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Challenger
Posted on April 12, 2017 by David M Willis
The Dumbing of Age Book 6 Kickstarter reached $50K, meaning everyone who pledges for a physical, real-ass book gets that Becky magnet extra, for FREEEEEEEE!  I’ll just tuck it in there, easy as you please.  Buy a book, free magnet!

319 thoughts on “Challenger”

  1. Emperor Daniel

    TO THE DEATH

    1. Ana Chronistic

      Aww!

      (until both of them fight over Wiggler)

      1. Ana Chronistic

        ya know, I’m tempted to find and buy one of these chairs now

    2. Passchendaele

      This is the only way I played MK7. “You’re ahead of me HOW DARE YOU I WILL CRUSH YOU WITH EVERYTHING AT MY DISPOSAL.”

      1. Needfuldoer

        When you think about it, isn’t that the point of Mario Kart and all its item-based chaos racer imitators?

    3. Bicycle Bill

      No. To the pain.

    4. jeffepp

      NO! To the Pain.

      1. SeanR

        Don’t worry. I’ll leave you your ears.

  2. Shiro

    Friiiiiendship? :D?

    1. Doctor_Who

      Oh, they’re playing Mortal Kombat?

    2. Shiro

      Also Sal and I have the same 3DS, neat. Pink pearl? I wouldn’t have guessed Sal for a pastel pink girl, but maybe she just got the cheapest one.

      1. BBCC

        My guess is she just grabbed the first one because whatever.

        Also that Sal’s secure enough in her biker schtick that owning pink things and liking Apples to Apples doesn’t shame her in the slightest.

      2. AgentKeen

        I hope she ends up modifying it a bunch, like putting something that matches her tattoo on it.

      3. Jade

        Mine is pink too, because it was the cheapest one. xD

        1. Gwen

          Research on Amazon confirms that is still the case- used pink DS consoles start at $34, all the others at about $40. If that’s how Willis chose the color for Sal’s machine, I like his attention to detail.

        2. Dragon_Nataku

          I have three 3DS. One was a special edition that came bundled with Persona Q and had special face plates or whatever on it, and it was Japanese region. Later bought an American DS because some idiot decided to region-lock 3DS games, unlike DS games. Then the Wi-Fi card/chip thingy on the first DS crapped out and so I bought a PINK one (uuuggghhh) because, as others have said, it’s the cheapest, and I just replaced the face plates with the special edition ones. And then I figured out I could’ve just replaced the Wi-Fi chip, which I did, and so now I have three working ones where one is STILL PINK UUUGGGHHH. 😛

        3. Kelibath

          I don’t suppose you’d be up for selling one? (Or two?)
          My husband and I each have an old DS and neither works very well. Mine doesn’t charge, his isn’t touch responsive. We’ve been waiting to play the new Pokemon games for years..
          (If the answer is actually a yes my Facebook URL’s attached to this comment)

        4. Dragon_Nataku

          Well the problem would be that the extra one is Japanese region. You can’t really change the language in the settings, and even if you could the games are region-locked so you wouldn’t be able to play American 3DS games on it.

    3. Shiro

      Also also oh god who’s gonna show up on Sal’s streetpass?

      1. Andy

        This is probably how Sal will figure it out. Because A/ she’s smarter than Danny, bless his heart, and B/ I think Willis hinted at this happening before.

      2. White Rice

        Heh, Amber has her “Amber” mii up right now, changes it to her “masked” persona later, passes by Sal. Sal checks streetpass, gets the “hi again, what do you think of my look?” message, puts 2 & 2 together.

        Silly vigilantes, you need a separate system if you’re going to game with potential allies/enemies/frenemies/fuck-buddies.

    4. TheKelliestKelly

      Friendship? Or frien-DS-hip?

      1. N0083rP00F

        You can’t spell friendship without as DS.

  3. newllend(henryvolt)

    Oh so she bought her own.

    1. Ana Chronistic

      Well, that’s nice-ish that she got a gift card enough for a 3DS? Better than cookies!

      /still lamenting the packaging waste

      1. fillerusername

        Depends on your idea of “better”. A gift card is the kind of present you get when you don’t know what to get someone. Making a care package of Billie’s favorite cookies might be cheaper but it’s a lot less personal and again they were Billie’s FAVORITE cookies which takes time and care and shows she knows Billie a lot better than Sal.

        1. BBCC

          Yeah, gift cards are the epitome of ‘I feel obligated to buy you a present since I got everyone else one, but I don’t know what you want and have no interest in learning, so here, fuck you, my good mom rep keeps going’ when its from a negligent parent.

        2. No Name

          Well, yes, but there’s a sub-spectrum within that area of the gift spectrum. Sure, if the card was from Walmart or Target or some other big box store, it would be pretty apathetic and just scream “I saw this in the check out and kinda-sorta thought of you”. But for things like Barnes & Noble, GameStop or Hot Topic, where individual tastes are far more important, far more nuanced and far harder to determine, even for close friends and family, beyond “I like what they sell”, gift cards are often the better option. Especially if the gift recipient has enough disposable income to buy the things they told you they like (which Sal, almost obviously, does not, but still) since books, games and clothes are only “valuable” as such if you have just one copy.

          For me, the fact that Sal bought that DS used tells me it wasn’t bought from a big box store, which don’t, as a rule (I think), sell used game consoles, but from a specialty store, probably GameStop, which tells me Linda (or Charles) at least knows enough about her (or his) daughter to know she likes video games, and cares enough to go to a store she (or he) would not (presumably) normally go to and spend at least enough money to buy a used DS (even indirectly) to fund that liking. So, she isn’t completely terrible? Still terrible, obviously, but I did get a distinct warm fuzzy when reading that title text. Even if it was the bare minimum of affection and I’m still not sure who actually made Sal’s box.

        3. BBCC

          Except there’s no way they know Sal likes video games, she didn’t develop that interest until AFTER they’d last seen her, and they aren’t regularly in contact with her to be privy to that information. It was almost certainly the same thing they sent Dorothy – a prepaid cash card she can use wherever and then Sal used it to get something she liked. It also doesn’t look used to me, but even if it were, again, a generic cash card is not showing an interest in what Sal herself likes.

        4. No Name

          Well, I guess, the wording threw me off. The title text says “gift card”, when it was probably, like you say, a prepaid cash card like Dorothy’s.

          Also, the “warm fuzzy” was a reflex and was immediately deconstructed. I still don’t like the Walkerton Parents for their favoritistic ways, and your analysis of the “gift card” clinches it for me.

        5. BBCC

          Yeah, gift card implies different things, but Dorothy called her prepaid cash card a gift card as well. I think that might be a regional thing.

          The Walkertons are slippery bastards. They can look like good parents until you take two seconds and think about them and nothing they do is illegal. Which is why, unlike, Blaine, Ross, or even Clint, they’re never going to jail. Which is why they are my least favourite parents.

        6. Needfuldoer

          I like to think they gave her a gift card to a mall store that caters to the stereotypical girl they want her to be (like Abercrombie or Bath and Body Works), because of how awful and fitting that is. Then she sold it, bought the cheapest used DS she could find on Craigslist, and pocketed the difference.

        7. BBCC

          That’s also a possibility – yard sales, used item stores, craigslist, eBay, etc.

          Or that she WAS sent a gift card but cashed it.

        8. Ana Chronistic

          Plastic Jungle!

          (though I doubt Sal is that web-savvy to go that route)

        9. poofdepoof

          I don’t think that that’s what the comic is telling us, though. At least in my head-canon, Sal’s first foray into video games was on Danny’s DS.

        10. BBCC

          That seemed to be the implication, yeah.

        11. A Scientist

          I get Norther Brewer gift cards, and they’re awesome, because that’s the only way I can expand my homebrewing hobby. But there’s also no way most of my friends or any of my family would know what specifically to buy me without asking directly and giving away any sort of surprise. For example, I intend to get into yeast starters when my workload calms down, but even if my family knew that, they wouldn’t know what to buy me.

          On the other hand, I suspect that isn’t the case here. I appreciate the thought behind my Northern Brewer gift cards. There is no such guarantee behind what might have been just an Amazon gift card or whatever.

        12. No Name

          And then of course there’s Amazon, which I completely forgot about. The most generic possible gift card that’s still a “gift card”, and you can buy used. You here that? That’s my respect for Linda Walkerton flying out the window.

