Dumbing of Age

Tonight, it becomes more and more clear that we're probably never going to actually find out the extent of Ryan's disfigurement.

Also, Amber is a dick to yet one more person trying to help her.

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twitter.com/damnyouwillis/status/890082386096119808
codes.findlaw.com/in/title-35-criminal-law-and-procedure/in-code-sect-35-41-3-2.html
twitter.com/NSFWRedditVideo

amber is always a dick to everyone but how exactly is she being a dick to ethan in this scene?

I think people kind of expected Amber to just open up about it all, especially since this shit has been dragged out for so long. Readers just want the details already and are looking for Amber to spill.

She scolds him for worrying, refuses his gift, and then shuts her door in his face without giving him a chance to respond.

>What I did was self defense

Well it would be nice to see it for certain. Cause if you stab at him more than once that starts to become questionable I bet.

Hey Amber it looks like your left eyeball is trying to escape from your glasses in panel 1. Might wanna..... do something bout that?

I was really hoping Amber would self-flagellate by being hyper critical of her own behaviour. But instead she's doing the more predictable thing.

I know Ethan has gotten over the hostage situation and it fucked up Amber way more, but in general it's still shitty for her to casually bring it up like that.

As much as I don't give a shit, the toy the does mean a lot to her and he is doing a genuinely nice thing by gifting it to her (although the "Maybe, sorta." part is so wishy washy and lame). It's really callous for her to be like, "sorry I couldn't help you when you had a knife to your neck, anyhoo, take this toy back."

And the "fair trade" bit is retarded. He's getting the gift because you went through a traumatic situation that might've ended in legal repercussions or injury. It's not "disarm guy" -> "receive toy." If anything it's "get life threatened" -> "receive toy." She already got him a stabbed Sal for that hostage situation anyway.

Fuck off Willis.

Did she just straight up behead a $100 Transformer?
What a bitch.

Anyways, I'm too lazy to figure out the password tonight. Soz.

Amber seems to be doing the emo/whiny thing where she does something right yet makes herself out to be the true victim. One of those stupid dealios.

How does she change her hair for Amazi-Girl, is it a wig

she just messes it up

>Did she just straight up behead a $100 Transformer?

It's a Headmaster, the head detaches and turns into a tiny robot pilot.

This is basically as much explanation we're getting on the whole "Self-Defense or No?" thing, that it was camera and the police decided not to ask questions.

Questions like how much of a threat Ryan was after the first time she stabbed him, or the 3rd, or the 5th?

>Anyways, I'm too lazy to figure out the password tonight. Soz.
I tried and I can't find it.

twitter.com/damnyouwillis/status/890082386096119808

Ruh Roh.

"Hello young people! I've heard there is a popular new video game among the Youtubers. Cool Nerd Uncle David wants to talk about it!"

but it's objectively hotter that way

This came up in the strip years ago. AG has the mussed up hair so Amber can't just switch to it lest she ruin her incredibly well hidden secret identity.

She's not the heroine Indiana needs, but the heroine Indiana deserves.

Does he really think the game will matter in 3 months? I would find a spot in the buffer and add them in for timeliness.

I would say ">tfw she'll never suffocate you with those legs" but she's objectively so shit that it doesn't give me that feel.
Mary and Joyce, on the other hand...

Being three months behind the times is all part of being a Cool Nerd Dad.

Nothing will ever be answered, it was just a convenient bullshit way for Willis to get out of the corner he'd painted himself into.

Amber potentially going far beyond "self-defense" will never be brought up again. Ryan knowing Amber is Amazi-girl will never be brought up again. The assault on Joyce will never be brought up again.

Today he settles all loose threads.

Amber deserves suicide.

he's gonna work dream daddy into the plot like he did Pokemon Go

>What I did was self defense
It stopped being self-defense when you disarmed him and starting attacking him. Raping Ryan wouldn't continue his threat after losing his knife. He knew he couldn't fight one on one with amazi-girl/amber, that's why he had the knife in the first place.

