Speech Therapy

Late to the conversation (hazard of being in a different timezone) but just wanted to say thanks to Jeph for this plot line. We've certainly got a lot of different opinions in here about it and that shows it's something important that should be discussed. Personally I've very much on side of the "instigating physical violence as a response to speech is always wrong" no matter how vile the speech in question but it's very interesting to hear other people's views.

You know what? I DO believe that the popular kids who decided to gang up on someone and bully them by deliberately misgendering them, then when their victim's friend threw a juice box, decided to attack the two of them, deserve, if not perhaps the same level of punishment, at least something close in severity, to that of their victim who, while outnumbered in a fight, used a highly dangerous move. So yes, I WILL be furious that none of the bullies got a suspension. And if that means I get a condescending knee-jerk remark by Veronica Jane about me still carrying the psychological scars from being bullied to the point of suicidal ideation for a large part of my childhood, then so be it.

Anh is going to save the day now. I feel a little sorry for Bubbles, though -- teenagers are difficult to communicate with. (I don't mean that in a bad way; they're just chock-full of hormones and it messes with your brain.)

SHORT COMMENT: When someone as impulsive as Emmett risks killing a kid in their school, adults shouldn't say "Good! Keep going!" LONG COMMENT: It's one thing to point out that more kids than just Emmett deserve to be suspended, but the chokehold did warrant that suspension. I know people have the right to defend themselves physically, but there's defense and then there's defense. Something like a punch in the gut is one thing, but chokeholds can kill. And even if--if!--the chokehold had been the kind where Emmett makes sure to keep it non-lethal, that's not at all the kind of thing where it would be wise of Bubbles to trust somebody like Emmett to be able to make that distinction. (No offense to my favorite human character, but it's true.) Not to mention that generally, adults shouldn't even condone the generally harmless forbidden things kids do, like eating candy in class or drinking just a small sip of vodka when the parents aren't home. That's not the kind of thing that adults should try to *encourage* their children to do, right? Keep the rules reasonably tight, so that the rebellion is safe rebellion. So I feel that Bubbles does need to warn against something potentially lethal, like a chokehold. Finally, we know the kind of stuff that Emmett has gotten up to in the past. Honestly, I... I feel that potentially lethal violence is exactly the kind of thing where you need to draw the line. Even though bullying can cause suicide in the worst cases, that doesn't mean things like this are the answer. (And yeah, I realize that this is a comic and not real life, but it's a scene that's meant to be taken seriously. So I'm gonna take it seriously.)

'6-7' is not a meme. It was a fad. Now it is a trend, let it die.

To me Bubbles mirrors the concern of the school board about order and violence – why Emmett is suspended, not in detention like Sam is. Anh maybe is recognizing Sam fears losing Emmett because she started the violence over how people like Harry Stone were trying to rename/regender Emmett. Sam threw the juice box, Emmett knocked out Harry, and that’s who the board suspended. Sam is originally worried about keeping Emmett’s identity and is afraid of losing that along with Emmett. It’ll be interesting how this gets resolved.

I did the 67 thing at some preteens and they said that was funny in 2025. Its not funny anymore. apparently

True, Bubbles probably doesn't understand. She is addressing the fairness of the school's response because that's the part she has a grasp on, but what she's missing is that that isn't really what Sam is worried about. Emmett has, on various occasions, expressed distress at the thought of having to move back to Canada or being banned from seeing Sam for being a "bad influence", usually over relatively minor offenses, so I can only imagine how anxious they are over this incident. I suspect the true source of Sam's angst is not her outrage at the school (regardless of how justified it may be) but rather worry for Emmett. She is afraid that she might be about to lose her best friend, afraid that it's her fault for starting the physical altercation, and afraid that her friend will be mad at her for the same reason. Whether any of that is true (in order: probably not, maybe a little bit, and not a chance), that anguish is compounded by Emmett almost certainly being grounded and unable to speak with Sam, leaving her concerns to escalate to full-on panic in the absence of information. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4712 https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4807

Artificial intelligence is no match for Angsty Indignation.

Next Week: Cleo sails on her yacht along with a still incapacitated Steve from last week “double coco puffs” cereal incident, but the ship gets wrecked by a Willy-Willy (Indian hurricane)! They survive by Cleo’s water tight floating steamer trunks which they are on while drifting through the Indian Ocean to an volcanic island unmarked on Google Earth … also Cleo eats the last of the chocolate chip instant pancakes.

These are the years where you're very volatile. I remember being exactly like this when I was a kid.

Sam likes Emmett back now.

On the plus side, we noticed, and we were a little worried

I hope Ahn can manage to reach Grim Samantha, or we may never see Dark Emmett again. :(

If Anh had said "have you ever spoken to a teenager before?" and then replied with "no, i mean regular speaking," the misunderstanding would've been more immediately funny.

A+ punchline

Oh dear. Maybe you should do a google search for how to communicate with teenagers, Bubbles? I’m sure there is an excellent wikihow-result you can partake in.

Look at Bubbles mirroring Grim Samantha's body language in the first panel!

I feel like they're discussing the same thing but from different perspectives. It's a massive societal failure that Emmett has little recourse but to physically defend themselves and Sam the best way they know how, and it's also a massive societal failure that had something tragic happened, that Emmett would have been treated statistically more harshly than their peers. Sam is not wrong, and Bubbles is not wrong either.

When you're 13, sometimes having stuff 'your way' is not just the 'right' way, it's the ONLY way. 😂

It's alright Jeph, we still love you.

yeah no im still on sam and emmetts side

Important conversation yes, but smol bubbles in panel 3 is stealing all my attention. Definitely made her cuter.

Bubbles certainly applied a chokehold to that conversation!

Military training and discipline is a higher standard than the public knows or can relate to, Bubbles. Sorry.