Please. Answer is easy-peasy. Ana is Russian hacker using 1337 code with spyware hooks into Willis’ network. She sees everything before he even does anything. NO COLLUSION.
Adding more shiny spots makes them look like they’re watering a little. Plus you can hint at their shape through facial expression (brows and cheek lines).
This hurts, but I definitely do enjoy seeing this moment of Walky caring about Sal. ‘Cause like… of COURSE he does, she’s his sister, but it’s nice to see it here even though this revelation has gotta hurt like hell.
Yeah, that’s very interesting. A fight between Amber and Sal NOW, he assumes Sal is at fault, but the convenience store situation, he’s on Sal’s side. That’s kind of the opposite of what I’d expect from him, since he has to have had the Linda-approved version of the robbery pounded into his brain.
I mean, even if he’s not necessarily ‘on Sal’s side’ wrt the robbery, he just got told ‘I stabbed your sister’. There’s…not a ton of ways to shrug it off without being a massive, massive asshole and a shitty brother.
Walky’s been thinking a lot about that stuff, I think. I think the gas station in particular is really eating at him of late—it’s something he’s outright harassed Sal about, and now that he’s starting to recognize the racism Sal has dealt with that he hasn’t, he’s starting to think more about how his sister always wears gloves now.
I don’t want to call out the story or nuthin’ but this plot point always bugged me. I dunno as someone black it’s frustrating to see a “Oh he’s black but he’s treated nicer than someone who looks/acts a bit blacker”. As if there’s now guilt associated with not being black enough. It’s the reason the mulatto dynamic exists where both black people AND white people shunned half black people. Especially in the context of having a twin sister sister who shares the same parents and skin tone and the only noticeable difference is the kinky hair. I find it’d be…reasonable for Walky to assume the favoritism didn’t have much to do with race. I’d almost assume his mom was SEXIST before I assumed it was a race issue.
Maybe I’m missing something, as I’m not black, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there needs to be guilt associated with being whiter and being treated better for it. Like, colourism is a big problem, and people who assimilate better are usually better treated than people who don’t/can’t/won’t. That doesn’t make it a bad thing to be whiter or assimilating more, but it is a problem that happens and deserves to be talked about.
Well, Walky’s recognizing Sal’s been treated very badly in comparison to him, and he never did anything to stop that from happening. I would guess that’s one reason for his guilt.
Sure, but that’s a compassionate reaction, not one based on it being inherently bad that he’s whiter. To go with Yomotoe’s sexism example, if Walky were favoured for being a boy and he felt bad about it, it would be because he’s feeling compassionate towards his sister because she’s treated badly, not because being a boy is a bad thing.
“and the only noticeable difference is the kinky hair”
Sal has consistantly been shaded two shades darker than her brother, and has been indicated to be “black” on appearance, while her brother has been indicated to be “caramel” on appearance. If your problem (and I’m confused how this is a thing if the parents are in a relationship to begin with) is with black skin tones, then a more middle-eastern shade is likely going to be easier to tolerate.
So yes, there has been a clear basis for Sal’s interpretation of things.
That said, if we look through the flashbacks, there didn’t seem to be a clear dynamic of difference until their mother chose Walky over Sal for a casting role. After that, Sal seems to have acted more and more against her mother’s rigid, prejudiced middle-class thinking, while Walky was always easy-going, non-confrontational, and obliging to his parents.
So the issue likely wasn’t due to skin color, at all.
That said, it makes total sense for Sal to believe that that was the cause-
After all, if you’re a child who feels victimized, and still wants the approval of their parent, are you more likely to try and determine what’s wrong with yourself, or with your parent? Given a choice between “There’s something wrong with me, and the only visible thing is my skin color, could I just not be the way my mother wants me to be” and “my mother is a selfish, self-centered jerk who worries more about appearances than me being her daughter”, it could end up being easier to choose the first option, especially since it’s both one that’s easier to excuse your own actions with and one that’s presumably easier to change your parent’s mind about.
In summary, race probably isn’t the issue, but the plot point itself is completely reasonable.
As a counter-argument, we could consider why Linda picked Walky over Sal. Maybe it was about skin shade (after all, Linda is all about appearances- and that’s the underlying factor to her emphasizing that Sal’s kinky hair should be straightened as well, which itself is another bit of fuel for Sal’s [or this counter-argument]’s take on things), and Sal picked up on that to some degree, and that’s what started everything. Maybe it was a subconcious thing at first, but maybe it turned into something that Linda actually does hold on to. One thing we do know is that Linda is apparently overly obsessed with Sal keeping her hair straight, and that could be interpreted for either argument [Linda being obssesed about appearances alone, or Linda being obssessed with appearances and factoring race into that].
It’s actually Charles who insults Sal’s natural hair to her face, not Linda. I mean, I’m sure Linda would co-sign that sentiment if she were speaking to Sal, but that was on her dad, not her mom.
Near as I can tell, their skin is actually the same shade. For example here, where there are closeups for both of them in the same light. That said, skin color isn’t the only marker that we commonly associate with being “black”. Hair is the most obvious and the one called out blatantly in this comic, but there are also facial features that might not come across clearly in this art style. Our first hint at any of this was Walky’s description of Sal as “black” and himself as “generically beige”. Despite having the same skin color. I take that as a reflection of how they were seen in the family.
As for the flashbacks: Are there any earlier than the casting bit? The only candidate might be the first meeting with Marcie. I’m not sure which one they looked older in. In both scenes though, Linda yells at Sal and/or favors Walky.
Linda’s racism is pretty obvious in her dealings with Sal over Marcie as well, so it’s not at all unreasonable to expect it elsewhere.
At the time I did since we didn’t have any other information then, but in light of the later emphasis on the difference in how they were treated and the claimed racism behind it, it’s hard not to see it as tied in.
Sal claims their parents treated her worse because they saw her as blacker.
Walky jokes about her being black and him not being black.
Sal has consistantly been shaded two shades darker than her brother
What??
Sal has consistently exactly the same skin-color as her brother since the start of the comic, confirmed by word of god!
To be pedantic, the word of God says that they’re “the exact same colors they’ve always been since the begining” … which is not the same as they’re the “exact same colors.”
Intersectionality being a thing, who says it’s not both?
By which I mean: it is possible that both racism and sexism have informed Linda’s mistreatment of Sal and that Sal only picked up the race part cuz she gets that elsewhere and Linda is better at camouflaging her sexism.
Maybe, but we haven’t seen any that I recall. We HAVE seen Linda broadcast classism and ableism loud and clear though, and she hates that Sal associates with the ‘wrong people’ (i.e. Marcie).
Well, while Linda is clearly a crap parent and willing to put blame on Sal for the strife in the world, Sal is still her child, and she still very much cares about how the family looks. I’d assume she played up how Sal was a victim of “some crazy stabby girl” as much as possible to everyone, but meanwhile also sent her away because, privately, “it was after all entirely her fault, let’s send her away so it won’t happen again.” Walky would have seen both sides of that.
I imagine that Sal being stabbed is how she got the option to pick a boarding school over juvie. The Walkertons strike me as capable of maneuvering the officer’s incompetence into that sort of option.
Oh definitely. I can also see them, or Linda rather, righteously throwing around her white privilege “for good”, totally oblivious to her own issues. “How dare you threaten juvie! She was stabbed! Is this because she’s not as white as that psycho? If the races were switched, SHE’d be behind bars by now and WE’d be filing a suit for our daughter’s hospital bills! We should sue for discrimination!”
Knowing what I know about our correctional facilities, I feel like Amber may have done Sal a favor. That might be the most fucked up part about this whole comic.
Well as bad as it is to assume the assumption that she instigated that confrontation at that moment of time wasn’t necessarily wrong and yeah I know Amber is still at fault a bit too because she was more than eager to butt heads with her but still. I think Walky was probably going in with the knowledge about what he already knows, half the time Sal can be confrontational and as far he knew what was probably Sal getting in his new girlfriend’s face and telling her to stay away from her brother out of disapproval. Other than that he couldn’t have thought of any other reason why they would be at odds until Amber opened up about the stabbing.
Sal and Amber both agreed they wanted to fight. If Sal wanting to fight makes it her fault, Amber wanting to fight makes it also her fault.
As for Walky, if that’s what he was thinking, I think he needs to rewind that night because Sal’s disapproval was directed at HIM for going from miserable about being broken up with by someone he loved to making out with someone else in two days. Like, there’s nothing wrong with him moving on, but let’s not pretend that disapproval wasn’t pointed at Walky. That would require him to fundamentally misunderstand what Sal was disapproving of.
It was, but it’s not unreasonable to think it was about him, since as far as he knew, that was the only point of contact they had. That’s the only thing it made any sense for them to fight about and Sal was the aggressor there while Amber cowered and slunk away, even though that aggression was directed at Walky.
Yeah, it’s a jump, but it’s not that wild of a leap.
He might have been assuming that Sal said something to Amber, triggering an escalation to a fight, rather than just Sal jumping Amber–that would be a plausible scenario, given what he knew (and didn’t know) about both women.
Okay, but if the only thing he’s got doesn’t make any sense (especially because, again, all her disapproval was aimed at WALKY, not Amber, and for him to think her disapproval had anything to do with Amber requires him to fundamentally misunderstand what she was disapproving of) I’d still think the initial reaction would be ‘wait, WHY were you fighting?’
1: The order of information’s important. He learned that Badass Sister Sal and Cute And Geeky Amber had a fight, then learns that Sister’s Scarring Wound was caused by Amber. That’s likely why he reacts that way.
