Necks
Posted on November 19, 2015 by David M Willis

444 thoughts on “Necks”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Turns remaining until Amber O’Malley bleeds out: 2 if that damn political banter keeps up

    1. Fish Facade

      We all know it will.

    2. Ana Chronistic

      test

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      1. Lia47

        Nice

    3. John

      In my mind I imagine amber nuking herself with a grenade to avoid talking politics. Bleed out timers don’t mean anything if explosives come into play.

      1. Ana Chronistic

        she panics and humkers down while flanked, but the Ethereal gets in her mind and says, “LOL NO, YOU HAVE TO LISTEN”

      2. Rutee

        You’d think that, but New XCom disagrees

        1. Ana Chronistic

          New XCOM? This one?

        2. Rutee

          To those of us who are old hags, XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within is itself New XCOM, based on X-Com: UFO Defense (Or X-COM: Terror from the Deep, or X-COM: Apocalypse). XCOM 2 is simply the next New X-COM.

          Mind you, I’m not saying this to demean New XCOM. Pretty much every change they made was quite good, and I was happy that the game was made strategically difficult. I have a couple of complaints, but it was really a very good game, probably better than Old XCOM.

        3. Ana Chronistic

          I’m rather familiar with Old XCOM, but there are kind of like seven of them now! “New XCOM” isn’t very specific ;p

        4. Rutee

          There should only be 7 counting Interceptor, with a huge time gap between Interceptor and Enemy Unknown. It seemed intuitive to me.

          Though XCOM 2 does seem to be going with a completely different direction, which is nice too.

  2. motorfirebox

    12:03!?

    1. Mr. Random

      Yep, the time keeps slipping backwards. Can’t tell by how much and at what interval though.

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future…

        1. Falling Star

          Amber already flew like an eagle.

        2. N0083rP00F

          To the sea

        3. Snugglebutts

          Into a windshield.

        4. TamiDOA

          Also into Sal’s arms! (Sounds better than it was.)

  3. Joshua503

    And then the comments section exploded.

  4. AutobotDen

    Ahahaha, they snarked about his lack of neck!

    1. heyman

      It’s easy to reduce those we don’t like to one main characteristic and not worry about the rest.

      1. Agemegos

        Having no neck myself, I have been very aware of it for some weeks.

        1. Chris2315

          Assuming your profile picture is a picture of you, has anyone ever told you that if you grew a mustache, you would look exactly like Ron Swanson?

        2. Agemegos

          No, people usually tell me that I look like Raymond Burr.

          You perhaps can’t see it because the blond hairs are paler than my skin tone, but I’m actually halfway through growing a beard and moustache in that picture.

          I’m going to look up “Ron Swanson” in Wikipedia.

        3. Doc_k

          My mind went to Aaron Burr. I see no resemblance.

        4. Agemegos

          I think that perhaps people who know me don’t watch Parks & Recreation. Is it broadcast in Australia?

        5. maarvarq

          It’s in repeats on 7 at about 12:30 am
          http://au.tv.search.yahoo.com/search?p=parks+and+recreation&fr=tvguide-au-ss&fr2=type&ei=UTF-8&section=tvguide

        6. Historyman68

          With airtimes like that, I can’t imagine why every Australian doesn’t watch it religiously!

      2. Tacos

        Well of you want to get technical, Toedad has two main characteristics: his lack of neck and his toe-shaped head.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          There’s also his mustache, lack of knees, and massively broad shoulders.
          Oh, and crazed zealotry.

        2. Slyfincleton

          Crazed Zealotry would be a pretty cool band name.

        3. Mr. Morningstar

          beat me to the punch

        4. N0083rP00F

          Ooooh Yeah.

        5. Kamino Neko

          He’s the Spanish Inquisition of bigot dads.

        6. Noclevername

          No one expects the Ross MacIntyre!

        7. Deanatay

          No one respects the Ross MacIntyre!

          Fixed it for ya.

        8. Roborat

          You should come in again.

        9. fogel

          Zealotry Spectrum:

          Crazed <>Sane

          😉

        10. OtakuPatriot

          More like:

          Sane > Crazed > ISIS > Marylin Manson

          =D

        11. Cephalo the Pod

          Don’t forget the staple-for-a-chin.

    2. Doctor_Who

      I’ve often wondered if some of the minor characters in this comic post in the comments section. For example, at least half the trolls Willis has to ban are actually Mike. Dude has like 200 different email addresses to go through, and plenty of free time due to his sporadic appearances.

      1. Durandal_1707

        Don’t forget Mary. She appears so rarely in the comic, there’s got to be a reason for it.

        As an aside: have you clicked on that “Sports Update” thing that’s had an ad on the left-hand side of this comic for a couple of months now? It’s so weird.

        1. Jason

          Ugh, I hate that thing.

        2. Durandal_1707

          What the hell is it? And how does that stupid 30 second YouTube video have a sufficient budget to put ads on this site for months at a time. Also, who puts out ads for stupid 30 second YouTube videos?

          I think this is even more confusing that whatever the hell is going on with Joyce in the other strip.

      2. Anywhere

        I think Mike would be the kind of person to post comics to various conservative subreddits and let them do the rest.

        No … Mike would just post the comics on tumblr and tell everyone that conservatives are totally mad about this comic on unspecified subreddits, thus creating a tumblr campaign against those subreddits, who would flame in return once they saw the comics.

        1. Mr. Random

          Nope, Mike sucks at lying. He,d post to the subreddits then link some tumblr’s to that subreddit. All truth. No lies. Letting people destroy each other.

      3. Mollyscribbles

        Oh, please. Mike found that site that lets you set up a temporary email for registration or whatever and just uses that for posting.

        1. io

          Mikes username in the DoA comments is ‘David M Willis’

        2. Opus the Poet

          Nope, D.Y.Willis.

    3. fizzywafflezsuperstore

      About that snark, it reminds me of a description of a very specific Librarian.

      One who is most certainly not a monkey.
      (If you want to be alive, that is)

      1. Bicycle Bill

        You mean the former Dr. Horace Worblehat, B.Thau, D.M.?

      2. The Lurker

        OOOk-OOOK!

    4. Darwin

      I’m still curious about how they got that c-collar on Toedad. It’s fairly obvious that his skill is fused to his ribcage.

  5. AnvilPro

    I was expecting Carla to figure out her secret. This is the least eventful comic in a month.
    Excellent job Willis!

    1. Opus the Poet

      Carla has figured it out and decided she wants to be Alfred to her Batman.

    2. Gangler

      I’m getting the impression that Carla’s just tactful where secrets are concerned. She knows Amber’s hiding the cause of her injuries, maybe even suspects it has something to do with the incident with the gunman from earlier, but she’s not gonna draw attention to it out in the hallway.

      1. Chrissy

        Exactly. I suspect she mentioned hurting herself on skates just as Rachel^2 entered to put that thought in their minds.

      2. Cerberus

        Yeah, if Carla has been the victim of violence before herself, she may also know that forcing someone to talk about it won’t actually help them. Better to just give them a hand and be supportive in case they need to talk…

        Honestly, how nice and non-prickly she is being here (given how she normally goes out of her way to present herself) likely means that she has very much been in the circumstances that she presumes Amber has been in. The politics comment may even be her attempt to open a potential avenue of conversation on the matter if she did feel like talking.

      3. GhostWriterL

        Given Carla is MtoF transgender, secrets, violence, and abuse are likely something she’s all too familiar with.

        She’s also pretty smart and has good observation skills. Chances are she’s put 2+2 together on where she’s seen a somewhat short woman with short brown hair and somewhat large breasts before.

        1. David

          I don’t think Slipshine-watching is canon in Dumbiverse.

        2. thejeff

          Let’s not go back to the “It’s obvious Amber is Amazi-girl” thing again. It’s pretty clear that, in-universe, it’s not meant to be.

  6. Cheshrin

    I have never identified more strongly with Amber than I do at that last panel.

  7. Dr-Calamity

    Don’t be silly Amber, you have to be at 0 hp to bleed out

    1. Dean

      Technically, you need to be at -1 to -9 hp. At 0hp, you can still perform a partial action each combat round.

      1. Kelly

        Not in 2nd ed.

        1. Reaver

          But you can in 5th!~

        2. Itama

          you’re both wrong 3rd edition is the only edition! nothing else ever actually existed!

