evidence.  So far. It'll be interesting to see if Faye opens up more about this.

[osaka]

I would believe that's all she knew about, if there's anything more. People who want to hide that kind of stuff get surprisingly good at it.

[TinPenguin]

Personally, I'd rate the 'sneaking booze into milkshake' alongside 'asking the barman to tell your wife you left five minutes ago'.

[chaospersonified]

Anyone else think Faye's word choice says something about her comfort level? She doesn't say "Y'all" all that often. In the early days of the strip, she had to get wasted before her southern accent came out, but here she is, sober for more than 24 hours and using southern vocabulary.

Is he getting advice about how to manage this arc?

http://jephjacques.com/post/11016004407/high-and-dry

I suspect that Jeph is writing from personal experience right now.

That explained a lot of the stuff before this particular arc, but I'm pretty sure he's said in some Q & A's that support groups were never his thing

[Is it cold in here?]

I don't know whether or how much Jeph researches things before writing but it looks certain that he did for the Claire arc at least.

[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]

Anyone else think Faye's word choice says something about her comfort level? She doesn't say "Y'all" all that often. In the early days of the strip, she had to get wasted before her southern accent came out, but here she is, sober for more than 24 hours and using southern vocabulary.

Is he getting advice about how to manage this arc?

http://jephjacques.com/post/11016004407/high-and-dry

I suspect that Jeph is writing from personal experience right now.

That explained a lot of the stuff before this particular arc, but I'm pretty sure he's said in some Q & A's that support groups were never his thing

Fear of being forced into a support group is what finally got me to start managing my own drinking.  In Faye's situation I'd have taken the crowbar blows and been through the window by now. 

[emilygrrl]

Anyone else feel the last two comics are out of order? Before Faye tells her story, Arthur says "we've heard from everybody." Then in the next comic, all the others tell their story? Weird.

[Aziraphale]

At first I thought it might be on purpose, kind of like the out-of-order strips when Marten showed up at Claire's. But that wouldn't make sense, because I can't see her going from how she looks in the most recent comic to very grudgingly telling her story in the comic before it. People may have shared progress reports of sorts before she spoke ("Had an argument with my boss today right before lunch, and it took everything I had not to grab a beer.") and may have shared their stories after she shared hers precisely so she wouldn't feel quite as awkward having told it as she did beforehand. She probably felt kinda like the odd man out before she shared her story, and realized after others' stories were so similar to hers that she's not quite as alone in all this as she's likely felt up to this point.

Just my take. YMMV.

[chaospersonified]

Anyone else feel the last two comics are out of order? Before Faye tells her story, Arthur says "we've heard from everybody." Then in the next comic, all the others tell their story? Weird.

I assumed he meant they'd checked in on everyone. Then Faye told her story and everyone felt the need to share theirs. Like, everyone else had described their problems since the last meeting, not their whole history, then they wanted to make sure Faye knew her story wasn't abnormal

[Zebediah]

Yeah, this is how these groups go. First a brief round where everyone checks in a bit and briefly introduces themselves for the benefit of any newcomers. Then they get to the heavy stuff.

[BenRG]

I think that after Faye put herself down so hard, some of the other members volunteered their own stories to show that she shouldn't be so quick to consider herself a unique, despite-worthy case.

[Noxx]

For Faye, I think that the great revelation in today's strip is that she isn't alone. She's not a unique failure or has any special weakness or flaw; there are lots of people who share similar stories and intractable problems which they will be fighting all their lives. Is she turning the corner? Perhaps but she certainly has been given the gift of hope. I'm sure that there will be no question about whether she will attend another meeting now.

Her smile in panel seven is perhaps the happiest expression that she has worn for some time.

This here.

The big revelation for most people with substance problems is that simple recognition that they are not alone. This is why a speaker "pitches" or "Qualifies" at meetings, so that people can identify and realize "Hey, I'm not the lone fucking ranger living in a special and unique misery, this shit happens to *everybody*". It seems so simple, but it really can be a life altering moment.

I thought it was handled very well.

[gprimr1]

They do appear out of order, but then I had a thought.

What if today's panel the members of the group introducing themselves to Faye by telling their stories? They aren't sharing for support at that point, but mearly introducing themselves to Faye?

[Rghfrgl]

I think that line about the other people going it was just a error/oversight rather than uploading things in the wrong order. She's happy in the last panel of todays, but defensive looking in the first panel of yesterdays. She told her story THEN got reassurance from the group.

Jeph is working ahead though, so probably get some misuploads in the near future 

[chaospersonified]

 There's no discrepency at all.

They started by checking in with everyone and hearing about their struggles since the last meeting. We don't know Jerry, and we don't inherently care that he was tempted really strongly last tuesday.

So we skipped that part.

Each person who was already known in the group said something about their time since the last meeting. Then Arthur introduced Faye.

Everyone heard Faye's story, saw how bad she felt, and wanted to tell how they came to this point in their lives. They welcomed her, made her feel like part of the group.

Pretty sure you don't tell your entire backstory with drinking at every single meeting.

[Platypodes]

Yes, that sounds right to me.

Faye spat her story at them with a tone of "Here's how shitty I am, so now you can all look at me with contempt, fuckheads."  It makes sense that they'd respond by showing her that they've all got stories that make them understand and empathize with her.  It's exactly what she needed, and it was probably clear to others in the room that she needed it.

[Noxx]

Was yours dead or alive?

[chaospersonified]

Was yours dead or alive?

*Looking back for context and finding none*

Whose and what might be dead or alive?

[jwhouk]

Let's go through this, panel by panel:

• BLONDE GUY - Similarity is the car accident. Faye may or may not have been drunk when she wrapped the car around the tree.
• REDHEAD WITH GLASSES - Similarity is the parent. We've touched on how dad sneaked bourbon; Faye probably learned how to "sneak" drinks in that same way.
• LARGE DARK-HAIR GUY - Similarity is job. Developed to the point where he was coming into work drunk. Same thing with Faye.
• PONY TAIL WOMAN - Twofold: rough childhood (dad shooting himself) and the drunken suicide attempt (so drunk she had to go to the hospital).
• MUSTACHE GUY - "Slid into it", which is something that definitely happened with Faye. She didn't realize how much she was relying on the bottle until waking up in the hospital.

[Truec]

We probably will never know much more than we currently know about Faye's dad's drinking. However, the fact that he drank in secret, coupled with Faye's own alcoholic tendencies, is very suggestive. I don't see why it should be just dismissed out of hand as an inconsequential thing.

Well for one thing, it doesn't count as "in secret" if he was doing it while out with Faye. 

[Noxx]

Was yours dead or alive?

*Looking back for context and finding none*

Whose and what might be dead or alive?

It's an old AA joke, I'll relate it next time I'm on a desktop.

[TRVA123]

We probably will never know much more than we currently know about Faye's dad's drinking. However, the fact that he drank in secret, coupled with Faye's own alcoholic tendencies, is very suggestive. I don't see why it should be just dismissed out of hand as an inconsequential thing.

Well for one thing, it doesn't count as "in secret" if he was doing it while out with Faye.

Yes, clearly a secret is only a secret if only one person knows about it.
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=503

Faye specifically refers to her father's weekly bourbon milkshake as a secret between the two of them.