I now feel weirdly left out that i don’t know anyone (to my knowledge) who’s been kidnapped. Is my life emptier as a result?
Bicycle Bill
I don’t know if you’d actually call it “kidnapping”, but when I was in college and pledging a frat some of the members grabbed me and another one of the pledges, blindfolded us, and hauled us out into the countryside, and dropped us off. They then told us to ‘find our way back’ and drove off.
What they DIDN’T know is that I was already a serious cyclists and knew just about every highway and crossroads in the county. Within three minutes I knew exactly where we were, where we had to go, and – to make a long story short – we were sitting comfortably at a crossroads tavern enjoying some adult beverages within about a half-hour or so of being dumped off.
Actually I would argue Bloomington, Indiana is a lot larger than what technically would qualify as a town by most commonly recognized definitions. It’s probably the most debatable aspect of his statements.
Cholma
Except that NO ONE says “my parents are in city” “in village” “in hamlet” or any other variant of “town”. It’s a colloquialism that’s used for any-sized community, and therefore not debatable.
Now, as to whether or not Walky’s statement that he is “wildly desirable” is debatable depends on your personal preferences vis a vis attractiveness.
Thanatos
Ah, but his statement points out that it’s not just physical attractiveness. In this case he was desired as someone who could be used to influence someone else. You can’t argue that he is desired. He is desired (by a couple people) as a romantic partner, by at least one as an emotional hostage, and by hoards of people to throw things at when he makes bad jokes.
Sirksome
In the spirit of debate I guess, I would note that Walky was actually kidnapped on accident because he was dressed like a superhero and Blaine’s douchbro hires were characteristically incompetent. Not because he was desired as any form of leverage.
EnerPrime
He’s Amber’s friend and her current romantic interest, and just about any surveillance of her life would reveal that. For Blaine’s goal of getting leverage over Amber, Walky is one of the best of the kidnapping victims for that goal alongside only Ethan. Joyce, Dorothy and Sarah have far more distant friendships with Amber, and wouldn’t get nearly the same level of emotional response from Amber as Walky and Ethan. So depending on how much groundwork Blaine had done, Walky could very very likely was a specific kidnapping target.
Sirksome
I mean WE know that, but even Blaine specifically doesn’t know why Walky was there.
Unless he also has a disassociated identity keeping information from himself. I’d believe it.
Sirksome
Look friend…I-I know the saying. I was trying to be obnoxious and pedantic as a way of roasting Walky because I don’t like him okay. Please don’t take that away from me. I don’t have much of value in these uncertain times.
clif
You can have toilet paper or being right about Walky, but not both.
Dangit, are they sold out of being right about Wally again?!
ughhh
Ugh, unfortunately it’s tautalogical. That it is being debated is the proof that it is debateable. But it’s like talking to my ex. Just because any reasonable person can see the answer, doesn’t end their attempt to argue it anyways.
Deanatay
“broadly”, not “wildly” (which I think you may be mistaking for “widely”). Walky is not referring to intensity of feeling, but range. A lot of people desire him, they do not intensely desire him.
Wait, what? Was it a toilet paper just for ladies?
Agemegos
No, it was just a brand of TP with “Lady Scott” written on the package. But now that you mention it, a well-known ploy for increasing sales volume and profit margins is to create a “for women!” range that is just your usual product with “for women!” written on the packet and a higher price.
I was about to disagree with you, but then I kind of remembered how she dumped Danny saying that she couldn’t be in a relationship with her ambitions then got with Walky not to long after. I wouldn’t say she is a terrible person in general, but in the dating game she has made some hurtful decisions
She dumped Danny because he wasn’t supportive of her ambitions, not because of her ambitions.
Plain Marie
Speaking of Danny, we haven’t seen him in comic for…. weeks? Months? He’s out of the loop.
Slartibeast Button, BIA
He fell through a dimensional warp into an alternate universe where he is The Chosen One. He will be back soon, 40 years old and all buff.
