241

Beside
Posted on July 21, 2017 by David M Willis

241 thoughts on “Beside”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Joe: “I rated you an 8.5”

    Stacy: “Aww, how sweet!”

    Joe: “I’m sorry”

    Stacy: *mouth full of doughnut* “…were you talking to me?”

    1. Yumi

      Do you think Joe’s dad has a list?

      1. Doctor_Who

        He calls it the phone book.

        1. C.T Phipps

          Does Amber killing a rapist make her go up or down on the list?

        2. Pablo360

          Whose list?

        3. Doctor_Who

          Only if her name changed. He’s going through the book alphabetically.

          Been working on Abigail Aaronson for years now.

        4. JA

          Wait, was it confirmed that she actually killed him? All we saw was the knife and a bit of blood, that’s not necessarily enough to declare someone dead.

        5. John

          Still unconfirmed. The most we’ve heard was “eviscerated”, and that might have been hyperbole.

        6. Tomas

          I’m pretty sure Amber is “Beanbag With Glasses”, and I’m pretty sure her butchery of Ryan is why she gets her own apology on the sign.

        7. David M Willis

          she is not

        8. Doctor_Who

          Other Rachel, maybe? She did mention that Joe gave her a 3, so I guess he doesn’t like her look. I think she looks nice, but Joe’s kind of a tool.

        9. Li

          Thank you. It is really silly how much that theory was bugging me but having it officially put to rest is such a relief.

        10. dn3s

          due to your avatar?

        11. Li

          Pffftt hey this was randomly assigned! I don’t think Amber would do more than raise an eyebrow at Joe for the description, though. I imagine the existence of the list would bother her more than “a dude I’ve met once thinks I’m fat, I guess?”

        12. Chai

          Could be that the dude used the list to figure out where they lived or something, we don’t know when the do list was leaked

        13. Fire_daws

          Amber is “Dorothy clone” http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/composited/

        14. TexasDex

          It’s been a while since I’ve looked at the archive, so it’s super-weird seeing the art from back then.

        15. Freezer

          We don’t know if he’s dead, just that Amber sliced him up real good.

        16. some guy

          *insert ringshot or sitcom canned laughter*

        17. desolation0

          rimshot, when you hit the head and the rim with the stick simultaneously, but it’s come to mean that quick beat they do at punchlines except I don’t know who does that anymore

        18. DSL

          I think it has come to mean “acknowledgment that a given joke isn’t going to get any other positive feedback.”

        19. davidbreslin101

          Also useful in band practice when someone says something stupid. For bonus points, respond with “Who did that?”

        20. Alan Lafond

          Watch Archer season 8 for your answer to that question. 😀

        21. iforgetwhatiputhere

          Most of his ratings in that book are massively inflated… Seven or eight figures!

        22. iforgetwhatiputhere

          He put Amber’s mom in with the 0800s
          badum tssh

        23. hof1991

          Is that 800 (Literature and Rhetoric ) or the 080 (Quotations)? There needs to be adecimal there somewhere, Dewey demands it.

        24. Marsh Maryrose

          Like most academic libraries, IU uses the Library of Congress classification system.

          Everyone on Joe’s list is classified under HQ.

        25. Ntrovert

          I’m thinking HQ 601 myself. Though you could make an argument for BF 692 for a discussion of the behavior… #LibrarianLife

        26. Kamino Neko

          Man, where do you live that you can still dial with 7 numbers?

        27. Dreballin3x

          It has some pretty high numbers, but we’re not sure if that’s out of generosity or a difference in scale.

      2. Dean

        A list is a juvenile affectation. Dr Dick is a grown man, his list is inside him.

        1. jy3

          The doctor’s list:
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJjHVTCm4HE

  2. AnvilPro

    Good point alt text, was there no other door they could come in through?

    1. Kernanator

      But then it wouldn’t be ~dramatic~

      1. Doctor_Who

        And there wouldn’t be ~donuts~.

    2. Cephalo the Pod

      I’m mentally counting how many entryways the Spencer Engineering Building of Western University had. I’ve concluded that there’s six.

      1. Clif

        Yeah, but Mike had the other 5 locked.

    3. Wraithy2773

      IIRC, dorms tend to not have a huge number of entrances. Easier to keep an eye on people and preventing outside people from gaining access if there’s only one main entrance and a handful of side entrances.

    4. The Gorram Batguy

      That’s what windows are for!

    5. BenRG

      I know that this is an odd thing to say but I suspect that it was the one Amber wanted to come through. FWIW, though, I suspect it may be the only commonly-used entrance. Everything else are probably automatically-alarmed fire exits or something.

  3. Achallenger

    Hey my parenting style is patented!

    1. Shaunock

      *Parented.

      I’ll let myself out.

  4. Cattleprod

    Stacy, encountering Joe for the first time: “Why did you shave your beard?”

  5. inqntrol

    Really Stacy, you are going to left Amber alone just for a couple of donuts?! Parenting 101

    1. inqntrol

      *leave

    2. C.T Phipps

      I’m sorry but they have nut covered ones. That trumps leaving your child.

      1. Tom T.

        Nut-rubbed, perhaps. Remember whose donuts these are.

