Escape Mechanism

The one common denominator all my middle-aged friends and I have in our stories about teenage shenanigans is that our parents were aware of *SO* much more than we thought.

loving Jeph's bottom line. I've lost count of the things that my parents knew about that I thought I got away with. & have recently (in my 60s, they're in their 80s) realized they absolutely did not know about a thing or 2 that I was sure they did. that said, Sam has put Faye in a bad spot that has repercussions on Sam if she ever wants to hang out at the shop. Faye & Bubs have an agreement with Jim about him knowing what goes on there. they can't support her rebellion without making it impossible for her to come back. catch-22.

Oh dear — Anh’s sarcasm detector is on the blink. I’m not sure that Bubbles will be happy with that. (Anh isn’t a mean person, but she does rather treat life as a series of stories…)

re: tagline, ha ha yeah. I remember as a teenager thinking my dad didn't know I smoked. HOW DID I THINK THAT WOULD WORK. yes definitely nobody can smell me reeking of smoke, particularly not someone who smoked for eons then quit like my dad. teenagers are fairly stupid in certain respects, I say having gotten two kids more or less through that stage myself

Ah. Sam needs to talk to their folks & needs to understand we all have trauma. Confession is a good thing here. It will led to discovery. There’s a when & how to rules breaking. If the parents can grok this was in response to bullying that isn’t being tracked, they should put the “grounding” on hold. The folks seem hip. So have hope. Second, the “mean kids” need some empathy training. I ’ve seen redemption so maybe not count them out. Sam is a good person who cares about their friends. They have values. I think Faye can convince Sam that the parents have her back. So to return with the 3 amigos is the best course. The bullying needs to be exposed. Fences mended.

At this point, Crushbot appears with his human adopted daughter selling Girl Scouts cookies and Sam recognizes her as Harry Stone’s twin sister Harriett. Crushbot asks if this is a bad time and could come back later. Bubbles wonders how did Crushbot have an adopted daughter while Anh spends her last $500 on cookies because you do not say no to Thin Mints and Tagalogs.

It's too bad they're no longer based at the coffee shop, where Faye could let Dora do the narcing on Sam to her dad and keep her Cool Aunt Cred xD

Faye needs to teach Sam the phrase "plausible deniability". If Sam hadn't mentioned she was grounded, Faye could claim she had no idea 😅

I have been watching the artwork on Sam since her reappearance. It seemed she had a little circle under her left eye when she showed up https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5752, I thought it was just freckles but upon closer inspection, I think it is actually part of her makeup, a little loop drawn on. Now in this latest panel, it is just downward streaks, aka -tears. 😢 Her makeup is running.

I actually think, sending Sam over to Emmett’s to talk Becky is not an awful idea. Faye could join for sure.

Me, gasping in awe of a comic characters parental instincts.

Liz is gonna have to understudy Sam’s goblin face technique. Maybe it’s the freckles.

Yeah, almost certain that if Jim comes down to the shop (which he would likely do when he finds out she snuck out) to find Sam there without Faye telling him, it ends that relationship, especially after the fingernail incident.

I can already imagine Veronica coming downstairs and telling Jim while he's on the couch. "I went to check on Samantha and she's no in her room." *sigh* "Yeah, I heard her climbing out of her window and rattling the gutter like a drunk monkey."

Priceless!

TBF, she isn't selling her out. She's ratting her out.

Goddammit, am I going to have to have the conversation about "plausible deniability" again? I work with college students and I have had that conversation so many times.

(To preface, I'm not speaking in legal terms, here, only moral terms. But there's a lot of these choices being made these days, and I know what I'm choosing.) Absolutely no compulsion to enforce a parent's grounding of their child. Maybe the parent won't trust you with their child, but they won't be "their child" forever. At some point the child's boundaries become paramount, and as an adult THE CHILD trusts, it's not your duty to do as the parent wants. Legally, of course, what the parent says goes. If the parent is Karen enough, they could sue you. If a child that is not my own ever puts their trust in me, I hope I am brave enough to risk my well-being on their behalf.

Ooh have we ever explored AIs smelling popcorn. It’s a very powerful smell that can evoke a lot of feelings and memories in humans. I wonder how it affects AI.

Faye always had those knockers. Although it's hard for me to determine her current body type.

Tell her to sneak back in. Tell her Dad. Tell him to pretend he doesn't know.

Sam is learning that cool adults sadly also have to be responsible adults sometimes too. You can talk to me about anything, but I still gotta look after your best interests

I think the best way for both of them is Faye reminds Sam that Sam's dad has historically been a stickler about Sam being around the shop (understandably at the time), and therefore needs to be upfront about when Sam goes there. But with the caveat that she doesn't spill how Sam got out, and tells Sam to not outright disclose her methods to Faye in the future, so that she can keep deniability without lying. At least to me, this feels like a fair way for Sam to (hopefully) understand that Faye is still trustworthy and understanding, and that the concession is purely so that she can keep having access to someone who doesn't have to be in *full* parent mode. Seems like that's what Faye's going for anyway, given she seems unhappy at the idea of narc-ing, or at least that it feels an obligation. Been loving this arc so far, albeit in a way that makes me feel more 30 than ever, lol. High school was not a fun time, and puberty even less so (and that's before accounting for my needing to go through puberty twice >.<)

We're seeing so many new expressions on Sam's face in these strips.

Now I'm wondering if Bubbles gets any interesting visions from the scent of fresh popcorn.

Absolutely not the moment to focus on this, and I swear this was only my like third thought, but love Faye's boobs here.

You have to let them get away with a few little deceptions so they don't up their game.

"Shall I prepare some popcorn?" Ooh, maybe that's what the butthole is for!

Was Faye, at your age, betrayed by someone she thought she could trust? Sam, buddy, don't pull that thread. Just trust me on this one. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=504

Faye's phone rings. "It's your Dad." (picks up) "Hello." "Is she there?" (wincing) "...yeeeah" "Okay. She went to you, so she's not in trouble. Well, not in _more_ trouble. She's still grounded. After you and she have talked it out, could you bring her home?" "Uh, sure."

Oh hey, Sam's back to her old skin tone

Faye has done due diligence before, even if Sam doesn't appreciate it at the time. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3800

That's a pretty intense and profound personality change Sam has undertaken 🤨🤨 even for someone in the midst of puberty's hormonal changes. If she genuinely doesn't feel safe talking with her parents about what's going on in her life, she's gonna need some other sensible outlet for advice and guidance. You need to start asking some smarter questions there Faye.

Poor Faye's just going "did I REALLY sign up for this when I befriended this kid?"

Bubbles spoons some dry kernels into her mouth. Three minutes later, pop! and she spits it into her hand and presents it to Anh. She knows humans find this off-putting. That's sort of the point, at the moment.

that zip-up is certainly doing Faye's bust some favors

I love Faye's pose in the first panel! Her body looks great (not in a gay way but also not not in a gay way)