Based loosely off of "The Snow Queen", a story by Hans Christian Andersen, we see things take a different turn as the demons become central characters, and the side characters stick around. Yup, that's the only differences. Enjoy!
Girl Genius
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In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
Laws and Sausages
Zach Weinersmith
Your cartoon guide to the American governement!
The Sanity Circus
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Magic, monsters and mysteries await in the odd city of Sanity. It's up to Attley and a colorful group of characters to find out just what is going on.
The Glass Scientists
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A gaslamp fantasy comic about the life and times of a ragtag group of mad scientists and their enigmatic leader, Dr. Henry Jekyll.
Ozzie the Vampire
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Ozzie and her best friend Kimmy are your average everyday normal art students – except one is an immortal vampire with superpowers and the other possesses a magic talking grimoire. Also they have to save their town from a demonic invasion.
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Real Science Adventures
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Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Knights Errant
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Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
Helvetica
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This story follows Helvetica's quest to uncover who he was in life, his existential crises, and his struggle to to make death worth living.
Tove
Severin
The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
Ghost Junk Sickness
Studio CARTRIDGE, Laura Lee
Two hunters try to survive and end up being pushed to pursue a deadly bounty dubbed "The Ghost".
Lighter Than Heir
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A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
Go Get a Roomie
Clover
Experience the queer journey of an upbeat hippie and the friendships she makes along the way! A tale of self-discovery and love of many forms.
Sufficiently Remarkable
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Two young women living in Brooklyn discover that you're always coming of age.
Little Red & Wolf
Aoi Maneki
Delve into the daily lives of two famous fairytale characters, and their adventures in this big weird world we all live in.
Manly Guys Doing Manly Things
Kelly Turnbull
A weekly comic celebrating the finer things in life. Like manly men, lumberjacks, and time traveling special ops agents.
Jailbird
Charlie Davis
An all-ages comic about a recently escaped prisoner's struggle to understand the outside world, and vice-versa. Also, a magic cape!
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
The Mash
L.F. Garcia, Danigami
In a world shrouded in mystery and threatened by great evil,a young mummy prince will use his new life to unite with other monster children to save it.
Peritale
Mari Costa
A fairy godmother with no magic tries her best to successfully fulfill a Fairytale and win the respect of her peers.
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
The Din
Karin (Karrey)
The Din changed the world, mankind & its technology. Gregg Emilio dreams of flying in a sky that hasn't carried airplanes in a century.
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
The Hunter of Insania
Aoi Maneki
Wiol Alkko sells fake magical objects to those desperate for cures. When he tries to scam a real witch, she curses him: within a year, Wiol must learn and respect magic, or succumb to corruption of body and mind.
Parisa
Ellen K
Two friends, Nolan and Gwen, take it upon themselves to escort the amnesiac spirit Lelief across the world of Parisa.
Awkward Zombie
Katie Tiedrich
Gags and goofs about videogames and the things that happen in them.
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan
Troubled by gangster rodents, lovesick vampire stalkers, or confused ninja assassins? Don't panic! Sam and Fuzzy are here to help. (For a reasonable fee.)
Monster Pulse
Magnolia Porter Siddell
Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
Novae
KaiJu
A historical romance with a touch magic and a dash of astronomy. It chronicles the romantic adventures of Sulvain, a sweet tempered necromancer and Raziol, a passionate 17th century astronomer.
Never Satisfied
Taylor Robin
Lucy Marlowe, a magician's apprentice, competes against other apprentices for an important, magical, Goverment Job.
Stand Still, Stay Silent
Minna Sundberg
A few generations after the end of the world, a small, poorly financed research crew is sent out to rediscover whatever is left of the forbidden old world in the south.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Anarchy Dreamers
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Sparkly undead kids fight society's worst Nightmares in this pastel-punk urban fantasy coming-of-age!
Sister Claire
Yamino
In the troubled aftermath of a great war between Witches and her fellow Nuns, novice Sister Claire just wants a purpose.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Devil's Candy
Rem, Bikkuri
A lush fantasy about boy genius Kazu Decker, the girl he constructed for his 9th grade science project, and the world of devils and monsters they live in.
MASKLESS
kickingshoes
In a world where people can wield the magic of elemental Masks, all Ashe wants to do is help. Maskless and useless, with dreams of fire and smoke on the back of his tongue, he finds himself on a strange, dangerous path to uncovering the secrets of these incredible objects, and the source of the monsters plaguing his home.
Demon Street
Aliza Layne
Two kids explore a world full of monsters and magic trying to find their way home again. But when home has been stolen from you, where do you go to get it back?
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Awaken
Koti Saavedra/Flipfloppery
Superpowers, monsters and conspiracies. Piras, the spoiled Dameschi heir, fights to recover his identity after becoming a terrorist!
No Need for Bushido
Suburban Samurai, J W Kovell
The flash of a blade, the clash of steel! A runaway princess and her samurai companion navigate a fractured country on the brink of war.
Witchy
Ariel Slamet Ries
In the witch kingdom Hyalin, the strength of your magic is determined by the length of your hair.
Heroes of Thantopolis
Izzy Strontium Hall
A living boy fights to save the City of the Dead.
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
[un]Divine
Ayme
A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
Between Failures
Jackie Wohlenhaus
The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
Elephant Town
Danielle Corsetto
The long, slow tale of Kris, Paul, Berto and Mirando, four people who live in the same creaky old house, but don't know each other. New chapter updates every 2 months.
Starhammer
J.N. Monk, Harry Bogosian
A teen girl inherits a powerful alien artifact and proceeds to make a series of increasingly poor decisions
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No, she is in fact exaggerating because if all police just wanted it for the power trip, there’d be more police violence than what there is already in the world.
Point disproven. If they were all in it to do violence, there would have been n survivors of Zucotti Park. You might as well do the same google search and come to the conclusion that all OWS protesters are wannabe rapists.
… You don’t grasp the difference between saying “some cops are violent assholes” and “all cops are violent assholes”, yes? The first is valid, the second is stupid and ridiculously easy to disprove (and is, in fact, not an arguable point) – you just have to find one, only one, cop who isn’t a violent asshole, because that demonstrates that not all cops are.
Where they are makes a huge difference. Zuccotti park showcased the worst thugs to wear a badge. Portland P.D. hasn’t had a great reputation but managed to disband a larger occupation without one drop of pepper spray or one rubber bullet. Police departments are like gangs. If most of the gang rolls hard everyone else plays badass to try to fit in.
It’s not about Zuccotti Park. It is not about sadism. It is about how the job rewards and punishes cops. Cops are generally rewarded for making arrests and issuing citations. Thus a lot of cops will spend their time issuing as many citations and making as many arrests as they can. Violent crimes are committed, by definition, by people willing to use violence. Cops who are not into violence themselves are frightened of violent people (as most of us are), so the cops who take risks tend to be the most dangerous cops. The cops who aren’t into taking risks, are rewarded for not being reasonable. Thus most of the cops we encounter in their day to day job seem unreasonable and assholes because they are not rewarded in their job to listen to you explain what happened when they are citing you and are not eager to take your report of a crime when the chances of reward are higher doing something else. The cops who make the news are the risk takers and often the ones who use excessive force. We conflate the violent cop (and the corrupt cop) with the asshole cop and are left feeling that cops are not nice people. Cops we know personally are nice people because we know them when they are not being cops and because they know us are willing to give us a little more slack than they are likely to give strangers. It is both a perception problem and an actual disciplinary problem, but there aren’t any clear solutions. (Well, there is the solution of empowering police and our legal system to exercise individual judgement on a case by case basis, but then if a mistake is ever made the public goes ballistic).
