“. . . I will break every bone in your body, then take you into my home. I shall care for you, heal you, make sure you love me and consider me your greatest, most beloved friend . . . then, I shall break your every bone again, and abandon you on the roadside.
“I’ll be with them asleep or dreaming
I’ll be there when they wake up screaming
At the hour of death I will nurse them
To have a moment more to curse them”
There’s some deep seated misogyny there–not that we didn’t know that but his reaction to this is to go after the people involved rather than go into hiding or distance himself.
I assumed it was a knife, because how goddamned stupid would he have to be to think that he could successfully murder two people simultaneously without some sort of weapon? I mean, sure he could try to strangle them, but he can’t exactly choke them both at the same time, leaving the other one to run or get help or roundhouse kick his head off.
….. goddammit, there’s a NEW translation for me to keep track of. Grrr.
The verse can be taken a lot of ways. The obvious is “you were idiots to go walking around blind in the dark where I can see you”, and a lot of people will take a passage like that out of context just for the convenience of the easy reference to the immediate situation.
But the larger context of the passage makes it a reference all your works coming to naught, the inevitable pointlessness of worldly accomplishments and virtues, or “no one’s going to miss you”. The wise have eyes to see this and the fools are blind to it, but the outcome is the same regardless. Super-extra creepy.
… given that “Ryan” is, supposedly, a preacher’s son, and given that he’s had quite a bit of time to stew in hate over his exposure, and given that he’s a planner and preparer, I’m guessing he cooked this line up with an eye towards its larger Biblical context.
….. you know, I just realized. The context of this part of the chapter is about finding humility and recognizing that all the power you have wielded is irrelevant.
…. I’m worried that “Ryan” is going to come at this from the “I want to beg forgiveness” angle.
My experience with preachers who have sons like this: they don’t view the bible as a story. They view it as a collection of phrases to use, helpfully numbered for easy reference. Larger context? Only significant if it’s part of one of the big stories. And then, only important for telling that story.
Thus, you get preachers who claim that Jesus was against women preachers, because one of the early letters was written to a church who kept their women ignorant deliberately, and suggested that the women who had been deliberately kept ignorant should not be teaching. And stuff like that.
why wouldn’t he be after Amber or Dorothy? They exposed him lol. Clearly he has a low opinion of women in general for him to be a rape happy piece of scum in the first place.
but i’m not sure that dorothy’s name was that attached to the story going around? although it doesn’t make sense that he’s following her now if it wasn’t. idk. that was something that got pretty heavily debated.
amber. i dunno. i don’t know if the connection between amazi-girl and amber has come together for him. but this might be a slightly more realistic bend on the narrative in that people who’ve seen both amber and amazi-girl recognize them as the same body whereas if you’ve only ever seen amber or amazi-girl that shoe’s not gonna drop
The only person so far who’s just recognized Amber as Amazi-Girl without specific clues is Dina. (And she might well have had such clues – or just been standing behind the door when Amber changed._ The only one with known clues is Dorothy.
No one else, including people who’ve known both, has done so.
It would be a major shift if Ryan were just to glance at Amber and know.
I mean, he’s a preacher’s son. That pretty much guarantees he has to have a low opinion of women. Treating women as equals directly conflicts with the teachings of the Bible itself. Feminism is a sinner’s game by nature.
…you know, I’m definitely gonna regret this one. I should take better stock of how angry something makes me before I decide to post about it on the internet…
I think it’s fair to say that there are certain factions within the Christian community for whom your comment holds true. We shouldn’t overgeneralize — there are also factions that take the “peace and love” part of the message seriously, and some sects that have strong feminist credentials.
I’d say you overgeneralized — something most of us, me certainly, have done from time to time — but your comment has a firm basis in fact.
It’s fair to say that there’s enough stuff in the bible that you can construct darn near *any* narrative and find things in the bible that can be interpreted as supporting it with divine force. Starting with murder, rape, and unprovoked warfare, and proceeding from there.
Now, let’s be fair. That cuts both ways. It’s POSSIBLE to justify feminism out of the Bible. I’ve seen people do it. You have to twist a lot of passages out of their original intent and context, and ignore other passages or dismiss them somehow, but it can be done.
…. it isn’t done very often, or by a significant portion of Christianity, and from what I’ve seen in most of those cases it’s about justifying one’s own leanings rather than actually coming to a compassionate position BECAUSE the Bible “endorses” it.
But it is, technically, possible to construct a positive narrative out of the Bible.
Okay, I’ve met a few preacher’s children who were pretty enlightened. Mostly children of liberal denominations, but a few of the high-church types as well. And I’ve heard stories of people who walk away from despicable things their preacher daddies teach them.
….. 95% of them, though? Yeah, they learn poison at their parents’ knees.
One of the most tragic stories I have from experience (I knew the person, talked with them, and worked them through their issues) is of a good person, loving and forgiving, who held religion in their heart even until their unfortunate demise . . . even though said religion was the justification their “friends” and family had for abandoning them.
I generally have a poor opinion of people in general, and those that prove me wrong are the exception, not the rule. Asshattery is not unique to any one group of humans- most of us are bad, a few are decent, and a puny smattering are legitimately good, and this is true in every religion, every race, every creed, every nationality, et cetera, et cetera.
@bulbmin Well, that’s depresing.
People have flaws and good points. Some people try to be good, some people don’t care. (And I suppose THAT can depend on context, and therein the line between “decents” and “asshats” gets smudged, because what external circumstances justifies different treatment?) There are also people who are pretty selfless just by their nature. And then there are people who willfully try to screw people over, the Marys of the world. Fuck them. Those are the people who elected Trump (along with the gullibles who just toe the party line and don’t question things).
I would love if this is leading to a year-long series of strips where the punchline to every single one is that a different character gets stabbed in the spleen. It all takes place over one day in comic time and results in the college closing.
Quarters are a better weapon, but he’s a white boy, we gravitate towards knives for some reason. Plus, knife is more angst for Amber, so that’s what it’s going to be.
I’ve never seen a person threateningly hold a phone inside their upward-facing closed fist, with the thumb folded over it for support. Most phones nowadays wouldn’t even fit in your hand that way. But, that is precisely the way virtually anybody without some kind of specialist CQC training would brandish a knife, folded or otherwise.
To be fair, there’s only a single other strip “today” where he’s holding his phone. It’s likely it’s his phone, but not 100% certain, and a knife also makes sense given the context.
This school is going to have so much liability….oh wait, no it’s not. The people involved were white dudes attacking women. Which I wish was an exaggeration but I’m remembering my days at Ohio U, Athens and the staggering number of violence reports I always thought were being taken care of. Ugh.
I remember a guy came into the library waving a gun when I was studying a computer and ended up getting tasered. I didn’t see it because I was listening to music at the computer. I saw the aftermath, though.
Certainly at this point, given the situation and the angle on the thing in his hand, a good lawyer could probably make an argument for believing it was a weapon and their lives were in immediate danger, even if it is only a phone.
–But if it is only a phone, given the way he’s holding it (screen up, like he’s been looking at it), I wonder if he’s been using it to track Amazi-Girl? In which case, he probably knows perfectly well that one of them is Amazi-Girl.
Given how similar their looks are, though, unless he clearly remembers her hair colour, he might not be 100% positive which of them she is.
That is the assumption, though since we first saw him out hunting using the phone near Leslie’s class, it doesn’t really make sense. I’d guess he’s targeting Dorothy somehow, though I’m not sure how.
As for self-defense, neither of the girls will be using a weapon and since he’ll likely attack first, a pretty serious beating still falls under “self-defense”.
Either it’s a knife to kill or a phone to stalk, no one in their right mind would do anything to Amber, she has a free hand to act as far as I know the law.
Self-defense has pretty specific limits for how far it goes in most jurisdictions. Yes, the knife will have both of their prints on it, which would imply she somehow took it from him (though, realistically, a policeman or lawman may not even believe a woman Amber’s size could wrestle a knife away from a similarly-able man), but if she were to go into a fully-dissociated-from-reality blind rage and stab him 47 times in the face and chest while on top of him, she’s still going away to prison or psychiatric detention for a very long time.
She needs psychiatric help, so I fail to see the down side there.
But if someone approaches you with something you believe to be a weapon in their hand quoting the bible, and you attacking first, in the middle of the night, it’s is self defense.
No matter how sexist the cop may be, everyone is going to the station, everyone’s parents/guardians are getting called, and everyone should have a lawyer.
No one involved has legal guardians, parents or otherwise. Cops don’t call parents of legal adults – though it’s probably the best use of your phone call at that age. Definitely lawyers.
And Spencer? She needs psychiatric help. Seriously. Preferably not court mandated as the result of assault charges, but she really needs it. That’s not ableist anymore than telling someone with a broken leg they need to see a doctor.
There’s a big difference between “getting psychiatric help” and “being locked in a horrifying maximum security hell for the rest of your natural life, chemically sedated and freely abused by severely underpaid and under-trained employees, surrounded by violently mentally-ill criminals because you are also a violent mentally-ill criminal…”
Beyond what Hera actually said here, I think Spencer is hearing an echo of a bunch of hatmfully outdated notions about mental health that commenters have expressed the last few days.i can’t remember whether Hera was one of them before now.
As for Hera’s comment, the misconception I see is that “psychiatric detention” is something helpful and not likely to be a hellhole of triggery horrors. Plus an implied assumption, maybe, that the mentally ill are in general unstable and ought to be locked up.
Also, fuck autocorrect and this phone in particular.
In Ohio U, there was a big paper article about the school cracking down on a black student’s drug possession. Then there was a causal off-hand mention there was a rape in my apartment building and I couldn’t find anything about it in the papers. At times, I was grateful I was a complete loner who never interacted with anyone there.
I mean schools are notoriously terrible about punishing rapists, but there is a reason all the Brock Allen Turner types you see in the news for ridiculously lenient sentences are white dudes.
Okay. What the LITERAL F*CK? *RAGEFACE* I guess I had a lot of privilege at my colleges (Boston University, University of Massachusetts, and then the City University of New York Graduate Center) because NO ONE would have been allowed to get away with that shi!te.
I currently teach at BMCC-CUNY and we have a “no tolerance” policy about ANY sexual harrassment. (A bunch of students at Baruch College, a CUNY school, are facing serious charges for the death of a fellow student who was non-sexually “hazed.”)
I’m not trying to say my current school or my academic history is perfect, because of course they are NOT. However, it makes me feel stabby and also very sad to think that this kind of SH!TE goes on at private colleges. *RAGEFACE*
I spent one year at Concordia University-Texas (I’m from Europe), it was a hell hole, the entire place was filled with Ruths(Rage Ruth, not depressed Ruth) and Marys, and the guys where all Joes.
On a weekly basis people got their asses kicked, especially the 2 trans girls. (MTF), though this one goth chick did try to kill her self, after which she got more or less kicked out. (She was strongly encouraged to leave)
And that’s what i know about.
I spent one year there before i got my ass home.
It might be good now, but i seriously doubt it. (The school didn’t give a damn about any of us, or at least that’s how it seemed)
Could be some kind of recorder, if he’s hoping to incriminate them somehow. Provoking them without technically “threatening” anything or something, but that might be too subtle/smart for him.
I’m not sure. Dorothy mentioned the need to stop reporting on her earlier but she wasn’t mentioned by name in this conversation and I don’t know if he can two together or if he found Amazigirls real name on her phone.
From this conversation Dorothy could be breaking up with Amber because Amber’s way too close to her mother and her insists that they go to all her mothers events together.
