A ragtag band of bootleggers open a speakeasy for bottled colour in the greyscale city of Ironwell.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
All Known Alternatives
Karolina 'Kajotko' Jankiewicz
Akane has only one way to get back home: collect the 42 keys to parallel worlds. Eri and Ben are just trying to get through the summer before university. When a magical key turns up in an old spare set, all three are forced to change their plans and fast.
No End
Erli, Kromi
A queer romance about people attempting to build lives in a cold, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by hordes of undead.
Hemlock
Josceline Fenton
A witch accidentally marries a monster, and now she and her familiar has to navigate life around her monstrous husband and her even more terrifying in-laws.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
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She’s a weird element of flux, unable to have a stable thought without attacking something or someone while trying to rationalize the two least rational of all emotions (love and desire). Which doesn’t really help us with the worst moms tier list.
i guess even then she might’ve thought she wasn’t good enough for her son
interesting that jacob reached out to her, i understand that she’s family but other than ethan not rly telling him about his parents, seems like it’d be a risky move
Like sure he probably didn’t 100% optimize it, but dude isn’t a professional social worker, he’s just trying to be a mensch and get his roommate to not die. If you ever know somebody who is aggressively depressed and self-destructing, you should call in the cavalry, too.
Having been in this situation (on the Ethan side) I 100% disagree college students are adults and have a right to privacy. I mean Jacob gets a pass because he’s also a student, but when university’s do this it’s horrible and unethical.
I also give sarah a pass because again she’s also a student but its really not the right thing to do without consent.
i suppose so but other than like him just taking an extended break from college and staying home, but i suppose amber wasn’t exactly eqiupped to help out tho i probably would’ve asked leslie first but idk if either of them rly are acquainted with her
Jacob has probably literally never considered what it’s like to not be able to trust your family to treat you well. He’s a very blessed guy. Lots of people who grow up with proper families really struggle to understand, that their instinct to go to their families for help when things are bad, can be inconceivably harmful to other people who are from typical families.
I mean, I respectfully have to disagree with Mrs Ethan’s last name; if I was in DoA and an appropriate age, I’d be totally drooling over Amber. And Joyce, and Dorothy. And Dinah. ^^
We need to see Amber flex before we can be conclusive. Recent queer-adjacent dialogue has implied hidden hotness for her. She could be hotter than she presents.
Amber is hotness incarnate!
…I mean, Amazi-Girl is a LITTLE hotter, but Amber deserves mad crazy props, too…
You need to be hott to write fic that HOTTT!
When DoA was starting Lean Beef Patty had barely reached puberty and was too young to play Amber/AG, now she’s just about aged out from playing Amber/AG. Born 1997. DYW has been making this for a while.
I’d rather not remember how Danny fed into Amber’s delusional self splitting by acting like Amaza-Girl wasn’t actually Amber as well just so he could hit that.
Looks aside , amber is a self proclaimed dumpster fire, so booster saying she and walky would be diametrically opposed garbage or whatever , she might not be a good fit with other ppl in her state
I try to avoid being this crass, but in necessary defence of Amber, I’d do her rather than any other girl in this comic. Many of us men are very much into the kind of shape that Amber is.
I wonder to what degree Amber deliberately presents as a chubby, shlubby “Clara Kent” (and how much is all the emotional baggage that she’s made to carry so that Amazi-Girl can be “perfect” (and amazing).)
But also, she’s basically Zelda Velma to Thalia Daphne.
sometimes the hotness makes someone untrustworthy esp if they’re confident but i mean i doubt most of his accomplishments now and in the future might be because of his looks even if ‘pretty privilege’ is a thing
i mean in high school she was probably a pudgy nerdy stereotype, nothing wrong with it but i can imagine some parents would want something to ‘brag about’ although even if they’re college age now, any parents saying a partner is hot no matter what gender def seems uncomfortable
Naomi strikes me as the kind of mom who has a specific idea in mind for what your son’s life will be and disruption of that is never accepted. She imagined Ethan would have a beautiful Jewish bride and the fact that Amber is short and round and then he found out he was gay after has been something she utterly refuses to get over.
