Considering this is Amber:
“I know, I know I’ve let you down
I’ve been a fool to myself”
Khyrin
I’d go with:
I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel you there
Become so tired, so much more aware
By becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
Hmrc4evr
How about the Ducktales theme instead?
LordCirce
I feel like the Transformers theme might fit better.
hof1991
Any song by They Might Be Giants. As a bonus, the songs are all short.
Pat
For god’s sake, then, KEEP IT THERE! You are the keeper of the earworm!
It’s an interesting combination of being both a display of dynamism and action in a single panel, and also strangely reminiscent of a “Billy tries to get home” Family Circus panel.
Well it worked, I am very impressed. I am curious, however, as to why the guard is facing that direction, kind of defeats the purpose of being a guard if he isn’t watching the direction threats would approach from. Also, is he deaf, the first guard Amber/AG tied up is right there.
However, this is already Hollywood DID since the personalities don’t communicate.
BBCC
You can hallucinate if you haven’t been sleeping, which she hasn’t. No schizophrenia necessary.
And they are communicating. Literally last strip. They haven’t been and it’s been a sign of them having a further split.
SuperZero
They are communicating.
Rose by Any Other Name
I believe that is CT Phipps’ point. In real life, people with DID do not display communication between the personalities. Thus AG and Amber should not be able to communicate scientifically – but do because this is fiction and Rule of Cool.
King Daniel
Our resident commenter Cerberus has talked before at length about how her own alters interact with each other, as I recall.
(Though I could be misremembering.)
Rose by Any Other Name
People – I was just attempting to interpret the grammar of CT Phipps sentence. I don’t claim to know anything about DID (and I don’t) – I was merely confused because my reading (as written above) seemed to be the opposite of how others were taking CT Phipps meaning. Since CT hasn’t (to my knowledge) clarified either way, I can’t be sure who interpreted them correctly, but that was all I was trying to do.
Kella
Usually hosts of DID systems that don’t know they have DID don’t communicate with their alters, because it’s in their best interest not to know about them. But once it’s safe/useful for them to communicate, the host and many alters absolutely DO communicate with each other in real time. Bringing down amnesiac walls so that multiple alters can talk to each other is called integration and it’s a big part of the process of treating DID.
The unusual thing here is that Amber is weirdly accepting of the fact that she has an alter (though I’m sure she doesn’t think of it that way) and the communication is surprisingly good right now for someone who isn’t even getting treatment. But, perhaps it’s the most beneficial for them to be able to communicate during this crisis.
One of the primary things I’ve learned about DID systems is that there are a MILLION ways for them to work, so anytime you say “They don’t do this” someone probably has a system that does that.
Suitora
That’s not correct at all, though. Alters can choose whether or not to communicate. Amber won’t remember AmaziGirl’s memories like her own, but AmaziGirl can still talk to her like you and I would be talking. There’s an entire treatment model in psychology around this concept, it’s called integration.
Sam
That’s how TV DID works where they never communicate at all ever. I’ve read around on DID forums before and a lot of people communicate with at least some alters, and some are at a place where they can just sit in a room talking to their alters for hours because they’re so tight-knit that it is like always having their best friends with them.
Communication is more an issue if an alter is hiding or doesn’t want to talk.
Sam
Psychosis can arise from lack of sleep or stress but you could also just have it without a supporting condition behind it… but Amber actually does have a condition where psychotic symptoms do tend to occur pretty commonly already: PTSD. Psychotic symptoms commonly occur in people with PTSD, so she doesn’t need to have schizophrenia specifically to have hallucinations.
KJ
Whether alters communicate depends entirely on the plural system, its members, whether they are on good terms with each other, and whether they have reason to keep things from each other. Frankly, AG may have just been trying to let Amber complete midterms before dumping what happened on her.
Communication like is shown here is entirely possible. Speaking aloud isn’t entirely necessary, but its probably for narrative benefit. I do know a system (a…much larger one that Amber/AG) that uses a messaging server to communicate. I don’t think its strictly necessary for them, but it makes communication easier.
Granted…the events of that night were arguably not a good idea to withhold, regardless. But we still don’t know what happened after Mike fell.
thejeff
It’s more than that, since they haven’t been communicating since Ryan’s stabbing. They were having problems even before that, but that definitely drove the wedge deeper.
KJ
True, but I suspect that under not midterm circumstances, AG would have tried to immediately talk to Amber again, weirdness after Ryan’s stabbing or otherwise. I suppose it’s a moot point now, since they uh…kinda HAD to cooperate once they got kidnapped.
