166

Certainly
Posted on March 30, 2021 by David M Willis
The Dumbing of Age Book 10 Kickstarter has funded and also reached the first several stretch goals!  We've got the Nightguy character magnet, we've got Saturday and Sunday updates refreshed for another year, and we've just unlocked the Free Billie Magnet For Everybody!  Dang, we've... never reached the Free Magnet stretch goal on the first day before.  It's the book's Dina cover, isn't it.  You guys dig the Dina covers.  Guess I'll just have to do all Dina covers from here on out. On the campaign's second day, there'll be a surprise magnet reveal, plus maybe we'll get to unlocking Agatha and Meredith magnets!  Hot dang!

166 thoughts on “Certainly”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    waiting like a cat to pounce on girls just for reference dropping isn’t cool, Walky

    1. thejeff

      Cooler than nearly any other reason for waiting like a cat to pounce on girls though.

      1. DarkoNeko

        the bar isn’t high

  2. Proto_Eevee

    NOOOO! MY OTP!

    1. Diner Kinetic

      Mike’s last asshole act was probably breaking them up by dying wasn’t it? hurting them, and more importantly us by proxy

      1. Nono

        Nah, it was breaking up any M/M ships for a while, since he effectively sank both Mike/Ethan and Ethan/Danny in one swoop.

        1. RassilonTDavros

          Unless Walky’s about to discover something about himself. Which I’d be all for, honestly.

        2. Thag Simmons

          I guess Booster technically? They seem to lean towards the M side of the spectrum, at least from my uneducated perspective

        3. Agemegos

          Booster is an M/M ship? With whom?

        4. Proto_Eevee

          That’s the beauty if shipping, my friend. You can ship a yone with anyone.

        5. I am Nothing

          I ship Booster with Mike.

        6. Common sense

          i ship Booster with non-existence.
          i hope the both come together soon.

        7. Throwatron

          Deep down I know it’s not true but I’m still not 100% convinced that Booster isn’t just Mike, and this is the version of Mike that Mike actually wanted to be, but they’re actually worse at opening up and making changes than literally everybody else in this comic…which would be saying something.

          Once again, I know it’s not true. But the fact that Booster literally slotted seamlessly into Mike’s actual archetypal character function in-universe at the absolute first opportunity kind of makes it hard to accept how wrong and ridiculous the scenario would actually be.

        8. Throwatron

          Because, y’know…if Mike were to fake his own death, that’s exactly what they’d do.

        9. Rabisch

          I’m totally with you. I know that is crazy, but every time I see Booster I think “Now we will see the truth!” panel after panel.

        10. Joe Helfrich

          Roomies-verse Mike gets nice when he’s drunk.

          Lets say the same thing is true for Dumbing-verse Mike. What would a regular dose of painkillers after some traumatic injury and reconstructive surgery do? Add in some hair color and a little bit of plastic surgery for witness protection….

          Check back at the end of the semester (or three years real time) for Willis to give us the big reveal.

        11. Edwin I Callahan

          It would be more like eight or nine years, if we have to wait until the end of the semester.

        12. BBCC

          I’m going to bet Willis is smart enough to NOT have this be Mike doing brown face for months on end.

        13. King Daniel

          Yeah, Mike Warner was very white (I think I recall him even acknowledging this in-comic as a reason he kept getting away with the things he did!), while Booster Sanchez is not.

        14. Needfuldoer

          I’ve said it many times, but Mike was Booster’s Wario. It explains his attitude and the superficial similarities!

          (Even if their “plausibly could be Mike growing his hair back after TBI treatment” silhouette was just a happy accident or unplanned coincidence.)

        15. Alex

          Now I ship Booster and Danny. Booster would absolutely DESTROY him and he would probably like it.

        16. milu

          Nice try “Alex”, but your grav has betrayed your TRUE IDENTITY

        17. milu

          ….OK it occurs this may not be coincidental. WELL ANYWAY

        18. Varangian

          God, actually, yes, I’m into it

      2. Varangian

        I don’t know about his final asshole act from beyond the grave, but it certainly was one of them.

    2. Thag Simmons

      You’re surprised that the Garbage Roof ‘everything about this is a bad idea’ couple didn’t last?

      1. Doctor_Who

        Let’s be honest, there’s basically no healthy romances in this comic, so you gotta pick your ships where you can get them. Becky/Dina is the best, and Becky at least seems convinced that one’s next on the chopping block.

        That’s why my OTP is Sarah/Other Jacob. That one should hold out as long as there’s no battery shortage.

        1. MrSmith

          Joe and, eventually, Joyce will be healthy

        2. Agemegos

          So I believe and hope. But that’s a way off, and will bring such closure to Joyce’s arc that I don’t expect it before Willis is ready to retire.

        3. Clif

          And by retire we mean ready to start his new comic.

