Maybe… Dorothy gets the emotionally distant boys, and since she’s kinda emotionally distant, they won’t get in each other’s way.
Amber gets the emotionally childish pair, who considering the fact the deepest interaction she wants to have involves video game and inane talk, would allow for her to interact with people a less deep level.
Of course, listening to Joyce prattle on about Jesus and Twilight might be a deal breaker…
Yeah, Amber never did meet Joyce, that is unless that Mike and Amber went to the wedding, which hasn’t been drawn out yet, which hopefully will be soon.
Oh, come on. They don’t look THAT alike! Amber’s glasses are way bigger than, um… *goes to check* Dorothy’s. See? Totally different, unique and memorable.
They look similar enough, that if you just pass your eyes over the screen (like a lot of people I know do), then you might be forced to do a double-take to check for palette-swapped clones.
After the initial once-over, though, they totally look different. You just gotta do some quick detail-finding.
They have different facial shapes, different figures, different hair colours. Just because they’re two chicks with glasses and shoulder-length hair doesn’t make them the same -___-
And their hair styles are also substantially different too, despite internet memeage: Dot has a forelock, puts it behind the ears and shoulders, it doesn’t bell out as much, and it looks to be a bit longer too. Sure, they’re more similar than say Mike and Roadblock are to each other, but I don’t see how anybody can see them side-by-side in a panel and call their hairstyles the same.
There’s the difference with their hair: Dorothy has it slightly longer, and it falls behind her shoulders, apparently. Amber’s is slightly shorter, and does not fall behind her shoulders.
I’m actually convinced they looked much more similar at the start of the comic. As Doa as progressed Dorothy has been slowly getting slimmer, more angular, her hair has been developing in its’ own direction etc etc. They’re actually are pretty set with their own unique looks now, though there are similarities too, much in the way that two people could plausibly have roughly similar builds.
Oh, and I think her skin might be getting paler too, but I haven’t gotten to checking that yet so that might just be me.
Yeah, I think part of it has to do with Amber and Dorothy having such noticably large heads. A lot of it has to do with their hair, but their heads look considerably larger than, say, Mike or Ethan. I recall thinking how much nicer it looked when Willis drew Amber with a small head that one time, though a middle ground would probably be better (and more subtle).
Didn’t the one on the left in the last frame (forgot her name) already kinda drop those two friends? I mean the way she was acting before in combination with how long it had been since she had talked to them doesn’t really scream that she was up for maintaining their relationships. I don’t see why she is complaining now…
She’s an anti-social shut-in. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t value friendship in her own way. It just means this isn’t easy for her, and also that societal social protocol has yet to adapt to a world with Angry Birds in it.
She went out to meet them, sat down and promptly ignored them in favor of a game on her cell phone. I do remember her anti-social actions from the previous universes/strips and get that her two friends are, in fact, used to something like this from the mention they make at the beginning of the “arc”. However, all of the beginning of the “attention” comic two strips back indicates that she is paying less attention to these people than before (probably due to the incident related to prom night) and has already dropped them using her own shut-in tendencies as an excuse.
(Sorry about the lateness of this response I had completely forgotten about this comment.)
You seem confused. I said anti-social shut-in. This is different from merely anti-social. She is not avoiding her friends so much as she’s shutting herself away from the outside world.
I have similar tendencies myself. Rather than exploring a new environment I’m more likely to hole myself up in a little pocket of familiarity. I’m just wrapping up my third year of college and on nine occasions have I spoken to someone outside of a pre-existing social circle of about seven people since I entered. These were all limited to casual small talk.
I can speak to the difficulty of balancing reclusiveness with the maintenance of pre-existing friends. You don’t want to go outside. Being outside is stressful and makes it harder to hold up your end of the conversation. You feel like you’re being a crappy friend and an embarrassingly poor conversationalist and that just makes the whole situation that much worse. Despite this, you love your friends. They’ve gotten you through a lot of tough times in the past and even now they’re a large part of what keeps you sane.
Basically what I’m saying is that Amber’s behavior is likely not a statement on how much she values their friendship at all, but rather a manifestation of her own issues. She probably doesn’t like this any more than they do. It would mean the world to her if they’d understand that.
I think you might be putting to much of your own issues, feelings, and relationships into this character.
This character is not you and never will be, and while I appreciate whatever life you lead in the real world, we are talking about an (admittedly imaginary) identity that is not our own.
The Amber in this universe has had some form of social life, and has maintained friends within a certain circle through this, and now is allowing this to taper off despite the fact that they are one of the few pockets of familiarity that you have already brought up. They say that she has been paying less attention to them, and I take this to mean on all forms of communication, including say facebook (or any other means that would require very little interaction with the outside world). I think it is important to remember that these people are supposedly used to the tendencies that she exhibits, which indicates to me that she has both been ignoring them a great deal more than she did in the past and that she has done this for a long enough time to make this lack of communication uncomfortable. (at least an amount of time greater than the ?four? days she has been in college)
This would then not simply be an effect of the transition to a new environment or her own tendencies.
Of course she’s been dealing with them less right now than in the past. Her issues are not my issues. This I freely admit. I just mean the general idea. Right now she’s uncomfortable around the two of them and it has nothing to do with how much she values their friendship and everything to do with her own emotional issues, likely pertaining to prom night.
I mean heck, she hasn’t shown herself to be debilitated in any other way. She’s social in class (by her standards). She seems perfectly comfortable outside in general. Assuming she’s amazigirl she’s perfectly confident and empowered as well to the point that she can put herself out there to that degree.
My basic point was that just because she’s uncomfortable with the two of them right now doesn’t mean she doesn’t value their friendship. It just means she’s uncomfortable with them right now.
