Dumbing of Age Book Eleven

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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September 20, 2023

Relief

by David M Willis on August 12, 2020 at 12:01 am
  • 04 - Is a Song Forever?

└ Tags: amber, becky, dina

Discussion (159) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Screwball
    Screwball
    August 12, 2020 at 12:06 am | #

    A “sorry your evil kidnapping sperm donor is dead” high 5? I think I can understand that…

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      August 12, 2020 at 12:16 am | #

      It’s an impulse I can find familiar.

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      August 12, 2020 at 9:01 am | #

      Down low?

      Too slow!

      • hash
        hash
        August 12, 2020 at 11:14 pm | #

        Yeah, he didn’t duck quick enough. Too much?

  2. Dandi_Andi
    Dandi_Andi
    August 12, 2020 at 12:06 am | #

    I have asked at certain funerals and divorces whether congratulations or condolences were more in order.

    • MaximumZero
      MaximumZero
      August 12, 2020 at 12:12 am | #

      Sometimes it’s both, and that’s okay.

      Source: I’m twice divorced.

      • temperaryobsessor
        temperaryobsessor
        August 12, 2020 at 12:19 am | #

        My condolulations.

      • Some Ed
        Some Ed
        August 12, 2020 at 12:26 pm | #

        My congratulences.

  3. Jon Rich
    Jon Rich
    August 12, 2020 at 12:07 am | #

    Imagine failing at being a dad so hard that when you die, your daughter’s response is, “Oh, good, now I don’t have to plan a murder.”

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      August 12, 2020 at 12:10 am | #

      Hey, even if you get nothing in the will you saved the price of a tarp, a shovel, and some quicklime.

      Always a silver lining!

      • anonymousethatscurriesinthedarkness
        anonymousethatscurriesinthedarkness
        August 12, 2020 at 10:50 am | #

        Or just a chummer and a commercial lobster farm…… not like that was the plot from a murder mystery on the BBC.

    • Dara
      Dara
      August 12, 2020 at 2:11 am | #

      As I told a few people at the time, my only regret at my adoptive father’s death was that I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

      • Fela
        Fela
        August 12, 2020 at 4:07 am | #

        I hope you were convincing 😉

        • Dara
          Dara
          August 12, 2020 at 5:21 pm | #

          I was! Of course, a chain smoker dying young(ish) of lung cancer doesn’t take a lot of work to make convincing. It’s more like, “Yeah, that’s about right.” xD

  4. Bagge
    Bagge
    August 12, 2020 at 12:08 am | #

    and here Dina thinks she doesn’t understand social interactions while she totally nails this social interaction.

    • Cass
      Cass
      August 12, 2020 at 12:17 am | #

      Really, she’s the one doing best so far with both Amber and Becky. A+ condolancing, Deens!

      • Roborat
        Roborat
        August 12, 2020 at 3:14 pm | #

        The way you spelled that, I had a mental picture of a knight jousting with a townhouse.

      • HeySo
        HeySo
        August 12, 2020 at 5:39 pm | #

        I got the image of two rich people jousting in a high-end condo’s pool.

        Meanwhile, your interpretation.. well, Eric & The Dread Gazebo, anyone? :3

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      August 12, 2020 at 12:17 am | #

      Dina is really, really good with the people she knows. It’s wonderful.

      • Miri
        Miri
        August 12, 2020 at 4:00 am | #

        Dina is a scientist. She observes/researches, voices a hypothesis, then acts accordingly. She recognises others are black box systems to her and this is something she actively works on because people interest her. (With the exception of Becky, not as much as dinosaurs, but she is very fond of Sarah and Amber too, and Joyce may well be growing on her (possibly like a fungus? But Joyce’s “You hit Dina! She’s Becky’s girlfriend! Grraaargh!” revenge attack was pretty endearing)…

        • Deanatay
          Deanatay
          August 12, 2020 at 9:07 am | #

          This is another example of someone having no natural talent at something (in this case, social interaction) applying logic and analysis to understand and figure out how it works, and slowly becoming better at it than someone who simply coasts on their natural abilities. Dina’s got this!

          • Rogue
            Rogue
            August 12, 2020 at 3:22 pm | #

            This is why I, as an autie, still excel at customer service, because I observed my mom interact with customer service people and internalized it. (My mom can be a very low key Karen.)

            • Sam
              Sam
              August 12, 2020 at 5:42 pm | #

              I find that I’m pretty good with people too because I’ve observed a lot and absorbed a lot. I still get surprised when people call me wise or funny or intelligent or convincing though because of it.

    • Alyssa
      Alyssa
      August 12, 2020 at 8:41 am | #

      In this case, unfamiliarity with the standard condolences script would be an advantage.

