160

Zeal
Posted on January 2, 2020 by David M Willis

160 thoughts on “Zeal”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Amber off the hook is like Amazi-Girl turned up to eleven

    …MILLION

    1. Doctor_Who

      Amazi-Girl switching to Amber is like Bruce Banner switching to Hulk.

      Shame “Amber Alert” is taken or it would be a good name for it.

      1. auroki

        How about Amber Prime or Mega Amber?

        1. Walky_Talky

          The Amber-gler

        2. Stanistani

          That makes me Grimace.

        3. Clif

          Good night, Grimace.

        4. someone

          Amber-Rassment
          Rem-Amber
          Dism-Amber
          Outn-Amber
          Amber-Gris
          Antech-Amber
          Amber-Jack
          Lucky N’Amber
          Amber-Etta
          Amber-Serker

  2. Poskie

    Christ, Blaine, your smile tells me to expect horrifying maiming, but of whom I cannot be certain.

    1. Poskie

      Also, less importantly, what the fuck is wrong with you Mike????? I know we say that a lot but COME ON.

      1. Zatar

        The fact that Mike is only the third biggest asshole in this fight says a LOT.

      2. Regalli

        Seriously. Don’t intentionally worsen other people’s mental illnesses, Mike!

        (Even if you don’t take him at face value, if he’s saying he knows then that probably means he ALSO knew at least one of the times we’ve seen him set Amber off in-strip.)

        1. Icalasari

          I mean in this case, it might be good to actually rile up Amber and get her to snap. He’s going oddly easy on her in a situation where a pissed off Amber could mean they don’t die

        2. Regalli

          Amber and AG still don’t seem to be sharing memories. Amber suddenly gains control in the middle of a fight with two very dangerous men, one of them armed, Amber is almost certainly way off guard and things could take a turn for the drastically worse VERY fast.

          Also in general I don’t support ‘let’s traumatize the already-heavily-traumatized person worse’ when there’s any other option, but that ship sailed when Mike went for AG.

        3. thejeff

          I’m not entirely sure I buy the Amber is so much better than Amazi-Girl in a fight theory. Different, but rage is not necessarily better than control. It’s not like AG’s been ineffective in the past.

        4. David

          Blaine is Amazi-Girl’s kryptonite. He’s the reason for her existence separate from Amber. Amazi-Girl is a safety valve on Amber for long-term Blaine effects. But a safety valve is not designed for continuous operation under full pressure. And right now that safety valve has locked up. Amazi-Girl is not letting off Amber’s steam at all right now.

          Ryan did not exactly get away lightly last time Amber went off. Without intervention, there number of encounters between Amber and Blaine where both make it out reasonably alive is likely limited. That’s why Amazi-Girl is pulling her punches. Maybe Mike’s superpowered taunts will save the day instead.

        5. thejeff

          Is Amazi-Girl “pulling her punches”? Does she normally – when she fights gangs at night with Sal?
          Or is this specific to Blaine?

          She’s not in Amber’s full on rage mode, but then she’s always been very good in a fight without that.

        6. vitalProximity

          I think she’s so far separate from Amber at this point that she’s been sucked into the comic book hero banter. I know talking is a “free action,” but even the look on her face seems to indicate she’s not giving the fight her full attention or effort (see her face, and confession, in panel 3; also, Blaine’s comments in panels 1-2). It seems like she was like “Finally, a worthy adversary!” (she even complimented Blaine’s “supervillain dialogue” in a previous strip, rating it a 7), and now they’re just sparring and chit chatting. She doesn’t seem actually focused on winning right now.

        7. thejeff

          Which may just imply she doesn’t need to, not that she’s about to lose because she’s not mad enough.

      3. Icalasari

        Yeah, he’s not riling her up NEARLY enough!

  3. CC

    Okay, yes, dramatic effect and all, but should they really be having this conversation right now??

    1. Tacos

      You know what they say, talking is a free action.

    2. Zatar

      We are in full Superhero fight mode now. By the standards of the genre this is monosyllabic.

