193

Bears
Posted on February 10, 2019 by David M Willis

193 thoughts on “Bears”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “you haven’t heard of shipping?”

    “well yeah, my mom sent me a tiny box the other day”

    1. Ana Chronistic

      also: DANGEROUSLYclose to bugs

  2. Raen

    …wait, she doesn’t know about him and Ethan?

    1. timemonkey

      Which she and all they’ve done is admit mutual attraction and agree not to pursue it. Neither Amber not Sal know Danny is bi.

    2. Mr D

      What about him and Ethan? They’re friends. Like Timemonkey says up here, they have admitted an attraction but decided that pursuing it would be the worst thng to do to Amber and not worth the drama.
      Ethan is happily dating some guy and “it’s complicated”ing Mike.

    3. newllend(henryvolt)

      Well Ethan is keeping himself open and is testing new experiences with new people which in all honesty is a smart move. But if anything this is a straight up green light from Amber for anyone who’s interested so there’s no reason Ethan can’t go after Danny.

      I mean he doesn’t really need permission or approval from her, but if he wants to keep tension away between him and Amber (and I know Ethan would want that considering how much he values his friendship with Amber) then the simple thing to do would be “Hey Amber, it wouldn’t put any strain on our friendship if I date your ex would it?”

      As simple as that

      1. thejeff

        It’s a little more complicated. It’s not just whether Danny has a “green light” to move on – it’s mostly all tied up with Ethan realizing he’s gay and breaking up because of it. Danny moving on to Ethan would be a huge echo of that.

        And bear in mind that Amber herself never even hinted at it being a problem and would likely support it. But a lot of the reasons she would aren’t exactly healthy ones.

    4. Beef

      To be fair she already moved on to walky. If Danny and Ethan got together it should be guilt free imo

      1. newllend(henryvolt)

        That fact in it if itself is one big green light.

        1. Clif

          Unfortunately Amber doesn’t know that there is an attraction between Danny and Ethan, though if she did she would definitely ship it. Neither Ethan nor Danny know about Walky and that Amber would no longer be hurt.

  3. timemonkey

    Danny and Sal? In what messed up universe would that happen?

    1. Zach

      Inconceivable, I tell you.

      1. butts

        that’s almost as crazy as Walky and Joyce

        1. Pablo360

          Not the ship, mind. It’s as crazy as those two people individually.

        2. ǝ snow ʍousɐ

          I mean, fair

        3. Needfuldoer

          Or Rachel and Joe. That ship would sink right out of drydock.

    2. Marsh Maryrose

      I was trying to look up the history of Danny and Sal, what popped up first was this:

      “Maybe I should stay away from people Amber knows.”

    3. Ethics Gradient

      It would have to be in a pretty dumb universe that’s for sure.

    4. Deanatay

      It’d have to be a pretty unlikely universe, that’s for sure. I mean, if aliens secretly tinkered with everyone’s DNA, then, MAYBE, but…

  4. Woomy

    No she can’t. She called him a piece of shit. Danny doesn’t need that.

    1. DailyBrad

      She doesn’t know about that, but yeah, that was a really gross episode for Amber. I liked a lot about Amber x Danny, but they’d really need to restructure their relationship if it got going again.

      1. BBCC

        Not to mention, they’d have to work things out with AG too. After all, he’s AG’s ex.

        1. Woomy

          Amber needs to work things out with AG. By seeing a therapist.

        2. Deanatay

          She worked things out with her nemesis, right? How much harder can working things out with AG be, right? Just, pass her some notes, or something.

          Then, when that’s done, she can sit down and have a nice murder TALK with Blaine…

    2. LauraS

      Yeah, except for the part where she didn’t do that. She was tempted to, stopped herself, and then beat herself up as if she had. Not saying it was a healthy relationship by any stretch of the imagination, but can we stick to criticizing Amber for the things she actually did?

      1. DailyBrad

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/02-that-perfect-girl/amber-2/

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/03-when-god-closes-the-door/buckle/

        The second one, in particular, is painfully reminiscent of “Touch her once, and she quits”.

  5. admiralnoob

    It’s too late. I already ship Danny and Sal. Sure hope it doesn’t wreck as hard as Ruth and Billie probably will.

