Wack’d’s Best Dumbing Of Age Character poll has completed, with….. DINA the winner, emerging victorious over Sal!
Thanks, Wack’d, for running this.
even if we always knew dina was always going to win
Discussion (273) ¬
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Wack’d’s Best Dumbing Of Age Character poll has completed, with….. DINA the winner, emerging victorious over Sal!
Thanks, Wack’d, for running this.
even if we always knew dina was always going to win
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“You’re pretty strong for some clown who thinks she’s Amber”
“I… AM… AMBER”
next comic better be the van on its side and Ambazi-Ger standing out the open window, fists in the air and shouting, “AGAIN!!!“
No, it’s Joyce’s turn for that.
I love the Batman Beyond reference!
Same.
Legit here for the Batman Beyond reference. Noice.
Blaine: “Amber?! What are you doing here? Where did Amazi-Girl go?”
I wonder if Blaine is still fooled by peek-a-boo and got-your-nosey.
He probably developed a mental illness.
Hey, hi. Someone with anxiety, depression, ADHD, and an ASD here. He doesn’t have a mental illness. He’s just an abusive, evil asshole. Mental illnesses don’t make you into a monster and being a bad person doesn’t mean you have a mental illness. Thanks.
yeahhh what Svata said.
There are mental illnesses that affect perception. He can have trouble recognizing faces while still being evil.
We’ve gotten no reason to think he’s got prosopagnosia. He just refuses to see Amber as anything other than a weakling he can torment.
Having mental illnesses doesnt make you evil, that is true, but he is shown as a pathological person: he can’t accept reality, seems to have borderline personality disorder, is sociopathic, is delusional, acts like a maniac, rationalizes his own crimes in a desperate attempt, etc.
This isn’t a regular abusive asshole. This is an abusive asshole disconnected from reality.
What he’s doing right now is actually a very common reaction to having fucked up so bad you’ve likely ruined your life. Doubling down in panic, refusal to accept reality, etc. It’s very normal to behave irrationally, because fucking up this bad is not something the human mind is generally prepared to handle
You mean like a Republican? Yeah, that tracks.
I mean like literally anyone
Having an intense irrational reaction to something that threatens to upend your entire life is not limited to shitty people. The kidnapping, murder and child abuse is
He seems to exhibit all of the symptoms required for a diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder (listed here: https://psychcentral.com/disorders/antisocial-personality-disorder/symptoms/) except for the financial one (if he didn’t honour financial obligations to mob folk he wouldn’t be in their good books very long, and he could afford to pay Ross’ bail). He seems to lack any feelings of empathy or guilt, which does seem like a not wired quite right brain thing?
Would you disagree? Genuine question, and I’m only considering Blaine specifically here – I do agree with your point that mental illness and being a bad person are not linked.
Also, his behaviour is still inexcusable and he’s still an abusive, evil asshole who needs to be locked up for everyone’s safety.
Yes, he (seems to be) honoring his financial obligations to the people who can kill him, though I wonder if it’s his money he used to bail Ross out or theirs. On the other hand, he’s very much not obligating his financial obligations to fund Amber’s schooling.
Can’t comment on ASD in general, though.
“Someone with anxiety, depression, ADHD, and an ASD here.”
“He doesn’t have a mental illness. He’s just an abusive, evil asshole. Mental illnesses don’t make you into a monster and being a bad person doesn’t mean you have a mental illness.”
Hm. There’s a lot to point out, there. Okay, first off, anxiety and depression are illnesses [or, where longstanding, can be considered as disorders], ADHD is a disorder, and ASD is a subset of neurological atypicality which can also manifest as a disorder [generally, and traditionally, manifesting in conjunction with an intellectual disability]. Given your level of functioning, ASD simply doesn’t seem to belong on that list.
[Broadly speaking, it’s rare to hear ‘illness’ used at all anymore, as ‘illnesses’ are now generally considered as syptoms of a disorder or non-mental illness, but I’ll be addressing the circumstance where you do still hear it used:]
Disorders are, simply, long-standing, internalized, atypical states, rather than afflictions [as are (mental) illnesses]. Elements which present as symptoms or temporary outside influences, such as depression or anxiety [which are usually secondary to disorders] would be referenced as illnesses. As would any other temporary state, such as the delirum brought about by a fever, or the intoxicated state brought about by sleep deprivation (or by illicit drugs or lawful medications).
Putting that into a workable context, the concept of ‘temporary insanity’ in law would relate to illnesses, rather than disorders, as disorders are pervasive [and relates instead to the ‘unfit to stand trial’ aspect of law].
Of course, an action related to a disorder may not be such: For example, you could argue that it was the act of not taking one’s medication and the temporary state of mental unwellness (ie, illness) caused by that which should qualify as ‘temporary insanity’, even though the disorder itself wouldn’t classify.
That said, we’re basically nitpicking terminology there. Inherently, it’s all just a reference to “an abnormal mental state”, and is usually readily associable within any given context. So generally, no need to stress over the terminology used, regardless of context [or get defensive about it, as with this particular circumstance].
Blaine is acting insane in a manner which indicates temporary mania and delusion. This is in line with a mental illness (rather than disorder). He also manifests several characteristics which could be in line with mental disorders, namely psychopathy [which has mild indications in a substantial part of the population, somewhat similar to neuroatypicality, and which- again, similar to neuroatypicality- is indicated to have more overt representations among the populace than was initially believed (ie, individiuals who have atypical states, but are able to blend in easier, because the atypical characteristics aren’t properly recognized as atypical) ].
To reframe all that, there’s good evidence that a sizable portion of “bad people” do have some degree of mental disorder (not surprisingly, when given any strong consideration, as a lack of empathy is generally associable to mental disorders, and an easy inroad into undesirable behavior). The issue is just that such disorder is now believed to be more common than was believed in the past, which suggests that “bad people” may actually largely just be a neurological subset of humanity.
