I don’t think he’s doing it unintentionally. He was aware when Amber changed his grades that one time, I am pretty sure.
Sdrainbow
He was there when Amber changed his grades on her phone. He asked her to undo it, which she did, but then she redid it and also broke into the office to get the hard copies of his papers.
Technically, it’s both Amber AND Amazi-girl who did a good thing for him, and he basically outright says that without BOTH of the good things combined, neither would have made a difference individually. Without hope, why bother trying? Even with hope, would he have had the time sense/management/focus to actually study? (Unlikely.)
If Amber can wrap her head around THAT fact, it could be even better for her – she might be able to understand that ALL of the various parts of her personality are valuable, not only the more “presentable” ones. Even anger and violent urges have their place in life, as long as you can channel them into something socially acceptable, if not productive. Which, to be fair, is sort of what she was actually doing when Amazi-girl originally came about, but the fear and shame she associated with that side of herself (understandably so, considering her trauma) led her to distance herself so far from it that not only did she create a totally separate persona for it but has now begun to actually dissociate between the two people. Once she starts recognizing that it’s totally healthy to have those emotions and they can even be valuable, and that all sides of her can contribute meaningfully, maybe she’ll be more able to approach a healthy reintegration – no doubt with professional guidance.
I’m still trying to decide if what’s going on with her is A) an actual, organically developing case of split-personality with a neurological basis; B) an extreme coping mechanism that has spiraled out of control to the point where her conscious brain no longer has any input; or C) some of each. 18-24 is the age range when many mood and personality disorders tend to manifest (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc.) – just one more reason why it’s a great set-up to have free mental health care available on college campuses – so it could actually be a totally neurological thing that would have developed for her at this age no matter regardless of her life experiences. However… that does seem like a terribly large coincidence.
Spriteless
B) is actually what disassociative disorders are. Schizophrenia is a neurological disorder, sure, but its symptoms are paranoia and hallucinations; its Latin name is wrong. Bipolar only affects memory by exaggerating the human tendency to fail to remember happy times when sad.
So you can blane Blaine for it.
vitalProximity
Oh, fantastic. Because we didn’t have enough reasons to hate Blaine.
Tangent: Spriteless, if you’re in the US, did you ever watch the TNT (I think?) series Perception? It was possibly one of my favorite TV shows ever, and the protagonist was a psychology professor with paranoid schizophrenia who also consulted with the police and helped solve crimes. His hallucinations helped by giving him clues to things his unconscious mind had picked up on but his conscious mind hadn’t (essentially, a more visual manifestation of human intuition). I don’t remember the name of the main actor, but the female lead (the police detective) was played by Rachel Leigh Cook, I think?… Anyway, it’s a great show, and very educational about both general psychology as well as about various disorders and things. I learned a lot about schizophrenia from it, and that’s where I originally learned the thing about the ages it develops during. I highly recommend watching it – the premise is really fascinating to me, and I thought it was very well executed. I don’t watch much TV but I always looked forward to that show every week.
You have a point, but isn’t dumping dumping resources (time, energy, etc.) into a hopeless sinking ship literally a waste? I’m thinking sunk cost fallacy here.
I only ask because I tend to agree with Ealky on this particular point. Sometimes we need to force ourselves to hope just to get out of bed in the morning, but that actually proves his point. Without hope, no one would bother. Why do you think so many people don’t bother to vote, or to save for retirement, or to cut down on their carbon footprint?
Yes I am a cynic and a pessimist, but that’s also part of my point: there’s sloth, and then there’s knowing you can’t win.
TemperaryObsessor
Don’t put resources into a sinking ship. But sometimes a sinking ship has stuff on it which might be worth salvaging.
abysswatcher1993
Exactly. Pessimism makes you unable to move and accept doom. Optimism allows you not only to continue, but that if you face doom you are prepared to do what you can to diminish the damage or make peace with yourself before your demise.
abysswatcher1993
Accept your lost and move on with your life. The dead don’t revive, evil will always exist as well as good will always exist, entropy will destroy all so something new begins, justice is created by people, and not everyone shares the same aesthetic tastes. Let’s just be nice and kind and protect beauty until our eventual death.
Anna
You should read ‘On the Beach’ by Nevil Shute, about people who really have no hope and then find a way to live as true humans regardless, by living as if there is a future even though there isn’t. It says a lot about humanity, I think.
