“oh, and my butthole dad, but he’s never coming back”
Reltzik
“Oh, and Rapey McRapeRape here, who isn’t going to be coming back either.”
Blackbird
“And this girl, Amber O’Malley. I kind of hate that bongo.”
(I’ve mentioned before in the comments that coincidentally my name is Amber O’Malley, so I wanted to hit that particular Amazi-Girl archrival before somebody else made me feel bad. 🙂 )
djaevlenselv
Did you somehow manage to choose that avatar yourself? Because I have a hard time believing that was a coincidence.
a snow ʍousɐ
Pretty sure that’s a gravatar. That is, they chose their own avatar and it’s tied to their username
Silvester Crow
The system is broken, I chose Walky for mine. Everywhere else it’s Walky… Here, it isn’t. I broke the system, please don’t hit me Amazi-girl.
Disloyal Subject
That’s a chosen gravatar, cropped straight from a comic. The random ones are most easily distinguished by their background closely matching the site’s.
THAT MAKES NO FUCKING SENCE!!!!! in the flashback panels we see amber was clearly affected by sals robbery attempt (and blains assholeness, though that’s a given.) so if sal herself isn’t what drives her to see her as an enemy even to the point of breaking up with her boyfriend because of them being with in ten feet of each other, what is it? If the ptsd followed by being “concluded” by her ass-hat father isn’t ambers problem, it better be something way FUCKING better than that.
She hates herself for being in the position she was in. She blames herself for Ethan having been taken hostage. The reason she pursues Sal so much is because she wants to fight Sal head-on to make up for her past. Sal herself isn’t the problem – she merely represents Amber’s perceived weakness.
TheAnonymousGuy
I’ve read some other comments and conversations and I’m honestly hoping that’s what he’s aiming at.
Carriethedragon
I definitely agree that what Willis is driving at here is that Amber blames herself. I don’t think she blames Ethan at all, though.
Reltzik
I’m starting to think that Amber actually hates HERSELF for giving into her rage and stabbing Sal’s hand. That was a Blaine-thing to do, not a…. dammit, what was her name? Not an Amber’s-Mom thing to do. Amber cannot express rage in a manner that isn’t a threat to everyone around her. That’s what Amazi-girl is for. Amazi-girl can be angry without being a berserk maniac.
Sal is the constant reminder of Amber’s failure in this regard, the recurring and inescapable proof that Amber is a dangerous woman if enraged. Amber’s inability to process Sal’s presence with anything short of crippling fear — both of Sal and herself — is why Amazi-girl is needed.
Amazi-girl hates Amber. So does Amber. This they agree on.
TheAnonymousGuy
By any chance could it be possible that she hates the system that allowed the both of them to wind up the way they did. (Just food for thought. little thought experiment)
That might be a more mature response. Or at least less self-destructive.
Deanatay
I think that’s more of a thing Sal would hate. She’s definitely the ‘fuck the system’ type. Amber, OTOH, needs the system for stability, and AG (despite the whole vigilante thing) seems to get along with the system quite well – even the cops seem to like her, even though they shouldn’t.
Needfuldoer
Amber hates the parts of herself that she inherited from her father.
qlx
Hence why it pisses her off / scares her that Sal saved her while she was Amazi-girl– because that implies that (1) Amazi-girl being the ‘healthy’ outlet for her anger is not actually that healthy, since it puts her in extreme danger (2) She can’t run from her past and what it means for her present (which Sal represents those problems and fears for her) because it will always show up and (3) She can’t battle her demons successfully alone; she doesn’t want to need other people, but she DOES.
dunedon
This exactly … Amber can’t harm anyone, and she’s channeled all the rage Amber felt at Sal into amazi-girl, who doesn’t have that filter. Since she’s still conflicted as to who she really is, this can be taken two ways … 1) Amber hates herself, because of what she did … And 2) Amazing-girl can never hate Sal, without her she wouldn’t exist.
