It has to be the fact I’m doing this at 3:30 cause I’m up with the stupid dog, but the first time I read this, I thought Walky referred to himself as the “timesink with muscle”. Which fit the reference too well to suspect.
“thought Walky referred to himself as the “timesink with muscle””
“Hey, Amazi-Girl. I’ve got this great new superpower of my own, it’s called “Timesink”. Be my muscle?”
:Amazigirl strips off mask: “Let me give myself to you, honestly.”
“Whoa, whoa! Not where I was going with this! At least buy me nacho dinner first!”
“Dammit, Billie! You steered me wrong again!
I really need to start getting advice from sober people..”
:In the background, Jason downs another beer out of spite:
Then Real-Dorothy comes up on the roof to find them making out.
“But.. I thought she was you!”
“I thought I was you, also! I don’t even know who I am anymore!”
The Amazi-Girl split personality condition isn’t only increasing, it’s mutating and spreading to other people.. =O
Amber basically almost murdered the guy that tried to sexually assault Joyce. Therefore, everyone in the building kind of knows her. Plus, I also think Amber and Dorothy share a bathroom so they probably have ran into each other before.
Wait, nevermind, apparently my brain is just making up strips that didn’t exist. I swore I remembered a couple with them chatty and Amber being a little inexplicably (to her) edgy with the implication it was because he reminded her of Sal but hadn’t put that together, but apparently not!
Walky and Amber did meet at the party, but they didn’t show them interacting one-on-one. But, the following day Amber described him to Danny as a lazy goof and someone who “sets the corner of her brains on fire”.
So basically, they know each other; not well, but enough for Walky to connect past meetings with Amber to the girl with Dorothy who stabbed the rapist to the person with him now.
Not really; this strip shows that it’s more of a ‘by one remove’ thing. Walky knows of Amber and Amazi-Girl through their relationship with Dorothy and what she has likely told him about them.
not weird considering what’s going on in Oathbringer. 😉 although the hints were there in earlier books – I just didn’t pick up on them before, thinking it was normal…
I really like what was said at, like, two thirds of the way through the book. but it might count as minor spoilers, so, rot13: Jvg fnvq, “Npprcg gur cnva, ohg qba’g npprcg gung lbh qrfreir vg.”
AWKWARD QUESTION TIME :toot:
So, as of late I’ve seen that there is a strong pushback against the typical japanese trope of “She looks like she’s 12 but she’s actually 1000”.
I mean, I get it, its an excuse for japan’s unhealthy obssesion with underage girls.
But this DID led to another question: What about IRL people with this problem? Don’t they deserve love, companionship, even sexual gratification? And what about their SO, wouldn’t they be accused of being perverts?
Yes, some of you will say that is impossible. To you I say: My little sister is 23 and with a plaid skirt could pass for a young middle schooler.
I mean? Those seem like they’re really two separate things.
Sometimes people get read as being way younger than they are, and that can suck for them unless they’re getting like a discount or something from it (or they just don’t care). But assuming that their SO knows how old they are, hopefully they’re not the one treating them like this.
I’m not sure who would be accusing the SO of being a pervert? People who know the person in question would know how old they are, so are we talking, like, random people on the streets? I don’t really see that being a thing, in part because I think people are well aware that people can look younger than their age. I guess if a couple is very PDA and on looks 28 while the other looks 12, that could raise some flags for people…hopefully if anyone felt the need to do something, though, it would be able to be resolved with, “Hey, we’re both adults…” before it escalated to, like, physical violence.
Also, I find that a lot of people who may think a young looking adult “looks 12” or whatever have a skewed idea of what 12 year olds look like.
My husband went grey early, while I am more baby-faced. An older man once asked me what it was like to be in a relationship with someone so much older than myself. Wut? I had to tell him that: Sorry to burst your bubble, but we are the same age!
People make weird assumptions sometimes.
THAT HAPPENED TO ME WITH MY STEPDAD SO MANY TIMES I DO NOT GET IT AHH
And then, when I’d clarify to the much older dudes that no, actually, I am 16, that is my stepfather not my date… they’d offer to buy me drinks??? Bro I literally just told you I’m way underaged what the utter assfuck why are you like this
Sometimes I worry about people who find me attractive. Like, I’m 23, I am still REGULARLY casually mistaken for being under 16… people who meet me in contexts where I am clearly an adult, like at clubs or back when I was in college, they’re always really surprised to hear that so many people think I’m in high school, so I guess context must play a part of that? But I can’t help but wonder if there’s something weird going on whenever someone just randomly in public checks me out.