Totally disagree. I think most police departments have someone of that type. But a broad majority of officers are not sadists, though it only takes one to ruin it for many others.
When you say most is where the problems start. Do you know most cops?
I’ve got relatives who are, let’s say on the other side of the law, some of whom I’ve lived with. This kind of ends up with you having to deal with cops from that end of it. I’ve been searched and questioned, not just by cops, but by detectives and narcs. I can honestly say that, while there were some that were snarky and had a an attitude, they were overall very professional in their treatment of me. Of course I’ve heard stories, from gang members, about cops harassing them or dropping them off in “enemy territory”.
There are asshole cops, dirty cops, and cops who get off on pushing people around, there have always been and there likely always will be. That’s no reason to paint all cops with the same brush.
One night this summer, my father, my brother, and I were driving up to what was then my grandparents’ house. The reason for the trip was that my grandfather was in the hospital, dying. We’d gotten a ridiculously late start because that’s just how things work when my dad is involved, and thanks to various circumstances, it was now midnight-ish and none of us had had dinner. So we finally pulled off the interstate at an exit we vaguely remembered having food, and started searching for a restaurant that was still open. My dad, being my dad, was paying way more attention to buildings on the side of the road than to driving, so he had us weaving all over the lanes and then he turned left on a red light (note that I’m in the US, so left turns are the ones that have you driving across every possible lane of oncoming traffic). Naturally there was a police officer nearby, and he pulled us over. My dad explained the situation, and the cop not only let him off with a warning but gave us very specific directions to a still-open Taco Bell none of us had noticed.
Every time someone tells me cops are all big jerks who are always out to get you, I remember that night.
(Granted, everyone in this story is a white dude.)
basically the comment section for this comic is a lesson the the Notion of Privilege and if cops are taught if your demographic is one of the bad ones.
Amazigirl would be the leader, so she would be Leonardo.
Michaelangelo would absolutely be Walky.
For Donatello, I’m thinking Joe, since he knows machines, and he’s also the most experienced with his staff.
And Raph, of course, is Mike.
Like you guys said, Dorothy would be April and Sal would be Casey Jones (woah, did I just suggest a Dorothy/Sal pairing?)
Lessee, who hasn’t been cast? Robin can be Splinter, and Ryan is the Shredder.
Oh crap, did I forget to cast Joyce as somebody? Ok, she can be Irma.
It’s still September of 2011, right? Or have we shifted forward to 2012? Because I want to know if Dorothy is referencing the recent Penn State debacle.
I tihnk she means in general. Because in general, campus authorities are known for trying to keep things from becoming as widely known particularly things that happen amongst students at locations with alcohol.
Which means that in theory if a webcomic goes on for long enough, a character showing off their new top of the range candybar mobile phone on a Tuesday (webcomic time) will end up owning an iPhone 5 by Friday (webcomic time).
DoA takes place in a time-independent frame of reference. I think if you asked Willis he’d say that the background time of any given comic may be when it is published (e.g. Taco Bell specials, pajama jeans), but the comic is almost entirely separate from anything of significance occurring in reality. Also, in-comic time passes at it own pace, where we are currently on Day 7.
It doesn’t really matter – it’s a serious problem on pretty much any campus. the PSU issue deals with minor boys and the college sports system’s corruption. Young women can have a harder time pressing charges – there’s an assumption that some women lie about these things (the false report rate is the same as other crimes), and then the whole case can turn from investigating what the guy did to investigating if the woman has anything unsavory in her past or whatever that may indicate that she’s one of those women. Police generally have an easier time finding things to question young women who go to parties with alcohol than investigating an actual crime.
I wrote and uploaded this particular strip 3 weeks ago, and plotted each character’s take on the subject way earlier, so I’m mostly referencing the stuff I’d read about the subject in preparation for this storyline.
It was really depressing research.
I mean, you can’t really Google stuff like “how long does it take for a roofie to kick in” without feeling like the scum of the earth.
No, it’s pretty true that most colleges have a terrible record for handling sexual assault. A college’s priority is on keeping a scandal from tarnishing its reputation rather than on justice. In any “he said, she said” type event, the college will go for the side that buries it most effectively, which almost always involves trying to shut up the rape victim.
I remember one time, me and some friends were hanging at a local park late at night and a cop car drove in and they were saying the park was closed (had no idea parks actually had a closing time). They were being real serious cus i guess we looked like we could be hoodlums or druggies or etc. I cracked a joke that lightened up the mood and they let us off the hook.
Generally speaking, in my experience, if you remember that cops are people just trying to do their job and treat them politely, you’ll have little trouble with them.
Not just people trying to do their job, but people trying to do a dangerous job, for which they fear for their lives if commands they issue are not complied with.
It’s a good thing that Joyce calls Sal’s opinion into question here. In some cases, she’s right, but not every cop is just looking for power. Some legitimately do want to help the people, as shocking as that may sound.
That being said, this is an excuse for comic vigilantes. And I would definitely love to see Sal go nuts on Ryan sometime in the future.
I like watching the characters bounce off each other like this, working together, coming to an agreement, seeing various philosophies and points of view come to a decision.
I also like that Sal can be an authority figure without wearing pants.
It seems that colleges actually have an unreal record for taking accusations of sexual assault as gospel. I know two people who were expelled for sexual assault without a shred of evidence supporting the accusation, and many people providing testimony questioning the validity of the accusations.
This is only the most recent and eggregios of this type of bias in Dumbing of Age. I am coming close to abandoning it altogether. Willis is deeply out of touch with the real problems on campus today.
. The vast MAJORITY of sexual assault victims are often highly scrutinised on an obscene level as if they were the ones that committed a crime- its often postulated that the ‘poor rapist’ obviously simply read the signals wrong. If a woman has sex at all, or regularly or was wearing something ‘sexy’ at the time they make out she was the one at fault.
1 in 20 men commit sexual assault. People don’t like to think they might know someone who could do such a thing, saying they’re a nice person and can’t believe it- but that’s the thing, you can’t tell whether someone would commit sexual assault or not just by looking at them. The vast majority of such assaults are committed by people the victims knew or trusted. Statistically, it’s hardly out there for me to know one who has done it, or you, unfortunately. Testimonies say about perceived ‘character’ have no place in a just society- because more people than you think are capable of it.
Currently the systems in place more work in the rapists favour than victims.
That may be true in the criminal justice system but its not true when referring to most college juditiory boards.
I wasn’t referring to character testimony, I was referring to testimony about what happened surrounding the incident. There was no investigation and no testimony saught, the only reason any witnesses gave testimony was because they insisted on speaking at the hearing. The girl had mental health issues, and the judiciary board didn’t even find that out, which completely called into question the truthfulness of what she was saying, and obviously indicates that no thorough investigation was pursued. The person ended up being expelled on the grounds that he had sex with her when she was drunk, because they couldn’t prove anything else. He was similarly drunk (they had been drinking together, she provided the alcohol). Basically they used that as a pretext, though legally she was as likely the rapist in that situation.
It was all a bunch of crap they didn’t investigate the truth, they decided what they were gunna do before even checking the facts. It was horrible. Everyone who knew the people involved was horrified and had real questions about the system that could allow that.