    1. DailyBrad

      It’d be really cute, I think. Come to think of it, the two have a lot of notes to compare regarding parents who have like zero faith in you.

    2. BBCC

      AO3 is the best – your ships don’t gotta be ruined there unless you want them to be!

    3. Ninjamaid

      Didn’t Willis say that he wasn’t going to do ships that happened in the Walky!verse though?

      1. Diner Kinetic

        Yeah, I hadn’t started reading at the time of that post exactly but I remember hearing something similar – that being said, it seems like he’s freely used chunks of a lot of potential ships he’s hinted at or that didn’t really survive. Personally I just wish Gallasso X world domination for more screentime.

        I actually ship Danny and Noone, now that he’s single and comfortable and wearing that hat he’s actually a nerdy kind of really cool

  6. Rosicrucian

    If Amber, Joyce, and Lucy ever got together to compare shipping notes, the whole campus would tremble.

    1. Stephen Bierce

      Because Mike would show up, make one mark on their chalkboard, and the unison scream would drown out all other sounds including any Muzaks in operation.

      1. MatthewTheLucky

        Dina -> Mary

        1. Batman

          Drunken Joyce and Dina

        2. MatthewTheLucky

          Becky has very mixed feelings about this.

  7. Anthony Paoli

    Ah, Danny Danny’d it up, we can all rest easy knowing the universe has righted itself.

    1. Stu

      I don’t think so, given Sal’s smile at his response.

      1. Anthony Paoli

        A fair point, but I meant more that he ruined his “cool and collected” façade.

  8. Stephen Bierce

    She was a hairy bear
    And she was a scary bear
    So he beat a fast retreat from the lair    …
    –Apologies to Schoolhouse Rock

    1. Sambo

      Oh man, looks like I wandered into memory lane

      1. Leorale

        Oh, I’m a maid
        And I’m pure and fair
        I’ll never dance
        With a hairy bear

        I called the knight
        But you’re a bear
        All black and brown
        And covered in hair

    2. Marsh Maryrose

      The great irony of this strip’s title is: none of them is in the least bit attracted to bears.

      1. Clif

        We don’t know that.

    3. StClair

      Let’s unpack this.

  9. Hazel

    I love Sal’s eyeroll in panel three. I love her and Danny’s blooming friendship. I love the minute of non-awkward, non-angry conversation between Sal and Amber. Progress! Sweet, sweet emotional progress!

    1. Ninjabuttocks

      It really is a welcome change! This panel feels so clean and untouched by malice!

  10. Mr D

    So I’ve been thinking this over the last few days.
    I think the easiest way to describe Joyce would be “Mabel Pines but she was raised by Ned Flanders from Religious episodes in late seasons”

    1. Ninjabuttocks

      You nailed it!

  11. BBCC

    This strip should be retitled to Dorking of Age. It’d be just as apt. 😛

    I mean, *I* see some potential between Sal and Danny but Amber hasn’t been there for any of that so it’s irrelevant.

    As Bob Belcher would say – ‘they certainly are standing next to each other’.

    …Hey, the Belchers are cool? Can they adopt Sal? It’s better than her bottom of the bargain basement bin parents, even if Sal is an adult.

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      Can’t imagine how these ugly rumors start.

    2. Dana

      Standing next to someone a lot is how it happens.

  12. Roger

    man, media isn’t a good way to look at real people & relationships. Anyway I’m glad Sal and Danny keep having a strong platonic relationship.

  13. Cattleprod

    Man, I wonder what the Arcee/Optimus shipping, ‘Arcee and Aileron are just friends’ people would make of DoA.

  14. DailyBrad

    Sal’s downplaying, but I do like that she didn’t shit talk Danny to do so. That and the first few panels really make me feel good about their friendship. If they date, it’d be pretty awesome, and if they don’t, that’d be awesome, too.

    1. Zee

      Willis said he’s not repeating any walkyverse ships so, that one’s staying at the dock

  15. Plasma Mongoose

    To be fair to Sal, a lot of media these days is hard to swallow.

  16. Tacos

    Danny you dork. It’s just a bug.

