Eh, Amber may have hastened things, but this has been in the works since Dorothy sat down next to Joyce in the first session of Leslie’s class, and it’s been pretty much inevitable ever since Dorothy and Joyce did laundry together. And Becky’s crush on Joyce has been doomed for way longer than that.
looks like lot everyone are losing something in this book:
– Becky is losing her religion
– Amber is losing blood
– Sarah is losing her hate
– Joyce is losing her shame
– Dorothy is losing her reservations
– Daisy is losing her job
– Joe is losing his girlfriend
– Walky is losing his metabolism
– Hank is losing his family
– Ruth is losing her ex
– Alice is losing her fear
– Jennifer is losing who she was
Amazigirl was never Lawful Good. Chaotic Good, at BEST.
Theozilla
I think Amazi-Girl was initially somewhat Lawful Good but then came to the realization that the law can often be crap. Though one can also be “lawful” in the D&D alignment sense if one is extremely dedicated to a code of conduct that is personal rather than being based on an external legal code.
anonymsly
Amazigirl lawful neutral to me – lots of emphasis on dogmatic absolute rules, very little concern for ‘good’ or ‘evil’ as she conflates Law with Good.
noisy
You’re both right; she went from Lawful Neutral to Chaotic Good.
Amara
I think she always was lawful good, and this isn’t changing. She follows a very strict code of conduct, which includes things like not breaking laws (ignoring how vigilantism already breaks some). She was always a champion of the people first and foremost. Lawful doesn’t always mean explicitly follows the law of the country. It means she’s structured, she’s principled, she’s Ordered.
She also knows cops are rotten punks enforcing a corrupt and morally bankrupt system. They’re not following the laws of the country either, but rather being wielded as a cudgel by the university. They are not the right order to follow, and so she regards them as enemies in this situation.
3oranges
I feel like vigilantes are kind of inherently chaotic or at least neutral, since vigilantism is illegal?
Pappenheimer
I guess there might be a Punisher/Lone Ranger scale?
Proto
Yeah, the whole thing is kinda born from the idea that the current law enforcement is either corrupt and/or too ineffective but you can do it better. Now whether that “better” means you will be better at enforcing the current law, or whether it means you can do what they can’t/won’t do in the current system probably varies between each vigilante. I think a true “lawful good” vigilante doesn’t exist outside of fiction where like, Golden/Silver Age Superman can be deputized by the government without having to give them his real name.
thejeff
The super-hero fiction is a bit different, but far too often that “corrupt and/or too ineffective but you can do it better” part means the cops were doing enough to keep minorities (and maybe the poor in general) under control. Even street level comic books super-heroes often leaned on that, though rarely too openly.
In reality, vigilantes have rarely been anything remotely akin to good in any form, but tended to have populist support to be tougher on the “bad guys” than the cops could be, since the cops had rules and had to follow process. (Inadequate as those rules and processes might be.)
Obviously in fiction, that doesn’t have to be true, so you can have lawful good vigilantes who follow their own code. In a setting where the laws themselves are evil, even lawful heroes don’t have to strictly follow them.
Michelle J Caboose
D&D “Lawful” doesn’t necessarily mean actual laws. It’s more synonymous with “Order”, which is the diametric opposite of “Chaos”.
But “Lawful Good”, “Lawful Neutral”, and “Lawful Evil” sound better than “Orderly Good”, etc.
morleuca
am I the only one that wishes for a third axis to the alignment chart?
the photo does a great job of distracting from the school’s decision to call in the police in the first place. I don’t see the administration agreeing to discipline Daisy whatsoever.
I especially agree regarding the “Joe losing his girlfriend” bit. Joyce didn’t give him an answer, and he mentioned he was open to Joyce being with both Dorothy and him, so we’d need to wait and see how Dorothy reacts to that.
Other things however, like Walky losing his metabolism, appear to be a given.
WannaBSpaghetti
My brother in Christ, Joyce showed up, confessed to cheating, Joe said he was okay with an open relationship if it meant even getting a part of her heart, and then she literally ran out of the room without answering him and spent the entire day running around with Dorothy – which included introducing Dorothy to Dad as her girlfriend. That relationship is so, so dead.
The Big One
To be fair, the face he made immediately after implies he is not As Cool With Polyamory as he says he is. Which makes sense with his character. As a polyamorous person not everyone has the right headspace for polyamory and Joe has too much trauma around this subject for me to believe he is legitimately 100% cool with seeing Joyce date other people while dating him, even if he logically knows that polyamory is different from cheating.
I think the least likely of these is Daisy losing her job. The University will likely be glad the paper covered the protests as a distraction instead of focusing on the institutional abuse, while to others she can note the increased engagement . Raidah’s complaints will likely fall on deaf ears.
I mean, we dunno for sure if Hank’s losing any more of his family this storyline than he’s already lost, not just yet. The dinner conversation… might go well.
The way things have gone so far, it seems entirely possible that the worst place they’ll end up at is “agree to disagree.”
