What are doing to each other? I need information, stat! I need speculation! I need detailed scenarios! I need provocative illustrations and some time to myself in the bathroom!
So it’s basically a twin fetish, but both “twins” are different personas of the same person? I gotta say, that’d definitely make for an interesting narrative.
She wants to show her feelings, which at that moment are that she doesn’t want that folder removed from in front her face.
That, of course, is a stupid idea, because Sal will instead take it as a challenge.
Oh Amber, you can’t help but make yourself feel worse even when you are trying to do something nice, can you? Semi-relatedly, I really want the flashback with Mike to continue, I’m fascinated to see where that goes.
Yup. Back before GoPro cameras and YouTube I was a devotee of what are today called “extreme sports” but then were called reckless insanity. Now at 61, I’m not movin’ so good no more.
I want Amber to become a force of Chaotic Good. It’d probably land her in a lot of trouble, but I’d enjoy it up to that point. And it’s not like she’s not heading for trouble as-is.
Yeah, Amber hasn’t run into her since AG had the Realization at the Robin rally and they came to an understanding. And usually when Amber sees Sal it causes her to start panicking or straight-up dissociate over to AG. Add in the fact that Amber associates Sal first and foremost with the hold-up and here is Amber stealing things, and her mental state right now is probably on fire.
Which honestly, good. It’s past time Amber and Sal cleared the air a bit, Sal will probably connect the dots about AG (especially if she heard anything Amber was saying on her way down,) and while I don’t think they’ll ever get along, I can see ‘begrudging allies in both superhero and civilian identities’. Also if Sal realizes Amber’s stealing WALKY’S grades, after the initial drama Amber might change them back (GOOD) and/or finally realize they’re twins (messy but ultimately necessary.)
Basically I am so looking forward to how this interaction plays out. At least until my hopes are inevitably dashed by our Damned Overlord.
But Sal’s still a trigger for Amber. And she’s making progress with how she copes, but progress isn’t always going to be linear, and the initial moment of recognition still seems like it’s a lot for her.
Oooh, thanks. Forgot that completely. Good to know Amber was making steps forward there. But yeah, trauma follows no predictable trajectory and she’s clearly struck here. Plus it’s a very different thing initiating contact than being surprised by it while doing something illegal.
Nope, It’s Sal’s boots. Amber is sooo jealous of Sal’s boots that she is losing control. That’s why the boots are highlighted. But maybe I am missing some context here.
I think even if Amber knows rationally that Sal’s not the root of all evil, it’s hard for her emotions to follow suit. Anxiety and PTSD aren’t rational.
Yeah, I had forgotten that when I made the first comment. I’m thinking if it still happens, it’d be because the initial surprise made Amber lose a bit of control and AG’s looking for cracks to get through, not caring how or why.
Dammit, was hoping for a flashback explaining Mike’s whole, “That’s not how the flow of power usually works in that dynamic” thing. Because I REALLY want to know how he knows enough about that to say usually
I’m pretty sure it’s just that he’s actually absorbed the whole ‘power imbalance is bad’ thing, which isn’t exactly arcane knowledge, and Billie is a perfect person to poke with that.
As long as they don’t pull Sal’s record and see an obvious uptick in her grades in the week or two preceding Penny’s accusation, then draw their own conclusions based off that…
then again, maybe they’ll think Jason or Penny took them as a fuck-you on their way out. it’s not clear whether that folder has walky’s grades, everyone’s, or just like the W-Z’s or something.
Since apparently the things Jason collects from students include notes after every class, I’d guess W-Z or the like? But maybe those are kept separately.
I bet that collecting the notes makes things an absolute joy for students who need or are note takers, too. Seriously terrible policy.
