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The problem here is if she can bring out her ‘inner amazi-girl’ or if her compartmentalizing will end badly. Like she has ten thousand issues tied to this and i- oh shit, actually, with all that about redemption, this might be a good redemption moment. We’ll see tho.
Indeed. If that is where this is going, the redemption would be “I’ve seized the criminal’s knife (again)… And I can discard it. Justice is not revenge.”
I seized a criminal’s knife (again), used it to cut his wallet out of his pants, dropped the knife, and took the wallet, so I can report the whole name, and end that …….’s expectation for a future.
She was wearing the Amazi-girl costume then, though. I think Amber / Amazi-girl’s psyche is broken to the point that if she isn’t wearing Amazi-girl, she isn’t Amazi-girl RIP Amber and Dorothy.
She still punched and bloodied her father when he was picking a fight with her… I think her being Amazi-girl might be Safer. Being Amazi-girl puts limiters on her anger and brutality. She tries to live by some super hero rules. On the other hand a sufficiently provoked Amber might just go berserk and beat the absolute shit out of her opponent. We’ll see ow it goes.
That’s how Amber thinks, anyways. To herself, Amber has “anger issues” that need to be compartmentalized. She does that by channeling them into a sort of righteous anger, expressed by Amazi-Girl. But since Amazi-Girl has principles that have to be followed (whereas Amber is only human), Amazi-Girl can’t stab a dude in self-defense. Amber could kill him, 100%.
My point is more about experience. Ryan is just some creep with a knife he probably doesn’t even know how to use properly while Amber has considerable experience in beating people up.
The problem is that it’s not, ‘some cowardly little shit with a knife’, it’s that it’s ‘some cowardly little shit… with a knife‘.
Some of our fellow readers are worried that Amber might become paralyzed due to a similarincident in her past. Me? I see the exact opposite happening, only Amber will have a knife available, and we don’t know if Dorothy is strong enough to pull Amber off Ryan’s soon-to-be-shanked ass.
Yesterday I joked to myself about Dorothy having to pull off Amber after she stabbed Ryan in the balls, multiple times, incidentally traumatizing Joe (who had been stalking Dorothy himself waiting for Ryan to make his move) who’d wrestled Ryan to the ground while Ambers trigger was switching itself ‘on’. But that was when we had the possibility that it wasn’t a knife, and Ryan’s background wasn’t red…
Mind you, I’m not concerned at all for Ryan. He’s an attempted Rapist who’s currently menacing two women (and wants to raise the stakes to Assault With A Deadly Weapon, if not Attempted Murder and beyond). everything that happens to him is something he brought on himself. I’m more concerned for Amber, who might have to walk past a bloodstain on the steps to her dorm everyday for the rest of the comic, knowing she was the one who put it there. And Dorothy, who might blame herself for not watching her own back and leading Ryan there. Hell, might as well add Joyce, who now has confimation that Ryan could’ve been anywhere on campus, stalking her, and could get to her at any time. Each of these three has had a bad day (two of them in the past 30 minutes), and don’t need to have any reminders of Ryan to ruin the rest of their days here in IU.
Yeah this worries me a bit too. If she gets pissed enough she might go berserk and stab him how she stabbed Sal in the past. Pre-Sal Amber would freeze, but this Amber might just lose it and try to stab Ryan with his own knife…
Oh please, I sincerely doubt Willis is the kind of writer to kill of two or even one of his characters like this.
If he was, Amber would probably have died back when she was car surfing.
Willis has said he has no intention of killing any character in DOA, because given the extended time frames, the rest of the characters would be in mourning *For the next several real-time years*.
It would be difficult to kill a major character with the way Dumbing of Age handles time. Grief is all consuming and unless there was a massive time skip (which could theoretically happen) it would just be unending weeks of sadness.
Also Amber has way too much shit to still work through to die now, and Dorothy dying with some variation of “she was too good to survive in this world” would be some seriously hacky writing.
They’re not implying they die, they’re implying we skip straight to the aftermath and find out what happened through people discovering it instead of watching it happen.
this kind of stalking/revenge behavior is unusual, but far from unprecedented for sexual predators. He’s probably not trying to stop the news from getting out. May be a little at odds with his “my dad’s gonna see that” line, but plausible.
Male dominance mentality, perhaps? He made it pretty evident he doesn’t put thought into women past his own gratification, so having a woman “dare to speak out against him” could make for a very stimulating trigger.
That said, consider what he’s actually saying, and recall the fact that his dad is a minister (and consider also that such a position is one which is known to be taken up by extremely social-conscious individuals). It doesn’t matter how valid or provable the claims are, the stigma of having such claims made against one’s son could be devastating toward a socially conscious individual- or for a less critical interpretation, even just to an individual who relies on social perception to help others.
That said, considering how Ryan turned out (and nevermind how ‘bad parenting’ seems to be a reoccuring theme in DoA) it’s not unreasonable to assume that his father will probably be very harsh in dealing with the matter (which of course is also in line with behavior associated with socially-conscious parents).
So, in sum, he’s probably doing it due to a combination of ‘I’m fucked, my abusive father is going to punish me’, and ‘you’re just a stupid woman, how dare you’.
Or, y’know, maybe he’s just doing it ’cause individuals with such mentalities generally aren’t the most rational thinkers to begin with.
I have a similar thought. It is most likely not the first time he has done something like this. But, I wonder if he did this previously and got away with it because there was absolutely no proof – not even a grainy picture. He got away with it because his pastor dad gave him the benefit of the doubt when he said he didn’t do it. (Notice, I didn’t say he believed him, and I didn’t say he said he was innocent) Now, there’s a picture, and a name that matches his son’s middle name, and his son has a new scar…. His dad is gonna see that. He’s gonna get in trouble this time. He might actually get in trouble for all the times now, all the accusations…
Yeah, this is about where guys like him lose their shit, if that is what is happening.
The same over-inflated sense of pride and entitlement that lead him to feel women owe him sex also means that there is nothing that enrages him more than a woman inconveniencing him in any way.
We already saw how fast he got pissed off and violent simply because Joyce didn’t want to go into that grody bathroom where he could attacker her.
Now she’s not only escaped him, but she’s conspired with other women to try and inflict Consequences For His Actions on him?? Even if there were none, I imagine just learning of the attempt would make him irrationally angry.
It will end with Sal and Amber triumphantly kissing over the mangled body of whatever his name use to be. How better to express their love, than by curb stomping someone, together.
The directory gives names, which you can crossreference with google and/or social media. It’s a pretty solid way to find someone if you’re not looking for specific information about them.
Depends if it’s the internal directory or some sort of public listing- an internal directory typically also stores student ID photos (for the purpose of reprinting Student IDs if they’re lost or damaged). That said, it’s a digital age and at least some of the individuals involved are familiar with journalism concepts (such as, y’know, researching information)- google-cross-checking would hardly be a non-intuitive consideration.
They likely checked the Ryans and his face wasn’t there. He’s just said it is his middle name so it likely wouldn’t show up in a dictionary or most student resources as anything past an initial if it is included at all.
Apparently that bothers people. Although when I’ve run into that, they’ve known me for months or whatever before they even realize I just always have a little lockback in my back pocket.
Personally, I’m too scared to carry a knife, because they’re technically illegal and I’m far more afraid of the police than I ever would be of any criminal. Much better chance getting through the rest of my life fighting a crook unarmed than ending up in the justice system.
Hey, yesterday I thought it was a roll of quarters.
Hurts like hell if you get punched by someone holding the roll in their hand, and yet totally legal & explainable if you’re stopped by the police.
But a knife is way more evil & dramatic! Thanks Willis.
I’m pretty sure it’s a fold-out switch blade — hence both the shape yesterday and that middle panel where an action line indicates the blade is arcing!
Could also be Ryan waving it around, but I think this is a good guess.
No, it’s not a switchblade. It’s a lockback, based on the Buck 110 design. A cheap faux-gravity blade, most likely, since he’s managed to flick it out.
Also, the way he was holding it yesterday is incompatible with any sort of swing-out blade (the hand is in the way), or a switchblade (he couldn’t trigger the switch on any design I’ve ever seen, even if it’s out the front). He had to switch his grip, no matter what kind of knife it is.
I mean, you’re not actually disagreeing with me. You’re just correcting my terminology. I don’t know knife vocab. If you scroll down to the second time I made this comment, you’ll see I was fumbling around to explain something like what you’re saying, but lacking the correct terminology.
I suspected switchblade was specifically the wrong term but wasn’t sure what to say instead. “Fold-out knife that can be brandished with a wrist flick” was my intent.
I wonder if his dad is a decent person who is just cursed with an enormous shit as a son (it happens) or if his father is a monster who will be mad more at the fact he’s drug the family name through the mud by being caught.
I think it would interesting if he was a good guy but also very authoritarian. The kind of well meaning elder conservative fellow who can make you feel like the smallest person in the world just with their disappointment. Some people can thrive under that, but then you have those like “Ryan” that probably started out a little broken and they can just twist further under that pressure.
I know some military family sorts who would definitely fit that bill. There’s a slight difference between favoring strict adherence to authority and being completely oppressive and controlling. Think the difference between never letting your kid hang out with friends because they aren’t well behaved products of an authoritarian themselves vs punishing your kid relatively harshly, but according to the rules, for being a half hour after curfew.
Or he could be another Clint and while he doesn’t have a problem with his son “sowing his oats” he’s sick of covering it up and isn’t going to bail him out a second time.
Disagree. I know both people who maintain their chill even when things are pissing them off, as well as people who have no chill regardless of situation.
He has definite anger issues especially just with letting little things get to him, but it’s nothing like this Ryan. It’s more of a “I’m pissed that I can’t find my wallet,” kind of issue. He’s not the kind of person to actually assault anyone. But you know, I shouldn’t really have to defend my not-rapist-roommate on this particular subject, I was just pointing out the creepy parallel name-wise. >_>
Also, why can they not still go inside? Even if he can get in, would he be stupid enough to try anything in front of witnesses? My college is tiny and theres still almost always people in the lounge areas. Most of which are fairly close to the front doors
Enh, maybe not late at night. But regardless, this seems like a really bad plan from Ryan’s standpoint. Currently, he could claim the allegations are made up. If Dorothy ends up *mysteriously stabbed* right after that post went viral? That claim becomes much less credible.
I agree, they should definitely go inside (and scream up anyone possibly nearby), although both are probably as shocked as in not thinking clearly and not wanting to turn around to open the doors.
Especially since they seem to be user-id-locked- which, unless the school sprung for higher end IDs, would indicate that ID-swiping is likely required to open the doors after-hours.
Yes! And then it might take a few seconds for the doors to open…possibly? (I don’t know, I’ve never used such a swipe systems, unless you count the Oyster card in London, and that also took at the least 1-2 seconds to register)
Yeah, by my experience there’s usually a couple of seconds delay. Those aren’t the main issue, however; rather, trying to quickly pull out your ID and- with hands and fingers that are likely stiff and trembling- trying to functionally and quickly swipe the ID is a pretty intimidating task.
Still, I’m not seeing a swipe bar, and she ended up managing to get Dorothy in right quick (and without any indication of pulling out an ID), so I dunno how it’s set up in DoA.
I guess it just auto-unlocks as soon as you get close to the door, if you have your (presumably radio-chipped) ID on you? It’s really the only explanation that fits both the visual evidence, and the fact that Amber thought it a better idea to close Dorothy inside instead of rushing in, slamming the doors, and running off for help- if the doors open right away (and seeing that they seem to lack anything to hold them closed with on the inside), there wouldn’t be any time bought with that approach.
He is way too close. Cant turn your back on him and not enough time to go through the doors (esp since you hv to unlock them with fob/studentID first).
I wouldn’t say “scared”. In the flashback she seemed more scared that Ethan was being held hostage than of the knife itself, and we saw her…”outburst” with it after the police arrived (hence Sal’s scar). If anything, Ryan will be leaving with a few new scars.
If knives are enough of a trigger to incapacitate Amazi-Girl I’m baffled as to how she hasn’t gotten stabbed yet because it seems super unlikely she’s never had a knife pulled on her before as a costumed vigilante.
No, she was ashamed of herself- of the rage which made her stab someone (who at the time wasn’t even a threat). It’s been established multiple times that what she fears is losing control.
That said, at the moment she’s facing down a sudden knife from a legitimately threatening individual and Dorothy is behind her. She’s got a lot of things to have fear over.
I think knives are one of Amber’s triggers for flashbacks and panic attacks so she could be about to have a breakdown with the worst possible timing here.
If Dorothy can get inside, “Ryan” is toast. I mean “Amazi-Girl” is crazy enough to take on a guy with a shotgun and one on one, she already beat Ryan, so I doubt that little knife will help much.
Then again, this is the world of “Dumbing of Age” so I doubt things will be that simple.
It was a rifle, not a shotgun. Also it was a single-shot with no sights.I mean, I wouldn’t want to have any firearm pointed at me, but that was about the least effective/threatening firearm possible.
In the context of someone already right next to you it’s generally better to be up against that rifle than the knife, and I say that as someone who has done some armed sparring with and against (blunted) knives and who has a nice reach advantage against most people that really, really helps in dealing with knives.
Generally they do. The real problem is that they don’t give a shit about the underlying systemic issues that lead to it, not to mention caring more about the perpetrator’s well being than the survivor’s.
I think the joke is they see the strip a day before us.
I wish I’d had the spoons to set up a Patreon account, I’ve been meaning to for a couple of years now.
Freaking the heck out aside though, this is not going to be good for Dorothy. (It’s probably not good for Ryan either, but tbh I have bigger fish to fry.)
On the bright side, if he’s pulling a stunt like this, with any luck he’ll end up nabbed by the cops, and a guy attacking two girls with a knife will probably land him a heavier sentence than attempted rape. (Also, I hate that I was able to type that sentence knowing it’s probably true.)
Do you mean that you think attempted murder should have a lighter sentence than attempted rape? Or did I completely misunderstand your last couple sentences?
If that is the case, then that sounds reasonable. While I personally think that attempted murder should have a heavier sentence than attempted rape, neither should result in a ‘slap on the wrist’, as you say.
Plus, the fact they didn’t have any way to prove Joyce’s claim (or just weak accusation that would not have stuck) since she didn’t report it. This will stick, and maybe past victims would be more willing to add to the charges.
Does he deserve it? Check check check
Self defense? Check
Knock yourself out dude, in my temporary headcanon “ryan” is already missing teeth (although of course DYW probably intends for this to be an intense confrontation, so it might take a few panels…)
A portal to the Walkyverse opens; through it, Joyce jet packs with her massive gun and starts beating this dude up. She doesn’t understand why, but the sight of him speaks deep volumes of fear to her, and she knows she must neutralize the threat.
Yes! Or he tries to use it, but stumbles up the stairs and lets it fall. I’ll take anything like that – him hurt or not – if it means the weapon is out of his hand!
Well, his dad’s a pastor, if “Ryan” wasn’t lying about that (even if he claims it wasn’t one of the things that he wasn’t lying about). But that doesn’t mean the pastor isn’t super-influential… or that it’s someone else connected to “Ryan” that’s super-important, like if his mom is a politician, etc.
They didn’t say he was bigger than she i.e. that he is more powerful or more influential, but that he was more popular at the moment because he has sympathisers and that she could further lose support by trying to send him to jail.
Plus they are right at the door of the building, did he plan to chase them through the building if they entered it, even if there are other people in? Damn psycho.
Now I don’t know if Ryan js smart or not. On one hand he figured out Amber’s Amazi-girl. On the other hand he’s about to blow any chance he had of getting away with it in a crime of passion……..That’s kinda dumb.
SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DON’T PUNCH RAPISTS ENOUGH
(For real tho I’m covering for the awful sick feeling in my stomach with capslock right now and I’m hoping the comments can help me not freak out or dissociate or whatever the hell my brain is trying to do right now)
Willis has said nothing too bad will happen to the main cast. The situation is scary but Ryan’s really just digging his own grave here. It just escalated frome date-rape accusations to full on armed assault with two witnesses to testify against him. He’s gone. Hope that helps.
Yup. Nobody dies. With that, I think I’m a lot less scared than I’d be if it was a phone, actually. Physical pain is a lot easier for me to process than emotional pain.
Then again, Amber might be getting a huge dose of emotional pain right now. :/ And he knows. :/ But the fight? The fight should be relatively straightforward.
The only thing I’m slightly worried about is he might try to blackmail Amber by revealing her identity. I don’t know if he has any evidence to back up the claim, but Amber could be in trouble if he does. I kinda doubt it though.
Well, “nothing too bad” is relative, considering we’ve already had an attempted rape, an attempted suicide, an armed hostage situation, and it isn’t even halfway through the semester yet.
Two witnesses minimum. It’s a dorm, they tend to have exterior windows for rooms, multiple floors, and just generally a lot of places where one could see the door from, particularly if you hear something loud and distressing out the window.
… and regardless of what else happens, I’m guessing some loud screams/shouts are coming next…
For Ryan, it’s an utterly idiotic move. The police don’t seem like they were being particularly proactive about looking for him before (if they were looking for him at all), but assault with a deadly weapon (even if he doesn’t actually end up hurting anybody) will change that very quickly…
Willis has said none of the primary characters (or, if I remember correctly, *any* character attached to them) will die in DoA, because the characters that cared about them would then be in mourning for the next several *real time years*, and he.. really, really doesn’t want to deal with that.
(Though I also realize that saying that may not help-just because you know, rationally, X won’t happen doesn’t stop the possibility of X from freaking oneself out. =/. )
Thank you. I’m not sure what I thought was going to happen, but one thing my traumatized lizard brain reacts to very strongly is the feeling of being “trapped”, physically or metaphorically. But I think I’m okay now.
The Lizard Brain is important, but it can also be a right asshole sometimes. Regardless, you felt what you felt-I’m just glad I was able to help a little/that you’re feeling better.
Hi Shiro’s brain. This is a fictional comic, and ‘Ryan’ is not in the room with you. He is not a person, and he is not a threat. Thank you for trying to protect Shiro. You are safe and OK. <3
(ps. That’s how I talk to my brain — it helps me, but every person and every experience and every brain is different. I intended absolutely no sarcasm/disrespect/condescension, I mean my words with full sincerity.)
Thank you ♥ Honestly that does help. I went and got a plush to squeeze, put on my most asskicking perfume, and then went and took a bit of time away from the computer to start what will almost definitely be an ill-fated alcohol-brewing experiment, and now I’m feeling better.
Rather apropos considering the sack of garbage up at the top, but according to some accounts Spartan women may have carried small knifes with them with the express purpose of cutting the face of any man that tried to assault them, leaving a constant visible reminder on him for the other men and women to shame him.
No clue if that is historical fact, bit it definitely sounds like a customer we should attempt to adopt today.
Remember before the circumstances of what made Amazi-girl
It was her way to be confident again, to express her violence for justice and give her empowerment.
She needed to be amazi-girl in order to feel that fearless sensation and fight evil, no matter what the odds.
but this isnt amazi-girl. this is amber, still scared of knives and still dealing with demons of the past.
At least, in amber’s perspective anyway. Now is the fight or die scenario where she NEEDS to be Amazi-girl, even without the costume.
To know, that all along, she has what it takes to overcome her weaknesses and have the strength to protect the ones she cares about.
in this scenario, amber and amazigirl must be one and the same.
or neither will survive.
(but if Sal comes in and helps Amber, it will also help put the past behind of how she hates Sal for that event in the past as well. here’s hoping for that too)
Exactly. Ryan would have been much better off with an Amber voluntarily restrained by a comic book code. Now he’s dealing with unfiltered Amber, all of the skills and none of the restraint.
That…would probably be very BAD for Amber and Amazi-Girl. No, not probably, definitely. I just think of the psychological damage it could further cause in Amber…
Not that I would be against damaging him, but it would just lead to another mental issue for Amber. (not that the whole situation wasn’t already traumatising) I’d vote for someone else sweeping in, if possible :/
Yes, it would be bad. It would get messy, and she couldn’t hide, anymore. But, Dorothy would NOW make sure she gets help (Danny and Ethan would back her up, with info. Hmm, Sal would be a wild-card due to her aversion to “therapy”, though she wants AG to stahp!) (Dina’s heart was in the right place, by protecting Amber, but she didn’t know enough)
LELAND RYAN JERKFACE MCGEE
(THE THOROUGHLY HORRIBLE PERSON)
Pulled out a knife –
(He’d had a phone, but stuffed it in his jerkin).
Then he was set upon by Sal
(Who in a bush was lurkin’).
And she PUMMELLED L.R.J. McGee
(THE THOROUGHLY HORRIBLE PERSON).
I think it’s because a shot happens faster – and you maybe don’t really realise it in the first fractions of seconds? You hear the sound and feel the pain (after a very fast impact), but with a knife – it can happen fast, but still slower than a gun shot, and you not only have the knife going in but also out…
ARGH, now I’ve even made myself uncomfortable with thoughts like these. Big sorry here – I’ll just say: it freaks me out too!
Also, most people are surprised to learn that stab wounds are actually more likely to be fatal than most small arms fire, if we’re talking about getting stabbed once versus being shot once.
Also, it’s a lot easier to completely miss when you’re shooting someone.
Everyone has a few knives in their kitchen. Only a quarter of adults are gun-owners (and dropping, though total guns are rising, because there are more people stockpiling/collecting).
I might be wrong, but I’ve heard that serious knife fights are actually significantly more dangerous than gun fights- unless it’s an shot to the heart or head, then a gun can put someone down without killing them and treatment gives them a reasonable chance of getting back up. With a knife fight, though, by the time you’re actually incapacitated, you’re very, VERY likely to bleed out before treatment can be administered.
Yeah. In my city just a few weeks ago, a high school kid stabbed another kid – in school. It was apparently over a girl. The kid who did the stabbing had been bullied and threatened for weeks by this guy and his friends. But, rather than tell anyone, he brought a knife with him to school and when they jumped him, he stabbed one of them. Now, two kids have basically lost their lives because one is dead and the other is going to prison for the rest of his life pretty much. So, yeah, I think that knives are ridiculously fatal.