But sure, let’s skip over that bit of uncertain deliberation, or the distinctions between disorder and unwellness/illness. As abyss already noted, even without the distinctions I clarified, there’d still be no reason to believe that Blaine was anything remotely close to sane at this point in time.
Disorder and illness are used in mental health classifications as generalized terms. Same goes for neuroatypicality, even, though neuroatypicality (now that it has been branched off of disorders) indicates pure neutrality and allows for positive interpretation, while disorder still indicates that there’s some disruption to general activity (as with a learning disability secondary to a neuroatypical state, or as with some of the characteristics of ADHD), and illness emphasizes that the individual is in an unwell state.
Simply put, people using the terms aren’t attacking you, it’s just a general term of classification. This mindset you’ve presented, of “I need to have pride in the terms which define me, and those terms can’t be applied to less benign considerations than those which apply to me” is irrational. We’re not talking gender, sex, neurological typicality, or similar. These aren’t terms used to self-identify, to protect one’s weaknesses within hostile social conceptualizations, or similar. We’re defining a medical range, of which you’re at a benign (or at least relatively benign) subset of.
Regardless of whether someone is framing it as “mental illness” or “mental disorder”, and regardless of whether they’re using the correct terminology among those two, you have to give the allowance that those terms can be used for the full range of what they’re intended to be applied to.
Which is to say, there’s nothing at all wrong with your argument of “Mental illnesses don’t make you into a monster and being a bad person doesn’t mean you have a mental illness.” [Broader deliberations on the second half aside.] That’s just to say that you don’t need to jump to that argument so easily. All the other arguments aside, it isn’t even as thought the comment you were replying to was making the case you claimed it was. Noone was making statement to Blaine’s “monstrosity”. The only indication given by the person you were replying to was that Blaine’s mental state wasn’t entirely balanced at this point in time which, again, is fairly irrefutable. Likewise, intentional or not, that poster did likely utilize the most suitable terminology to reference that state (given that long-lasting aspects are still uncertain, but the immediate state of unwellness is not).
In summary, there just really wasn’t anything to argue with, there.
(And yes, I’m decidedly awful at being succinct. My apologies.)
Man, I though I had wall-of-text syndrome, but you beat me…
Heyso, hey, so:
“Level of functioning” is a shitty guideline, and you can’t actually tell the challenges someone faces based on the fact that they can type a few sentences in a comment section.
Also, generally, Blaine hasn’t displayed any signs of mental illness that can’t be chalked up to genre tropes. Not being able to tell that Amber and Amazi-Girl are the *same person has been a running joke throughout the series for many characters, despite her appearance obviously not being well disguised. please Blaine’s plan might seem irrational and bad, but… I mean, it *worked*, or at least it almost worked if not for Toedad’s meddling. He’s clearly in a panic now and not thinking clearly, but there’s no reason to attribute that to mental illness: He’s undergoing extreme circumstances that would make any person unlikely to think clearly and logically.
I really don’t think Blaine’s plan would have worked in any circumstance. His entire plan hinged on a drastic, willfully ignorant underestimation of his daughter’s strength and abilities, a presumption that has been disproven to his face at least twice before. I’m almost stunned as to how he’s lasted this long in the Korean mafia. We’ve gotten no hint that he’s being propped up by people who have an investment in him being there, unless Yuri has more connections than it seems.
@Twitcher Hmm. So basically our options for explaining his present circumstances are “mental illness”, “mental disorder”, “an idiot with good fortune that finally ran out”, “a particularily unfortunate mid-life crisis”, and “sudden overwhelming desire to be a Scooby-Doo villain”? 😛
I tend to think that Yuri’s father has been letting him get away with shit out of respect to his daughter, and that Yuri may be an unwitting mafia princess. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.
Well, hopefully Willis’ll finally let us in on the background details behind Blaine and his family soon (well, soon in comic time). I mean, it’s not like Willis’d start a new chapter with noone talking about the events of this one at all for a good duration.. right?
“Level of functioning” is a shitty guideline, and you can’t actually tell the challenges someone faces based on the fact that they can type a few sentences in a comment section.”
A fact you should keep in mind, as well.
Also a fact irrelevant to the point I was making, in that “Austistic Disorder” specifically refers to Autism Spetrum + Intellectual Disability. As the individual isn’t indicating any signs of delayed development or impaired interaction skills, Autism being considered as an illness or disorder would be inappropriate, not to mention far more insulting towards the individual in question than anything said by anyone else within this nesting. Neuroatypicality usually comes with a varied amount of pros and cons, essentially just being the brain rewiring itself in atypical ways in order to test new configurations. Which no doubt is why synesthesia is so commonly associated with the spectrum. All I indicated was that the individual was functioning above a basic minimum level, and thus their autism would be appropriately be categorized under neuroatypicality rather than disorder. A purely technical association made by way of rational judgment and proper consideration of relevant categorical labels. In other words, a factual or mechanical statement, which can be negated rather simply by offering a technical correction, where such exists. Instead, you leap into an off-topic emotional argument that can be interpreted as insulting the OP of the nesting, all while claiming I’m the one being insulting. Nevermind that you’re making value judgements towards my opinions, when.. well, that’s an arguement that, statistically speaking, you’re effectively guaranteed to make fool out of yourself on. Suffice it to say that my own, rather significant placement on the spectrum is a relatively minor consideration, insofar as elements which would make your position seem misappropriated and dubious.
As far as your second topical point, I’ve already clarified the distinction between mental illness and mental disorder. It’s entirely possible that the person who brought up the matter intended “mental disorder” [which, as I noted, we can’t be certain of yet] but, as I clarified, “mental illness” as-written is, perhaps, quite accurate. Again, the term just indicates a significantly impaired mental state. While elements such as panic attacks aren’t typically classified as illnesses/unwellness, but simply as impairments or afflictions, Blaine *isn’t* having a panic attack. He’s having significantly impaired behavior, rather resembling the characteristics of a psychotic episode.