        13. BBCC

          Frankly, I’m impressed you held on to it for this long. I can go on a lengthy rant about why they’re both negligent, emotionally abusive tools.

        14. No Name

          I should specify temporary respect. Your point stands though; it was a bit long.

        15. BBCC

          Oh no, no judgement. I was serious about being impressed. Linda and Charles grind my gears like no other parents in this strip.

        16. BBCC

          Sure, but your family and friends are probably buying you that card because they know you like it and would want you to be happy for your happiness’ own sake, not because ‘Well, I’m getting EVERYONE ELSE a present and I kinda feel obligated to buy them one, it’d be rude not to, what’s the minimal effort I can put into this without being a bad friend/family member?’

        17. vlademir1

          Just guessing here, but if you’re getting into starters I’m guessing you’ve just hit the point of stepping up from extract to mashing or stuck to extract but expanded batch size or else going higher gravity (all three seem to cause issues with the pitch). My brew buddy and I fell off brewing a couple years ago, but when we were still at it I found half gallon canning jars ideal both for starters and for recipe experimentation. The lids have about the same useful life as the grommets and are easier to punch than a bucket lid. Further as long as you seat the lids right and tighten the ring enough they’re more airtight than a bucket lid or carboy bung. Also the jars can be sanitized by boiling which is hard to impossible to do with most fermentation vessels.

        18. Historyman68

          Biggest Fuck You? Borders gift card.

        19. Liliaeth

          uhm, I have to admit, from the moment I got too old for toys, I actually loved getting gift cards, because they give you the freedom to buy something you really like.

          Though admittedly, that might have been in part, beause the alternative was soap sets, which really is the epitome of ‘I don’t have a clue what you want, and this crap looks cheap enough to be affordable’

        20. Kris

          Honestly I would prefer the gift card.

        21. fillerusername

          You and a lot of people but there’s a difference between Sal’s mom giving her a gift card because she knows Sal would prefer it and sending it because it’s an easy way to fulfill the obligation of bare minimum attention. It took slightly more thought than just mailing Sal an envelope of cash and it looks even worse when you consider how much thought she obviously put into Walky and Billie’s packages.

        22. fillerusername

          It’s still an emotionally neglectful act.

        23. BBCC

          Linda? An emotionally neglectful act? Never! I mean, come on, would LINDA WALKERTON, mom extraordinaire, do something like that? And would CHARLES WALKERTON, dad extraordinaire help out or at least not stop her? Nah!

          Seriously though, there has to be at least ONE universe where the Walkertons are decent parents to all their kids and one day I hope Willis writes about it.

        24. spriteless

          Did Walky ever get kids in the original universe?

        25. thejeff

          Future kid who came back in time.

        26. BBCC

          (SPOILERS)
          Also one was in Shortpacked.

          (END SPOILERS)

          I’m referring to Linda and Charles specifically though.

        27. Tan

          Y’all’re making a pretty big assumption that Walky and Billie didn’t -also- get gift cards along with their cookies.

        28. BBCC

          If they did, it’s not been mentioned. It seems like something Walky would have mentioned when Dorothy opened her’s.

    2. jeffepp

      She got a PINK one.

  4. Danni

    time to clear the air!

  5. Pigeon Pollyx

    Baby steps. Nice

  6. Pablo360

    The tag says amber

    THE TAG SAYS AMBER

    while(true) std::cout << ‘E’;

    1. achallenger

      damnit Pablo

      1. Opus the Poet

        pseudo code. I can’t read it but I recognize it like I can’t read Kanji but I know they are Kanji.

        1. Xenocide

          EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…. (repeat until True does not equal True, i.e. forever/until someone stops the code manually)

        2. ety

          with “std::cout” I wouldn’t exactly call that pseudo code.

    2. Liliet

      omg i have to nick that trick for myself

  7. Reltzik

    First, yay Amber, MAJOR progress.

    ….. that said, maybe you should offer an olive branch that DOESN’T involve blue shells.

    1. Grethelwvier

      Nah, man. She’s initiating a minor, friendly interaction on her own terms (over a slight distance, and through a medium that is familiar and comforting to her) so she doesn’t get an anxiety attack, or lose her temper. This was the smartest olive branch she could have extended.

      1. Needfuldoer

        If she doesn’t have any face-to-face interaction with Sal, she probably won’t freak out too bad.

      2. Deanatay

        I was thinking that myself, that it seems an effective coping strategy for Amber. Interact with her in a sense that’s competitive, but not harmful, and that doesn’t trigger.

    2. Zana

      I was about to say, Mario Kart is a great way to *end* friendships, not begin them…

      1. Deanatay

        If your friendship wasn’t strong enough to endure Mario Kart, then it wasn’t true friendship.

        1. Zana

          Yeah, that’s why you don’t *start* with Mario Kart… that’s something you save until your friendship is stronger, you don’t *start* with the trial by fire.

  8. gkheyf

    thank you. that alt-text was very informative. I hope that there will be a side comic showing her trip to a game store

    1. Ross

      Honestly we need more “Sal gets to enjoy the things she enjoys in an uncomplicated way suited to a college freshman” plotlines. Not that I harbor any illusions about the comic I’m reading.

    2. BBCC

      …Okay, see, I want that, but I seriously need to see how Marcie is holding up post rally. Conflicted!

    3. JessWitt

      Next bonus comic?

  9. MatthewTheLucky

    That went… Amazingly.

  10. Stephen Bierce

    *plays Electric Light Orchestra’s “Showdown” on the hacked Muzak*

    1. tim gueguen

      How about some Tangerine Dream instead?
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzeEXAgOoBk

  11. Kris

    Smash bros maybe? Are people still playing Smash bros on 3ds?….Also when did Sal get a 3ds?

    1. Pat

      She bought it used with the gift card in the care package her mom sent.

      1. Kris

        And now I know!

        1. foamy

          Oh, c’mon, like the alt-text is trustworthy. :p

        2. Deanatay

          Are you suggesting that Willis is…

          AN UNRELIABLE NARRATOR? 80

  12. Bagge

    It’s all fun and game until the battery runs out… but then they will bond over how that battery was a piece of crap!!!

    Seriously, I’m so proud of Amber. Not only did she manage to not bolt, she also managed to reach out to Sal – and she did it in a way that increase the chance they will keep interacting. That’s HUGE.

    1. Deanatay

      Maybe Amber will offer Sal her recharge cable…

      BOW CHICKA BOW-WOW

  13. John

    So is Amber’s DS still identifying her as Amazi-Girl?

    1. Reltzik

      CURSE YOU AND YOUR PREEMPTIVE WAYS!

    2. MatthewTheLucky

      … shit.

    3. BBCC

      It takes like a second to change that. It’d have been easy to do before challenging Sal.

      ….Though, if not, fuck.

    4. Leorale

      Amber totally would’ve changed it back. She had time to think about this before coming over.

    5. rectilinearpropagation

      If it is, you get a cookie for spotting it.

      1. rectilinearpropagation

        OK, that actually sounds sarcastic when I’m really very impressed you remembered that. That is a cookie of amazement, not snark.

  14. Reltzik

    Alt-text: Yeah, okay, but how did Amber know which user to challenge?

    *researches before posting* Oh, hey, that’s a standard feature of the 3DS? Wow, okay.

    ……..

    Wait, did Amber remember to change her username back from Amazi-Girl?

    1. Delicious Taffy

      She hacked the 3DS to change the username whenever she switches personalities, just in case.

      1. Reltzik

        But….

        …. how does the 3DS know when she switches?

        ….. the implications are both intriguing and terrifying?

        1. Delicious Taffy

          The 3DS is equipped with both a camera and a microphone. Amber wrote an app into the device that uses them to analyse her voice and, if applicable, body language, to determine when she changes. Once a change has been confirmed, the 3DS changes its display name automatically, along with any other relevant settings.

        2. thejeff

          It just scans for cheek blushes when she holds it up to her face.

        3. John

          It hits up dumbingofage.com and checks the tags on the strip.

  15. Passchendaele

    *heart melts*

    Of course, if they play MK7 like I do, it will be the most aggressive game ever. But at least they’re keeping their fists down and doing something fun. I didn’t expect this, but it’s charmingly sweet and refreshing. Well done, Willis!

