It’s not praise so much as acknowledging that the strip has set the bar rather high for horrible characters. Not wanting to escalate things makes him one of the nicer antagonists in the strip.
Durandal_1707
He still hasn’t done anything antagonist-y yet. What’s present-day Asher done so far?
1) Got stalked by Walky and Amber
2) Admitted his guilt and tried to apologize
3) Got punched in the face
4) De-escalated the situation.
Like I said before, he may still turn out to be a douchebag later, but right now he’s basically in Sal’s category and ought to be given the benefit of the doubt. No one is the same person as an adult as they were at 13.
Meagan
Thank you and co-sign.
Mollyscribbles
To be clear, I only meant it as historical antagonism; currently we know little about him, and absolute worst-case scenario, I hold less of a grudge against him than Leland (regardless of however Leland actually turned out).
Yeah, he’s obviously a racketeer hip deep in evil deeds, and his grandfather is the head of the mob that Blaine works for. Blaine is organising the Bad Browns to set Toedad free to kill Becky and Dina at Asher’s direction, and bankrolled by Asher, who thinks it’s going to be funny.
HeySo
“bankrolled by Asher, who thinks it’s going to be funny.”
I’m going to be honest, with that as the motivation, I now definitely want him to be the overarching villain of the series. ..that said, we all already know the final boss is Galasso (or possibly a plot-twist Faz, a guy in a cheese mascot outfit, or a guy in a Soggies outfit), so it’s a moot point.
Well, Sayid’ll save the day in the end [with some credit somehow uncertainly going to Mike], so it’ll be okay regardless.
He’s more or less bluffing. He has a record, Walky doesn’t. He knows who they’ll be more likely to believe if Walky says Asher started the fight.
thejeff
Asher doesn’t say anything about going to the authorities or reporting Walky or anything like that.
The non-bluffing part of the threat is beating Walky up, not pressing charges. (Of course, Asher doesn’t know that Amber would clean his clock if he tried to hurt Walky, but Walky doesn’t want to rely on that either.)
HeatherJean
Where is it even implied he has a record?
Mollyscribbles
he *did* rob a store. Not confirmed he was arrested, but odds are higher of him having a record for something than Walky.
My guess is Asher does feel guilty. He lets Walky’s punch slide as he understands that impulsive reaction. But he is unwilling to take any more shit than this for something that happened in the past. As far as he’s concerned, he’s cleaned up his act and refuses to let the past haunt him. He’s over it. This is his mental state.
Needfuldoer
I hope this little blast from the past makes him reflect on that guilt a little, realize the matter isn’t really settled after all, and that he should try to make peace with Sal the way she did with Amber.
Clif
That way he can get punched by both of them.
HMH
But keep in mind that he’s familiar with Sal, and so:
1) Presuming Sal isn’t aware that he sold her up the river, which is something that we don’t know whether or not is true yet, then apologizing to her for that is really more about assuaging his own guilt than it is giving her any closure. If she knows, or he at least thinks it’s more likely she knows than doesn’t, it makes sense for him to apologize for her sake. But he could just as easily rationalize that if she doesn’t know, not knowing means he doesn’t have to hurt her again by letting her know. I am not saying this is a moral or immoral rationalization one way or the other, but I’m saying that from his perspective he could easily convince himself of that.
2) Since he and Sal were friends, and (literal!) partners in crime, he presumably knows damn well what she’s actually capable of. He also has no reason to know that she’s suddenly turned over the new, extremely recent non-violent leaf which she has. So, trying to interact with her in any way, given that he may be on the same character arc of putting his worse impulses in the past, inevitably leads to the very real possibility that she reacts as badly or worse than Walky did, except Sal is a genuine threat to Asher on multiple levels. First, we don’t know the statute of limitations on the things that he’s done, and Sal may be aware of things he’s done that he otherwise didn’t even have a chance of ever facing justice for. Second, getting into a fight with Sal would be one more way to backslide into a life where he’s getting into trouble and derailing his future life and potential. Third, and I fucking stress this,he has literally no reason to believe that Sal isn’t a legitimate danger to his health or literally his life. Last time he saw her, she was turning over a corner store and took a freaking hostage at knife-point. It was his fault that that happened; he was into bad shit even worse than Sal was; but, that’s more reason for him to know damn well what the consequences might be for his actions, even if he actually does mean well and genuinely feels guilty.
It’d be awfully cathartic for Asher to go bare his soul to Sal, both for him, the audience, and maybe Sal, herself. But in terms of Asher acting the way a rational fucking human being acts, especially considering his background, of course the most sensible and desirable thing for him to do would be to never see Sal again and leave well enough alone.
BBCC
Asher called the police before Sal took a hostage, not the other way around.