        3. io

          Pathfinder is technically 3rd edition ;-; (just better in all ways)

        4. Vincent

          Ugh. 3rd edition (and PF).

          I’ll tolerate it when it’s in computer game form (e g Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic) but as RPGs go it’s not that good*. Which is fine, but people who have never tried different games and played it for years and years won’t shut up about it and how other games are worse than it, somehow.

          Ah well, at least there are some decent figures and GM materials you can steal for other games.

          *Obviously it’s not at the level of FATAL, Synnibar or maybe even RIFTS, but it’s way more popular. And it’s MEDIOCRE.

        5. Hijean

          I’ve recently started running a third ed game. I miss GURPS so much every session.

        6. N0083rP00F

          Dragon Quest – Had a so so skill mechanic and a great combat mechanic. Third ed kinda used it until the last revision and the sales and marketing monkeys crapped all over it.

        7. NotPiffany

          You, sir or madam, are a heathen. And possibly a whippersnapper.

        8. Rutee

          Yeah, its only bad, not awful~

        9. N0083rP00F

          Avalon Hills Lords of Creation was a kind of awful. Moron Project … cough … I mean Morrow Project was awful in the mechanics where you could die from an untreated paper cut.
          Then there was all the Judges Guild supplements like crit tables …. read those for a laugh but don’t use em unless you are contemplating suicide.

        10. Rutee

          If we want to talk ‘bad supplements’, there’s the RPGA materials. The Pathfinder core’s better than its starting point, even if it’s still ultimately 3.5.

        11. K^2

          And he was worried about this turning into an argument over politics… Oh, and yeah, definitely second.

        12. Opus the Poet

          RPG arguments are better than politics. It’s like arguing over which is better chocolate or vanilla ice cream when some bozo mentions Pecan Fudge Swirl.

        13. Disloyal Subject

          So would Warhammer 40K be a scone?

        14. Opus the Poet

          No, potato chips. Scones have some nutritional quality.

        15. evilmidnightlurker

          Ben & Jerry’s Americone Dream or I riot.

        16. Dragon_Nataku

          Haagen Dazs’ white chocolate raspberry truffle or gtfo

        17. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          #WinglessWonderForPresident.
          #AlkadaVSAlQuaeda
          …
          Is it weird that I know the name of an obscure monster from a game I’ve never played better than the name of a widespread terroristic organisation.

        18. Ana Chronistic

          dunno, my soldiers keep taking critical hits and go down with 1 HP, and if a Support doesn’t get to them, they’ll bleed out in three turns

          that’s what they get for panicking at the drop of a pin and shooting each other tho

        19. Ana Chronistic

          …what are y’all talking about?

          [/XCOM on the brain]

        20. K^2

          I don’t know what pushed me to reinstall it today, but I’m glad I’m not the only one.

        21. Strife

          Clearly AD&D and Pathfinder 😉

        22. N0083rP00F

          Should try ADnD with Fellowship of the White Star.
          1900’s horror by gas/electric Light, plus we have Tesla and Rasputin, that other smarmy evil Russian.

        23. Rutee

          Do you have the expansion? It doesn’t change that, I’m just curious.

        24. Ana Chronistic

          I have like five copies T_T *is never getting A Continental Fellow*

  8. Tommy Fresh

    This is perhaps the most appropriate alt text of all time

    1. CommunistCanada

      I don’t get it. Explanation please?

      1. Opus the Poet

        Comments section.

      2. Dave O

        Don’t scroll down! Comments section stuffed with ill-formed political ramblings! It’s early yet, so enjoy the quiet while it lasts.

    2. Jason

      The timing’s off. We got all that out when the gun first appeared.

      1. Ana Chronistic

        I assumed the alt-text was talking to Other Rachel, since she’s reading the story

  9. Eric

    The meta conversation with the reader is great.

  10. Mr. Mendo

    Amber and Carla should team up and fight crime!

    1. io

      Carla already has the fingerless gloves on, shes just a leotard cape and boots away from an outfit!

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        She can wear a shark costume and call herself The Skate.

        1. Mr. Mendo

          It’ll be just like when Ultra-Car and Amazi-Girl teamed up in Shortpacked, only that was the new Amazi-Girl, who was nice. 🙂

          Then again, she was too sane to be a super-heroine, so there’s that…

      2. Undrave

        Don’t forget a domino mask!

      3. N0083rP00F

        As oft repeated – No Capes!

        1. DSL

          Capes are necessary for aerodynamics!

        2. Mr. Mendo

          And also, they make great weapons in crowds! Just ask French riot cops! 🙂

    2. Undrave

      I really hope they become friends!

      1. io

        Slipshine friends <3

      2. Mr. Mendo

        And then get some hamsters!

        1. Mr. Mendo

          …which got bumped under the Slipshine comment. Oh, Rule 34, I can feel you calling in the air, tonight…

        2. Kamino Neko

          … Slipshine and ‘getting hamsters’ do not mix!

        3. Falling Star

          They sound the same to me.

        4. TamiDOA

          They do with duct tape!

          (Ancient Usenet reference. Legendary newsgroup named alt.sex.bestiality.hamster.duct-tape)

        5. Mr. Mendo

          I’m intrigued by your logic and would like to subscribe to your newsletter!

    3. CaptainBatson

      All she needs is some goggles, a hooded cape, and a legless unitard

      1. Mr. Mendo

        And one of those popcorn popper toys!

  11. io

    Girls whos names I dont care to know, youre wasting my precious Carla screen time :l

    1. Leorale

      You only have to know one name for both of them, though. It’s efficient.

      1. Someone

        Im still trying to figure out which one is rachel and which one is other rachel

        1. io

          I never even realized they had names, mostly because I’m so disinterested in them compared to other characters. Such as the ones normally wearing skates.

        2. Deanatay

          The two Rachels are the Greek chorus of the girl’s dorm.

        3. Viktoria

          Other Rachel is the shorter one.

        4. Someone

          That makes sense, cause I’m still trying to figure out where Other Rachel was in the Walkyverse, random abuctee?

        5. Viktoria

          Send Willis an ask on Tumblr? His askbox is open. Hey, while you’re at it, could you ask how to pronounce Dina’s name? That’s been bugging me for a while.

          http://itswalky.tumblr.com/ask

        6. Vex Godglove

          It’s pronounced Deenuh.

        7. Clif

          Good to know. I’ve been wondering.

        8. Deanatay

          Dye-nuh! *ducks hurled tomatoes*

        9. Eliot

          Actually it’s pronounced ‘Throat-Wobbler Mangrove’.

        10. Roborat

          Stop that, stop that, that is silly. Mind if I call you Bruce instead?

        11. John

          She was a SEMME agent in Robin’s original squad (82). Rachel had an identity confusion subplot with Rachel towards the end of IW!.

        12. Amazi-Stool

          When in doubt, ask the WikiWalkypedia!

        13. -Sentinel-

          Her eyes really freak me out.

  12. Leorale

    I like the Greek chorus effect of the always-slightly-incorrect Rachels.

    1. JessWitt

      As well as Grace, Mandy and Agatha.

    2. John

      I’unno, I think Mandy and Grace make a better Greek chorus.

      1. Rycan

        The Greek chorus from Lesbos: Many and Grace!

        1. Rycan

          Err, Mandy, not Many

    3. Plasma Mongoose

      I prefer the Greek chorus of the Shadow Girls from Utena.

      1. Opus the Poet

        Old Skool, gotta love it.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Do you know, do you know? ^_^

      2. QF

        I wonder, I wonder….

        Do you know what I wonder?

  13. shadowcell

    this thread is going to be perfect
    the kind of thread of which i’ve dreamed since i was smaaaaaall
    everyone is calling names and throwing links and spitting flames
    and nobody’s making any sense at aaaaaaaaaaaall

    1. CommunistCanada

      I see what you did there.

    2. JonRich

      I don’t know the reference, but I really, really want to. What is it?

      1. Disloyal Subject

        My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’s season 2 finale; A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          Freely watchable on YouTube, it seems. Just google ‘A Canterlot Wedding’ if you’re still interested. Or ‘This Day Aria’ for the song being parodied, if you don’t want to sit through forty minutes of pastel equine shenanigans.

    3. Disloyal Subject

      Great. Do I read that in Cadence’s voice, or one of Chrysalis’ voices?