    1. Passchendaele

      I’m typing this from a blue 3DS. Go figure. XD

  16. Fallingivy

    This is adorable??!! Way to go, Amber!

  17. Tacos

    Hey, progress.

  18. John

    Ah, and the hovertext finally reveals what was actually in Sally’s tiny box.

    (Besides Jason.)

  19. Fart Captor

    First, free Becky magnets and now this??

    😀

  20. TheLurkerAbove

    I just realised: Amber has two 3DSes right, for each of her personas?

    1. Meta

      Early on, she renamed herself “Amazi-Girl” on her 3DS to hide her identity from Danny. Unclear which name is on there now.

      1. Fart Captor

        She switched it back and forth I think. She probably just leaves it set to “Amber” now that he knows

  21. Meta

    …okay, here’s the thing. I love this and I want them to be friends, but I’m terrified about what will happen when Sal finds out that Amber is the one who stabbed her.

    1. OBBWG

      Sal has matured since then. One hopes she can forgive Amber or at least talk it out.

    2. tim gueguen

      I suspect Sal will freak out and have a panic attack instead of attacking Amber.

    3. Gesc

      There is a good chance Amber will never tell her. Ethan might, when and if he is brought in the loop.

      Also Sal being Sal, I wonder if she wouldn’t think she deserved that.

    4. -Sentinel-

      I really want her to find out so she, Amber and Ethan can talk it out.

    5. BBCC

      My head canon is that she’s of two minds about the whole thing. On one hand, she knows she probably scared the living hell out of Amber and she DID threaten her friend with a knife and she would NOT be kind if someone had done that to Marcie, so she feels bad and, if not wanting to reach out, isn’t too mad about the whole thing (and her more self loathing side tells her she deserved that). The other part of her wants to punch Amber right in the mouth because dude, she stabbed her right through the hand and that’s months of physio to fix, not to mention (since word of the PDFs is it went THROUGH her hand) possible surgery for muscle damage, nerve damage, torn ligaments, bone issues, etc. And right beneath the knuckles too, so that was probably VERY CLOSE to being a disabling injury (frankly, I’m impressed she can still USE that hand after a stab wound like that).

      1. BBCC

        Especially since she’d been detained and was no longer a threat when she was stabbed.

      2. Feathers

        I wondered if this is why Sal always wears gloves. She probably has quite a scar.

        1. Meta

          Yeah, I think it is — in the freshman family weekend storyline, Sal takes off her gloves, but keeps her right hand behind her back the entire time.

        2. BBCC

          Potentially. I’d imagine she very much doesn’t want to look at it.

          Also, it’s possible for scars that bad to get infected so there’s that.

    6. BenRG

      I think that the pain and terror off that moment still haunts Sal sometimes but I don’t think that would go as far as her blaming Amber, especially when she realises just how sorry Amber is and how terrified she is of it ever happening again, she’d be more likely to sympathise and offer support.

  22. Mandy

    D’awww.

    Also, I’m proud of Amber. I know she’s come around to Sal as Amazi-Girl, but it’s nice to see her taking steps in that direction as Amber too.

  23. Ross

    Amber is picking her non-punching coping mechanism! Yay? No, honestly, approaching Sal in a context where she’s relatively secure, and ALSO not a masked vigilante is just so much better than where it looked like this was headed a few strips ago.

    1. Leorale

      This exactly. Major props to Amber!

    2. Liliet

      I suspect it’s the privacy chairs that are helping. Amber is holed up, as is Sal, and they are as far from each other as they can be while technically being like 20 cm away.

      1. Liliet

        okay actually their chairs are not back to back but a fair distance from each other but the point still stands since they aren’t facing each other

  24. Keulan

    I’m assuming they’re not playing Mortal Kombat, but the music seems fitting anyway.

  25. Rukduk

    This is good. This is progress. This is giving me the sniffles.

    Alright, I promised to keep people informed about how the whole thyroid cancer situation was developing, so feel free not to read what follows. So far, good news. My operation date was moved up from July 14 to June 18 and if it doesn’t grow to quickly, they’ll only have to cut out half of the thyroid and I won’t have to constantly inject myself with thyroid hormones.

    1. Badgermole

      Thank you for the update. Hoping for more positive news in the days to come.

    2. BBCC

      *squee* That’s wonderful! Good luck!

    3. Cerberus

      *giant hug*

      Good luck!

      1. Rukduk

        *hugs back*
        Thank you all. At first I was really scared and nervous. I mean having cancer before 30? That’s pretty scary, and I also got really depressed. And now, well, now I’m trying to figure out how I’m gonna hide the neck scar next semester. A scarf feels too pompous, but a turtleneck feels too laid back and cynical. Any ideas?

        1. BBCC

          Grow your hair out? Cover up? Jewelry? Perhaps a dermatologist or plastic surgeon will have an inexpensive suggestion?

        2. vlademir1

          Maybe start shifting your wardrobe to casual button up shirts and day cravats? I hear cravats are making something of a small fad comeback in the last few years.

        3. Sam

          I suggest a spiked collar. If people are going to judge you, they might instead mistake you for an extremely avid rock fan.

          Note: this is mainly a joke, but I do think spiked collars are cool looking personally. A simple scarf or a wool scarf may work as well as you can just say someone you care about gave it to you in moments of insecurity or if people ask you about it. Oh, and additionally, a zip-up vest or hoodie can hide a good part of your neck too so that’s another option to consider.

          I’ve worn a Guilmon hoodie to multiple lectures, classes and a required class presentation so I wouldn’t worry about what you wear specifically too much because I can guarantee I have stood out in waaaay weirder ways and people got used to it very rapidly as if it was normal.

        4. Sparda

          GUILMON AWWW <3

        5. Sam

          Guilmon is the best Digimon.

        6. Bluewind

          Perhaps a bit of concealer (regardless of gender)? Or you could just rock it. Maybe someday use it for a tattoo like a lot if women do after mastectomy.

          Can you do a pill hormone? I’ve been using Synthroid for years after radio iodine without issues.

          If you need something gentle to eat, I can tell you to make a simple thickened potato soup that works well.

          Also, sorry if I overstepped. I really am glad it was caught and that your treatment got moved up. You seem very nice from the posts I’ve seen by you on here and I hope it goes well for you. 🙂

        7. Cerberus

          As the others said, a choker, some concealer or jewelry can help.

          But you can also just rock it. Badass gay rights activist Cleve Jones was stabbed in the neck when he was younger and has rocked his stab wound every since.

          Similarly, I have a friend who also needed thyroid surgery due to cancer who just rocks it as well. Sometimes they have fun with it with strangers and make up epic ninja duels and the like.

        8. Pablo360

          Remember, until you tell someone how you got your scar, you could have gotten it in any number of increasingly-ridiculous ways! It’s basic quantum mechanics. Just remember to change your story every time or the wavefunction will collapse.

        9. Sunny

          Show it to the world, people will care a lot less than one thinks. I had to have one of the lymphal nodes in my neck removed before I was 30 as well, and the procedure left a 3cm long scar that’s pretty thick. Surprisingly few people have asked me how I got it, and simply saying “I had to have a lymphal node removed” was always a satisfactory answer. I imagine “had to have surgery on my thyroid gland” would be as well if you don’t want to go into details.
          I think trying to keep it covered up will just attract even more attention when you then have to uncover it for some reason or other.

          Pablo360’s suggestion could also be fun, at some point you’d be telling people about the time a grenade was thrown at your squad in ‘Nam.

    4. vlademir1

      I didn’t see this mentioned previously (I typically skim through 80% to 90% of the comments), but here’s hoping everything works out the best possible for you Rukduk.

    5. Needfuldoer

      Good luck!

  26. motorfirebox

    I had kind of a crappy day, and this cheered me the fuck up.

    1. BBCC

      I’m sorry to hear that. I hope tomorrow is better!

  27. Fart Captor

    Oh dang, are we finally gonna see a three-way between Amber, Sal and Danny??

    1. Badeyes

      Hm your avatar seems exceedingly excited about that prospect.

      1. Schpoonman

        Well, there was that one time Becky came onto Sal. Sal’s hot, I’m not surprised.

    2. BBCC

      That’s an awful lotta faith in Danny and his super monogamous brain you got there.