2: Walky’s trying to process a LOT of stuff right now. His brain’s effectively seg-faulting, and the best thing he can do right now is get out of that room so that he can try to deal with all of that shit without the risk of saying something that might hurt Amber.
3: Walky has certainly gotten the Linda Approved Version ground into him… but he also probably recognizes that it’s a biased account by now. Again, he needs to sort this shit out, but I hope he’s not going to jump to any conclusions.
To cut Walky some slack, this did come after Sal initially gave grief to Walky about hooking up with Amber , so he could have initially thought that was related.
The Walkerton family has long considered Sal a troublemaker, who gets into fights and robs stores (especially in comparison to Golden Boy Walky). For a long time, that view benefited Walky, and he didn’t question it until very recently (when Sal exploded at him that that’s not where it started).
His first reaction was “not only is Sal getting into fights, but she’s all-out fighting with my awesome new nerdy girlfriend; wtf, Sal?!”
But, Amber is physically OK. She isn’t injured, nor getting sent to Catholic school far away from Walky. Whereas, Sal was not OK when she got stabbed, and the whole night likely was an explosion in their family that sent Sal away and had other lasting complications.
Walky doesn’t hate Amber, because he knows her, but, hurting Sal like that was/is a really big deal! Nobody messes with my sister!
Also… so much emotion in his face in that penultimate panel. I’m always amazed at how much feeling can be put into these characters’ expressions in an art style which is fairly simple (in a good way, I mean).
Yeah, Willis has always been good at that, but the art is so good lately. The colouring and lighting particularly, but yes, also, in how expressive it is.
I mean, yeah. Unfortunately, feelings like that don’t go away, especially when you just learn of the incident, even if its something Sal forgives Amber for.
And yeah, of course Walky doesn’t HATE her, but like…that’s not really a thing he can shrug off, especially when he’s trying to be a better brother.
Yeah, he’s gotta be feeling some type of way, learning that the person he’s been smooching permanently scarred his twin and then kept that lil detail from him for a whole day.
Those 3 need a pow wow. Maybe include Ethan since he’s involved and yet somehow has been the most chill about it.
That sounds entirely too much like group therapy for Sal to agree. 😛
But..yeah. I can’t imagine how I’d feel in his shoes. I’m guessing some sort of cocktail between shock, confused, and sad.
Being fair to Amber, it’s reasonable to need time to figure out how to tell him, but yeah, Walky’s definitely gonna need to think about what this means.
Haha. Pay no attention to the person in the corner with the clipboard and PhD, Sal.
Yeah, he’s probably actively trying to figure out what the best reaction a good brother would have. Hopefully this leads to more Walky and Sal scenes. I like seeing them talk talk.
Oh yeah, if I was in Amber’s Shoe’s and didn’t have it all escalate so quickly, I would’ve taken forever to tell him due to constantly freaking out.
I mean, if anyone (other than Billie) can kick in a door, I figure it’ll be Sal refusing to go to anything remotely resembling therapy.
Yeah, Walky’s not been great at brothering in the past, so it makes sense he’d need a minute to process this. Not to mention balancing things between Amber, who he likes and cares about (even if he decides he can’t date her after this) and being a good brother to Sal.
I might have been able to force myself to tell him, but it’d be through like five different layers of self loathing and possibly hyperventilating.
OTOH, Sal did suggest to Joyce that she talk to someone about her issues with walking alone. NOT a shrink, she did emphasize, but a friend. We’re talking friends and family members, here, she may be OK with that.
She’s missing a “Godportunity”! If Joyce were still the Joyce from several weeks ago (comic time), she’d be trying to use this as a chance to explain to Amber and Walky that clearly this is all part of God’s plan for them–that’s clearly the only explanation for how Amber ended up at the same school as Walky and Sal, just so that reconciliation (between Sal and Amber) and True Love (between Amber and Walky) could bloom. “It’s all part of God’s Plan, so you two should probably get married right away so that He doesn’t feel the need to send in any giant fish.”
Of course it’s not cool but Sal is Walky’s blood related sister. He’d have to be a major tool and asshole to not at least say something when learning the identity of who stabbed Sal’s hand.
I hardly think he suggested anything of the sort. Not only is his sister *his sister*, but what Amber did to her is also the explicit subject at the moment.
Not even remotely, but while Amber was certainly angry at Sal and herself for failing to protect Ethan, her dad berating her until she snapped was what made her actually stab her. Before that, she was okay with crying and watching her being arrested. That wasn’t self defence or defence of a third party, except inasmuch as Amber was a thirteen year old girl desperate to make her worthless shitsack of a father stop berating her.
Sal’s not QUITE a third party – Amber DOES have justifiable reason to be angry with her, and she had recently put Amber through a lot (‘loading the gun’ so to speak for Blaine to pull the trigger), but yeah, it was in no way self-defence or defence of a third party. It was a scared, traumatized, badly hurting 13 year old lashing out at someone she could hurt when her abuser pushed her too far.
Despite not actually being grabbed herself, Amber was also an “aggrieved party” in that situation.
Which in no way excuses the later stabbing, but it’s not like it’s completely unrelated either.
I like Walky’s protectiveness of Sal here, like… a lot. I was afraid he’d go the route of “I mean it sounds to me like you were both jerks. so we’re all cool now?” but it seems that his relationship with Sal has progressed enough that the fact that Amber hurt her really shakes him. I’m not entirely sure that would have happened at the start of the comic, or at least we haven’t really seen that side of him before now.
Also the fact that he looks more like Sal with the combed hair in this scene strengthens that connection and I like that too.
And then she kind of choke me out, but that was kind of a scary and weird experience because I think it made me realize I’m into erotic asphyxiation…..don’t judge me.
Don’t be ridiculous, if Amber had a superhero fetish she’d be doing things like having sex while swinging from a grappeling hook, or flirting with her sidekick, or writing elaborate Justice Leagur slashfiction.
Hey now wait just a damn minute, this isn’t even admitting to the stalking and harassment she’s been doing on top of stabbing her 5 years ago! Maybe she’ll say it next and the stabbing a lead-in here but, I dunno man I don’t like how she went from point A to elaboration to self pity to justification to self pity when there’s whole points B-Z in the mix. Which, obviously it’s one strip you can’t put all that in but I can’t help but feel ruffled now that I noticed.
I mean, the stabbing is the most important part right now, because it sets the context. And tbf, the stalking and harassment was AG (though Amber was on board with it).
yeah yeah sure the stabbing was the most important part, yeah it’s necessary to set that context, yeah it’s the crux of the problem. But the rest of that shit also happened, is the thing, and it set that specific context of lying, deceit, gaslighting and harassment that made everything boil over. Just saying “I stabbed your sister 5 years ago and we fought about it and she forgave me but I understand if you hate me cuz i hate myself” doesn’t exactly cover it now does it?
You’re right, it doesn’t, and I’m wondering if it will come up later, either later in this conversation or if he decides to bail on this talk and speaks with Sal later.
Just tell him the whole story and let him decide. If you only tell him one fact he will have a biased view of the story. Why telling the whole story is difficult? Just say “Your sister tried to steal from a store and took my friend as a hostage, my dad mocked me for crying and I snapped and stabbed her hand out of desperation.” Simple as that!
I mean, the end result of that is still “I plunged a knife all the way through your sisters hand, breaking bone and severing ligaments, permanently disfiguring and disabling her”. Yeah ambers mental scarring is important and sal did something terrible too but he’d have to be a really shitty brother if he didn’t side with sal here
He knows all of this except why she stabbed her. And I’m not sure whether she herself knows why she did that. She’s not exactly the most self reflective person in the world.
Dramatic scenes feel less dramatic when you picture Joyce reading porn in a corner.
No seriously. The Red Wedding? Joyce is just sitting in a corner, reading porn.
Jack drowning while Rose says she’ll never let go? Joyce is sitting in a lifeboat, reading porn.
That huge pit under Cloud City? Luke’s getting his hand chopped off while Joyce is reading porn in a corner, hanging upside down from an antenna like a goddamn chimp.
Poor Walky. Talk about a rock and a hard place — you can see the confusion on his face in the fifth panel. Good on Amber, though. She told him straight on, didn’t try to duck out of it or anything (there’s a time for explanations and the full story but I don’t think this is quite it at this point) and nothing lit on fire, no one collapsed. Looking forward to seeing where this goes for sure!
I can just imagine how bad Walky have felt over the years. Unable to help his sister, unable to even reach out to her. Caught between their parents tyranny, their sibling rivalry and his own inadequacies he was helpless as she was removed from his life.
And here is an active participant. Someone who hurt his sister. Someone who can partially be blamed. Someone he can stand up to the way he never dared against his parents.
…I hope it doesn’t go there, and I think Walky probably can see past those impulses, but this is a hell of a thing to get dropped in the lap.
To be fair, a lot of the time Walky was ignorant of their parent’s mistreating Sal (and a lot of the time, frankly, he didn’t WANT to know). So I think he feels obligated to play ‘catch up’ of sorts.
He definitely was lonely without Sal though. I remember him telling Dorothy Sal used to watch Dexter with him before she was taken away.
I don’t think I’d say “ignorant”. Kids are rarely ignorant of family dynamics.
Didn’t want to know is probably more accurate. It’s kind of a survival trait in an abusive situation. Horribly coping mechanisms, but the ones that are drilled into you.
