142

Toolset
Posted on March 9, 2022 by David M Willis

142 thoughts on “Toolset”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    DID I MENTION THIS CONVO IS SUPER AWKWARD

    also crying is bad ass, Gothan

    1. John

      gothan, more like…gohan…yes…nailed it.

      1. Casi

        I think amber’s more the Gohan in the group: dressing up as a super hero and fighting crime after a childhood of severe trauma, even has a dead dad and a little brother.

    2. UnDrewsual

      I’ve been thinking of him as more Emothan.

      1. Felix

        This.

        inb4 takes one to know one.

  2. DojimaKojima

    Yeah Amber cut these “emotions” you’re having, its kinda bumming me out.

    1. Mano308gts

      didja’ know you had that pic? or was it just particularly fortuitous…

  3. The Wellerman

    Oh Amber, please don’t cry! ???

    1. True Survivor

      How do you make all those faces???

      1. The Wellerman

        Either on my phone or using Emojipedia that I have bookmarked.

        I’m just glad I can make THESE faces without having to exhaust my host brain. ?

        1. ANeM

          On some more modern versions of Windows Win+. (period) brings up a selector (with a search function) for Emoji, Kaomoji and ASCII characters. Though it is a little janky and probably only works ⅘ of the time. ?

        2. True Survivor

          Host brain?!? You’re not a Wellerman you’re a Weller-brainslug!

        3. The Wellerman

          Hmmm…. yes, earthling, I guess you can call me a “brain slug”.

          I also go by NGPZ, or just NG. (She / They)

          Little ol’ alien parasite me. Has your mind exploded yet? ? ? ? ?

        4. Casi

          I hope you’re not a Yeerk NGPZ, or I may have to contact the Andalites

        5. The Wellerman

          Ooo! I LOVE AniMorphs! ?

          Yeah I don’t think I’m a Yeerk, but if you’re a fan of the Andalites (and DOA), I’m working on something I think you’ll LOVE! ?

        6. Ed Callahan

          Nuts, beat me to it. (Animorphs is what my kids insisted on for bedtime stories instead of Harry Potter.)

        7. Amós Batista

          Hope one day we’ll be able to use Discord/Twitch emotes here…

  4. Mr D

    Poor Amber is finally able to touch her emotions. And they burn.

  5. True Survivor

    Calling Amber’s emotional growth dumb. I see what you did there.

    Also no don’t cry…

    1. RassilonTDavros

      It’s the kind of dumbing that only comes with age.

      1. True Survivor

        Oh that’s a good one.

      2. Moose

        That’s the name of the Movie!

    2. Thag Simmons

      Well, I doubt she’s going to take that last line very well, so maybe she’ll be pissed off enough to forget how sad she is.

      1. justin8448

        I think these two characters have plenty of experience calling each other dumb and rolling with it, as part of their friendship.

        Then again, they haven’t actually been friends in a good while, and the issue Ethan is commenting on is rather loaded. So Ethan’s comment may land a little differently than it used to.

  6. ThunderNight

    so wait, in regards to her mental state does she still have that alternate personality amazi-girl thing going on or are they both one person again?

    1. Mydnyt

      Definitely still two different people. Amber would never participate in an organized sport

    2. Carms

      Yeh still two ppl but ‘talking’, I think-as opposed to earlier, when one was driving the other was blacked out and didn’t retain any memory thereof

    3. Sam

      Still 2 people. Both punch less faces now.

      1. Hazel

        Two, but both must take responsibility for the others actions.

    4. Thag Simmons

      Still two personalities, but Amazi-Girl seems a little less active lately and they share memories again

    5. Needfuldoer

      Always two there are.

    6. zee

      That’s not how that works. Amazi still exists, we’ve seen her hanging out with sal at roller derby. She just acts like a normal person now instead of being a vigilante. Should probably get a more proper name at some point

      1. King Daniel

        I’ve seen “Maisie” being thrown around as a possibility for a few years now, regarding a more regular name for her. (Playing off Amazi-Girl is the intention, I believe.)

    7. Bleuryder

      I think it’s still two, but somehow NOW on their way to either becoming one, or both healing emotionally.

      I’m not sure how the dynamics or wording go.

  7. Rose by Any Other Name

    Good fuckin’ job Ethan. Jeez.

  8. Lan

    [extremely Marie Kondo voice] I love mess

  9. Joe Moose

    Yes, give me another reason not to like Ethan. :\

    1. Imogen

      Y’know, I kind of feel like Ethan is doing the same thing Amber did, just with less self-awareness: He’s taking pieces of Mike with him. In other words, Jesus, Ethan, you’re being an asshole!