One statement puts the issue on her friends (from her perspective), the other means she’s just got some shit to work through right now and could use a little space.
I don’t think that’s unreasonable either. They’re concerned, and that’s nice. They’re good friends. “A little bit of space while I sort myself out emotionally” is a perfectly valid need though. Give her time and she’ll be ready to rejoin the group and all its’ associated antics.
You’re right though. I may have gotten sidetracked during the shut-in metaphor. Probably could have found a better way to do that than going on for three paragraphs about my own shit and then writing a sentence and a half to poorly tie it in to the character. I keep telling myself to stop the late night posting and yet I never do >.<
Ok.
So summarizing this your points here. Amber just has some issues based on the previous happenings and still values Mike and Ethan as friends. Thus given enough time and some sorting of her own she can rejoin them at a later date.
I agree that she consciously still thinks of them as friends and that her regression has probably been caused by the incidents and that, given the current conflict, she has a chance of changing the situation around.
However, I don’t think I fully agree with the notion that, before this conflict, she was on the path towards sorting this out and making up. We have covered that she was hurt by this and that she was ignoring her friends for a period of time, but my interpretation of the information given was not that she was biding for time to heal, but that instead the sub-conscious parts of her that were wounded were trying to run away. This would then indicate that while she may consciously acknowledge Mike and Ethan as friends, she is in her own way at the same time trying to drop them out of her life.
As far as I’m concerned they are one and the same thing. She runs from her problem. She bides time to heal. Just different ways of saying the same action. Basically she burned herself on the stove and she’s not gonna feel comfortable around the thing until her hand’s been healed up for a while.
Otherwise, that’s all a fair assessment. Sounds like we’re on about the same page. I’m just a shitpoor communicator when I come in here barely conscious after a day and a half of studying. Thank you for your patience in deciphering all this.
I respect your difference of opinion, but we aren’t saying the same thing at all when it comes to the factor of time healing the situation. When you drop someone and run you don’t come back to pick them up when the pain is gone, and even if you did they will already have left themselves.
Though I suppose I’m the faulty communicator for not make attempting to make this difference apparent.
Anyway, should this be the end of our little discussion it has been a pleasure.
I see. Basically the difference between a little extra distance and dropping them entirely. My apologies for missing that piece of it. Yes, at that point they are two very different concepts.
Because the human mind can’t handle that much awesome. Any attempts to create said fan fiction result in the writer’s brain melting and leaking out their ears, just like in wherever the heck I got that from (quite sure it’s not my idea).
Ah. My logic was that Mike would enjoy subtley controlling the tone of a song, allowing him to inspire fear, sadness or loathing in the average listener without them being able to place exactly why they feel how they do.
My mistake was forgetting that Mike enjoys hitting things.
Fun fact: In high school marching band, our band director would call the percussion section “concussion”, because they were often far louder than they needed to be, sometimes even loud enough to drown out the rest of the band. As a trumpet player who almost always was positioned right in front of the drums, I recall having lots of headaches, and would often make jokes about going deaf before I turned 20.
I was going to say that makes him even more awesome (and more of an asshole, b/c we drummers are good at that), but he’s already the incarnation of the ancient god of assholes, so he can’t get any more awesomehole.
Actually, I personally see “companion” as a more endearing term than “friends.” Using dictionary definitions I’m probably wrong, but people use the word “friend” very loosely. Companion seems deliberate and affectionate.
When you put them up next to each other they don’t look very similar at all, but I still spent a while thinking “Why is Amber blonde– oh, right.” every time I saw Dorothy.
You can’t fool me Willis. We all know that even when Superman and Clark Kent are in the same room at the same time, one of them is really just Bruce Wayne using his skills of disguise.
Ouch. Somehow this strip seems much more out of line on Mike’s part than almost anything I’ve seen him do before. Makes everything seem so much more cold.
I can’t help but think, “I’d be a little upset if she was paying more attention to a videogame than me, too.” …but I wouldn’t be so upset I’d say stuff like that.
Mike makes me lol but even I think he’s kinda a jerk here, too.
She was clearly paying plenty of attention to them. It’s admittedly rude to try and multitask a conversation, but there was not a single moment that indicated she wasn’t effectively maintaining doing both. Admittedly, we don’t know how the birds were fairing, but she was handling the conversation as well as we could expect her to without the game.
Rude as all hell. It sends a bad message regarding the importance of the interaction. To say that she was paying more attention to the game though is simply a claim that has no evidence to back it.
To clarify I’d be annoyed and peeved too, I just don’t see where you’re getting this ordering of attentions from.
Oh, I know Amber was giving them attention, I just thought she wasn’t giving them ENOUGH attention for Mike and Ethan’s tastes because Mike went to the extremity (?? I’m not sure if it was really that extreme) of mentioning prom night for her UNDIVIDED attention >//<;;….Pardon my bad wording </3
I agree, but at the same time, apparently she and Ethan still haven’t properly dealt with this issues. I guess the incident happened at Senior Prom, and afterwards they never talked about it, but instead just acted like business as usual.
Amber I’m guessing has been throwing herself into video games, to help avoid dealing with her failed relationship with Ethan, much like she threw herself into her “online relationship” with that one guy so she wouldn’t have to deal with a real world relationship.
Her actions are still rude, but I can’t help but kinda understand the cause of it, particularly when she around Ethan.
I’m not sure how talking about out it would help. How, exactly, do you ‘deal’ with that so that you are all happy and perky discussing it later? I think ‘let us never speak of it again’ *is* the normal and pretty much optimal way of dealing with it.