  4. Stephen Bierce

    Somehow I think the real twist still has yet to show up.

    1. tim gueguen

      Carla in power armour.

      1. Agemegos

        Asher with a DM rifle and a skull on his sweater.

        1. Icalasari

          The police

        2. vitalProximity

          Ethan comes sprinting through the woods, having seen Mike draw the dads off from the window, and followed his scooter tracks and various witnesses he encounters along the way. He bursts out of the woods onto the scene… just in time to take a stray ball-peen hammer to the head, traumatizing Amber/Amazi-Girl anew and Mike with a brand new fresh trauma to add to his collection.

        3. Meagan

          Dude. No.

        4. wilddeath

          I support this vehemently.

        5. vitalProximity

          I’m sorry, you…*support* this vehemently?? Ethan being felled by ball-peen hammer? … I mean, not judging you necessarily, but could you expand on why??

        6. King Daniel

          Considering that would definitely kill Ethan, I’m pretty sure we can rule that out.

        7. Sunny

          So it hits and breaks his shoulder then. They’re about level with Amber’s/AG’s head.

        8. King Daniel

          The comment I was replying to specified that the hammer would be hypothetically hitting Ethan’s head.

        9. vitalProximity

          I mean, I don’t actually think it will happen. I HOPE it won’t. … But it sure would be a twist!

  5. AntJ

    “Your overconfidence is your weakness”
    “And your faith in your friends is yours”

  6. Foxhack

    So does he know it’s Amber under the mask or not?!

    1. Doctor_Who

      Probably.

      Unless that drive Faz stole was 500GB of Steve/Bucky fic.

      1. tim gueguen

        It all depends on what Amber wrote/how she wrote about Amazi-girl, and possibly what Faz read in Amber’s files. Who knows what that little weirdo might do to any information he acquired before giving it to Blaine?

        1. Regalli

          Yeah, crimefighting stuff may have been encrypted in ways Blaine couldn’t crack (no one’s devoting that many resources to the stooge’s ‘ruin my daughter’s life’ scheme,) assuming there was any at all. AG only seems to come out during crimefighting time, for one thing.

    2. DailyBrad

      Does Blaine know? I am inclined to think he doesn’t, since the whole goal is to get Amber out of college so he doesn’t have to pay for it, and outing her would have accomplished that in a heartbeat.

      Does Mike know? I think he might, but I also think it’s possible he doesn’t.

      1. Regalli

        Blaine would almost certainly turn Amber in to some kind of authorities (or Ryan’s parents, that information seems public enough he could probably find it the way he did Ross) if he knew. Gets her kicked out of school, he has no more payments, problem solved. And rereading his scenes involving AG, he really never shows any sign of recognition? Betting the McDonalds fight’s rain and nighttime meant pretty low visibility, and when you add in how little Blaine thinks of her I could see him not piecing things together.

        Mike’s lines here REALLY suggest to me that he doesn’t just know ‘Amber is AG,’ but that he knows she really isn’t because they aren’t the same person. (Discussing her right after ‘that may not have been me last time’ and then the ‘I’d rather she were here’ line are pretty suggestive.)

        1. vitalProximity

          Yeaaahhh I genuinely have no idea where Mike’s at, knowledge-wise, at this point. If he knew AG and Amber were PHYSICALLY the same person, why would he have expected AG to show up in the woods if he believed Amber was still at the party? On the other hand… Well, what you just said. Plus, you know, it’s Mike, and him knowing the full extent of the situation just seems more in line with his character and general M.O.

        2. justin8448

          Amber left the party a while ago, and she was looking at and . I think we can reasonably assume he saw her leave.

          I feel confident that Mike knows Amber and Amazi-Girl share the same body. And given his comment today, I think he may be the only person other than Walky and Amber herself who recognizes that the personas of Amber and Amazi-Girl are now essentially separate.

        3. justin8448

          Wow did I screw that up. It was supposed to say “…and she was looking at and commenting about him as she left.

        4. Rectilinear Propagation

          But how does he know that they’re separated? We’ve seen that they don’t share memories but has she told anyone this is happening?