I mean it could be a knife, it could also be a tiny brick, or a bar of soap, or a chalkboard eraser, or a thousand things we’ll debate over until tomorrow. Unless Willis of course does another cut. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Ethan.
Probably just being a creepy asshole or using a quote from the bible as loose justification for whatever he has planned. Let’s hope it’s prostrating himself and begging for forgiveness as per his religion or whatever his deal is.
Ooooh, well played, Amber. Now have Amazi-Girl kick him in the fucking head.
(The alt text got a bitter laugh out of me cause when I went to Florida to help my brother move into his dorm, I had a panic attack because apparently there’s some kind of dominant gene pattern down there that means like a third of the dudes in the school look like the dude who raped me. Meaningless personal tmi yay.)
Basically, if this is Ryan and there is a not Ryan working for Robin who is also considered, by his superiors, likely to be a sexual predator. How many more are their likely to be? That fight and rescue seemed very well organised.
Even if the Ryan from early on has, say, an identical twin or something, it seems unlikely he’d have an identical scar. Like, I suppose it’s possible, but it seems more likely there’s just some name shenanigans going on.
Ryan is not a deep thinker of consequences, which is both to his advantage and deterrent. His plan has gone from being a rapist shit to a murdering shit despite the fact this will immediately point back to him.
Your stamina to explain it’s his phone is pretty impressive. That said, what if his phone is a uber rare custom model that also sports a springing knife? Wouldn’t make sense for him to threaten two girls with a normal phone.
On the one hand, this really feels like the set-up for Dorothy to get kidnapped, as the final chapter of Book 7 will be spent looking for her along with “Ryan”. So Amber freezing up is plausible from a narrative standpoint.
On the other hand, in universe evidence suggests that anything that reminds Amber of that One Day makes her more aggressive, not less. Unless it’s Sal herself.
Wait, is Amber mentally capable of doing a beatdown as a civilian? I remember her dad, but that’s probably a good reason for her to want to de-escalate.
So Ryan is attacking Amazigirl in her most dangerous form, which is also the form in which she will likely get the most sympathy from the police, innocent white girl with glasses. And Amber has a witness that Ryan attacked them first and she was just defending herself and her friend, and who can also take a close up of him now. Clearly this is a perfect plan on his part.
Amazi-Girl is also capable of taking over (or being given control) without actually taking time to change into the costume.
If she’s sufficiently triggered, Amber will probably stomp Ryan into the ground. If she’s not, she’ll let Amazi-Girl do it, with more finesse and control.
Yeah, I suspect Sal is going to be involved in this somehow. Then again he may end up getting taken out by something else, like Becky imitating some trick she saw in a sitcom. Or Marcie and Malaya come along and give him the smackdown. After all we haven’t seen them for a while.
Unless he’s got backup or something, Amber won’t need rescuing. In a straight fight, even if that is a knife, he’s toast.
If it is a knife, any fight shouldn’t last long enough for Sal to show up unless she’s already charging in. Either Amber will get cut bad enough to stop her or she’ll take it away and mess him up.
Ryan’s not good with his scripture. Remember at the party when he said a given Bible verse was something about Jesus, but it was actually a warning about Satan?
This is the most likely option, since the way he’s holding his hand (closed fist) is impossible for a phone and unlikely for a knife, especially one without the blade out that he’s planning to use. (If a stiletto type switchblade, he can’t get at the trigger, if a folding type blade, his hand is in the way.)
I dunno; my kid accidentally bashed herself in the head with her fidget spinner and apparently it hurt quite a bit.
–Yeah, I know. My other kid got his lips stuck to a trampoline a couple winters ago. They’re actually quite intelligent; but not all the evidence supports that, ha ha.
“Guys listen, I just wanted to explain myself. Look, I brought a snickers as a gesture of good will! See, I wasn’t tryin’a date-rape her… I was tryin’a indoctrinate her into my scientology cult, that’s all!”
I literally have no idea what that last panel is supposed to be. Like, I get that Ryan is threatening, but his line makes zero sense when none of them are in the dark, or at the least, he himself is the closest to the dark.
I’d say it’s supposed to make Ryan look like a fool and it’s a punchline but this isn’t a punchline kind of strip and there’s nobody reacting, but it’s not like, a witty threat either, like a lot of comic villains use. what am i reading
I guess he could have gone with “You will know them by their works”, which probably isn’t 100% accurate to this scenario but could emphasize that he’s been listening in long enough to catch who Amber is.
It sounds like he’s trying to say something to sound cool but like the dumb ass that he is, he doesn’t realize he just unintentionally called himself a fool.
I imagine Ryan could’ve easily recorded their conversation and exposed Amber as Amazi-Girl. But nah, that’s for sane people, let’s attempt murder instead.
The conversation doesn’t prove anything conclusive. Amazi-Girl’s name is never mentioned so from an outside observer Dorothy could be interviewing her about the kidnapping of Becky or the recent scuffle at the DeSanto rally.
Nothing conclusive until they were interrupted. If they went on for a while longer without noticing Ryan (might I add, he’d be probably be hiding instead of walking right up to them in that context) far more incriminating pieces of dialogue could’ve cropped up.
I think what he’s saying is he’s wise because he knows where he’s going and they’re in the dark. However, he’s not Jules and can’t get away with turning Bible quotes into murder quotes (which many are, anyway).
I generally go with Taoist interpretation or the fact that it is better to control ones’ anger than try to purge it. However, one should always beware these emotions as allowing hatred (which I define as unthinking permanent anger) into your life can dominate one’s thoughts to the exclusion of all other thinking. Consume you it will.
My problem with the Jedi philosophy is that, well, it is about indoctrinating children. And denying emotion, the very thing that makes us human. Or sentient, rather. I prefer the Gray Jedi, allow yourself to feel, but without allowing your emotions to control you.
Hell, in between the Jedi tendency to deny and purge all emotion [And thus fall to the dark side at the slightest push] and the Sith philosophy’s tendency to go full hitler… I dunno.
I’m listening to this video about jedi/sith philosohpy and Kreia and it leads to several interestig thoughts, check it out.
Ok so we’ve got a rapist about to threaten (probably) two young women so its pretty serious but damned if that call didn’t just make a whole of people look over at me when I snorted in laughter
“Test. Your. Might.”
[Ryan makes an obvious telegraphed knife slash at Dorothy]
[Dorothy interrupts with a Roundhouse Kick, dazing Ryan]
“FINISH HIM.”
[Amber rips out Ryan’s spine]
Very strange situation, what is he planning here? If he wanted to attack them here and now, why would he wait until they are directly in front of the building entrance? I’m curious as to how this will play out.
An eye for an eye? They’ve plastered his face all over the social media; now he takes a picture of them and spreads it out so every douchebago knows who to harass.
So the smartest option here is probably to snap another, better photo of him and then book it into the relative safety of the dorm, then forward said photo to whoever started spreading the first one.
That is not what’s likely to happen, at least not easily.
Plot twist: it happens.
I mean, it’d be the biggest surprise for us, as we’re expecting BIG DRAMA, and the easiest thing for Dorothy and Amber to do (easier for Amber than changing into ‘her’ in front of people and without the suit) So why not make it happen.
Unless he’s planning to bludgeon them with his phone, the panic is not warranted. Why is everyone suddenly forgetting he’s had his phone in his hand all day?
Maybe because he’s literally only shown up twice “today”, and in only one of those two comics was he clearly shown holding his phone? “All day” doesn’t really mean anything in this case, lol…
Not in *this* strip, though. I’m just saying it’s only shown up clearly that one time, which was several weeks ago, and it wasn’t the focus of the strip. It’s totally reasonable for people to forget the small detail of “he has a brown phone” when all you can see here is a small brownish vaguely rectangular object.
No, he’s holding a rectangular object of which we cannot accurately estimate its width so might be a square width instead of a rectangular one, and cannot properly gauge the colour of due to it being in the shadows, while he’s making a threatening remark while up against 2 people in his lonesome. It might be a rectangular shape thus not a switchblade, and it might be the colour of his phone yes, but it’s not as clear as you are making it sound by insisting it’s 100% certainly his phone.
Okay Amber now is not the time to compartmentalize. You need to channel Amazi-Girl and curb stomp this piece of shit and when you’re done you can feel like you redeemed yourself for what you didn’t do at the convenience store all those years ago.
That would probably actually work, since police officers aren’t exactly famous for being able to tell a weapon from, just as a random example, a cell phone.
Step one – Get Dorothy inside. She’s not a fighter (physically) and needs to get to safety. Tell her to tell the desk person to call 911. And tell her to get Sal, just in case you’re not able to hold him off.
He’s probably just going to threaten them and leave, there’s not enough strips left in this storyline for there to be an extended fight and an aftermath.
I guess that’s what’s coming next, either tomorrow or after one or two more days of buildup, are pictures of Dina and Becky cuddling in bed and a notice that the chapter has ended.
But can she handle him without revealing her secret identity? After all, she’s not going to KILL him. How can she fight him without him blabbing about it afterward?
“Can I interest you fine ladies in the words of our lord and savior? Only 9.99 for this fancy bible, now with 20% more stuff they cut out from early Christianity included.”
“Can I interest you fine ladies in the words of our lord and savior? Only 9.99 for this fancy bible, now with 20% more stuff they cut out from early Christianity included.”
i mean, depends on the security of the door. if it’s a keycard entrance, then it might take more work to get the keycard out and into the door than it would be to run. but if it’s just an open door, it might be real difficult to keep it closed from him. and opening the door means they have to be faster than he is in order to get it closed before he can get inside
I’ve been trying to think why Ryan would have his phone in his hand the whole day, and the most plausible reason I can think of is, maybe he’s been tracking Amber/AG’s phone via Bluetooth. That is, he paired his phone with hers (theirs?) while he had them both together, and is looking for that signal.
Of course, for that to work would mean that Amber keeps her Bluetooth on all the time, which seems unusual to me in one so tech-savvy.
honestly, he could be holding a rocket launcher and i still wouldn’t understand this dumbo’s plan. they’re RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR. whatcha gonna do, ding dong? they could literally just knock on the glass and someone would probably see them.
(which, of course means he probably has some actual diabolical scheme that we’ll never see coming, or something)
Motherfucker you are standing in front of a woman’s dorm room after having your face plastered all over and they’re the fools? And is that a switchblade he’s holding? This is what we call compounding the error.
on a side note i am really enjoying the way light and shadow are played with in the last panel like: dorothy and amber getting the most light, while ryan? gets most of his body in shadow. also his face is hooded so i mean u know u know
Ecclesiastes 2:14For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate. 15 Both will die…
Willis has used scripture with Ryan in a tricky way before. I do hope this is not foreshadowing something more sinister than expected.
Davis has said that no one would die in this comic, but he never said anything about them going to prison or being committed to a mental health facility.
I was hoping(more like wishing) “Ryan” had died off-panel by now…
…and now he’s actually going out of his way to be a villain, like, legit spouting bile at a vigilante while they’re out of costume trying to intimidate them into giving up. I feel bad that this is gonna screw with Amber more either way, but I hope she gets to take down this amoral asshat. She could use a win.
Yeah, I’d have to be pretty ignorant to think nobody would see my apparently-15 other threads regarding the status of the object, before they saw this.
No, it’sa very foolish predator who, having followed them Iin the dark, waits until they are the very well lit doors that look like the main entrance (and I don’t know the campus, but c’mon, even if there somehow wasn’t anyone there, he couldn’t know that). This isn’t scanning very well even if he’s desperate.