It goes both ways, really. For every story of a guy whose life is ruined by a false rape accusation based on zero evidence there’s another story of a girl whose legitimate charges of sexual assault are heavily scrutinized and dismissed.
I think it’s wrong to champion the victims of one and downplay the victims of the other in either direction, really. They both happen and they’re both awful, we don’t have to have a “which injustice is worse” competition here.
I agree with that, but no system should be set up to assume guilt. The victim should be handled gently, conscientiously and respectfully but obviously a threshold of proof and a standard of evidence must be observed. Innocent until proven guilty, pretty basic stuff.
Sorry, but while you may know two people who personally got the other end of the stick, I’ve got a friend whose major research paper for law school was on college judicial procedures for handling sexual assault, and the record as a whole tilts the other way by far.
Don’t confuse personal experience for the way things are everywhere.
Exactly. This is what is called false equivalency. The rate of false rape accusations against men is nowhere near the rate of rape, or even the rate of unpursued accusations of rape alone. And the personal trauma associated with being raped and then not being believed is far and away greater than the trauma of being accused falsely of committing rape. For one, the unfortunate person falsely accused of rape at least doesn’t have to bear HAVING BEEN RAPED.
There have been several significant scandals recently about universities with abysmal policies that are essentially set up to railroad through any sexual assult accusation. This maybe a recent trend, or limited to a subgroup.
Isn’t it a little late for that? As in, she made it this long, so I’m thinking she’s not really all that likely to spontaneously die anymore. That moment has passed.
Freshman year, a creeper had been wandering campus looking in ladies’ windows and trying to get into buildings, and I had a late rehearsal. I spotted two popo and asked them to escort me across campus to my dorm. They said they couldn’t. They were busy.
They had just caught a squirrel and needed to get rid of it. FAIL.
Recently near where I am, police beat the shit out of some peaceful protesters. They were on private property and asked to leave, but they didnt have to send kids to the hospital.
Did the school have its own dedicated security team? Because I can imagine regular police shrugging of a request for escort, but a campus security force mainly exist for that very reason and my school’s SOP was for them to offer escort to anyone after sunset.
I wish Sal (although I object to all cops are scum, just a certain percentage that shouldn’t be protected the way they are) and Dorothy wasn’t right. I’m gonna be depressed all night.
I’d just like to point out that one of the reasons why rape or attempted rape goes unpunished is precisely because victims are reluctant to come forward from fear of exposure or police misconduct.
On the other hand, I love violence. A lot. Also, hijinks and this promises to be the start of some.
Boooo, you suck Billie.
Normally she is the coolest character, but her suggestion is stupid as it throws future victims under the bus (like Dorothy mentioned earlier).
Her problem isn’t just that cops won’t or can’t do anything, her problem is that introducing cops would make the situation worse. To her, calling the cops would be like summoning Godzilla – dangerous, violent, and only to be done when the situation can’t possibly get any worse.
Okay, so I only commented at all so I could make that Godzilla reference. But still.
Other than an injury on the perpetrator that needs to be explained, at least one eyewitness to his attempt to stuff her into a bathroom and rape her after her self-defense, multiple witnesses to her being drugged and woozy from the fight, multiple witnesses to her not drinking beforehand and to Ryan’s attempts to get her alone.
Well, we don’t know for sure that anyone witnessed her not drinking. None of her friends were with her and, except for Ryan, everyone gaming was drunk. We don’t see anyone in line behind them for the bathroom so it’s probable that no one was aware of them at all until she glassed him. Chances are that all anyone saw, before Sarah and her bat, was a girls smashing a glass in a guys face and the guy bodily pinning the girl against the wall. They wouldn’t know he intended to drag her in the bathroom. It’s only after Ryan has been beaten to the ground that they see Joyce on the ground looking out of it. Billie, who was raging drunk until this happened, was the only one who didn’t smell alcohol and said drugs were involved. Not easy to corroborate.
there’s only evidence suggests that there was a physical attack. but that just points to joyce and sarah attacking ryan, which does not help the situation. witnesses were only shown after sarah beat him. nobody was shown witnessing the argument, which is honestly the only thiing that would help them right now.
Unfortunately they let a delusional Joyce and a drunken Billie influence their decision to make a trip to the hospital.
They did have their reason but you know us kids.
And actually one my friends I met at the college I currently attend was sexually assaulted in high school.
It was either after school or in more secluded spot where she kissed a guy but he was forcing her to try to do more. She went to the school about and basically told her that kissing was giveng consent which is bullshit.
This made me think, in the past year theres been a lot of campaigning at my college with the slogan “No means no. Maybe means no. Silence means no. Only yes means yes.”
So yeah to that naysayer I’d say hes probably a bit more out of touch. He may have had a personal experience with that sort of thing, and I can understand that cause it is honestly something I fear as a man. Moreso the fact that drunk women do have the some form of right to blow the rape whistle with drunken intercourse, which can be abused if a woman can press charges if she has gotten drunk on her own free will, which I’m not sure can happen.
Its probably not gonna be much of a problem for me cause I don’t really party, nor go for drunk chicks specially when I’m sober
Vigilantism: Its the answer you’ve been searching for.
The unfortunate thing is Sal isn’t completely wrong here. And by that I mean about how the cops won’t be able to do much. Because of the fact that they didn’t immediately take Joyce to the cops or hospital there is no evidence supporting the claim of sexual assault. Joyce can’t even remember what happened and the drugs in her system are long-gone by now. The only single witness they have to Ryan’s actions is Sarah, and due to the fact she beat the shit out of him with a baseball bat, her testimony won’t be worth a lot.
However, I still think the girls should report what happened to the cops. The only way the cops will be able to stop this Ryan guy is if someone reports him.
And Sal is being way off base by claiming that the cops are solely jerks and bullies from high school on a power trip. I’ve known many cops and a majority of them are not those kinds of people. They actually became cops because they want to help people.
…Ok people please Repeat to yourselves: “It’s just a show. I should really just relax”. This ain’t “Law and Order: Joyce and Walky unit”. It’s “Dumbing of Age”.
Sal is speaking from her experience. As a convicted shoplifter (if I remember correctly), I doubt she’d have much affection to the cops. Also, it’s Sal, it’d be completely out of character for her to suggest reporting it would be a good idea.
Just in case it’s ever useful though: Just because the buzz is off, that doesn’t mean the drugs are out of her system: Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol, AKA “Roofies”) for example has a half-life of approximate a whole day, other drugs might have less/more. Even then, as long as Joyce hasn’t peed them out, any metabolites are still in her.
It’s also common for rape/attempted rape victims not to report the crime immediately, (or not at all actually) so I strongly doubt they’d hold that against her if they aren’t completely incompetent.
Most rapists don’t stop until they are incarcerated (and not even then really), treated (which again, often doesn’t work) or killed. That means if he’s not put in jail by them by accusing him formally, it’ll stop at the victim who does. I honestly don’t care what they do in the comic, it’s supposed to be entertaining and Willis can tell great stories.
What does bother me however is the notion that some of you people might think not reporting it to someone who has the legal authority to prosecute would be a good idea in real life.
*thoughtful tone*
I agree with your main point about not reporting/going to the hospital being a bad idea, but i you can’t really say “It’s just a show. I should really just relax” when the comic is taking things so seriously. Right now, there’s a lot of serious dramatic storytelling to be had, and readers are entitled to consider and criticise character’s actions. Suspension of disbelief doesn’t really apply here, it applies to Amazi-Girl.
