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Bluff
Posted on May 20, 2020 by David M Willis
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372 thoughts on “Bluff”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    world’s least entertaining TikTok

    maybe if they set it to Say So (feat. Nicki Minaj)

    [srsly tho this friggin rocks]

    1. Ana Chronistic

      glad I didn’t make the 35 minutes joke, alt-text jinx

      1. Agemegos

        I’m glad I did: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/beats/#comment-1467875

    2. Captain Oblivious

      Why the delayed/scheduled tweet though? Why not just hit send?

      1. thejeff

        Because she wanted to get through the hostage exchange and have the others safe before blowing the whistle, otherwise they might get hurt or not freed.

        1. Captain Oblivious

          Cheers. I missed that on my first read through, but saw it better today.

  2. Portland

    I totally didn’t see this coming but also I’m extremely psyched.

    1. Foxhack

      Some folks brought up the possibility in the comments for yesterday’s strip. It made sense.

    2. Undrave

      I’m worried about Joyce though, he could say ‘fuck it!’ and just decide to kill her for spite so…

      1. TheStranger

        Yeah he could decide to try but Willis said “sustained sense of danger,” and explicitly disclaimed “full slasher flick” for the storyline.

      2. Kamino Neko

        He’s actually in a really poor position to beat her to death. Injure, yes. Blind, possible. Kill…not impossible, I suppose, if he got lucky, but he’s not really holding her in a position he can get the kind of leverage to deliver a killing blow.

    3. Twitcher

      Initially, I was a bit upset that Becky didn’t go to one of her two gay moms for help, but she’s a clever one, she is.

      1. NotPiffany

        Well, by using Robin’s Twitter account, she is getting help from one of them… from a certain point of view.

        Also, I hope at least one of those security stooges Robin hired has reported to her by now.

  3. ValdVin

    “An’ I know how to schedule a tweet, while you could barely manage to swipe a debit card for a scooter.”

    1. tim gueguen

      “Twitter? I…think I’ve heard of that. It’s sorta like MySpace, right?”

      1. abysswatcher1993

        Another boomer defeated by lack of technology skills.

        1. Norah

          Blaine isn’t a Boomer. I think he’s a Gen-Xer, born between 1965 and 1979. He should be at least somewhat knowledgeable about technology.

        2. tim gueguen

          His only interest online is probably porn.

        3. Needfuldoer

          Why you think the ‘net was born?

        4. plasticwrap

          To coordinate the storage, movement, and deployment of government resources, military assets, and intelligence secrets in a secure and near-instantaneous fashion?

        5. Chris

          All that stuff was just the official cover. Porn was the real reason.

        6. Stanistani

          … that was ARPANET… once the college kids and the NSF got ahold of it… different story…

        7. FacelessDeviant

          Nah. It was cat pics

        8. Geneseepaws

          The real reason is Cat Videos, everyone knows that.

        9. Roborat

          Yup, it was originally a data transfer system for scientists, but all the improvement in internet speed, and the development of graphics cards, is due to porn.

        10. Bicycle Bill

          Yeah!!  Avenue Q rules!!

        11. Needfuldoer

          Yes!

          https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LTJvdGcb7Fs

        12. ValdVin

          That’s every form of media.

          The first cave painting in Sochaux celebrated a successful hunt. The second was of some ancient man’s totally not-made-up girlfriend in Canada.

        13. Elebenty

          She’s a cheerleader.

      2. FacelessDeviant

        Yeah, but angrier.

  4. Sirksome

    Nah man. Those one million people are no one of consequence.

  5. Foxhack

    Take a picture, it’ll last longer and get lots of retweets

  6. Yumi

    Love his genuine surprise.
    Fuck you, Blaine.

    1. Bunny

      He really thought no one could figure him out…

      1. sharktrs

        Glad to see reality catching up with him

      2. HeySo

        He was wearing a mask, though! How could anyone have figured it out!

  7. Mark

    Well at least someone in this group is using their brains

    1. NinjaNick

      Becky’s the best.

      1. Mark

        In this situation most definitely though to be fair the bar is pretty low (has Walky stopped running away yet?)

        1. Fart Captor

          They were grabbed in the middle of the night and managed to not only escape, but (temporarily) capture their kidnapper

          Pretty doubtful you’d do better

        2. Mark

          Actually I would but that’s not a fair comparison. I’m not a teenager, I’ve had training, (military including peacekeeping) I’ve been in potentially dangerous situations before (security work in bars) and I’m currently a Corrections Officer

          Instead I’m comparing Walkys actions to those of his peers so yeah it’s a pretty low bar

          Not taking anything away from Becky, shes using her brains, but more about how badly everyone else has done up to know

          Yes its dumbing of age but this group aren’t stupid yet the decisions they’ve collectively made in this arc have me bewildered

        3. Alexander Hammil

          You should probably stop being a prison guard.

        4. Mark

          I’m not a prison guard.

        5. Alexander Hammil

          Cool.

        6. Mark

          It is actually. Most people like to spout of opinions on prisoners and prisons but have no idea of what they’re talking about but I get to go in and try to change (correction like the name says) the negative behaviours on those that society have given up on

          It’s not for the faint hearted, scared or emotionally fragile but for those who can it’s a rewarding and interesting career

        7. Norah

          Most of them haven’t been in dangerous situations before, and those that have don’t have the training that someone in the military or some sort of police force would have.

        8. Mark

          That’s why I’m not judging them to my standards, I’m judging them against their peers and basic common sense

          Which is why Becky done well

        9. Ron again

          I do think the group deserves some slack. They made some shitty choices, but all in all, they didn’t do that bad. Dorothy for example did a good job coordinating and Sarah and Dina showed some much needed combat strength. Walky really was shitty though. You don’t get a medal for trying to be funny while failing at jour job. Ethan did as you would expect from an inexperienced “civilian”.

        10. Mark

          Yeah some stood up really well, Dina, Sarah and Joyce put others before themselves. Dorothy was doing well but, using common sense as a baseline, why stop to talk when you need to be moving (mind you maybe that was needed for story pirposes) but the worst decision was once Blaine was tied up so all should have left the area.

          The danger was still there but some left and some stayed and who’d they choose to guard Blaine, only the weakest, most cowardly person in the group

          All should have stayed together and gone to the police

        11. SuperZero

          Oh, you forgot they had things they had to get done. Like, uh, tending the wounded and dying.

        12. Mark

          No I didn’t. Call the police and they’ll sort out the ambulance service (or whatever the equivalent service is in your country) as well

        13. SuperZero

          Ah. Ignore it. I see.
          Yes, that is a reasonable thing for a young girl to do about her dying father. Good plan.

        14. Mark

          Is it reasonable, no. Is it the correct play then yes, yes it is. It’s easy to be wise after the event but had they all left to get to safety and call the authorities then they’d all be safe and Ross would be dead and they could mourn safely

          As it is Ross is still dead, Dina and Joyce got assaulted and Joyce is a hostage

          If you insist they stay behind with Ross (and I can see why they’d want to) then they should have stayed together for extra safety until the police got there

        15. BBCC

          At the time, staying with Ross was a totally reasonable course of action. Nobody knew about Faz being there. Blaine was subdued, tied up and seriously injured and they were waiting for 911 to (presumably) give testimony and wait for the ambulance for Ross. They had three people in the house and several outside the house. Without the wild card that is Faz, there’s nothing wrong with that plan since it’s unlikely Blaine could get free on his own in the time it would take without Walky alerting anyone else. Far threw a wrench in everything. That’s not a foreseeable circumstance.