Ignorant in the sense that there genuinely were elements and things he didn’t know about or notice before – for example, he seemed genuinely shocked when Sal dropped the racism bomb, when from Linda’s expression it seems to be something Sal’d brought up in arguments before. Same thing with the audition flashback. It’s not something he noticed as favouritism at the time, but looking back it’s clear as friggin’ day.
Along with plenty he didn’t want to know or notice, yes. Understandably. It happens in lots of families where one is the good child and another is the ‘bad child’.
Also, before I forget (again) – It’s finally happened. Dumbing of Age infected my dreams. It was about a storyline that was a crossover for another webcomic CALLED Questionable Content but was very much…well, not that. Actually it looked like it was drawn like Multiplex. All I know is it involved very powerful dimension hopping superhero team with very powerful technology. They were chasing after some sort of villain that was bent on either taking over or destroying the world (I’m not sure which). Said villain either was or was connected with Marcie (throwback to Marcie criminal mastermind jokes of old). Amazi-Girl ended up going into Sal’s mind to root through her memories of Marcie (I believe without Sal’s consent, as she refused to believe Marcie could be involved and was NOT intent on letting said heroes be in a position where Marcie could possibly get hurt). I woke up at that point so I have no idea what’s up there. Fun times though!
1) Blaine is a colossally terrible person and berates his daughter for being frozen in fear. She snaps and stabs Sal, who is under arrest and doesn’t see her coming.
2) Marcie getting hurt and desperately needing money for bills, if not surgery.
3) Linda stealing the money Sal saves up. Cue teenage rebellion, in this case going along with a robbery and planning another on her own.
4) Sal having a fuckton of survivor’s guilt over Marcie’s accident and need to prove herself make her feel responsible for fixing it.
5) Amber feeling guilty she didn’t protect Ethan and angry about the robbery
=
Two kids making terrible fucked up decisions that hurt each other.
Wait, when did number 3 ever come up? I thought Sal just wasn’t making enough. I know Linda’s a bongo, but I don’t remember her taking her daughter’s raised funds.
Re-read Sal’s flashbacks from the last chapter. There was a whole sequence about it where it’s shown on-panel (starting with Sal getting home late one night to find Linda has been waiting up for her).
…
“Yo babe I permanently scarred and disabled your sister but don’t worry it was like, forever ago”
“What? Aw cool babe I was worried for a sec but I bet she doesn’t even care about that now let’s make out”
That ladies and gentlemen is how you land yourself on the “World’s Shittiest Brothers” list
As someone who has a twin sister (granted, we’re not semi-estranged like Walky and Sal) I would like to say that how he is reacting to the situation seems accurate.
Remember, until Amber dropped the stabbing realization, the only beef between Sal and Amber that he knew of was that he and Amber were dating. If my (hypothetical) girlfriend told me that she and my sister had a fight, like actual fight, I would be pretty pissed off with my sister. Because that’s not cool. You don’t meddle in your sibling’s relationship barring some extreme circumstances.
That being said, if my (hypothetical) girlfriend then told me that she long ago stabbed my sister, I would immediately turn to Jade for explanation. She takes priority in that situation.
Sal’s beef with that situation was squarely with Walky though – it was about moving on from depressed to making out in a day. So he’d have to have fundamentally misunderstanding what she didn’t approve of (not impossible).
Maybe I just don’t get it because my reaction to my boyfriend telling me he and my brother got into it probably would be ‘What?! Over what?!”
Yes, her beef was with Walky when they talked earlier. But Walky (correctly) knows that his sister often gets into/worsens fights (the exact same reason Marcie is often angry with Sal). His experience with Amber, however, is as someone who only fights those who ‘deserve it.’
So his initial impression was “Person who often escalates situations to violence when she shouldn’t and is currently mad at me” got into a fight with “Person who only fights people who deserve it and is related to Person 1’s anger.”
It’s not a big leap to “Person 1 was at fault in this fight,” until additional information was provided.
Person 1 wasn’t angry with Amber at all and only tangentally related to what Sal was disapproving of. Also, all the fights we’ve seen Sal get into were with bullies (barring Malaya, but Walky wasn’t privy to that). Sal wasn’t disapproving of Amber, she was disapproving because A) Walky went from wallowing to making out in less than a day and B) Walky was talking about how it didn’t matter that he was kissing Amber because it was ‘garbage roof’ (which, not knowing the context, sounds…not very nice to Amber). It IS actually a pretty big leap to go from ‘My sister disapproved of ME doing this thing and doesn’t actually seem to care about Amber at all’ to ‘Sal started a fight with Amber’. Unless Walky is fundamentally misunderstanding what happened last night (not impossible, I guess), it doesn’t make any sense for it to be about that.
I have two brothers, and they are very nonviolent, but VERY on board with Nobody Messes With My Sister.
Like, Walky knows that Sal gets into fights sometimes, and that it’s not acceptable behaviour. He can also see that Amber wasn’t physically hurt, but might be concerned that she’d be scared off by his troublemaking twin. But, it’s a very strong message/impulse to defend your family – especially your sister – from physical harm.
Sal was disabled, and sent away from him for the rest of their childhoods.
That’s just not gonna be cool!
OTOH, Sal’s the badass and he’s not, so some of the Nobody Messes With My Sister trope might be inverted, even without the distance between them because of parents and a good chunk of their older childhood apart.
Yup. It’s a conflict with how he thinks he SHOULD react, that people that hurt your family can take a long walk off a short pier, combined with his guilt that he’s been shunning and looking down on Sal for a long time and only recently realized that, plus his rational understanding that shit’s more complicated.
This is the perfect time for him to step back and figure shit out, partly by talking to Sal. Lots of complicated emotions, and no need to try to rush through them.
Well he doesn’t have to hate her to feel wrong about dating the girl who stabbed his sister. Like, he can still care about her, a lot. But this kind of thing is probably a deal breaker
He could maybe talk to Sal and see what she thinks about it.
I mean, if she’s hanging out with Amber on the roller derby team, she might be okay with it.
Sure, but it might still make WALKY uncomfortable dating the girl who hurt his sister. Even if they’ve forgiven each other, it might still be too weird for Walky.
I feel like we’re glossing over the fact that Sal had threatened Amber’s friend with a knife! I know that doesn’t make what Amber did any better, but it’s a damned fucked up situation and makes her reaction a little more understandable. i wonder if Walky knows Sal did that?
Ugh this is bringing up so many feelings for me. My brother and I are no longer on speaking terms, and had a somewhat similar dynamic of me being the “un-favorite” and him doing what my parents wanted. I’m torn between surprise that he’s showing this much compassion for Sal, and also feeling like this is all kind of inherently empty? Like, I’m sure my brother would have said the same thing, “You hurt my sister.” But at the end of the day does that MEAN anything to Walky? Or does he just know he’s supposed to be outraged and so he is? I want to see how this progresses but also ow it hurts.
I think it’s an honest reaction, because Walky and Sal do care about each other. They don’t know each other that well anymore, and they really don’t have tools to express it, but at the end of the day, it’s in there.
And, importantly, it wasn’t really their choice to be semi-estranged; she was sent off to Tennessee at age 13. Recently, they’ve kinda tried to reconnect a bit, as young adults.
If you can stand to read the strips where Walky and Sal work through their feelings about this, I’d be very interested to read your thoughts on it.
I don’t think it is empty but I don’t think he is actually mad either. I think he is just… upset. This fact changes things. She hurt his sister. And Walky has never been the best brother but even a mediocre brother wouldn’t stay with someone that hurt their sibling. At least not without a lot of stuff being worked through first.
What if Walky went to Mike to talk asbout this?
Mike would actually try to be helpful given the context and his (at least slight) recent change in personality? Or he would be his usuall trolling self?
It’s odd that you’re expressing here a distaste for violent retribution, but before Sal and Amber were bonding over just beating up some faceless goons like there was no tomorrow.
Here’s my understanding as far as the general rules.
Most people agree that violence is acceptable if its being used to stop greater violence in the moment.
Sal at least used to believe that violence as revenge is acceptable if the official channels have decided to just back the bully with power.
Sal does not think violence is a good idea now and discouraged Amazigirl from it but does not know how else to protect people and those goons were going to hurt someone she sort of cares about and/or planned on hurting rape victims for coming forward.
So Amber stabbed Sal in the hand, while restrained by a police officer at the scene of a hostage/robbery scene.
How come this didn’t go to court?
There were police officers as that witnessed the stabbing, so they would have to press charges about it, even if Amber was a minor.
Did everyone just repress the names of those involved in the court case?
White police officers in suburban Indiana are probably more than willing to look the other way when a white person stabs a mixed-race black person who just held up a convenience store.
There may have been a court case, or they may have settled out of court.
(There may have also been fines n’stuff, but those are boring.)
Sal was clearly seen as the major criminal. According to the store clerk, the cops would not see her as a kid.
Amber might’ve been far more excused since, as a white 13-yr-old girl, she *was* seen as a kid, and as a victim. Thanks, institutional racism!!
Also, I don’t know how their two crimes compare legally; perhaps attempting to rob a convenience store with a weapon and a hostage is far more punishable than impulsively stabbing the robber afterwards.
Amber was also crying and flipping out at the time, which was very easy for the cops to see as crazy/traumatized. They are not trained to see through Sal’s stoic face to the hurting kid inside. (If keeping stoic is a Black thing, then this is institutional racism again.)