No, seriously, having a Mike alter popping up to make Mike comments on situations with or without Mike still in the comic has the potential to be freaking awesome. Especially if the two get into an argument over said situation.
I’m running on the theory that Mike has psychic powers myself. He’s projecting to Amber from his comatose state in the hospital. Hey if Amber can still knockout guys and do parkour on no sleep then I think it’s believable!
This was part of my thinking on it. Also, not everyone responds to bras the same way, and it could definitely depend on the type of bra (like if it’s a sports bra or a cupped bra without wire).
At first my reaction was the same as Diane’s because that’s a pretty common view/experience, but it does vary for people.
Rose by Any Other Name
Honestly, I was wondering why Willis bothered to point it out. The only thing I could come up with was the AG dude-flip. Amber is built like my wife, and she needs to wear a sports bra for any athletic activity. So… good to know I guess?
Leorale
Yeah I kinda didn’t need my attention drawn to a character’s boobs either. Just let her be cool, bro.
Anyway some bustier women are more comfy sleeping in bras, some aren’t.
Diane
Yeah, that makes sense. I posted this right before bed, and didn’t think about it hard. I’m now realizing I got a few sports bras that I can just sleep in, especially after a hard work day. (I feel so bad for people who have to use wired bras…that just sounds horrible…)
clif
My assumption is that Amber never went to bed and so she never removed her bra. But what do I know?
Yumi
Right, the discussion was more around the idea that many people remove their bras as soon as they are home, whether they’re about to go to bed or not. But then, many do not.
thejeff
Though dorm rooms aren’t quite as much “home”, even when you live there. You’re sharing space and there aren’t quite the same assumptions of privacy. Friends wander by unannounced, your roommate can show up with guests at basically anytime, etc.
Doesn’t apply so much at 3 in the morning when your roomie’s already asleep, but still.
… I haven’t worn a bra since “Social Distancing” began.
Nightshirts and sweatpants for weeks now.
When I drive out to pick up my kids’ lunch (the local schools are giving out free lunches via drive-thru – awesome program), I just throw a jacket on overtop of my night clothes because why get dressed?
Meagan
I sometimes put a bra on in an effort to get myself to focus. It does not work that well. I have also definitely done the “coat over pjs while running an errand” move as well. The other day I put a hoodie on over my onesie.
CJ
Please take care of yourselves.
Diane
I’ve worn one once, when I went out for supplies. I just don’t feel comfortable not being in actual clothes in public. Sometimes I forgo the bra, but it’s always jeans/shorts, t-shirt, can’t do it in the jammies.
Diane
And I forgot to uncaps the email, and now the gravitar makes this even more terrifying…
Rose by Any Other Name
My wife has done most of the supply runs. And she has worn far more bras (mostly sports bras) than I, being built more like Amber (that is to say, busty) for her supportive comfort during the day. She still doesn’t wear them to bed, though.
And now I’m questioning my memory. Did I put on a bra for the grocery store that one time or did I go sweat pants, t-shirt, and jacket? I’m not sure.
132 thoughts on “Operating”
Ana Chronistic
SOLVED: Mike actually landed inside Amazi-ber’s head and stuck there like an earworm
Lawzlo
…So he’s safe as long as Amber and/or Amazi-girl doesn’t encounter any other earworms that might replace him?
Folks, for Mike’s sake we have to keep her (them?) away from “Mickey” by Toni Basil!
ian livs
…Dammit, now it’s in my head for the next month.
pdp15
That’s easy to fix …
“It’s a small world after all…”
Leorale
We all live in a yellow submarine…
Agemegos
Boom!
Marsh Maryrose
Considering this is Amber:
“I know, I know I’ve let you down
I’ve been a fool to myself”
Khyrin
I’d go with:
I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel you there
Become so tired, so much more aware
By becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
Hmrc4evr
How about the Ducktales theme instead?
LordCirce
I feel like the Transformers theme might fit better.
hof1991
Any song by They Might Be Giants. As a bonus, the songs are all short.
Pat
For god’s sake, then, KEEP IT THERE! You are the keeper of the earworm!
Cmasta1992
I can’t keep track if it’s more believable that Mike is in a coma or dead anymore.
AntJ
It *does* make sense that Blaine would lie if he was dead – after all, you can’t leverage dead people. (See: Knives Out)
Marsh Maryrose
Schroedinger’s Mike!
I think the potential narrative arcs with him alive are more robust than the narrative arcs with him dead. But who knows.
van jealous
Would that make Mike “CATatonic”?
StClair
He’s whatever you don’t want him to be.
Fogel
He’ll do what you want — sometimes! — but not for the reason that you want.