My guess is that Amber doesn’t hate Sal. She dislikes her. She associates her with fear and trauma. But I think she has a weird sense of obligation to and respect for Sal. The convenience store robbery was the first time she stood up to anyone -to Sal, to her father, and to herself -all at once. If I’m remembering right, she learned self-defense after that incident -and I’m guessing it was self-defense that eventually led her to track and field, which got her out of her shell and into shape. So if I’m reading her right, there’s this weird bit of dark gratitude, because although Sal terrified her and hurt Ethan, Amber’s only friend, Sal was responsible for Amber breaking through her own shells and proving that she could stand up for herself and act on her own. She’s been following Sal to get her measure and out of a sense of distrust -and trying to get rid of her respect for the “hooligan who held up a convenience store and took my friend hostage” with proof that Sal’s not actually good. Everything Sal does wrong lessens Amber’s debt. Fighting her and proving herself stronger would be a “student has become the master” moment for her -she would finally be demonstrably stronger than the person who finally pushed her over the edge and onto this path. But every time Sal saves her, Amber feels more trapped in her own head and by her reality (like she’s not actually that strong after all), feels more obligated to her, feels more confused (since Sal isn’t supposed to be a good-aligned character). And the hate isn’t for Sal; it’s for Blaine (for obvious reasons) and herself: for being like Blaine, for having anger issues, for not being able to control parts of herself, for needing to be AG, for needing to be saved, for not being who and where she desperately wants to be.
miados
thank you for having a conversation with me yesterday. I am a bit out of practice in having long ones. especially about things that matter.
It was honestly my pleasure. Your ….I don’t know the word for “speech patterns of typing”, but whatever it is, you have one that reminds me of a few very dear friends of mine who are always a delight to chat with, most of whom have been too busy to talk much lately. Furthermore, you seem like an interesting sort of person in your own right, and I like hearing about people’s dreams and plans and the insides of their heads. You’re also somewhat ahead of me in life (I refer most particularly to the sense of progression along the self-sufficiency ladder) and I am curious about the sorts of things people do as they move along that, having not yet had to handle much of it myself, but drawing closer to the stage where I need to.
My regards and well-wishes to you and your friend who has been having the health troubles. (I hope you don’t find it creepy that I mentioned that -I keep notes of important things to remember near my computer -upcoming birthdays/anniversaries/tests, etc. and one of the things I try (with varying degrees of success -I’m bad at communication) is to keep a list of people (especially those with whom I primarily or exclusively communicate online) who have mentioned unwellness -either their own, or that of someone they care about, as a reminder in case there is any way I can help or in the event that the person I interact with wants to talk about it, and, well, last night I added your friend to the list. If you object, I will of course remove you and them.)
miados
everyone has their things though right? I mean I clicked on your profile here thinking i might find a tumblr i could send you a message on, but that was not the case. There were multiple names there and as i wasn’t sure which was you I wouldn’t have taken a chance on that.
as for dreams right now my dream is to move out on my own and have a stable life.
beyond that maybe publish a book. I have been paid by individuals to write for them. I just wish that it would be something beyond pron that i was commissioned to write.
ety
I realize it’s not really my place to insert myself here, but if either of you feel like chatting with me, please feel free to get in touch:
“spam [dot] mee [dot] herere [at] gmail [dot] com”
I might take you up on that. Well… I think I might like to take you up on that, but I am unsure of precisely the etiquette involved. (I have minimal social awareness, so I kinda try to overcompensate)
ety
Just send me an email and make sure I recognize something. ^_^
ety
like “hey, it’s silamy”
and I’ll be like “hey, here’s my real email. what’s up?”
True enough. I don’t tumbl, really -one of these days, I’ll update the link to something that’s me. I was webmaster for the link I use when I first commented on this site; while that was a few years ago and I’m no longer directly affiliated with the organization, I still check in on them and promote them when I can. There’s also an element of “that was the first thing I did that really made an impact, even though it was a small one”, and I like the reminder -I put a lot of work in, and have a lot of good memories, and… yeah…
Makes sense. That’s a someday-goal for me -I’m working on stable headspace and degree at the moment -actual real-world-ing is too far in the future right now.
You write well enough for commissions?! Holy carp, that’s AWESOME! I wish I could write that well -anything I might recognize?
miados
no it was for individuals not anything published
a snow ʍousɐ
@Silamy’s first paragraph: Diction? I mean, I know it’s not specific to typing, but other than that, that seems to be the idea you’re getting at.