She blames Amber for not fixing Ethan, the way she fixed her husband. So, she will undercut and insult Amber to Ethan as much as possible, because she’s desperate to convince him to shut her out of his life, in favor of a woman who she can approve of. The same way she’s been directly aggressive to Amber, every time we’ve seen them together.
She actually just treats everybody this judgementally, because that’s the way she thinks about other people. They’re either doing things right (right = doing whatever she specifically wants them to do), or they’re deliberately spiting her, through their willful defiance of what is obviously the correct action.
Amber would be perfect if she had made Ethan straight. But, she didn’t make Ethan straight, so she’s an ugly, unfuckable woman to Naomi. Naomi still blames Amber for not being a good wife to Ethan, and curing his gayness with her doting pussy.
she did blame her for ‘turning ethan gay’, although plenty of ppl can have bad partners where they might consider experimenting but idk how often that happens if they don’t know other openly bi ppl versus not realizing it was an option and finding out if they’re bi/demi/etc all along
People like Naomi generally prefer that their loved ones only ever associate with people whom they approve of. If Ethan had any friends who supported him staying closeted and performing straightness, Naomi would constantly bring them up as examples of “the good influences.” She doesn’t like anyone to offer any pushback against her influence over her families lives, because that disrupts her overall capacity to manipulate and control.
Some would be attracted specifically /’cause/ of the mental issues liek Booster admitted to tho that probably isn’t good in the long run
I don’t think she’s bad looking but tbh the art style it’s a little hard to tell if others would consider her ‘hot’ versus ‘plain’/average or if she got a bit more dressed up like when Roz tried to set up leslie and robin. And Walky/Sal are considered attractive, sal more so for the attitude too tho the way their eyes are drawn to look a bit ‘beady’ compared to others might not necessarily look that ‘hot’ if a non fan/someone who never read this looked at their designs (although plenty of ppl are attracted to furry/non human charas that weren’t necessarily meant to look visually appealing out side of selling toys in some cartoons so you never know)
I honestly kind of felt like Jacob was slowly, painfully slowly, warming up to the fact that Raidah is a snake, since the time skip. I guess that likely has a lot to do with it.
Naomi being a straight female wouldn’t understand the many different types of women men find themselves appreciating. She most likely she only really has one fixed ideal on what a beautiful woman should be.
That aside the real issue with Amber isn’t her looks it’s her baggage and dysfunctional tendencies that only the very bold or very downbad would be willing to pursue…I like to think of myself as both.
The thing is also just that whether or not Ethan’s father is gay, Naomi is absolutely terrified that either he is, or she knows that he is and is terrified that he’ll figure that out about himself.
And you know what? She deserves to cries herself sleep at night thinking that it’s her fault every time he blatantly lies about being to tired to have sex her he doesn’t want or refuse to look at her the entire time when he does.
Probably more than she currently gets with sham loveless marriage.
She probably only gets some occasionally when it’s customary. Christmas, V-day, her B-day, their anniversary, and sometimes when she’s convincing enough.
Oh, I didn’t realize Naomi was medically braindead. Not to objectify a fictional character, but Amber’s [series of increasingly absurd cartoon noises, accompanied by strange behavior including but not limited to hitting oneself on the head with a wooden mallet, stomping on the floor vigorously while howling, emitting steam whistle noises, and achieving Super Saiyan God], and it’s heartbreaking that poor Naomi is unable to understand this.
How badly she treats people, probably has a lot to do with how recently she feels like that person has wronged her. Amber wronged her, by not properly fixing her son, like a good woman is supposed to. Therefore, Amber will always be the ugliest, most morally-detestable woman in existence to her.
It’s just like how a woman becomes an “ugly, dumb slut” to a guy who was hitting on her, the second she firmly rejects him. When you see other people more as objects than as people, then you naturally start to feel angry when those objects don’t work the way you feel they’re supposed to work. If my toaster broke for no reason, I’d swear at it, too!
tbf there are tons of ‘terrible’ charas that have fans, if not love to hate, or watching ‘trashy’ stuff like reality tv of celebs fighting each other or whatever goes on in the jersey shore
That’s true for all of the antagonists in this comic.