        1. CoMa

          How could my brain NOT make this connection?! It must be too early in the morning for me…

      2. Needfuldoer

        The best kind were the jelly donuts that were filled with frosting instead of jelly. Sadly, Dunkies hadn’t had those in years…

        1. Roborat

          Sure, that way if the calories don’t kill you, the diabeetus will.

        2. Needfuldoer

          Oh yeah.

      3. dn3s

        “nut covered” …ew

    3. Fart Captor

      She’s not even out of the panel yet. Amber will probably follow her and then they can both say hi to Danny

      1. The Gorram Batguy

        Your words led me to imagine them approaching Danny while he, musical new Danny, plays his own theme song.
        And what popped into my head as his theme song? Well, let’s just say I’ve realized that any song which features “never give up” in the chorus can be changed to “Danning it up”.

        1. Joe Covenant

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-hvF8NLMRs

          “Danning it up, Danning it up / I can feel it / Danning it up / Is it a crazy notion?… “

        2. The Gorram Batguy

          A fine choice.

        3. Roborat

          How about: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life?

        4. davidbreslin101

          It’s got a good rhythm. I can think of other uses….

          Danning it up with his fingers
          Danning it up with his words
          Danning me softly with his song…

          (OK, that got wierd)

      2. Tacos

        Ah. Right. I forgot Danny was also there. Well this’ll probably be awkward and that’s not including the ukulele playing.

    4. ESM

      I mean, this is the same woman who’s bringing her daughter back to the scene of a violent traumatic event less than a long weekend after the fact. Stacey may not be actively malicious, but the donuts are the least of the bad ideas today.

      1. The Gorram Batguy

        Isn’t this the dorm hall where Amber LIVES?

        1. Clif

          And Amber’s ex is sitting at the table she’s heading towards. Playing a uke.

        2. Marsh Maryrose

          Amazi-Girl’s ex. Although he didn’t realize it, Danny was never more than friends with Amber.

        3. davidbreslin101

          The horror! The horror!

      2. btoblake

        Getting back into her routine quickly might be exactly what’s necessary.

        If we look at whether this is healthy or unhealthy right now, it doesn’t look like what Amber’s doing before going back was particularly healthy. She’s ruminating on the mental images of what happened on that porch and trying out a habit of hiding. That’s OK to do briefly, but these are not healthy habits, and after a traumatic event, it’s easy to form terrible habits that stick around for decades.

        If we’re looking at healthy possibilities she can get at school, she should be getting support from her friends, converting the memories into a verbal narrative by talking to people, and enjoying the helpful distraction of classes. To do that, she needs to be able to walk by that entrance regularly. Also, if she wants to manage her stress levels well for the rest of the year, she needs to be able to keep up in class. She’s been living on adrenaline long enough, she needs a routine.

  6. Cephalo the Pod

    That is an unsettling new red-filter.

    1. JessWitt

      Didn’t think it could get any redder.

      1. Reltzik

        Do NOT issue that sort of challenge to Willis.

        The sort of challenge we want to be issuing is something along the lines of “I don’t think Becky/Dina could possibly get any cuter.”

    2. Keulan

      Amber’s smile in that red panel kinda reminds me of Walkyverse Mike’s smile.

      1. Positron

        Oh god that’s creepy when you account for the context of that smile…

  7. butts

    but doughnuts

    i mean

    c’mon

  8. TheAnonymousGuy

    Okay, how bad did ryan get it, seriously? know there are people who go on to regret the action they took to protect their self or others (Because your not a crazy person and consciousness is kinda a double edged sword in some situations) but, that depends how bad they hurt the attacker.

    1. C.T Phipps

      I’d regret him surviving too.

    2. Smiling Cat

      Amber’s problem is that she’s not entirely sure she did it as an act of self defense.

      Legally, sure. Emotionally, not so much.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Maybe in retrospect she sees herself getting carried away with her counter-attack? That would fit with the increasingly disgusted and horrified looks Dorothy had during the encounter, as blood started flying.

        Not-Ryan had it coming, regardless.

    3. Tarmaniel

      I can definitely confirm this kind of guilt is real, and here’s hoping this fictional dorm treats Amber better than my real one did.

      In college a woman in our dorm was attacked at night in a bus station, she grabbed a rock while this guy was tearing her pants off, hit him with it when he went to get back on top of her, and he ran off. She initially seemed to be coping OK but then we learned they found the guy in a local hospital, she actually had hit him hard enough to give him a skull fracture and he eventually died of the complications. She became really alienated and withdrawn after this, openly referring to herself as a murderer. The dorm obviously being a teenage gossip pit did not take long to start speculating about “what really happened,” since “She was just fine before and now she suddenly feels guilty?” A bunch of snide comments and terrible rock-related puns later, she had a screaming fit/emotional breakdown, left and we never saw her again.

      1. CoMa

        That’s really awful 🙁

      2. Chris Phoenix

        I’m guessing no one had her back? No one was willing to stand with her publicly and say “Cut that shit out, she was defending herself, she didn’t kill him on purpose, and anyway she made the world is a better place?”

        I hope she’s doing OK now.

        (Yes, he had a family, and yes, they feel crappy. Compare that against all the other women he didn’t rape, and their families. The world is better.)

        (And I suspect that if it had been a man who fought off an armed mugger, resulting in the mugger’s eventual accidental death, the man would not have been blamed and harassed this way. But a woman who actually fights back is a threat to the social order and must be taken down. BLEAH.)