Kinda? I know there’s a specific word I’m thinking of here -my friends who were crazy into Homestuck had one they used to use all the time that meant something like type-quirk?
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Still want Sal to make Thulsa Doom’s “I Made You” speech.
(movie version)
Tan
This is unrelated to this post, but I just wanted to check that you saw that Willis tumbled a large version of the previous strip’s final panel
She had severe crippling social anxiety, Ethan was her social lifejacket.
Sal took and and threatened him, traumatizing her.
Then there was rapid de-escalation. Amber might have enough natural resilience to bounce back, given a comfort and safety.
Then Blaine publicly ridiculed her helplessness while she was basically in a panic attack pouring salt in the wound ( or gasoline on the fire, instead of water ) . This turned Ambers de-escating panic attack into a Full blown rage attack. She *ALWAYS* had the strength , her anxiety turned it inward against her. In rage she grabbed the knife and Blindly attacked Sal, losing all control. Becoming the daughter Blaine wanted. This probably added self-fear, fear of losing control, self-disgust and guilt to her prior feelings ( becuse she was the one who attacked Sal without Cause ) .
Her feelings toward Sal are complicated, and rapidly changing.
She took her off her permanent enemies list when she realized the racist Zimmermaning implications .
Amazigirl can ( usually ) safely channel Ambers terror, trauma and blind rage and calmly direct it outward to people who she thinks deserves it.
Joyce later joins the team when she hears about them planning to take out some people protesting for traditional marriage. Sal begrudgingly lets her join the braiding party.
Faz does not hate Faz. And Faz is certain Faz will soon make the world love Faz. Especially the ladies.
Seerow
Faz has charts indicating the adoption rate of the ladies attraction to Faz, and some labeled diagrams right over here showing how they will express their adoration.
Cholma
Faz has a chart that proves his conclusions.
(((Mkvenner)))
Actually those charts are the changes of grain prices in the 14th century and the GDP of Europe in the 18th century.
Emperor Norton II
Exactly.
Those charts makes it obvious that the world (especially the ladies) loves Faz. I’m not sure how you can’t see that.
He, of course, meant Amazi-girl became Sal’s sidekick.
Fart Captor
Its quite clear which of them is more Batman here. AG nailed ”insisting you didn’t need help rather than expressing gratitude”, but Sal aced the ”you don’t know what you’re doing / don’t rush in half-cocked” speech, AND ”looking cooler than anybody you team up with”. Plus two ”save the day out of nowhere and be kinda grumpy about it”-s
In this alternate universe, criticism is actually her kryptonite, but instead of sapping away powers and strength it saps away tranquility
and the ability to resist the urge to commit homicide
327 thoughts on “Tuck and roll”
Ana Chronistic
“c’mon I need a rival for business purposes, stop trying to be all non-conflict and shit”
Kris
“The only other real enemy I have is the ding dong bandit and I’m kind of doing all this for her sooo”
Uncertainty Moth
Y’all have great avatars for this convo
butts
“oh, and my butthole dad, but he’s never coming back”
Reltzik
“Oh, and Rapey McRapeRape here, who isn’t going to be coming back either.”
Blackbird
“And this girl, Amber O’Malley. I kind of hate that bongo.”
(I’ve mentioned before in the comments that coincidentally my name is Amber O’Malley, so I wanted to hit that particular Amazi-Girl archrival before somebody else made me feel bad. 🙂 )
djaevlenselv
Did you somehow manage to choose that avatar yourself? Because I have a hard time believing that was a coincidence.
a snow ʍousɐ
Pretty sure that’s a gravatar. That is, they chose their own avatar and it’s tied to their username
Silvester Crow
The system is broken, I chose Walky for mine. Everywhere else it’s Walky… Here, it isn’t. I broke the system, please don’t hit me Amazi-girl.
Disloyal Subject
That’s a chosen gravatar, cropped straight from a comic. The random ones are most easily distinguished by their background closely matching the site’s.