Well, when you talk about it properly, you get all the feelings and issues and problems out in the open. When you don’t talk about it, the feelings fester and build up inside you, which can result in you have a deeper resentment about them, and then you are never really friends again, because you have this one massive issues hanging over your heads.
That’s why people go to therapy and stuff. To talk about deep issues, which allows to you acknowledge them, deal with them and move on.
The way they’re going about it is obviously not helping anyone.
It can mean solving your problems. I don’t know why people insist otherwise. It’s really more of a waiting game than anything else. Time heals all wounds, and a great many problems are temporary in nature. Stay distracted long enough and it’ll go away.
Amber could easily just keep herself distant from all this and in a year or two the whole incident wouldn’t even bother her anymore. Meanwhile she provides Ethan with the distance required to undergo similar healing without having to open up a bunch of his owns wounds (which seem to be largely guilt based) by communicating all her hurt and anger to him. Since they’re both healed, they can continue to be friends as if nothing ever happened. It works out well for everyone.
I don’t think she’s distancing herself for Etha’s sake. She’s doing it because she’s embarrassed and like I said before, a little bitter about what happened. She’s glad Ethan knows who he is now, but the events of prom are a sour spot for her obviously.
Time heals all wounds if you are able to talk about it and move on. If you tell someone why this hurts and why it makes you angry and why you’re distancing yourself from the other person, it allows for both of you understand where the other is coming from, and yes over time you’ll feel better.
But when something deeply affects you the way it obviously has affected Amber, those feelings aren’t going to go away. They’ll fester and cause resentment.
Its clear they’re aren’t healed. They’re trying to be friends, but friendship without honesty and without understanding isn’t’ really friendship.
Lol. If time healed all wounds only when these set actions were performed the expression would be “Communication heals all wounds”. I can’t personally verify that communication has healed all my wounds, but I can verify that time has. Whether it be parental suicide attempts or what have you, give it enough time and it heals. The example listed took about five years, just as a reference guide.
Of course Amber isn’t being distant from Ethan for his sake. She likely hasn’t even considered that. She’s being distant because this whole thing’s uncomfortable and she’s hurt, so she’s leaving it alone. I thought that was clear from my original post. Doesn’t change the fact that eventually it won’t hurt anymore, and such distance will be unnecessary.
Of course they’re not healed right now. It’s like what, a handful of months after the harmful event took place? All the communication in the world would still have this be an uncomfortable topic for them.
They understand eachother just fine. They’re well within the realm of understanding required for friendship. Complete understanding is reserved for lovers, soulmates, marital partners etc etc. It can happen elsewhere, but is certainly not necessary to wear the label of “Friend”. It’s a broad label and describes a wide variety of relationships, from the guy you hang out with on weekends and like to party with, have a fun time with, to the guy you’ve been hanging out with for fifteen years, share all your secrets with, and know shit about he would never trust another soul with. It describes that and everything in between. Even in the furthest example, he probably still has shit he hasn’t told you. If you’re a proper friend, you’ll understand that there’s some shit he just doesn’t want to talk about right now and that if you *wait for it* give him some Time, maybe eventually he’ll be ready, or if not he’s entitled to his secrets.
I’ve always found “time heals all wounds” on its own a bit of a falsehood. I’ve seen so many people who have a personal issue, they never talk about it, and over time the issue festers. The two start of trying to be friends, despite the issue hanging over their heads, but they never talk about it. Eventually, one or the other becomes increasingly more bitter about the event and the other pics up on that, until they stop interacting altogether.
The people however to talk about, are able to heal properly because all those feeling and emotions that they were trying to hide from the other person are finally out in the open. How many times have you heard someone say they’ve felt a weight lifted off their shoulders when then finally talk about their feelings?
And they clearly don’t understand each other if things are still this awkward. You don’t need ot share everything with a friend, but when the issues that are bothering you and creating a distance in the friendship, there is obviously stuff that needs to be discussed.
And I’m not saying they need to talk about it right now. Obviously they need to “wait for it” and do it when they feel ready. But either way then NEED to do it, or else risk the awkwardness developing until they just no longer feel comfortable around each other anymore, like it’s happened to so many others who aren’t friends because of such things.
Maybe it’s just me. I don’t have the emotional stamina to stay upset about something that happened years ago. I got shit demanding my attention today. Bills, studies, hobbies, brand new incidents.
I would, however, argue that the person for whom the wound festers like that might not be emotionally healthy to begin with. Some people “Let the hate flow through them” until it eats them alive. Most people don’t. Some people just don’t have that much hate to give.
Their awkwardness is from the fact that this is all awkward as hell for them right now. Circular logic, I know. However, do you really think that if Ethan fully grasped how much he’d hurt Amber they’d all feel comfortable about this? Do you think that if Amber fully grasped exactly how incapable Ethan had been of not hurting her, that would make conversation a little bit smoother?
I don’t personally feel so, but regardless I must point out that lack of understanding of a certain issue does not imply lack of understanding of the person. There’s a huge leap between “We got this issue between us right now” and “I don’t even know who she is”. They understand eachother just fine. They could arguably not understand eachother’s end of this incident, but they do understand eachother just fine.
You make an interesting point with not having to talk about it right now. My personal experience is that eventually everyone’s healed, so it’s just a topic for casual conversation. The same as any other time one might laugh at shared memories. At that point there’s no healing to be done.
Of course, I’m sure there is a point long before that where communication could be productive and where the topic wouldn’t be so sensitive that it couldn’t be approached.
Nothing to stop someone from communicating at that point. I’m not opposed to communication. I’m opposed to it’s status as the only method or working through emotional problems.