    Also I would hope Danny and Amber don’t get back together. Dude seems much more happy now that he doesn’t have to worry about Amber’s mental state. He clearly was not equipped to deal with that. Especially as a young 18 year old who’s never had to interact with people with mental/psychological disorders. As for Danny and Sal, I could see them getting together but I think I prefer them being just friends for now. I wouldn’t be adverse to anything happening in the future though.

  17. JessWitt

    Eh, let Danny date some guy first – maybe Ethan, definitely not Mike – and then maybe take him back.

    Bonus, it’s more inspiration for Amber’s fanfic.

    1. Tacos

      Ethan’s a no-go. They both acknowledged that while they are attracted to each other, it’d be a horrible thing to do to Amber. Also isn’t Ethan with somebody right now? I forget who.

      1. BBCC

        Amber might be okay with it now. It’s not a subject either has broached with her.

        1. thejeff

          Amber always would have been “all right” with it, it’s just that the alright would have been based on Amber being garbage and confirming that they’d be better off without her.
          Of course they haven’t asked her about it. That would basically do all the damage right away and put her in an impossible situation.

      2. JessWitt

        Doh, right he’s with Thad. Could be a fling, could be for a while.

        And yeahhh, Amber’s two exes with each other – not great.

      3. Luna

        I feel like Amber lost any right to judge them if they got together when she made out with her friend’s ex the day after they broke up. If her dating Walky is okay, then Danny and Ethan dating each other should be too.

  18. Sporky

    “Also, I have recurring dreams about a world where you and him go out and also our RA died in a car accident. Is that weird?”

  19. fire_daws

    Soooo….is the Amber/Walky storyline kicked into the long grass? The whole thing seems kinda jarring.

    1. King Daniel

      The ship seems to have taken a torpedo scant days after it left port.

    2. Rosicrucian

      College relationships sometimes burn out fast.

      Faster even than high school relationships.

      I think it’s because in high school your time is structured both by school and your parents. You have limited time to be with your crush.

      In college you can stay up all night and really get sick of each other.

      1. fire_daws

        It’s not the relationship it’s the storytelling. I mean this could have been slowly building up since Walky and Amazigirl met on the roof three years ago now just when it happens it seems to have been suddenly dropped and switched to Walky/Lucy and Sal suggesting that Amber gets back with Danny when she clearly knows what’s gone on beforehand.

        It feels like an entire potentially three year storyline has been made redundant and it’s been pasted over by another one. But I might be jumping the gun and Willis might have something else in the works.

        1. thejeff

          Or it’s just being turned into a love rectangle?

          It’s not clearly being dropped, just complicated. Walky still seems oblivious to Lucy’s interest. Sal doesn’t know about Walky and Amber, so suggesting she get back together with Danny isn’t odd.

        2. Deathjavu

          But she does know, she asked about Amber and Walky earlier. All she heard is that they “might” be over specifically because of her?

          It’s weird that Sal is ok with Amber getting back together with Danny (after fighting about Sal), but doesn’t make the same suggestion about Walky (after breaking up over Sal).

        3. thejeff

          Right, of course she does. From the roof.

          I was thinking about Walky’s quest to talk to her about it and forgot exactly what he needed to talk to her about.

    3. Bagge

      Depending on how right Ethan was about her attraction to Walky being part motivated by her trauma surrounding Sal, Amber might be less motivated about the whole thing – especially since she still assumes it’s over.

      We will absolutely have a confrontation between them, but Walky has a lot on his plate right now, and will have even more one Bille crashes after HER breakup.

  20. Buli-buli

    Loved the AO3 line. Before they added the exclude option it was an aweful time filtering out the “kinkmeme” stories.

  21. abysswatcher1993

    Yeah, I don’t see any romance or romatic triangle happening between these three characters. They have been through a lot, and just being friends seems like the mature thing to do. Sometimes it’s better to just be friends, than become a toxic mess of codependency and alcohol… Yeah, I went there… Dammit.

  22. Marsh Maryrose

    Patience you must have, young padewan.

    DYW has several narrative arcs in the air right now. The Amber/Walky one is currently the most fraught, and for that reason is bound to come to the foreground again sooner rather than later.