…I’m pretty sure that if she gets inside, they’re not going to let a scarred, hooded, knife-wielding person in hot pursuit follow her into the building without even signing in. I mean, jeez, some standards, right?
“My dad’s gonna see [this anonymous accusation against me with no legally admissible evidence, currently], so attacking the pair of you will somehow improve this situation!”
On the bright side, here’s hoping he’ll end up in prison.
Well yea but he after his you reap what you sow quote directed at Joyce he’s already proven that he somehow thinks that suffering negative consequences for his actions are someone else’s fault in his mind. Come to think about it he really needs to realise what he is saying applies to him.
I mean, Joyce talked to a boy at a party and drank sprite. That’s literally asking for it, right? Should’ve been at home praying and doing embroidery like a good woman.
I hazard to guess that his dad already knows Ryan’s been in situations akin to this before, but may not know the extent of his behavior. Ryan might have lied to his family, gotten away with things, and been given an ultimatum about his lesser sins.
To allegorize, if a 16-y.o. just got their license and borrowed the family car without permission and woulda gotten away with it except the odometer change was noticed, the parents would read the riot act. But if they drove a buncha kids to a kegger in the woods, with lots of underaged drinking, and the cops were called, but they got away, they’d gladly cover that up from mom and dad for the lesser punishment of borrowing the car.
He has to have some kind of ace here. He couldn’t possibly be dumb enough to try this shit in front of a public building right? There’s gotta be some kinda posse or something that’ll give him an edge? Otherwise, I expect to see an idiot’s ass get kicked in the next few updates.
He doesn’t seem to be the type that thinks things out. He tries to drug a girl at a party where she has friends, and made more as well. Someone who wasn’t drinking alcohol, so the fact that she was feeling buzzed was a glaring alarm.
This was a pretty dumb plan on his part, even if he does has a posse. Threatening two young women with a knife outside a public building with security cameras is not a plan with an exit strategy. The DeSanto rally made Ryan desperate, and it’s making him even more unhinged
Ryan has a history of being really dumb. Not only did Joyce have friends at that party but he also thought the best place to assault her was in a bathroom that there was a huge line of people coming towards. Then when she tried to leave that situation he loudly yelled at her while admitting what he was doing in front of witnesses.
Okay Dorothy’s close enough to the door she could probably get away safely but Amber will almost definitely get stabbed even if she does get the upper hand.
A knife. Of all the things that he could have come up with, he brings a knife.
Ryan had better hope that Sarah shows up with her baseball bat again, because THIS time, Amber is not going to cower behind a snack-food rack. And Ryan is going to get everything that is coming to him.
Honestly I’m hoping for anybody to show up but it being Sal would be the most satisfying from a story telling perspective.
Option b) Joe because he’s got a habit of showing up out of nowhere Option c) Danny because his last appearance was Amber telling him to leave her alone because she’s not his “problem” anymore. I’d like to see that followed up on…in this horrific traumatizing circumstance.
Considering in this situation there’s no real solid evidence of the attempted rape this will be a lot easier to convict on. Especially with cameras everywhere and the likely fact that there will be physical evidence of an attack. In the real world I’m not going to look up statistics but attempted murder doesn’t carry the victim stigma and judgment that attempted rape does. People are likelier to report an attempted murder versus an attempted rape. So I’m gonna go with probably.
Yes, assuming the rates for attempted murder convictions are inline with those for murder convictions (as opposed to assault convictions):
“The probability that a defendant would eventually be
convicted of the original felony charge was highest for
those charged with a driving-related offense (64%),
murder (60%), or drug trafficking (55%). The lowest
probability was for those charged with rape (35%) and
assault (33%).”
– Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2009 – Statistical Tables
Seeing as there isn’t any real evidence for the attempted rape other then witnesses (The weakest form of evidence), and that they put his face online clamming he’s a rapist, my guess is, this falls under provoked violence.
So as long as Ryan doesn’t have any priors he might get of with a slap on the wrist, while Dotty and Amber gets charged with defamation.
Defamation is a tort, not a crime, in Indiana, so nothing to charge them with. If Ryan did try to sue, his lawyer would probably point out that he’s putting himself in the position where he has to prove he didn’t attempt rape – i.e., no benefit of the doubt, as opposed to what he would get if he were charge with the crime of attempted rape, where he just has to keep the prosecutor from proving he did it.
They might be liable for defamation, but I don’t think you get to stalk people with a knife even if they’ve defamed you. Fighting words in the heat of the moment might be a defense, but this goes far beyond that.
We’re currently standing at essentially “assault with a deadly weapon”, which is a pretty serious felony. If he actually attacks, it’s at best “battery with a deadly weapon”, if not attempted murder.
All premeditated – he clearly sought out the people who’d posted his picture.
Yeah, but the glass was likely cleaned up and thrown out weeks ago. They would have had solid evidence on wrongdoing on his part if they had went to the cops the night of the incident. But as soon as Sal’s advice not to go to the cops was listened to any chance of getting him convicted for what he did flew right out the window. So now, at least a month after the fact, all that’s left is the witness’s memories. And the human memory is so prone to forgetting and being altered by bias that any lawyer worth their salt can tear apart a case made only from month-old witness statements like tissue paper.
Would have back then, but doesn’t now.
Then, there would have been one of the best cases possible for attempted rape – other than Ryan getting away and the chance that no one could find him. Drugs, no question of consent, etc.
“falls under provoked violence”? there’s something really disturbing about this comment. Like, do you think that’s an actual legal defense, anywhere? Or that it’s justifiable on any moral level to respond to accusations of a crime by trying to kill the accuser?
Or did you just mean that the US is so fucked up you won’t be surprised if *he* could get away with arguing that way despite the law not working that way on paper?
It’s kind of sad that Willis has said no one dies in the strip, makes excellent moments like this lose a little bite. That said, holy shit I can’t wait.
people can get injured you know. Even lose partial functions to their organs or become paralysed. Imagine Dorothy having to be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life
Tempt not the fates, lest something something things get shitty.
But yeah, freedom from death actually adds a bit to the tension. I mean, we’ve had drugings, armed kidnapings, general beat-downs, depression, alcohol issues, psychological issues, and lots of lesser (but still impactful) things happen. Methinks what’ll happen over the next few pages will be pretty stressful.
That would have pretty much the same sort of repercussions that Willis is avoiding with no deaths: prolonged angst that would last basically forever because of the pace of the strip. Like we’d have to go through literally years of Dorothy recovering in a hospital followed by more years of grieving and coping and it would just be exhausting to read.
Here’s what I wonder: Amber’s so heavily separated “Amber” from “Amazi-Girl”, how capable is she of pulling out her hand-to-hand combat skills when she’s out of costume? Because she doesn’t look like she’s ready to enter combat mode here.
That being said, I’m pretty sure this close to the building and in porch lights “Ryan” is on a security camera. It can’t possibly take much to get him arrested after this.
She started out as Amazi-Girl wen she took on Blaine, but as it progressed she reverted (for want of a better term) to Amber … and that’s when her rage became almost uncontrollable, to the point she’d have likely beat him to death had not Danny stepped in and pulled her off. So I think that even in ‘civvies’, Amber would be able to give Ryan all he could handle and then some.
When she punched Blaine in the hall, and ran to the stairs, she didn’t calm down until she physically put her mask on. Amber’s rage is unchecked, AG is controlled. This is why Amber looks/sounds so scared, but the last panel is red. Amber is about to hulk-out. This could be where Sal shows up, and learns the truth about AG, and helps take down Ryan, so Amber doesn’t actually kill him. In her freak-out, Amber may say something to Sal that may start puzzle pieces to inch closer. Maybe after Dotty calls 911, she calls Ethan or Danny to help Amber?
Everybody keeps asking for Sal to show up, but this guy is a pastor’s son and Sal is a PoC with a violent criminal record including knife offenses. If Sal shows up and helps, she is absolutely going to jail, and Ryan gets a free out, because he will be perceived as the victim because he has less melanin in his skin.
The biggest aspect of the costume isn’t the mask. It’s attitude and readiness to fight. Amber almost never stands with Amazi-girl’s posture and almost never assumes a fight position and almost never takes command like Amazi-Girl does.
She’s actually not though. Her voice is shaking, she’s not in any kind of combat stance – more trying to push Dorothy inside. She is kind of taking command.
I kind of hope he was following some kind of lead that led him to expect AG here, because otherwise it really undermines the whole “secret identity works” thing and we’re back to wondering how dumb all the main characters are for not recognizing her.
Amber is right. However, IMHO, BOTH she and Dorothy should get inside the locked building and then start screaming their heads off, while taking out their cell phones to get pix and videos of this man threatening them with a knife.
I know Amber has mad fighting skills, but that a HECK of a big knife and Ryan-Middle-Name seems pretty desperate. And even if he is a student, when I lived in college dorms, there were always cameras and security guards at the entrances and exits. His status as a student shouldn’t matter once he is seen to be physically threatening two women.
I personally would be very gratified to have Amber/Amazi-Girl beat him down, but I’d also like to see an example of the system *working.* There have been too few cases of that lately. Ryan-Middle-Name deserves to be expelled and imprisoned for what he did. And yes, he *absolutely* deserves to have his father find out, no matter what that means. (I’m kind of wondering if his father is someone with political connexions?) He deserves to have his crimes made public and his name associated with everything he’s done. That will ultimately, IMHO, “hurt” him a lot more than a beat-down from Amazi-Girl. (Not to mention the fact that he seems to be blackmailing Amber here, so if she breaks out with her fighting skills, he may be planning to entrap her for some of her previous actions.)
Quick side-note: I’ve had some self-defense instruction and the instructors whom I’ve trusted have said that, if you are attacked, the best course of action is to (1) run and, while doing so, (2) scream as loud as you possibly can. (This holds true for all genders.) It’s not as glamourous or potentially cathartic as facing down your attacker, but it gives you a better chance of escape. For example, in this fictional situation, we know Ryan-Middle-Name has a knife so we can talk about how Amber could disarm him. But who’s to say that he doesn’t also have a *gun* hidden on his person somewhere? I’ve avoided some physical assault by screaming and running. It didn’t make me feel cowardly; it made me feel like I wasn’t going to be beat up or killed. :/
Mainly what I’ve heard about knife fights, even when you know what you’re doing, you’re *going* to get cut, but if you have training you get some say in where and how badly.
In this fictional situation, at that distance, a knife is as dangerous as a gun, if not more so. A gun is a ranged weapon. Even a pistol. If you’re using it in melee something went horribly wrong for you somewhere (aside from the whole “fighting someone who is trying to kill you” thing).
One of the people who taught me some self-defense was a close friend of mine who was once a really committed martial artist. I own a bunch of knives because I like them (I have more than a few Gil Hibben knives and some fantasy knives). This friend taught me some basics about knives, like how to stab someone if I ever had to.
When I asked him if he could teach me to knife-fight, he flat-out said, “NO.”
He told me that the best thing he could teach me about knife-fighting was NEVER to get into a knife fight. He even taught me basic knife defense reluctantly and told me I should never, EVER pull a knife on someone unless I was completely sure my life was on the line.
Any sensible self-defense teacher will tell you that if you are ever confronted with a knife your best bet is to run. The crap they taught you in karate class is a bunch of b.s.
I don’t think it’s necessarily BS, but that it’s only applicable in a very controlled situation, such as in a meet where you and your opponent have both agreed to abide by certain rules and regulations.
Real fights aren’t like that.
I personally think that some of the mainstream action movies and video games have led people to believe that it’s easy for anyone with a weapon and/or determination to take down an attacker. No, it’s really NOT like that. And as skilled as Amazi-Girl is, I’m not sure she can take down Ryan-Middle-Name.
This is a girl who fought a guy with a gun on top of a moving car. Who goes out and beats up muggers as stress relief. We’re not exactly in ultra-realistic territory here.
They do. She gets to play by superhero tropes most of the time.
I hope she’s not pushed back down to “realism” here. Because that’s more dangerous of course, but also because it doesn’t work well for narrative continuity for her to change back and forth.
Aw, Dorothy is freezing up.
I hope she won’t beat herself up about it afterwards… but that’s a Later-Dorothy problem, let’s take care of the Now-Dorothy problem, first. Run, Now-Dorothy.
Ryan isn’t the brightest bulb in the box. I mean, he doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong even though he understands that society looks down on rape, he thinks he’s the good guy here, and he thinks murdering two people is the best and most logical solution.
It’s a thing that shows up pretty frequently. The same toxic masculinity and love of power that leads someone to sexually assault can easily lead them to murder if they feel “thwarted” or “tricked” or in some other way “disrespected”.
And with the dominant narratives about how “rape accusations ruin lives”, it’s easy and sadly common for a rapist who’s been accused to feel personally wrong done by whoever reported them and seek out revenge against them, either with threats or violence
Target women with teeth who look initially like soft targets. He thinks that small scared woman means easy target and ends up woefully mistaken because, in this comic especially, those types of women tend to also be major badasses.
My guess is it’s a reference to the Portland train stabbing incident. It’s recent and involved a knife (whereas things that get more national attention tend to involve guns and/or explosions). I’d actually mentioned the same thing to a friend when discussing this strip.
This wouldn’t be a problem if Amber’s subconscious mind had the ability to shred people who annoyed her into their component atoms. All the people left would be very nice.
Oh dear, this is most disagreeable and raises heavy concerns.
(HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!)
Panel 1: Oh, cool violent rapist who’s literally been stalking you knows your full name. That’s not terrifying or nightmare inducing at all. Like Dorothy needed any more stress on her plate at the moment.
Panels 2-4 (the women): The 3 trauma responses, fight, flight, or freeze. And the worst part of it is when an unexpected traumatic event occurs, you often have little choice what type of trauma response you’re going to have.
From this, we see Dorothy’s trauma response at the moment and she’s unlucky to have the one I have which is “freeze”. Dangerous in a situation like this, because it can leave you quite at the mercy of a violent asshole who means you harm as he clearly does.
Amber, on the other hand? Honestly, we’ve seen every trauma response from her and hers seems to be some mix of flight and fight. She’s pushing Dorothy to tun, but is also very clearly blocking the angles where she can so he’ll have to go through her to get to Dorothy.
And this is most meaningful because this isn’t Amazi-girl, this is the Amber alter. And it’s that Amber alter showing that same core heroism she assumes is solely a trait of AG, protecting another even though she is terrified and scared. And hopefully it’s a sign of Amber rejecting more and more the golden alter narrative of AG’s… assuming that the damage from this traumatic event doesn’t set her back a ways which is very possible.
Just because this is Amber rather than Amazigirl this could be EXTREMELY ugly. Last time she went up against a punk with a knife it was only Amber too.
for me, like, the freeze response is really tied to overthinking. but also like – thinking through all the options? a little bit flee, and a lotta bit analyzing What To Do.
which is – Amber, right now, is very aware of all their options, because she’s been here before where Dorothy hasn’t. and she is fighting to survive, because that’s what she’s always done.
My full freeze response is on a different level from decision paralysis. It’s more like… I’m not thinking, I’m not aware of not thinking, I just get shoved aside and fed false data until the situation is over, and the part in control tends to blindly follow orders and be very agreeable. Thankfully she does sometimes find a way to gracefully extract me from the situation but she’s more likely to… Not. This has led to a couple of disturbingly narrow escapes.
Yup. My freeze tends to be almost a complete paralysis and a full dissociation of most of what I’m experiencing, so it makes it harder to retain features like what people look like and instead retain very specific details I overfocus on instead as part of the dissociation.
It’s kind of a shitty trauma response all around and tends to make me a sitting target for harmful jackholes.
like – i’m not sure i’m entirely aware of, like, what’s a trauma response and what’s a bad coping mechanism. like – sitting at the computer and isolating myself in my room all day when somebody i don’t trust comes over, forcing myself to deal with their presence in my home without any effective escape routes from the stress! trauma response, or bad coping mechanism? WHO KNOWS.
and i know that, like, my whole system is kind of built to anticipate/evaluate possible threats at this point. more emotional, but physical’s up in there too. my system is so much geared to emergency mode that when there isn’t an emergency sometimes i’m like “wait no this is a lie there has to be an emergency SOMEWHERE”. i will legit straightup invent emergencies, and i am very side-eyey of this part of myself at this point lmao. like, just….breathe….let it Go………. it’s o k. and even if it’s not it will eventually be ok, more often than not
i realize that this is probably sorted under generalized anxiety disorder but i’m not really sure how this intersects with, like, trauma. i just know that my brain feels like if i don’t do something when something bad happens that’s the same as just letting it happen. which is not something you have to feel, brain! can’t take on responsibility for everything bad that happens in the world! there is no magic solution where you will be able to predict the future, or timetravel back in the past and change everything!! bad shit happens and then you have to deal with it! can’t stop the bad shit just how you react to it!! even superman takes breaks!
I’m not sure either, I don’t think it’s black&white, and I doubt the distinction is all that important – sorry, I didn’t intend to, like, invalidate what you were saying or anything, just wanted to clarify which kind of freeze I was talking about.
I get the decision paralysis and hypervigilance and expectations of time-travel and so on too. It really fucking sucks.
At least the dissociated false-data thing can’t sustain itself more than a few minutes. Hypervigilance… ugh, it wants to run 24/7 and eat all my spoons then yell at me for not doing things I needed those spoons for.
Part of my unexpected depression this week, I think, was from becoming aware of another layer of bullshit, how even *more* of what I thought was reasonable was actually unreasonable expectations it had been setting up. I thought it was helping, giving me some structure to follow to keep me from feeling awful about not working… but no, it was giving me another impossible set of tasks to stress over so I’d be too exhausted to see things clearly. Too exhausted to consider that maybe self-worth doesn’t come from outside, from what i *do*, that it’s not a thing that comes with strings attached, even if they seem like really useful pretty strings.
The thought of being okay with myself as I am right now, bad habits and all, is really scary. Because of more black&white thinking drawing insane conclusions about what that Really Means. But also some real fears, I think I’m gonna go think about this elsewhere, it’s turning into a really long rant
haha that’s a fair analysis!! i mean the divide between trauma and coping mechanism is important to me b/c it’s like. the difference between what happened to me and how i dealt with it/how i deal with it, but like. idk. i barely know how to identify what happened to me, because it was my whole life, more or less. i mean there are specific events here and there, but i don’t remember my fourth grade year hardly at all, and for most of the rest of it it was my normal. i didn’t even know to identify it as not-normal or not-okay until midway through college.
errrrgh that’s frustrating
something i’ve been realizing that i need to do is just…Relax, in situations where i can relax. and that it’s ok. and that it’s not the end of the world if i don’t make everything ok. and that very few people would expect me to be one hundred percent ok, and that those who would are not worth my time. and that, like, human connection is just like. stopping to be with other people without thinking too hard about what you’re doing or how you’re performing
which is, apparently, the Trick that is impossible to fully master
i dunno. maybe like the first step is to be ok with not being ok which is not so much like…actually being ok, but just accepting that you are wherever you happen to be without putting any judgments on it. and then like – ok, you have a self-hating thought, maybe respond with “wow that’s harsh”. and then you don’t have to hate yourself either for the thought or as the subject of the thought
but like even just. being aware of a thing that you’re doing is a step forward. you’re doing a good job!!!!
Yup. one thing that *does* seem to help with the follow-any-orders kind of freeze is having preset black&white rules for certain situations. Like, I don’t leave an event with someone I’ve just met any more, or at least I have to check with my friends first (which gets me away from the unsafe person, and my friends will be like, lol nope you’re staying with us). If I feel weird or confused about anything, I’m supposed to say no-thanks to whatever it is now, even if it makes me feel like a jerk.
I don’t know *how* likely I am to follow such rules, but there are times when I have and it has been a good thing. And the times when it was suboptimal, I’m trying to be okay with, because objectively the loss was tiny compared to the risk.
I also try to just not be at events alone… not that I can go to many events these days anyways…. aw damnit I just remembered an instance of breaking that rule this year. no wonder I’ve been avoiding going back there. Nothing bad happened, but it *could* have. and I thought I knew better. damn. okay maybe these rules don’t work as well as I thought. Not trusting myself sucks :/
I feel like this is an element of my freeze response, or at least it was the time I wound up the victim of a strong-arm robbery, though that incident is kinda complicated by the fact I went partially nonverbal.
Thinking about it the first two times I got mugged I had this freeze reaction, but also it was weird because I couldn’t hear anything. I don’t know if that’s a symptom of anything, but I could hear that the muggers were speaking words but I couldn’t understand them, and I just knew they were robbing me because of their body language and other things. The third one was weirder because the guy used a lot of mind tricks to confuse me and make me doubt I was even getting robbed, it was really complicated and used a ton of tricks to make you scared and feeling alone and paranoid (like saying “I know you got X money” in a way as if he had saw me before and was following me) but that time I was able to stop freezing and get away before he stole my phone. Made me feel like shit though
yup, that’s a thing that can happen. hell, my brain has stopped parsing english for a few seconds just randomly, too. and a sudden change in blood pressure fucks with the ears a lot. … ohhh, *that*s why my ears were spontaneously ringing a while back.
I think a big part of it for Amber is that her self-esteem and self-worth are so far down in the gutter that, when confronted with a situation such as this, there’s no immediate thought other than to “stall until the people who are actually worth a damn get to safety.” Especially since a big part of her trauma was having a friend put in danger while she did nothing; “never again.”
So, staying outside while Dorothy goes inside is a plan of action with several layers, here:
1) Amber doesn’t necessarily want to die, but her martyring herself in such a way that Dorothy is 100% guaranteed safe is absolutely acceptable losses, from her perspective.