Proto
idk, as of now he only knows Joyce is gay, he doesn’t know that Jocelyn has transitioned and in a lot of people’s eyes that is a way bigger thing, and he might not be able to cope. Much like Becky, everything he’s believed is kinda crumbling, and if he finds out about Jocelyn, especially so soon after his divorce and Joyce coming out, it might put him over the edge. At the very least, even if he’s accepting of her, I think he’ll end up where Becky is now.
I mean you can only take so many hits on that level before you start questioning if gods real or if they are why they are targeting you with that kinda horrible events
I really do think much of the basic human ideas of religion come more from the “why they are targeting you with that kinda horrible events” than from anything like modern notions of an all loving god.
When horrible shit keeps happening, it’s very easy to see it as aimed at you and to seek some way to turn away or propitiate the wrath.
308 thoughts on “Beneath notice”
Serendipity
Oh damn.
Effie
God is fake, and therefore cannot damn.
Decidedly Orthogonal
Hence, “oh” — a synonym for zero, or nothing — being the initializing expletive.
Thag Simmons
Well this should be fun.
Clif
No, no. Fun is if Becky finds out that Amber set this up to put Walky in play.
Bajja
Somebody writing this fanfic or…?
Clif
See https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/thumpasprunging/ and the following strip.
Clif
Also relevant, the half of the conversation we hear here. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/04-the-only-exception/ice/
Matt
…well Amber DID kinda tell Dorothy how to respond to the text messages
John Campbell
Eh, Amber may have hastened things, but this has been in the works since Dorothy sat down next to Joyce in the first session of Leslie’s class, and it’s been pretty much inevitable ever since Dorothy and Joyce did laundry together. And Becky’s crush on Joyce has been doomed for way longer than that.
Needfuldoer
Everything is fine. Nothing is the matter.
Doctor_Who
Next panel: Dina is gone.
Panel after that: “I have returned with further medicine, to help you through this crisis.”
Final panel: Dina presenting large pot of Hormel chili and several packages of Marshmallow Peeps and M&Ms.
Proxiehunter
You put the peeps in the chilli pot and you mix it all up.
Linkara
o/ You put the peeps in the chili pot and it makes it taste… baaaad. o/
Yumi
Good work here, everyone.
Clif
You put the peppers in the chilli pot and and mix it all up.
What are they teaching kids nowdays?
Ed Callahano
But you have to put the limes in the coconut first.
Rose by Any other Name
**I got that reference .gif**
Not enough people making Chidi references. Nice work yall.
Jo_cubstar
Yay I thought it was in reference to chidi, as well lol
Jon
That entire sequence was absolute gold. Chidi is a delight when he’s had his worldview utterly shattered haha
jeffepp
No beans, and you can’t argue much about that helping.
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Next strip, Walky and Becky both recovering from overindulgence.
Steamweed
Mmmm….chili with beeeeeans…yessss….
(black beans is best, but kidney beenz is okay too)
Ian Clark
And they all get As, or Fs. And there is no test, and they all failed it, and they all get As.
Doopyboop
Ah, I remember my ‘God is fake’ moment.
Clif
Becky has lost her faith in Willis.
Leorale
It does always seem ironic that the characters live in a universe that actually does have a god.
RoyanRannedos
But only as long as He never catches His bus.
Sirksome
Damn.
Irreleverent
Don’t trust god.
butts
well it’s good they’re talking about it
pope suburban
The timing on this, right after what Dina said. Oof.
Amós Batista
looks like lot everyone are losing something in this book:
– Becky is losing her religion
– Amber is losing blood
– Sarah is losing her hate
– Joyce is losing her shame
– Dorothy is losing her reservations
– Daisy is losing her job
– Joe is losing his girlfriend
– Walky is losing his metabolism
– Hank is losing his family
– Ruth is losing her ex
– Alice is losing her fear
– Jennifer is losing who she was
Amós Batista
Raidah is just losing it
Adam Black
Amazigirl osing being Lawful Good
Lumino
Amazigirl was never Lawful Good. Chaotic Good, at BEST.
Theozilla
I think Amazi-Girl was initially somewhat Lawful Good but then came to the realization that the law can often be crap. Though one can also be “lawful” in the D&D alignment sense if one is extremely dedicated to a code of conduct that is personal rather than being based on an external legal code.
anonymsly
Amazigirl lawful neutral to me – lots of emphasis on dogmatic absolute rules, very little concern for ‘good’ or ‘evil’ as she conflates Law with Good.
noisy
You’re both right; she went from Lawful Neutral to Chaotic Good.
Amara
I think she always was lawful good, and this isn’t changing. She follows a very strict code of conduct, which includes things like not breaking laws (ignoring how vigilantism already breaks some). She was always a champion of the people first and foremost. Lawful doesn’t always mean explicitly follows the law of the country. It means she’s structured, she’s principled, she’s Ordered.
She also knows cops are rotten punks enforcing a corrupt and morally bankrupt system. They’re not following the laws of the country either, but rather being wielded as a cudgel by the university. They are not the right order to follow, and so she regards them as enemies in this situation.
3oranges
I feel like vigilantes are kind of inherently chaotic or at least neutral, since vigilantism is illegal?