        (If you don’t know at least three women who have been raped, it’s because they don’t feel safe telling you. If you do, consider taking a public stand against rape.)

        1. The Gorram Batguy

          Every sane person knows rape is horribly wrong. So the only “public stand against rape” that seems relevant to me, is smashing rapists in the head with potentially-fatal blunt objects, or equivalent. It’s not like the monsters who go out and do these things are going to listen.
          Seriously, what’s the point of public declarations?

        2. Clif

          Convincing other people to smash suspected rapists with potentially-fatal blunt objects.

        3. The Gorram Batguy

          So, what we need is to give free women’s self-defense classes, instead of public declarations. Though I suppose advertising the free classes constitutes a public declaration…

        4. Unusually Angry Hippie

          That world ‘suspected’. That word is the problem. What do you do when a completely innocent guy gets sent to the hospital, or the morgue, because someone mistakenly or intentionally called him a rapist, and someone else with their heart in the right place but their head up their ass decided to beat the shit out of him for it?

        5. Clif

          That’s why you pick and choose your public stands.

        6. thejeff

          Every sane person knows rape is horribly wrong, but many have trouble accepting that particular cases are rape. Especially when they’re not as clear cut as “attacked at night in a bus station”. Or drugged and dragged into a bathroom. A “public stand against rape” can include educating people about less blatant cases and countering the narratives of women lying about it. Or just educating about what actually counts as rape – witness the study where college men were willing to admit to acts that met the definition of rape if the word itself wasn’t used.
          Smashing suspected rapists with potentially-fatal blunt objects on the other hand isn’t a good goal – that suspected part is problematic. Actual rapists in the act is perfectly fine.

        7. Chris Phoenix

          Part of taking a public stand against rape would be, I don’t know, maybe supporting a woman who defended herself against a violent rapist? Rather than joining the rest of the dorm in attacking her for accidentally killing him?

          To those people below who kick around the word “suspected” – as though I was supporting killing “suspected” rapists – READ THE ORIGINAL POST. He was RIPPING HER PANTS OFF. There is no “suspected” here. If you try to minimize this particular story, or suggest that her action in this particular situation was in any way inappropriate or unjustified, you are PART OF THE PROBLEM.

        8. Fart Captor

          THIS

      3. Joe Covenant

        People are bastards.

        1. Clif

          I blame their parents.

    4. A Scientist

      I don’t know if what she did to him is what is bothering her, but how she felt when she did it. She flashed back to the twisted smile she had, not to the injuries she gave him. I don’t think she feels guilty about what she did; I think she feels guilty about enjoying doing it.

      1. Ferdinand Rosenthal

        The Batman Problem, so to speak. He knows he’s doing the right thing, but once he passes a point – typically murder, other times getting down to their level – he won’t be doing it for the right thing, but for some primal monster within.

        1. StClair

          Or that’s where it was coming from/what they were doing all along, and they can no longer deny it/pretend otherwise.

          Fun fact: there’s no way to determine, conclusively and objectively, which it is. Especially if you don’t seek out other opinions and rely solely on self-assessment.

      2. Gesc

        She who hunts rapists?

      3. merbrat

        Yes! When she had flash-backs about punching her dad, she was horrified when it clarified that she had that smile!

    5. Jago

      This is a habit of Amber. The red background is reoccurring for her. She paints herself in a very negative light, and hates when she is being violent, maybe because she is afraid to be like her father, because she also has a temper (which is not unusual for her case and others with her background). Like, for Amazi Girl it’s okay to be violent, and she needs her, because Amazi Girl does it for justice and all the right things. But if Amber even does something like defend herself, she will get anxious about it. Because then it’s different, bad violence. At least that’s what I got.
      (And Danny is right, she really should take a break from Amazi Girl.)

    6. hof1991

      Don’t care about Ryan. Bet he never appears here again. May his name be stricken.

  9. @zombieundergrnd

    Man, chasing off for glazed donuts. You’d think she’d be a little more focused (I mean, it would be one thing if they were chocolate frosted cake donuts …. )

    1. BenRG

      Willis has always characterised Stacy as being a tiny bit flaky, IIRC.

    2. Makkabee

      I frickin’ LOVE chocolate frosted cake donuts.

      Or even better, chocolate cake donuts with those little cylindrical bits of chocolate on top, like Entenmann’s sells.

  10. C.T Phipps

    Amber needs a theme song so she can feel better about her actions and less like a killer.

    Oh, I KNOW! Perfect for her return!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DupfUVoSd7A

    1. Dana

      I was fully prepared to be rickrolled.

      1. C.T Phipps

        That also would have worked but THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK is also terrible as Amber would make a great slasher movie villain.

    2. CJ

      This? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4h6Jzqu0uvM

  11. Passchendaele

    I know that’s supposed to be leftover police tape, since Joyce was standing over it earlier, but I see the yellow and think somebody peed at that spot. Sorry. ‹.‹

  12. Kamino Neko

    … Stacy has the attention span of a goldfish with ADD.

    1. Jago

      But is the goldfish well medicated or not?

    2. Gamaran Sepudomyn

      Goldfish have good enough memory to navigate mazes using it even months after the initial run through, actually.

