515

Disperse
Posted on June 30, 2015 by David M Willis

515 thoughts on “Disperse”

  1. Jen Aside

    “igure”

    wait no

    1. JessWitt

      “ortunecookie”?

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        “foranickel”

        1. Jen Aside

          I am totes making a band named “Mother for a Nickel”

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          Bands? I thought it was Tumblr names these days.

        3. Jen Aside

          I was gonna joke that that Tumblr’s already taken now, but doesn’t look like it!

          [also, I totes have a fake band]

        4. CptNerd

          leaflicker?

        5. AustKyzor

          …’fashion’

    2. Bicycle Bill

      “….iretrucker”?

      1. Usayasha

        riend.

        1. das-g

          with benefits

    3. iforgetwhatiputhere

      Quick, what’s an appropriately punny transformer name that starts with “f”??

      1. Tacos

        Flamewar?

        1. The Other Mike

          Flareup? Fang? Frenzy? Flak? Fixit? Fastlane? (Fortress Maximus just does not work, unless you’re going for a “Your mama’s so fat…” joke.)

    4. BenRG

      Danny should really think of sending an identity-scrubbed version of that text to some website that collects the weirdest electronic messages that you could ever receive!

    5. Willoughby Chase

      lipper

    6. Dibullba

      “emur”

      1. Bicycle Bill

        Congratulations — can’t top that.  You win.

        1. Jen Aside

          Mike topped your mom

          for a nickel

  2. Karen Lynn

    Emergency third wheel powers activate!

    1. Mandy

      Those powers are apparently super-speed-lines.

    2. Safgaftsa

      The sideways Walky Gravatar is appropriate.

    3. The Heir of Rage

      Tee hee Ashen crush.

  3. Scoops

    “Injection”

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      of the Beef kind.

      1. Doctor_Who

        *Grunt*

    2. JustCheetoDust

      of “Vitamin E”

    3. Architex

      “So give me the drug
      Keep me alive
      Give me what’s left of my life
      Don’t let me go”

    4. Cain

      Emergency third leg injection.

  4. Luzahn

    Danny. What an ucker.

    1. AgentKeen

      He sure does know how to uck hit up.

      1. Michael Steamweed

        And the Danning commences!
        (OUA=Or Ucks Ake)

    2. najaru

      let’s be real, most of us would be just as annoyed as him in this situation. He was right to call Amber out, given what Amazi-Girl goes around doing.

      1. newbie

        I’m sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree. This party was supposed to be a safe space for Joyce and by drinking alcohol when she definitely didn’t want that, he participated in potentially making her very uncomfortable. It was inconsiderate at best of him to do that. I’d be upset if my significant other did something like that too. What Amber does outside of the party doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that Danny participated in drinking in what was supposed to be a dry party.

        1. Spencer

          Except Danny, and every other person there except for Becky and Sarah, didn’t know that.

          “What Amber does outside of the party” is a funny way to say “commits aggravated assault but then gets mad at underaged drinking.”

        2. AlexanderHammil

          Or even make it apples to apples. Most campuses have rules forbidding you from climbing on buildings, or jumping on the roof of buses. There’s just no way for Amazi-Girl to be as close to a legit superhero as she is without breaking a bunch of rules or laws. Stepping in to prevent violence, or non-violently confronting taggers is one thing – she’s at least preventing some harm. Drinking restrictions are safety guidelines, designed as much to protect kids from hurting themselves as punish older people who give them alcohol, and AG breaks safety guidelines all the time.

          Basically what I’m saying is that she should have gone after the people who sold Carla alcohol, instead of The Derby Girls.

          Oh, and that this is the least Dan we’ve ever seen Danny. Go, Danny, go! Stand up for the harmless things you enjoy in the face of your girlfriend’s disapproval!

        3. Icalasari

          Plus, to top it off, the states are pretty restrictive compared to other countries – 21 instead of 18, making it a bit more arbitrary and less of an issue (still an issue, but compared to…), while nigh on everything Amber does as Amazigirl is… I’d rather they all get buzzed than do the things Amber does. Danny really does have a lot of points on his side – which may be why Amber is calling him smug

        4. Jason

          There were quite a few people there I think who would know Joyce wouldn’t be okay with alcohol. In fact, I’d say Danny may have been the ONLY person not to know- although some people would just think it was Joyce being Joyce, rather than knowing about the “other” cause.

          Not disputing your point about Danny; on the other hand thought, as a strict teetotaller, I’d be angry and upset if my husband snuck alcohol without mentioning it to me first. So I can understand how both of ’em feel.

        5. najaru

          “This party was supposed to be a safe space for Joyce and by drinking alcohol when she definitely didn’t want that, he participated in potentially making her very uncomfortable.”

          maybe he should have been notified of that, then. Given that many others there had also partaken of Billie’s alcohol, I’m not sure how he was supposed to have gotten that message.

        6. Mattie

          I would totally agree with you if that were what Amber is upset over, but it’s probably not. She’s upset that Danny participated in underage drinking because…well, honestly, I can’t relate to her on this. None of them were getting crazy in there. They were having a safe, fun and normal interaction with alcohol. (Aside from Billie, who is not capable of having a fun and normal interaction with alcohol at this stage in her life.)

          It was, however, inconsiderate to Joyce and to Sarah. But Amber doesn’t care about that. She’s just blindly sticking to arbitrary rules.

        7. not someone else

          If they just didn’t know there was a problem with alcohol, why did they all sneak it into their drinks and then lie about it? I don’t see why anyone is reading this as “how dare you break a dumb law”. You shouldn’t have to be explicitly told not to sneakily do something at someone’s house that could get *them* in serious trouble, and none of them *did* need to be told that.

          More likely they just didn’t see how it could be a problem because it was Joyce and her “dumb boring Christian party”, and figured so long as they didn’t get too drunk it wouldn’t matter. I doubt any of them meant actual malice by it (well, maybe Billie) but it was both rude as hell and a pretty typical way for people to act in groups like this. None of them are really close friends with Joyce, even the ones who should already know why she might have problems with drinking.

          Commenting on someone else having serious mental issues that they’re struggling with in response to “hey you were a prick back there” is like the drama nuclear option and really does make you more of a prick. Like, “how dare you be the voice of reason in this situation because you’ve been wrong before”.

        8. Eric

          But that’s not why she was against it. That would be fine. But instead she cited underage drinking as illegal:

          “Consuming alcohol under the age of 21 is against the law.”

          A very self-righteous and hypocritical position to take when vigilantism is also against the law, and a far more serious crime. Further complicated by that she has specifically tried to start fights (such as with Sal) on very thin justification.

          If she were to focus on protecting others from assault, rape, robbery, and such, using the minimum force necessary, she could be excused, or at least deserving support. But she acts more like she’s a junior Judge Dredd, and that’s less defensible.

          Frankly she’s likely to end up in prison sooner rather than later, or perhaps a psych ward on anti-psychotics.

      2. anonymsly

        On top of that, Amber’s been very clear with Danny that Amazi-Girl is his girlfriend and she is not. Danny’s not wrong to want girlfriend lectures to come from his actual girlfriend.

        When Amber’s the girlfriend, then she can girlfriend-lecture. Makes sense to me.

  5. Dean

    Ethan’s face in the last panel needs to be an avatar.

    1. MeghanTheWorldEater

      I have a folder called “future gravs” filled with enough gravs to last me several years but I don’t think I ever added one as quick as I did that one.

      1. Deanatay

        You could always do like Plasma Mongoose…

  6. Leorale

    I forget, is Blaine an alcoholic? That would sure explain Amber’s zero-tolerance of drinking around her.

    1. dailybrad

      I think the issue is the illegality of it.

      1. insomniac

        Yeah, she’s a huge stickler for obeying the law while she runs around committing aggrivated assault.

        1. MeghanTheWorldEater

          Yeah but the laws against vigilantism are dumb. Gee don’t ya know you can ignore the dumb laws? Like don’t smoke weed, don’t jaywalk, and don’t to commit international multicoprate monopolistic embezzlement? Sheesh!

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          The Federal Government made a law against putting a plant in your mouth and setting it on fire… yeah right…

        3. Eric

          Yeah, who needs that due process thing anyway?

          Sounds like another dumb law that should be ignored.

          It’s so much better when random people beat up and even kill other people because we think they look like criminals, or ya know, just don’t like them. Like killing a kid for having s bottle of iced tea while wearing a hoodie. Or killling abortion doctors. Or beat the hell out of a guy for (maybe) being gay.

          The police aren’t terribly good at their jobs, this is too often true. But leaving it up to self styled heroes is even worse. The due process laws came about for a reason.

        4. Tacos

          So she’s being hypocritical. When has that not been something people do?

        5. Kintrex

          So Danny’s drinking alcohol at a party while being underage. When has that not been something people do?

    2. Leorale

      (Well, zero-tolerance is too strong a phrase, since it’s not like she wigged out and busted everyone in the room. But the question stands.)

      1. Jen Aside

        maybe Amber is allowed to be inconsistent

        1. MeghanTheWorldEater

          Yeah but that’s whens he thought Dotty was gonna put her secret in the paper it’s like that time Spider-Man lost his powers. (I say that time as if that didn’t happen to every single iteration of the character.)

        2. Jen Aside

          She’s commenting along the lines of, “I just busted a bunch of underage drinkers (or tried to), and here is an underage drinker… should I bust her?”

          hence the comment about inconsistency

      2. Bagge

        We have no indication of Blaine being an alcoholic as far as I can remember.

    3. Someone

      I remember nothing about him being an alcoholic. And every awful thing he has done in this strip and short packed he has done sober.

      1. Leorale

        Hm, yeah. I must’ve conflated him with a different horrible abusive dad in a comic. My bad.

        1. Deanatay

          No, I don’t think Toedad is an alcoholic, either. 🙂

        2. Lord Stoneheart

          Maybe a different comic? There’s a lot of bad parenting in this comic from what we saw of Freshmen Family Weekend, but none of the parents were shown to be alcoholics. (Though Blaine got into a fight with Ruth who is an alcoholic. It’s a bit of a stretch but my mind has gotten things mixed up due to weirder stretches of logic before)

    4. nothri

      Can’t be helpful that Amazigirl’s encounter with Sal involved underage drinking.

  7. tim gueguen

    Aw, I was hoping for more Marcie and Malaya.

    1. tim gueguen

      For that matter we got shorted on more Billie and Ruth covert hand holding.

      1. Leorale

        More Dina/Becky snuggles, please

        1. LeslieBean4Shizzle

          Where was the SINGING?!
          I wanted to see people singing along to the movie! I am disappoint.
          … unless there’s some sort of copyright issue to in-text singing to Frozen music I’m not quite figuring out.

        2. Yet_One_More_Idiot

          I wanted to see more of all of the above: Marcie and Malaya was quite cute when they weren’t being interrupted by her annoyingly friendly roomie, Dina/Becky snuggles would’ve been cuuuuute, Billie/Ruthie covert handholding (or covert anything) would’ve been supercute! <3 and of course you need lots and lots of singing to Disney! xP

        3. Bagge

          I completely agree – which is of course the reason we don’t get to see it. Enough cute already, let’s have a dysfunctional relationship spat instead.

        4. Deanatay

          LB4S – just, let it go.

        5. Em

          He would have to cut those bits out for the book, since the songs are copyright.

    2. mick4state

      They pretty much were just sitting there doing nothing. This is a more interesting storyline at the moment.

      1. Bagge

        but… cuddling.

  8. Cephalo the Pod

    “Emergency Third Wheel Injection” as a Danny/Ethan ship name?
    I’m cool with this. Anyone else?

    1. Leorale

      I’d rather avoid the inevitable ‘insertion’ jokes.

      1. Leorale

        –oh, derp, it’s ‘injection’ instead. And, bedtime for me.

        1. Insanenoodlyguy

          Which makes it even better.

    2. tim gueguen

      Sounds like some half assed album by some half assed “alternative” band.

    3. JessWitt

      Shorten it to E3WI, and it could catch on.

  9. Eric

    What, not who.

  10. fogel

    (Just learned that Australia’s national cricket team has a new member whose nickname is Faz)

    1. chris73

      Aussie have Faz and NZ have Baz, its all good

  11. maxyai

    Did Ruth watch the whole thing or just 2 minutes? I think she could learn some lessons from it.

    1. timemonkey

      She’s a depressed alcoholic, she’s not going to appreciate a movie about love and kindness being the key to happiness.

      1. BenRG

        Besides, she and Billie probably spent the whole time sucking face; the likelihood that she was more than peripherally aware of the movie is tiny.

    2. Architex

      Does Frozen have hockey in it? I would think Ruth would have some interest in that.

      I’m part of the 1% of the American population that hasn’t seen the movie.

      1. Joey

        There’s some skating. It’s hockey-compliant.

      2. Deanatay

        It’s a higher percentage than that, I assure you.

        1. begbert2

          True; there are many who are too infirm to go to theaters, or who are as yet too young for (responsible) parents to bring them.

          Plus all those people who (without having seen it) have something against the movie for some unfathomable reason I suppose.

        2. brionl

          I’ve never seen it, but I don’t have anything against it. Just never got around to it. And my nieces range from 22 – 34 so they can go see it by themselves w/o bothering me.

        3. Deanatay

          Same.

    3. caesaria82

      Just watch out, next panel will be her making some magic and conjuring up an animated snowman minion to help her keep better control of the floor and also to buy booze for her when she’s busy.

    4. JWLM

      I just think that her exit line is tragic “That doesn’t sound right coming out of me.”

      I mean, look, Ruth is an awful person, but that’s just…pathetic, in the sense of being able to evoke pathos.

  12. Romanticide

    Sorry Ethan, I know you are trying but you are too late… LATEEEE!

