194

Rankled
Posted on April 23, 2024 by David M Willis
We're halfway through the Dumbing of Age Book 13 Kickstarter!  Here's a surprise magnet tier reveal:  it's JOE!  He'll be a 2"x5" magnet, and if you pledge for the JOE MAGNET tier, he'll be slid into your  copy of Book 13 along with your free Lucy magnet. Next up is still the HALLOWEEN BECKY MAGNET tier!  She unlocks at $45K, which isn't too far away right now.

194 thoughts on “Rankled”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Joyce: “Note to self: Next time, just ask Amazi-Girl”

    1. Ana Chronistic

      alt-text: Which one is Wayne Family Adventures?

    2. Queezle

      But should Amber/Amazi-Girl tell Joyce, considering that Dorothy does not want her to know? Also: Asmzi-Gril really know the reason, or does she just think she knows?

      1. staszu13

        She’s Amazi-Girl. She knows.

        1. Queezle

          Okay, next question: since they are on speaking terms again, does Amazi-Girl knowing means Amber knows as well?

        2. Ophidiophile

          I suspect they both know, but Amazi-Girl can talk about it while Amber can’t due to social anxiety.

        3. Lilith Rose

          Depends. Although it hasn’t been explicit about it, it’s pretty obvious that Amber/Amazi-girl is a system. I’ve known a few systems and was temporarily a two-identity-system during a really bad period of my life.

          A system is basically to D.I.D. (used to be called split personality disorder) what high functioning autism is to regular autism.

          A system can be well connected, and they share everything OR there’s a “command” identity that tracks who knows what, and other identities experience blackouts when they’re not the forefront identity.

          Generally, the cause here is childhood trauma forces a person to disassociate their presented self from their core self to protect their mental health. Over time, this “shell” and the “inner self” develop along different paths. More trauma means more segmenting. To a degree, this is a signficantly more extreme version of something everyone does, which is called “context switching”. For example, you’re not completely the same person when you’re in bed making love with your significant other as you are when you’re at work during a group meeting.

          With DID & systems, rather than it being a soft separation, it becomes a hard separation, and depending on active context, a system really is a completely different person.

          A thing about this though, is brains are still the same size, so for a system, instead of one big brain, it’s multiple smaller brains, which means to function, each of these personalities frequently are more distilled, kind of like that sci-fi trope where a person gets duplicated but each one embodies a different emotion or set of emotions. (There’s a good chance that trope started because of systems trying to work through things.) As a result, due to still having the info they need for their context, they generally function as a singular human for all intents and purposes in whatever context they’re in, just that ‘distilled’ comes into play, and you’ll see a lot less of outside life interfering. Otherwise, if you’re only used to seeing a person in a given context, you may never know they’re a system.

        4. Taffy

          “A system is basically to D.I.D. (used to be called split personality disorder) what high functioning autism is to regular autism.”

          It’s an outdated term used to diminish avoidable difficulties and say “Oh, but you’re one of the good ones”? Cuz that’s what “high functioning” is.

        5. thejeff

          Though for awhile last semester, especially between the Ryan stabbing and the group kidnapping, the two alters were not communicating at all and neither tracked what the other was doing.

        6. Myth

          @Lilith Rose

          Thank you for the education about systems, as I find them endlessly fascinating, but in exchange you seem to need a bit of education about autism.

          “High-functioning” and “low-functioning” are outdated and considered offensive nowadays. To put it as simply as I can, it became difficult for “high-functioning” autistics to access resources meant to help autistics, because they were perceived as needing/deserving it less. What allistics (people who are not autistic) defined as “high-functioning” really meant “Can this person act normal (or normal *enough*)?” The problem is, you’re still autistic, and it is still just as hard when you’re hiding it, if not more so.

          It can be almost unbearable for me to be in public places sometimes, but I don’t have meltdowns. Having the self-control to keep it together doesn’t lessen my suffering, it just means people can’t see it. So people assume that I’m not suffering and, by extension, that my autism isn’t as severe. Meanwhile, I can barely listen to them speak because the sound of their voice causes me literal pain. I’d be described as “high-functioning,” but if going shopping at Walmart is such an assault on all of my senses that I’m out of commission for the rest of the day after one shopping trip, am I really “high-functioning”? My teachers all said I was incredibly smart, but I never graduated high school. I dropped out because a school day is seven hours and most days I felt like I was going to die (and wanted to) by hour two or three. never got a diagnosis during my school years. I’d spent so long suffering in silence that I didn’t know how to suffer out loud anymore.

          And please, for the love of Dina, don’t call it “high-functioning autism and regular autism.” Yikes.