He Who Abides
She told him that it was her greatest kindness to him. That’s not cool, especially when his own parents think he’s worthless without her.
timemonkey
It was absolutely correct given he was following her around with no ambition or aim in life other than them being together and that somehow making everything work.
And she’s not responsible for what his parents think or do.
JetstreamGW
Don’t forget that he was also being a codependent smothering pain in the ass.
If I remember correctly, Danny hoped out loud that Dorothy would change her mind and stay at this school with him, despite the fact that she had repeatedly told him she wouldn’t, gone over her plans, and even suggested he go to a different school in the first place.
And the fact that she didn’t dump him prior to this says to me that she was willing to try a long distance relationship. Danny, however, was not actually willing. He was being a bit of a weasel about it. That’s why Dorothy dumped him, he had talked the talk, but then tried to walk it back.
I wouldn’t call her a terrible girlfriend, but I do think that the readers tend to ignore Dorothy’s clear flaws because her flaws happen to be highly relatable ones like “workaholic”. But yeah, Dorothy isn’t the best partner or friend these days, and she’s not very kind to herself, either.
I’m honestly worried that Willis is going to be unwilling to tell a burnout story with her because he’ll feel like it’s sexist to tell that story about a character like Dorothy. It’s the most obvious crisis for her to have, and the only realistic direction for someone in her situation.
We can’t leave* Bill and Ted* out in the rain, either.
clif
Or Heinlein’s By His Bootstraps.
hof1991
Let’s forget Heinlein. He used time travel to go back and boink his mother. Like most 50s and 60s SF, he is barely readable now. There’s classic SF and old SF and he’s the second.
Bicycle Bill
I wish to dispute that statement. Sure, some of his work didn’t wear so well, but there are other examples — such as “Stranger in a Strange Land”; you don’t win a Hugo Award in 1962 or get selected fifty years later by the Library of Congress as one of eighty-eight “Books that Shaped America” by writing dreck — that are and always will be classic sci-fi.
170 thoughts on “Statements”
Ana Chronistic
idk, I like people who aren’t kidnapped
…
not saying that as a 45-ism, just that people I like have not been kidnapped (that I know of)
neptune432
That you know of? Sounds to me like you shouldn’t be talking so confidently.
Jothki
Kidnapped people are just so needy.
Anna
I really like someone who’s been kidnapped.
I don’t know if any other friends were ever kidnapped though.
Deanatay
I now feel weirdly left out that i don’t know anyone (to my knowledge) who’s been kidnapped. Is my life emptier as a result?
Bicycle Bill
I don’t know if you’d actually call it “kidnapping”, but when I was in college and pledging a frat some of the members grabbed me and another one of the pledges, blindfolded us, and hauled us out into the countryside, and dropped us off. They then told us to ‘find our way back’ and drove off.
What they DIDN’T know is that I was already a serious cyclists and knew just about every highway and crossroads in the county. Within three minutes I knew exactly where we were, where we had to go, and – to make a long story short – we were sitting comfortably at a crossroads tavern enjoying some adult beverages within about a half-hour or so of being dumped off.
Ana Chronistic
that’s a hazing
possibly a kid-dumping
BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
I did that to myself once, accidentally. Fucking Apple Maps.
nothri
Well, if your feeling left out there isn’t anything to do but start kidnapping people!
Needfuldoer
Seems like an odd thing to judge someone for. Usually it’s not their fault!
McBogue
I like kidnapped people – if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have kidnapped them.
Doctor_Who
I still say she was concussed by the toy.
clif
As attractive as the time travel hypothesis is, I must admit your explanation is more probable.
OtterBoy1
Ayy it’s Billie!
Nono
Wow, we haven’t seen Billie in DoA in like, four months.
clif
She was talking.to Ruth just yesterday.
Ray Radlein
So TEN months, then
BBCC
I like how Walky is admitting that him standing up to them even MILDLY is going to have them be dickbags.
And I love Billie and Walky. As per usual.
Sirksome
Meh. Basically everything Walky said is debatable.
deathjavu
His parents are definitely in town, it’s hard to debate that.