  14. OtakuPatriot

    Wow. The victim mentality of that girl is amazing. If you’re in a situation where something bad happend–OH WELL BETTER JUST FUCKING DIE. Not like you can have your own agency and take your well-being into your own hands–everyone needs to protect you for your. God damn, people like that seriously piss me off.

    1. OtakuPatriot

      *happened

      1. Stephen R. Bierce

        “Being dead’s not so bad. You should think of it as therapy. (chuckle)”

        1. Opus the Poet

          Being dead was boring.

        2. Chris Phoenix

          Richard Feynman’s last words were about how boring dying was.

    2. Palamdrone

      What’s the alternative? Not being allowed to buy a gun? Damn, I’d rather be dead than weaponless. ‘Merica!

      1. Someone

        My plan (that may be slightly crazy)
        1. Ban guns
        2. Pass out swords to everyone
        3. Any time anyone wants to start shit it will lead to awesome sword battles.

        Guy 1: I am robbing your bank
        Banker: Then good sir, En Garde!

        1. Yotomoe

          I prefer Chris Rock’s Solution. Keep Guns the same price but make Bullets Cost $1,000 a piece.

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          This will lead to 3D printed bullets.

        3. Opus the Poet

          People are already casting their own bullets for match use or for muzzle loading.

        4. Plasma Mongoose

          Hence why Chris Rock’s plan will fail.

        5. Yotomoe

          At the very least it would decrease it slightly. People are lazy.

        6. Boxilar

          It would likely lead to a surgery in the popularity of Old West style cap and ball firearms. Everyone carrying guns would carry cap and ball revolvers. Or a brace of pistols like a pirate.

        7. Boxilar

          *lead to a surge* need to proof before I post.

        8. altalemur

          gotta agree. my dad makes his own bullets and polishes brass from previously used casings. unless one of the ingredients to bullets goes up, it won’t stop people from making tons of their own.

          here’s a crazy idea: make it as hard to buy guns in Indiana as it is in other states. turns out a lot of violent gun crimes in neighboring states (especially Chicago) are committed with guns bought in Indiana, since it’s so freakin easy to buy them here. i have seen people buy guns at garage sales.

        9. bhtooefr

          This is actually an argument for blue state secession – then, Illinois can set up national-quality border controls, making it harder (certainly not impossible, though) to smuggle guns in.

        10. -Sentinel-

          Or to a thriving black market for bullets, given how many people are stockpiling them.

        11. Palamdrone

          Yep, because Obama’s gonna declare martial law the day before election day. Being a patriot means you always gotta be prepared to declare war on the United States.

        12. Cerberus

          Without getting sucked down too far in the discussion, it is interesting that the type of people who believe that a tyrannical government will arise soon that they will need to ward off with firearms are also the type of people who usually rather like tyrannical governments and see no issue in supporting things like more drones, torture, and expanded executive power.

        13. tim gueguen

          Actually only Lou Reed can declare martial law, and he’s no longer with us.
          (Look it up on YouTube, because I don’t want to accidentally dump a video on here.)

        14. fogel

          He came, he saw.

        15. Willoughby Chase

          Texas has already been invaded.

        16. Opus the Poet

          Texas was invaded in 1865 and the occupation never ceased. 😛 Too many crazies here.

        17. Someone

          Wouldn’t they just melt in the casing?

        18. Rycan

          Everybody jams their guns with plastic bullets. Problem solved!

        19. Xerxes93

          you would still have to buy a 3d printer and the materials required to make a bullet. Which is still WAY more expensive than bullets are now.

        20. Disloyal Subject

          If a 3D printer were somehow superior to casting – of course, it would be for many things, but mass-producing bullets is not one of them – then one could offset the cost by making bullets for sale under the table.

        21. Willoughby Chase

          So no vomiting or dizziness; that must be a good sign.

          They do make a fine couple.

        22. Willoughby Chase

          comment ended up in the wrong place. AAAAARGH!

        23. Boxilar

          The most difficult component of modern ammo would be the brass case of the cartridge. As Opus points out up thread, casting lead bullets is pretty easy, though.

        24. Jason

          You just described the plot of “Into the Badlands.”

        25. Kryss LaBryn

          You really, really, really need to read this. 😀

    3. Yotomoe

      Meh. I’d fight back if my life was at stake but at the end of the day if I’m gonna die I’m gonna die. It’s not like surviving a dangerous situation means I’ll NEVER die. Besides, It’d at least mean one less person overpopulating the world.

    4. Anywhere

      We’d have a lot fewer fatalities if people just had the gumption to stand up for themselves and catch bullets with their hands.

      1. Yotomoe

        Has no one learned from our Turtle Master, Muten Roshi?

        1. JonRich

          You made my morning, good sir.

      2. tim gueguen

        Chung Ling Soo would tell you that’s a bad idea.
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chung_Ling_Soo

    5. Viktoria

      How is she supposed to protect herself? Offensive weaponry is really damn good at this point. If someone has a gun ready, they can empty the mag before the average untrained civilian can recognize what’s happening and respond. Combine that with panic, distraction from other screaming civilians, and the fact that she’d hopefully be practicing proper gun safety with how she carries her weapon and it’s suddenly not surprising that civilians with guns haven’t stopped any of the mess of mass shootings we’ve seen.

      1. -Sentinel-

        Yup. Plus, how do the “good guys with guns” tell one another apart from the active shooter?

        1. tim gueguen

          By the psychic powers granted by guns, of course.

        2. rachel

          *snerk* clap clap clap

        3. Seth

          The crosshair on your HUD turns red when targeting an enemy and green when targeting an ally. I thought everyone knew that.

        4. Needfuldoer

          Life has friendly fire turned off, so this is not an issue.

      2. Rheinman

        Two thoughts:
        1) The incidents that get stopped are not mass shootings, and therefore are not as newsworthy.
        2) Be a pack, not a herd.

        1. Shiro

          You kidding? The press loves a feel-good story about someone standing up to a shooter, we just had a media circus about that what…last month?

      3. CJ

        Which of the right-wing douchebags running for US President has made a habit of telling Europeans that (insert random violent event) would have been less horrible if Europeans were carrying guns?

        1. Rutee

          Trump and Carson, IIRC.

      4. Boxilar

        There have been a couple of case where a potential mass shooting was stopped by someone with a handgun. They didn’t make more than a blip on the news radar since they didn’t become mass shootings.

        1. Rycan

          And there have been a handful of cases when a potential mass shooting was stopped by somebody without a gun. Turns out that shooting sprees become a lot harder to accomplish if the shooter has pepper spray in his eyes.

        2. Rycan

          Oh, and funny note (not funny at all) – in the aftermath of one particular incident, there were confused reports attributing the pepper-spray wielder as an accomplice to the shooter, when he actually stopped the shooter. Fortunately, the police had a better idea of what happened than the media.

    6. Adam Black

      “Those people” ( victim mentality ) are us , and you, and the entire country, for not fixing the Gun laws to keep them out of the hands of The Russ’s.

      “I mean, YOU’RE not going to do anything about it, are you?”

      1. Boxilar

        Ross’s specific gun would have been available and legal in countries like Great Britain or Australia that have extensive gun control. His gun was a single shot hunting rifle. If he had never done anything to draw the attention of law enforcement, he would have been able to pass a background check, and likely did if he bought his $1000 rifle from a licensed dealer.

        1. Willoughby Chase

          That is a fallacious counter-argument, though.

          Such instances like the McIntyres and guns are rare in the UK or even Australia I would guess. Even though people can own guns like the Varminter, their use is still strictly controlled, more so than the USA where controls and backgrounds are routinely ignored (see the VTec killer for an example), plus, more importantly, there is a cultural weight against using fire-arms in fights, arguments etc.

          As I read it, the main plank for weapon owning is protection against bad people typically invading one’s home. Ross McIntyre (and many like him) has broadened the definition of bad people: the bad people are, in his eyes, anyone trying to break apart his family. They are all fair game for his game gun.

          I don’t think anyone wants that, and no amount of mental health care or training will prevent it when guns are so readily available.

          Further, I don’t think anyone will ever stop any crime. However, it can be reduced to the point where people are more confident in their every-day lives.

          I live in a fairly dodgy urban area in the UK. I’m fairly confident that I can down the shops at night without getting shot at. Pretty certain that I cannot say the same if I lived in a parallel area in the US.

