114

Epithet
Posted on August 4, 2023 by David M Willis

114 thoughts on “Epithet”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    ♪Mama, I was born a ramblin’ Amb♫

    (stupid political correctness turning a perfectly good two-syllable word into eight!)

    1. Laura

      Happy birthday, Ana! Did I read your subtext right?

    2. Stephen Bierce

      *plays Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” over the hacked Muzak*

      1. Laura

        Followed on the hacked muzak by “Rambling Boy”, by Tom Paxton

        1. Psychie

          Followed on the hacked muzak by “Ramblin’ Rover” by Silly Wizard

        2. Eric

          . . . and who can forget “Ramblin’, ramplin’, ramblin’, R-A-M-B-L-I-N . . . ‘postrophe”

    3. Psychie

      What two syllable word was turned into 8 by political correctness here?

      1. Alaric

        “Garbage”.

    4. TrueVCU

      ♪Ramble on my wayward Amb♫ [/Kansas]

    5. Kelibath

      Bday!!!

  2. Yotomoe

    Your ramblings are impressive too.

    1. milu

      You know Amber? The girl with the impressive…
      – ramblings?
      – sure, those too

      1. Opus the Poet

        Ohh, is this the new “tracts of land”?

      2. Needfuldoer

        I mean, well, okay, if we’re going to use descriptors I can’t affirm without involving human resources.

  3. UrsulaDavina

    Ramble on Amber!

  4. Reltzik

    I’ll push back on that. Ambler spends most of her time seated in front of a screen. She doesn’t ramble much at all.

    1. Thag Simmons

      Speaking from experience here, you can absolutely spend most of your time in front of a screen and still ramble a lot

      1. Reltzik

        …. oh, right, she plays Pokemon Go. Yeah, okay, she rambles.

        1. Reltzik

          (Disclaimer: Reltzik may not be using the definition of “ramble” that you think he is.)

  5. Sirksome

    What boys? What boys are saying this? Amber only talks to one, maybe two boys. Joe? Joe never said that.

    1. Leorale

      Walky did, last scene

      1. clif

        First Walky, now Ethan. Hence boys.

      2. Sirksome

        Oh yeah, he did say that. Is two boys enough to form a consensus? I feel like we need one more boy for Amber’s statement to be proven true.

        1. Thag Simmons

          Two is enough to make a plurality.

        2. Tan

          While Amber isn’t currently aware of it, Charles certainly seemed to imply his agreement to Walky in yesterday’s final panel

      3. Yotomoe

        Walky, as we know, is multiple boys. A gaggle of boys live within that boy.

        1. Dante

          He contains multitudes

        2. Jay

          Well, there’s at least two women in Amber, so at least they’d match?

      4. Thag Simmons

        Walky is legally two boys, for tax purposes

    2. DailyBrad

      Danny and her talk from time to time these days, so that’s three, I guess.

      1. clif

        Without looking, I feel the odds are high that Danny said something similar, but the odds are also he was talking about Amazigirl whom he was dating, and hence technically shouldn’t count.

        1. DailyBrad

          He’s complimented Amber as Amber before, too, even if he was moreso dating Amber.

          I will say it’s kind of funny that Amber is/was attracted to Walky as Amber, but as Amazi-Girl, she seemed entirely unimpressed. Both of them liked Danny, though.

    3. milu

      Charles seemed impressed too

  6. Yumi

    Ah, the two settings: Not talking and not shutting up

    1. Needfuldoer

      If you toggle between the two at the right times, they average out to typical expectations. It’s like pulse-width modulation, or a thermostat.

  7. pope suburban

    Boys, plural? Did I miss something? I remember Booster hitting on her, but they wouldn’t count toward the boys quota, I don’t think (from what we’ve seen of their self-description, not as a blanket rule or anything). Walky did defend her, but Danny I think was quiet, understandably. Now I just want to know more.

    1. Diane

      To save everyone the trouble: Amber was called “Unimpressive Rambly Nothing” by Linda. Walky refuted her being unimpressive immediately. So yes, boys seem to be calling her that as now both Walky and Ethan have told her others.

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-13/04-but-dont-give-yourself-away/unimpressive/

      1. Diane

        otherwise* because it is past my bedtime but I kept refreshing cause I wanted to know what happens next. I miss when this updated at midnight on the dot.

    2. Angel

      maybe walky’s dad counts? lol

  8. Jo_cubstar

    Same, amber. Same.

  9. RassilonTDavros

    …what do ya wanna bet she’s here to fill him in on Asher’s backstory?

    1. Thag Simmons

      Well, obviously.

    2. Jamie

      I don’t think she knows about Asher yet? But she might want to see how Booster did.