  13. Trolldrool

    Okay, if she’s so easily distracted that she’ll forget her own promise to her own traumatized daughter she made not even three seconds ago, she’s in dire need of Ritalin. Or in case that doesn’t have the desired effect, a fidget spinner.

    1. Reltzik

      How bout a fidget spinner on Ritalin?

      …… waitaminute, that might be counterproductive.

      1. Trolldrool

        While I can personally confirm that ritalin has a positive effect on me and my combination of ADD, Tourettes Syndrome and OCD, it doesn’t work for everyone, especially if they don’t have ADHD/ADD (which makes it insufferably aggravating when teachers or doctors treat it like a quick and easy way to shut up kids instead of adjusting their teaching methods), so the fidget spinner should be fine.

        1. Reltzik

          Sure, all of that.

          I’m just saying don’t administer Ritalin to the fidget spinner itself.

  14. A guy

    “Mom!”

    “What? I said as long as you need me. You’re a capable young woman now.”

    “…”

    “Plus now the donuts need me.”

    1. Pablo360

      “…” is my favorite emoji

      1. davidbreslin101

        Skeleton with long eyelashes?

  15. Tacos

    In the words of Homer Simpson: “Mmm… doughnuts.”

    1. BenRG

      Another quote of H J Simpson that fits this strip is: “Now there’s a temporary solution!”

  16. Shiro

    Stacey, I….no, honey. No.

  17. C.T Phipps

    Amber’s problem is she’s not following her mother to the powdery goodness beyond.

    1. Dana

      That was my thought too.

    2. Reltzik

      Donuts are were the People are.

      Flee, Amber, flee.

  18. Roger Sterling

    Hey it’s Amber’s mom. Actually be a parent today. Try not to get distracted and fuck any dads on your way through the parking lot…

    ok that’s one way to subvert expectations.

    1. Shiro

      That joke wasn’t funny the first time you told it, either.

      1. Roger Sterling

        That’s not a joke. I honestly hold Stacy in dwindling regard as a mother. My first impression of her involved a moment of neglect you’d have to strain credibility to call understandable.

        Don’t get me started over whether or not she’s accountable for Blaine getting to Amber’s room in the first place. Sure she’s not *in the wrong*. She *meant well*. The thing is, she needs to be more than *innocuous* to be a suitable parent to her daughter and not being where and when you said you’d be at a time in which said daughter’s abusive dad is amuck isn’t exactly productive.

        Not to mention the scandal she’d expose her daughter to if her mother were ever caught screwing the dad of the verified manwhore of the whole college.

        If my child had half the accumulated issues Amber does, particularly after what just happened to her three days ago, donuts are the last thing that’d be on my mind.

        On a rating from Count Olaf to Atticus Finch, she’s currently at “Mr. Poe”.

        1. Shiro

          Okay but you can express that without reviving a gross misogynistic joke that shames her for her sexuality instead of calling out her misplaced priorities.

          Repeating it nearly verbatim on a subsequent comment just makes it seem even more like you want buttpats for an old, stale, sexist joke.

        2. Roger Sterling

          Fair.

          …buttpats?

        3. Clif

          “screwing the dad of the verified manwhore of the whole college.”

          Wait, did you just slut-shame Joe?

        4. Roger Sterling

          Yes. Why do you ask?

        5. Fart Captor

          His interest in casual sex is actually not one of the many things Joe should be ashamed of. The problem with him is how he goes about trying to get it.

        6. Clif

          I wanted to be sure I understood what you were saying.

        7. davidbreslin101

          I’m guessing the original of the joke is the bit in “Clerks” where Dante has a meltdown about his girlfriend’s past sex life. Never thought we were supposed to be on his side in that scene, personally- he comes across as a whiny self-righteous prick.

        8. Fart Captor

          No dude, you don’t get to blame Stacy for her ex-husband’s actions. Unless Blaine has some kind of radio tracking collar, she had no way to know he was around. She had no reason to assume he would decide to show up. Nor would her being there have prevented it, since he was already in the room when Amber arrived.

          Nor is there anything “scandalous” about her hooking up with Joe’s dad. She is a grown-ass woman allowed to make her own sexual decisions, and there’s not a single god damn reason she should feel ashamed of that.

          And just who do you think Amber has spent the last three days with? Because it looks to me like it was her mom. They definitely don’t seem to be coming from jail or the hospital, which suggests Stacy has probably spent the last three days focusing on her daughter’s needs as much as possible.

          Not that most people just stop having any interest in food under stress. Hell, if you look at Amber’s expression in the last panel, she looks like Stacy suddenly spotting and heading towards the donuts isn’t just not upsetting to her, she actually seems less anxious than the previous panel, and more curious as to what drew her mom’s attention. Having something other than her anxiety to focus on seems to have helped.

          So I’d say Stacy is doing a decent job here

        9. BBCC

          Seriously, how do people think it would have gone if Stacey had met up with her as planned? She probably would have shown her mom her dorm and roommate at some point and ran smack into Blaine. Which couldn’t POSSIBLY have gotten worse if he’d seen her.

        10. Needfuldoer

          It probably would have been uglier, because you know at best Blaine would use Stacy as a fulcrum for emotional/guilt leverage.

