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Breaking a windshield with your back is not very painful. Breaking the roof of a pickup truck with the back of your head hurts a bit. Breaking a concrete road with your face really hurts.
The main difference between this and what was called ‘heavy physical contact’ (with Becky in Walking with Dina), is that here her arms aren’t looping under the shoulders for a hug. Otherwise it’s pretty much the same.
how do we know dina didn’t ask her during her disappeared time? it would make sense, dina could put two and two together and ask her to save her girlfriend
It’s Becky, but more interesting: this is heavy for Amber. Amber is getting the gratitude for something Amazi-Girl did. Remember how she’s trying to compartementalize the angry hero-complex? Those lines are definitely fading – what with Sal questioning her hidden, underlying motives while not being the mortal enemy she’s supposed to be in Amber’s head and now Dina confronting her with the emotional gratitude that she’s pretty likely to feel conflicted about because of the confrontation with Sal, but that’s supposed to stay with her Amazi-Girl persona? I’m betting Amber’s feeling all kinds of confused and vulnerable.
Amber’s not nearly as compartmentalized as she tries to be but if she keeps falling off of cars she probably will end up in several different containers.
i am under the impression that Eric has put a word in lower-than and bigger-than characters (instead of < and > and the software interpreted it as HTML-tag and ate it.
There is a LOLCats – pun waiting somewhere but i am unable to tell it.
I can’t help but feel bad for Amber. Sal was right that she endangered their lives, but how did she know Ross wasn’t going to straight-up execute Becky anyways?
His “God’s vision of a perfect family” was being completely destroyed by his wife “being taken by Satan” (Toedad’s words) & daughter not only being attracted to other women, but also defying him then running away before getting an “un-womanly” haircut. He was going to “save her soul”, no matter what it took…
Yeah, “cleansing” her could have been a very real option…
No, he’s right about doing it wrong. It’s just that there are so many examples of people doing it wrong because those have measurable consequences, where if you do it right pretty much nobody notices.
Unless you are a follower of Ares and Eris as your male and female deities. Then spreading destruction and discord are part of the package.
You can do religion right, while still doing morality wrong.
In fact, that’s a required outcome of any assumption of even remotely equalized value between religions and belief structures.
The main issue comes when localized/group ideology becomes associated with a religion wherein such an ideology is not core, and colors it in a way that is contrary to its intended belief structure.
This, and was there any way to be sure that he would go to a place where he often went in order to do it, so that the cops could look for them there first? Why not just pull off at a random rest stop and purify her there? /family destroying nutjob
I read awhile ago that a large percentage of these nihilistic guys that murder their wives and children and then slink away(or even suicide afterwards) turned out to be controlling, authoritative and fanatically religious. They tell themselves that they’re protecting their children’s souls, and killing them now before the devil can take them is a mercy. They’re Heros! (In their own mind at least.)
It’s all about control, and there’s no greater control over someone than ending their life.
Oh yeah, I forgot Dina knows about Amber/Amazigirl. And that none of the rest of the group (except Ethan) know about Amber/Amazigirl. And that Amber and Dina are roommates.
I forgot a lot of things.
Dorothy and Ethan both know Amazi-Girl’s identity, and if they didn’t know she was involved before (Ethan might not have), they do now.
It’s just occurred to me that Walky may not even know who Amber even is – not that she’s Amazi-Girl, but that she’s Amber. Walky’s had a couple of chats with Amazi-Girl, but I don’t think they’ve ever even spoken to each other when Amber was out of costume, though there might have been some off-screen interaction at Joyce’s party.
However, Joyce does not know Amazigirl is Amber. Dorothy and Ethan both do.
Ethan may not have known she was involved until he met up with the crew at the elevator though.
OI almost forgot that they were roommates and that Dina knows about Amber being Amazi-Girl. I guess that whole ordeal makes them a lot closer now. Nearly dying to help out your roommate’s girlfriend is a pretty big deal.
Yeah, the problem is that she has to largely work through this on her own – Dorothy and Becky and Sarah can be there for her, but she needs to come to terms with everything that’s happened since term started, and going home and getting everything finally out in the open can be a cathartic start to healing.
Joyce is definitely not good. She’s not even okay.
When you think about it, how ironic is it that it’s not her heathen atheist bestie who leads her astray. It takes Joyce’s fundie BFF and her even fundier father to push Joyce into cursing, defying parental authority, and physical violence. Poor girl.
Meanwhile, Dina gets a million loves from me for that almost-hug. Amber could sure use it.
Not that ironic, I mean the heathen atheist bestie allows her the emotional space to either find her own way or decide the path she had been on prior to exposure to the secular world is how she wants her life to go, whereas the (adult) fundie crowd is very “my way or you’re literally going to hell.” Plus Ross expressed a willingness/LIKELINESS to the speed her on her way Downstairs for daring to continue to love and accept and protect Becky despite the whole lesbian thing. Daresay a lot of people would find Ross’s attitude at the very least offputting.
Probably not. She’s a typically Jovial person, and those types tend to bounce back to that after they sort through whatever they’ve gotta deal with. Of course, in the time scale that this comic runs on, who knows how long she’ll be dealing.
so who’s ready for a year and a half of Joyce being in even mental depression and fear because I’m not. to serous though this would be the perfect time and excuse to seek therapy or at least reach and talk to someone.