So, Amber is the traumatized victim child, who needs counseling, and Sal is the hardened knife-wielding adult who needs jailtime (but, since her family was very rich and influential, they got the sentence reduced into sending her to a boarding school for wayward youths).
I think Linda and Charles maneuvered the cop’s incompetence into getting that option. “You just hung around with the knife for all and sundry and let an obviously upset little girl take it and stab someone else!”
The Walkertons may have needed to fight against getting Sal tried as an adult, too.
(Trying 13-yr-olds as adults is total bullshit, but it happens because the for-profit prison system lobbies politicians to mandate it, and the politicians want to look Tough On Crime.)
A normal poor family could’ve seen their kid straight on the Juvie track towards prison. I wonder if Catholic boarding school in another state would’ve even been an option at first.
So, the Walkertons may have used many tools at once, such as citing the cop’s negligence as you mentioned, knowing some seriously kickass lawyers, making a big donation to the school if they’d legally fight for Sal to attend it, whatever way they had to throw their weight around.
It’s also possible the school is a school for teenage girl juveniles. That might have something to do with it being posited as an alternative for juvie.
I like this. I was hoping for more anger but this is definitely good. I was expecting something like this, even if Walky hadn’t been rethinking their parents treatment of sal. I mean, I feel like there’s a line of shiftiness as a brother Walky is capable of, but not caring that his girlfriend stabbed his sister is so far beyond it, that’s sociopathic. Hed have to cross the line from flawed to cartoonishly evil, whether it was years ago or just yesterday. I don’t think the context of the stabbing matters much in this situation, unless amber had actually gotten the knife away from sal and stabbed her while she had Ethan. The bottom line is, his girlfriend hurt his sister badly. Even if she took Ethan hostage, even if Blaine was goading and berating her, the only thing that really matters here (to Walky at least) is that his girlfriend badly hurt his sister. That’s not something you can just brush off.
Wow I expected the worst but good job Walky. You made it clear its not no big deal to you while also making it clear you can work through this. I think part of Amber’s problem is most people in her life either exaggerate or minimize her faults.
–oh, I guess Walky thinks it could’ve come up on Garbage Roof. But, it’s not exactly first date material, and Amber has an unusual amount of not-first-date-material to get through.
I think she’s being very properly early in telling him before they get too entangled.
Also oh — he’s doing that thing where he’s upset about something, so he deflects his upset onto the way in which he was told.
(kinda like people who are upset that they got dumped, so they focus entirely on being mad that weren’t dumped at the right time, or whatever.)
Sooner as in literally as soon as possible after she became aware of the fact is probably what he had in mind and I can relate. Like, there’s no acceptable length of time to withhold that information.
I can’t blame Walky for wanting to be told sooner, but I can’t blame Amber for needing time to figure out how, especially since it’s wrapped in her own trauma.
How does everyone read the two versions of “you hurt my sister” … I think I’m seeing the first with minor emphasis as “YOU hurt my sister” and the second as “you HURT my SISTER”, but I may be seeing things.
The first one I don’t see as having any particular emphasis, it’s just… a statement of fact, a fact that changes things. But then the second one is emphasised just as you have said.
Damn it, I really like them together but I got siblings and I really don’t think I’d be able to date someone who hurt them like that even if my sibling forgave them.
Aaaand now that Amber sees Sal as a person and not just a figurehead of her trauma, she’s gotta deal with the consequences of that. Like that this person had a family who were affected by what happened.
I know we’ve done the strip of them joining roller derby, but I think this is just the start of these wounds healing.
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“NOW what do I do for her birthday!”
…
“I–I MEAN I was gonna be her punching bag to make up for all the brotherly neglect over the years but YOU RUINED THE SENTIMENT”
Nice try, Willis, we know you’re in league!
Also, in all seriousness, it would be possible to rig up a script to post a prewritten comment as soon as the RSS updates, and Ana is a Patron.
Please. Answer is easy-peasy. Ana is Russian hacker using 1337 code with spyware hooks into Willis’ network. She sees everything before he even does anything. NO COLLUSION.
insert that Hackerman gif only it’s Ana and it says Hackerlass
(unless Ana is a dude, then you can use the normal Hackerman gif)
Ana only ever hacks the right amount of time.
MAGIC
time magic, it has to be
I mean, I assume that’s what “chronistic” is.
Ana is a Time Lord obviously.
She secretly has access to The World?
Ana is actual magic.
Either the comment service has an open API or Ana’s a quick refresher.
No, neither of those answers can be right, they don’t involve magic and/or Stand abilities
She only beat me by seconds, and I was busy with your four reissues.
Quantum mechanics.
Ana went to a crossroads at midnight with a Windows tablet and a black cat bone and the Devil taught them how to get first comment every time.
Willis works hard but Ana works harder.
She got what they call the Shine
Meanwhile, Joyce has come across another slashfic, this one about herself and Dorothy…!
Joyothy
!!!
G-good kickstarter commission. Thank you for sharing!
Y’all should get some Dream Daddies
“I must study this one. VERY CAREFULLY.”
Also, now I kinda want someone to put punching bags with Walky drawn on them in the store. I kinda want to buy this.
“I spent years doing that as my hobby! We’re perfect!”
….ooooh I get it.
Aw, babies. ;.;
To be fair, Sal hurt Amber pretty good as well.
Come on baby, make it hurt so good
Sometimes love don’t feel like it should
Doo-doo-doo-doo! Doo! Doo!
Music nerds!
Normal people reacting to insane situations looks like this.
“But I never touched Billie? Except for that one time I lifted her away from her tyrannical RA.”
“You mean her girlfriend?”
“…what”
“She wasn’t her girlfriend at the time?”
How do you manage to pack so much intense emotion into plain dot eyes???
Adding more shiny spots makes them look like they’re watering a little. Plus you can hint at their shape through facial expression (brows and cheek lines).
Yeah, but still masterfully done.
However it’s done, it’s very effective.
This hurts, but I definitely do enjoy seeing this moment of Walky caring about Sal. ‘Cause like… of COURSE he does, she’s his sister, but it’s nice to see it here even though this revelation has gotta hurt like hell.
Especially when his initial reaction to hearing they had a fight was ‘I need to go scream at my sister now’.
Yeah, that’s very interesting. A fight between Amber and Sal NOW, he assumes Sal is at fault, but the convenience store situation, he’s on Sal’s side. That’s kind of the opposite of what I’d expect from him, since he has to have had the Linda-approved version of the robbery pounded into his brain.
I mean, even if he’s not necessarily ‘on Sal’s side’ wrt the robbery, he just got told ‘I stabbed your sister’. There’s…not a ton of ways to shrug it off without being a massive, massive asshole and a shitty brother.
Walky’s been thinking a lot about that stuff, I think. I think the gas station in particular is really eating at him of late—it’s something he’s outright harassed Sal about, and now that he’s starting to recognize the racism Sal has dealt with that he hasn’t, he’s starting to think more about how his sister always wears gloves now.
Yes, this too.
I don’t want to call out the story or nuthin’ but this plot point always bugged me. I dunno as someone black it’s frustrating to see a “Oh he’s black but he’s treated nicer than someone who looks/acts a bit blacker”. As if there’s now guilt associated with not being black enough. It’s the reason the mulatto dynamic exists where both black people AND white people shunned half black people. Especially in the context of having a twin sister sister who shares the same parents and skin tone and the only noticeable difference is the kinky hair. I find it’d be…reasonable for Walky to assume the favoritism didn’t have much to do with race. I’d almost assume his mom was SEXIST before I assumed it was a race issue.
Maybe I’m missing something, as I’m not black, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there needs to be guilt associated with being whiter and being treated better for it. Like, colourism is a big problem, and people who assimilate better are usually better treated than people who don’t/can’t/won’t. That doesn’t make it a bad thing to be whiter or assimilating more, but it is a problem that happens and deserves to be talked about.
Well, Walky’s recognizing Sal’s been treated very badly in comparison to him, and he never did anything to stop that from happening. I would guess that’s one reason for his guilt.
Sure, but that’s a compassionate reaction, not one based on it being inherently bad that he’s whiter. To go with Yomotoe’s sexism example, if Walky were favoured for being a boy and he felt bad about it, it would be because he’s feeling compassionate towards his sister because she’s treated badly, not because being a boy is a bad thing.
“and the only noticeable difference is the kinky hair”
Sal has consistantly been shaded two shades darker than her brother, and has been indicated to be “black” on appearance, while her brother has been indicated to be “caramel” on appearance. If your problem (and I’m confused how this is a thing if the parents are in a relationship to begin with) is with black skin tones, then a more middle-eastern shade is likely going to be easier to tolerate.
So yes, there has been a clear basis for Sal’s interpretation of things.
That said, if we look through the flashbacks, there didn’t seem to be a clear dynamic of difference until their mother chose Walky over Sal for a casting role. After that, Sal seems to have acted more and more against her mother’s rigid, prejudiced middle-class thinking, while Walky was always easy-going, non-confrontational, and obliging to his parents.
So the issue likely wasn’t due to skin color, at all.
That said, it makes total sense for Sal to believe that that was the cause-
After all, if you’re a child who feels victimized, and still wants the approval of their parent, are you more likely to try and determine what’s wrong with yourself, or with your parent? Given a choice between “There’s something wrong with me, and the only visible thing is my skin color, could I just not be the way my mother wants me to be” and “my mother is a selfish, self-centered jerk who worries more about appearances than me being her daughter”, it could end up being easier to choose the first option, especially since it’s both one that’s easier to excuse your own actions with and one that’s presumably easier to change your parent’s mind about.