That Nautica toy is shit anyway, it's a repaint of a male transformer with a new head and turbines on her arms that should have been on her back.

which is a shame because Nautica is my waifu, and she'll never have a good toy, ever.

I wonder if he thinks he's doing some sort of clever trick by undermining his own suspense. Like he thinks he's doing some sort of witty reversal of the audience's expectations instead of just disappointing them.

How many weeks did we have to wait for this again?

Goddammit, I wanna know if Ryan sill has a nose, lost fingers, or if he has to shit in a bag for the rest of his life.

Fucking hack you are, Willis.

some third party would probably make one eventually.

have patience (and money)

I don't collect masterpiece-sized stuff though, can't afford it. Third Party Deluxes don't exist.

i thought some of the DJD stuff are deluxe sized?

oh well.

still can't figure out why some people insist hasbro crank out third party level engineering with their standard retail price. they understand why third party prices are high but for some reason they expect hasbro can do it practically the same but sell it for less.

Because the toys used to be better

Compare Generations Blurr (the Drift redeco) to Titans Return Blurr for example.

I think someone said recently that it's been a little over 40 days.

Count user is a nobleman that counts how many days willy scammed everyone.
He's wrong though, he should have started counting from strip 1.

We're now at about 53 days since Amber stabbed Ryan. On a similar note, we've been following Amber as she victimizes herself for the past nine days or so.

Meanwhile, it's been about 28 days since we last saw Mary.

Willis logic will not bend to thee.

matter of taste

and g1 accuracy

>She scolds him for worrying, refuses his gift, and then shuts her door in his face without giving him a chance to respond.
Yeah, how dare people who have just come out of a traumatic experience to shut it out, don't they know that they aught to open up to the people who try to reach out to them. Don't they know that by rejecting them, those friends who try to help them ARE the real victim.

Patience and understanding? Bapssshhh? When you just have come up from a difficult event, it's your mission to make everyone feel that you are okay and shouldn't worry about you, otherwise, you are a monster.

>but in general it's still shitty for her to casually bring it up like that.
It's not shitty. She is saying she is sorry failed to protect him and say he doesn't own her anything.

I mean, the way you says it, you make it sound like she is blaming him for it when she is clearly blaming herself and is hoping she is making up for it.

To be fair, Amber DOES imply that she is a monster.

And now that I think about it, I think she's trying to imply that her mother wants to fuck her. This is some new ground that Willis is treading.

>This is basically as much explanation we're getting on the whole "Self-Defense or No?" thing, that it was camera and the police decided not to ask questions.

So all this time there's been a camera outside the doors. Okay, that's reasonable. Dorm and all with students coming and going. No problems there.

But it's a camera that has never been seen, shown or alluded too before now, just popped up in the story to say 'yeah the police saw the camera feed and everything's okay'.

So Rapin' Ryan not only decided to confront Dorothy and Amber in public, on the steps of their dorm - where people will be coming in and going out frequently, even at night - where someone at the front desk would be present to hear any shouts, screams from the altercation... he also did it right under a fucking camera.

Jesus, Willis. There's stupid villains and bad storytelling and then there's THIS.

>that it was camera and the police decided not to ask questions.
Nothing is implying that. She was out for 3 days. If anything, she was busy filling paperwork and making a deposition during that time.

It doesn't matter, he enjoy the stuff and therefore want to make it part of his work.

>Jesus, Willis. There's stupid villains and bad storytelling and then there's THIS.
Do you want to know how many rape happens that are caught by public camera? This is a thing, you know.

Beside, we have seen Ryan being driven more and more mad Aangry, to the point he was clearly established as not giving a fuck anymore.

There is nitpicking and then there is YOUR post.

If there are so many rapes caught on camera, why haven't I seen any of LiveLeak?

And he's still right: Nowhere in the setting do you ever see a security camera. Not even a black blob that would imply such.

Thanks for your service.

>why haven't I seen any of LiveLeak?
you haven't been looking enough.