      1. Fart Captor

        What? I’m just really excited about the prospect of them all playing Mario Kart together, what were you thinking??

        1. BBCC

          Sure you were. ;P

        2. 3oranges

          That’s an awful lotta faith in Danny and his super mariogamous brain you got there.

        3. Bagge

          “If I pick Luigi, then Sal can pick Yoshi and Amber Bowser. But what if Amber want Luigi??? Then I can pick Peach, but if Sal wants Peach I can pick Toad… or possibly Bowser. If BOTH Sal and Amber wants to be Bowser I can pick Yoshi… Oh no, I am some sort of double, tripple asshole, am I not?”

          (Not even in his paranoid, self-loathing fantasies would Danny consider picking Mario.)

        4. Pablo360

          Mario is the most boring character in all of Mario, even if you discount MatPat’s somewhat… out-there theories.

  28. Kris

    So how long do you think before Willis decides to upgrade them all to Nintendo Switches? Mario Kart 8 deluxe drops at the end of the month.

  29. JessWitt

    Aww, progress. What’s this weird feeling inside of my chest?

    1. pyrpyr

      FERVID AS A FLAAAAME
      DOES IT HAVE A NAAAAME

      1. BBCC

        Yes.

        Horniness.

        Okay, sure, it says loathing, but the song sounds very much like they’re describing being horny as fuck.

  30. Sporky

    Now that’s fuckin’ cute

  31. Nate

    O m f g this is adorable and my heart is genuinely warm

  32. BBCC

    Also – Sal, stop being so adorable right this minute. THIS INSTANT.

    Goddammit, comic characters never think of my needs!

  33. Teddae

    daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

  34. Whatevsman

    They meet on the most brutal field of battle possible… Mario Kart

  35. Zatar

    People think this is a cute moment but they forget: This is Mario Kart one of the most brutal and cruel sports known to humanity. This isn’t a a friendly gesture: this is an act of violence. These two characters have now reached the point of no return. There is only one way that this can end: With. A. Go kart Race.

  36. acher4

    This is so cute 😀

  37. nalem

    Yay this page made me smile

  38. BenRG

    Bonding by Pokémon! There is no better way for a gamer geek like Amber and someone, like Sal, who is just as much as a geek in her own way but who would deny it to get over their mutual awkwardness.

    FWIW, to me this proves that Amber is willing to join Amazi-Girl in admitting that Sal is a person and not an archetype of all the bad things that have happened in her life.

    In summary? A silent but heartwarming scene!

    1. BBCC

      I’m not sure Sal would deny it as much as folks think – she was pretty okay with admitting she liked Apples to Apples and she’s just chilling there with her pretty pink DS.

  39. missilentmurmur

    Sweet, one of my favourite strips so far 🙂

    On the other hand, I can barely afford a used Nintendo DS even… So I keep playing on my boyfriend’s. Sweet home Eastern Europe. But I swear I’m gonna save up for a Switch one day, I loved the wii

    1. Liliet

      *hugs u and weeps bc I am also Eastern European console-less except I dont even have a boyfriend to borrow it from*

      1. missilentmurmur

        greetings 😀

  40. DarkoNeko

    I was about to ask, alt-text, I was about to ask.

  41. Cerberus

    Comic Reactions:

    I’ve just finally submitted my first draft of my Statement of Purpose for an application back to grad school to a friend of mine to look over and edit after weeks of stressing out about it. So I’m cranked up on crippling anxiety and in desperate need of relaxation. *sustained screaming*

    All righty, first up, looks like I was totally wrong on Sal being aggressive about taking apart Amber’s cube because she was desperate to talk to her about the stuff that went down with Danny. Turns out she just wanted/needed a chair. Whoops.

    Panels 1 and 2: Though it might also be that Sal has been settled down with the absurdity of the chair fight and is rethinking pressing hard on Amber for details of what went down. Especially given Amber’s scared introvert face in Panel 2.

    Panels 3-4: Either way though, Sal makes the right call to not push Amber on this and try and force a confrontation and instead give her space. Like, she doesn’t know what “laundry girl”‘s deal is, but there’s enough context clues to notice some severe anxiety and shyness going on. Neither of which usually interact very well with angry confrontation.

    Panel 5 and Alt-text: And the care package was a gift card, the coldest and most impersonal of gifts. Ugh, Linda’s intentional passive-aggressive withdrawal and denial of love to Sal is fucking heart-breaking, especially since there’s a part of Sal that still wants to do right by her even though her accomplishments will never ever be recognized (like, she made it to the same school as her brother, even with one hell of a handicap, that’s pretty impressive, but Linda showers her love only on her “perfect” baby boy, it’s so fucked up).

    Well, at least she has her own 3DS now and doesn’t need to continue borrowing from Danny.

    Panels 6-8: Can we just take a moment to marvel at what an amazing moment this is? Like, Amber/AG were having a full-blown row over the potential interaction with Sal and Amber has been slipping into PTSD-fueled panic attacks every other time they’ve met face to face.

    Like, Sal’s presence is genuinely distressing to Amber and this is definitely the Amber alter here leading the show at the moment. And she’s just had a safe space she intentionally carved out dismantled in a rather brusque and antagonistic manner which also tends to play merry hell with anxiety.

    So this can’t be easy for her, but Sal giving her her space and doing her own thing gives time for Amber to settle and find her own peace with the situation and even find a safe means by which to interact with Sal without having to talk face-to-face.

    Like, that’s monumentous growth. And even more impressive given that this also gives Sal a means to contact her more regularly if she wanted to, which is not a decision Amber would make lightly.

    And she could easily have tried to stay anonymous, but instead holds up the 3DS to confirm, which is just such a powerful visual representation of that massive leap of trust.

    Also, I love this solution. Like, the 3DS has intimate history, being the thing Amber/AG used to connect with Danny and is a slightly impersonal and safe means of interacting without having to deal with the face-to-face and the potential triggers that might require. And it is a very Amber touch, using technology as a safety screen much like she tried to do with the privacy chairs.

    I struggle to think of a better situation to trying to bridge the gap between them and I’m genuinely proud of Amber for coming up with it. And have a lot of hope for them building a more civil dynamic that is less triggering and awful for Amber.

    1. BBCC

      Even if Linda’s emotional neglect, favouritism, and internalized racism (and Charles’ the same) wasn’t intentional at first, it definitely is now. And holy FUCK I hate the Walkertons! You just know that she wanted to send presents to her perfect baby boy and her precious ‘good as a daughter’ Billie and Walky’s delightful new girlfriend, Dorothy, and then she felt obligated to send something to Sal. It would seem rude not to. And Linda’s not a bad mother who ignores her daughter (HA!) so she had to. Oops, no idea what she’d like or want and school/dorm living supplies cost so much money. She’ll just send a pre paid cash card. That’s good enough.

      1. Icalasari

        It reminds me of /r/raisedbynarcissists on Reddit, and all the stories there

      2. Bagge

        Now, let’s be fair to Linda. She is not hunting Sal with a gun.

        Um…. Toedad has kinda set a low bar for parental expectations, hasn’t he?

        1. BBCC

          Not really. I refuse to grade parents on a curve. Ross being shitty will not lower my standards.

          And tbh, I think I hate Linda (and Charles! Everyone seems to leave him out of the ‘crappy parent’ discussion) the most out of the bad parents because she and Charles aren’t ever ever ever going to jail. Blaine could have, Ross will, and if Clint ever gets caught manhandling Ruth like that it’s possible he might. Linda and Charles just aren’t. They’re probably going to get away with it unless Sal cuts them out of her life, which probably won’t be feasible any time soon.

        2. thejeff

          Though given that Walky’s starting to recognize how badly they’ve treated Sal, they might wind up losing him over it too. At least if it does come to some open confrontation.

        3. BBCC

          That is probably the closest to a consequence they could get, yeah – that alienating the ‘bad kid’ drove off Walky and Billie too.

        4. Deanatay

          Actually, I’d see Billie staying in touch with the Walkertons in that situation – parents would use her as a lifeline to stay in touch with Walky, and she’d still get all those sweet guilt presents!