ValdVin
Panel two is another one of those effective multi-image ones Willis trots out every so often to impress us.
bibulb
It’s an interesting combination of being both a display of dynamism and action in a single panel, and also strangely reminiscent of a “Billy tries to get home” Family Circus panel.
Roborat
Well it worked, I am very impressed. I am curious, however, as to why the guard is facing that direction, kind of defeats the purpose of being a guard if he isn’t watching the direction threats would approach from. Also, is he deaf, the first guard Amber/AG tied up is right there.
Ryan the Cool
Mike will always be alive. In HERE
*et forehead touching*
James
“I’ll… be… right… here.”
/Mike gives the finger
auroki
I see him everytime a vending machine gives me a nickel
Zor
Can we just talk about how she flipped that dude with herself in midair and how awesome that was?
clif
No. We’re too busy being impressed by Mike’s ability to mentally project from inside his coma.
Roborat
Pish posh. You want to be impressed, Ayu was able to physically project from her coma.
Nono
Still unshaded, right?
clif
Mike always casts shade whether he’s there or not.
Nick Piers
For a second, I thought Mike was an imprint on the door. That was kind of a cool visual.
Tarpo
Thats better than being an imprint on the ground I guess
Geneseepaws
Or being a chalk outline.
C.T Phipps
So is Mike astrally projecting or Amber’s newest personality?
I prefer that he’s a ghost.
Sam
The third option is that he’s a hallucination which is more the way AG is framing it.
C.T Phipps
I don’t think Amber is schizophrenic.
However, this is already Hollywood DID since the personalities don’t communicate.
BBCC
You can hallucinate if you haven’t been sleeping, which she hasn’t. No schizophrenia necessary.
And they are communicating. Literally last strip. They haven’t been and it’s been a sign of them having a further split.
SuperZero
They are communicating.
Rose by Any Other Name
I believe that is CT Phipps’ point. In real life, people with DID do not display communication between the personalities. Thus AG and Amber should not be able to communicate scientifically – but do because this is fiction and Rule of Cool.
King Daniel
Our resident commenter Cerberus has talked before at length about how her own alters interact with each other, as I recall.
(Though I could be misremembering.)
Rose by Any Other Name
People – I was just attempting to interpret the grammar of CT Phipps sentence. I don’t claim to know anything about DID (and I don’t) – I was merely confused because my reading (as written above) seemed to be the opposite of how others were taking CT Phipps meaning. Since CT hasn’t (to my knowledge) clarified either way, I can’t be sure who interpreted them correctly, but that was all I was trying to do.
Kella
Usually hosts of DID systems that don’t know they have DID don’t communicate with their alters, because it’s in their best interest not to know about them. But once it’s safe/useful for them to communicate, the host and many alters absolutely DO communicate with each other in real time. Bringing down amnesiac walls so that multiple alters can talk to each other is called integration and it’s a big part of the process of treating DID.
The unusual thing here is that Amber is weirdly accepting of the fact that she has an alter (though I’m sure she doesn’t think of it that way) and the communication is surprisingly good right now for someone who isn’t even getting treatment. But, perhaps it’s the most beneficial for them to be able to communicate during this crisis.
One of the primary things I’ve learned about DID systems is that there are a MILLION ways for them to work, so anytime you say “They don’t do this” someone probably has a system that does that.
Suitora
That’s not correct at all, though. Alters can choose whether or not to communicate. Amber won’t remember AmaziGirl’s memories like her own, but AmaziGirl can still talk to her like you and I would be talking. There’s an entire treatment model in psychology around this concept, it’s called integration.
Sam
That’s how TV DID works where they never communicate at all ever. I’ve read around on DID forums before and a lot of people communicate with at least some alters, and some are at a place where they can just sit in a room talking to their alters for hours because they’re so tight-knit that it is like always having their best friends with them.
Communication is more an issue if an alter is hiding or doesn’t want to talk.
Sam
Psychosis can arise from lack of sleep or stress but you could also just have it without a supporting condition behind it… but Amber actually does have a condition where psychotic symptoms do tend to occur pretty commonly already: PTSD. Psychotic symptoms commonly occur in people with PTSD, so she doesn’t need to have schizophrenia specifically to have hallucinations.
KJ
Whether alters communicate depends entirely on the plural system, its members, whether they are on good terms with each other, and whether they have reason to keep things from each other. Frankly, AG may have just been trying to let Amber complete midterms before dumping what happened on her.
Communication like is shown here is entirely possible. Speaking aloud isn’t entirely necessary, but its probably for narrative benefit. I do know a system (a…much larger one that Amber/AG) that uses a messaging server to communicate. I don’t think its strictly necessary for them, but it makes communication easier.