I find it an interesting coincidence that Ryan was wearing a sweater with two stripes on it when he roofied Joyce and now, as he accosts Amber and Dorothy, he is wearing a hoodie with two stripes on it.
To be fair, right now the thing is in the shadow. If we assume it is a red-brown originally, then this colour would be quite fitting when it’s in the shadow.
I wonder how the public will shift their feelings on him after this? Will his popularity go down or up? Could this effect Robin?
I know this is an odd thing to think of after reading this comic, but I know whatever he tries to pull, they will be able to either defend themselves or outrun him. They are two strong women in great shape. Then again, he could try to explain himself to them or the like which won’t work but would be weird.
A lot depends on how smart he is. If he’s smart, he’ll deliver a few unactionably vague threats and then walk away. If he’s dumb or over-confident, he may decide to ‘teach their place’ to Dorothy and Amber which could leave him in ICU if Amber is seriously triggered.
Still, him going up and vaguely threatening two women at night is enough to take a few points off his approval unless he shoots back with a denial on how these two students are trying to get attention by “ruining his good name”.
No problem. I have plenty of my own, but I still have trouble with a few such as dilemma right here. I end up thinking about it and inserting whichever sounds correct and cross my fingers.
If it makes you feel better, apparently a Beverly Hills clinic just made the same mistake you did in a public notice FOUR TIMES, so you’re qualified for a high-paying job in the communications area. You go, Blue!
I’m wondering if he’s going to try to justify himself to Dorothy and Amber. If he does, then my guess it will be a sorry mix of misogyny, gynophobia, crypto-fundamentalism and entitlement that will actually be both horrific and piteous at the same time.
Just before Dorothy arrived Amber was sitting there feeling devastated by Rachel’s comments. Damn Willis set it up so we don’t know what she’ll do now.
Jules Winnfield can pull off quoting a bible verse before killing them, but Ryan, you’re no Jules Winnfield. You just look pretentious.
‘Ryan’ might be holding a knife, and he intends to slash their faces. (Amber, this is no time to freeze up.) Or it’s a phone, which he’s been using to track them (and he may know Amber is Amazi-Girl). In which case, it’s phone-stompin’ time.
Actually, this verse made me think that it could be a coded call for help from Ryan. He is the fool, walking in the dark and he looks for resources to come back to the light. I know it is not so, but it comforts me to think this.
We just finished with a “there is no redemption” series. So it time for some redeption. Amber / AG redeems herself for letting Ryan get away. Dorothy redeems herself by having her decision to seek out Ryan work out. And Ryan will get his just reward. There is no way to convict for rape, but this is a straight up assault coming up. They are entitled to nearly leathal self-defense and he can be arrested for this. Put him to sleep AG, since chapters always end with someone going to sleep. Then let the police carry his unconscious body away.
While neither of them need redemption for that they might feel they need it. Amazigirl caused a distraction which gave him time to get away and didn’t defeat him last time, Dorothy didn’t insist on Joyce not coming with her. They in hindsight could have done something different that looks like it would have made things better. Sure we don’t know that it would have, and there actions were perfectly fine but thats not always how guilt works.
Evidence that it is his cell phone:
– same color
– similar length
Evidence that it is something else:
– screen is not showing, even when you look close up (though that could be a detail that was too small for Willis to draw in)
– why would he have his phone out? he has pockets, and the light from the phone could have given him away while following the ladies
– his fingers are wrapped around the object in a fist; based on the last time we saw him holding his phone, it seems too big for that
Basically I guess I can see both sides, slightly leaning toward “not phone.”
Either way we’re probably gonna find out tonight or tomorrow.
“HOW DARE YOU TELL EVERYONE I’M A CREEPY CREEP,” Will Announce Man Covered Up By Intimidating Clothes, Quoting Eerie Comments At Women From Sudden Appearance At Night
Christ, this isn’t what I needed to wake up to today. Freakin’ Ryan (or whatever his name might actually be if the aids weren’t lying themselves) Can we get him to just go live under a bridge, harassing goats & leaving everyone else alone?
He’s so cute. He thinks he has the advantage over two helpless females out alone in the dark. He has no idea who Amber is, and no idea how violent Amber will become when she sees the knife. All he has is a fatally flawed plan and a security blanket in his right hand. His only hope for salvation might be one of his fellow frat-rats lurking somewhere as backup, but that plan will surely fail if his backup senses failure and jail time.
I love you forever for making me aware of Phoenix Point.
Did you pledge? Never having dealt with that Fig thing, I have a question, if you don’t mind:
If I back it at, say 30$, the pledge says I get a free Chaos Reborn Steam key – but if I actually CLICK it, it takes me to a menu that makes it seem that I don’t get that CR key, but it’s instead an extra I’d have to pay more for? I don’t get it.
Ah, thanks. Wasn’t very clear – probably is buried somewhere either on the project or the Fig’s instructions, but I’m too excited to read stuff right now!
Go for the Luxury Digital edition, it’s the best value – little early DLC and you get the art book and soundtrack – which is going to rock, as it’s by Broomhall, the original XCOM guy.
I was very tempted, mostly for the compendium, but I loathe reading things digitally – experience tells me I wouldn’t get any decent mileage out of it (it’s going to take me the weekend to read the short stories on the site alone). Even if they had a print version at the same level I probably still wouldn’t, because the shipping would be MURDER.
Huh. Rereading that question, it strikes as it could be taken as ridiculously intrusive, therefore, clarification of intent: I asked if you had pledged in the sense of “do you know how Fig works, because I have this question here.”
…
In retrospect, if I had asked “are you familiar with how Fig works” instead of what I actually did, I could have saved the possibility of intrusiveness. And this clarifying post. *cough*
Scrolling through the first section of comments, interesting to see the debate on whether the object in his hand is a knife or something innocent like a cell phone. Now you know how it feels like to be a cop, I guess :p
@alt-text: He’s totally wearing a hoodie STAND YOUR GROUND GUYS
I feel this is much like Bush now that we’ve got Trump – we long for those times when black people had to have something in their hands for the cops to get away with shooting them, instead of them already being on the ground and subdued or walking away with their hands up and already tased.
Guess that ‘economic anxiety’ thing is hitting the cops pretty bad.
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. Leave your suggestions below.
I dunno. It seems like an awkward way to hold a phone, and whatever it is is clearly bisected to boot.
My vote goes for a knife of some description, establishing a parallel between “girl attacks my friend Ethan with a knife” and “guy attacks my friend Dorothy with a knife.” It should do wonders to give the A/AG duo’s mental health a bunch more kicks. On the other hand, if this does happen and Amber manages to save the day, this might help – if it was Sal’s attack event that gave rise to AG, Amber successfully handling a similar event could result in a “I don’t actually totally and completely suck after all.”
It would also contrast with Rachel’s speech – if Amber DOES save Dorothy from the same situation that she didn’t save Ethan from, it’s pretty much an effective rebuttal.
The Toxx Clause means either you do it or you get banned (I assume she meant it tongue-in-cheek, seeing as only Willis wields the banhammer) – the name comes from… an incident in the Something Awful forums concerning a poster by the name of, you guessed it, Clause. I mean, Toxx.
I’m sorry, I’m working on little sleep and it’s 1am here, so my reading comprehension is way lower than it should be. Are you saying that I used the right pronoun, or the wrong one? I was under the impression that you were a woman – if I’m mistaken, I apologise.
….with the comments about jedi today, suddenly that phrase seems… less appropriate.
I like Cerberus’ “*appropriate gesture of support* but it’s a PITA to type out and anxiety gives me shit about even *considering* such a sensible option. maybe if I abbreviated it… AGOS? does that even?
Toxx was a poster on the Something Awful Forums, like 15 years ago.
He posted a thread promising to duct tape his dick to his balls if it got enough replies or votes. It reached the stated goal, but he didn’t do it, so he was banned. (Though if he had done it and posted the pictures, he still would’ve been banned, for posting nude pics of himself)
It really makes me wonder what kind of useful information could have been stored in that part of my brain all these years
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“and *I* see a fool who can start walking with TWO BLACK EYES”
THE FUCK
I was thinking more like two broken legs.
That would be more like a fool crawls in the dark.
How about making him with TWO scars!!
Only two? I don’t care where you find them, break at least six legs on that asshole.
I actually think one particular broken appendage might be enough.
Remove all the femurs!
“. . . I will break every bone in your body, then take you into my home. I shall care for you, heal you, make sure you love me and consider me your greatest, most beloved friend . . . then, I shall break your every bone again, and abandon you on the roadside.
“I’ll be with them asleep or dreaming
I’ll be there when they wake up screaming
At the hour of death I will nurse them
To have a moment more to curse them”
Pogues – Rake at the Gates of Hell
This one agrees.
I’m sorry, did you just call batman a fool?
If the cape fits…
Batman doesn’t walk in the dark. He runs, he ziplines, he glides, he takes the Batmobile…
Where he’s going, he won’t need eyes…
+1
you say that, but all i’m thinking of is The Pale Man.
Well, Even Horizon came out like 20 years ago so GOD DAMN I’M OLD NOW HOW DID THIS HAPPEN
Fuck you “Ryan”. Not just for being a date-rapist and planning to murder two girls, but for using stupid opening lines like that.
There’s some deep seated misogyny there–not that we didn’t know that but his reaction to this is to go after the people involved rather than go into hiding or distance himself.
“How dare they expose my shitty deeds, clearly they are the ones with a problem and not me.”
Also, “I can totally take them, it’s not like one of them is a vigilante who’s skilled in hand-to-hand combat or anything”
Ryan: *commits assault and battery* “You guys blow the things I do way out of proportion. I’m a nice Christian boy!”
To be fair, he doesn’t know Amber’s Amazi-Girl.
We hope.
I dunno — he seems like the obsessive type, and may be the sort of person who could see through the disguise.
I suspect he’s going after Dorothy, and viewing Amber as inconsequential. But Amber’s been figured out before.
I fear that they aren’t his first this day. We may be less one character, already.
Ooh, that’s dark. Kinda had the same thought while I was wondering what was in his hand
Nobody dies in DoA, right?
Maybe, but it doesn’t mean he didn’t try. Last we saw of him, he was sneaking into that classroom.
Phone in his hand, I assume. That’s what it was last time we saw him.
I assumed it was a knife, because how goddamned stupid would he have to be to think that he could successfully murder two people simultaneously without some sort of weapon? I mean, sure he could try to strangle them, but he can’t exactly choke them both at the same time, leaving the other one to run or get help or roundhouse kick his head off.
Ecc. 2:14. New Living Translation.
….. goddammit, there’s a NEW translation for me to keep track of. Grrr.
The verse can be taken a lot of ways. The obvious is “you were idiots to go walking around blind in the dark where I can see you”, and a lot of people will take a passage like that out of context just for the convenience of the easy reference to the immediate situation.
But the larger context of the passage makes it a reference all your works coming to naught, the inevitable pointlessness of worldly accomplishments and virtues, or “no one’s going to miss you”. The wise have eyes to see this and the fools are blind to it, but the outcome is the same regardless. Super-extra creepy.
… given that “Ryan” is, supposedly, a preacher’s son, and given that he’s had quite a bit of time to stew in hate over his exposure, and given that he’s a planner and preparer, I’m guessing he cooked this line up with an eye towards its larger Biblical context.
Folk who attempt daterape and who get their bros to try to beat up anyone who challenge them really shouldn’t be quoting wisdom literature, yeah?
… well, I’m hesitant to say that they get to do ANYTHING, but I’ve got a low opinion of the Bible’s moral and/or wisdom content, so I’m conflicted.