        16. Mark

          At BBCC: I disagree. They knew Blaine had allies but they didnt know how many (not a criticism as how could they know) yet they assumed all the enemy were taken care of

          The reasonable course of action would have been to get away from the area and call the police or if they wanted to stay in the area then all stick together outside and wait for the police

          Because they dont know what they don’t know (wild cards and unforeseeable circumstances and all that) then erring on the side caution would have been better

        17. SuperZero

          Oh wow.
          Yeah, you definitely wouldn’t be able to do better.

        18. Mark

          Actually in Corrections we do run scenario based training around various potential incidents that can happen, being kidnapped is one of them (or rather held hostage)

        19. SuperZero

          Yeah, so you definitely wouldn’t be able to do better.

        20. Mark

          Ok I’m curious as to why you think that

        21. SuperZero

          Extreme confidence, conflation of wildly unrelated things because they’re both “dangerous”, list of irrelevant credentials, combined with inability to analyze even the fictional situation unrolling slowly where you have the benefit of observing from a safe third-party perspective with lots of time. Lack of understanding why restrained, exhausted people with limited information and zero time to coordinate or plan would ever make suboptimal moves in a stressful situation.

          All combined with no reason to think otherwise in the first place.

          “Pfft, I could do better. I’d just beat up all the bad guys. Why didn’t they do that?” is not the shockingly great insight you seem to think it is.

        22. Mark

          You’d be right if I’d actually said what I’d do is anything like that (hint, I praised Dorothy until she stopped to talk) and as I’ve stated on these pages before fighting is a last resort

          I mean you could ask me what I’d plan to do rather than assume what I’d do

        23. lightsabermario

          Ignore him, it’s flamebait. I should know.

        24. Mark

          Yeah you’re probably right

        25. SuperZero

          I’m curious why you’d know in particular?

        26. Axel

          yikes man

        27. Mark

          ?

        28. Axel

          bragging [I realize that I could be mistaking your tone] about military and pseudo policing and working in prisons

        29. Mark

          Not bragging but, unfortunately, its hard to express tone through words alone.

          I’m just trying to explain, using past experiences and my present situation, what I think of how this has gone and hopefully my previous experiences will add some validity so I dont come across as just some a-hole that’s watched one too many action movies

        30. Hephaistos Fnord

          Guys… Lay off him. It should be completely obvious that this person desperately needs some kind of positive affirmation in their life; they’re obviously starving for it, or they wouldn’t be on here bragging and pumping themselves up like this. You’re not going to teach them why their tactics won’t work and you’re not going to get them to stop until their need has been filled, so let’s please just give them a pat on the head and move on instead of giving them a fight that their starving spirit now feels it has to win?

        31. BBCC

          Dude, I don’t care how much experience you have with dangerous situations, judging an untrained, unprepared civilian for running instead of tackling the guy who was just threatening to bust open his head with a hammer or whatever the fuck Walky was supposed to do is fucked up.

        32. Mark

          The thing is most people are herd animals, we’ve all seen those experiments or heard about someone laying on the ground and everyone walks by but when someone collapses and one person shows concern then everyone rushes over

          Similar with Blaine, Dina attacked then Joyce attacked so Walky had every reason to grab (didn’t need to fight him just grab anything) but he bailed on his friends, his weaker friends that needed him

        33. TheHorseCouncil

          Sometimes people with no experience just go full flight without regard for anyone else.
          That is normal and understandable. Especially for a teenager who’s never had one singular bad thing happen to them or doesnt have the mental fortitude to do as joyce or dina have. Walky has often proven he doesnt do well when things get hard. Be it math, the dichotamy between him and his sister in regards to their parents or how to handle new relationship problems. And that is normal. For many many many people. Joyce dina sarah and joyce exist in many real life people but their behavior is not equal to most of their peers in the same situation. Walkys is.

        34. Mark

          Well if there’s a silver lining to this maybe It’ll make Walky do some much needed growing up (maybe Sal can help but if she declined I’d understand)

        35. thejeff

          The funny thing here is that there’s a good argument Walky did the right thing and Joyce screwed up, but that doesn’t seem to even be considered.

          Walky used Dina’s distraction to get free – depriving Blaine of a hostage. Joyce reacted by attacking ineffectually and getting grabbed – giving him a hostage again. Even Amber protested as Joyce charged in.

        36. Regalli

          Thejeff: Yeah, Walky did the exact right thing in that moment – Flight instinct works! Joyce’s berserker moment? Not so much, because she’s still not actually a trained fighter and just lunged instead of going for the ribs or something.

          Like, Walky’s snark isn’t HELPING the situation, no, but it’s clearly a thing he’s doing to stay functional before the full force of the trauma sets in. Becky does it herself. It’s a stress response. And seriously, if Faz DID come out of the cupboards (the most reasonable explanation for no one spotting him,) and grabbed scissors on his way to Blaine, anyone would’ve been taken aback by that if they’d been there alone. Scissors are also a stabbing threat! Faz has been established as VERY speedy (Amber couldn’t catch him during his visit) and pretty stealthy (to steal the USB drive.) If they have to turn around hearing the cupboard open, that couple of seconds before they see him? That’s enough for Faz to get an advantage. Walky shouldn’t have been there alone, but the only one who COULD HAVE been in there with him is Sarah, and she’s sleep-deprived enough it would still have been dicey.

          They’re kids. This is an unforeseeable, deeply traumatic situation. NO ONE is reacting optimally under pressure. The OVERWHELMING majority of people, including those who claim they totally would save the day and that’s why they should have a gun with them at all times? Are not actually able to do so, when put in a crisis, because that is a VERY specific skillset. Freezing up or trying to bolt? Are common, normal responses, and largely automatic so they’d require active working at to change. Walky hasn’t had the opportunity (beyond the potential origin of his snark to defuse situations – trying to keep Linda and Sal from going at each other’s throats. Fighting wouldn’t have helped there!) Frankly, they’ve all been unusually cool under the circumstances. I’m not gonna fault Ethan, Walky, or Dorothy for not being useful in the fight (her best attempt was also ‘spork’,) and I’m not sure any single person would’ve done better when Faz popped up.

        37. Mark

          To thejeff and Regalli: My main criticism of Dorothy was based on what happened after everything was considered safe (I did criticize when stopped to talk but they may have been for storyline purposes) not for her actions during the escape.

          I actually thought she did very well, I wonder if this was all her thinking on her feet or if she’s thought through any what if scenarios as mental exercises as she seems the type

          You do make good points about Joyce’s actions but I’m cutting her some slack because seeing Dina get assaulted probably was the last straw in dealing with a situation reminiscent of Ross and Becky the first time

          I could accept Walky doing the right thing by running had he then run out the door warning everyone what happened but there didn’t seem much time difference between him leaving and Blaine following because it still would have taken Blaine some time to subdue Joyce and drag her out

          Plus in that situation the only people with guns I’d want to see are the police I’m assuming Becky has already contacted as it fits with her personality

        38. Apostate

          I disagree with your take on the state’s monopoly on violence.

        39. Mark

          To Apostate: Threads getting a bit long sorry, I’m not sure what referring to

        40. BBCC

          1) Just because they’re smaller than him does not mean they are weaker. Walky can’t even get down off a damn ledge by himself.

          2) Trying to bolt from someone when they just threatened to brain you with a hammer IS the most common reaction, friends attacking him be damned.

        41. Mark

          To BBCC: generally speaking the average male is stronger than the average female. Neither Joyce, Dina or Walky have shown or been shown to play sports, consistently exercise etc etc so odds are Walky is stronger than Joyce or Walky is what I was referring to

          However if you’re talking mental or emotional strength then yes I agree Walky is easily the weakest of the three

        42. FacelessDeviant

          I gotta say, you folks apply a lot of real life thoughts and behaviours to comic characters. Its a story. They will do or not do what furthers the story and creates tension and such.

          Suspension of disbelief. Thats the thing.