    7. Guairdean Beatha

      My sister once asked why I carry a gun. I told her I tried carrying a cop, but they’re way too heavy.

    8. Idon'tcarenomore

      Victim mentality? Yeah I agree. But that is 90% of peoples reaction.

      Including those who think they need a machine gun to take down a deer.
      People who think they need 80 guns in their house.
      And stupid laws that allow all these things to happen.

      1. -Sentinel-

        It’s not their 80 guns I worry about, so much as the mentality that comes with them.

        1. io

          I’m not worried about the 80 guns, I’m worried about the 12 thousand rounds of ammunition. Because 80 guns is thr same as 80 potatos without those 😮

        2. Yotomoe

          I dunno. If someone threw a gun or pistol whipped me with it, it’d hurt a HELL of a lot more than a potato.

        3. fogel

          You don’t hit someone with a potato, you shove it up their tailpipe; it stops their engine.

        4. DarkVeghetta

          *thinks of establishing a spud-based martial art*

      2. JonRich

        Actual, full-auto machine guns are all but impossible to own in this country.

        What most people call “assault rifles” are actually semi-automatic, which is the same mechanism in all modern non-revolver pistols. You pull the trigger once, it fires once. If you hold down the trigger, it doesn’t keep firing. However, when you pull the trigger, the mechanism in the gun loads the next bullet into the chamber, so when you want to fire again, you just pull the trigger again, rather than having to do something like cock the hammer on a revolver.

        Functionally, an AR-15 (The “AR” stands for “ArmaLite,” the company which used to make them, and not “assault rifle”) is the same as any other semi-automatic rifle, though it looks pretty dang scary, I’ll admit.

        This YouTube video, hosted by a cop, does an excellent job at explaining the difference between an automatic rifle (machine gun) and a semi-automatic rifle, though the title of the video leaves much to be desired; most people aren’t “lying” when they talk about “assault rifles,” they’re just misled themselves. You can argue about whether they should be banned, but it’s important to get the terminology correct, or when you ban some guns and not others, you may very well ban some you don’t mean to, and leave ones that you meant to ban still legal.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yATeti5GmI8

        1. Dr. T

          They are not impossible to own, just expensive. There were something like 165,000 legal machine guns that were privately owned before the ban and can be had if you can convince one of their owners to transfer possession to you, though I imagine that it would be an expensive prospect to separate a gun enthusiast from one of such rare items.

        2. tim gueguen

          The “cheap” end of the pile is Ingram/Cobray submachine guns , which run between 3 and 4 thousand dollars these days.

        3. TamiDOA

          A coworker once told me it was a trivial matter to get a “conversion kit” to make any semi-automatic into a fully automatic. I made him promise to give me a warning before “going postal”.

        4. JonRich

          There are conversion kits, but it’s not a trivial matter. It’s addressed in the video.

        5. Eric Hansen

          No they aren’t. You fill out a form, pay your $200 to the ATF, get finger printed, get shipped your gun.

        6. JonRich

          It’s significantly more costly than that. And either way, the automatic weapons aren’t the ones being used in shootings—semi-autos are. You could argue that automatic weapons shouldn’t be in the hands of private citizens, and I might even agree on that, but taking them won’t save any lives.

        7. Roborat

          In Canada, when I took my firearms course, the big issue to determine if a semi automatic rifle is called an assault rifle, as far as I could tell, was where the cocking handle was located. If it is on top, it’s an assault rifle, and therefore banned, which I thought was a silly reason to ban a rifle, as it is quicker to cock a standard side action.

    9. Shiro

      I hope you never, ever end up in a situation where you need to find out whether or not that’s true of you.

    10. Gangler

      I mean… yeah, you’re supposed to be protected from that sort of stuff. She’s a 21st century student, not a cowboy in the wild wild west. It’s weird to expect her to be prepared to fight off armed assailants.

      Most societies accept that there’s value in this. That everything functions more smoothly when the cook can just focus on cooking trusting that he is safe. If every cook needs to also be a trained combatant, perpetually wary and ready to slay any gunman that could drive into his kitchen at a moment’s notice, then that’s eating up a lot of time and energy that could be going into his work.

      Even if we’re gonna say America isn’t one of those countries, that it’s the student’s responsibility to protect her own life against any who might try to take it, she’s still only about 20 years old or so. America hasn’t worked that shit into its public education or anything. She’s not gonna become Mathew Quigley overnight, so it does nothing to change her immediate situation. So what, is she just supposed to cross her fingers and hope for the best while she drops out of school and spends the next twenty years training to be an action hero so she can finally take her wellbeing into her own hands? That’s still a systematic problem. If these are the expectations on the citizens then there at least needs to be some protections that ensure she can live long enough to meet them. Can’t just be “Welp, we spent the first eighteen years of your life teaching you literary analysis and trigonometry. Now it’s time for you to be a fully functional adult who never needs any protection ever.”

    11. Rosicrucian

      …it’s you.

      You’re the monster at the end of this book.

    12. begbert

      You’re absolutely right, OtakuPatriot. We should all take our well-being into our own hands, like Amazigirl. We should all be mature, mentally-stable people who don’t rely on others for defense, like Amazigirl. Because, as we’ve seen, if you ARE willing to take violence into your own hands, then like Amazigirl you magically become invulnerable to harm. Like Amazigirl.

      Of course, you’re probably actually talking about grabbing a gun from somewhere hauling it around, rather than honing your nonlethal martial abilities. And yes, Amazigirl would be totally better if she had a gun and unloaded it at perceived threats, I mean obviously.

      1. OtakuPatriot

        I’m not the one who’s waving around the “gun” comments here. Survival skills would be extremely handy in situations like that. And yeah you can also learn self-defense but don’t mistake it for being invulnerable.

    13. Rutee

      Yeah, thinking you’re John Wayne works out so much better. Unless you mean “run and hide”, but that somehow seems unlikely.

    14. Memyself

      Okay, you have real world power. So why don’t you fix things so there is never a gun on campus again? I expect you not to waste any more time doing anything else.

      1. JonRich

        There are 300 million firearms in this country, and the only way to get rid of them would be a massive infringement on civil rights. I’m not even talking about the 2nd Amendment, I’m talking about the 4th Amendment. You’d have to FIND a lot of those weapons, a lot of people wouldn’t turn them in. Are you going to search everyone’s houses? You need warrants for that.

        1. Rycan

          Even if you throw out the Constitution, the logistics are impossible.

        2. Rutee

          I’m sorry, have you seen what’s left of the fourth amendment after the last decade? There’s basically nothing left of it at this point.

          But, it’s true. And putting aside the worst, the simple fact is, it’d be slow. But many would turn them in (Especially if you /buy/ them), and restricting further sale would have a strong long-term effect on the gun supply.

        3. JonRich

          I have seen what’s left of it. It’s been torn to shreds, but that’s not an argument to tear at it even further.

        4. Rutee

          I didn’t have to. Most citizens consider themselves law abiding. If you offer to buy the guns back, you’ll get a huge chunk of the civilian gun supply back. The criminal gun supply has to move to black market pricing, and it will slowly constrict as the illegally kept civilian guns vanish in crimes. It will result in the only civilians having guns being organized crime in relatively short order. And when organized crime is the only civvies with guns, they’re generally not in a rush to use them except against each other.

    15. Tenn

      Not sure if trolling, but she never said anything about anyone else protecting her, and she wasn’t even specifically talking about herself.

  15. newllend(henryvolt)

    That’s sort of out of character for you Carla.

    1. io

      Pretty sure its sarcasm, as snark comes out of her mouth as much as air does.

      1. newllend(henryvolt)

        Honestly I could not tell at first.

  16. OtakuPatriot

    and
    *protect you for you.
    wtf

  17. QF

    Rachel & Rachel: commenting on the terrible events of the nation and on your utter powerlessness to make a difference.

    Thursdays at 9 ET/ 8C!

    1. Cerberus

      Eh, I’d watch it.

  18. Mada

    And thus when anyone else learns Becky’s last name, there might be some deja-vu, but not much else, because nobody seems to really care about Ross anyway.

    1. dailybrad

      It’d be funny if someone sees “Rebecca McIntyre” on a form, pauses, and asks if she’s related to Reba.