Oh it was meant as a MST3k reference. I’m not being dismissive, I’m just saying you shouldn’t let real life considerations get in the way of a good story. “The count of Monte Cristo” would have been awful if Dantes decided living well was the best form of revenge after getting out of jail.
Yeah, but here’s the thing: Willis is using real life considerations as part of his story. We’re including our own thoughts and opinions, as a result of what he includes in his storyline. So telling us not to let real life considerations get in the way doesn’t make sense, because it negates the whole point of the story.
It would have been a great idea to do immediately. The longer they dick around, the less great it gets. And that’s not accounting for the fact that Drugged!Joyce thought keeping her parents from finding out trumped all else; if LessDrugged!Joyce agrees, then the entire thing becomes a non-starter because she has different priorities as to what’s a good idea.
All the “most” offenders stats are ridiculous because the only body to sample is the incarcerated. Just as psychologists used to believe that homosexuality was related to heaping helping of definitive psychoses because they only studied homosexual who were institutionalized. I am not trying to equate rape and homosexuality or any criminal act, just pointing out that we don’t have a real knowledge base to make statements about how MOST rapists (or any other offender) stop doing it.
The most common ‘roofie’ I am aware of is pure alcohol, just add some to a drink can turn one standard drink into several standard drinks and all a drug test would show afterwards is a high blood alcohol result.
I literally sat down and read just the beginning of your comment like six hours ago, and just now sat down to watch some MST3K with dinner when I caught the reference, so I had to set down my food and come congratulate you.
I would say Billie has the most sensible idea. Vigilantism will probably only make things worse and could just as easily put them behind bars as a result.
Unless you know what you’re doing like Amazi-Girl.
^ This is what is called false equivalency. The rate of false rape accusations against men is nowhere near the rate of rape, or even the rate of unpursued accusations of rape. And the personal trauma associated with being raped and then not being believed is far and away greater than the trauma of being accused falsely of committing rape. For one, the unfortunate person falsely accused of rape at least doesn’t have to bear HAVING BEEN RAPED.
Unless falsely convicted of rape and intentionally housed with known rapists of other inmates. Again, a large part of the trauma of rape is a societal assumption that it is unbearably traumatic. Yes it is an extremely bad experience, but the assumption that a rape SURVIVOR is a rape VICTIM and can never recover does a hell of a lot more harm than good.
So the trauma is insignificant because a person can get over it? Please. A person can get over having their arms ripped off, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s okay to go around being dismissive of their pain. And unless you can prove any significant occurrence of accused rapists being raped in jail/prison that point isn’t even worth raising. just another go at false equivalency.
The trauma is extremely significant. But being viewed forever as that poor victim and being treated with kid gloves, being expected to be a suicide risk, having people around me constantly censor themselves and suddenly end conversation when I come within earshot did nothing but make it worse.
As far as getting statistics about prison rape, you probably realize the impossibility of that given the status of the victims, the perpetrators and society’s strong efforts to ignore the existence of prisoners and the institutions tasked with housing them.
The nature of criminal conviction is such that determining rates of false convictions and false accusations is impossible; instead we each choose the rates that support our already decided positions.
I commented on what actually happens when women go to the police weeks ago and got told I’m wrong and trying to hurt women for saying it.
I still stand by it. They should of just kept breaking bones when they had the bat.
Then numbers are just against the law providing any justice for attempted rapes in college. It’s a fucked up system if you get a situation like that you break enough bones so that they won’t heal.
Anyway. The right thing to do is always to go to the authorities. Actually, scratch that. Go to the damn hospital first, then the authorities. No matter what the “numbers” may be (and they’re awful, let’s be honest), nothing will change if people start refusing to step forward. In fact, it would just lead to victims being named as criminals instead, while the scumbag walks free.
That is, in real life. In the comic, I would be more than happy to watch someone smear Ryan.
I believe I said break as many bones as you can if the opportunity like that comes up not walk away. There is a difference.
Going to the police doesn’t change the screwed up system we have. More then likely if they went to the police they would victim blame arrest the two women for assault and Ryan would walk away. I don’t see any benefit to them or the system in this.
Right now in most states police have a lot of power and when they do wrong for the most part they police themselves. Bad stuff happens all the time. I could throw eight stories of police crossing the line every week. If you want justice you don’t get it from an outright broken system.
If you’re not going to charge him, I’d say beat him up as much as you like, as long as you don’t kill him. Once you kill him it attracts a lot more police attention on you than just beating him up.
Disturbingly enough, I’m actually with Billie on this one. Now I’m fine with Amazigirl tracking Ryan down and dispensing vigilante justice on her own, but right now Joyce and the rest don’t have a vested interest in catching Ryan. No damage was actually done, and there was no emotional scars since she has absolutely no memory of it at all. Despite the encounter, Joyce has come out none the worse for wear, and actually seems the least interested in tracking Ryan down.
Does that mean Ryan should be off the hook? No, he should get his comeuppance, but let the nonsuperheroes let it go and return to normalcy.
I’m going to try to hire on as part of “the authorities”, and you could certainly place blind trust in me without getting burned Sal. We’re not all evil, power-hungry jerks. Some of us go into public service because we actually give a damn.
Moral of the story for everyone. If you rape someone, expect to get your ass kicked. If you get raped, OBTAIN EVIDENCE. Ideally, avoid raping anyone or getting raped in the first place. It’s not ok to roofie someone. EVER. If you go to a party, watch your drinks get poured, keep your hand over your glass, or better yet — BYOB. Keep your phone in your pocket recording any activity that happens when you are alone with someone. Never go to a party alone, and never stay alone. I’d suggest getting a “rape kit” as well, but sadly there are already millions of those sitting on dusty shelves unused while rapists go free. Nope. Get evidence. Or kick his ass. There will be no justice otherwise.
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No she is spot on.
No, she is in fact exaggerating because if all police just wanted it for the power trip, there’d be more police violence than what there is already in the world.
Do a Google news search for “Zucotti Park”.
Point disproven. If they were all in it to do violence, there would have been n survivors of Zucotti Park. You might as well do the same google search and come to the conclusion that all OWS protesters are wannabe rapists.
… You don’t grasp the difference between saying “some cops are violent assholes” and “all cops are violent assholes”, yes? The first is valid, the second is stupid and ridiculously easy to disprove (and is, in fact, not an arguable point) – you just have to find one, only one, cop who isn’t a violent asshole, because that demonstrates that not all cops are.
Depends on what part of the world you live in. Most of the good cops I know are military veterans, most of the bad ones I know aren’t.
Remember: not all cops are bad, but all bad cops are cops. I can see why Sal might not trust them.
Where they are makes a huge difference. Zuccotti park showcased the worst thugs to wear a badge. Portland P.D. hasn’t had a great reputation but managed to disband a larger occupation without one drop of pepper spray or one rubber bullet. Police departments are like gangs. If most of the gang rolls hard everyone else plays badass to try to fit in.