        5. vitalProximity

          I don’t think there’s evidence for Mike beyond the last few pages either way, but Walky definitely knows (see: him watching her drop her mask; his comments to Amber about both Amber’s grade hacks and AG’s study alarms on his phone).

          Also, I could have sworn there was a strip where Amber complained about opening one of her games she had been looking forward to, only to find that AG had already done whatever she was planning on doing in the game the night before… But I can’t find it. 🙁 I was going to check who was in the background, because I thought it might have been Dina, but I’m not sure.

        6. Aydr

          It’s pretty clear Ethan and Mike have known about this all along, and if anyone is going to have successfully psychoanalyzed Amber it’s Mike.

        7. thejeff

          I don’t recall the thing about the game. She was surprised once to wake to find reports of Amazi-Girl doing stuff at night – dog rescue, I think.

          If Mike does know, I think it’s going to need some serious explanation – especially if he knows that they’re really disassociated, not just secret id. Ethan didn’t even know that and probably still doesn’t. For Mike to know that, he’d have had to either figure it out before school started when the disassociation was much less pronounced or sometime during the strip without ever letting us see any reasonable clues.
          And without ever even hinting at it while he was “poking” Amber.

          I’m not at all convinced he knows any of it. Though more open to the idea than I was a couple days ago.

        8. SuperZero

          I assumed he was lying for Blaine and Ross’s benefit when he said she was still at the party.

      2. Wizard

        The penultimate panel strongly suggests that Mike does know, but that could just be me.

      3. Kinoko

        I assume Blaine might have enough of the pieces to put “Amazigirl & Amber share a body” together, but (as well as explaining his plan to Ross to kill Amazigirl and get Amber out of college) is clearly in some HEAVY denial about what Amber is capable of, and so doesn’t recognize her at all. Plus, he’s, y’know, revenge crazy.

    3. Uly

      It’s NOT Amber under the mask, get with the program. They just share a body.

      1. Foxhack

        Take the mask off, she reverts to Amber. So yes, it’s Amber under the mask.

        1. thejeff

          Not always. Not necessarily.
          She’s been Amazi-Girl without the mask and she’s been Amber wearing it. It’s more complicated.

    4. Khno

      I’m almost sure Mike’s plan is to make Blaine realize Amber is AG, thats she is stronger than him (beaten him), and that shes hates him more than he cares to know.

  7. etherealdesiign

    can we please get robin in here to run through blaine and/or ross like a-train already?

    1. Doctor_Who

      She doesn’t have superpowers in this universe.

      I’d still put money on her though.

      1. Piotr W

        She’s got congresswoman powers, though. Let her pull some strings…

    2. Cholma

      I just watched the first episode of “The Boys” 2 days ago, so like Captain America, I can say: “I got that reference!” 😀

  8. miri

    Mike knows about the dissociation?!

    1. Rectilinear Propagation

      I dunno. His dialogue still makes sense if he just means superhero versus civilian personas.

    2. tim gueguen

      It seems pretty obvious he does. I’m guessing he also assumes Blaine doesn’t, isn’t aware that’s actually Amber he’s fighting, and he wants Amber to know he’ll keep his mouth shut.

    3. PB

      He’s a smart guy who keeps tabs on those important to him, as well as any and all exploitative information on those around him. If he doesn’t know, he suspects. And now he has confirmation.

  9. Wraithy2773

    …honestly, I’m just hoping that Mike starts to tear Ross a new one. The sociopath that knows how to hit everyone’s deepest buttons against a guy being deluded into thinking this a holy cause, anyone?

    1. Wizard

      I dunno, Ross’s absolute lack of self-awareness might just be an effective defense against Mike. But if I’m wrong, I’m gonna love every minute of it.

      1. PB

        Yeah, worst case scenario is a Code Wheatley; he’s not self-aware or smart enough to be fooled. Best-case scenario, Mike is stalling until someone calls the police.

    2. Meagan

      I ship this.
      If you can ship an action rather than a pairing.

