151

Superstitious
Posted on November 10, 2020 by David M Willis

151 thoughts on “Superstitious”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    I’d be surprised Lucy didn’t notice sooner, but I keep thinking of the time I (female-presenting) had a co-worker over the walky-talky tell me, “Thank you, sir!”

    and my male-presenting but extremely effeminate-voiced co-worker said, “Did he call you SIR??”

    so idk natural autotuning or something

    1. Stephen Bierce

      I’ve been called “Miss” or “Ma’am” over the phone myself. Now when I answer the phone I hold my hand against my belly Napoleonic style. It does tend to help.

      1. lsdf

        I swear my voice goes up like a whole octave sometimes when I’m on the phone.

        1. Yet_One_More_Idiot

          The only time I got mistaken for a girl was when I was like 5 and I was with my dad in a petrol station, I had long kinda-curly blonde hair at the time and the store clerk said “You have a lovely daughter” and we both said “He’s my/I’m his son!” xD

        2. Ana Chronistic

          I just remembered an older dad once had his infant son in a stroller, and someone said, “Your granddaughter is so adorable!” After that person left, he said, “Son, I think we were both insulted.”

        3. Hilen

          Whenever my voice is recorded, I’m either a woman, or a baby koala. I hate it with my guts. So yeah, I understand *that*.

        4. Van Jealous

          That happens to a lot of folks. For an example watch an episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle (the original 60’s version) and listen to the voice of the fast talking, high-pitched narrator. Next watch part of any episode of the old “Cannon” cop show staring William Conrad. It’s the SAME PERSON!

        5. Needfuldoer

          I hate the sound of my own voice because I permanently sound congested, like that “low mocking dumb guy” voice everyone does. It also still cracks in the middle of sentences sometimes. Ugh.

    2. Tynam

      I have a high tenor voice; nobody ever misgenders me when they can see me, but on the phone people call me “Mrs” all the time.

      Honestly, it really makes me appreciate my privilege sometimes – I’m cis and don’t have any experiences that make it hurtful to be misgendered.

    3. Kali

      See i’m frustrated by my voice, cause like, i can do several deep, very masculine voices, and use them a lot when GMing, buuut, i just want a feminine voice and am too self conscious about trying them, some reason especially around people i know…

    4. Spencer

      I am frequently confused for my mother when I answer the phone.

      It does not feel good.

  2. Chris

    Plot twisted, as predicted.

    1. clif

      That went … better than I thought it would.

    2. Rose by Any Other Name

      Indeed. I would post something akin to “called it” but like dozens of people called it.
      The hair gave it away. Well, and the general attitude.

    3. Reltzik

      Yup, that’s definitely Billie.

      1. Ryek Hvek

        *snerk*

        1. clif

          Is not. It’s obviously Sidney.

  3. Octopus Ink

    Here’s hopin’ this semester isn’t “Haulin’ Ass To Lollapalooza”.

    1. clif

      I feel there was a cultural reference I didn’t get.

  4. Doctor_Who

    Walky’s off to a good start, he can pronounce his hero name as a Logo.

    Still needs work on the accent if he wants to add a ™.

    1. Stephen Bierce

      Better still an ®.

      1. pdp15

        No, ™ is needed for the merch sales.

        1. Casi

          TM still only protects the Nightguy IP within the locality of the university. if walky gets the registered trademark, that would protect the Nightguy IP across the US, so no one else can try and make money off of him. much better merch sales and licensing agreements from an (r) than a TM

    2. Rose by Any Other Name

      I like that he lists dealing with emotions as a super power.
      Around these parts, it kinda is.

      1. JR

        Well, Amazi-Girl’s super power is being “immune to criticism”, isn’t it?

  5. Some1

    “And I can deal genuinely with emotions!”

    Well he’s got a head start on half the DOA commenters.

    1. Kelli

      Case in point. Someone’s using blanket insults to compensate for insecurity.

    2. Bryy

      ….. well that was uncalled for and ridiculously aggressive.

      1. Some1

        I mean, it’s a joke. Besides don’t we all have trouble dealing with emotions to some degree?

        1. Reltzik

          To some degree? Acutely. I just can’t get it right. I’m just so obtuse about it.

        2. clif

          Were you angling for some kind of joke?

        3. StClair

          I think we’ve gotten off on a tangent here.