2) Beyond this, Amber knows she can cope with this situation with some chance of success, and if Dorothy gets moving, she can get actual help there, which is preferable because she definitely doesn’t want Ryan to get dissuaded by a locked door and disappear again, and if she does die, they now have more specific information about who this guy is, and a bunch of his DNA on Amber’s corpse; this means that between the rumors, the pictures, knowing he actually is affiliated with a church, that Ryan is his middle name, that he isn’t a student at the school but is a former intern for the De Santo campaign, will make it very easy to capture and identify him. Since Amber and Amazi-Girl both feel responsible for not having caught him already, if they do die, they probably consider it their own fault, and a deserved fate, anyway, and by making that sacrifice it strongly increases the chance that Joyce and Dorothy will be safe and the villain will be brought to justice.
3) If Amber is alone when facing this fight, she is going to react with a lot more self-control and rationality than if she’s protecting someone. As triggers go for her, a friend to whom she feels 100% responsible for their safety being attacked by a criminal with a knife is just a touch on-the-nose. If Dorothy gets to safety, there’s a chance that Amber can resolve this incident with minimal violence and bloodshed. If Dorothy gets attacked on Amber’s watch? Amber knows what will happen then, and she’s trying to prevent that part of herself from coming out for the good of everybody involved, because despite her self-image, she is a phenomenally good and just person at heart.
I can definitely relate to that kind of thinking. When you think that way about yourself, and you place such a high moral value on protecting others, it comes to a point that this is an exact scenario you’ve run through your mind thousands of times in preparation. Amber having some severe PTSD/dissociation/etc (I’m not a psychologist here) specifically related to this exact worst-case scenario makes this even worse, and more high-stakes, than it already is. Today in DoA-verse is just the worst fucking day.
Actually, after reflection: There is a situation where I freeze, and that is where I am the target of purely verbal harassment. I can be very brave for other people. I totally freeze when it’s directed at me. Physical stuff wise – I’ve trained martial arts a good chunk of the week every week for too long for freeze to be a thing anymore. My body just does shit while my brain is freezing.
I don’t know why I can be really brave for someone else and a total coward for me, but I can. When there’s an explosion in the lab next door, I’m the one who runs toward the ominous silence yelling, “Are you ok?” Or when I hear a car accident, or when a weather disaster hits my region and the dust has settled… It’s not even that I try to be brave, it’s that I literally don’t register danger because someone might be hurt. Like not even “this is a good thing to do” but more I’m wired in a way that I can’t not do it. But if some dude is groping me on the bus, I’ll sit there in silence. I can’t explain it, but it’s the thing.
I totally relate to stuff like that. Physical violence doesn’t scare me at all. I’ll fight five dudes, I don’t care. If I die, I die. But get one person screaming in my face in a situation that I don’t feel like I can escape from…complete physical and mental shut-down. I can’t cope with it.
*appropriate gesture of support* Freezing is probably the worst. My problem is that I lack a flight response. I have to force myself into something other than fight when fight is a *bad* option because my childhood basically taught me that flight just makes everything worse. That means that sometimes I have to force myself to freeze because otherwise everything is going to hell if I have an anxiety attack. Absolutely hate it, but I can’t manage a flight response and sometimes a fight response just isn’t warranted. When a fight response is though, I have even managed to keep things to just verbal – I was particularly proud of myself.
Well… I’ll be damned if that ain’t taking one on the chin for being wrong. I’ll just hope you don’t use that grav account on other sites, you may have some odd questions asked of you otherwise.
I was going to say it yesterday, but didn’t because I wasn’t sure it’d have been seen with the number of times you insisted it was his cell, but his cell phone is about twice the width of what we were seeing in his hand yesterday. In fact, the scale on it was almost more a small tablet than a phone which I particularly remembered because my own fairly large phone doesn’t cover as much of my own hand and I’m one of those people with fairly stubby fingers.
FWIW, between the panel where he brandished it and the way it’s drawn in the last panel, I think Ryan is using a knife that folds out, Swiss Army knife style but just a knife. Like a switch blade.
I think it was genuinely a rectangle yesterday, and until he flicks his wrist to extend the blade with that little arc line of movement.
This is my guess, but I’m only saying it twice on here as I’m not nearly confident enough for anything else
I wonder how he intended to explain the scar to his dad. If ‘some crazy chick cut me’ would fly at all, I’d think his ass of a dad would still buy it when the ‘crazy chick’ also spread ‘fake’ rape accusations.
Panel 3 (dickwaffle): I have so many feels about this unrepentant rapist pulling out one of my least favorite arguments which is the bullshit that rape accusations “ruin” people’s lives. Because outside of actual lynchings, the majority of the time that’s almost always the opposite of the truth.
We don’t punish rapists in our society. There are so many wife beaters and rapists in the entertainment industry, in sports, in politics that we just look the other way on, even ones who rape kids. Our current president admitted on a hot mic that he raped women and frequently did creepy sexually harassing and assaulting things with young women and was accused multiple times of raping a child.
Rape accusations often in general make one more supported in one’s community because the zombie myth that “rape accusations ruin lives” means people pour out of the woodwork to assume you’re a good boy done wrong by lying terrible people who must be destroyed even if your daily life is setting people’s housepets on fire.
And victims tend to be the ones who have their lives ruined from rapes. Both from the years of PTSD that comes with any sexual assault (I think I’m about 9 years out from my rape and I still have flashbacks every so often and a giant mass of triggers that pop out on various things), but also from how you are treated if you report it in any way.
Abused by cops who act like you’re lying and mistreat you or worsen the trauma of the assault, put into a justice system that puts you and your entire sexual history up for grabs to see if you’re considered virginal enough to be seen as a worthy victim, treated as a liar and someone “ruining lives” by one’s community.
And that’s if you report to cops. So many avoid this but still end up losing community as they try and tell folks what happened or obliquely try and warn people about the dangerous predator in the community targeting folks.
His life is at most inconvenienced, but it is very clearly not ruined even in the slightest, but for the type of entitled fuck that commits crimes of sexual violence, inconvenience is seen as equivalent of ruining one’s life, which is why many view a woman not sleeping with them as some sort of personal affront.
And this fucked up trope is compounded by everything else in this scene. He’s had a “rough day”, because what, his picture is being spread around with accurate information about a crime he damn well knows he actually committed and is unlikely to ever see the inside of a jail cell for, even though the person he attacked has been suffering intense PTSD flashbacks and that’s not counting the likely multiple women he’s “successfully” raped in the past, perfecting his little drugging technique.
But again, for this type of entitled piece of shit, the idea of facing consequences for actions is anathema. See various folks who spend huge number of hours trying to get kids to kill themselves who become stunned when they are actually arrested for their attempted murder. Because they were so used to being able to do anything they wanted to harm someone while the system around them would protect them from ever having to pay for it.
And for a guy like Ryan, none of that can ever be his fault, it must be someone with less social power, ideally a woman. Percussion instruments are keeping him down and for no reasons and having a slight inconvenience to his day is his life ruined forever to the point where he needs to stalk and threaten a woman with a knife in “revenge” for her noting that he committed a crime that he committed.
And the sickest part of this is this isn’t all that fictional to what happens in life all the time. It’s the other risk of reporting. That someone, either the person accused or one of their friends will get violent and come after you. Maybe they’ll threaten you, maybe they’ll harass you, maybe they’ll try and kill you, but they are rabid to punish a woman who dared talk about it.
Like, all Dorothy did was be ground zero for the publishing of an accurate account of events in a very minimal way. And for this a man wants to take her life, views her as personal responsible for somehow destroying him, is building a justification to take malicious glee in violently hurting her.
For something so small and not at all unfair, she in another universe, could die here. And that happens all the fucking time. Angry violent men full of aggrieved entitlement that the world conforms to the very specific way they’ve got in their head and kill anything that “ruins” that, whether it be an outspoken woman, a trans person just trying to have a nice day out, or someone trying to do right by their community.
And it’s what makes this whole comic so powerful. The moments like this that distill these real-world horrors.
Thank you for laying out explicitly that it’s the same sense of entitlement that makes them rapists that leads them to equate “inconvenience” with “ruined life”. That is exactly what seems to happen, but I wouldn’t have been able to line it up like that before.
Jedi hugs or other appropriate gestures to you and anyone who wants them. This storyline is rough as hell.
Here’s a thought. It’s almost a guarantee that he’ll blame these two if he ends up going to prison. Because it’s their fault he decided to come at them with a knife, of course.
I fear it’s much worse than that, he probably has absolutely nothing concrete on Dorothy in particular relating to his current social media circus. He does however have connections drawn between her and at least two, possibly three, other people he knows are involved in this. When he drugged Joyce, Dorothy was among the people that came directly to her aid while he was down (Billie and Sarah being the other two). With the events of the last few days, he’s likely been looking up everything he could on Amazi-girl and who does he find covering her (hell, even getting an exclusive interview with her)? Dorothy. Then he randomly comes across her with the class letting out early and she’s with Walky, who, as many of us discussed when that happened, looks, and plausibly vocally sounds, remarkably similar to Sal who was helping Amazi-girl deal with him. So, yeah, I suspect that he’s specifically acting against her because he has found some valid circumstantial correlations between her and all the people who are “trying to ruin his life”.
See I was gonna go with “lots of people seem to (wrongly) believe that rape accusations ruin lives, Ryan is probably one of them,” but I like your answer better.
His “rough day” probably consisted of women he offered drinks politely declining and quickly leaving in company. His MO will not work in this place as long as the internet remembers. He also fears his father’s reaction, which might include disappointment, but based on history, will probably also include paying for any lawyer he needs, and protection from real world consequences.
I swear to God Willis if either of these girls is seriously injured or killed I am going to move to Bloomington, buy an eatery near campus, then add pcikles, ketchup and ranch dressing to anything you order. Even drinks!
That’s why you want him to move to Bloomington.
Really, we only say things like “Damn you Willis!” because this is so damned well written. His-middle-name-is-Ryan is a very complex and simple and awful human being. I truly hope he gets his comeuppance and his ass kicked. I’m personally rooting for Sal and maybe Marcie but that’s because we haven’t seen Marcie in a while and I like Sal. But, Joe or campus police would work out just fine. Or, hey, what’s Whitney doing now? That’d be a weird-ass plot twist. Have some fun.
Panels 4-5: Welp, fuck. He’s got a knife and no bonus points for him thinking it’s time to slash some faces to “get revenge” for his scar (which if he’s rich and politically connected as has been hinted at, it’s not exactly all that much of an imposition to fix that if he doesn’t feel like he wants to take the time to let it heal naturally).
And that hits home especially lately. Because of various mass murderers who began by “getting revenge” against a specific woman for some often imagined crime that somehow “ruined their life” and especially because of the Portland nazi who slashed throats simply because he faced the bare minimum of social consequences for his violent racist abuse of literal children.
Because for some disciples of this toxic masculinity death cult, owning one’s shit makes you weak. Not being entitled or hateful makes you weak. But violence makes you strong, so when you feel “emasculated”, commit violence to feel strong again. It’s the rot behind so much casual common monstrous harm.
And it’s the standing threat so many of us who are women and enbies experience going outside or interacting with others or doing much of anything. That this might be the day that someone out of an aggrieved sense of entitlement may take our life for literally the smallest of reasons.
Because we turned them down, because we recognized them as creepy, because we didn’t return their hello, because we resisted or reported their rape, because we existed in a presumed genitalia configuration that filled them with rage that their wank fantasy got interrupted, because we had an existing romantic partner, because we existed in places they thought we shouldn’t.
Ryan is just a spoke of that giant toxic network of terrorism and the fear it promotes and we can only hope that this is the point where he finally takes it far enough to actually face a legal consequence for his actions.
And yeah, that he knows Dorothy’s name, that he knows Amber is Amazi-girl, that he knows that they life in this hall and thus how close he is to finding Joyce again… it’s so bad, but at least he’s monologuing enough to drop enough they need to update their post with his real name… assuming they survive, which makes me worried that Ryan’s intention in this exchange is to make sure neither of them survives it.
Also, poor Amber, it’s her perspective and a red panel. One more terrifying trauma of violence and it’s another knife crime, like the one that helped prompt her initial split into her alters. This is literal nightmare come to life after already having her safe space smashed apart, an incredibly triggering RA meeting, and being dumped by her journalist.
And once again, at a moment when Amber needs her the most, AG is nowhere to be fucking found. Fucking golden alter punk.
*CONTENT WARNING*
Ouch, ouch, ouch. Yes, of course he intends to slash faces to get “payback”. That disfiguration type of revenge is it’s own wonderful part of the toxic masculinity package, at it’s worst exemplified by the acid-attacks by men intended to “ruin” the women that have wronged them.
I hadn’t clued in on the red panel before you pointed it out, and now that I notice it, I feel conflicted feelings. On one hand, red panel Amber is a savage berserker that would inflict exactly the type of brutal beatdown on Ryan that would be so cathartic to see. On the other hand, the aftereffects of that would be extra traumatic for her and she doesn’t need more of that.
Red-panel Amber might be exactly the thing this situation needs, if a quick violent response is what we’re after. Amazi-Girl would be preferable because she turns that fear into thought, for all that she is also toxic to Amber. But yeah, red-panel Amber might just be a bad idea here because that would be a heaping helping of bullshit her psyche doesn’t need right now.
I totally missed the red panel connection to “raging Amber” mode. As I said yesterday, if she manages to (and she hasn’t frozen, so I think that’s where this is going), I think it’s *good* that it’s Amber handling this and not AG. Because much of Amber’s issues started when she saw herself “failing” (in quotes, because not going up unarmed against someone with a knife isn’t any sort of failing, though she perceives it otherwise) to protect Ethan from Sal. Saving Dorothy from a much similar situation should be good for her self-esteem.
It being Amber here and not AG also goes in accordance to what you’ve often said – “golden” alters are more of the gold-plated variety and if you give them a scratch the paint starts flaking off.
As long as Amber can stay enough in control of herself not to go overboard on him – like she did with Blaine. The red panel does not bode well for that.
Oh no! His dad is going to know he drugs and rapes girls! And then he’s going to find out that Ryan also goes after them with knives when they dare try to bring him to justice! It must be horrible to be Ryan at the moment.
Churchy McScarface looks like an evil monk from a Victorian murder mystery, with his Bible quotes and his unfortunately-for-you’s; I can practically hear the British accent.
And I just now realized why Willis put that Bible quote shopper video on his Tumblr. Well played.
Okay, so the answer The Jeff and I posed yesterday is answered. He is ver, very stupid and clearly thinks that being (a) male and (b) popular with the ‘bros’ makes him physically as well as socially invulnerable. Something tells me that he is going to learn the error of that assumption in a prolonged and powerful way.
I wonder if he’ll end up with a knife through the hand?
I’m going to guess that it probably has something to do with that. But I’d wager good money that his dad is probably influential enough (congressman or politician maybe?) that he’s just always had immunity to repercussions for his actions.
Oh my god. I just had an epiphany. Sal’s going to show up to help with Ryan/Leland, bringing both Amber’s storyline and her own full circle, aiding her Amber against the same kind of attack she made against her years ago, and getting back at the guy who pushed Marcie all those years ago on the playground.
It will then turn out that Leland’s father has been Robin’s political opponent all this time. The news will get out (since Dorothy, the reporter, is right there), and Robin will (as undeserved as it may be) get her congressional seat back, now on a new pro LGBT latform she would otherwise have no chance at winning with in her district.
I’ve also been assuming that Ryan = Leland since he was introduced in Sal’s flashback panel (they look too similar to me; also it didn’t seem like a red herring or anything) and toying with the Leland Ryan Manley angle…But what kills it for me is that Ryan’s dad is a preacher. I mean, I guess his dad could be a Democratic preacher-turned-politician, though?
Oh shit.
I know this was written and drawn a while back, but its release on the heels of the Portland MAX stabbings is unsettling (the one on the Lloyd Center station platform a week and a half ago, and the one on the train a few days ago).
Yeah, the context definitely raises the stakes quite a bit and I can’t help feel the same kind of absolute myopia from Ryan as that nazi fuck’s assertion that being able to slash people’s throats without consequence was somehow a free speech issue and going to jail for it was somehow a violation of that “free speech”.
Ugh. I’ve seen several of those kinds of fucks on Facebook and Twitter trying to argue those guys were somehow the aggressors, who “stupidly escalated the situation”
I found it disheartening until I realized how desperately they’re flailing to try to sell that garbage. To either paint themselves the victims or to make people afraid to stand up to them, because they’ve been seeing a flood of people praising those men as heroes and encouraging each other to follow their example. And that scares the hell out of those racist pieces of shit.
It’s almost like you could throw a dart at a calendar and an event precisely like this one would have happened hundreds of times on any given day, anywhere in America. Pretty easy to find a coincidence, if you consider a finding a fish with a bullet in the barrel you shot a “coincidence.”
I think either the “opening the wrong way” is just an art error.
(Looing at the close up of the knife, there is nowhere for the blade to go *into*. Also, it would mean the blade being stored cutting edge up!
Giving Willis’ normal state of excellence, I’m going with it’s one of those “motion indicator” thingies! rather than a “blade opening indicator” thingy!”
I suspect Amber will do something badass as Amber. I say this with the understanding that this is a very similar situation as to the one that is still constantly haunting her (Sal pulling a knife out). she’s had character development since then.
I suspect that Amber will red-panel and freak out. Ironically, Dorothy ends up having to stop Amber from killing Ryan.
Before anyone says “Let her kill him”, just remember what Frieda said about Ryan having popular support amongst the local populace. Think about the headlines: “Mentally-ill daughter of local small-time crook murders respected honour student recently maligned with internet libel”. You all know that is the way it would go.
(Because she’s dressed as a prehistoric monster, not because I think she would actually eat a human. Also, not implying she’d be desperate enough to eat him because she’s technically homeless, just to be safe.)
listen becky eats pussies not cretins.. i will not Stand for this egregious mischaracterization, put forth about gay people by 1 horrendous individual known as “hannibal lector”.
u do not have to eat people in order to be gay!!! that is not a “newbie hazing ritual” or a “evolution of human cuisine” thank u very much dr. lector!!! please leave!! he has been officially uninvited from my next three dinner parties! check urself b4 u wreck urself m8
also say hi to dr. frankenfurter next time u see him, He Knows What He Did but i hope he and his new playmates R doing well
Not necessarily, certainly its the best option to ensure that at least one of them survives however, that video’s not really relevant to the situation. Most knife attacks like the one shown in the video are surprise affairs so the victim has no chance to defend him/herself.
Ryan’s already displayed his weapon so surprise is blown and Amber won’t be reaching for a gun to defend herself. The last time they fought it took Ryan and three of his “bros” to overcome her before Sal showed up.
Once they are trough here, will it help Amber to notice that Dorothy just freezes and is not able to act?
To put her own freezing up ages ago into perspective?
But what is with this guy? If he has favorable press now, why go after them with a knife? He won’t get favorable press for that (as long as Amber doesn’t kill him that is). Though as he is using a knife, she could rightfully plead PTSD.
That’s my guess too. With a mix of “dare mark me with a cut scar will you? We’ll see how you like it?” thrown in based on his comments to Amazi-girl when he pinned her down.
Which also makes him noticing Amber is Amazi-girl all the worse, because he’s got a lot of entitled aggrievement surrounding her.
Well, realistically, self defense allows them to incapacitate him. Killing him would be exceeding self-defense (at least in Germany).
And they are not on their own ground/in their own home which seems to justify killing anyone being there uninvited in the US.
In principle, in the US, if you’re not trained, you’re not expected to accurately judge the minimum required force to protect yourself. In practise, even trained law enforcement is not held to this standard.
Where “even” means “especially”. Trained law enforcement is given way more leeway to kill people because they thought they were threats than the general population.
(c) A person is justified in using reasonable force against any other person to protect the person or a third person from what the person reasonably believes to be the imminent use of unlawful force.
However, a person:
(1) is justified in using deadly force; and
(2) does not have a duty to retreat;
if the person reasonably believes that that force is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to the person or a third person or the commission of a forcible felony. No person in this state shall be placed in legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever for protecting the person or a third person by reasonable means necessary.
And, a forcible felony has been committed through Ryan brandishing that knife – it’s a threat of force against a human being, and imminent danger of bodily injury to a human being, either of which qualifies it as a forcible felony.
Just got this funny thought, if Amazi-Girl was more of a Punisher/Rorscach type of super hero. Holding the knife she took from Ryan “You know what the good book says? If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you” while pulling his pants down.
Apparently Ryan was smart enough to figure out Amazi-Girl’s identity, but that’s mitigated by his arrogance. He is concerned about his father learning about all this so either he’s not terrible like his son or he’s just been covering up his crimes so long that he’s sick of it and this will be the final straw.
Or it’s about avoiding the inconvenience of being chewed out by his dad for “fucking up and making problems for the family” as the dad is busy covering up the crime or smearing the victim.
It’s sadly quite realistic.
Having been mugged, I can’t say my attacker was sporting enough to assault me in plain view of a building with security cameras and probably several dozen witnesses and present a long-winded, mustache-twirling villain speech about his plans and motivations before attacking me. Though you’re right, there wasn’t a masked vigilante in my experience, either.
It’s getting late on a weeknight. I don’t know the IU campus, but at my college, there might have been one or two people hanging around the main lounge. Even if there were, the lounges all have nice big windows, which at night means it’s really easy to see if there’s people inside.
And I don’t think it’s at all certain that they have security cameras in the dorm entryway, or even on campus.
Then again, Ryan doesn’t seem like he really cares about consequences at this point
SUDDENLY- Billie comes up and one punch KOs him.
“Wow, good thing I was here, as I think Amazi-Girl is off getting smokes from a 24hr convenience store. I saw her there when I was picking up some booze.”
Alternate ending: The knife is replaced with an Anakin Skywalker toy. “Ryan” holds it up, close to his face, and asks what the toy thinks, and says “Now, this is pod racing!” in his best Jake Lloyd imitation.
A boxcutter would suggest slashing, but that knife is for killing.
Yes, they are standing by a door but he is close and the one second between swiping your card and the door unlocking is a long, long time. Not to mention the time it takes to get through the door and get it closed behind them and latched. So Amber’s command for Dorothy to get inside while she runs interference is right. I wonder if she personally expects to survive.
His dad could be the pastor of a politically influential megachurch. Worst of all possible worlds maybe.