And in practical terms, the refuge in audacity has served them well in the past.
.. nah, Ryan shouldn’t get to do anything except be neutralized as a threat to anyone.
You mean neutered?
I think he’d go on a revenge rampage if that was all that was done to him, so, no.
I prefer the term eunified.
ecclesiastes is kind of depression wisdom literature but sure
I’m not sure 20 years still counts as ‘new’ even for bible translations…
Of course it’s new! It says so right in its name!
So does the NIV.
….. you know, I just realized. The context of this part of the chapter is about finding humility and recognizing that all the power you have wielded is irrelevant.
…. I’m worried that “Ryan” is going to come at this from the “I want to beg forgiveness” angle.
…. and I’m worried that Joyce will fall for it.
My experience with preachers who have sons like this: they don’t view the bible as a story. They view it as a collection of phrases to use, helpfully numbered for easy reference. Larger context? Only significant if it’s part of one of the big stories. And then, only important for telling that story.
Thus, you get preachers who claim that Jesus was against women preachers, because one of the early letters was written to a church who kept their women ignorant deliberately, and suggested that the women who had been deliberately kept ignorant should not be teaching. And stuff like that.
Darmok, at Tanagra! 😉
Amen to that
I don’t think he’s planning murder, “just” intimidation.
Yeah, he’s not after Dorothy. Or Amber. He wants Joyce. And maybe Amazi-Girl and Sal, but mostly Joyce.
well i mean maybe he wanted only joyce, but that was before amazi-girl beat him up.
he probably has a hit list now
Except he was blaming Amazi-Girl coming after him on Joyce. Amazi-Girl didn’t distract him from Joyce. It refocused him.
Being exposed? That’s on Joyce too.
I’m reading this as he sees Dorothy as a way of finding where Joyce lives.
Amber is just… a bystander. He’s looking directly at Dorothy. Ignoring Amber completely.
why wouldn’t he be after Amber or Dorothy? They exposed him lol. Clearly he has a low opinion of women in general for him to be a rape happy piece of scum in the first place.
i mostly meant, like, before they exposed him
but i’m not sure that dorothy’s name was that attached to the story going around? although it doesn’t make sense that he’s following her now if it wasn’t. idk. that was something that got pretty heavily debated.
amber. i dunno. i don’t know if the connection between amazi-girl and amber has come together for him. but this might be a slightly more realistic bend on the narrative in that people who’ve seen both amber and amazi-girl recognize them as the same body whereas if you’ve only ever seen amber or amazi-girl that shoe’s not gonna drop
The only person so far who’s just recognized Amber as Amazi-Girl without specific clues is Dina. (And she might well have had such clues – or just been standing behind the door when Amber changed._ The only one with known clues is Dorothy.
No one else, including people who’ve known both, has done so.
It would be a major shift if Ryan were just to glance at Amber and know.
Well, to be fair, Danny figured it out with clues.
…. pretty BIG clues, but clues.
IDK like. i dunno! it does seem like he might know, but it might be an Red Herring. who knows.
I mean, he’s a preacher’s son. That pretty much guarantees he has to have a low opinion of women. Treating women as equals directly conflicts with the teachings of the Bible itself. Feminism is a sinner’s game by nature.
…you know, I’m definitely gonna regret this one. I should take better stock of how angry something makes me before I decide to post about it on the internet…
I think it’s fair to say that there are certain factions within the Christian community for whom your comment holds true. We shouldn’t overgeneralize — there are also factions that take the “peace and love” part of the message seriously, and some sects that have strong feminist credentials.
I’d say you overgeneralized — something most of us, me certainly, have done from time to time — but your comment has a firm basis in fact.
It’s fair to say that there’s enough stuff in the bible that you can construct darn near *any* narrative and find things in the bible that can be interpreted as supporting it with divine force. Starting with murder, rape, and unprovoked warfare, and proceeding from there.
@begbert2
Now, let’s be fair. That cuts both ways. It’s POSSIBLE to justify feminism out of the Bible. I’ve seen people do it. You have to twist a lot of passages out of their original intent and context, and ignore other passages or dismiss them somehow, but it can be done.
…. it isn’t done very often, or by a significant portion of Christianity, and from what I’ve seen in most of those cases it’s about justifying one’s own leanings rather than actually coming to a compassionate position BECAUSE the Bible “endorses” it.
But it is, technically, possible to construct a positive narrative out of the Bible.
Okay, I’ve met a few preacher’s children who were pretty enlightened. Mostly children of liberal denominations, but a few of the high-church types as well. And I’ve heard stories of people who walk away from despicable things their preacher daddies teach them.
….. 95% of them, though? Yeah, they learn poison at their parents’ knees.
One of the most tragic stories I have from experience (I knew the person, talked with them, and worked them through their issues) is of a good person, loving and forgiving, who held religion in their heart even until their unfortunate demise . . . even though said religion was the justification their “friends” and family had for abandoning them.
I generally have a poor opinion of people in general, and those that prove me wrong are the exception, not the rule. Asshattery is not unique to any one group of humans- most of us are bad, a few are decent, and a puny smattering are legitimately good, and this is true in every religion, every race, every creed, every nationality, et cetera, et cetera.
@bulbmin Well, that’s depresing.
People have flaws and good points. Some people try to be good, some people don’t care. (And I suppose THAT can depend on context, and therein the line between “decents” and “asshats” gets smudged, because what external circumstances justifies different treatment?) There are also people who are pretty selfless just by their nature. And then there are people who willfully try to screw people over, the Marys of the world. Fuck them. Those are the people who elected Trump (along with the gullibles who just toe the party line and don’t question things).
He seems to have a weapon in his right hand.
It’s extra disgusting that he is quoting religious stuff. The sheer hypocrisy should give him an aneurysm… assuming he has a working brain.
“Nothing worse than a monster who thinks he’s right with god.”
Wait, murder? What did I miss?
I’m missing something. Who did he try to murder?
So he’s a fool then.
Pretty much.
Bro’s got a knife…That’s going straight into his spleen. In fact, spleen stabbings for everyone! here here!
Is it a knife? I don’t see a blade. Guess it could be folded, though.
So that’s what he’s holding? I couldn’t really figure it out – my guess was flashlight. (Would not surprise me too much if it was a weapon though)
I would love if this is leading to a year-long series of strips where the punchline to every single one is that a different character gets stabbed in the spleen. It all takes place over one day in comic time and results in the college closing.
We’d run out of characters we actually WANT to be stabbed in the spleen in pretty short order.
If they didn’t WANT to get stabbed in the spleen, why were they wearing that dress?
It’s possible to be stabbed in the spleen and live. It’s even possible to be stabbed in the spleen multiple times and live.
Is it a knife? At first glace I thought it was a phone.
You’d think he’d have the blade out if it was a knife?
Probably one of those illegal springloaded ones. (At least, they’re illegal where I live)
I hope those doors open easily. I hope they remember the doors exist. I hope there are people inside. Witnesses might scare him off? I hope?
The way his hand is makes me think spring loaded knife rather than phone or flashlight.
I’m gonna play the odds and say it’s a flip knife
What we Really need is Crocodile Dundee with his “That’s not a knife. This is a knife”
I hope Dorothy gets inside. I hope Amber beats him unconscious – which is very possible given that Amber is Amazigirl with the limiters off.
I was thinking he had a roll of quarters, or maybe it’s just a wienie…
Quarters are a better weapon, but he’s a white boy, we gravitate towards knives for some reason. Plus, knife is more angst for Amber, so that’s what it’s going to be.
Quarters are a better weapon? That surprises me. But yeah, it’s definitely a weenie though. He must be hungry from stalking Dorothy all day
Reinforcing a fist is better than making your fist pointy against people without fists that are also pointy, if one of them is skilled.
UGhhhhh…. No no no no! Holding a roll of quarters in your fist when you punch someone is nothing more than a good way to break your fingers.
Though I would be greatly amused if he bought into that myth only to break his own fucking hand.
Why do people keep saying it’s his knife? It’s his phone, like it’s been all day.
It looks about an inch wide.
Then again, maybe perspective is messing with us?
He’s holding it with the screen facing upward, and the angle is just a little weird, since he’s coming up the stairs.
I’ve never seen a person threateningly hold a phone inside their upward-facing closed fist, with the thumb folded over it for support. Most phones nowadays wouldn’t even fit in your hand that way. But, that is precisely the way virtually anybody without some kind of specialist CQC training would brandish a knife, folded or otherwise.
To be fair, there’s only a single other strip “today” where he’s holding his phone. It’s likely it’s his phone, but not 100% certain, and a knife also makes sense given the context.
What was that?
YOU GET A PUNCTURED SPLEEN! AND YOU GET A PUNCTURED SPLEEN! AND YOU GET A PUNCTURED SPLEEN!
You made me laugh.
oh nooooo i got a punctured appendix!!
…. so…. Amber goes on another knife-rampage, which we shall forever into the future be known as a man-spleening?
ok. ok ok ok. gdi that one got an AUDIBLE LAUGH out of me
i cannot even deal
omg this is the best comment
Perfect. 😀
Amazing
KILL HIM. KILL HIM NOW, WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE
This school is going to have so much liability….oh wait, no it’s not. The people involved were white dudes attacking women. Which I wish was an exaggeration but I’m remembering my days at Ohio U, Athens and the staggering number of violence reports I always thought were being taken care of. Ugh.
Going there now. Happy to report that only the president of the university has changed, nothing else has.
I remember a guy came into the library waving a gun when I was studying a computer and ended up getting tasered. I didn’t see it because I was listening to music at the computer. I saw the aftermath, though.
School reaction? Like it was Tuesday.
White dudes attacking women?
You seem to forget who Ryan is threatening here. He’ll be lucky if he lives.
Knives are Amazi-Girl’s weakness as they are a trigger.
Good thing he’s holding a phone, then.
How do you figure? His hand is wrapped around the object. Is it the new iStick?
Not everyone has a phone with a screen the size of a Nintendo DS.
Incidentally, I can replicate how his hand looks using a Nintendo DS.
I think they might be murderbeast mode trigger now.
I hope rage-mode Amber comes out to play, it would be a sight to behold. 🙂
*Ryan goes after Dorothy, she pushes him away*
Ryan: “ooh hooh, eee heeh, you’re a feisty one. I like that.”
Amazi-girl, from off-screen: “Then you’re gonna love me…”
The problem is if Amber goes full rage mode, she’ll probably maim/kill him and end up being the only one in trouble over it.
Not with that blade in his hand, it will fall under self defense.
Certainly at this point, given the situation and the angle on the thing in his hand, a good lawyer could probably make an argument for believing it was a weapon and their lives were in immediate danger, even if it is only a phone.
–But if it is only a phone, given the way he’s holding it (screen up, like he’s been looking at it), I wonder if he’s been using it to track Amazi-Girl? In which case, he probably knows perfectly well that one of them is Amazi-Girl.
Given how similar their looks are, though, unless he clearly remembers her hair colour, he might not be 100% positive which of them she is.
That is the assumption, though since we first saw him out hunting using the phone near Leslie’s class, it doesn’t really make sense. I’d guess he’s targeting Dorothy somehow, though I’m not sure how.
As for self-defense, neither of the girls will be using a weapon and since he’ll likely attack first, a pretty serious beating still falls under “self-defense”.
Either it’s a knife to kill or a phone to stalk, no one in their right mind would do anything to Amber, she has a free hand to act as far as I know the law.