        11. BBCC

          Yeeeeeeep. And Stacy may well have a flight, freeze, or flatter trauma response, whereas Amber has a ‘fight’ response at least sometimes.

        12. Roger Sterling

          So you’re saying Amber was better off dealing with that situation without her non abusive parent there. And that Stacy couldn’t have possibly done anything better.

        13. Fart Captor

          Stacy was also a victim of Blaine’s abuse, and her presence (even if she’d magically known he would show up) would not have magically made everything OK. The man basically kidnapped Danny just so he could force Amber to let him heap abuse on her.

        14. BBCC

          I’m saying that Stacey being there would not have mollified Blaine and probably would have made things substantially worse. Even if he couldn’t swing heaping abuse on Amber, he can still heap it on Stacey. And again A) Stacey isn’t responsible for Blaine’s actions and B) He’d have been there in her room anyways. That is not on Stacey. That’s on Blaine for being fucking awful…

        15. A Scientist

          Few things make a space feel normal again like eating donuts in it.

        16. Spencer

          Honestly, I do think spontaneously ditching your daughter so you can rail a dude in the closet is kinda… not very good parenting?

          Combined with the punchline of this strip having Stacy comedically ditch her daughter, it doesn’t exactly paint a good picture.

        17. Fart Captor

          Sure, it’s not great, but she didn’t actually ditch Amber, she only delayed her arrival a bit.

          It’s something that merits criticism, but it doesn’t seem like, monstrous or anything.

  19. Bicycle Bill

    Where is Amber’s mom in the first panel?
    And I note that there is still a piece of the yellow police tape lying on the landing.

    1. C.T Phipps

      It’s an error, a representation of Amber’s subconscious, or she’s a ghost.

    2. Kamino Neko

      It’s from her first person POV.

      Thanks to talking with Mike it took her a while to catch up.

      1. jeffepp

        “Talking”, is that what the kids are calling it, these days?

    3. Wraithy2773

      Amber went off ahead yesterday, the mom hung back a bit to see if Amber still needed her, caught up when Amber froze.

    4. BenRG

      One possibility is that she’s already inside and, between panels 1 and 3, she came back out (whilst Amber was busy flashing back in panel 2) to chivvy her to go through the door.

    5. Jago

      I think that is a leaf.

    6. John

      Stacey has been a ghost all along.

  20. Solenoid

    red alert red alert

    :C

  21. Dave

    I’m afraid I’m still a bit unclear, did Ryan die or just ge stabbed so badly he had to leave school?

    1. Smiling Cat

      I assume he got stabbed badly, then arrested because of the two witnesses testifying that he came there to stab people.

      1. Shiro

        And then possibly expelled depending on how much of Joyce’s story got to the administration and how good the school is about punishing sexual assault.

        1. Smiling Cat

          It should be sufficient that he threatened to cut two people up, then go cut up their friend. I’m pretty sure the abominable tendency of campuses to overlook sexual assault doesn’t extend to attempted murder.

        2. segnosaur

          Given the fact that he showed up at a residence with a knife and the intent to stab people, I don’t think the school would even need to know anything about Joyce’s story to expel Ryan.

        3. vlademir1

          Pretty much. Consider that he pulled that knife just outside the entrance of the hall and, to quote from IU’s own website here, “…many entrances to our residence halls are monitored by video cameras.” This seems to be the main public entrance, so I’d be shocked beyond all hell if it didn’t have a camera monitoring it, and just having a weapon (that knife definitely fits the typical legal size requirements to be considered a weapon even without him wielding it threateningly at someone) is enough to warrant action on most campuses and this is a campus that will be more alert to such issues having just had a gunman a scant couple weeks ago, then you add on the fact that he was clearly threatening someone with it. Yeah, he ain’t a student here anymore at a guess.

  22. some guy

    donuts are the most important thing around, even overshadowing your first-born

    1. JessWitt

      I’ll just adopt a Dunkin Donuts employee so I’m set for however long they keep their job.

  23. Halpful

    ouch. that last panel… disappointing, but not surprising. :/

  24. Synnerman

    Ugh, not the Homer moment!

  25. Cerberus

    Comic Reactions:

    Panel 1: I love the panel composition on this. Amber seemingly alone, far away, staring at a door inches away but it still feels like the distance between us and her and her and the door are emotionally the same.

    Panel 2: That red panel… That breaking face, shamed by her own self and her own alter, retreating ever deeper into her old coping strategies to try and run from it. But the person she is running from is herself and needs the sympathy she cannot manage to show herself.

    It’s brutal and you see that in her eyes for the rest of the panels.

    Panels 3-5: I feel what Stacey is trying to do here. Like, the intention is good, but the execution is very flawed. Like, she wants to be there and support her traumatized daughter. She’s saying all the right things to let her know she’s not alone. But at the same time, it’s clear her coping strategies for stress and responses to stress are vastly different from Amber’s and she’s not the greatest at consistently being present as her daughter needs her to be.

    Okay, I’m done typing. Someone let off a very large explosive thing (firecracker?) and I’m starting to dissociate.