Keep in mind also that, as I noted, “illness” has fallen out of favor within common medical use, so the common use application has become rather overfamiliar [hence my persistent association with the term ‘unwellness’]. Effectively, you now have three categorizations: [Attacks or other brief-duration afflications], [illnesses which associated to any impaired state of meaningful duration], and [long-term disorders]. As I noted, you do see still the distinction between illness and disorder covered by certain fields, such as legal distinctions. Attacks are similarly easy to understand- panic attacks, asthma attacks, etc are all rather immediate. Where they’re long term, they’re classified as disorders [eg, Panic Disorder, Anxiety Disorder]. Given Blaine’s long term state of mental unwellness (which, note, has been going on since the initial encounter with Mike and Amber/AG, which was.. last night?), it’s only right to classify it as mental illness, by the expected associations of the terms which apply to such topics. Now, is that mental illness simply based within sleep-deprivation? Possibly! Sleep deprivation, while not classifying as an illness itself [I realize now my earlier reference may have been misleading in that regard] can instigate a state of mental illness/unwellness, usually characterized by a manic state. [It can also aggravate any mental disorders that an individual has, which does support our contemplations on that side of things.] Which.. yes, seems to match well to Blaine’s current state.
Again, as I noted in the first post, it’s mostly a matter of nitpicking terminology. Mental illness is the expected term for Blaine’s present state but, even if you disregard that, there’s really no other way to refer to his present state other than “he’s mentally unwell” [which has a directly equivalent meaning to “mentally ill”] or “he’s batty like a fruitcake on acid”. Really, I’m not sure what you’re looking for here. He’s acting “crazy”, regardless of the longevity or nature of that state, and references are being made based off that impression. You either have to address the objective side of things, which means confronting medical categorizations and terminology head-on and citing sources which indicate my own knowledge and research is in some way flawed, or you have to acknowledge the subjectivity of the matter and accept that Blaine isn’t coming across as entirely “all here” for what is likely the majority of the readers.
Also, I’m unaware of the idea that tropes can act as an excuse for ignoring how an author is presenting their material. In parody or absurdist comedic works, we accept tropes that defy rationality because the framework itself lacks rational cohesion. DoA, while goofy, has been presented as a cohesive and at least minimally grounded work. Thus, there’s no reason to assume that Willis is presenting anything solely for the sake of being a trope, without intending it to also be interpreted as “real” [barring, of course, us being graced with The Word of Willis stating otherwise].
To the contrary, we’ve been given every indication that his unwillingness to accept his daughter being able to present herself with any kind of strength is intended as a parallel to Toedad being unable to accept Becky’s sexual orientation. So I suppose, if we ignore Blaine’s other.. eccentric behaviors, we could label the matter as “self-delusion”. Again, though, it’s really a subjective matter as to whether or not someone determines that to be indicative of an unwell state or not. Though Toedad certainly’d act as a great counterpart, in validating the “[overt] mental illness [or disorders] isn’t necessarily the only basis for being ‘a bad person’ ” perspective of the nesting originator.
Again, apologies for any overbearingness in my presentation.
I have long struggled with mental illness in both childhood and adulthood.
Believe me, we can be assholes too!
It’s just not BECAUSE we’re mentally ill.
Well, actually, yes. You can be an asshole to someone as a result of a mental illness/disorder/thing. Autistic people are often callous or unthinking because of their autism. Bipolar people know very well what kind of assholes we are when we’re manic (I’ve said some VERY hurtful things when manic that I had to eat some fucking crow for – they weren’t true and I didn’t believe them, but I said them anyway).
Bad behavior isn’t excused by mental disorders, but it can be explained by them, and forgiven by people who are understanding and patient.
Being an evil asshole doesn’t exempt you from developing a mental illness though.
What? Dang. Thought I had that covered.
Death of a Murder Van
Relax. It’s good for the clutch.
Actually, it occurs to me that no-one is going to think this is funny but me.
You have to understand that back in the day when I was a newly minted adult I was sometimes invited to partys at folks houses and when this happened I usually went. As parties go they were fairly tame with the primary activities being munching on light refreshements and talking, with the occasional couple using the oportunity for public displays of affection. This was back in the time when people thought nothing of smoking indoors in close proximity and it was considered rude to object when someone puffed smoke in your face. There was this one jerk who, when the ash at the end of his cigarette got long enough, instead of looking for a random ashtray or potted plant or used glass or even, heaven forbid, taking it outside, would flick it on the floor and grind it into the rug with his foot. If he happened to notice the host or hostess looking at him, he would announce in a loud voice, “It’s good for the rug!” and keep grinding the ash into the rug extra vigorously.
Oddly enough, he eventually stopped being invited to parties. Or at least not to the parties I went to.
It’s still the case that no-one but me will think the previous comment was funny, but now I feel better, so there’s that.
Nah, after reading the explanation and going back and imagining Amber and Blaine having context (possibly because Blaine treated Amber’s mum’s carpets like that), and Amber violently assaulting the gearbox as casually, I giggled.
I mean yeah I’ve heard of killing the engine, but that was the transmission!
A high-speed sudden down-shift in a manual is bad; it could damage the clutch a little.
It can also over-rev the engine once the clutch stops slipping.
I think that’s what we’re hearing in the last panel.
This kills the
crabvan.Probably the safest available means Amber had to kneecap Blaine’s getaway.
I suspect slamming an automatic into ‘P’ is equally … authoritative.
It depends on whether the little steel pawl that engages the gears inside to lock them in place decides it’s up to the task, gets crushed, or just nopes right out when the transmission housing grenades.
At least the engine has a better chance of surviving, because there’s no direct connection between the crankshaft and wheels. (A torque converter is a fluid coupling.)
inb4 the willisverse comes full circle and someone dies in a car accident again
Yeah, not gonna lie, more than a bit worried about that.
Don’t worry. Kestrel from Queen of Wands/Something*Positive will show up in a red car and take the hit instead!
Also Penny and Aggie, all 3 exist canonically in the same universe.
Of all things.