In summary, race probably isn’t the issue, but the plot point itself is completely reasonable.
As a counter-argument, we could consider why Linda picked Walky over Sal. Maybe it was about skin shade (after all, Linda is all about appearances- and that’s the underlying factor to her emphasizing that Sal’s kinky hair should be straightened as well, which itself is another bit of fuel for Sal’s [or this counter-argument]’s take on things), and Sal picked up on that to some degree, and that’s what started everything. Maybe it was a subconcious thing at first, but maybe it turned into something that Linda actually does hold on to. One thing we do know is that Linda is apparently overly obsessed with Sal keeping her hair straight, and that could be interpreted for either argument [Linda being obssesed about appearances alone, or Linda being obssessed with appearances and factoring race into that].
It’s actually Charles who insults Sal’s natural hair to her face, not Linda. I mean, I’m sure Linda would co-sign that sentiment if she were speaking to Sal, but that was on her dad, not her mom.
Near as I can tell, their skin is actually the same shade. For example here, where there are closeups for both of them in the same light. That said, skin color isn’t the only marker that we commonly associate with being “black”. Hair is the most obvious and the one called out blatantly in this comic, but there are also facial features that might not come across clearly in this art style. Our first hint at any of this was Walky’s description of Sal as “black” and himself as “generically beige”. Despite having the same skin color. I take that as a reflection of how they were seen in the family.
As for the flashbacks: Are there any earlier than the casting bit? The only candidate might be the first meeting with Marcie. I’m not sure which one they looked older in. In both scenes though, Linda yells at Sal and/or favors Walky.
Linda’s racism is pretty obvious in her dealings with Sal over Marcie as well, so it’s not at all unreasonable to expect it elsewhere.
I forget where it was but I remember Walky saying “she’s black, I’m beige”
Yup. That was the first hint.
Because they’re the same color.
At the time I took it to be a matter of self identification he was describing, but I dunno.
At the time I did since we didn’t have any other information then, but in light of the later emphasis on the difference in how they were treated and the claimed racism behind it, it’s hard not to see it as tied in.
Sal claims their parents treated her worse because they saw her as blacker.
Walky jokes about her being black and him not being black.
There might be a link there. 🙂
Sal has consistantly been shaded two shades darker than her brother
What??
Sal has consistently exactly the same skin-color as her brother since the start of the comic, confirmed by word of god!
ah, thank you. I vaguely remembered such, but didn’t know where to look.
To be pedantic, the word of God says that they’re “the exact same colors they’ve always been since the begining” … which is not the same as they’re the “exact same colors.”
Yep. Save an image with the two and look at it with a program that will display RGB values. I’ve done this myself.
@Chris (not the one, but the other one):
See Jhon’s approach: You can test it yourself!
Intersectionality being a thing, who says it’s not both?
By which I mean: it is possible that both racism and sexism have informed Linda’s mistreatment of Sal and that Sal only picked up the race part cuz she gets that elsewhere and Linda is better at camouflaging her sexism.
It’s possible. But I don’t think we’ve seen any signs of it the text.
Maybe, but we haven’t seen any that I recall. We HAVE seen Linda broadcast classism and ableism loud and clear though, and she hates that Sal associates with the ‘wrong people’ (i.e. Marcie).
Well, while Linda is clearly a crap parent and willing to put blame on Sal for the strife in the world, Sal is still her child, and she still very much cares about how the family looks. I’d assume she played up how Sal was a victim of “some crazy stabby girl” as much as possible to everyone, but meanwhile also sent her away because, privately, “it was after all entirely her fault, let’s send her away so it won’t happen again.” Walky would have seen both sides of that.
I imagine that Sal being stabbed is how she got the option to pick a boarding school over juvie. The Walkertons strike me as capable of maneuvering the officer’s incompetence into that sort of option.
Oh definitely. I can also see them, or Linda rather, righteously throwing around her white privilege “for good”, totally oblivious to her own issues. “How dare you threaten juvie! She was stabbed! Is this because she’s not as white as that psycho? If the races were switched, SHE’d be behind bars by now and WE’d be filing a suit for our daughter’s hospital bills! We should sue for discrimination!”
I can actually see it and I hate it. As if I didn’t want to slap her enough already. 😛
Knowing what I know about our correctional facilities, I feel like Amber may have done Sal a favor. That might be the most fucked up part about this whole comic.
Well as bad as it is to assume the assumption that she instigated that confrontation at that moment of time wasn’t necessarily wrong and yeah I know Amber is still at fault a bit too because she was more than eager to butt heads with her but still. I think Walky was probably going in with the knowledge about what he already knows, half the time Sal can be confrontational and as far he knew what was probably Sal getting in his new girlfriend’s face and telling her to stay away from her brother out of disapproval. Other than that he couldn’t have thought of any other reason why they would be at odds until Amber opened up about the stabbing.
Sal and Amber both agreed they wanted to fight. If Sal wanting to fight makes it her fault, Amber wanting to fight makes it also her fault.
As for Walky, if that’s what he was thinking, I think he needs to rewind that night because Sal’s disapproval was directed at HIM for going from miserable about being broken up with by someone he loved to making out with someone else in two days. Like, there’s nothing wrong with him moving on, but let’s not pretend that disapproval wasn’t pointed at Walky. That would require him to fundamentally misunderstand what Sal was disapproving of.
It was, but it’s not unreasonable to think it was about him, since as far as he knew, that was the only point of contact they had. That’s the only thing it made any sense for them to fight about and Sal was the aggressor there while Amber cowered and slunk away, even though that aggression was directed at Walky.
Yeah, it’s a jump, but it’s not that wild of a leap.
It’s a pretty wild leap to go from “That was pretty quick Walky” to “A literal fistfight with his new girlfriend.”
But it’s the only thing he’s got.
Otherwise it’s “literal fistfight” for no particular reason.
He might have been assuming that Sal said something to Amber, triggering an escalation to a fight, rather than just Sal jumping Amber–that would be a plausible scenario, given what he knew (and didn’t know) about both women.
Okay, but if the only thing he’s got doesn’t make any sense (especially because, again, all her disapproval was aimed at WALKY, not Amber, and for him to think her disapproval had anything to do with Amber requires him to fundamentally misunderstand what she was disapproving of) I’d still think the initial reaction would be ‘wait, WHY were you fighting?’
Fair enough. I could certainly see that too.
“he has to have had the Linda-approved version of the robbery pounded into his brain.”
Thank you! I’ve been trying to figure out how to articulate this, and you just did it masterfully.
Three things:
1: The order of information’s important. He learned that Badass Sister Sal and Cute And Geeky Amber had a fight, then learns that Sister’s Scarring Wound was caused by Amber. That’s likely why he reacts that way.
2: Walky’s trying to process a LOT of stuff right now. His brain’s effectively seg-faulting, and the best thing he can do right now is get out of that room so that he can try to deal with all of that shit without the risk of saying something that might hurt Amber.
3: Walky has certainly gotten the Linda Approved Version ground into him… but he also probably recognizes that it’s a biased account by now. Again, he needs to sort this shit out, but I hope he’s not going to jump to any conclusions.
To cut Walky some slack, this did come after Sal initially gave grief to Walky about hooking up with Amber , so he could have initially thought that was related.
That still seems like a stretch to me, especially considering Walky was the one Sal was annoyed with in that scene.
But is it more of a stretch than Amber ranomly being the crazy girl that stabbed his sister?
Of course not, but Walky didn’t even ask what the fight was about, he just jumped to ‘it must be Sal’s fault’.
The Walkerton family has long considered Sal a troublemaker, who gets into fights and robs stores (especially in comparison to Golden Boy Walky). For a long time, that view benefited Walky, and he didn’t question it until very recently (when Sal exploded at him that that’s not where it started).
His first reaction was “not only is Sal getting into fights, but she’s all-out fighting with my awesome new nerdy girlfriend; wtf, Sal?!”
But, Amber is physically OK. She isn’t injured, nor getting sent to Catholic school far away from Walky. Whereas, Sal was not OK when she got stabbed, and the whole night likely was an explosion in their family that sent Sal away and had other lasting complications.
Walky doesn’t hate Amber, because he knows her, but, hurting Sal like that was/is a really big deal! Nobody messes with my sister!
Also… so much emotion in his face in that penultimate panel. I’m always amazed at how much feeling can be put into these characters’ expressions in an art style which is fairly simple (in a good way, I mean).
Yeah, Willis has always been good at that, but the art is so good lately. The colouring and lighting particularly, but yes, also, in how expressive it is.
I mean, yeah. Unfortunately, feelings like that don’t go away, especially when you just learn of the incident, even if its something Sal forgives Amber for.
And yeah, of course Walky doesn’t HATE her, but like…that’s not really a thing he can shrug off, especially when he’s trying to be a better brother.
Yeah, he’s gotta be feeling some type of way, learning that the person he’s been smooching permanently scarred his twin and then kept that lil detail from him for a whole day.
Those 3 need a pow wow. Maybe include Ethan since he’s involved and yet somehow has been the most chill about it.
That sounds entirely too much like group therapy for Sal to agree. 😛
But..yeah. I can’t imagine how I’d feel in his shoes. I’m guessing some sort of cocktail between shock, confused, and sad.
Being fair to Amber, it’s reasonable to need time to figure out how to tell him, but yeah, Walky’s definitely gonna need to think about what this means.
Haha. Pay no attention to the person in the corner with the clipboard and PhD, Sal.