  13. AgentKeen

    He’s never gonna figure out what the hell “-ucker” means.

  14. dailybrad

    I did laugh at Danny’s comeback about it.

  15. Kris

    I guess Danny raises a fair point? DON’T SHOOT ME!

    1. Mr. Morningstar

      of course he does.

  16. chris73

    Much as I like Amber (and I do, a lot) shes out of line here

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      …strange, double post with different icons.

      1. chris73

        Posted from a work computer and had to add in email and added wrong email address

    2. Sam

      Maybe when she starts to insult him yes but otherwise not really considering what he did was actually illegal, he knows she is Amazi-Girl and he knows she actually cares about following the law?

      It was disrespectful of him to:
      a) Drink to begin with at Joyce’s party when it was for her to feel safe, not for people to get drunk.
      b) Drink when he knows his girlfriend will not approve of underage drinking.
      c) Act as if it isn’t a big deal when it clearly matters to her morally.
      d) Childishly lash back with ‘Well MAYBE I’d rather talk to my REAL girlfriend about it’ as if that somehow wins.

      1. Greenygal

        How was Danny supposed to know that the party was to make Joyce feel safe? Nobody told him, and he doesn’t know her. He also clearly didn’t know that Amber had a problem with underage drinking, and given that working outside the law is kind of the whole point of being a vigilante superhero, I don’t blame him.

        1. timemonkey

          Exactly, even Dorothy has no idea and she’s the closest and most considerate of Joyce out of all her new college friends.

        2. dailybrad

          I think people forget often that we are privy to MUCH more information than the characters are, most of the time. It’s an easy mistake to make sometimes.

      2. takashid

        Amazi girl is illegal. She has no actual authority and runs around commiting assault on whoever she feels deserves it. She even tried to use this same drinking law as an excuse to attack Sal’s group and to pick a fight. She’s a hypocrite and way out of line to lecture other people about following the laws.

        Sure, Danny could have handled this better but Amber has no high ground here.

        1. zach

          How? HOW?!*%!?
          really, how could he handle it better?

      3. najaru

        “she is Amazi-Girl and he knows she actually cares about following the law?”

        …what? Amber/Amazi-Girl completely ignores the law when it suits her (assault, ignoring Billie’s drunken-ness while using it as a petty excuse to attack Sal’s group, etc.)

  17. Mitsukara

    Ethanox, third member of the Emergency Third Wheel Injecticons. They’re a combiner set!

    (Dannyrod plugs into the middle, you see)

    1. Karen Lynn

      I thought Ethan would plug in to Danny…

      1. caesaria82

        I’m pretty sure that’s the joke?^^

  18. AnvilPro

    Yeah, I’d say Amber has the right to be pissed about that one

    1. chrisashtear

      how? So he had a drink and shes all pissy? I mean I understand shes a vigilante and all, but that doesnt mean she has a good reason to get THAT mad.

      1. Jess

        alcoholic father… just gonna point that out as a defense for Amber…

        1. JetstreamGW

          That’s not a defense. Your problems are your problems. Projecting them onto others is pointless.

        2. Lord Stoneheart

          Where is it stated that Blaine is an alcoholic? There’s nothing to support that as far as I can remember. And every bit of horrible abuse we’ve seen him dole out, he’s done so while completely sober.

        3. Someone

          Yeah, not every abusive father is an alcoholic. Some people are just terrible people.

        4. Leorale

          I just looked it up as well. Not alcoholic, just horribly abusive.

        5. Sageress

          And on the flipside, some dads are alcoholic and not that bad. Source: My last family reunion and the limbo game.

      2. Sam

        Because he KNOWS she doesn’t like when people break the law? So it was completely disrespectful for him to do so, to pretend it isn’t a big deal, and to lash back childishly and smugly as if he somehow ‘wins’.

        It was also disrespectful to Joyce to begin with as well as it was a party to help her feel safe, not a party for everyone to try out underage drinking.

        1. Tacos

          Amber breaks the law all the time though. Aggravated assault. Breaking and Entering. She’s hypocritical.

          As for the drinking at Joyce’s party, yes it is disrespectful but Becky never told any of the people invited that the party was supposed to be in order to help Joyce feel safe. If they had known, they probably wouldn’t have drank (except maybe Billie but she’s an alcoholic).

        2. EEWWW

          But breaking the law in pursuit of justice is what law enforcement does all the time… It’s okay to whip a U-turn in traffic, almost hit a half dozen cars, speed, AND tailgate, to give me a ticket because I didn’t have special lights on top of my car when I broke the law. Interesting note:pizza delivery people are less frequently pulled over for speeding (in some jurisdictions) when they have a lighted car topper advertising who they deliver for.
          So who’s up for pizza?

      3. AnvilPro

        I’m more referring to how smug he was about it

    2. poppaboo2electricboogaloo

      I think she’s overreacting, I think Danny’s an idiot, and I think Ethan needs to find new friends besides a masked vigilante and her entirely straight boyfriend.

      I’ve heard the local drug dealers are actually quite pleasant.

      1. Someone

        shouldn’t that “Entirely straight” be in quotations?

    3. saki

      Nooot really. He just had a little drink. Didn’t get shitfaced or anything. What’s wrong with that? And don’t say the law, cause getting that pissed at your boyfriend just because he broke a (completely ridiculous) law without hurting anyone in the process sounds… petty? absurd? ridiculous? … I can’t decide on the right word. Anyways, I get that Amber’s a stickler for the law (as long as it doesn’t interfere with her anger and self-control issues that is), but she really ought to learn nuance.

      1. Sam

        What’s wrong with it is the disrespect it shows to know your partner won’t like something… and doing it anyway, then acting as if it no big deal though you know it matters to them morally then acting out childishly as if you win by saying she isn’t his ‘real’ girlfriend.

        It was also disrespectful to Joyce as Joyce and Becky pointed out since it was a party for Joyce to help her feel safe, not a place for them to all try out underaged drinking.

        1. saki

          I don’t recall any indication that Danny knew about Amber’s problem with underage drinking before he did it. He’s acting like it’s not a big deal because to him it really isn’t. And I don’t agree with the way he responded here, but, well, he’s not 100% wrong either. The fact that he can’t openly date Amber has been frustrating him and with the alcohol probably making his filter less uh filtery, it’s not surprising he’d say something like that.

          As for your second point, Danny, much like most of the party’s attendees, had no idea what this dorm party was about, plus Joyce has never expressed a problem with other people drinking. You can’t expect people to respect something they’re not aware of.

        2. BenRG

          If Danny wasn’t able to guess, based on what he knows about the Amazi-Girl persona’s behaviour then he really doesn’t have much deductive intelligence.

        3. Mindlink

          I’ve read the comic, and thus has probably witnessed more of Amber-Girls stance towards anything than Danny has, and I still had no clue she ACTUALLY thought of “underage” (they’re NOT, by the way, NO other place on earth would call these people “underage”) drinking as breaking the law.
          The whole business with Sal in the parking lot seemed to be a very obvious EXCUSE, not something she’d normally crack down on…

        4. John

          They are in fact underage. It doesn’t matter what the law in any other place on Earth is, because they’re not in any other place on Earth. They’re in Indiana, and by Indiana law they’re underage.

          We’ve seen Amazi-Girl hassling Duncan about an open container, which is even more ridiculous and nitpicky. Assaulting Sal and crew over underage drinking is a disproportionate response, but not inconsistent enforcement. And note that she didn’t actually attack them… she confronted them in a provocative fashion, but didn’t use violence until Malaya attacked her. And then only on Malaya.

        5. saki

          I thought we had established Danny is, like, the definition of oblivious. There is no way he would guess something like that unless presented with something that would actually make him think about it.

        6. BenRG

          As a fellow superhero comic nerd, I would have thought that Danny would have been able to make an intuitive leap about Amazi-Girl’s likely hyper-rigid morality about everyone’s behaviour except hers and already have mentally compensated.

          Then again, this IS his first time as a Lois Lane so maybe I’m asking more than any mortal man could offer.

        7. timemonkey

          I don’t think I’ve ever seen superheroes care that 18 year olds had a drink. Hell, I’ve seen superheroes get kids younger than that drunk. Not seeing how being a superhero nerd would help.

        8. zach

          AMAZAGIRL only started caring about it as an excuse to pick a fight with Sal, and SAID AS MUCH TO SAL. She doesn’t care, she just has to now to keep from being a ‘hypocrite’.

    4. Pinja

      Given Amber breaks more laws than possession and more serious ones every day then no, she couldn’t be more wrong.

      1. BenRG

        ‘Wrong’ and ‘Right’ are not issues here. ‘Being nice to your mentally ill girlfriend’ is the key issue.

        1. timemonkey

          Acomidating her and her hypocrisy won’t fix anything. Confronting her and forcing her to deal with the fact that her coping mechanism is bullshit and unacceptable will do far more good.

        2. BenRG

          Still don’t see the hypocrisy that you continually point to.

        3. wil

          She breaks the law every night by assaulting people but somehow feels the need to put herself above everyone else. “No, I can break the law because I wear a cape and say I fight crime. You, who aren’t going to be driving and aren’t blackout or violently drunk, are wrong!”

        4. Spencer

          That Amazi-Girl runs around beating up people she doesn’t like, but alcohol is a big no-no.

        5. Narf

          Breaking and entering, willful destruction of property and aggravated assault* are all more serious crimes than underage consumption of alcohol. Like way, way more serious. It’s pretty hypocritical to get all up in someone’s face for the commission of a minor offense like underage drinking when they themselves have committed a ton of more serious crimes. Her argument holds literally NO weight here.

          *Note: these are just the most serious of the crimes she’s committed. If we were to go back and check all of Amazi-girl’s appearances, I’m sure we could come up with a bunch more.

        6. thejeff

          Speaking of checking Amazi-girl’s appearances: Other than the excuse to attack Sal & Co., did she hassle anyone for alcohol? I know we’ve seen a bunch of her crime-fighting, but I don’t recall just having alcohol come up before then.

        7. anonymsly

          I think she said ‘this is a dry campus, citizen!’ in passing? No actual violence or anger or threat, just in her normal course of going from point A to point B in costume. I don’t even remember if she stuck around to see what happened after she spoke, either.

        8. Mandy

          Right, but she has never told him before tonight that she is – apparently – super against underage drinking. So she has no right to get all pissy with him for doing something that he had no idea she didn’t want him to do. He has in no way disrespected her, just apparently gone against some personal restriction that she’s only just now announcing is in place.

        9. Pinja

          She’s not mentally ill, she has issues and if she was that irrational and illogical that she needs to be treated like a porcelain dolly then Danny should report her to the police at once because it’s only a matter of time she makes a catastrophic misjudgement and snaps a toddlers neck for public disturbances or something.

        10. Jason

          Sorry, but she is mentally ill. Depression, anxiety, and PTSD are mental illnesses. Can’t comment on the depression (although it wouldn’t surprise me), but it’s been explicitly stated that she’s learned to manage her anxiety (as in, learned to live with it), and anger issues, mental partitioning, and flashbacks are symptoms of PTSD (the flashbacks being key).
          I’m not commenting on any other part of this comment thread, but Amber IS mentally ill. And that is not a shameful or terrible thing.

          Slight nerve-hitting there because I come from a background VERY similar to Amber (with two abusive parents, not one) and I suffer from all of the above. Because, frankly, the odds are strongly against someone going through early abuse like that and being left with NO mental illness whatsoever.

        11. Pinja

          Let me redefine my point: Whatever her illness or issues they don’t provide any cover for her gross hypocrisy here. It entitles you to consideration, not to privilege. Danny is

        12. Katrika

          Wait, so because Amber is mentally ill, Danny isn’t allowed to disagree with her ever? As a mentally ill person myself, that’s a really shitty concept.

  19. shadowcell

    “now opening for wyld stallyns…EMERGENCY THIRD WHEEL INJECTION!”

  20. Mallow

    To be fair, it’s not like the situation of dating someone’s superhero alter ego is all that glamorous when you consider having to distinguish between the two in your regular life. In this case, so Amber doesn’t get busted for beating the teeth out of her dad.

    tl;dr Danny’s being a jerk but he’s at least a jerk on a platform i can reasonably comprehend

  21. Plasma Mongoose

    Ruth may act like Frozen wasn’t all that, but I bet she will be secretly singing “Let It Go” when she’s alone.

    1. Stephen Bierce

      And everybody else will be humming the hangovers.

    2. newllend(henryvolt)

      I bet she’ll download the Damn song on her IPhone.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        I know I got an MP3 of it. ^_^

      2. Tacos

        Imagine if she made it her ring tone. Ruth going all Ruthless on some freshman and suddenly Let It Go starts playing.

        1. newllend(henryvolt)

          Ruth:…Stay quiet about this and I’ll let you live unharmed this time.

        2. Dean

          UF: Just keep the femurs, this is too good not to share!

        3. Usayasha

          Misbehaving Resident: *possesses an item which is illegal on the premises*
          Ruth: “You! Next victim!”
          Misbehaving Resident: *turns around*
          Ruth’s Phone: “Let it go~! Let it go~!”
          Ruth: “You heard the damn showtune.”

    3. AgentKeen

      “Today, we see Plasma Mongoose modeling what many think may have been a modern day contributor to the rise of the furries.”

      I’m sorry.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        It’s OK, furries have been rearing their tails since at least Ancient Greece, Disney and Fred Perry’s Gold Diggers.

        1. zach

          Yes, we all saw that hot statue of pan.

        2. Dara

          I am commenting just to express my love of your Callie Briggs grav. I was big into SWAT Kats when it was on.

        3. timemonkey

          It’s a shame it was cancelled. The game was fun but hard.