        4. Needfuldoer

          You know one of the twins will pick up the mask Wacom stylus.

          (And the other will either write the scripts, or continue the old Walkyverse.)

        5. Rose by Any Other Name

          Um, what?
          Garbage Roof, the relationship built on honesty, mutual support, and being open about feelings was the healthiest relationship in this comic by far.

          And yes, I’m blaming this on Mike. Also possibly Sal.

        6. Regalli

          I mean, the feelings were self-loathing. It was entirely possible for that one to have turned into a negative feedback loop where they either both felt more garbage or one of them expressing concern for the other one got a ‘this is Garbage Roof’ snappishness in response. (For instance, the part where they were both clearly seriously traumatized by the entire Evil Dads/Dead Mike affair and Amber’s already shown self-destructive tendencies bordering on suicidal ideation.)

          Also, that part where Amber changed Walky’s grades not just without his permission, but with him expressly refusing it because it wouldn’t be fair to Sal who had genuinely worked to bring her grades up. Last we saw, even if he alluded to knowing they hadn’t talked about it.

          Also, Sal explicitly said she didn’t care if they hooked up and shouldn’t be doing their whole denial game around her because it was annoying, and she’s on cordial terms with AG now. (Hard to say if she recognizes they’re two different people sharing a body, but either way AG stalked and antagonized her because of the convenience store incident, she isn’t innocent here either.) Also seriously uncomfortable with the implication that Sal would be worthy of blame here because of an incident where, while she did some serious wrong, AmbG proceeded to escalate after the threat was over. Repeatedly. Including years down the line. Again, stalked and picked fights with her. AmbG was clearly traumatized by that moment, but Sal was permanently physically disabled by it. (To be clear, I don’t think Amber’s evil or anything for her reaction in the moment – she’d spent the whole day stuck in a car with her abuser, her best friend was taken hostage, and she was then goaded by said abuser, which are mitigating circumstances – but Sal was not a threat to her when the stabbing occurred, and once they got to college AmbG was 100% in the wrong in that situation. Wrong in a way I can have sympathy for, but nonetheless wrong.)

          Don’t get me wrong, there was potential for it to be a sweet relationship, but the foundations were not anywhere near firm and it was also very possible to reinforce their worst tendencies with each other, even without bringing the trauma and Sal baggage in.

      2. Wizard

        Yes. I expect bad ideas to last longer.

        1. Socks

          There’s more fodder for drama that way!

      3. ktbear

        Not surprised. Disappointed certainly, but not surprised because, Willis.

      4. JA

        Surprised that it didn’t last? No. Surprised that they didn’t at least stay friends because they shared some stuff in common and seemed to get along? Yes.

  3. Octopus Ink

    Aw jeez… Do we all hafta go back to Garbage Roof in order for everyone to be friends again?!

  4. RassilonTDavros

    The real question is which “you” she’s referring to here. I’m wondering if she’s blaming Becky for Mike’s death due to Ross’ involvement, even if she knows it’s irrational.

    1. tim gueguen

      Perhaps things went badly between Amber/Amazi-girl and Walky during the time skip.

    2. Agemegos

      Does she need an irrational rationalisation to not want to talk about things? Can’t she just not want to talk about them?

      And what makes either Becky or Walky suitable as a confidant? Both of them are self-centred, catastrophically indiscreet, and not fundamentally honest about feelings and relationships.

      1. woobie

        This could also be taken as a cry for help.

        1. Agemegos

          “Help! Get these intruders out of my bedroom!”

        2. He Who Abides

          They’re in the hallway.

        3. thejeff

          How are they in the hallway? Becky came in from the half-bath, Walky from the hallway. Both were in the doorways last strip.

        4. He Who Abides

          My mistake, I saw Amber’s Beast Wars stickers on the last comic and got confused.

      2. Segnosaur

        Not wanting to talk about personal issues is understandable. It was the extra “with you” (probably directed at Walky) that makes people assume there was a not-pleasant break up involved

        1. Agemegos

          I would have said that Walky’s self-centredness, insensitive conduct, constant inappropriate joking, and total lack of discretion was plenty of justification. But as for a bad break-up, we saw it. He rejected her love and then invited everyone he knew into the private space in which they had been emotional intimate and she had been vulnerable.

          What the fuck is he doing uninvited in her bedroom?

        2. Socks

          Honestly, what is Walky even doing in the girls’ wing of their dorm in the first place? He isn’t dating anyone here any more, and the only member of the cast who seems to, you know, like him at all, lives in another dorm altogether.

          Like, seriously, does he even have any friends here any more? He’s got a sort of sarcastic antagonistic…. thing? with Joyce, I guess, but she’s not here right now. I guess there’s his sister? Who is also not here right now. He was never really close to anyone else here but Jennifer, Amber, and Dorothy, and all those relationships are pretty thoroughly defunct. Also, Jennifer doesn’t even live here any more.