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      This was in response to fire_daws comment about Amber/Walky…the commenting system has glitches sometimes, but it mostly works, so I’m not complaining.

  23. newllend(henryvolt)

    Yeah we truly live in an age of hyper-romanticism.

  24. Jess

    Dumbing of Age Volume 9: You Don’t Consume Much Media, Do You

    1. Keulen

      DoA Book 9: Aagh, There’s A Bug On This Tree!

      1. Deanatay

        DoA book title: I Like To Live Dangerously… AAgh, There’s A Bug On This Tree!!

  25. whatevsman

    Have two characters looked at each other for all of 10 seconds? Time to ship that shit like it’s amazon

  26. Dr T

    Honestly, after the toxic fixation Sal had on Danny in the Walkyverse, I honestly would like to see a healthy version of their relationship in this setting. Even better would be her slowly realizing she likes him that way and Danny being clueless about it, content to be everyone’s dorky friend and just discovering the new Danny

    1. Zee

      Willis said he’s not bringing back any walkyverse relationships though

      1. BBCC

        If that were true, Ruth and Billie wouldn’t be dating. What he’s said is he’s not repeating any unless he feels he can do them better.

        1. MatthewTheLucky

          And this page alone contains more Sal/Danny chemistry than the other universe.

  27. Dean

    Amber has written like fifteen Danny/Sal coffee shop AUs

    1. CJ

      What made coffee shop AUs a thing? They seem to crop up everywhere.

  28. Rowen Morland

    DannyXtreebug

  29. DailyBrad

    I keep reading, and loving, this strip. I’m really glad that, despite last strip’s punchline, Sal’s taking a joke and being in good humor. It’s kinda nice to see that level of comfort between the two of them. Danny being a little bolder, Sal feeling more understood. Just, damn, that’s some nice friendship juice.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Well Danny pointing out something ironic at Sal’s expense in a non condescending tone feels like a lighter Jab compared to what she gets from Walky, Carla, and Malaya.

      1. DailyBrad

        Oh, definitely. There’s not the baggage like there is with Walky, and it’s not mean-spirited.

  30. Bagge

    That panel 3 smile <3

  31. svata

    Danny, you goof

  32. Meta

    sal is cutee

    1. Meta

      cutee smile

  33. Bagge

    Oh. Danny, this is a SPIDER, colloquially this could be considered a “bug” but properly it’s an ARCHNID.

    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-7/01-glower-vacuum/bug/

    1. Bagge

      (Now I want some doofus date Danny and ask Becky for advice on how to remove his hat)

  34. Agemegos

    Sal, I do not put a teacher-student relationship forward as a sound basis for romance, but you’re being disingenious. Danny did more than sit beside you. He taught you to math and saved your shapely arse from an imminent flunking.

    1. BBCC

      And Amber would know this how?

      1. Agemegos

        It was Sal, not Amber, who implied that Sal and Danny had done no more than sit next to each other.

        1. Agemegos

          Sixth frame, upper speech bubble.

        2. BBCC

          Yeah, because she’s talking about interactions she’s had with Danny that Amber’s been privy to and could draw conclusions like ‘they’re dating’ from.

        3. Agemegos

          That is precisely what I called it: disingenuous.

        4. BBCC

          Sal saying Amber hasn’t seen them do anything but sit next to each other and therefore has no basis to assume they’re dating is disingenuous?

        5. BBCC

          I just checked the archive and the only times Amber’s seen them together (as Amber, not AG)

          – When she realized Sal was the girl from the robbery
          – Just before AG dumped him
          – When Sal and Amber were playing Mario Kart
          – Sal singing while Danny played ukulele
          – When Sal asked Danny to get on her bike and then after Amber and Sal fought, yesterday in comic time.

          If Sal doesn’t know Amber was present while she was singing (which is probable, Amber was watching them from a distant roof top ledge) then indeed, Amber’s only seen them standing next to each other and exchanging small talk and one incident where Sal told Danny to get on her bike. That’s….really not a good basis to assume they’re dating.

        6. Agemegos

          It’s not Ambers knowledge that makes Sal’s statement disingenuous. It’s Sal’s knowledge. Sal knowingly and willingly encouraging Amber to go on assuming something the Sal knows is relevantly untrue is disingenuous of Sal.