    • ArthurDB
      ArthurDB
      August 12, 2020 at 4:22 pm | #

      It’s pretty much a combination of hard work and personal understanding of Amber. The issue will be when something unexpected occurs and Amber is incapable of enough awareness to answer her questions or when she’s dealing with someone new.

      You would be surprised how often the same expression and tone in different people mean different things. Tiny minutia like that really throws me off.

    • Kamino Neko
      Kamino Neko
      August 12, 2020 at 5:12 pm | #

      People like Amber and Becky are willing to work with her, and help her learn how to deal with them, specifically (it helps that they’re both a bit askew from social norms, too), so it’s easier.

  5. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    August 12, 2020 at 12:09 am | #

    The Todd approves of this grieving method.

    • JetstreamGW
      JetstreamGW
      August 12, 2020 at 12:14 am | #

      Sad-five.

    • abacuswizard
      abacuswizard
      August 12, 2020 at 1:04 am | #

      Oh dude, The Todd, I haven’t seen you in ages! Been-a-while-since-I-binge-watched-the-whole-series five!

      • bjams
        bjams
        August 12, 2020 at 1:57 am | #

        Do it and listen to Zach Braff and Donald Faison’s rewatch podcast, “Fake Doctors, Real Friends”! It’s great!

  6. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    August 12, 2020 at 12:11 am | #

    Wait? So Blaine hadn’t seen Amber in five years before just randomly deciding to crash freshman family weekend and starting off this whole saga’s worth of bullshit?!

    • The Aussie Bloke
      The Aussie Bloke
      August 12, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

      Probably because suddenly he had to contribute financially (court order, y’know)

      • Me et al.
        Me et al.
        August 12, 2020 at 1:09 am | #

        Not suddenly, per-se. Likely he had been required to pay child support. However, many support orders carry to whenever the child finishes college. SOooo, had Amber not gone to college, Blaine would have been able to stop paying. Instead, by going to college she was actually increasing his obligation from basic support to plus extraordinary expenses (tuitiin books, dorm etc ….). That was likely the trigger that drove him to act.

        Why the hell he had a kid he wasn’t prepared to raise (twice) is a mystery. He’s such a control nut you’d think he’d have been more on the ball.

        • Mae
          Mae
          August 12, 2020 at 1:25 am | #

          Honestly I’d put money on Blaine having the whole ‘real men don’t use condoms’ mindset. Plus he’s such a narcissist that he can’t even IMAGINE himself failing, hence why he made so many bad moves during an already inherently-flawed kidnapping plot. I imagine he got Amb’s and Faz’s moms pregnant, respectively, and then just wasn’t available enough in their lives until it was too late to strongarm them into an abortion / the women hid their pregnancies from Blaine until it was impossible for him to force them to have abortions. Either that or both the moms were able to successfully refuse Blaine’s insistence on abortions—but tbh I doubt that, given his penchant for violence and intimidation.

          • MatthewTheLucky
            MatthewTheLucky
            August 12, 2020 at 2:21 am | #

            He might just have a complex about abortion while being fine with murder. He wouldn’t be the only one by far.

            • Cybersnark
              Cybersnark
              August 12, 2020 at 10:13 am | #

              So, a Republican?

              • Schpoonman
                Schpoonman
                August 12, 2020 at 12:23 pm | #

                They don’t have complexes with abortion versus murder, they just hate women. Which, hey, could be Blaine, too.

                • He Who Abides
                  He Who Abides
                  August 12, 2020 at 4:30 pm | #

                  Truth.

                • HeySo
                  HeySo
                  August 12, 2020 at 5:49 pm | #

                  “They don’t have complexes with abortion versus murder, they just hate women.”

                  That’s unfair..

                  ..Republicans hate ALL minorities. >.>

          • Regalli
            Regalli
            August 12, 2020 at 8:04 am | #

            We know some things have changed, but given over in Shortpacked Blaine was apparently of the ‘Amber apparently had half-siblings across the west coast’ philosophy with condoms… and given the implications Yuri was a teenager when she had Faz… yeah no he was probably way too vain and impulsive for condoms.

          • Cyrus
            Cyrus
            August 12, 2020 at 4:39 pm | #

            It could be he wanted to have kids: as a narcissistic extension of self, to ensure his legacy, as a tool to further control and abuse “his” women. Honestly, I think he’s more likely to coerce someone into going through with a pregnancy than force her to have an abortion.