    2. anon

      well i half expect someone to walk in on them but at least it’s unlikely for it to be Mary at least lol

  10. Stephen Bierce

    Hear Comes The Rain Again
    Falling on my head like a memory
    Falling on my head like a new emotion…

  11. Carms

    Hahaha, when two objects of equal mass collide elastically, they directly swap velocities… :p laws of conservation of momentum and energy

  12. Yotomoe

    If I had a nickel for every time I was told to stop crying, I’d probably cry more. Free money.

    1. The Wellerman

      ? We can’t get UBI soon enough!

      1. Yotomoe

        Sure we can. Sooner than NEVER would be nice, which is when I’m assuming we’ll get it.

      2. True Survivor

        I would prefer to postpone Urinary Bladder Infections as long as possible, thank you.

        1. hekaton

          what other kinds of bladders you got

  13. newlland(Henryvolt)

    That’s some fucking bullshit you seen her burst into tears many of gimes in public…granted it always came after a fit of rage but she’s still allowed to switch up the order of how it works from time to time.

    1. newlland(Henryvolt)

      *times

    2. Hazel

      I think Amber is trying to reach out to Ethan but inadvertently doing it in a self-centered way. We have seen her reach out to talk to him about Sal and Danny (not to just talk), and now when Ethan talks about hating himself Amber immediately brings up her vigilantism, instead of expressing sympathy.
      I feel a lot of sympathy for Ethan here. Amber and Amazigirl are two identities but they are the same person, what one does both have to take responsibility for. They didn’t tell him that their best friend was dying in a hospital for 30 hours. When Ethan mentioned that she should have tried to get medical help, Amber brushed him off saying that she had been sloppy with her secret identity so that might happen whether she chooses to or not. She then says she will get help. But the damage is already done. Amber is not a terrible person but Ethan is fair in being tired of her.

      1. Hazel

        Whoops, did not mean this to be a reply to you, newlland(Henryvolt)!

      2. thejeff

        To be honest, even if Amber had remembered, all the reasons for dropping Mike off at the hospital without ID applied just as well to telling Ethan – or at least to letting him do anything like visit.

        Not surprising Ethan’s upset about it, but that doesn’t make it an unreasonable decision.

        1. Hazel

          I think if she had not told him because she was scared of deadly repercussions for Mike that would be easier for Ethan to deal with. But that’s not the reason. She didn’t tell him because she wasn’t in control, because of a disorder she knew of, but didn’t seek treatment for and instead sought out dangerous situations that made it, and her mental health in general, worsen.

  14. Switchchris24

    That was harsh, first you blame her for the death of her best friend and yours, when she already blames herself, then when she properly reacts to such a thing, you tell her to stop…. ethan really is a dick now.

    1. Laura

      Not to mention the fact that their mutual best friend died while trying to protect her from her abusive creep criminal father. Way to blame the victim there, dude!

    2. Francoinblanco

      Funny how Tides change, few strips eariel Amber was bad guy, but now she is crying so Ethan is bad guy, but its Mike job to be
      Bad boy

      1. Clif

        Mike wins.

    3. Chrissy

      This is why “no one dies” was a thing. Trauma and grief responses are messy and make you look like a bad person when you’re not. They’re just dealing with something much bigger than they’ve dealt with before, and that they are capable of dealing with alone.

  15. Speedball

    Jesus Christ Ethan, this is your childhood friend.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Throwing emotional punches has actual consequences, who knew.

      (Everyone knew.)

  16. Jay

    Ethan needs to find a way to process his grief and anger.

    1. PirateTawnee

      Such a shame he’s goth now, and apparently Boys Don’t Cry.

  17. MugiwaraNoPancakes

    So it looks like Amber and Ethan had very different reactions to Mikes death. Amber took it as a reason to open herself up more to the people she cares about, and Ethan took it as a reason to shut down. I’m not gonna say that either is wrong, but Ethan is lashing out at the one person he knows he can hurt with this and that’s really fucked up. I know he’s going through the same thing Amber is, but doesn’t make this okay

    1. True Survivor

      Very insightful.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Have a pretend upvote:

      +1

    3. Spencer

      Well, Amber took it as a reason to open herself up more as of last night.

    4. Regret

      Hey, she came to him.
      And he repeatedly signalled that at the very most he was tolerating her presence.

      If people are hurt, and that causes them to put limits on social interaction, then crossing those limits can lead to a lashing out. That’s what the limits were for: Because he knows he would otherwise lash out.

      How about we respect somebody’s wishes for solitude and silence, yeah?

  18. Kirtro

    Okay, there it is, i’ve finally feel my tank of empathy being bottomed out

    so on that note: FUCK OFF, ETHAN!!!