Becky because of course those words feel like the best. She genuinely thought she was never going to see her friends again, either because she would be going permanently be going to be abused or because she would escape but never return in order to “protect them” from her father’s wrath and hunting.
And Dina because she knows full well Amber did what she feels she didn’t have the strength to do. Save her girlfriend. And that means everything to her and she shows it using the sympathy move Amber taught her.
Joyce needs to crawl outside her own pity sphere and rejoice that her best friend is alive. Dina is okay. That Sal was there to help. That Amber/AG was there to help. That Ethan and Sarah and Walky were waiting to see all was well.
Joyce seems to have overcome her timidity with the ride with Sal. And that’s good.
She now needs to come to terms with her world view crashing down around her. And suck it up. Get help, talk to her friends. At least she is not alone.
Harsh yes, but damn, I do get tired of her forever being the ‘hurt one’ when others around her, like Becky, really are ‘hurt ones’.
I don’t see a self-pitying kind of hurt when I look at Joyce’s face. I see thinking, sorting, planning, seriousness. And some residual anger.
And she is a “hurt one” too. It’s not fair to expect her to suck it up, given her experiences include getting harrassed and roofied and having a gun scare within 2 months after leaving an incredibly sheltered environment. Just because other characters had other bad experiances that they deal with in a different way does not mean Joyce isn’t hurt.
I see this whole incident making the news tomorrow and perhaps Joyce is trying to think on her response to her parents. Due to the fact that no one is a minor their names will be made public or at least Joyce & Ross’s. Thus she is probably going to have to answer some extremely pressing questions by her parents. Which Becky has stated that she has issues with lying to authority figures.
Joyce’s parents did try ringing her before, & others have mentioned they could have been trying to WARN Joyce about Toedad’s immanent arrival. They never did end up getting through to her, so we may not know for a while, or even ever if it doesn’t come up again…
My bad, they did get through. Maybe if she’d said she HAD seen Becky, they would have warned her? I guess Mr Willis is the only one who knows for sure…
Dude seriously? Someone who she trusted and respected just pointed a gun at her and she is holding it together long enough to not bring Becky down. Cut her some slack.
This is kind of the exact thing you DON’T tell someone dealing with a recent trauma/depression. You can’t just flip a switch in your head and it’s dealt with. Given all that’s happened in the last few hours, I’m surprised she’s as held together as she is.
I may be wrong about this, but my impression still is that she fears the outcome of the talk with Dorothy about her ex-relationship with Ethan (which, according to Sarah, will lead to the end of their friendship).
Right now it’s mostly just Dina with an assist from Carla.
Danny and Ethan, well, Ethan didn’t seem too concerned, so we’ll see. Mike? Who knows? He might surprise everyone. Though I don’t know if Mike even knows about Amazi-Girl the way Ethan and Danny do.
Ethan doesn’t seem to know Amazi Girl was involved. (And he didn’t see Amber in this strip. That would probably lead to questions like what happened to her glasses)
Danny might know there was a shooter on campus, but he would have no idea about Amazi Girl’s involvement. I’m wondering if Amber is going to talk about what actually happened with anyone. She’s pretty good at burying stuff and avoiding talking about it. Maybe Dina, since she already knows about her involvement?
I was very careful in saying “Amber’s” support system rather than “Amazi-girl’s”. Mike is her friend for some tepid value of friend, or to paraphrase Ethan a person willing to stand next to her. Including him was intended to point out just how few people she has.
Well, we could arguably add Dorothy to the list, although she did sort of reboot figuring out the amazi-girl thing to the point that she “reintroduced herself to her neighbor” so she might be limiting her interactions with Amber so as not to inadvertently out her by fangirling in public. So that’s up in the air.
Sarah was watching Joyce (in the elevator) so I think Big Sis might be available, once they get in their room. Joyce *will* need more, but Sarah will watch over her, tonight.
Awww, that was a nice moment between Amber and Dina.
Joyce still seems very subdued. As others here have pointed out, she’s not herself. The events of this day seem to have shaken her to her core. This is likely to have a profound effect on the way she views the world in which she was raised.
Okay, I don’t think I articulated that very well. I’m very tired, and can’t really properly sort out my thoughts on any of this. I am interested to see the impact all of this has on Joyce’s character development.
Given that Joyce is mirroring Willis’ own process of disenchantment with his upbringing – only, you know, really compressed – I figure it’s all part of breaking the cutie…
(Wish I could link more than one page at a time to add nuance, but most of them are offshoots from that page!)
You can, but any post — even from an already-approved regular poster — with more than one link in it is held until Willis OK’s it. Generally, though, he’s pretty quick about doing it.
By which I mean my first and last name specificly, I just don’t feel comfortable posting it here, but because I don’t want people to think that I am completely paranoid I will now make references to plays from the 1950’s
“I HAVE GIVEN YOU MY SOUL WILLIS, LET ME KEEP MY NAME!”