      1. Needfuldoer

        She knows Booster reintroduced Asher to Ethan.

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/snagged/

  10. Nathan

    What’s her expression in the last panel?

    1. Leorale

      I see it as mostly a bemused “wellp”

      1. Laura

        Kind of a: “Huh.”

    2. Council

      I see it as the sinking realization that some of her internalized faults are unfounded, But not all of them.

      ‘Gee, it’s real nice of you guys to help me climb outta these holes. No, by all means, throw me head first into the Correct ones.’

    3. Andrews

      Rueful with some good-humoured resignation, I think

  11. Kyoulkoa

    Clearly Rambly is good

  12. cbwroses

    I wonder what she was wanting to be garbage about.

    1. DailyBrad

      Probably unintentionally humiliating Walky when spiting Linda, and revealing she had kept him in the dark about what she’d done.

      1. cbwroses

        Good point.
        I was thinking about her continued attraction to Walky and her not wanting to act on it.
        But I kind of like yours better.

    2. Leorale

      Rambly isn’t so bad. I’d be more stung by being miles below her ex, miles below Walky specifically, and about being a “nothing”.

      Also she might feel guilty about blowing up Walky’s Golden Child spot and awakening spiky dragon Linda, though Linda shouldn’t have been a spiky dragon with favourites to begin with.

      1. Laura

        Might also feel bad for putting a damper on Danny’s meet-the-parents date

        1. Laura

          Or for somewhat derailing Sal’s dinner with her parents.

          Or for being reminded about stabbing Sal and having traumatic memories of the holdup in the convenience store.

  13. DailyBrad

    Their dynamic is quite an unusual one, but it feels… better than where it was?

  14. Diane

    We should not refute the rambly because the rambly is cute and shouldn’t see it as an insult.

  15. Michael Steamweed

    Much talking. Very wandering.

  16. BBCC

    Sorry sweetie, you gotta own it if you wanna be lengthy.

    1. Laura

      Ethan would like to meet someone “lengthy”, hur hur hur…

      1. Taffy

        Haha, I get it! Like a tall guy!

        1. Laura

          Exactly!

        2. milu

          oh or like, Slenderman! Cos he’s all goth an’ all that!

        3. Moon

          i wish slenderman was my boyfriend tbh

        4. NGPZ

          hahaha LOL ? ngl this made me chuckle

          on that note maybe he can also teleport and scare the hell outta Mary ?

  17. GholaHalleck

    Whats the over/under on Booster being in there wearing a… *Spins the wheel of perversion* …Jazz mask and nothing else?

    1. Steelbright

      I wouldn’t have guessed that, but now it’s in my mind… i hope for Booster, but I’d bet on Asher

    2. Derek

      what the heck is a jazz mask?

      1. GholaHalleck

        I didn’t think I’d have to explain a transformers sex joke on a david willis site, but here we are…

    3. Rose by Any Other Name

      Ethan is wearing too many layers for that to be overly likely. Sadly. Nor Asher either.

      1. Yumi

        Maybe Booster and/or Asher is in there wearing only a jazz mask (???), and Ethan has just been too busy brooding to notice.

  18. Chaucer59

    Interesting how Amber is bathed in bright fluorescent light while, right beside her, Ethan is cloaked in emo darkness. Wait—are these guys the two sides of The Force?

    1. Leorale

      She’s in the bright hallway, he’s sitting in his darkened emo bedroom, contemplating his broken kyber crystal.

      1. StClair

        this reference fits so well, I hate it.

    2. Yotomoe

      This is their last conversation as friends.

      1. Needfuldoer

        oh no :c

  19. bagge

    It’s a feature not a bug

  20. Bo

    oh something is up she’s going for *BONUS* socializing!

  21. Laura

    Ok, I have a serious question tonight, not a silly one:

    What is that expression Ethan always has on his face when he’s talking to Amber, since Mike passed?

    Contempt? Loathing? Self-Loathing? Numbness? Jadedness? Sleep deprivation? Hunger? Pity? Despair? Hostility? Detachment?

    I just can’t parse it. It’s something. Not sure what.

    1. Laura

      Cold, maybe?

      1. NGPZ

        That’s the expression he always has?

        It’s depression.

        1. Laura

          Oh, OK. That makes sense. Thanks!

        2. Laura

          I don’t… really read people all that well.

          Which is odd, considering that my entire job is reading people. That’s part of why video conferences are so tough.

        3. NGPZ

          Yeah I get that. It’s not inability so much lack of natural intuition for it, at least for me.

    2. Mano308gts

      He has three clearly distinct expressions in this page, but I think you are talking about the middle one?