The thing is, they are mostly boring. Mary’s whole repertoire is by the numbers high school level politics and barely coherent young earth creationist rants. Blaine was as obsessed with Amber as your average Joker is with Batman, but without any of the wit, style or insanity to keep that fresh. They became just noise to me after some time. Toedad was a Little interesting to Me, but I know I was in the minority. People more familiar with U.S. fundies had his number by the first few strips he was in. Even his affection for his family was fully informed by his ass-backwards religion. They all have shown zero self-awareness.
I appreciate that Raidah regularly rubs her braincells together, but intelligent behavior does not equal depth – she does everything to get ahead in the social scene and build powerful connections. We know what she is About, we know what she is going to do, because she only has that one thing going on. It’s predictable.
People didn’t come read the comic to find out what’s gonna happen to them next. They are here to create conflict so Other characters have a chance to be in more interesting situations.
Naomi can string sentences together. She has motivations other than the bigotry she is here to represent.
She is frustrated, tired and spiteful, but she communicates that in a civil manner, instead of screeching it at the top of her lungs or hiding it from herself and others.
Sure, her homophobia might have religious roots, but she’s weighted that against other things she cares about, otherwise she wouldn’t be here. Nobody fed her these awful, bigoted ideas – they are Her awful, bigoted ideas.
You bet I wanna know what happens to her next. Cranky old bigot lady here has the most charisma in this room.
Like a friend ofthen quotes “true evil is boring”, awful people in real life are not actually interesting or all that complicated, most of the time they suck and that’s it, sometimes they can grow but it’s not likely, it’s why we create cool villains to give it some spice to evil, but sometimes it’s also good to remember the banality of these kind of people.
It’s pretty much why everybody has white-hot frothing rage towards Dolores Umbridge, but nobody has even thought twice about Voldemort. The latter is a plot device; the former is a completely realistic terrible person, who feels as if she was ripped out of our real world.
Bad characters you can actually believe would exist in the real world, are always more interesting than nebulously evil caricatures.
Though people like Mary and Toe dad do very much exist in real life and has been getting louder lately. Blaine is a bit more exaggerated but his abuse towards Amber overall is also pretty realistic. Real doesn’t always mean depth or interesting, sometimes it means awful and pointless.
Which is why I think the fact that she’s at least got some one-liners while she’s being awful, and isn’t committing any felonies, makes it a lot easier for many people to enjoy her, by comparison. I wouldn’t say I enjoy her, but I can see how so many people would find her more fun to read than any of the other characters you mentioned.
… I mean, she’s not wrong about Asher, but also consider: The guys I think we know to have had the most sex so far besides Joe The Previous Sexman is Walky & Danny.
The Looks-To-Sex Ratio feels unbalanced, but correct.
IDK what kinda women she does find ‘attractive’ but i imagine amber isn’t rly ‘conventionally pretty’ enough for her i guess. She might approve of Sal tho but even if ethan was bi i guess that’d raise some eyebrows if she knew who sal was (even tho ethan and sal basically made amends otherwise)
It’s real hard to tell because cartoonified, and the “hot” to me always feels informed (but I’m at least ‘somewhere’ on the asexual spectrum, even if not 100% asexual by any means), but to me Amber’s quite attractive. I like a little meat, beats out being bony with ribs showing by a mile (sorry Dorothy).
Agreed about Amber, but I find Dorothy quite attractive too. Each has all of her features in proportion, and for some reason that’s more important to me than any particular build.
My immediate reaction was that I’m a terrible person because of how much Naomi’s last line made me laugh, even if one disagrees with the statement.
Then I remembered that I actually am a terrible person, so it doesn’t matter as much.
Still, what I’m interested in finding out is what Naomi thought of Amber before she “convinced Ethan he was gay”. Back when everyone thought they were going to get married — did Naomi like Amber (because she wasn’t Mike, which would be fair enough if her problem wasn’t that Mike was Mike, but that Mike had a penis), or did she always think Amber was terrible (and too short and dumpy) for her son, but put up with it because at least she has a vagina?
I think Naomi only “liked her” in that moment of time because Amber gave her that reassurance she needed that her son was gay before doing a 180 by becoming the thing that confirmed to the world that he was gay and her fears were coming true.
That aside she is witty with the quips, but fuck her foe her past transgressions against Amber.