        4. Roborat

          I have never heard of it, and I make a point of watching cartoons. Off to do some research.

        5. AgentKeen

          I made sure to specify ‘modern’ as I know there’s not small number of people that attribute it to Robin Hood.

      2. Rutee

        I still like that comic that attributes the cancellation of SWAT Kats to Callie’s hotness making Ted Turner uncomfortable.

  22. Nono

    Amber might have been in track and field, but Ethan apparently majored in the sprint.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Not to mention the pole-vault.

  23. Someone

    You know Danny being a dick here is probably for the best. If he acts like he’s all sorry, people are gonna start putting 2 and 2 together.

    1. timemonkey

      He’s not being a dick though. After everything she’s done she has the nerve to be mad at him for having one, watered down drink? And the statement about her identities is something Amber’s been enforcing. Naturally, having been drinking his inhibitions are lowered and he’s got a lower tolerance for her bullshit.

  24. newllend(henryvolt)

    Danny don’t cheat Amber-I mean Amazi-girl over a stupid assistance fight like.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      dont cheat on Amber/Amazi-girl.

  25. TimeLoss

    I see Danny hasn’t forgotten how to be an ass (although alcohol might have had some influence)

    1. chris73

      Hes not being an ass, Ambers being the ass

      1. gkheyf

        can’t we just agree that everyone’s a little bit awkward and no one is quite right?

        1. zach

          No, because Danny is totally right to be standing up to his not a girlfriend. Who is she to lecture him? His notagirlfriend?

          And Amazagirl only took an interest in alcohol to rationalize assaulting Sal, it’s a lie.

      2. winter

        I dunno. I think that comment is a little assholish. I don’t agree with Amber, but Danny’s unfairly refusing to have this conversation with her on the basis of something they both know is bs.

        But then again, the real issue is that Amber isn’t willing to discuss the fact that Danny’s not happy just dating half of her, so it’s kind of horrible on all sides.

        1. timemonkey

          It’s not BS. Well, it is BS but only because of how Amber’s been using it. If she wants to play ‘I’ve got two identities who aren’t the same person and need to be treated differently, thn she can’t just ignore that when SHE wants to.

        2. winter

          I agree, and think Amber is in the wrong, but there were better and more respectful ways for Danny to say what he said, regardless of how little respect Amber is showing him.

        3. zach

          In this context, wouldn’t being respectful mean ignoring insults? How can he be more respectful here while both standing up for himself AND honestly showing how he feels?
          Namely, resentful.

        4. Kennerly

          Also there’s the issue that lately he’s been more interested in dating a him.

        5. dralou

          Nnnnope, he just discovered he’s also attracted to men. Doesn’t mean he wants to date Ethan, merely that he discovered his dating pool has been extended, should he be in a position to “hunt” for one. Which he currently isn’t, since he’s pretty much monogamous and already with someone.

        6. Spencer

          Other than having confused reactions to his sexuality, he has literally never indicated that he’s interested in leaving Amber for a guy.

    2. TimeLoss

      An addendum to my previous comment, I am certain there are ways of saying “I think you are overreacting to me having some alcohol” without outright insulting Ambers dissociative issues / alter ego. He went for that particular jugular in a very Danny way, all emotion with little thought.

      That is one trait I hate about Danny yet identify strongly with. Saying the wrong thing in the moment, expressing growing frustrations at unoppurtune times.

      1. Mindlink

        But it WASN’T the wrong thing, it was absolutely one of the best things he could’ve said under the circumstances. He has every right to be annoyed, in fact if anything he reacted to MILDLY! Given Ambers pissiness towards something she should not even have MENTIONED, let alone be pretend-angry about, Danny had every right to blow his handle and shout angrly at her and storm away. The fact that he DIDN’T shows a lot of maturity, and respect for Amber.
        This was absolutely the right thing to say in the right time.

  26. Tacos

    So the party is over now. It went well enough all things considered.

  27. chris73

    Much as I like Amber (and I do, a lot) shes out of line here.

    1. Rutee

      So much so, especially since the legal drinking age actually is more a matter of arbitrary decisions than reasonable laws. I know you hate Sal, Amber, but don’t take it out on your bf.

      1. chris73

        Thats a good point which I hadn’t considered but I was more thinking of the assaulting people thing, reasonable force and all that and entering into other peoples rooms without permission

        1. Heavensrun

          Oh, yeah, I didn’t even think of B&E and trespassing in my list downthread.

      2. Heavensrun

        Amber doesn’t even know Sal was there. Sal left before she got there.

        1. Rutee

          Sure, but she’s on this underage drinking kick to justify her hatred of Sal. They’re not actually seperate people.

        2. Rutee

          Er, amber and amazigirl aren’t. Even without sal being present, she would probably not give a damn if it weren’t her excuse for fighting Sal.

        3. Heavensrun

          Aaaah, I got you. I thought you were saying she was in a bad mood because Sal had been at the party, not that she was hostile towards underage drinking because it justified her desire to attack Sal on sight.

    2. newllend(henryvolt)

      Maybe, we all know she’s against the idea because she used it as an excuse to pick a fight with Sal, She’s only sticking to it so she doesn’t feel like a hypocrite.

      Though looking back on it under age drinking isn’t really a good reason to enact vigilante justice. That’s like the Punisher breaking a guys arm for shoplifting.

      1. Someone

        I think the punisher would break a guys arm for shoplifting

      2. JohnnyO

        Shoplifting actually harms another person though (the business owner). Underaged drinking hurts no one, it’s a victimless “crime.” It’s more like if the punisher were to chop someone’s dick off for hiring a prostitute.

        1. saki

          Shoplifting doesn’t just hurt the business owner, it can seriously hurt the employees. I’ve heard of someone getting fired because of a shoplifting incident they pretty much couldn’t have done anything about. =/

        2. Someone

          I think that depends on the size of the shop.

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          Shoplifting mainly a problem because so many people do it that it adds up to potentially harming the store and its employees, in essence a metaphorical Death By A Thousand Cuts.

        4. Mindlink

          That’s illegal, though many shops employ teens who’re not aware enough of the law to protest.
          Also, most larger shops at least have good enough insurance that they never loose money on small-scale shoplifting. The main loosers are the insurance company (and they need jobs too!) and the manufactures of the products that was NOT stolen, as the stolen goods probably adds up to the sales-statistics for the producing company therefore putting them artifically ahead of their competitors.

  28. JessWitt

    Ruth’s a real Roger Ebert, ain’t she?

  29. David Alexander McDonald

    Emergency Third Wheel Injection is now officially the title of my next album.

  30. LiaHansen

    Ethan looks like the dad from something here but i cant figure out who

    1. LiaHansen

      wait no he looks like Sully from Monster’s Inc

      1. MeghanTheWorldEater

        …I’m seriously considering photoshopping Sully’s horns on Ethan now

  31. Siyajkak

    Man, Amber kid of Dannied that one up

    1. Siyajkak

      *kind

    2. Usayasha

      She ucked it up real good. The motherf.

  32. AgentKeen

    I took a second look at Ethan’s face in that last panel and, my god, it’s horrifying/hilarious.

  33. Marvelman

    Is it me? Or is Amber over-reacting to Danny in panel 4? She seems to get very angry very easily.

    1. gkheyf

      are you implying that amber may have anger issues? that is slanderous, sir!

    2. AgentKeen

      Yes and no? I mean, she doesn’t always… handle anger well, but she is a vigilante who goes after people vandalizing stop signs, so it shouldn’t be hard to discern her feelings on underage drinking per se. Maybe getting angry this quickly is a bit much, but I don’t think getting pissed at someone for breaking the law is over the line?

      I think Danny’s ‘well, you’re not my REAL girlfriend’ line is a dick move though.

      1. timemonkey

        Dick move, or total truth which shoves Amber’s ridiculous dual personality bullshit back in her face when SHE tries to ignore it.

        1. saki

          … Ridiculous dual personality bullshit? Why, yes, please do make light of her terrible psychological issues due to a life of having to bear her father’s abuse and her social anxiety and anger issues and everything by calling it bullshit. That seems absolutely appropriate and not like you’re completely invalidating all her inner struggles at all.

        2. zach

          What does her having a hard life have to do with her being god aweful?
          She’s using a double standard here, and Danny’s right to resent it.

          And if sh3 wants her problems to be his problems, too bad. She should’t have pushed him away.

        3. saki

          No, look, I agree, that she’s being awful here. What I don’t agree with, is someone reducing the dual-personality issues she has because her difficulties in life resulted in her feeling the need to compartmentalize everything to “bullshit”.

        4. BenRG

          Agreed 100%

        5. zach

          Except it isn’t real. She gets into character, yes, but she isn’t crazy. And she is hurting Danny to maintain the farce. Danny is VERY right to throw that back in her face.

          Hard lives are not excuses to be mean. Danny is not obligated to enable her, either.

        6. Li

          Okay, so, INCREDIBLY dismissive take on mental illness aside (you think it’s a binary thing? Either 100% free of issues or “crazy”?), that’s demonstrably untrue. I know it’s been a while but we have had strips of her running in tears from the split in her personality. She hyperventilated in a stairwell after punching her dad and only calmed down at all after putting on her mask. When Danny recognized her and said “Are you Amber?” she said she doesn’t know anymore.

          That is not bullshit or “getting into character”.

        7. saki

          @Li Agreed.

        8. zach

          Crazy meaning experiencing a break from reality. Amazagirl is a coping mechanism that she uses on purpose. She controles it.

          She was freaking out and put on her mask to get into character because that other character was more angry than scared.

          This is no different than a teacher accessing mom-mode when her class gets unruly. Just more extreme.

          Lastly, atributing her breakdown to anything other than her abusive dad who ahe has a restraining order on is bizarre.

        9. Mindlink

          Yes, IT IS ridiculous bullshit!
          The things she has experienced is BULLSHIT, or were you happy that she experienced them ? Someone getting murdered when they’re not expecting it IS bullshit, getting on a plane and then having that plane crash because a butterfly entered the cockpit is RIDICULOUS BULLSHIT.
          It must be allowed to communicate how ridiculous and bullshitty an experience is without being accused of “reducing” or “making light” of an issue. “Bullshit” is NEVER light or funny.

        10. saki

          Okay, I guess we make a different use of the word bullshit. To me, bullshit means something that is false, a blatant lie, fake, absurd, etc. I forgot it can have that other use. Now I’m wondering which one timemonkey meant.

        11. Rutee

          I’m pretty sure, in her specific case, it is. Her beliefs are the same, and her behavior primarily deviates in how violent she’s willing to be (Which, given that we’re talking about violence, is more easily explained by practical concerns such as legal culpability). She has more or less normal recall of her life regardless of whether she wears the mask. Amazi-girl is a persona and a tool she uses to justify her behavior, not a separate person lurking inside of her that seizes control.

        12. timemonkey

          If she had a genuine personality split I’d be sympathetic. But she doesn’t. She has lies because she doesn’t want to deal with her own feelings. And because she refuses to deal with them they’re just getting worse. And quite frankly, Amber doesn’t act remotely sympathetic and hasn’t for a long time now. She is a violent, unstable person who needs to eb stopped and given a lot of help.

        13. Li

          Look, Amber’s definitely got a genuine personality split. That’s a big part of WHY she’s “unstable”.

          Idk maybe reread her confrontation with Blaine. There’s a lot of genuine confusion and illness in those confrontations.

          Personality splits aren’t always or even usually theatrical things where the personality has a name. There’s plenty of compartmentalizing between “no real issues, just a secret identity” and “the three phases of Eve” or whatever that particular movie was called.

        14. Rutee

          Ehhh, I seem to recall from psych that they may not have a seperate name, but they are separate identities with distinct personalities, distinct goals, and little conscious memory of each other. Blaine is more easily explained by a failure to rationalize her actions than it is by this – unless DID has changed drastically in the last I’m Not Telling, but Long Enough to have Plausibly Done So, in which case alright.

        15. Rutee

          Also, the only thing that even lends this credibility is the business with Blaine. The rest of the time, they’re blatantly the same person, and every problem is either a practical concern, or one of trying to justify non-enraged behavior along with enraged behavior (Drunk Billy)

        16. Li

          Since Blaine is the entire reason Amazi-Girl exists, it kinda makes sense.

          Anyway, here’s Wikipedia:

          DID is one of the most controversial psychiatric disorders with no clear consensus regarding its diagnosis or treatment.[3] Research on effectiveness of treatment has been concerned primarily with clinical approaches and case studies. Dissociative symptoms range from common lapses in attention, becoming distracted by something else, and daydreaming, to pathological dissociative disorders.[6] No systematic, empirically-supported definition of “dissociation” exists.

          (Note the first and last sentences. DID is a dicey diagnosis.)

          So first of all as I said above, there’s a lot of gray between “totally healthy” and “crazy”. Amber is in that gray area. I don’t think there’s a clear bright line between her states, but it’s disingenuous to say she’s just pretending to be two different people.

          Side note: if you wanna get really technical, Amber’s second personality actually does have a name, and the way she immerses herself in video games to avoid feeling her feelings skirts the definition of “dissociative symptoms” up there.

        17. Rutee

          And if you read further down than the bloody summary, you would find

          According to the fifth Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), DID includes “the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states” that alternate control of the individual’s behavior, accompanied by the inability to recall personal information beyond what is expected through normal forgetfulness.[2] In each individual, the clinical presentation varies and the level of functioning can change from severely impaired to adequate.[16][21] The symptoms of dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue and depersonalization disorder are subsumed under the DID diagnosis and are not diagnosed separately. Individuals with DID may experience distress from both the symptoms of DID (intrusive thoughts or emotions) and the consequences of the accompanying symptoms (dissociation rendering them unable to remember specific information).[22]

          This isn’t amber. Period. I ain’t saying she’s healthy – she ain’t. But this, she ain’t. Talking about her ‘identity issues’ as if they aren’t predominantly practical concerns does her a disservice, because it misidentifies the issue.