      I think that he is growing tired of Amber seemingly always ‘pulling him down’ each time he starts to feel better about himself. It can be extremely tiring if you’re in a negative headspace, to have friends who are also in a negative headspace, because they’re quite frequently not at the same point in the cycle as you are, so if you’re trying (successfully or not) to get into a better frame of mind, and you are in a fragile sense of feeling good, they’re apt to bring you right down again with them (And vice versa).

      Well, that and the fact that he towers over (most cast members, but especially Amber), making him always *literally look down on her*.

      1. Laura

        Ok, wow, that helps. Thank you! I would NOT have gathered 3 distinct expressions in this strip. The eyes all look the same to me.

        I need to brush up on my face reading skills!

        1. Mano308gts

          Panel 1 he looks pleasantly surprised, panel 3 he looks annoyed, and panel 5 he looks bemused but also no longer displeased.

          This also makes sense given the info we get from Amber’s actions/words- panel 1: sudden social visit, panel 2: guess what… I want to be a bummer but it’s cold outside, panel 4: this weird experience just happened to me.

        2. Laura

          Oh, wow… Fascinating! You lay it all out so clearly… when you explain it like that, I can see it now too! Thank you!

    3. Bash

      To me it always seemed like annoyance. He doesn’t have the bandwidth for friendly banter, and often she comes to him for reassurance and support that he no longer wants to give.

      1. Laura

        Oh, yes that makes sense too. Much appreciated!

    4. Erk

      Yeah, his expressions are so mild compared to before. Panel 1 in particular reads to me as just blank. He gives a little irritation in panel 3, and something I can’t parse in panel five, but nowhere close to how he would act early in the strip. That could just be the ol depression, but maybe he’s intentionally holding back. Early Ethan was so open, and that let him get walked all over by Amber and Jilted by Danny. My money’s on he’s either happy to see her or still mad at her, but we won’t find out for a little while.

      1. Laura

        Good point!

  22. eskimolos

    Oh honey, the kids are talking again, my heart swells

  23. DarkoNeko

    depend on the topic, i guess

  24. Taffy

    For fuck’s sake, somebody give that boy some nutrition. He’s not long for this world.

    1. Laura

      A protein shake at least!

      1. Taffy

        Sneak in some spinach and blueberries or somethin’! He’s gonna get scurvy!

        1. NGPZ

          I will literally cook him the meal of his choice, whatever it may be.

          (sorry I don’t mean to tease anyone around here, just that cooking is one of my special interests)

        2. Needfuldoer

          He’ll be strong to the finitch if he eats his spinach.

  25. Aviator

    So Impressively Rambly?

  26. Derek

    is she here to apologize to Ethan for loudly and uncomfortably making him the subject of her sexual fantasy when he was grieving? for literally shouting it at his door after he had made it painfully clear he was in a low mood and the last thing he wanted to hear was about how she wanted to know about him having sex with Mike so she can masturbate to it?
    probably not, but one can dream

    1. Laura

      Yeah, she was really leaning into the garbage, there.

    2. Angel

      i imagine she’d either be like “it’s going to be a mistake/bad but you might as well indulge and hook up with asher” versus “asher is dangerous it’s probably best to stay away from him”

  27. eskimolos

    I feel amber’s final line in my bones

  28. PB

    Ethan looks a LITTLE less unhappy in panel 1. Just a tad. c:

    1. Da Boy

      Booster boosted him up a bit.

    2. Angel

      other than being numb/neutral expression, even with booster dragging him out to get fresh air or whatnot/distract him with a movie instead of going to class, i don’t think we’d see any beaming from him anytime soon or self deprecating chuckling either

  29. Juanoku

    She’s fought many people, but she cannot fight her rambling

  30. Wraithy2773

    Yeah, I get that Amber. Folks call me rambly, and yeah, I can talk for a bit, or type for a bit, really either, maybe I use commas a bit too liberally but sometimes I just have things that I really want to say and prefer to be precise about all the details, it really is just so much easier to write something long than short, ya know, just a real pain in the ass any time I want to get something concise and cohesive out there, and yet everyone just says that I ramble a lot as though I’m not saying things that are actually important there!

    Ya know?

    1. Erk

      Yup.

    2. Angel

      being rambly with friends can be fun/endearing versus like a stranger. unless you’re doing a min wage job or so and u can more or less ‘vent/rant’ to pass the time if ur on an hourly pay or so (that usually happens on the opposite ends tho)

  31. Angel

    God, I miss the cold (100+ all week in the south/tx)

    Guess amber’s gonna try to push him towars asher maybe?

  32. Rectilinear Propagation

    And not even Amber pushes back on the “nothing”.

    🙁

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