Yeah, he’s probably actively trying to figure out what the best reaction a good brother would have. Hopefully this leads to more Walky and Sal scenes. I like seeing them talk talk.
Oh yeah, if I was in Amber’s Shoe’s and didn’t have it all escalate so quickly, I would’ve taken forever to tell him due to constantly freaking out.
I mean, if anyone (other than Billie) can kick in a door, I figure it’ll be Sal refusing to go to anything remotely resembling therapy.
Yeah, Walky’s not been great at brothering in the past, so it makes sense he’d need a minute to process this. Not to mention balancing things between Amber, who he likes and cares about (even if he decides he can’t date her after this) and being a good brother to Sal.
I might have been able to force myself to tell him, but it’d be through like five different layers of self loathing and possibly hyperventilating.
Y’know, like Amber last storyline.
OTOH, Sal did suggest to Joyce that she talk to someone about her issues with walking alone. NOT a shrink, she did emphasize, but a friend. We’re talking friends and family members, here, she may be OK with that.
If it’s the four of them talking, I think that’d be okay. If Ethan’s trying to facilitate it, I think it’d be too therapy esque. 😛
We should throw Ethan in there, for good measure.
There is not enough Joyce reading smutty fanfic in this strip.
You’re assuming she still is.
Yeah, I’m making the same assumption.
And that’s how “But You Hurt My Sister” Sex was invented.
Friends stab each other. We’re cool. EVERYTHING IS FINE. >_>
Also, I really hope it turns out math class isn’t canceled, but Joyce and Walky completely forget about that question until after the fact.
Just because I would find that funny.
Ooh, yes. Let’s see Joyce try to come to grips with the realization that she missed a class, and instead spent that time reading slashfic.
Missed a class, nothing.
She’s missing a “Godportunity”! If Joyce were still the Joyce from several weeks ago (comic time), she’d be trying to use this as a chance to explain to Amber and Walky that clearly this is all part of God’s plan for them–that’s clearly the only explanation for how Amber ended up at the same school as Walky and Sal, just so that reconciliation (between Sal and Amber) and True Love (between Amber and Walky) could bloom. “It’s all part of God’s Plan, so you two should probably get married right away so that He doesn’t feel the need to send in any giant fish.”
But she’s missing it all because she’s been distracted by the sins of the flesh.
Another yaoi fangirl is born. At least one good thing came out of this.
*continues to let the official Atticus Ross/Trent Reznor series score play instead of taking it off for something else*
You have me trying to imagin a 4way with
Atticus (2killAbird)
Ross (Friends)
Trent (Daria)
Reznor.(some emo tweens imaginary alter ego/neopet)
Reznor is a Mutant Lenny on neopets.com, in case you were wondering.
Okay not mad….bit still a lot to take in.
Uhm… an Sal taking her friend hostage was cool?
Of course it’s not cool but Sal is Walky’s blood related sister. He’d have to be a major tool and asshole to not at least say something when learning the identity of who stabbed Sal’s hand.
I hardly think he suggested anything of the sort. Not only is his sister *his sister*, but what Amber did to her is also the explicit subject at the moment.
Did anyone in this strip or elsewhere say that? I must’ve missed that panel.
Not even remotely, but while Amber was certainly angry at Sal and herself for failing to protect Ethan, her dad berating her until she snapped was what made her actually stab her. Before that, she was okay with crying and watching her being arrested. That wasn’t self defence or defence of a third party, except inasmuch as Amber was a thirteen year old girl desperate to make her worthless shitsack of a father stop berating her.
And even then, stabbing a third party doesn’t count as self-defence anywhere.
Sal’s not QUITE a third party – Amber DOES have justifiable reason to be angry with her, and she had recently put Amber through a lot (‘loading the gun’ so to speak for Blaine to pull the trigger), but yeah, it was in no way self-defence or defence of a third party. It was a scared, traumatized, badly hurting 13 year old lashing out at someone she could hurt when her abuser pushed her too far.
Maybe she was in a way, because I would count stabbing Blaine as self-defence.
Same, but unfortunately, she didn’t stab Blaine.
why the hell would WALKY bring that up? he might not even know. The aggrieved party in that one is Ethan
Despite not actually being grabbed herself, Amber was also an “aggrieved party” in that situation.
Which in no way excuses the later stabbing, but it’s not like it’s completely unrelated either.
🙁
It’s worth remembering that we’re still on the track where things are going as well as they were going to go.
I like Walky’s protectiveness of Sal here, like… a lot. I was afraid he’d go the route of “I mean it sounds to me like you were both jerks. so we’re all cool now?” but it seems that his relationship with Sal has progressed enough that the fact that Amber hurt her really shakes him. I’m not entirely sure that would have happened at the start of the comic, or at least we haven’t really seen that side of him before now.
Also the fact that he looks more like Sal with the combed hair in this scene strengthens that connection and I like that too.
Luckily, they’ll always have Garbage Roof.
This is a lot to digest for Walky, but I’m really glad Amber told him. I think she’s gotten a lot braver lately.
“My name is Walkinigo Montoya, you hurt my sister, prepare to… feel very bad about it!”
I mean, she already does, but now she gets to feel at least a little relief she told him?
Eh? Ehhhhh? EHHHHHHH? 😀 *thumbs up*
…Ah who am I kidding. This is sad time.
If-If It makes you feel any better, your sister hurt me when she clocked me in the jaw yesterday…although that was after I roundhouse kicked her so…
“…She WON that fight if it helps?
…becauseIpausedtogloatlikeaBlistsupervillainshutupIcantakeherokay?”
And then she kind of choke me out, but that was kind of a scary and weird experience because I think it made me realize I’m into erotic asphyxiation…..don’t judge me.
Amber doesn’t have PTSD, it’s just a big fetish. AmaziGirl is just her fursona.
That’s hot
Don’t be ridiculous, if Amber had a superhero fetish she’d be doing things like having sex while swinging from a grappeling hook, or flirting with her sidekick, or writing elaborate Justice Leagur slashfiction.
yeah hopefully this sticks around
Walky doesn’t tend to do angry but i woulda liked to have seen a flash of angry, myself.
Hey now wait just a damn minute, this isn’t even admitting to the stalking and harassment she’s been doing on top of stabbing her 5 years ago! Maybe she’ll say it next and the stabbing a lead-in here but, I dunno man I don’t like how she went from point A to elaboration to self pity to justification to self pity when there’s whole points B-Z in the mix. Which, obviously it’s one strip you can’t put all that in but I can’t help but feel ruffled now that I noticed.
I mean, the stabbing is the most important part right now, because it sets the context. And tbf, the stalking and harassment was AG (though Amber was on board with it).
yeah yeah sure the stabbing was the most important part, yeah it’s necessary to set that context, yeah it’s the crux of the problem. But the rest of that shit also happened, is the thing, and it set that specific context of lying, deceit, gaslighting and harassment that made everything boil over. Just saying “I stabbed your sister 5 years ago and we fought about it and she forgave me but I understand if you hate me cuz i hate myself” doesn’t exactly cover it now does it?
You’re right, it doesn’t, and I’m wondering if it will come up later, either later in this conversation or if he decides to bail on this talk and speaks with Sal later.
i mean i hope so
Just tell him the whole story and let him decide. If you only tell him one fact he will have a biased view of the story. Why telling the whole story is difficult? Just say “Your sister tried to steal from a store and took my friend as a hostage, my dad mocked me for crying and I snapped and stabbed her hand out of desperation.” Simple as that!
But she can’t tell him the whole story. All she can tell him is her side of the story. Amber doesn’t know why Sal tried to rob the store.
I mean, the end result of that is still “I plunged a knife all the way through your sisters hand, breaking bone and severing ligaments, permanently disfiguring and disabling her”. Yeah ambers mental scarring is important and sal did something terrible too but he’d have to be a really shitty brother if he didn’t side with sal here
He knows all of this except why she stabbed her. And I’m not sure whether she herself knows why she did that. She’s not exactly the most self reflective person in the world.
Dramatic scenes feel less dramatic when you picture Joyce reading porn in a corner.
No seriously. The Red Wedding? Joyce is just sitting in a corner, reading porn.
Jack drowning while Rose says she’ll never let go? Joyce is sitting in a lifeboat, reading porn.
That huge pit under Cloud City? Luke’s getting his hand chopped off while Joyce is reading porn in a corner, hanging upside down from an antenna like a goddamn chimp.
And this is why that edit Tan made of yesterday’s comic is so great.
Upside down porn Joyce? Best Joyce ever.
Haha I love this, wait wait I got a few-
Peter Parker telling Tony Stark that he doesn’t feel so good as he dies in his arms. Joyce in the back reading porn.
Kylo Ren killing Han Solo in front of Ray, Fin, and Chewy. Joyce in the back reading porn.
Bambi’s mom getting shot in the forest just to watch him cry about it later. Joyce in the back reading porn.
Three kings come into a manger bearing gifts…
Joyce is leaning against a sheep, reading porn.
Honestly I think Willis should have ended this comic with another panel of Joyce reading porn
“You hurt my sister.”
“…Yeah.”
0////0
JesusCarol on the cross. Joyce reading porn. Carol asks her to read it out loud.I thought you meant Joyce’s mom Carol at first.
Edward’s a vampire. Joyce is in the woods reading porn.
Both of their mom’s name was Martha. Joyce is sitting on a piece of debris reading porn.
Ralph enters the internet. Joyce is there reading porn.