Which is why in the real world we use electronic scans of anything we need to keep and excel spread sheets of marks. Mainly so students who maybe barely failed can challenge and review their marks. We don’t really have contingencies for Ambers…
I rather thought what we see is her starting to get up again. No indicator how she did land. When you come up after a judo roll the position looks very much like that.
oh. if sal is there, the rest of the gang is probably close behind, right? so either they’ll distract amber and keep her from freaking out, or they’ll notice that suspicious folder she’s holding in front of her face…
Well, last comic showed Sal breaking off from the others. They could still show up, but they might not, say if she went off to more of a side area to smoke.
Amber: BUT I AM THE HERO!!!!
Sal: Yes, and so was Handsome Jack.
Amber: How do you know who…
Sal: Danny shared with me Borderlands 2.
Amber: *Angry noises.*
So, how much control does Amber have over when AG takes over? Because if she can control it… and very much does NOT want AG taking over at this moment because law-breaking…. that could turn pretty darn bad for Sal Amber’s reaction isn’t flight or freeze.
It’s unclear at the moment. She used to panic and let AG take over when she saw Sal, but that hasn’t happened in awhile. She’s also not sharing memories with AG anymore and isn’t on friendly terms, so she’s not going to give up control if she can avoid it. And it’s likely AG can’t watch what’s happening either, assuming the lack of memory goes both ways.
That said, I don’t think Amber’s going to fight Sal here. She’s got more control than that, whatever she thinks.
The site automatically replaces a colloquial term for a female dog with the name of a small drum that’s usually seen in conjoined pairs.
It was a thing to use the former in reference to one character a couple years ago, so the filter was put in place. Once it was discovered, the comments just ran with it.
It’s not colloquial for a female dog…it’s colloquial in its use re:humans. It’s perfectly standard (albeit falling out of use outside of the realm of dog breeding) in the canine use.
Little help here please? I am unable to determine, from context(s), what the word “bongo” is supposed to mean in this comment community. And Urban Dictionary has been no help. Can someone please give me a rough translation of “bongo” (as a descriptor of a person) to Old Guy’s English? –Many thanks.
AMBER, FOR THE LAST FIRCKING TIME, STOP SAYING YOU ARE EVIL AND THAT AMAZI-GIRL IS GOOD! YOU ARE JUST A GIRL WITH MANY EMOTIONAL ISSUES AND AN ABUSIVE FATHER! YOUY ARE BEAUTIFUL AND ARE WORTH LOVING!!!!
Amber, there was always a reason why you had Amazi-Girl.
She’s there to help you. Strength, when you had none. Confidence, when you were scared. Direction, for when you lost your way. And the courage to do the right thing, no matter how hard.
You want to get rid of Amazi-Girl? Don’t fight her. Instead, embrace her and become her, so she has no reason to exist.
I hadn’t even considered the implications of Amber aiding and befriending someone who looks exactly like the person she blames for fucking her up. This could get messy.
She’s probably trying to figure out how she wound up in Northampton all of the sudden, and how she can get back to Bloomington in time for her classes.
thank you all, I was just wondering because someone brought up “It’s Walky” over at the QC forums, and linked to a comic Beef was in, which in turn made me go “I wonder if he’s showed up yet.”
I like to think that there might be a moment of honesty, empathy, and personal growth. I mean, Amber isn’t a perfect hero, and Sal isn’t a despicable villain. There’s no reason they can’t be pals. Also, I ship it.
I’ll be even happier if it turns out that Sal saw her go in, and decided to conveniently take a smoke break in a spot that just-so-happened to allow her to stand lookout. It would explain why she’s not reacting to the sound of Amber dropping out of the window (or her talking to herself/AmaziGirl about having stolen something).
I’m sort of surprised that nobody here in the comments has yet pointed out the inherent irony in Amber being confronted with Sal, the former thief, at the very moment when Amber steals something.
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the final showdown between Amber and Amazi-Girl will be EPIC
Artist’s conception.
Yeah that looks about right.
Might it take place in a junkyard, and involve a stack of tires, a crane, and/or a car crusher?
I’m just thinking of Toy Story 3.
That really would be a Super fight, wouldn’t it?
He must be evil. Flying under the influence.