        43. BBCC

          That’s a very shaky general, but even if it were undisputedly true, considering his diet and the fact Walky is determinedly lazy, I sincerely fucking doubt Walky is stronger than Joyce or Dina.

        44. :0

          Agree.

        45. Delicious Taffy

          This is weirdly reminiscent of that old Mall Ninjas meme.

        46. Mark

          How so?

        47. Delicious Taffy

          Read it and then pretend you don’t get it.

        48. Mark

          Sorry but you’ve lost me

        49. Delicious Taffy

          Attaboy

        50. FacelessDeviant

          Well, if everyone did the correct and smart thing there wouldn’t be any tension or drama. People do the correct and smart thing (well, usually, kinda) irl. And that is mundane.

        51. Mark

          Can’t argue with that

  8. Radiance

    Sarah is me in this situation.

    Loving the shocked Pikachu face at Blaine. “But you can’t even see my cheekbones! my disguise is bulletproof!”

    1. Dean

      “How did she defeat my tiny eyemask?!”

      1. tim gueguen

        Unfortunately for Blaine he doesn’t live in a true superhero universe, where a simple domino mask is an almost impenetrable disguise.

        1. BigDogLittleCat

          Unfortunately for Blaine, he’s so stupid he can’t recognize AG is his own daughter, who recognized *him* and told Becky.

        2. clif

          In fairness, Amber had to listen to him for awhile before he spilled the beans and she recognized him.

        3. thejeff

          Even then it was the flash of memory from AG (who saw Blaine put the mask on) that clued her in.

        4. FacelessDeviant

          In a true superhero verse, he’d just put on glasses when the cops showed up and everyone would be like “where did he go, oh bespectacled obvious other person?”

        5. Alris

          Eh i always thought the Richard Donner Superman Movie nailed that perfectly it not that the glasses are some magical disguise, his posture his demeanor and even personality are so completely the opposite of what you would expect superman to be that they never even consider it.

          Man Christopher Reeve was a heck of an actor to pull that scene off

        6. FacelessDeviant

          I mean kinda. He didnt even have a fake moustache.

          I think people in Metropolis were just kinda… well dumb.

  9. NinjaNick

    #r-i-p-blaine-o-malley

    1. Kyle Voltti

      More then we may suspect. If he’s part of a mob then why hasn’t he called in muscle? Or these crooked cops? Why use toe dad and the frat pack? Why use the nephew of the mob he’s a part of in such a blackmail’y way? Add that up with the need for money and I’m guessing he’s on thin ice with his bosses probably coming up short on his monthly dues. He’s Val Resnick. He’s the Fredo.

      1. DrWattson

        I mean, his mob ties were transparent enough to be noticed by a child; I imagine he’s much lower on the totem pole than he claims and that his mafia buddies don’t really give a crap about him.

        1. Dave

          Which would make him drumroll, please…

          Expendable

          Especially after his blunder shone an enormous spotlight on their operations, and that look on his face at the end…is him realizing how %^&ed he truly is.

        2. Human Bean

          Dang, now I’m almost feeling bad for him. I can’t believe it, he’s probably the worst person in this comic, and I do very much want him out of Amber’s life forever… Still, I don’t want anyone to get murdered.
          Can’t help but put myself in his shoes and feel the terror of knowing people are going to come after you, and I don’t want anyone to feel that, no matter what horrible things they’ve done.

          That being said, even I’m not gonna mourn Blaine O’Malley.

        3. Agemegos

          Also, he’s facing a life sentence plus more than two hundred years, with eyewitnesses, co-conspirators likely to testify, probable trace evidence, probably a financial trail, etc. His only realistic hope of ever getting out of prison would be a deal to testify against Asher’s gramps &c. Gramps & co. aren’t likely to give him a chance.

      2. jmsr7

        Yeah, he’s not part of the mob, he’s just a guy with a carpentry business (?) they use to launder money through.

      3. Alex Boston

        I learned a new word today. Also, ew.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          I don’t know what you learned, and now I’m scared. I was referring to an appliance brand, which produces washing machines, because laundering money.

        2. Liz

          don’t look it up because i just did and I didn’t like it

        3. Kali

          I did as well, but i only got stuff for the appliance brand… So now I’m double confused…

        4. Deanatay

          Also, it’s a pun, because #r-i-p-blaine-o-malley is a tag. In May.

          #tagsplaining

        5. KJ

          its a slang term for a certain type of prison inmate…check urban dictionary – that’s where i found it

      4. BBCC

        He’s a mob stooge. They use his business as a front to launder money. He probably knows some of them but he doesn’t have much in the way of actual pull and once his boss hears about this fucker? Hoo boy.

        And if Shortpacked translates, Yuri may be one of the actual mobster’s daughters since he was fucking their daughters over there. And of course he decided to blackmail the mob boss’ grandson which might not end well for him.

        1. Regalli

          Asher also knew Blaine on sight (Blaine shows up and says his name and ‘it’s been a while,’ Asher goes straight to ‘get fucked, Gramps owns you,’) which means Blaine probably knows a LOT of people.

          But influence? Yeah, no, ‘he’s a fucking Maytag’ is right. He’s been a mobster for at least four or five years (the bare minimum, assuming he only got involved in it shortly before Mike showed up,) but more likely to be longer (given potentiality of Yuri being a mobster’s kid and him meeting her through that, possibly more like fifteen years.) So he’s a proven quantity.

          But if you were a self-respecting mobster, would you actually trust this clown? He’s got to be damn good at acting around people he actually wants to impress.

  10. LadyCaramel

    Go Becky Go!

  11. Renadt

    Andi it was at this moment, that he knew he was absolutely fucked. His plans went not only to shit, but to the hell that all shits tend to avoid.

  12. Golden Yak

    *Blaine O’Malley?!*

    I can’t
    believe
    it.

    1. Juanoku

      *Le gasp*

  13. Mehe

    I AM LIVING FOR THAT LAST PANEL.

  14. NotAnElf

    *cue extra triumphant version of 11s theme*

    1. Delicious Taffy

      You mean The Long Walk, from Mass Effect 2?

      1. Alex Boston

        I was thinking the theme from Dragnet, but that is because I am olllllllllld.

        1. brionl

          Even better, Fugue for Friday:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ7K02dULc4

        2. Dellaran

          That was awesome, thanks for sharing it.

        3. BarerMender

          I’m so old I had to go to YouTube to refresh my memory of the Dragnet theme.

        4. clif

          Here I thought, Just the Fact’s, Mam, was the theme.

    2. Kensou

      I’m so bad at recognizing musical themes, but “I Am the Doctor” is both epic and extremely appropriate here. Kudos.

      Oh yes, and if I wasn’t clear, Becky is awesome. ‘Nuff said.

  15. BBCC

    God I love Becky.

    1. Regalli

      I’m not sure this beats ‘I’m gonna be a fucking scientist’ for me as my most awesome Becky moment ever, but DAMN is it easily up there.

      I am so, so proud of her. She’s wonderful.

      1. thejeff

        I’d also put “Wait, is that what we were doing? Dang, I was hijacking her twitters and taking over her two-step authentication.” in the running.

        Same approach as this and the 911 call during the kidnapping.

        1. Regalli

          Becky handles shit WELL. It’s fantastic, and I love her.

  16. Katerly

    I’m loving Sarah being all, “Sir we have followed the bread crumbs you so graciously poured out, can we stop with the pretending to be bad ass?”

  17. Badgermole

    Blaine: I want Amber to drop out of college! Also none of you know my identity.
    Becky: ur Blaine
    Blaine: *surprised Pikachu dot gif*

    1. temperaryobsessor

      Makes about as much sense as we want Amazigirl to kidnap Becky for us, what do you mean you let Amazigirl go to get Becky.