          Seriously, besides being a main character, I have no idea what he’s doing here at all.

        3. BBCC

          Joyce is his friend (he was even one of the people she wanted when she was home in La Porte last we saw her there – Dorothy and Billie). Dorothy still wanted to be friends last we saw. Becky’s his friend (they joke around a lot). Sal lives her and they’re getting along much better these days.

        4. BBCC

          Amber is the one who invited her friends to Garbage Roof. She did it as a choice to trust more and be more vulnerable. It was her leap of faith.

        5. Agemegos

          My mistake.

        6. Thag Simmons

          Uh, Amber is the one who invited everyone up to Garbage Roof

          So unless there’s another very similance incident that I’ve forgotten, that wasn’t the break-up

      3. RassilonTDavros

        I’m not saying that Amber not wanting to talk to either of them is irrational, just that blaming Becky for her father’s actions would be irrational if that’s what she’s doing.

        1. Agemegos

          But why suppose that is what she’s doing? There’s absolutely no reason for Amber to confide in Becky. Becky is a manifestly terrible choice of person to share your thoughts and vulnerabilities with.

        2. Devin

          Whoah there, maybe cool your jets just a tad, you’re coming off as a little aggressive here.

          If absolutely nothing else, Becky and Amber have some common ground in Terrible Dad Experiences (TM), which was explicitly highlighted before the time skip. I grant you that highlighting was mostly on Becky’s end, and it was unclear how much Amber felt reciprocation, but we know there’s a lot of information we don’t have right now, especially given the time skip.

          I also want to note that this process was initiated by Becky sharing a vulnerability with Amber because of an experience Becky already knew Amber had. That information was shared.

        3. Needfuldoer

          Becky has a tendency to blurt things out and puts up a front that she doesn’t always take things seriously, not exactly traits that scream “I am a trustworthy confidante”.

        4. Sirksome

          I think you’ve kind of misunderstood what Becky did. In this current scenario Becky didn’t share any information with Amber. It’s actually kind of the exact opposite. She barged into Amber’s room and immediately asked her a pretty personal question about how her (possibly former) best friend who she once believed would be her boyfriend and maybe one day husband, turned out not to be physically attracted to her! What’s that like? “Apropos of nothing” mind you. Which means she was hiding her motives. Becky doesn’t deserve any credit here. This was a super annoying thing she did.

          I don’t know what Walky’s deal is. Him showing up is actually pretty random. Maybe he wanted to run comic ideas by Amber but I guess we’ll never know now.

        5. thejeff

          Actually saying “Apropos of nothing” is pretty much a complete giveaway that not only is it important to you, but that it’s related to what you were just talking about. It’s purely facade.

          In context, there is absolutely no way Amber didn’t immediately know Becky was asking because of concerns about Dina and that Becky didn’t know she would know.

        6. Devin

          I didn’t misunderstand anything, I gave Amber credit for being able to read the most basic of context clues. As thejeff said, saying “Apropos of nothing” broadcasts that it’s not, that’s hardly ever actually used genuinely these days, and that fits perfectly with Becky’s MO. You don’t need to have Reader levels of information to get that.

        7. Sirksome

          Okay. I mean I’m obviously no expert on social interactions but this seems like it’s giving both Becky and Amber too much credit. I thought the joke of the last strip was about just how annoying and unprompted that interaction was, considering now, how Amber’s leaving the situation out of such annoyance.

          I’m not sure exactly how Becky gets a pass for this? I’m not even trying to bash her. It just seems strange she’s being defended for this.

    3. Nono

      Given that she responded to Walky’s statement, it’s likely him. Otherwise she would have said ‘certainly not with you, Becky’.

      1. Regalli

        Besides, from what we know of Amber and Becky’s interactions, they’re actually on fairly good terms. (For one thing, Amber was the first thing on Becky’s mind when she heard about Blaine’s death, and Amber for her part recognized even in just about the worst state we’ve seen her in that Becky was genuinely concerned about her and offering genuine, reasonable advice, but we’ve also seen them have conversations without Dina around and Amber’s seemed fine with them.) Granted, ‘talking about remotely sexual stuff with Becky’ is a topic she tends to find exasperating, but Amber does genuinely appear to like Becky and was okay with talking to her even when she was clearly pretty depressed pre-timeskip.

        That said, I do think Amber’s gotten more depressed, if apparently less self-destructive since the timeskip. (This is based off nothing but the fact that she’s still interacting with AG and they’re not going out to fight crime, but that was SERIOUS self-destruction.) Wouldn’t shock me if her already limited social battery’s always drained right now. A breakup with Walky wouldn’t even have to be messy so much as ‘associated in her brain with the shitshow last semester and Mike’ for it to take more than she has to spare right now.