    1. Svankensen

      I think he was being sarcastic.

  19. alongcameaspider

    Grief is not an excuse to be an asshole

  20. Muttski

    Ethan, seriously? Douchebag move.

  21. Bicycle Bill

    “Every inch of me shall perish…  Except one.
    An inch.  It is small and fragile and it’s the only thing in the world that’s worth having.
    We must never lose it or sell it or give it away.  We must never let them take it from us.”

    Crying is cathartic.   Besides that, it proves that the one inch within you is still there.  You still have humanity within you and the rest of the fucking world hasn’t turned into an insensitive rock.

  22. Cmasta1992

    I get it but holy shit Ethan stop being the fucking worst.

  23. ESM

    Not gonna lie, I kind of like Bully Macguire Ethan. He’s such a dick.

    1. True Survivor

      I like him, too. This is the most interesting Ethan has been in years. I also enjoy who utterly different he is than he was at the start of the comic. He’s gone from being an awkward and insecure but ever supportive and largely unperturbable goofball, to straight out self-loathing and needlessly cruel – and he’s surprisingly great at it.

      In the past Ethan has always served as a foil to Amber. It will be interesting to see if Bully Macguire Ethan is an evolution on this theme or him breaking away from that role and evolving in to something new.

  24. Hazel

    Ethan, that’s not fair, you’ve seen Amber have more than numb rage in her emotional toolset. She also had violent rage!

    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/promised/

    1. Clif

      Fair point.

    2. Hazel

      Honestly the general reaction from the comment section is mildly confusing to me.
      Like, yeah Ethan is being an ass. He is being an ass to his friend who flipped a table and shouted at him, who didn’t tell him their best friend was in a coma in hospital for 30 hours, who stabbed a handcuffed girl in front of him, who told him that helping him deal with his family after he came exhausted her and now she needs a break from him.
      I think their friendship can recover and even grow stronger but Ethan needs to heal and Amber needs to further stabilise.

      1. Hazel

        And part of that means that Amber has to, while he is in this dark place, not rely on Ethan to be the more emotionally stable one. Sometimes you have to put your own sadness aside to help another.

  25. Bagge

    ?

    1. Needfuldoer

      Indeed.

    2. PB

      Well said.

  26. Opus the Poet

    When the depression breaks and the dam bursts

  27. System_Anomaly

    There’s some great character analysis going on here, but I feel that the hovertext isn’t getting enough credit.

    1. Sev

      Thank you in retrospect for pointing that out, I’m reading half-distracted and didn’t put in the effort to parse it until I ready your comment and scrolled back up to read it again!

  28. AGV

    C’mon Amber, you’re going to give Ethan the feels with that

  29. Darkoneko

    Amber re-enabled some of her feeling, but Ethan is still “numb and rage”, as he put it uh. uuuh. That hurts just looking.

  30. Joyfulldreams

    Jesus CHRIST, Ethan?!!?

    I. Literally speechless. I cannot think of more words other than jesus fucking christ, ethan.

  31. Perdellian

    Book 12: Numbing of Rage

    1. Amós Batista

      Numbing of Rage could be the Walkiverse, where everyone were a super hero.

  32. Arianod

    “We don’t do that here”

  33. Mr.Morningstar

    Okay Ethan, I get you’re heavily depressed and angry over the death of Mike…

    But you don’t need to be an asshole to make up for his absence

  34. Sombrero

    Amber should be allowed to cry as much as she wants. She has a lot of catch up to do.

  35. saltchocolate

    Bad hovertext! Sit! Down! Stay.

  36. Alyssa

    Ethan, I sincerely hope that last line was sarcastic (and that Amber could TELL it was sarcastic.)

  37. cbwroses

    Crying?!
    There’s no crying in the cafeteria!

    1. JBento

      Cryfeteria.

  38. Puppeteer Nessus

    Now I want her to beat him up.

  39. Spencer

    Amber’s not crying because of the emotional outpouring.

    Ethan just put some dirt in her eye.

    1. King Daniel

      And that dirt’s name? Albert Einstein Michael Warner.

  40. Amós Batista

    One of my fears is to take so long time to get free from toxic people, enough to turn myself like they.

    1. Amós Batista

      Yes, Ethan, I’m talking about you.

  41. Rabisch

    Maybe it’s time for Amber to go away from Ethan forever… Seriously, he’s traumatised and everything, but that don’t allow him to this behaviour. Don’t justify him either. He just wants to be a worse version of Mike.

  42. Lorien Inksong

    Hi I’m here to get yelled at by the comments section.