            • HeySo
              HeySo
              August 12, 2020 at 5:43 pm | #

              I was going to comment much the same thing. There’s a certain satisfaction for either sex, when it comes to producing offspring, and that satisfaction is untempered by rationality and empathy when it comes to individuals who are obssessed with controlling others. Rather, those individuals are even more instinctual/impulsive when it comes to satisfying spontaneous desires (even going to extreme lengths for such). This differs of course from someone who is obsessed with self-control, who may actually have inclination to limit any indulgence in reproductive urges.

              So no, this is entirely to form for Blaine (or any of the many, many real world counterparts I’ve come across- well, in the controlling, abusive, likely psychotic, rather unhinged sense of similarity. Fairly sure I’ve never met anyone from the Korean Mob before :P).

        • Nymphie
          Nymphie
          August 12, 2020 at 2:46 am | #

          Blaine himself has said in the comic that he agreed to pay for college in exchange for not paying regular child support. And the only reason he did that was because he assumed Amber’s social anxiety would make her not go to college, so he thought he had found a loophole out of paying for her at all.

          • Nymphie
            Nymphie
            August 12, 2020 at 3:04 am | #

            Oh, it was to replace alimony, not the child support https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-9-comic/04-vote-for-robin/money-2/

            • RowenMorland
              RowenMorland
              August 12, 2020 at 11:20 am | #

              Remember the Alimo-ny!

              • He Who Abides
                He Who Abides
                August 12, 2020 at 9:00 pm | #

                That’s when Mick Jagger puked on a car rental place, right?

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          August 12, 2020 at 8:20 am | #

          He might have been willing to raise her if she hadn’t been such a pathetic disappointment. Of course his methods of raising lead directly to that disappointment.
          Not entirely sure how you get a strong willed tough kid who never challenges you on anything. Seems incompatible to me, but it’s what many abusers seem to want.

          • Regalli
            Regalli
            August 12, 2020 at 7:53 pm | #

            That strong-willed, tough kid just has to agree with you on everything, naturally. Because of course you’re always right. (Gag me.)

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      August 12, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

      She was costing him money so he had to actively acknowledge her existence again.

      • bryy
        bryy
        August 12, 2020 at 2:51 am | #

        oh damn. This, too.

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        August 12, 2020 at 7:56 am | #

        I just realized freshman family weekend probably lines up pretty well around the time Blaine would have to cut his first check or I don’t know get deducted from his salary or something. So dude only made one maybe two payments tops before deciding this had to stop and that kidnapping was on the table!

        • bryy
          bryy
          August 13, 2020 at 12:20 am | #

          Yeah, that Blaine went to kidnapping and murder from the get-go really says a few things.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      August 12, 2020 at 1:41 pm | #

      Hadn’t seen for five and hadn’t spoke for three, according to her.

      Used to make her babysit for Faz too before the robbery.

  7. butts
    butts
    August 12, 2020 at 12:11 am | #

    “mourning” an abusive parent? yeah sometime it be like that

    • Chris
      Chris
      August 12, 2020 at 12:15 am | #

      I’ve seen the word “congratudolences” used for this sort of thing.

      • Newllend(henryvolt)
        Newllend(henryvolt)
        August 12, 2020 at 12:22 am | #

        That’s a new one to me to be honest, doesn’t really role of the tongue though.

        • temperaryobsessor
          temperaryobsessor
          August 12, 2020 at 1:10 am | #

          I’m going with my condolulations.

          • Sunny
            Sunny
            August 12, 2020 at 5:30 am | #

            I, too, like that word.

    • BigDogLittleCat
      BigDogLittleCat
      August 12, 2020 at 12:16 am | #

      Mourning the parent we should have had, when we finally accept that the parent we have is what they are.

  8. BBCC
    BBCC
    August 12, 2020 at 12:12 am | #

    Fuck yeah, Dina. Dina is a gift.

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      August 12, 2020 at 12:30 am | #

      Dina is definitely in my top 3 best characters in this universe, the other 2 being Sal and Sarah.

  9. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    August 12, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

    *Throws on a new-to-me groove with the hacked Muzak*

    • Geneseepaws
      Geneseepaws
      August 12, 2020 at 7:29 am | #

      Thank you for that.

  10. Chris
    Chris
    August 12, 2020 at 12:14 am | #

    Who’s that in the background of panel 5?

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      August 12, 2020 at 12:19 am | #

      Either some random visitor/nonessential person who could be cleared out or a nasty surprise to come, I suppose.

    • tim gueguen
      tim gueguen
      August 12, 2020 at 12:20 am | #

      Random passerby most likely. You can just see the hair of someone else in panel 1 between Amber and Becky.

      • Bicycle Bill
        Bicycle Bill
        August 12, 2020 at 12:34 am | #

        Either that or he’s going to turn out to be a lawyer who will try to talk Amber into letting him represent her in a claim against her mother for a share of Blaine’s estate when it goes into probate.

