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[94ssd]

I'm more surprised by all the people just milling around the fountain when a guy with a gun is screaming at two girls. Or at least talking angrily. It took the gunshot to make them react instead of people starting to back the heck away once they saw the gun.

I'm not. I'm in a theatre for social change class where we recently did invisible theatre projects (think of "What Would You Do," except you don't actually tell other people it's a performance, unless you have to prevent the police being called or something). People are really, really unobservant, especially when they're walking to class.

I hope you don't film those. Filming people without their permission is kinda shitty.

No. I was only using the show as an example because it's the only one people recognize. I'd encourage you to do some reading on actual invisible theatre. It's not about tricking or embarrassing people.

The point though, is that college students were extremely unresponsive to situations involving theft, depression, and even domestic abuse. Granted, this situation is a lot more extreme. But I'm just saying it's not unthinkable for people to not be very good at noticing things, especially since the people who did notice the gun in the last panel may have run away.

What I'm surprised at is, assuming people have been calling the police, the alarms and cell phone alerts haven't started going off already. Even if the police take a few minutes to catch up as Ross moves around campus, in the post-Virgina Tech era colleges, especially very large ones like IU, have alert systems that can be activated instantly as soon as a call like that comes in.

[sitnspin]

Humans are notoriously bad at noticing things they are not expecting to see. We literally can't see things directly in front of us if our attention is on something else, even in line of sight.

[Kugai]

Shit.  Bad idea I think

I think the Cops should turn up next.

[Gladstone]

Pretty sure Amazi-Girl is gonna show up soon.  Joyce told Becky she was going to get some help, and she's had A-Girl's number since the Whiteboard Ding-Dong Bandit incident, and probably thinks a masked vigilante will be helpful in this situation.  Of course, that was before Ross showed up with a gun...

[chaospersonified]

Not sure what it's worth, but there's a reason you never point your gun to the sky in a populated area.

Gravity.

Even if we get Ross to cooperate and leave quietly, there's potential damage imminent.

[Method of Madness]

Yeah, I wonder where that bullet's gonna land.

[Method of Madness]

Fuck.

[hedgie]

Becky sacrificed herself for Joyce.  Otherwise, if someone is trying to force you into a car at gunpoint, even in a public place, you fight them tooth and nail, 'cos at least that way, you'll die more quickly.  She knows that whatever happens to her, it will not be good.  But at least Joyce will be safe.  I don't know if I could have done that for anyone.

[Kugai]

Damn!!!!!!

[BenRG]

I'm pretty sure that Becky is doing this so she can get him out of the crisis zone and talk him down without him freaking out about his imminent "heroic last stand" and it impairing his already-weak reasoning skills. I just wonder how often Becky and her mother have had to do this in the past and whether others (like Joyce's parents) knew about it?

Isn't it odd that I'm the optimist today?

[Masterpiece]

Speaking of that bullet: I'm pretty sure that's a shotgun, which should mean that there's no bullet but rather pellets which slow down enough so there's no damage when they fall back down (which is why shotguns are used for hunting, a sport which involves a lot of shooting in the air!).
This post was sent from Tapatalk inside my phone!

[hedgie]

Well, that, and hitting any bird that isn't flightless with a rifle would be quite a challenge.

[Loki]

if someone is trying to force you into a car at gunpoint, even in a public place, you fight them tooth and nail, 'cos at least that way, you'll die more quickly.

Ergh. This is dangerously ambiguous advice. A brief search for "what to do if you are taken hostage" points to this guide:
http://www.wikihow.com/Survive-an-Abduction-or-Hostage-Situation
which basically says to behave depending on the situation. (Incidentally, the advice given there matches advice handed out by official institutions).

[Neko_Ali]

The biggest difference between this situation and say, a random kidnapping is that it's unlikely that Ross is taking Becky away to be physically harmed. If you think someone is grabbing you to take you some place where they can do much worse or that you may never be seen again then yes, fight for everything you can. Because if you let your attacker control your environment it will become much more difficult to escape. Becky going along with her dad is best of bad choices here. Letting him stay and get more wound up was going to end up with someone getting shot. Either Ross will fire the next shot at someone, or the police will show up. And it's pretty likely that Ross is so far gone at this point that nobody was going to be talking him down. Becky going with him for now will let him calm down off his adrenaline high and maybe think a little more calmly and rationally. Also she (and we) still don't know what happened to Dina. It seems unlikely that she wouldn't have set off for the fountain as soon as Ross left, if she were able.

The situation now is bad, and will get worse if Ross can get Becky home and isolate her. I wouldn't put it past him to lock her up until she 'saw the light and returned to Jesus'. But at least right now the immediate danger of someone being shot has been stopped.