Also: damn, Dina, you ninja – somehow slipping into the bathroom past Amber, who was standing in the doorway, while she was watching the group you were part of.
Up until tomorrow when it will be quickly disproven, I chose to believe that the next strip will involve a magical horse man showing up and saying “Dina, we need you, you are the only one who can stop King Radical!, You are a true ninja!”
“Thank you”, otherwise known as the best two words in the English language. Two words and a warmth of approval and acceptance that Amber hasn’t received anywhere near enough in her life. You have to wonder just how much healing that one hug can do.
THIS IS THE SWEETEST STRIP SO FAR!
And that’s saying something.
Just seeing Amber, who was involved but can’t admit it, wanting to share in all the myriad of feelings but also keeping her distance. And then Dina coming and thanking her like only she can because only she knows. OMG. Has this sort of thing ever happened with other superheroes? I don’t read that many comics so I wouldn’t know.
I spent so long hearing about the Walkyverse and DoA from other comics and I just spent the last week reading through most of it and oh my gosh this last storyline was perfect. Especially Dina wearing the Dinosaur Comics shirt this whole arc.
I’ve been having some sleep issues lately, which makes me a tad more emotional than normal, but I think that last panel would have made me tear up anyway.
Have YOU hugged your superhero lately? (DOOO EEEET)
Did AG do the right thing? Would everyone have been better off if she hadn’t gotten involved? There are lots of ways to answer that. None of them matter right now. Now, it is enough to know that a friend risked life and limb to help in a moment of need. This knowledge, alone, is reason enough for unstinting gratitude.
This actually made me tear up.
Amber is not likely to get the direct acknowledgement/appreciation of what she did, even from the people most directly impacted. For Dina to recognize her and actually thank and hug her is huge, not just for Dina but for Amber.
Is there really any point to Amber confronting Sal, now that we’re at a point where Amber can’t feasibly have any kind of justification for her blind, violent hatred for Sal anymore?
She straight up Batman’d her. It feels like Amber’s kind of obligated to get over it now.
Dina’s not as clueless as the people in the strip seems to believe. She’s viewed as a little “strange”, but she’s observed enough to understand Amber’s motivation, the risks involved, and what Amazi-Girl actually did for Becky. To me, it seems that the “Thank You” was for Becky, and the hug was to say it’ll all be OK.
Heh. I *know* the speech bubbles in the first panel are blurred because they are out of hearing range. But, I just re-read the comic, and imagined Amber can’t *see* what they are saying because -no glasses.
I’m easily amused.
Err, that referred to the It’s Walky! strip, not the Shortpacked! one. The former is technically the most recent strip by that title, thanks to the reruns.
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btw if you're one of those rando bluesky weirdos who doesn't know me but sees me in the wild being sarcastic and don't know i'm being sarcastic because you haven't taken like 30 seconds to, like, maybe look at my user profile or something, keep walking, you're not going to score internet points here
Here's an entertaining cite at the bottom of the first page
Josh Gerstein@joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
JUST IN: Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan moves to dismiss federal criminal case against her for allegedly helping immigrant hide from ICE. Her lawyers say she's protected by official acts & judicial immunity and 10th Amendment. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Where did Hollywood go so wrong? I thought movies were supposed to be an escape from reality, a chance to put your worries aside and not have to think about any underlying ideas or concepts. Well, not anymore.
theonion.com/you-can...
It's not a new argument, of course, but Chesterton dismissed it effectively in 1908.
"You will hear everlastingly... this argument that the rich man cannot be bribed. The fact is, of course, that the rich man is bribed; he has been bribed already. That is why he is a rich man."
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com ⋅ 1d
Hawley dismisses Trump lining his pockets with his memecoin: "Listen, I think nobody believes that Donald Trump can be bought. I mean, what does Donald Trump need more money for?"
wilbur, savvy enough to know he's in a comic strip but still not a great actor, awkwardly lifts a muffin up into frame so that we, the audience, understand that he has a muffin right now, which is very important narratively, but he's not really selling it well as an organic, human action
confirming that the reason there's been no Galaxy Version female characters in Blokees until now is that they felt they needed to make Round Lady Thighs For Ladies
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 8h
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com ⋅ 1d
Pavel
@spavel.bsky.social ⋅ 10d
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gratitude via light contact
that doesn’t seem heavy to me, alt-text
Don’t hate. Dina gives what she can.
It just feels like heavy contact after you’ve been banged around.
Glad Amber gets an emotional reward.
Can’t tell if crying from the feels or from the pain. She just broke a windshield with that back.
Breaking a windshield with your back is not very painful. Breaking the roof of a pickup truck with the back of your head hurts a bit. Breaking a concrete road with your face really hurts.
It’s still way heavier than what I give.
More than what I’d give, too.
After all, she’s effectively thanking Amber for almost killing her girlfriend.
Shes thanking her for doing more than anyone else did in saving in girlfriend
Yes
Seconded…
Your Gravatar makes ToeDad look like he’s doing the Ievan Polkka against the ground.
And now I can’t unsee that.
No, Toe-Head almost killed her girlfriend.
To borrow a bit from the Order of the Stick, she’s thanking her for doing her best to save Becks, up to her ability to judge what would be best.