      1. vitalProximity

        If you can, I’m shipping this.

        (Hopefully this links to a comment by Clif from yesterday…)

    3. Punaparta

      When has Mike ever used his powers for good?

      1. vitalProximity

        Ummmm, let’s see, just off the top of my head, he got the teacher who was horrible to Amber fired?

        1. King Daniel

          Rephrase the question then as, “When has college-aged Mike ever used his powers for good?”

        2. Clif

          He punched Joe for Joyce. In every age and in every incarnation Mike has always been up for doing good by causing mental or physical or mental pain. If it’s for your own good, bonus.

        3. King Daniel

          I…wouldn’t call beating the crap out of Joe – in a public restaurant, mind, and this after explicitly stating that he was only coming along to punch people in the face – a “good” thing.

        4. He Who Abides

          Yeah, I’ve never understood how people think that was good, or (for the record) that Joe being angry about it was a bad thing.

  10. Nono

    And we go from Blaine not even being stunned by an elbow to the ribs to smashing a scooter in Amazi-Girl’s face.

    (I know, superhero sequences and all that, but this is part of why I’m usually not very invested in Amazi-Girl storylines).

    1. miri

      Isn’t he just snatching it from her? It doesn’t look like it makes contact with her face/head to me…

      1. He Who Abides

        It looks to me like he punched her in the FAAAAAAAAAAACE (couldn’t resist) and she dropped Mike’s scooter because of that.

  11. BBCC

    Mike, come on, hiding bodies is a lot of work at midterm time, do you REALLY want Amber here?

  12. auroki

    Anyone else expecting Amazi Girl.and Amber’s personalities to merge into one similar to walkyverse Joyce?

  13. Dean

    If Mike wants Amber to show up, he could try mentioning that there’s an extremely rare Pokémon nearby.

    The comment puts the accent on the e automatically, what the hell.

    1. Wizard

      Dean uses autocorrect, it’s super effective!

    2. vitalProximity

      Honestly that might just distract AG, she even mentioned she hangs out in those woods because of all the Pokémon… oh yeah, and also crime.

  14. StClair

    Seems to me, then, that the “solution” (for certain values of) is to take off the mask.

    That serves the dual purpose of surprising and confusing Blaine (in a mirror to how him putting one on threw Amazi-Girl for a loop), and letting Amber out to *cough* play.

    (reminds me a bit of a JL plot from the comics, some years back, where the League get split in halves… and one thing that gets brought up is, all the anger is actually on Bruce Wayne’s side, with Batman being a means of expressing and channeling it.)

    1. vitalProximity

      That… Literally explains like 90% of the Amber/AG original dynamic. Thank you for sharing that helpful background. Much appreciated! 🙂

    2. Kensou

      Ah yeah, I remember that arc. I turn to it as comfort whenever I get too mad at the “Bruce Wayne is a mask, Batman is the real person” mindset. Thank you, Mark Waid.

      1. StClair

        FWIW, for years now I’ve felt that “the real person” is the guy in the cave with the cowl off, surrounded by his family.

    3. King Daniel

      Except we’ve seen Amazi-Girl in the past without the mask (and conversely, Amber with the mask), so simply removing the mask wouldn’t necessarily “let Amber out to play”, as you put it.

  15. Rikunda

    I am going to guess he already knows who she really is, and is trying to tell her to switch without outting her to Blaine.

  16. Rectilinear Propagation

    Ugh, G-d, it’s a new year so there’s diet ads everywhere.
    “Yaay,” Lana from Archer said sarcastically.

    Have I said how much I like how Willis did the transition from Amazi-Girl to Amber back when previous fight started? Because I did, very much.

    So is this Amazi-Girl just not wanting to let Amber fight or does it feel unnecessary?

    1. Regalli

      Possibly the ‘don’t let the one I’ve deemed The Scary Bad One out’ instinct. Possibly also the fact that they’re not sharing memories anymore – switching in the fight would probably be a Bad Thing given she’s up against someone murderous and doesn’t need the disorientation. It would probably also explicitly key Amber in to the fact that AG’s still running around, less-violent outlet or no, which AG might be trying to avoid.