It’s not about Zuccotti Park. It is not about sadism. It is about how the job rewards and punishes cops. Cops are generally rewarded for making arrests and issuing citations. Thus a lot of cops will spend their time issuing as many citations and making as many arrests as they can. Violent crimes are committed, by definition, by people willing to use violence. Cops who are not into violence themselves are frightened of violent people (as most of us are), so the cops who take risks tend to be the most dangerous cops. The cops who aren’t into taking risks, are rewarded for not being reasonable. Thus most of the cops we encounter in their day to day job seem unreasonable and assholes because they are not rewarded in their job to listen to you explain what happened when they are citing you and are not eager to take your report of a crime when the chances of reward are higher doing something else. The cops who make the news are the risk takers and often the ones who use excessive force. We conflate the violent cop (and the corrupt cop) with the asshole cop and are left feeling that cops are not nice people. Cops we know personally are nice people because we know them when they are not being cops and because they know us are willing to give us a little more slack than they are likely to give strangers. It is both a perception problem and an actual disciplinary problem, but there aren’t any clear solutions. (Well, there is the solution of empowering police and our legal system to exercise individual judgement on a case by case basis, but then if a mistake is ever made the public goes ballistic).
Eh, most police these days are kinda getting off on causing harm, and this is coming from a guy who’s friends with a frigging dispatcher.
Totally disagree. I think most police departments have someone of that type. But a broad majority of officers are not sadists, though it only takes one to ruin it for many others.
Exactly. Who do you remember most in interacting with any organization — the guys who quietly do their job well or the one flaming asshole?
I don’t know about you, but I remember both. So uh, point disproved?
I remember the guy that does the courageous act, like successfully saving hostages.
When you say most is where the problems start. Do you know most cops?
I’ve got relatives who are, let’s say on the other side of the law, some of whom I’ve lived with. This kind of ends up with you having to deal with cops from that end of it. I’ve been searched and questioned, not just by cops, but by detectives and narcs. I can honestly say that, while there were some that were snarky and had a an attitude, they were overall very professional in their treatment of me. Of course I’ve heard stories, from gang members, about cops harassing them or dropping them off in “enemy territory”.
There are asshole cops, dirty cops, and cops who get off on pushing people around, there have always been and there likely always will be. That’s no reason to paint all cops with the same brush.
One night this summer, my father, my brother, and I were driving up to what was then my grandparents’ house. The reason for the trip was that my grandfather was in the hospital, dying. We’d gotten a ridiculously late start because that’s just how things work when my dad is involved, and thanks to various circumstances, it was now midnight-ish and none of us had had dinner. So we finally pulled off the interstate at an exit we vaguely remembered having food, and started searching for a restaurant that was still open. My dad, being my dad, was paying way more attention to buildings on the side of the road than to driving, so he had us weaving all over the lanes and then he turned left on a red light (note that I’m in the US, so left turns are the ones that have you driving across every possible lane of oncoming traffic). Naturally there was a police officer nearby, and he pulled us over. My dad explained the situation, and the cop not only let him off with a warning but gave us very specific directions to a still-open Taco Bell none of us had noticed.
Every time someone tells me cops are all big jerks who are always out to get you, I remember that night.
(Granted, everyone in this story is a white dude.)
Oh she was refering to the police. I thought she was talking about Ryan.
basically the comment section for this comic is a lesson the the Notion of Privilege and if cops are taught if your demographic is one of the bad ones.
My take? “people’s people.”
In uniform and out. we ain’t all a homogenized bunch, cop or no.
And frankly, very few people believe in “enlightened self interest”.
Oh, Billie. Ever the pragmatist. On a completely different note, imagine Sal and Amazi-girl fighting crime as rival heroes.
…Oh my god. I hope that happens.
I can totally see Sal as the Casey Jones(TMNT) type of vigilante.
Ah, so not the type the drives trains while high on cocaine.
then who’s April O’Neal?
………
……… It’s WALKY!
That’s kind of disturbing, seeing as Case and April had a thing. I vote Dorothy, she is a reporter after all.
All Dotty needs out is a yellow jumpsuit.
Or yellow jean pants!
Amazigirl would be the leader, so she would be Leonardo.
Michaelangelo would absolutely be Walky.
For Donatello, I’m thinking Joe, since he knows machines, and he’s also the most experienced with his staff.
And Raph, of course, is Mike.
Like you guys said, Dorothy would be April and Sal would be Casey Jones (woah, did I just suggest a Dorothy/Sal pairing?)
Lessee, who hasn’t been cast? Robin can be Splinter, and Ryan is the Shredder.
Oh crap, did I forget to cast Joyce as somebody? Ok, she can be Irma.
Bat-Sal and Amazi-Girl? That’s a great idea.
I can envision it now… CAT FIGHTS EVERYWHERE! Am I right? :D)
That smile was supposed to be double chinned. Damned emotocon auto smiles.
I believe you were searching for this?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tsundere
how does wanting a smiley face with an extra chin (imagine a guy with a fatty neck) relate to a fictional characteristic of anime characters?
“Trust me, ah have plenty of experience with this kinda stuff.”
“Going to bed?”
And then Walky throws up from the mental image of his sister banging dudes.
Banging dudes? I was thinking she was banging Billie.
Is Marcy okay with that?
Marcie is banging Billie?
OH MY!
Let’s face it, Billie is the neighborhood bike.
Sal rides her like she’s a hog.
VROOM, VROOM!
When Sal doesn’t feel like riding her like a motorbike, she can choose to ‘motorboat’ her instead.
Funny, this is the second webcomic forum today where I have seen the neighbourhood bicycle comment, and I had never heard this term before.
The term ‘town bike’ exists because as the name implies, everyone has rode her.
Either way, it’s disturbing if Walky is the one visualizing it.
Next time you see Ryan, turn him into a pinata!
Would you need to feed him lots of candy first?
Yup. It’ll be like Se7en in Mexico. Sie7e!
I’m impressed how well that works.
No, knock him out and give him the cement tennis shoes and then push him down a lake.
That might make it hard to use him as a pinata if you did that.
Being a pinata is more dignity than he deserves.
Aquatic T-Ball League?
Wearing your underwear on the outside does tend to lead to thoughts of vigilante justice.
So Sal’s already got the upper hand!?
You can’t trust The Man.
I’d just like to point out that Sal is still in her undies right now. I think we should hear her out.
It’s still September of 2011, right? Or have we shifted forward to 2012? Because I want to know if Dorothy is referencing the recent Penn State debacle.
I tihnk she means in general. Because in general, campus authorities are known for trying to keep things from becoming as widely known particularly things that happen amongst students at locations with alcohol.
In universe time is September of 20XX. I believe it was stated somewhere that the strip will be unanchored from real world time.
Which means that in theory if a webcomic goes on for long enough, a character showing off their new top of the range candybar mobile phone on a Tuesday (webcomic time) will end up owning an iPhone 5 by Friday (webcomic time).
so that means mega man is out there fighting evil robots, right?
Yes, though he’s not fighting aliens. It’s been stated that there are no aliens in this continuity.
Dr. Wily is not an alien.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IV0T-qK3ZA
DoA takes place in a time-independent frame of reference. I think if you asked Willis he’d say that the background time of any given comic may be when it is published (e.g. Taco Bell specials, pajama jeans), but the comic is almost entirely separate from anything of significance occurring in reality. Also, in-comic time passes at it own pace, where we are currently on Day 7.
It doesn’t really matter – it’s a serious problem on pretty much any campus. the PSU issue deals with minor boys and the college sports system’s corruption. Young women can have a harder time pressing charges – there’s an assumption that some women lie about these things (the false report rate is the same as other crimes), and then the whole case can turn from investigating what the guy did to investigating if the woman has anything unsavory in her past or whatever that may indicate that she’s one of those women. Police generally have an easier time finding things to question young women who go to parties with alcohol than investigating an actual crime.