Her intent was good and deserved thanks, her judgment is a separate issue.
Medium, maybe. Somewhere between a shoulder-touch and full-on hug.
Hands head and possible body are pressed against Amber, that’s pretty heavy for a social situation.
It’s not really heavy unless you go full “heads, shoulders, knees, and toes.”
Although contextually, for Dina, that last panel is pretty heavy.
The main difference between this and what was called ‘heavy physical contact’ (with Becky in Walking with Dina), is that here her arms aren’t looping under the shoulders for a hug. Otherwise it’s pretty much the same.
(I was just making a song reference, really.)
I appreciated it. Totally going to use this for future reference in hugging etiquette. There are so many different types of hugs.
I don’t know, the whole situation seems pretty heavy to me.
Great Scott?
i feel like heavy contact has a different context to it… in most cases anyway.
in their eyes are tears of heavy water
If amber saved Dina then feels are stronk
Although she’s probably talking about Amber saving Becky, which makes sense too
Yeah she’s talking about Becky. The gun shot was what alerted her to the whole situation
Dina pounced on Toedad, scratched up his face then got thrown off, Toedad then escaping. Joyce SMSed Dorothy for Amazi-Girl’s help, Dorothy let Amber know who then suited up & found Joyce very soon after Toedad left with Becky. Seems Amazi-Girl MAY have heard a gunshot (we know she did, but it was unconfirmed to her…)
how do we know dina didn’t ask her during her disappeared time? it would make sense, dina could put two and two together and ask her to save her girlfriend
Dina’s known who Amazi-Girl was right along – and, in fact, seemed surprised that it was supposed to be a secret.
It’s Becky, but more interesting: this is heavy for Amber. Amber is getting the gratitude for something Amazi-Girl did. Remember how she’s trying to compartementalize the angry hero-complex? Those lines are definitely fading – what with Sal questioning her hidden, underlying motives while not being the mortal enemy she’s supposed to be in Amber’s head and now Dina confronting her with the emotional gratitude that she’s pretty likely to feel conflicted about because of the confrontation with Sal, but that’s supposed to stay with her Amazi-Girl persona? I’m betting Amber’s feeling all kinds of confused and vulnerable.
Also, having a concussion can really mess with a person’s control of their emotions.
I don’t think Amber is nearly as compartmentalized as she tries to be.
But this a first step for Amber. This is definitely a good sign.
Amber’s not nearly as compartmentalized as she tries to be but if she keeps falling off of cars she probably will end up in several different containers.
Dawww!
Dina has learned ! Clever girl.
Goddamned tags.
Odd, he missed Dorothy (as of this writing). He’s usually pretty particular about them.
Never mind, that’s probably Dina’s leg, not Dorothy’s.
i am under the impression that Eric has put a word in lower-than and bigger-than characters (instead of < and > and the software interpreted it as HTML-tag and ate it.
There is a LOLCats – pun waiting somewhere but i am unable to tell it.
Oh, like “Dina has learned ”!”
huh
Dina has learned < HTML TAGS >
Dina has learned <HTML TAGS >
The > tag works with that semicolon after it! Yay!
Wait, how did you type “>” and “<“? When I do it with the semicolons afterward, it automatically changes to less than/greater than
> . <
Like that
And Carla was never seen again.
BLASPHEMY!
She morphed into another Dina, soon all will be Dina
The beginnings of a Dinasty.
Or Dinastrumentality
It’s the Dinangularity!
Hopefully they won’t be late for Dina.
dina dina dina dina dina dina dina dina amazigirl!
some people say dina
other people say super
Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be assimilated into her own. Resistance is futile.
D’aaaaaaaaawwwwwww.
I am so glad Dina is there for Amber.
All the feels.
I can’t help but feel bad for Amber. Sal was right that she endangered their lives, but how did she know Ross wasn’t going to straight-up execute Becky anyways?
There was a recent CRACKED article talking about so-called honour-killing and you’re right, Toedad might have chosen THAT path in the end.
He was saying many murder-suicide things.
Most murder suicides would have a better result if they reversed the order of actions.
His “God’s vision of a perfect family” was being completely destroyed by his wife “being taken by Satan” (Toedad’s words) & daughter not only being attracted to other women, but also defying him then running away before getting an “un-womanly” haircut. He was going to “save her soul”, no matter what it took…
Yeah, “cleansing” her could have been a very real option…
Folks, here’s a clue:
If your religion leads you to hate, oppress, or kill someone… YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!
Unfortunately, history is not on your side with that statement.
No, he’s right about doing it wrong. It’s just that there are so many examples of people doing it wrong because those have measurable consequences, where if you do it right pretty much nobody notices.
Unless you are a follower of Ares and Eris as your male and female deities. Then spreading destruction and discord are part of the package.
You can do religion right, while still doing morality wrong.
In fact, that’s a required outcome of any assumption of even remotely equalized value between religions and belief structures.
The main issue comes when localized/group ideology becomes associated with a religion wherein such an ideology is not core, and colors it in a way that is contrary to its intended belief structure.
True!