      1. TheGrammarLegionary

        I actually went and Googled “Rebecca McIntyre” and found a really awesome band as a result. Call themselves “Marmozets”.

  19. Moonshine McGee

    You lot are the most wonderful people that will ever have read this page. 13 posts in and it hasn’t gotten inflammatory yet, that’s gotta be some kind of record.

    1. Yotomoe

      Don’t worry! I’ll fix that!

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Like you fixed your cat?

      2. Amazi-Stool

        The name of that blog actually is “There, i fixed it!“.

    2. Adam Black

      I wake UP, Inflammatory
      ( and That is not meant as double-entendre )

    3. -Sentinel-

      Willis cultivates a healthy and positive community.

    4. Rheinman

      Challenge accepted

  20. John

    Okay, Amber, but how does talking politics compare to suffering in the Death Pits of Dr. Cyborg?

    1. Stephen R. Bierce

      I hear that’s a Sunday Morning talk show on the local FOX affiliate. Airs between The 700 Club and the NFL hypecast.

  21. heyman

    Wow, original comment soutnumber the responses to Jen Aside!

    1. Ana Chronistic

      well, there are zero Jen Aside posts to respond to…?

  22. Blaxon

    I really hope this is leading up to Carla and Amber teaming up to fight crime SHTICKSHIFT NEEDS TO HAPPEN

  23. Yotomoe

    Scroll down. We have cookies down here….

    1. OsoPescado

      *scrolls down excitedly*

      *finds out that “cookies” meant the internet kind, and not the edible kind*

      *sad*

      1. Someone

        I’LL MAKE IT THE EDIBLE KIND!!!!….I might need a new monitor

  24. Catullus

    i scrolled down because i’m a super cool rebel

  25. Rani

    Okay I found a solution to the debate course on this thread. Everybody posting here with an opinion, hold your breath until I post again.

    1. Yotomoe

      Wouldn’t that be 100% of us. I mean Ideally. Unless some of us are complete sheep I’d assume we all have opinions.

      1. Vincent

        I don’t know, a lot of sheep can have very strong opinions.

        Mostly concerning food or whether they should headbutt you now or in 15 seconds, but still.

    2. Tacos

      But what if I don’t requiring breathing? I am an edible object of course.

      1. Disloyal Subject

        Depending on technicalities, we’re all edible.

        1. Opus the Poet

          And taste like bacon.

  26. tnvtr

    Is this the first time we’ve actually heart otherrachel speak?

    1. Darp

      and no thank you i will not be asian ethan today

    2. John

      No.

  27. Twinkle Toes the Berserker

    You can’t tell me what to do, you’re not my real dad!

  28. rachel

    hey friends I got an idea

    how about nobody ever engage that otaku patriot dillweed

    yeah? yeahhhhh!!

    have a lovely night <3

    1. Porglezomp

      Yep
      yep yep yep

    2. io

      Or are you other rachel?

      1. Tacos

        Maybe they’re other other rachel.

        1. rachel

          what’s a rachel got to do around here besides getting born in the 80s and having one of the most common girl wasp names in the universe

        2. Tacos

          At least you don’t have my name. My name is literally Cristian. Without an H goddammit, it annoys me when it’s misspelled.

    3. Someone

      Otaku and patriot are not words that normally go together. I don’t think Toe Dad has an obsession with Japanese culture.

      “Your such a baka Becky”

      1. Spencer

        I’ve seen Sonic fanart about how the South will rise again.

        It happens.

      2. neeks

        The OP is referring to the above commenter by the name of OtakuPatriot who feels that Amber has a huge victim complex, not Ross.

        I can understand your confusion; it’d be rad for everyone if we never see Ross again, and given the flow of time IRL as compared to the flow of plot in DoA, even if we do, it will probably be at least six years of our years before we do, since it’s going to take Becky a good few in-comic months to change her mind about ever talking to her butthole dad again. And I highly doubt Joyce will be encouraging her to forgive him, considering how enthusiastic she was about pounding him into the pavement.

        1. OtakuPatriot

          I wasn’t referring to Amber, I was referring to whichever girl was like “What would I even do?” The one with the cell phone, I think? Not sure which one is Rachel and which one is Other Rachel.

  29. EvolutionistX

    Aww, Carla is being sweet. 🙂

  30. syd

    There is a difference between talking politics and howling in rage, speaking in the language of talking points, strange and eldritch tongues that can only be expressed at high volumes.

    1. JonRich

      Most definitely! As a political junkie myself, I wish more people knew this. And I wish more people acted that way. Shouting belongs in Skyrim, not in political discussion.

      1. Cypherfox

        Fus Ro Davos!

        1. JonRich

          Davos?

    2. Vincent

      Step 1: Stop thinking in teams.

  31. electromagneticDestroyosaur

    Speaking of politics, will Amber’s long-lost uncle Martin ever make an appearance?

    1. JonRich

      Amber has an uncle? Is he a politician? I don’t understand.

      1. Eolirin

        Amber O’Malley, Martin O’Malley. Probably not a joke you’d get unless you’re following the Democratic primaries fairly closely, which is kinda the point really. Unless that was *also* snark, in which case carry on.

      2. Opus the Poet

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_O%27Malley

        That “uncle Martin”

        The Other “Uncle Martin”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Favorite_Martian

        1. JonRich

          I can’t believe I didn’t remember Martin O’Malley!

          Actually, yes, I can. He’s not particularly memorable.

      3. bee

        martin o’malley is a US presidential hopeful for the 2016 election.

    2. KHNO

      I’d prefer the cool uncle Stephen.

  32. dailybrad

    I want Amber and Carla to be buddies.

    1. Just Me

      Carla: Hey, Sal! I’d like you to meet my new friend, Amber.

      1. io

        Well to be fair Carla was against curb stomping in favor of sweet pranks during the parking lot fight. Sets her higher in the Amazi-charts I would think~

      2. Znayx

        The rage would be so real

        1. Znayx

          ^To me from the past:

          The word is “Palpable”

    2. newllend(henryvolt)

      well one thing’s for sure amber is a kick ass skater thats been proven so they have one thing in common.

    3. Znayx

      Me too!

    4. Spencer

      I think this could be a great opportunity

    5. Spencer

      (stupid keyboard)

      I think this could be a great opportunity for Amber to sort of understand that Sal isn’t this villainous bogeyman. Carla could prove instrumental in helping her get that.

  33. Just Me

    Maybe Carla is a Political Science Major.

    1. Cerberus

      I think she’s supposed to be physics or electrical engineering major with a focus in robotics.

    2. Willoughby Chase

      Possibly.

      It could be a joke about going to the barbers.

    3. fogel

      You mean Pre-Law?

  34. Plasma Mongoose

    Is it too soon to ship Amber/Carla?

    The problem with politics is that as a rule, politicians and lobbyists wins and the people lose.

    1. Tacos

      It’s never too early to ship somebody with somebody else. That’s like, Rule #1.

    2. io

      I’m banking on it being a ship that sails either to allow Danny/Ethan, or because of Danny/Ethan. That height difference will make sweet delicious slipshines.

    3. -Sentinel-

      “The problem with politics is that as a rule, politicians and lobbyists wins and the people lose.”

      And unfortunately, some of these politicians and lobbyists are very good at convincing the people that their interests coincide.

  35. JessWitt

    Ah, the apathetic side, where the coin lands on neither heads nor tails.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      I don’t see why we should care about apathy.

      1. io

        Oh ho! ;D

    2. ninja_jesus

      The apathetic side actually describes the person who flips the coin, who doesn’t care about the result.

      1. JessWitt

        A-ha, good point.

    3. Opus the Poet

      Because it landed in the mud edge first.

  36. Maple Amber

    So I JUST binged Shortpacked! (been reading Dumbing of Age for a while) and I have so much more appreciation for Carla now… so much love…. but all these text bubbles over her and it’s not even her speaking… so sad.

  37. Znayx

    Step 1:Amber gets to know Carla
    Step 2:Gets her (Amazi-girl) close to Sal
    Step 3:Infiltration complete, now to bust her for something
    Step 4:Gets TOO close to Sal
    Step 5:”Infiltration” complete, ifyouknowwhatimean

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      When you try to infiltrate you got to make sure you get all up in that.

      1. Znayx

        You can do it, move it just like that. Infiltrate, exfiltrate, infiltrate, exfiltrate… Mmmm, you know you like it.