You misspelled “make-out”. And, I don’t think of it as final, as much as just never ending, lasting the rest of the comics lifetime.
What do you…imagine that…to look like…?
Messy.
What are doing to each other? I need information, stat! I need speculation! I need detailed scenarios! I need provocative illustrations and some time to myself in the bathroom!
Are you all misreading Amber and AG as Amber and Sal, or are you all just into people making out with their own alter egos?
You don’t?
…don’t judge me.
…how about all three?
…
…
I’m just going to…go…right now… :$
Hey, do you mind? Some people actually need to USE that bathroom!!
So it’s basically a twin fetish, but both “twins” are different personas of the same person? I gotta say, that’d definitely make for an interesting narrative.
Course you really need a time machine to make it work well.
I’m not just into people making out with their alter egos. I mean, I don’t need there to be alter egos, people can make out with themselves too.
Yes.
Noooo.
Maybe?
I have indeed shipped a character with their own alter-ego on more than one occasion.
Linda Lee/Supergirl
Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana
Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug….
So yeah, totally not above shipping Amber with Amazigirl. 😀
🙁
It will end with a few skyscrapers demolished, surely.
The canary yellow costume was probably an early hint that Amazi-Girl did not consider stealth a priority when plotting her whole super-shtick.
Sal didn’t see her… right?
Does it matter?
Wouldn’t Sal have heard her land? Just because there’s no onomatopoeia, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, right?
Nope. Might have heard her though.
good call, she’ll never suspect
Fun, fun, FUN day for Amber 🙁
point the red letters at you. less obvious, by a tiny bit. if you want to be not as obvious don’t hide behind your thievings.
Maybe she subconsciously wants to be caught.
She wants to show her feelings, which at that moment are that she doesn’t want that folder removed from in front her face.
That, of course, is a stupid idea, because Sal will instead take it as a challenge.
It probably has the same message on both sides.
I love Amber’s expression in that third panel
Same
#DatHair 😛
Oh, Amber. Sweetie.
Do not turn around
Do not look at Amber
*plays “Don’t Turn Around” by Ace of Base on the hacked muzak*
Oh Amber, you can’t help but make yourself feel worse even when you are trying to do something nice, can you? Semi-relatedly, I really want the flashback with Mike to continue, I’m fascinated to see where that goes.
Careful what you ask for. Particularly involving Mike.
*plays the theme song of For Your Eyes Only on the hacked P.A. speaker*
Only For YOU!
Reminder that the last time we saw Amazi-Girl was waay back in November.
Yeah, she’s been out and about, but we haven’t seen her on panel since before the stabbing.
Ominous.
She did a 3-point landing. Doesn’t she know how terrible that is for your knees and back?
If I tried that, I’d probably break my knees and back, so she could have done worse.
Yeah, sure, but Spiderman did it so therefor it’s cool
Eh, she still has about 10-15 years before it starts catching up with her.
Yup. Back before GoPro cameras and YouTube I was a devotee of what are today called “extreme sports” but then were called reckless insanity. Now at 61, I’m not movin’ so good no more.
You misspelled Superhero Landing.
Hurt my knee in Boy Scout camp in 1968. Got it fixed last Friday. You can have lifelong injuries as a kid AND time will catch up with you.
I want Amber to become a force of Chaotic Good. It’d probably land her in a lot of trouble, but I’d enjoy it up to that point. And it’s not like she’s not heading for trouble as-is.
Yeaah, like Sal of all people would tell on you to the authorities lol
I think the reaction is more that, y’know, it’s SAL.
Yeah, Amber hasn’t run into her since AG had the Realization at the Robin rally and they came to an understanding. And usually when Amber sees Sal it causes her to start panicking or straight-up dissociate over to AG. Add in the fact that Amber associates Sal first and foremost with the hold-up and here is Amber stealing things, and her mental state right now is probably on fire.