        • Bicycle Bill
          Bicycle Bill
          August 12, 2020 at 12:39 am | #

          Sorry — that should have been ‘step-mother’ (Yuri).  I doubt that Blaine left any sort of provision for either Stacy or Amber.

    • Leorale
      Leorale
      August 12, 2020 at 12:25 am | #

      I don’t recognize the hair colour of any characters we know, and there’s a different person in panel 1. Could be random crowd people.

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      August 12, 2020 at 12:56 am | #

      That mushroom dude in Super Marioland.

    • NotPiffany
      NotPiffany
      August 12, 2020 at 1:11 pm | #

      Since they don’t have a tag, and their hair color is different than the person in the background of panel 1, I’m guessing it’s the hospital crowd milling around.

  11. Alex Boston
    Alex Boston
    August 12, 2020 at 12:14 am | #

    Who is in the background?

  12. brionl
    brionl
    August 12, 2020 at 12:15 am | #

    ITYM, Up High! on the down low.

  13. BigDogLittleCat
    BigDogLittleCat
    August 12, 2020 at 12:16 am | #

    Amber’s tiny smile!

  14. Badgermole
    Badgermole
    August 12, 2020 at 12:18 am | #

    This is the hospital, which has just been evacuated.

    That’s totally Ryan in the background isn’t it.

    • Chris
      Chris
      August 12, 2020 at 12:32 am | #

      Not in panel 5. Hair color’s wrong. Maybe in panel 1.

    • Harvey Janus
      Harvey Janus
      August 12, 2020 at 1:23 am | #

      I thought he was basically bed-ridden?

    • Zee
      Zee
      August 12, 2020 at 1:33 pm | #

      Ryan has red hair and a mustache now?

  15. Yotomoe
    Yotomoe
    August 12, 2020 at 12:19 am | #

    Never rule out Zombies, Amber. That’s a rookie mistake.

  16. StClair
    StClair
    August 12, 2020 at 12:19 am | #

    Looking forward to the funeral!

  17. Newllend(henryvolt)
    Newllend(henryvolt)
    August 12, 2020 at 12:19 am | #

    I know that the atmosphere has been kind of dark lately but damn. I get it though She’s glad someone else was the one to take his life and not her, other than that if I was her I wouldn’t want to express any other feelings about it. Sort of in a” I will sing No eulogy for him” type of mood is what I’m saying.

  18. bcb
    bcb
    August 12, 2020 at 12:20 am | #

    Who is that peaking out from behind Becky and Amber’s heads? They aren’t tagged so they must be a new secret supervillain!

  19. Kyrik Michalowski
    Kyrik Michalowski
    August 12, 2020 at 12:23 am | #

    Good for you Amber, the day you no longer have to think about or feel any influence from your father is a good day indeed.

    Also would Amber’s mom really begrudge her daughter a hi-five for her absuive dad dying?

    • Human Bean
      Human Bean
      August 12, 2020 at 3:57 am | #

      Oh, but Blaine wasn’t abusive, he just had problems with low blood sugar D:

      • Geneseepaws
        Geneseepaws
        August 12, 2020 at 7:34 am | #

        Oh! Was he switching his defense strategy from “She made me do it,” to “I was Hangry?”

        • He Who Abides
          He Who Abides
          August 12, 2020 at 4:32 pm | #

          “Low blood sugar” is what Stacy thinks makes Amber (insert mental/emotional/dissociative/et cetera issue here).

  20. Antonio Tyler
    Antonio Tyler
    August 12, 2020 at 12:23 am | #

    Dead Dads Day!!

    *High five freeze frame*

  21. goki
    goki
    August 12, 2020 at 12:24 am | #

    Well… at least it’s not one of those “wants to get revenge but because the person is dead already I have an empty feeling” kind of situations.

    Amber has some closure so…. Yay?

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      August 12, 2020 at 12:49 am | #

      I had the same situation when I found out the guy who tried to kill me with the truck died before he could be charged, by trying to move a tree with his personal vehicle via high speed impact while a multiple of times legally drunk. It has been a while but I seem to recall he was more than 3 times the 0.10% BAC limit of the time, so definitely an alcoholic.

      • MatthewTheLucky
        MatthewTheLucky
        August 12, 2020 at 2:26 am | #

        Was this the draw or one of the other two?

  22. abysswatcher1993
    abysswatcher1993
    August 12, 2020 at 12:25 am | #

    It’s good that Blaine is dead in both Walkyverse and DoA and people mock them. The only one that will probably miss Blaine is Yuri, but she is a jerk.