  38. newllend(henryvolt)

    Now you see this is a shame because I can actually imagine a bunch of people saying this in real life and it goes to show you that people are not taking school shootings seriously enough anymore because of how frequently it happening now a days.

    1. Idon'tcarenomore

      Agree. I saw someone on a news program say exactly that.
      People are building an immunity to school shootings.

      1. Chris Phoenix

        People are building an immunity to news coverage of school shootings. Naturally, this is something that news channels would care a lot about.

        Immunity to modern mainstream news coverage is probably generally a good thing.

        1. ninja_jesus

          Not if it’s at the cost of apathy toward real issues.

    2. Cerberus

      It’s the new normal.

      There’s actually a whole interesting field of theory that has shown up in the last 15 years or so talking about how those who benefit from status quo have had great success in creating a sense of unstoppable inertia about aspects of the world to keep any real movement from building up against it. And the ways youth movements have tried to move around that ennui using things like social media, alternate media, and new forms of education and protest movements that borrow from the queer, feminist, and civil rights movements.

  39. Anywhere

    Help I didn’t follow the alt text’s advice.

  40. Tacos

    So… should I get what the alt text is talking about?

    1. Viktoria

      Today’s comic obliquely referred to gun control. If you enjoy political debates through anonymous comments, you’re fine. If you’re not crazy, don’t read the comments.

      (Yes, I’m one of the people debating. No, I’m not balanced at all. Glad we cleared that up.)

    2. Airyu

      Comments section

      1. Tacos

        Is it incredibly naive of me to think that we wouldn’t have a buttload of flamewar comments here? I feel like for the most part, the commentators here are pretty smart and not overly discourteous.

    3. Jason

      You, Tacos. It’s talking about you.

  41. Just Me

    Carla’s nicer than I originally thought she’d be.

  42. Someone

    sometimes if i can’t find a comment Ive posted right away, I’ll get worried that I said something wrong and Willis deleted it.

    Wait where’s my comment? Did I do something wrong? Oh God, everyone hates me! I can never come….Oh wait there it is.

    1. Darp

      Schrödinger’s Hugbox.

    2. No Name

      Lifehack: If you want to find your comments quickly, press Crtl-F and type your username into the little text box that drops down (at least in Google Chrome, it might be a little different in other browsers), then press enter. The screen should auto-scroll to your first comment positionally. Each subsequent enter will auto-scroll to the next of your comments in the list, until you have exhausted the list; then it returns to the first entry. However, since you (Someone) have a fairly common word for your username, you may get some false positives; I count two at this moment.

      1. Someone

        It takes a few tries, but thanks

  43. caesaria82

    I’mma be happy with this strip no matter what happens, because it’s got my love Carla in it. But I also love how capable and unfazed she is. I want Amber and Carla to be buds, because I like them both so much.

    1. io

      You speakin my language gurrrl.
      Im super pleased that my guest gravitar is Carla.

      1. caesaria82

        Yessss Carla fandom, unite 😀

        I’ve been mean girl Mary for so long, I’ve almost gotten used to her disapproving mug lol.

        1. io

          Ive been thinking of getting me one of those fancy red names finding my own carla icon to use. Itd be great! Like Carla <3

  44. Foxhack

    The alt text should’ve been “never see the comments in Yahoo News posts.”

  45. Guairdean Beatha

    Considering the current presidential candidates, I too would rather bleed out than discuss politics.

    1. Idon'tcarenomore

      Lol. Yes

  46. Idon'tcarenomore

    Yes, Amber is at least ambulatory.

    I’m glad that Carla has taken over helping Amber, and not taking the questions past, the original,”did you sit on your glasses? With your face’?

    She picked up very quickly on the fact Amber doesn’t want to discuss it, and she needs help. So there is Carla helping and asking non-sense questions.

    Good on Carla.

    1. Cerberus

      All of this. She knows pushing would be counterproductive and this gets her treated and knowing that someone’s got her back if she does decide she wants to share later. It’s a really smooth and good move on Carla’s part. Especially since she even gives her an excuse with her own story of splitting her head open from skating.

  47. Cerberus

    3 things from this comic:

    1) I love the inclusion of how fast information moves in the modern day, where people can reconstruct the events of what has happened around them from twitter feeds and facebook threads mere hours after a tragedy or sometimes during the tragedy itself. It’s a nice little touch to the storyline that connects to how everyone else has experienced it (in fragmented pieces of news gathered on cell phones).

    2) I’m actually curious about Carla’s political viewpoints. Like no joke, being what she is, a trans woman who came out either in Freshman year or earlier with enough negative interactions to assume that a penis on her door was part of an intentional hate crime, her bitter resigned misanthropy feels somewhat more earned than Ultra Car’s in the other universe. Similarly, we know from the other universe that Ultra Car was somewhat political, especially with regards to the terrible rights state of sentient cars in that universe so in this more human universe, how would that translate? Angry queer politics? Radical anarchy? A form of moderate surrender? Or something wholly her own?

    3) This is such an awesome, important moment for revealing Carla’s character.

    I mean, on the one hand, we see that she is used to having to treat her injuries alone. And while we can attribute some of that to the fact that she roller skates everywhere and is a bit punk rock, it’s quite probable that that wasn’t the only reason she had to learn self-reliance and self-injury-repair from a young age.

    She also clearly cares about lending a hand, because she can. And she doesn’t go out of her way to help people. Which means she feels some form of kinship with an individual who is battered and bruised from “mysterious injuries” and is trying to patch it up themselves. And that lends itself beyond that to one of her more reaching out and vulnerable moments (she’s not teasing Amber or being smug or making a big show of being above it all, she’s just lending a hand and even politely requesting a conversation of equals about politics (which could very well be a sore spot for her)). It’s incredibly humanizing and likely means that she’s been in that spot many a time before of being injured and alone.

    And that last bit might be the source of her whole “I’m above it all” persona. I mean, she puts up a big front of being some wacky prankster, but seems hurt when people forget she exists and gets angry when she thinks she’s being targeted for hate. And not to mention the literal “above it all” of her skates. She’s been shown in the past to have some insecurities about her height and how it can be used to “out” her as a trans woman, but she chooses to address it by wearing skates that make her even taller.

    This suggests that this is her main defense mechanism in general. Own what is used to demean you and call attention to it in a “I don’t even care” way so no one thinks to use it against you. Act like you’re above it all and looming and people won’t tease about the height. Act like you’re aloof and beyond caring and people won’t notice that you do want at least some acknowledgment and approval from others. Act like you’re distanced from everyone else then no one can betray or hurt you.

    It’s an easy way to be when you’re not used to having many allies or much support outside a small knit group. And it humanizes her in really critical ways.

    1. Bagge

      That is a great reading. It also is a bit similar to her interaction with Sal where she sneers and snarks but ultimately supports her in her emotional conflicts (unless they are too stupid – as sometimes when Malaya is around)

      1. Cerberus

        Yeah, she’s really complex and awesome in this universe and I love that.

        Her “I may be developing a crush, but I don’t want to get my hopes up, yeah, I don’t care, but I’m going to happen to hang out near you” with Sal is all kinds of awkwardly adorable.

        1. neeks

          You parse their interactions as Carla having a crush? Huh. I just saw it as a mildly aloof curiosity/”so what’s your deal?” kind of thing.

        2. Cerberus

          I’ve pretty much presumed that Carla has at least a mild romantic crush on Sal since this moment:
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/humiliate/

        3. Rutee

          I hadn’t considered Carla/Sal. Not sure if it will persuade me from my deep down desire of Sal/Ruth, but it is interesting, and I approve.

    2. Rheinman

      Nicely said. And well thought out. It may even be true.

    3. io

      Carla is just generally an interesting character. Who I relate to. Who is also a hottie.

    4. NoHeart6265

      Thanks for the insight. I’ve been quite fond of Carla’s character and I haven’t been able to put my finger on why, but here you’ve laid everything out out.

    5. rachel

      holy shit that IS how a dick drawn on your whiteboard would look, oh my god, I’m kinda bummed out I didn’t identify that from the get-go, I’m sorry carla in the past, that’s real shitty 🙁 🙁 🙁

    6. JessWitt

      Your post is why I voted to see more of Carla in the coming strips.