Needfuldoer
Yep. He might know about Sal’s motive (money for Marcie). He wasn’t there for the rest (clerk giving her an out, hostage-taking, hand stabbing, reform school…).
thejeff
He likely still knows about it though, even if he didn’t see it personally.
OTOH, I’m not sure he should realize how much of a badass Sal is now, just based on what he knew at 13.
And if he’s really thinking of Sal as a serious threat if she finds out he called the cops on her, maybe he shouldn’t have told Walky that in the first place.
Questionor
he called the police without even knowing she was gonna rob the place.
oz
Hm, but your first point doesn’t really hold water considering he just told Walky to tell Sal about it, sort of. I mean he told Walky to tell Sal he’s sorry, he just doesn’t wanna do that face to face?
Meagan
This is good. Acknowledging regrets without letting them consume you and be an excuse to let others dump on you is a fine balance.
So my guess here (since yesterday or so) is that Asher has gone through anger management therapy or something like that. I don’t think he’s aying “walk away” so much as a threat, but as a way to give Walky advice that he himself has received on how to handle an angry situation.
A lot of other clues seem to point in that direction to me as well. His talking about how he’s turned over a new leaf, his rapid and complete confession, that sort of thing.
Actually I can see that. He did even handle the previous moments very clinically. I previously read it as distant or brash due to lack of care over it after so long and it working out somewhat okay but it could also be he is used to analyzing things like this very clinically from treatment of some sort
Lux
That’s probably true. He may have still faced some consequences from the first robbery. At the very least, the behaviors that led to him robbing a store and/or selling out Sal must have affected other aspects of his life. Anger management and/or therapy wouldn’t surprise me in the least.
Axel
I doubt he did for the first one, but I’m sure he did for other young-teen delinquency
While the exact nature of his regrets is an open question, Willis drew Asher the way he did in panel 4 for a reason we are not currently privy to. Willis wanted his readership to see a reaction on Asher’s face that was not for Walky or Amber’s benefit for a reason.
You don’t know how much I love you
But I love you like the sun
I’d like to put my arms around you
And we could run run run Runaway
Let’s run run run Runaway–Starship, circa 1978
The answer, of course, is that the one with the mask ALWAYS gets to be on top, like the Batman/Superman slash fiction that so engrossed Joyce. (When both parties are wearing masks, like Batman & Robin, it’s the one with the biggest mask, obviously. I’m not sure about menages au trois and up tho.)
I actually disagree. I think this relationship could be very good for both of them actually. It would give Amber an outlet to talknthroigh her issues insteadcof relying solely on amazigirl and Walky has already given her pretty solid advice about getting help and would be a reminder of someone caring about her other than Ethan and Danny someone who gets her better and he has already helped her work through somr things with sal sort of So did Ruth.
She can help Walky Mature annd become less self centered and is already sort of pushing him to work harder but shes noy as driven as Dorothy is.
We are talking about that woman who is about to make out with her ex because said ex just punched someone right? That’s messed up, even without all that stuff that makes this situation extra complicated for walky.
Blazing Ace
Is it really that messed up? That punch was 100% justified, and really hot.
Solenoid
But IS Walky her ex? Were they in a relationship to begin with? My read was them getting into each other was interrupted before it really got going.
177 thoughts on “Runaway”
Ana Chronistic
well, it worked for Hermione and Ron…?
Clif
Amber has her priorities straight.
Darkoneko
You gotta what ? XD
LeslieBean4shizzle
Make out a little.
As you do.
Plasma Mongoose
Fist smashing leads to tongue lashing, everyone knows that, PFFFT!
AnvilPro
Asher really has cleaned up his act. He was mad about being punched but he held it in, and even looks legit regretful
Sporky
Eh, don’t go falling over yourself praising the guy yet. Maybe he just realized escalating the situation would only make things worse.
MatthewTheLucky
That’s an improvement.
Mollyscribbles
It’s not praise so much as acknowledging that the strip has set the bar rather high for horrible characters. Not wanting to escalate things makes him one of the nicer antagonists in the strip.
Durandal_1707
He still hasn’t done anything antagonist-y yet. What’s present-day Asher done so far?
1) Got stalked by Walky and Amber
2) Admitted his guilt and tried to apologize
3) Got punched in the face
4) De-escalated the situation.
Like I said before, he may still turn out to be a douchebag later, but right now he’s basically in Sal’s category and ought to be given the benefit of the doubt. No one is the same person as an adult as they were at 13.
Meagan
Thank you and co-sign.
Mollyscribbles
To be clear, I only meant it as historical antagonism; currently we know little about him, and absolute worst-case scenario, I hold less of a grudge against him than Leland (regardless of however Leland actually turned out).