        4. Pedantic Jerkass

          “It’s a joke”/”I’m just kidding”/”It was sarcasm” is not, never was, and never will be a get out of jail free card for saying stupid, hateful stuff.

  6. drs

    Tag says ‘walky’ not ‘nightguy’. No DID.

    1. clif

      Yet.

  7. BBCC

    Well, weirding them out is one way to de-escalate.

    1. 3oranges

      I remember someone telling me a story about their friend who almost got in a fight in a bar, but took off their shoes for it, and that was weird enough that the other person backed down immediately. 🙂

      1. Jhon

        Sierra?

      2. Sunny

        That reminds me of a video Ozzy Man commentated where you can tell things are escalating towards a fight and then one of them starts to undress and the other guy just nopes out of there.

      3. Eric

        Someone read Dune and took it too seriously?

      4. Kali

        I had read or watched something at one point that said if encountering a mugger, the easiest way to deescalate the situation is to confuse the person, the reason they gave is, the adrenaline is giving them a kind of tunnel vision on what to do next for certain predictable scenarios, and when you throw one they couldn’t be expecting it derails their brain and emotions, and can even lead to like, a full on adrenaline crash.

        I should try to find that again…

  8. Proto_Eevee

    All sexual harassers fear the power of a tiny nerd with his hands raised.

    1. clif

      That and a witness.

  9. StClair

    A superstitious cowardly lot!
    They plan and plot but they always get caught!
    Their evil schemes all come to naught!
    A superstitious cowardly lot!

    1. Jeff K!

      Schwarbage.

  10. Lingo

    Ha ha, Nightguy is trying to positively assert he can do exactly what Booster (accurately) told Walky he couldn’t.

    So is Lucy going to be the opposite of Danny: Infatuated with Walky while having no interest in Nightguy?

    1. AntJ

      Maybe mangling his emotions over winter break convinced him he needed Garbage Roof after all, and a version of himself to escape from instead of recede into as before. Interesting development

  11. Diner Kinetic

    The hero we deserved- by which I mean, all we do is read a comic once a day so the bar for our heroes was honestly pretty low

  12. showler

    Well, I was completely wrong.

    1. clif

      Don’t let Nightguy’s Walky impersonation fool you.

      1. Deanatay

        Yep, no way that’s Walky!

        It’s like how Superman doesn’t wear glasses, or how Cow doesn’t speak Spanish! Walky can’t deal genuinely with emotions, so this CAN’T be him!

  13. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

    Looking at most of the cast, dealing genuinely with emotions feels like a superpower. A power I didn’t think Walky had, to be honest.

    1. Exarch

      He definitely didn’t back in september, but we’ve seen him grow a lot; he actually confronts his emotions head-on pretty regularly these days

    2. ValdVin

      His alter can do that. Can Walky? We’ll see.

      And that’s a great nod to Amazi-Girl’s superpower, Immunity to Criticism.

      1. bcb

        Immunity to criticism hasn’t been mentioned as an Amzigirl power in DoA, has it? I thought that was effectively removed in the continuity jump.

      2. a/snow/mous/e

        He doesn’t have DID. He’s just wearing a costume.

    3. Andrusi

      It does seem to be about on par with breathing in space.

  14. Stephen Bierce

    And they look from such a height
    That somehow it’s all right
    They’re Talking Back to the Night
    It’s all that they can do
    Talking Back to the Night
    It’s how they make it through
    If you listen you can hear them
    Their voices draw you near them
    They’re Talking Back to the Night for you!    –Steve Winwood, circa 1982 and 1986 (it was a hit TWICE!)

    1. Stephen Bierce

      I could have gone with Stevie Wonder/SRV too, but maybe I’ll do that later.

  15. Greg

    Uh so we’re gonna see Walky almost get the shit beaten out of him at some point because he’s not able to do what Amazigirl does, right?

    1. Greg

      I’m not looking forward to that, but that is my first guess after seeing this at 12:16 AM.

      1. Bogeywoman

        Ngl I sort of am looking forward to it… not cos I want walk to hurt or anything. Just a little bit of schadenfreud and a lot of wanting to see Lucy be the one to step up and whoop ass

  16. opal

    Who is that?

    1. Needfuldoer

      You don’t recognize the Duke of Thingley when you see him?