        5. BBCC

          I don’t know if Billie would see the sweet guilt presents as a good thing now that she’s openly acknowledged what they are and feels awkward and guilty about them – and I definitely don’t see her passing on information or messages to the twins that the twins don’t want to hear, or give their parents updates that the twins don’t want them to have.

        6. BBCC

          Assuming their behaviour doesn’t turn Billie off of them on awfulness factor alone, of course.

        7. Deanatay

          Yeah, but Billie’s a pragmatist – and I didn’t say she’d be a TRUE lifeline…

          “Yeah, Ms Walkerton, I just talked to Walky yesterday… yeah, he was REALLY upset about not have a Nintendo Switch to play with… I think it might explain why he hasn’t called you… yeah, he’s been REALLY depressed about it…”

        8. BBCC

          Again, assuming Billie’s not turned off by their shit point blank, I don’t think the twins would appreciate her making implicit ideas that they might get in contact with them in exchange for stuff. ….Well, okay, yeah, I can see Walky doing that actually. And lord knows they wouldn’t give a fuck if Sal cut them out (unless they couldn’t hide it to their neighbours as her being an ungrateful daughter who never calls (until its time to put them in a home) in which case they’d be pissed she ‘ruined their reputation’ with the neighbours even though they’re ‘such good parents (HA!) and didn’t deserve it).

          That might be hard to pull off if Walky cut them off too though.

        9. thejeff

          Carla would be happy to score some of those sweet guilt presents, if Billie doesn’t want them.

          As long as it doesn’t oblige her to check up on suicidal girlfriends.

        10. BBCC

          “Oooooh, those guys who want a white kid sent you cookies and you feel bad about it? Yoink!”

        11. thejeff

          I am still kind of sad that “That’s the Story of How Carla Rutten Scored Free Bonus Cookies” didn’t make the book title. The one he used was better, but I’ve got a soft spot for that one.

        12. BBCC

          That would have been amazing! Damn you, Willis, for coming up with so many perfect book titles!

    2. Bagge

      Speaking of safe spaces – the DS gaming is ALSO a safe space for Amber, and she willingly, knowingly invites Sal into it.

      Amber is AWESOME!

      And the DS was also where Sal and Danny bonded, which directly lead to Sal opening up to someone except Marcie, to her getting better math scores and feeling better about herself AND to Danny feeling better about himself.

      So I have very good hopes for this interaction.

      Best of luck with the grad school application! You rock!

      1. Delicious Taffy

        The Nintendo 3DS is a highly-advanced friendship machine capable of forming helpful relationships between troubled youths. This is canon.

    3. Rukduk

      Good luck with the grad school application! Given the quality of your analysis here I’d say that you’re guaranteed. Also, do you need a stress ball? I got one a couple of days ago when the school I sub for and next year will be permanently teaching at told me that a teacher had gone on maternity leave and they needed a replacement. Who has a three-week backlog of assignments to grade, nine weeks of content to condense into six weeks of classes, and a final to design from scratch. All right before I find out I need surgery for the above mentioned cancer. My point is that the stress ball has been getting a lot of use and helping a lot. But if there’s any other way to decompress, take it.

    4. vlademir1

      First, good luck on the Statement and grad school in general.
      Second, I tend to find screaming is only really helpful for in the moment stress rather than anything ongoing over a significant period. Meditation or working out seems to help more. ;D
      Third, I agree that it’s great seeing Amber making an attempt at having some variety of healthy interaction with Sal of her own. Both AG and Amber forming some bond with her is likely going to help with their eventual mending of fences (I at least want to hope so).

    5. Bluewind

      I’m so proud of you! I know going back to grad school is huge for you, but it’s so worth it. Plus, you will always know that if things get dicey, you will have this security blanket to fall back on. I will miss your comic reactions when you get busy, but it’s a small price for such a thing ^_^

    6. JBento

      Good luck on your grad schooling!

    7. DinaWho

      Good luck with the application. You got this!

    8. Felgraf

      As someone who just finished their doctoral defense (DEAR LORD THAT STILL FEELS WEIRD TO TYPE), good luck to you!

    9. Leorale

      Good luck! You can do it! You eat tougher things for breakfast! 😀

  42. Chris

    Fight, fight, fight!

    Fight, fight, fight!

    Fight, fight, fight!

    Ah, Willis knows what I want

    1. ZORK

      I wish I could up vote or yeah this comment.

  43. Liliet

    OH MY GOD THIS IS ADORABLE

    GO AMBER

  44. OnyxIdol

    Amber is so cute here ^^

  45. abczyx

    I really want chairs like that o0

  46. Bluewind

    I waited a while to comment so this would be far enough down to not interfere with the first chunk of comments because I had a day that made me want to reach out to other people who have to live with mental illness. Here in the US, getting therapy can be… difficult. A lot of people want to hide their problems, mask them. We don’t get help when we should. And while there are so many great therapists out there, they aren’t all like that. A few aren’t worth a bottle of cold piss. The rub with insurance is that not every doctor takes every insurance and with not all insurances created equal, some give us a larger variety to choose from. In a bigger city it’s usually okay as there are naturally more doctors there. Then it’s down to rather you want to drive and have the time and funds to do it.

    I live in a smaller sized town and can’t drive far. There’s about a dozen mental health professionals here which sounds like a decent number to choose from until you realize I have Medicare. That cut me down to 3 which was okay because I liked my doctor. That was fine for several years in fact. Then he moved. The other one moved or retired. That left one. If I had a choice, I would go somewhere else. That was over a year ago and while my meds helped me and moving away from my dad helped me, I’m not sure if she’s helped me. I have yet to feel at ease with her and some of the stuff she says bothers me. The reason that I’m bringing it up is to say that if you have issues, don’t be afraid to get help and if you get help and that person isn’t working for you, get a second opinion. If a medication isn’t working for you, don’t be afraid to say so and to ask about other options. Don’t give up on getting help just because when you went you got unlucky and “won” the craptastic lottery.

    1. BBCC

      Good luck, hon! *hugs*

      1. Bluewind

        *gives hugs and cupcakes*

    2. Bluewind

      In case anybody is wondering where this is coming from, my therapist (who also recently said asexuals has something wrong with them that needed fixed) told me today that she basically thinks DID isn’t a real thing. She believes feeling dissociated is real and that people can black out, but that the part about alters and other personalities isn’t. She even pointed out that everybody has multiple personalities they exhibit in different situations like how she acts during an emergency, but she’s still the same person rather dealing with crisis or relaxing at home. She said the only people she’s seen with alters are the people who are faking it according to what they seen in movies. I tried to argue, but she acted dismissive of it just like my opinion on asexuality. I won’t spout everything she said here, but she did mention a patient of hers who has blackouts and does stuff that is outside her nature, but in the same breath said it wasn’t an alter. She also said that children often are able to dissociate in certain circumstances and some people carry that on into adulthood.

      Besides making me question her skills as a therapist, it also made me feel sorry for her other clients. And it made me want to reach out and tell people that therapists aren’t perfect and it’s possible to get a flawed human being who has bias and even bigotry of their own. It takes courage to get help and I don’t want an experience like this causing someone to not get treatment.

      1. BBCC

        Blech. It hurts worse than ice cream.

        1. JBento

          Ok, now I just have to ask, because it’s the second or thrid time: what’s your beef with icecream? Does Canadian icecream come with surprise razor blades or something?

        2. BBCC

          Nah, I just eat it super fast and get brain freeze. I love ice cream! It’s the headache I can live without.

        3. Deanatay

          Ah, it’s a ‘hurts so good’ type of thing. Gotcha.

        4. BBCC

          Pretty much, yeah.

        5. Leorale

          Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth to warm it back up. Holding it there fixes or prevents brain freeze.

        6. BBCC

          Oooh, I’ll have to try that!

        7. Bluewind

          I first read it as “Bleach, it hurts worse than ice cream.” XD

        8. BBCC

          Well, to be fair, you’re probably not wrong! XD

      2. Brotato

        Furthering this, I wanna say that I didn’t start therapy until I was 22. I’m almost 25, and I still haven’t settled into a good therapist/medication combo.

        The long and short of it is, my oarents didn’t want me to get shit “put on my record,” because they were afraid it would mess up my life. (Ie, I can’t be a pilot now that I have a bipolar dx.)

        Thing about that was, they meant well, but me killing myself would have been a great way to ruin my life, and that wasn’t sonerhing that really connected with them as a possibility until after I moved out, got myself help, and eventually confronted them about it all.