    2. DailyBrad

      I think she’s just being flippant, we’ve seen them have heart to hearts, etc, and she knows this, but it’s Sal, she’s not likely going to volunteer that kind of information.
      On the topic of teacher-student, fair cop, though I do want to point out that he’s an informal tutor with no authority over Sal, so it’s not like with Jason.

      1. BBCC

        Also, Sal’s talking about the stuff she knows Amber’s seen.

        1. Agemegos

          It was Sal, not Amber, who implied that Sal and Danny had done no more than sit next to each other a couple of times.

        2. Emily

          Yes, because she was referring to the interactions she’s had with Danny that Amber could feasibly have witnessed and thus based her assumption that they had some kind of thing going on.

        3. Agemegos

          That is disingenuous.

  35. Bagge

    IT’S EXACTLY BECAUSE SHIT LIKE THIS SAL DOESN’T GET CLOSE TO PEOPLE!

  36. Doopyboop

    Alright. Between how cute this strip is and the joke in the comments yesterday about how I’m Danny in disguise (and because although I love Dina I am in short supply of recent cute Dina pics) I have changed my avatar! …Boy I hope I did it right.

    1. Doopyboop

      As if to prove my Danny-ness even more, I did in fact ‘danny up’ my attempt to change my gravatar! But now it has been properly changed~

  37. Delicious Taffy

    I’m sure there’s at least one math person here who can answer this: Is there a possible way for someone to burn down their place of work, without destroying the building, endangering others, losing their job, and probably going to prison? I’m writing a comic, see, and one of the characters is a huge bullshitter, but I can’t figure out a way for it to plausibly happen.

    1. DailyBrad

      I mean, where do they work? That’d have to be a factor, but if you destroyed your place of work, even if you’re not legally liable and no one gets hurt, you’d pretty much have to lose your job, wouldn’t you? You’d have nowhere to work.

      Or is it a franchise, and they can move you to another location?

    2. BBCC

      Doing so late at night when nobody was present inside the building and never being caught? The fire could’ve damaged the rooms without getting to the point of collapse if the fire department got there in time.

    3. KaitouKidisBae

      Maybe play with the definition of “place”? Like their place of work could possibly be just their desk/chair/cubicle? Also, they do this with no one else around/in the building/late at night and use some sort of method to keep the fire small (be nearby with a fire extinguisher maybe). And if it’s hard to fire this person for some reason (example: an older relative with a very high position in the company), this person could be given a lot of crap work and made to pay back the company for monetary damages (buy a new desk/chair/etc) as punishment rather than fired? In this way, they have technically burned down their place of work without ticking any of your boxes

    4. Agemegos

      “Burn down” means destroy the building.

      1. Clif

        My advise, depending on the type of comic, is don’t worry about it. Rule of funny (and sometimes needs of the story) trump everything else. Fortunately they had a backup office all ready to go. There was all breakin at the same time and the burgers got blamed for the fire. Everyone knows they did it but everyone ignores it for there own reasons, such as the business needed the insurance. If you look at it right, you don’t have a problem, you have an opportunity to deepen your story.

    5. BigDogLittleCat

      Is the bullshitter telling the story about staring the fire and causing all this to happen?
      If so, it can all be bullshit.

      One way to get that result would be to have the work be inside an old converted brick/concrete factory building.
      A fire could completely gut the building, destroying the work place while leaving the shell.
      It would be easy enough to do that w/o endangering anyone (after hours) or going to jail (accident), but doing it w/o losing your job, that’s a lot tougher. Unless you did it so no one could figure out you’re responsible.

  38. PB

    DAMMIT Danny is adorable and I actually DO kind of hope he and Amber get back together.

  39. Ainara

    “Take him back”, sheesh.

    Also not even just in media, that happens in general. Some months ago me, my dad and a son of my dad’s friend went to a watch-the-night-sky thing organized by people who are into astrophotography. I am into astronomy and the son was into photography, so I could bring my telescope and him his camera.