I know you’re kidding, and appreciate a good joke. However, I live within broadcast range of the New York Jets and know some of their fans. The Jets are about third in the NFL in moral victories behind Miami and Cincinnati.
Amber you really need to tell Walky the truth about his grades. And what better time than when he is overjoyed with free food? Seriously, can you think of a better time to receive bad news than when you have just been given free food?
Yeah, let him do the work himself and hopefully salvage his grade (which shouldn’t have been unsalvageable in the first place because they literally only did weekly quizzes and homework, not even a midterm yet) and THEN break the bad news when you have an example of him doing the work you can point to.
Why? So Blaine can find out about it and get Amber expelled for hacking? Unless you think Walky is super good at keeping his mouth shut and not blabbing.
He seems to be okay at it. He hasn’t told anyone Amber is Amazigirl. Not anyone who didn’t already know, anyway. And he especially hasn’t told anyone that Amber ISN’T Amazigirl.
Miri
He kinda just told Amber? I mean she was semi-aware that Amqzigirl still seemed to be active when she wasn’t in the costume but not sure if she assumed that making peace with Sal and joining Roller Derby to give herself a healthy outlet for her rage would have stopped that…
This is what I thought too. His use of the word “miraculously” and saying it just as Amber was feeling sorry for herself about Amazigirl’s successes was a bit too on the nose. I felt he said it purposely in an off-hand way because he didn’t want to thank her for doing the wrong thing he asked her not to do, but wanted to acknowledge that he figured it out and that it did end up helping him in the long run. Or maybe I’m giving Walky too much credit.
Seregiel
This was my take and I’m not that charitable to Walky as a character. He’s very good at understanding people even if he isn’t very good at what to do with that understanding the vast majority of the time.
Needfuldoer
Yeah, Walky’s a lot more perceptive than he lets on. He’s just lazy and would rather avoid unpleasant things than confront them.
I AM GOING TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF WALKY UNTIL HE GETS HOPE OR HE AGREES TO GET HIMSELF TO THERAPY OR A COUNSELOR SO HE ADMITS HE HAS TROUBLE STUDYING!
Seriously, Amber’s expression in the last panel is howww I feel wwhenever I heard edgelords in anime and in real life.
How is he even remotely edgy, here? He’s saying there wouldn’t have been a point in trying to study if his grades weren’t salvageable. He doesn’t know the real reason they can be salvaged, but as long as he thinks they can be, he’s got at least that much motivation. “I wouldn’t have tried if it didn’t have a chance of working” isn’t edgy, it’s just sorta reasonable.
That’s irrelevant. He has the motivation and has put up at least a token effort so far, so why bother downing him about it maybe not paying off at a later date?
This is specifically in response to all but the last 5 words you tacked on, because I’m not sure what lies you’re talking about.
abysswatcher1993
The academic fraud committed by Amber and that could bite their asses.
In theory, there is a small risk this could come up later, but I really doubt it. The only professor likely to even suspect Walky’s IRL and computer didn’t match up was fired when a lucky offhand comment revealed he had an inappropriate relationship with a student. I really doubt whatever overworked teacher was rushed in to fill the gap on top of all their other work is going to be tryhard enough to cross reference all the grades in the computer, if that’s even possible. And given what I remember about Walky eating paper, sounds like they don’t even keep the paper on file TO cross reference.
Given Walky appears to be turning over a new leaf, the new professor is that much more likely to accept the computer matches the IRL.
On a different axis, if this did come all the way to light, hacking grades could be an expellable offense maybe even with prison time for hacking if the school got super serious about it. Blaine could get his wish of Amber being expelled by using this if he found out about it, or maybe get lucky and have this succeed even if his own plans fail.
“Take a look at your mistakes, then hand’em in” could work. Or even more thorough, “take a picture of the grade for each one.” Effective, but tedious to manage.
One way this could get caught is if Jason filled out his grades in a spreadsheet, which he then emailed to the prof who would collate it into the document Amber hacked–this is how it works at the uni I work at. So the prof could have a record of Walky’s real grades buried in their emails should someone get suspicious.
(Also, a nitpick–but I do get confused by how americans use ‘professor’–Jason wasn’t a professor. Given that he was TAing, he might even have still been a Grad Student, though given that he only shared an office with one other person I’m guessing postdoc.)