Oh, wow. I had completely forgotten about Penny & Aggie!
All 4 : We saw Faye from Questionable Content here at IU, earlier (Parents Day) although the timey-wimey stuff means that this van should probably strike a younger Cosette. She’s cursed.
DoA is an alternate universe from the other 3. Those 3 all share the same active universe. (agree about poor Cosette though)
Two things: Maybe Willis doesn’t want this, but I really hope we see AU versions of the rest of the Walkyverse gang in the comic, too, even as cameos. It would be nice to see all our old friends again. Second thing: My sister rarely takes my webcomic recommendations, but I said something that prompted her to marathon Penny & Aggie. When she was introduced to the Omegas, she became incensed: “You tell them to stop spying on me and stealing my face!” She was only half joking. Sis and I were b-i-zongos with a capital B in middle school, and Sis in particular was possessed of a “deep, free-floating rage, directed inward as well as outward,” as well as being a disabled person with a heavy limp and a former wheelchair user. As for the rest of us, our Tharqa did eventually turn on me (and everyone else in her life) and I was the resentful hanger-on who felt like she never belonged.
Truth to tell, I would feel a little better if we could see more of the road ahead so that we knew there wasn’t an oncoming truck there.
My only concern is someone sees her unmasked.
Otherwise, go, AG, go!
Indeed. He just saw her “FAAAAAAAAAACE”
Honestly any kind of police statement from the others is gonna expose Amaziber’s identity anyway, that ship has probably sailed.
Amber: I’m Amazi-Girl.
Blaine: No! Amazi-Girl is that black girl on the motorcycle! Or Other Rachel! Or Zaph! Or Rose Pepper! I banged their mothers too, you know! (Is dragged away)
Or Faz or that biy I put in the hospital or my father. Wait…it’s suddenly clear now. I’M Amazi-girl! ~insane laughter whike being dragged away~
But he’ll never be a believer.
Lots of traces of doubt in his mind.
He’s in denial.
He couldn’t believe her if he tried.
Hover text: I’m laughing to myself imagining Blaine getting the rental insurance on the van. “I can’t be too wild about my life choices,” he thinks to himself.
Are you (and Willis) referring to the super-expensive full cover optional policies rental companies have, rather than the (minimum level, legal requirement) third party type, or is insurance literally optional in the US?
It depends on the state. Most states require some form of insurance. But, you have those selfish few who believe they will never get into an accident (or just don’t care) and not get insurance anyway.
And if you show your disregard and contempt of the law by driving uninsured they can (wait for it) make it illegal for you to drive.
Requirements vary by state, but every state requires insurance of some kind. “Rental” insurance is you covering the vehicle against damages.
I’m referring to the optional addons that rental companies have. Insurance is legally required in the US, but legally speaking, you’re also not supposed to kill a guy, so I wouldn’t be that surprised if Blaine didn’t have car insurance either. (I definitely know more people who have driven without insurance than have killed someone.)
Most rental companies require you to purchase the legally-required minimal insurance, before they’ll let you have the vehicle. But Blaine might not have been doing things totally legally here.
Most rental companies try to get you to purchase tons of other non-required insurance too.
Especially at the last second when you don’t have time to think about it or do research.
@Yumi “(I definitely know more people who have driven without insurance than have killed someone.)”
Good to know!
Don’t forget that insurance companies are parasites and nothing more.
A lot of the time, your insurance on your own car also extends to rentals.
If only.
No, it’s not optional, but all states require liability, and most states also require uninsured motorist. Beyond those, if you have a big enough loan on the vehicle, the bank is likely to insist that you have collision insurance.
Super-expensive full cover insurance is fun.
I once bought it accidentally at the counter and when I returned the rental car, the attendant was confused that I actually did the paperwork for a minor collision I had and told me, “Two times out of five we just get told where to find the wreckage.”
No insurance will cover you for crime.
Malpractice can be a crime. You can buy malpractice insurance.
That said, there would seem to be an untapped market in insuring crime.
Physician here. MedMal does not cover criminal acts. Named exclusions include sexual misconduct, practicing while intoxicated, fraud, and other general illegal activity.
Depending on your coverage, rental cars can be covered under your normal auto policy.
Fun fact: the insurance you buy from U-Haul when you rent one of their trucks specifically does not cover damage to the leading edge of the cargo box. Pay attention to the height of the truck when you pull into gas stations and garages!
Can any of the DoA cast even drive, other than Sal and her bike? Oh, Joyce.
Billie got a DUI. So, no.
Speaking as someone who has gotten DUIs, you are prohibited from driving for a prescribed length of time; but once that time is up you can reinstate your license although depending on the state you live in, it might be an expensive and time-consuming process. In addition, in some states you might qualify to get an occupational license that would allow to drive for work or to get to work, but only during certain hours of the day.
And since I’m assuming this was a first-offense DUI that Billie got, her license was probably just suspended for 90 days or so while she completed a safety assessment/group dynamics course/traffic school (and of course, paid a fine). So I think it’s safe to say she’s gotten her license back by now.
And if not, she’s got the fake one she uses to buy liquor.
Not a good idea to hand that one to the cop who wants to see your license and proof of insurance.
I meant it more in a snippy “she certainly can’t drive well” sense, but thank you for the informative comment.
Just curious. What’s the penalty for driving a TARDIS without a license?
(We won’t say anything about driving it with the brakes on because you like the sound it makes.)
They take away your big-ass collar.
Some of them probably can drive, but they don’t have cars near campus. Even at colleges that allow freshmen living in the residence halls to have a personal vehicle, the parking can be prohibitively expensive
Yeah, at my campus the student lot was expensive, and so far from my dorm that it was quicker to wait for a bus than to walk to your car.
Most Americans get their license at 16.
I didn’t, and several others in my family didn’t. I admit, we’re a bunch of oddballs.
I got mine at 24. My younger brother is now 32 and still doesn’t have one.
If you’re 24, and your brother is 32, how is he younger?