Sam begs Frodo to cast the One Ring into the Crack of Doom. Joyce is sitting on a ledge above the lava reading porn.
Harry Potter is making his way into the Forbidden Forest to face down Lord Voldemort. Joyce is in a tree branch reading porn.
Captain Kirk screams “KHAAAAN!” Joyce is leaning against a wall behind him reading porn.
Obi-Wan has the high ground. Anakin has no legs. Joyce floats on a boulder down the lava river, reading porn.
Coincidentally, the porn concerns how Anakin and Obi-Wan were not, in fact, brothers.
Poor Walky. Talk about a rock and a hard place — you can see the confusion on his face in the fifth panel. Good on Amber, though. She told him straight on, didn’t try to duck out of it or anything (there’s a time for explanations and the full story but I don’t think this is quite it at this point) and nothing lit on fire, no one collapsed. Looking forward to seeing where this goes for sure!
Okay, now Walky, you want to say this again, at Thanksgiving, to your parents, with exactly this face and tone.
Stupid question: What do the varying lines through the second o on robots mean?
That’s just the fold of the shirt. I think it’s supposed to show he’s slumping due to sadness.
OK, thanks.
wrinkles
It’s a secret code that Willis uses to communicate with the Martians.
I can just imagine how bad Walky have felt over the years. Unable to help his sister, unable to even reach out to her. Caught between their parents tyranny, their sibling rivalry and his own inadequacies he was helpless as she was removed from his life.
And here is an active participant. Someone who hurt his sister. Someone who can partially be blamed. Someone he can stand up to the way he never dared against his parents.
…I hope it doesn’t go there, and I think Walky probably can see past those impulses, but this is a hell of a thing to get dropped in the lap.
To be fair, a lot of the time Walky was ignorant of their parent’s mistreating Sal (and a lot of the time, frankly, he didn’t WANT to know). So I think he feels obligated to play ‘catch up’ of sorts.
He definitely was lonely without Sal though. I remember him telling Dorothy Sal used to watch Dexter with him before she was taken away.
I don’t think I’d say “ignorant”. Kids are rarely ignorant of family dynamics.
Didn’t want to know is probably more accurate. It’s kind of a survival trait in an abusive situation. Horribly coping mechanisms, but the ones that are drilled into you.
Ignorant in the sense that there genuinely were elements and things he didn’t know about or notice before – for example, he seemed genuinely shocked when Sal dropped the racism bomb, when from Linda’s expression it seems to be something Sal’d brought up in arguments before. Same thing with the audition flashback. It’s not something he noticed as favouritism at the time, but looking back it’s clear as friggin’ day.
Along with plenty he didn’t want to know or notice, yes. Understandably. It happens in lots of families where one is the good child and another is the ‘bad child’.
Also, before I forget (again) – It’s finally happened. Dumbing of Age infected my dreams. It was about a storyline that was a crossover for another webcomic CALLED Questionable Content but was very much…well, not that. Actually it looked like it was drawn like Multiplex. All I know is it involved very powerful dimension hopping superhero team with very powerful technology. They were chasing after some sort of villain that was bent on either taking over or destroying the world (I’m not sure which). Said villain either was or was connected with Marcie (throwback to Marcie criminal mastermind jokes of old). Amazi-Girl ended up going into Sal’s mind to root through her memories of Marcie (I believe without Sal’s consent, as she refused to believe Marcie could be involved and was NOT intent on letting said heroes be in a position where Marcie could possibly get hurt). I woke up at that point so I have no idea what’s up there. Fun times though!
I think that was just a Shortpacked arc.
It sounds like one!
FAIR. BUT SHE DID HOLD A KNIFE TO HER FRIEND’S THROAT. I get it was after, I’m just saying shit was fucked in a LOT of ways
So so so many. It was like a damn shitfuck turducken. Especially once you factor in the parents and other pressing factors.
Seriously, let me count these ways actually.
1) Blaine is a colossally terrible person and berates his daughter for being frozen in fear. She snaps and stabs Sal, who is under arrest and doesn’t see her coming.
2) Marcie getting hurt and desperately needing money for bills, if not surgery.
3) Linda stealing the money Sal saves up. Cue teenage rebellion, in this case going along with a robbery and planning another on her own.
4) Sal having a fuckton of survivor’s guilt over Marcie’s accident and need to prove herself make her feel responsible for fixing it.
5) Amber feeling guilty she didn’t protect Ethan and angry about the robbery
=
Two kids making terrible fucked up decisions that hurt each other.
Wait, when did number 3 ever come up? I thought Sal just wasn’t making enough. I know Linda’s a bongo, but I don’t remember her taking her daughter’s raised funds.
Re-read Sal’s flashbacks from the last chapter. There was a whole sequence about it where it’s shown on-panel (starting with Sal getting home late one night to find Linda has been waiting up for her).
Yeah but that was in ancient times when they were children. Seriously, Walky, even the Drama Tag is like, “dude, chill.”
…
“Yo babe I permanently scarred and disabled your sister but don’t worry it was like, forever ago”
“What? Aw cool babe I was worried for a sec but I bet she doesn’t even care about that now let’s make out”
That ladies and gentlemen is how you land yourself on the “World’s Shittiest Brothers” list
Oof Walky cannot catch a break
As someone who has a twin sister (granted, we’re not semi-estranged like Walky and Sal) I would like to say that how he is reacting to the situation seems accurate.
Remember, until Amber dropped the stabbing realization, the only beef between Sal and Amber that he knew of was that he and Amber were dating. If my (hypothetical) girlfriend told me that she and my sister had a fight, like actual fight, I would be pretty pissed off with my sister. Because that’s not cool. You don’t meddle in your sibling’s relationship barring some extreme circumstances.
That being said, if my (hypothetical) girlfriend then told me that she long ago stabbed my sister, I would immediately turn to Jade for explanation. She takes priority in that situation.
Sal’s beef with that situation was squarely with Walky though – it was about moving on from depressed to making out in a day. So he’d have to have fundamentally misunderstanding what she didn’t approve of (not impossible).
Maybe I just don’t get it because my reaction to my boyfriend telling me he and my brother got into it probably would be ‘What?! Over what?!”
Yes, her beef was with Walky when they talked earlier. But Walky (correctly) knows that his sister often gets into/worsens fights (the exact same reason Marcie is often angry with Sal). His experience with Amber, however, is as someone who only fights those who ‘deserve it.’
So his initial impression was “Person who often escalates situations to violence when she shouldn’t and is currently mad at me” got into a fight with “Person who only fights people who deserve it and is related to Person 1’s anger.”
It’s not a big leap to “Person 1 was at fault in this fight,” until additional information was provided.
Person 1 wasn’t angry with Amber at all and only tangentally related to what Sal was disapproving of. Also, all the fights we’ve seen Sal get into were with bullies (barring Malaya, but Walky wasn’t privy to that). Sal wasn’t disapproving of Amber, she was disapproving because A) Walky went from wallowing to making out in less than a day and B) Walky was talking about how it didn’t matter that he was kissing Amber because it was ‘garbage roof’ (which, not knowing the context, sounds…not very nice to Amber). It IS actually a pretty big leap to go from ‘My sister disapproved of ME doing this thing and doesn’t actually seem to care about Amber at all’ to ‘Sal started a fight with Amber’. Unless Walky is fundamentally misunderstanding what happened last night (not impossible, I guess), it doesn’t make any sense for it to be about that.
I strongly agree with Catman.
I have two brothers, and they are very nonviolent, but VERY on board with Nobody Messes With My Sister.
Like, Walky knows that Sal gets into fights sometimes, and that it’s not acceptable behaviour. He can also see that Amber wasn’t physically hurt, but might be concerned that she’d be scared off by his troublemaking twin. But, it’s a very strong message/impulse to defend your family – especially your sister – from physical harm.
Sal was disabled, and sent away from him for the rest of their childhoods.
That’s just not gonna be cool!
OTOH, Sal’s the badass and he’s not, so some of the Nobody Messes With My Sister trope might be inverted, even without the distance between them because of parents and a good chunk of their older childhood apart.
Seems like Walky has no idea *how* to feel
Yup. It’s a conflict with how he thinks he SHOULD react, that people that hurt your family can take a long walk off a short pier, combined with his guilt that he’s been shunning and looking down on Sal for a long time and only recently realized that, plus his rational understanding that shit’s more complicated.
This is the perfect time for him to step back and figure shit out, partly by talking to Sal. Lots of complicated emotions, and no need to try to rush through them.
Dissonance at work.
Well, that was a short-lived relationship.
“Is it better if I say I hurt myself too by doing that, possibly much worse than her?”
Also, Walky is adorable. This is like the end of Inside Out when Riley experiences a complex emotion for the first time.
That last part of your comment is hilariously fitting.
Err… you mean when sadness takes the reins, right? Not the one where Puberty is activated?
When Sadness and Joy run the console together and produce a blue and yellow memory.
Tomorrow: We pan over to Joyce, lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling blank faced.
Or a note: “Dear Walky and Amber – Don’t come to any life-changing decisions without me monitoring you. I’ve gone to talk to Sarah about… stuff.”
“I need to discuss this prosa with Other Jacob.”
Walky’s gonna need a whole day or three to process this.
Why I think that this relationship will last: Walky absolutely cannot conceive of hating Amber.
Well he doesn’t have to hate her to feel wrong about dating the girl who stabbed his sister. Like, he can still care about her, a lot. But this kind of thing is probably a deal breaker
He could maybe talk to Sal and see what she thinks about it.