I don’t seek to judge those that communicate. I simply wish people wouldn’t judge those who don’t. Amber should be perfectly entitled to use her various coping mechanisms to make the pain bearable until such a time as she feels more able to work with it.
She’s not sitting her festering as far as I can see.
The similarities between these two are almost astounding. I bet they could have a great bonding experience talking about TMNT. +10 points if it’s the one time the conversation’s not about incest.
Poor Ethan, poor Amber… I feel for them, really I do. The awkwardness is so chilling.
Also, I like Walky’s Dorothy-induced paralysis, but I can’t wait for something to happen to allow him to be his normal self around her. Look at me, I’m a shipper! Woo!
I like the implication here that Joyce and Walky aren’t actually talking to Dorothy (both being incapable) – they’re both just following her around in a creepy (and in once case hiccuppy) daze, like eldrich ducklings. Once can’t blame her for wanting to be rid of them.
So is Dorothy actually a guy?
I have made a extensive study and have never found a girl who carries her books at her side. They always carry them up over their chest. Guys always carry their books at their side like she is doing.
Walk through the halls in any high school and you will see what I meen.
Lol. I know people still use them. I’m being humorous. I’ve had to use a couple textbooks myself, though truthfully one can save a lot of money on textbooks by maximizing their online resources and taking good notes in class. Very little of the textbook information is unavailable online and in academic journals for the most part.
It’s not possible 100% of the time, but it feels good when I can save a few hundred bucks and all I have to do is double or triple my workload. Money in the bank.
I do understand that I’m in the minority in this though. I like to poke fun at the paper’s gradually changing place in society by talking as if we’re farther along in the process than we are or will be in the foreseeable future. We have e-books for example, but print publishing isn’t going anywhere in the next decade. I could tell essentially the same joke by paperback books as obsolete.
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Is this an even trade?
Maybe… Dorothy gets the emotionally distant boys, and since she’s kinda emotionally distant, they won’t get in each other’s way.
Amber gets the emotionally childish pair, who considering the fact the deepest interaction she wants to have involves video game and inane talk, would allow for her to interact with people a less deep level.
Of course, listening to Joyce prattle on about Jesus and Twilight might be a deal breaker…
Throw in a doughnut and I’d say she’s offering a sweet deal.
Amber meets Blonde Amber. The Dumbiverse just imploded.
And she’s also met Black-Haired-Half-Chinese Amber (sort of).
Also Mike’s work is never done. Such is the life of the resident jerk.
Yeah, Amber never did meet Joyce, that is unless that Mike and Amber went to the wedding, which hasn’t been drawn out yet, which hopefully will be soon.
I drew enough of the wedding to show Amber and Mike at it.
How is that going bye the way?
Oh, come on. They don’t look THAT alike! Amber’s glasses are way bigger than, um… *goes to check* Dorothy’s. See? Totally different, unique and memorable.
Cool story, bro.
They look similar enough, that if you just pass your eyes over the screen (like a lot of people I know do), then you might be forced to do a double-take to check for palette-swapped clones.
After the initial once-over, though, they totally look different. You just gotta do some quick detail-finding.
They have different facial shapes, different figures, different hair colours. Just because they’re two chicks with glasses and shoulder-length hair doesn’t make them the same -___-
I agree so much with you.
They even have different glasses.
And their hair styles are also substantially different too, despite internet memeage: Dot has a forelock, puts it behind the ears and shoulders, it doesn’t bell out as much, and it looks to be a bit longer too. Sure, they’re more similar than say Mike and Roadblock are to each other, but I don’t see how anybody can see them side-by-side in a panel and call their hairstyles the same.
In fact I suspect part of the motivation for this strip is to put them side-by-side so the “blonde Amber” crowd can see the differences.
I mean, look at the neck *alone*…
Yeah… those are some sexy necks…
Er, I mean, yeah, Dorothy has a thicker neck. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!
I think the similarities spotted are due to their hopeless expressions and possible jadedness. ;P
i’d trade joyce for mike, but i’d keep walky if i was dorothy. i like mike and ethan, so i’d find other new companions if i was amber
Even their problems look similar.
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!!! *cue the queen music*
There’s the difference with their hair: Dorothy has it slightly longer, and it falls behind her shoulders, apparently. Amber’s is slightly shorter, and does not fall behind her shoulders.
Too much time…
Amber also has a few more pounds on Dorothy. Not that much, but enough to be noticeable. They really aren’t the same character model, not at all.
Also Amber’s boobs are rounder.
What the hell was I thinking when I wrote this?
Amber’s also shorter, has a pointier chin, and her glasses are a different shape. I don’t get all this “they look the same” nonsense.
It’s easy to see how Amber is just like Dorothy, when you remember to read without paying much attention.
I’m actually convinced they looked much more similar at the start of the comic. As Doa as progressed Dorothy has been slowly getting slimmer, more angular, her hair has been developing in its’ own direction etc etc. They’re actually are pretty set with their own unique looks now, though there are similarities too, much in the way that two people could plausibly have roughly similar builds.
Oh, and I think her skin might be getting paler too, but I haven’t gotten to checking that yet so that might just be me.
Looks more like Billie really.
I think Amber and Billie have more similarly-shaped FAAAACEs, plus the boobs.
I agree! They basically have the same face and body shapes. Dorothy’s this skinny thing.
that should make the three of them meeting interesting, from a 3rd-party PoV
Dorothy’s face is super round, it makes her “look” heavier I think. Although seeing them side by side makes their differences more apparent.
Yeah, I think part of it has to do with Amber and Dorothy having such noticably large heads. A lot of it has to do with their hair, but their heads look considerably larger than, say, Mike or Ethan. I recall thinking how much nicer it looked when Willis drew Amber with a small head that one time, though a middle ground would probably be better (and more subtle).