I wrote and uploaded this particular strip 3 weeks ago, and plotted each character’s take on the subject way earlier, so I’m mostly referencing the stuff I’d read about the subject in preparation for this storyline.
It was really depressing research.
I mean, you can’t really Google stuff like “how long does it take for a roofie to kick in” without feeling like the scum of the earth.
Also I’ll bet Google puts you on a special list.
The “This guy’s got potential” list.
Hey, if Joe’s gonna turn all my comments into dirty innuendo laden comments anyway, I might as well oblige!
here here buddy.
Probably not just Google.
No, it’s pretty true that most colleges have a terrible record for handling sexual assault. A college’s priority is on keeping a scandal from tarnishing its reputation rather than on justice. In any “he said, she said” type event, the college will go for the side that buries it most effectively, which almost always involves trying to shut up the rape victim.
THANK you, Willis.
Dealings with cops go best when they’re dealing with someone ELSE.
Except for the times I was actually guilty,* all my encounters with police have gone positively.
*(I’ve been ticketed for speeding.)
I remember one time, me and some friends were hanging at a local park late at night and a cop car drove in and they were saying the park was closed (had no idea parks actually had a closing time). They were being real serious cus i guess we looked like we could be hoodlums or druggies or etc. I cracked a joke that lightened up the mood and they let us off the hook.
Generally speaking, in my experience, if you remember that cops are people just trying to do their job and treat them politely, you’ll have little trouble with them.
I wholeheartedly concur.
Not just people trying to do their job, but people trying to do a dangerous job, for which they fear for their lives if commands they issue are not complied with.
For the most part if you just comply and dont be a dick, maybe even lighten the mood with a joke, you’ll be fine.
Sometimes it seems like Billie is a female me. Going back to bed is one of my favorite activities.
Oh my God, someone else likes going back to bed?! I thought I was the only one…
If you had a pistol and knowledge of a certain persons location, you would.
I gotta remember that one thats good
It’s a good thing that Joyce calls Sal’s opinion into question here. In some cases, she’s right, but not every cop is just looking for power. Some legitimately do want to help the people, as shocking as that may sound.
That being said, this is an excuse for comic vigilantes. And I would definitely love to see Sal go nuts on Ryan sometime in the future.
I like watching the characters bounce off each other like this, working together, coming to an agreement, seeing various philosophies and points of view come to a decision.
I also like that Sal can be an authority figure without wearing pants.
“I also like that Sal can be an authority figure without wearing pants.”
I know a lot of guys who would respect her authoritah anytime…
Well, I certainly would respect DAT GRAVITASS
+1 for new word!
Ass so big it has its own gravitational field?
No, an ass that is so “DAT” that is has its own gravitas.
I think we know whos wearing the pants in her family.
Can you still be the one to wear the pants in your family if you are not in the habit of wearing pants?
If a tree falls in the forest and it’s not wearing pants…
The tree looks bigger if you trim the forest. FYI, for those not wearing pants.
…is that a reference to male genitalia?
Either that or topiaries.
Bad idea to mix topiary and pantslessness.
Especially if it involves garden shears.
And scratchy juniper.
So, Sal is more or less suggesting vigilantism. Why do I got the feeling that Sal has done this thing before?
Motorcylce leather is an increasingly common choice for superhero costumes. And climbing into 4th floor windows the first skill you need to master.
I’ll bet it’s because Walky said she was like Batman.
If Sal is Batman, can Billie be her Robin?
Yah know I didn’t think batman could get any better but you and your input of possible lesbianism just made it better.
My next username is now totally going to be ‘InputOfPossibleLesbianism’.
Amazing how wrong he was; Sal isn’t like Batman. Batman is like Sal.
It seems that colleges actually have an unreal record for taking accusations of sexual assault as gospel. I know two people who were expelled for sexual assault without a shred of evidence supporting the accusation, and many people providing testimony questioning the validity of the accusations.
This is only the most recent and eggregios of this type of bias in Dumbing of Age. I am coming close to abandoning it altogether. Willis is deeply out of touch with the real problems on campus today.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/campus_assault/articles/entry/1945/
Your readership and staunch defence of those poor falsely accused (by evil lying whores, I’m sure) men will be missed.
I don’t like sharing the same gravatar as this guy, but Ruth does have my facial expression matched pretty well.
Hey man. The Ruthitar is awesome, do not let one guy make you dislike it.
GRAVITAR CCCC-COMBO BREAKER
I personally like mine the most.
. The vast MAJORITY of sexual assault victims are often highly scrutinised on an obscene level as if they were the ones that committed a crime- its often postulated that the ‘poor rapist’ obviously simply read the signals wrong. If a woman has sex at all, or regularly or was wearing something ‘sexy’ at the time they make out she was the one at fault.
1 in 20 men commit sexual assault. People don’t like to think they might know someone who could do such a thing, saying they’re a nice person and can’t believe it- but that’s the thing, you can’t tell whether someone would commit sexual assault or not just by looking at them. The vast majority of such assaults are committed by people the victims knew or trusted. Statistically, it’s hardly out there for me to know one who has done it, or you, unfortunately. Testimonies say about perceived ‘character’ have no place in a just society- because more people than you think are capable of it.
Currently the systems in place more work in the rapists favour than victims.
That may be true in the criminal justice system but its not true when referring to most college juditiory boards.
I wasn’t referring to character testimony, I was referring to testimony about what happened surrounding the incident. There was no investigation and no testimony saught, the only reason any witnesses gave testimony was because they insisted on speaking at the hearing. The girl had mental health issues, and the judiciary board didn’t even find that out, which completely called into question the truthfulness of what she was saying, and obviously indicates that no thorough investigation was pursued. The person ended up being expelled on the grounds that he had sex with her when she was drunk, because they couldn’t prove anything else. He was similarly drunk (they had been drinking together, she provided the alcohol). Basically they used that as a pretext, though legally she was as likely the rapist in that situation.
It was all a bunch of crap they didn’t investigate the truth, they decided what they were gunna do before even checking the facts. It was horrible. Everyone who knew the people involved was horrified and had real questions about the system that could allow that.
It goes both ways, really. For every story of a guy whose life is ruined by a false rape accusation based on zero evidence there’s another story of a girl whose legitimate charges of sexual assault are heavily scrutinized and dismissed.
I think it’s wrong to champion the victims of one and downplay the victims of the other in either direction, really. They both happen and they’re both awful, we don’t have to have a “which injustice is worse” competition here.
However you speak as if they happen equally as often. That is not nearly the case friend.
Suzushiiro’s avatar says it all in one word.
I agree with that, but no system should be set up to assume guilt. The victim should be handled gently, conscientiously and respectfully but obviously a threshold of proof and a standard of evidence must be observed. Innocent until proven guilty, pretty basic stuff.
Sorry, but while you may know two people who personally got the other end of the stick, I’ve got a friend whose major research paper for law school was on college judicial procedures for handling sexual assault, and the record as a whole tilts the other way by far.
Don’t confuse personal experience for the way things are everywhere.
Exactly. This is what is called false equivalency. The rate of false rape accusations against men is nowhere near the rate of rape, or even the rate of unpursued accusations of rape alone. And the personal trauma associated with being raped and then not being believed is far and away greater than the trauma of being accused falsely of committing rape. For one, the unfortunate person falsely accused of rape at least doesn’t have to bear HAVING BEEN RAPED.