        18. Li

          Strongly disagree.

          But PTSD is a better fit for all of her disparate problems, and is known to present as other illnesses. I don’t know what Willis’s intent, but that would be a viable hook to hang her issues on.

          That said, I will again repeat that there’s a lot of gray between DSM-diagnosable and free of issues. Amber’s identity issues are real, not something she’s just playing at for fun.

          While I looked up DID and found some parts of it that got Amber pretty well, after you objected that she didn’t have DID, it was never my original assertion that she had DID. She has a real split, though concretely not full enough to get her a diagnosis for DID.

          So for the like tenth time: she can have real issues with her identity without having diagnosable DID. There are more ways to be mentally ill than a single narrow diagnosis; more forms of identity issues than DID.

        19. Rutee

          I ain’t saying she’s playing them for fun. I’m saying that nearly every line about them is a practical concern. You have maybe 3 lines that can reasonably indicate a real split, and very little behavior besides (Whereas you have even more behavior that shows they’re consciously the same person). The best explanation of the evidence we have for her identity is that she’s quite aware they’re the same person, and isn’t suffering a breakdown in identity as such.

          I’m not really sure what’s wrong with her overall, and don’t speculate. She should go seek some help.

        20. Li

          I should add: I don’t think she’s in the right here. I think she might well be overcompensating because she attacked Sal on this pretext and now her image of herself requires it to be a Very Important Law. But I think it’s oversimplifying things to say she isn’t mentally ill.

        21. wil

          But she doesn’t have a dual personality. She has a persona that she uses to act out the more aggressive aspects of her personality. It’s a justification, not a legitimate / separate identity. She remembers Amazagirl, and she can switch her on and off. She appears to have total control over that side of herself. (You know, besides the anger issues.) Or, because I’m using the name wil to comment on this comic, which I don’t ever do offline and am not actually named wil, do I also have a dual personality?

        22. El Chupacabre

          I don’t actually think Amber has multiple personality disorder. But I do think she suffers from severe PTSD. Trauma is not a license for hurting other people, and people who are dangerous to others, who realize that, are morally obligated to do everything they can to fix it. But clearly Amber is not in perfect mental health, and I think that needs to be considered when evaluating her actions.

        23. saki

          Okay, so she doesn’t have DID. That doesn’t make Danny’s response okay. Her seperations of |Amber| and |Amazigirl| are a coping mechanism that she’s resorted to because she didn’t know how else to deal with her multiple issues and how to keep her anger issues in check. Not having DID doesn’t change the fact that Amazigirl feels seperate to Amber because Amazigirl can deal with everything she can’t herself, as was very well showed during the incident with Blaine, where had a panic attack and could only calm down after putting on Amazigirl’s mask.
          Which means that here, Danny may not be throwing her DID back in her face since the common consensus seems to be that she can’t have DID, but he IS throwing her coping mechanism back in her face, which is pretty fucking dickish and maybe I’m wrong but to me, talking that way about someone’s coping mechanism makes very light of their issues.
          In that same spirit, when you reduce her coping mechanism to ” ridiculous dual personnality bullshit”, it’s like you’re not at all acknowledging she’s got a fuckton of issues and compartmentalizing is the only way she’s found to deal with it.

        24. anonymsly

          Dickish or not, it’s an explicit reminder of the limitations that Amber herself has put on their interactions. Amber herself has told Danny on multiple occasions that Amazi-girl is his girlfriend, and Amber is just a girl in his classes.

          Regardless of the actual diagnosis of her mental issues, it is patently unfair for Amber to take things into girlfriend space when she has said on multiple occasions that she is NOT Danny’s girlfriend.

          He was rude to say so so bluntly, perhaps, but it needs to be said. Amber does not get to change the rules, even or perhaps especially the ones she herself set for Danny to abide by, just on a whim.

        25. saki

          Hey, don’t get me wrong, I agree that Amber’s treatment of Danny is totally unfair and he was right to get angry, and well he doesn’t really know better than to do it in this way. My point was mainly about the way certain people in this comment section reacted rather than Danny.

        26. zach

          Ah, no.
          I was responding to assurtions that both are to blame. Gets under my skin.

      2. MeghanTheWorldEater

        It’s probably even worse since she’s been at a party that she didn’t want to go to.

        I’m not sure how it is for Amber but I hit a point where I can’t be around people anymore even if I wanna go to something, like all critical functioning just stops and I just need to be alone and play video games for a few hours (or days)

        1. timemonkey

          I know the feeling. But it’s also not right of her to take out that frustration on Danny.

        2. MeghanTheWorldEater

          It’s certainly isn’t, though I’d be lying if I said I’d never done it myself.

      3. Sub

        When Ambers whole alter ego relishes in the breaking of laws she thinks are stupid, such as aggravated assault and breaking and entering, I would say her getting so angry about something so minor is much more on her. Especially considering that Danny’s comment could be attributed to his slight drunkenness, Amber doesn’t have any mitigating factors for her own overreaction. P

        lus the whole keeping her two identities separate with Danny is something Amber herself enforces, s there’s that.

      4. fogel

        In addition, his “real girlfriend” snark is not gonna work out well for him with either Amber OR A.G.

        1. zach

          That’s the idea. Amazagirl can apologize when she sees him next.

      5. Em

        How is it dickish? Amber has already established that Danny is not ‘Amber’s’ boyfriend.

        Now she sees how he feels.

        1. Reaver

          She already knows how “He” Feels, due to that whole lovely period where he KNEW she was Amazi-girl, and still treated “Amber” Like some weirdo girl he hung out with.

        2. Mindlink

          What period was that, I can’t remember reading it.

        3. Lord Stoneheart

          By Amber’s specific request he’s treating her like just some girl he goes to class with. The first scene in this book had them being flirty with each other, and then Amber texted him to tell him that he’s not dating Amber. (Amber also refused to have Amazi Girl dump him so he can date Amber instead).

        4. Em

          What I meant by she sees how he feels is that now she knows the frustration of dating someone who won’t acknowledge that they are dating you.

    3. Michael Steamweed

      Amber does indeed get very angry, very easily. That’s why she does the AG thing, to compartmentalize her anger.

  34. gkheyf

    heh, wow. this comic seems so far removed from the natural swing of things for so many reasons. i’m going to appreciate it as a side strip until i see tomorrow’s strip tie it back into the established canon.

    ruth is almost nice, danny is practically standing up for himself, and ethan is actually actively working his way into our most normal/abnormal couple…and nobody cares! sweet.

    1. Lord Stoneheart

      Huh? While this isn’t how the characters typically act, it’s not like it’s completely out of character. Ruth has been shown to have a softer side. (That she’s of course reluctant to show and tries to still cloak it in threats and stuff). Danny has been shown to have a spine when he gets upset. (If I could link to stuff I would link to where Dorothy tries to ask him about Amazi Girl). And Ethan does try to defuse conflict sometimes. Especially when Amber is involved. (Like when Amber blew up on Joyce)

  35. caesaria82

    Ethan’s awkward smile is almost as terrifying as Joyce’s triangle smille. Maybe they’ve spent too much time together and now Ethan’s smile is stuck that way and will be terrifying forever xD

    1. Boomwolf

      or even worse, Ethan’s awkward smile crossed with Joyce’s triangle smile.

      1. MeghanTheWorldEater

        You should know better than to say things like that Boom, you know I’m liable to photoshop it.

        1. Em

          Please do! That would be amazing.

        2. MeghanTheWorldEater

          Ya know I was actually gonna do it but then this happened in the process and I think it’s better than merging their smiles so why try to top what can’t be topped?
          http://imgur.com/oWXUlwU

        3. boomwolf

          …. Yep, never gonna sleep again.

        4. Boomwolf

          Now I’m just imagining Joyce with a weird sort of Joker grin. That’s how I imagine it would work.

      2. caesaria82

        Oh god imagine if they ever procreated (which seems unlikely, but you never know :p), their offspring would have *the* most terrifying smile in the world.

  36. Heavensrun

    You tell ‘im, Amber! Drinking underage is sure illegal! Why it’s almost as illegal as dressing up in a costume and dispensing vigilante justice to people, though it’s probably not as bad as chasing down an ex-con with the intention to deliberately harrass her because she made you feel scared when you were young. Weirdly, it’s technically even illegal to steal a sign, even if you’re only doing it to clean it off and put it back.

    Also depending on how far you and Danny went that time, making out in public. Hell, sex in the dorms is probably against the rules there.

    1. AgentKeen

      Hmm, good point about vigilantism.

    2. Heavensrun

      Jumping onto and riding on the top of a semi also violates a number of traffic laws.

      1. nothri

        And probably violates some laws of probability and possibly physics.

        1. Tacos

          What about the laws of aerodynamics?

    3. JohnnyO

      “Hell, sex in the dorms is probably against the rules there.”

      Probably not considering it’s a public university. You’d be amazed how different a housing contract looks today vs. just 20 years ago.

      1. Heavensrun

        Fair enough. I haven’t lived in a dorm for almost exactly that long.

        1. thejeff

          Hell, I lived in a dorm more than 20 years ago and there were not rules against sex in the dorms then.

          Or if there were, they were completely, blatantly ignored by everyone.

    4. Norah

      Willis would know for sure, of course, but since it’s not a religious college, I seriously doubt sex in the dorms is against the rules at Indiana University. Hell, I went to college in the 1970s (not IU though, but it was in the Midwestern United States)!and it wasn’t even against the rules then.

    5. nothri

      ALL RIGHT MAN, ALL RIGHT! Chill! Your first line was an epic burn, trust me. At this point your just standing there with the flamethrower on full tilt. You got her! Ease up!

      1. Heavensrun

        Dust off, nuke the site from orbit.

        Only way to be sure.

    6. Lord Stoneheart

      After the sign cleaning, Amber and Danny started to make out. According to Danny (telling it to Joe the next day) it escalated to heavy petting. I’m fairly certain that’s illegal to do in public.

    7. saki

      Woa hold on, I must have misunderstood something there, because you can’t possible have implied making out in public is illegal?! That seems absurd???

      1. Lord Stoneheart

        I’m fairly certain heavy petting is illegal in public.

      2. Heavensrun

        What Stoneheart said. Like I mentioned, it depends on exactly how far they went.

  37. GoogerGeiger

    Oh Amber, stop being such a namby pamby.

    1. AgentKeen

      Appropriate avatar.

  38. Boomwolf

    Never thought I’d say this, but thank goodness for the third wheel.

  39. poppaboo2electricboogaloo

    SNOW GLOWS WHITE ON THE MOUNTAIN TONIGHT, NOT A FOOTPRINT TO BE SEEN!

    1. Usayasha

      A KINGDOM OF ICE-OLATION…

      AND IT LOOKS LIKE
      I’M THE QUEEN!

  40. JetstreamGW

    Oooh! Oooh! Amber! I know what you are!

    A vigilante!

    One who’s activities almost certainly amount to more serious crimes than Minor in Possession!

    1. BenRG

      And yet have done more good than comes from getting drunk when your body is only half-grown and more likely to suffer long-term harm as a result.

      1. Mindlink

        Alle of these people are ADULTS, they’ve stopped growing and developing years ago….

        1. BenRG

          They’re eighteen or nineteen tops; physical development doesn’t end until you’re in the twenties.

        2. Lord Stoneheart

          And yet so many other countries do just fine with a drinking age of 18 or lower. (And America did just fine with it until the 80s).

        3. li

          Okay, not that I think the drinking age here makes sense, but this is a really bad argument, structurally. We also “did fine” with letting people smoke absolutely everywhere, under absolutely every condition (such as “while pregnant”). Just because it’s not illegal and a country isn’t actively crashing and burning doesn’t mean it’s not bad for anyone’s health.

        4. Lord Stoneheart

          Fair enough. Amber didn’t bring up possible detrimental effects. (And long term detrimental effects tend to come from drinking habits more similar to Billie’s than Danny’s)

      2. Narf

        So it’s okay to break laws when you’re doing -good- (good like beating people up, harassing people who scared you when you were younger, breaking into dorm rooms, and stealing personal property), but it’s not okay to break laws to have a drink or two. I gotcha. Your argument makes sense.

  41. Bagge

    Good, Danny. Stand up to her. Don’t accept that ” part time girlfriend” thing.

  42. fogel

    He can go back to hanging out with Mike… 🙂

    1. fogel

      This was intended as a reply to poppaboo2electricboogaloo, way up above here.

  43. Ryuksan2021

    How long does it take to update a gravitar, hopefully it’s as fast as that injection

    1. LiaHansen

      nice

    2. Foxhack

      JOKER VENOM AAAAAAAAAAAGH

  44. JohnnyO

    Amber – Stupid thing to start an argument over, not to mention hypocritically
    Dan – Stupidest possible response you could have given. Way to go, asshole.

    Dickishness – 2
    Understanding in this relationship – 0

    1. Em

      Okay but like, when he tries to be sweet and loving to her when she’s Amber she’s always just like “No, you’re not my boyfriend, you’re Amazigirl’s boyfriend.” That’s gotta suck, and I understand why it boiled over during this dumb argument.

    2. timemonkey

      How can there be understanding in this relationship when Amber refuses to ever explain anything and keeps changing the rules?

      1. BenRG

        By being aware that Amber is a very damaged personality who will, due to her problems, keep fluttering around like a frightened butterfly and changing the base rules, thus needing to be treated with the appropriate care and understanding.