As an American post-doc who taught classes while still a grad student, I can say with authority that faculty and grad students are acutely aware that teaching assistants are not “professors.” Undergrads, however, tend to use “professor” to refer to all instructors indiscriminately, sometimes even after being corrected by the instructor her/him/themself.
130 thoughts on “One true love”
Ana Chronistic
“and by hope, I mean fraudulent grade alterations I knew about but thought were changed back”
plasticwrap
Wait wait wait seriously?
plasticwrap
After going through the comments I obviously missed something, but I thought the Amberlamps undid the grade doctoring.
Charles Phipps
She then redid it but in a believable C-sort of way.
Deanatay
Willis TOTALLY stole that from War Games, Bee-Tee-Dubs.
Tan
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/04-of-mike-and-men/scooch/
Suet
There’s the classic Walky.
Sadly.
GoblinScribe
This is actually pretty good for Amber—unintentionally, he’s reminding her that *she*, and not Amazi-Girl, did a good thing for him.
ValdVin
Does Walky know Amber is Amazi-Girl?
(I really should have locked this bit of info down already, I know.)
Khantalas
He knows that Amber isn’t in fact Amazi-Girl, they just timeshare a body.
BigDogLittleCat
Yes. She told him on Garbage Roof.
ValdVin
Dammit! Of course. That was a great reveal and I can’t believe I forgot it.
Uly
Amber isn’t Amazi-Girl, and Walky thus far is the only person who seems to grasp that in the correct way.
Deanatay
Walky understands it’s important to know WHOSE pants you’re getting into.
Kinoko
Something shockingly few people in this story seem to care about, funnily enough.
DailyBrad
I don’t think he’s doing it unintentionally. He was aware when Amber changed his grades that one time, I am pretty sure.
Sdrainbow
He was there when Amber changed his grades on her phone. He asked her to undo it, which she did, but then she redid it and also broke into the office to get the hard copies of his papers.
BarerMender
I think Amber is hurt that he got Amazi-girl to help him, rather than her.
Adam Black
Maybe Amber did it and Attributed it to AmaziGirl.
vitalProximity
Technically, it’s both Amber AND Amazi-girl who did a good thing for him, and he basically outright says that without BOTH of the good things combined, neither would have made a difference individually. Without hope, why bother trying? Even with hope, would he have had the time sense/management/focus to actually study? (Unlikely.)
If Amber can wrap her head around THAT fact, it could be even better for her – she might be able to understand that ALL of the various parts of her personality are valuable, not only the more “presentable” ones. Even anger and violent urges have their place in life, as long as you can channel them into something socially acceptable, if not productive. Which, to be fair, is sort of what she was actually doing when Amazi-girl originally came about, but the fear and shame she associated with that side of herself (understandably so, considering her trauma) led her to distance herself so far from it that not only did she create a totally separate persona for it but has now begun to actually dissociate between the two people. Once she starts recognizing that it’s totally healthy to have those emotions and they can even be valuable, and that all sides of her can contribute meaningfully, maybe she’ll be more able to approach a healthy reintegration – no doubt with professional guidance.
I’m still trying to decide if what’s going on with her is A) an actual, organically developing case of split-personality with a neurological basis; B) an extreme coping mechanism that has spiraled out of control to the point where her conscious brain no longer has any input; or C) some of each. 18-24 is the age range when many mood and personality disorders tend to manifest (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc.) – just one more reason why it’s a great set-up to have free mental health care available on college campuses – so it could actually be a totally neurological thing that would have developed for her at this age no matter regardless of her life experiences. However… that does seem like a terribly large coincidence.
Spriteless
B) is actually what disassociative disorders are. Schizophrenia is a neurological disorder, sure, but its symptoms are paranoia and hallucinations; its Latin name is wrong. Bipolar only affects memory by exaggerating the human tendency to fail to remember happy times when sad.
So you can blane Blaine for it.
vitalProximity
Oh, fantastic. Because we didn’t have enough reasons to hate Blaine.
Tangent: Spriteless, if you’re in the US, did you ever watch the TNT (I think?) series Perception? It was possibly one of my favorite TV shows ever, and the protagonist was a psychology professor with paranoid schizophrenia who also consulted with the police and helped solve crimes. His hallucinations helped by giving him clues to things his unconscious mind had picked up on but his conscious mind hadn’t (essentially, a more visual manifestation of human intuition). I don’t remember the name of the main actor, but the female lead (the police detective) was played by Rachel Leigh Cook, I think?… Anyway, it’s a great show, and very educational about both general psychology as well as about various disorders and things. I learned a lot about schizophrenia from it, and that’s where I originally learned the thing about the ages it develops during. I highly recommend watching it – the premise is really fascinating to me, and I thought it was very well executed. I don’t watch much TV but I always looked forward to that show every week.