The day I start going grey is gonna be the happiest day of my life I’m pretty sure.
Nope, sorry. I started getting grey (well, white) hairs in my early 20s. Still getting ID’d in my 30s. To me it looks like I’ve almost got the white streak from Frozen, but other people don’t seem to notice, despite most of them being taller than me (so presumably they can see the top of my head where it’s most visible)
OTOH, a bit more white and I’m gonna try dying it green – it’ll be nice if I can get colour to show without any bleach 🙂
Yeah. There’s a big difference between real-world people who happen to not look their age, and skeevy “I can’t believe it’s not pedophilia!” wish-fulfillment fantasies.
In my mid-twenties, I walked into a middleschool/highschool to teach a class, and the administrator said “aw, is it your first day, do you need help finding homeroom??”
But people who are into me know my age. To my knowledge, my eternal youth has never even been a fetishised thing for my significant folks.
…that said, I once showed up in front of my nerdy pals in a cute punk schoolgirl outfit, and felt their eyes on me very differently, and ran away. True Story.
I get that kind of thing a lot. I once had to show my ID four times at a casino, twice when I was just eating. I ordered a steak and milk. I was so mad (by which I mean exaggerated snark not actually angry).
I’ve also been offered virgin drinks by club wait staff I’m pretty sure I was older than, and been mistaken for a first year at my university (I am a FOURTH YEAR DAMN MY BABY FACE).
Mind you, I have a very young looking face, don’t wear makeup or heels, and sport very kiddy looking stuff like rubber bracelets so. Y’know. Partially on me.
Aww! No one’s ever been that rude to me. Though a waiter once asked if we needed children’s menus – and once he learned I was 22, backtracked HARD.
“Oh! Uh – well, y’know, it can just be a good option sometimes – uh, it’s cheaper, and, uh, the chicken tenders are great, uh, I order off it all the time!”
When I was teaching middle school aged kids, I definitely got mistaken as a student, like, more than once. And again when tutoring high school, the kid’s friend came over and was like “oh, do you go to X High School too?”
…there is not a legal woman alive that looks like a small child, which is really what that trope is about. Not like ehh borderline could pass for 16 with the right clothes. We’re talking like the shit that gets used to attempt to justify lolicon.
I mean, I know anime style art can be ambiguous sometimes but really, it’s obvious when that’s what they’re trying.
Like the immediate example that comes to mind for me is CLAMP because as much as I loved them as a teen, I cannot read their stuff now without getting squicked because they do so much of the “sure she LOOKS eight years old but she’s totes a couple thousand and so it’s fine that she’s in love with a grown ass adult man”
I reread Chobits recently and I was sort of staring at it going “Chi acts like a small child, why are you in love?” Though given the lack of sex that’s actually one of the *less* squicky ones.
Yeah, that’s an even squickier trope. Though in some cases it kind of makes sense – if they’re in a way stuck emotionally at that level of development. Still, that’s just justification.
Or the even more common older male hero always hooking up with the much younger, if not actually teenage, female love interest in your average action movie.
Yeah, I am 21 and the youngest I’ve ever gotten mistaken for was 12. Definitely young, but I’d find it hard pressed to find a grown woman who looks like a small child.
My sister-in-law has always looked at least ten years younger than she is. At 30 she still easily passes for a teenager when she’s in a sporty (instead of a professional) outfit. My brother (who is a year older than she is and looks his age) has occasionally gotten remarks about this, he told me. Someone at a bar who asked him So… how old is she? He got really angry: What exactly are you implying, huh?
He’s always known her age, so to them it’s not an issue, and you wouldn’t mistake her for a teenager once she starts talking (she’s wicked smart).
I find it weird how many aspects of my body shape people are able to ignore, just because I’m really short and have an unwrinkled face. I’m 46. I have three children aged 21+. I have boobs that now count as ‘large’, not to mention ‘droopy’. And my pelvis is wide, let alone the overweight that layers them. But nope, my height is under 5′ and my face is smooth. So I can still get taken for a kid. It’s just bizarre.
My partner is very young-looking and is also autistic, so often is mistaken for a young teenager (similar to the Dina strip linked above). I have an office job, so I tend to dress professionally and try to present myself as very mature, and I’ve often been mistaken for being in my mid-30s. People tend to be surprised when we explain that not only are we close to the same age, my partner is actually a year older than me.