  18. pjeseb

    Sarah is the entire comment section over the past couple days.

  19. Newllend(henryvolt)

    Bested by fucking Twitter of all things.

  20. Dafydd

    “It was at thait moment Blaine knew: he fucked up.”

    1. Dafydd

      *this

    2. Keulen

      I believe I may have called it yesterday.
      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/beats/#comment-1467808

  21. Tarnagh

    Please let one of those one million people be Blaine’s mob boss. I stand by my thought that the mob isn’t going to be best pleased with someone who has become that much of a liability for them.

    Becky, you rock!

    1. Axel

      Same, and regardless of if they see it now, I’m sure they will soon enough.

      1. Tarnagh

        I’m thinking mob bosses and Republican representatives are closer tied than most people might think. He could very well be one of her followers. I’d be surprised if he wasn’t one of her donors (pre-Becky taking over the Twitter account) since a lot of conservative policies would benefit the mob, too.

        1. SuperZero

          I suppose they must benefit someone.

          Are we certain that Robin isn’t actually the mob boss, for that matter?

    2. DailyBrad

      Whether or not the Korean mob would be following Robin, it’d get back to them. I mean, given Faz’s mom, I was kinda under the impression Blaine’s married in.

      1. Tarnagh

        *feigns innocence* What, you mean “O’Malley” isn’t a traditional Korean name?

        1. Ray Radlein

          Sure, Omal Lee

    3. clif

      Sadly, one of those one million people won’t be Blaines boss for the simple reason that there won’t be one million people reading the tweet. It doesn’t exist. Becky is bluffing.

      1. King Daniel

        Is she?

      2. Axel

        you keep saying that, but there isn’t proof either way. as others have said, there are indeed ways to schedule tweets and Becky is indeed someone who should know how, given her job.

        I’m not saying you’re wrong, just that you’re being very definite about something that isn’t confirmed.

      3. Ron again

        Why do you think Becky’s bluffing?

      4. Bicycle Bill

        Robin DeSanto’s Ninth Congressional district – the one that includes Bloomington and IU – contains something like three-quarters of a million people (granted, not all of them are registered voters).  In addition, she is also lesbian, at least according to Willis’s second(?) Slipshine, which I guess is also considered canon, so when you factor in the LBGT crowd that may also be following her online, it’s not impossible that Congress-critter DeSanto could have a million followers from within and outside her district.

        1. King Daniel

          Robin’s bisexual (or in her own words per Shortpacked!, “undefinably queer”), but yeah. Plus she seems like she might be fairly well-known for her antics, which may have drawn in an audience all its own.

  22. Yumi

    “Consequences? For *my* actions?”
    It’s more likely than you think.

  23. Robbie

    Becky, i love you

  24. Sirksome

    I only worry that Blaine is still holding onto Joyce and has proven desperate and unhinged enough to kill someone when things go wrong.

    1. Miri

      With little enough grip on his temper to potebt8aooy lash out at the nearest person then try to reason later… Hopefully plot armour though?

      1. Axel

        potatoboy?

        1. Julez

          *potentially (if I’m reading context correctly)

        2. Johnny Austin

          My guess is that is “potentially” which has auto corrected to a commonly entered nickname.

    2. Tarnagh

      Faz is also still within reach, I think.

      1. Some1

        In desperation, Blaine drops Joyce and lunges at Becky and Amber, right before he can connect, Faz leaps in front of him taking the blow instead. Faz dies in Amber’s arms after making a speech about wanting to have a real family.

        After he expires, Amber gently places Faz on the ground and closes his eyes. Before looking up at Blaine and quietly saying: “you killed my brother”

        1. Ron again

          That would give us about half the comics we still have left in this arc…

        2. DaveM

          (Amber tears off mask)
          “Hello! My Name is Amber O’Malley. You killed my brother, prepare to die.”

    3. Arianod

      Yeah, that was my first thought. Blaine is the kind to go murder-berserker if he thinks he has nothing to lose.

  25. Chaucer59

    Becky – 1
    Blaine – 0

  26. Nep

    ❤️???

  27. Doribi

    Check and Mate Mr O’Malley, I would say that this has been a fun game but it really wasn’t, this couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.

  28. Cmasta1992

    I’m kinda with Sarah here. Blaine has all but given his social security number out, how is he surprised they know who he is. He hasn’t exactly been quiet about his connection to Amber

    1. Bagge

      Because he is an idiot.

    2. Needfuldoer

      The only part I’m not sure about is where Becky picked up his name. I don’t think anybody else told it to her in this chapter, at least on-screen. Amazi-ber told her both their dads were the perpetrators back at the apartment, but didn’t name-drop.

      Maybe Ross slipped it in their off-panel conversation? Maybe she checked the tags?

      1. Bicycle Bill

        Amber knows who Blaine is, and perhaps she told Becky when she met up with her at Becky’s apartment?  And then Becky set up the delayed tweet before heading over to Blaine’s – I hesitate to call it a lair; that would give him too much credence as even a minimally-competent evil mastermind – base of operations.

        1. Needfuldoer

          In any case, it must have happened off-screen. Hopefully we get more flashbacks, like when we saw Amazi-Girl attend to Mike after he went splat, to fill in these previously unseen details.

          Becky calling Ross was just about a month ago. There’s just over a month left in this chapter, so a lot can still happen.

        2. Roborat

          It is an air bnb, which he paid for with his credit card. That is how stupid he is.

        3. Needfuldoer

          Is it? I thought that was just one of Walky’s flippant coping mechanism wisecracks.

      2. PhyrexianRogue

        Blaine being the name of Ambers dad isn’t exactly a secret (or hard to find out), I think most of the cast knows that already. Amber telling Becky that her (Ambers) dad is the Bad Guy should be more than enough for anyone to know his name.

        1. NotPiffany

          Especially when there was recently an article in the paper about him getting beaten up in a parking lot.

  29. Juanoku

    GET FUCKED bongo
    BRING THE AIRHORNS
    GET ABSOLUTELY FUCKING DESTROYED

  30. Nono

    #giantdesantohonkers

    1. Bagge

      yes.

  31. MM

    Glad I checked the alt-text before making the reference.

  32. Hex Hornet

    That look on Blaine in the final panel… priceless.
    As those I grew up with used to say, back in my more youthful days: “In Ya Mouf’, Bee-Yotch!”

  33. Cmasta1992

    Also I’m going to go on the side of driving a desperate person who has your friend hostage and has already killed one person to further desperation probably isn’t the smartest idea no matter how triumphant the last panel makes you feel.

    1. Icalasari

      Could allow for a, “You either let her go and I can use my influence to get you a bit lighter of a sentence, or you can keep being stupid and get yourself SUPER fucked”

      1. Cmasta1992

        Yeah I don’t see how she really has any bargaining power there. Blaine has kidnapped what eight students, assaulted two, critically injured one and killed his accomplice. There’s no negotiating that down. He’s boned if he gets caught either way. And if he really does have mob ties as opposed to up in the ranks of the mob, he’s gonna get whacked.

        That tweet gets out, he’s dead.
        But if he gives up Joyce, they’re still going to have the cops on him so he’s dead there too. There’s no advantage to trusting Becky for him.

        1. Agemegos

          There is no advantage for him in any case. He is just fucked. And he has been ever since his mass kidnapping went down. There never was any way that his plan could work out with him alive and free, so as soon as he was committed to it his doom was sealed.

        2. CMasta

          I disagree with that notion. This plan could have worked at one point but he made a ton of critical errors (dogshit tying up the students, leaving ToeDad to make decisions, killing ToeDad, monologuing, refusing to accept Amber is Amazi-Girl). If he fixes one or more of those, this is probably a much larger success.