        My first therapist likened bisexuality to addiction, in that “behaviors can be passed down.”

        It takes a long time, you know? And there are tons of hiccups along the way. I hope everyone in this community has good support while they’re figuring that all out, and I hope you, especially, get a better therapist. Questioning your main dx, judging your ace identity… not good. :/

        1. Brotato

          Wow the typos
          *parents
          *something

        2. Bluewind

          I started at 23 and still going in my 30s. The asexuality came up because a friend of mine has a strong possibility that she is ace, so it was one of the things going on in my life. I got very made when she dismissed her. Today the DID was me talking about this comic in fact saying all the various mental illnesses it shows. Since it bothered me so bad, I knew it had to bother others in her care who do fit who knows what all she doesn’t agree with. My dx is MDD and OCD with (thankfully much milder than it use to be) PTSD and some anxiety issues and panic attacks. Hemiplegic Migraines, hypothyroidism, asthma, and laundry list of food allergies. While I may not have the best therapist situation, I do have my meds in check thanks goodness and my kitten will be ready to come home with me in just a few days (wonderful for my issues).

          I have experience with the parents too. My biological mother wanted me on as much medication as possible so she could take it. My father is anti med and wasn’t supportive of me getting help (I’ve posted about him before). Mamaw was supportive at least especially since she had been on anti depressants for years. A huge reason for my 2nd attempt is not having her anymore along with my dad and now ex threatening me if I ever starting having suicidal ideation again (which just lead to me not getting help as fast as I should have). I’m glad you were able to confront them. It might not have helped you, but there’s always the chance that what you said will impact them later if one of their friends mentions it about their kids or even themselves.

          Also, I’m a polysexual liberal atheist living in the bible belt. Born and raised here to boot. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong state. Just today I went in a place I like to eat and they had signs up like one that said something about them being politically incorrect so they don’t have transgender bathrooms, played country music, supported the troops, said Merry Christmas, and believed one nation under god and people who disagreed could get their ass out of there. I grabbed a scratch piece of paper, told them how exactly I disagreed with the signs (including things on the sign that weren’t actually considered politically incorrect), that I would follow what it said and never come back, and left the note by the register as I walked out where one of them seen it. No clue what they thought or even if they showed it to the owner before throwing it in the trash, but I thought it was important enough to leave a note.

        3. JBento

          More hugs. More hugs. All the hugs.

          I’m torn between angry and sad on this “My biological mother wanted me on as much medication as possible so she could take it,” but this, this, thissssss “my dad and now ex threatening me if I ever starting having suicidal ideation again” wagonload of shittyness is full-on on the angry side. What even IS this? If someone is already having suicidal thoughts, what would make anyone think that threatening them and hitting their self-esteem some more would make it BETTER?

        4. Bluewind

          Biomom was a pill popping, chain smoking, gambling addicted, abusive parent. A real piece of work. Dad is verbally abusive, drinks too much, sometimes gaslights me, shows signs of having ASPD (according to my therapist) or narcissism (according to a friend who has a narcissistic mother), and is overly critical of me, but he’s better than my mother.

          Dad threatened me after my OD saying he talked to a lawyer and had some stuff done so if I ever got suicidal again, he could lock me up in the nut house for good. He also said with my training (I had some intro medical training when I was going for COTA), if I really wanted to kill myself I would have and the meds I took wouldn’t have killed me, just made me sick. It wasn’t until the 2nd time I went in the hospital (long story on why, but let’s just say I barely stopped myself long enough to call a hot line who called the police to pick me up. I was headed to the woods with 2 knives (just in case), a knife sharpener (double just in case), and a note) that he finally admitted that my 1st attempt would have killed me if I hadn’t gotten found out by my best friend (she somehow knew something was wrong and blew up my phone and called 911).

          My now ex told me if I so much as thought of suicide again he would leave me, so that plus dad meant I put off getting help again until it was almost too late. He did leave me, but it wasn’t a good relationship now that I have space from it. He took the house and the furniture and told my dad to tell me it was over while I was in the hospital. That’s also the guy I talked about on here who raped me a few months after the breakup. He’s now married to the woman he was cheating on me with last I heard.

          The problem is that a lot of people who are like me are in similar situations and a lot of them lose their lives over it because they fight against admitting that their soul cancer is eating them alive until it’s too late. Threats just make it harder to get help and be honest especially with conditions like depression which already makes you feel like crap.

        5. BBCC

          Fuck your bio parents and your ex. They’re not worth rat shit.

          Also, if you’re suspecting antisocial or narcissistic personality disorder, I recommend checking out Ted Millon’s work – he’s considered the father of modern personality psychology and helped compile the DSM on it. His work might be illuminating, particularly Disorders of Personality (which is his most current research updated to match his MCMI IV and the DSM V) and his website. http://www.millonpersonality.com/theory/role-of-personality/

          Also *hugs*

        6. BBCC

          * He helped compile the DSM’s Axis II (personality disorders) that is

        7. Cerberus

          *giant massive hugs* to both you and Brotato. That’s awful.

          And yeah, I want to echo your OP statement. Sometimes finding the right therapeutic care can be hard, but it’s often worth looking if you’ve got the spoons for it. The right therapeutic option can be incredibly helpful.

          But it’s also worth respecting what spoons you do or don’t have for that search, because as you note, the wrong therapist, one who mocks or belittles your identities can feel like a punch in the gut when you’re most vulnerable.

          Also *angry glares* at the therapist you describe. Sounds like she’s DID and has somehow internalized that she’s still “normal” and is taking that out on her clients.

          Hint to those who believe that “everyone” has a certain condition or orientation. No, no they don’t, but you might have it.

        8. Bluewind

          *giant reciprocating hugs*

          Oh I agree 100%. My first therapist helped me a lot I think and this one doesn’t really. And yeah. A kick in the gut is very accurate.

          Huh… I never considered that. She obviously has some kind of mental illness, so it would be fitting if that’s correct. And I totally thought about you though all this thinking how you would feel about her beliefs. I don’t know how she feels about trans, but I do know when I was talking to her one day wondering if I’m a bit two spirit because various reasons and she said no, that she seen no symptoms, and everybody has traits attributed to both sexes. She might be right, but what if she had been wrong? How do her other clients even deal with that?

        9. JBento

          Hugs. Hugs for you, too. Shit, at this point, you know what? Hugs for everyone who wants them (unless you voted for Trump, or could’ve voted for not-Trump and decided to do something else instead).

        10. Gwen

          Yeah, I once saw a therapist who reacted to my bisexuality by saying “You know, I’ve worked with some gay and lesbian clients, and one day you’re going to have to choose.” I was fortunate to be living in a big city, so I walked out of that office and never walked back in.

        11. Bluewind

          Good for you! Did you ever find a good one?

      3. JBento

        First, hugs. Hugs for you.

        Second, WHAT IN THE UNHOLIEST OF FUCKS? That woman is a licensed therapist? Where from, Trump U? That’s like saying I have a different personality when there’s a wildlife documentary on TV, and when there’s sports, because I pay attention to one and not the other. Actually, not like, that’s EXACTLY what she’s saying. Whatever passes for a medical board in the US actually lets this woman practice? O_o

        1. Bluewind

          I have no idea. Maybe she gave all the right answers on tests?

      4. missilentmurmur

        That attitude is unprofessional whatever her stand on DID might be. You just don’t talk down to patients… You accept their reality and try to understand it…

        1. Bluewind

          Well put. I wholeheartedly agree.

  47. KaitouKidisBae

    …I’m kind of starting to ship it

  48. BBCC

    TBH, I don’t think it’s that surprising Sal has a pink DS. She’s never expressed a dislike for the colour. She’s worn pink shirts before. Is this some ‘pink = femininity” thing?

    1. Bagge

      I think it’s an “Own the FUDGE out of your own identity” thing

      1. BBCC

        I have no objections to her having a pink DS, but I’ve seen some people express surprise and that kinda confuses me because she’s never said she didn’t like pink and we’ve seen her wear it before.

        1. Deanatay

          I’m going with the ‘the cheapest DS available was pink, and Sal don’t give a f**k about color, so long as it runs Mario Kart’ explanation.