    • James
      James
      August 12, 2020 at 12:34 am | #

      I don’t know that we know enough about Yuri to make a final judgment call on whether she’s a jerk or not. She’s a much younger woman, and he was a manipulative abuser, even if she’s genuinely not a good person the situation probably wasn’t super black and white there.

      • NotPiffany
        NotPiffany
        August 12, 2020 at 8:59 pm | #

        I wouldn’t be surprised if find out that Blaine was lying to her about there not being enough money for both Amber and Faz to go to college; the real question is if she’d be contrite about blaming Amber for their “money troubles” or not.

  23. Nelly Dreadful
    Nelly Dreadful
    August 12, 2020 at 12:27 am | #

    Amber’s Inner Hallucinatory Mike: “Phweeee!”

  24. NinjaNick
    NinjaNick
    August 12, 2020 at 12:30 am | #

    High-five FTW!

  25. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    August 12, 2020 at 12:31 am | #

    I wonder what Stacy’s take on all this is. I’m actually fairly interested in what his wives think of this whole thing. I mean I’d like to think at least Stacy would know how horrible he was I’m still struggling to comprehend anyone actually caring for Blaine. But I guess he was actually fairly charming looking from the outside. He conned the church after all although I can’t say for sure if that was actually a challenge or not.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      August 12, 2020 at 7:40 am | #

      Blaine could play act the role of a nice, normal person, and that character is probably who she fell for in the first place. Of course his true colors had to show eventually, then there’s the years of abuse, at least one affair, messy divorce, etc… Hell, after everything he put her through, she might want a high five herself.

      Stacy probably mourned the loss of the man she thought she married years ago, and her biggest remaining concern about him is probably who’s going to pay for Amber’s tuition now.

    • Sam
      Sam
      August 12, 2020 at 5:27 pm | #

      Blaine was an abuser. They tend to be good at drawing on your sympathies. We have seen his nice face with Danny and when he greeted the church and with how he initially befriended Ross. Blaine wasn’t the best and brightest, but he had people skills, a charming smile and he knew how to speak in that gentle caring doting tone that would make people want to do things for him or at least listen to his side.

      It’s like, you see all the signs, but when you give them the benefit of the doubt, you let it go because you believe them when they say they’ll do better. When they say they’ll improve. But then once the blinders are off because you’ve lost trust in them, it’s very clear that all the ribbons are snakes, that they’re bringing up things unprompted, and that if they were truly regretful for anything why do you have a bucket full of excuses and not a single apology to be found when you call them out on stuff.

  26. Kitschensyngk
    Kitschensyngk
    August 12, 2020 at 12:32 am | #

    Just now I had flashbacks to this.

    • StClair
      StClair
      August 12, 2020 at 12:36 am | #

      Definitely not the only one.

    • Axel
      Axel
      August 12, 2020 at 12:39 am | #

      I never read shortpacked and can’t seem to get into it, so, uh, how did he die?

      • AeromechanicalAce
        AeromechanicalAce
        August 12, 2020 at 12:41 am | #

        Heart Attack. Better than any version of Blaine deserves. (though to be fair, as far as we know, Shortpacked Blaine never murdered anyone. Was still an abusive asshole though. )

        • Axel
          Axel
          August 12, 2020 at 12:54 am | #

          yeah that sounds way less satisfying. regardless of readers’ feelings on his actual death (and Amber believing or not), at least she got to kick the shit out of him and at the end it was clearly her, even if he still wouldn’t admit it.

          • Regalli
            Regalli
            August 12, 2020 at 6:31 am | #

            Blaine was, in that universe, an incredibly minor character in terms of onscreen appearances (I think that was his third arc to actually show up in the flesh for, though of course his presence was felt with things like the Faz reveal there,) but even then the storyline included a couple digs about how colossally unfair it was he just died Like That. ( https://www.shortpacked.com/comic/in-person is the big one, but Mike gets his own ‘damn I wanted to beat the shit out of him for you with my abductee superpowers’ bit.)

            • Needfuldoer
              Needfuldoer
              August 12, 2020 at 7:44 am | #

              If we get a funeral arc, maybe we’ll finally see Aunt Molly. (Just to port over as many Walkyverse deep cuts as possible.)

              • Regalli
                Regalli
                August 12, 2020 at 8:28 am | #

                God, seeing Aunt Molly’s reaction to her (apparent) brother’s total unhinged breakdown could be delightful. We know she kept in contact with Stacy post-divorce at least enough to inform her, so I’m guessing she’s not all in on making people flee their homes in fear of the mob because of his screw ups, or kidnapping and murder.