    7. altalemur

      i am a huge Carla fan as well. i really do hope this convo gives us more of her character. but unless this is an alternate universe with better IU policies…. well I guess it depends. in Dec 2014 Carla would be able to get a student ID with her preferred name rather than legal name. the sensitivity for assigning rooms for transgender students has been around longer, but i’m not sure she’d have been put in Reed. so either Dumbieverse is better than real world IU or Carla has very supportive (and rich) parents and she is legally female by the time she enrolled in college.

      i do think it’s interesting Carla’s helping with a head injury without any prompting from Amber. can’t wait for rest of this week’s strips.

  48. Bagge

    “You are not going to do anything about it, are you?”

    But Amazie.girl DID! Knowing that is the heroes reward.

    Awww, Carla is nice to the little nerd.

  49. Thor

    All right, you want inflammatory? You got it. Here goes:

    “Someone can just pull out a gun” sounds right, and “someone can just pull a gun on you” also sounds right, but “someone can just pull out a gun on you”?

    Dead. Wrong.

    Your move, Conservalibs.

    1. John

      I’m still trying to get past Carla’s choice of tense for “bust” in panel two.

      1. io

        I assume Carla has some kind of accent that comes from somewhere where that makes sense.

        1. Cerberus

          Honestly the use of “right open” right afterwards makes me think she’s using a little britishism possibly picked up from british television.

      2. random832

        There are words that because of ending in -t or -d do not change in past tense. “Burst” is one. In most dialects, “bust” is not.

        1. io

          Way to bust my bubble on this one Joe :c

        2. Lumin

          I read somewhere that the set of verbs that don’t change for past tense has become, or at least is becoming, a lot larger in certain American dialects, especially in informal speech. Now I’m on the spot, I can’t think of an example, but my source provided quite a long list.

  50. Bicycle Bill

    The frightening part is that panels three and four could be ripped from yesterday’s newspapers.  “It’s no big deal”; “Hardly anybody got hurt”; “There’s been worse tragedies”; “Nothing has been done so far”; “What would I be able to do about it?” — and the litany goes on.

    1. Anywhere

      Rachels’ conversation reminds me of the time I had just read the news on the Aurora shooting and felt disquieted, and all my friends around me were like “so what?”.

      Not even nearly the first time people have ever adapted to accept bad events as normal – we all already do this to some extent, just for different things.

      1. Opus the Poet

        I still remember the summer of 1968…

  51. OwenSohmer

    Why would you do this to yourself, Willis?

  52. ninja_jesus

    This comic is really angering me, because the Rachels are so accurate in how the general young adult population feels. It’s unfair and disgusting how tougher gun restrictions haven’t gone into effect. Why are gun proponents willing to expose the future of the country to that risk? It makes me so angry, and so sad. There’s no justice in this.

    1. KingToasty

      Coming from a Canadian point of view: A lot of Americans have a huge, huge gun culture, and basically all gun-wielding Americans handle them responsibly. In a lot of States, owning and using a gun is a massive cultural aspect. It’s like christmas trees or baseball games, it’s a part of a larger community identity, and people always hold that close.

      That being said, I absolutely believe America needs better gun laws. But it’s not a super simple subject and everyone has strong and legitimate opinions about it, both ways.

      1. Marie

        As also a Canadian, I disagree, but I’m having trouble wording my examples concisely, so I’m trying again.

        I’d say that there’s less of a thing like Christmas trees about guns, and they’re more like having kitchen gadgets. Lots of people/most people have some because they’re easy and fairly cheap to procure and what if someday you really want star-shaped fried eggs, but it isn’t a bonding thing. Having a right to carry is sort of an identity thing, but that doesn’t mean needing to exercise it constantly is.

        But I’m a bit biased in that I recently read a thread online of people’s every-day-carry shit, and like all of them had a handgun and multiple magazines. That’s not enough to shoot someone in self defense, that’s enough that if you think shit’s going down, you can murder everyone else.

        1. Boxilar

          The multiple magazines thing is more like “What if I’m attacked by a dozen terrorists. I will need multiple magazines of ammo to fight them off.” This would ignore the fact that said terrorists were shooting back. Life is not an action movie where the good guys shake off lethal wounds and the bad guys have the marksmanship skills of an Imperial Stormtrooper. Most defensive situations involving a gun are over in two or three rounds, one way or the other. In fact, most defensive uses of a gun never involve firing a shot at all. The robber/mugger/rapist sees the gun and decides discretion is the better part of not being shot dead.

        2. Marie

          Yeah, I meant to add but was kind of distracted that I get that it’s not meant in a harmful way, more illogical thought processes.But the fact that they do get them (or equip them) for illogical reasons scares me, because that makes murdering the chick who didn’t know what ‘netflix and chill’ meant and now wants out a much easier leap in the moment (and a lot of women (and girls) are killed for rejecting people, in the moment and not)

        3. Marie

          “in a harmful way when they purchase them.”

          and also crimes of passion are easier, but less relevant to me being worried

  53. Cat

    Now the way I’m reading this, is that you’re having these college kids obliviously saying, “Gee, what could I possibly do?” and the idea of using the power of their vote to elect political leaders who will prevent guns on campus is inconceivable. And this is going over the heads of all of your commenters, just to prove the point.

    1. ninja_jesus

      To me, the whole political system needs a major reform. I think there are too many no-win scenarios and Pyrrhic victories — usually against poor-to-middle class people and just the public in general — to consider voting as an effective way to affect positive change in the US.

      That being said, I still research politicians and vote, and I think everyone else should do so too. Exercises in futility are healthy for the mind, and there’s always the slim chance of getting the right people elected.

    2. WingedBeast

      Depends on where they are and whether or not student IDs will allow them in to vote.

    3. squeekles

      “elect political leaders who will prevent guns on campus”

      Guns are already banned on most campuses. That’s one of the reasons they are such appealing targets. You need to go much further than campus to prevent gun violence.

      1. TamiDOA

        There are even politicians who are calling for removing the gun bans on campus! Good luck finding teachers to work where the drunk student they just gave a failing grade to may be armed.

    4. timemonkey

      The kids who are trapped ina time vortex and will never experience an election?

    5. Solenoid

      That’s because our elections aren’t decided by the voters. The voters are for the most part locked-in to their votes, with the ones who actually ‘decide’ are a barometer for paid-for political ads. So, really, most of us actually vote when we go shopping, and the people who made the stuff we bought turn around and donate that money to a campaign. Lesson: when you go to the store, know what vote you’re buying.

      1. saki

        There are people trying to get money out of politics though, thanks gods. Larry Lessig’s campaign was about that, but since the media completely shut him out of the debates, he ended it. But he’s not alone – check out http://wolf-pac.com/ a group trying to get a constitutional amendment passed.

  54. Anywhere

    Anyway, we’re all missing the most important part of this comic, which is that we got SIX more panels of Carla being awesome (i.e. being present in anyway).

    Totally sick head injuries! Am I right??

    1. Anywhere

      Someday, I hope Carla will become Ultra Carla and have a sweet robot body that doesn’t bleed out and backup memories stored in the cloud in case she busts her head again. And she’ll have a built-in jetpack to propel herself on her rollerskates faster. She’ll be like Inspector Gadget except actually competent like Penny.

      1. Tacos

        Don’t forget the third extendo-arm coming out of her chest compartment so she can flip the fabled triple bird.

    2. io

      I bet were part of the 6% on the poll 😉

      1. tim gueguen

        I know I was. And Willis set up the poll so you can only vote once from the same e-mail address, evil dude that he is.

  55. Rukduk

    …And shit just hit the fans. Though it is kinda depressing that such a conversation in a comic can cause shit to hit the fans. Why are we ‘Muricans (to distinguish us from the rest of the population of these two continents) so easily riled up?

  56. NoHeart6265

    I saw Carla in yesterday’s strip and thought to myself, “Huh, I have gay friends, lesbians friends, and bisexual friends but I haven’t had any trans friends.” and an old friend appeared out of the blue today who is now a transgender woman. Life just loves to prove me wrong. It’s funny that way I suppose.

    1. Jen Aside

      Ha, I have like THREE transgender friends… transgender WOMEN… who were once named David.

      Funny.

      1. Jen Aside

        dang, why’s my iPad logged in as Jen Aside? That ruins one of my other comments =p

        1. Lumin

          *grin* Thought it was just a matter of time.