    Left for a long time bc I was uncomfortable with the level of vitriol and/or disgust(cruel) expressed towards the majority of the characters at some point or another. Came back out of curiosity because of this particular strip, and have read about the way the hate bounces between characters and um hate to be that obnoxious hippy but, can we just chill? Legitimately its worrying me to see this ‘no social or psychological mistakes allowed’ zone forming online. Not only for the people who get ostracized more than is reasonable early on, but for the people who don’t. It seems like a good way to develop serious anxiety disorder(s) and never be able to forgive yourself when you inevitably make a mistake.

    Okay bye comments section have a good time. o/

    1. Minkey93

      THANK YOU

    2. Spencer

      It’s not really the “this character is the worst!” stuff that gets me, I think most people got a character in an ensemble series they don’t vibe with, it’s that the character we’ve decided is BadWrongProblematic who’s “upset, but they’re still being an asshole” changes with every single strip.

      The last time these two spoke it was collectively decided Amber was the villain. It’s true, she was, she was running to Ethan in a crisis like she always did with no consideration for his feelings, started like a horny gibbon, and then went to go fetishize Danny’s bisexuality. That was bad, but I kinda figured the point of being a fan of something was to think about why characters do things instead of going “this cartoon character is problematic and a shitty friend! Cut them out, other cartoon character!”

      1. milu

        geez Spence, listen i love you but i’m like 90% OP is talking about you. not just you, but, you know, a lot you.

        which, idk is it just me or have you been reining it in a bit lately? if so, thanks =)

        1. Spencer

          There’s nothing to ‘rein in’ because I don’t do this.

          If they were, I’d just go “Becky is stinky” instead of “Becky is dependent on unconditional love as a result of an abusive upbringing in an authoritarian household where she had to learn to rebel against her father in ways that didn’t trip his alarms, and as her time in college became progressively more nightmarish she’s come to further rely on Joyce as someone she can exploit without realizing she’s doing so, something Joyce has fed since she’s never been able to form a meaningful boundary with her and as Becky’s life has become more chaotic Joyce repeatedly was placed and has placed herself as Becky’s guardian, and so the two of them are unable to recognize their deep and abiding love for each other as what’s important amidst this fight they’re having where Becky needs Joyce to remain what Becky wants as a result of that crippling need for comfort and stability.”

          I’m enough of an egomaniac to believe my longwinded diatribes get read in full, but I figured whoever did so would also get to the part where I go “okay X character is doing something bad, here’s why I think they are and where it’s coming from as a result of their past experiences both in what’s been shown and also what can be inferred.”

        2. milu

          ok. apologies for the misguided and, i guess it turns out, backhanded expression of gratefulness.

          i thought you’d considered some stuff i and others have been saying and decided some of it may be worth taking to heart, but, eh. it’s your style, i guess, maybe it’s just who you are and i just need to deal ?‍♀️

        3. Yumi

          I think the issues are more commenter to commenter than commenter to character.

    3. Delicious Taffy

      But if I don’t scold a fake cartoon character from the world of make-believe for every five-second snippet of a conversation, how will I signal to real people who share traits with or relate to said character that they’re bad and unacceptable and have negative worth as a human being? /s

      1. Yumi

        Idk, I feel like there are people here at times who manage to do that more directly. Get on their level.

        1. zee

          Ah, i remember a commenter unironically calling others bad people for liking mike. I don’t remember their name but they had an over the garden wall grav. I think they got smacked down by Willis or something

        2. Delicious Taffy

          Yeah, I got told I was “using my autism as a shield” because I suggested a character might have misread a social cue, once. And then got told to “sit the fuck down” when I dared to say otherwise.

          Believe me, I’ve seen the direct part.

    4. Amós Batista

      It’s sad if you want to leave us.
      DoA is so close to us that we took all characters like a token, for love and for hate.
      (Sorry if I what I’ve said is confuse, it’s something I start theorize after I entered here).

      Hope you be back soon.

    5. powerpowerpow

      Yeah no I fully understand this sentiment. I binge read the entire series up to right before Mike’s death and I think I understand why people tend to bash on these characters so much. Part of the reason may just be because every single day all we’re seeing is a couple seconds out of their lives. They’re living their reality far slower than we are, and it’s really easy to hate on someone when all you can see is a single comic strip worth of context a day.

      Personally I really disliked the behavior of certain characters, but I feel like I’ve been able to be more empathetic towards them because I binge-read the series and still have the feeling that their character arcs are still kind of at an early stage. Danny is a shining example of this.

      These characters are just young. They mess up a lot, they make mistakes, they do the worst possible thing in many a situation. It’s literally in the name of the comic.