          At this point though, no there’s really no good way out for him. That’s why this negotiation doesn’t really work and there’s no reason other than plot for him to give up Joyce. Hell since he’s got nothing to lose, if he thinks about it for two seconds he’s got the upper hand in negotiation at this point: There’s nothing Becky can offer him that doesn’t end with him being fucked, but he still could kill Joyce.

        3. King Daniel

          He at no point resorted to using a fake name, so far as we know; that alone vastly reduced his chances.

        4. Regalli

          He used his actual phone for the scooter app, too.

        5. CMasta

          No but he also didn’t go by his actual name so that’s a wash. Just because you don’t create an alter ego doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist (until you go hard in the paint about one specific woman) .

        6. Agemegos

          Blaine did not conceal his identity from Asher. That was a fatal flaw in his plan, and it happened before the mass kidnapping.

          Blaine recruited a bunch of campus bullies to commit a string of very serious felonies, and there was no way that he could conceal from them details (such as targeting Amber) that would lead to the police investigating his whereabouts &c.

          Blaine did not successfully conceal his identity from either Mike or Amazi-Girl, and even if their identification were not sufficient to implicate him they would certainly be enough to put him at the focus of an investigation he could not withstand.

          Blaine told Ross his real name, and Ross, cloaked in self-righteousness, was never going to see any good reason to conceal what he had done.

          So as soon as the first overtly criminal deed was done Blaine was in a hopeless position.

    2. Sombrero

      This is the opening of a negotiation. The tweet is scheduled, Blaine can avoid it to be sent by releasing Joyce. Becky is showing to be a natural for her current job.

  34. Axel

    I’m going to be disappointed if the mob doesn’t off him at this point, tbh.

    1. Axel

      Also I really hope this means Becky has gotten to see the Lion King.

    2. jmsr7

      There’s no reason for them to. He doesn’t know anything useful, he can’t help the police get anything useful; and in any case the spotlight’s too bright.

      1. Axel

        I disagree. We don’t know what he knows, so I won’t comment on that, but he can definitely name at least some names (his contacts), and has exhibited that he’s impulsive and dumb, has bragged to pretty much everyone involved about having plants in the police and hospital, has gotten himself involved in a fairly high profile case (Becky’s story was at least on the news throughout Indiana and she also has been a very visible figure representing DeSanto).

        tl;dr He’s a huge liability for getting involved in this, and even if he doesn’t know much, his impulsiveness and desperation make it fairly likely that he would talk. It would be less effort (especially if they do have plants in the local police and prison) to kill him than to threaten him.

        also this is pure conjecture but I feel like it’s going to get out that he’s Faz’s biological father (also conjecture at this point) and at least some of the family will want the pedophile out.

        1. Axel

          * “to kill him than to threaten or otherwise attempt to silence him.”

  35. Harvey Janus

    I have to say it again.

    Becky. Fucking. McIntyre.

    I am living for this way of taking him down and I really wish I had the money for patreon to get another rush of dopamine before going back to waiting for a day.

  36. DailyBrad

    Becky rocks.

  37. Kamino Neko

    Yeah, yeah, Becky’s badass and all…

    But the real takeaway is that Blaine, as evidenced in panel one, is even bloody stupider than we’ve thought. Sarah is seriously underselling how blatant his identity was. ‘Yes, I have said that I want to force Amber to drop out of school, and I repeatedly talk about her like I know her, and I referred to my daughter in the same terms, and she claimed to be Amazi-Girl, who claims to be my daughter, but that doesn’t mean I have any connection to her!’

    1. Kamino Neko

      Actually, I just reread yesterday’s strip, and Amazi-Girl claims to be Amber, not ‘your daughter’, but most of my point stands.

      1. Axel

        Plus when she was Amber, no costume, beginning of kidnapping, she claimed to have beaten the shit out of her dad.

        1. Axel

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/spartacusing/

      2. Needfuldoer

        The cheek blushes and tags say Amber’s been driving since ascending the basement stairs. She’s just still wearing the costume.

    2. Bagge

      He started this arc teaming up with fudging Toedad, and his every decisions since has only made him seem more stupid.

      Quite impressive, really

    3. Akp

      Yeah if he’s shocked by people being able to discern his identity he’s a fucking idiot.

  38. Queen Anthai

    YES!!!

  39. tim gueguen

    I’m still waiting for the ultraomegasuperduper plot twist: Ross isn’t actually dead, and comes shambling out of the basement to stomp Blaine.

    1. Tarnagh

      I’m glad I’m not the only one.

    2. Kamino Neko

      Better – He IS dead, and still does that.

      ‘Blaiiiiiiiinesssss….’

      1. Tarnagh

        Thanks for that! I’m surprised you can’t hear me laughing from where ever you are right now. The mental image is wonderful! 😀

      2. tim gueguen

        He’ll probably starve if he eats Blaine’s inadequate brain.

    3. abacuswizard

      Even bigger supercalifragilistic plot twist: Ross IS actually dead, AND comes shambling out of the basement to stomp Blaine.

  40. Delicious Taffy

    Oh god, anything but a white girl with Twitter access.

    1. MatthewTheLucky

      NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

  41. Tirachokko

    To be fair, she did get the job for a reason, Ball-peen

  42. Bagge

    Daaaaaang. It’s a crying shame that Dumbing of age doesn’t have a soundtrack, because this is where the Becky score would start blasting full strength.

    You can pick a fight with Joyce, she will break your bones.
    You can pick a fight with Dina, she will do that thing with the raptor claw
    You can pick a fight with Dorothy, she will foil your plans with minimum fuss.

    But Becky plans ahead! She take you down.

    1. NaYa

      Maybe this can be somewhat appropriate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBB2bPwKWVg

      1. Bagge

        Seems like a good start, but needs more lesbians.

    2. Council

      ooo yea I feel you, Bagge

      This comic needs some Leitmotifs stat

  43. The Aussie Bloke

    Plot twist: the sixty seconds isn’t how long he has until the schedule publishes the tweet.

    It’s how long until people finish reading it.

    1. Chris

      So… 58 seconds until it’s published?

    2. Vulcanodon

      Is that a reference to Charles Bronson’s The Mechanic?

  44. Alex Boston

    They would know about the kidnapping, but if he killed absolutely everybody except Amazi-Girl he could still try to pin the murders on her, since Becky didn’t know her dad was dead when she scheduled the Tweet. Unlikely, but it might be where his mind goes.

    1. clif

      Except she didn’t schedule a tweet. She’s bluffing.

      1. MatthewTheLucky

        Why would you think that?

        1. Agemegos

          Title of the strip.

        2. timemonkey

          That just means Blaine thinks she’s bluffing at the start.

        3. Agemegos

          I think Willis chose the word “bluff” significantly.

          I’ll be pleased if I’m wrong, because I think that Becky smart enough to crush Blaine and Ross like bugs as soon as that course was available is much cooler than a Becky bold enough to play this bluff. But I’ll nevertheless be surprised. I don’t think many of us share my opinion that Becky’s call to 9-1-1 was the best thing about the sequence when Ross kidnapped her.

        4. SuperZero

          The word “bluff” is significantly featured in the dialogue. So you’re right about that.

        5. thejeff

          Blaine says it’s just a bluff. That doesn’t mean it is.

    2. Chris

      If he tries it, bat beats hammer.

  45. Dave Van Domelen

    Becky: 1,000,000
    Major Tool: 0

  46. Plasma Mongoose

    Lets face it, those dinky little masks are terrible at concealing your identity from anyone who knows you before.

    1. PB

      “You think you can hide your identity by covering your cheekbones?”

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Even Batman’s mask isn’t always enough in real life, you need to go full Spiderman levels of head concealment to avoid identification.