I forget who said it, but: For almost 80 years, Superman’s identity has been kept secret by a freakin’ pair of glasses. It’s tradition. To change it now, where folks would recognize Clark – glasses = Superman, would be like changing the stripes on the flag.
Really, Amber? With Walky of all people? I guess my impression I got at the start of this conversation was right: This is going to be a Big Thing, isn’t it?
I have to admit, I really have no idea where this story line is going. Friendship or romance between Amber and Walky based on mutual self loathing? Amber trying to sabotage Amazi-girl by revealing herself?
I’m calling it: This arc will end with them ‘saving’ Dorothy (if only by snatching her books out of her hands, feeding her and then standing guard over her sleep). This whole thing just breaks down Amber’s “I am a monster” delusion and helps her along the path of realising that the real world and real people are not all black or white.
I’m reminded of a moment late in Batman’s “No Man’s Land” storyline, when Batman finally reveals his identity to Commissoner Gordon…
Only for Gordon to look away and angrily reply, for Bats to put the damn mask back on, which was an unexpected twist to the moment.
I think we’re building up to a similar twist here, but only that Walky doesn’t really know Amber, and won’t make the connection when and if he sees her again as Amber.
Ok, I don’t generally do “perceptive”, and no-one has pointed this out in the comments yet, which means it’s so obvious it doesn’t bear mentioning or I’m wrong:
Anyone else noticed that Amber says she can be garbage AT THE MOMENT she takes off the mask? I.e., when she stops looking like AG and goes back to looking like Amber?
I mean, the cheek blushes were on the whole time, it was never Amazi-girl. So the symbolism there is probably not that, if that’s what you’re driving at. If it isn’t, I don’t know what you’re thinking about then )=
I’m not saying that it isn’t Amber the whole time, I’m saying that Amber claims she becomes garbage when she removes the mask (and stops LOOKING like AG to the world at large).
As in, she’s saying “you only think I’m good because you think I’m AG, lemme show you otherwise.”
I know they were both at that party with Joyce but Walky was also drunk then. I cant remember any scene where thetwo of them directly interacted each eac other in the entire comic. I’m just imagining Walky saying next, “… who are you?”
Reasons I love this strip:
1) Walky’s attentiveness to Dorothy. Sure, he’s being a doof thinking that dumping him would make Dorothy’s love easier (FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NO YOU’RE THE ONE OUTLET SHE HAS OF GOOFINESS AND RELAXATION), but he pays attention to HER interests, hobbies and goals, and works to have THEM fulfilled. Sure, it might be a low bar to clear, but given his general childishness and the fact they’ve barely been dating for a month, if that? Walky’s superpower is being a great boyfriend.
2) Amber is being asked to take care of someone else. This is immediately reminding me of Rurouni Kenshin, no details because no spoilers… anyway, yeah, people just telling her she’s great and trying to help HER only makes her feel worse. But someone who’s entirely out of the loop on her problems asking her to take care of a third person? To do something that’s technically addressed to Amazi-girl, but that AMBER can do? Yep, that can help her snap out of her self-hatred fog into at least ‘functioning’, and eventually maybe even into ‘i’m not THAT bad’. For all of how bad an idea it was, Amber’s still the kind of person whose idea of anger outlet was ‘being a superhero’. Helping other people is central to her priorities and identity. Hell, this might even help her dissociation, brigning Amber and Amazi-girl closer together, what with Amber adopting a distinctly Amazi-girl-esque mindset again.
3) I love that Amber is letting another person in on her secret. Sure, he’s not the best confidante in the world, but he’s one-step-removed from a person who already knows and has vested interest in protecting the secret, not to mention absolutely no incentive to give it away even without that. Literally just the fact that the number of people who know just did a ++, I’m so happy for Amber about that. Less secrets = healthier, imho.
Unfortunately, dramatic decision making and self-deprecation are actually negatives in being a well-developed partner. A strong partner- or family member or friend- is one that supports you by supporting you in the things you lack, being there when needed, and helping you pursue what’s good for you; it’s not in making decisions off what you think is best for the person based on emotion and whim- in fact, where core character is lacking, that’s generally a sign of an *awful* boyfriend.
You’re confusing being a great boyfriend with “not being a self-centered asshole who only thinks about themselves, but instead tries to do what’s good for other people when it they realize an issue”. That’s characteristic of Walky’s personality on the whole, rather than anything he’s bringing to a relationship.
In short, he’s doing as good a job at being in a relationship as you can hope for from a confused teenager, but deciding on your own to add to your partner’s stresses, rather than talking things through with them, or finding a more balanced option to pursue?