          Anyway, I’m by no means an expert on any of this, having only fairly recently figured out I’m autistic myself. So if someone more knowledgeable wants to step in, please do. In the meantime, I did my best.

    3. butting

      About Dorothy?

      Or about sex?

      (or about sex with Dorothy no wait wait bad idea bad idea bad idea)

      1. Decidedly Orthogonal

        Sex with Dorothy isn’t a bad idea, it’s a *GREAT* idea!

        1. butting

          Joyce having sex with Dorothy: GREAT IDEA
          Joyce asking Amazi-Girl what sex with Dorothy is like: BAD IDEA

          Even if the answer’s only about fanfic, the one brain cell these two are sharing would– okay, you know what? There’d be the most epic of Joyce faces, so, YES YES YES

    4. anon

      i wonder how accurate her deduction is, assuming she didn’t somehow also see a copy of the yale letter

    5. jeffepp

      She has Amaz-Ale on hand, just in case.

  2. Kyoulkoa

    Stucky??

    1. Johan

      Steve and Bucky from marvel

      1. RassilonTDavros

        Thanks! Was gonna ask that same question myself

      2. Dante

        The only thing I’m approving here about her intervention is her taste in ships.

        Huh. Is Amber a DC girl, and AG a Marvel fan?

        1. DashWallkick

          Amber is the permanently terrified fanfic gremlin who likes toys. AG is the no-nonsense alter ego who can fistfight four dudes and win. AG is talking shit right now.

        2. Dante

          My dude, Amber is anxiety personified, but many of Amber/AG’s most violent moments have been with Amber at the helm – She stabbed Ryan, for example.

          Anyway my question was more on the line of, “given the case both alters like comics – would they have a different preference between the Big Two companies?”

      3. jeffepp

        I did not get that reference.

      4. Nicoleandmaggie

        Thank you!

      5. David DeLaney

        I’m a STony fan myself

        –Dave, scifigrl47 has a _great_ double series of it on AO3

    2. HueSatLight

      Stucky’s is a chain of truck stops. Amber writes stories about slashing tires at truck stops.

  3. Sirksome

    Wow a lot of folks called AG being cop brained.

    1. Doctor_Who

      We all knew she was Cap brained.

    2. Sajuuk-Khar

      Assigned Cop At Birth

      1. RassilonTDavros

        …I mean, in some families you’re probably not wrong. I’ve had plenty of friends whose parents coerced them into the same careers they held, so I’d be shocked if that isn’t the case for some police “dynasties”. I was probably lucky to have a dad who’s less than fond of his field.

        1. Jamie

          Yes, there are absolutely cops who are cops because at least one of their parents was a cop.

          The whole “kids follow into their parents’ professions” is somewhat common across written history, for both good and bad reasons. American individualism, and our cultural imperialism, is one of the reasons it’s less common these days.

        2. VicMortimer

          There’s a genetic component to psychopathy. So no surprise that “cop” would run in families, just like “high school bully” runs in families.

          (They’re the same people, high school bullies grow up to be cops.)

      2. HueSatLight

        I appreciate the wordplay.

    3. RassilonTDavros

      I mean, Sal basically accused her of as much almost ten years ago, our time. Not exactly hard dots to connect.

      1. Enkrod

        That can’t have been ten years ag… ohhhh shit.

    4. zee

      Yeah cuz only cops and wannabe cops use underage drinking as a reason to try beat the shit outta brown teenagers. I know the race thing wasn’t her motivation but. She will never recover from the optics of stalking a black girl she labeled as a thug

      1. Taffy

        I swear I thought you were implying Amazi-Girl hunted down Joyce and Dorothy for racially-motivated reasons, just for a moment. Reading the words out of order didn’t help.

  4. cain

    alt text implying amber/amazi-girl? i am looking ?

    1. True Survivor

      I mean technically they are always inside each other, but I don’t think they swing that way (they have grappling hooks for that).

      1. Taellosse

        Given the inescapable reality of their relationship, wouldn’t that still just be…masturbation?

      2. David DeLaney

        my FANFIC is EXPLODING with DELIGHT!

  5. Pocky

    Batmsn is probably not fun to get high/drunk around either.

  6. Animedingo

    Batamber

    1. Needfuldoer

      Batamber? Batamber…

      Bartender!

      Amazi-Girl has secretly been Barb this entire time!

  7. Dave Van Domelen

    Her head also has the entire Kitty Unpretty oeuvre in it.

  8. IntangibleMatter

    Amber Amazi-Girl having to be the responsible friend is wonderful.