    At one point during the night, the guy running the thing tried to tell us to come over by saying “you and your boyfriend!”. We must’ve been visibly baffled ’cause after a silence he said “…. brother…?”. We weren’t close and had done nothing couple-like that night other than like, being a guy and girl the same age and existing around each other lol

    1. Doopyboop

      There was a certain point when I was a teen where my best friend’s family as well as mine both assumed that we’d eventually hook up because ‘guy and girl who are friends’. Of course, I’m bi/ace (with a leaning towards women) and my best friend is gay so it was something we could both laugh about afterward when my aunt or his father would talk about us ‘eventually’ hooking up.

      1. Sol Karas

        Sounds like my cousin and a guy friend she used to have. She’s aro/ace and he was gay, but everyone was just like, “oh those crazy kids just don’t realise they’re in love yet :’)” lol

        1. HeySo

          / indicates or, + indicates combination.
          Being confused as to whether someone is aro or ace seems a bit, uh..
          Well, probably something you should get clarified if you care about them at all.

        2. Jess

          It…doesn’t really? In every circle I’ve been in, anyhow, the / indicates both. Maybe we’re just in different circles though.

        3. Clif

          Confusingly, / is used for either-or, and-or, and sometimes to indicate a pairing or combination, as in Kirk/Spock.

        4. HeySo

          That’s true, I wasn’t associating alternating-combination (as per the last example you gave) with it, since “or” is the default operation for the symbol.

          Then again, my overlooking slashfics within this community clearly means that I’m the one in the wrong. 😛

          That said, aro/ace still feels completely wrong to me (perhaps because I’m just more used to using formal grammar operators [with my background in fields such as creative writing, editing, and coding] rather than more lax and more confusing variations).

          Well, at the very least, we can acknowledge that + would be a much more intuitive option. 😛

          For purposes of reference, I’m ace but not aro, and I’ve always only ever seen ace/aro used to reference both groups as a whole (ie, ace OR aro) as a contrast to orientations which are sexual and/or romantic in nature.
          In that sense, the / DOES mean both, but that’s because it’s as a combined grouping, not because the individuals are considered to have both traits. Ie, “and-or” rather than “either-or” or alternating-combination.
          Since that’s the understanding that’s more consistent with grammatical standards, I wonder if the phrasing eventually led to a confusion of intention that led to it becoming a combined reference.

        5. HeySo

          “used to reference both groups as a whole (ie, ace OR aro)”

          *ace AND/OR aro, I meant.

        6. Doopyboop

          Hey, so I think it’s possible that Sol might have been going off of how I worded my orientation (bi/ace) when they typed aro/ace? And no offense HeySo, you seem like a good person, but it’s also rude and presumptuous to immediately assume Sol doesn’t care enough about their cousin based off of what you think is proper useage of ‘/’. Especially since I made the same mistake but did not get accused or a finger waggle for it. If we both made the same ‘mistake’, it’s fair to raise an eyebrow at both, not just one.

          Keep in mind that different circles use different terms. For me, I’ve always found bi/ace to work for me. It’s a nice shorthand so that I don’t have to type out ‘biromantic asexual’. I have also seen prompt questions about orientation worded romantic orientation/sexual orientation. Ergo, bi/ace, aro/ace, etc.

    2. Eldritch Gentleman

      Honestly though Sal might have a point. As far as I remember Amber dumped Danny because of the whole split personality mess while Danny wanted to help and partially because he was hanging out with Sal.

      Now that Amber started kinda-sorta dealing with her problems and aggression there is actually nothing stopping her from taking Danny back since it wasn’t his fault that they got separated.

      I’m just not sure if Danny would even want that anymore. He is probably just a bit bitter that girls he dates just throw him around and are being hypocritical as heck.

      1. Emily

        “Take back” sorta implies the dumping was remotely justified and not basically just a paranoid freakout where she viciously demeaned Danny for no reason.

        1. Eldritch Gentleman

          Well it’s up to the two of them to figure out whether they want to go back to each other or not.

        2. thejeff

          Does Amazi-Girl get a say in this? She was the one dating Danny, after all.

        3. Eldritch Gentleman

          Do they even have any means of contacting her?