BBCC
If THAT ain’t an unexploded bombshell, I dunno what is.
Doctor_Who
Panel 2 would make a good book title.
vitalProximity
Seconded.
shadowcell
Dumbing of Age Book 10: Without Hope, Why Bother?
Lumino
Think that’s a bit too on the nose.
abysswatcher1993
Walky is a dumb version of Junko Enoshima. Despair shows the worse aspects of someone, and in Walky’s case it is sloth.
plasticwrap
You have a point, but isn’t dumping dumping resources (time, energy, etc.) into a hopeless sinking ship literally a waste? I’m thinking sunk cost fallacy here.
I only ask because I tend to agree with Ealky on this particular point. Sometimes we need to force ourselves to hope just to get out of bed in the morning, but that actually proves his point. Without hope, no one would bother. Why do you think so many people don’t bother to vote, or to save for retirement, or to cut down on their carbon footprint?
Yes I am a cynic and a pessimist, but that’s also part of my point: there’s sloth, and then there’s knowing you can’t win.
TemperaryObsessor
Don’t put resources into a sinking ship. But sometimes a sinking ship has stuff on it which might be worth salvaging.
abysswatcher1993
Exactly. Pessimism makes you unable to move and accept doom. Optimism allows you not only to continue, but that if you face doom you are prepared to do what you can to diminish the damage or make peace with yourself before your demise.
abysswatcher1993
Accept your lost and move on with your life. The dead don’t revive, evil will always exist as well as good will always exist, entropy will destroy all so something new begins, justice is created by people, and not everyone shares the same aesthetic tastes. Let’s just be nice and kind and protect beauty until our eventual death.
Anna
You should read ‘On the Beach’ by Nevil Shute, about people who really have no hope and then find a way to live as true humans regardless, by living as if there is a future even though there isn’t. It says a lot about humanity, I think.
Keulen
DoA Book 10: I Guess You Could Say I’m Polycramorous
ValdVin
“My one true love…in a four way tie, leaving you as the top human on my list!”
Should Amber just take the W where she can get it?
Stephen Bierce
I wouldn’t call it a W. I’d call it a drop-back-ten-and-punt-it-downfield.
ValdVin
So, “moral victory”?
plasticwrap
This gives me the impression you are not familiar with the sport of american football.
ValdVin
I know you’re kidding, and appreciate a good joke. However, I live within broadcast range of the New York Jets and know some of their fans. The Jets are about third in the NFL in moral victories behind Miami and Cincinnati.
Kyrik Michalowski
Amber you really need to tell Walky the truth about his grades. And what better time than when he is overjoyed with free food? Seriously, can you think of a better time to receive bad news than when you have just been given free food?
Cyrus
I mean, should she? Now? From what Walky’s saying, it sounds like that would only do harm at this point.
BBCC
Yeah, let him do the work himself and hopefully salvage his grade (which shouldn’t have been unsalvageable in the first place because they literally only did weekly quizzes and homework, not even a midterm yet) and THEN break the bad news when you have an example of him doing the work you can point to.
newllend(henryvolt)
Yeah let’s pull the plug on this before we can salvage the only good thing to come out of this.
newllend(henryvolt)
*Let’s not
abysswatcher1993
Saying the harsh truth is the best option.
Amber: “Walky, you suck and need to get help to study because on your own your are a fucking manchild that does as much self destruction as me!”
Shane Wegner
Why? So Blaine can find out about it and get Amber expelled for hacking? Unless you think Walky is super good at keeping his mouth shut and not blabbing.
Kinoko
He seems to be okay at it. He hasn’t told anyone Amber is Amazigirl. Not anyone who didn’t already know, anyway. And he especially hasn’t told anyone that Amber ISN’T Amazigirl.
Miri
He kinda just told Amber? I mean she was semi-aware that Amqzigirl still seemed to be active when she wasn’t in the costume but not sure if she assumed that making peace with Sal and joining Roller Derby to give herself a healthy outlet for her rage would have stopped that…
SuperZero
He knew she was going to do it, and while she claimed she didn’t he’s now announcing that he’s grateful they’re mysteriously higher than he expected.
