Dumbing of Age

My heart has grown two sizes on reading today's strip.

Carla having friends is so good.

.....he knows Asher?

Okay, though I'm sure there's a very good explanation for this, I think this whole "Asshole Initiative" thing is going a bit far now.

All we need is for Leland to show up now.

People in the comments are speculating that Asher's family may be tied up with the Korean mob Blaine is working for...it's as good as anything pending some reveals.

Of course. We couldn't go without having that kind of drama, could we? No, he can't just be a lesson for Walky and Amber on how to walk away from bad shit, he has to become part of the supervillain group. Yay.

He doesn't seem that happy to see Blaine, so maybe he'll just tell him to get bent.

I suspect blackmail is about to be involved

Yeah, there'd be no point to this scene if Asher went "No, fuck off" and that was the end of it. One way or another there's gonna be a "yes" there.

Which begs the question "how the hell does Blaine know about Asher's past?"

...God you dont think he planned the robbery to torment Amber did he? Holy shit i do not like that possibility.

...Maybe something like "Asher did the robbery to pay Blaine"?

Mind, that would still be really stupid.

Anyway to say something more positive I really liked yesterday's strip's final panel. It feels like the culmination of years of growth for Sal, where she can finally open herself to people who don't fall for the tough Southern badass routine and just accept her for who she is.

Edited by RodimusMinor on Aug 1st 2019 at 10:40:07 AM

Well. The dynamic isn't quite as we expected, then.

Sounds like Blaine did know something about him then. Very well in fact.

So I've got this straight.

Blaine's dad works for Asher's granpa. Granpa sounds like some sort of hood. Granpa is a little upset Asher has decided to "leave the life behind".

If all this is true....what the fuck is Blaine's play here? "Do as I say or I tell your grandad you're.......hoping to ace your midterms?" The whole point to blackmail is you have something hanging over the blackmailee's head. Blaine has dog dick here.

My immediate suspicion was that Asher might be homosexual and hiding it from his grandfather - who's likely extremely traditionalist (as well as part of the Korean mob) - and Blaine found out about it somehow.

Because this seems like exactly the kind of angle somebody like Blaine would use.

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Aug 2nd 2019 at 9:08:15 PM

The Achillean dating pool in this comic is in need of expansion. It's true.

I forget, is Blaine aware of Amber's former pasttime?

It's possible that he didn't realize by virtue of getting the shit beat out of him too badly to make any coherent thoughts.

Also, it's not like the general public knows of Amber's secret identity.

Is this gonna be an "I'm holding Bruce Wayne hostage so Batman will show up" situation?

Oh hey we have that one

I'm not sure what his plans are for Amazi Girl; obviously his plans for Amber are "get her to drop out so I don't have to shell out cash for tuition".

Not sure how that leads to her alter ego showing up to challenge him or whatever.

Who was the second Amazigirl in Shortpacked?