Delicious Taffy
Physically, their bodies may be present. Spiritually and mentally, they appear to be elsewhere entirely.
Sirksome
Actually I would argue Bloomington, Indiana is a lot larger than what technically would qualify as a town by most commonly recognized definitions. It’s probably the most debatable aspect of his statements.
Cholma
Except that NO ONE says “my parents are in city” “in village” “in hamlet” or any other variant of “town”. It’s a colloquialism that’s used for any-sized community, and therefore not debatable.
Now, as to whether or not Walky’s statement that he is “wildly desirable” is debatable depends on your personal preferences vis a vis attractiveness.
Thanatos
Ah, but his statement points out that it’s not just physical attractiveness. In this case he was desired as someone who could be used to influence someone else. You can’t argue that he is desired. He is desired (by a couple people) as a romantic partner, by at least one as an emotional hostage, and by hoards of people to throw things at when he makes bad jokes.
Sirksome
In the spirit of debate I guess, I would note that Walky was actually kidnapped on accident because he was dressed like a superhero and Blaine’s douchbro hires were characteristically incompetent. Not because he was desired as any form of leverage.
EnerPrime
He’s Amber’s friend and her current romantic interest, and just about any surveillance of her life would reveal that. For Blaine’s goal of getting leverage over Amber, Walky is one of the best of the kidnapping victims for that goal alongside only Ethan. Joyce, Dorothy and Sarah have far more distant friendships with Amber, and wouldn’t get nearly the same level of emotional response from Amber as Walky and Ethan. So depending on how much groundwork Blaine had done, Walky could very very likely was a specific kidnapping target.
Sirksome
I mean WE know that, but even Blaine specifically doesn’t know why Walky was there.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/hires/
Unless he also has a disassociated identity keeping information from himself. I’d believe it.
Sirksome
Look friend…I-I know the saying. I was trying to be obnoxious and pedantic as a way of roasting Walky because I don’t like him okay. Please don’t take that away from me. I don’t have much of value in these uncertain times.
clif
You can have toilet paper or being right about Walky, but not both.
clif
Fair is fair.
Ana Chronistic
Dangit, are they sold out of being right about Wally again?!
ughhh
Ugh, unfortunately it’s tautalogical. That it is being debated is the proof that it is debateable. But it’s like talking to my ex. Just because any reasonable person can see the answer, doesn’t end their attempt to argue it anyways.
Deanatay
“broadly”, not “wildly” (which I think you may be mistaking for “widely”). Walky is not referring to intensity of feeling, but range. A lot of people desire him, they do not intensely desire him.
TemporalShrew
Hey, he clarified that he stood up to them “an inch,” which is a sufficiently diminutive way to put it.
Not like he’s claiming he flipped a table on ’em.
Tan
Objectively-speaking, he was in fact kidnapped.
clif
You mean at birth when the head alien switched him with the real Walky?
Koms
Take my internets
Stephen Bierce
Q: What toilet paper had the best jingle?
Cholma
I don’t know about “best jingle”, but Mr. Whipple was the best spokesman!
Agemegos
It isn’t quite a jingle, but I always liked the line “Wipe your bot with Lady Scott”, which used to appear in ads.
Someone called Lady Scott sued and lost.
clif
What did her bot think about the matter?
Or was it required to approve by the three laws?
Ana Chronistic
I’m retroactively upset that both my brother and I were named after sanitary products
(not really, but if it were like second grade again, and “Julie” sanitary napkins were remotely popular, it’d be an issue)
Leadsynth
Wait, what? Was it a toilet paper just for ladies?
Agemegos
No, it was just a brand of TP with “Lady Scott” written on the package. But now that you mention it, a well-known ploy for increasing sales volume and profit margins is to create a “for women!” range that is just your usual product with “for women!” written on the packet and a higher price.
Ryek Hvek
the correct answer is “None of them.” – we are waiting for the introduction of a new brand, by the makers of Sharkbite plumbing fittings.
Bicycle Bill
I’m waiting for “Cornholio” brand, so someone will finally create a song about needing “TP for my bunghole”.