>And he's still right: Nowhere in the setting do you ever see a security camera. Not even a black blob that would imply such
It doesn't need to be foreshadowed either. Public place, campus security camera. There is zero fucking reason to be taken aback by this.

It's like complaining you see them eating because they didn't say they were going to eat in previous strips.

Freak.

It's still a bit of an oversight.
Personally, I'd have liked to have seen a shot of a security camera getting hit with some of Ryan's blood, serving both as a definitive statement that the camera exists as well as an implication of Ryan and Amber having been observed this whole time.

in b4 Amber holes herself up in her room because I'M A MONSTER and does nothing but play Dream Daddy 24/7.

>Do you want to know how many rape happens that are caught by public camera? This is a thing, you know.

I'm fully aware, yes. There's also a difference between having your crime caught on tape and deliberately choosing to perform in as public a place as you can get, which is what Ryan did.

People also don't always get resolution to their issues, but we can still call Joyce getting dropped from her own plotline with Ryan bad writing.

If he didn't give a fuck anymore, then he wouldn't have paused to quote bible verses at them like a two-bit villain. He would have just wandered up after them, got in close and started stabbing. He did have fucks. He wanted them to know it was him and he chose that place to make his stand. He's an idiot.

>There is nitpicking and then there is YOUR post.

So... I point out that we never see a camera in the scene, yet one just so happens to be present to clear Amber and point out that a criminal is stupid for attacking people where it is likely he'll be caught and that's nitpicking?

You have extremely low standards.

>It doesn't need to be foreshadowed either. Public place, campus security camera.

Not all public places have cameras. Secondly, Chekov's Gun: if something is important to the story, you show it or set it up earlier. You don't just pull it out of your ass later. "Oh, there was a camera there the whole time even though in none of the shots of the entrance have I shown it, referred to it or otherwise indicated that it was present. But it was there and it totally exonerates Amber. Plot over!"

>Personally, I'd have liked to have seen a shot of a security camera getting hit with some of Ryan's blood, serving both as a definitive statement that the camera exists as well as an implication of Ryan and Amber having been observed this whole time.
Not everything need to be laid out as thickly. Especially something as common as security camera.

>Beside, we have seen Ryan being driven more and more mad Aangry, to the point he was clearly established as not giving a fuck anymore.

Bullshit, Ryan's whole fucking character is "conveniently retarded rapist". No fucking rapist IRL is going to blurt out "Lol I'mma rape you up" to his target like Ryan did to Joyce, nor react like Ryan did when Amber approached him at the rally, nor this whole farce that's meant to settle this particular plot recently.

Not only is it a bad character and awful writing on Willy's part, I'd also consider it a reckless disservice to his readers because they're retarded enough to take this as a realistic representation.

>and deliberately choosing to perform in as public a place as you can get, which is what Ryan did.
Ryan didn't gave a fuck. He just knew where he could find her and didn't care about anything else. We clearly see his character spiral down before it happens.

>
If he didn't give a fuck anymore, then he wouldn't have paused to quote bible verses
Why not? You think people who have nothing but revenge in their head won't gloat once they get their prey ready to be stabbed?

> He did have fucks. He wanted them to know it was him and he chose that place to make his stand. He's an idiot.
He was blinded by rage. Getting her and make her suffer was what he wanted. that he wanted to know she was ggoing for a world of painis not a contradiction.

>
So... I point out that we never see a camera in the scene
You said it yourself, Camera is a common thing enough in campus it doesn't need to have an herring for it.

It's like with Black Widow in in Winter Soldier, wearing a fake face. At this point the audience was familiar enough with the concept it didn't need to be pre-hinted.

>Not all public places have cameras
And, it's not a big twist either when they have one. It's not something that require to be pre-established.
>Secondly, Chekov's Gun: if something is important to the story, you show it or set it up earlier.
checkov's gun is not an obligation for something that is common enough.
> You don't just pull it out of your ass later.
Security camera on a campus isn't something you pull out of your ass.

