I was really lucky to have finished this one a little early, because shoulder pain knocked me out this weekend and I wasn’t able to finish the How Baby. But! I had enough time before it set in to finish all the fiddly details of this page.
…or maybe that was the cause. Hmm. Doing comics is hard. <3
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TRANSCRIPT
Panel 1 (Alex looks behind her at the kitchen while Imogen goes back to shaving Gavin’s hair)
Panels 2-4 (Messy house! A sink full of dishes, bags and shoes in the entryway, spills and clutter on the counter)
Panels 5-6 (Alex sighs and puts on a brave smile)
Alex: So! Did you call the lawyer again?
Panel 7 (Imogen close up, Alex exasperated in the background)
Imogen: Um, well… he said he’d agree to try counselling again.
Alex: Ugh! That’s what he said last week!
You never go to counseling with your abuser! r/JNMIL taught me that!
The book “Why Does He Do That?” by Lundy Bancroft explains why you shouldn’t. It’s available as a free pdf download.
Anyone feeling a little too relatable with Imogen should read it.
the short version is that abusers convince the therapist that they’re the victim, so you get abused again and pay $ for the privilege.
Either that, or the abuser makes conciliatory noises during the session so that it looks like they’re finally listening, and you both are making progress, but the minute you are out of the therapist’s earshot, they start yelling at your for spilling the tea and making them look bad. Followed up by “you better not bring that stuff up again if you want this to work!”
“Why Does He Do That” included an example of a woman who had her head bashed into the car’s dashboard after a couples counseling session.
Hehe, guess Alex is pretty intimidated by the mess.
And ugh, Jonathan, oh Jonathan cannot screw off fast enough.
š
Counseling, so he can string her along eternally.
I wonder if it’ll take Imogen moving out again before they can/will start dating?
( I’m imagining some epic “ahhh, so nice to have the house to ourselves again! …why does it feel so empty” moments! )
Mostly I hope they do for Imogen’s sake. She needs to experience being an independent, self sufficient adult for awhile. If she leaps into dating Alex while living together – she’ll just transfer her feelings of obligation and helplessness. It’ll be despite Alex’s best efforts, but it’ll make things really messy and ugly.
Some time on her own two feet building her confidence will help Imogen a lot. I imagine even just like 6-12 months of running her own household will help her a lot.
I like how realistic this is, because even if you love someone living together is a challenge. People have different standards and Alex obviously doesn’t want to mention how uncomfortable she’s now because Imogen is going through hard times. I just hope Imogen divorces the dude asap