    1. Halpful

      *hugs*

      panel 4: in the words of Lapis – no-one could be that well-adjusted! hahaha

      1. Halpful

        expanding on that… man, panels 4 and 5 together are damaging. words of comfort and reassurance, followed by immediate betrayal. way to teach amber never to believe people will actually be there when she needs them. :/

        if I had the patience to look through the archives I bet I’d find a few instances of amber not believing people really care about her that make just a bit more sense now. :/

    2. Bagge

      *all the hugs*

    3. Fart Captor

      Oof. Hope you feel better soon

    4. Wraithy2773

      …does this count as stress coping? Granted, the situation here is abnormally stressful, but if you consider a bit of “Comedic exaggeration because gag-a-day-strip”, this isn’t that far off from something myself, and my mother, will sometimes do. Head’s a little scattered, see something interesting, head off towards it.

      ADD wasn’t oft diagnosed in Stacey’s generation, and even then it’s not exactly a “Either you have it or you don’t” thing, and the number of people here sneering at her for being a bad mother are making me hella frowny…

      1. SillyGoose

        I didn’t read it as abandoning her daughter, more as using donuts as a distraction mecanism. In my interpretation of the scene, the “oooh donuts ‘k bye” thing is just comedic hyperbole to give the strip a punchline, but Stacy will actually either a) take Amber with her to the donuts* or b) be back in ten seconds with a donut for Amber.

        *Eating donuts as a mother-daughter bonding experience in pop culture: the new pendant to best friend/ice cream after a breakup? A longitudinal survey. Available at Dumbiverse University Press.

        1. butting

          Or c) with Joe in tow.

          Gonna hope Danny’s on the ball enough to stop that particular danning up from happening.

          (hang in there, Cerb. we’re here if you need us.)

        2. Cerberus

          Yeah, that’s how I read it. My suspicion is that Stacey is more of a stress eater whereas Amber tends to cage into herself and so Stacey is like, I know what works for me, I’ll try and use that for my daughter.

        3. Cerberus

          But that’s why I’m like, the intention is good, but the execution is flawed. She’s trying to do what she thinks support looks like, but is not really aware of the optics of some of her more subtle actions and how they might be being read by someone as prone to heavy interpretation as Amber when she’s in a stress state.

          But I really give that a positive. Flawed, but trying parent support is a hell of a lot better than a lot of other parent interactions.

        4. Temperaryobsessor

          Amber has been shown in the past to respond positively to Danny getting her donuts after she had a stressful day. Given that day wasn’t nearly as bad but its not like she would be getting the idea to use donuts to make Amber feel better from nowhere.

        5. Cerberus

          Oh, I forgot that, so yeah, this is her being a good mom and going “oh, man, my daughter is in a real bad place, wait, doughnuts? Those help!”

    5. Nightsbridge

      Take care. Your emotional needs come first.

  26. rectilinearpropagation

    Is Stacy assuming Amber is following her? I think that’s what she’s thinking even though clearly that’s a poor assumption.

    1. Fart Captor

      Well, since Joe and Danny were apparently set up in the dorm’s lobby, that’s the direction they were going to have to go to get upstairs anyway. She’s also not even out of arm’s reach yet.

  27. Keulan

    I think that’s the reddest of all the red panels I’ve seen so far.

  28. Bagge

    I start to STRONGLY dislike those stairs.

    1. The Mad Academic

      I STRONGLY dislike the lack of responsible parents in this comic. Seriously, your child is having a fucking crisis and you run off for fucking donuts?

      1. Fart Captor

        She’s literally only two steps away! How is this “running off”?

        1. Halpful

          it’s the optics of the thing. she just said she’d be “right beside” amber, and the very next thing she does is stop being physically right beside amber.

        2. Heavensrun

          Eeeeh, but it’s a punchline. She could easily be going to get a donut -for Amber-. Until we see what happens next, it’s a little silly to get pissed off at her for “running off”.

        3. Spencer

          I think the problem is the need for a punchline creating a silly picture of Stacy ditching her daughter after saying “don’t worry I’m right here.”

      2. vlademir1

        That’s ok, I personally strongly dislike the lack of responsible parents in our typical daily meatspace consensus reality. I’ve seen far, far worse toward much more vulnerable children than what Stacy is doing here.

  29. Showler

    Amber is “bean bag with glasses” isn’t she? And that’s why Joe is extra sorry to her…because she can hurt him?

    1. Lingo

      Probably Other Rachel.

      1. CoMa

        Probably – Willis replied to a comment above that Amber is not her (aka “bean bag with glasses” – it’s in one of the replies to the very first comment), so it might be Other Rachel.

    2. Kamino Neko

      Why are people so attached to this theory, despite the fact that it doesn’t actually fit the facts?

      For Joe, Amber is ‘Palette swap Dorothy’ and Dorothy is rated a 7 – ie, not his first choice, but significantly more fuckable than a beanbag.

      1. Showler

        I can’t say I am attached to it. I just thought that the second message on Joe’s sign might be more than a joke to end the strip.

  30. Lingo

    Man, I nearly jumped when I saw this comic, because that second panel is creepy as FUCK.

    I think it’s EXTRA creepy because that tear coming out of her eye looks like a SECOND SMILE. A drooling little smile.

    Now you can’t unsee it!

    1. butting

      Shit. Amber as the Corinthian.

      1. hof1991

        Meaning this one ( a failed experiment in terror)
        http://sandman.wikia.com/wiki/The_Corinthian
        not The Donald’s Two Corinthians (walk into a bar).