Self-defense has pretty specific limits for how far it goes in most jurisdictions. Yes, the knife will have both of their prints on it, which would imply she somehow took it from him (though, realistically, a policeman or lawman may not even believe a woman Amber’s size could wrestle a knife away from a similarly-able man), but if she were to go into a fully-dissociated-from-reality blind rage and stab him 47 times in the face and chest while on top of him, she’s still going away to prison or psychiatric detention for a very long time.
She needs psychiatric help, so I fail to see the down side there.
But if someone approaches you with something you believe to be a weapon in their hand quoting the bible, and you attacking first, in the middle of the night, it’s is self defense.
No matter how sexist the cop may be, everyone is going to the station, everyone’s parents/guardians are getting called, and everyone should have a lawyer.
Fuck off with that ableist bullshit.
No one involved has legal guardians, parents or otherwise. Cops don’t call parents of legal adults – though it’s probably the best use of your phone call at that age. Definitely lawyers.
And Spencer? She needs psychiatric help. Seriously. Preferably not court mandated as the result of assault charges, but she really needs it. That’s not ableist anymore than telling someone with a broken leg they need to see a doctor.
“I hope she goes crazy and murders someone because then she’ll be thrown in the loony bin” is ableist bullshit.
There’s a big difference between “getting psychiatric help” and “being locked in a horrifying maximum security hell for the rest of your natural life, chemically sedated and freely abused by severely underpaid and under-trained employees, surrounded by violently mentally-ill criminals because you are also a violent mentally-ill criminal…”
Let’s see if I can untangle this…
Beyond what Hera actually said here, I think Spencer is hearing an echo of a bunch of hatmfully outdated notions about mental health that commenters have expressed the last few days.i can’t remember whether Hera was one of them before now.
As for Hera’s comment, the misconception I see is that “psychiatric detention” is something helpful and not likely to be a hellhole of triggery horrors. Plus an implied assumption, maybe, that the mentally ill are in general unstable and ought to be locked up.
Also, fuck autocorrect and this phone in particular.
I’m sorry.
eh, it gave me a chance to practice putting words to those feelings. 🙂 not something I can do when I’m the one full of feelings, yet.
Schools don’t want to get a bad reputation so they hide crap like this all the time, it has nothing to do with skin color.
Oh, it has SOMETHING to do with skin color. Especially in Indiana. Race isn’t a solitary, deciding factor, but it’s definitely a factor.
In Ohio U, there was a big paper article about the school cracking down on a black student’s drug possession. Then there was a causal off-hand mention there was a rape in my apartment building and I couldn’t find anything about it in the papers. At times, I was grateful I was a complete loner who never interacted with anyone there.
It probably has at least a little to do with skin color.
Unfortunately I have no actual sources immediately on-hand besides tired cynicism, but it’s got a pretty good track record about this shit so far.
I mean schools are notoriously terrible about punishing rapists, but there is a reason all the Brock Allen Turner types you see in the news for ridiculously lenient sentences are white dudes.
Okay. What the LITERAL F*CK? *RAGEFACE* I guess I had a lot of privilege at my colleges (Boston University, University of Massachusetts, and then the City University of New York Graduate Center) because NO ONE would have been allowed to get away with that shi!te.
I currently teach at BMCC-CUNY and we have a “no tolerance” policy about ANY sexual harrassment. (A bunch of students at Baruch College, a CUNY school, are facing serious charges for the death of a fellow student who was non-sexually “hazed.”)
I’m not trying to say my current school or my academic history is perfect, because of course they are NOT. However, it makes me feel stabby and also very sad to think that this kind of SH!TE goes on at private colleges. *RAGEFACE*
Oh, be fair now, public ones too.
I spent one year at Concordia University-Texas (I’m from Europe), it was a hell hole, the entire place was filled with Ruths(Rage Ruth, not depressed Ruth) and Marys, and the guys where all Joes.
On a weekly basis people got their asses kicked, especially the 2 trans girls. (MTF), though this one goth chick did try to kill her self, after which she got more or less kicked out. (She was strongly encouraged to leave)
And that’s what i know about.
I spent one year there before i got my ass home.
It might be good now, but i seriously doubt it. (The school didn’t give a damn about any of us, or at least that’s how it seemed)
Says the guy literally walking in the dark.
…he knows Amber’s Amazi-Girl, doesn’t he?
Also, what’s he holding?
I think a pocket knife or balisong.
Could be some kind of recorder, if he’s hoping to incriminate them somehow. Provoking them without technically “threatening” anything or something, but that might be too subtle/smart for him.
Also it would involve him taking another beating.
Okay, a recording device is the first thing I’ve seen suggested here that would actually make sense for him to have that isn’t a knife.
I mostly suggested the two I did because of the little black line through the middle of the shape.
He is holding is cellular phone, just like he’s been doing all day.
I’m not sure. Dorothy mentioned the need to stop reporting on her earlier but she wasn’t mentioned by name in this conversation and I don’t know if he can two together or if he found Amazigirls real name on her phone.
From this conversation Dorothy could be breaking up with Amber because Amber’s way too close to her mother and her insists that they go to all her mothers events together.
Could be a cloth with chloroform.
assbag!
Yes! Put his ass in a bag!
Ugh, what’s he holding there? I guess we’re going to find out.
It looks like a phone.
I’d say knife, but I may be biased as someone who used to frequently carry a knife.
It’s the same color as his phone when we saw it
I can probably give you a good explanation for that.
I mean it could be a knife, it could also be a tiny brick, or a bar of soap, or a chalkboard eraser, or a thousand things we’ll debate over until tomorrow. Unless Willis of course does another cut. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Ethan.
Probably sitting in the cafeteria, eating cereal
It is absolutely his phone.
Okay, but consider this: knife app
Please. Those apps are nothing but malware vehicles.
I know he’s trying to be poetic or some shit but it didn’t work.
i think he’s just quoting the bible or something. though i don’t see how any of it’s relevant.
Dumb dastard thinks he’s Jules Winnfield.
Probably just being a creepy asshole or using a quote from the bible as loose justification for whatever he has planned. Let’s hope it’s prostrating himself and begging for forgiveness as per his religion or whatever his deal is.
I think he’s saying “you’re fools for walking alone at night.”
Two of them.
Alone.
Yep, I can fully believe the little shit would think of any group of women, no matter how large, that isn’t accompanied by a man as “alone”.
14 women out on the town. “Ryan” sees them.
“Aha,” he mutters to himself, “They’re all alone. I have the advantage.”
Smash cut to him in the hospital, missing a leg.
Ah, yes. Anxiety over fictional characters, that’s what my night was missing.
[drama button]
and the dickholes won’t see when I knock them senseless. Hey riddle me this rye bread, which one are you gonna be in two seconds?
What did rye bread ever do to you?
It got baked down to crunchy little chips with roasted garlic seasoning.
Now I’m hungry.
So what’s he got in his hand?
His teeth in about 5 seconds!
It’s his phone.
Nope – turned out it was a knife.
Ooooh, well played, Amber. Now have Amazi-Girl kick him in the fucking head.
(The alt text got a bitter laugh out of me cause when I went to Florida to help my brother move into his dorm, I had a panic attack because apparently there’s some kind of dominant gene pattern down there that means like a third of the dudes in the school look like the dude who raped me. Meaningless personal tmi yay.)
Also, does Amber’s shirt say “Your princess is in another castle”?
Yep!
His teeth will be in another state.
Dorothy, contact the police! Amber, this is an appropriate time to get angry!
That’s her secret: she’s always angry.
Would be hella funny if it wasn’t so sad…
Oh hey it’s a big heap of bruises and broken teeth!
I mean, not yet…
Ohhhh, villain reveal contrasting with some very attractive Amber art.
In between those very mixed reactions. We are all sure this is the same guy that assaulted Joyce, right?
We are pretty fucking sure, yes. Note the scar and tag.
Maybe this is a different guy, though. I mean, we’ve seen tons of guys who look just like him, when Joyce was out walking on her own.
And if he is, who is the not Ryan that worked for Robin?
One of the other identical men that only Joyce can see.
Who said the guy that the Aides thought Robin was talking about looks anything like him?
There is a reveal coming here. Just not sure what it is yet.
Maybe he is doing this The Prestige-like, his bro got an identical scar for him
…this is the sarcasm, yes?
Yes.
Of course it is, that is why it is so easy to ignore.
Basically, if this is Ryan and there is a not Ryan working for Robin who is also considered, by his superiors, likely to be a sexual predator. How many more are their likely to be? That fight and rescue seemed very well organised.
Even if the Ryan from early on has, say, an identical twin or something, it seems unlikely he’d have an identical scar. Like, I suppose it’s possible, but it seems more likely there’s just some name shenanigans going on.
Far more likely it’s the same Ryan, but somebody has the name wrong.
Need to give this conga the old left right goodnight
…leading with a pretentious quote won’t make you seem less like a villain to the student journalist there.
Or the girl who wants to beat you up before leaving you gift-wrapped for the police.
That looks like a butterfly knife. Literally the least threatening knife that exists.
By the time he’s got the blade out, they’ll either be inside with witnesses or they’ll already have him on the ground.
Never threaten someone [with a butterfly knife]. They look cool. But looking cool means its useless as a weapon
Ryan is not a deep thinker of consequences, which is both to his advantage and deterrent. His plan has gone from being a rapist shit to a murdering shit despite the fact this will immediately point back to him.
Mind you, Ryan isn’t his real name.
lRyan is not a deep thinker of consequences”
He’s forward-thinking enough to have his getaway ride call him by a pseudonym.
Assuming he didn’t give Robin’s campaign a fake name or that he doesn’t go by a surname of something.
It’s his phone.
Your stamina to explain it’s his phone is pretty impressive. That said, what if his phone is a uber rare custom model that also sports a springing knife? Wouldn’t make sense for him to threaten two girls with a normal phone.
Yep, if it isnt a weapon, no use for it to occupy one of his hands in a carefully planned entrance
“I have already punched in the phone number/text message. All I have to do now is hit the off-hook/send button.”
Knife is still possible, but yeah, you can threaten someone with a phone.
… All 3 of them were walking in the dark.
Ryan, you were literally hiding in the dark, you idiot.
He wasn’t hiding, he was dancin’.
Make his face symmetrical.
They’re gonna cure his scar!?
They’re gonna give his scar a “friend”.
He has a got a knife, which may be the single biggest trigger for Amber. I have no idea how this is going to end.
Also I joked about Mary posturing for evil cred in a past strip’s comments but I am well aware of far greater evils, like Ryan.
It’s his phone.
It was his sled!
On the one hand, this really feels like the set-up for Dorothy to get kidnapped, as the final chapter of Book 7 will be spent looking for her along with “Ryan”. So Amber freezing up is plausible from a narrative standpoint.
On the other hand, in universe evidence suggests that anything that reminds Amber of that One Day makes her more aggressive, not less. Unless it’s Sal herself.
*reads tags before comic*
SHIIIIIIIIII
*reads comic*
SSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Fucker.
Wait, is Amber mentally capable of doing a beatdown as a civilian? I remember her dad, but that’s probably a good reason for her to want to de-escalate.
Amber is capable of starting a beatdown as a civilian.
Amber is not capable of stopping a beatdown as a civilian.
So Ryan is attacking Amazigirl in her most dangerous form, which is also the form in which she will likely get the most sympathy from the police, innocent white girl with glasses. And Amber has a witness that Ryan attacked them first and she was just defending herself and her friend, and who can also take a close up of him now. Clearly this is a perfect plan on his part.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MuggingTheMonster
Warning. TVTropes is a time sink exceeded only by black holes and high fractional-c travel.