Agemegos
Yeah, he’s obviously a racketeer hip deep in evil deeds, and his grandfather is the head of the mob that Blaine works for. Blaine is organising the Bad Browns to set Toedad free to kill Becky and Dina at Asher’s direction, and bankrolled by Asher, who thinks it’s going to be funny.
HeySo
“bankrolled by Asher, who thinks it’s going to be funny.”
I’m going to be honest, with that as the motivation, I now definitely want him to be the overarching villain of the series. ..that said, we all already know the final boss is Galasso (or possibly a plot-twist Faz, a guy in a cheese mascot outfit, or a guy in a Soggies outfit), so it’s a moot point.
Well, Sayid’ll save the day in the end [with some credit somehow uncertainly going to Mike], so it’ll be okay regardless.
Dave
He’s more or less bluffing. He has a record, Walky doesn’t. He knows who they’ll be more likely to believe if Walky says Asher started the fight.
thejeff
Asher doesn’t say anything about going to the authorities or reporting Walky or anything like that.
The non-bluffing part of the threat is beating Walky up, not pressing charges. (Of course, Asher doesn’t know that Amber would clean his clock if he tried to hurt Walky, but Walky doesn’t want to rely on that either.)
HeatherJean
Where is it even implied he has a record?
Mollyscribbles
he *did* rob a store. Not confirmed he was arrested, but odds are higher of him having a record for something than Walky.
Piotr W
So… Asher is Sal’s male equivalent?
Koms
My guess is Asher does feel guilty. He lets Walky’s punch slide as he understands that impulsive reaction. But he is unwilling to take any more shit than this for something that happened in the past. As far as he’s concerned, he’s cleaned up his act and refuses to let the past haunt him. He’s over it. This is his mental state.
Needfuldoer
I hope this little blast from the past makes him reflect on that guilt a little, realize the matter isn’t really settled after all, and that he should try to make peace with Sal the way she did with Amber.
Clif
That way he can get punched by both of them.
HMH
But keep in mind that he’s familiar with Sal, and so:
1) Presuming Sal isn’t aware that he sold her up the river, which is something that we don’t know whether or not is true yet, then apologizing to her for that is really more about assuaging his own guilt than it is giving her any closure. If she knows, or he at least thinks it’s more likely she knows than doesn’t, it makes sense for him to apologize for her sake. But he could just as easily rationalize that if she doesn’t know, not knowing means he doesn’t have to hurt her again by letting her know. I am not saying this is a moral or immoral rationalization one way or the other, but I’m saying that from his perspective he could easily convince himself of that.
2) Since he and Sal were friends, and (literal!) partners in crime, he presumably knows damn well what she’s actually capable of. He also has no reason to know that she’s suddenly turned over the new, extremely recent non-violent leaf which she has. So, trying to interact with her in any way, given that he may be on the same character arc of putting his worse impulses in the past, inevitably leads to the very real possibility that she reacts as badly or worse than Walky did, except Sal is a genuine threat to Asher on multiple levels. First, we don’t know the statute of limitations on the things that he’s done, and Sal may be aware of things he’s done that he otherwise didn’t even have a chance of ever facing justice for. Second, getting into a fight with Sal would be one more way to backslide into a life where he’s getting into trouble and derailing his future life and potential. Third, and I fucking stress this, he has literally no reason to believe that Sal isn’t a legitimate danger to his health or literally his life. Last time he saw her, she was turning over a corner store and took a freaking hostage at knife-point. It was his fault that that happened; he was into bad shit even worse than Sal was; but, that’s more reason for him to know damn well what the consequences might be for his actions, even if he actually does mean well and genuinely feels guilty.
It’d be awfully cathartic for Asher to go bare his soul to Sal, both for him, the audience, and maybe Sal, herself. But in terms of Asher acting the way a rational fucking human being acts, especially considering his background, of course the most sensible and desirable thing for him to do would be to never see Sal again and leave well enough alone.
BBCC
Asher called the police before Sal took a hostage, not the other way around.
Needfuldoer
Yep. He might know about Sal’s motive (money for Marcie). He wasn’t there for the rest (clerk giving her an out, hostage-taking, hand stabbing, reform school…).
thejeff
He likely still knows about it though, even if he didn’t see it personally.
OTOH, I’m not sure he should realize how much of a badass Sal is now, just based on what he knew at 13.
And if he’s really thinking of Sal as a serious threat if she finds out he called the cops on her, maybe he shouldn’t have told Walky that in the first place.
Questionor
he called the police without even knowing she was gonna rob the place.
oz
Hm, but your first point doesn’t really hold water considering he just told Walky to tell Sal about it, sort of. I mean he told Walky to tell Sal he’s sorry, he just doesn’t wanna do that face to face?
Meagan
This is good. Acknowledging regrets without letting them consume you and be an excuse to let others dump on you is a fine balance.