Granted…the events of that night were arguably not a good idea to withhold, regardless. But we still don’t know what happened after Mike fell.
thejeff
It’s more than that, since they haven’t been communicating since Ryan’s stabbing. They were having problems even before that, but that definitely drove the wedge deeper.
KJ
True, but I suspect that under not midterm circumstances, AG would have tried to immediately talk to Amber again, weirdness after Ryan’s stabbing or otherwise. I suppose it’s a moot point now, since they uh…kinda HAD to cooperate once they got kidnapped.
JessWitt
Heaven forbid Amber gets a Mike personality, talking about moms and nickels.
Opus the Poet
That… could be amusing.
No, seriously, having a Mike alter popping up to make Mike comments on situations with or without Mike still in the comic has the potential to be freaking awesome. Especially if the two get into an argument over said situation.
Yumi
Hovertext has me thinking more about AG’s chest than I necessarily want to (DESPITE THE GRAVATAR).
clif
Uh-huh.
Marsh Maryrose
Narrator voice: She did not have a chest window
Stephen Bierce
We are Spirits In The Material World
are Spirits In The Material World
are Spirits In The Material World
are Spirits In The Material World
saltchocolate
Yes
Rabid Rabbit
OK, so SpectralMike isn’t A-G in camouflage. Nice to see the girls branching out and adding a male personality to their mix.
Sirksome
I’m running on the theory that Mike has psychic powers myself. He’s projecting to Amber from his comatose state in the hospital. Hey if Amber can still knockout guys and do parkour on no sleep then I think it’s believable!
Diane
…Why would you wear a bra to bed even if you weren’t planning on sleeping? I’m a barely B and that fucker comes off the second I’m home.
DailyBrad
Maybe to help her stay awake.
Yumi
This was part of my thinking on it. Also, not everyone responds to bras the same way, and it could definitely depend on the type of bra (like if it’s a sports bra or a cupped bra without wire).
At first my reaction was the same as Diane’s because that’s a pretty common view/experience, but it does vary for people.
Rose by Any Other Name
Honestly, I was wondering why Willis bothered to point it out. The only thing I could come up with was the AG dude-flip. Amber is built like my wife, and she needs to wear a sports bra for any athletic activity. So… good to know I guess?
Leorale
Yeah I kinda didn’t need my attention drawn to a character’s boobs either. Just let her be cool, bro.
Anyway some bustier women are more comfy sleeping in bras, some aren’t.
Diane
Yeah, that makes sense. I posted this right before bed, and didn’t think about it hard. I’m now realizing I got a few sports bras that I can just sleep in, especially after a hard work day. (I feel so bad for people who have to use wired bras…that just sounds horrible…)
clif
My assumption is that Amber never went to bed and so she never removed her bra. But what do I know?
Yumi
Right, the discussion was more around the idea that many people remove their bras as soon as they are home, whether they’re about to go to bed or not. But then, many do not.
thejeff
Though dorm rooms aren’t quite as much “home”, even when you live there. You’re sharing space and there aren’t quite the same assumptions of privacy. Friends wander by unannounced, your roommate can show up with guests at basically anytime, etc.
Doesn’t apply so much at 3 in the morning when your roomie’s already asleep, but still.
BBCC
Literally the exact second.
Rose by Any Other Name
… I haven’t worn a bra since “Social Distancing” began.
Nightshirts and sweatpants for weeks now.
When I drive out to pick up my kids’ lunch (the local schools are giving out free lunches via drive-thru – awesome program), I just throw a jacket on overtop of my night clothes because why get dressed?
Meagan
I sometimes put a bra on in an effort to get myself to focus. It does not work that well. I have also definitely done the “coat over pjs while running an errand” move as well. The other day I put a hoodie on over my onesie.
CJ
Please take care of yourselves.
Diane
I’ve worn one once, when I went out for supplies. I just don’t feel comfortable not being in actual clothes in public. Sometimes I forgo the bra, but it’s always jeans/shorts, t-shirt, can’t do it in the jammies.
Diane
And I forgot to uncaps the email, and now the gravitar makes this even more terrifying…
Rose by Any Other Name
My wife has done most of the supply runs. And she has worn far more bras (mostly sports bras) than I, being built more like Amber (that is to say, busty) for her supportive comfort during the day. She still doesn’t wear them to bed, though.
And now I’m questioning my memory. Did I put on a bra for the grocery store that one time or did I go sweat pants, t-shirt, and jacket? I’m not sure.