Amazi-Girl is also capable of taking over (or being given control) without actually taking time to change into the costume.
If she’s sufficiently triggered, Amber will probably stomp Ryan into the ground. If she’s not, she’ll let Amazi-Girl do it, with more finesse and control.
Get him Amber.
He’s not just a rapist, he’s a fucking moron. Unless he’s got backup with him it’s two against one, and we already know Amber alone can kick his ass.
I’m of the mind that Sal is going to come to Amber and Dot’s rescue. I don’t think Dorothy has a violent bone in her body.
She might have some pepper spray though.
Yeah, I suspect Sal is going to be involved in this somehow. Then again he may end up getting taken out by something else, like Becky imitating some trick she saw in a sitcom. Or Marcie and Malaya come along and give him the smackdown. After all we haven’t seen them for a while.
And Malaya’s on the dumbingofage tumblr to show up in book 8! Plus she and Marcie walk home from roller derby this way.
Or Joyce happens to wander by, spots Ryan and snaps. I could see her going ballistic on his ass.
Unless he’s got backup or something, Amber won’t need rescuing. In a straight fight, even if that is a knife, he’s toast.
If it is a knife, any fight shouldn’t last long enough for Sal to show up unless she’s already charging in. Either Amber will get cut bad enough to stop her or she’ll take it away and mess him up.
FINALLY TIME TO BEAT HIS ASS!
retribution!
The quote ends with: “but the same fate overtakes them both” I wonder if that will be important
No, he just thinks that’s just a cold blooded thing to say before he pops a cap in someone’s ass.
You can’t shoot people with a cell phone.
“Life finds a way.”
Especially if it’s one of those Samsung phones. /sarcasm
Are you implying his phone is a Decepticon?
Nah, that would be a Nokia.
No, I’m implying that one could MacGyver a projectile launching device out of a phone. Not that I think “Ryan” could… maybe Carla.
Could be, I get the sense this will result in a major status-quo shakeup of some sort.
Ryan’s not good with his scripture. Remember at the party when he said a given Bible verse was something about Jesus, but it was actually a warning about Satan?
Sent to him by his mother – she must have had a feeling
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/devil/
Yeah, he’s kinda like the Riddler.
make like arrow and snap his neck AMBER! Come on! Noone can learn your secret!
I’m almost certain arrows aren’t known for neck-snapping.
The Arrow however… or was that the Hood. Maybe the Starling City Vigilante, but not that new Green fellow, he’s such a straight Arrow.
i assume that’s just a fidgit spiner in his fist, nothing tooo nefarious of course
Is he holding a yawara stick? It doesn’t look a knife.
It’s his phone.
This is the most likely option, since the way he’s holding his hand (closed fist) is impossible for a phone and unlikely for a knife, especially one without the blade out that he’s planning to use. (If a stiletto type switchblade, he can’t get at the trigger, if a folding type blade, his hand is in the way.)
I dunno; my kid accidentally bashed herself in the head with her fidget spinner and apparently it hurt quite a bit.
–Yeah, I know. My other kid got his lips stuck to a trampoline a couple winters ago. They’re actually quite intelligent; but not all the evidence supports that, ha ha.
Yeah well you’re the moron walking in the dark. Though I’m sure you won’t be leaving on your own two feet.
“Guys listen, I just wanted to explain myself. Look, I brought a snickers as a gesture of good will! See, I wasn’t tryin’a date-rape her… I was tryin’a indoctrinate her into my scientology cult, that’s all!”
*gasp* Call for help! Call the campus police — or maybe not I don’t know if they’re competent enough?
Well, they probably can’t teleport. That would probably be required for them to do much of anything.
I literally have no idea what that last panel is supposed to be. Like, I get that Ryan is threatening, but his line makes zero sense when none of them are in the dark, or at the least, he himself is the closest to the dark.
I’d say it’s supposed to make Ryan look like a fool and it’s a punchline but this isn’t a punchline kind of strip and there’s nobody reacting, but it’s not like, a witty threat either, like a lot of comic villains use. what am i reading
I guess he could have gone with “You will know them by their works”, which probably isn’t 100% accurate to this scenario but could emphasize that he’s been listening in long enough to catch who Amber is.
I don’t think even if he’d heard the whole conversation he would catch who Amber is. That’s partly why that whole bit yesterday was so oblique.
The only thing that’s even a bit of a clue is the shift in pronoun and that’s more confusing than anything.
It sounds like he’s trying to say something to sound cool but like the dumb ass that he is, he doesn’t realize he just unintentionally called himself a fool.
Now that guy is just begging to be made a statistic out of.
That or a fine red mist
was he….hiding in a trashcan
wtf
Obligatory “well, he is trash” joke.
I KNOW
but like. u know who else lives in a trashcan. Oscar the Grouch. Millennials.
all of our property values just went down by like a bajillion
ok i think i thought the stair railing was a trashcan lid but just realized it was a stair railing
that was confusing lmao
I imagine Ryan could’ve easily recorded their conversation and exposed Amber as Amazi-Girl. But nah, that’s for sane people, let’s attempt murder instead.
He doesn’t go to school there. He could have gotten away if he’d left. To which, for once, I’m grateful for evil urge to violence.
We don’t actually know he isn’t a student do we? It’s a big enough campus
The conversation doesn’t prove anything conclusive. Amazi-Girl’s name is never mentioned so from an outside observer Dorothy could be interviewing her about the kidnapping of Becky or the recent scuffle at the DeSanto rally.
Nothing conclusive until they were interrupted. If they went on for a while longer without noticing Ryan (might I add, he’d be probably be hiding instead of walking right up to them in that context) far more incriminating pieces of dialogue could’ve cropped up.
Does the conversation they had mention AG or point to it closely enough? Much of it seemed pretty oblique.
Also not sure if Ryan has been close enough to the to heat it all.
But I figure he know Dorothy’s writings on AG, of course.
Oh…it’s about to go DOWN! Kick his arse Dorothy! Just be mindful of the switch blade in his hands.
That’s his phone.
I think what he’s saying is he’s wise because he knows where he’s going and they’re in the dark. However, he’s not Jules and can’t get away with turning Bible quotes into murder quotes (which many are, anyway).
Yo CT, let’s talk bout something less dark. What do you think about the failings of the Jedi philosophy?
I generally go with Taoist interpretation or the fact that it is better to control ones’ anger than try to purge it. However, one should always beware these emotions as allowing hatred (which I define as unthinking permanent anger) into your life can dominate one’s thoughts to the exclusion of all other thinking. Consume you it will.
My problem with the Jedi philosophy is that, well, it is about indoctrinating children. And denying emotion, the very thing that makes us human. Or sentient, rather. I prefer the Gray Jedi, allow yourself to feel, but without allowing your emotions to control you.
Hell, in between the Jedi tendency to deny and purge all emotion [And thus fall to the dark side at the slightest push] and the Sith philosophy’s tendency to go full hitler… I dunno.
I’m listening to this video about jedi/sith philosohpy and Kreia and it leads to several interestig thoughts, check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z0S0Z8lUTg
[Also: Bad idea to wtch this with a concussion, I had that idea and HOO boy that is a trip]
Great, not only is he a date-rapist, but he’s a pretentious one at that…
I mean, he was quoting the bible right before forcing himself on Joyce.
What I’m saying is that part’s been clear for a while now.
UM WHAT’S THAT THING IN RYAN’S HAND?? is it a fist of nickels??? this will I so bad so fast D:
It’s his phone.
I am not entirely convinced of that
It must be a pocketknife, easy to carry and conceal.
You know what else is easy to carry and conceal? A cellular phone.
so is a roll of coins
Also, Throat Lozenges.
[music surges]
“Amber . . . Dorothy . . . Ryan . . . ”
“MORTAL KOMBAT!”
Ok so we’ve got a rapist about to threaten (probably) two young women so its pretty serious but damned if that call didn’t just make a whole of people look over at me when I snorted in laughter
“Test. Your. Might.”
[Ryan makes an obvious telegraphed knife slash at Dorothy]
[Dorothy interrupts with a Roundhouse Kick, dazing Ryan]
“FINISH HIM.”
[Amber rips out Ryan’s spine]
Very strange situation, what is he planning here? If he wanted to attack them here and now, why would he wait until they are directly in front of the building entrance? I’m curious as to how this will play out.
An eye for an eye? They’ve plastered his face all over the social media; now he takes a picture of them and spreads it out so every douchebago knows who to harass.
This could be horrible or it could be hilarious. Willis will find a way to make it both.
FWIW, I think the two of them can take him, based upon no data beyond my own experience with rage and a single fight in college.
FWIW, I think Amazi-Girl might take the reins. At which point “Ryan” is doomed.
He’s probably better off if Amazi-Girl takes over. Amber’s the one with rage issues and the inability to stop.
I mean, he gets beaten into the ground either way, but AG won’t keep stomping on his head afterwards.
So the smartest option here is probably to snap another, better photo of him and then book it into the relative safety of the dorm, then forward said photo to whoever started spreading the first one.
That is not what’s likely to happen, at least not easily.
Plot twist: it happens.
I mean, it’d be the biggest surprise for us, as we’re expecting BIG DRAMA, and the easiest thing for Dorothy and Amber to do (easier for Amber than changing into ‘her’ in front of people and without the suit) So why not make it happen.
Amber, kick that fucker’s ass and ensure he never has kids. Dorothy, call the cops. And Sarah. …. Not in that order, mind you…
SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT
Oh no oh no oh no what is that in his hand oh no
Unless he’s planning to bludgeon them with his phone, the panic is not warranted. Why is everyone suddenly forgetting he’s had his phone in his hand all day?
Maybe because he’s literally only shown up twice “today”, and in only one of those two comics was he clearly shown holding his phone? “All day” doesn’t really mean anything in this case, lol…
But it’s clearly visible in his hand…
Not in *this* strip, though. I’m just saying it’s only shown up clearly that one time, which was several weeks ago, and it wasn’t the focus of the strip. It’s totally reasonable for people to forget the small detail of “he has a brown phone” when all you can see here is a small brownish vaguely rectangular object.
I figured that was a switch blade. You don’t really hold a phone like that
He’s just holding it with the screen facing upward, and the angle is making it look odd.
No, he’s holding a rectangular object of which we cannot accurately estimate its width so might be a square width instead of a rectangular one, and cannot properly gauge the colour of due to it being in the shadows, while he’s making a threatening remark while up against 2 people in his lonesome. It might be a rectangular shape thus not a switchblade, and it might be the colour of his phone yes, but it’s not as clear as you are making it sound by insisting it’s 100% certainly his phone.
The doubt in today’s comments is real.
Better to recognize the situation isn’t clear than to blindly ridicule anyone you disagree with.
This is very true.
Throat Lozenges. Or Pez. Hard to tell from this angle.
Okay Amber now is not the time to compartmentalize. You need to channel Amazi-Girl and curb stomp this piece of shit and when you’re done you can feel like you redeemed yourself for what you didn’t do at the convenience store all those years ago.
Yeah, young man, this will not go well for you.
Fffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!
Need to give him the old left right goodnight
Put the boots to him -medium style!
I had to shatter both his arms and legs, officer. He had a knife and I feared for my life.
That would probably actually work, since police officers aren’t exactly famous for being able to tell a weapon from, just as a random example, a cell phone.
“I used the minimum amount of force necessary to restrain him.”
Had that bit of advice directly from an RCMP officer…
My father (former police officer among other things) suggests you make sure to insist you feared for your life.