      Fighting her evil dad in a cheap supervillain costume would probably also be triggering as all hell, but I suspect that will end up being true of either of them.

      1. thejeff

        Plus Amazi-Girl would never admit Amber might be more effective than she is. She’s the good one. The hero.

        If Amber comes out here, it’ll be either rage if Mike gets hurt or sheer panic if AG is seriously losing.

  17. William Leonard Reese Jr.

    Wait . . . Mike knows about Amber’s Multiple Personality Disorder? Or whatever you call what that one dude from the M.Night Shyamalan film had?

    1. Icalasari

      I mean, it’s not exactly hard to figure out. Blaine is just incredibly stupid if he can get into multiple close encounters with Amazigirl and not figure out who she is

      1. Needfuldoer

        In Blaine’s mind, Amber will always be the sniveling coward who couldn’t buy Twinkies or go on a school bus. To convince him otherwise, she’ll have to literally beat it through his thick skull.

    2. BarerMender

      Not established that Mike knows.

      1. Ahecht

        Mike is an expert at reading people and figuring out their innermost flaws. Of course he knows.

    3. Regalli

      1) It’s Dissociative Identity Disorder.

      2) I REALLY want to have words with every crap writer who’s used it in particular as a Sign Of The Scary Murderer, cause seriously this shit gets us killed.

      (The fact that Willis actively makes efforts to make Amber/AG heroic and sympathetic because he’s concerned about that precise stereotype helps a lot with this comic’s take on the trope. So does the fact that he was a lot more vague on the subject until he started getting feedback about how Amber/AG reflected people’s lived experience and they appreciated it.)

      1. He Who Abides

        Yeah, Split was a terrible representation of DID.

  18. Tacos

    So if Blaine’s the Starscream then I can’t wait to see just how he inevitably and spectacularly fails.

    1. Regalli

      At a guess, someday Blaine will try and make a move against Asher’s grandfather, who as someone who’s NOT Megatron will then just kill him.

      Listen, I can dream.

  19. Mr Ak

    *dontdoitdontdoitdontdoit*
    *he loves transformers more than you, knows it better than you, and it’s pedantic as hell anyway*
    *deep breath*

    Uh, I think you’ll find that it was Megatron who said “this is almost too easy, Starscream”

  20. HMRC4EVR

    Mike is pretty clever at figuring things out, so I’m betting he knows Amber is AG. What he’s doing here is 1) being honest that Amber in control it would be no contest 2) helping set up the illusion to Blaine that Amber isn’t AG and 3) being an ass.

  21. abysswatcher1993

    This super hero shenanigans would get people killed in real life, and knowing Willis I hoped he doesnt pull an Integrivact moment.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Wilbur has said on Twitblr multiple times that he’s intent on killing off at least one major character, so he can get a few good years of fallout and angst out of it. Or so every response to every similar comment would have me believe.

  22. rachel

    I don’t get, at all, what either Mike or Amber’s endgame is here??

  23. WaywardLynx

    Dude, I tried to use another email account for a better Gravatar and several days later, all my comments are still awaiting moderation 🙁

    Re: Mike – We know via pained smile he was already wayyyy jaded when he met Amber and Ethan. I’m pretty sure him trying to use his smarts for the better of other people didn’t happen for the first time ever when he confronted that teacher. When it blew up on his face, the person he’d intervened on behalf of fleeing to boot, he looked so disappointed. These were probably the first kids he’d gotten close to in a while. And yet it felt like he was used to it, y’know? He was ready to move on. Only when he realized Amber’s dad was the cause of her being Like That he gave it another go.

    He went to the party, did the thing with the Korean bbq bills out of wanting to give Amber something nice… And then it kept escalating. It always worked out in the worst way possible, then Blaine cornered him, and I read that scene as a kid who’s like. Thirteen? Bluffing his way out of a situation he truly has no control of, who’s fucked up horribly to the point of getting Amber and Ethan hurt, and who’s already realized even Ethan’s mom is willing to punish her son for associating with him. Unless he stops trying to be nice, becomes the opposite of nice. Which is toxic as hell, don’t get me wrong, but neither Amber nor Ethan were going to push him away for it, and therefore it was “safer”. The “none are righteous” quote thing? It included him.