Maybe Walky is a great boyfriend- but there’s nothing to indicate such from this comic alone. Again, if you think “[paying] attention to HER interests, hobbies and goals, and [working] to have THEM fulfilled” is a sign of someone being a stand-out relationship partner (rather than it being a normal sign of being in a relationship), then you should reevaluate the kind of relationships you’re having- because frankly, no matter what kind of person you are, you probably deserve a lot better than what you’re indicating you’re used to.
Also, did not mean to drag down your love of this strip, so please don’t lose that positivity just over what I said above. We all love Willis’ work, after all. I mean, even if he forces us to curse him over it on a regular basis..
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“WHOA WHAT… Other Rachel?!”
“…”
Who knew the Duke of Thingley was secretly the Timesink Math Imbecile?!
Duke of Thingley is….
NO! I WANT TO KNOW THAT HE’S…
TMI! TMI!
It has to be the fact I’m doing this at 3:30 cause I’m up with the stupid dog, but the first time I read this, I thought Walky referred to himself as the “timesink with muscle”. Which fit the reference too well to suspect.
“thought Walky referred to himself as the “timesink with muscle””
“Hey, Amazi-Girl. I’ve got this great new superpower of my own, it’s called “Timesink”. Be my muscle?”
:Amazigirl strips off mask: “Let me give myself to you, honestly.”
“Whoa, whoa! Not where I was going with this! At least buy me nacho dinner first!”
I think I’ve seen this fanfic before, actually.
Please.
Walky’s supervillain name is The Caramel Timesink.
I thought that was his exotic dancer name..
“Waaaaaiiiit….”
“SIS?!”
frig Ana made the same joke
Everyone was thinking it. I had it copy-pasted and everything, but was too late.
Waaaaaaaait a minute. You’re not Sal!
“Dammit, Billie! You steered me wrong again!
I really need to start getting advice from sober people..”
:In the background, Jason downs another beer out of spite:
@its… Dorothy
Then Real-Dorothy comes up on the roof to find them making out.
“But.. I thought she was you!”
“I thought I was you, also! I don’t even know who I am anymore!”
The Amazi-Girl split personality condition isn’t only increasing, it’s mutating and spreading to other people.. =O
It’s – Lucy!
The white Lucy.
Amber has a very pronounced collarbone-hole
Somewhere, Daisy is thinking “Close enough!”
Daisy is trying to edit the design of AG’s outfit in photoshop and making everyone around her real uncomfortable in the process.
The constant clicking on her boobs and whether or not she has nipples showing can’t help…
You mean the suprasternal notch?
Oh snap!!!
I just whispered “ohmigod” to myself.
Possibly a little undercut in that I don’t know if Walky knows who she is…at all. But a pretty big deal for Amber, certainly.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/amber+walky/
I– I did not know you could search multiple tags like that. 😮
A cookie for you.
Do you have to type it into the url to search for multiple tags, or is there some other way to do it?
She’s the person he shared a Cube Of Solitude fort with.
Also, he knows she shares a half-bath with Dorothy.
Beef!?
Walky: We meet again sister.
Aw man, right in the feels, especially Walky resignation with all this in panel 5
OH SHIT
She going to reveal her identity and walky reaction will most likely go along the lines of : https://youtu.be/6bfBhIM5tb4
I Some how did not see the 6 panel.
I was thinking more like this.
I knew exactly what this clip was going to be.
So much for Billie’s theory.
I’m am suddenly onboard the AmberxWalky train that I never even thought of before this strip
suddenly……….me too.
Dammit, like… on one hand walky/dorothy is great and i don’t wanna sink it but on the other hand I’m starting to ship this???
This is a gaaaarbage ship.
That’s the way they love
Nah, it’d be nothing but glares. Less garbage ship and more garbage skow-l.
More of a garbage barge. A garbarge, as the French say.
That was one rubbish pun.
It was déchettiest pun ever.
Don’t trash the pun
Garbage Barge?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobro_4000
And then Scotty punches him.
bongo i called it
(did not mean any offense with the “bongo”)
I was thinking more like this.
Shoot, this was supposed to be a reply. Dangit.
Batman demands his own response anyway!
Ha
Whoa. Also, my brain is tired and I can’t remember – do Walky and Amber know each other?
They briefly met at Joyce’s party and in Amber’s half-bath.
Amber basically almost murdered the guy that tried to sexually assault Joyce. Therefore, everyone in the building kind of knows her. Plus, I also think Amber and Dorothy share a bathroom so they probably have ran into each other before.