    And once again, her language is strikingly similar to how my friends with DID talk about their alters. I’m pretty sure DYW has kind of reframed how he thinks of them and is writing it in this way to hint at it, but without making it explicit bc DID is still somewhat controversial.

    1. Jeremiah

      I thought it was already pretty explicit, with Booster outright asking if she is plural.

    2. HueSatLight

      Walky, to his credit, recognized they were alters. https://www.dumbingofage.com/themask/

      1. Bash

        He recognized that because AG literally didn’t remember what Amber did earlier in the day. I think it would be hard not to realize.

        1. HueSatLight

          Danny missed the difference. I expect a lot of people would guess they were being fucked with or it was an act.

        2. thejeff

          They were (or appeared to be) much closer together when Danny was dating her. (On the Doylist side, because Willis was originally writing it as more of a secret id thing.) They didn’t get to the stage of not remembering what the other was doing until well after AG and Danny broke up.
          Walky got a huge clue that Danny never did. And Danny had a lot of experience of them almost seamlessly slipping back and forth.

        3. HueSatLight

          ok, fine, you win, Walky never deserves credit for anything.

      2. Dante

        And it didn’t took much prompting, too! He has these flashes of Being Perceptive. Plus, he took it in stride immediately :33

    3. thejeff

      I get we haven’t seen much of AG in awhile, but how are we having this discussion again now? He’s not hinting. It’s explicit. And has been obvious for a decade or so. Yes, it was written more as a secret id thing at first, but that was reframed long ago. You’d have to go back to before the first kidnapping and AG’s breakup with Danny to even have plausible deniability.

    4. zee

      The only thing that hasn’t been stated is the literal term DID because she hasn’t been diagnosed. That’s it. He’s hinting at them having DID the way he’s hinting that Dina is autistic

      1. thejeff

        It’s not really hinting at this point, even though he hasn’t named it.
        She’s talked about disassociating. She’s talked about not sharing memories and about AG (or Amber depending) being a different person she shares the body with.

  9. Nono

    Did Amazi-Girl just imply Joyce isn’t good at reasoning?

    1. Sirksome

      That’s pretty true. Joyce still hasn’t solved the mystery of the secret trans girl that’s lurking the halls.

      1. staszu13

        I’d hardly call Carla a secret, but you right, Joyce is still a bit naive

        1. Daibhid C

          Yes, that’s the joke. The “secret trans girl” is only secret to Joyce.

        2. Samniel

          Which, I mean, at least props to the rest of the hall (but mainly Dorothy) for not outing Carla even though she’s not really “in”

    2. AGV

      Not so much that she isn’t good at it but rather that she often skips it. Specially when she has made up her mind.

      1. Throwatron

        Thank you, I feel like sometimes a lot of people forget Joyce is actually very smart and capable. That’s kinda the whole reason why she, well, often skips reasoning: if she had ever reasoned too long back when she was a fundie, she’d have un-fundied herself, and that would have been literally dangerous to her immediate safety! She was taught in advance, that that kind of thinking was literally dangerous, so she deliberately avoided it. She’s fully capable of doing it, but it’s not a habit.

        1. Opus the Poet

          Except that’s literally what she did after her parents divorced and she became an atheist.

        2. David DeLaney

          because she was no longer living inside the situations where it would’ve been immediately dangerous to her

    3. Jamie

      I love Joyce, but Batman she is not.

      Joyce is a Harley who mostly got reeeeally lucky that her Joker was incompetent.

      1. Thag Simmons

        Maybe she’s not a psychologist but she’s scary good at information gathering.

        1. MM

          So, Barbara then.

    4. Coatl

      She just watches, but doesn’t stop to think properly.

    5. Bogeywoman

      I mean, she only just figured out Dotty’s depressed

  10. Sajuuk-Khar

    AG and Amber getting along swimmingly, as per usual lmao

  11. HueSatLight

    It’s like three or four reasons, AG. I think you’ll have to use some inductive reasoning instead.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Inductive reasoning? Doesn’t that involve some guy named Henry?

      1. Mark

        🙂

      2. David DeLaney

        … watt

  12. Shakes

    There’s more than a Stucky anthology in there of course, it’s just the one with the most feedback.

  13. BBCC

    I’m glad AG’s more upset they’re walking home alone drunk than them drinking. Feels like good development.

    1. Bash

      Is it really that bad to walk home drunk? It feels like paranoia related to the events of last semester.