  17. guavajagular

    Choose your super power: Immune to Criticism, or Genuinely Deal with Emotions

    1. Some1

      I feel like if you can genuinely deal with emotions you’re already equipped to handle criticism pretty well.

    2. TemperaryObsessor

      The second the first it too corrupting.

    3. Reltzik

      Genuinely dealing with emotions lets you extract value from some types of criticism and deflect the other types, so I’d call that an overall win.

    4. thumb

      Walky thought he had the second in his parachute, but it’s just an ordinary backpack.

    5. Arianod

      There are two wolves inside you…

  18. abysswatcher1993

    While many edgy writers like Alan Moore and Garth Ennis will complain about our need for superheroes and masked vigilantes, let’s remember why people want those even if they are fantasies. It’s because modern cops have disgraced their uniforms, the military abuse civilians, the government cares more about public image than solving social problems and companies only care about profit.

    We created superheroes as modern gods that represent a desire for a helping hand, but when that desire isn’t fullfilled people become dissappointed and the nihilism and apathy plagues human hearts.

    Walky imitating what Amber did would seem immature, and what Amber did looked dangerous to Sal, but these acts of masked vigilantism instead of being a fascist hobby as Mike claimed, are a symptom of a youth that is trying to cope with all the awfulness adults older than them have done. As Becky said, we are two steps from becoming those adults that smash hopes and dreams.

    1. Mariah Hardnett

      Yeah that’s why I’m tired of edgy if superheros were real they would be corrupt. Like yeah that’s the point of them being fictional.

      1. Chris Phoenix

        We know what happens when people get extra power. Some of them use it shallowly. Some use it for good. Some use it destructively.
        … We call them billionaires.

        1. Bicycle Bill

          “All power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
          That’s why we have the madness we’re in now… and it’s not just because of someone whose initials were DJT.

        2. thejeff

          In that case I think it’s more the fear of the loss of power.

      2. Geneseepaws

        I thought the ‘Incredibles’ were pretty upright and on the square. I might have missed something.

        1. Reltzik

          The underlying message of the movie is “powerful people should be free to use their power without being held down by the unease of the uncomprehending masses” and it’s basically Randian objectivism.

        2. wwwhhattt

          I thought it was more `Your family are the real heroes, not super rich arseholes`

        3. DonDueed

          I thought it was “No capes!”

        4. thejeff

          It completely breaks with Randian objectivism, since the whole motivation is helping others – which in Randian terms is bad. It’s closer to some modern forms of libertarianism, which propose charity as preferable to government intervention.

        5. C.T Phipps

          The “Incredibles are Objectivist” fails for the same reason that Steve Dikto wasn’t a very good objectivist. The idea of using superpowers for the benefit of others and not yourself is a fundamentally antithetical ideal to objectivism.

      3. Sam

        And it’s also not true. When it has been studied what people would do if put in the position of ‘superhero’ – their tendency towards helping people increases a notable degree because they feel more responsibility to do the right thing. That specific type of power makes people feel like they must set a good example.

        Power in systematic settings where bad behaviour is rewarded, overlooked, or not punished effectively though does tend to corrupt quite easily and often, especially when money comes into play.

        1. thejeff

          I guess that depends on what you mean by “position of superhero”. I am curious about those studies though.

  19. Yotomoe

    Walky can’t stop being best boy goddamn.

  20. Raen

    I can’t be the only one thinking of Always Sunny, can I?

  21. Jonah Sanville

    im actually not a fan of nightguy, feels like he’s undermining amazi-girl ((albeit unintentionally)) who’s much more complex and powerful. if he didnt create nightguy whilst being involved with amber, maybe i’d think otherwise

    1. Yotomoe

      I’m just sick of DC releasing all these legacy characters. The Amazi-girl run was just getting good and now I have to read these Nightguy issues to get the other half of the story.

      1. clif

        Have a spare Internet.

  22. ADLegend21

    NIGHT GUY, master of the 8 gates!…..wrong media…sorry.

    1. Renshear Blade

      could you picture Walky with a bowlcut?

    2. EvilMidnightLurker

      THE BEAUTIFUL ORANGE AND GRAYISH BLUE BEAST

  23. Yotomoe

    I wonder if the costume will make Lucy LESS attracted to him or like…way more?

  24. NinjaNick

    Bye, creep.

    Nightguy is cool. Not Amazi-Girl cool, but close enough.