        Would that be fun? No. Would that be easy? Hell, no. However, if Danny’s attraction to her is more than just his barely-inner comic book geek coming to the fore, he’ll give her that space and delicate handling.

        1. timemonkey

          He’s NOT aware of that though, because she hasn’t told him anything about herself.

        2. li

          I’m getting the sense that you kind of repressed the whole Blaine arc.

          It’s true that no one knew Joyce’s party was supposed to be a safe space for her. But it’s not true that Danny doesn’t know about any of Amber’s issues. He met her dad and she explained some things to him, including telling him “I don’t know anymore” when he asked her if she was Amber, and explaining to him that she compartmentalizes the scary parts of herself.

        3. li

          though again I feel compelled to add I don’t think Amber is in the right here, that she has anger management issues and some other issues is not carte blanche to lash out at people, etc etc.

        4. zach

          This is also known as enabling. As long as he accepts her bullshit (cough), I’m sorry, changing the rules, that is what shebis going to do. What she is doing is selfish. He is right to demand more

    3. zach

      I’m lost on what could have been a more awesome answer.
      She IS full of shit. We even have seen her explicitly try to rationalize to herself how drinking is bad, poorly, and she said it herself that she doesn’t care, it’s just a shallow pretext for violence.

      He stood up to her for substantial bullshit she is throeing at him when she tried to start a nothing fight.

  45. caesaria82

    A KINGDOM OF ISOLATIOOOON AND IT LOOKS LIKE I’M THE QUEEN

    1. caesaria82

      That was supposed to be a reply idk what happened =/

      1. Em

        It looks pretty awesome as a stand alone comment. xD

        1. caesaria82

          lol and it’s really kinda apt for Ruth :p

  46. Em

    THAT FACE THO.
    xD

    Please break up please break up I hate your weird fucked up relationship.

    Honestly, I’m glad Danny said that. She needs to realize that she’s doing a shitty thing in this relationship. Danny needs someone who will be his S.O 24/7, not just on random occasions.

    1. caesaria82

      I actually agree with this. I love Amber, but she is actually being a terrible girlfriend. She won’t commit, won’t let anyone know they’re dating, what kind of relationship *is* that even? I understand she has issues, I am sympathetic to that… but this relationship is still effed up.

      1. Someone

        Would: I’m breaking up with you Amazi-Girl!
        *Next Day*
        I love you Amber!

        Be too obvious?

        1. Rutee

          Yes, but he could break up with amazi-girl (More or less quietly, since just Joe really knew that), and then hook up with Amber a week later with only Joe capable of noticing. And he doesn’t really care about women who don’t meet a standard of attractiveness that Amber doesn’t.

        2. Lord Stoneheart

          Amber says that she’s uncomfortable doing that. (Though did not explain her reasons to Danny). That doesn’t stop Danny from breaking up with Amazi Girl but it sure would stop him from dating Amber.

      2. BenRG

        Maybe I got different things than you did from the sequence when they’re in the elevator and the two of them are all uncomfortable about not being able to be openly SOs because of the whole ‘secret identity’ thing. In my view, Amber has committed but her issues and her need to play out a real-life comic book story in her life is screwing up her ability to build a healthy bond with Danny.

    2. timemonkey

      Yeah, my first reaction to this was to be pleased that they seem to be beginning to implode.

      1. Rutee

        Eh, if relationships splintered on the first sign of strain in DoA, the canon ship list would be a lot shorter.

        1. timemonkey

          None of the other ‘ships involve a relationship built on lies and anger coping mechanisms.

        2. Nono

          Well, Billie and Ruth are lying to everyone else about their relationship and cope with their anger through makeouts and alcohol.

        3. Rutee

          Um….

        4. Rutee

          Like seriously are you for real?

        5. timemonkey

          Nono, was right, Billie/Ruth is also based on that shit. They should break up too.

          And yes I’m for real, Amber has been lieing and manipulating Danny right from the start, she’s even admitted it to Mike. Danny is walking through a minefield and has no idea.

        6. Rutee

          Yeah, but to characterize this as the only one, when pretty much the only ship which doesn’t fit that criteria, and has gotten major screentime, is Walky/Dorothy (And plenty of commentators still call THAT lying) XD

        7. Rutee

          Also, your iconoclasm is pretty hilarious XD

  47. JohnnyO

    And I’d think Amber would be more tuned into what is just rather than being a strict legalist. Especially considering her penchant for beating people up at night. Law and morality are not always the same thing. The 21-year old drinking age ranks pretty high on the list of dumbshit laws that don’t really matter.

    1. Mindlink

      “The 21-year old drinking age ranks pretty high on the list of dumbshit laws that don’t really matter.”

      Yeah, and it’s also one of the things that make us respect Americans a little less, certainly not a main thing, but it’s a very vell talked about one.
      Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we stand around all day bashing America, we even LIKE your country and culture most of the time, but we very rarely take you guys seriously, I know this is condencending, and we try not to be, but you make it sooo difficult sometimes, like with this whole “Let’s make the legal drinking age several years AFTER the body has stopped development, and AFTER they’ve been adults for several years, even sometimes AFTER they’ve gotten a house, family, job, car, etc.
      America, we love ya, but like a little sibling that hasn’t quite figured out all this “countrying” yet.
      (Norwegian myself, but from what I’ve gathered on my journeys, these are sentiments shared by most other nationalities I’ve met as well)

      1. Rutee

        I’m honestly surprised y’all’d talk about it well in Norway. I know you’re better for tourism than Denmark, but I would still think it doesn’t come up much compared to much better reasons to lose respect for the states.

  48. Someone

    My guess is at some point either Ethan or Danny will get involved somehow with the Amber/Sal situation and will have to talk Amber down. I would prefer Ethan if that was to happen, simply because he was the one taken hostage.

  49. Bicycle Bill

    What is that red thing Amber is holding (and snapping shut) as she walks out of Joyce’s room — her Nintendo DS?
    And what kind of old retro-phone is she using to text Danny?  Holding it in ‘landscape’ mode with what appears to be a slide-out keyboard makes me think of a basic phone like the old LG “EnV” series or a very early smartphone like the Motorola Droid 2.
    Not that there’s anything wrong with that — I’ve still got one of the special edition “R2D2” versions and once the new Star Wars movie comes out I’ll bring it back out so that for a while I’ll be one of the cool kids.

    1. Kennerly

      My headcannon says that her Nintendo DS is also a transformers toy. So obviously her phone is also a transformer. Sure you could get a smaller phone, but then it wouldn’t turn into Thundercracker.

      1. Tacos

        Wouldn’t Skywarp make more sense? I mean, he is the stair-pusher downer.

  50. Cass

    Now I wonder where Danny was standing relative to Ruth the other day when Amber appeared to be glaring daggers at her.

  51. Kraken

    Amber, you may be super mad at Danny for breaking fewer laws than you, but that’s no reason to take it out on your poor 3DS. #Close3DSsResponsibly

    I like Danny’s verbal jiu-jutsu. Amber could’ve talked about her issue with alcohol and the illegal drinking thereof a bit more directly, but she ostensibly chose to use Amazi-Girl as her explanation. If that’s the reason, Danny is right to suggest he discusses it with “her.”

    As for tone, they’re both being pretty short with each other. Danny’s line in panel 3 seems delivered without much sass, just by the lack of emphasis.

    Anyway I hope it’s not just the illegality of drinking that’s bothering Amber, and that they can work it out.

  52. saki

    Okay, several things.
    Amber, stfu, your vigilante-breaking&entering-beating-people-up ass does NOT get to be mad at anyone for freaking underage drinking. I reaaaally want to give you some benefit of the doubt and maybe your dad is an alcoholic and that’s why you have SUCH a big issue with drinking, and also maybe you’re exhausted from socialising when you didn’t really want to, but… Taking it out on your boyfriend-who-can’t-be-your-boyfriend-in-public? *sigh* Sleep it over and apologise to him tomorrow.

    Danny… Okay, you’re drunk, so you’re not being smart. Cheers for standing up for yourself though, even though of course you had to do it in a kind of unbearable-Danny way.

    Ethan. I love you.

    1. Adam Black

      Actually he seems to be channelling Walky here.

  53. Pinja

    To Amber, your hypocrisy is breathtaking.

    To Danny, nice comeback and good for standing up for yourself.

    1. Pinja

      Also: Danny gets hammered for not having a spine, Danny gets hammered for having a spine. Totes consistent.

      1. Usayasha

        There are multiple reasons to castigate someone. Spinelessness may be one of them. Assholery is another. If you need the second to overcome the first, you aren’t doing a very good job.

        1. Rutee

          Maintaining a less than perfect composure to someone being a jackass in general, even if they are your girlfriend, is not assholery.

        2. Pinja

          She started it, don’t bring that shit if you can’t handle the response.

  54. 6Qubed

    the polyamourous threesome we all want but will never get, for they are under the sole ownership of Dave “Damn You” Willis.

    1. Someone

      Fanfic is always an option

    2. podian

      You mean Danny/Amber/Amazi-Girl? 😛

    3. timemonkey

      No we do not ALL want it.

      1. 6Qubed

        shut up hexadecimal nobody asked you

        1. timemonkey

          I’ll blow up your system for the lulz.

    4. Spencer

      You know, I see these comments wishing for a poly relationship for Amber, Ethan and Danny all the time, and for the life of me I cannot understand how anybody can look at these three with all their problems and identity issues and think that the only possible solution is for them all to bang.

      Danny is basically Captain Monogamy. Ethan wants relationships that don’t revolve around his sexuality. Amber is in dire need of mental help. Why does it always come back to them fucking every single time? Has anything from any one of them indicated they’d be up for it?

      I don’t want to step on the toes of people who genuinely want to see a healthy and happy depiction of poly romance, and if anybody could pull it off it’d be Willis, but I see these comments about how they all need to get together or Danny needs to go bang Ethan right now and I seriously cannot shake the feeling that it all boils down to “Danny is bi, therefore he needs to fuck Ethan.”

      1. zach

        For one thing, you couldn’t be much more wrong about Ethan. He is avoiding his sexuality, not looking for a serious relationship. Sex with Danny could go a long way toward asswaging his shame. We know Amber dreams about dude on dude sex, so she might be OK with it. The main obstacle would be making Danny comfortable. You’d have to find a way to make it romantic.

        1. Spencer

          I was referring to Ethan’s mention back in “Guess who’s coming to Galasso’s” about how “the gay thing” always overpowers his relationships with other people. I wasn’t referring to him dating.

          I think Ethan really could use both types of relationships. A boyfriend who helps him get more comfortable with his own sexuality, and friends who aren’t going to treat him differently for it.

          Amber’s described sex as “weird and personal” so I don’t know if she’d be cool with it, but then I suppose that’s not much of an argument against it either. As for Danny, basically every indication we’ve had on him indicates he’s totally monogamous (we’ve already seen how he’s not comfortable even having romantic feelings for two people at once), which come to think of it probably is why some of us think he’ll even try a poly relationship through deliberate subversion of the character’s expectations.

      2. John

        It’s strips like this that make me support them as a triple, but not any pair of them as a couple.

        Amber and Danny, as we see here, need a moderator.

        Amber and Ethan, I think, love each other, certainly platonically and maybe romantically, but aren’t compatible sexually. They need a go-between.

        And Ethan and Danny are good friends and into each other, but neither of them are comfortable enough with their sexuality to take the next step. They need a facilitator.

        It’s not about wanting to see Ethan and Danny bang. I don’t, actually. I’m not into dudes at all, and really not into dude-on-dude. It’s because I think all three of them would be happier in a poly relationship with each other than single or in any pair.

        1. 6Qubed

          This guy.

          This guy gets what I meant. (o _o)b

        2. Spencer

          Thanks for the response. That’s certainly a good way of looking at it. I don’t know how much happier they’d be all openly together, but I should be more considering of the idea of Danny in two separate romantic and sexual relationships with both Amber and Ethan.

          Honestly, I’m just being oversensitive about Danny right now and making terrible assumptions of other people on this site. That literally the only reason they could want Danny with Ethan or in a poly relationship is because he’s bi and therefore immediately needs to hook up with Ethan because he’s into dudes. Like I remember when we found out Danny and Ethan had been drinking and I saw a bunch of comments for slipshines of it and how they needed to get lost on the way back to their dorm, and all I could do was just shake my head at the unleaded WTF I was seeing. I sincerely doubt were meant to say anything concrete about Danny, but reading them all I saw was “literally nothing else about Danny matters because he needs to fuck Ethan NOW.”

          And that’s just unfair of me, it’s unfair to the readers, hell it’s even unfair to Danny as a character, like I have this expectation that he has to be this specific brand of perfect bisexual.

          Basically what I’m saying is that I should stop being such a prick about this.

        3. 6Qubed

          I can get what you’re saying, and you’re not wrong. Though where I disagree is that I’d say that a Amber/Danny/Ethan relationship would be less about “magically solving” the three character’s issues with gratuitous fucking and more about having a safe space to work on their various issues. Danny shouldn’t just “immediately hook up with Ethan because he’s into dudes”, but because there was no indication that he even felt that way until Ethan, specifically, showed up. I’m not gonna say Danny’s perfect; he came to this college solely to be with his then-girlfriend, which is a stupid reason to attend a college. If I recall correctly, his attraction to Amber had as much to do with her Dorothy-like characteristics as her actual character. He needs to distance himself from that sort of thinking, and Ethan could help. Spending time with him also gives him a confidant to talk about Amber’s activities as Amazi-Girl, and that may not help either of them personally but one less person they have to keep the secret from is a load off their collective minds.