I don’t think she needs to tell him.
Terry
This is what I thought too. His use of the word “miraculously” and saying it just as Amber was feeling sorry for herself about Amazigirl’s successes was a bit too on the nose. I felt he said it purposely in an off-hand way because he didn’t want to thank her for doing the wrong thing he asked her not to do, but wanted to acknowledge that he figured it out and that it did end up helping him in the long run. Or maybe I’m giving Walky too much credit.
Seregiel
This was my take and I’m not that charitable to Walky as a character. He’s very good at understanding people even if he isn’t very good at what to do with that understanding the vast majority of the time.
Needfuldoer
Yeah, Walky’s a lot more perceptive than he lets on. He’s just lazy and would rather avoid unpleasant things than confront them.
abysswatcher1993
I AM GOING TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF WALKY UNTIL HE GETS HOPE OR HE AGREES TO GET HIMSELF TO THERAPY OR A COUNSELOR SO HE ADMITS HE HAS TROUBLE STUDYING!
Seriously, Amber’s expression in the last panel is howww I feel wwhenever I heard edgelords in anime and in real life.
3oranges
Wait, is Walky an edgelord? He seems more immature than edgy to me, and I’m sure he’s more of a duke.
Adam Black
You are thinking of Thingley ?
3oranges
Always!
SuperZero
Eh? He’s tried one thing and it’s working.
Delicious Taffy
How is he even remotely edgy, here? He’s saying there wouldn’t have been a point in trying to study if his grades weren’t salvageable. He doesn’t know the real reason they can be salvaged, but as long as he thinks they can be, he’s got at least that much motivation. “I wouldn’t have tried if it didn’t have a chance of working” isn’t edgy, it’s just sorta reasonable.
abysswatcher1993
Is there any certainty that Walky will actually improve with the lies he believes?
Delicious Taffy
That’s irrelevant. He has the motivation and has put up at least a token effort so far, so why bother downing him about it maybe not paying off at a later date?
This is specifically in response to all but the last 5 words you tacked on, because I’m not sure what lies you’re talking about.
abysswatcher1993
The academic fraud committed by Amber and that could bite their asses.
Shane Wegner
In theory, there is a small risk this could come up later, but I really doubt it. The only professor likely to even suspect Walky’s IRL and computer didn’t match up was fired when a lucky offhand comment revealed he had an inappropriate relationship with a student. I really doubt whatever overworked teacher was rushed in to fill the gap on top of all their other work is going to be tryhard enough to cross reference all the grades in the computer, if that’s even possible. And given what I remember about Walky eating paper, sounds like they don’t even keep the paper on file TO cross reference.
Given Walky appears to be turning over a new leaf, the new professor is that much more likely to accept the computer matches the IRL.
Shane Wegner
On a different axis, if this did come all the way to light, hacking grades could be an expellable offense maybe even with prison time for hacking if the school got super serious about it. Blaine could get his wish of Amber being expelled by using this if he found out about it, or maybe get lucky and have this succeed even if his own plans fail.
SuperZero
If the teacher kept the papers, the students couldn’t reference them. That would be a terrible plan.
Shane
“Take a look at your mistakes, then hand’em in” could work. Or even more thorough, “take a picture of the grade for each one.” Effective, but tedious to manage.
jez2718
One way this could get caught is if Jason filled out his grades in a spreadsheet, which he then emailed to the prof who would collate it into the document Amber hacked–this is how it works at the uni I work at. So the prof could have a record of Walky’s real grades buried in their emails should someone get suspicious.
(Also, a nitpick–but I do get confused by how americans use ‘professor’–Jason wasn’t a professor. Given that he was TAing, he might even have still been a Grad Student, though given that he only shared an office with one other person I’m guessing postdoc.)
thejeff
I believe grad student. And I suspect that’s more one poster misremembering than American usage of Professor.
He Who Abides
I believe that anyone calling Jason “Professor” is being sarcastic.
I hope.
Gwen
As an American post-doc who taught classes while still a grad student, I can say with authority that faculty and grad students are acutely aware that teaching assistants are not “professors.” Undergrads, however, tend to use “professor” to refer to all instructors indiscriminately, sometimes even after being corrected by the instructor her/him/themself.