Black Drazon
So my guess here (since yesterday or so) is that Asher has gone through anger management therapy or something like that. I don’t think he’s aying “walk away” so much as a threat, but as a way to give Walky advice that he himself has received on how to handle an angry situation.
A lot of other clues seem to point in that direction to me as well. His talking about how he’s turned over a new leaf, his rapid and complete confession, that sort of thing.
Black Drazon
To be clear, I don’t have any idea what Asher is really like from this short scene, I just get the impression he’s reading off a mental sheet.
Samantha Johnson
Actually I can see that. He did even handle the previous moments very clinically. I previously read it as distant or brash due to lack of care over it after so long and it working out somewhat okay but it could also be he is used to analyzing things like this very clinically from treatment of some sort
Lux
That’s probably true. He may have still faced some consequences from the first robbery. At the very least, the behaviors that led to him robbing a store and/or selling out Sal must have affected other aspects of his life. Anger management and/or therapy wouldn’t surprise me in the least.
Axel
I doubt he did for the first one, but I’m sure he did for other young-teen delinquency
Aaron
While the exact nature of his regrets is an open question, Willis drew Asher the way he did in panel 4 for a reason we are not currently privy to. Willis wanted his readership to see a reaction on Asher’s face that was not for Walky or Amber’s benefit for a reason.
Needfuldoer
Chekhov’s
gunexpression.Bob
So the question is what trope is in use here: smoking is cool cigarette smoking villain?
I bet the second one.
Lokitsu
Welp, someone called it dead on.
LeslieBean4shizzle
I~~~ did!
Well, technically I called banging, but “make out a little” sounds like foreplay to me.
Shane Wegner
I think she means “bang” but is only ready to admit that to herself in bite size pieces.
Aeromechanicalace
All told, that actually went pretty well.
Doctor_Who
No one got stabbed or arrested!
Arlnoff
We really need to raise our standards…
Aeromechanicalace
And Walky and Amber get makeouts. And Walky can honestly say to himself that he was willing to take on a guy who could kick his ass for Sal’s Sake.
jeffepp
The making out was always going to happen.
Meagan
I had some serious concerns for a while, but the past few strips alleved them.
Agemegos
I think Walky broke his wrist.
Stephen Bierce
You don’t know how much I love you
But I love you like the sun
I’d like to put my arms around you
And we could run run run Runaway
Let’s run run run Runaway–Starship, circa 1978
Stephen Bierce
Summer’s coming and it’s gettin’ warmer…
HeatherJean
So, mask or no mask?
Doctor_Who
Walky threw the punch, he gets the mask this time.
HeatherJean
Sounds fair to me. Does he get to be on top too?
HeatherJean
The answer, of course, is that the one with the mask ALWAYS gets to be on top, like the Batman/Superman slash fiction that so engrossed Joyce. (When both parties are wearing masks, like Batman & Robin, it’s the one with the biggest mask, obviously. I’m not sure about menages au trois and up tho.)
Sporky
I know this ship is really not good for either of them but god dammit i want them to make out so much
Samantha Johnson
I actually disagree. I think this relationship could be very good for both of them actually. It would give Amber an outlet to talknthroigh her issues insteadcof relying solely on amazigirl and Walky has already given her pretty solid advice about getting help and would be a reminder of someone caring about her other than Ethan and Danny someone who gets her better and he has already helped her work through somr things with sal sort of So did Ruth.
She can help Walky Mature annd become less self centered and is already sort of pushing him to work harder but shes noy as driven as Dorothy is.
Alanari
We are talking about that woman who is about to make out with her ex because said ex just punched someone right? That’s messed up, even without all that stuff that makes this situation extra complicated for walky.
Blazing Ace
Is it really that messed up? That punch was 100% justified, and really hot.
Solenoid
But IS Walky her ex? Were they in a relationship to begin with? My read was them getting into each other was interrupted before it really got going.
thejeff
Pushing him to work harder? By changing his grades for him?
Samantha Johnson
No by reminding him to be a better brother and to actually tale initiative to improve himself from garbage good
Delicious Taffy
They’re gonna go do a naughty.
Doctor_Who
Your avatar is creepy.
Delicious Taffy
Your avatar is creepy. >:C
HeatherJean
And then, in the throes of passion, Amber screams, “Asher! Oh Asher!”
Or Walky does. Or both.
Meagan
Legit lol’ed.
BarerMender
The middle frame makes Amber look like her brain is on fire.
Kyoulkoa
Due to the trees, I can see that.
purblebirb
Next Slipshine: Walky Performs Another Sex (and this time involves adrenaline boners)
Michael Steamweed
Walky Performs Another Sex: Or, How He And Amber Got Kicked Out of The Emergency Room At The Hospital
TemporalShrew