        2. BBCC

          That’s possible, assuming Sal even bothered to think about that and just grabbed the first one she saw. Or, again, she might just like pink, that’s always a possibility.

    2. BenRG

      Not really; I think it’s just a ‘like the colour pink in my mobile gaming technology’ thing. Sal doesn’t strike me as the sort of person who would care, positively or negatively, about gender aesthetic stereotypes: She marches to the beat of her own drum when it comes to such things.

      1. BBCC

        I’m not saying Sal cares, I’m wondering why people are surprised she got a pink DS. I noted already that Sal’s never seemed not to like the colour pink and that she’s worn it before.

        1. Cerberus

          People tend to react weird when you have a color they don’t associate with a particular gender performance. Sal presents fairly butch, so people are side-eyeing the choice of pink which they associate with femmes, even though plenty of butch folks wear pink and plenty of femme folk wear blue.

        2. BBCC

          And also the pink = girls and blue = boys thing is bullshit that only came around the late 1940s and before that, it was the other way around. Boys were ‘little men’ and men wore red (because it was strong and ‘a more decided colour’) and girls wore blue because it was ‘delicate and pretty’. Then selective marketing in the 30s and 40s shifted the other way around and people were buying that way until it became a norm in the 40s and it didn’t hurt that in the late 50s Eisenhower’s wife really liked pink and folks tend to dress like higher ups or celebrities do, so pink caught on for ladies and it never really seemed to die. And since pink = girly, obviously blue had to be masculine to correspond.

          Aren’t colour/gender hangups wacky?

    3. vlademir1

      I think it may just mainly come down to the culturally normalized biases regarding what women with Sal’s aesthetic and interests do and don’t cotton well to regarding the culturally normalized feminine aesthetic. People often don’t stop and question such prejudices and stereotypes nor even realize that they use them.

      1. BBCC

        It is possible because it’s outside her normal colour palette (though, again, she’s worn pink before), but I think this is a possibility for some of it.

    4. John

      I would’ve expected a dark blue one, not out of any sort of character judgment, but because dark blue is Sal’s color.

      But I guess DSes don’t match characters’ colors the way phones do… Amber’s is red, and her colors are yellow and blue (desaturated in her civilian identity, bright in costume). And Danny already has a dark blue DS, and it’s useful for Sal’s to be visibly Not Danny’s.

      1. BBCC

        That’s fair enough.

    5. Shiro

      I don’t think she dislikes it, but I was surprised she’d choose pale pink in particular because it’s so at odds with her usual aesthetic–iirc, wasn’t the pink shirt someone else’s? Joyce’s maybe?

      The same way I don’t have anything against the color red, but I’ve never owned a red gameboy/DS/etc because it’s just not my color.

      1. BBCC

        Yeah, that’s fair, but we have seen her wear a pink shirt that was (presumably) her’s – it was waaaaaaay back in book one though, so it’s not a huge deal to not remember that one.

        1. Leorale

          I think it’s because pink is the expected ‘girl’ colour and Sal’s a REBEL. But Sal is secure in her self-image, and probably just picked whichever.

        2. BBCC

          That’s my favourite interpretation of this. Mind, if she were insecure about her image, she’d never have said out loud that she loved Apples to Apples at a party.

  49. Pl0x

    Sal got a 3ds! Cool! And it’s pink! I have a black one! SAL LET’S BE FRIENDS

  50. nothri

    Shipping intensifies.

  51. Inbar Fink

    Awwww, they’re connecting the way Amber knows best!
    I was about to ask but it seems from the comments that this is the first time we see Sal’s new DS!

  52. Nenja

    This gives me hope. Please let it go well.

  53. Jess

    THIS IS THE CUTEST GODDAMN THING

  54. ValdVin

    Does Sal know Amber’s name?

    Between “laundry girl”, and the scene on the steps, it’s not clear, but seems like.she doesn’t.

    1. BenRG

      It’s unlikely; all Amber has ever been able to do in Sal’s presence is black out. I don’t think Sal knows enough about her circle to have asked anyone else what her name is either.

    2. Leila

      Also, Sal is a nicknamer. “Hey, whitebread.” “Bro”. “Pollyanna”. “Lisa Simpson.”

      1. BBCC

        Wonderbread, not whitebread.

  55. ThatGuy

    thats actually alot cuter than what i thought (that she was borrowing danny’s)

  56. Leila

    Alt text: My husband called it before I hovered.

  57. JBento

    It shall be a fight to the dseath!

  58. hof1991

    Now Danny will walk up with his device and join in. Isn’t everyone always calling for a three way?DYW will give us one without Slipshine.

    1. Spencer

      He’d probably get angry that Amber’s hanging around with Sal outside of her AG identity and feel even more hurt over their breakup.

  59. Killjoy

    Sal is utterly magnificent.

    Also, to me it looks like that’s Amber, not AG. If so, Amber… major props for what looks like bravery and growth here.

    1. Heavensrun

      if AG was present, she’d be tagged. This is all Amber.

      1. Killjoy

        I always forget to check the tags, it’s just not in my “reading fiction” reflexes.

  60. ValdVin

    Danny got Sal interested in Nintendo gaming, greatly helping lead up to this point.

    Has Amber been shown to know this? Is it something we can figure as having happened off-panel?

    1. Spencer

      She does not.

  61. Spencer

    It’s good that Amber is finding the strength to reach out to Sal but for the life of me I don’t understand why.

    Recognizing she’s a good person and helping find Ryan as Amazi-Girl, that I get, because that’s Amber in her invincible persona on top of recognizing her own wrongdoing against Sal, but I don’t get why she’s doing this now.

    1. Beige

      I’m guessing from the awkward look she feels bad about trying to attack sal… that or she really, really wants to defeat her in video game combat and prove her dominance XD

    2. Heavensrun

      I’m guessing because she likes and respects her and they have common friends and interests. Probably also on some level is the guilt and the desire to make up for the wrong shes done to her.

      1. Spencer

        But she made a point to Danny that Amber doesn’t like her, and that it was Amazi-Girl who was friends with her.

        And even today Sal triggered Amber’s PTSD. This just seems remarkably unhealthy.

        1. thejeff

          But Amber, despite her panic attacks/fear of hurting Sal, knows that Amazi-Girl’s been working with and trusting Sal and is thus realizing her own reactions aren’t rational. So she’s trying to overcome that.

          Because Amber is, despite her own opinions, a good person.

        2. Spencer

          I mean, there’s that and then there’s becoming friends with someone who subjected you and your best friend to extreme violence, whereupon you stabbed them in the hand.

          Like if this weren’t a character drama that would lead to a big revelation where the two eventually start patching things up, this would be a disaster.

        3. Deanatay

          There is some danger, granted, but I think it’s manageable. Amber’s establishing a very casual contact, through a game. I’ve always found interactive games to be a great socializing tool for kids, and I think it works well in this situation, too. It allows her to interact with Sal in a way that’s cathartic, that allows aggression and acting out, but in a way that discourages direct violence, and is non-threatening.

          Also, it means that Amber is feeling confident enough to move beyond avoidance of her PTSD, and to at least attempt mitigation and healing. It’s a risky step, yes, but if it’s her choice, I have to respect her courage.

      2. Spencer

        And, like, their only shared interest is in AG helping Joyce (and now Mario Kart I guess), and they both know Danny but as far as Amber knows she’s completely ruined her relationship with him.

        1. Fart Captor

          That both Danny and AG seem to think Sal is alright probably helped, but I think it might be curiosity more than anything else. Sal’s comment yesterday about hating people, plus her just going off to sit by herself and play video games could have made her suddenly seem less scary and more relatable.

          This might be me projecting a bit, but I also think that as reclusive as she is, Amber needs more social interaction than she’s been getting. She avoids it, not always because she doesn’t want to be around people, but because interacting with new people is stressful and difficult for her.

          Sal pulling out a DS created a rare opportunity to connect with someone new by one of the few means she’s comfortable with, and she went for it.

    3. BBCC

      Maybe she’s trying to get the PTSD to stop, by doing something akin to exposure therapy, since she sees Sal is not a threat right now?

      1. Greenygal

        This would be my guess. Sal is going to continue to be around, Amber knows that, and Amber isn’t enjoying going into fight-or-flight mode every time they run into each other. She was really worried that she was going to hurt Sal just for trying to talk to her. So I can see her trying this very controlled contact to see if she can get past that reaction.