This, and was there any way to be sure that he would go to a place where he often went in order to do it, so that the cops could look for them there first? Why not just pull off at a random rest stop and purify her there? /family destroying nutjob
I read awhile ago that a large percentage of these nihilistic guys that murder their wives and children and then slink away(or even suicide afterwards) turned out to be controlling, authoritative and fanatically religious. They tell themselves that they’re protecting their children’s souls, and killing them now before the devil can take them is a mercy. They’re Heros! (In their own mind at least.)
It’s all about control, and there’s no greater control over someone than ending their life.
Religion ruins everything.
People ruin everything. Religion wasn’t so bad until people happened
Um. Religion IS people.*
That might have been your point, though, in which case never mind.
*okay I am apparently possibly mistaken.
And even if the cops caught up, someone was leaving in a body bag in that situation.
Dina no you are inducing a contagious and mystifying social phenomena called the Together Cry.
So Dannys probably gonna find out next, then Billie
Danny’s probably still oblivious to the fact that there was a shooter.
Who knew the feels were contagious by touch?
Oh darn feels i wasn’t ready for this.
Warning! Incoming Feels
Warning! Incoming Feels
If she’s going for the feels, she should keep moving her hands toward the front.
WARNING!! AN INCOMING FEELS-WAVE IS APPROACHING! All must brace for impact…
Who or what is the character in that .gif?
That’s No-Face, from Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.
Had to ask … Kadi Fedoruk (creator of “Blindsprings”) uses a similar facial treatment/mask-like effect for the “spirits” in her strip.
“For almost getting my girlfriend killed”
Aahh, I jest.
I get that a lot.
5 points to House Dina.
HUggle-Puff?
Joyce “The girl who punched”
Raven-snug
Behindthedor
GrifinDina
Internet to you.
Slytherin really needs no alterations
The snake tongue says it all
Awwwwwww. That is so touching.
I see what you did there.
I’d almost forgotten that Dina knew Amber was Amazi-Girl
I had forgotten that they were roommates.
Yeah, she’s probably changed into costume a dozen times with Dina watching from behind the door.
Oh my
;3
Your Gravatar is amazing
Ohhhhh! Tears. Tears in my eyes. Thank you David Willis.
Hold them back! Be a man & hold them baCK…
:p
But I’m a woman.
But you are not Piffany!
just means you have to try extra hard, did Mulan teach you nothing!?
Plays Meat Loaf’s “For Crying Out Loud” on the hacked Muzak…..
I have nothing to say Just enjoying the tender moment.
OMG this is so cute!
You know a little Dina can lighten up anyone’s day, and right now its lightening up Amber’s.
Kind woman I give my~y all~ll/Kind woman…nothing more–Led Zepplin
Oh yeah, I forgot Dina knows about Amber/Amazigirl. And that none of the rest of the group (except Ethan) know about Amber/Amazigirl. And that Amber and Dina are roommates.
I forgot a lot of things.
Dorothy tho.
I did too!
Unless Amazi-girl’s role in this has come up with Ethan or Dorothy, Dina is the only one who even knows Amber was involved in the incident.
Walky knows that Amazi-Girl was involved, per his comment yesterday, so presumably everyone else who was in the elevator knows or can figure it out.
They don’t know (and can’t figure out that) *Amber* was involved, though.
Dorothy and Ethan both know Amazi-Girl’s identity, and if they didn’t know she was involved before (Ethan might not have), they do now.
It’s just occurred to me that Walky may not even know who Amber even is – not that she’s Amazi-Girl, but that she’s Amber. Walky’s had a couple of chats with Amazi-Girl, but I don’t think they’ve ever even spoken to each other when Amber was out of costume, though there might have been some off-screen interaction at Joyce’s party.
Dorothy knows, since she called her.
And Joyce, since she was the counterbalance when Sal caught her.
And also sent Amazi-Girl after the car in the first place.
Joyce knows Amazigirl was involved.
However, Joyce does not know Amazigirl is Amber. Dorothy and Ethan both do.
Ethan may not have known she was involved until he met up with the crew at the elevator though.
Becky knows.
And she’s not known for keeping fun/exciting details to herself.
OK which QC comic is your avatar from? Hannalore is such a cutie.
And all was well in the world. For a few hours.
But doesn’t that give us like 6 months of comics?
Following your statement, Willis cues immediately to sleep, and starts us off for a fresh day of pain.
*Thanks gehrehmee*
Seems that way.
OI almost forgot that they were roommates and that Dina knows about Amber being Amazi-Girl. I guess that whole ordeal makes them a lot closer now. Nearly dying to help out your roommate’s girlfriend is a pretty big deal.
Oh man, Joyce’s face. I’m not her biggest fan, but there’s some raging pain there and i feel for her.
Yeah, the problem is that she has to largely work through this on her own – Dorothy and Becky and Sarah can be there for her, but she needs to come to terms with everything that’s happened since term started, and going home and getting everything finally out in the open can be a cathartic start to healing.
Joyce is definitely not good. She’s not even okay.
When you think about it, how ironic is it that it’s not her heathen atheist bestie who leads her astray. It takes Joyce’s fundie BFF and her even fundier father to push Joyce into cursing, defying parental authority, and physical violence. Poor girl.