Which honestly, good. It’s past time Amber and Sal cleared the air a bit, Sal will probably connect the dots about AG (especially if she heard anything Amber was saying on her way down,) and while I don’t think they’ll ever get along, I can see ‘begrudging allies in both superhero and civilian identities’. Also if Sal realizes Amber’s stealing WALKY’S grades, after the initial drama Amber might change them back (GOOD) and/or finally realize they’re twins (messy but ultimately necessary.)
Basically I am so looking forward to how this interaction plays out. At least until my hopes are inevitably dashed by our Damned Overlord.
Actually, she has seen–even interacted with–Sal since the rally. It even ended up pretty much okay:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/challenger/
But Sal’s still a trigger for Amber. And she’s making progress with how she copes, but progress isn’t always going to be linear, and the initial moment of recognition still seems like it’s a lot for her.
Oooh, thanks. Forgot that completely. Good to know Amber was making steps forward there. But yeah, trauma follows no predictable trajectory and she’s clearly struck here. Plus it’s a very different thing initiating contact than being surprised by it while doing something illegal.
“on fire”, yes. that is probably a very good description. I imagine several dark trains of thought all collided in that instant. :/
This looks like it’s gonna get very, very messy tomorrow.
I. Can’t. WAIT.
Nah. Not until the weekend. 2 strips of Walky/Billie/Jason, another Mike flashback, THEN we can get back to this.
Nope, It’s Sal’s boots. Amber is sooo jealous of Sal’s boots that she is losing control. That’s why the boots are highlighted. But maybe I am missing some context here.
They met when Sal was playing a common thief.
“something very silly happened behind me and I do not care”
I agree. Do not remove Amber’s face.
<Optimus Prime> … But I wanna….
Hmm. Amazi-Girl made her peace with Sal, but has Amber?
I think even if Amber knows rationally that Sal’s not the root of all evil, it’s hard for her emotions to follow suit. Anxiety and PTSD aren’t rational.
Yeah, what’ll be really interesting is whether or not AG seizes control on seeing Sal again.
Hasn’t the last few times. Amber’s still not comfortable around her, but she doesn’t completely panic anymore.
Plus, it’s likely AG isn’t able to know she’s seen Sal.
Yeah, I had forgotten that when I made the first comment. I’m thinking if it still happens, it’d be because the initial surprise made Amber lose a bit of control and AG’s looking for cracks to get through, not caring how or why.
Yeah, she had no problem playing Mario Kart with Sal as long as she kept her distance. She’s made peace, but Sal still triggers panic attacks for her
Sure, point the folder with the words, “Do not remove” in red letters away from yourself so people can read them.
On another note, I sorta wanted it to say “Top Secret” instead >.>
Obviously, it should say “Front Toward Enemy”
http://milspecmonkey.com/store/patches/31-front-toward-enemy.html
The other side, of course, says “Do not eat”.
Dammit, was hoping for a flashback explaining Mike’s whole, “That’s not how the flow of power usually works in that dynamic” thing. Because I REALLY want to know how he knows enough about that to say usually
It could simply be him being general, rather than any personal firsthand knowledge.
I’m pretty sure it’s just that he’s actually absorbed the whole ‘power imbalance is bad’ thing, which isn’t exactly arcane knowledge, and Billie is a perfect person to poke with that.
Internal monologue, Amber. Internal.
(Superhero landing!)
why did she take that folder? I thought she changed Walky’s grades by hacking?
Yes, and now no one can look back at any copies of his work to verify differently.
Hmm… though, if they look back for the copies of his work and find nothing, wouldn’t that be pretty suspicious too?
“Well, guess we found out what student Jason was twing-twanging.”
*twin-twanging?
As long as they don’t pull Sal’s record and see an obvious uptick in her grades in the week or two preceding Penny’s accusation, then draw their own conclusions based off that…
But the copies of her work are still there and support the grade increase.
Now you’re just making up words.
then again, maybe they’ll think Jason or Penny took them as a fuck-you on their way out. it’s not clear whether that folder has walky’s grades, everyone’s, or just like the W-Z’s or something.