Definitely, but the question was what did she think before then.
Of course, she already worried about him being gay before they were dating. Maybe she was always afraid Amber wasn’t hot enough to overcome his gay tendencies. (Not that it works that way, but …)
And if that’s the way she thinks, does that feed back to her not being attractive enough to overcome Saul’s?
There’s definitely a correlation there. Her perspective can probably be summed up as “why didn’t this dumbass bongo lock down my dumbass son and cure his dumbass brain of his gay phase? Doesn’t she know that he was the hottest guy she could ever pull, looking all dumpy like she does?! I can’t believe she let her only chance at a good man slip away!”
Because, continuing the metaphor…if Amber didn’t do exactly what Naomi did in roughly the same situation, then the only option, is that Amber must therefore believe that Ethan is not up to her standard, or worth her fighting for, to be with him. Which, indirectly, means that Naomi has concluded that Amber must think that she is better than her. Someone as self-centered as Naomi frequently takes it as a direct rejection or rebuttal, if a different person simply doesn’t make the same choice that they would make, in the same situation.
Naomi knows that Naomi knows better than everybody, and that she will always make the best choices about everything. When other people don’t fall in line with what she believes is right, then that person must either be corrected, or rejected. And Naomi has repeatedly said things that are meant to alienate Amber and Ethan from each other. Because Amber offended her, by not doing right by her son, the same way Naomi did right by Saul.
It’s also hard to say because when you’re kids… well, you’re kids, so you’re automatically cute (usually), then you have those awkward tween/teen years where you looking like an awkward mess is just par for the course, then by the end of high school, you turn their son gay (this didn’t happen) and now they’re biased against you.
It can also happen that when you know someone consistently over time, you don’t really notice how their physical appearance gradually changes. Anyway, it’d be interesting to see Naomi interacting with Amber in flashbacks.
I mean, Jacob’s brother is a lawyer so famous and talented that he works directly for billionaire tech magnates. I feel like Jacob could do nearly anything, without making Raidah actually do anything bad to him. He’d have to go out of his way to try to make her his enemy.
Did…did Ethan’s mom just insult my taste in women? See, now I’m all conflicted. On the one hand, I would like to punch her, but on the other I confess I’m relieved by her disapproval…
If someone like Naomi is upset at you, at the very least, you can be sure that whatever you are doing, must be even more right than you initially thought!
(Also: “We fuck sometimes” and Asher being so chill with it lmaooo that’s either an excellent sense of humor, or holy shit boy, how did Jennifer treat you?)
I have suspicions that Asher is also used to over-bearing parental expectations, with no actual direct emotional connection, or emotional support. In a way, Jennifer, Ethan, and Asher are likely all in the same boat, that way.
We know Asher is bad news in a way that Ethan may break his arms or something when he finds out what Asher has kept from him, and we know Amber is clever, skillful, principled and secretly built like a superhero, but what does Naomi know? Way to judge people by appearance.
While judging a book by its cover isn’t *always* a sure-fire way to judge its contents, you also have to consider that a lot of book covers are very much “what you see is what you get”.
Yeah, Naomi strikes me as the kind of person who thinks if stereotypes are true nine out of ten times then that’s good enough to use them instead of wasting brain power making individual judgments about a person. Or six out of ten.
It also depends on how you judge the book by its cover.
There’s the picture which you can take in in five seconds.
There’s the blurb on the back which may or may not tell you about the general plot.
If you’ve read other books by the author that will tell you stuff.
If your at a library there’s also a little tag which will usually tell you the genre.
I mean, ik’m sure if amber was considered a ‘bombshell’ in universe and such i’m sure naomi would’ve found something to criticize/still blame her for not being able to keep ethan ‘straight’
Statistically, she’s been super rude to whoever she is talking to, for literally 100% of all of her dialogue since she was first introduced. She is literally never even slightly kind to another human being.
As the only woman-attracted person in the room, Asher has a chance to vouch for Amber’s hotness. He could also want to say something like, “She’s built like a superhero” if he wants to be suspicious about it.