        1. thejeff

          But this isn’t real life. This is a comic. The masks work.

          No one recognized him at first, not even Amber.

          But he did give out a lot of clues and Amazi-Girl saw Blaine put the mask on.

        2. Sirksome

          I still don’t get this mask thing to be honest. No one recognized Blaine at first because no one besides Amber and Ethan knew who he was to begin with. I can’t say Amber’s the best example on this because she both knew and didn’t know depending on who is in charge which really confuses things. Ethan is maybe an argument. I feel like if Mike was there with no prior interaction with Blaine he would’ve made Blaine instantly.

          I still say it works for AG because of all the other work she puts into hiding her identity and it’s not just magic comic book masks. Walky was wearing a mask and got immediately identified. Like it was a joke and he even asked why it didn’t work.

        3. thejeff

          You can feel whatever you want, but there’s no sign that Ethan recognized him and Amber clearly didn’t at first. She’s confusing as usual, but it’s pretty clearly laid out here: Amber doesn’t recognize him, she gets a flash of AG memory of the Mike fight and Blaine masking up, then basically the next thing she says is “I know who he is now”.

          In universe, this seems to work, whatever it would do in real life.

        4. Sirksome

          Then what of the Walky situation? There was this whole “Nightguy” bit. Amber/AG have as much familiarity with him as Blaine but the mask did not work for him. Is Blaine’s mask just better? Did it not work because comedy? Is AG better at indentifying people under masks then Amber? It’s being dismissed as masks just work regardless of how you feel but we’ve seen evidence for and against this argument and I do personally feel like that discredits the work AG/Amber puts into her hero persona.

        5. Chris

          Even wearing a watermelon to cover your whole head doesn’t mean you won’t be identified.

  47. pdp15

    OK, how long is 60 seconds DoA time in real time? We could be here a while.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      There is no standard measurement you can use to calculate the time variation from comic to comic, it’s all very wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.

  48. Bagge

    and he would have gotten away with it too* if it wasn’t for those darn kids and their darn social media

    *) I mean, not really

    1. SillyGoose

      Damn this generation and their avocado toast!

      1. Bagge

        This comic desperatly needs Becky eating an avocado toast while grinning at the camera

        1. Regalli

          While someone else laughs and eats a salad?

  49. Svata

    The power of twitter compels you! The power of twitter compels you!

  50. abysswatcher1993

    The twitter account of a right winger can reach many places. Becky isn’t bluffing.

    Also, on the debate of Rorschach vs Ozymandias, I think Rorschach was right about not compromising and doing what is right until the end. It’s just a shame he was a homophobic and misogynistic douchebag.

    1. abacuswizard

      I think the one thing Rorschach was right about was his “I know it is difficult to be my friend” speech.

      Seriously though, I was really moved by that speech. It felt like for the first time since becoming Rorschach, he chose to step out-of-character for a moment and be genuinely honest with a real friend that he realized he had been taking for granted.

  51. EvilMidnightLurker

    Sorry, Blaine. Absurd physical feats aside, you don’t live in a universe with full superhero tropes enabled, and this was never going to end well for you.

    …now watch as this is the day that a golden flying man starts saving people. Worming of Age!

  52. Jezi

    all the thoughtful comments on what might happen here are pretty much spot on, but I can’t address any of them until I finish with the world’s longest and loudest “YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO–”

    we may be a while.

  53. Diane

    I have to admit, this is amazing cunning on Becky’s part. But she’s also had to be pretty sneaky about everything she does, miss “I’ve snuck back into my house 41 times”. With her quick thinking mind, she’ll do good in science, but she could do very well in politics too.

  54. Chris

    In a tweet composed and scheduled before she came, Blaine isn’t the only one she would have named.

    1. SuperZero

      Yeah, but Ross probably doesn’t care right now.

      1. SuperZero

        Also, revealing that she knows his name wouldn’t be as impressive somehow.

  55. ADLegend21

    GOT, and I cannot stress this enough, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  56. Commander Clash

    The look on Blaine’s face is just screaminh, “Oh balls!”
    He knows he either has to be running the rest of his life or give up this plan and hopefully inly get a life sentence in jail.

  57. Rikunda

    Twitter doesn’t have that function by default, so I think she is bluffing. The fact she said his name though to him means he cannot risk it. I… am wondering why he thought a mask would change things that only covers his eyes… Amber was able to get it to work by changing personality, vocal, and clark kenting.

    1. Alex Boston

      That is worrisome, as even if Blaine doesn’t know that about Twitter (that one can’t schedule tweets by default), Faz might, and so might be able to call the bluff. On the other hand, maybe if one can modify the settings on Twitter to be able to schedule tweets, then Becky has learned to do that, so it might not be a bluff. She seems pretty savvy and it would be a useful thing to be able to do in her current job.

      1. clif

        Although Twitter can’t schedule tweets in advance (as far as I know) there are plenty of apps that will do it for you. So scheduled posts on social media is dead easy.

        Not that it really matters since she is bluffing.

        1. King Daniel

          How do we know she’s bluffing?

        2. Agemegos

          We suspect it because of the title of the strip. Also, because our estimate of Willis is that he would think that bluffing is cooler than tweeting.

        3. Diane

          The title is usually something that someone says. Blaine said bluff, thus title is bluff. I prefer not to read too deep into stuff like that.

        4. Agemegos

          Sarah said “pretty” and Becky said “compromised”.

          I acknowledge that it isn’t conclusive, but I take Willis’s choice of “Bluff” out of the words of the text as a hint.

      2. Rayndel

        You can schedule tweets with Twitter Ads, which I kind of assume a politician would have.

    2. Chris

      Twitter only has that function built in for advertisers, but there are a number of apps that can do it for you.

    3. Touchfuzzy

      Have you never heard of Tweetdeck? Or Buffer? Or you know any of the million apps that a social media manager would know how to use. (tweetdeck is actually owned by twitter for that matter.)

    4. Sombrero

      Managing Twitter bots is Campaign Manager 101

  58. RacingTurtle

    Yesssss, Becky!

  59. Quietlythundering

    I hope I don’t have to eat my words, but-
    And here we have another olde, foiled by the powers of the internet

  60. Alex Boston

    The only down side I can see is that Robin DeSantos will get reelected over this.

    1. Alex Boston

      Since it is her twitter account that helped to catch a murderer. You can’t buy advertising like that!

    2. clif

      She might if there was really a tweet.

  61. clif

    Damn, Becky runs a mean bluff.

    And it is a bluff. Despite the number of people in the comments that seem to think she really did schedule a tweet ahead of time revealing Blaines identity, before she showed up she was expecting to be surrendering to her father, trusting him to release her friends. Blaine was a side issue. Also, the name of this strrip is bluff, if you look up at the URL. Which kind of gives it away.

    The danger is that if Blaine buys her bluff, and it seems as if he does, then it suddenly leaves him with nothing to loose. And that could be very bad.

    1. Alex Boston

      On the other hand the title of the strip could be bluff simply because Blaine says it is a bluff in panel 1.

    2. SuperZero

      Nobody has said his name, so the fact that she knows it means she knew it before she got there. Her Tweets might also name her dad, she just didn’t reveal that she knows her dad’s name for several obvious reasons.

      And the strips are always named after a word prominent in the dialogue.

      1. Axel

        or even a not prominent word

      2. Kamino Neko

        There are a handful of exceptions to this – ‘Passionate’ includes the word ‘passion’ twice, but never in the adjectival form, ‘Rei’ is an actual, honest to god, explaining the strip (if you understood the reference) non-quote, and there was a silent strip some time back that wasn’t titled ‘ ‘, but I can’t remember what it WAS titled. There’s a couple others with titles that don’t match too. But, yeah, the title of the strip is, with a very few exceptions, a direct quote from the strip, usually mostly relevant to the plot of said strip, but with no more than a minute handful of exceptions (like, probably only Rei, but I can’t remember EVERY title), not an explanation of what’s going on, and occasionally a red herring if taken out of the context of the dialogue.