>Oh, there was a camera there the whole time even though in none of the shots of the entrance have I shown it, referred to it or otherwise indicated that it was present. But it was there and it totally exonerates Amber. Plot over!"
There was a security camera, oh yeah, it's rather common in Campus, okay.

It's like you want at all cost complain about something, and you felt uninspired today.

>Bullshit, Ryan's whole fucking character is "conveniently retarded rapist". No fucking rapist IRL is going to blurt out "Lol I'mma rape you up" to his target like Ryan did to Joyce
You don't know how stupid people and teenager specifically , can be.

>Not only is it a bad character and awful writing on Willy's part, I'd also consider it a reckless disservice to his readers because they're retarded enough to take this as a realistic representation.
People like that exist.

>You don't know how stupid people and teenager specifically , can be.

Stupid enough to think this is excusable writing, apparently.

I don't think that's being implied here, Amber's just saying that her mom loves monsters and her mom loves her ergo Amber is a monster

Yeah, that's the reading I get from this too.

Nah, I know.
But wouldn't it be great if Willis were like "What's the best way to attract new readers... Incest!" and wrote it into the series.

"Hey, if it worked for Gravity Falls, it'll work for me!"

Well Amber's showing cleavage, that's a step in the right direction.

So, he didn't give a fuck to be careful and yet he gave enough of a fuck to gloat? Bit of a contradiction you have there. And apparently "blinded by rage" means calmly following someone, walking up to them, slowly drawing a knife and trying to be a bad-ass gloating over them. So in your description, Ryan was simultaneously so enraged that he had to attack Dorothy and Amber right that second, but also cool-headed enough to take his time and start gloating. That's some very selective blind rage, user.

If it's something that impacts the plot, then yes it needs to be hinted at, otherwise it's a cheat to the audience. For example, there are more guns than people in the US. So if we have a home invasion story set in America, where the burglars are about to confront the owner, who has never before shown to own a gun, it's perfectly fine if they just randomly pull on out of nowhere? Hint: that's stupid and you have low standards for storytelling.

On cameras: my old campus did not have security cameras outside the buildings. There were security patrols and emergency phones.

This was a bad set-up. It combines a contrived villain with an unsatisfying resolution. It's not about needing to complain, it's just pointing out bad writing, but for some reason you seem to need to defend this at all costs. Look, I'll even meet you halfway: it's not the worst writing imaginable, but Willis still should have taken two seconds at some point prior to mention or show that there were cameras present.

A thought occurs: Ryan has a lead on who Amazi-Girl is. What if he tells the cops, who have been out looking for her? Or what if he uses it as part of his plea bargain or whatever?

Reposting art request for happy Amber with two knives, because the thread was deleted not long after I did so last time.

I literally already wrote that she means she's sorry, dude. But I'll repeat that if you're not *only* sympathizing with Amber's experience, bringing up someone else's traumatic experience is shitty. Even if you're doing it to pity yourself, and apologize in the shittiest way possible (for something I'm sure Ethan has told Amber a million times wasn't her fault at all, because it isn't).

And he never said he owed her anything, he wants to make sure she's ok and help her feel better if he can. It's not a fucking transaction. I get that Amber has broke brains and a dumb outlook, step outside of it. The parts that are reasonable are her asking for Ethan to leave her alone and eventually leaving to get some privacy. He could've given her more space, but sometimes friends shut you out for a long time while beating themselves up and it can be hard for them to reach out. So I totally get him trying to get her to open up, even though he should have accepted her wishes and kept making himself available to talk to.

The cops and DA are probably completely uninterested in offering a plea bargain for the identity of Amazi-Girl and either way Ryan has neither proof nor confirmation that Amber is Amazi-Girl. Ryan revealing Amber is Amazi-Girl and it resulting in lawsuits against Amber and the school, and far more positive attention than Amber can handle, would be a good plot though one we'd be unlikely to see as it'd take years to resolve at the pace of the strip.

I think the real issue is that Amber has frequently been shown to be as ass to her friends so all her interactions are colored by that.