Delicious Taffy; for what it’s worth, I thought it was a phone and my wife thought it was a knife.
Because it fits with my Gravatar. (Read it like you would read it from Mary)
Now now, we don’t know that, all we know is he drugged Joyce, something he hasn’t admitted to, we should give him the benefit of the doubt, he’s a pastors son after all.
In case it wasn’t clear, I’m talking on Marys behalf, I don’t agree with the sentiment at ALL!
Rachel: “Redemption is a myth! Abusers never change!”
Commenters: “You’re wrong, Rachel!”
[Minutes later.]
Ryan: “I’ve come to punish you girls for my own bad behavior!”
Commenters: “God damn it, Willis!”
Amber: “I’m going to handle a knife-wielding assailant, something I didn’t do before, therefore leading me to realise that I’m not a total failure and am indeed capable of changing.”
Commenters: “Nyah, Rachel!”
Yes, but Amber has no redemption to seek. She was a teen at the time of the robbery and she did exactly what a policeman would tell someone to do in such a situation. Now if her need for redemption leads to Ryan getting curb stomped then that works too, but she really has nothing to prove.
But she does have *change* to seek, via self-esteem – and in her eyes, her big failure was not saving Ethan, so it’s possible that saving not-Ethan now kickstarts the whole process.
But I agree – Amber did nothing wrong (and everything right) in not tackling the knife-wielding angry stranger.
Hmmm … we’ll have to see how Willis plays this, but I’ve suspected all along that Amber/AG are seeking absolution for Amber’s gratuitous assault–with a knife!–on a no-longer threatening prisoner in custody.
She did, up until she stabbed the already-apprehended robber in the hand.
She doesn’t need redemption for that because she was a kid having a panic attack and being egged on by her crap sack of a father, but that event is something she feels she needs to atone for.
Hopefully, how she responds to this knife-wielding assailant will give her some kind of catharsis. (And give Ryan some broken bones)
I think the problem is the absolute. Everyone has the possibility of changing and trying to make up for the harm they’ve done or move to no longer harm in the future.
But that doesn’t mean they’ll take it. Toedad was offered a chance by Becky to take it, several in fact, but he rejected each one. Blaine, Ryan, and Mary all had chances to walk away with the consequences they had from their actions rather than trying to reinsert themselves into things and thus escalating it.
All of whom could eventually turn over a new leaf, though I doubt anyone harmed by them would ever trust them again. And for folks like Ryan, that aggrieved entitlement makes it difficult for them to ever fully own the harms they’ve caused or settle for the incredibly minor consequences he’s gotten for committing those wrongs.
Oh, that’s just upped your anticipated damage from a femur to two, probably an ulna or some other lower arm/hand bits, and a cracked cranium.
If they keep your knife out of you anyway…
As I said above, while it messes with Amber’s superhero trope, I’d really love for the two of them to get inside the building and to safety (scream and run!) and get footage of him threatening them with a deadly weapon. I know it would be hard to make Joyce’s case against him stick at this point, but Ryan-Middle-Name’s assault on two of her close friends might go a long way towards his conviction on that as well (especially if Robin gets involved).
I still have a theory that this is at least partially a frame-up for Amber. He knows she is Amazi-Girl. If Ryan-Middle-Name “goads” her into fighting him, he may have evidence of that fact. (Especially because, as I noted, most college buildings have cameras all over the place.) In the eyes of U.S. law, Amazi-Girl has committed assault more than once. The resultant scandal, media attention, and court case would probably overshadow anything Ryan has done. In *his* “best-case” scenario, he could even try to claim he pulled a knife to defend himself against a dangerous vigilante. Dorothy’s testimony might not be considered trustworthy because she has publically defended Amazi-Girl.
I’m cynical, you say? Well, I DO live in the U.S. in the current political moment; I’m getting used to examining *everything* this way.
He’s already brandished a knife in a lethal manner. That’s assault with a lethal weapon, and Amber’s fully entitled to self-defense at this point. Cameras would just give more evidence of that fact.
…. but yeah, the justice system’s pretty screwed up and getting worse.
From what I understand that depends on the beliefs of the jury and judge. I mean she might have looked up the laws specifically to figure out what is technically legal and seems to like to reside in the grey areas.
I’m not sure it depends so much on the beliefs of the jury and judge, but rather on the U.S.’s continued committment to the 2nd Amendment and its committment to the right of self-defense. Anyone remember George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin? Zimmerman was exonerated for shooting a young man because he supposedly had “reason” to believe that Martin was a threat, despite the fact that Martin never actually pulled a weapon on him.
Don’t get me wrong: I COMPLETELY believe that someone who is honestly defending themselves against assault should not be penalized for doing so. However, that has been interpreted very loosely in the U.S. IIRC, there is something called the “Purple Paint Law” in Texas and some other U.S. states. That means that if a landowner paints their fenceposts or other boundary markers purple, it means “no trespassing.” And, if someone trespasses, the landowner is completely within their rights to kill them.
To keep giving my 98 cents about social commentary here…
Trayvon Martin did not have a weapon. Famously, after Zimmerman killed him, he was found to have a pack of skittles in his pocket. However, George Zimmerman had a weapon and felt that his existence was threatened by this young Black man.
Also, Trayvon Martin was wearing a black hoodie, which, to some people who analyzed the situation, made him “look suspicious.” Ryan-Middle-Name is both wearing a black (or dark-coloured hoodie) and also sporting a weapon, which he may claim he needs to defend himself against Amazi-Girl.
IMHO, this is a really pointed critique of racial and sexual critique in the U.S.
And how long til Sal shows up to save the day? I’ve guessing next Monday, 6/12, just as douchebag has Dorothy on the ground and is about to stab her. (Amber/AG having been temporarily incapacitated somehow.)
There are two of you. Run in opposite directions, yelling and screaming. Stay out of his reach and use your cell phones, both to call for help and film him. Also, it looks like that knife got bigger from one panel to the next.
Funny thing: all I could see yesterday was the guy’s creepy face, I didn’t even notice how he was holding the knife. Even I know better than to hold a knife like that.
today in #9chickweedlane i learned we have to be shown children learning and relearning what sex is, for Reasons, even though they already clearly know and have prepared nuanced questions about it!
also that Gran must hate, if she's still alive, how Old Juliette is the same but with gray hair
one of my favorite things is when a commenter explodes WHEN DO THESE CHARACTERS GET THERAPY but directed towards a character who canonically has a regular therapist
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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 ⋅ 2d
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 ⋅ 2d
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
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 1d
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com ⋅ 2d
Pavel
@spavel.bsky.social ⋅ 11d
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“…SAL”
*Sal busts in and dropkicks him Zangief-style*
–srsly tho, Amber’s already p good with a knife, we saw??
Oh I’d like to saw Ryan all right.
The problem here is if she can bring out her ‘inner amazi-girl’ or if her compartmentalizing will end badly. Like she has ten thousand issues tied to this and i- oh shit, actually, with all that about redemption, this might be a good redemption moment. We’ll see tho.
Indeed. If that is where this is going, the redemption would be “I’ve seized the criminal’s knife (again)… And I can discard it. Justice is not revenge.”
I seized a criminal’s knife (again), used it to cut his wallet out of his pants, dropped the knife, and took the wallet, so I can report the whole name, and end that …….’s expectation for a future.
Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please ….
She took on a guy with a gun while on the roof of a speeding car. Some cowardly little shit with a knife is nothing to her.
She was wearing the Amazi-girl costume then, though. I think Amber / Amazi-girl’s psyche is broken to the point that if she isn’t wearing Amazi-girl, she isn’t Amazi-girl
RIP Amber and Dorothy.
She still punched and bloodied her father when he was picking a fight with her… I think her being Amazi-girl might be Safer. Being Amazi-girl puts limiters on her anger and brutality. She tries to live by some super hero rules. On the other hand a sufficiently provoked Amber might just go berserk and beat the absolute shit out of her opponent. We’ll see ow it goes.
Amusing typo in that last line.
It may indeed go “ow”.
Heh, I’m hoping for some stronger effect than just ow XD
I think that qualifies as a ‘Freudian slip’.
That’s how Amber thinks, anyways. To herself, Amber has “anger issues” that need to be compartmentalized. She does that by channeling them into a sort of righteous anger, expressed by Amazi-Girl. But since Amazi-Girl has principles that have to be followed (whereas Amber is only human), Amazi-Girl can’t stab a dude in self-defense. Amber could kill him, 100%.
We’ve seen her – multiple times – be Amber with the mask on, and Amazi-Girl without it.
Knives are different from guns. You can get inside a gun’s effective range. Not so easy to do with a knife.
My point is more about experience. Ryan is just some creep with a knife he probably doesn’t even know how to use properly while Amber has considerable experience in beating people up.
Yes, but it is relatively easy to get outside the effective range of a knife.
The problem is that it’s not, ‘some cowardly little shit with a knife’, it’s that it’s ‘some cowardly little shit… with a knife‘.
Some of our fellow readers are worried that Amber might become paralyzed due to a similar incident in her past. Me? I see the exact opposite happening, only Amber will have a knife available, and we don’t know if Dorothy is strong enough to pull Amber off Ryan’s soon-to-be-shanked ass.
Yesterday I joked to myself about Dorothy having to pull off Amber after she stabbed Ryan in the balls, multiple times, incidentally traumatizing Joe (who had been stalking Dorothy himself waiting for Ryan to make his move) who’d wrestled Ryan to the ground while Ambers trigger was switching itself ‘on’. But that was when we had the possibility that it wasn’t a knife, and Ryan’s background wasn’t red…
Mind you, I’m not concerned at all for Ryan. He’s an attempted Rapist who’s currently menacing two women (and wants to raise the stakes to Assault With A Deadly Weapon, if not Attempted Murder and beyond). everything that happens to him is something he brought on himself. I’m more concerned for Amber, who might have to walk past a bloodstain on the steps to her dorm everyday for the rest of the comic, knowing she was the one who put it there. And Dorothy, who might blame herself for not watching her own back and leading Ryan there. Hell, might as well add Joyce, who now has confimation that Ryan could’ve been anywhere on campus, stalking her, and could get to her at any time. Each of these three has had a bad day (two of them in the past 30 minutes), and don’t need to have any reminders of Ryan to ruin the rest of their days here in IU.
Yeah this worries me a bit too. If she gets pissed enough she might go berserk and stab him how she stabbed Sal in the past. Pre-Sal Amber would freeze, but this Amber might just lose it and try to stab Ryan with his own knife…
Maybe knives are her kryptonite.
“I don’t need friends! I’ve got knives!
Wait!! Is that the stag-horn handle?
THERE HAD BETTER BE A TRIUMPHANT FIGHT SCENE ABOUT TO HAPPEN GOD HELP YOU WILLIS
GOD HELP YOU WILLIS
Tomorrow: Shots of people in bed, including a nice one of Dina/Becky cuddling.
End of chapter.
HE WOULD DO THIS
Sunday: Cut to Jason angsting about how to be a better TA.
With announcement over speakers of a student (no names named) being treated for a wound and some bleeding.
and by “people” you mean “knife” and by “bed” you mean “Amber’s ribcage”
Nah. One punch KO by Marcia.
Oh please, I sincerely doubt Willis is the kind of writer to kill of two or even one of his characters like this.
If he was, Amber would probably have died back when she was car surfing.
I checked the preview panels, and one of them seemed to have dorothy in it. So she should be okay-ish at least.
https://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/post/159723201407/july-6-2017#notes
Link, if anyone was wondering
Spoil-sport
Spoiler-sport.
FYI, that building in the background is the IU Health Center, so someone’s going to be needing medical attention.
Artie?
Oh.
So much for my “Dorothy gets kidnapped” theory.
Willis has said he has no intention of killing any character in DOA, because given the extended time frames, the rest of the characters would be in mourning *For the next several real-time years*.
Really hope he makes an exception for “Ryan” here.
Nobody would mourn him.
His mom?
Maybe not his dad.
Pretty sure a lot of readers are breathing sighs of relief in recalling that fact, considering the situation.
Then again, “not dying” isn’t exactly an especially restrictive condition. :S
I’m reminded of the second Aladdin movie. “You’d be surprised what you can live through.”
It would be difficult to kill a major character with the way Dumbing of Age handles time. Grief is all consuming and unless there was a massive time skip (which could theoretically happen) it would just be unending weeks of sadness.
Also Amber has way too much shit to still work through to die now, and Dorothy dying with some variation of “she was too good to survive in this world” would be some seriously hacky writing.
Dorothy was a Beautiful Cinnamon Roll, Too Good For This World, Too Pure.
Aaaaand now I want a cinnamon roll.
Way to go, you jerk. :’|
Wait, you ever not want a cinnamon roll?
After filling up on cinnamon rolls?
They’re not implying they die, they’re implying we skip straight to the aftermath and find out what happened through people discovering it instead of watching it happen.
Don’t ‘oh, please’ people.
WILLS WILL PAY
no.
RYAN WILL PAY
IT CAN BE BOTH THEY WILL BOTH PAY THERE IS ENOUGH PAY FOR ALL
SOMEBODY GIVE ME A JOB
*sob*
Have a résumé/CV handy?
honestly i have a job i just need to get my ass in gear and start building a portfolio so i can get the job i want
le sigh
Okay, i’m a bit lost now, there’s almost nothing to pin him with, why would he fuck himself over like that?
this kind of stalking/revenge behavior is unusual, but far from unprecedented for sexual predators. He’s probably not trying to stop the news from getting out. May be a little at odds with his “my dad’s gonna see that” line, but plausible.
or he’s resigned that his dad will see it, and thus he’s got nothing left to lose?
Because he’s an idiot?
Male dominance mentality, perhaps? He made it pretty evident he doesn’t put thought into women past his own gratification, so having a woman “dare to speak out against him” could make for a very stimulating trigger.
That said, consider what he’s actually saying, and recall the fact that his dad is a minister (and consider also that such a position is one which is known to be taken up by extremely social-conscious individuals). It doesn’t matter how valid or provable the claims are, the stigma of having such claims made against one’s son could be devastating toward a socially conscious individual- or for a less critical interpretation, even just to an individual who relies on social perception to help others.
That said, considering how Ryan turned out (and nevermind how ‘bad parenting’ seems to be a reoccuring theme in DoA) it’s not unreasonable to assume that his father will probably be very harsh in dealing with the matter (which of course is also in line with behavior associated with socially-conscious parents).
So, in sum, he’s probably doing it due to a combination of ‘I’m fucked, my abusive father is going to punish me’, and ‘you’re just a stupid woman, how dare you’.
Or, y’know, maybe he’s just doing it ’cause individuals with such mentalities generally aren’t the most rational thinkers to begin with.
I have a similar thought. It is most likely not the first time he has done something like this. But, I wonder if he did this previously and got away with it because there was absolutely no proof – not even a grainy picture. He got away with it because his pastor dad gave him the benefit of the doubt when he said he didn’t do it. (Notice, I didn’t say he believed him, and I didn’t say he said he was innocent) Now, there’s a picture, and a name that matches his son’s middle name, and his son has a new scar…. His dad is gonna see that. He’s gonna get in trouble this time. He might actually get in trouble for all the times now, all the accusations…
Yeah, this is about where guys like him lose their shit, if that is what is happening.
I think Cerberus’ comment below about it probably nails it
The same over-inflated sense of pride and entitlement that lead him to feel women owe him sex also means that there is nothing that enrages him more than a woman inconveniencing him in any way.
We already saw how fast he got pissed off and violent simply because Joyce didn’t want to go into that grody bathroom where he could attacker her.
Now she’s not only escaped him, but she’s conspired with other women to try and inflict Consequences For His Actions on him?? Even if there were none, I imagine just learning of the attempt would make him irrationally angry.
*MOTORCYCLED*
*crosses fingers*
It will end with Sal and Amber triumphantly kissing over the mangled body of whatever his name use to be. How better to express their love, than by curb stomping someone, together.
Just like in Mass Effect 3, if you romance Jack.
I have the weirdest boner right now.
…there are no other “Ryans”?
The directory maybe has faces, and the Ryan’s didn’t look like him?
The directory gives names, which you can crossreference with google and/or social media. It’s a pretty solid way to find someone if you’re not looking for specific information about them.
Depends if it’s the internal directory or some sort of public listing- an internal directory typically also stores student ID photos (for the purpose of reprinting Student IDs if they’re lost or damaged). That said, it’s a digital age and at least some of the individuals involved are familiar with journalism concepts (such as, y’know, researching information)- google-cross-checking would hardly be a non-intuitive consideration.
They likely checked the Ryans and his face wasn’t there. He’s just said it is his middle name so it likely wouldn’t show up in a dictionary or most student resources as anything past an initial if it is included at all.
Oh dear. Now he has to die.
That phone’s antenna looks suspiciously like a knife blade
Somebody call the taffy guy from yesterday
If I remember correctly from yesterday’s comments taffy said that he’ll change his gravatar to something humiliating if it’s not a phone.
Perhaps this would work: http://www.oddee.com/_media/imgs/articles2/a96826_underwear.jpg
Hello Kitty men’s briefs.
Don’t be too harsh on them, I think it was wishful thinking, maybe because a knife is a very strong trigger for them.
No worries on that part, I’ve got no problem with knives. I even carry one on my person, whenever I go out.
Apparently that bothers people. Although when I’ve run into that, they’ve known me for months or whatever before they even realize I just always have a little lockback in my back pocket.
Honestly, I hope having a knife on me bothers someone. Specifically, anyone who decides to avoid causing trouble with me because I have a knife.
Personally, I’m too scared to carry a knife, because they’re technically illegal and I’m far more afraid of the police than I ever would be of any criminal. Much better chance getting through the rest of my life fighting a crook unarmed than ending up in the justice system.
How are you gonna call me with a knife?
Obviously, by matching your knife with another fight.
…. crap, that means Ryan is looking at a victim and is about to poker.
((… I think I need to be stopped.))
Shadowrun 5th Edition Survival Knives have GPS and can be used for calling.
Golly, that doesn’t sound very safe.
Cute novelty. Now, of course, Ryan will just expose Amazi-Girl because that will be a satisfactory revenge.
I guess it’s a RAZR?
Patrick Star: Booo!
Hey, yesterday I thought it was a roll of quarters.
Hurts like hell if you get punched by someone holding the roll in their hand, and yet totally legal & explainable if you’re stopped by the police.
But a knife is way more evil & dramatic! Thanks Willis.
The quarters (or yawara stick) fit better with how he was holding it at the time, too.
But just holding a knife in a weird way is unsurprising, too.
I’m pretty sure it’s a fold-out switch blade — hence both the shape yesterday and that middle panel where an action line indicates the blade is arcing!
Could also be Ryan waving it around, but I think this is a good guess.
No, it’s not a switchblade. It’s a lockback, based on the Buck 110 design. A cheap faux-gravity blade, most likely, since he’s managed to flick it out.
Also, the way he was holding it yesterday is incompatible with any sort of swing-out blade (the hand is in the way), or a switchblade (he couldn’t trigger the switch on any design I’ve ever seen, even if it’s out the front). He had to switch his grip, no matter what kind of knife it is.
I mean, you’re not actually disagreeing with me. You’re just correcting my terminology. I don’t know knife vocab. If you scroll down to the second time I made this comment, you’ll see I was fumbling around to explain something like what you’re saying, but lacking the correct terminology.
I suspected switchblade was specifically the wrong term but wasn’t sure what to say instead. “Fold-out knife that can be brandished with a wrist flick” was my intent.
Fair enough.
I wonder if his dad is a decent person who is just cursed with an enormous shit as a son (it happens) or if his father is a monster who will be mad more at the fact he’s drug the family name through the mud by being caught.
Or he’s a politician, as some here had theorized, and it would tarnish or ruin his career.
IIRC, he claimed to be a pastor’s son at the party where he tried to rape Joyce.
Damn. Used the wrong login again! :/
Who’s to say his dad’s not a pastor who became a politician?
He’s a preacher. I think it was confirmed that *that* part was true. (of his conquest lines to Joyce)
Same deal applies.
I think it would interesting if he was a good guy but also very authoritarian. The kind of well meaning elder conservative fellow who can make you feel like the smallest person in the world just with their disappointment. Some people can thrive under that, but then you have those like “Ryan” that probably started out a little broken and they can just twist further under that pressure.
It’s just an opinion, but I don’t think you can have ‘good guy’ and ‘authoritarian’ in the same time in a parent
I know some military family sorts who would definitely fit that bill. There’s a slight difference between favoring strict adherence to authority and being completely oppressive and controlling. Think the difference between never letting your kid hang out with friends because they aren’t well behaved products of an authoritarian themselves vs punishing your kid relatively harshly, but according to the rules, for being a half hour after curfew.
Or he could be another Clint and while he doesn’t have a problem with his son “sowing his oats” he’s sick of covering it up and isn’t going to bail him out a second time.
I’m still expecting him to be a pastor at Joyce’s family’s church.
Oh god my roommate’s middle name is Ryan and that’s what he goes by aaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaah is your name really Amber, does your roommate have a giant scar on his nose and is he a horrible person in every possible way aaah
Yepppppp that’s my name
But he doesn’t have the giant scar on his nose and he’s generally chill as long as something isn’t pissing him off
“he’s generally chill as long as something isn’t pissing him off”
…
That… That still describes Ryan.
That describes most of the populace.
Most of the populace! Aaaah!
Most People, DOA’s greatest threat! They pretend to be chill until something pisses them off, at which point they act as a one-person mob!
If by most, you mean all, then yes.
Disagree. I know both people who maintain their chill even when things are pissing them off, as well as people who have no chill regardless of situation.
He has definite anger issues especially just with letting little things get to him, but it’s nothing like this Ryan. It’s more of a “I’m pissed that I can’t find my wallet,” kind of issue. He’s not the kind of person to actually assault anyone. But you know, I shouldn’t really have to defend my not-rapist-roommate on this particular subject, I was just pointing out the creepy parallel name-wise. >_>
aaaaaand he’s got a knife.