        1. Lingo

          That guy’s pretty terrifying!

      2. davidbreslin101

        DOROTHY: Holy shit, Walky, she bit his fingers off with her eyes…

  31. John

    So, am I the only one who thinks Stacey’s expression in the second-to-last panel is creepier than Amber’s in the second panel?

    1. CJ

      Looks like she grew a vampire tooth.

  32. Black

    Okay, seriously, what the fuck is up with this woman? First time we saw her, she ditched her daughter for a booty call. Now that her daughter needs love and support, she can’t be bothered to stick around because there are donuts.

    Seriously, is this woman part squirrel or something?

    1. Wraithy2773

      It’s a webcomic that tries for joke-a-day. She’s not going to abandon Amber, it’s just a gag for the day that highlights the unease and vulnerability that Amber feels, while referencing her mother’s ease of being distracted.

      …also, seriously, my mom does stuff like this all the time. Hard to turn off sometimes.

    2. BBCC

      She didn’t ditch Amber. She texted her telling her she’d be a little late and that she’d meet up with her later and then they went to get dinner.

      1. Clif

        and dessert.

    3. Jengoci

      She mayor got distracted but came black to hace lunch with Amber, and about the donuts idk maybe she found a change to a snack between her and her daughther you know “confort hurt for her chile” ( speaking from personal experience with my own mom)

  33. Coco Pommel

    The rage panel made me instantly think of Jotaro Kujo’s theme. Now I want a panel of Amber Ora-ora-ora-ing the douchebag.

    1. Eldritch Gentleman

      How did it go? “Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Joyce whom you’ve almost raped”
      ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA

  34. Raibean

    At least get Amber some donuts

  35. Delicious Taffy

    Hurry, everyone condemn Stacy for a 30-second stop at the donut table! It’s an atrocity, I tell ya!

    1. butting

      Dude, do you really want to know how long and how dangerous 30 seconds can be for someone in Amber’s state? Really?

      1. butting

        Though… okay, to add the sanitised bits. As someone who’s spent way too many hours on suicide watch, Amber shouldn’t be going home. Amber should be in the same ward Ruth was, though with less rush to see her go home than in her case. Day release, with someone trusted, off to do things like hang out in the park or watch a fun film? Absolutely. But turned loose in Stacy’s care and sent home? Shit, a world of nope.

        (and I can’t help wonder: why doesn’t she have a bag with her? something here doesn’t add up, and it’s not adding up badly. what has been going on for these few days? though, at least we can be grateful that Willis didn’t decide to leave us hanging for the whole chapter, which looked like a possibility for a while there)

        1. merbrat

          (re: not having bag) If her mom was called to pick her up from police station, she wouldn’t have a bag with her. She still has clothes, etc, at her mom’s house, or she is wearing something of Stacy’s.

  36. BenRG

    Even Amber must acknowledge that donuts are a serious and important priority of their own that cannot be gainsaid! 😉

    Seriously, though, as a lot of people have posted since this arc began, the big problem for Amber isn’t what anyone else says or thinks (although there are certain to be some malicious voices determined to hurt her using this incident). The problem is her own feelings and her own horror at what she did. It is that foe she has to confront and defeat, not any external one.

    IMO, Panel 4 says a thousand words – Amber’s same and anguish about what she allowed herself to become for those few short moments is practically screaming out of the picture, even though she’s not saying a word.

    I’m wondering if Amber will go over to the donut table too. If so, Joe and Danny’s reaction will be interesting to see; I’m still hoping that Danny may ask her to help him track down the leaker.

  37. Kindra

    Am I the only one who reads Stacy’s comment here as “Oh look, Amber, comfort food! Let’s go have donuts.”?

    Because all of the people saying “oh my god, what a horrible mother, how dare she not keep 100% of her focus on her daughter!” are really bugging me.

    1. A Scientist

      That’s how I saw it, too. In virtually all of my circles, after all, when someone says, “Oh, donuts!” it’s an invitation to go eat said donuts together. She’s not far enough away to call it abandoning. If she keeps walking toward the donuts even after Amber clearly hasn’t followed, okay, but jumping to horrible parent conclusions isn’t really fair from what little we’ve seen.

    2. Needfuldoer

      I think it’s in the body language. If Stacy was holding Amber’s hand instead of her shoulder, and in the last panel she started pulling her a bit in that direction, we wouldn’t see as many of those comments.

      Personally, I agree with your interpretation. (Throwing in the scenario I put out there the other day, where Beef tries to take an entire box while Joe and Danny try to stop him, because I think that’s hilarious.) Not sure how Amber will react to Joe, he’s not exactly the best person for her to be around right now.

    3. Jago

      I didn’t read the comments, but people who read this comic seem to really like to jump at everything and declare people monsters, and it’s bugging me, too.

      1. Clif

        You monster! (Sorry, couldn’t resist. It’s like donuts.)

      2. Gesc

        This webcomic attracts a very particular demographic. Highly interesting for discussing things you usually don’t get a chance to in other spaces, but also fairly quick to react.

        Personally I see this as the classic “end the strip with a joke” gag Willis does now and then. Kind of ruins narrative but hey, humor!

  38. newllend(henryvolt)

    Danny will be the first one to face her huh? Interesting.