[cesium133]

A horrifying thought... we still don't know where Dina is, and as Neko_Ali said,  if Dina were able, she'd go to the fountain.  I had been wondering what Ross was going to say to Dina after "I should..." His plan may be to force her to go to gay camp along with Becky to cure them both.

[Method of Madness]

He did say that he hadn't hurt anyone. I think he's a terrible person, but I didn't think he was lying about that.

[Welu]

Becky should still have Dina's phone and Ross doesn't know but unless he takes his concentration off Becky, she won't have much chance to use it. I'd also guess if Ross found it, he'd break or chuck it. As mentioned earlier, if Dina's phone has its location on, Dina can probably track it using Find My Phone functions so it won't be up to Becky alone, even if it feels like that.

Although at this point, Becky might feel leaving could be too dangerous for herself and other people even if she gets the chance.

[Method of Madness]

I'd say staying is considerably more dangerous.

[cesium133]

He did say that he hadn't hurt anyone. I think he's a terrible person, but I didn't think he was lying about that.

He wouldn't necessarily be lying. He's large enough he could simply pick her up and stuff her in the trunk of the car...

[Welu]

I'd say staying is considerably more dangerous.

True but it's a common feeling in an abusive relationship, whether it's romantic or parental or otherwise, that it becomes the Abused's responsibility to cover and protect others. (Obviously not saying this should be the case, I'm saying that being in abusive situation fucks you up, to grossly oversimplify it.) Becky's seen how far her father is willing to go and she might not want to risk putting her friends in danger again, even if it means the chance getting herself out of it.

[Gladstone]

SPOILER about Dina from Willis's tumblr.  Try not to click it, I dare you.

[cesium133]

SPOILER about Dina from Willis's tumblr.  Try not to click it, I dare you.

(click to show/hide)

She could still be a zombie.

[Gladstone]

(click to show/hide)

She could still be a zombie.

(click to show/hide)

Or dead and stuffed. 

"Sorry, Becky, we tried our best.  You can still cuddle, if you don't mind the smell of formaldehyde."

[Method of Madness]

Staying strong...not easy.

[Gladstone]

Staying strong...not easy.

Ugh, I just increased my monthly donations on Willis's Patreon account, which means I get to see tomorrow's comic a day early, but he just posted the next comic after tomorrow's, so now I got nothing to read for the next two days.  Beginning to understand your spoiler-aversion.

[cesium133]

That's one reason (aside from me just being cheap  ) that I never bothered with Patreon. Yeah, you get to see tomorrow's comic early, but that effectively just means you get two comics in one day, and then if you cancel your Patreon account you have to wait an extra day for the next comic. I don't really consider it worth it.

[Gladstone]

I originally just chipped in a few bucks to see the two monthly bonus strips, and donated a few dollars to Jeph when he offered bonus comics as well, but I'm starting to like DoA more than QC (and Jeph's only posting bonus strips if his Patreon goes over ten grand a month, which it hasn't lately, so what's the point?), so I stopped supporting Jeph and upped my donations to Willis instead.  Maybe I'll lower the amount by a dollar just to avoid early comics...

[Method of Madness]

How much do you need for Willis's to see a day early? If it's a dollar a month I'd consider it, otherwise...eh.

Or maybe I could just befriend someone who gets the strip a day early and have them send it to me. But even then, yeah, once I see the first "future" one, I'm still waiting a day for the next strip like usual.

[bhtooefr]

https://www.patreon.com/dumbingofage?ty=h

$5 a month. $1 gets you the twice monthly Patreon-only bonus strips.

[Method of Madness]

See, those actually seem more valuable, the extra four just gets you stuff a day early, the first dollar gets you stuff you'd never get.

If you sign up for the dollar level, is there a way to see the bonus strips from the past?

[Gladstone]

Yeah,  all the bonus strips are archived. 

I wasn't really thinking early comic = bonus when I decided to donate more.  $5 seemed like a decent amount, is all.  I'm just annoyed that I looked ahead two days.

[Method of Madness]

Just became a $1 patron. I figure I'll look at all the bonus strips when I finish It's Walky/Joyce and Walky.

[ankhtahr]

My "trick" is that I'll just sometimes forget about reading the comic, and then I'll just read up on the main page. That way I can have an additional day in the most crucial moments!

[hedgie]

It certainly doesn't help when it's an arc like this.  The last thing I want to see here is Becky being sent to one of those anti-gay concentration camps.  Hopefully, if he *did*, he'd have to cross state lines and have the Feds ensure that he'd never again draw a free breath.

and Jeph's only posting bonus strips if his Patreon goes over ten grand a month, which it hasn't lately, so what's the point?), so I stopped supporting Jeph and upped my donations to Willis instead.

At this point, I'm not even thinking of the "perks" that Jeph has offered.  I haven't seen that monthly music column, for one.  The main reason I'm still tossing him some dosh is that I adamantly refuse to disable my adblocker.