I guess it was a knife……He’ll still probably get his ass kicked though.
DAMN YOU WILLIS
Well, wasn’t a butterfly knife. My guess was wrong. Suddenly things are much more suspenseful
Also, why can they not still go inside? Even if he can get in, would he be stupid enough to try anything in front of witnesses? My college is tiny and theres still almost always people in the lounge areas. Most of which are fairly close to the front doors
Enh, maybe not late at night. But regardless, this seems like a really bad plan from Ryan’s standpoint. Currently, he could claim the allegations are made up. If Dorothy ends up *mysteriously stabbed* right after that post went viral? That claim becomes much less credible.
I think the reason Amber urges Dorothy to go inside alone is that she feels obligated to kick some ass, because she has failed before
I agree, they should definitely go inside (and scream up anyone possibly nearby), although both are probably as shocked as in not thinking clearly and not wanting to turn around to open the doors.
Especially since they seem to be user-id-locked- which, unless the school sprung for higher end IDs, would indicate that ID-swiping is likely required to open the doors after-hours.
Yes! And then it might take a few seconds for the doors to open…possibly? (I don’t know, I’ve never used such a swipe systems, unless you count the Oyster card in London, and that also took at the least 1-2 seconds to register)
Yeah, by my experience there’s usually a couple of seconds delay. Those aren’t the main issue, however; rather, trying to quickly pull out your ID and- with hands and fingers that are likely stiff and trembling- trying to functionally and quickly swipe the ID is a pretty intimidating task.
Still, I’m not seeing a swipe bar, and she ended up managing to get Dorothy in right quick (and without any indication of pulling out an ID), so I dunno how it’s set up in DoA.
I guess it just auto-unlocks as soon as you get close to the door, if you have your (presumably radio-chipped) ID on you? It’s really the only explanation that fits both the visual evidence, and the fact that Amber thought it a better idea to close Dorothy inside instead of rushing in, slamming the doors, and running off for help- if the doors open right away (and seeing that they seem to lack anything to hold them closed with on the inside), there wouldn’t be any time bought with that approach.
He is way too close. Cant turn your back on him and not enough time to go through the doors (esp since you hv to unlock them with fob/studentID first).
I’m still not worried, she doesn’t have her cape but I still think Amazigirl can disarm a douche with a knife.
Isn’t Amber scared of knives?
I wouldn’t say “scared”. In the flashback she seemed more scared that Ethan was being held hostage than of the knife itself, and we saw her…”outburst” with it after the police arrived (hence Sal’s scar). If anything, Ryan will be leaving with a few new scars.
Uh… Amber grabbed that knife after the fact and stabbed the everloving poop out of Sal’s hand.
I mean, most people are at least a LITTLE scared of knives.
If knives are enough of a trigger to incapacitate Amazi-Girl I’m baffled as to how she hasn’t gotten stabbed yet because it seems super unlikely she’s never had a knife pulled on her before as a costumed vigilante.
No, she was ashamed of herself- of the rage which made her stab someone (who at the time wasn’t even a threat). It’s been established multiple times that what she fears is losing control.
That said, at the moment she’s facing down a sudden knife from a legitimately threatening individual and Dorothy is behind her. She’s got a lot of things to have fear over.
I’m a little worried that a knife might tie into her “origin story” too much. By “origin story” I mean her deep seated trauma, of course.
Ahhhh! Amber is seeing The Red Background!!! You ded, Ryan.
I think knives are one of Amber’s triggers for flashbacks and panic attacks so she could be about to have a breakdown with the worst possible timing here.
Yeah, she looks/sounds scared… but this could be a turning point for Amber? or, because Sal happens!
*horrified screaming??????????*
Okay now would be a good time for Joe to reveal he was eavesdropping on another conversation and knock this fucker out from behind.
I was crossing my fingers for another Sal Motorcycle Rescue, but I will absolutely settle for Joe intervening!
More physics-defying Amazi-Girl antics coming up? Oh, I hope so!
Again, Dorothy, 911, now.
Amber? Destroy.
Boss fight! boss fight!
well that sure is a knife
FUCK
I can see you’ve played knifey-phoney before.
You call *that* a phone?!
THIS is a pho…. *urk!*
You know, I was thiiiis close to using Hans Moleman brandishing a cane knife as my Gravatar for the week.
Haven’t we all?
Oh hey, he does have a knife.
… Oh craptacular, he does have a knife
If Dorothy can get inside, “Ryan” is toast. I mean “Amazi-Girl” is crazy enough to take on a guy with a shotgun and one on one, she already beat Ryan, so I doubt that little knife will help much.
Then again, this is the world of “Dumbing of Age” so I doubt things will be that simple.
I mean “Amazi-Girl” is crazy enough to take on a guy with a shotgun and one on one
And Amber is even crazier.
It was a rifle, not a shotgun. Also it was a single-shot with no sights.I mean, I wouldn’t want to have any firearm pointed at me, but that was about the least effective/threatening firearm possible.
In the context of someone already right next to you it’s generally better to be up against that rifle than the knife, and I say that as someone who has done some armed sparring with and against (blunted) knives and who has a nice reach advantage against most people that really, really helps in dealing with knives.
‘rifle, not a shotgun’
Thank you!
It’s been, like, a week since the last devoutly Christian white dude came on campus and got on the news cycle.
Dammit white men.
Dean McHenry is really gonna have his hands full salvaging the university’s reputation.
“oh, another white man came onto a college campus with a weapon. haha, must be Tuesday!”
I dunno, that’s more of a Monday thing.
*doublechecks schedule* shit man you’re right, i forgot we had the wild west re-enactment on tuesdays
>implying the media is capable of caring about white men assaulting young women with deadly weapons.
You’re adorably naive!
Generally they do. The real problem is that they don’t give a shit about the underlying systemic issues that lead to it, not to mention caring more about the perpetrator’s well being than the survivor’s.
Really want an Ultra Car cameo in the form of her landing on his head.
Yeah, he’s really earned up some carma.
Hello, 9-1-1, yes, I’d like to report a drive-by punning.
*Indistinct chatter.*
No, not gun, pun.
*Click.*
…hello?
My brother’s middle name is Ryan.
…
Please tell me this asshole’s real first name isn’t “Caleb.”
Dennis Algernon Thomas Eric Ryan Ashton Patrick Ivan Smith-Trevors.
Or D.A.T.E.R.A.P.I.S-T. for short.
You apologize to all Algernons out there. They get enough slack over their name as is.
But… I brought flowers…
I’m really glad Delicious Taffy made that promise. it’s the amusing silver lining in an ocean of DamnYouWillis!
I didn’t know he made a promise. Just went thru his comments looking. Can’t wait for this lol
Delicious Taffy just wanted to prove to everyone that they absolutely do not support DW’s Patreon!
Wait, was that ever in question? Like, has anyone been under the impression I had access to Patreon content?
If it helps, you greatly amused some of us with a Patreon.
Did I? How so?
I think the joke is they see the strip a day before us.
I wish I’d had the spoons to set up a Patreon account, I’ve been meaning to for a couple of years now.
On Patreon, you get to see strips a day early, so this was up there yesterday.
omg
that is. an excellent avatar for this purpose
It definitely is. Self-deprecating humour ftw
What was the promise?
“If the object in his hand is not a phone of some description, I will change my Gravatar to something humiliating and leave it that way for a week.”
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/reprioritize/#comment-1235342
I will be disappointed if they don’t go through with that then.
Well, I do hate to disappoint.
You feared the Toxx.
The what, now?
I can’t wait to see what he chose.
Or she. Or they. Whichever applies. I’m not sure why I think of DT as a he…maybe the Blue Ranger avatar they had?
It was the pink ranger at least when I saw the comments last night. Tho I also assumed DT is a he. Weird
Yeah…it was blue until Wednesday.
“He” is correct. I just really like making new avatars, and some of them happen to be of female characters.
I get ya on making new ones. Until I found this one, which encapsulates me pretty well (purple! kitty! genderfluidity!), I changed a lot.
WELL G*D F*CKING D*MMIT WILLIS THIS IS INTENSE.
Freaking the heck out aside though, this is not going to be good for Dorothy. (It’s probably not good for Ryan either, but tbh I have bigger fish to fry.)
On the bright side, if he’s pulling a stunt like this, with any luck he’ll end up nabbed by the cops, and a guy attacking two girls with a knife will probably land him a heavier sentence than attempted rape. (Also, I hate that I was able to type that sentence knowing it’s probably true.)
Do you mean that you think attempted murder should have a lighter sentence than attempted rape? Or did I completely misunderstand your last couple sentences?
I think what they meant as that the sentences should be similar, or at least that rape sentences should be more than a slap on the wrist on average.
If that is the case, then that sounds reasonable. While I personally think that attempted murder should have a heavier sentence than attempted rape, neither should result in a ‘slap on the wrist’, as you say.
Plus, the fact they didn’t have any way to prove Joyce’s claim (or just weak accusation that would not have stuck) since she didn’t report it. This will stick, and maybe past victims would be more willing to add to the charges.
It’s essentially what BBCC said. I was referencing Brock Turner and the generally sketchy ways colleges deal with reports of sexual assault.
Gotcha. That name didn’t ring any bells for me, so I checked out the Wikipedia article. That was…enlightening.
Is it wrong that I want Joyce to drop down on this jerk from above and smash his face to the pavement with a well-aimed boot to the head?
Maybe, maybe not. But I want it too.
If it’s wrong to wish cathartic cartoon violence on a fictional rapist, do you really want to be right?
Does he deserve it? Check check check
Self defense? Check
Knock yourself out dude, in my temporary headcanon “ryan” is already missing teeth (although of course DYW probably intends for this to be an intense confrontation, so it might take a few panels…)
A portal to the Walkyverse opens; through it, Joyce jet packs with her massive gun and starts beating this dude up. She doesn’t understand why, but the sight of him speaks deep volumes of fear to her, and she knows she must neutralize the threat.
I’m hoping for her to dive out from behind a bush and knock him out with Sarah’s baseball bat for a bit of catharsis for the trauma he caused her
yup it was a knife :/ :/ :/
I’m really hoping he’s really inept with it and hurts himself more than anyone else
Yes! Or he tries to use it, but stumbles up the stairs and lets it fall. I’ll take anything like that – him hurt or not – if it means the weapon is out of his hand!
I mean, with the current way he’s holding it, that’s the most likely outcome.
Red background. Amber might well have a thing about knives. This is going to go well…sarcastically or otherwise, I guess we’ll all wait and see.
I bet this triggers amber and sal has to save the day
She might have to stop Amber from killing Scaryan here o.o
Kinda wonder what his strategy is here. Stab two girls and then what….profit?
and why did the female Politican’s former staff say that he is bigger than she is?
Oh GDI, what if his dad’s somebody important? Like a politician. That would suck.
Well, his dad’s a pastor, if “Ryan” wasn’t lying about that (even if he claims it wasn’t one of the things that he wasn’t lying about). But that doesn’t mean the pastor isn’t super-influential… or that it’s someone else connected to “Ryan” that’s super-important, like if his mom is a politician, etc.
But if his dad is a paster/politician running against the other politician of our acquaintance. … Nah.
WoW is that he wasn’t lying about that.
They didn’t say he was bigger than she i.e. that he is more powerful or more influential, but that he was more popular at the moment because he has sympathisers and that she could further lose support by trying to send him to jail.
he thinks his life is already ruined as it is, so he’s got nothing to lose
Plus they are right at the door of the building, did he plan to chase them through the building if they entered it, even if there are other people in? Damn psycho.
Now I don’t know if Ryan js smart or not. On one hand he figured out Amber’s Amazi-girl. On the other hand he’s about to blow any chance he had of getting away with it in a crime of passion……..That’s kinda dumb.
Stab two girls and actually feel like he’s a man, in a desperate hope to full the empty, macho hole in his subhuman garbage heart.
It won’t work, but now he’ll have a taste for rape and murder.
SEE
SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DON’T PUNCH RAPISTS ENOUGH
(For real tho I’m covering for the awful sick feeling in my stomach with capslock right now and I’m hoping the comments can help me not freak out or dissociate or whatever the hell my brain is trying to do right now)
Willis has said nothing too bad will happen to the main cast. The situation is scary but Ryan’s really just digging his own grave here. It just escalated frome date-rape accusations to full on armed assault with two witnesses to testify against him. He’s gone. Hope that helps.
Yup. Nobody dies. With that, I think I’m a lot less scared than I’d be if it was a phone, actually. Physical pain is a lot easier for me to process than emotional pain.
Then again, Amber might be getting a huge dose of emotional pain right now. :/ And he knows. :/ But the fight? The fight should be relatively straightforward.
The only thing I’m slightly worried about is he might try to blackmail Amber by revealing her identity. I don’t know if he has any evidence to back up the claim, but Amber could be in trouble if he does. I kinda doubt it though.
I hope so. Knowing that this is a Willis comic gives me hope that at least this asshole will see justice. Thank you
Well, “nothing too bad” is relative, considering we’ve already had an attempted rape, an attempted suicide, an armed hostage situation, and it isn’t even halfway through the semester yet.
Two witnesses minimum. It’s a dorm, they tend to have exterior windows for rooms, multiple floors, and just generally a lot of places where one could see the door from, particularly if you hear something loud and distressing out the window.
… and regardless of what else happens, I’m guessing some loud screams/shouts are coming next…
For Ryan, it’s an utterly idiotic move. The police don’t seem like they were being particularly proactive about looking for him before (if they were looking for him at all), but assault with a deadly weapon (even if he doesn’t actually end up hurting anybody) will change that very quickly…
Willis has said none of the primary characters (or, if I remember correctly, *any* character attached to them) will die in DoA, because the characters that cared about them would then be in mourning for the next several *real time years*, and he.. really, really doesn’t want to deal with that.
(Though I also realize that saying that may not help-just because you know, rationally, X won’t happen doesn’t stop the possibility of X from freaking oneself out. =/. )
Thank you. I’m not sure what I thought was going to happen, but one thing my traumatized lizard brain reacts to very strongly is the feeling of being “trapped”, physically or metaphorically. But I think I’m okay now.
The Lizard Brain is important, but it can also be a right asshole sometimes. Regardless, you felt what you felt-I’m just glad I was able to help a little/that you’re feeling better.
Hi Shiro’s brain. This is a fictional comic, and ‘Ryan’ is not in the room with you. He is not a person, and he is not a threat. Thank you for trying to protect Shiro. You are safe and OK. <3
(ps. That’s how I talk to my brain — it helps me, but every person and every experience and every brain is different. I intended absolutely no sarcasm/disrespect/condescension, I mean my words with full sincerity.)
Thank you ♥ Honestly that does help. I went and got a plush to squeeze, put on my most asskicking perfume, and then went and took a bit of time away from the computer to start what will almost definitely be an ill-fated alcohol-brewing experiment, and now I’m feeling better.
I like the ‘here comes a thought’ song myself (from SU season 4, possible spoilers): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rds7V5Sxu-4
I love that song so much ♥ It’s helped me through a few full-fledged panic attacks before, thank you for reminding me!
Yay! You got this. ^.^
*appropriate gesture of support* You’re going to be okay.
And yes, I am fully on board with your punching more rapists in the face agenda.
Rather apropos considering the sack of garbage up at the top, but according to some accounts Spartan women may have carried small knifes with them with the express purpose of cutting the face of any man that tried to assault them, leaving a constant visible reminder on him for the other men and women to shame him.
No clue if that is historical fact, bit it definitely sounds like a customer we should attempt to adopt today.
The other one would have no trouble with this guy.
But Amber?
They are the same person. Ryan is toast. He doesn’t have the costume and assumed identity protecting him from Amber’s rage.
Remember before the circumstances of what made Amazi-girl
It was her way to be confident again, to express her violence for justice and give her empowerment.
She needed to be amazi-girl in order to feel that fearless sensation and fight evil, no matter what the odds.
but this isnt amazi-girl. this is amber, still scared of knives and still dealing with demons of the past.
At least, in amber’s perspective anyway. Now is the fight or die scenario where she NEEDS to be Amazi-girl, even without the costume.
To know, that all along, she has what it takes to overcome her weaknesses and have the strength to protect the ones she cares about.
in this scenario, amber and amazigirl must be one and the same.
or neither will survive.
(but if Sal comes in and helps Amber, it will also help put the past behind of how she hates Sal for that event in the past as well. here’s hoping for that too)
Maybe. The alternate version is that she became Amazi-Girl to control the rage and violence and channel them in better directions.
It was Amber who stomped Blaine into a puddle.
Exactly. Ryan would have been much better off with an Amber voluntarily restrained by a comic book code. Now he’s dealing with unfiltered Amber, all of the skills and none of the restraint.
KILL HIM! NOONE MUST LEARN YOUR SECRET AMBER! the arrow has done it in the past and hes fine
That…would probably be very BAD for Amber and Amazi-Girl. No, not probably, definitely. I just think of the psychological damage it could further cause in Amber…
Not that I would be against damaging him, but it would just lead to another mental issue for Amber. (not that the whole situation wasn’t already traumatising) I’d vote for someone else sweeping in, if possible :/
Yes, it would be bad. It would get messy, and she couldn’t hide, anymore. But, Dorothy would NOW make sure she gets help (Danny and Ethan would back her up, with info. Hmm, Sal would be a wild-card due to her aversion to “therapy”, though she wants AG to stahp!) (Dina’s heart was in the right place, by protecting Amber, but she didn’t know enough)
That is true. I’d still prefer this as only a tipping point into finally getting help without much physical damage on Amber’s and Dorothy’s side
(BTW, I wanted to write Amber and Dorothy above, not “Amazi-Girl” – don’t know how that got mixed in)
Which is sad, really. You should never feel bad for doing something that makes the world a better place!
well THERE’S your bombshell. shit. o-o
Not sorry, Ryan, but I hope you get a good knifing and curb-stomping, and that’s the least you deserve.
LELAND RYAN JERKFACE MCGEE THE THOROUGHLY HORRIBLE PERSON
that is a very long name
Leland Ryan Jerkface Mcgee…
That’s my name t-….
dammit, no, I can’t say it.
And whenever I go out
The people always shout
Oh shit somebody call the cops lalaleladedada~
Okay so if Amber were Amazigirl, Mr. Person would be her villain nemesis right? So what’s his villain alias?
LELAND RYAN JERKFACE MCGEE
(THE THOROUGHLY HORRIBLE PERSON)
Pulled out a knife –
(He’d had a phone, but stuffed it in his jerkin).
Then he was set upon by Sal
(Who in a bush was lurkin’).
And she PUMMELLED L.R.J. McGee
(THE THOROUGHLY HORRIBLE PERSON).
*applause*
Yaaay
Not-Ryan is gonna get stabbed in his hand by Amber, ain’t he.
Or maybe in the face if someone doesn’t stop her…
I’m hoping this ends with Ryan getting stabbed with his own knife, a bit violent but it’s a better outcome than what else can happen.
The best possible senario involves Sal saving the day.
On another note, and I dont know why, but for some reason Im more scared of knives than guns.
Maybe its the more personal nature of someone trying to stab you, or that its a slower more painful death than being shot.
Anyone else feel the same? Just….frak, man.
Knives are threats we deal with on a daily basis and most of us have accidentally cut ourselves on SOMETHING in our lives.
sorry, meant fear of the act of someone trying to stab you with a knife than being shot by him/her.
I think it’s because a shot happens faster – and you maybe don’t really realise it in the first fractions of seconds? You hear the sound and feel the pain (after a very fast impact), but with a knife – it can happen fast, but still slower than a gun shot, and you not only have the knife going in but also out…
ARGH, now I’ve even made myself uncomfortable with thoughts like these. Big sorry here – I’ll just say: it freaks me out too!
Also, most people are surprised to learn that stab wounds are actually more likely to be fatal than most small arms fire, if we’re talking about getting stabbed once versus being shot once.
Also, it’s a lot easier to completely miss when you’re shooting someone.
Guns are relatively new and relatively rare compared to knives. Even before knives there were teeth and claws. Fear of the knives is in our DNA.
“Guns are relatively rare”
Have you forgotten which country this takes place in?
Everyone has a few knives in their kitchen. Only a quarter of adults are gun-owners (and dropping, though total guns are rising, because there are more people stockpiling/collecting).
I might be wrong, but I’ve heard that serious knife fights are actually significantly more dangerous than gun fights- unless it’s an shot to the heart or head, then a gun can put someone down without killing them and treatment gives them a reasonable chance of getting back up. With a knife fight, though, by the time you’re actually incapacitated, you’re very, VERY likely to bleed out before treatment can be administered.
Yeah. In my city just a few weeks ago, a high school kid stabbed another kid – in school. It was apparently over a girl. The kid who did the stabbing had been bullied and threatened for weeks by this guy and his friends. But, rather than tell anyone, he brought a knife with him to school and when they jumped him, he stabbed one of them. Now, two kids have basically lost their lives because one is dead and the other is going to prison for the rest of his life pretty much. So, yeah, I think that knives are ridiculously fatal.
Oh god, Ryan couldn’t possibly have been any worse, but then he became a “my DAD’s gonna hear about this” kind of person.
I also “liked” the way he blamed it all on a woman as well. Truly a real man’s man.
Darn you for making me look bad! You took what I totally tried to do, and you told people that I tried to do it!
Funny thing is his dad will definitly see his picture on the news when they report his assault on two college students with a knife.
That’s if they even report it.
Oh okay, I guess he’s just stupid. He better not hurt either one of the them, either way this definitely won’t end well for him.
Oh sweet lord I shouldn’t have checked this before going to bed tonight. I’m gonna have nightmares about Ryan now.
Get in quick and lock the doors!
This is veering into horror movie territory, except it can really happen.
It’s basically the plot of Alien but with less metaphor.
Does that make “Ryan” the xenomorph or Ash?
Xenomorph. Ash is the representative of the society that sets up, encourages, and/or turns a blind eye to the rape culture.
*is totally making this up as he goes yet it works*
Fan art crossover. I wish Yotomoe or anybody else could draw this.