Since apparently the things Jason collects from students include notes after every class, I’d guess W-Z or the like? But maybe those are kept separately.
I bet that collecting the notes makes things an absolute joy for students who need or are note takers, too. Seriously terrible policy.
Which is why in the real world we use electronic scans of anything we need to keep and excel spread sheets of marks. Mainly so students who maybe barely failed can challenge and review their marks. We don’t really have contingencies for Ambers…
I though Jason collected the notes and gave them back next session, marked?
He doesn’t mark notes, those are used for attendance. He marks their tests and work projects.
I’m not so sure. She may have just grabbed the first folder she noticed with “Walkerton” on it and failed to notice the first name wasn’t his…
Alternatively: “Huh, his first name’s Sally? Well, that explains why he goes by ‘Walky,’ I guess.”
Amber/Sal slipshine when
In 3… 2…
Alt text: Why shouldn’t she sell herself short? It’s not like she’s very ta- *vaudeville hook*
Finally up to date with the comic.
Oh well, looks like amber is going to face her fears
She did the superhero land! She did the superhero land! That’s super bad for your knees
and your wrist.
I rather thought what we see is her starting to get up again. No indicator how she did land. When you come up after a judo roll the position looks very much like that.
I suck at quoting deadpool
oh. if sal is there, the rest of the gang is probably close behind, right? so either they’ll distract amber and keep her from freaking out, or they’ll notice that suspicious folder she’s holding in front of her face…
Well, last comic showed Sal breaking off from the others. They could still show up, but they might not, say if she went off to more of a side area to smoke.
Amazi-girl might be immune to criticism, but hypocrisy appears to be Amber’s kryptonite.
Now picturing Sal in costume as Amazi-Girl’s nemesis, The Hypocritizer!
Amber: BUT I AM THE HERO!!!!
Sal: Yes, and so was Handsome Jack.
Amber: How do you know who…
Sal: Danny shared with me Borderlands 2.
Amber: *Angry noises.*
So, how much control does Amber have over when AG takes over? Because if she can control it… and very much does NOT want AG taking over at this moment because law-breaking…. that could turn pretty darn bad for Sal Amber’s reaction isn’t flight or freeze.
It’s unclear at the moment. She used to panic and let AG take over when she saw Sal, but that hasn’t happened in awhile. She’s also not sharing memories with AG anymore and isn’t on friendly terms, so she’s not going to give up control if she can avoid it. And it’s likely AG can’t watch what’s happening either, assuming the lack of memory goes both ways.
That said, I don’t think Amber’s going to fight Sal here. She’s got more control than that, whatever she thinks.
Karma, meet the bongo.
weird. the rss feed has the unfiltered version of this comment. it really threw me off, seeing that word again after so long…
even weirder, the rss feed on my phone is filtered. but they should be using the same url. wtf…
Huh? Filter? What’s the filter?
The site automatically replaces a colloquial term for a female dog with the name of a small drum that’s usually seen in conjoined pairs.
It was a thing to use the former in reference to one character a couple years ago, so the filter was put in place. Once it was discovered, the comments just ran with it.
I see. So normal over 9000 stuff.
It’s not colloquial for a female dog…it’s colloquial in its use re:humans. It’s perfectly standard (albeit falling out of use outside of the realm of dog breeding) in the canine use.
It is weird when you stumble into the dog breeding world though and suddenly all these nice, polite, older ladies are using it every sentence.
Thought for sure Sal would head to Galasso’s. Probably taking her time to think things through and throw off any suspicion.
Little help here please? I am unable to determine, from context(s), what the word “bongo” is supposed to mean in this comment community. And Urban Dictionary has been no help. Can someone please give me a rough translation of “bongo” (as a descriptor of a person) to Old Guy’s English? –Many thanks.
Addendum… never mind… My question has been answered by Needfuldoer upthread. Thanks again!