  25. TemporalShrew

    Ah, yes, Nightguy possesses the superpower of making a situation too socially awkward for the villain to tolerate, thus forcing them to abandon their evil plot entirely in order to escape it.

    Truly a mighty weapon.

    1. Reltzik

      Wait, that’s a SUPERPOWER?

      …. In that case, I’ve really been wasting my talents.

      1. thejeff

        Unfortunately, I tend to make situations too socially awkward for me first. It kind of backfires.

  26. Bagge

    I love the fact that it worked

    1. Council

      Beat poser criminals with sheer cringe

  27. goggleman64

    I am blindsided by the knowledge of why people keep crushing on Walky. As it turns out, he’s amazing.

  28. Carl Muckenhoupt

    But Walky, orange and purple are *bad guy* colors. Heroes mostly go for primary colors and sometimes green. Even dark, brooding heroes generally just add more black and grey into the mix rather than go for secondaries.

    1. Daibhid C

      Unless you’re a female Bat-character, in which case purples are the way to go (Batgirl, Huntress, Spoiler). Orange not so much, I admit.

      As the “male Amazi-Girl counterpart”, Walky could well be riffing on that.

  29. ElectricBlue

    It’s Walky! (Oh sorry, It’s NightGuy!) I guess Lucy didn’t recognize him after all, as I had guessed yesterday, which makes sense since this leaves a much higher potential for Hijinks and Shenanigans

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      A Lucy-Walky-Nightguy love triangle? Are her initials LL?

    2. MacareuxMoine

      I’m not convinced: maybe she just rolls with it, to make him happy (nobody likes to hear that you can see through their disguise). Also I believe, that she is genre-savvy enough to know that the hero’s girlfriend is not supposed to know he’s the hero.

  30. Kravis

    Nightguy!

    Not the hero the campus needs, the one it deserves!

  31. a/snow/mous/e

    How did Walky even know an incident would happen there though?

    1. Ray Radlein

      Maybe he was creeping on Lucy himself

  32. Wereg

    See y’all nerds in a few months

  33. BenRG

    It is actually impossible to understate what a bad idea this is. Even assuming that Walky has even the slightest bit of training, the likelihood that he has Amber’s level of skill is close to zero. He’s either going to end up hurting himself or get beaten to a pulp by some thug he confronts and can’t intimidate by being weird.

    Side note: Lucy was the second Amazi-Girl in the Walkyverse. Might history be about to repeat itself, if only to save Walky’s skin?

    1. Agemegos

      Impossible to understate how bad? Meaning that even “it’s hardly bad at all” is an overstatement?

      1. BenRG

        Okay, so I meant ‘overstate’. I post first thing in the morning and the coffee hasn’t always had time to kick in!

        1. Agemegos

          Never post before coffee!

    2. BBCC

      Fortunately it didn’t come to a fight because the guy was either too weirded out or backed off when he realized there was a witness.

      But yes, this is still a monumentally bad idea.

  34. Keulen

    Nightguy drives away jerks by being weird and awkward. No violence necessary!

  35. SuperFroakie82

    Walky please don’t this is a very bad idea.

    1. SuperFroakie82

      Also, Amber’s gonna be crushed if she finds out her and AG’s influence led to Walky trying to be a vigilante and getting hurt. Or maybe even worse, finding out he’s following her lead on dealing with his problems by trying to creating a separate, better version of himself.

      1. Sirksome

        Weirdly even though I don’t like Walky I’m more okay with his attempt at vigilantism than Amber’s. Mainly because he doesn’t seem like he’ll be nearly as effective and his intentions (if he even has any besides this is cool) might be better. Amber did a lot of good as AG but she also did some pretty questionable things and was skilled at hurting people and AG’s work was an obvious outlet for that Sal even called her out on. At AG’s worst she was running around, actively antagonizing people to try and start fights. I don’t think Walky will harass people for underage drinking in a parking lot off campus or steal a street sign just because the guy tagging it wouldn’t fist fight her.

  36. Sirksome

    Mph. I guess technially he didn’t do anything but I’m not okay with that guy getting to walk away. This campus has a real “I’m a creepy guy wandering around at night with questionable intentions, usually toward women alone” problem! It feels like the school’s turning a blind eye to it too. Like somehow men harrassing people is just the cost of being a college. Bleh. I’m mad!