Ooooooh crap baskets
Oh, you say that, too.
Okay, Amber
Step one – Get Dorothy inside. She’s not a fighter (physically) and needs to get to safety. Tell her to tell the desk person to call 911. And tell her to get Sal, just in case you’re not able to hold him off.
Step Three – Kick his ass.
What about Step Two?
Frigging typos.
1. Warn everyone
2. ??????????????
3. ASSKICKING
Step Four – kick the rest of him
Alt-text: But Florida’s too sane to want him.
That’s saying something!
The way Willis loves a unexpected twist, I’m betting we’ve ALL guessed wrong about what’s coming next!
Or would he do a twist on a twist on twist and do EXACTLY we’re thinking?
My head hurts.
Has Willis ever actually written something that surprised everybody (or even just most people).
He’s probably just going to threaten them and leave, there’s not enough strips left in this storyline for there to be an extended fight and an aftermath.
It’s not an extended fight if Ross shows up through a time hole and blows “Ryan” away with his shitgun.
And the next storyline never picks up on where the story before left off! Like at the rally where we last saw this piece of shit.
I guess that’s what’s coming next, either tomorrow or after one or two more days of buildup, are pictures of Dina and Becky cuddling in bed and a notice that the chapter has ended.
the twist is that we’re all going to be drunk by the time next strip hits
Oh shit!!!kick his ass!! Don’t let him speak! Just kkock him out!
Son of a bongo finally shows himself
This whole chapter is just going to be a whole lot of “Why?”
I guess it wasn’t a good idea to talk about Amber being Amazi-girl in a public space.
Of course Amazi-Girl can handle him.
But can she handle him without revealing her secret identity? After all, she’s not going to KILL him. How can she fight him without him blabbing about it afterward?
I mean, without the costume, what’s he got to go on? For all he knows, she’s just another short, white brunette.
A short, white brunette who kicks his ass with crazy martial arts.
Or she could just deck him in a few key spots and call it a night.
Given the way he’s holding it, and that the phone he had was a RED smart phone when we last saw him holding an identified phone,
That’s a switch blade, baby. He’s planning for some payback for the “shame” that dorothy gave him with that photo upload.
For the love of the spaghetti monster, let this fool be put down for good so that we can have some sort of closure, at least.
It’s the same color as his phone, because it is his phone.
Phone was red, this looks grey.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/presidential/
on the last two panels, see how its red, even on the sides?
thinner horizontal-wise too.
this object looks like a grey folded up butterfly knife.
“Can I interest you fine ladies in the words of our lord and savior? Only 9.99 for this fancy bible, now with 20% more stuff they cut out from early Christianity included.”
“Can I interest you fine ladies in the words of our lord and savior? Only 9.99 for this fancy bible, now with 20% more stuff they cut out from early Christianity included.”
Is he selling a Bible or shampoo?
BIBLE SHAMPOO!!!!
Great for working fanatics up into a lather!
Lather. Rinse. Repent.
… Ryan you realize they can just go inside, right?
He doesn’t realise rape is wrong, so the function of a door is probably beyond him.
i mean, depends on the security of the door. if it’s a keycard entrance, then it might take more work to get the keycard out and into the door than it would be to run. but if it’s just an open door, it might be real difficult to keep it closed from him. and opening the door means they have to be faster than he is in order to get it closed before he can get inside
idk. logistics
Not only do they walk in the dark, they get straight under AmaziGirl’s feet too.
[trying again, comment disappeared]
I’ve been trying to think why Ryan would have his phone in his hand the whole day, and the most plausible reason I can think of is, maybe he’s been tracking Amber/AG’s phone via Bluetooth. That is, he paired his phone with hers (theirs?) while he had them both together, and is looking for that signal.
Of course, for that to work would mean that Amber keeps her Bluetooth on all the time, which seems unusual to me in one so tech-savvy.
But I guess we’ll find out.
he’s on stairs. stairs are for pushing rapists down.
Yes.
[Insert Jules Winfield’s variant of Ezekiel 25:17]
Question is, who is the fool here.
honestly, he could be holding a rocket launcher and i still wouldn’t understand this dumbo’s plan. they’re RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR. whatcha gonna do, ding dong? they could literally just knock on the glass and someone would probably see them.
(
which, of course means he probably has some actual diabolical scheme that we’ll never see coming, or something)Motherfucker you are standing in front of a woman’s dorm room after having your face plastered all over and they’re the fools? And is that a switchblade he’s holding? This is what we call compounding the error.
It’s a coed dorm, but still a bad idea.
So, we’ve finally identified the item in “Ryan”‘s hand. He is holding a coed dorm. The situation is even more dire than it seemed.
+1 internet for you, that made me laugh.
So what’re the odds Sal HAPPENS to be watching from the roof or she’s driving around on her bike and she’ll see this mess?
I misread this and thought you were supposing that Sal was watching from the roof WHILE driving her bike.
Let’s be honest, nobody would expect it, and it would be more realistic than Ruth’s demon teleportation.
And more fun!
Having the most awful day ever. I can hardly breathe and I am having trouble following even a webcomics story back.
Screw this, I am going to the ER.
I hope everything is okay!
-offers hugs and well wishes-
Quick! Ninja kick Ryan in the balls.
So. We are about to find out if Amber really can be Amazi-Girl when it is needed.
Face punching powers, Activate!
on a side note i am really enjoying the way light and shadow are played with in the last panel like: dorothy and amber getting the most light, while ryan? gets most of his body in shadow. also his face is hooded so i mean u know u know
good going
but like also everyone’s eyes are in shadow WHAT DOES IT MEAN
“you… do realize… you had to walk in the dark to follow me, right?”
Ecclesiastes 2:14For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate. 15 Both will die…
Willis has used scripture with Ryan in a tricky way before. I do hope this is not foreshadowing something more sinister than expected.
Davis has said that no one would die in this comic, but he never said anything about them going to prison or being committed to a mental health facility.
Sorry, I thought I was posting a general reply, not a threaded reply. Your analysis of his use of the bible quote was spot on though.
The fact that Ryan comes up with scripture may be meant to show that he *IS* actually a pastor’s son, as he claimed when he targeted Joyce.
WoWillis is that, yes, he is.
Oh fucking hell.
I was hoping(more like wishing) “Ryan” had died off-panel by now…
…and now he’s actually going out of his way to be a villain, like, legit spouting bile at a vigilante while they’re out of costume trying to intimidate them into giving up. I feel bad that this is gonna screw with Amber more either way, but I hope she gets to take down this amoral asshat. She could use a win.
ohnonono…
what’s in his hand?
Maybe it’s a knife? Perhaps a candy bar… who knows?
*Shrugs sarcastically.*
I’m sure Delicious Taffy can fill you in.
Why would you assume I have any idea what that is?
Because you have posted in 15 different subthreads in this thread your absolute statement on its identity. Why are you doubting the sixteenth time?_?
Because I started a sarcasm party and everybody was invited?
Yeah, I’d have to be pretty ignorant to think nobody would see my apparently-15 other threads regarding the status of the object, before they saw this.
Sixteenth time’s the charm.
Throat Lozenges. He thought that Amazi-Girl could do with a couple.
oh the next few strips better be him getting the ever loving piss beaten out of him……
The strip didn’t load on my phone at first, so I read the tags … the strip seemed to load even slower after that. AAAAAh he’s here!
No, it’sa very foolish predator who, having followed them Iin the dark, waits until they are the very well lit doors that look like the main entrance (and I don’t know the campus, but c’mon, even if there somehow wasn’t anyone there, he couldn’t know that). This isn’t scanning very well even if he’s desperate.
AMBER: “You will turn around, walk away and never come near Dorothy ever again.”
RYAN: “If I refuse?”
AMBER: “Then She will not be able to protect you from me.”
(he’d probably think that means Dorothy, but if not)
“And who’s ‘She’?”
“You like to claim piety. So: pray that you never find out.”
OH SHIT
I find it an interesting coincidence that Ryan was wearing a sweater with two stripes on it when he roofied Joyce and now, as he accosts Amber and Dorothy, he is wearing a hoodie with two stripes on it.
RIP Ryan he will not be missed.
Indeed he won’t. All hits will be on target.
So, this is the part of the Willis story where someone dies then.
“Hello. This is the part where she kills you.”
Book 7-04: The Part Where She Kills Him
Achievement Unlocked: The Part Where She Kills Him
This is that part.
The fuck? Is he high?
He had a headache earlier, but got his aspirin and his roofies mixed up.
Oh My Goodness XD He decided to show his face IN FRONT of Amazi Girl, without his douche-bros as backup XD Oh dear gods this is just precious XD
Oh fuck.
i haven’t belly laughed that hard in weeks. hah. i needed that. hopefully amazigirl knows how to handle people with knives.
Amazi-Girl uses brass knuckles.
It’s super effective.
What color phone are people seeing? Because it sure doesn’t look red to me:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/presidential/
To be fair, right now the thing is in the shadow. If we assume it is a red-brown originally, then this colour would be quite fitting when it’s in the shadow.
To my eyes, it looked orange. … and so does the phone. hmm.
The reality of this shit is about to go up to a 100% percent.
I wonder how the public will shift their feelings on him after this? Will his popularity go down or up? Could this effect Robin?
I know this is an odd thing to think of after reading this comic, but I know whatever he tries to pull, they will be able to either defend themselves or outrun him. They are two strong women in great shape. Then again, he could try to explain himself to them or the like which won’t work but would be weird.
A lot depends on how smart he is. If he’s smart, he’ll deliver a few unactionably vague threats and then walk away. If he’s dumb or over-confident, he may decide to ‘teach their place’ to Dorothy and Amber which could leave him in ICU if Amber is seriously triggered.
Still, him going up and vaguely threatening two women at night is enough to take a few points off his approval unless he shoots back with a denial on how these two students are trying to get attention by “ruining his good name”.
*A*ffect. *pets his peeve*
No problem. I have plenty of my own, but I still have trouble with a few such as dilemma right here. I end up thinking about it and inserting whichever sounds correct and cross my fingers.
I’m sure it doesn’t help that there’s two “effect”, one being a verb and the other a noun.
Bonus muddling: when you affect something you cause an effect.
How about the next time I need to use it I just post dur… and have you rescue me? 😛
If it makes you feel better, apparently a Beverly Hills clinic just made the same mistake you did in a public notice FOUR TIMES, so you’re qualified for a high-paying job in the communications area. You go, Blue!
I’m wondering if he’s going to try to justify himself to Dorothy and Amber. If he does, then my guess it will be a sorry mix of misogyny, gynophobia, crypto-fundamentalism and entitlement that will actually be both horrific and piteous at the same time.
With a heavy sprinkling of evopsych too, no doubt
And economic anxiety.
Just before Dorothy arrived Amber was sitting there feeling devastated by Rachel’s comments. Damn Willis set it up so we don’t know what she’ll do now.
Jules Winnfield can pull off quoting a bible verse before killing them, but Ryan, you’re no Jules Winnfield. You just look pretentious.
‘Ryan’ might be holding a knife, and he intends to slash their faces. (Amber, this is no time to freeze up.) Or it’s a phone, which he’s been using to track them (and he may know Amber is Amazi-Girl). In which case, it’s phone-stompin’ time.
Actually, this verse made me think that it could be a coded call for help from Ryan. He is the fool, walking in the dark and he looks for resources to come back to the light. I know it is not so, but it comforts me to think this.
Oh boy… Looks like Amazi-girl might have to fight without her costume!
I hate it when the bad guy goes all psycho and brings a flip out knife to a fight!