I only scrolled down a couple of screens of comments, but is no one else going to point out that elephant tap-dancing all around the room? She’s agreed that he’s allowed to be gay for right now, but as soon as he’s “feeling better” she’s going right back to hammering on him to be straight again. This is just a cease-fire for purposes of evacuating the wounded, not an armistice, and certainly not an offer of a peace-and-friendship treaty.
Given the strip’s timeline, it’s entirely possible that if she allows a one-year mourning period, it will be sometime in 2050 that she changes her mind.
No one else beside everyone who commented on it the last two strips?
Sorry, I know not everyone reads the comments every day, but the things from a strip are more likely to be discussed under *that* strip than the one after it (though sometimes it’s ongoing). The “for now”/”until you’re feeling better” of it have been brought many times.
Fuck you amber’s great, and she’s probably hiding a six pack that’s just never come up in conversation because with how much she worked out and stuff she’s gotta be top 3 physically strongest in the comic
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part of me DID wonder if Naomi would be like, “Oh, fuck, I totally understand”
that Amber smack tho
what’d ya expect from Naomi?
she always hating on Amber and our homie
not to mention anotha homophobic confession,
them bongo thinks we be infectin’ everyone with “gay essence” XD
She’s a weird element of flux, unable to have a stable thought without attacking something or someone while trying to rationalize the two least rational of all emotions (love and desire). Which doesn’t really help us with the worst moms tier list.
> “gay essence”
A fabulous new scent by Dior x Klein
Oh don’t pretend like the gays haven’t long since captured their essence and used it to lure me into temptation on a regular basis…
I mean… crap…
i guess even then she might’ve thought she wasn’t good enough for her son
interesting that jacob reached out to her, i understand that she’s family but other than ethan not rly telling him about his parents, seems like it’d be a risky move
Definitely risky. But when somebody in your circle is acting that extremely concerning, it’s appropriate to take a risk like that.
Like sure he probably didn’t 100% optimize it, but dude isn’t a professional social worker, he’s just trying to be a mensch and get his roommate to not die. If you ever know somebody who is aggressively depressed and self-destructing, you should call in the cavalry, too.
Ideally the cavalry doesn’t totally suck.
Agreed
Having been in this situation (on the Ethan side) I 100% disagree college students are adults and have a right to privacy. I mean Jacob gets a pass because he’s also a student, but when university’s do this it’s horrible and unethical.
I also give sarah a pass because again she’s also a student but its really not the right thing to do without consent.
Jacob’s move is probably what led to the whole “I allow you to be gay if it means you don’t kill yourself” thing.
i suppose so but other than like him just taking an extended break from college and staying home, but i suppose amber wasn’t exactly eqiupped to help out tho i probably would’ve asked leslie first but idk if either of them rly are acquainted with her
One interesting thing is: This is Jacob doing exactly what Sarah did when faced with her own spiralling roommate.
Well, he didn’t tell her about pot. It’s a complicated subject.
he told her about what the destructive behavior was, just like she did.
Jacob has probably literally never considered what it’s like to not be able to trust your family to treat you well. He’s a very blessed guy. Lots of people who grow up with proper families really struggle to understand, that their instinct to go to their families for help when things are bad, can be inconceivably harmful to other people who are from typical families.
I (more or less) called it yesterday.
I mean, I respectfully have to disagree with Mrs Ethan’s last name; if I was in DoA and an appropriate age, I’d be totally drooling over Amber. And Joyce, and Dorothy. And Dinah. ^^
But especially Amber. Hubba hubba.
Seconded
I’m a drooling candidate for the majority of the cast women there: Amber / AG, Dina, Dorothy, Jennifer / Billie, Joyce, Marcie, Roz, Ruth, and Sal. :O
Obviously I’d be crushing on Carla
Ok I get Asher is hot and Amber is… Amber but good lord
We need to see Amber flex before we can be conclusive. Recent queer-adjacent dialogue has implied hidden hotness for her. She could be hotter than she presents.
Amber presents plenty hotness.
She is, as Walky once so skillfully articulated, “Thicc Dorothy”.
I didn’t say she presents little hotness, just that there’s potential for even hotter presenting. She chooses to hide it.
Case in point: Amazi-Girl.
And Amber was described as Danny as basically his dream girl, and what is in his brain in the slot of ”pretty girl”.