                My great-aunt’s thoughts on her shitty brother were more… complicated (I don’t think she ever knew about some of the more egregious ‘what the FUCK’ moments, but she didn’t comment on the fact that no one in my generation, his grandkids or hers, really had a relationship with the man,) but her kids will probably respond to his death with jokes and relief. (We’re… mostly facetious about his vampiric nature. Mostly.)

                • Regalli
                  Regalli
                  August 12, 2020 at 8:35 am | #

                  So I’m lowkey hoping Aunt Molly’s response is more like my effective-aunt-by-age-range and cousins: ‘you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.’

    • TemplarKnight
      TemplarKnight
      August 12, 2020 at 12:59 am | #

      I accidentally clicked your name instead of the link and was wondering how a youtube campaign video related to Blaine’s death.

      • Ray Radlein
        Ray Radlein
        August 12, 2020 at 3:56 am | #

        He watched it and seven days later he died

    • Bicycle Bill
      Bicycle Bill
      August 12, 2020 at 12:59 am | #

      At least in this continuity she did get to stand up to him, to show she was not afraid of him, and she knows that he knows she was not ‘nothing’.  He even admitted it (this strip, and the two that follow), in what may have been the last thing he ever said to her.

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      August 12, 2020 at 6:32 am | #

      Ah, beat me to it! Yeah, that’s the Blaine O’Malley Mood.

  27. Opus the Poet
    Opus the Poet
    August 12, 2020 at 12:38 am | #

    Yeah, Blaine was like having pimples on your piles, so his being gone is something of a relief. Still not a good idea to let Amber’s mom see her celebrating his death with high fives.

  28. C.T Phipps
    C.T Phipps
    August 12, 2020 at 1:04 am | #

    I wonder if Amber working up to murdering Blaine was actually a serious aggravation on her condition. I mean in the sense that every day she really was plotting Blaine’s murder and planned to do it in the coming years.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      August 12, 2020 at 7:32 am | #

      Probably not until he injected himself back into her life.

      • Regalli
        Regalli
        August 12, 2020 at 8:30 am | #

        Yeah, I don’t think she was considering it a necessity until recently.

        Like, potentially only ‘well he bailed out another kidnapper and has a supervillain suit, he will never leave me alone’ recently.

  29. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    August 12, 2020 at 1:18 am | #

    The best revenge is living well, but sometimes, we have to settle for just living.

  30. Juanoku
    Juanoku
    August 12, 2020 at 1:22 am | #

    Maybe this is for the best…
    Only time will tell, really

  31. nerdyjuan
    nerdyjuan
    August 12, 2020 at 1:24 am | #

    come on mike waking up we need another mike at a funeral strip

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      August 12, 2020 at 8:30 am | #

      Since he’s Mike, the “Mike at a funeral” strip you get might not be the funeral you want.

      • Regalli
        Regalli
        August 12, 2020 at 8:32 am | #

        That would be the ‘come on, wake up.’

        If there’s ever an occasion for Mike Being Mike, Blaine’s funeral is always it.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      August 12, 2020 at 2:58 pm | #

      Brain!Mike appears at the wake, inexplicably wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

      • Regalli
        Regalli
        August 12, 2020 at 7:30 pm | #

        It’s not inexplicable if it’s what we all know non-Brain Mike would do, too, and I think Amber does know that in her heart. (The party hat, too. And the confetti and blower.)

        He’d never wear his actual outfit. The black T-shirt could be mistaken for sincere but youthful grief.

  32. Robert
    Robert
    August 12, 2020 at 1:35 am | #

    That is some high grade signal reading from Dina!

    I don’t think I was that good in college myself.

  33. deathjavu
    deathjavu
    August 12, 2020 at 1:36 am | #

    Despite her social difficulties, Dina nets another extremely successful social interaction, moving Amber off grimdark murder talk and frowns to a partial smile in one panel.

  34. Jenny Islander
    Jenny Islander
    August 12, 2020 at 1:46 am | #

    In Reddit support forums for people with crappy relatives, they often call this feeling “congradolences.”

    Also, way to go, Dina! It’s a part-time autistic superpower, that’s for sure. If you make a practice of not trusting your assumptions about what’s going on, it’s sometimes easier for you to see what really is going on than it would be for a neurotypical person.

  35. Mr.Morningstar
    Mr.Morningstar
    August 12, 2020 at 2:45 am | #

    Eyy Dina may not always get social cues, but sometimes she hits the nail on the head

  36. bryy
    bryy
    August 12, 2020 at 2:49 am | #

    This is one of those times where I’m reminded that this entire comic takes place in literally days, and that means that, for Blaine, this wasn’t simply him deciding one day to stop paying tuiton. No. Blaine couldn’t stand the idea of his daughter GOING TO SCHOOL. So, in that sense, he’s exactly like Ross.