He probably tried to do it, but no one believed him.

>That girl? She's so overweight, and all she does is play video games. Plus, her voice isn't nearly as deep. And Amazi-Girl has never used a knife before. There's no way.

Either way it all ends in a contrived "I am Amazi-Girl" scene where every stands up and reveals they're wearing a tshirt with Amazi-Girl's logo on it. Even Ryan.

>self-defense
No; she attacked him with the knife after disarming him for no reason. There is a limit to self-defense.

Is Willis even going to discuss this?

She should be facing legal examination, but debilitating your attacker is usually considered valid.

>debilitating your attacker is usually considered valid
I think it depends Where exactly she poked him with that knife. I'm not saying that she has to "take the chance", but it seems she stabbed him in the neck/face and that seems.. excessive, considering stabbing him in any other area would close the deal. Or not stabbing at all, considering her abilities.

I think it would be an interesting angle, as well. Also, if they're earnestly looking for a vigilante who has been getting in all sorts of fights across campus, seeing Amber disarm a dude and beat him up would raise some suspicions.

For starters, physical prowess is not a factor in determining valid self-defense. Secondly, intentional wounding with the express purpose of non-lethality is not considered valid self-defense. Third, using overwhelming force against an attacker is legal. Within the state laws of Indiana everything Amber did was perfectly legal.

Ended up drenched in blood, self defense.
Ryan might not have a face at this point.

Yes, they're reusing that Blurr mold for fucking everything right now, but to be fair: it's a really damn good toy.

>lawsuits against [...] the school
Y'know, I go to Mizzou. We had student protests in 2015, as you probably know. As a result, whether directly or indirectly, our incoming freshman rate has plummeted two years straight.

Meanwhile, Dumbiverse Indiana University has gone through a school shooting, a near-murder on campus grounds, and God knows what else, and yet it seems as if everybody else is just okay with it. Maybe not the characters we follow, but Willis never focuses on the overall campus climate. It's always from the POV of his characters, without ever hinting at what things look like from the other side.

It'd be nice if they actually put effort into that search, by the way. Maybe night security to keep a watch on if she shows up? Maybe even a story where she finds herself caught by the cops and forced to either Fight or Flight in order to escape.

The major student enrollment affecting incidents would be Roz's sex tape, the Rapin' Ryan social media campaign, and the Desanto/Bean sex scandal. The university was incidental to Toedad's Wild Ride so it'd be up in the air as to how badly it'd actually affect enrollment. Amazi-Girl herself would probably have a negative impact on enrollment.

And all of this is happening within the first three months of the school year, too.

Do you think anybody has considered connecting the dots between those involved in the incidents? Would it actually be possible to connect the dots?

hey user, I graduated in 2006. What's it like on campus these days?
Although I can't imagine the governor's demand for cuts and layoffs is helping any of it.

Context: I graduated from my undergrad in 2014, but I came back last year (and have one more year left) for my master's degree.

I don't tend to spend much time on campus myself, but it honestly doesn't feel like much has changed, even after the protests. They were, for all intents and purposes, a one-off event. They got the University President fired, patted themselves on the backs, and then fucked off. Mostly because most of them were juniors and seniors.

As for the budget cuts, we haven't quite felt it yet but I'm sure there's going to be something huge soon. The one big cut is in student housing; they had to shut down the four central dorms (Responsibility, Respect, Discovery and Excellence) along with some others due to the decline in incoming freshmen. Apparently the school is trying to rent out those dorms for football games and the upcoming total eclipse next month.

The one small cut is that they're making the Journalism school pay for their printing costs, which I would assume is going to be a constant across all the buildings.

Oh, and speaking of grad students, apparently we don't get health insurance now. Or we do; I came in too late to learn about that whole kerfuffle.

It's the beginning of October. All of this has happened in six or seven weeks. Also I forgot about the other kidnapping.

You can't link everything. Due to how they handled Joyce getting roofied no one other than Ryan is directly linked to it. However, everything else can be linked to the dorm wing directly or the main cast indirectly.