C.T Phipps
Dorothy is kind of a terrible girlfriend, Billie.
Delicious Taffy
You’re 100% right. Just for starters, she’s not even dating him, which seems like a really low bar to clear and she’s just… not clearing it.
Mra
I was about to disagree with you, but then I kind of remembered how she dumped Danny saying that she couldn’t be in a relationship with her ambitions then got with Walky not to long after. I wouldn’t say she is a terrible person in general, but in the dating game she has made some hurtful decisions
timemonkey
She dumped Danny because he wasn’t supportive of her ambitions, not because of her ambitions.
Plain Marie
Speaking of Danny, we haven’t seen him in comic for…. weeks? Months? He’s out of the loop.
Slartibeast Button, BIA
He fell through a dimensional warp into an alternate universe where he is The Chosen One. He will be back soon, 40 years old and all buff.
He Who Abides
She told him that it was her greatest kindness to him. That’s not cool, especially when his own parents think he’s worthless without her.
timemonkey
It was absolutely correct given he was following her around with no ambition or aim in life other than them being together and that somehow making everything work.
And she’s not responsible for what his parents think or do.
JetstreamGW
Don’t forget that he was also being a codependent smothering pain in the ass.
Chubsius
If I remember correctly, Danny hoped out loud that Dorothy would change her mind and stay at this school with him, despite the fact that she had repeatedly told him she wouldn’t, gone over her plans, and even suggested he go to a different school in the first place.
And the fact that she didn’t dump him prior to this says to me that she was willing to try a long distance relationship. Danny, however, was not actually willing. He was being a bit of a weasel about it. That’s why Dorothy dumped him, he had talked the talk, but then tried to walk it back.
SuperZero
She also treated Walky really condescendingly, and expected her orders regarding his clothing to be obeyed without question.
Tan
Being fair, she seemed willing to be reciprocal on that matter.
paleotectonics
She’s (at most) 18, thinks she’s acting like she’s 40, actually acts like she’s 12. IOW teenager.
(…scares the living shit out of me)
BBCC
She’s 19, or nearly 19.
Yenklette
I wouldn’t call her a terrible girlfriend, but I do think that the readers tend to ignore Dorothy’s clear flaws because her flaws happen to be highly relatable ones like “workaholic”. But yeah, Dorothy isn’t the best partner or friend these days, and she’s not very kind to herself, either.
I’m honestly worried that Willis is going to be unwilling to tell a burnout story with her because he’ll feel like it’s sexist to tell that story about a character like Dorothy. It’s the most obvious crisis for her to have, and the only realistic direction for someone in her situation.
KJ
My burnout was in high school, and that was rough enough. Burning out in college has gotta be terrible
Cyrus
Isn’t burnout basically her current story arc?
deathjavu
“Look, someone I’d never even met before wanted me badly enough to hire goons to kidnap me! I’m desirable merchandise!”
Reltzik
I dunno, Billie. Star Wars doesn’t have time travel. I’m thinking you’re a Star Trek nerd as well.
Doctor_Who
*ahem*, I’ll have you know that Star Trek is not the only science fiction franchise to prominently feature time travel!
…There’s also Back to the Future.
Delicious Taffy
Can’t forget Red Dwarf.
He Who Abides
And the oft-forgotten Mr. Peabody and Sherman.
Anthony Paoli
We can’t leave* Bill and Ted* out in the rain, either.
clif
Or Heinlein’s By His Bootstraps.
hof1991
Let’s forget Heinlein. He used time travel to go back and boink his mother. Like most 50s and 60s SF, he is barely readable now. There’s classic SF and old SF and he’s the second.
Bicycle Bill
I wish to dispute that statement. Sure, some of his work didn’t wear so well, but there are other examples — such as “Stranger in a Strange Land”; you don’t win a Hugo Award in 1962 or get selected fifty years later by the Library of Congress as one of eighty-eight “Books that Shaped America” by writing dreck — that are and always will be classic sci-fi.