Amber is fine. I suspect if I met a somehow real Amber face to face, I would find her unsettlingly attractive.
Amber is hotness incarnate!
…I mean, Amazi-Girl is a LITTLE hotter, but Amber deserves mad crazy props, too…
You need to be hott to write fic that HOTTT!
Plus she got that booty that won’t quit…
hell yeah she got that booty!
a night owl all hooty!
makin fic of brothas all fruity!
be goin all “ooooo heee hee hee heeee!”
She’s played by Lean Beef Patty. Go ahead, Google her. We’ll be here when you’re done. Just remember to stay hydrated and take breaks.
Oh jesus christ
Oh my god. Thank you for thus psa o//o
*guffaw*
I err, know of whom you speak.
Amber isn’t anywhere *nearly* as socially awkward as Patty.
Whoa…Yeah, okay, thank you for sharing that with us.
Yeah, I can see it.
Given her antics as Amaziglr, she’s likely similarly ripped.
O.M.G. That BUTTTTT!!!
Good call.
Amber is that strong, but she’s quite a bit rounder than that and the way she’s drawn sugests some padding over that muscle.
When DoA was starting Lean Beef Patty had barely reached puberty and was too young to play Amber/AG, now she’s just about aged out from playing Amber/AG. Born 1997. DYW has been making this for a while.
Asher is hot and Amber is also hot.
Amber is hot, but Amazigirl is even hotter. Ask Danny.
I’d rather not remember how Danny fed into Amber’s delusional self splitting by acting like Amaza-Girl wasn’t actually Amber as well just so he could hit that.
Looks aside , amber is a self proclaimed dumpster fire, so booster saying she and walky would be diametrically opposed garbage or whatever , she might not be a good fit with other ppl in her state
Amber’s not a great pick for starting a relationship, true, but not even Naomi is talking about that.
I try to avoid being this crass, but in necessary defence of Amber, I’d do her rather than any other girl in this comic. Many of us men are very much into the kind of shape that Amber is.
I wonder to what degree Amber deliberately presents as a chubby, shlubby “Clara Kent” (and how much is all the emotional baggage that she’s made to carry so that Amazi-Girl can be “perfect” (and amazing).)
But also, she’s basically
ZeldaVelma toThaliaDaphne.Good sir, I know there is a strikethrough but you appear to have misspelled “Sheik”
Different Zelda.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Many_Loves_of_Dobie_Gillis
I hope it’s not too late to male this joke:
https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbingofage/s/ccWwUkJlhj
*Make
Clowns to the left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am trapped in the closet with you
it ain’t too late in my book
real hilarious how this looks! XD
Asher finally outta the closet
to both them rockin’ the bed I say, BET!
Timing, schmiming, I’m just glad you did. xD
Love it!
Didn’t know Asher was in the college’s theatre program. Good for him! I’d go see that production.
Asher’s so hot it makes it hard to not trust him. But I still don’t.
sometimes the hotness makes someone untrustworthy esp if they’re confident but i mean i doubt most of his accomplishments now and in the future might be because of his looks even if ‘pretty privilege’ is a thing
Ok but Amber’s cute? Or at least that’s my bisexual opinion
She is. Very soft, huggable, wonderful
She’s not exactly soft either. Remember she’s super fit and muscular, though pleasantly rounded in shape.
Firm.
i mean in high school she was probably a pudgy nerdy stereotype, nothing wrong with it but i can imagine some parents would want something to ‘brag about’ although even if they’re college age now, any parents saying a partner is hot no matter what gender def seems uncomfortable
Naomi strikes me as the kind of mom who has a specific idea in mind for what your son’s life will be and disruption of that is never accepted. She imagined Ethan would have a beautiful Jewish bride and the fact that Amber is short and round and then he found out he was gay after has been something she utterly refuses to get over.
She blames Amber for not fixing Ethan, the way she fixed her husband. So, she will undercut and insult Amber to Ethan as much as possible, because she’s desperate to convince him to shut her out of his life, in favor of a woman who she can approve of. The same way she’s been directly aggressive to Amber, every time we’ve seen them together.