“got theirs at [age]” doesn’t mean “currently are that age”
Where in NYC do you live?
Wiki: ‘According to a December 2, 2004 Los Angeles Times article, only 43% of American 15-17-year-olds had drivers licenses in 2002.[117] By comparison, the percentage of drivers licenses in this age group in 1982 was 52%.’
That’s kind of a weird age grouping to use – in most states 15 year olds can’t get licenses and you’re not likely to get one as soon as you turn 16. That could reflect no 15 year olds, almost all 17 year olds and roughly half the 16 year olds.
it also depends how broad your definition of license is.
Texas allows for ‘need’ licenses that allow 14(?) year-olds full driving privileges so long as they can prove they were between home and school, and most cops are lenient on “I stopped for milk on my way home”.
In Iowa, you can get a motorcycle license that’s restricted by engine capacity at 15, and thus my HS had a bunch of crotch-rockets in the south parking lot.
Learner’s licenses [AKA provisional licenses, learner’s permits, etc] are also a thing you can get a couple of years before your actual license. If those are included (as they should be, as they are considered [restricted] licenses), the age range in question is rather fair.
Nevermind that we’re comparing the same age group across two periods, so the distinction doesn’t matter all that much (other than, as you noted, perhaps highlighting that ‘need’ licenses are no longer as common as in the past, which does seem as though it’d be a fairly predicable development at a glance).
Well, Barer was the one who noted the 16 age range, so the statistics in question are rather appropriate. The comic’s characters should all be above 18, however, so we’re probably looking at entirely the wrong statistics. 😛
I’m assuming most of the college-age cast can drive, but most of them probably don’t have their own cars or whatever.
Howard can.
Joyce definitely can, she’s shown driving her folks’ minivan. Everybody else that’s a suburban kid probably can too. It’s hard to get around suburban Indiana without a car.
Joyce and Becky both can, they took turns driving Hank’s car back from La Porte. More probably can than can’t. It’s just only Sal has her own vehicle
Did we ever actually see Becky behind the wheel? My memory is fuzzy but I seem to remember Joyce driving it all the way back.
Becky doesn’t seem like the type who’d overly mind much driving without a license, either.. 😛
I’m REALLY hoping Amber (and Amazigirl) are okay in there.
Praying to the gods of comic-logic that physics need not apply, and she wasn’t just fired out the windshield or the open door.
She wasn’t. You can see her cape trailing out the door and down the side of the vehicle.
And I think that “GRRUNNKK!” sound effect is not the van crashing into something but the death rattle of the transmission (or at least the clutch).
I have driven manual shift cars for decades. I _feel_ that clutch grinding sound in my soul. No telling to which lower gear Amber pushed the stick shift. :O
Possibly “R”.
Good chance she got slammed against the dashboard but shifting like that won’t apply the breaks so the van isn’t coming to an immediate stop.
He….he still doesn’t believe it though. He’ll die not believing Amazigir l and Amber are the same person.
prrrrrrobably, yeah
“Now take off that other mask!”
The blue balloons without the mask are probably confusing him.
Heh. Truck stops and its entire transmission keeps going down the street for another fifty feet
I have been in a car that did the exact opposite. My brother managed to leave the transmission of our dad’s prized sports car behind us on the highway. He wasn’t even driving crazy. It just….fell out.
“Did the transmission just fall off my gorram car for no reason?”
… sorry, I seem to be feeling particularly memey tonight.
“We may experience some slight turbulence and then explode.”
“I don’t wanna explode.”
Wimp!
You exploding is an acceptable risk.
Me exploding is a catastrophy.
We had that half-happen to us once. My dad was driving my mom and I to the beach and our transmission started making a weird noise. He pulled over to the shoulder and started backing up when we heard a loud CLUNK as the front half of the transmission fell off.
Good thing we were going backwards, slowly, at the time. If we had been going forward rapidly it could have acted like a vaulter’s pole going into a pit.
I once had the front U-joint on the driveshaft of a rear-wheel drive full-size van fail and the driveshaft drop out onto the ground like that.
Yeah, it was the U-joint. I had a brain-thing and could not remember that part name.
blaines not wearing a seatbelt
Calling it now: the button on this arc is gonna be Amber waking up in a hospital bed next to Mike, who is still alive.
Oddly enough she has trouble distinguishing this from purgatory.
If she sees a lion and a bus stop, she’ll have her answer.
Shift with integrity
No reverse
RAY
Many Internets!!!
Here, Ray, have an internet.
Website stolen for future use.
Hahaha, nice one
(Applause)
Joyce is still on the back of the truck.
No seatbelt.
Well, I guess that’s one way to stop a vehicle. Adjust moving parts until something goes wrong.
Where’d he find a recent model van with stick shift, anyway?
Good question. But then, I’m still trying to figure out how Amber got into the van yesterday.
She did look more like Spiderman crawling along the side of the van yesterday, didn’t she?
Maybe there was a radioactive spider in the cargo compartment…..
TBF, if you yank an automatic into park or reverse suddenly while at high speed the results will still be pretty entertaining anyway
That leads to your mechanic changing his order to the bigger boat.
Europe? Americans by and large are afraid of the third pedal.
Well Blaine what now? Are you going to pretend that because she isn’t wearing glasses that she can’t be your daughter? You have had more trouble accepting this than Luke had accepting Vader was his father, and he got a hand cut off.
In other news, how is Joyce doing with the sudden lurching of the van? And how is Amber/Amazi-girl not going to go flying through the windshield?
Han shot first. Joyce is tied to the railing like Ulysses. Amazi-girl is immune to physics.
Maybe he needs her to cut off his hand to prove it to him.
Last time Amber took a knife to someone’s hand after Blaine got her upset didn’t go so well.
Nitpick mode on: I really doubt you’d be able to find a rental truck with a manual transmission. Even the US Army had to switch all their heavy trucks to automatic transmission because nobody can drive a stick any more.