AMBER, FOR THE LAST FIRCKING TIME, STOP SAYING YOU ARE EVIL AND THAT AMAZI-GIRL IS GOOD! YOU ARE JUST A GIRL WITH MANY EMOTIONAL ISSUES AND AN ABUSIVE FATHER! YOUY ARE BEAUTIFUL AND ARE WORTH LOVING!!!!
Bad idea, Amber, that “do not remove” label can only serve as a challenge when it comes to Sal.
Super hero landing!
SAL: “After all your posturing, all your little speeches, you’re nothing but a common thief.”
AMBER: “I am an exceptional thief, Ms. Walkerton, and since I’m moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite.”
…I’d totes pay for Amber to be voiced by Alan Rickman (although tricky coz he’d have to play it from beyond the grave 🙁 )
What about Vincent Price? He is dead, but he still appeared in The Simpsons. Maybe he can help get Alan Rickman to work again?
“Do not remove”?
Well, the words are still on the folder…
I think that Willis is giving us a message about Amber’s personal mental state and the masks behind which she needs to hide.
Amber, there was always a reason why you had Amazi-Girl.
She’s there to help you. Strength, when you had none. Confidence, when you were scared. Direction, for when you lost your way. And the courage to do the right thing, no matter how hard.
You want to get rid of Amazi-Girl? Don’t fight her. Instead, embrace her and become her, so she has no reason to exist.
Except that Amazi-Girl isn’t actually better than Amber. And Amazi-Girl’s been doing her part in pushing all the bad stuff onto Amber.
It’s not that simple.
Yeah, we saw AG actively push blame on her vendetta against Sal onto Amber, for instance. Almost certainly happened before too.
Amber sense of personal guilt is approaching 105%!
I hadn’t even considered the implications of Amber aiding and befriending someone who looks exactly like the person she blames for fucking her up. This could get messy.
…. so what’s Dina doing in QC today?
She’s standing behind Emily, unseen and unremarked upon. Even the readers of the strip can’t see her in this one!
Looking for the cereal. There is coffee, so other breakfast foods must be somewhere.
Listening for tips on dinosaur mating?
She’s probably trying to figure out how she wound up in Northampton all of the sudden, and how she can get back to Bloomington in time for her classes.
I wonder how long it will take for the Evil Amber to emerge. The one who will try to kill Sal.
We need the Superman III Junkyard Fight between Amazi-Girl and Amber.
This is gonna be an incredibly random question, but has Beef shown up anywhere yet?
Yep. is his first appearance
He was a jock that harassed Danny (and got beat up by Amazi-Girl for his trouble), early on. Then he was a guest at the party where absolutely nothing whatsoever happened, nosirreebob, nope, nuh-uh (and almost banged Roz, from the look of things). Then he was at Robin’s rally…where absolutely nothing of note happened, either.
And here’s all of them
thank you all, I was just wondering because someone brought up “It’s Walky” over at the QC forums, and linked to a comic Beef was in, which in turn made me go “I wonder if he’s showed up yet.”
Amber, look out! It’s Amazi-girl!
Ha!
*freeze* It was at this moment, she knew….. she f***ed up.
I like to think that there might be a moment of honesty, empathy, and personal growth. I mean, Amber isn’t a perfect hero, and Sal isn’t a despicable villain. There’s no reason they can’t be pals. Also, I ship it.
Somehow that ship seems more possible than Amber x Danny, Amber x Walky, or Sal x anyone else.
I love the succession of expressions across Amber’s face.
Panel one really is a great. It practically moves all in itself.
I’ll be even happier if it turns out that Sal saw her go in, and decided to conveniently take a smoke break in a spot that just-so-happened to allow her to stand lookout. It would explain why she’s not reacting to the sound of Amber dropping out of the window (or her talking to herself/AmaziGirl about having stolen something).
Also, totally just won gravatar roulette for matching this particular comment.
I’m sort of surprised that nobody here in the comments has yet pointed out the inherent irony in Amber being confronted with Sal, the former thief, at the very moment when Amber steals something.
Well, consider it pointed out.