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      August 12, 2020 at 7:47 pm | #

      The difference was always pretty near hair-splitting. Ross justified things to himself for reasons that weren’t unveiled selfishness and a need to control, and some moments of (conditional) warmth and genuine grief at his wife’s death… but apart from those and ‘one of these men has some suggestion of being a statutory rapist, which is one too many’ they’re basically the same brand of terrible. (Comes in religious and mob stooge with inflated sense of self-importance flavors!) Blaine’s second plan that we can tell (I’m being generous here and calling ‘show up in Amber’s dorm room, yell at her in front of witnesses until she drops out of college, bring stepson to see this as well so he doesn’t Get Ideas’ a ‘plan’,) was another ‘kidnap her friend’ scheme, so neither of them were all that imaginative ultimately, either.

      There’s a reason that Dina, lacking any real context on meeting Ross the first time, flashed back to Blaine and sent him off on a goose chase.

      • Regalli
        Regalli
        August 12, 2020 at 7:50 pm | #

        Oh, there is one difference: I don’t think Blaine would have given a shit about the gender anyone Amber or Faz would bring home, he’d hate them on principle so long as they represented a gap in his ability to control them. (So, always.)

  37. Liam
    Liam
    August 12, 2020 at 4:21 am | #

    God I love that Dinosaur Lesbian.

    • Segnosaur
      Segnosaur
      August 12, 2020 at 2:16 pm | #

      Minor detail…

      Has it been established that dina is a lesbian? I thought perhaps maybe she was bisexual (or otherwise just unconcerned about gender) until she met Becky and established a relationship with her.

      • He Who Abides
        He Who Abides
        August 12, 2020 at 4:34 pm | #

        My personal headcanon is that she’s demisexual.

      • Regalli
        Regalli
        August 12, 2020 at 6:51 pm | #

        Word of God is that her shirt a few storylines back (the gray one with the black, white and purple stripes) was an intentional reference to asexuality, and specifically gray-ace IIRC. Where her attraction primarily is, romantic and existent-but-rare sexual, isn’t entirely clear.

        We know sexualities are consistent across verses, so it’s notable that Dina’s three relationships in the Walkyverse were two guys (Walky and Mike,) one gal (Becky, after a lot of Complicated Events happened leading to the Soggies May Rule-pocalypse,) which would suggest she’s bi or pan… but that’s still ambiguous, as the lines before the Soggies poured into reality (‘I suggest we try to shoo away anymore non-white, non-heteronormative, neurodivergent people (from this reality anomaly.) Even just one more could be the metaphorical straw.’ ‘And what are you?’ ‘Uh oh.’) indicated that she’d had time to contemplate a few things while she was indisposed. (DOA!Dina hadn’t hooked up with Becky yet – I think it was before Becky’s reentry to the story – but there might have been hints she was queer, I don’t remember the timing, but Walkyverse Dina never had any indication.) And given both her relationships with men were… messy, even by IW! standards, there’s a case to be made it was compulsory heterosexuality and insecurity at play there rather than attraction.

        So it’s not 100% clear but I think Dina’s talk with Amber suggested she was at least open to the idea of dating across the gender spectrum.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          August 12, 2020 at 11:18 pm | #

          Though even if SP!Dina had been straight (or had still thought she was), she was still non-white and neurodivergent, so the “Uh oh” would still apply.

    • Raven
      Raven
      August 14, 2020 at 6:26 pm | #

      I believe Dina has said that gender isn’t a factor she cares about that much when it comes to her romantic partners, so lesbian is not an accurate label for her.

  38. Jake'm
    Jake'm
    August 12, 2020 at 4:55 am | #

    If Leslie thought Becky was being irreverent, she’d probably flip out at Amber’s advanced irreverence.

  39. BenRG
    BenRG
    August 12, 2020 at 5:07 am | #

    Yeah, that was Amber’s big fear, wasn’t it? That, before the end, Blaine would have made a murderer of her.

  40. He Who Abides
    He Who Abides
    August 12, 2020 at 6:21 am | #

    Getting some Borat vibes from Dina here, not gonna lie.

  41. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    August 12, 2020 at 7:05 am | #

    Wait… Amber’s mother still cares about her horrible ex?

    • BenRG
      BenRG
      August 12, 2020 at 7:35 am | #

      Amber, being Amber, is sure that her mother would be disappointed in her for not mourning Blaine. In reality, I think that Stacey would feel that Blaine earned the fact that Amber really can’t bring herself to feel anything for him or even care that he is gone by his own misdeeds.