    So honestly, in this scene, I think this is the way he has to let Amazi-Girl know he Knows, and that he’s on her (their?) corner, trying to throw Blaine off the trail. Because once again, he’s planned this, he’s planned this good! Except Mike has no clue Faz stole that USB for Blaine, and that Blaine Knows, too.

    1. vitalProximity

      … Oh my God, marry me. Do you believe in love at first character analysis? I think I do. ❤️

      1. WaywardLynx

        aslfkjsdklfj THANK YOU! I’m partial to summer weddings 8D oddly invested in his character after Of Mike and Men, and kdsjfkl when he seduced Ethan basically so he could move on, meanwhile he was so obviously suffering? Yeah. He’s grown on me A LOT. I don’t think he’s “a force of nature”, nor Actually Evil. I think he’s been so warped by many years of acting like The Asshole he’s become the mask – Which is a shitty coping mechanism that’s harmed a lot of people, including (and specially!) him, and an interesting foil of sorts to the Amber/Amazi-Girl situation.

        (Also, the Social Work degree he’s working on needs to have some basis that’s not “he gets his kicks watching other people be miserable-er.”)

    2. Needfuldoer

      Change the capitalization of your email address, and you’ll get another random avatar. As long as it’s spelled the same, you won’t get flagged as a first-timer.

      You could also click the “Get a Gravatar” link and set one up, but that takes more effort.

      1. WaywardLynx

        Thank you so much! ;w;

    3. Mr D

      I’ve been stuck under “awaiting moderation” for… I dunno, most of the year. I think since April or may? I’m hoping the new year will see me being allowed to comment again.

      1. Mr D

        I’VE BEEN PARDONED! PRAISE WILLIS!

        1. WaywardLynx

          PRAISED BE! Glad for you, friend

        2. WaywardLynx

          (…. Jesus, that’s an even worse Gravatar. OMG)

  24. Regalli

    Yeah, see, this is why I don’t like Mike or think he’s at all a constructive asshole. There’s not a lot of ways to read his lines here but ‘I know you’re a vigilante, and also that you’re deeply dissociative,’ and intentionally fucking with someone’s mental state like that when you KNOW they’re going through some shit is just deeply repulsive. If he wants to help, and even be a jackass about it, talking about the fascistic tendencies and pointing her towards some kind of support after would actually be effective. Implying she’s destined to be like her abusive father is the opposite of helpful to anyone. Don’t put other people in harm’s way as collateral damage for your fun, Mike.

    (This is also why I can’t rule out that he was truthful when he said he intentionally got them in the car together to make them both miserable. Mike’s such an edgelord, I’m not sure he gets how yeah, hurting Blaine and hurting Amber are both dick moves, but one is VASTLY crueler than the other under those circumstances.)

    1. Delicious Taffy

      But but but you’re legally obligated to like Mike. Something something force of nature deepest issues for a nickel here’s a TV that looks like an apple. Or whatever.

    2. thejeff

      Yeah, there’s no excuse for that. Even if he doesn’t know about the vigilantism and the dissociation and was just poking her to feed the rage, it’s still monstrous.

  25. Keulen

    Does this mean Mike knows about the personality split (or whatever it’s called) with Amber and Amazi-Girl?

  26. DarkoNeko

    namecall her non-hero name in front of her dad, why don’t you.

    1. SuperZero

      They’re both referring to Amber as a different person, though.

      Although they did hint that she’s the one who beat him up before.

      1. DarkoNeko

        oh I’m pretty sure Blaine was refering “family” earlier because he knows.

  27. NinjaNick

    Amazi-Girl, use rage!

  28. Synnerman

    Yep, Blaine is channeling Parallax Hal hard.

  29. nlips

    Prediction: He is going to tear off her mask.