[BenRG]

I think that we're about to find out just what strength is in Joyce Brown. I also think that we're going to find out if the formidable warrior that existed in the Walkyverse lives on in some small way in her.

"Sal, I need you to give me a ride on your bike. Before you say 'no' again, this time the alternative is me rendering you unconscious and stealing it."

P.S.
Having long been a fan of the character of Susan Ivanova in Babylon 5, I think that, with suitable modifications this quote would be ideal for Joyce to use when she catches up with Ross and, on Sal's bike, drives him off of the road.

"Who am I? I am Joyce Brown, Christian, daughter of Hank and Carol Brown. I am the right hand of vengeance and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to La Porte, Mr McIntyre! I am death incarnate, and the last living thing that you will ever see. God sent me."

Or maybe... Y'know, I know that some people don't like my speculative writing jaunts but this one really fits and I wonder if, no matter how much they'd deny it, some fans (especially those who came to DoA via the Walkyverse) would like to see it.

SCENE: JOYCE is standing with AMAZI-GIRL on the dorm building roof.

JOYCE: "I just... I just can't stop worrying about Becky!"

AMAZI-GIRL: "Your sister in all-but-blood has been taken. You cannot do anything to alter this for now. Set it aside."

JOYCE: "But how? How am I supposed to concentrate on anything when all I feel is this... hate?"

AMAZI-GIRL: "You hide it away from the world." ((AMAZI-GIRL holds out a dull sunset orange mask to JOYCE)) "With this."

Yeah, ripped off from The Mask of Zorro. Brilliant film and the scene fits into Joyce's situation right now so well. I really doubt that Willis intends to go that way with this. Despite every weird thing in it, Dumbing of Age is actually quite real-world in most ways. That doesn't stop the Mystery Man fanboy in me geeking out at the thought of Amazi-Girl starting a sort of Legion of the Wronged from her classmates.

[chaospersonified]

BenRG, see, that's not an evil speculative writing jaunt. That is a fun potential future. I can appreciate that.

I don't think it's likely, but when I started reading it, especially with the disclaimer, I felt certain it would end horrifically. I was pleasantly surprised. I am okay with the unlikely potential of her taking on the part of Amazigirl 2.0/Amazigirl's sidekick.

[Kugai]

"Give in to your feelings my young apprentice and your journey to the dark side will be complete."

[Gladstone]

Called it, kinda.  Just forgot that Joyce only had "Roll, Perfect Cinnamon"'s number, not Amazi-Girl's

[Method of Madness]

Who is Perfect Cinnamon Roll again?

[Neko_Ali]

Dorothy. And somebody is gonna get a whupping. Or shot. possibly both. On the other hand, Ross probably doesn't have the gun close at hand while driving, so there's that.

[Method of Madness]

Oh...why is she called Perfect Cinnamon Roll?

[chaospersonified]

Oh. Oh no. Amazigirl, I hope to god you have a plan. He has a gun, yeah, but equally or possibly more important, he is in a car. The gun isn't even necessary to kill you.

I am nervous for her. I expect she should triumph, but I struggle to imagine it will be easy.

In other news, it amuses me that Joyce's best friend has so quickly become Dina's property. She is now Dina's Becky

[Neko_Ali]

To Amber she is, yeah. Dina is Amber's room mate and friend, so it make sense that she thinks of Becky in those terms.

[Gladstone]

Oh...why is she called Perfect Cinnamon Roll?

It's an Onion article that later turned into a Tumblr meme to describe favorite characters.  Or something.

[BenRG]

Well, I didn't actually think that Willis would take this route? Is this the moment when Amazi-Girl finally meets her match with a real-world villain out of her normal league... Or is this the moment when Amber finally realises just what that mask and that costume can do to help others?

One way or another... This is the day of her Destiny.

[Method of Madness]

Oh...why is she called Perfect Cinnamon Roll?

It's an Onion article that later turned into a Tumblr meme to describe favorite characters.  Or something.

Yeah, but how would Joyce know about Tumblr? Does Joyce tumble?

[bhtooefr]

So, one thing that the comments over on DoA have come up with...

(click to show/hide)

...is that the ambulance is for Amber. After she gets ventilated by Ross. And, just to make things worse, Blaine finds out she's in the hospital.

[Schmee]

Yes, but they also came up with this:

[chaospersonified]

So, one thing that the comments over on DoA have come up with...

(click to show/hide)

...is that the ambulance is for Amber. After she gets ventilated by Ross. And, just to make things worse, Blaine finds out she's in the hospital.

This is what I was thinking will probably happen, but I didn't say it for fear I'm prescient. On the other hand, it's still a future unknown, so it's a bit soon to be screeching 'DAMN YOU, WILLIS' over a thing that might not happen at all, and probably won't play out in the most obvious manner

[Kugai]

Either way, this week is gonna end with a bang I think