Well Amber is clearly more muscle than fat.
Give Mike five minutes with Joyce and Walky.
No, really. I want to see the aftermath.
Mike stowed his books in Walky’s pack and helped Joyce beat up her date. It already happened…twice.
Didn’t the one on the left in the last frame (forgot her name) already kinda drop those two friends? I mean the way she was acting before in combination with how long it had been since she had talked to them doesn’t really scream that she was up for maintaining their relationships. I don’t see why she is complaining now…
She’s an anti-social shut-in. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t value friendship in her own way. It just means this isn’t easy for her, and also that societal social protocol has yet to adapt to a world with Angry Birds in it.
She went out to meet them, sat down and promptly ignored them in favor of a game on her cell phone. I do remember her anti-social actions from the previous universes/strips and get that her two friends are, in fact, used to something like this from the mention they make at the beginning of the “arc”. However, all of the beginning of the “attention” comic two strips back indicates that she is paying less attention to these people than before (probably due to the incident related to prom night) and has already dropped them using her own shut-in tendencies as an excuse.
(Sorry about the lateness of this response I had completely forgotten about this comment.)
You seem confused. I said anti-social shut-in. This is different from merely anti-social. She is not avoiding her friends so much as she’s shutting herself away from the outside world.
I have similar tendencies myself. Rather than exploring a new environment I’m more likely to hole myself up in a little pocket of familiarity. I’m just wrapping up my third year of college and on nine occasions have I spoken to someone outside of a pre-existing social circle of about seven people since I entered. These were all limited to casual small talk.
I can speak to the difficulty of balancing reclusiveness with the maintenance of pre-existing friends. You don’t want to go outside. Being outside is stressful and makes it harder to hold up your end of the conversation. You feel like you’re being a crappy friend and an embarrassingly poor conversationalist and that just makes the whole situation that much worse. Despite this, you love your friends. They’ve gotten you through a lot of tough times in the past and even now they’re a large part of what keeps you sane.
Basically what I’m saying is that Amber’s behavior is likely not a statement on how much she values their friendship at all, but rather a manifestation of her own issues. She probably doesn’t like this any more than they do. It would mean the world to her if they’d understand that.
I think you might be putting to much of your own issues, feelings, and relationships into this character.
This character is not you and never will be, and while I appreciate whatever life you lead in the real world, we are talking about an (admittedly imaginary) identity that is not our own.
The Amber in this universe has had some form of social life, and has maintained friends within a certain circle through this, and now is allowing this to taper off despite the fact that they are one of the few pockets of familiarity that you have already brought up. They say that she has been paying less attention to them, and I take this to mean on all forms of communication, including say facebook (or any other means that would require very little interaction with the outside world). I think it is important to remember that these people are supposedly used to the tendencies that she exhibits, which indicates to me that she has both been ignoring them a great deal more than she did in the past and that she has done this for a long enough time to make this lack of communication uncomfortable. (at least an amount of time greater than the ?four? days she has been in college)
This would then not simply be an effect of the transition to a new environment or her own tendencies.
Of course she’s been dealing with them less right now than in the past. Her issues are not my issues. This I freely admit. I just mean the general idea. Right now she’s uncomfortable around the two of them and it has nothing to do with how much she values their friendship and everything to do with her own emotional issues, likely pertaining to prom night.
I mean heck, she hasn’t shown herself to be debilitated in any other way. She’s social in class (by her standards). She seems perfectly comfortable outside in general. Assuming she’s amazigirl she’s perfectly confident and empowered as well to the point that she can put herself out there to that degree.
My basic point was that just because she’s uncomfortable with the two of them right now doesn’t mean she doesn’t value their friendship. It just means she’s uncomfortable with them right now.
One statement puts the issue on her friends (from her perspective), the other means she’s just got some shit to work through right now and could use a little space.
I don’t think that’s unreasonable either. They’re concerned, and that’s nice. They’re good friends. “A little bit of space while I sort myself out emotionally” is a perfectly valid need though. Give her time and she’ll be ready to rejoin the group and all its’ associated antics.
You’re right though. I may have gotten sidetracked during the shut-in metaphor. Probably could have found a better way to do that than going on for three paragraphs about my own shit and then writing a sentence and a half to poorly tie it in to the character. I keep telling myself to stop the late night posting and yet I never do >.<
Ok.
So summarizing this your points here. Amber just has some issues based on the previous happenings and still values Mike and Ethan as friends. Thus given enough time and some sorting of her own she can rejoin them at a later date.
I agree that she consciously still thinks of them as friends and that her regression has probably been caused by the incidents and that, given the current conflict, she has a chance of changing the situation around.
However, I don’t think I fully agree with the notion that, before this conflict, she was on the path towards sorting this out and making up. We have covered that she was hurt by this and that she was ignoring her friends for a period of time, but my interpretation of the information given was not that she was biding for time to heal, but that instead the sub-conscious parts of her that were wounded were trying to run away. This would then indicate that while she may consciously acknowledge Mike and Ethan as friends, she is in her own way at the same time trying to drop them out of her life.
As far as I’m concerned they are one and the same thing. She runs from her problem. She bides time to heal. Just different ways of saying the same action. Basically she burned herself on the stove and she’s not gonna feel comfortable around the thing until her hand’s been healed up for a while.
Otherwise, that’s all a fair assessment. Sounds like we’re on about the same page. I’m just a shitpoor communicator when I come in here barely conscious after a day and a half of studying. Thank you for your patience in deciphering all this.