  30. Bagge

    Noooooooo, this situation can be resolved without amber beating up Blaine. Just trip toedad, run and let the police or campus security take care of the amazing turdheads.

  31. Dark_T_Zeratul

    “You’re an idiot, Starscream,” said Megatron.

  32. Suet

    I see it like world clocks on a wall during a 9 o‘clock newsbreak. They all vary, but it has to strike midnight sometime.

    But hey, name-drop her and Blaine might connect the dots.

  33. Felian

    i am just waiting for the action scene to be over and see Blaine and Ross either dead or definitely locked up for good. ugh. people like them should just not be alive.

  34. Alanari

    So, Mike knows. All of it. Including the separation thing. Which probably means, there is a reason he didn’t call the police but AG. He wanted this confrontation. Question is, why?

    1. Delicious Taffy

      He’s a bag of gangrenous dicks in human form and gets off on fucking with people’s heads?

      1. Alanari

        He did say he’s turning a new leaf. Not sure how serious that was though. And this whole thing endangers him, too.

  35. Alan in DC

    Folks, what if we’re being a bit myopic here? What if Blaine was a costumed mob super- villain long before *now*? What if he secretly was “The Purple Scungili” or some damn thing back when Amber was an awkward 11-year-old?

    Think about it — how could he have gotten a form-fitting impact-absorbing suit within weeks of his first pummeling from Amber, unless he already HAD one? Why would Blaine sign her up for martial arts training after the stabbing incident if not to focus and amplify her anger to join Indiana’s “Dark Side” when the time was right?

    Im thinking this is less a matter of psilocybin in the punchbowl than it is a backstoryline that extends long before Joyce’s inaugural poop.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      How difficult do you think it is to buy motocross gear? If I had the money, I could order some tonight and have it on my doorstep before the week is out.

      1. Alan in DC

        Not hard at all, DT. Good point. But the physical conditioning needed to allow a middle-age dude to deflect a kick to the chest that sends him backwards ten feet – still standing – can’t be ignored.

  36. Rabisch

    I like how calm is Mike.

    1. vitalProximity

      Some people respond to threats with calm instead of panic. Partly due to my job, I have become (in some circumstances) one of them. It’s… not always a good thing. I mean, I think it’s better if you’re actually a little desensitized to crazy situations in a broad sense (as I would imagine would be the case for EMS workers, for example), or at least enough to be able to think and respond somewhat rationally in a dangerous situation, but for those who are only exposed piecemeal to a few specific types of scenarios here and there (like myself, an educator in a program that includes several young adults – typically physically larger than me – who occasionally have violent outbursts that I have to dodge or talk them down from… But I have very limited exposure to situations including, for instance, weapons, or extreme medical emergencies)… Well, in a situation you’re NOT prepared for, that “stay calm and deal with it” reflex, if it’s a learned behavior, can instead translate to “freeze up and then panic when you realize you don’t actually know what to do here” instead of defaulting to fight or flight.

      Anyway that was mostly a tangent, although I do think Mike’s experiences might be more spotty than not. That said, he also seems like the type whose calm in the face of danger is more intrinsic than learned, so he’ll probably be okay anyway.

      But honestly, a lot of “being calm” in scary situations is either faking it or sort of… deferring the fear to later. Ideally, after the situation is resolved. (For me… usually halfway into the situation. Like, even when doing solos in choir back in school, I was never nervous until I was almost done performing… THEN the adrenaline would kick in and cause me to fuck up).

  37. Dave

    Kind of surprised that being the less zealous entity makes Amazi-Girl the inferior fighter, not the superior one. Inner focus, don’t be ruled by emotion, something-something Jedi stuff.

    1. JBento

      All of the jedi stuff is bonkers stupid, though.

      Regardless, rage is pretty useful in a fight; detachment and inner focus are not. The first gets that adrenaline pumping, which is REALLY useful in putting more force behind your blows, which is especially useful when who you’re hitting is wearing body armour.