As I said before, someone needs to eliminate this A-hole, messily and quick!
Middle part, this happens often to you?
Cue up the Wonder Woman theme from Batman v Superman.
Business is about to pick up!
Hey, no! Florida doesn’t want him! We have enough wackos here!
Feed him to the gators and hope no-one charges you with animal abuse.
Or feed him to “Florida man”.
On the one hand, probably knife. On the other hand, if there’s ONE thing Amber/AG probably learnt how to handle are people with knives.
Ryan looks like he’s got a bit of a jojo pose going on there
The only thing in Jojo he deserves to be is that shitty vampire underling Dio had in his mansion in Part 3.
Gonna make me some popcorn and watch this shit go down. Anyone else want some popcorn?
Sure, butter in the middle and on top, please and thank you! :3
You got it 😉
Cell phone? Knife? Why not both? https://www.krudoknives.com/product/samsung-galaxy-s5-phone-case/
Outdated. The S7 has a built-in explosive device.
You’re thinking of the NOTE 7.
We just finished with a “there is no redemption” series. So it time for some redeption. Amber / AG redeems herself for letting Ryan get away. Dorothy redeems herself by having her decision to seek out Ryan work out. And Ryan will get his just reward. There is no way to convict for rape, but this is a straight up assault coming up. They are entitled to nearly leathal self-defense and he can be arrested for this. Put him to sleep AG, since chapters always end with someone going to sleep. Then let the police carry his unconscious body away.
A counterpoint in that neither Amber/AG nor Dorothy did anything that they need to redeem themselves from concerning Ryan.
While neither of them need redemption for that they might feel they need it. Amazigirl caused a distraction which gave him time to get away and didn’t defeat him last time, Dorothy didn’t insist on Joyce not coming with her. They in hindsight could have done something different that looks like it would have made things better. Sure we don’t know that it would have, and there actions were perfectly fine but thats not always how guilt works.
“…Well, that was melodramatic. Now then…”
Unzips backpack. Pulls out an adult saltwater crocodile.
“Androcles… BRING ME HIS HEART!!
Okay, so regarding whatever Ryan is holding:
Evidence that it is his cell phone:
– same color
– similar length
Evidence that it is something else:
– screen is not showing, even when you look close up (though that could be a detail that was too small for Willis to draw in)
– why would he have his phone out? he has pockets, and the light from the phone could have given him away while following the ladies
– his fingers are wrapped around the object in a fist; based on the last time we saw him holding his phone, it seems too big for that
Basically I guess I can see both sides, slightly leaning toward “not phone.”
Either way we’re probably gonna find out tonight or tomorrow.
Also, my avatar is different between posting on my laptop and posting on my phone. Apparently my phone likes Josh/Jocelyn and my laptop likes Becky.
They both have good taste.
Or a cloth with chloroform
Throat Lozenges. They’re a peace offering for Amazi-Girl.
{quietly adds soundtrack to final panel}
“HOW DARE YOU TELL EVERYONE I’M A CREEPY CREEP,” Will Announce Man Covered Up By Intimidating Clothes, Quoting Eerie Comments At Women From Sudden Appearance At Night
Please, let this end with rapist pate smeared over the sidewalk.
Why doesnt that tag say Ryan the Rapist?
Mary walks out of doorway…
Her eyes meet Scarface’s…
…
“Sempai-sama, is that you?”
…aaaaand you’re putting a woman (shitty though she may be) in the hands of a rapist. Bad Covenant. Bad!
‘m sorry… (contrite)
(What if she’s a demon though?? Yeah!!! One of those demony-christiany types all the kids are talking about these days!?)
I was thinking more along the lines of Bonnie and Clyde, though!
…OF EVIL!
“Ah, He has devolved into only speaking in random bible quotes… Time to hit the ol’ interstate trail…”
just what I was thinking
Christ, this isn’t what I needed to wake up to today. Freakin’ Ryan (or whatever his name might actually be if the aids weren’t lying themselves) Can we get him to just go live under a bridge, harassing goats & leaving everyone else alone?
Hey!
Whatchu got against goats!?
>:(
Probably nothing – harassing goats near bridges is an activity with a pretty bad track record for success (Asbjørnsen, 17)
Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen. The Billy Goats Gruff. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1962. Print.
Exactly, he’s so full of himself he’ll keep getting himself into various forms of trouble/harm via his goat messings.
Plot twist: Ryan manages to beat Amber (while she protects Dotty) and deliver his threatening soliloquy while destroying her phone.
Sad.
Theres not really any point to destroying her phone at this point is there? His face is already on the internet
He’s so cute. He thinks he has the advantage over two helpless females out alone in the dark. He has no idea who Amber is, and no idea how violent Amber will become when she sees the knife. All he has is a fatally flawed plan and a security blanket in his right hand. His only hope for salvation might be one of his fellow frat-rats lurking somewhere as backup, but that plan will surely fail if his backup senses failure and jail time.
Ryan’s back, Transformers Till All Are One cancelled. This days sucks.
Also Sense8.
And the Pheonix Point gameplay vid is late.
Shit tier day.
I love you forever for making me aware of Phoenix Point.
Did you pledge? Never having dealt with that Fig thing, I have a question, if you don’t mind:
If I back it at, say 30$, the pledge says I get a free Chaos Reborn Steam key – but if I actually CLICK it, it takes me to a menu that makes it seem that I don’t get that CR key, but it’s instead an extra I’d have to pay more for? I don’t get it.
It’s for an extra key, of either game, so you can share.
Ah, thanks. Wasn’t very clear – probably is buried somewhere either on the project or the Fig’s instructions, but I’m too excited to read stuff right now!
Go for the Luxury Digital edition, it’s the best value – little early DLC and you get the art book and soundtrack – which is going to rock, as it’s by Broomhall, the original XCOM guy.
I was very tempted, mostly for the compendium, but I loathe reading things digitally – experience tells me I wouldn’t get any decent mileage out of it (it’s going to take me the weekend to read the short stories on the site alone). Even if they had a print version at the same level I probably still wouldn’t, because the shipping would be MURDER.
Ur loss, the fiction is pretty good.
Yes, I pledged. In the first week.
Joining you right now!
Huh. Rereading that question, it strikes as it could be taken as ridiculously intrusive, therefore, clarification of intent: I asked if you had pledged in the sense of “do you know how Fig works, because I have this question here.”
…
In retrospect, if I had asked “are you familiar with how Fig works” instead of what I actually did, I could have saved the possibility of intrusiveness. And this clarifying post. *cough*
One of my favorite superhero movie fights isn’t between superheroes. It’s Peter Parker vs. Harry Osborne in Spider-man 3.
This looks very much the part.
He attacks them, gets beat down, goes to jail, shares a cell with Toe-Dad and the Amazi-Girl Revenge Squad is born.
Damn, I wish Amazi-girl is around. They might need help.
Scrolling through the first section of comments, interesting to see the debate on whether the object in his hand is a knife or something innocent like a cell phone. Now you know how it feels like to be a cop, I guess :p
@alt-text: He’s totally wearing a hoodie STAND YOUR GROUND GUYS
This is more sophisticated than a cop by far.
They’re more like:
Upper class wanker – phone, ignore and go about you bizness citizen.
Anyone lower classes or, god forfend, non-white:
“SHOOT THEM, IT’S A MACHETE!”
I feel this is much like Bush now that we’ve got Trump – we long for those times when black people had to have something in their hands for the cops to get away with shooting them, instead of them already being on the ground and subdued or walking away with their hands up and already tased.
Guess that ‘economic anxiety’ thing is hitting the cops pretty bad.
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. Leave your suggestions below.
I dunno. It seems like an awkward way to hold a phone, and whatever it is is clearly bisected to boot.
My vote goes for a knife of some description, establishing a parallel between “girl attacks my friend Ethan with a knife” and “guy attacks my friend Dorothy with a knife.” It should do wonders to give the A/AG duo’s mental health a bunch more kicks. On the other hand, if this does happen and Amber manages to save the day, this might help – if it was Sal’s attack event that gave rise to AG, Amber successfully handling a similar event could result in a “I don’t actually totally and completely suck after all.”
It would also contrast with Rachel’s speech – if Amber DOES save Dorothy from the same situation that she didn’t save Ethan from, it’s pretty much an effective rebuttal.
Maybe it’s a flip phone? xD
Suggestion box:
1) https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1NxyynwWd-8/maxresdefault.jpg
2) Mary and Ross photoshopped into one another’s horrible embraces.
3) A frame from an Adam4D strip.
4) THE KNIFE.
Had to look up Adam4D. Why does everyone look like a mashup between Slender Man and a stereotypical old person?
Because it’s a terrible, terrible comic that wants to be a conservative christian version of the Oatmeal.
I like how they randomly decided atheists want Godzilla to just be named Zilla, because the original name is forcing religion down our throats.
That’s especially insulting since that’s what Japan calls the American Godzilla from 1999
Why would anyone want to be associated with that garbage lizard
Honestly, do you expect someone who thinks atheists would riot over something like a giant lizard’s name, would know about something like that?
I second THE KNIFE
I just hope there’s a panel with a clear shot of this KNIFE, otherwise my Gravatar’s gonna be a jumbled mess.
If it’s not a phone but also is not a knife we’re all going to look like fools (as is your gravatar)
I invoke Toxx clause.
Hmmmm…. let’s see….
http://orig06.deviantart.net/6c0c/f/2013/057/9/f/hurrse_jpg_by_eulogy_jones-d5wcfuv.jpg
Yes. That will do.
What’s a Toxx clause?
The Toxx Clause means either you do it or you get banned (I assume she meant it tongue-in-cheek, seeing as only Willis wields the banhammer) – the name comes from… an incident in the Something Awful forums concerning a poster by the name of, you guessed it, Clause. I mean, Toxx.
So, basically, “Put up or shut up.”
Incidentally, being properly gendered (well, ‘They’ is equally applicable) feels really fucking good right now.
I’m sorry, I’m working on little sleep and it’s 1am here, so my reading comprehension is way lower than it should be. Are you saying that I used the right pronoun, or the wrong one? I was under the impression that you were a woman – if I’m mistaken, I apologise.
No, you have it right. Fucking feels good.
Oh, phew, no resetting the fuck-up clock just yet. Seeing as you added a “right now” qualifier up there, I hope everything’s okay on your end.
Dysphoria, intrusive thoughts, anxiety, the usual.
*jedi hugs*
….with the comments about jedi today, suddenly that phrase seems… less appropriate.
I like Cerberus’ “*appropriate gesture of support* but it’s a PITA to type out and anxiety gives me shit about even *considering* such a sensible option. maybe if I abbreviated it… AGOS? does that even?
Holy crap that brings me back.
Toxx was a poster on the Something Awful Forums, like 15 years ago.
He posted a thread promising to duct tape his dick to his balls if it got enough replies or votes. It reached the stated goal, but he didn’t do it, so he was banned. (Though if he had done it and posted the pictures, he still would’ve been banned, for posting nude pics of himself)
It really makes me wonder what kind of useful information could have been stored in that part of my brain all these years
I feel like taping your junk and posting it online is a little more high-stakes than phonesplaining.
well then…
really a catch-22 there, lol
(but then, who would make that kind of promise on an SFW site?)
Ohh no
Watch this latest development get no resolution either, as is frequently the case in this comic. Are we braced for another emotional roller-coaster?
blah blah self-justification blah blah clobber verses blah blah I’m a clean-cut whiet boy with a future, Judge blah blah
This is either going to be really good, or really bad.