- Early on, Davan accompanies an ex-girlfriend to have an abortion. While in the waiting room, a man starts chatting so he can process the fact that his 13-year-old daughter is also in there.Man: Sorry. It's just that she's so young. I mean, can you believe this? Thirteen and—
Davan: Yes, I can. I work in Medicaid billing. That means I deal with people who are stuck on society's lowest rung. Every day, I handle paperwork for at least one pregnant girl under the age of your daughter. And you know what I do? I bill their families. I bill them when their little girls get depressed and try to kill themselves, or when they go into labor during math class. These people can barely afford shelter, and I'm sending them a $3000 bill. And as children continue to mature faster, I'll probably see younger and younger children's paperwork, pregnant and confused, scared and desperate. So forgive me if I don't feel an ounce of pity for an upper-middle-class businessman who was too busy to send his kid a condom memo. - When Fred catches Monette and her girlfriend Lisa having sex, Monette starts packing her things because she believes Fred and Faye will ask her to leave their house because she knows they're devout Christians and she knows that Christianity doesn't have a positive view of LBGT+ people and pre-marital sex. While Fred is quick to reassure her that she's still welcome at the MacIntire house because he doesn't have a problem with it despite being raised to believe that homosexuality is wrong and despite admitting he doesn't fully understand same-sex relationships, it's still sad that Monnette automatically assumed that was going to happen.
- Monette's biological father swiftly abandons her because his grandkids wanted him there instead, and despite how vile a man he is, she's crushed by his continued neglect.
- For a comic which started full of cynicism and dark comedy, S*P has its share of heartwarming and tear jerker moments. For example, this comic on Faye's funeral
- At the time of Faye's death, Davan's father Fred had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Syndrome, which has progressed, especially over the last couple of years, to the point that he's frequently unable to remember that she's no longer there. The eighteenth year of S*P ends with this series of comics here, dealing Davan's fears about being a caretaker, and ends on a very bittersweet note.
- How Milholland revealed that Faye had died — after having Fred wemble all day the day before about telling her he has Alzheimer's and spend a great day with her.Alt Text: Sometimes it's about life... sometimes, it's about fear.
- In 2007, Randy did an arc showing Scotty's thought process leading up to his suicide. Suffice to say, it's a rough one.
- Monette calling home in tears and Fred not realizing it's his adopted daughter because of the Alzheimer's.
- Faye and Fred seem to have a lot of these moments... such as Fred confusing PeeJee for Faye after a roleplaying session, or the end of the 'Hell House' and 'Easter carnival' storylines, or Faye waiting outside the pearly gates. Right at the end of Faye's funeral, Fred closes her coffin after telling her "Wait for me, Faye. It won't be long now."Alt Text: "Never confuse the faith for the supposedly faithful." - My father.
- Erik, the token male at Nerdrotica, is unconvinced that any of his customers could be likeable. Then one of his elderly regulars finally lets slip why he always calls Erik "Marvin" - he's still not over The Lost Lenore.
- "I want you to have a lot of good memories about me..."
- While the end of Year 17 arc is pretty heartwarming, it does have a tinge of sadness to it:
- Rory comes out as pansexual to his friend Phillip. While Phillip himself is okay with it, they get into a heart-to-heart about how some people will automatically hate Rory for his sexuality, especially if he does publically come out or gets outed, which Rory is terrified of either way because he knows that even some of their own friends will most likely reject him for it. He also admits that he left the church he grew up in because they're not accepting of LBGT+ people like him. During that same conversation, Phillip shares with Rory some of the bigotry he experiences for being a Latino Jew:
Rory: How do you deal with that? I mean, how do you keep it from bothering you?
Phillip: When I figure that out, I'll tell you.- When Rory is talking about it with Davan later, Rory admits that he knows that eventually he'll experience bigotry for his sexual orientation, and he also feels bad for not noticing the bigotry Phillip has to experience until now. Davan has to assure Rory that he can feel bad for his own problems while feeling compassionate for someone elses.
- At the ice cream shop, when Rory asks Davan to be honest with him, he confirms that, yes, some people are going to hate Rory simply for being pansexual no matter what.Rory: So there's nothing I can do about it?
Davan: You can change some people's minds, but there's a lot of people who just really want to hate anyone different from them.
- As of Christmas 2019, Fred’s Alzheimer's is getting worse, and Davan has a lucid dream about his mother. He starts off abusing the hell out of the trope, until Faye hugs him.Davan: I miss you, mom.
- He later discusses the dreams with Vanessa, and she asks if he wants to keep having them - and it turns out that he actually does, because not having them means that he won't get to see his mother anymore.
- In real life, Randy gets his heart ripped out when his daughter, two years old and sick with a stomach virus, throws up on him (which he's used to), but then...And then, Velma looked at all the vomit she'd left on me, started to cry, and said in the tiniest voice... "I'm sorry, daddy."
- During Halloween 2020, Fred decides to buy candy and wait in his wheelchair by the door, hoping that there will still be trick-or-treaters even with the pandemic because that’s what Halloween is for. The next morning, Davan wakes up and finds that his father is still sitting by the door in his wheelchair... because he died during the middle of the night.
- Made even sadder by the fact that Davan's words of discovery are identical to how Fred discovered Faye.
- When it comes time for Fred's funeral, Randy admits in The Rant that he dreaded drawing Fred's corpse in his casket.
- Monette and Dahlia discuss how surreal the funeral feels, joking about how Fred would complain about the money they're spending on his body.Dahlia: "Cremation? We got a perfectly good smoker out back!"
Monette: Yeah, he'd totally say that.
Dahlia: Oh... now it's real.
- Davan tells IRS that Fred's not coming back, so there's no reason to stick around - IRS immediately flies back to Fred's chair.
- 2022's "Old Familiar Faces" starts with the new owners wondering why that pesky crow keeps coming back.
- The final (non-filler) strip of 2020 - "To Davan, ♥ Dad"
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