There have been several significant scandals recently about universities with abysmal policies that are essentially set up to railroad through any sexual assult accusation. This maybe a recent trend, or limited to a subgroup.
None of these options are wise. Get. To. A. Hospital.
Isn’t it a little late for that? As in, she made it this long, so I’m thinking she’s not really all that likely to spontaneously die anymore. That moment has passed.
There is likely no longer an evidence of the drug in her system. What would be the point?
You know what they say, you can’t TRUST THE SYSTEM.
MAN.
So Joyce THREW IT TO THE GROUND!
She’s an ADULT.
Maaaaan.
+1 for this entire comment chain.
Ooh, “Hates the Police”! We can cross that off the “Stereotypical Awesome Loner Rebel” bingo card too!
I GOT BINGO!
What??? Bullcrap! I only have two other things: “Rides a motorcycle” and “Is never happy.”
Even assuming you’re using your free space you need another thing DAMMIT D=<
You forgot “wears leather”
“smokes.”
How about ‘smoker,’ and ‘leaves and enters through the window.’ Just to name a couple more.
And “is good looking.” When was the last time you saw an UGLY stereotypical loner?
If it’s true that she’s robbed stores, as Walky indicated, that might have colored her interactions with police.
Want a story of unhelpful campus po?
Freshman year, a creeper had been wandering campus looking in ladies’ windows and trying to get into buildings, and I had a late rehearsal. I spotted two popo and asked them to escort me across campus to my dorm. They said they couldn’t. They were busy.
They had just caught a squirrel and needed to get rid of it. FAIL.
Recently near where I am, police beat the shit out of some peaceful protesters. They were on private property and asked to leave, but they didnt have to send kids to the hospital.
Did the school have its own dedicated security team? Because I can imagine regular police shrugging of a request for escort, but a campus security force mainly exist for that very reason and my school’s SOP was for them to offer escort to anyone after sunset.
NakedDumblydore said “campus po” so I’m goijng to go with campus cops.
Which isn’t exactly campus security, but not quite ‘regular police’ either. I really can’t see how it takes two cops to handle a squirrel.
I wish Sal (although I object to all cops are scum, just a certain percentage that shouldn’t be protected the way they are) and Dorothy wasn’t right. I’m gonna be depressed all night.
I’d just like to point out that one of the reasons why rape or attempted rape goes unpunished is precisely because victims are reluctant to come forward from fear of exposure or police misconduct.
On the other hand, I love violence. A lot. Also, hijinks and this promises to be the start of some.
Boooo, you suck Billie.
Normally she is the coolest character, but her suggestion is stupid as it throws future victims under the bus (like Dorothy mentioned earlier).
I hate it when people decide to not report a crime because they decide that the cops “can’t or won’t do anything”.
You know when the cops can’t or won’t do anything? WHEN YOU DON’T CALL THEM WHEN A CRIME OCCURS!
You go to the hospital when you’ve been drugged/poisoned, you call the cops when a crime has been committed against you. THIS IS BASIC STUFF PEOPLE!
I think you’re missing Sal’s point.
Her problem isn’t just that cops won’t or can’t do anything, her problem is that introducing cops would make the situation worse. To her, calling the cops would be like summoning Godzilla – dangerous, violent, and only to be done when the situation can’t possibly get any worse.
Okay, so I only commented at all so I could make that Godzilla reference. But still.
not to mention that there isn’t any real evidence anymore.
Other than an injury on the perpetrator that needs to be explained, at least one eyewitness to his attempt to stuff her into a bathroom and rape her after her self-defense, multiple witnesses to her being drugged and woozy from the fight, multiple witnesses to her not drinking beforehand and to Ryan’s attempts to get her alone.
Yep, no evidence whatsoever!
Well, we don’t know for sure that anyone witnessed her not drinking. None of her friends were with her and, except for Ryan, everyone gaming was drunk. We don’t see anyone in line behind them for the bathroom so it’s probable that no one was aware of them at all until she glassed him. Chances are that all anyone saw, before Sarah and her bat, was a girls smashing a glass in a guys face and the guy bodily pinning the girl against the wall. They wouldn’t know he intended to drag her in the bathroom. It’s only after Ryan has been beaten to the ground that they see Joyce on the ground looking out of it. Billie, who was raging drunk until this happened, was the only one who didn’t smell alcohol and said drugs were involved. Not easy to corroborate.
there’s only evidence suggests that there was a physical attack. but that just points to joyce and sarah attacking ryan, which does not help the situation. witnesses were only shown after sarah beat him. nobody was shown witnessing the argument, which is honestly the only thiing that would help them right now.
Unfortunately they let a delusional Joyce and a drunken Billie influence their decision to make a trip to the hospital.
They did have their reason but you know us kids.
And actually one my friends I met at the college I currently attend was sexually assaulted in high school.
It was either after school or in more secluded spot where she kissed a guy but he was forcing her to try to do more. She went to the school about and basically told her that kissing was giveng consent which is bullshit.
This made me think, in the past year theres been a lot of campaigning at my college with the slogan “No means no. Maybe means no. Silence means no. Only yes means yes.”
So yeah to that naysayer I’d say hes probably a bit more out of touch. He may have had a personal experience with that sort of thing, and I can understand that cause it is honestly something I fear as a man. Moreso the fact that drunk women do have the some form of right to blow the rape whistle with drunken intercourse, which can be abused if a woman can press charges if she has gotten drunk on her own free will, which I’m not sure can happen.
Its probably not gonna be much of a problem for me cause I don’t really party, nor go for drunk chicks specially when I’m sober
Man that post turned long
Vigilantism: Its the answer you’ve been searching for.
The unfortunate thing is Sal isn’t completely wrong here. And by that I mean about how the cops won’t be able to do much. Because of the fact that they didn’t immediately take Joyce to the cops or hospital there is no evidence supporting the claim of sexual assault. Joyce can’t even remember what happened and the drugs in her system are long-gone by now. The only single witness they have to Ryan’s actions is Sarah, and due to the fact she beat the shit out of him with a baseball bat, her testimony won’t be worth a lot.
However, I still think the girls should report what happened to the cops. The only way the cops will be able to stop this Ryan guy is if someone reports him.
And Sal is being way off base by claiming that the cops are solely jerks and bullies from high school on a power trip. I’ve known many cops and a majority of them are not those kinds of people. They actually became cops because they want to help people.
More than one lengthy debate in the comments on a dumbing of age strip?
Moving on.
…Ok people please Repeat to yourselves: “It’s just a show. I should really just relax”. This ain’t “Law and Order: Joyce and Walky unit”. It’s “Dumbing of Age”.
Sal is speaking from her experience. As a convicted shoplifter (if I remember correctly), I doubt she’d have much affection to the cops. Also, it’s Sal, it’d be completely out of character for her to suggest reporting it would be a good idea.
Just in case it’s ever useful though: Just because the buzz is off, that doesn’t mean the drugs are out of her system: Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol, AKA “Roofies”) for example has a half-life of approximate a whole day, other drugs might have less/more. Even then, as long as Joyce hasn’t peed them out, any metabolites are still in her.
It’s also common for rape/attempted rape victims not to report the crime immediately, (or not at all actually) so I strongly doubt they’d hold that against her if they aren’t completely incompetent.