I respect your difference of opinion, but we aren’t saying the same thing at all when it comes to the factor of time healing the situation. When you drop someone and run you don’t come back to pick them up when the pain is gone, and even if you did they will already have left themselves.
Though I suppose I’m the faulty communicator for not make attempting to make this difference apparent.
Anyway, should this be the end of our little discussion it has been a pleasure.
I see. Basically the difference between a little extra distance and dropping them entirely. My apologies for missing that piece of it. Yes, at that point they are two very different concepts.
Just do what the Doctor does with his, Amber. Drop them off once their plot finishes, jump in the TARDIS, and find a new one with a new dilemma.
…Kay, yeah, I didn’t think this through. I just wanted to make a Doctor Who reference.
Why has no one written a Walky Doctor who Fan Fiction?
Because the human mind can’t handle that much awesome. Any attempts to create said fan fiction result in the writer’s brain melting and leaking out their ears, just like in wherever the heck I got that from (quite sure it’s not my idea).
It can be done cause you´d have more time loops in the universe than Greg Weisman´s Gargoyles
Or Steve Troop’s Melonpool.
That was brilliant. Doctor Who was my first thought as well.
How do you like your internets prepared, sir, ma’am or variation thereof?
medium well done
also someone get to doctor who gargoyles fanfic on the list
Is Dorothy a mom? Cause I’m sure he’d bang her. We can even forgo the nickel since it’s trading Walky and Joyce for it.
And by ‘he’ I clearly mean Mike.
Random thought: I wonder who would be in a DOA band, and who would play what.
Mike strikes me as a bass player for some reason. Ethan on rhythm guitar.
Specifically, an acoustic guitar. I’m not sure why, it just seems right.
Mike plays drums.
Ah. My logic was that Mike would enjoy subtley controlling the tone of a song, allowing him to inspire fear, sadness or loathing in the average listener without them being able to place exactly why they feel how they do.
My mistake was forgetting that Mike enjoys hitting things.
A good percussionist can do both.
Percussionist? I thought he just beats people with instruments.
Mike prefers his percussion to cause concussion.
That’s my theory anyway.
Fun fact: In high school marching band, our band director would call the percussion section “concussion”, because they were often far louder than they needed to be, sometimes even loud enough to drown out the rest of the band. As a trumpet player who almost always was positioned right in front of the drums, I recall having lots of headaches, and would often make jokes about going deaf before I turned 20.
Will we see Mike playing in a band some time soon?
Oh, and does he still have the ‘nice drunk’ part of him?
Let’s get him drunk and find out.
Anything beginning with that phrase is sure to end well!
This can only end in hysterics.
I was going to say that makes him even more awesome (and more of an asshole, b/c we drummers are good at that), but he’s already the incarnation of the ancient god of assholes, so he can’t get any more awesomehole.
Mike plays your mom (with a penis) for a nickel, cause she is a prostitute.
And Mike makes her scream in D minor
Actually, Mike has already shown the ability to play the violin, given, it was in SP!
Mike can play anything as long as it forwards his goal of being an asshole.
At last they meet!
If Willis doesn’t do it, can someone please provide the fandom a Friend Swap fanfic?
Don’t be surprised if someone comes out with slashfic for it first.
Like what happened if team 128 runned shortpacked store?
man, I hope Amber and Dorothy start making out soon. This scene is starting to drag.
Note that Ethan said he had “stuff” to read, not “books”.
That means he’s off to peruse the Transformers wiki.
Or he’s throwing out the first excuse that came to his mind in order to get out of there.
I doubt it, he’s too young in this universe. I’m betting he’s a Pokemon fanboy, likely one who selects for IVs and EV trains.
And edits Bulbapedia.
I’m predicting they become best friends, causing hilarity and awkwardness when danny gets the nerve to pursue Amber
Maybe she just needs to download Angry Birds RIO lol
Aw, Ethan looks sad.
I really like Mike’s shirt for some reason, I wanna buy one, can anyone find one that looks like it?
It feels odd, seeing companions as opposed to friends. Very…detached.
Actually, I personally see “companion” as a more endearing term than “friends.” Using dictionary definitions I’m probably wrong, but people use the word “friend” very loosely. Companion seems deliberate and affectionate.
Who the hell am I? I used to be Joe!
I think that Gravatar is mary? if thats what you’re talking about
When you put them up next to each other they don’t look very similar at all, but I still spent a while thinking “Why is Amber blonde– oh, right.” every time I saw Dorothy.
You can’t fool me Willis. We all know that even when Superman and Clark Kent are in the same room at the same time, one of them is really just Bruce Wayne using his skills of disguise.
Ouch. Somehow this strip seems much more out of line on Mike’s part than almost anything I’ve seen him do before. Makes everything seem so much more cold.
I can’t help but think, “I’d be a little upset if she was paying more attention to a videogame than me, too.” …but I wouldn’t be so upset I’d say stuff like that.
Mike makes me lol but even I think he’s kinda a jerk here, too.
“kinda” a jerk?
ordinary jerky people are kinda mike-like, not the other way around.
Well, I just know Mike has good qualities, too (somewhere) and try not to sound like I’m over-looking them ^^;
She was clearly paying plenty of attention to them. It’s admittedly rude to try and multitask a conversation, but there was not a single moment that indicated she wasn’t effectively maintaining doing both. Admittedly, we don’t know how the birds were fairing, but she was handling the conversation as well as we could expect her to without the game.
Rude as all hell. It sends a bad message regarding the importance of the interaction. To say that she was paying more attention to the game though is simply a claim that has no evidence to back it.
To clarify I’d be annoyed and peeved too, I just don’t see where you’re getting this ordering of attentions from.