      1. System of Eleven

        I’m going to guess you were raised and socialized as a dude, and have simply never considered it before. Walking at night, being alone in public, being inebriated, just looking feminine are all dangerous things on their own, irrelevant to the one specific incident shown “on screen”. We were actively conditioned and trained from a young age to be afraid. We started getting catcalled when we were twelve. Adult men made lewd comments about us when we were fourteen. Every friend group had someone who had been harrassed, intimidated, abused, assaulted. We went to the bathroom in packs because it’s an incredibly easy place to get cornered when you’re alone. We all have our memorized survival strategies. Have your keys in-hand so they don’t have as much time to grab you from behind while you’re getting them out of your purse. People will ignore you if you scream for help; scream about a fire instead. Vomit and uinate on yourself if you’re cornered, so they’ll decide you’re too gross to assault. Never jog with both headphones in; always pay attention to your surroundings. If a car starts following you, cross the street so they have to waste time turning around while you run away. Collect heavy keychains so you can swing them as a bludgeoning weapon. My mom made a steel baton in high school shop class and carried it stuffed up her sleeve waking around her college campus; she gave it to me when I got a job I had to walk home from after dark. My older sister taught me to have multiple walk routes and be unpredictable about using them.

        Yes, AG is paranoid for their safety. They should already be paranoid for their own safety. It’s been justified their entire lives.

        1. eskimolos

          I feel you on this one but it also feels like victim blaming and can’t have nice things, many girls do actually walk home drunk without being molested, most stories of molestation Vis a Vis drinking I’ve heard happened from a friend or an acquaintance while in the act of drinking, rather than by a stranger on the way home. The assumption that being in a public place with lots of people around makes you safer isn’t always true, in fact it often isn’t true. I appreciate amber’s concern here, but there are ways to accompany them out of worry that doesn’t involve admonishing them for trying to conquer their fears around this exact situation.

        2. Taffy

          Wouldn’t be victims to blame if all that shit didn’t keep happening in the first place. A little caution is better than being unprepared.

        3. Yumi

          They should be able to stumble home and be fine, and AG’s “disappointed in you” isn’t great when it’s directed at two people just trying to exist in the world. But still, they are taking a risk, and they don’t seem to have thought about the risk they’re taking.

          So I think we’re ultimately in agreement that it’s more about how AG is responding than the worry it comes from. But the worry is, unfortunately, valid; most assaults are from someone the victim knows, but people are often spending more of their time, with their guard lowered, with people they know rather than stumbling drunk through the streets at night.

        4. Bash

          I’m actually a trans guy, so figuring out where I fit in relation to all this might be a bit complicated. I remember going out drinking with female friends in college and taking the bus home, and no one considered it a big risk. Then again I see how waiting at a lit bus stop is different from walking through the whole town. I thought it was just a few blocks, but maybe it’s further.

        5. Throwatron

          Joyce doesn’t even have her glassin’ glass! That’s an important thing to keep on you if you’re making bad decisions at night!

      2. Hof1991

        Would you rather be alone in the woods with a bear or a man? https://inews.co.uk/opinion/women-rather-stuck-forest-with-man-bear-3019615

      3. Sam

        If you are a woman? Yes. That’s how you get assaulted or murdered by men with issues looking to take them out on someone vulnerable.

        While it is still ultimately a rare occurrence as serial killers/rapists are limited in number and can only harm so many people, with many more likely to be harmed by people they trust, it is a very extreme outcome and no one wants to be the woman that disappears on Friday night, is found dead on Monday, possibly dismembered.

        Like it seems paranoid, but at the same time, I still remember only a few years ago hearing of a woman going out drinking at the weekend, then her body was found in a field a few days later. The killer was still unknown. Which is a tale as old as time when it comes to murders done by strangers.

        It is the same structure as so many other murder cases – a girl, a teenager, an adult woman, the age ultimately makes little difference, they’re in a situation where they should be okay, they should be safe, they’ve gone this path a thousand times. And they disappear without a trace. Then their body is in a field found only days or a couple weeks later. Maybe without a head. Maybe half undressed. Maybe posed. And so many women feel the fear etch itself into their hearts that they never want that to be them, none want to be that one who vanishes without a trace just to turn up dead.

        1. David DeLaney

          1:30am Wednesday: number of stories on CNN’s front page about a man who murdered two different women he was family to? Two.

          –Dave, there’s an average of one or so, over time

  14. Sirksome

    I’m a little curious of AG’s deductive reasoning considering she spends ninety percent of her time in her room face in front of a screen. Not to doubt her or anything…but unless Dorothy’s been making some angsty social media posts lately I kind of doubt AG has any keen insights here. Unless that phone tracking does more than give your location.