They chatted at Joyce’s party at least.
Wait, nevermind, apparently my brain is just making up strips that didn’t exist. I swore I remembered a couple with them chatty and Amber being a little inexplicably (to her) edgy with the implication it was because he reminded her of Sal but hadn’t put that together, but apparently not!
…Okay, I clearly need to go to bed, I was not wordsing very well there.
Yes. When they met at the rooftop earlier.
But that was Walky and AG, so it wouldn’t add meaning to Walky as an interaction he had with this unmasked person.
True true
Walky and Amber did meet at the party, but they didn’t show them interacting one-on-one. But, the following day Amber described him to Danny as a lazy goof and someone who “sets the corner of her brains on fire”.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/04-walking-with-dina/goofoff/
When your brain is tired, you can do this: http://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/amber+walky/
So basically, they know each other; not well, but enough for Walky to connect past meetings with Amber to the girl with Dorothy who stabbed the rapist to the person with him now.
I ended up wandering through lots of strips, and then discovered http://itspregnancy.tumblr.com/post/119081056426 🙂
But has Amber figured out that he’s her alter ego’s former arch-nemesis’ twin brother yet?
Yes! When is she going to figure that out?
He hid with her in the cube chairs, and they met in Dorothy’s half-bath, and the party, and everyone knows Amber from Ryan.
Not really; this strip shows that it’s more of a ‘by one remove’ thing. Walky knows of Amber and Amazi-Girl through their relationship with Dorothy and what she has likely told him about them.
So there’s this song “Giants” by Lights, and when I read “We/I can be garbage,” I sing it in my mind to the tune of the lyric “We can be giants.”
And now I’m looking at the lyrics and I feel like this song is always going to be about garbage roof for me now.
And all our problems make us powerless
Let’s get somewhere where the both of us come rising up
Come rising up
Where we could be
giantsgarbagelmfao yes
*plays Tom Lehrer’s “Hunting Song” on the hacked P.A. speaker*
as Pattern would say… mmmm. progress.
that’s such a weird reference to make here but im also literally taking a break from reading that book to read this so good job
not weird considering what’s going on in Oathbringer. 😉 although the hints were there in earlier books – I just didn’t pick up on them before, thinking it was normal…
I really like what was said at, like, two thirds of the way through the book. but it might count as minor spoilers, so, rot13: Jvg fnvq, “Npprcg gur cnva, ohg qba’g npprcg gung lbh qrfreir vg.”
*stands on garbage roof and sings* IT’S NINE IN THE AFTERNOON
Walky gets to be her The Sorceress, Man-at-Arms, and Orko!
Walky has more secret identities than Amber, since she’s Amazi-Girl while he’s both the Duke of Thingley and the Timesink Math Imbecile.
“Hey, lady I’ve met like twice”
Kidding aside, very interesting development.
AWKWARD QUESTION TIME :toot:
So, as of late I’ve seen that there is a strong pushback against the typical japanese trope of “She looks like she’s 12 but she’s actually 1000”.
I mean, I get it, its an excuse for japan’s unhealthy obssesion with underage girls.
But this DID led to another question: What about IRL people with this problem? Don’t they deserve love, companionship, even sexual gratification? And what about their SO, wouldn’t they be accused of being perverts?
Yes, some of you will say that is impossible. To you I say: My little sister is 23 and with a plaid skirt could pass for a young middle schooler.
when I was 21, one of the Costco sample tables asked if I had a parent with me. the minimum age for getting samples on your own is *12*.
I really, really appreciated this strip, and the one after it: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/safe-2/
I mean? Those seem like they’re really two separate things.
Sometimes people get read as being way younger than they are, and that can suck for them unless they’re getting like a discount or something from it (or they just don’t care). But assuming that their SO knows how old they are, hopefully they’re not the one treating them like this.
I’m not sure who would be accusing the SO of being a pervert? People who know the person in question would know how old they are, so are we talking, like, random people on the streets? I don’t really see that being a thing, in part because I think people are well aware that people can look younger than their age. I guess if a couple is very PDA and on looks 28 while the other looks 12, that could raise some flags for people…hopefully if anyone felt the need to do something, though, it would be able to be resolved with, “Hey, we’re both adults…” before it escalated to, like, physical violence.
Also, I find that a lot of people who may think a young looking adult “looks 12” or whatever have a skewed idea of what 12 year olds look like.