          Ethan’s big hangup is his sexuality. I get the distinct impression that he’s lived his life assuming that all the bad things in his life have been caused by his sexuality, starting with not being able to date/marry his childhood friend “like you’re supposed to” due to incompatible orientation, and I can only imagine how much shit he catches in the course of a day just for being gay. Joyce, bless her heart, probably did more harm than good trying to “cure” him. Add all this up, and it makes perfect sense how he’d come to resent his sexuality. What he needs, I think, is a relationship where it’s okay for him to be gay, rather than trying to distance himself from it, as an obstacle to happiness or a problem to be fixed.

          Amber… Sweet jesus, that poor girl has more issues than a newsstand. She needs people who love her, who care about her, who will support her; people she can trust not to call the cops on her for being a violent vigilante, basically. More to the point, she needs a relationship where she can be stressed out and having an anxiety attack without the need to don a costume and beat the shit out of people. Right now she’s got two such people; Ethan and Danny.

          Which means that Danny is totally being an asshole right now, which he will hopefully realize when he sobers up.

  55. Idon'tcarenomore

    Easy solution would be for Danny to be Amber’s boyfriend. BUT WAIT, he didn’t want to date Amber so he kicked her to the curb, when she was so depressed she was about suicidal: for his “real gf – AG”, he told her.
    Amber should have told him to take a long walk off a short pier a long time ago.

    Amber does have a very short fuse, she has serious problems. So she took it out on her idiot not-bf. She shouldn’t have, but she did.
    Maybe after a good nights sleep she will decide to kick him to the curb – as A.G. That would be funny/ironic.
    I really doubt it will damage him much. He has Ethan on his ‘mind’.

    No words to describe that grin on Ethan.

    I kinda hope maybe Ruthless is letting her Ruth out. She did seek out Billy in a public setting, and stayed around other people. That could be good.

    1. zach

      I don’t under stand. You think it’s acceptable to people to get angry when they are turned down? AND she was told why she was turned down. It was a totally reasonable reason to avoid a relatioship, and she knew it.

    2. Em

      I…what? He DID want to date Amber until he met Amazi-Girl. After he discovered Amber was Amazi-Girl he wanted to date her, but she said no. She told him that Amber was not somebody he could date. He was only allowed to date Amazi-Girl. Danny should be the one giving her the double guns and telling her get out of his life. She’s being really shitty right now, and Danny is playing into her hands because he really likes her, and is desperately taking whatever he can get. He deserves so much more.

      Also, when was she suicidal? I don’t remember that.

      1. zach

        His rationalizing for not having the nerve to make a move on amber was sound as well. She reminded him of his ex, who he was not over. It would have been a BAD THING TO DO to date Amber.

    3. Cizak

      Have you read the entire strip? As soon as he found out Amber is AG, he suggested “Alright so how about AG dumps me and then I can be together with Amber in public?. But nope, Amber tossed that away with some vauge “That’s not a good idea and don’t question it just trust me” bullshit.
      Really starting to get sick on the hate Danny gets in these comment sections.

    4. Spencer

      “Maybe Amazi-Girl could dump me and I could date Amber.”

  56. podian

    No, Danny, you DON’t want to have this discussion with Amazi-Girl.

    1. BenRG

      Actually, I think that Amazi-Girl is less likely to have a temper-tantrum than Amber. She has more outlets for her negative feelings.

  57. BenRG

    This is actually quite a packed strip!

    Firstly: Danny? That was vile and uncalled for. You know that Amber has identity issues; throwing it in her face in a resentful hissy fit makes you seem small, petty and unpleasant. If she dumps your ass now (making it three for three for you, IIRC) it will be your own dumb fault. Think about that.

    A side note: One of the downsides of the information age is that it is geometrically more difficult to shut down an argument and prevent people saying (or posting) things that they later regret.

    Secondly, Ethan seems to be somewhat invested in Danny and Amber. I wonder why?

    Finally, this could be the start of some kind of renaissance for Ruth. She’s found that being a genuine mentor figure and getting genuine gratitude from the residents of the floor is a positive high that she’d not known about before!

    1. saki

      The first two reasons that come to mind as to why Ethan seems invested in their relationship is that firstly, he cares about Amber and therefore wants her to be happy and therefore wants her relationship to work out, and secondly, because that way he has a good excuse to repress his feelings towards Danny.

      1. Nono

        The Ethan/Danny feelings seem to be mostly one-sided so far; after Danny told Ethan he ‘wasn’t gay’ that seemed to shut any potential stuff Ethan had towards Dan.

        1. saki

          Looking at archives I guess that’s possible since Danny seems to be the only one very clearly troubled by being with Ethan, but then there’s this. I don’t know if I’m reading too much into it because my fangirl-brain can’t help it, but I can’t help but think that’s a sign Ethan’s totally into Danny. And then there’s also the way Ethan seems to be looking at Danny while saying “Everthing” in this epic strip, which I’m pretty sure is about him being gay and having an interest for Danny. But, once again, fangirl brain, so who knows. XD

    2. Pinja

      It was totally called for, Amber isn’t some fucking god, she’s being a disgusting hypocrite.

      1. BenRG

        That’s your viewpoint; Personally, I like her more than everyone in the strip except Joyce.

        1. timemonkey

          Which doesn’t make her right.

        2. BenRG

          I’m not saying she’s right. I’m saying Danny is wrong. The two are not necessarily the same things.

        3. Lord Stoneheart

          The fact that Amber is being hypocritical isn’t really a personal viewpoint. Amber has stated that she’s against drinking because it’s against the law. But she frequently breaks laws when she’s Amazi Girl. It’s hard to maintain a moral high ground while being a vigilante.

        4. Heavensrun

          At least it’s hard to maintain a moral high ground as a vigilante -if- you act like the letter of the law is the core of moral value. If your personal code is about, say, protecting people, or punishing actual objective harm, that’s one thing. But the instant you come at things from a “well, it’s illegal” perspective, you’ve shot yourself in the foot.

        5. Lord Stoneheart

          Ah, I knew I was forgetting to say something in my reply. Thanks Heavensrun.

          As a side note, I might be slightly more sympathetic to Amber, if she gave any reason other than “It’s against the law” in this strip: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/wine/
          That’s the only thing Danny has heard Amber say on the subject. And that statement coming from someone you know is a costumed vigilante (but most the room doesn’t) comes across as hypocritical.

        6. Pinja

          Everything is opinion but my opinion is backed up by the contents of the strip. Any argument she is not being a hypocrite is laughable.

      2. Rutee

        Amber is being a jackass, but this isn’t hypocritical. Both when Sal drank underaged, and Danny did, she has shown she feels it is a bad thing to do. Hypocrisy would be to find it fine when Danny did it, and not fine when Sal did. (Technically, she doesn’t approve of Billie doing it, she just doesn’t beat her down – violence is only appropriate in her vigilante guise)

        She’s not exactly off the hook for it – this is basically taking her Sal-detta out on her boyfriend, which is fucked up. But it’s not hypocrisy.

        1. Lord Stoneheart

          It’s hypocritical because the only reasons that Amber has given Danny for why she’s against drinking is “Its against the law.” Danny knows full well that Amber is willing to break the law in order to have a channel for her negative feelings. So her castigating Danny for getting drunk is indeed hypocritical. She’s angry at him for breaking the law, when she breaks more laws almost every night.

        2. Pinja

          Amber breaks bunches of serious laws being a vigilante. Any one of her numerous counts of assault is about a hundred times more serious than under-age possession of alcohol.

    3. Rutee

      Amber does not have identity issues. She knows perfectly well that she is one person, and that one person is fucked up.

    4. Abomination-Senpai

      I don’t think Danny does know that Amber has real identity issues. The impression I get is that he thinks she’s just taking the super-hero secret-identity thing a bit too seriously – he has no idea that she’s actually mentally ill.

      (Though I haven’t read the Slipshine, so I may have missed something there.)

      1. zach

        Where are you getting that she does in fact have these issues? I keep reading it in this chat-log, but all I see is a persona, not a person. There is only one mind in that body.

        1. Abomination-Senpai

          I don’t think she has full-on Dissociative Identity Disorder, but I think she does separate Amazi-girl and Amber within her own head – they aren’t full-on separate personalities, but she still views them as separate identities.

  58. Arianod

    Geez Ethan, just let it go.

    1. Usayasha

      How could you.

      1. Arianod

        Dude, I can’t even.

  59. Bicycle Bill

    “That doesn’t sound right coming out of me.”

    Always keep ’em guessing, Ruthless.

  60. Torra

    Woohoo, Danny’s standing up for himself! Good. Amber is being wayyy out of line, there’s seriously no need to get *that angry* over a drink. Especially as Danny is far from being drunk or anything,and to get angry because he’s “breaking the law?” c’mon Amber. Amazi-Girl breaks the law pretty much all the time to get what she wants, so you’re being a bit of a hypocrite and a jerk here.

    1. BenRG

      So does Batman and he, from what Ethan said to Danny, is pretty much Amazi-Girl’s role model. “I break the law for the greater good” appears to be the justification.

      Did Amber over-react? Yes, but she has an excuse. Danny no longer has the drunk bubbles so his excuse is weak. This is something to be addressed quietly and calmly, not by shooting emotionally-charged accusations at each other.

      1. Mr. Morningstar

        Okay I think beating the shit out of people in a vigilante rage is nowhere near as justified as someone having some booze before 21.

        1. BenRG

          No, it isn’t when you’ve got Amber’s little menagerie of mental and emotional issues. Danny just went for the jugular in the cruellest way imaginable. It would be like him saying to Dina: “Oh, well you’re too retarded to understand anyway.”

      2. Majere

        I really doubt Batman has a single solitary fuck to give about underage drinking.

        1. BenRG

          Okay, this is feeling disturbingly personal here. What is it about this situation that affects you on such a level? You keep on raving on about underage drinking as if it is a huge, massive flaw on Amber’s part when it is nothing of the sort!

        2. zach

          It is personal. See? I’m a person, you’re probably a person, and here we are talking. The issue is pretending underage drinking is bad. That’s what it is, it’s pretend on Ambers part, and the laws part, as the hope was to curb a behavior that everyone is OK with, or rather expects, in moderation.

          There’s also the oart where you suggest Amber has an excuse. She chose this path of vigilanteism. And strick legalism is illogical.

      3. Rutee

        Batman is a terrible fucking role model in most of his popular depictions. She doesn’t have a god damn excuse for her actions – rage issues are tragic, but they aren’t an excuse.

        1. zach

          This!
          Good god, even Blain has some bullshit backstory, I’m sure.

        2. Majere

          He’s generally pretty good when Dini is writing him.

  61. Rheios

    The shippers read the alt text. AND SO THEY FEEEEEED

    1. Rutee

      If he didn’t want us to ship it, he wouldn’t encourage it.

      1. Rheios

        Didn’t say that he didn’t want you to FEEEEEED. Just that you would.

  62. Coco Pommel

    Wow, Ethan’s face is terrifying on that last panel.

  63. kvfj

    I’m surprised at all the defense of Amber. If anything, Danny’s being nicer than she deserves. There’s so much packaged into her indignation and comment: the implication that she feels comfortable policing his actions, even the most trivial (and taking the moral high ground while doing so!), her hypocrisy regarding the law, the invocation of the dual nature of their relationship which she was the one to try and sever in the first place.

    I think after that, a “you seem to be under the impression that you have any say over whether, what, or how much I drink — allow me to relieve you of that misconception” would be in order.

  64. Bagge

    I’m kinda bothered by Ethan’s emergency injection. People in relationships need to work things out, and he knows perfectly well how much Danny and Amber have to work out. If he doesn’t think they can handle being a bit snippy at each other he really can’t think highly of the health of their relationship.

    …and the reason it bothers me is that he knows Amber better than anyone and Danny as good as any – he is probably a pretty good judge.

    1. BenRG

      Ethan would be right in supposing that there is no evidence currently on the table to suggest either Amber or Danny are mentally and emotionally stable and mature enough to confront this without help and a ‘time-out’ to get them to cool down first.

      The ideal at this point would be for Danny to go off to vent to Joe about his hot-but-crazy GF blowing her top at him over nothing and for Amber to put a rapist in a body cast. Then, after they’ve let off steam for a while, they can talk.

    2. Darkoneko

      Ethan’s panicking because he see his childhood friend and his crush fighting, that’s all.

      1. Bagge

        Good point. Also, the topic of breakups might still be a bit sore to him.

    3. saki

      What BenRG and Darkoneko said, plus, Ethan probably also estimated that in the hallway in front of someone else’s room probably isn’t the best place to get into an argument. Moreso even since it would probably include something about Amazi-girl. This looked like it could get quite heated and it would have been easy to slip up.

    4. timemonkey

      Also, remember, the last time Amber got mad she flipped a table, attacked Sal and put her dad in the hospital. We’d like to think she wouldn’t flip her shit at Danny but she totally would because she has no control.

      1. Bagge

        That’s exactly the kind of stuff that makes me uncomfortable. If Ethan is actually justified in feeling he has to intervene to protect Danny from violence things are really bad.

    5. Spencer

      For their first major argument in their entire relationship, Amber going straight to calling him a “smug ass motherfucker” for invoking rules she herself enforces is super problematic.

      I’m with timemonkey. I think Ethan’s worried Amber might do something violent.

  65. Mr. Morningstar

    honestly, Danny was being a bit of a douche, but Amber is being a wet blanket.

    Like of all the crimes having a bit of beer is hardly the end off the world, maybe it’s just because I’m from Ireland, and we are legal for anything at 18, including alchohol. But Amber kinda is a bit of a party pooper here.

  66. Zaxares

    I can’t decide if Ethan’s awkward grin is cute or creepy. >.>

    1. BenRG

      Why can’t it be both?