        1. Regalli

          And by ‘associated with the shitshow’ I mean the whole relationship, and that level of trauma triggering the breakup as a ‘I just do not have the spoons to do this now’ thing rather than anything where one or the other was wrong.

        2. Needfuldoer

          Her social battery sulfated over the time skip and won’t hold a charge anymore.

        3. Regalli

          Honestly I had a really bad depressive episode in 2013-2014 and my energy’s never really come back from where it had been before. Hard to tell if it’s all aftereffects of the burnout or if it’s also that the last six years have been rough in general, but at a certain point I just had to make peace with it being permanent.

        4. milu

          ouch, i feel for you.
          also… i can relate. depression feels like a broken limb that didn’t heal right.

        5. Regalli

          Mutual sympathy.

    4. Agemegos

      “You” can still be plural.

  5. Agemegos

    You tell them, Amber!

  6. Pizzawiz

    Okay what did walkerton do?

    1. Agemegos

      Inviting the whole cast to Garbage Roof wasn’t enough for this?

      1. Corey

        Not…..really?

      2. Yotomoe

        Amber invited them, not Walky.

        1. Agemegos

          She did? My bad.

          Nevertheless, Walky dumped her and why the hell would we expect her to tell him all about how if felt to date Ethan and be rejected by him? Even without he dumped her, he’s an abjectly terrible person to pour out you heart to. He’s self-centred, indiscreet, emotionally clueless, and acts as though be irritating is sufficiently justified by the irritation it causes.

        2. cmasta1992

          They weren’t dating, they were fooling around and he said he couldn’t go all in on a relationship with her while he was still hung up on Dorothy. If he was as self-centered, indiscreet and emotionally clueless and you’re pegging him to be he wouldn’t recognize that he still had a hang up and would’ve kept stringing her along.

          Just say you don’t Walky and keep it moving.

        3. Agemegos

          Okay.

          Two women were discussing intimate matters of romance and sexuality in the privacy of one of their bedrooms, in a women’s dormitory. A man barged into the room and butted into the conversation with a crass derailment. I dislike the man, and think he ought to face disciplinary action.

        4. Devin

          Mmmmmmaybe if you dislike one of the primary characters so much this comic may not be for you. If it displeases you it’s okay to stop reading you know. You seem pretty disgruntled.

        5. Yotomoe

          I wouldn’t go THAT far. But yeah I dunno I don’t think Walky’s being THAT annoying here.

        6. MrSmith

          Let me put your mind at rest. Walky really is being that annoying here.

        7. Newllend(henryvolt)

          I have had my toxic dislikes for fictional characters before myself, especially in DoA that I eventually got over. So I would understand but I feel like this is a bit assesive, I don’t have to look for the smallest excuses to hate someone everytime they’re on screen, I just wait till there clearly being an ass and the interaction from last strip was whatever.

        8. He Who Abides

          @Newllend(henryvolt) – all things considered, Walky should face disciplinary action here. I mean, multiple students in this particular wing/floor combination have been raped, stalked, and kidnapped during the previous semester with ease. That said, why is there nothing stopping him from just popping in and out as he pleases?

          @Devin – funny thing about ensemble casts is, you can dislike a character and still enjoy the comic. I mean, I love Rain but outright loathe one particular major cast member. Should I give up the whole comic because of that?

        9. Devin

          @He Who Abides: I mean it depends. I got to today’s strip and the person I replied to was so riled up about Walky that they’d left over a dozen comments in the space of like an hour and a half, most of which were railing against Walky and/or arguing with people about him. That’s the sort of reaction that would make me re-evaluate my experience at this point, but also momentum is powerful and sometimes you need someone to introduce the possibility. I’m not telling them to GTFO, just putting that out there.

        10. thejeff

          Why is there nothing? Because he lives right down the hall and is friends with multiple people here. What do you want, armed guards keeping boys out of the girl’s wing?

          And if we’re taking this seriously, in order to step in with his joke yesterday, he had to have heard the conversation before he entered, meaning the door had to be open or it was a lot louder than it appeared.

      3. Thag Simmons

        he didn’t, and no

  7. BBCC

    No, superhero references are always valid.

    But oh dear, what happened.

    1. Sirksome

      Meh. I don’t think anything “happened” like everyone’s wondering. Walky is just really annoying. Not bashing him, that’s just a fact. They weren’t officially anything more than make-out buddies anyway so I don’t know why people are so attached to this ship.

      1. Regalli

        Honestly, she liked him but the relationship had so much ambiguity, so much baggage, and Walky transparently still having feelings for Dorothy that it had decent chances of falling apart WITHOUT the flaming dumpster full of trauma that was being dumped on them as we went into timeskip. With it, they both have complicated feelings about Mike’s death that could make his roommate/best friend weird to interact with, and Amber seems to be falling back on her habit of pushing people away and shutting them out. And they hadn’t been together very long to build up the same rapport Amber has with, say, Dina. (Who Amber can’t really get rid of anyway, clearly the singles aren’t available, but who also was a bit better-equipped to offer support without overwhelming Amber in the moment.)