…I’m pretty sure that if she gets inside, they’re not going to let a scarred, hooded, knife-wielding person in hot pursuit follow her into the building without even signing in. I mean, jeez, some standards, right?
“My dad’s gonna see [this anonymous accusation against me with no legally admissible evidence, currently], so attacking the pair of you will somehow improve this situation!”
On the bright side, here’s hoping he’ll end up in prison.
Entitled dudes are not really known for making the best of choices when shit like this happens.
(See also: How he is blaming them, despite the fact that HE’S the one that tried to drug Joyce.)
Well yea but he after his you reap what you sow quote directed at Joyce he’s already proven that he somehow thinks that suffering negative consequences for his actions are someone else’s fault in his mind. Come to think about it he really needs to realise what he is saying applies to him.
I mean, Joyce talked to a boy at a party and drank sprite. That’s literally asking for it, right? Should’ve been at home praying and doing embroidery like a good woman.
His dad’s going to ask about the new scar on his face.
I hazard to guess that his dad already knows Ryan’s been in situations akin to this before, but may not know the extent of his behavior. Ryan might have lied to his family, gotten away with things, and been given an ultimatum about his lesser sins.
To allegorize, if a 16-y.o. just got their license and borrowed the family car without permission and woulda gotten away with it except the odometer change was noticed, the parents would read the riot act. But if they drove a buncha kids to a kegger in the woods, with lots of underaged drinking, and the cops were called, but they got away, they’d gladly cover that up from mom and dad for the lesser punishment of borrowing the car.
Must be really smart easily to piece two and two together.
Guys. It wasn’t a phone. IT WASN’T A PHONE! OH *bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep* MOTHER *bleep* SON OF A *bleep* THAT *bleeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
3 days later
*…eeeeeeeep*!!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0bt1cgIBgY
Okay, I think we’re in for some Amber/Ryan slashfic.
…. possibly also stab, gouge, and castrate fic.
Seriously, Amazi-Girl’s gonna take over any second now.
You are a horrible person and the pun police is coming for you. “The joke’s too funny!”
I don’t think it works that way. I think Amber is the erratic, uncontrolled one that Amazi-Girl is made to contain.
Ryan’s idea to attack Amazi-Girl through Amber is like jumping into a fire to avoid a sunburn.
This.
Didn’t Dorothy have a textbook with her? That would have been a nice brick to throw at him.
Kind of hard to aim though, even with a strong throwing arm.
Would also be really useful to use as a shield to block the knife.
He has to have some kind of ace here. He couldn’t possibly be dumb enough to try this shit in front of a public building right? There’s gotta be some kinda posse or something that’ll give him an edge? Otherwise, I expect to see an idiot’s ass get kicked in the next few updates.
He doesn’t seem to be the type that thinks things out. He tries to drug a girl at a party where she has friends, and made more as well. Someone who wasn’t drinking alcohol, so the fact that she was feeling buzzed was a glaring alarm.
This was a pretty dumb plan on his part, even if he does has a posse. Threatening two young women with a knife outside a public building with security cameras is not a plan with an exit strategy. The DeSanto rally made Ryan desperate, and it’s making him even more unhinged
Yeah that is not the smile of someone who has thought his decisions through.
Ryan has a history of being really dumb. Not only did Joyce have friends at that party but he also thought the best place to assault her was in a bathroom that there was a huge line of people coming towards. Then when she tried to leave that situation he loudly yelled at her while admitting what he was doing in front of witnesses.
Knife opening backwards. Details
Did it? looks to me like the curved side is the back, and he flipped it between the panels.
Okay Dorothy’s close enough to the door she could probably get away safely but Amber will almost definitely get stabbed even if she does get the upper hand.
Oh god I want Sal to show up. Sal saving Amber from getting stabbing would be perfect.
Getting stabbed*
Amber’s not the one in danger of getting stabbed.
You sure about that? Even if she manages to fight him off in a rage that’s a big ass knife.
And now’s the time for Amber to snap both his wrists for good measure.
And his jaw. Can’t have him talking.
Fffffffuuuuuuuuuuccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!
A knife. Of all the things that he could have come up with, he brings a knife.
Ryan had better hope that Sarah shows up with her baseball bat again, because THIS time, Amber is not going to cower behind a snack-food rack. And Ryan is going to get everything that is coming to him.
I’m kinda hoping for a DYNAMIC ENTRY by Sal.
Me too!
Honestly I’m hoping for anybody to show up but it being Sal would be the most satisfying from a story telling perspective.
Option b) Joe because he’s got a habit of showing up out of nowhere Option c) Danny because his last appearance was Amber telling him to leave her alone because she’s not his “problem” anymore. I’d like to see that followed up on…in this horrific traumatizing circumstance.
i kind of hope it is campus security because like WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN ALL THIS STRIP
Where have they been all comic?
At the campus doughnut shop.
it’s a hard job, but somebody’s gotta take those love handles from a dream to a reality
Wrong universe.
fuck you ryan
I wonder if attempted murderers are more likely to be convicted than attempted rapists.
Considering in this situation there’s no real solid evidence of the attempted rape this will be a lot easier to convict on. Especially with cameras everywhere and the likely fact that there will be physical evidence of an attack. In the real world I’m not going to look up statistics but attempted murder doesn’t carry the victim stigma and judgment that attempted rape does. People are likelier to report an attempted murder versus an attempted rape. So I’m gonna go with probably.
The whole “he said she said” defense also really doesn’t work on juries when it comes to stabbing people.
Nor does the “She really wanted it” defense.
Yes, assuming the rates for attempted murder convictions are inline with those for murder convictions (as opposed to assault convictions):
“The probability that a defendant would eventually be
convicted of the original felony charge was highest for
those charged with a driving-related offense (64%),
murder (60%), or drug trafficking (55%). The lowest
probability was for those charged with rape (35%) and
assault (33%).”
– Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2009 – Statistical Tables
Whoops, meant to include that this was from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) .
Seeing as there isn’t any real evidence for the attempted rape other then witnesses (The weakest form of evidence), and that they put his face online clamming he’s a rapist, my guess is, this falls under provoked violence.
So as long as Ryan doesn’t have any priors he might get of with a slap on the wrist, while Dotty and Amber gets charged with defamation.
Defamation is a tort, not a crime, in Indiana, so nothing to charge them with. If Ryan did try to sue, his lawyer would probably point out that he’s putting himself in the position where he has to prove he didn’t attempt rape – i.e., no benefit of the doubt, as opposed to what he would get if he were charge with the crime of attempted rape, where he just has to keep the prosecutor from proving he did it.
IANAL.
They might be liable for defamation, but I don’t think you get to stalk people with a knife even if they’ve defamed you. Fighting words in the heat of the moment might be a defense, but this goes far beyond that.
We’re currently standing at essentially “assault with a deadly weapon”, which is a pretty serious felony. If he actually attacks, it’s at best “battery with a deadly weapon”, if not attempted murder.
All premeditated – he clearly sought out the people who’d posted his picture.
The cup he was cut with would not only have traces of his blood on it
but possibly the roofe drug its self.
Yeah, but the glass was likely cleaned up and thrown out weeks ago. They would have had solid evidence on wrongdoing on his part if they had went to the cops the night of the incident. But as soon as Sal’s advice not to go to the cops was listened to any chance of getting him convicted for what he did flew right out the window. So now, at least a month after the fact, all that’s left is the witness’s memories. And the human memory is so prone to forgetting and being altered by bias that any lawyer worth their salt can tear apart a case made only from month-old witness statements like tissue paper.
Would have back then, but doesn’t now.
Then, there would have been one of the best cases possible for attempted rape – other than Ryan getting away and the chance that no one could find him. Drugs, no question of consent, etc.
Now, there’s no evidence.
“falls under provoked violence”? there’s something really disturbing about this comment. Like, do you think that’s an actual legal defense, anywhere? Or that it’s justifiable on any moral level to respond to accusations of a crime by trying to kill the accuser?
Or did you just mean that the US is so fucked up you won’t be surprised if *he* could get away with arguing that way despite the law not working that way on paper?
I’m praying we aren’t left on a cliffhanger here.
It’s kind of sad that Willis has said no one dies in the strip, makes excellent moments like this lose a little bite. That said, holy shit I can’t wait.
people can get injured you know. Even lose partial functions to their organs or become paralysed. Imagine Dorothy having to be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life
OH GOD WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO ME
Tempt not the fates, lest something something things get shitty.
But yeah, freedom from death actually adds a bit to the tension. I mean, we’ve had drugings, armed kidnapings, general beat-downs, depression, alcohol issues, psychological issues, and lots of lesser (but still impactful) things happen. Methinks what’ll happen over the next few pages will be pretty stressful.
You just reminded me of the “You’d be surprised what you can live through.” running gag from Aladdin 2.
That would have pretty much the same sort of repercussions that Willis is avoiding with no deaths: prolonged angst that would last basically forever because of the pace of the strip. Like we’d have to go through literally years of Dorothy recovering in a hospital followed by more years of grieving and coping and it would just be exhausting to read.
You mean kind of like Ruth’s, Amber’s, and Joyce’s issues?
And for that matter, Billie’s.
on the other hand
ryan’s probably not going to die either
You’d be surprised what you can live through.
yeah but he won’t be dead
I hope Sal comes by and cripples this asshole.
Holy shit, I didn’t think that was a knife. Totally thought that was just his phone in the previous strip.
Boy oh boy, this guy must be ten kinds of dumb to think this is going to help his situation.
It doesn’t have to help anything, it just has to make him feel better
I am so ready for next page for Sal to just appear and me like “No. I’m Amazi-Girl.”
I’m usually wrong, but here’s hoping!
(And yes, I want Sal to already be privy to Amber is Amazi-Girl. Someone other than Ryan has to figure it out)
Except that Ryan and his “bros” already fought Amazi-Girl and Sal back at Robin’s rally.
I’m kinda expecting a blue speech bubble to issue from “Amber” with the words “NO. I’M AMAZI-GIRL.”
Nah, it’d have to be someone who knows where the AG costume is kept in order to sell it.
….
Go-go-AMAZI-DINA!
Here’s what I wonder: Amber’s so heavily separated “Amber” from “Amazi-Girl”, how capable is she of pulling out her hand-to-hand combat skills when she’s out of costume? Because she doesn’t look like she’s ready to enter combat mode here.
That being said, I’m pretty sure this close to the building and in porch lights “Ryan” is on a security camera. It can’t possibly take much to get him arrested after this.
She started out as Amazi-Girl wen she took on Blaine, but as it progressed she reverted (for want of a better term) to Amber … and that’s when her rage became almost uncontrollable, to the point she’d have likely beat him to death had not Danny stepped in and pulled her off. So I think that even in ‘civvies’, Amber would be able to give Ryan all he could handle and then some.
When she punched Blaine in the hall, and ran to the stairs, she didn’t calm down until she physically put her mask on. Amber’s rage is unchecked, AG is controlled. This is why Amber looks/sounds so scared, but the last panel is red. Amber is about to hulk-out. This could be where Sal shows up, and learns the truth about AG, and helps take down Ryan, so Amber doesn’t actually kill him. In her freak-out, Amber may say something to Sal that may start puzzle pieces to inch closer. Maybe after Dotty calls 911, she calls Ethan or Danny to help Amber?
Everybody keeps asking for Sal to show up, but this guy is a pastor’s son and Sal is a PoC with a violent criminal record including knife offenses. If Sal shows up and helps, she is absolutely going to jail, and Ryan gets a free out, because he will be perceived as the victim because he has less melanin in his skin.
Awww, maaaaaan, you are right. Drat. *shakes fist*
Of all the people to actually recognize Amazi-Girl out of costume…
The biggest aspect of the costume isn’t the mask. It’s attitude and readiness to fight. Amber almost never stands with Amazi-girl’s posture and almost never assumes a fight position and almost never takes command like Amazi-Girl does.
She’s doing all of that right now.
She’s actually not though. Her voice is shaking, she’s not in any kind of combat stance – more trying to push Dorothy inside. She is kind of taking command.
I kind of hope he was following some kind of lead that led him to expect AG here, because otherwise it really undermines the whole “secret identity works” thing and we’re back to wondering how dumb all the main characters are for not recognizing her.
Also, I’m sort of hoping Amber just goes this route:
http://i.imgur.com/FmmlC4O.jpg
interesting turn of events but not unexpected. when a beast is trapped in a corner they become more vicious and this guy certainly like a feral beast.
No more than a cornered Amber I’d say
The situation is horrible anyway
Amber is right. However, IMHO, BOTH she and Dorothy should get inside the locked building and then start screaming their heads off, while taking out their cell phones to get pix and videos of this man threatening them with a knife.
I know Amber has mad fighting skills, but that a HECK of a big knife and Ryan-Middle-Name seems pretty desperate. And even if he is a student, when I lived in college dorms, there were always cameras and security guards at the entrances and exits. His status as a student shouldn’t matter once he is seen to be physically threatening two women.
I personally would be very gratified to have Amber/Amazi-Girl beat him down, but I’d also like to see an example of the system *working.* There have been too few cases of that lately. Ryan-Middle-Name deserves to be expelled and imprisoned for what he did. And yes, he *absolutely* deserves to have his father find out, no matter what that means. (I’m kind of wondering if his father is someone with political connexions?) He deserves to have his crimes made public and his name associated with everything he’s done. That will ultimately, IMHO, “hurt” him a lot more than a beat-down from Amazi-Girl. (Not to mention the fact that he seems to be blackmailing Amber here, so if she breaks out with her fighting skills, he may be planning to entrap her for some of her previous actions.)
Quick side-note: I’ve had some self-defense instruction and the instructors whom I’ve trusted have said that, if you are attacked, the best course of action is to (1) run and, while doing so, (2) scream as loud as you possibly can. (This holds true for all genders.) It’s not as glamourous or potentially cathartic as facing down your attacker, but it gives you a better chance of escape. For example, in this fictional situation, we know Ryan-Middle-Name has a knife so we can talk about how Amber could disarm him. But who’s to say that he doesn’t also have a *gun* hidden on his person somewhere? I’ve avoided some physical assault by screaming and running. It didn’t make me feel cowardly; it made me feel like I wasn’t going to be beat up or killed. :/
Mainly what I’ve heard about knife fights, even when you know what you’re doing, you’re *going* to get cut, but if you have training you get some say in where and how badly.
In this fictional situation, at that distance, a knife is as dangerous as a gun, if not more so. A gun is a ranged weapon. Even a pistol. If you’re using it in melee something went horribly wrong for you somewhere (aside from the whole “fighting someone who is trying to kill you” thing).
One of the people who taught me some self-defense was a close friend of mine who was once a really committed martial artist. I own a bunch of knives because I like them (I have more than a few Gil Hibben knives and some fantasy knives). This friend taught me some basics about knives, like how to stab someone if I ever had to.
When I asked him if he could teach me to knife-fight, he flat-out said, “NO.”
He told me that the best thing he could teach me about knife-fighting was NEVER to get into a knife fight. He even taught me basic knife defense reluctantly and told me I should never, EVER pull a knife on someone unless I was completely sure my life was on the line.
Again: SCREAM AND RUN.
Yep. Winner drips, loser gushes.
There’s another quote my sensei liked involving ambulances, but I’ve forgotten it.
Any sensible self-defense teacher will tell you that if you are ever confronted with a knife your best bet is to run. The crap they taught you in karate class is a bunch of b.s.
I don’t think it’s necessarily BS, but that it’s only applicable in a very controlled situation, such as in a meet where you and your opponent have both agreed to abide by certain rules and regulations.
Real fights aren’t like that.
I personally think that some of the mainstream action movies and video games have led people to believe that it’s easy for anyone with a weapon and/or determination to take down an attacker. No, it’s really NOT like that. And as skilled as Amazi-Girl is, I’m not sure she can take down Ryan-Middle-Name.
This is a girl who fought a guy with a gun on top of a moving car. Who goes out and beats up muggers as stress relief. We’re not exactly in ultra-realistic territory here.
The laws of physics get real fuzzy around Amber/AG.
They do. She gets to play by superhero tropes most of the time.
I hope she’s not pushed back down to “realism” here. Because that’s more dangerous of course, but also because it doesn’t work well for narrative continuity for her to change back and forth.
Is it “The loser of a knife fight dies in the streets, the winner dies in the hospital”?
“The winner leaves in an ambulance, the loser leaves in a hearse”?
something like that
perhaps “body bag” instead of hearse, although maybe I’m mixing it up with this song… https://losfurios.bandcamp.com/track/body-bag
Pretty sure your dad would also frown on you stabbing a girl.
Aw, Dorothy is freezing up.
I hope she won’t beat herself up about it afterwards… but that’s a Later-Dorothy problem, let’s take care of the Now-Dorothy problem, first. Run, Now-Dorothy.
Hrm… who was swearing up and down that was a phone yesterday?
Come on Amber, this is your chance to make up for what happened in the store with Ethan.
Beat his basic ass into the concrete!
He’s got a knife!
Of course he’e got a knife! We all have knives. It’s 1183 and we’re all barbarians!
And how we show it…
“Why so modest? How about eternal peace? Now there’s a thought. ”
That’s probably my favorite movie.
It must suck to be superhero whose weakness is knives.
Then you have the one whose weakness is water
Or yellow.
Or wood.
“Curses! Blood loss and damage to my vital organs! How did you know my one weakness?!”
Pffft, yeah right. He’s just some stupid punk… with a knife.
Oh dear.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/nothing/
“And he’s got a knife…super power…”
https://youtu.be/1ioLebEUHhw?t=1m45s
He’s going to wish that butterfly was a sandwich-in two strips, he’s eating it.
That’s not a butterfly knife. That’s a regular pocket knife. Possibly assisted opening, since he was able to open it one-handed.
It looks a bit like a Buck 110, but it opened the wrong way.
It definitely looks like that, or a knockoff of it…Probably a cheap knockoff, given the one-handed opening.
Thinking on it more-
I think Sal’s gonna get (non-fatally) injured by Knifey-boy while coming to the rescue.
I just feel like “random rapist is now a murderer” doesn’t belong in this world, but what do I know…
I mean, rapists don’t belong in this world full stop, so.
This is honestly a pretty believable/true-to-life level of escalation.
Ryan isn’t the brightest bulb in the box. I mean, he doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong even though he understands that society looks down on rape, he thinks he’s the good guy here, and he thinks murdering two people is the best and most logical solution.
…in front of a school that probably has a camera pointed at him.
It’s a thing that shows up pretty frequently. The same toxic masculinity and love of power that leads someone to sexually assault can easily lead them to murder if they feel “thwarted” or “tricked” or in some other way “disrespected”.
And with the dominant narratives about how “rape accusations ruin lives”, it’s easy and sadly common for a rapist who’s been accused to feel personally wrong done by whoever reported them and seek out revenge against them, either with threats or violence
What must we do to wipe that garbage out in the near future?
Well, at least his dad sounds like someone that would not approve of, you know, rape.
And look at all the people in the comments saying “Of course she can take him, it’s just some punk with a knife.”
Amber has mad skillz.
…the part when Amber ran down a shotgun wielding fundie with nothing but a skateboard and a grappling hook.
Ahem.
NOT A SHOTGUN
A single shot rifle and the worst possible gun to bring to a murder spree.
Of course he has to be one of those “Its all your fault” types. Let me guess, tomorrow will involve him screaming about how Dorothy made him do this.
Play the Game of Thrones opening song while reading this. It makes it tense!
Ryan seems to have a fetish for getting his ass kicked. He always seems to target women with teeth. AG ’bout to shatter his rib cage.
Target women with teeth who look initially like soft targets. He thinks that small scared woman means easy target and ends up woefully mistaken because, in this comic especially, those types of women tend to also be major badasses.
Silk hiding steel…
Well this is some relevant timing
Either I’ve missed something or your life is in a really shitty place atm.
My guess is it’s a reference to the Portland train stabbing incident. It’s recent and involved a knife (whereas things that get more national attention tend to involve guns and/or explosions). I’d actually mentioned the same thing to a friend when discussing this strip.
See, this wouldn’t be a problem *at all* if Amber and Dorothy were carrying guns. *Runs away*
It also wouldn’t be a problem if they had gas masks and a can of mustard-gas.
This wouldn’t be a problem if Amber’s subconscious mind had the ability to shred people who annoyed her into their component atoms. All the people left would be very nice.
So…Amber is the Phoenix Force/Dark Phoenix? (Marvel,Jean Gray)
or wish them into a nearby cornfield?
(quiet applause)
Comic Reactions:
Oh dear, this is most disagreeable and raises heavy concerns.
(HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!)
Panel 1: Oh, cool violent rapist who’s literally been stalking you knows your full name. That’s not terrifying or nightmare inducing at all. Like Dorothy needed any more stress on her plate at the moment.
Panels 2-4 (the women): The 3 trauma responses, fight, flight, or freeze. And the worst part of it is when an unexpected traumatic event occurs, you often have little choice what type of trauma response you’re going to have.
From this, we see Dorothy’s trauma response at the moment and she’s unlucky to have the one I have which is “freeze”. Dangerous in a situation like this, because it can leave you quite at the mercy of a violent asshole who means you harm as he clearly does.
Amber, on the other hand? Honestly, we’ve seen every trauma response from her and hers seems to be some mix of flight and fight. She’s pushing Dorothy to tun, but is also very clearly blocking the angles where she can so he’ll have to go through her to get to Dorothy.
And this is most meaningful because this isn’t Amazi-girl, this is the Amber alter. And it’s that Amber alter showing that same core heroism she assumes is solely a trait of AG, protecting another even though she is terrified and scared. And hopefully it’s a sign of Amber rejecting more and more the golden alter narrative of AG’s… assuming that the damage from this traumatic event doesn’t set her back a ways which is very possible.
Joyce seems to have the freeze response too – at least initially, after she snaps out of it ALL HELLS BREAK LOOSE.
I’ve got the freeze reaction too, with a side of editing the danger out of my vision . It sucks.