    1. Sajuuk-Khar

      I mean, AG is checked out during screen time, she’s mostly actually around at roller derby. Which offers her ample time to do Sherlock shit.

    2. Doopyboop

      I think the deductive reasoning is more based on “you saw Amber slice a guy up right in front of you, you were kidnapped, then Joyce got kidnapped again. During a day where three people died in total.” AKA, Dorothy has been involved in a lot of traumatic incidents in a very short amount of time. I’d be more shocked if she wasn’t some degree of traumatized about it.

      Plus, Dorothy did sleep in a couple days ago and with Dorothy that’s basically a cry for help. /lh

      1. Sirksome

        Dorothy’s going through a lot of shit though. Identity crisis, unresolved trauma, horniness, loneliness, failure, guilt, possible bi-curiousity or questioning dreams. I’d be really impressed if AG sleuths all that out somehow.

        1. Coatl

          There are many things, and I would dare say that it is very likely that there is more new information that we do not know.

        2. Sirksome

          Actually now that I think about it Amber’s been hanging out with Walky more latelym and that guy likely can’t keep his mouth shut. He was there when Raidah tore Dorothy apart and the guy Dorothy’s made repeated passes at. She probably knows everything about poor Dotty.

        3. Coatl

          Now with that it is more valid that AG helps here, and obviously Joyce will want revenge against Raidah (and I want to see that) and against Walky too (I know he was dating Lucy, but the fact that he did not at least not defend her from those insults, It’s already a reason for Joyce to explode)

      2. staszu13

        Oh yeah I forgot, sliding time scale.

    3. HueSatLight

      Dorothy did spend the day hanging out with Amber like two days before this. https://www.dumbingofage.com/personaltrick/

      1. HueSatLight

        What I’m saying is AG didn’t have to be some brilliant detective, but the Batman reference still works because Batman is a mediocre detective too.

        1. Opus the Poet

          The problem with Batman is he’s only as good a detective as the person/people writing him.

        2. David DeLaney

          though tbe usual trick for writing ‘smarter than you’ folks does work: condense several days of thought into half a page of comics panels

          –Dave, how do you think he solved the Riddler’s riddles so quickly on TV? the writers figured out the answer before the question

    4. MM

      Yeah, Stucky fanfic has not granted me any particular insight. I’m jealous.

  15. Dante

    “I know why”, ok thank you, that’s not what was being discussed bby. There’s really no need to go like “do you even use your brain” at Joyce :/ And in front of Dorothy, who isn’t keen on people knowing her secrets, too.

    I’m proud of her not wanting to be a cop anymore but she’s doing 0/10 with tonight’s attempt so far.

    1. Coatl

      Keep in mind that Dorothy was willing to continue in Joyce’s game, but she revealed such a peculiar fetish that it made common sense awaken in Dorothy.

      It looks like AG wants to help (and Amber too, she may appear at that moment), it’s going to be difficult now because Dorothy isn’t going to cooperate, but let’s hope that at least a little progress will be made.

    2. Daibhid C

      I mean, it literally is being discussed. “I know why” can’t mean anything unless it relates to something that’s already being discussed.

      If they’s been discussing something other than “Joyce is worried because Dorothy is depressed and won’t tell her why”, then “I know why” would have related to that instead.

  16. NGPZ

    happy Passover to those who celebrate!

    Even if you don’t observe the holiday traditionally, (I know I don’t), that alright bruh

    that what this day about – FREEDOM

    1. Reltzik

      Also, pasty crackers.

      1. NGPZ

        pastry crackers? that what you call matzah? heh

        lots of sweet wine and haroset my relatives send me, that’s for sure :9

    2. Amós Batista

      I thought Easter was the Passover.
      (Now I want my chocolate eggs)

      1. HueSatLight

        Originally they were timed the same, but the Christian liturgical calendar estimates “vernal equinox’s new moon” differently than the Jewish calendar.

        The Jewish calendar is more precise, like a watch that gains a second every day. The Christian [Catholic and Protestant] liturgical calendar is more accurate, like a watch that is off by up to a minute from the true time each day.

    3. HueSatLight

      and horseradish?

      1. NGPZ

        Ah yeah, one of the maror (bitter herb) symbolizing the bitterness of slavery endured in Egypt

        it also goes real good on a burger with a bunch of mustard and caramelized onion :9

    4. Amós Batista

      Also, happy Ogum Day!

      He’s a deity in African Diaspora in South America, syncretized with some saints in Catholicism (in Brazil, for example, with St. George).
      We celebrate with fireworks, feijoada (black beans) and beer with samba.

      1. HueSatLight

        Can’t go wrong with beer and samba.