My husband went grey early, while I am more baby-faced. An older man once asked me what it was like to be in a relationship with someone so much older than myself. Wut? I had to tell him that: Sorry to burst your bubble, but we are the same age!
People make weird assumptions sometimes.
When I was 15 somebody assumed my father was my husband. That freaked me out quite a bit…
THAT HAPPENED TO ME WITH MY STEPDAD SO MANY TIMES I DO NOT GET IT AHH
And then, when I’d clarify to the much older dudes that no, actually, I am 16, that is my stepfather not my date… they’d offer to buy me drinks??? Bro I literally just told you I’m way underaged what the utter assfuck why are you like this
Sometimes I worry about people who find me attractive. Like, I’m 23, I am still REGULARLY casually mistaken for being under 16… people who meet me in contexts where I am clearly an adult, like at clubs or back when I was in college, they’re always really surprised to hear that so many people think I’m in high school, so I guess context must play a part of that? But I can’t help but wonder if there’s something weird going on whenever someone just randomly in public checks me out.
The day I start going grey is gonna be the happiest day of my life I’m pretty sure.
Nope, sorry. I started getting grey (well, white) hairs in my early 20s. Still getting ID’d in my 30s. To me it looks like I’ve almost got the white streak from Frozen, but other people don’t seem to notice, despite most of them being taller than me (so presumably they can see the top of my head where it’s most visible)
OTOH, a bit more white and I’m gonna try dying it green – it’ll be nice if I can get colour to show without any bleach 🙂
well. yes? the problem is not adults who look young. but other adults who think theyre attractive BECAUSE they look young
Yeah. There’s a big difference between real-world people who happen to not look their age, and skeevy “I can’t believe it’s not pedophilia!” wish-fulfillment fantasies.
In my mid-twenties, I walked into a middleschool/highschool to teach a class, and the administrator said “aw, is it your first day, do you need help finding homeroom??”
But people who are into me know my age. To my knowledge, my eternal youth has never even been a fetishised thing for my significant folks.
…that said, I once showed up in front of my nerdy pals in a cute punk schoolgirl outfit, and felt their eyes on me very differently, and ran away. True Story.
But yeah I’d like to think my lovers are into my mind and personality n’stuff, not just my ability to wear children’s clothing on occasion.
I get that kind of thing a lot. I once had to show my ID four times at a casino, twice when I was just eating. I ordered a steak and milk. I was so mad (by which I mean exaggerated snark not actually angry).
I’ve also been offered virgin drinks by club wait staff I’m pretty sure I was older than, and been mistaken for a first year at my university (I am a FOURTH YEAR DAMN MY BABY FACE).
Mind you, I have a very young looking face, don’t wear makeup or heels, and sport very kiddy looking stuff like rubber bracelets so. Y’know. Partially on me.
went out to dinner for my 30th birthday, asked for a beer, and the waitress laughed at me and walked away
That will probably happen to me if I ever start drinking more than little sips. I’n sorry.
Sure, next you’re going to tell us people can have gray hair at that age.
Aww! No one’s ever been that rude to me. Though a waiter once asked if we needed children’s menus – and once he learned I was 22, backtracked HARD.
“Oh! Uh – well, y’know, it can just be a good option sometimes – uh, it’s cheaper, and, uh, the chicken tenders are great, uh, I order off it all the time!”
If it helps, I got IDd in Norway ordering a beer.
Drinking age in Norway for beer is 16.
I’m 30.
I got the same thing when I was in my 20s. Then I started going gray in my mid-30s. Kinda took care of that.
When I was teaching middle school aged kids, I definitely got mistaken as a student, like, more than once. And again when tutoring high school, the kid’s friend came over and was like “oh, do you go to X High School too?”
No, child. No, I do not.
I’m the opposite, the student who gets mistaken for a professor. Thanks, stress, for the gray hairs!
…there is not a legal woman alive that looks like a small child, which is really what that trope is about. Not like ehh borderline could pass for 16 with the right clothes. We’re talking like the shit that gets used to attempt to justify lolicon.
I mean, I know anime style art can be ambiguous sometimes but really, it’s obvious when that’s what they’re trying.
Like the immediate example that comes to mind for me is CLAMP because as much as I loved them as a teen, I cannot read their stuff now without getting squicked because they do so much of the “sure she LOOKS eight years old but she’s totes a couple thousand and so it’s fine that she’s in love with a grown ass adult man”
I reread Chobits recently and I was sort of staring at it going “Chi acts like a small child, why are you in love?” Though given the lack of sex that’s actually one of the *less* squicky ones.