Sam
Also, “dingdong bandit” is embarrassing. I need a better named villain. I choose you!!!
Taigan
“I don’t hate you, Cardassian. I hate what I became because of you.”
Guairdean Beatha
You may be very near the truth.
miados
best time to work on your feelings. when you are beating up villians.
Wheelpath
Yeah, who knew that to resolve personal conflict you just had to beat up some privledged jerk wads
Fart Captor
Yes, unless there’s some kind of doomsday device nearby that needs to be stopped from blowing the world up.
TheAnonymousGuy
THAT MAKES NO FUCKING SENCE!!!!! in the flashback panels we see amber was clearly affected by sals robbery attempt (and blains assholeness, though that’s a given.) so if sal herself isn’t what drives her to see her as an enemy even to the point of breaking up with her boyfriend because of them being with in ten feet of each other, what is it? If the ptsd followed by being “concluded” by her ass-hat father isn’t ambers problem, it better be something way FUCKING better than that.
Morn
She hates herself for being in the position she was in. She blames herself for Ethan having been taken hostage. The reason she pursues Sal so much is because she wants to fight Sal head-on to make up for her past. Sal herself isn’t the problem – she merely represents Amber’s perceived weakness.
TheAnonymousGuy
I’ve read some other comments and conversations and I’m honestly hoping that’s what he’s aiming at.
Carriethedragon
I definitely agree that what Willis is driving at here is that Amber blames herself. I don’t think she blames Ethan at all, though.
Reltzik
I’m starting to think that Amber actually hates HERSELF for giving into her rage and stabbing Sal’s hand. That was a Blaine-thing to do, not a…. dammit, what was her name? Not an Amber’s-Mom thing to do. Amber cannot express rage in a manner that isn’t a threat to everyone around her. That’s what Amazi-girl is for. Amazi-girl can be angry without being a berserk maniac.
Sal is the constant reminder of Amber’s failure in this regard, the recurring and inescapable proof that Amber is a dangerous woman if enraged. Amber’s inability to process Sal’s presence with anything short of crippling fear — both of Sal and herself — is why Amazi-girl is needed.
Amazi-girl hates Amber. So does Amber. This they agree on.
TheAnonymousGuy
By any chance could it be possible that she hates the system that allowed the both of them to wind up the way they did. (Just food for thought. little thought experiment)
Historyman68
That might be a more mature response. Or at least less self-destructive.
Deanatay
I think that’s more of a thing Sal would hate. She’s definitely the ‘fuck the system’ type. Amber, OTOH, needs the system for stability, and AG (despite the whole vigilante thing) seems to get along with the system quite well – even the cops seem to like her, even though they shouldn’t.
Needfuldoer
Amber hates the parts of herself that she inherited from her father.
qlx
Hence why it pisses her off / scares her that Sal saved her while she was Amazi-girl– because that implies that (1) Amazi-girl being the ‘healthy’ outlet for her anger is not actually that healthy, since it puts her in extreme danger (2) She can’t run from her past and what it means for her present (which Sal represents those problems and fears for her) because it will always show up and (3) She can’t battle her demons successfully alone; she doesn’t want to need other people, but she DOES.
dunedon
This exactly … Amber can’t harm anyone, and she’s channeled all the rage Amber felt at Sal into amazi-girl, who doesn’t have that filter. Since she’s still conflicted as to who she really is, this can be taken two ways … 1) Amber hates herself, because of what she did … And 2) Amazing-girl can never hate Sal, without her she wouldn’t exist.