Pappenheimer
I guess there might be a Punisher/Lone Ranger scale?
Proto
Yeah, the whole thing is kinda born from the idea that the current law enforcement is either corrupt and/or too ineffective but you can do it better. Now whether that “better” means you will be better at enforcing the current law, or whether it means you can do what they can’t/won’t do in the current system probably varies between each vigilante. I think a true “lawful good” vigilante doesn’t exist outside of fiction where like, Golden/Silver Age Superman can be deputized by the government without having to give them his real name.
thejeff
The super-hero fiction is a bit different, but far too often that “corrupt and/or too ineffective but you can do it better” part means the cops were doing enough to keep minorities (and maybe the poor in general) under control. Even street level comic books super-heroes often leaned on that, though rarely too openly.
In reality, vigilantes have rarely been anything remotely akin to good in any form, but tended to have populist support to be tougher on the “bad guys” than the cops could be, since the cops had rules and had to follow process. (Inadequate as those rules and processes might be.)
Obviously in fiction, that doesn’t have to be true, so you can have lawful good vigilantes who follow their own code. In a setting where the laws themselves are evil, even lawful heroes don’t have to strictly follow them.
Michelle J Caboose
D&D “Lawful” doesn’t necessarily mean actual laws. It’s more synonymous with “Order”, which is the diametric opposite of “Chaos”.
But “Lawful Good”, “Lawful Neutral”, and “Lawful Evil” sound better than “Orderly Good”, etc.
morleuca
am I the only one that wishes for a third axis to the alignment chart?
Clif
I have seen no evidence that Daisy is losing her job.
CianM1301
Raidah will probably report her.
Clif
To whom?
Jon
The editor of the newspaper!
Oh, wait…
morleuca
the photo does a great job of distracting from the school’s decision to call in the police in the first place. I don’t see the administration agreeing to discipline Daisy whatsoever.
Nono
Dina is losing… her roommate?
NGPZ
???????
nailed it XD
HueSatLight
That’s her in the corner,
that’s her in the spotlight.
Woop de doop
Lotta assumptions here for things that haven’t happened yet.
CianM1301
I especially agree regarding the “Joe losing his girlfriend” bit. Joyce didn’t give him an answer, and he mentioned he was open to Joyce being with both Dorothy and him, so we’d need to wait and see how Dorothy reacts to that.
Other things however, like Walky losing his metabolism, appear to be a given.
WannaBSpaghetti
My brother in Christ, Joyce showed up, confessed to cheating, Joe said he was okay with an open relationship if it meant even getting a part of her heart, and then she literally ran out of the room without answering him and spent the entire day running around with Dorothy – which included introducing Dorothy to Dad as her girlfriend. That relationship is so, so dead.
The Big One
To be fair, the face he made immediately after implies he is not As Cool With Polyamory as he says he is. Which makes sense with his character. As a polyamorous person not everyone has the right headspace for polyamory and Joe has too much trauma around this subject for me to believe he is legitimately 100% cool with seeing Joyce date other people while dating him, even if he logically knows that polyamory is different from cheating.
UrzaMTG
How many song titles can we get from this list? The first is a given.
CrazyJ
I think the least likely of these is Daisy losing her job. The University will likely be glad the paper covered the protests as a distraction instead of focusing on the institutional abuse, while to others she can note the increased engagement . Raidah’s complaints will likely fall on deaf ears.
RassilonTDavros
I mean, we dunno for sure if Hank’s losing any more of his family this storyline than he’s already lost, not just yet. The dinner conversation… might go well.
justin8448
The way things have gone so far, it seems entirely possible that the worst place they’ll end up at is “agree to disagree.”
Proto
idk, as of now he only knows Joyce is gay, he doesn’t know that Jocelyn has transitioned and in a lot of people’s eyes that is a way bigger thing, and he might not be able to cope. Much like Becky, everything he’s believed is kinda crumbling, and if he finds out about Jocelyn, especially so soon after his divorce and Joyce coming out, it might put him over the edge. At the very least, even if he’s accepting of her, I think he’ll end up where Becky is now.
Needfuldoer
Asma is losing her patience.
Amós Batista
good one *writing*
Bittersweet
Oh Becky…
Getsu
I mean you can only take so many hits on that level before you start questioning if gods real or if they are why they are targeting you with that kinda horrible events
C.T Phipps
The irony being that it’s nice things happening that are ruining her.
Laura
I’ve been reading a bit about the writings of Augustine of Hippo. I like his take:
The question is not so much, “Why do bad things happen?” as it is, “Why do they ever STOP happening?”
The answer is, “Who knows!?”
x-D
Clif
What led him to believe they stop?
Laura
I think he was speaking hypothetically. As in, if bad @#$% ever were to stop happening to anyone, why would it or even should it?
thejeff
I really do think much of the basic human ideas of religion come more from the “why they are targeting you with that kinda horrible events” than from anything like modern notions of an all loving god.
When horrible shit keeps happening, it’s very easy to see it as aimed at you and to seek some way to turn away or propitiate the wrath.
Needfuldoer