        4. thejeff

          Amber could pin a note to the costume. 🙂

          But mostly, I was speaking conceptually, since we’re here talking about Danny getting back together with Amber – who he wasn’t formally dating. We’re debating the rights and wrongs and social etiquette of it all, while ignoring one of the primary people involved.

        5. Eldritch Gentleman

          That’s debatable I think. I mean can we actually define Amazi-girl as her own person? Wouldn’t she become just part of Amber once Amber would go to therapy? I mean, if Amber starts getting better and will make sense of her life and psyche then Amazi-Girl will kind of lose her reason for existing.

        6. BBCC

          That is not necessarily how integration works and you have to put work into integrating. You can’t rely on the idea one alter will just disappear.

          From what I understand, there’s two main methods, which I will explain using cartoon analogies – feel free to correct me if I’m wrong if you have more experience.

          The ‘Fusion’ model – This is probably the one you’re thinking of. This entails the alters integrating into one, with some sum of skills and memories of everyone. This one tends to attract pushback from the alters, who sometimes take this as trying to kill them. Also, stress can cause the new sum personality to dis-integrate back into alters, possibly with some new ones, much like a Steven Universe fusion (aside from the new alters), which has multiple gems forming one entity, but stress can split them apart.

          The committee model – This one is more about the alters talking, sharing memories and more or less working together towards a common goal. This one is becoming more popular as it tends to draw less pushback from alters. Think ‘Inside Out’ where the emotions in someone’s head are a sort of ‘committee’ working together (again, more or less), even if they have different motivations, ideas and thoughts on how best to achieve said goal.

        7. Eldritch Gentleman

          @BBCC
          Honestly I knew very little about split personality treatment. I mostly heard about the Integration part in passing regarding some… I think girl who had a LOT of those personalities.

          So the committee model is actually close to what Amber used to have with Amazi Girl but now they have grown apart (since Amber apparently no longer remembers what she was doing as Amazi Girl)?

        8. BBCC

          Yeah, it looks like AG and Amber have gone from semi integrated to what’s closer to a full split (not sharing memories, not talking, not working together).

  40. Josh Spicer

    I, for one, would be okay with a Sal/Danny thing.

  41. Keulen

    I’m guessing Sal doesn’t read much fanfiction.

  42. Nobody

    Trying to say something to us Willis?

    1. Danielle

      danny’s default is weenie

      1. Eldritch Gentleman

        It’s actually Adorable, Lord Adorable.

  43. Danielle

    panel 4 is too relatable

  44. Eldritch Gentleman

    He is adorable. A puppy dog trying to growl at a dragon but only able to make cute noises.

  45. Ethics Gradient

    Sal and Danny have made sweet, sweet music together!

    1. JBento

      He has played her the song of his people.

  46. Lore Krajsman

    seriously? fandom is more likely to pair a couple based on how they constantly fight one another and can’t stand one another.

    1. Chronos

      By that logic, there must have been a lot of Sal/AG fics out there for awhile, eh

      1. CJ

        AO3 only has 10 doa-fics, none with that pairing.

        1. Chronos

          Can’t say I’ve heard of ao3 before.

        2. Zee

          Archive of our own. Described as being better organized than national library archives by a librarian

        3. Jess

          Only 10? That’s so weird.

        4. Kensou

          And a little disappointing. Good fanfics are salve for the soul

  47. newllend(henryvolt)

    It’s very interesting how in less than 24 hours their time we went from the two of them beating the piss out of each other to Amber pitching Sal the idea of hooking up with one of her most recent ex’s.

    1. Emily

      Interesting is one word for it I guess. I’m leaning more towards “utter bullshit.”

      1. Zaxares

        Amber does seem to have pretty deep-seated self-loathing issues, so she might be pushing Dan away as a result of thinking that “he’s too good for her”.

        1. Emily

          Well he kinda is because she was awful to him and he deserves better treatment and until she gets her shit together she can’t really be relied on to provide it. But that wasn’t what I meant I was referring more to the entire direction this particular plot arc has taken because I’m still ultra-bitter about the whole “Sal forgives Amber with literally zero effort made on Amber’s part” thing that underpins it.