Silamy
My guess is that Amber doesn’t hate Sal. She dislikes her. She associates her with fear and trauma. But I think she has a weird sense of obligation to and respect for Sal. The convenience store robbery was the first time she stood up to anyone -to Sal, to her father, and to herself -all at once. If I’m remembering right, she learned self-defense after that incident -and I’m guessing it was self-defense that eventually led her to track and field, which got her out of her shell and into shape. So if I’m reading her right, there’s this weird bit of dark gratitude, because although Sal terrified her and hurt Ethan, Amber’s only friend, Sal was responsible for Amber breaking through her own shells and proving that she could stand up for herself and act on her own. She’s been following Sal to get her measure and out of a sense of distrust -and trying to get rid of her respect for the “hooligan who held up a convenience store and took my friend hostage” with proof that Sal’s not actually good. Everything Sal does wrong lessens Amber’s debt. Fighting her and proving herself stronger would be a “student has become the master” moment for her -she would finally be demonstrably stronger than the person who finally pushed her over the edge and onto this path. But every time Sal saves her, Amber feels more trapped in her own head and by her reality (like she’s not actually that strong after all), feels more obligated to her, feels more confused (since Sal isn’t supposed to be a good-aligned character). And the hate isn’t for Sal; it’s for Blaine (for obvious reasons) and herself: for being like Blaine, for having anger issues, for not being able to control parts of herself, for needing to be AG, for needing to be saved, for not being who and where she desperately wants to be.
miados
thank you for having a conversation with me yesterday. I am a bit out of practice in having long ones. especially about things that matter.
Silamy
It was honestly my pleasure. Your ….I don’t know the word for “speech patterns of typing”, but whatever it is, you have one that reminds me of a few very dear friends of mine who are always a delight to chat with, most of whom have been too busy to talk much lately. Furthermore, you seem like an interesting sort of person in your own right, and I like hearing about people’s dreams and plans and the insides of their heads. You’re also somewhat ahead of me in life (I refer most particularly to the sense of progression along the self-sufficiency ladder) and I am curious about the sorts of things people do as they move along that, having not yet had to handle much of it myself, but drawing closer to the stage where I need to.
My regards and well-wishes to you and your friend who has been having the health troubles. (I hope you don’t find it creepy that I mentioned that -I keep notes of important things to remember near my computer -upcoming birthdays/anniversaries/tests, etc. and one of the things I try (with varying degrees of success -I’m bad at communication) is to keep a list of people (especially those with whom I primarily or exclusively communicate online) who have mentioned unwellness -either their own, or that of someone they care about, as a reminder in case there is any way I can help or in the event that the person I interact with wants to talk about it, and, well, last night I added your friend to the list. If you object, I will of course remove you and them.)
miados
everyone has their things though right? I mean I clicked on your profile here thinking i might find a tumblr i could send you a message on, but that was not the case. There were multiple names there and as i wasn’t sure which was you I wouldn’t have taken a chance on that.
as for dreams right now my dream is to move out on my own and have a stable life.
beyond that maybe publish a book. I have been paid by individuals to write for them. I just wish that it would be something beyond pron that i was commissioned to write.
ety
I realize it’s not really my place to insert myself here, but if either of you feel like chatting with me, please feel free to get in touch:
“spam [dot] mee [dot] herere [at] gmail [dot] com”
Silamy
I might take you up on that. Well… I think I might like to take you up on that, but I am unsure of precisely the etiquette involved. (I have minimal social awareness, so I kinda try to overcompensate)
ety
Just send me an email and make sure I recognize something. ^_^
ety
like “hey, it’s silamy”
and I’ll be like “hey, here’s my real email. what’s up?”
Silamy
True enough. I don’t tumbl, really -one of these days, I’ll update the link to something that’s me. I was webmaster for the link I use when I first commented on this site; while that was a few years ago and I’m no longer directly affiliated with the organization, I still check in on them and promote them when I can. There’s also an element of “that was the first thing I did that really made an impact, even though it was a small one”, and I like the reminder -I put a lot of work in, and have a lot of good memories, and… yeah…
Makes sense. That’s a someday-goal for me -I’m working on stable headspace and degree at the moment -actual real-world-ing is too far in the future right now.
You write well enough for commissions?! Holy carp, that’s AWESOME! I wish I could write that well -anything I might recognize?
miados
no it was for individuals not anything published
a snow ʍousɐ
@Silamy’s first paragraph: Diction? I mean, I know it’s not specific to typing, but other than that, that seems to be the idea you’re getting at.
Silamy
Kinda? I know there’s a specific word I’m thinking of here -my friends who were crazy into Homestuck had one they used to use all the time that meant something like type-quirk?
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Still want Sal to make Thulsa Doom’s “I Made You” speech.