        There were some cute moments, and if they get back together later after a clearing of the air and both working on their self-loathing and such separately I’d be fine with it, but yeah. It was not a relationship that was entirely stable even before Evil Dad interference.

      2. Devin

        You seem almost deliberately incurious given how much information we know we don’t have, which is weird to me, but whatever floats your boat I guess. The emphasized “you” felt deliberate enough that it was pointing at something, and that’s all I really need to think there may be more to it than that.

        Also I’m not all that attached to this ship, it always felt a little weird to me, but official status is not required for people to be invested in it. You get that, right? Sometimes a dynamic that resonates with people is enough, you know?

        1. Sirksome

          What’s there to be curious about exactly? They were together for like a week in a relationship based on mutual attraction and self loathing. So if you tell me after over 3 months of not seeing each other that they’re not together I just think “Yeah, that makes sense.” Plus as Regalli mentioned Walky was still very hung up on Dorothy.

          The relationship wasn’t built to last and unlike Jennifer and Ruth there’s not enough history there to make the reason they broke up really interesting. Chances are Walky just said something stupid, maybe while they were making out. Or maybe Walky didn’t do anything really and Amber’s just being mean, because yeah she’s kind of a jerk sometimes.

          As far as the ship goes. I guess everyone’s got their own thing so if you’re upset that Amber and Walky aren’t banging then fair enough.

        2. nightshade

          i think winter break is maybe a month or so depending on the school 3 months would be summer ….

        3. Sirksome

          You’re right. It’s been three or so months since WE”VE seen them but not since they’ve seen each other. Keeping all the timeline stuff together is slightly confusing to remember sometimes. Maybe that changes a few things but I still stand by most of what I said. It wasn’t that serious a relationship if it even was a relationship, so I’m not surprised they’re not together anymore.

        4. thejeff

          The weird thing about the timeskip is that we just don’t know. Was the kidnapping basically the end of their budding relationship? Or did it turn into a passionate love affair that ended in a nasty fight right before the break?
          Could be either.

          I’m not really surprised they’re not together, but I feel a bit cheated of the character development of seeing it go down.

        5. Devin

          What’s there to be curious about? Why the change in level of interaction is what. We saw them break up (at least temporarily?), that happened on-screen, but it seemed amicable. That doesn’t correspond with “And certainly not with you.” So yeah, there’s something to be curious about, there’s a gap there. You’re a bit hung up on the capital R Relationship, but I’m talking about the relationship in terms of just the way they relate to each other, which is broader than that.

          There’s a deliberate story being told, and it’s character- driven, so my base assumption is that deliberate choice by Willis is pointing to something that we have yet to see. I’m baffled that you don’t seem to care what it might be.

        6. Sirksome

          Baffled? I think the fact that I’m not interested in this development is the part that should be the least surprising. I’ve been very vocal about my distaste for Walky so I don’t really care much about his stories *I say despite being legitimately invested in this newspaper comic competition* but also it involves Amber who is someone else I don’t really like so it’s hard to stay interested in their dynamic.

          To me they’re just two kids who started texting, then making out and even actively trying not to make out “because guilt” for like a week both on the rebound from previous more serious relationships. Are they friends? Did they bang finally? Who cares? They both have more interesting things going on. They weren’t really even friends before they started grinding on each other, why should they stay friends after?

        7. Regalli

          I could see it going a lot of different ways, but right now I’m not sure there’s enough info to say ‘bitter breakup’ versus ‘it’s unmanageably difficult to be around you right now because of other trauma’. I just don’t want to jump right into the blame game when the relationship was trying to find its footing before Blaine torpedoed it all. Could be it was rough, but we don’t have enough information to blame Walky for it and some commenters already are.

        8. thejeff

          Remember where we are. Somebody always has to be to blame. We all have to pick a side, even if the characters aren’t.

        9. Devin

          Right, my entire point is that we don’t know, and there’s something there that we don’t know, and I at least want to.

        10. Regalli

          Oh, reasonable! I’d like to find out at least the broad strokes of when and why. For now I’m fine just saying ‘yeah we’ll see’. As ever, I am a patient patient Regalli.

      3. Rani

        For me the reason I liked their relationship is-yes, they were bringing out the worst in each other, but also the best. They were two people who were fundamentally eager to please their partners, and they were the only other person they felt safe around. It is unlikely they’ll find anyone else like that in this cast, this campus, or frankly, this goddamn strip.

      4. BBCC

        Sure, but they were make out buddies who were getting along last we saw, so I’m wondering why ‘especially you’.