Most rapists don’t stop until they are incarcerated (and not even then really), treated (which again, often doesn’t work) or killed. That means if he’s not put in jail by them by accusing him formally, it’ll stop at the victim who does. I honestly don’t care what they do in the comic, it’s supposed to be entertaining and Willis can tell great stories.
What does bother me however is the notion that some of you people might think not reporting it to someone who has the legal authority to prosecute would be a good idea in real life.
*thoughtful tone*
I agree with your main point about not reporting/going to the hospital being a bad idea, but i you can’t really say “It’s just a show. I should really just relax” when the comic is taking things so seriously. Right now, there’s a lot of serious dramatic storytelling to be had, and readers are entitled to consider and criticise character’s actions. Suspension of disbelief doesn’t really apply here, it applies to Amazi-Girl.
Oh it was meant as a MST3k reference. I’m not being dismissive, I’m just saying you shouldn’t let real life considerations get in the way of a good story. “The count of Monte Cristo” would have been awful if Dantes decided living well was the best form of revenge after getting out of jail.
Yeah, but here’s the thing: Willis is using real life considerations as part of his story. We’re including our own thoughts and opinions, as a result of what he includes in his storyline. So telling us not to let real life considerations get in the way doesn’t make sense, because it negates the whole point of the story.
Okay.
It would have been a great idea to do immediately. The longer they dick around, the less great it gets. And that’s not accounting for the fact that Drugged!Joyce thought keeping her parents from finding out trumped all else; if LessDrugged!Joyce agrees, then the entire thing becomes a non-starter because she has different priorities as to what’s a good idea.
All the “most” offenders stats are ridiculous because the only body to sample is the incarcerated. Just as psychologists used to believe that homosexuality was related to heaping helping of definitive psychoses because they only studied homosexual who were institutionalized. I am not trying to equate rape and homosexuality or any criminal act, just pointing out that we don’t have a real knowledge base to make statements about how MOST rapists (or any other offender) stop doing it.
I think Rohypnol is actually the least used “roofie.” One of the most commonly used is out of the system in 2-7.
The most common ‘roofie’ I am aware of is pure alcohol, just add some to a drink can turn one standard drink into several standard drinks and all a drug test would show afterwards is a high blood alcohol result.
I literally sat down and read just the beginning of your comment like six hours ago, and just now sat down to watch some MST3K with dinner when I caught the reference, so I had to set down my food and come congratulate you.
Congratulations!
(I know, I’m slow.)
Better late than never, ty
I would say Billie has the most sensible idea. Vigilantism will probably only make things worse and could just as easily put them behind bars as a result.
Unless you know what you’re doing like Amazi-Girl.
“Now let’s put all this behind us and go get Walky some pants”
Billie gets my vote! Best idea EVAR!
[REDACTED] The Police!
Only for a nickel…
my nickel.
^ This is what is called false equivalency. The rate of false rape accusations against men is nowhere near the rate of rape, or even the rate of unpursued accusations of rape. And the personal trauma associated with being raped and then not being believed is far and away greater than the trauma of being accused falsely of committing rape. For one, the unfortunate person falsely accused of rape at least doesn’t have to bear HAVING BEEN RAPED.
Unless falsely convicted of rape and intentionally housed with known rapists of other inmates. Again, a large part of the trauma of rape is a societal assumption that it is unbearably traumatic. Yes it is an extremely bad experience, but the assumption that a rape SURVIVOR is a rape VICTIM and can never recover does a hell of a lot more harm than good.
So the trauma is insignificant because a person can get over it? Please. A person can get over having their arms ripped off, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s okay to go around being dismissive of their pain. And unless you can prove any significant occurrence of accused rapists being raped in jail/prison that point isn’t even worth raising. just another go at false equivalency.
The trauma is extremely significant. But being viewed forever as that poor victim and being treated with kid gloves, being expected to be a suicide risk, having people around me constantly censor themselves and suddenly end conversation when I come within earshot did nothing but make it worse.
As far as getting statistics about prison rape, you probably realize the impossibility of that given the status of the victims, the perpetrators and society’s strong efforts to ignore the existence of prisoners and the institutions tasked with housing them.
The nature of criminal conviction is such that determining rates of false convictions and false accusations is impossible; instead we each choose the rates that support our already decided positions.
Now I just picture that scene in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back where Jay goes “Fuck the Police” in the restaurant.
I commented on what actually happens when women go to the police weeks ago and got told I’m wrong and trying to hurt women for saying it.
I still stand by it. They should of just kept breaking bones when they had the bat.
Then numbers are just against the law providing any justice for attempted rapes in college. It’s a fucked up system if you get a situation like that you break enough bones so that they won’t heal.
*sees troll in name*
Not sure if true… or just coincidence.
Anyway. The right thing to do is always to go to the authorities. Actually, scratch that. Go to the damn hospital first, then the authorities. No matter what the “numbers” may be (and they’re awful, let’s be honest), nothing will change if people start refusing to step forward. In fact, it would just lead to victims being named as criminals instead, while the scumbag walks free.
That is, in real life. In the comic, I would be more than happy to watch someone smear Ryan.
I believe I said break as many bones as you can if the opportunity like that comes up not walk away. There is a difference.
Going to the police doesn’t change the screwed up system we have. More then likely if they went to the police they would victim blame arrest the two women for assault and Ryan would walk away. I don’t see any benefit to them or the system in this.
Right now in most states police have a lot of power and when they do wrong for the most part they police themselves. Bad stuff happens all the time. I could throw eight stories of police crossing the line every week. If you want justice you don’t get it from an outright broken system.
And thus a new incarnation of SEMME is born.
If you’re not going to charge him, I’d say beat him up as much as you like, as long as you don’t kill him. Once you kill him it attracts a lot more police attention on you than just beating him up.
Disturbingly enough, I’m actually with Billie on this one. Now I’m fine with Amazigirl tracking Ryan down and dispensing vigilante justice on her own, but right now Joyce and the rest don’t have a vested interest in catching Ryan. No damage was actually done, and there was no emotional scars since she has absolutely no memory of it at all. Despite the encounter, Joyce has come out none the worse for wear, and actually seems the least interested in tracking Ryan down.
Does that mean Ryan should be off the hook? No, he should get his comeuppance, but let the nonsuperheroes let it go and return to normalcy.
I’m going to try to hire on as part of “the authorities”, and you could certainly place blind trust in me without getting burned Sal. We’re not all evil, power-hungry jerks. Some of us go into public service because we actually give a damn.
if Sal were right, they’d be living in my country.
…Sometimes nerds want to be cops to.
Moral of the story for everyone. If you rape someone, expect to get your ass kicked. If you get raped, OBTAIN EVIDENCE. Ideally, avoid raping anyone or getting raped in the first place. It’s not ok to roofie someone. EVER. If you go to a party, watch your drinks get poured, keep your hand over your glass, or better yet — BYOB. Keep your phone in your pocket recording any activity that happens when you are alone with someone. Never go to a party alone, and never stay alone. I’d suggest getting a “rape kit” as well, but sadly there are already millions of those sitting on dusty shelves unused while rapists go free. Nope. Get evidence. Or kick his ass. There will be no justice otherwise.
And here we sal without her gloves. Continuity error, or is Sal legitimately missing a finger?
I think we’re looking at a continuity error. I thought she’d at least have a scar.
“Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones; Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight:”
Job 15:15