*appropriate gesture of support* Yeah, the freeze reaction is the fucking worst.
Agreed, simply by virtue with the other two you’re at least doing SOMETHING to combat the threat.
Just because this is Amber rather than Amazigirl this could be EXTREMELY ugly. Last time she went up against a punk with a knife it was only Amber too.
for me, like, the freeze response is really tied to overthinking. but also like – thinking through all the options? a little bit flee, and a lotta bit analyzing What To Do.
which is – Amber, right now, is very aware of all their options, because she’s been here before where Dorothy hasn’t. and she is fighting to survive, because that’s what she’s always done.
and then there is the retraumatization of hell
My full freeze response is on a different level from decision paralysis. It’s more like… I’m not thinking, I’m not aware of not thinking, I just get shoved aside and fed false data until the situation is over, and the part in control tends to blindly follow orders and be very agreeable. Thankfully she does sometimes find a way to gracefully extract me from the situation but she’s more likely to… Not. This has led to a couple of disturbingly narrow escapes.
Yup. My freeze tends to be almost a complete paralysis and a full dissociation of most of what I’m experiencing, so it makes it harder to retain features like what people look like and instead retain very specific details I overfocus on instead as part of the dissociation.
It’s kind of a shitty trauma response all around and tends to make me a sitting target for harmful jackholes.
hmm.
like – i’m not sure i’m entirely aware of, like, what’s a trauma response and what’s a bad coping mechanism. like – sitting at the computer and isolating myself in my room all day when somebody i don’t trust comes over, forcing myself to deal with their presence in my home without any effective escape routes from the stress! trauma response, or bad coping mechanism? WHO KNOWS.
and i know that, like, my whole system is kind of built to anticipate/evaluate possible threats at this point. more emotional, but physical’s up in there too. my system is so much geared to emergency mode that when there isn’t an emergency sometimes i’m like “wait no this is a lie there has to be an emergency SOMEWHERE”. i will legit straightup invent emergencies, and i am very side-eyey of this part of myself at this point lmao. like, just….breathe….let it Go………. it’s o k. and even if it’s not it will eventually be ok, more often than not
i realize that this is probably sorted under generalized anxiety disorder but i’m not really sure how this intersects with, like, trauma. i just know that my brain feels like if i don’t do something when something bad happens that’s the same as just letting it happen. which is not something you have to feel, brain! can’t take on responsibility for everything bad that happens in the world! there is no magic solution where you will be able to predict the future, or timetravel back in the past and change everything!! bad shit happens and then you have to deal with it! can’t stop the bad shit just how you react to it!! even superman takes breaks!
I’m not sure either, I don’t think it’s black&white, and I doubt the distinction is all that important – sorry, I didn’t intend to, like, invalidate what you were saying or anything, just wanted to clarify which kind of freeze I was talking about.
I get the decision paralysis and hypervigilance and expectations of time-travel and so on too. It really fucking sucks.
At least the dissociated false-data thing can’t sustain itself more than a few minutes. Hypervigilance… ugh, it wants to run 24/7 and eat all my spoons then yell at me for not doing things I needed those spoons for.
Part of my unexpected depression this week, I think, was from becoming aware of another layer of bullshit, how even *more* of what I thought was reasonable was actually unreasonable expectations it had been setting up. I thought it was helping, giving me some structure to follow to keep me from feeling awful about not working… but no, it was giving me another impossible set of tasks to stress over so I’d be too exhausted to see things clearly. Too exhausted to consider that maybe self-worth doesn’t come from outside, from what i *do*, that it’s not a thing that comes with strings attached, even if they seem like really useful pretty strings.
The thought of being okay with myself as I am right now, bad habits and all, is really scary. Because of more black&white thinking drawing insane conclusions about what that Really Means. But also some real fears, I think I’m gonna go think about this elsewhere, it’s turning into a really long rant
haha that’s a fair analysis!! i mean the divide between trauma and coping mechanism is important to me b/c it’s like. the difference between what happened to me and how i dealt with it/how i deal with it, but like. idk. i barely know how to identify what happened to me, because it was my whole life, more or less. i mean there are specific events here and there, but i don’t remember my fourth grade year hardly at all, and for most of the rest of it it was my normal. i didn’t even know to identify it as not-normal or not-okay until midway through college.
errrrgh that’s frustrating
something i’ve been realizing that i need to do is just…Relax, in situations where i can relax. and that it’s ok. and that it’s not the end of the world if i don’t make everything ok. and that very few people would expect me to be one hundred percent ok, and that those who would are not worth my time. and that, like, human connection is just like. stopping to be with other people without thinking too hard about what you’re doing or how you’re performing
which is, apparently, the Trick that is impossible to fully master
i dunno. maybe like the first step is to be ok with not being ok which is not so much like…actually being ok, but just accepting that you are wherever you happen to be without putting any judgments on it. and then like – ok, you have a self-hating thought, maybe respond with “wow that’s harsh”. and then you don’t have to hate yourself either for the thought or as the subject of the thought
but like even just. being aware of a thing that you’re doing is a step forward. you’re doing a good job!!!!
Yup. one thing that *does* seem to help with the follow-any-orders kind of freeze is having preset black&white rules for certain situations. Like, I don’t leave an event with someone I’ve just met any more, or at least I have to check with my friends first (which gets me away from the unsafe person, and my friends will be like, lol nope you’re staying with us). If I feel weird or confused about anything, I’m supposed to say no-thanks to whatever it is now, even if it makes me feel like a jerk.
I don’t know *how* likely I am to follow such rules, but there are times when I have and it has been a good thing. And the times when it was suboptimal, I’m trying to be okay with, because objectively the loss was tiny compared to the risk.
I also try to just not be at events alone… not that I can go to many events these days anyways…. aw damnit I just remembered an instance of breaking that rule this year. no wonder I’ve been avoiding going back there. Nothing bad happened, but it *could* have. and I thought I knew better. damn. okay maybe these rules don’t work as well as I thought. Not trusting myself sucks :/
I feel like this is an element of my freeze response, or at least it was the time I wound up the victim of a strong-arm robbery, though that incident is kinda complicated by the fact I went partially nonverbal.
I hate going nonverbal. So few people understand that it’s not a choice. *AGOS*
Thinking about it the first two times I got mugged I had this freeze reaction, but also it was weird because I couldn’t hear anything. I don’t know if that’s a symptom of anything, but I could hear that the muggers were speaking words but I couldn’t understand them, and I just knew they were robbing me because of their body language and other things. The third one was weirder because the guy used a lot of mind tricks to confuse me and make me doubt I was even getting robbed, it was really complicated and used a ton of tricks to make you scared and feeling alone and paranoid (like saying “I know you got X money” in a way as if he had saw me before and was following me) but that time I was able to stop freezing and get away before he stole my phone. Made me feel like shit though
yup, that’s a thing that can happen. hell, my brain has stopped parsing english for a few seconds just randomly, too. and a sudden change in blood pressure fucks with the ears a lot. … ohhh, *that*s why my ears were spontaneously ringing a while back.
I think a big part of it for Amber is that her self-esteem and self-worth are so far down in the gutter that, when confronted with a situation such as this, there’s no immediate thought other than to “stall until the people who are actually worth a damn get to safety.” Especially since a big part of her trauma was having a friend put in danger while she did nothing; “never again.”
So, staying outside while Dorothy goes inside is a plan of action with several layers, here:
1) Amber doesn’t necessarily want to die, but her martyring herself in such a way that Dorothy is 100% guaranteed safe is absolutely acceptable losses, from her perspective.
2) Beyond this, Amber knows she can cope with this situation with some chance of success, and if Dorothy gets moving, she can get actual help there, which is preferable because she definitely doesn’t want Ryan to get dissuaded by a locked door and disappear again, and if she does die, they now have more specific information about who this guy is, and a bunch of his DNA on Amber’s corpse; this means that between the rumors, the pictures, knowing he actually is affiliated with a church, that Ryan is his middle name, that he isn’t a student at the school but is a former intern for the De Santo campaign, will make it very easy to capture and identify him. Since Amber and Amazi-Girl both feel responsible for not having caught him already, if they do die, they probably consider it their own fault, and a deserved fate, anyway, and by making that sacrifice it strongly increases the chance that Joyce and Dorothy will be safe and the villain will be brought to justice.
3) If Amber is alone when facing this fight, she is going to react with a lot more self-control and rationality than if she’s protecting someone. As triggers go for her, a friend to whom she feels 100% responsible for their safety being attacked by a criminal with a knife is just a touch on-the-nose. If Dorothy gets to safety, there’s a chance that Amber can resolve this incident with minimal violence and bloodshed. If Dorothy gets attacked on Amber’s watch? Amber knows what will happen then, and she’s trying to prevent that part of herself from coming out for the good of everybody involved, because despite her self-image, she is a phenomenally good and just person at heart.
I can definitely relate to that kind of thinking. When you think that way about yourself, and you place such a high moral value on protecting others, it comes to a point that this is an exact scenario you’ve run through your mind thousands of times in preparation. Amber having some severe PTSD/dissociation/etc (I’m not a psychologist here) specifically related to this exact worst-case scenario makes this even worse, and more high-stakes, than it already is. Today in DoA-verse is just the worst fucking day.
I think Amber’s trauma response is a bit like mine: Flight unless cornered or unless someone else is in trouble in which case fight takes over?
Actually, after reflection: There is a situation where I freeze, and that is where I am the target of purely verbal harassment. I can be very brave for other people. I totally freeze when it’s directed at me. Physical stuff wise – I’ve trained martial arts a good chunk of the week every week for too long for freeze to be a thing anymore. My body just does shit while my brain is freezing.
I don’t know why I can be really brave for someone else and a total coward for me, but I can. When there’s an explosion in the lab next door, I’m the one who runs toward the ominous silence yelling, “Are you ok?” Or when I hear a car accident, or when a weather disaster hits my region and the dust has settled… It’s not even that I try to be brave, it’s that I literally don’t register danger because someone might be hurt. Like not even “this is a good thing to do” but more I’m wired in a way that I can’t not do it. But if some dude is groping me on the bus, I’ll sit there in silence. I can’t explain it, but it’s the thing.
I totally relate to stuff like that. Physical violence doesn’t scare me at all. I’ll fight five dudes, I don’t care. If I die, I die. But get one person screaming in my face in a situation that I don’t feel like I can escape from…complete physical and mental shut-down. I can’t cope with it.
*appropriate gesture of support* Freezing is probably the worst. My problem is that I lack a flight response. I have to force myself into something other than fight when fight is a *bad* option because my childhood basically taught me that flight just makes everything worse. That means that sometimes I have to force myself to freeze because otherwise everything is going to hell if I have an anxiety attack. Absolutely hate it, but I can’t manage a flight response and sometimes a fight response just isn’t warranted. When a fight response is though, I have even managed to keep things to just verbal – I was particularly proud of myself.
Well that escalated quickly.
Usually when I eat poultry, chicken is my bird of choice. Today, I guess I’m eating crow.
At least you helped change my initial reaction to this strip: vindication rather than stress
You could have just used a picture of Trump tbh.
There’s currently some weirdness with the image I uploaded. It should be fixed shortly.
Mary (which is what’s showing now, at least for me) is pretty embarrassing, too. >_>
Funny how she’s my default Gravatar.
Well… I’ll be damned if that ain’t taking one on the chin for being wrong. I’ll just hope you don’t use that grav account on other sites, you may have some odd questions asked of you otherwise.
See, the thing about that is, I didn’t consider that at all.
There we are. Two people said they wanted THE KNIFE, so that’s what we’ve got. If this picture of “Ryan” is bothersome, I’ve got a backup ready.
I was going to say it yesterday, but didn’t because I wasn’t sure it’d have been seen with the number of times you insisted it was his cell, but his cell phone is about twice the width of what we were seeing in his hand yesterday. In fact, the scale on it was almost more a small tablet than a phone which I particularly remembered because my own fairly large phone doesn’t cover as much of my own hand and I’m one of those people with fairly stubby fingers.
I’m sure “Ryan” brought a knife that matched his phone, if that makes you feel any better?
10/10 follow through and good humor.
FWIW, between the panel where he brandished it and the way it’s drawn in the last panel, I think Ryan is using a knife that folds out, Swiss Army knife style but just a knife. Like a switch blade.
I think it was genuinely a rectangle yesterday, and until he flicks his wrist to extend the blade with that little arc line of movement.
This is my guess, but I’m only saying it twice on here as I’m not nearly confident enough for anything else
I wonder how he intended to explain the scar to his dad. If ‘some crazy chick cut me’ would fly at all, I’d think his ass of a dad would still buy it when the ‘crazy chick’ also spread ‘fake’ rape accusations.
He fell off the stairs? Maybe some badass fight in alley with some muggers?
Dad: “Son, what happened? Why are you missing your leg? And where’d that scar come from?”
“Ryan”: *Looks out the window to see Joyce standing there like the Slender Man* “I… I fell down some stairs.”
Panel 3 (dickwaffle): I have so many feels about this unrepentant rapist pulling out one of my least favorite arguments which is the bullshit that rape accusations “ruin” people’s lives. Because outside of actual lynchings, the majority of the time that’s almost always the opposite of the truth.
We don’t punish rapists in our society. There are so many wife beaters and rapists in the entertainment industry, in sports, in politics that we just look the other way on, even ones who rape kids. Our current president admitted on a hot mic that he raped women and frequently did creepy sexually harassing and assaulting things with young women and was accused multiple times of raping a child.
Rape accusations often in general make one more supported in one’s community because the zombie myth that “rape accusations ruin lives” means people pour out of the woodwork to assume you’re a good boy done wrong by lying terrible people who must be destroyed even if your daily life is setting people’s housepets on fire.
And victims tend to be the ones who have their lives ruined from rapes. Both from the years of PTSD that comes with any sexual assault (I think I’m about 9 years out from my rape and I still have flashbacks every so often and a giant mass of triggers that pop out on various things), but also from how you are treated if you report it in any way.
Abused by cops who act like you’re lying and mistreat you or worsen the trauma of the assault, put into a justice system that puts you and your entire sexual history up for grabs to see if you’re considered virginal enough to be seen as a worthy victim, treated as a liar and someone “ruining lives” by one’s community.
And that’s if you report to cops. So many avoid this but still end up losing community as they try and tell folks what happened or obliquely try and warn people about the dangerous predator in the community targeting folks.
His life is at most inconvenienced, but it is very clearly not ruined even in the slightest, but for the type of entitled fuck that commits crimes of sexual violence, inconvenience is seen as equivalent of ruining one’s life, which is why many view a woman not sleeping with them as some sort of personal affront.
And this fucked up trope is compounded by everything else in this scene. He’s had a “rough day”, because what, his picture is being spread around with accurate information about a crime he damn well knows he actually committed and is unlikely to ever see the inside of a jail cell for, even though the person he attacked has been suffering intense PTSD flashbacks and that’s not counting the likely multiple women he’s “successfully” raped in the past, perfecting his little drugging technique.
But again, for this type of entitled piece of shit, the idea of facing consequences for actions is anathema. See various folks who spend huge number of hours trying to get kids to kill themselves who become stunned when they are actually arrested for their attempted murder. Because they were so used to being able to do anything they wanted to harm someone while the system around them would protect them from ever having to pay for it.
And for a guy like Ryan, none of that can ever be his fault, it must be someone with less social power, ideally a woman. Percussion instruments are keeping him down and for no reasons and having a slight inconvenience to his day is his life ruined forever to the point where he needs to stalk and threaten a woman with a knife in “revenge” for her noting that he committed a crime that he committed.
And the sickest part of this is this isn’t all that fictional to what happens in life all the time. It’s the other risk of reporting. That someone, either the person accused or one of their friends will get violent and come after you. Maybe they’ll threaten you, maybe they’ll harass you, maybe they’ll try and kill you, but they are rabid to punish a woman who dared talk about it.
Like, all Dorothy did was be ground zero for the publishing of an accurate account of events in a very minimal way. And for this a man wants to take her life, views her as personal responsible for somehow destroying him, is building a justification to take malicious glee in violently hurting her.
For something so small and not at all unfair, she in another universe, could die here. And that happens all the fucking time. Angry violent men full of aggrieved entitlement that the world conforms to the very specific way they’ve got in their head and kill anything that “ruins” that, whether it be an outspoken woman, a trans person just trying to have a nice day out, or someone trying to do right by their community.
And it’s what makes this whole comic so powerful. The moments like this that distill these real-world horrors.
But… but… affluenza!
*rant cut due to redundancy and need to learn larger swearing vocabulary*
Thank you for laying out explicitly that it’s the same sense of entitlement that makes them rapists that leads them to equate “inconvenience” with “ruined life”. That is exactly what seems to happen, but I wouldn’t have been able to line it up like that before.
Jedi hugs or other appropriate gestures to you and anyone who wants them. This storyline is rough as hell.
Here’s a thought. It’s almost a guarantee that he’ll blame these two if he ends up going to prison. Because it’s their fault he decided to come at them with a knife, of course.
Yup, for these types of folks, it’s always on other people.
I fear it’s much worse than that, he probably has absolutely nothing concrete on Dorothy in particular relating to his current social media circus. He does however have connections drawn between her and at least two, possibly three, other people he knows are involved in this. When he drugged Joyce, Dorothy was among the people that came directly to her aid while he was down (Billie and Sarah being the other two). With the events of the last few days, he’s likely been looking up everything he could on Amazi-girl and who does he find covering her (hell, even getting an exclusive interview with her)? Dorothy. Then he randomly comes across her with the class letting out early and she’s with Walky, who, as many of us discussed when that happened, looks, and plausibly vocally sounds, remarkably similar to Sal who was helping Amazi-girl deal with him. So, yeah, I suspect that he’s specifically acting against her because he has found some valid circumstantial correlations between her and all the people who are “trying to ruin his life”.
That’s the horrific part – the rapist are never as severely punished as his victims.
See I was gonna go with “lots of people seem to (wrongly) believe that rape accusations ruin lives, Ryan is probably one of them,” but I like your answer better.
His “rough day” probably consisted of women he offered drinks politely declining and quickly leaving in company. His MO will not work in this place as long as the internet remembers. He also fears his father’s reaction, which might include disappointment, but based on history, will probably also include paying for any lawyer he needs, and protection from real world consequences.
I swear to God Willis if either of these girls is seriously injured or killed I am going to move to Bloomington, buy an eatery near campus, then add pcikles, ketchup and ranch dressing to anything you order. Even drinks!
*gasps* You fiend! You wouldn’t do that to the poor man!
i live in ohio tho
That’s why you want him to move to Bloomington.
Really, we only say things like “Damn you Willis!” because this is so damned well written. His-middle-name-is-Ryan is a very complex and simple and awful human being. I truly hope he gets his comeuppance and his ass kicked. I’m personally rooting for Sal and maybe Marcie but that’s because we haven’t seen Marcie in a while and I like Sal. But, Joe or campus police would work out just fine. Or, hey, what’s Whitney doing now? That’d be a weird-ass plot twist. Have some fun.
Curses! Foiled again!
That’s punishment enough, don’tcha think?
And you, sir, are dead. So very dead.
Panels 4-5: Welp, fuck. He’s got a knife and no bonus points for him thinking it’s time to slash some faces to “get revenge” for his scar (which if he’s rich and politically connected as has been hinted at, it’s not exactly all that much of an imposition to fix that if he doesn’t feel like he wants to take the time to let it heal naturally).
And that hits home especially lately. Because of various mass murderers who began by “getting revenge” against a specific woman for some often imagined crime that somehow “ruined their life” and especially because of the Portland nazi who slashed throats simply because he faced the bare minimum of social consequences for his violent racist abuse of literal children.
Because for some disciples of this toxic masculinity death cult, owning one’s shit makes you weak. Not being entitled or hateful makes you weak. But violence makes you strong, so when you feel “emasculated”, commit violence to feel strong again. It’s the rot behind so much casual common monstrous harm.
And it’s the standing threat so many of us who are women and enbies experience going outside or interacting with others or doing much of anything. That this might be the day that someone out of an aggrieved sense of entitlement may take our life for literally the smallest of reasons.
Because we turned them down, because we recognized them as creepy, because we didn’t return their hello, because we resisted or reported their rape, because we existed in a presumed genitalia configuration that filled them with rage that their wank fantasy got interrupted, because we had an existing romantic partner, because we existed in places they thought we shouldn’t.
Ryan is just a spoke of that giant toxic network of terrorism and the fear it promotes and we can only hope that this is the point where he finally takes it far enough to actually face a legal consequence for his actions.
And yeah, that he knows Dorothy’s name, that he knows Amber is Amazi-girl, that he knows that they life in this hall and thus how close he is to finding Joyce again… it’s so bad, but at least he’s monologuing enough to drop enough they need to update their post with his real name… assuming they survive, which makes me worried that Ryan’s intention in this exchange is to make sure neither of them survives it.
Also, poor Amber, it’s her perspective and a red panel. One more terrifying trauma of violence and it’s another knife crime, like the one that helped prompt her initial split into her alters. This is literal nightmare come to life after already having her safe space smashed apart, an incredibly triggering RA meeting, and being dumped by her journalist.
And once again, at a moment when Amber needs her the most, AG is nowhere to be fucking found. Fucking golden alter punk.
Oh shit I hadn’t noticed that we ended on a red panel. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap.
*CONTENT WARNING*
Ouch, ouch, ouch. Yes, of course he intends to slash faces to get “payback”. That disfiguration type of revenge is it’s own wonderful part of the toxic masculinity package, at it’s worst exemplified by the acid-attacks by men intended to “ruin” the women that have wronged them.
I hadn’t clued in on the red panel before you pointed it out, and now that I notice it, I feel conflicted feelings. On one hand, red panel Amber is a savage berserker that would inflict exactly the type of brutal beatdown on Ryan that would be so cathartic to see. On the other hand, the aftereffects of that would be extra traumatic for her and she doesn’t need more of that.
Yep.