  8. MrSmith

    Yeah not wanting to talk about this with either Becky or Walky (I’m assuming its probably aimed towards Walky) is one of Ambers better decisions

    1. Devin

      You’re not wrong, but given that it’s part of a larger pattern of just shutting herself off from everyone that was established when she and Joe were dropped off, I worry that it was just a coincidence.

      1. MrSmith

        That is true, on one hand walking away was the right choice but then it might also reinforce walking away/shutting down as her first choice when dealing with uncomfortable situations

  9. Grimeyville

    Walky from panels 2-4 is the definition is swallow sadness.

    1. Needfuldoer

      (Like a boss)
      Send some faxes!
      (Like a boss)

  10. Bagge

    Just talk to each other, dofuses. You can give each other support right there.

  11. SeanR

    THREE beat panels. That IS mixing it up!
    Quite the improvement from only 17 days ago.

  12. Stephen Bierce

    “Yes, even the life of a famous superhero like Nightguy is not all victory and fame, if you’re a born lout, like Walky.”–after the 1960s Spiderman cartoon.

  13. Rycan

    Harsh, but then again, they are the ones who are intruding here…

  14. Yotomoe

    Naw I’m still gonna ship them I don’t care. Walky and Amber is my normal, damnit.

    1. Agemegos

      Perhaps they resumed casual hookups during the time-skip, and that’s why Walky feels entitled to barge into Amber’s bedroom.

  15. Ray Radlein

    TRY IT WITH LUCY’S ROOM

  16. AbacusWizard

    What if you can make a sweet reference to Spider-Man 1 instead?

    http://www.itswalky.com/comic/i-heard-that-toby-mcguire/

  17. Sirksome

    Well on one hand Amber has the right to exit a situation where two people just burst into her room and start asking really personal questions and reminding her a particularly stressful or upsetting things in her life, but on the other hand……Actually there is no other hand what both those idiots did was super annoying. This is rare for her, but good for Amber.

    1. Agemegos

      Hear! Hear!

    2. MrSmith

      Agreed

      1. Catt

        To play Devil’s advocate – Becky and Walky are both young, naïve individuals who haven’t learned how to gauge a conversation yet. Amber has the perfect right to say what she said and leave, but saying to Walky basically – “I never want to talk to you again” could be a real gut-punch for someone who has shared his feelings of insecurity with you.

        1. MrSmith

          If Becky and Walky are both “young, naïve individuals who haven’t learned how to gauge a conversation yet” then doesn’t Amber get a pass for the gut-punch since shes the same age and has mental issues?

  18. Rose by Any Other Name

    Becky and Walky’s outfits are hurting my eyes.
    Too much blue.

    1. Devin

      Walky’s hoodie reminds me of an outfit I wore when I was like…2 that I know from pictures at my Grandma’s house, and it just feels weird to look at.

  19. Agemegos

    I know a fellow who used to think it was funny to walk up behind his friends and acquaintances and give them a stiff arm across the kidneys. One day he found himself flat on his back on the floor in a pub with a bloody nose, and people applauding. And he couldn’t understand what had happened.

    Walky’s not that bad, but his schtick of saying and doing irritating things to be irritating and then acting surprise when people react with irritation is a bit reminiscent of that.

    Furthermore, his “‘bout what?” is disingenuous. He certainly heard and understood enough of what Becky said to work out that Amber was talking about Ethan.

    1. Yotomoe

      On one hand you’re entitled to your opinion. On the other hand I can’t say I’m a fan of how much you seem to hate my boy, Walkerton. Granted it’s your opinion and I’ll defend to the death your right to have it.

      1. Agemegos

        Set me straight. Tell me what is so lovely about Walky that it makes it alright for him to barge into Amber’s bedroom without knocking and to butt into two women’s private conversation about sexuality and romance.

        1. Yotomoe

          He’s friends with at least one of them? And some times you just wanna chime in on conversations your friends are having? And this is a webcomic that thrives on quips where most people communicate through punchlines?

        2. MrSmith

          A good rule of thumb for guys is to always knock before entering a ladies room, privacy and all that

        3. Newllend(henryvolt)

          This is fair and Amber at out of everyone really appreciates her privacy, but at the same time it doesnt just apply to Walky since Becky did the same it should also apply to both gender regardless.

          But truth be told it’s not hard to understand what’s really irritating Amber right now and its not Walky just being there- well ok yeah it is Walky, mostly because she doesn’t want to have a conversation about a failed romance of hers with another guy who she also just recently had a failed romance with.

  20. Varangian

    Aw Christ, that’s pretty definitive.

    Fuckin’ thanks, Mike.

  21. Keulen

    Well there goes my hope of Walky and Amber getting back together. Fortunately, I’ve still got hopes for Walky and Lucy, assuming Lucy realizes she needs to be more direct with him eventually.

    1. Segnosaur

      Why would you hope for Amber and Walky to get together? Amber is probably the most psychologically damaged of the cast, and Walky has his own problems (with ADHD, among other things). I double either could provide much useful benefit to the other. (Other than a willingness to engage in mutual self loathing.)