Meanwhile, Dina gets a million loves from me for that almost-hug. Amber could sure use it.
Not that ironic, I mean the heathen atheist bestie allows her the emotional space to either find her own way or decide the path she had been on prior to exposure to the secular world is how she wants her life to go, whereas the (adult) fundie crowd is very “my way or you’re literally going to hell.” Plus Ross expressed a willingness/LIKELINESS to the speed her on her way Downstairs for daring to continue to love and accept and protect Becky despite the whole lesbian thing. Daresay a lot of people would find Ross’s attitude at the very least offputting.
To speed her on her way*
Not sure where that extra “the” came from.
And just FYI Heathens don’t like to be called “atheist”. They have an entire pantheon of their own.
Even worse: It’s actually Joyce herself who leads her fundie BFF astray!
Plus, isn’t Ethan Jewish?
She still hasn’t found an opportunity to talk with Dorothy about her “gay-curing relationship” with Ethan.
She wants to apologize, but the last time she tried she was cut short.
And that means she still fears Dorothy will end the friendship when she hears about this.
Good on you, Dina. Amber needs the support. <3
Man, it was about time someone thanked her. Good job, Dina.
Yeah, she’s like the doctor in that one doctor who Christmas special. Pretty much anyway
Oh shit. That last panel made me cry.
You have achieved a first David Willis.
My…. FEEEEEEELZ.
That’s it imma go play some third person shoter and grab a beer. :”’D
…aaaaaaaand Joyce is still serious. Is this worrisome? Hope it’s not a behavioral shift. I sorta liked her as she was
Probably not. She’s a typically Jovial person, and those types tend to bounce back to that after they sort through whatever they’ve gotta deal with. Of course, in the time scale that this comic runs on, who knows how long she’ll be dealing.
so who’s ready for a year and a half of Joyce being in even mental depression and fear because I’m not. to serous though this would be the perfect time and excuse to seek therapy or at least reach and talk to someone.
Ahem. “Joycial” person.
After the incident with Ross I think she’s going to change a bit.
It’s still the same day that all of this went down… I think it’s more normal to still be upset from it than bouncy and excited like Becky.
Have you seen the newest drawing of her Willis put up on tumblr?
It’s worth noting, I think, that the preview in question is from the FIRST STRIP of “When God Closes The Door”.
I was not prepared for that level of feels when I came here.
Wow, Becky and Dina’s words hit like a hammer.
Becky because of course those words feel like the best. She genuinely thought she was never going to see her friends again, either because she would be going permanently be going to be abused or because she would escape but never return in order to “protect them” from her father’s wrath and hunting.
And Dina because she knows full well Amber did what she feels she didn’t have the strength to do. Save her girlfriend. And that means everything to her and she shows it using the sympathy move Amber taught her.
Just made unintelligible noise at the aww in the last panels.
Joyce needs to crawl outside her own pity sphere and rejoice that her best friend is alive. Dina is okay. That Sal was there to help. That Amber/AG was there to help. That Ethan and Sarah and Walky were waiting to see all was well.
Joyce seems to have overcome her timidity with the ride with Sal. And that’s good.
She now needs to come to terms with her world view crashing down around her. And suck it up. Get help, talk to her friends. At least she is not alone.
Harsh yes, but damn, I do get tired of her forever being the ‘hurt one’ when others around her, like Becky, really are ‘hurt ones’.
I don’t see a self-pitying kind of hurt when I look at Joyce’s face. I see thinking, sorting, planning, seriousness. And some residual anger.
And she is a “hurt one” too. It’s not fair to expect her to suck it up, given her experiences include getting harrassed and roofied and having a gun scare within 2 months after leaving an incredibly sheltered environment. Just because other characters had other bad experiances that they deal with in a different way does not mean Joyce isn’t hurt.
I see this whole incident making the news tomorrow and perhaps Joyce is trying to think on her response to her parents. Due to the fact that no one is a minor their names will be made public or at least Joyce & Ross’s. Thus she is probably going to have to answer some extremely pressing questions by her parents. Which Becky has stated that she has issues with lying to authority figures.
Joyce’s parents did try ringing her before, & others have mentioned they could have been trying to WARN Joyce about Toedad’s immanent arrival. They never did end up getting through to her, so we may not know for a while, or even ever if it doesn’t come up again…
They did get through, she lied and said she hadn’t seen Becky.
My bad, they did get through. Maybe if she’d said she HAD seen Becky, they would have warned her? I guess Mr Willis is the only one who knows for sure…
Dude seriously? Someone who she trusted and respected just pointed a gun at her and she is holding it together long enough to not bring Becky down. Cut her some slack.
Yeah, personally I think I’d be having problems being chipper on the same day this all went down. Which it is. Still the same day, that is.
It’s almost as if people can be different levels of hurt at the same time.
This is kind of the exact thing you DON’T tell someone dealing with a recent trauma/depression. You can’t just flip a switch in your head and it’s dealt with. Given all that’s happened in the last few hours, I’m surprised she’s as held together as she is.
I may be wrong about this, but my impression still is that she fears the outcome of the talk with Dorothy about her ex-relationship with Ethan (which, according to Sarah, will lead to the end of their friendship).