Red-panel Amber might be exactly the thing this situation needs, if a quick violent response is what we’re after. Amazi-Girl would be preferable because she turns that fear into thought, for all that she is also toxic to Amber. But yeah, red-panel Amber might just be a bad idea here because that would be a heaping helping of bullshit her psyche doesn’t need right now.
I totally missed the red panel connection to “raging Amber” mode. As I said yesterday, if she manages to (and she hasn’t frozen, so I think that’s where this is going), I think it’s *good* that it’s Amber handling this and not AG. Because much of Amber’s issues started when she saw herself “failing” (in quotes, because not going up unarmed against someone with a knife isn’t any sort of failing, though she perceives it otherwise) to protect Ethan from Sal. Saving Dorothy from a much similar situation should be good for her self-esteem.
It being Amber here and not AG also goes in accordance to what you’ve often said – “golden” alters are more of the gold-plated variety and if you give them a scratch the paint starts flaking off.
As long as Amber can stay enough in control of herself not to go overboard on him – like she did with Blaine. The red panel does not bode well for that.
Or for Ryan, but who cares about him.
You know, even if it’s not a full-blown slasher smile in that last panel he still makes me think of (any incarnation of) the Joker.
Oh no! His dad is going to know he drugs and rapes girls! And then he’s going to find out that Ryan also goes after them with knives when they dare try to bring him to justice! It must be horrible to be Ryan at the moment.
#sarcasm #killitwithfire
Churchy McScarface looks like an evil monk from a Victorian murder mystery, with his Bible quotes and his unfortunately-for-you’s; I can practically hear the British accent.
And I just now realized why Willis put that Bible quote shopper video on his Tumblr. Well played.
Okay, so the answer The Jeff and I posed yesterday is answered. He is ver, very stupid and clearly thinks that being (a) male and (b) popular with the ‘bros’ makes him physically as well as socially invulnerable. Something tells me that he is going to learn the error of that assumption in a prolonged and powerful way.
I wonder if he’ll end up with a knife through the hand?
I’m going to guess that it probably has something to do with that. But I’d wager good money that his dad is probably influential enough (congressman or politician maybe?) that he’s just always had immunity to repercussions for his actions.
Oh my god. I just had an epiphany. Sal’s going to show up to help with Ryan/Leland, bringing both Amber’s storyline and her own full circle, aiding her Amber against the same kind of attack she made against her years ago, and getting back at the guy who pushed Marcie all those years ago on the playground.
It will then turn out that Leland’s father has been Robin’s political opponent all this time. The news will get out (since Dorothy, the reporter, is right there), and Robin will (as undeserved as it may be) get her congressional seat back, now on a new pro LGBT latform she would otherwise have no chance at winning with in her district.
I’ve also been assuming that Ryan = Leland since he was introduced in Sal’s flashback panel (they look too similar to me; also it didn’t seem like a red herring or anything) and toying with the Leland Ryan Manley angle…But what kills it for me is that Ryan’s dad is a preacher. I mean, I guess his dad could be a Democratic preacher-turned-politician, though?
Also pretty weird if Robin’s opponent’s son was working for her as an intern.
Not very likely, I think.
Ryan-by-middle-name and Leland are different characters!
A few days ago, Willis posted an “Orb” picture on the Dumblr (see TUMBLR link above) with all the major DOA-villains in it.
It had Scarface and another character standing beside him on the far right side.
When asked “who is the character on the far right side?”, Willis answered in a follow-up post that he is Leland.
Oh shit.
I know this was written and drawn a while back, but its release on the heels of the Portland MAX stabbings is unsettling (the one on the Lloyd Center station platform a week and a half ago, and the one on the train a few days ago).
Yeah, the context definitely raises the stakes quite a bit and I can’t help feel the same kind of absolute myopia from Ryan as that nazi fuck’s assertion that being able to slash people’s throats without consequence was somehow a free speech issue and going to jail for it was somehow a violation of that “free speech”.
Ugh. I’ve seen several of those kinds of fucks on Facebook and Twitter trying to argue those guys were somehow the aggressors, who “stupidly escalated the situation”
I found it disheartening until I realized how desperately they’re flailing to try to sell that garbage. To either paint themselves the victims or to make people afraid to stand up to them, because they’ve been seeing a flood of people praising those men as heroes and encouraging each other to follow their example. And that scares the hell out of those racist pieces of shit.
It’s almost like you could throw a dart at a calendar and an event precisely like this one would have happened hundreds of times on any given day, anywhere in America. Pretty easy to find a coincidence, if you consider a finding a fish with a bullet in the barrel you shot a “coincidence.”
Somebody save the ladies and/or shoot Ryan in the back of the head.
Am I the only one who thinks that looks like a Buck 110 (except of course that it opened the wrong way)? Also, wow, way to get serious, Willis.
I think either the “opening the wrong way” is just an art error.
(Looing at the close up of the knife, there is nowhere for the blade to go *into*. Also, it would mean the blade being stored cutting edge up!
Giving Willis’ normal state of excellence, I’m going with it’s one of those “motion indicator” thingies! rather than a “blade opening indicator” thingy!”
I suspect Amber will do something badass as Amber. I say this with the understanding that this is a very similar situation as to the one that is still constantly haunting her (Sal pulling a knife out). she’s had character development since then.
I suspect that Amber will red-panel and freak out. Ironically, Dorothy ends up having to stop Amber from killing Ryan.
Before anyone says “Let her kill him”, just remember what Frieda said about Ryan having popular support amongst the local populace. Think about the headlines: “Mentally-ill daughter of local small-time crook murders respected honour student recently maligned with internet libel”. You all know that is the way it would go.
Right they’re going to have to find a chemistry student who knows how to dissolve a body. I think Carla might be the go to girl for that.
Sure, they could dissolve him. Or, they could feed him to Becky.
(Because she’s dressed as a prehistoric monster, not because I think she would actually eat a human. Also, not implying she’d be desperate enough to eat him because she’s technically homeless, just to be safe.)
it’s not hygenic to eat scum delicious taffy
I dunno, if you told her that literally eating an entire human corpse would make Joyce safer or feel better, she might actually try it.
listen becky eats pussies not cretins.. i will not Stand for this egregious mischaracterization, put forth about gay people by 1 horrendous individual known as “hannibal lector”.
u do not have to eat people in order to be gay!!! that is not a “newbie hazing ritual” or a “evolution of human cuisine” thank u very much dr. lector!!! please leave!! he has been officially uninvited from my next three dinner parties! check urself b4 u wreck urself m8
also say hi to dr. frankenfurter next time u see him, He Knows What He Did but i hope he and his new playmates R doing well
God fucking damn it. I knew I forgot to cover a base.
IN ANY CASE if becky did eat people it would be organically farmed lesbians
Oh fuck fuck fuck…
this can only end well
Handy for Ryan to already have a red background in that last panel.
Much easier to make a red flashback for Amber.
Ok so thoughts, he has a knife so Amber and Dorothys best option is to run
Heres why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9igSoJHEdUo
In real life 9 times out 10 he’ll mess up Amber/AG/Sal (doesn’t matter who it is) really badly because with a knife you don’t need any skills at all
However being a world where the author has said no one dies I think we can safely assume it won’t go down like that
to quote jafar from aladdin 2: “You’d be surprised what you can live through”
True true
Not necessarily, certainly its the best option to ensure that at least one of them survives however, that video’s not really relevant to the situation. Most knife attacks like the one shown in the video are surprise affairs so the victim has no chance to defend him/herself.
Ryan’s already displayed his weapon so surprise is blown and Amber won’t be reaching for a gun to defend herself. The last time they fought it took Ryan and three of his “bros” to overcome her before Sal showed up.
Once they are trough here, will it help Amber to notice that Dorothy just freezes and is not able to act?
To put her own freezing up ages ago into perspective?
But what is with this guy? If he has favorable press now, why go after them with a knife? He won’t get favorable press for that (as long as Amber doesn’t kill him that is). Though as he is using a knife, she could rightfully plead PTSD.
I think at this point it’s just revenge for the trouble they’ve caused him.
That’s my guess too. With a mix of “dare mark me with a cut scar will you? We’ll see how you like it?” thrown in based on his comments to Amazi-girl when he pinned her down.
Which also makes him noticing Amber is Amazi-girl all the worse, because he’s got a lot of entitled aggrievement surrounding her.
He’s attacking them with a knife. She could rightfully plead “He was attacking us with a knife.”
Well, realistically, self defense allows them to incapacitate him. Killing him would be exceeding self-defense (at least in Germany).
And they are not on their own ground/in their own home which seems to justify killing anyone being there uninvited in the US.
In principle, in the US, if you’re not trained, you’re not expected to accurately judge the minimum required force to protect yourself. In practise, even trained law enforcement is not held to this standard.
Laughing animals.png
>Implying they’re held to any real standards in use of force.
Where “even” means “especially”. Trained law enforcement is given way more leeway to kill people because they thought they were threats than the general population.
They’re actually trapped between him and the door, duty to retreat doesn’t apply if your cornered.
In Indiana, deadly force with no duty to retreat is 100% legal at this point.
I should add a citation for that. Indiana Code 35-41-3-2, here: http://iga.in.gov/static-documents/3/8/a/9/38a91514/TITLE35_AR41_ch3.pdf
And, a forcible felony has been committed through Ryan brandishing that knife – it’s a threat of force against a human being, and imminent danger of bodily injury to a human being, either of which qualifies it as a forcible felony.
IANAL, though, I should add.
Fun facts time (the more you know)
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-homicide/expanded_homicide_data_table_8_murder_victims_by_weapon_2009-2013.xls
This is fascinating in the most awful way.
And you just signed your death warrant Middle- Name Ryan…
Wow, he actually guessed.
Just got this funny thought, if Amazi-Girl was more of a Punisher/Rorscach type of super hero. Holding the knife she took from Ryan “You know what the good book says? If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you” while pulling his pants down.
Yea that’s like the only time that quote makes sense literally.
Apparently Ryan was smart enough to figure out Amazi-Girl’s identity, but that’s mitigated by his arrogance. He is concerned about his father learning about all this so either he’s not terrible like his son or he’s just been covering up his crimes so long that he’s sick of it and this will be the final straw.
Or it’s about avoiding the inconvenience of being chewed out by his dad for “fucking up and making problems for the family” as the dad is busy covering up the crime or smearing the victim.
Well this is just plain silly. What is he gonna do next? Start monologuing?
It’s sadly quite realistic.
Well, apart from the masked vigilante
It’s sadly quite realistic.
Having been mugged, I can’t say my attacker was sporting enough to assault me in plain view of a building with security cameras and probably several dozen witnesses and present a long-winded, mustache-twirling villain speech about his plans and motivations before attacking me. Though you’re right, there wasn’t a masked vigilante in my experience, either.
It’s getting late on a weeknight. I don’t know the IU campus, but at my college, there might have been one or two people hanging around the main lounge. Even if there were, the lounges all have nice big windows, which at night means it’s really easy to see if there’s people inside.
And I don’t think it’s at all certain that they have security cameras in the dorm entryway, or even on campus.
Then again, Ryan doesn’t seem like he really cares about consequences at this point
SUDDENLY- Billie comes up and one punch KOs him.
“Wow, good thing I was here, as I think Amazi-Girl is off getting smokes from a 24hr convenience store. I saw her there when I was picking up some booze.”
Love this
Amber-body-with-blue-speech-bubble: “Underage drinking is illegal.”
Hopefully, Ryan still has his roofies on him. It’ll be needed as evidence and if Amazi-Girl force feeds him one he’ll forget her identity.
Knife + Background going red, I think stuff ‘s gonna go bad for Amber mentally, and for Ryan physically. Very, very bad for Ryan.
“Don’t make me angry, Ryan. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”
I’m going on vacation for the week-end and won’t have internet access.
I swear Willis, you’re killing me.
HOLY SHIT, I DIDN’T THINK HE HAD A KNIFE
Who is that stupid and crazy, what does he think will happen here?!
He thinks that he’ll terrorise two helpless girls by waving a knife in their face and may even get some ‘fun’ in by scarring them for life.
1. Too many people to be comforting.
2. What BenRG said. (shudders)
I think that Ryan’s so convinced his life as he knew it is over, he might as well get his revenge.
Alternate ending: The knife is replaced with an Anakin Skywalker toy. “Ryan” holds it up, close to his face, and asks what the toy thinks, and says “Now, this is pod racing!” in his best Jake Lloyd imitation.
So if that doesn’t happen you’re changing your gravatar to something out of Ep I, right?
Oh, I meant an alternate ending to today’s strip. Like, instead of getting his knife out, he just acts like a nutcase with an action figure.
“You’ve ruined my life.”
False. YOU’VE ruined your life. Your own damn actions have led you here, jerkhole.
Wow, Amber is a quick-thinker. I would have frozen, just like Dorothy did. But not Amber.
I guess it makes sense given AG, but still…
A boxcutter would suggest slashing, but that knife is for killing.
Yes, they are standing by a door but he is close and the one second between swiping your card and the door unlocking is a long, long time. Not to mention the time it takes to get through the door and get it closed behind them and latched. So Amber’s command for Dorothy to get inside while she runs interference is right. I wonder if she personally expects to survive.
His dad could be the pastor of a politically influential megachurch. Worst of all possible worlds maybe.
Delicious Taffy; for what it’s worth, I thought it was a phone and my wife thought it was a knife.
You ruined your own damn life by raping people, fucker.
Because it fits with my Gravatar. (Read it like you would read it from Mary)
Now now, we don’t know that, all we know is he drugged Joyce, something he hasn’t admitted to, we should give him the benefit of the doubt, he’s a pastors son after all.
In case it wasn’t clear, I’m talking on Marys behalf, I don’t agree with the sentiment at ALL!
Why do I strongly suspect that he’s directly related to Mary?
I know it! It’s Ryan Phillippe!
I’ve drugged and raped women, and I’m about to assault 2 more with a deadly weapon, BUT MAH PUBLIC IMAGE!!!! AND DADDY’S APPROVAL!!!! WOE IS ME!!!
Epic dog-pile on “Ryan”, resulting on little more than a sticky red spot on the concrete and no “Ryan” ever to be seen again.
Rachel: “Redemption is a myth! Abusers never change!”
Commenters: “You’re wrong, Rachel!”
[Minutes later.]
Ryan: “I’ve come to punish you girls for my own bad behavior!”
Commenters: “God damn it, Willis!”
Amber: “I’m going to handle a knife-wielding assailant, something I didn’t do before, therefore leading me to realise that I’m not a total failure and am indeed capable of changing.”
Commenters: “Nyah, Rachel!”
Yes, but Amber has no redemption to seek. She was a teen at the time of the robbery and she did exactly what a policeman would tell someone to do in such a situation. Now if her need for redemption leads to Ryan getting curb stomped then that works too, but she really has nothing to prove.
But she does have *change* to seek, via self-esteem – and in her eyes, her big failure was not saving Ethan, so it’s possible that saving not-Ethan now kickstarts the whole process.
But I agree – Amber did nothing wrong (and everything right) in not tackling the knife-wielding angry stranger.
Hmmmmmm… Keeping this in mind for next comic.
Hmmm … we’ll have to see how Willis plays this, but I’ve suspected all along that Amber/AG are seeking absolution for Amber’s gratuitous assault–with a knife!–on a no-longer threatening prisoner in custody.
She did, up until she stabbed the already-apprehended robber in the hand.
She doesn’t need redemption for that because she was a kid having a panic attack and being egged on by her crap sack of a father, but that event is something she feels she needs to atone for.
Hopefully, how she responds to this knife-wielding assailant will give her some kind of catharsis. (And give Ryan some broken bones)
Would that logic determined if any of us needs redemption. Given her father’s approach, likely she feels like she needs it.
This is what I’m hoping for, personally.
I think the problem is the absolute. Everyone has the possibility of changing and trying to make up for the harm they’ve done or move to no longer harm in the future.
But that doesn’t mean they’ll take it. Toedad was offered a chance by Becky to take it, several in fact, but he rejected each one. Blaine, Ryan, and Mary all had chances to walk away with the consequences they had from their actions rather than trying to reinsert themselves into things and thus escalating it.
All of whom could eventually turn over a new leaf, though I doubt anyone harmed by them would ever trust them again. And for folks like Ryan, that aggrieved entitlement makes it difficult for them to ever fully own the harms they’ve caused or settle for the incredibly minor consequences he’s gotten for committing those wrongs.
I’m sorry, but I’m kind of excited. This is shaping up to be epic
Unfortunately, for all intents and purposes, she currently isn’t Amazi-Girl.
Yeah. Poor Ryan.
“There’s just one problem… you’re talkin’ to the wrong Harvey.”
Oh, that’s just upped your anticipated damage from a femur to two, probably an ulna or some other lower arm/hand bits, and a cracked cranium.
If they keep your knife out of you anyway…
Red panels in the morning, reader take warning.
Red panels at night, you gave me a fright.
Fight ensues. Mary comes out of nowhere to shield Ryan because of course they’re a thing.
ohhhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiii—
Huh, I was right about the middle name.
Also AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I wish it didn’t bother me that the knife opened backwards.
“Redemption is a joke.”
Amber is going to try to redeem herself for what she perceives not being able to protect an innocent.
This is going to end really badly for Amber.
I predict a stabbing.
If Dorothy gets hurt here, not being able to protect her will be devastating for Amber.
As I said above, while it messes with Amber’s superhero trope, I’d really love for the two of them to get inside the building and to safety (scream and run!) and get footage of him threatening them with a deadly weapon. I know it would be hard to make Joyce’s case against him stick at this point, but Ryan-Middle-Name’s assault on two of her close friends might go a long way towards his conviction on that as well (especially if Robin gets involved).
I still have a theory that this is at least partially a frame-up for Amber. He knows she is Amazi-Girl. If Ryan-Middle-Name “goads” her into fighting him, he may have evidence of that fact. (Especially because, as I noted, most college buildings have cameras all over the place.) In the eyes of U.S. law, Amazi-Girl has committed assault more than once. The resultant scandal, media attention, and court case would probably overshadow anything Ryan has done. In *his* “best-case” scenario, he could even try to claim he pulled a knife to defend himself against a dangerous vigilante. Dorothy’s testimony might not be considered trustworthy because she has publically defended Amazi-Girl.
I’m cynical, you say?
Well, I DO live in the U.S. in the current political moment; I’m getting used to examining *everything* this way. 
He’s already brandished a knife in a lethal manner. That’s assault with a lethal weapon, and Amber’s fully entitled to self-defense at this point. Cameras would just give more evidence of that fact.
…. but yeah, the justice system’s pretty screwed up and getting worse.
From what I understand that depends on the beliefs of the jury and judge. I mean she might have looked up the laws specifically to figure out what is technically legal and seems to like to reside in the grey areas.
I’m not sure it depends so much on the beliefs of the jury and judge, but rather on the U.S.’s continued committment to the 2nd Amendment and its committment to the right of self-defense. Anyone remember George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin? Zimmerman was exonerated for shooting a young man because he supposedly had “reason” to believe that Martin was a threat, despite the fact that Martin never actually pulled a weapon on him.
Don’t get me wrong: I COMPLETELY believe that someone who is honestly defending themselves against assault should not be penalized for doing so. However, that has been interpreted very loosely in the U.S. IIRC, there is something called the “Purple Paint Law” in Texas and some other U.S. states. That means that if a landowner paints their fenceposts or other boundary markers purple, it means “no trespassing.” And, if someone trespasses, the landowner is completely within their rights to kill them.
To keep giving my 98 cents about social commentary here…
Trayvon Martin did not have a weapon. Famously, after Zimmerman killed him, he was found to have a pack of skittles in his pocket. However, George Zimmerman had a weapon and felt that his existence was threatened by this young Black man.
Also, Trayvon Martin was wearing a black hoodie, which, to some people who analyzed the situation, made him “look suspicious.” Ryan-Middle-Name is both wearing a black (or dark-coloured hoodie) and also sporting a weapon, which he may claim he needs to defend himself against Amazi-Girl.
IMHO, this is a really pointed critique of racial and sexual critique in the U.S.
D’OH! I meant “really pointed critique of racial and sexual VIOLENCE in the U.S.!”. STUPID iPAD!
Purple paint means ‘No Trespassing’ in about five states. It does -NOT- mean you can be shot at will. (see http://www.snopes.com/purple-paint-no-trespassing/)
And how long til Sal shows up to save the day? I’ve guessing next Monday, 6/12, just as douchebag has Dorothy on the ground and is about to stab her. (Amber/AG having been temporarily incapacitated somehow.)
Or maybe Amber/AG is currently thinking “He’s holding the knife bald and palm down, which means a hard downward strike should make him drop it . . .”
knife blade . . .
You’re just a mook, yeh little fucker. A wise guy you are not. Way, way out of your league.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
oh my god
Next strip should be Robin still standing out there, still waiting for Leslie.
Proper response: “I ruined your life? No, you did that when you decided date rape was an acceptable thing, you pathetic sewer sludge.”
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH RUN RUN RUN
…..
I just realized.
Dina’s going to be seeking permission for Becky’s sleepover.
That mean’s she’s going to be calling Amber, texting her… or coming to check with her IN PERSON.
There are two of you. Run in opposite directions, yelling and screaming. Stay out of his reach and use your cell phones, both to call for help and film him. Also, it looks like that knife got bigger from one panel to the next.
The knife opened from one panel to the next.
Is anyone else a little disappointed that scar guy didn’t throw off the hoodie to reveal a ridiculous supervillain outfit?
Someone’s gonna have a bad time.
In a less terrible subject, I get hella trans vibes offa Spencer inna tumblr.
Uh, are you sure that’s something they’d want you to say? Outing someone can be kind of dangerous for them?
She was referring to this new character model Willis posted, not the commenter
So keeping the fragile nature of the 4th wall in mind the point still stands… maybe?
Night, brightly lit interior. Anyone inside looking out is going to see a mirror reflection, not Ryan.
I KILL RYAN IMMEDIATELY
Funny thing: all I could see yesterday was the guy’s creepy face, I didn’t even notice how he was holding the knife. Even I know better than to hold a knife like that.