Oh, I know Amber was giving them attention, I just thought she wasn’t giving them ENOUGH attention for Mike and Ethan’s tastes because Mike went to the extremity (?? I’m not sure if it was really that extreme) of mentioning prom night for her UNDIVIDED attention >//<;;….Pardon my bad wording </3
Lol. No worries. I’m just being nitpicky;)
xD;; Okay.
I agree, but at the same time, apparently she and Ethan still haven’t properly dealt with this issues. I guess the incident happened at Senior Prom, and afterwards they never talked about it, but instead just acted like business as usual.
Amber I’m guessing has been throwing herself into video games, to help avoid dealing with her failed relationship with Ethan, much like she threw herself into her “online relationship” with that one guy so she wouldn’t have to deal with a real world relationship.
Her actions are still rude, but I can’t help but kinda understand the cause of it, particularly when she around Ethan.
I’m not sure how talking about out it would help. How, exactly, do you ‘deal’ with that so that you are all happy and perky discussing it later? I think ‘let us never speak of it again’ *is* the normal and pretty much optimal way of dealing with it.
Well, when you talk about it properly, you get all the feelings and issues and problems out in the open. When you don’t talk about it, the feelings fester and build up inside you, which can result in you have a deeper resentment about them, and then you are never really friends again, because you have this one massive issues hanging over your heads.
That’s why people go to therapy and stuff. To talk about deep issues, which allows to you acknowledge them, deal with them and move on.
The way they’re going about it is obviously not helping anyone.
S: Yeah, I kinda picked up “escaping problems/reality” when I saw her phone…>////<;;; running from problem =/= solving it D:
It can mean solving your problems. I don’t know why people insist otherwise. It’s really more of a waiting game than anything else. Time heals all wounds, and a great many problems are temporary in nature. Stay distracted long enough and it’ll go away.
Amber could easily just keep herself distant from all this and in a year or two the whole incident wouldn’t even bother her anymore. Meanwhile she provides Ethan with the distance required to undergo similar healing without having to open up a bunch of his owns wounds (which seem to be largely guilt based) by communicating all her hurt and anger to him. Since they’re both healed, they can continue to be friends as if nothing ever happened. It works out well for everyone.
D: !!!!! Fffffffffffffffffffffffff– You make great points…maybe it is for the better they “take a break” for a bit…>///<;;
I don’t think she’s distancing herself for Etha’s sake. She’s doing it because she’s embarrassed and like I said before, a little bitter about what happened. She’s glad Ethan knows who he is now, but the events of prom are a sour spot for her obviously.
Time heals all wounds if you are able to talk about it and move on. If you tell someone why this hurts and why it makes you angry and why you’re distancing yourself from the other person, it allows for both of you understand where the other is coming from, and yes over time you’ll feel better.
But when something deeply affects you the way it obviously has affected Amber, those feelings aren’t going to go away. They’ll fester and cause resentment.
Its clear they’re aren’t healed. They’re trying to be friends, but friendship without honesty and without understanding isn’t’ really friendship.
Lol. If time healed all wounds only when these set actions were performed the expression would be “Communication heals all wounds”. I can’t personally verify that communication has healed all my wounds, but I can verify that time has. Whether it be parental suicide attempts or what have you, give it enough time and it heals. The example listed took about five years, just as a reference guide.
Of course Amber isn’t being distant from Ethan for his sake. She likely hasn’t even considered that. She’s being distant because this whole thing’s uncomfortable and she’s hurt, so she’s leaving it alone. I thought that was clear from my original post. Doesn’t change the fact that eventually it won’t hurt anymore, and such distance will be unnecessary.
Of course they’re not healed right now. It’s like what, a handful of months after the harmful event took place? All the communication in the world would still have this be an uncomfortable topic for them.
They understand eachother just fine. They’re well within the realm of understanding required for friendship. Complete understanding is reserved for lovers, soulmates, marital partners etc etc. It can happen elsewhere, but is certainly not necessary to wear the label of “Friend”. It’s a broad label and describes a wide variety of relationships, from the guy you hang out with on weekends and like to party with, have a fun time with, to the guy you’ve been hanging out with for fifteen years, share all your secrets with, and know shit about he would never trust another soul with. It describes that and everything in between. Even in the furthest example, he probably still has shit he hasn’t told you. If you’re a proper friend, you’ll understand that there’s some shit he just doesn’t want to talk about right now and that if you *wait for it* give him some Time, maybe eventually he’ll be ready, or if not he’s entitled to his secrets.
I’ve always found “time heals all wounds” on its own a bit of a falsehood. I’ve seen so many people who have a personal issue, they never talk about it, and over time the issue festers. The two start of trying to be friends, despite the issue hanging over their heads, but they never talk about it. Eventually, one or the other becomes increasingly more bitter about the event and the other pics up on that, until they stop interacting altogether.
The people however to talk about, are able to heal properly because all those feeling and emotions that they were trying to hide from the other person are finally out in the open. How many times have you heard someone say they’ve felt a weight lifted off their shoulders when then finally talk about their feelings?
And they clearly don’t understand each other if things are still this awkward. You don’t need ot share everything with a friend, but when the issues that are bothering you and creating a distance in the friendship, there is obviously stuff that needs to be discussed.
And I’m not saying they need to talk about it right now. Obviously they need to “wait for it” and do it when they feel ready. But either way then NEED to do it, or else risk the awkwardness developing until they just no longer feel comfortable around each other anymore, like it’s happened to so many others who aren’t friends because of such things.
Maybe it’s just me. I don’t have the emotional stamina to stay upset about something that happened years ago. I got shit demanding my attention today. Bills, studies, hobbies, brand new incidents.