Dina and Amber have come a long way. I am glad they’re roommates, they’re fun.
So Amber’s social support structure consists of Ethan, Danny, Dina, Carla, and Mike?
Right now it’s mostly just Dina with an assist from Carla.
Danny and Ethan, well, Ethan didn’t seem too concerned, so we’ll see. Mike? Who knows? He might surprise everyone. Though I don’t know if Mike even knows about Amazi-Girl the way Ethan and Danny do.
Ethan doesn’t seem to know Amazi Girl was involved. (And he didn’t see Amber in this strip. That would probably lead to questions like what happened to her glasses)
Danny might know there was a shooter on campus, but he would have no idea about Amazi Girl’s involvement. I’m wondering if Amber is going to talk about what actually happened with anyone. She’s pretty good at burying stuff and avoiding talking about it. Maybe Dina, since she already knows about her involvement?
I was very careful in saying “Amber’s” support system rather than “Amazi-girl’s”. Mike is her friend for some tepid value of friend, or to paraphrase Ethan a person willing to stand next to her. Including him was intended to point out just how few people she has.
Well, we could arguably add Dorothy to the list, although she did sort of reboot figuring out the amazi-girl thing to the point that she “reintroduced herself to her neighbor” so she might be limiting her interactions with Amber so as not to inadvertently out her by fangirling in public. So that’s up in the air.
I’M NOT CRYING, YOU’RE CRYING
I have allergies, that’s all!
BEGONE, foul feels…
D’aaaww. I’m not crying. You’re crying.
Also I totally forgot that Dina and Amber were roomies.
*dies*
great. now I’m trapped at work with all these feels..
Joyce has been frowning for awhile… but everyone else is smiling. She appears to have more emotional business here to take care of in this situation.
let’s face it Joyce has seen some shit man and I don’t think she can go through another encounter like this without working some stuff out.
Sarah was watching Joyce (in the elevator) so I think Big Sis might be available, once they get in their room. Joyce *will* need more, but Sarah will watch over her, tonight.
*gasp* I just flashed-back to Sarah lamenting “when the world breaks you”…
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/break/
Sarah is a goddamned Oracle! Her prophecies have been fulfilled now!
(Why is the linked strip neither tagged with Sarah nor with Joyce?!?)
The tags are there. …?
Are you looking at “relentless”? I see no tags on “relentless” right now …
xKiv (you have no “reply” button)
“Relentless” has its tags… I just looked!
Yesterday they weren’t.
It was all worth it just for those last two panels. Dina, Thank you.
Best character
Awww, that was a nice moment between Amber and Dina.
Joyce still seems very subdued. As others here have pointed out, she’s not herself. The events of this day seem to have shaken her to her core. This is likely to have a profound effect on the way she views the world in which she was raised.
Okay, I don’t think I articulated that very well. I’m very tired, and can’t really properly sort out my thoughts on any of this. I am interested to see the impact all of this has on Joyce’s character development.
Given that Joyce is mirroring Willis’ own process of disenchantment with his upbringing – only, you know, really compressed – I figure it’s all part of breaking the cutie…
(Wish I could link more than one page at a time to add nuance, but most of them are offshoots from that page!)
You can, but any post — even from an already-approved regular poster — with more than one link in it is held until Willis OK’s it. Generally, though, he’s pretty quick about doing it.
“Thank you.”
The two best words in the English language, and I dare anyone to prove me wrong.
“More pie?”
“Paid Vacation”
“Free food?”
“World Peace”?
“My name?”
By which I mean my first and last name specificly, I just don’t feel comfortable posting it here, but because I don’t want people to think that I am completely paranoid I will now make references to plays from the 1950’s
“I HAVE GIVEN YOU MY SOUL WILLIS, LET ME KEEP MY NAME!”
The quote reminded me of “The Crucible”. Didn’t John Practor say something similar?
I do believe that was the intended reference.
Yep
“I am.”
“Butt stuff.”
Butt Taco!
“Firefly reboot”
(Just kidding)
“Kickstarter”
Need hug?
bacon wrapped
more money
len kagamine
no homework
it’s friday
good sex
“Best words”?
“Your twin sister, Sal”?
D’awwww.
Also: damn, Dina, you ninja – somehow slipping into the bathroom past Amber, who was standing in the doorway, while she was watching the group you were part of.
My emotions! Dina has given me them!
Nice Feels!
bursts into tears oh god (damn you willis u made my ship canon and my fav character important and my heart explode omg)
“Wanna be my side kick?”
“Can I have a dinosaur theme?”
“I wouldn’t have expected anything else.”
Amazi-Girl and Dino-Roar
I think Joyce may be taking Becky’s demeanour much the same as the comment thread is
Up until tomorrow when it will be quickly disproven, I chose to believe that the next strip will involve a magical horse man showing up and saying “Dina, we need you, you are the only one who can stop King Radical!, You are a true ninja!”
Dina even ninjas supers
I was just thinking that maybe Amber needs to be taking lessons from Dina on her Batman-like ability to sneak up on people… even Superman and even when he’s old. https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/53/139485131_d7dced4d11_b.jpg
“Finally, a little APPRECIATION!”