        1. Spencer

          This makes sense to me but it still feels weird that Amber would take such a huge risk as even slightly opening herself to her PTSD trigger. Like I feel this would make more sense after Sal’s been established as more humanized to Amber after the latter has made some more progress with her (heck even last night Amber immediately went into panic mode when she resurfaced).

        2. BBCC

          I think that’s it though – she knows, rationally, that Sal isn’t a threat or a bad person, but she keeps freaking out, to her own mental detriment, every time she sees her. So now she chooses to try interacting on her own terms and in a way that doesn’t trigger her or even require her to look at Sal. The game is safe – and if she freaks out and runs Sal off the road, it’s okay, because Sal won’t REALLY be hurt (and, unbeknownst to Amber, might use being run off the road to her advantage in the race).

    4. Guairdean Beatha

      It’s possibly because she’s beginning to see Sal as a person, and not as the demon Amber’s fears have made Sal appear to be.

    5. missilentmurmur

      I am considering how much of an overstretch it’d be if she did it because owning a 3DS instantly gives anyone a plus point in Amber’s eyes. And/or it triggered her curiosity towards Sal.

  62. Cerberus

    Totally off-topic, but I have an ethical dilemma I need to run by folks before proceeding on.

    Someone had a post where they outlined a great story idea for a sky ace empire that I want to turn into a real story, so I wanted to check in with the author for consent to use it and whether they wanted credit. They have not contacted me one way or another, but their site’s contact button has a parenthetical “yes, you can use that idea” on it.

    Should I assume that constitutes consent and start writing this idea or is that presumptuous and awful?

    Thanks, everyone for any help you can give.

    1. Spencer

      If they’ve implicitly offered consent then I don’t see why not.

    2. BBCC

      I would take ‘yes, you can use that idea’ as explicit consent, as it seems designed for exactly that reason.

      1. Leorale

        Explicit, written consent. Looks like you’re good to go!

    3. Cerberus

      Ok! My natural instincts on ambiguous consent is to err on the side of caution, so, yeah…

      Going to spend some time writing about aces training giant owls for secret missions.

      1. BBCC

        I don’t think you have to worry much about ambiguity if they said straight up ‘yes, you can use that idea’ on their contact button, but if they say no, you can always bin it or keep it to yourself to make you happy.

    4. C.T Phipps

      I was in a similar situation with my space opera novel LUCIFER’S STAR which was based on an old sci-fi tabletop game I ran with one other person. I got his permission and wrote the novel but insisted he take half the money and put his name on it.

    5. StClair

      So, funny maybe: when you say “sky ace”, I think “what, like an angel or something?”
      (wings, no bits or interest)

      1. BBCC

        Asexual fighter pilot angels is absolutely a story I would read.

    6. rectilinearpropagation

      A blog I read regularly has to keep telling people that they put ideas out there specifically because they aren’t going to use it and want someone else to act on it. I imagine that the parenthetical on their contact button is because they get the same question a lot too.

  63. li

    Amber is so cute in every single panel here…

    1. Spencer

      It’s remarkably nice to have a comments section not about how Amber is a horrible insane piece of shit who should be abandoned for once.

      1. BBCC

        RIGHT? Good job, comment section.

        1. Spencer

          Now we just need to work on the fantastically ableist “Amber’s too shitty to deserve a relationship because I read an article on Buzzfeed about abuse victims once” stuff and boy oh boy maybe we’ll get somewhere.

        2. BBCC

          Well, now, let’s not move too fast. Walk before you run, Spencer. Though that would be nice, yeah.

        3. Spencer

          In all honesty that four month period between Amber dumping Danny and the end of the Ryan stuff was fucking miserable for me. Just an endless deluge of “abuse victims are bad people”, and I couldn’t really argue against it since Amber was being that awful person I was convinced we’d never see her be, even if in hindsight that was just supposed to be Amber falling into a slump until she picked herself up out of it like she is now.

          It didn’t help that my depression and anxiety severely worsened over the summer, and I ended up internalizing a lot of what they were saying about Amber into myself due to my similar background and eventually convincing myself that I was totally right about every awful thing I beat myself with. Hell I even recall several other posters talking about how hurtful it was reading it but it still just kept fucking happening, and with how Amber was acting I honestly just believed it, that I was right to hate myself, and that I was too broken to ever be happy. I really should have taken a break from the series at that time instead of suffering through it and eventually that kinda built up until I had to stop reading for a while.

          Basically fuck those people with a tire iron is what I’m saying.

        4. BBCC

          🙁 I’m really sorry to hear things were so rough for a lot of folks. That’s legitimately shitty that folks were doing that. It doesn’t help that the comic goes very slowly, so it took a while to see Amber starting to feel better. But yeah, I remember folks talking about how AG was right – Amber was the evil alter everyone had to be protected from and UGH.

        5. Leorale

          Whoof, that sounds very sucky. I’m glad that you already know that those folks are mistaken on a fundamental level. I’m glad you’re doing better. 🙂

  64. chris73

    This is a nice, sweet and cute cartoon, is the writer feeling all right?

    1. BBCC

      Give him a minute. Sal doesn’t know who stabbed her yet.

    2. Deanatay

      He does this every now and then, to lull new readers into a false sense of serenity. Later, when he sends the characters into a spiraling vortex of suffering and self-loathing, you’ll look back at this moment and ask yourself, “Why, why didn’t I stop reading here??”

      We long-standing fans are just gluttons for punishment.

      1. chris73

        Sounds like a collective safeword is needed

        1. MatsuoTanuki

          I nominate the word “broccoli”.

    3. Remmington Steele

      It’s the Reverse Willis. Tread careful.

  65. Tenn

    The feels! The warm fuzzy feels!

    *holds earpiece*

    I’m sorry. That was supposed to be eels. Warm, fuzzy eels.

    1. MatsuoTanuki

      What has science done?

      1. StClair

        “Oh, what has science wrought? I sought only to turn a man into a metal-encased juggernaut of destruction powered by the unknown properties of a mysterious living crystal. How could this have all gone wrong?”

        — Doc Buzzsaw, the late and much lamented City of Heroes

  66. BP

    <3

    (That is all.)

  67. Peter

    I have to ask: is it really accepted in America to put your feet up in furniture while wearing shoes? I keep seeing this, in various media, and it frankly makes me feel like a Japanese person who just saw someone wearing outdoor shoes inside a house.

    1. showler

      Depends on circumstance. In a lobby/common room with furniture that is clearly designed for you to pull your feet up into it, I’d assume that it is considered okay.

    2. Leorale

      I’m a Canadian/American dual citizen. I was 11 when my family moved to upstate New York. Everyone thought we were being rude when we removed our shoes at the door (though they found us super polite the rest of the time). It keeps the house nice though.

      1. BBCC

        Apparently Americans find this ‘too familiar’. Dude, I just don’t want to track MUD through your whole house.

        1. Leorale

          Exactly. Now I just ask if it’s a shoes-on house or a shoes-off house (and I wear amusing toe-socks just in case).

          Anyway those fort-chairs look super study, like they’re made so that footwear is okay on them as long as she’s not dripping mud.

        2. BBCC

          No amount of shoes on house labels and sturdy furniture will ever make Americans who do this not feel horrifically slobby to me. Just….WHY?

          Barbarians.

    3. thejeff

      Generally more acceptable than taking your shoes off – barring houses where that’s the standard.

  68. Bunk

    The real question is, in what circumstances would Amber hold her 3DS like that?

    1. Leorale

      She had it in two hands, to play it with her thumbs, but she took one hand off so she could wave it at Sal.

      1. Bunk

        Yes, but why have her fingers behind the top screen as opposed to where they would be if she simply took her other hand off of it. to get it like this she not only had to mover her placement of her hand but also put her thumb on her screen which is poor handling of the system

  69. Elacular

    Since I started reading, Amber and Amazigirl have been frustrating characters for me. But right now, I can say with no embelishment that I’m really really proud of Amber. That took guts and mercy and empathy. HER guts and mercy and empathy. I can only hope she recognizes that.

  70. steelbright

    OMG this is the most heartwarming, real, honest and awesome moment illustrated with a pokemon game

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