You mean like the centurie(s) old vampires, like Angel and Edward, who are still really into high school girls?
Yeah, that’s an even squickier trope. Though in some cases it kind of makes sense – if they’re in a way stuck emotionally at that level of development. Still, that’s just justification.
Or the even more common older male hero always hooking up with the much younger, if not actually teenage, female love interest in your average action movie.
Yeah, I am 21 and the youngest I’ve ever gotten mistaken for was 12. Definitely young, but I’d find it hard pressed to find a grown woman who looks like a small child.
My sister-in-law has always looked at least ten years younger than she is. At 30 she still easily passes for a teenager when she’s in a sporty (instead of a professional) outfit. My brother (who is a year older than she is and looks his age) has occasionally gotten remarks about this, he told me. Someone at a bar who asked him So… how old is she? He got really angry: What exactly are you implying, huh?
He’s always known her age, so to them it’s not an issue, and you wouldn’t mistake her for a teenager once she starts talking (she’s wicked smart).
I find it weird how many aspects of my body shape people are able to ignore, just because I’m really short and have an unwrinkled face. I’m 46. I have three children aged 21+. I have boobs that now count as ‘large’, not to mention ‘droopy’. And my pelvis is wide, let alone the overweight that layers them. But nope, my height is under 5′ and my face is smooth. So I can still get taken for a kid. It’s just bizarre.
My partner is very young-looking and is also autistic, so often is mistaken for a young teenager (similar to the Dina strip linked above). I have an office job, so I tend to dress professionally and try to present myself as very mature, and I’ve often been mistaken for being in my mid-30s. People tend to be surprised when we explain that not only are we close to the same age, my partner is actually a year older than me.
Clark?
You mean … all tnis time with the glasses…
I feel like such a fool …
I forget who said it, but: For almost 80 years, Superman’s identity has been kept secret by a freakin’ pair of glasses. It’s tradition. To change it now, where folks would recognize Clark – glasses = Superman, would be like changing the stripes on the flag.
Watch this.
You will believe a man can act.
Undressing already?
dun dun DUN
…Amazi-Girl’s not gonna like that, not one bit, nope nope
It depends on the outcome, I suppose.
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And ruined.
i know, but for a moment, the joy was there.
And Amber reveals Amber’s real identity.
…..
…. it seems less dramatic when you bear in mind she’s not Amazi-Girl.
Aside from the cheek blushes, they’re physically identical.
Really, Amber? With Walky of all people? I guess my impression I got at the start of this conversation was right: This is going to be a Big Thing, isn’t it?
I have to admit, I really have no idea where this story line is going. Friendship or romance between Amber and Walky based on mutual self loathing? Amber trying to sabotage Amazi-girl by revealing herself?
“OMG AMBER???”
(Jokes aside: yay! This might be the healthiest thing Amber’s done in a long time)
I’m calling it: This arc will end with them ‘saving’ Dorothy (if only by snatching her books out of her hands, feeding her and then standing guard over her sleep). This whole thing just breaks down Amber’s “I am a monster” delusion and helps her along the path of realising that the real world and real people are not all black or white.
And then Amazi-Girl starts sabotaging things, because she’s decided that only she can be Amber’s “good side”.
Holy cheese. Little by little everyone will know.
Okay…anyone got the photoshop ready of there actually being Sal in the last panel?
Heck, I’d settle for Mike and a changed dialogue.
That trust is important.
Oh wow, those sad eyes on Walky are heartrending.
Agreed, and so are Amber’s sad eyes.
Well, well… I’m interested to see how Walky will take this revelation.
Which is why we’ll now cut to another character in another scene.
I’m reminded of a moment late in Batman’s “No Man’s Land” storyline, when Batman finally reveals his identity to Commissoner Gordon…
Only for Gordon to look away and angrily reply, for Bats to put the damn mask back on, which was an unexpected twist to the moment.
I think we’re building up to a similar twist here, but only that Walky doesn’t really know Amber, and won’t make the connection when and if he sees her again as Amber.
OH MY GOSH
@alt-text wait WALKY is the Duke of Thingley???
The phrasing is a little confusing, but I think it means Amber is secretly also Duke of Thingley. That makes more sense.
AMAZIGIRL IS AMBER!?!?
Ok, I don’t generally do “perceptive”, and no-one has pointed this out in the comments yet, which means it’s so obvious it doesn’t bear mentioning or I’m wrong:
Anyone else noticed that Amber says she can be garbage AT THE MOMENT she takes off the mask? I.e., when she stops looking like AG and goes back to looking like Amber?