  17. Doopyboop

    Also I kinda like the characters talking this out because sometimes with people who are depressed, there ISN’T a reason. Or, if there is a reason, it isn’t always something that, like, just happened. In Dorothy’s case, she’s clearly feeling the trauma burn from last semester, as well as feeling unsure about her future.

    1. zee

      I feel like that’s usually the case. Most people are depressed cuz their brain is fucking up and being bad at its job, and needs some funky little dudes to remind it not to hoard the “don’t feel terrible all the time” juice

  18. Dara

    I ? Amazi-Girl’s little panel four smile o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

  19. BarerMender

    I don’t know Stucky from a hole in the ground, but what does slash fic have to do with Joyce and Dorothy?

    1. Reltzik

      I think it mostly has to do with what “Batman” has to share her head with.

    2. Needfuldoer

      AG’s referring to Amber.

    3. DashWallkick

      Amazi-Girl is born out of Amber’s self hate. So they’re catty towards each other. “Stucky slash-fic” is her making fun of Amber.

  20. Rocketboy1313

    Should I feel old or young for not knowing what Stucky is?

    1. Reltzik

      No.

      You should be feeling trepidation about whether or not it’s safe to Google it.

      1. JessWitt

        Anything is safe to google outside of work hours and if you include “sfw” as a keyword.

    2. anon

      it’s just some popular ship name, you don’t need to rly know the exact details but i wouldn’t be surprised if hundreds of other pop culture things from the same time period that ppl don’t remember lol

    3. Oh Tea Pea

      Stucky = Steve/Bucky from the Avengers.

      Character(A) is exceedingly pure-hearted, unaccustomed to modern society but ready to learn, kind of a goober, blonde, seemingly unaware of their sex appeal, and puts their close friend on a pedestal.

      Character(B) starts the story very secure with their position in life and acts as the self-appointed protector of their close friend. However, once that friend moves forward in life and no longer needs them playing the role of ‘protector’, Character(B) begins to grow weary of being left behind, especially once Character(A) finally follows through on a slowburn romance plot thread that was established way earlier with a member of the opposite sex. Character(B)’s discomfort is exacerbated into full-on depression by their realization that the governmental career they sacrificed any reasonable work/life balance for actually really sucks and now they have no idea what to do.

      From the perspective of Amber/Amazi-girl’s fandom-addled brain, that actually kinda tracks as a way to have figured out what’s bothering Dorothy.

      1. anonymsly

        Only in the movies/MCU! Comics continuity is very different regarding Steve and Bucky’s early association. Mostly because Bucky was the teen sidekick and Steve was a grown-ass adult mostly pretending to be incompetent while secretly-ish superheroing.

    4. Reltzik

      Less facetiously: “Stucky” = Steve Rogers + James “Bucky” Buchanan, aka Captain America and the Winter Soldier from Marvel comics and movies. (And assorted other media.)

    5. Mr D

      Man I just thought it was a different way of spelling sticky :/

      1. Colin McKenzie

        I thought it was a typo for “sucky”.

  21. Hazel

    Without Amber’s glasses or AG’s mask, their face looks really different. It makes AG’s particular gaze/expression more obvious.

  22. GUIGUI

    I really don’t like that two persons just hanging on on their own to have fun could be source of disappointment.

    It’s the same issue I had when at the beginning of this webcomic, Sarah basically said “Going to a party is wrong and you should remain confined to your room”.

    Is “No fun allowed” really what is considered to be wise?

    How is it called, “the castle doctrine”? that’s probably for something else. But shaming people for daring to have fun and just relax a little sit so wrong with me.

    1. shrub

      Because rather than book herself in for much needed treatment it’s easier to judge others

      1. Taffy

        Book herself in where? ?

        1. clif

          The bat cave?

        2. shrub

          Psychiatrist, psychologist, therapy, involuntary civil commitment, something, anything because shes not doing well, hasn’t done well for a very long time and she needs help and refuses to even acknowledge it or, worse, thinks she can handle it

        3. Taffy

          Pfffff???? yeah okay

      2. Bash

        Judging means applying your own morals and values onto someone else. Notice how she doesn’t explain what they have done wrong? She thinks this extreme anxiety about safety is normal, and not a product of being abused by a parent.

    2. Bash

      Amber and AG clearly have a lot of unresolved issues, and they have a history of acting rashly and taking it out on others before they’ve fully worked it through in their own mind.

      Like when “underage drinking” was an excuse to get revenge on Sal, who was at that point a pretty normal teenager. Lecturing these two about safety is a way to impose their own hypervigilance that is probably related to Blane and the kidnapping and everything else.