Hmm. Yeah, the last time I drove a U-haul that had a stick was sometime in the ’90s. I’ve not seen one since.
That was my first thought: a stickshift rental van? I can’t find anything in stick in rentals (I drive rentals for work every year, and I like my stickshift cars).
Second thought: Oh, that poor clutch! I can _feel_ that grinding in my soul. :O
I forgot nobody drives stick in America. I wish that was everywhere ;-;
Great dramatic second panel!
Don’t reach for the stick shift! Go for the parking brake! The BRAKE!
Probably on the opposite side of Blaine from Amber.
kI’m thinking she put it in Reverse. Even better.
Makes sense. Isn’t he going down the wrong way on a one-way street anyway? Or did he get off that street?
He got off of that one a while ago. Now he’s going the right way down a one way street.
It’s hard enough to slam-shift between forward gears. I think trying to slam-shift into reverse, especially from her angle, would just result in a chattering stick and a lot of grinding, suspension of the laws of physics notwithstanding.
No, grab the keys, turn off the vehicle, and toss the keys out the door. Also, while she can easily pull the transmission out of gear, getting it into another gear without the clutch at the speed they are going is very difficult.
Being a not good stick driver myself, last panel needs much more grinding and sounds of metal tearing and shearing.
to be fair amber I think you’re going to do better than I did the first and last time I drove stick
also can I say that “you weren’t around to teach me stick” is an incredible retort for someone who’s entire plan appears to be “I’ll fuck up his driving so bad”
I remember learning stick shift, now it feels like a wasted effort since so few cars in America have them now.
I even have an automatic in my race car, due to lack of space between the transmission bellhousing and the left side of the car to put 3 pedals and a steering column. When I tried it in CAD the clutch overlapped the brake and the brake and gas both tried to occupy the same space as the steering column. I’m using the same gas and brake pedals now as I tried in the CAD and both barely clear each other and the steering shaft, and slightly contact the side of the car and the transmission tunnel. But if it could fit I would still use the automatic because it works with the engine better in low-speed corners.
When we went to New Zealand less than a decade ago, the rental car was stick. I think they had automatic but stick was cheaper. I taught my wife to drive stick and she learned in a few hours (she’s amazing).
No wait, I’m misremembering, that was someone else I taught to drive stick. My wife already knew from driving in Bolivia (a bit over a decade ago).
You can still get them. I wouldn’t be without mine. I hate automatics.
I finally gave up and bought my first automatic vehicle 7 years ago. 20 years prior have all been standards.
The last four-wheeled vehicle with a stick that I drove was a TV truck that built on a dump truck chassis. It shook and sounded like a school bus, but it was hilariously overpowered for what it was. (I think the box, generator, and all the gear inside weighed less than half as much as a dump truck bucket, and it was designed to carry a bucket full of rock.) First was a crawler gear, you could dump the clutch uphill and not stall. Reverse was geared like third; backing up for me involved riding the clutch and a lot of managed lurching. (No back-up camera either, just big truck mirrors that vibrated like crazy from the engine running.)
My car’s electric so there’s no shifting it, but I have a motorcycle with a six speed manual. Same basics apply as in a manual transmission car; get to know where the ‘bite zone’ is in the clutch, and learn what revs get you which speeds in which gear. With practice, you can drive a manual almost as smooth as an automatic.
Amber was Amazi-Girl?!
I can’t
believe
it
i was gonna make a joke about how we never saw em in the same room at the same time, but like… technically
We did! It was JUST TWO DAYS AGO!!!
Aww, maan, messed up my link: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/wrest-2/
I dunno, I still think AG might be Sal
You never know, right?
It’s a trick.
It’s Sal in a Scooby-Doo-villain mask.
You ever get so mad the whites of your eyes go poof?
Only while watching the news, so I’m not sure that counts.
amber please be careful girl we don’t need another hospitalization like. protect your head and vital organs before crashing a van y’know, common sense
Blaine is not wearing a seatbelt and I have no idea if Amber is holding to anything… I am worry.
Except for a stick shift…I hope she has a firm grip.
And Joyce is in back without a seat belt.
I see Amber has made a “money shift” into a gear that is too low for the limits on engine speed. That’s going to be expensive (hence the name money shift). OK the Ram doesn’t come with a manual partly to prevent this exact scenario, so what kind of van did you guys say this was again?
Taillights look like a Ford Transit, which also doesn’t come in manual in the US (though would in Europe) but I’ll just enjoy the alternate universe where manuals still exist.
I was thinking Sprinter (I’d have to go back and look at the front end again), but yeah, manual-transmission cargo vans really aren’t a thing in the US market anymore.
I drove a couple when I was a lot man at a Dodge dealership, but that was in 1981-82. Dodge B-100 with the 225 slant six and the OD 4-speed.
The Tradesman doesn’t get a manual here because it literally has the engine and transmission from the Chrysler Town and Country shoved into the front, with a lower final drive ratio.
I’m just gonna drop this {transmission} here…
Amber: I. AM. AMAZI-GIRL.
Amber: *drops stick
…the character poll has made me realize that Faz’s name, as heard when spoken aloud, has changed between comic universes by the addition of a single syllable. Wanna change Shortpacked! Faz to DoA Faz? Just add MAL.
I thought it was “Faz Oh Lee” in both universes, because he was inspired by a stock photo of a smug-looking kid on the soda fountains at Fazoli’s restaurants.
If the character poll listings are correct, he’s “Faz O’Malley” in DoA!
Ah. Right. Forgot about that part because me am dum.
You am not! It wasn’t a given that he has Blaine’s surname in this universe, since the asshole refuses to acknowledge that he’s Faz’s real father.
I’m guessing the GRUNNNK sound is the van going into reverse at speed.
Oh yeah, that’ll stop it.
That’s a manual shift gearbox being forced into a lower setting gear at too high a speed. It’s taking heavy scratching, probably gouging, and maybe outright tearing. Regardless of what happens to the van itself (rolling?), the gearbox is certainly damaged.