      1. Rani

        It would fucking lighten up this insistently dark, hostile and surly cast, for one.

        1. Segnosaur

          There are a lot of cast members that are not ‘dark/hostile/surly’…. Dina, Dorothy, Danny, Lucy, Carla.

      2. Regalli

        Can we maybe not imply mentally ill and traumatized people don’t get to be in relationships at all? Sure, right now neither of them’s in a great state for the other, but I could see an Amber and Walky that have gotten some support and help being good for each other based off what we saw of Garbage Roof at its best. Amber’s still going to have trauma and she’s still going to be sharing a body with AG, Walky with diagnosed and managed ADHD will still have ADHD and his own trauma from how Linda screwed up his brain, you can’t wipe those things away, but that shouldn’t preclude either of them finding love down the line and having the potential to be a good partner.

        1. Devin

          I think (mind you I’m not positive) that what Segnosaur meant was that Amber and Walky’s particular issues make them a bad match for each other (and especially right now), not that they shouldn’t be in any relationship at all.

          And I don’t disagree with that, Walky’s issues with boundaries don’t mix well with someone who’s actively shutting themselves off from everyone else. Or at least they don’t seem to be mixing well based on the available evidence.

        2. Segnosaur

          Yes, that was pretty much my thoughts. (You beat me to my longer posting.)

          Relationships with people who can help=good
          Relationships with people who might make things worse=bad

        3. Segnosaur

          I’m not saying that mentally ill/traumatized people shouldn’t be in relationships. I’m saying if they are in relationships, its better that they be with someone who is able to help them through their issues.

          Even though Danny was rather oblivious to so many things, at least he was willing and able to confront Amber/Amazigirl by suggesting there was too much risk in crime fighting. And Dorothy saw that Walky was struggling with his classes and attempted to help him with his academics.

          Compare that to Amber/Walky, where Amber is changing grades for Walky (rather than trying to help him learn), which only covers up his problems and makes things worse for him in the long run. And Walky would probably be more likely to encourage Amber/Amazigirl’s crime fighting activities. Their relationship seemed to be based largely on “we both hate ourselves”, which would seem to be more likely to lead to a suicide pact than long term happiness.

          (Of course I am thinking as actual individuals and what would be best for them if they were real, as opposed to cartoon characters and what would be best for humor or storylines.)

        4. thejeff

          Though Amber was also making an effort to help him learn at one point – We know she talked to Mike about Walky having undiagnosed ADHD.

          And something seemed to work for Walky, unless Amber changed his grades again – he is in the next semester of Calc.

        5. Segnosaur

          Mike did bring up the ADHD, but he also suggested a solution would be for Amber to write the math problems on her chest in a sharpie to get Walky’s attention. I don’t think Amber ever actually helped Walky get assistance, and later on, when he should have been studying they were engaged in various types of… romantic activity.

          As for Walky being in the next semester of Calc, we don’t know if he managed to finish off last term under his own efforts, or whether he was able to pass the class because of Amber’s grade changes.

        6. thejeff

          Since the grade changes were before the midterms, if he passed he had to have learned something. (Or she interfered again, but there’s no reason to think that.) Changing the quiz grades so that he wasn’t deep in the hole wouldn’t save him if he failed the midterm and the final.

        7. Regalli

          Much more reasonable. I just tend to be twitchy on this front because well… *gestures broadly to the comments section wrt both Walky and Amber, and the tendencies to be grossly ableist about Amber and unreasonably harsh on Walky.*

          On the grade change, we know Amber changed them enough to keep him off probation but not enough to be undeniably noticeable – Walky remarks they’re bad but not hopelessly so – and also that the change was before midterms, so unless Professor Rees has the weirdest grading system ever the grades Amber changed would be less than half of the final grade. He wouldn’t be able to coast on that the rest of the semester without SOME improvement, unless Jason was drastically overstating how bad Walky’s grades were and feeding into Walky’s anxiety spiral. (In fairness, he could have been. Jason was pretty terrible in tutoring!)

  22. Rabisch

    Seems thet Amber don’t like to talk/see Walky. She’s right! Walky, think about your actions and go away! Far, far away.

  23. iain

    So on Twitch if you tell a streamer to make their cam image bigger, they’ll often make it SUPER big so you can’t see the gameplay.

    Did one of y’all complain to him about the pace of the comic and so he’s progressed forward and put all the ongoing story resolution in an unreachable place?

    1. Devin

      It’s no more unreachable than their pre-college lives. We’ve had plenty of flashbacks, I’m quite sure we’ll have flashbacks into the time skip.

  24. C.T Phipps

    Amber has decided to be Mike. Except her version is just deciding everyone is worth being contemptuous of.

    If only she could discover black clothing to go with it.