    1. BenRG

      Danny, Joe and the surrounding fan-club of donut eaters, yes.

      1. Clif

        Well, yes, but Danny is the only one that counts. He can play a uke and he’s a good egg.

  39. Architex

    RE: alt-text, a window would probably be pretty spiffy right about now.

  40. BenRG

    There is a sub-text to this strip that suddenly occurs to me. Stacy says: “As long as you need me, I’ll be there.” then goes to get a donut. Maybe that’s the point Willis is making: Amber has other people on whom she can lean for support if only she is willing to do so. Maybe that will be something that we’ll see developed over the next few strips and beyond.

  41. darkoneko

    Oh, so that’s where Joe’s booth was.

  42. KingMonster

    And Stacy leaves Amber alone in her time of need again. *shakes head*

    Now all we need is Amber’s dad to show up unannounced again to put us RIGHT BACK where she doesn’t need to be.

    I hope gains the strength to bounce back from her friends, ’cause her mother is clearly going to be less than helpful…

    1. Jago

      Her dad is not allowed on college property and he got beaten up by someone near the college, I’d say he’ll stay away.

    2. Sam

      For all of 10 seconds??? Which seemed to helpfully distract Amber from her own thoughts???

    3. Tacos

      At most she’d be gone for 5 minutes if there’s a long line. Anyways, she’d still be in Amber’s line of sight and Amber could just follow her.

  43. LWS

    Homer Simpson is Amber’s mother?

    1. Clif

      There was a terrible accident at the hospital. It was never straightened out.

  44. Djaevlenselv

    Ms. Brannon stole her daughters resolve thunder.

  45. mecklejay

    Well that was odd timing. I brought three dozen donuts into the office today for my work anniversary. I have three (donuts, that is, not dozen) sitting on my desk in the direction she just headed!

  46. Vulcanodon

    I wonder if Stacey knows exactly what went down or how deep her wounds (preexisting and fresh) are.

    1. Vulcanodon

      In the movie, Amber is at the door, anxiety music in background. She sees her reflection. Jump scene: background music goes sound effect for 1 second for red panel, then silence as Stacey is unexpectedly behind her. “You don’t have to face this alone dear…” she says.

  47. Pat Myers

    Twenty bucks on Mary showing up and saying something gross.

  48. Morrison

    Amber was by herself in panel one. Was she just standing there for a long time or . . . Does Stacey have teleportation powers?

    1. Morrison

      Guys that’s it! It was always Amber’s destiny to be Amazi-girl with her mother being a super and her dad able to impregnate half a town with negging.

      1. Clif

        Nonsense. Stacy was there the entire time. You can’t see her in the first panel because she’s standing behind Dana.

  49. THEHYPERBOLOID

    ‘maybe i’ll just never come in this door again’

    Assuming there’s another entrance, I could definitely see her avoiding that door and the step for a while.

    I once had a wreck while taking a ramp to get on an interstate. I avoided that ramp for several months afterwards.

    1. DinaWho

      I was in an accident turning out of a post office parking lot. I’m scared to go to that post office now (haven’t gone back).

  50. Li

    Wanna say again that the art here is really great; the subtle differences between Amber’s expression in each panel really describe her feelings wonderfully.

    Kinda withholding judgment on Stacey. One strip every day that comprises just a few seconds makes me want to do that in general. “Is she coming right back? Is she bringing donuts for Amber? How much abandonment does this represent?”

    Like, if she comes right back, this strip still serves plenty of narrative purpose. Stacey might well be trying, but Amber currently doesn’t feel very supported by her. (Her previous offer to hold Amber’s hand went over badly, and Amber doesn’t really look relieved by Stacey’s pledge to stay by her side even before it evaporates.)

    Amber feels alone right now. I think that feeling is well-conveyed by the composition and her shifting expression; by the way that, a couple strips back, Stacey was standing in the foreground talking over her shoulder to Amber (rather than by her side).

    Not judging folks who ARE ready to call Stacey a bad mom, tho. Just not quite there myself yet.

  51. Robert

    I can just see the headlines of the campus newspaper now:

    “Mom attempts to gives brownie points; gets sidetracked with donuts.”

  52. Roborat

    That last panel is the perfect way to finish this page. Well done.

  53. IllogicalBobcat

    I’m old enough to say that parents are people too.

  54. QueerBitch

    I hope Amber turns out ok. As someone with similar fears as her that sometimes take over about becoming like my own father…it hits close to home. Even tho I’m a political protestor/rioter, am unafraid to confront abusers and rapists, and don’t morally oppose all violence toward dangerous people…when it comes to ME doing the violence myself I get freaked out. Especially if I felt it wasn’t a concious decision. If I ever “blackout” and hurt someone I’d be scared of myself – even if the person who I fucked up deserved it entirely.
    It isn’t an easy mindset to escape. Even though I logically know that I’m not destined to be like my dad, the fear is still there. It is a hard road. And I really hope that in my case – and Ambers that we are able to get through it.

  55. Mortartarsaus

    To be fair to Mrs. B, she said that she’d stick with Amber for as long as she needed her, and if you walk into a room with free doughnuts the only thing you should need at that moment is free doughnuts.

  56. Orion Fury

    Accepting a donut is never a challenge.

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