Ah, the sound of a transmission becoming angry shrapnel.
Clearly Willis was never taught stick either.
… Okay, you know who I ACTUALLY want to see for next month’s Patreon strip? (Gramps still and obviously being ineligible, as awfully hilarious as ‘The mob realizes their stooge fucked up THIS FUCKING SPECTACULARLY’ would be.)
Daisy. What the FUCK is the campus newspaper going to say about this one?
Oh, also, Amber honey, proud but also INCREDIBLY concerned about you, you and AG being friends doesn’t make me feel super-better when your collective senses of self-worth are still so damn low, please don’t commit Suicide By Heroics.
(… I’m tempted to make a joke about Primus Apotheosis but she hasn’t unironically used the phrase Till All Are One yet. Yet.)
I support your Patreon strip idea.
Daisy’s going to be in a coma from imagining all those hot women locked in a basement, matching her dungeon harem fantasy, so she probably won’t be the one writing the headlines. (If you try to remind her there were a couple of guys there too, she’ll deny it.)
YEEEEAAAA wait Joyce is still in the back
Amber-Girl told her to “hold on,” and there are rails all around the interior perimeter of the back. Useful for tying things down, but also for emergency grab holds, hopefully. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/actually/
With luck, Joyce wedged herself in a corner and has a death grip on those rails. I’m more concerned with Amber Girl launching herself out the windshield.
I’m not at all concerned with the same thing happening to Blaine.
At least this is less sudden and violent than steering the van into a telephone pole? Stopping short isn’t fun, but at least it’s not instantaneous deceleration.
Personally, if there’s any character to beat Sal, I’m glad it’s Dina.
Agreed. Love Sal, but Dina had to win.
Can’t find ’em, grind ’em.
I’m going to put an bet on Blaine dying and his last words to Amber is that he’s made her proud. One last scuzzball move on the way out the door.
I wanted Blaine to smah his head against the front of the car in that fast break. That would break part of his skull, or at least break his teeth more than they are.
Blaine: “You aren’t Amazi-Girl! You-You are a nerd! A shut in! It was all going to be so beautiful, not having to pay tuition, and just be me with my money, NOT BEING DEFEATED BY A PSYCHOPATH! YOU, ARE A LOSER! YOU ARE A DISGRACE! YOU ARE MY PROPERTY AND I AM YOUR GODDAMN-”
*Joyce punches him in his chin.*
And as as she stands over him, she brushes back her hair and says, “Man, that was annoying.”
THEY NEED TO MAKE THIS A SHOW DUDE IS GOT SO MUCH GOOD MATERIAL
Joyce has no seat belt, and in the back of the van she has much more space to accelerate forward (relative to the van) before hitting something solid. Anything stop sudden enough to hurt Blaine is likely to hurt Joyce a lot worse.
… except for Amber’s boots being stopped by Blaine’s ribs, of course.
Hopefully she’s huddled in one of the front corners.
That’s my hope, yes.
Remember that equal-and-opposite-reaction thing from elementary physics? Even if she’s got her back against the front wall of the cargo section, if that van hits something head-on and comes to a sudden stop, she’s going to be pushed against that wall, then propelled off as the energy of that collision moves backward through the van.
In the real world, any serious collision of that van would be horrible for an unrestrained Joyce, regardless of where she’s positioned.
I keep seeing that “All or Nothing” promo picture a lot lately for some reason and I hate that “All” has a passing resemblance to Faz
only 90s kids remember https://66.media.tumblr.com/5580fa8e94a68fa556398640dda580db/tumblr_inline_pci222ZnPI1rbsuvp_500.png
OMG amazigirl finally removed that thin strip of cloth that made us never realize she was really amber! What next that guy in the domino mask that covers 10% of his face is actually her dad to the world.
Park it, Amber!
Next strip or so:
You killed Becky’s dad! You will pay! *swipes ball peen from passenger seat and breaks Blaine’s face with it.*
Or tosses the ball peen out of the vehicle…whichever is less lethal.
Tossing it out of the vehicle might hit an innocent bystander.
Come now, it’s a hammer. You’re only supposed to hit nails to it. Nailing his hands to the dashboard could work.
Way to STICK it to em!
Yeah, Amber’s performing very well in the clutch.
This is definitely her schtick.
No. Shifting a stick is (Ultra)Carla’s schtick.
I learnt to drive stick shift and as of today, every time I’m driving automatic I don’t know what to do with my left foot.
I learned to drive stick, and the first hybrid I owned (which shuts off the engine at every stop light) it took me a year to stop going “Oh no, I stalled it!”
Golden LOL
At long last the mask comes off!
No mask and she isn’t social distancing. Send him 6 feet out the window immediately.
Fortunately in another couple years they’ll both be retroactively vaccinated against COVID-19.
Blaine now pulls over, ready to surrender to the police. All he wanted all along was for Amber to stick up for herself.
In other news, I have this lucrative investment opportunity concerning an essential bridge in Brooklyn.
You should read the story of the guy who actually managed to buy the bridge.
Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised Sal made it as far as she did. Given the discussions about her in these comments, I figured a lot more people disliked her.
But yeah as soon as I saw it was Joyce vs Dina for the semifinals I knew Dina had already won
That van probably doesn’t have racing tires. It can’t decelerate at more than a fraction of a G even if the tires don’t lose their grip (which they will). It’s not like a collision.
Of course, if it skids out of control and turns sideways then it might hit something. But not with its full speed.
I think this is actually a relatively safe way to force-stop a vehicle that’s probably not going over 35 (it just turned a sharp corner). Safer than grabbing the wheel, anyway – which would risk colliding with something immovable. And definitely more unfixable than grabbing the wheel, which is good when a teenager is fighting a grown man (even if the teenager is a self-trained superhero).
Yeah, I think she’s stalling the engine, Blaine and I’m really shocked that you didn’t get that immediately.
Even if she just threw it into neutral, it’s going to slow the van. It will take him time to recover, and it’s not like she’s just going to let him put it back in gear and take off.