>physical prowess is not a factor in determining valid self-defense
It actually is, it just happens that it's easy to excuse it. But if let's say, someone half your size attacks you, and you punch them full force in the face, that's not really a valid self-defense.

>intentional wounding with the express purpose of non-lethality is not considered valid self-defense
Where exactly do you live? in my country, at least, you don't have to kill so it can be considered self-defense.

>using overwhelming force against an attacker is legal
Where you live you can shoot someone coming at you with a knife? now i'm curious.

How is it? It's one of the places I'm considering for grad. I had honestly heard shit-all about any protests, also.

>Where you live you can shoot someone coming at you with a knife? now i'm curious.

That depends on the state--some have Stand Your Ground which can allow for a similar scenario.

I can only speak for myself, but I've enjoyed my time at Mizzou. The protests were all but ignored by most of the campus until it went national when the football team got involved.

And now the football at Mizzou sucks.

On the other hand, I'm sure that Mizzou is desperate enough for incoming students that they'll accept you without question. That's how I'm pretty sure I got through the application process.

I didn't see anything about overwhelming force, but you can use lethal force if there is risk of "serious bodily injury" in Indiana. So a knife attack could prompt defending yourself with a gun.

if you're defending your home, lethal force is always reasonable. I'm not sure if that counts for the front of the lobby of the dorm you live in.

>codes.findlaw.com/in/title-35-criminal-law-and-procedure/in-code-sect-35-41-3-2.html

>they'll accept you without question
Given I got accepted, that's kind of a blow to the self-esteem haha. But I don't really care about football, so if it's a good school otherwise that's fine.

It's working out for me. I'm in the Documentary Journalism program, which is new and for the most part independent of whatever else goes on around campus. But I dunno what other programs are like.

And I'm just cynical about my own acceptance coupled with the decline in incoming students. I didn't mean to rag on you specifically.

Yeah, i think it's most likely a question of if you can assume this "serious bodily injury" after the person is disarmed. The way i see it, this fight happened in two moments; one where there was the risk of serious bodily injury, and other where there wasn't (when she took the knife from him). Of course this is really hard to prove in court, but i think what she did closer to an execution than actual self-defense after she got the knife from him.

America. The American concept of self-defense relies on a reasonable fear for one's safety, while something as extreme as an attacker being half the size of their victim (assuming no weapons are involved) more than likely wouldn't meet that standard, in this case Ryan was bigger than Amber and courts tend to assume women are weaker. You don't have to kill someone so it can be considered self-defense, it's just that if one intentionally wounds someone then they can be challenged that there was a reasonable fear for their safety, as it implies a presence of mind and lack of urgency to allow for specific targeting of an attacker's body. Basically, if you shot at an attacker and hit their leg it's fine, but if you aim for their leg you greatly weaken your case. Also the reasonable fear of one's safety doesn't discriminate by weapons used, a knife is considered a deadly weapon the same as a gun. One is allowed to use any available means to defend oneself regardless of the attacker's weapon, if any. It should also be noted that while self-defense can be claimed as an absolute defense, it is actually an affirmative defense and legitimate uses of self-defense can reach trial.

Are you from the UK? Your concept of self-defense is almost exactly like that of the UK.

>if you can assume this "serious bodily injury" after the person is disarmed.

Yes, the definition of serious bodily injury is:

The Indiana Code defines “serious bodily injury” as injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes: (1) serious permanent disfigurement; (2) unconsciousness; (3) extreme pain; (4) permanent or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ; or (5) loss of a fetus.

It's entirely possible meet all of those conditions with feet and fists, easy meet two of them, and not that difficult to meet a third.

There are two problems with what you believe; one, Amber didn't take control of the knife when she knocked it out of his hand - she gained possession of it later, and two, the altercation was continuous rather than two distinct altercations. If Ryan tried to flee or there was a period of time between her disarming Ryan and the two of them fighting you'd be absolutely correct.