      • Rabisch
        Rabisch
        August 12, 2020 at 7:35 pm | #

        He will probably return on Amber’s nightmares.

  42. Rabid Rabbit
    Rabid Rabbit
    August 12, 2020 at 7:22 am | #

    Dina: Has clearly not had RA training. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/spot/ (Or actually remained in the room during that interaction, and thus heard Ruth’s options, which is where she’s getting these options from.)

  43. Somsphet
    Somsphet
    August 12, 2020 at 7:33 am | #

    Huh. Is it weird to totally relate to amber in this? She feels the same way about her dad that I do my mom. maybe parents should stop abusing their kids?

    • Geneseepaws
      Geneseepaws
      August 12, 2020 at 8:06 am | #

      Well, in my day they use-ta say, “quitcher complaining, it builds character!” Of course now we know what every child knew then; it doesn’t build character, it tears you down in so many ways.

  44. thumb
    thumb
    August 12, 2020 at 7:40 am | #

    tfw your abusive father who made you who you are passes away.

  45. 0kami
    0kami
    August 12, 2020 at 8:01 am | #

    So, as next-of-kin, does Amber still have money to pay her own tuition now?

    • FacelessDeviant
      FacelessDeviant
      August 12, 2020 at 9:13 am | #

      Depends on if Blaine had a testament or not. And if he re-married.
      But… probably?

  46. hof1991
    hof1991
    August 12, 2020 at 9:07 am | #

    Funeral? Body will be tied up as evidence for a while. Then I don’t see a funeral at all. Unless Yuri wants one and she doesn’t seem religious. Blaine would think religion is for suckers. So finish the autopsy and find a convenient hole for him. Amber and Stacey have no need to deal with any of this.

    • BenRG
      BenRG
      August 12, 2020 at 9:12 am | #

      I think that something needs to be arranged for Faz’s sake.

      That aside, the mob tends to get all hypocritically generous in these circumstances. I’m sure that Asher’s grandpa will want to put on a big spread for a ‘fallen soldier’.

      • He Who Abides
        He Who Abides
        August 12, 2020 at 4:37 pm | #

        Keelhauling his corpse through the streets could be arranged for Faz’s sake.

    • Sol
      Sol
      August 12, 2020 at 9:36 am | #

      ? What does being religious have to do with funerals? No one in my immediate family is religious, we still had a funeral for my dad. It’s just a way to be together with friends and family as a final farewell to someone who meant something to them.

    • thumb
      thumb
      August 12, 2020 at 1:34 pm | #

      What autopsy? There was no foul play involved. The police report agrees.

      • Vukodlak
        Vukodlak
        August 12, 2020 at 4:07 pm | #

        Standard procedure, I’m fairly certain his death can’t even be officially ruled suicide until they have an autopsy. Now maybe his body will be “accidentally” sent to be cremated before an autopsy can be performed.
        But guy steals a cops gun and shoots himself with no witnesses but a cop? You can bet there’s be an autopsy especially on a guy laying in a hospital bed who might have been incapable of taking the gun away.

        The fact a cop was involved means an autopsy is REQUIRED. Which is why the cop should have said. He tried to take my gun and escape and was killed in the struggle.

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      August 12, 2020 at 7:59 pm | #

      Speaking of which I wonder if any of Becky’s estranged relatives will show up for Ross’s funeral, or just Carol & and others from the church?

      Of course, we don’t know if Becky will show up either.

      [It will be years before it is time for her to deface his tombstone with a copy of her Biology PhD diploma.]

  47. FacelessDeviant
    FacelessDeviant
    August 12, 2020 at 9:12 am | #

    Yeah, if people, especially your kin, are high fiving after your death, odds are that you’ve been a shitty person.

    • He Who Abides
      He Who Abides
      August 12, 2020 at 4:38 pm | #

      Or you’re a member of Monty Python, and you don’t want people to be sad.

  48. Zaxares
    Zaxares
    August 12, 2020 at 10:21 am | #

    Is it just me, or does Becky seem somewhat disappointed that Amber is not mourning her father’s death at all, or even has conflicting feelings over it? It’s not that I think Becky disapproves, but I think she’s feeling even more alone now.

    • JessWitt
      JessWitt
      August 12, 2020 at 1:20 pm | #

      That’s a possibility. She was internalizing her grief and perhaps saw Blaine’s death as an opportunity to share the grief with Amber, to feel better quickly.

      Except she didn’t know Amber has no fucks left for her father for a long time.

  49. Twirls
    Twirls
    August 12, 2020 at 7:19 pm | #

    SolemnLowFive.gif

Who's that guy over there?

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