SHE’S SO BADASS
Blaine, Blaine, Blaine. No. You’re doing social distancing all wrong.
You’re gathered a bunch of strangers together all in one place, you’re about to charge head-first into a huge crowd of strangers, and you’re wearing your mask all wrong.
It’s like you’re not worried about transmission or shifting the curve in the slightest.
I’m very intrigued by the yellow text on the blue background in Amber’s big reveal! Speaking in DID terms, does this represent co-fronting or co-consciousness? I’m kinda hoping that it’s not full fusion and that Amber and Amazigirl are going to coexist going forward.
I think we might’ve seen the yellow-on-blue text a time or two before? Whenever Amazi-Girl would introduce herself in full
Othar Trygvassenown-logo-promoting mode.Girl Genius reference FTW.
I’m not sure if it’s smart for Amber to prove to her dad that she is Amazi-Girl. In fact, it would be incredibly useful to have it stated on the record that Amber is definitely not AG, and have the police search for someone who is both AG and not Amber. Now he’ll probably say that she is Amazi-Girl, and she and the others (including Malaya -.-) will have to “disprove” it 😡
Blaines shortcomings to teach amber drive stick is indeed on the list of his failures as a father.
There are quite a few other points above it, though. It’s a long list.
To be fair to Blaine, by the time Amber was legal to drive, he wasn’t allowed contact with her.
All the other points on the list remain, of course.
I think it’s that he chose not to have contact with her.
I don’t know if self inflected restrictions really counts in Blaine’s favour…
Well, it kind of might. In the sense that it didn’t take a court order to keep him away. Cause I’ll bet neither Amber nor Stacy wanted any contact with him.
Ways in which Blaine is a bad father: …like everything
Ways in which Blaine is a good father: He is not around very much.
Yeah, I can see it.
Now, if the next strip is titled “Crash”, I will be very worried.
The theater department is holding auditions this morning on campus, looking for new silhouette models to pose for “pedestrians crossing” street signs and “floor is wet” signs.
You can see them in the background in the fifth frame
meep hopefully the windshield will hold
Anyone else seeing the silhouettes of the other people in the final panel and desperately hoping that the van is not going to plow into any of them? Righteous cause or not, I do not want the deaths of innocents on Amber’s hands. That stuff will haunt you for life, and the families are likely to never forgive you.
“grind me a pound while you’re at it”
what we used to say as kids when someone would miss a shift and gnash the gears.
That’s really old. They used to grind hamburger while you waited at the butcher shop.
Huh. I read that and thought “coffee”.
GO AMBER!!! And try to survive to this situation because it seems very dangerous.
I bet that really grinds ol’ Blaines gears!
I’ve worked at a U-Haul, and Blaine is EXACTLY the kind of asshole who won’t buy rental insurance because he can’t conceive of anything going wrong.
Very, very true.
Or he’s the kind of asshole who’s practically planning to trash the car for the fun of it.
But really, it’s probably not a rental, but a van from his construction business.
Nice plotting to have the campus comic end up back on campus. Lots of friendly faces can show up now. Ones that haven’t been involved so far. Plus this is less likely to end up in a shootout on campus.
Now the van is seemly disabled, Blaine is on foot and we can move to the endgame here. Isolated from henchmen, partner in crime dead, surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Blaine can be captured, since two dead fathers would clog up the comic. Amber and AG can work things out and keep talking. All the kids except Mike are traumatized, but not more than bruised. They can go back to worrying that they all missed mid-terms.
Time for some Brown family drama (come July)
Calling it now: Asher’s gonna either get outed or out Blaine and also get caught up as a co-conspiritor.
I hope Amber was wearing her seatbelt when she pulled that stunt but I don’t think she was
They don’t rent manual transmission vehicles in the U.S., and haven’t for decades.
Are we certain that’s a rental van? It could be owned by one of the college henchmen, some mook that works for Blaine or stolen from the local ice cream truck perv.
Alt text suggests it’s a rental.
Yup, sure does. So much for that theory…
Blaine owns a construction company, doesn’t he? That probably has a van or two, and he’s definitely stupid enough to use a vehicle that can be traced back to him.
So Blaine was hit with a full bodyweight kick and kept the vehicle going straight down the road. Ok.
So the van stopped so violently it did a wheelie, but neither of the un-seatbelted people were ejected through the windshield. Ok.
I get that Amazi-Girl gets to cheat physics but it’s hard to take all the fairly realistic family drama seriously when it’s side by side with this. Can we just get the aliens back as villains if we’re going full on comic book here? The tonal shifts are giving me whiplash.
I don’t know… I think that the shift in tone from ‘realistic slice of life’ to ‘comic book with less extravagant personalities’ began during Ross’s first attack when Dina suddenly turned into Raptor Girl. Maybe Willis decided that being tied to reality was restricting his creativity or something.
It’s emotionally realistic and heavy but physically superheroic. I don’t know why that’s hard for people to accept. That’s what most of what Marvel and DC are nowadays.
More like his catharsis. He admitted in an interview that sometimes he wants to draw Bad People getting hit.
Though Amazi-girl’s physical abilities were shown to be well beyond realistic long before then, and the other super-hero tropes (like not being able to recognize her with a mask on) were also established – though we mostly just made fun of Danny about it.
Like ensiform said, this is what the strip is: “emotionally realistic and heavy but physically superheroic”.
Ah, so he wasn’t just being stupid about not realising Amber was Amazi-Girl. He was in denial.
I’m sure it’s been noted, but the way AG’s?/Amber’s words escape the word balloon is just brilliant. It’s a literal – and I mean “literal” in the literal sense of “having to do with letters” – representation of a psychotic break itself being broken. (I know “psychotic break” isn’t the right term, but I can’t think how better to describe how that balloon break feels.)
YES I AM-ber
Is that an Ace Pride t-shirt Dina’s wearing?
2nd panel counts as a JoJo reference and you can’t talk me out of it