        (On a related note, at least some of the ones that feature sign language, the title is what’s being signed, which sort of straddles the line between ‘quote’ and ‘explanation’.)

        1. Punaparta

          I would call it ‘translation’.

        2. Axel

          of the few that aren’t in the dialogue at all, I’ve been led to believe it’s due to the strip being edited after the title was chosen.

    3. Delicious Taffy

      It really was his phone.

    4. King Daniel

      “Over, Finished” was the title of the comic a few days ago (when Dina had her second Clever Girl moment), but as we’ve seen since – Dina tossed aside, Joyce taken hostage again, and now this confrontation – it was clearly not over and finished then.

      1. Regalli

        That’s because it’s a Furmanism (one of the go-to lines of Scott Furman, a major Transformers writer and architect of a lot of lore) after someone in the comic had a line about it being over.

        I mean, it wasn’t over then and it’s not over now, but the ‘finished’ part was there as a Transformers reference.

    5. Owlmirror

      before she showed up she was expecting to be surrendering to her father, trusting him to release her friends. Blaine was a side issue.

      I don’t understand why you think Becky would be so trusting and short-sighted. Why is it impossible for her to have made an actual plan to prevent her being kidnapped again, based on her new resources as a politician’s campaign manager?

      Recall that Becky had the presence of mind to call 9-1-1 the last time she was kidnapped, while it was happening. Now she doesn’t have the presence of mind to schedule a tweet?

      And Blaine wasn’t a side issue; Blaine was the one who had masterminded the whole ridiculous multiple person kidnap-extortion plot in the first place! The fact that Becky’s father was being manipulated by a crazy criminal would have had to be something that she took into account.

    6. PhyrexianRogue

      Becky planning on surrendering herself does not mean this tweet is a bluff. Becky’s plan was to give herself up in exchange for her friends, and then have the tweet go out to tell the world about her kidnapping (and hopefully get herself rescued). It’s not like she sent the tweet (just) to reveal Blaine’s identity, but naming her kidnappers would be pretty sensible information.

  62. PB

    Dear God, I could kiss her. If it didn’t mean Dina biting me.

  63. abacuswizard

    I award you +1,000,000 internet points for the Watchmen shout-out.

    1. Bobcat

      I wholeheartedly second the motion.

  64. BenRG

    Well played, Becky. I believe the next thing to say is: “Checkmate.”

    If Blane had any intelligence, he’d realise that this proves that Amazi-Girl and Amber share the same brain. However, I think that he’s going to be a lot more focussed right now on planning how he’s going to avoid spending the next (and last) fifty years of his life in a concrete box with bars instead of a door and window.

    The question he has to ask is: “Just what fate is worse than death and have I reached that point yet?”

    1. Chris

      Fifty years? I think you’re being overly optimistic here. Remember, he knows enough that certain people won’t want him to talk.

  65. foducool

    “how… how did you know?!”
    “because an eye mask doesn’t really hide sh*t”

    1. foducool

      (also amazigirl, your DAUGHTER, told me)

  66. SuperFroakie82

    AHA! I knew there was some significance to that one strip being named “address”!

  67. Axel

    is it just me or does this angle (panel 6) make it look like his head’s on backwards?

    1. Ron again

      Let’s face it, isn’t his head on backwards?

      1. Axel

        true! but the position of his collar is helping it also be literal

  68. Dave

    “You have no idea who I am, under this mask that is of one of the absolute least effective at proper concealment.”

    1. Rabid Rabbit

      For some reason, I am now imagining Dr. Terrorhammer, Foes of Mankinds, reading all this and being deeply disappointed at this man’s pitiful attempts at supervillaindom.

      1. Regalli

        He doesn’t even haves a VOLCANO. Boring!

        She can do so much better already.

  69. lightsabermario

    That’s impressive timing, to say the least. When did she schedule this tweet? It sounds like she did it before she even came over here, which means the tweet just happened to be set for right when Blaine has a hostage in his hands, after the second skirmish of the night, with a mourning period inbetween?

    1. SuperZero

      She’s guessing at the timing, probably.

      But she said she’d timed it to go out after the hostages had gotten away, so other delays letting it catch up instead makes sense.

    2. PhyrexianRogue

      Well, the idea was seemingly to give herself up in exchange for her friends, and then have a scheduled tweet go out the next morning to tell the world about her kidnapping (and hopefully get a rescue organised).

      It is lucky that Blaine is going for the hostage move at exactly this moment, but for an intended rescue message it seems pretty sensible timing. If everything had gone as planned there wouldn’t have been any fights or mourning. The hostage exchange would’ve been long over by now, Becky would be a while into her kidnapping, and the tweet would be right in time to hit the morning news feeds for maximum publicity.

  70. Ron again

    Now I’m goimg to expect something to go horribly wrong. Until about 3 days before the end of the arc everything is bound to go wrong and even more wrong when it looks like it’s going better. That, however, does not take away my pleasure from today’s comic the slightest.

  71. NinjaNick

    Next strip prediction: Blaine goes off like a Trapt twitter account with half-brain insults and a “headstrong to take on anyone attitude”.

    And Becky submits a video of him beating Dina and Joyce to the public. #blaine-for-prison-2020

  72. SuperFroakie82

    Next strip: Blaine tries to get Faz to help him get the heck out of there, but then Faz steps out from behind the van with his signature smile gone, and simply says “No.”

    1. BenRG

      I don’t know; I’m wondering if Fax has been sufficiently programmed by his parents to believe that this is necessary for his own happiness and future that he’ll choose to go down fighting with his dad. Of course, Blaine will leave him to fight alone whilst he ‘goes for help’.

      1. JessWitt

        If Faz does rebel against his stepdad and mom, hopefully he has relatives he can live with – even better if they are in the mob.

      2. Axel

        I’m not sure about ‘happiness and future’ but I think it’s likely, whether or not Blaine has said anything aloud, that Faz has inferred it is necessary for his safety

  73. David

    There you go, Amazipop.

  74. Reltzik

    … this isn’t going to work. There’s no way for the two of them to make the exchange that will guarantee’s Joyce’s safe release, while simultaneously guaranteeing Blaine that his identity will remain safe. And both sides are likely to backstab the other (Blaine hurting them out of vindictive spite, them turning Blaine in out of civically dutiful spite) if an opening presents itself.

    So, yeah, Blaine’s going to try to find some threat to force Becky to remove the twitter timer (say, “Log in to your twitter, then slide me the phone so I can disable it myself, or Joyce gets ballpeened”) and then go on a desperate kill-everyone-to-keep-it-secret berserk rampage.

    1. BenRG

      This isn’t a proposal for an exchange. It’s telling Blaine that he is out of moves and he has a choice between surrender and becoming ‘America’s Most Wanted’. The question now is whether he decides that he’d prefer to go down fighting rather than spend the rest of his life in a concrete box with bars instead of a door and window.

    2. Agemegos

      Blaine’s position is so bad that there is no way for anyone to give him anything that he wants. It would take blatant collusion between Asher’s Gramps and a corrupt DA and judge to save him from here.

  75. Warcodered

    Curses social media my one weakness!

  76. Doom Shepherd

    “Lesbians never bluff.”

    ‘I thought that was Vulcans.’

    “Them too.”

    1. Bagge

      “Vulcan lesbians”

      1. BenRG

        “Or so Dr Mestral said when I met him in Carbon Creek.”