    1. Agemegos

      The IU campus in the Dumbiverse is a hellmouth.

      1. BenRG

        All the better to justify needing costumed heroes to protect the innocent!

    2. thejeff

      Welcome to the world.

      Though at real colleges most of the creepy guys with questionable intentions, usually toward women alone are cruising parties not just wandering the night. It’s a more efficient technique.

  37. DarkoNeko

    W-what the fuck ?

  38. BenRG

    Walky is proving just how little he understands what Amber, Sal and even Joyce have gone through both as victims of and fighting criminal evil. He’s going to get himself hospitalised because he’s incapable of understanding the stakes, thinking that, if Amber has done it, so can he.

    1. Zaxares

      Yes. I’m glad that he could be here to help Lucy this time around, but this is a disaster waiting to happen. Walky does not have the physique or the fighting skills that AG has. He got lucky this time; someone else might decide to take up the challenge and then injuries are gonna happen.

  39. Sombrero

    I honestly can’t tell if Walky is foolishly imitating Amber or this is his way to acknowledge-without-acknowledgment that he feels something for Lucy.

  40. foducool

    ahahah good job didn’t see that one coming XD

  41. Chronos

    Ahhh, *there’s* the tag.

    Does it show up now on the previous page?

    Let’s see here….

    …it does!

  42. Mr.Morningstar

    Ah now we shall see what would actually happen should a college student dress up like a super hero trying to be a vigilante

    It would not go well

  43. Geneseepaws

    Walky, dude! You are going to need a LOT more sleep than you can get during classes and still keep your grades up. Don’t do this.

  44. SteveCharb

    The hero we need AND deserve

  45. Vulcanodon

    Hope Sal will straighten him out before he ends up in the hospital or worse.

  46. thumb

    A core component of superheroics is obvious denial. “I can deal genuinely with emotions!”
    Sure, Walky.
    Sure.

  47. Paradox

    This is better than it being Faz. I’m fine being wrong.

  48. Icalasari

    So looks like Walky DOES have a more androgynous voice

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      Actually I’m pretty sure the blue text bubble just means it’s deeper and growlier than normal.

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        (Okay I guess he was mistaken for a girl, but a girl who puts on a deep voice so … idk)

        1. Zatar

          In my head Amber has a pretty low voice and Walky has a relatively high one by default so I think it checks out that they could sound similar when they go for deep n growly.

  49. Rabisch

    Oh no!!! The virus has spread!

  50. Deanatay

    Everyone’s saying this Nightguy is Walky – I’m not buying it! Everyone knows Walky can’t deal genuinely with emotions, this MUST be someone else!

  51. Michael Haneline

    Any bets on who Nightguy is? I’m betting it’s Danny.

    1. Sam

      Sal but she folded her hair up, clipped it with bobby pins, and let the rest fall into disarray on top to make it look like she was Walky instead. There could totally be many pins in that hair that you can’t see holding it in place because it is dark.

  52. James Rye

    So Walky got a split personality as well now? I had no idea this could be contagious.

  53. Deanatay

    NightGuy: I can Deal Genuinely With Emotions!!

    AmaziGirl: CURSES!! My one weakness!!

    *Eternal Enmity Established*

  54. LazyReader

    “BEWARE EVIL DOERS!”
    *Pepper spray
    AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

  55. Spencer

    I’ve thought it would be cool if, should Amber ever hang the cape up, that she’d end up inspiring the student body of IU to start a community watch to take control of the seemingly rampant and endless stream of criminals on campus. Like, groups of people who go around campus, escorting students home, keeping people safe at parties.

    Amazi-Girl has long been a weird concept to root for, but a community banding together to enforce peace and protect one another? That’d be damn good.

    1. clif

      Particularly after you add the torches, pitchforks and pepper-spray.

      1. Spencer

        I was thinking more along the lines of community watch, of average people stepping up and being held accountable when they mess up.

        1. StClair

          pfff, that only works in imaginary places like Seattle.

  56. Juanoku

    Um… Good job?
    Hey he’s trying ok

  57. Varangian

    God DAMMIT, Walky

    Is this why you and Amber aren’t banging, because if so I completely get it, you fuckin’ dumbass

  58. C.T Phipps

    Walky should end up defeating all supervillains around the campus without any difficulty, just because he should wield unyielding privilege! The privilege of being Walky.

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