      2. Opus the Poet

        I have lost count of the trans people we have at my church in various stages of transition from “I know I am, but can’t do anything about it for reasons” to post-op fully functioning as their preferred gender. And from both directions (possibly from all three directions because I don’t pry like that).

        1. Marie

          “I know I am, but can’t do anything about it for reasons”

          this is me but I can confirm that I’m not at your church

  57. NF

    Who knew that element of the strip would be so topical when it finally ran? Today’s comic is like the webcomic buffer equivalent of splitting your own arrow.

    1. SDGlyph

      The Shadow kn… sorry.

      Willis knew. It’s not that hard to be topical when the US averages a mass shooting every day and a school shooting every week.

      1. SDGlyph

        Yyyeah, ignore me. I don’t know why I posted that; probably assumed there’d been another shooting I hadn’t heard about yet. Somehow forgot that the pundits are currently going ape about terrorism response rather than gun control. Going for coffee now.

        1. timemonkey

          Why apologise, your point was perfectly valid.

  58. KingToasty

    I’m going to take a controversial stance on the gun law debate and say guns should be fused to peoples’ hands at birth. The guns have to be shaped like dongs and have the Constitution inscribed on the side in comic sans.

    I feel like this is a compromise both sides can agree to.

    1. ninja_jesus

      Do the guns have to be loaded? And do those guns need to be loaded with bullets?

      1. KingToasty

        They much be loaded at all times, but half the bullets are fakes and it’s impossible to distinguish the real and fake ones.

        1. Brute

          perfect.

      2. Noclevername

        The guns may be empty, but the gun wielders must be loaded at all times.

    2. tim guegue

      Scary thing is that I read about a crank years ago who figured grade school kids in the US should be issued with guns, and taught to use them in school.

      1. Roborat

        Wasn’t that long ago that kids actually were taught to use guns at school. Most schools built pre 60s have shooting ranges in the basement/gym.

  59. Derek

    Can someone explain what Rachel said in dumbed down words or something? I don’t understand what she’s trying to say and why it should be controversial…

    1. Just Me

      There are those college students who stage protests over various Issues, including Campus Safety. Then, there are those like Rachel and Other Rachel.

    2. Gangler

      Shooting incidents have been progressively more common in the United States. There’s been a heated national debate going on about what exactly they can do about it due to varying interpretations of the Second Amendment of their constitution, as well as varying opinions on how important that amendment should even be to the conversation. Ultimately very little actually gets done.

      She’s mostly just expressing frustration with the current state of political affairs, but she could be interpreted as vaguely alluding to the need for gun control, which many would argue is unconstitutional, which is where the controversy comes in.

      1. The Biggest Tom

        Progressively *less common.

        Progressively more *visible.

        1. drs

          Violence as a whole has gone down a lot since the 1990s, though recently stalled. School shootings in particular have gone up in frequency and total death count in the past few years. Search [school shooting frequency].

  60. Carms

    I am teaching in a Japanese school, and part of what I have been doing recently is practising giving answers/opinions on Issues in English. most of the Issues have centered on Japan because that’s what they know. Especially when we’ve had questions around international relations, there’s been a strong line of ‘It’s our Japanese culture, back away slowly, this shit be important’ (protip ‘tradition’ is not an argument. you gotta have something for why THIS tradition is important. saying ‘it’s tradition’ is like saying ‘it’s blue’. yeah, and?)

    So I had them talk about American gun laws. yay? nay? But prefaced it with ‘the right to have weapons is enshrined in the constitution, it’s important to the culture. you show people the respect you expect to receive. etc’. Now, Japanese people as a general rule are not keen on guns.
    Watching them suppress their own attitudes was…. amusing, I guess. a little sad.

    1. JonRich

      Which attitudes did they suppress, their “respect for culture” attitudes or their “anti-gun” attitudes? (Their gun laws do seem to work for them, though, their violent crime rate is incredibly low, though there are other factors in play)

  61. NinjaNick

    Let’s talk about football concussions instead, speaking of head injuries.

  62. Brute

    oh man, is Carla going to become amber’s friend and/or amazi-girl’s sidekick? WILD SPECULATION ENSUES.

    1. Cabooceratops

      SCHTICKSHIFT RETURNS!!

  63. 6Qubed

    I scrolled down.

    Avenge me.

  64. Reltzik

    Amber, Amber, Amber, Amber.

    …. you assume the two options are mutually exclusive.

    After all, if you’re mostly bled-out, you won’t have the strength to get away or fight whoever’s trying to talk politics to you.

    …. since at that degree of exsanguination you’d be in obvious need of care, in a near-unthinking stupor actually, and said person would be trying to toss politics at you instead of actually dealing with your critical emergency medical needs, my money’s on it being a Republican.

    *flees*

  65. Vi

    ABRUPTLY, I WANT AMBER AND CARLA TO KISS.

    1. Noclevername

      I fully support this viewpoint. CARLAMBER + DANNYTHAN

    2. That guy

      Is there any couple that doesn’t get shipped on these forums? I swear every time there’s only two people in a frame…

      1. Vi

        There is never anything wrong with more lesbians!

      2. Tenn

        Pfft. Like we need them to be in the same frame. 😛

  66. SDGlyph

    Tin girl has a heart. 🙂

  67. thumb

    Huh, epilogue is the commentary section summary.

  68. erejnion

    >comic named “necks”
    >nothing related to Shaft in it
    I think I’ve been reading too much Paranatural lately, I’ve started expecting stuff.

    1. DarkoNeko

      Heh.

  69. inqntrol

    That’s so nice of Carla to help her, now I regret not voting her in the poll.

  70. Falling Star

    I’d rather bleed out, too.

  71. DarkoNeko

    Carla is bad at starting conversation, eh.

    1. inqntrol

      At least she tried. Doesn’t that count?

      1. DarkoNeko

        Sure.
        I find that pretty cute, personally.

  72. izumi ryu

    This is a pretty accurate feel to the event. To the 6 people directly involved, it was a highly dramatic and traumatic event. To anyone else not involved, Ross was little more than an idiot at best. No one died so it doesn’t matter.

    The media response won’t help, focusing too much on the shooting itself and not the kidnapping, which will both exaggerate and belittle the situation at the same time.

  73. Sigurther

    I’m with Amber on this one.

    1. egwenna

      Oh yeah.

  74. Sam

    Aaaaaaaaand…makeout!

    No but seriously, as cute as Danny/Amber is, I ship it.

  75. Spencer

    More Carla.

    More Carla forever.

  76. John Madden

    >mouse over text says ‘don’t scroll down’
    >scroll down
    >see nothing of note
    I feel jipped.

    1. spriteless

      well, don’t scroll down if you don’t want to talk about politics.

  77. Lan Mikoto

    Amber stop reading my mind. I’m the one who bleeds out at political talks.

    1. Chronos

      Same here.

  78. Eggy

    Talking politics is a lot of fun, if you can do it without everyone getting angry.

    That being said, I only have one request of everyone that reads this:

    Vote! It’s an election year next year! Vote in primaries! Vote in generals! Vote!!

    1. Eric

      It’s that ‘if’ that is the problem.

  79. JQuire

    Isn’t Amber lucky that Carla is just the right height?

  80. TJ Pittsburgh

    Talking politics? This seems fairly relevant . . .

  81. Eric

    I can definitely sympathise with her on that.

  82. Valis_KR3

    Bleeding out is always an option.

  83. zathael

    Alt text implies comment section to become hotbed of gun control debate.

    Actual mentions of the phrase “gun control”: six, two of which are in this very post.

    For some reason, I find this funny.

    1. Just Me

      He used Reverse Psychology on us…and it worked.

    2. JonRich

      I think we’re just generally civil with one another. Here at DoA, we’re essentially an established community. If I were to guess, I’d say that demographically we’re younger, more highly-educated, and more liberal than the general population, but we’re also probably laid back here even if we aren’t laid back about politics everywhere else.

      1. a4lbi

        Also helps that the comments section is moderated (or screened, at least).

  84. Pingback: Willis is a GD GENIUS. He mashed up a nail-biting LGBT story line w/ the gun issue & I didn't even notice: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/necks/ ?

  85. flareonflare

    in australia, nobody gets shot

    though i would make exceptions for scumbag dad of the year

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