That last panel is full of cuteness.
“Thank you”, otherwise known as the best two words in the English language. Two words and a warmth of approval and acceptance that Amber hasn’t received anywhere near enough in her life. You have to wonder just how much healing that one hug can do.
Hopefully, Lots! Go Dina!
Whoo! Hugs!
:,0
Amber needed a hug. DINA GAVE HER A HUG. This is cute beyond words.
It’s hard, being a superhero and having a secret identity. It’s hard and nobody understands.
THIS IS THE SWEETEST STRIP SO FAR!
And that’s saying something.
Just seeing Amber, who was involved but can’t admit it, wanting to share in all the myriad of feelings but also keeping her distance. And then Dina coming and thanking her like only she can because only she knows. OMG. Has this sort of thing ever happened with other superheroes? I don’t read that many comics so I wouldn’t know.
Aaawwwwwwwwwww.
Dina, you’re great. I didn’t even realise how necessary that was.
The Dina Scale Of Physical Contact:
LIGHT = one hand touching appropriate areas of another’s body
HEAVY= touching appropriate areas of another’s body
HOME RUN = Full body contact
PENETRATION = Just to make Joyce’s eyes bug out again
Dang, still no edits! “Heavy” is two-handed contact.
I am tempted to make jokes about “Support”, “Assault”, and “Sniper” as well but I can’t think of any =p
(not even for “Demo” and “Pyro” if we go that route instead)
Awwwwwwwww
I spent so long hearing about the Walkyverse and DoA from other comics and I just spent the last week reading through most of it and oh my gosh this last storyline was perfect. Especially Dina wearing the Dinosaur Comics shirt this whole arc.
I’ve been having some sleep issues lately, which makes me a tad more emotional than normal, but I think that last panel would have made me tear up anyway.
D’awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
<3
Oh no. Amber is still on the deputized skateboard and Dina is going to send her hurtling through the hallway.
Behold all the adorbs. You cannot handle the adorbs.
Dusty in here.
“Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww” – more like the best makeshift word in any kind of language. ^ ω ^
Oh god the tears ;-;
Have YOU hugged your superhero lately? (DOOO EEEET)
Did AG do the right thing? Would everyone have been better off if she hadn’t gotten involved? There are lots of ways to answer that. None of them matter right now. Now, it is enough to know that a friend risked life and limb to help in a moment of need. This knowledge, alone, is reason enough for unstinting gratitude.
Also, Dina wins all of the awards for cutest ninja ever.
This made me go “Dawww” and tear up.
Aww, right in the feels.
This actually made me tear up.
Amber is not likely to get the direct acknowledgement/appreciation of what she did, even from the people most directly impacted. For Dina to recognize her and actually thank and hug her is huge, not just for Dina but for Amber.
You can’t see what is said in the first panel because Amber lost her glasses
LOL
No, really! Everyone mumbles when I’m not wearing my glasses.
OKAY THAT’S ENOUGH OF THE FEELS
Not another feels attack JESUS, WILLIS.
Just spare me.
“She ain’t heavy, she’s my sister!”
What we need now is a training montage of Amber until she can take on Sal!
Is there really any point to Amber confronting Sal, now that we’re at a point where Amber can’t feasibly have any kind of justification for her blind, violent hatred for Sal anymore?
She straight up Batman’d her. It feels like Amber’s kind of obligated to get over it now.
Why do we want her to take on Sat? I think a therapist montage would be a lot better for her.
Mr. Willis, this may be the most touching (pun not intended) strip thus far in Dumbing of Age. Looking forward to many more!!!
Amber’s hair is spiking up in the last panel.
This is not good.
Honestly, it’s deforming because Dina’s face is mushed into it.
Yeah, now I see it. Her hair looked a bit more frazzled and Amazi-Girlish in the previous panels so I just kind of assumed.
D’awww… Dina Saurus Wrecks.
I LOVE that last panel so much!
Dina’s not as clueless as the people in the strip seems to believe. She’s viewed as a little “strange”, but she’s observed enough to understand Amber’s motivation, the risks involved, and what Amazi-Girl actually did for Becky. To me, it seems that the “Thank You” was for Becky, and the hug was to say it’ll all be OK.
How does she know Ambers secret??? :O
She’s Amber’s roommate — and on occasion has made good use of Amazi-Girl’s equipment.
I anticipated a much different link but i guess there hasnt been a dina/becky slipshine yet.
She’s quite observant. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/trumpet/
And sorting the two… http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/04-walking-with-dina/socialcircumstances/
Heh. I *know* the speech bubbles in the first panel are blurred because they are out of hearing range. But, I just re-read the comic, and imagined Amber can’t *see* what they are saying because -no glasses.
I’m easily amused.
“Now kiss.”
signed Becky.
Very different circumstances from the last strip you had with this title, isn’t it? Also, completely different words.
Err, that referred to the It’s Walky! strip, not the Shortpacked! one. The former is technically the most recent strip by that title, thanks to the reruns.
You really like this title, don’t you, Willis?
Every few strips I’m chanting the same basic thing. DINA IS LOVE. DINA IS LIFE.