I mean, the cheek blushes were on the whole time, it was never Amazi-girl. So the symbolism there is probably not that, if that’s what you’re driving at. If it isn’t, I don’t know what you’re thinking about then )=
I’m not saying that it isn’t Amber the whole time, I’m saying that Amber claims she becomes garbage when she removes the mask (and stops LOOKING like AG to the world at large).
As in, she’s saying “you only think I’m good because you think I’m AG, lemme show you otherwise.”
makes sense to me. that or, like, she’s being “garbage” by doing something that miiight piss off amazi-girl the golden alter.
..
dumb question. Does Walky know who Amber is?
I know they were both at that party with Joyce but Walky was also drunk then. I cant remember any scene where thetwo of them directly interacted each eac other in the entire comic. I’m just imagining Walky saying next, “… who are you?”
http://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/amber+walky/
they’ve talked a few times, but more than likely walky would just recognize her from her being in the same dorm
Reasons I love this strip:
1) Walky’s attentiveness to Dorothy. Sure, he’s being a doof thinking that dumping him would make Dorothy’s love easier (FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NO YOU’RE THE ONE OUTLET SHE HAS OF GOOFINESS AND RELAXATION), but he pays attention to HER interests, hobbies and goals, and works to have THEM fulfilled. Sure, it might be a low bar to clear, but given his general childishness and the fact they’ve barely been dating for a month, if that? Walky’s superpower is being a great boyfriend.
2) Amber is being asked to take care of someone else. This is immediately reminding me of Rurouni Kenshin, no details because no spoilers… anyway, yeah, people just telling her she’s great and trying to help HER only makes her feel worse. But someone who’s entirely out of the loop on her problems asking her to take care of a third person? To do something that’s technically addressed to Amazi-girl, but that AMBER can do? Yep, that can help her snap out of her self-hatred fog into at least ‘functioning’, and eventually maybe even into ‘i’m not THAT bad’. For all of how bad an idea it was, Amber’s still the kind of person whose idea of anger outlet was ‘being a superhero’. Helping other people is central to her priorities and identity. Hell, this might even help her dissociation, brigning Amber and Amazi-girl closer together, what with Amber adopting a distinctly Amazi-girl-esque mindset again.
3) I love that Amber is letting another person in on her secret. Sure, he’s not the best confidante in the world, but he’s one-step-removed from a person who already knows and has vested interest in protecting the secret, not to mention absolutely no incentive to give it away even without that. Literally just the fact that the number of people who know just did a ++, I’m so happy for Amber about that. Less secrets = healthier, imho.
“Walky’s superpower is being a great boyfriend.”
Unfortunately, dramatic decision making and self-deprecation are actually negatives in being a well-developed partner. A strong partner- or family member or friend- is one that supports you by supporting you in the things you lack, being there when needed, and helping you pursue what’s good for you; it’s not in making decisions off what you think is best for the person based on emotion and whim- in fact, where core character is lacking, that’s generally a sign of an *awful* boyfriend.
You’re confusing being a great boyfriend with “not being a self-centered asshole who only thinks about themselves, but instead tries to do what’s good for other people when it they realize an issue”. That’s characteristic of Walky’s personality on the whole, rather than anything he’s bringing to a relationship.
In short, he’s doing as good a job at being in a relationship as you can hope for from a confused teenager, but deciding on your own to add to your partner’s stresses, rather than talking things through with them, or finding a more balanced option to pursue?
Maybe Walky is a great boyfriend- but there’s nothing to indicate such from this comic alone. Again, if you think “[paying] attention to HER interests, hobbies and goals, and [working] to have THEM fulfilled” is a sign of someone being a stand-out relationship partner (rather than it being a normal sign of being in a relationship), then you should reevaluate the kind of relationships you’re having- because frankly, no matter what kind of person you are, you probably deserve a lot better than what you’re indicating you’re used to.
“Less secrets = healthier”
So true.
Also, did not mean to drag down your love of this strip, so please don’t lose that positivity just over what I said above. We all love Willis’ work, after all. I mean, even if he forces us to curse him over it on a regular basis..
jfidoajifeo ajf efj djf ldhgufhgiroghrjgvnjcnknnnngggghhhh
(that’s positive but anxious keyboard-mashing for all you folks wondering)
PB’s secret identity: keyboard cat! 😉
If I’d bet a Chef Dexter figure on my not tearing up at this strip, I’d be all DAMN YOU WILLIS by now.