  67. Majere

    Oh shut up Amber, you’re a violent vigilante you are the least law-abiding person in any room.

  68. BenRG

    I think that I should say something here because I’ve seen a lot of people getting defensive about underage drinking and totally missing the point. The booze is red herring, people. The point here is that Danny threw Amber’s mental illness in her face as a petty come-back; it was an unjustifiable and childish escalation on Danny’s part that must have hurt Amber deeply.

    It wouldn’t have killed him simply to say: “I’ll bear your feelings in mind in the future” and let it drop. No, he had to have the last word and he had to start dragging unrelated issues into this in an attempt to disparage Amber’s opinion and right to state that opinion to him. It was a very immature act and I wouldn’t be surprised if Amber dumped him over it.

    1. Darkoneko

      “I’ll bear your feelings in mind in the future”
      uh; ok, have you EVER heard a teenager say that ?

      1. BenRG

        No and that’s a point a lot of commentators are missing – He doesn’t get to be a teenager and be too immature to handle an argument with Amber and yet be mature enough to handle strong alcohol. He gets one of the other.

        1. saki

          “Be mature enough to handle strong alcohol”? Dude, it’s not like he went out and bought a dozen bottles of vodka. He added a little of booze in his pop for crying out loud. That has nothing to do with maturity! And anyways, alcohol-responsibility is a completely different type of mature than relationship stuff. You can perfectly be responsible enough to drink however much alcohol you want and at the same time be a complete mess when it comes to relationships.

        2. Comatose

          I’m sorry, what?

          He doesn’t /get/ to because YOU think he doesn’t?
          The two things aren’t even related.

        3. Darkoneko

          It’s not the case for Danny here, but … well, most alcohol bingers don’t exactly strike me as mature either.

          there’s no such thing as “being mature enough for alcohol”.

        4. zach

          Similarly, I’m sure you oppose sex in all settings. I mean it’s dangerous, even asside from the biological posibilities!

          Anthropologicly, alcohol brought us out of the stone age, too.

        5. Narf

          The weirdest part about your stance on this is the fact that none of them were even what you’d call “drunk.” Billie had a flask of liquor with her which got shared amongst multiple people. There’s no way he had more than the equivalent of one or two drinks – which is enough to get someone inexperienced with alcohol a little buzz, but certainly not falling-down drunk. I mean, the lack of the booze-bubbles around his head in this strip suggests that he was able to at least mostly sober up over the course of the running time of Frozen (which IMDB lists as being 1 hour, 42 minutes).

    2. Majere

      No he threw her hypocritical nonsense back in her face. If she doesn’t want to be in a relationship with him as Amber then she doesn’t get to lecture him like a SO when she’s Amber. It’s a bullshit double standard and he has no obligation to accept it or even be nice about it.

    3. saki

      I don’t agree with Danny’s response either, but bear in mind that: 1) Danny’s a bit drunk so not in full possession of his brain-to-mouth-filter 2) He’s probably been growing increasingly frustrated over not being able to openly date Amber, hence this over-reaction and 3) Your average 18 year-old unfortunately does not have that level of maturity.

    4. Rutee

      Amber almost definitely does not have DID. Her mental illness has more to do with her rage issues and her anxiety, neither of which Danny threw in her face.

      1. Fish

        Having issues with rage and anxiety does not make you immune to other mental illnesses too.

        1. zach

          Nore does it grant you the power of flight! Boy, was I disapointed after I came down from that acid trip.

        2. Rutee

          Great. She still doesn’t have DID. Pretty demonstrably, to be perfectly honest with you. Like, wikipedia might be as far behind as my psych courses, so there’s that, but DID pretty explicitly requires a lack of knowledge on the part of her other personalities. Amber uses the knowledge she’s gained as Amazi-girl ALL THE TIME, and the inverse is also true. Even for minor shit like being annoyed that Danny compliments her appearance as AG and not as Amber.

        3. Fish

          http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dissociative-disorders/basics/symptoms/con-20031012

          You are thinking of Dissociative amnesia. She doesn’t have Dissociative amnesia. Dissociative amnesia is not a requirement for Dissociative identity disorder even if it is common.

          Taking a psych course does not make you her doctor. You do not have magic diagnosing powers.

    5. Spencer

      …Seriously? Amber’s the one who’s been pushing for their relationship to stay solely between him and Amazi-Girl. All Danny is saying is that he’s not going to get lectured about it by Amber, who we know he thinks he’s in a relationship in because he tried to get Amazi-Girl to dump him so he could date her.

      There’s a difference between “saying something mean to your girlfriend when she gets uptight about the legal drinking age” and “mocking your mental illness.”

      1. Fish

        Yeah. He’s been remarkably supportive of only dating Amazigirl and not Amber. Amber can’t really have it both ways; either she’s dating him or she isn’t.

    6. timemonkey

      Amber doesn’t have multiple personalities, just just pretends she does because it makes her feel better. And Danny doesn’t know how messed up she is because she doesn’t tell him anything.

      1. Fish

        > Amber doesn’t have multiple personalities, just just pretends she does because it makes her feel better.

        Um… how do you know that? Different personalities are getting tagged separately. That seems pretty canon for them being separate people.

        And, um, people having DID, its generally a coping mechanism to make them feel better. How is this relevant to Amber & Amazi Girl being split up or not?

        1. Lord Stoneheart

          I’ve read about cases of DID. Usually the personalities aren’t aware of each other. If that was the case with Amber, she wouldn’t remember the stuff she did as Amazi Girl. And vice versa. Amber knows full well she’s Amazi Girl. She knows full well why she does what she does. She may have issues regarding feelings of rage, she even might really wish that Amazi Girl was a separate dissociated personality from Amber. But wishing that doesn’t make it true.

        2. Fish

          http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dissociative-disorders/basics/symptoms/con-20031012

          You are thinking of Dissociative amnesia. She doesn’t have Dissociative amnesia. Dissociative amnesia is not a requirement for Dissociative identity disorder even if it is common.

          Yes, the two are correlated. They do not always come together. Congratulations on reading a thing. It does not make you an expert on it.

          Things change. Understanding of illness changes.

        3. Lord Stoneheart

          “Um… how do you know that?” (Regarding Amber having DID)
          and
          “Congratulations on reading a thing. It does not make you an expert on it.”
          I mean I can throw those right back at you. You are armchair diagnosing Amber just as much as anyone else in this thread. And more importantly, Danny has no way of knowing just how separate the personalities are.

        4. Lord Stoneheart

          (Realizes that I’m arguing about the specifics of a psychological disorder that is controversial in its existence, whether it occurs naturally or is produced by the patient due to certain therapy techniques. All on a comment over a day old). Ah, never mind. It doesn’t actually affect the character’s actions in this strip, because there’s so much about Amber’s psychology that Danny doesn’t know.

        5. Gangler

          I mean, right now she’s venting Amazigirl’s issues at Amazigirl’s boyfriend despite the fact that she’s currently Amber and is tagged as such, so that kind of settles it all pretty neatly. If they were entirely separate people we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.

        6. timemonkey

          How do I know that? Because I studied psychology.
          Deliberately compartmentalising yourself is not DiD Amber WANTS to separate aspects of her personality, Amazi-Girl is a coping mechanism, not a genuine personality.

        7. Fish

          http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dissociative-disorders/basics/symptoms/con-20031012

          You are thinking of Dissociative amnesia. She doesn’t have Dissociative amnesia. Dissociative amnesia is not a requirement for Dissociative identity disorder even if it is common.

          You don’t know if she WANTS this or not. Sometimes people have some symptoms but not all symptoms.

    7. Em

      He threw it back in her face? I don’t think Danny is even aware that she has anything except for depression, anxiety, and PTSD. I don’t think that she has multiple personality, because while she tries to separate the two, they are still the same. With multiple personality, each personality is completely different. A lot of people don’t even have the memories of the other personalities. (i am a psych student and have talked to people with this disorder for my classes before)

      Is Danny being a little bongo? Maybe. But when he’s been told by Amber over and over “You aren’t my boyfriend” it’s gotta get tough. Nobody should have to put up with that. Amber needs therapy. She needs to get serious help before being in a relationship with someone.

      1. Fish

        Thank you so much for acknowledging that “a lot” of people, rather than “all”. I really really appreciate it.

  69. Darkoneko

    Panel 4 : too smartarse for er own good.

  70. vanillalatte

    The “real girlfriend” remark is so hurtful, I think. He’s aware she’s emotional vulnerable and uses her alter-ego as a coping mechanism, so to say he PREFERS her in her broken state is kind-of terrible. Regardless of the argument, regardless of whether she’s right, or he’s right, or she’s a hypocrite, or whatever else. He’s, at the very least, supposed to be her friend.

    1. Raewyn

      Oh, it’s totally hurtful. But in Danny’s shoes, I’d feel hurt I can’t be Amber’s boyfriend in public. So I can’t really blame him for being upset over feeling lectured by Amber. I don’t think he’s saying he prefers her in her broken state at all. He just doesn’t want to have this discussion in public with the girl “he’s totally not dating.” Both of them have been hurtful here, neither has expressed how they feel in a healthy way. If they are going to continue the same path with him dating Amazi-Girl, they’re going to have to find ways to manage moments like these.

    2. Erlani

      I don’t think he was saying that he prefers amazi-girl to amber. I think he’s still smarting from the got dumped guy comments.

      He is dating amazi-girl/amber but has to pretend around other people that he and Amber are just friends who know each other from class. To everyone else he’s a guy who got dumped and doesn’t have a girlfriend when really he’s in a happy relationship with an amazing person. Its gotta grate a bit when those around him talk about him in a way that makes him seem a loser Because he got dumped and has no girlfriend and he can’t tell them otherwise.

      I think he’s saying this to amber because he is getting frustrated because he wants to date amber as well as amazi-girl not because he prefers amazi-girl.

    3. Heavensrun

      I believe he’s saying the opposite of that, actually. He wishes that -Amber- was his girlfriend, rather than amazigirl, because right now, he can’t show affection, or have a lover’s spat, or be socially normal with her around other people.

    4. Spencer

      He’s not, actually. He knows she has problems, but he’s unaware of how deep they run.

      If anything, he’s throwing the terms of their relationship (that Amazi-Girl is dating Danny and Amber is just a friend) back at her. He wants to have this argument with his girlfriend, but he can’t.

  71. Gangler

    I kind of figured Amber was only such a stickler for the letter of the law when she’s desperately looking for an excuse to confront Sal.

    1. BenRG

      Here’s the odd thing – Amber may only be making a point of this with Danny because she made a point of it with Sal. No-one ever claimed that she was a complete deck of card when it comes to these things.

      1. Em

        Yep. When she saw Billie drunk after her confrontation with Sal, she freaked out, trying to decide if she should act exactly how she did with Sal. She chose not to, but she might be trying to make up for that by being stern and disapproving instead of violent.

  72. BenRG

    One advantage about having an argument by text is that most touch-screen text entry systems are so slow that it takes a while to enter a really flaming comment. By that point, feelings cools somewhat and you then have a chance to look at the vile screed that you’ve just typed and ask yourself: “Do I really want to send that to someone?”

    1. Sir Robin

      I don’t know, I bet Amber can type pretty fast

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      Actually, thanks to predictive smartphone texting, you can type faster than ever before.

  73. marianne

    Emergency Third Wheel Injection vs. Terrible Lizbians… Fight!

    1. Rutee

      What fight? They’re both fantastic ships… unless you just mean the quality of their names. In which case the latter wins by a landslide, since ‘Emergency Third Wheel Injection’ implies a rather more temporary state of affairs.

      1. marianne

        Oh definitely the quality of the names. “Terrible Lizbians” is about the best thing I’ve heard all fortnight! And a note for Willis, it’s far superior to “Beckasaur” 😀

  74. JBento

    These people are all irrelevant – I want to see DINA’s after-party status.

    Also, go Danny. All bullshit should be called. Call that bullshit, Danny. And Ethan is now both the Joker and the Flash – the man moved so fast he even has motion lines.

    Also 2, you lot should all go read today’s bringbackroomies author commentary. Condol, er, congratulations, Willis.

    1. Bagge

      SQUEEE! That’s the cutest thing EVER.

    2. Spencer

      Congratulations to you, Mr. and Mrs. Willis. I can only imagine how ecstatic you must be, and I wish you both all the best.

  75. Ntrovert60

    Bad thing to say, Danny, even if provoked (and IMO, it was).

    But Amber is no picnic. She is the one who is picking this fight, and while Danny’s response just pours gas on the flame, it is pretty unreasonable to expect him to stay on the good side of the precarious line that Amber/AG’s personality walks at any given moment. Is she worth it? Yes, probably. Does she make for a pretty high-stress relationship? Yes, DEFINITELY.

    1. kvfj

      Why exactly is she worth it? I kind of feel for Danny, he seems to exist to get kicked around. If I were him I’d cut my losses and ditch this awful group of friends/girlfriend.

      1. Rowen Morland

        What, all of them? Just ascend out of the comic (maybe to Harvard much to the disgust of Dorothy who ends up not getting a place)

  76. Jimmy

    I don’t blame Amber for being a little upset, but I also don’t blame Danny for responding as he did. At this point I think Danny’s in a catch-22 no matter what he does (at least when it comes to the commenters who don’t like him).

  77. m2iCodeJockey

    So… Joyce will now be know as “the girl who threw a party that turned into a drunken lesbian love-fest.”

    Also, “Got-dumped Guy” is working up one massive slice of angry sex there…

  78. hof1991

    If Danny were discussing this “crime” with AmaziGirl, she might tie him up with ropes. That worked well for him last time. Amber is more concerned with obeying the law ,while AG is more concerned with dealing out punishment.

  79. Superdud

    Sounds like there’s some trouble in paradise!