I would, however, argue that the person for whom the wound festers like that might not be emotionally healthy to begin with. Some people “Let the hate flow through them” until it eats them alive. Most people don’t. Some people just don’t have that much hate to give.
Their awkwardness is from the fact that this is all awkward as hell for them right now. Circular logic, I know. However, do you really think that if Ethan fully grasped how much he’d hurt Amber they’d all feel comfortable about this? Do you think that if Amber fully grasped exactly how incapable Ethan had been of not hurting her, that would make conversation a little bit smoother?
I don’t personally feel so, but regardless I must point out that lack of understanding of a certain issue does not imply lack of understanding of the person. There’s a huge leap between “We got this issue between us right now” and “I don’t even know who she is”. They understand eachother just fine. They could arguably not understand eachother’s end of this incident, but they do understand eachother just fine.
You make an interesting point with not having to talk about it right now. My personal experience is that eventually everyone’s healed, so it’s just a topic for casual conversation. The same as any other time one might laugh at shared memories. At that point there’s no healing to be done.
Of course, I’m sure there is a point long before that where communication could be productive and where the topic wouldn’t be so sensitive that it couldn’t be approached.
Nothing to stop someone from communicating at that point. I’m not opposed to communication. I’m opposed to it’s status as the only method or working through emotional problems.
I don’t seek to judge those that communicate. I simply wish people wouldn’t judge those who don’t. Amber should be perfectly entitled to use her various coping mechanisms to make the pain bearable until such a time as she feels more able to work with it.
She’s not sitting her festering as far as I can see.
D//x;; Yeah, I also suspected this when she popped out HER PHONE…iono, that was just the final nail in the coffin to me >:
I read Ethan’s line as “I… probably have better stuff to go do.”
I actually got that on the first read-through too.
I read it as “This is getting too awkward and uncomfortable, and if I stay here any longer its going to get worse.”
Seconded, Shift. I know I wouldn’t want to continue discussing a failed prom night dalliance. Especially in front of the other party.
The similarities between these two are almost astounding. I bet they could have a great bonding experience talking about TMNT. +10 points if it’s the one time the conversation’s not about incest.
poor Ethan and Amber, i went through that same problem before i finally realized i was gay 🙁
Poor Ethan, poor Amber… I feel for them, really I do. The awkwardness is so chilling.
Also, I like Walky’s Dorothy-induced paralysis, but I can’t wait for something to happen to allow him to be his normal self around her. Look at me, I’m a shipper! Woo!
My two favorite characters, Amber and Dorothy, together in the same strip at last. This just made my day. =D
I like the implication here that Joyce and Walky aren’t actually talking to Dorothy (both being incapable) – they’re both just following her around in a creepy (and in once case hiccuppy) daze, like eldrich ducklings. Once can’t blame her for wanting to be rid of them.
Heh, eldricht ducklings. Me likey.
Eldritch ducklings…
Webbed feet, wings, comes from the water…
HP Lovecraft would approve.
all they have to do is dye their hair and voila! no one will know th difference!
Their eyebrows look similar!!!!
From my micro-view, the final panel appears to be Amber shivering in her underpants while talking to Dorothy….
Cannot unsee.
Is it bad that I look forward to the comments on the strips almost more than the comic strips themselves?
I’m the same way, as good as the comics are, I end up finding the comments even more interesting.
I have multiple comics that I read as much for the community as anything else.
So is Dorothy actually a guy?
I have made a extensive study and have never found a girl who carries her books at her side. They always carry them up over their chest. Guys always carry their books at their side like she is doing.
Walk through the halls in any high school and you will see what I meen.
oh snap, so according to you, am I a girl?
This explains a lot.
I always carry my books at my side. And I’m a girl for the most part.
Holy Crap! Dorothy’s a trap? Now that’s a plot twist I can get behind.
The avatars really make this thread.
I carry them in a backpack. =D
But if I didn’t, they’d be at my side because it’s more convenient than the chest.
And I am female.
/forgot to add
I haven’t used books since highschool. This study, in addition to being incredibly specious, is anachronistic.
My wife goes to college *right now* and has to buy and use textbooks.
Lol. I know people still use them. I’m being humorous. I’ve had to use a couple textbooks myself, though truthfully one can save a lot of money on textbooks by maximizing their online resources and taking good notes in class. Very little of the textbook information is unavailable online and in academic journals for the most part.
It’s not possible 100% of the time, but it feels good when I can save a few hundred bucks and all I have to do is double or triple my workload. Money in the bank.
I do understand that I’m in the minority in this though. I like to poke fun at the paper’s gradually changing place in society by talking as if we’re farther along in the process than we are or will be in the foreseeable future. We have e-books for example, but print publishing isn’t going anywhere in the next decade. I could tell essentially the same joke by paperback books as obsolete.
…and now I’ve over explained the joke *Shameface*
A tale of two chicks with glasses.
and similiar hairstyles.
why do i get the feeling ethan and mike are doing it?
I don’t know if they are doing it, but I am pretty sure that they have done it at least.
Does Willis exist in this universe, because then Ethan would have his feud with him again.
I do, but I’ve only been mentioned in the Dexter/Monkey Master comic book.
(I won’t be interacting with these characters ever.)
aaw D:
Wait a minute. I just realized that Amber is LFG.
Lulz, I didn’t even think about that! Well played, sir.
Long Face Girl, Lonely Fat Girl or Lesbian For Gays? (I made up the last one).
Wait…you actually mean Looking For Groups?! I had to read the ‘find new companions’ line again before realizing that was your reference…
Wait…who brings a bag lunch to college?!
New companions, yes? The Doctor would probably gladly switch with Amber or Dorothy