      1. DashWallkick

        Right. AG says it herself in the comic — “I’m not a… I don’t *want* to be a cop. Not anymore.” She knows she’s got authoritarian tendencies born out of Blaine’s abuse and AG is the way they are channeled in a (MASSIVE airquotes here) “healthy” way.

        If anything she’s probably doing this to scratch the itch without actually reprimanding them for underage drinking, because she knows that’s petty and stupid.

        1. Proxiehunter

          We also know why they get channeled into AG. Because unlike Amber AG has a strict moral code that prevents her from going as far or being as violent as Amber would. If they went out and did what AG used to do while Amber was fronting people would be getting hospitalized left and right.

        2. David DeLaney

          including Amber, because -she- doesn’t have the super-dense bones

    3. Bogeywoman

      I don’t think “no fun” is the argument so much as “make sure you take steps to be safe while you do it”. Dorothy usually has good judgement, so I’d be a bit disappointed in her for not organising a cab or texting someone to walk them home.

    4. GoodbyBallad

      The castle doctrine is the idea that ‘a man’s home is his castle’ and he has a right to defend it with violent force rather than retreat where retreat is possible.

      1. David DeLaney

        although in the Marvel Universe, there’s also gonna be the Frank Castle Doctrine

    5. Amós Batista

      AG will left the Cop role, to embrace the mother one…

  23. Florens

    Amber “accidentally” sending the epub of Known Associates by thingswithwings to Joyce.

  24. Arianod

    I like the implication that Amber and Amazi-girl are a lesbian couple ^^

  25. CianM1301

    TIL “Rankled” is an actual word, and not just a reference to an MTG card. Then again, now that I think about it, the MTG cars was probably named after that word.

  26. Taffy

    Okay, but I’m going nuts. I just spent 2 hours scouring Tumblr for a highly specific image of Dorothy, and I’m starting to think it doesn’t exist? Is there some hidden, unmarked and untagged reference sheet with all her various character models or am I actually losing my marbles? Nophica’s teats, I swear I’ve seen a picture of Dorothy in like a light-colored plaid overshirt and jeans and sneakers, looking to her left (our right) and smiling, with her hand on her hip (maybe both hands?), but I can’t fucking find it. This is the most effort I have ever put into anything Dorothy-related and she’s not even my favorite character, I just need to know there’s something at least similar to this image.

    1. morleuca

      Like the one in her walkypedia article for dumbing of age?

      1. Taffy

        Sort of! But like, newer? And I think the shirt may have been white with maybe blue plaids on it?

    2. HueSatLight

      It’s on tumblr, so I assume you saw and it’s not it because she’s not smiling, but in case you overlooked it: https://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/post/727457375617957888/dorothy

      1. Taffy

        That’s the one, yeah. I’m only just checking back here after frantically locating the picture and then just creating part of what I wanted. The outfit is deceptively elaborate.

    3. NickG

      There’s a picture like that from 2020 but I only have a Twitter number for it Eih0n84X0AEWy7k.jpg.

    4. Byron Orpheus

      Oh, thank jeebus. I assumed that the “highly specific image of Dorothy” was going to be NSFW. Because my brain is trash and I live on the internet.

  27. CitrineMonster

    blegh, i know AG is trying to not be a cop anymore but dorothy and joyce arent helpless children. this comic isnt such a depressing drama fest that they have to be hypervigilant constantly. it was almost light hearted for a little bit with joyce having had been getting through to dottie on her OWN means without someone sagely arriving and pointing out everything as if AG/Amber aren’t a pile of issues themselves.

    1. Yumi

      The “disappointed in you” angle is annoying, but being worried about two drunk young women stumbling home through town alone at night isn’t excessive. It actually seems pretty standard to me.

      1. Lexi

        Honestly, that’s such a standard, basic worry that my University had a SafeWalk program where you could call a number and get a late night escort home.

        1. Vulcanodon

          We’ve had a few students disappear over the years – not all of them women – and it’s just so heartbreaking. When students stop showing up for class more than a couple times I worry about them and ask student services to look in on them.

        2. thejeff

          I actually worked doing that when I was in college – back in the 80s, so this isn’t some kind of new thing.

        3. Mark

          My Uni (re)distributes some sort of panic-button phone app, and I think they do the escort thing too. There are call towers topped with blue lights all over campus.

          Eh, if the probability is low, the expectation is still high-negative, and being prepared costs very little.

    2. thejeff

      Sure, AG/Amber are a pile of issues, but you can’t say that this behavior doesn’t fit right in with those issues. There’s a good argument she’s overreacting, but not monstrously so. Just overprotective.