I mean, if she’s hanging out with Amber on the roller derby team, she might be okay with it.
Sure, but it might still make WALKY uncomfortable dating the girl who hurt his sister. Even if they’ve forgiven each other, it might still be too weird for Walky.
I feel like we’re glossing over the fact that Sal had threatened Amber’s friend with a knife! I know that doesn’t make what Amber did any better, but it’s a damned fucked up situation and makes her reaction a little more understandable. i wonder if Walky knows Sal did that?
Thank you Walky.
Good Walky!
This was actually more empathy for his sister than I expected Walky to experience.
Ugh this is bringing up so many feelings for me. My brother and I are no longer on speaking terms, and had a somewhat similar dynamic of me being the “un-favorite” and him doing what my parents wanted. I’m torn between surprise that he’s showing this much compassion for Sal, and also feeling like this is all kind of inherently empty? Like, I’m sure my brother would have said the same thing, “You hurt my sister.” But at the end of the day does that MEAN anything to Walky? Or does he just know he’s supposed to be outraged and so he is? I want to see how this progresses but also ow it hurts.
I think it’s an honest reaction, because Walky and Sal do care about each other. They don’t know each other that well anymore, and they really don’t have tools to express it, but at the end of the day, it’s in there.
And, importantly, it wasn’t really their choice to be semi-estranged; she was sent off to Tennessee at age 13. Recently, they’ve kinda tried to reconnect a bit, as young adults.
If you can stand to read the strips where Walky and Sal work through their feelings about this, I’d be very interested to read your thoughts on it.
I don’t think it is empty but I don’t think he is actually mad either. I think he is just… upset. This fact changes things. She hurt his sister. And Walky has never been the best brother but even a mediocre brother wouldn’t stay with someone that hurt their sibling. At least not without a lot of stuff being worked through first.
may need a bit of time alone
Walky… you might have to talk to both of them.
What if Walky went to Mike to talk asbout this?
Mike would actually try to be helpful given the context and his (at least slight) recent change in personality? Or he would be his usuall trolling self?
Why would Walky ever go to Mike to talk about anything?
Walky lacks sense sometimes, but he isn’t that stupid.
Hahaha!
NO.
It’s odd that you’re expressing here a distaste for violent retribution, but before Sal and Amber were bonding over just beating up some faceless goons like there was no tomorrow.
Here’s my understanding as far as the general rules.
Most people agree that violence is acceptable if its being used to stop greater violence in the moment.
Sal at least used to believe that violence as revenge is acceptable if the official channels have decided to just back the bully with power.
Sal does not think violence is a good idea now and discouraged Amazigirl from it but does not know how else to protect people and those goons were going to hurt someone she sort of cares about and/or planned on hurting rape victims for coming forward.
The squeezed-in Amber in the last panel is very effective. Good composition.
I am confused over something.
So Amber stabbed Sal in the hand, while restrained by a police officer at the scene of a hostage/robbery scene.
How come this didn’t go to court?
There were police officers as that witnessed the stabbing, so they would have to press charges about it, even if Amber was a minor.
Did everyone just repress the names of those involved in the court case?
White police officers in suburban Indiana are probably more than willing to look the other way when a white person stabs a mixed-race black person who just held up a convenience store.
There may have been a court case, or they may have settled out of court.
(There may have also been fines n’stuff, but those are boring.)
Sal was clearly seen as the major criminal. According to the store clerk, the cops would not see her as a kid.
Amber might’ve been far more excused since, as a white 13-yr-old girl, she *was* seen as a kid, and as a victim. Thanks, institutional racism!!
Also, I don’t know how their two crimes compare legally; perhaps attempting to rob a convenience store with a weapon and a hostage is far more punishable than impulsively stabbing the robber afterwards.
Amber was also crying and flipping out at the time, which was very easy for the cops to see as crazy/traumatized. They are not trained to see through Sal’s stoic face to the hurting kid inside. (If keeping stoic is a Black thing, then this is institutional racism again.)
So, Amber is the traumatized victim child, who needs counseling, and Sal is the hardened knife-wielding adult who needs jailtime (but, since her family was very rich and influential, they got the sentence reduced into sending her to a boarding school for wayward youths).
Could’ve been a plea deal, could’ve been actual court; the story didn’t mention specifically how each of their sentences happened.
I think Linda and Charles maneuvered the cop’s incompetence into getting that option. “You just hung around with the knife for all and sundry and let an obviously upset little girl take it and stab someone else!”
Sure, totally possible.
The Walkertons may have needed to fight against getting Sal tried as an adult, too.
(Trying 13-yr-olds as adults is total bullshit, but it happens because the for-profit prison system lobbies politicians to mandate it, and the politicians want to look Tough On Crime.)
A normal poor family could’ve seen their kid straight on the Juvie track towards prison. I wonder if Catholic boarding school in another state would’ve even been an option at first.
So, the Walkertons may have used many tools at once, such as citing the cop’s negligence as you mentioned, knowing some seriously kickass lawyers, making a big donation to the school if they’d legally fight for Sal to attend it, whatever way they had to throw their weight around.
It’s also possible the school is a school for teenage girl juveniles. That might have something to do with it being posited as an alternative for juvie.
Blaine is mobbed up. He could have made some calls. Speaking of which, what does he actually do for the mob? Does he launder money?
The word used was ‘stooge’ so I’m not sure he’d be in a position to make a few calls. He’s a henchman, a faceless cog.
I figured he’d be higher up because he’s full of himself.
I think he’d be full of himself no matter what.
I like this. I was hoping for more anger but this is definitely good. I was expecting something like this, even if Walky hadn’t been rethinking their parents treatment of sal. I mean, I feel like there’s a line of shiftiness as a brother Walky is capable of, but not caring that his girlfriend stabbed his sister is so far beyond it, that’s sociopathic. Hed have to cross the line from flawed to cartoonishly evil, whether it was years ago or just yesterday. I don’t think the context of the stabbing matters much in this situation, unless amber had actually gotten the knife away from sal and stabbed her while she had Ethan. The bottom line is, his girlfriend hurt his sister badly. Even if she took Ethan hostage, even if Blaine was goading and berating her, the only thing that really matters here (to Walky at least) is that his girlfriend badly hurt his sister. That’s not something you can just brush off.
This is leading to a break-up instead of falling in love, it’s the opposite of what Joyce wanted!
Just like the last time.
Disagree with the premiss.
Walky, I respect you for this.
Amber, I feel so sorry for you (and also respect you for telling the truth).
“Tillie’s Punctured Romance”
I totally see this ending with… “Jesus Christ You’re Tough As Nails… NOONE’s hurt my sister!”
The last three panels.
She said she forgives me. (Did she really forgive me? Am I worthy of forgiveness?)
You HURT my SISTER. (Even if Sal forgave you, should I?)
Yeah. (I understand, Walky. I am not worthy of forgiveness.)
Powerful stuff.
Wow I expected the worst but good job Walky. You made it clear its not no big deal to you while also making it clear you can work through this. I think part of Amber’s problem is most people in her life either exaggerate or minimize her faults.
Sooner? Isn’t it, like, Day 2 of their relationship?
–oh, I guess Walky thinks it could’ve come up on Garbage Roof. But, it’s not exactly first date material, and Amber has an unusual amount of not-first-date-material to get through.
I think she’s being very properly early in telling him before they get too entangled.
Also oh — he’s doing that thing where he’s upset about something, so he deflects his upset onto the way in which he was told.
(kinda like people who are upset that they got dumped, so they focus entirely on being mad that weren’t dumped at the right time, or whatever.)
Thank you for coming to my weird self-discussion.
Sooner as in literally as soon as possible after she became aware of the fact is probably what he had in mind and I can relate. Like, there’s no acceptable length of time to withhold that information.
I can’t blame Walky for wanting to be told sooner, but I can’t blame Amber for needing time to figure out how, especially since it’s wrapped in her own trauma.
Rather than deal with the emotions I, as a brother, am sharing with Walky here, I’m going to make a cheap joke based on ambiguous syntax, ‘kay?
-ahem-
Why didn’t Sal figure out she was Walky’s sister until yesterday?
Their parents kept it secret.
They were separated at birth, but the one sent away was still named Skywalker. Skywalkerton.
*claps*
Seems to be related with Lucy!
How does everyone read the two versions of “you hurt my sister” … I think I’m seeing the first with minor emphasis as “YOU hurt my sister” and the second as “you HURT my SISTER”, but I may be seeing things.
Double-check:
The first is indeed minor, but the second is exactly as you write!
The first one I don’t see as having any particular emphasis, it’s just… a statement of fact, a fact that changes things. But then the second one is emphasised just as you have said.
Totally off-topic…
Carla fans need to do a search for ‘glitter bomb vs. package thief’.
It made my day!
Damn it, I really like them together but I got siblings and I really don’t think I’d be able to date someone who hurt them like that even if my sibling forgave them.
Is Walky two minutes away from searching the entire campus for Sal so he can give her a hug?
They ain’t never really been a huggin’ family.
Given this new info, that could change very quickly.
I can dream. 🙂
Aaaand now that Amber sees Sal as a person and not just a figurehead of her trauma, she’s gotta deal with the consequences of that. Like that this person had a family who were affected by what happened.
I know we’ve done the strip of them joining roller derby, but I think this is just the start of these wounds healing.
“You HURT my SISTER…”
WOAH… Walky? Being defensive of his sibling!?