    And really, I’m completely flustered how Amber can make a big deal out of this. Am I missing something? Is she a devout teetotaller?

    1. Nono

      Maybe she just doesn’t like people close to her to drink. I mean personally if people want to smoke that’s their thing, but I wouldn’t really want to date someone who did.

      We’ll just see if Ethan eventually gets some backlash about drinking as well.

    2. thejeff

      Partly, Amazi-Girl used it as an excuse to attack Sal, so she feels she has to be consistent about opposing underage drinking. Not to the point of beating Danny up, especially since this is Amber, not Amazi-Girl, but she has to disapprove.

      How much that’s conscious, I don’t know.

      1. Lukas

        I actually think it’s because her father drinks.

        1. Narf

          Where are you getting this information from? There has been nothing so far to suggest that Blaine is/was a drunk.

        2. Lord Stoneheart

          I’m incredibly confused as to how this idea that Blaine is an alcoholic has popped up. There’s nothing in the comic to support it. I think one person wondered out loud if it was the case, and now people are just running with it being canon.

  80. Deanatay

    “Yer… Welk… omb”? Weird. I can’t figure out how to turn these words into a put down or a snide critique. I feel… strangely vulnerable.”

    1. Heavensrun

      Nice grav. ;p

  81. Red Chase

    The thing is, how it was explained to me is that the drinking age is 21 because they don’t want people under 18 drinking. There’s a gap in the age of drinkers (21 year olds buy for 18 year olds). If the legal drinking age is 18, high school 12th graders can buy alcohol for high schoolers as young as 14, and maybe even middle schoolers. This way, only college students and above can easily get alcohol, and there are a lot fewer accidents. A while back they tried changing the drinking age to 18 and there were tons more car accidents and similar due to drinking.
    So the actual law is pretty arbitrary.

  82. Sigurther

    Isn’t it only purchasing or posession that’s illegal? Granted, “no drinking” may be some campus rule, but campus rules aren’t laws, they’ll only get you kicked off campus if broken.

    1. Lord Stoneheart

      Nope! This actually came up in the comic too. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/theplural/
      Dorothy is absolutely correct in the linked strip. Consuming alcohol in the U.S. under the age of 21 is illegal.

      1. John

        It’s state-dependent. But, yeah, in Indiana, Dorothy is correct.

  83. JessWitt

    Could Amber’s anger at Danny be due to her guilt over letting date rapist Ryan slip away? Yes, Joyce does not drink alcohol at all, but date-rape is typically associated with alcoholic beverages, so maybe it’s the associations between the two? Just a wild theory, is all.

  84. Spencer

    I’m glad Danny’s actually arguing about this instead of just kowtowing to Amber’s wishes. I don’t drink but you have to be kind of a prick to get uppity about it.

  85. Narf

    It is pretty ridiculous to go around committing all kinds of crimes that have actual victims, then get angry with someone you’re close to when they commit a crime that is actually, genuinely victimless.

    Forget about Amazi-Girl “doing good,” okay, seriously forget about it. When you strip the glamorous, comic-book veneer off what she’s doing, you’re left with the reality that she goes out night after night in disguise and commits serious crimes. If she were apprehended by law enforcement, she would go to fucking jail, and rightly so.

    Amber clearly has mental health issues, but that doesn’t give her a free pass to do anything she wants. Danny could probably have been more diplomatic about his response there, but there are many factors working against this. For example:

    1) Amber is getting angry with him because of things that Amazi-Girl finds unacceptable about his behaviour, when in the past, Amber has clearly stated that Amber and Amazi-Girl need to be treated as two different people. He’s not dating Amber, he’s dating Amazi-Girl – this is something that AMBER HERSELF insisted very strongly upon, and is now ignoring.

    2) Danny’s probably feeling tired and headachey from those several drinks. He’s young, and unused to consuming alcohol (one can reasonably assume this), and while calling him hung-over wouldn’t be exactly accurate, he’s probably not feeling physically 100% right now. Probably a little short tempered. Sure, he COULD have been more diplomatic, but that’s like saying Amber could be more consistent in both her morality and her stance on the whole dual persona thing. Yes, but, reasons.

    3) Danny is EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD. He’s not perfect, he’s barely even an adult. They’re all teenagers! Teenagers don’t always react to things in the ways they should. In fact, they frequently react in the worst ways possible.

    —–

    TL;DR: Danny could maybe have been nicer about it but Amber’s response to this situation is really fucked up and she has no moral ground to stand on here.

    1. Spencer

      I figured out why this bothered me: Amber is being Roomies Danny right now!

      1. Narf

        Holy crap, you’re kind of right. That’s disturbing. :O

      2. Rowen Morland

        Cue another dream sequence with Amazi-girl where her mask comes off and it is Roomies Danny. And then it goes to Slipshine.

    2. Pinja

      Thanks for putting this into words.

      I’d like to really underscore that Amber has issues but that’s it. She for sure doesn’t have a mental illness, at least not in the way that offers her any culpability for her actions or that doesn’t also effect massive swathes of the population who also don’t go around committing multiple rounds of assault and battery.

      If she was that irrational that she could have mental illness as an excuse for her actions Danny and Ethan should report her to the police before she actually hurts someone.

      As for Danny’s hurtful insult: Yeah it was hurtful, that’s the point of an insult. It wasn’t carefully formulated over several hours for maximum pain, it was just shot out and something we all do from time to time. It sure as hell was provoked and it wasn’t over the line.

      1. Narf

        You’re welcome!

        I don’t personally feel comfortable with calling Amber’s issues mental illness/not-mental illness because I don’t feel like anyone with the possible exception of Mr. Willis knows enough on that subject to say for sure – and see, here’s the real kicker: if she DOES have an actual mental illness, even she might not fully realize it, and her friends certainly don’t, and even given all that, it still doesn’t excuse what she’s doing. She ought to seek professional help, though, because the way she has been handling it to this point is extremely unhealthy.

        Danny and Ethan, and even Dorothy, in their positions of knowing about the things she does and allowing her to continue to do them, aren’t doing her any favours. Especially Danny, because he knows how far she can take and has taken this superhero act before. Noone would deny that Blaine certainly had SOMETHING coming to him, but holy shit, that’s serious shit! She put him in the hospital.

        This is getting long again.

        TL;DR, Amber may or may not have a classifiable mental illness, and it’s largely irrelevant to the situation at hand because there’s tons of reasons why what she’s doing is dangerous and unhealthy and noone who knows she does this is doing her a favour by staying silent about it.

        1. Edupoet81

          Gragh, I wrote a whole thing here, then accidentally navigated away from it and lost everything, because I’m dumb.
          I basically said that I’m not actually qualified to diagnose anyone with everything. IMHO, Amber could possibly have PTSD, maybe Complex PTSD as a result of the years of abuse at the hands of her father in addition to the convenience store incident.
          I’m too lazy to hunt down the exact comic right now, but I believe that it was some time during the Whiteboard Ding-dong Bandit arc that Ethan told Danny about what happened at that convenience store. I seem to recall him telling Danny that most people wanted to put Amber in therapy after that happened, but her father refused, instead signing her up for self-defense classes.
          Amber is an intelligent, competent character. I like to think most people here are aware that being intelligent and competent in no way precludes having a mental health condition. Amber would benefit from professional help.
          In terms of the argument, yyyeahhh, neither one of them handled things particularly well. I don’t have the best track record regarding relationships myself, so perhaps I should refrain from judgement.
          As is the case with many arguments, there is no clear right or wrong here.

        2. Narf

          I think some flavour of PTSD would probably be a fair guess, if we had to put a name to her problems (although like you, I am not qualified to diagnose mental health issues). I recall the comic you’re referencing, for sure.

          “There is no clear right or wrong here,” is something to keep in mind, though, most definitely. There are too many things going on and noone is doing a very good job with it right now.

        3. CJ

          I don’t blame her for putting her so-called father in hospital. It might be the only way to make him back off. He came to her dorm even though he wasn’t allowed in if I remember correctly. Ruth was about to warn or even help her when she realized he was about. Putting him in jail might take to long for Amber to survive.
          Most of her other Amazi-Girl actions are doubtful; very much like any other superhero’s.
          Her and Ruth are actually interesting characters *because* they act out in ways that we shouldn’t accept in real people. As characters in a story, they a wonderful and they mirror each other.

        4. CJ

          Darn, this avatar again 🙁

  86. Victor Riley

    Wait… Joe is a superhero, too? Captain Emergency Third Wheel?

  87. Victor Riley

    Oh, sorry, that’s Ethan, not Joe.

  88. Marvelman

    Sorry, but isn’t Amber breaking the law as Amazi-Girl. I mean… isn’t going around beating up people for vandalism illegal?

  89. Marvelman

    Oh wait, somebody already made that point. Sorry.

    1. Narf

      Please, feel free to make it again. It’s a really important point that should be more evident than it apparently is.

  90. feli

    Am I the only one thinking Dannys response with “actual girlfriend” was really hurtful? HE knows they are the same person, so even if noone else knows, Amber is kinda his girlfriend.

    1. timemonkey

      Except AMBER insists that they’re separate. She can’t insist one way and then have it the other way when it suits her.

    2. thejeff

      Except that’s her decision. She’s made it clear in the past that he’s dating Amazi-girl not Amber. She doesn’t get to have it one way when she wants, but the other way when she wants it that way.

  91. Edupoet81

    Heh, Ethan’s attempt to intervene in that last panel. He would have had been more successful if he had just started making out with Danny in front of Amber. That may at least have distracted them enough to make them forget what they were arguing about.

    ….

    Okay, I doubt that’s happening at this point in the story. I wouldn’t object to seeing some fan art of that, though.

    1. Em

      She would have murdered both of them so hard. But hey, at least their lives would’ve ended on a pleasant note.

  92. Tenn

    Oh, it’s one of those days when half the readership struggle with theory of mind and pull character motivations out of their asses. Hooray.

  93. Spencer

    I can’t process a comment section where Danny is inconveniencing Amber and the overwhelming response is “Danny’s right.” It’s uncanny. Everything feels wrong.

    Somebody blame him for something completely irrelevant before I freak out!

    1. saki

      How DARE Danny have Ethan’s hand on his shoulder! UNACCEPTABLE!!

      Better? :3

    2. Tenn

      It is a well known fact that Danny caused the Permian-Triassic extinction event.

  94. tim gueguen

    Are we sure Amber’s actions are totally illegal? It may be that we haven’t met her Commissioner Gordon yet.

    1. saki

      Maybe Ethan can be her commissioner? OR or or! Dorothy! 😀

    2. Spencer

      So far her crimes include:

      – Vigilantism

      – Theft

      – Destruction of public property

      – Assault

      – Breaking and entering

      – Unlawful restraint

      And probably a whole lot more I can’t recall at the moment.

    3. Gangler

      Commissioner Gordon doesn’t actually legalize Batman’s actions so much as he just sort of turns a blind eye to Batman’s illegal actions.

      Even if there was some hypothetical cop who Amber had a rapport with it wouldn’t really have any bearing on the situation here.

  95. Jason

    It’s interesting to me that when comic characters have an argument where both have reasons for reacting the way they do (much in the way people do), readers tend to very much go to one side or the other. One person is right and the other is wrong. People are saying Danny is wrong for drinking around Amber (ignoring that he had no information on her feelings specifically towards underage drinking), or drinking at Joyce’s party (who he knows almost nothing about, so same again), or for what he’s saying (even though Amber has made it very clear that he really is AG’s boyfriend and not hers).
    Likewise, people are saying Amber’s wrong for reacting to underage drinking (ignoring that her attack on Sal is NOT the only time we’ve seen her react to it), that she has no right to be upset at him wanting to talk to AG about it (seriously, those lines must be very hard to keep unblurred), and that she had no right to be upset at him drinking at all (speaking as a teetotaller, having your partner drink when you trusted them not to- even if they didn’t know that- is very upsetting.)
    Both of them are reacting emotionally, both of them have perfectly valid reasons to feel and react as they do, and neither of them fully comprehend why the other feels as they do partly because they’re lacking all the information, partly because they’re being emotional and that inhibits communication, and partly because couples cannot read each other’s minds.

    Why do readers feel the need to vilify one party and raise the other above blame? Most arguments with most couples are not like that. They are misunderstandings, miscommunications, or emotions taking over; or a combination of the above. And in the hands of a skilled writer, many arguments in fiction will be the same. There is no villain here.

    1. thejeff

      Has she reacted badly to underage drinking, before her attack on Sal & Co.? I don’t recall any of AG’s busts being for just drinking. Haven’t gone back to check, so I could be wrong.

      Amber is shown helping a very drunk Billie right after the incident with Sal, where she decides that Amber doesn’t have to be consistent. She’s not happy about it then, but that’s also just after she used it to justify the attempted fight with Sal.

      1. saki

        Hm, the only other alcohol-related instance of Amazigirl intervening I recall is when she told some guy off about walking around with an open can of beer on the grounds that it was a dry campus.

    2. Pinja

      “Why do readers feel the need to vilify one party and raise the other above blame?”

      Because Danny’s side is way, waaaay stronger than Ambers.

  96. Tenn

    When I saw this tweet, my first thought was “Willis is reproducing?”. My second thought was “Nah, too obvious, he might as well have said it outright.”

    And now it turns out it’s not just totally a baby, it’s totally babies, which is totally not babies, especially not McIntyre! Congratulations! 😀

  97. Sam

    Love how Danny pulled “AmaziGirl is the GF, not Amber” card.

  98. Ragingagnostic

    I’m fairly certain it’s “fifth wheel”.

  99. Kaunisenkeli

    Ethan’s face in the last panel is creeping me out… o-o

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