    6. zee

      Yeah I’ve basically got a list in my head of “antichrist of the week”
      Usually it’s Becky, booster every time they’re on screen. There was an insanely weird period where it was Lucy. Today it’s Ethan. Though at least this time i can understand why people would be upset with him

    7. Sev

      I think you’re 100% right, but also I live for the drama, so I’m feeling quite conflicted right now.

  43. thumb

    Wow, sure Ethan is grieving but he doesn’t have to be an asshole. He should grieve gracefully. Not make waves. Learn how to talk people without making them feel bad. He should make space for other people’s emotions when he doesn’t know how to process his own. Amber was terrible only recently including to Ethan, but now she’s had her change, he should just find the right words to make sure she doesn’t have a strong emotional response (a vulnerability that literally happened overnight).

    Anyway, Ethan is bad.

    1. the jighole man

      grieving isn’t graceful, its a messy unpleasant process that feels like taking a broken bone and fixing it by bashing it with a hammer a few more times.

      the first thing amber does when ethan opens up is one up him, instead of being there for him and trying to help him. i’d probably be pissy too if i opened up to someone and they replied with some peter griffin style “YOU THINK THAT’S BAD!” shit.

      1. thumb

        Yep, Ethan doesn’t need to explain himself to anyone. He doesn’t need to be nice to anyone. Hell, he’s been trying to keep to himself the whole time probably because he’s aware he’s not sociable. Not his fault people keep getting up into his shit when he ain’t got none to give.

  44. Jon

    Fucking hell, Ethan

  45. Juanoku

    Willis if you were trying to make me dislike all my favorite characters
    It’s working

  46. Amelie Wikström

    Crying beats detached sarcasm, Ethan. I wonder if he’s unconsciously trying to drive all the people in his life away so no one he cares about can die again?

    1. PB

      I mean it has to be, right?

  47. Keulen

    Damn it Ethan stop being a dick.

    1. the jighole man

      yeah ethan, i know you’ve been left to rot for several months and had no support of any sort, but amber is sad, so you need to stop being miserable and be there for her.
      put your depression to the side and do what you are supposed to do.
      feed amber.

  48. Spencer

    *Looks back at all those posts I write about my glee when the characters go through horrible painful drama*

    Am I out of touch? No, it’s the commentariat who is wrong.

  49. Needfuldoer

    Ethan: “You need to be more emotionally available, I’m tired of being your shoulder to cry on.”
    Amber: “okay. :(“
    Ethan: “No, not like that, that’s stupid.”

  50. Wereg

    I completely get where Ethan’s coming from here, even if he’s being a colossal dickhead. My dude seems to be experiencing pretty much nothing but Apathy and a bit of anger.

    When he eventually heals, he’s going to think about and regret this conversation for years to come.

  51. zee

    I still like Ethan and these responses are pretty funny NGL, but damn. Cold, dude.
    Then again i can’t say i wouldn’t say the same if i had a truly emotionally exhausting friend like amber. You can tell, dudes just done.

  52. Deviant

    Making people feel horrible.

    I guess thats also a way to honor Mike’s memory. He’d be stoked over it.

  53. Amós Batista

    Amber crying really broke me. ?

    1. The Wellerman

      Me too, amigo. ?

  54. Ragingagnostic

    I’m so sick of guys telling women not to cry. It never works and just serves to bottle up feelings that need to be released. Does he really want her to express rage? That won’t go well.

    1. Amós Batista

      It could be a good thing if guys were allowed themselves to cry…

      1. The Wellerman

        Humans’ oh so rigid gender binary never ceases to disappoint. ?

      2. Bicycle Bill

        Between losing my mother and the woman who was the closest-thing-to-a-girlfriend I ever had, I’ve cried more over the past five years than almost all the rest of my entire life.  And if anybody thinks the less of me for that, then I suggest they go perform a self-administered penetrative sexual act upon themself.

  55. Bicycle Bill

    Between losing my mother and the woman who was the closest-thing-to-a-girlfriend I ever had, I’ve cried more over the past five years than almost all the rest of my entire life.  And if anybody thinks the less of me for that, then I suggest they go perform a self-administered penetrative sexual act upon themself.

  56. Daniel M Ball

    Remember Kids, Feelings are bad, mmm-kayyy?

  57. BBCC

    Translation – “Don’t cry, Amber.” He just can’t make himself say it right now.

    Why didn’t this post yesterday? Weird.

  58. Jabberwocky

    This boy needs therapy

  59. BrokenEye, the True False Prophet

    Hooray, I’ve caught up enough that I can comment again.

    … and I have nothing relevant to contribute.

    …

    …

    …

    … this revelation may have been very, very poorly timed.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.