    1. Needfuldoer

      She gives the world a filtered version of Mike’s Force ghost, which manifests himself to her at inopportune times and feeds her self-loathing.

  25. Sombrero

    Becky and Walky together are more funny than could be expected. They cancel each other’s excesses a little bit, instead of going totally over-the-top. I hope they will pair more frequently from now on. If somehow both of them met Jason again that could be incredibly hilarious.

  26. Spencer

    To be fair that is also how I would deal with Walky on a day to day basis.

  27. TheScreenJockey

    No, Walky. No. Don’t give up on that dream.

  28. hof1991

    DYW seems to be constantly reminding us that the last comic pre-skip was a goodbye to one strip and the start of a new one. There was so much trauma and death. It affected every cast member permanently.

    This is the same continuity but a different tone. Almost a different writer. DYW was changed by the last arc and who can be surprised. This is his baby. He’s not a hired gun brought in to an existing strip.

    Will we every see amazi-girl again, now that Amber has seen the cost others paid for her existence. Joyce is a whole new person. Joe too. Do we care if we see Danny?

    Full marks for growth and change, for honoring the trauma of the last book.

    1. milu

      oooh interesting thought. The continuity of the story, that we took for granted as readers, has been broken– and that’s what trauma does. We need to adjust, accept that a break has happened and can’t be unhappened, that things we dont understand will keep happening, that our comfortable, familiar way of relating intimately to the characters has been upset, changed — in some small yet irreversible way.

      I like it!!!

  29. Rani

    If it were anyone else than Walky, this comment would be me rolling my eyes at how much of a monotonous drip Amber* is on a day to day basis.

    If it were *anyone* else other than Walky.

    On a side note, Walky’s total lack of anything approximating compassion, intellect or insight is right on display here. He’s a thoroughly loathsome character.

    *Willis’ writing of her is absolutely solid. She’s a sympathetic survivor, and I get her damage, but she is making a hardy effort to be as unlikable as possible, and she is *crushing it*.

    1. zee

      Bro…chill…

  30. Alex

    Never change, Walky.

  31. Juanoku

    Oh you’d be surprised

  32. zee

    I. Guess I’ll add Walky to the list if characters people have irrationally intense hate boners for? I always thought it was just sirk and he’s chilled all the way out (big ups, my man). Like, I get it he’s annoying but the level of loathing y’all have for this fictional 18 year old who’s worst crime is *checks notes* …teasing his friends and being annoying. Y’all need some peace on your lives. Eat some chocolate. Pet a dog. Watch a pleasant cartoon.

    1. Devin

      On the one hand I get it, if you’ve known people like Walky he can bring up a very visceral reaction. I have a similar reaction to some aspects of Jennifer. On the other hand, it’s a daily humor comic, and should not in any way be treated like actual life, and people are talking about disciplinary action and getting outraged like this should be playing out like real life. It’s intense, and seems unhealthy. When I come across a strip that displeases me, or an arc is making me unhappy, I step away for a bit and come back. I feel like some people in this comment section need to learn how to set up boundaries for themselves.

    2. thejeff

      Is there any major character here that people don’t have irrationally intense hate boners for?
      (I mean, except for the ones I hate. It’s perfectly rational to hate them.)

      1. MrSmith

        I dont think its irrational to dislike (hate might be a tad too far) Becky

        1. zee

          You talk about her like she’s the scum of the earth. Dislike her all you want but like. Damn

        2. MrSmith

          I do think shes an extremely unlikeable person, not scum of the earth level (thats Ruth)

    3. Rani

      Speaking strictly for myself, not only do I know people like Walky, he’s got no redeeming qualities, he’s bizarrely entitled and is actually getting worse. Every time the strip pans to him, the strip grinds to a screeching halt, and every one of his strips is the same, ending with a idiotic non-sequitor observation on his part.

      I’ve got no problems with Becky, incidentally.

      1. Diner Kinetic

        I think I’m you backwards, honestly. I tend to find myself wishing that people ‘fought back’ when becky was mean to them a little more, because the way she treats people is funny, but for drama’s sake it’d make sense for her to get called out every now and then. Walky on the other hand gets enough flak from the cast that it feels like he’s got good consequences for his actions. (also I’ve known people like him but tend to get on with them all well)

  33. DarkoNeko

    hoodies friends !

  34. ziggy78eog

    I honestly cannot blame her, for this reaction, as the both of them tend to take whatever conversation they are in, in unsufferabvly obnoxious directions.

    1. Victor Riley

      Yeah, but before the time jump they were back on good terms… so am I forgetting a recent tiff between the two of them? (Or maybe she knows about his attempt at superheroing?)

      1. Rycan

        I think that falls under the category of “things that happened during the time skip that are going to be gradually revealed,” along with Sal’s missing motorbike and whatever triggered the Billie-Ruth breakup.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.