    3. Da Boy

      These kids have been through an attempted rape, a murder (Mike), an attempted murder (which Amber flipped on the attacker), a kidnapping, another kidnapping which got a person killed. Amber has every right to be just a little bit paranoid about the safety of her friends.

      1. JasonAW3

        Somehow, I still can’t believe Mike is truly dead.

    4. JasonAW3

      AG/Amber a “pile of issues”?!?
      No, my friend, she has full on SUBSCRIPTIONS..!!!

      1. David DeLaney

        stored carefully in multiple long white cardboard boxes

  28. Yumi

    Curious if AG’s conclusion will be right. I could also see it going with her stating, “Dorothy reapplied to Yale and didn’t get in,” which could then prompt Dorothy going, “That’s not true, I got in” or something along those lines. (Which I think I would prefer, it ultimately coming from Dorothy.)

  29. Zamperla

    I appreciate that Amazigirl has a genuinely incredibly sharp sense of social intelligence, which Amber can’t acsess, and also Amazigirl isn’t actually often in situations to. Do much about that info.

    I do appreciate her working on not being picky about rules for rules sake. That feels like growth. Un-cop your heart, girl.

  30. Suet

    Batman in her head

    Even if she tells her secret secrets, the boozles are gonna run out soon anyway… Book 14: Secret Dorothy Secrets

    1. Taffy

      Your icon.
      That’s the fucking outfit

      1. Suet

        Oh, this?

  31. Rabisch

    Hearing about AmaziGirl’s “sources of knowledge”, I’m afraid she’ll say she’s sure Dorothy’s secret is being in love with Joyce but not being able to tell her. If this is the case, I foresee a strong debate and being confused by alcohol won’t help. But maybe Dorothy will tell about the letter from the school to fight back.

  32. Schpoonman

    Ugh, Amazi-Girl is so awful.

    1. superglucose

      100%

      1. Schpoonman

        Can’t believe there are so many fans of police reading this comic.

        1. Woof McGee

          You need to give Synchronicity a chance…

        2. Taffy

          That’s The Police.

        3. Needfuldoer

          Their sirens go “doo doo doo dah dah dah”.

        4. Woof McGee

          Well, yeah. I’m sure Sting is deeply hurt by all this anti-Police rhetoric.

    2. Taffy

      I love reading her so much.

  33. thumb

    Amber’s brain has so much smut, the non-smut parts make up an encyclopedia.

    DO NOT ASK HOW MUCH SMUT IS IN THERE!!!

    1. David DeLaney

      *whispers quietly* all of it

  34. Yeet

    this would be less weird if amber and/or amazi-girl was social with people
    maybe teach joyce some self defence or something instead of jumping off of things at her

    1. Azhrei Vep

      Teach Joyce how to climb onto and jump off of things, so she can be the jumper rather than the jumpee!

    2. Mturtle7

      Hey now, relative to Amber, Amazi-Girl is a social butterfly! …Which isn’t really saying much, but I think it’s funny.

  35. M!a

    You all do know, this entire scene has been an excuse to draw Amber looking all windy-hairy-hot.

  36. BohNo

    Amber’s ‘I Know What You Are’

  37. JasonAW3

    Is it just me or does Amber look slightly different as Amazi-Girl? Her facial shape and eyes, as well as the constant slight breeze that partially obscures her face? While she accepts that they are both one and the same person, I’m actually wondering which is the real her? Amber or Amazi-Girl???

    1. Taffy

      That’s a very complicated question.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Both of her are.

    3. HueSatLight

      AG has no cheek blush. Amber does.

    4. David DeLaney

      that last is a good deal like asking “but which of these loaded library modules is the REAL computer program?”

      everyone on earth has a brain that’s full of pieces parts working together to get stuff processed
      the “I” you think you are, as well as the thinking you’re doing it with, are both complicated illusions
      made up of extremely complex twisty paths of electrochemical lightning
      circling and circling in a tightened gyre inside the stone control room
      of the meat mech (with stone bones) that’s being piloted by you

      –Dave, this has been an Inside Outside Minute

  38. C.T. Phipps

    On a scale of 1-100, how willing is Dorothy to push the button? Because we know she or Robin is the President who brings about Fallout.

  39. Lilith Rose

    Right now, it’s Amazi-girl’s head. (For those who missed it, she’s talking about Amber. Yea, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with systems, but it’s worth trying.)

    1. GholaHalleck

      glasses = amber in charge.

      no glasses = AG.

  40. David DeLaney

    Dorothy and Joyce conceptualized as Jean & Jorts

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