  77. Arch

    Damn it. I was really, REALLY hoping she’d give that awesome spiel and then top it off with the wrong guy’s name. XD

    Oh, well. This is good, too.

    1. Bagge

      Hah! That would have been glorious

  78. Needfuldoer

    [That scene from Mulan with the signal fires on the Great Wall, except it’s Becky and Blaine]

    “Now all of Twitter knows you are here.”

  79. JediMB

    Blaine, you bag of dung, you forgot to cover up your most distinguishing features.

    Also, you’re not a clever man.

  80. Martin Smith

    Not quite sure how Blaine thinks no-one knows who he is when he’s continually going on about Amber being his daughter.

    1. BenRG

      I think he’s gone a bit crazy and too far internalised the ‘I am a genius supervillain’ hallucination.

    2. Needfuldoer

      That still leaves two suspects. It could really be Stacy behind the mask for all they know.

      Or maybe Old Man Cheevers. Or Don Knotts.

  81. Sombrero

    I’m starting to feel very sorry for Dorothy. With this kind of adversary she won’t get to be POTUS. Becky could make a goat to be elected. She could even make Robin to be re-elected.

    1. C.T Phipps

      I believe Dorothy will lose to Becky as President.

      1. Eldritchy

        I imagine Dorothy would be much better suited for the position of a staffer, generally someone who digs through information and supports the President. She has the brainpower and diligence but lacks the social and personal skills.

        1. Mark

          Well shes only 18-19 so she can probably learn/fake those skills eventually and she did show good leadership skills in getting everyone to follow her in a time of crisis so I wouldn’t be writing her off just yet

    2. Delicious Taffy

      Yeah, with her supernatural powers of doxxing a murderer.

    3. FacelessDeviant

      I think they are both way too clever with too much integrity to be POTUS.

      1. Agemegos

        On the other hand, neither seems to be encumbered by a policy position.

    4. timemonkey

      Why wouldn’t Becky help Dorothy become president? Dividing their power would be foolish.

      1. JohnInCA

        Back when Becky first showed up, she thought that Joyce was trying to get into Dorothy’s pants.

        And she has never forgiven Dorothy for this.

  82. Outsdr

    Chex Quest is back, and free:

    https://store.steampowered.com/app/804270/Chex_Quest_HD/

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Downloading games for free is piracy, and the TV man told me digital piracy is the worst crime you can do on a computer. You can’t trick me, fake name person.

  83. Dracke

    I love Becky right now

  84. ADD

    YES. I’m loving the alt-text, because my first through was “DAAAAMN Becky just Ozymandias’d Blaine’s ass!”

  85. Huehuetotl

    Wounded, cornered animals are famously compliant, so I’m sure the next month is nothing but denouement.

  86. Slapdash

    BECKY!!!!!!!!

  87. DarkoNeko

    She still call him “sir”

  88. Eric

    Good Watchmen ref!

    1. BenRG

      We need to buy Becky a kitten named ‘Bubastis’ ASAP.

  89. Rabisch

    GO BECKY!!!!!!

  90. Rartorata

    Blaine: My daughter, Amber. Amber? Amber, Amber. Amber Amber AMBER!

    Also Blaine: No way any of these people could possibly know who I am.

    1. bcb

      Well, we’ve established Blaine doesn’t think all that clearly under pressure when he actually told Ross he doesn’t care about Becky.

  91. JessWitt

    Feels like yesterday Becky didn’t even have her own mobile phone. But look at her now, using social media to put an absolute scum of the earth behind bars.

    1. Bagge

      at this rate she will be super-duper-president of global telecomunication within a year

      1. Doopyboop

        I misread that as President, as in President of the USA and for a moment was like “omg imagine the goofy sitcom shenanigans of Dorothy and Becky both trying to be elected President”.

        1. HMRC4EVR

          It’s the final episode of Benson all over again!

    2. HMH

      Turns out that, in a world where she is allowed to learn things, she is super-motivated to learn. I actually love her so much.

  92. Johnny Austin

    Beck’s gonna give it to ya
    Playin with Twitter on her phone,
    Beck’s gonna deliver to ya
    FOX trucks spinning up the camera reels
    And cops to show you how a taser feels

    You made a redheaded enemy
    When you stubbed the toe hard
    And there’s no question that your hammer hit him

    Damn bright she came up with a plan
    And used the site of a congressman.

    1. Johnny Austin

      Sigh….
      That was supposed to be a reply to something…
      Theme song.
      Like wrestling entry music.
      Thingy.

  93. Robert

    So we’re expected to believe that Becky was able to transition from Goofy dog to Batman like, overnight? The hell just happened? btw in order for this plan to go off without a hitch, Becky had to be aware that her dad would die, blaine would attempt to escape and have a hostage and be engaged in a stand off outside of this frat house within the next 35 minutes. Just how meta is this girl?

    1. BenRG

      Maybe Becky always was The Girl With the Plan? Maybe Goffy Dog was her version of Bruce Wayne?

    2. Sam

      Becky has always been shown to be cunning as part of her goofiness is real but part of it is a facade and coping mechanism. This isn’t like Walky where he tends to crank up the goofy jokes inappropriately. When Becky is pushed by what she sees as a threat, her cunning comes out to try to limit casualties.

      She didn’t actually have to predict or be aware of any of that though – she just had to know her Dad was involved (AG told her), where it was (her Dad texted her when she asked for it), that it was Amber’s Dad (AG told her which would have made it easy to look him up), who was kidnapped (AG listed out at least Joyce and Ethan) and lay out what she was going to do then schedule it with enough time to get there and be taken. She didn’t have to be psychic to put together a tweet string that went like ‘Blaine O’Malley & Ross MacIntyre kidnapped Ethal Segal + Joyce Brown + Others. I plan to have willingly given myself over to them at *the address* to ensure their safety. Some of the police that investigate may be corrupt.’

    3. Delicious Taffy

      “So we’re expected to believe Becky can download an app on her phone, type information she knows and was directly told into it, and hit the Send button”?

      That’s what you sound like.

    4. Chris

      The tweet is probably about how she just got kidnapped, not how her father got murdered.

  94. Johnny Austin

    I reckon she scheduled the text while taking a moment alone with her dead father.
    Hearing the commotion upstairs she typed what she knew, set it up and by that time joyce was in danger so she has stepped into the fray.
    Just keeping him talking, waiting for the cavalry.

    1. thejeff

      She says here that the plan was to do it upfront – scheduled before she arrived, since she was going to trade herself for the other hostages, but then everyone would know immediately afterwards who’d taken her and where.

  95. BenRG

    “Who are you, little girl?”

    “My name? My name would be meaningless and useless to you. The dead daughter of dead parents whose past was put to rest with them. You can call me… The Tweeter.”

    1. Needfuldoer

      But then who’s the monkey man? And what about Jan and the undercover cop?

  96. Falcon

    Becky giving off some great Xanatos vibes here, self-sacrifice aside.

  97. Vulcanodon

    Mask? Suit? Cape? Becky don’t need none of those things.

    1. vlademir1

      Well all those are clothes, and Becky did kinda nuke the closet ;D

    2. BenRG

      Give Joyce time, she might end up with some from her!

  98. Raptorofwar

    *surprised Pikachu face*

  99. Imonlylurking

    I love how polite Becky is throughout the whole monologue. “Sir, allow me to explain just how screwed you are. “

  100. Colineo

    SIR

  101. thumb

    Oh nos! I has done a dumb!

  102. KJ

    hahaha I knew Becky had a plan. I love Becky

  103. Valerie

    FUCK YEAH BECKY

  104. kat

    never been so excited to see the next comic

  105. BrokenEye, the True False Prophet

    You know what? Forget DeSanto. Becky should be running her own campaign. Girl knows how to play the game.

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