      Detachment and focus are useful in ritualised combat (like martial arts), where you win by doing specific moves or hitting specific places, there’s a slew of countermoves that you do’t have to worry about, and maiming your opponent is, generally speaking, bad. In an ACTUAL fight? You win by downing the other party as hard and as fast as possible, and every move is on the table and you want all the pumping adrenaline you can get.

      1. TemperaryObsessor

        Just because the dark side happens to be used by the bad guys does not mean the philosophy is wrong.
        From what I understand the light sides philosophy is what lead to Elsa freezing everything.
        Honestly the more negative emotions exist for a reason. The ability to calm yourself down can also be usefull but mostly when you are playing a long game not in the middle of a fight.

        1. BBCC

          I mean, the dark side philosophy is literally ‘fuck the weak, if you can take it you’re entitled to it’ so that’s probably not the greatest thing in the world either.

      2. Daibhid C

        That must be why every fight I’ve ever been began with me charging screaming at my opponent and ended about three seconds later with me on the floor. I was just too detached and not angry enough. I guess those anger-management classes were a waste of time!

        1. TemperaryObsessor

          Anger can make you stronger in a fight, it can also blind you to some better strategies in a fight. More importantly anger can prompt you to start fights you really shouldn’t or to choose the wrong time to fight.

      3. thejeff

        Adrenaline is good. Blind rage is bad.

        Skill and technique count too and that rage can throw them off. Generally screws with your defense too.

        For Amber/Amazi-Girl, regardless of theory, AG’s been shown to be very effective without going into any rage. This fight is the first indication that rage Amber is actually better – as opposed to just not being able to stop beating her target once she’s down.

      4. Dave

        Yeah, you have a point. The ideal is probably “grey” force user: let the rage fuel your attacks, but don’t let it dictate your strategy.

      5. He Who Abides

        JBento, I can say from experience that blind rage isn’t always good in a fight. I work security for a strip club, and I’m currently sitting at home with stitches in my face and a metric ton of painkillers in my system because I angrily tried to subdue the drunk who thought “Sir, you’ve had enough” meant “All hail Kim Jong Un, filthy American!”, instead of calmly removing him when he got bottle-swingy.

    2. StClair

      See above re old JL storyline. Without Bruce’s rage to drive him, “Batman” was something like a crime-fighting robot.

    3. vitalProximity

      It’s not that it makes her the inferior fighter; it just makes her the less invested one.

  38. Acebender

    I find it a bit unbelievable that Mike didn’t pick up that Amber is Amazigirl.

    1. Nevermaker

      On the one hand, yeah, he’s pretty clever, and he’s known Amber for a long time, so it’s kind of surprising.

      On the other, Dorothy (who is also very clever and lives next door to her) didn’t figure it out until she saw the Transformer and put two and two together, and her own father (who is, admittedly, not as clever as the other two, but has still known Amber her entire life) hasn’t picked up on it, so there is a precedent.

  39. Bicycle Bill

    “Poking Amber’s bear” for the past five years.  Is it just me, or does anyone else find that statement to be just a little bit on the “eeewwww……” side?

    1. StClair

      Not really? “Poking the bear” is, IMO, a well-established phrase.

      1. vitalProximity

        … But it is Mike who said it, so if it also caused some people to go “eeewwww……” I suspect that would be a happy bonus for him.

    2. vitalProximity

      Also, she’d probably be into it. She likes his abs. ?

  40. vitalProximity

    … Huh. Seems like there’s normally more comments by now.

  41. Phil Dunlop

    Come on Amazi,,,,,,, time to kick some ass!!!

  42. PB

    “I did it five years ago.”

  43. Sporky

    Toedad must be pretty confused right about now.

  44. BBCC

    So, uh, if you’re American and freaking out about this Soleimani news, here’s a script for calling your federal electeds. You can leave a message: https://twitter.com/Celeste_pewter/status/1212933621213827073

  45. LazyReader

    Hammer man

  46. Roborat

    Biting your lip in a fight is not a good idea, up there with not enclosing your thumb with with your fist. And just a suggestion, hit things that don’t have the armour, so knees, face, arms, fingers, etc.

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