(movie version)
Tan
This is unrelated to this post, but I just wanted to check that you saw that Willis tumbled a large version of the previous strip’s final panel
http://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/post/150317069047/i-am-sure-i-am-not-the-first-but-in-case-i-am
Since you’d been asking about it yesterday and it’s hard to know if you saw it before the comments section ‘moved on’ to the next day.
Adam Black
She had severe crippling social anxiety, Ethan was her social lifejacket.
Sal took and and threatened him, traumatizing her.
Then there was rapid de-escalation. Amber might have enough natural resilience to bounce back, given a comfort and safety.
Then Blaine publicly ridiculed her helplessness while she was basically in a panic attack pouring salt in the wound ( or gasoline on the fire, instead of water ) . This turned Ambers de-escating panic attack into a Full blown rage attack. She *ALWAYS* had the strength , her anxiety turned it inward against her. In rage she grabbed the knife and Blindly attacked Sal, losing all control. Becoming the daughter Blaine wanted. This probably added self-fear, fear of losing control, self-disgust and guilt to her prior feelings ( becuse she was the one who attacked Sal without Cause ) .
Her feelings toward Sal are complicated, and rapidly changing.
She took her off her permanent enemies list when she realized the racist Zimmermaning implications .
Amazigirl can ( usually ) safely channel Ambers terror, trauma and blind rage and calmly direct it outward to people who she thinks deserves it.
AnvilPro
It’s so nice to see them talking
inqntrol
Yeah they are making progress.
Doctor_Who
This is therapeutic. Next they will braid each other’s hair while disarming a bomb that a villain plans to destroy an orphanage with.
Silamy
Joyce later joins the team when she hears about them planning to take out some people protesting for traditional marriage. Sal begrudgingly lets her join the braiding party.
DarkoNeko
“but why would a vailling bother destroying an orp”*shhhh*
Renadt
And now we start to get to the root of the problems plaguing Amber/Amazi-Girl.
Nono
She doesn’t hate Sal, she hates herself.
(((Mkvenner)))
And her dad. And Faz, everyone hates Faz.
tim gueguen
Faz does not hate Faz. And Faz is certain Faz will soon make the world love Faz. Especially the ladies.
Seerow
Faz has charts indicating the adoption rate of the ladies attraction to Faz, and some labeled diagrams right over here showing how they will express their adoration.
Cholma
Faz has a chart that proves his conclusions.
(((Mkvenner)))
Actually those charts are the changes of grain prices in the 14th century and the GDP of Europe in the 18th century.
Emperor Norton II
Exactly.
Those charts makes it obvious that the world (especially the ladies) loves Faz. I’m not sure how you can’t see that.
DarkoNeko
Lions like Faz
(((Mkvenner)))
Especially with bbq sauce.
Some1
but Faz beat the lions
Kreck
Sidekick Detected
butts
Super team-up. Sal is no one’s sidekick.
DarkoNeko
He, of course, meant Amazi-girl became Sal’s sidekick.
Fart Captor
Its quite clear which of them is more Batman here. AG nailed ”insisting you didn’t need help rather than expressing gratitude”, but Sal aced the ”you don’t know what you’re doing / don’t rush in half-cocked” speech, AND ”looking cooler than anybody you team up with”. Plus two ”save the day out of nowhere and be kinda grumpy about it”-s
Train Moblin
Amazi-Girl’s power is the ability to duck and roll out of ANY situation
aside from trucks
her only weakness
Woobie
I thought it was
duck and cover
tuck and roll
Stephen R. Bierce
Jump, Jive N Wail
The Chosen One
Open the door, get onto the floor, everybody walk the dinosaur?
Dex
That’s Dina’s super power.
DarkoNeko
Roll and roll,
Mac and chesse,
Walky confirmed future superhero.
Khambatta
Wreck and rule?
Tacos
I thought her power was immunity to criticism.
Pat
Yeah sure, maybe in an alternate universe or something.
She, uh, doesn’t take criticism well.
Train Moblin
In this alternate universe, criticism is actually her kryptonite, but instead of sapping away powers and strength it saps away tranquility
and the ability to resist the urge to commit homicide
Idontcarenomore