        2. Roger

          Yknow I was already incensed at the beginning of this particular arc, as is documented, but now what’s really driving it home more somehow is the fact that they’re suddenly super cool with each other and bantering and bickering like they’ve been at it for weeks, as opposed to, say, just tolerating each other’s proximity for the sake of healing or whatever. That’s why their dialogues been so off to me, I can’t buy this friendship at all

        3. SmokedToast

          I don’t know, they are freely taking shots at each other. I haven’t read it as they are super cool so much as they are freely being antagonistic with each other in a way they couldn’t with the panic attacks.

        4. Emily

          It feels incredibly forced and rushed. Maybe Willis has some secret endgame where this all ties together into something that doesn’t make my bones ache with disdain but until I see it I’m just not going to be able to take this arc seriously.

  48. BenRG

    Sal, I think that Amber is basing it on you singing your heart out whilst Danny accompanies you on the ukulele. You really didn’t see her standing on the roof watching you two, did you? Trust me, an experienced shipper like Amber would definitely take that as a hint.

    1. Emily

      Shippers are the last people you should trust to have any understanding of “real life” romantic chemistry.

  49. HeySo

    It’s what every boy desires- to be fought over by a pair of roller-skating bears.

  50. Colineo

    This may be my favorite pair of pages in the last few years.

  51. Zee

    Sal, calling out the shippers in the comments
    I’ll admit I’d be a little upset if they started dating. I just want a nice, coed friendship. This strip launched me back to my highschool rage over everyone, including people I didn’t know, told me I should date -or was dating- all my guy friends. So glad people stop doing that after highschool

    1. Zee

      Forgot to add something
      I’m glad Willis said he’s not bringing back the walkyverse ships so I don’t have to worry about it

      1. Deadjolras

        And yet Billie and Ruth still happened. I think he’s said something along the lines of not repeating ships unless he could spin a new dynamic for them, but I don’t have a source for that.

    2. Nep

      As someone who teased a friend like that in high school, you have my most formal apology. It was not funny, it should never have happened, and I was buying into a lot of toxic narratives.

      (Also, I agree with you that I value Danny and Sal’s friendship and am glad they won’t be dating.)

    3. Charlotte

      I also just want Sal and Danny to be friends. I think they’re really good for each other as friends. I don’t think they’d be good as a couple at all.

  52. C.T Phipps

    Jason and Walky WILL get together.

  53. Deanatay

    Sal, you SMILE at Danny. For you, that’s practically throwing yourself into his arms.

  54. DarkoNeko

    Wonder if there actually was a bug on this tree~

    1. JBento

      Danny’s so horrified by it because it was an informatic bug. That tree is bad code.

      1. DarkoNeko

        must have been a search tree

  55. ensiform

    Solution: Danny gets them both at once.

    Ohhhhh yeah.

  56. SolomonK

    I ship the tree bug and that cricket. If I didn’t, Joyce would.

  57. mrnoidea

    re last two panels: hey look, more meta

  58. Ryan

    AMBER / SAL OTP!
    😀

  59. Alanari

    Seems like sal doesn’t expect the amber+walky thing to last very long.

    1. BBCC

      Amber told her they might be over.

  60. Whaatt

    Awww, sal+Danny! Finally happening. You think they’d be the first couple that’ll actually last?

  61. ego

    so, amber and walky are going to run into each other, each sporting a new-slash-old romantic interest, the *same day* it came up that maybe they were not going to be a thing?

    man the time scale in this comic has never seemed more true-to-life.

  62. Jason Hans Moehrle

    “You don’t consume much media, do you?”

    I love this too much! @!

  63. stoodmuffin

    Well. After years, a hint that THIS could be a possibility. Hmm.

    1. stoodmuffin

      I mean, if Sal was bi I would’ve shipped you two. Even though that’d end. Terribly.

  64. Roborat

    Poor Danny, he gets major Sal points in panel three, then goes into the negative in panel 4.

    Also, while he may be poking two bears, he has actually only poked one.

  65. Hari

    Oh Danny. You always find yourself in the most awkward situations, don’t you?

  66. Micki

    HAHA love the complete takedown of Danny x Sal.

    NOW I’m just waiting for Danny x Ethan…*twiddles thumbs*

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