She actually just treats everybody this judgementally, because that’s the way she thinks about other people. They’re either doing things right (right = doing whatever she specifically wants them to do), or they’re deliberately spiting her, through their willful defiance of what is obviously the correct action.
Asher brings all the boys (and their moms) to the yard
I like how consistently Naomi is partially correct but never in a way that makes what she’s saying any better.
“Like” is a strong word.
I’m not saying she’s a likeable character, she’s very much the opposite, but I like how she’s written.
People like her are FUN. They make for amazing anecdotes.
They’re amazing points directly opposite to you on the globe?
Exactly.
Maybe im just a lesbian but is amber not hot
I fully support your right to be wrong.
I’m a straight woman and I think roller derby amber in particular is sexy/hot. Regular one too.
Amber would be perfect if she had made Ethan straight. But, she didn’t make Ethan straight, so she’s an ugly, unfuckable woman to Naomi. Naomi still blames Amber for not being a good wife to Ethan, and curing his gayness with her doting pussy.
Ironic that the reason Ethan is so direct about fucking to his mom, is because he is all out of fucks to give.
Related: https://youtu.be/TXK03FHVsHk?si=OdT5BrsALgHyqmu-
Naomi’s problem seems to be as much hating Ethan’s friends as homophobia.
…
I mean, no, its homophobia but she really hates Ethans friends.
I also detect a hint of fatphobia in her remark about all the girls “looking like Amber,” but maybe that’s me projecting.
I imagine the fact they’re as short as she is plays a role.
Lots of self-projected loathing.
she did blame her for ‘turning ethan gay’, although plenty of ppl can have bad partners where they might consider experimenting but idk how often that happens if they don’t know other openly bi ppl versus not realizing it was an option and finding out if they’re bi/demi/etc all along
People like Naomi generally prefer that their loved ones only ever associate with people whom they approve of. If Ethan had any friends who supported him staying closeted and performing straightness, Naomi would constantly bring them up as examples of “the good influences.” She doesn’t like anyone to offer any pushback against her influence over her families lives, because that disrupts her overall capacity to manipulate and control.
Hey! Amber’s a hottie! (mental issues aside) HOW DARE.
Some would be attracted specifically /’cause/ of the mental issues liek Booster admitted to tho that probably isn’t good in the long run
I don’t think she’s bad looking but tbh the art style it’s a little hard to tell if others would consider her ‘hot’ versus ‘plain’/average or if she got a bit more dressed up like when Roz tried to set up leslie and robin. And Walky/Sal are considered attractive, sal more so for the attitude too tho the way their eyes are drawn to look a bit ‘beady’ compared to others might not necessarily look that ‘hot’ if a non fan/someone who never read this looked at their designs (although plenty of ppl are attracted to furry/non human charas that weren’t necessarily meant to look visually appealing out side of selling toys in some cartoons so you never know)
The fact that Jacob reached out to Naomi makes this strip make even more sense: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-14/04-for-me-it-was-tuesday/patpatsmooth/
Jacob truly was in a similar spot to Sarah, of having a roommate in deep grief and reaching out to the parent due to it.
Oh, good catch
Well spotted.
I honestly kind of felt like Jacob was slowly, painfully slowly, warming up to the fact that Raidah is a snake, since the time skip. I guess that likely has a lot to do with it.
Yes.
Has Jacob interacted with Raidah since the timeskip? Or even said one word about her that would make you think this?
Hey, she may be a mess as a person, but Amber is awesome. Naomi has no taste at all.
My lord that burn was awful yet hilarious
I mean, Amber and Dorothy look a lot alike.
And Joyce has become more Amber-like with her glasses.
That counts as a high compliment, considering the source.
Listen, I’m a gay dude, but Amber is objectively cute. Lay off, Naomi
I realize there’s a lot else going on here, but can we address the fact Asher apparently doesn’t know Ethan’s last name?
Eeehh, I don’t think it’s that weird. Although I can totally buy Ethan just wanting to talk about his family as little as possible in general.
Asher might be making the reasonable assumption that Ethan’s mother doesn’t necessarily have the same last name as Ethan does.
That’s the one assumption he is making. “Hello, Mrs. Ethan’s-last-name.”
That’s why some go with names like “Mrs. Ethan’s Mom”.
It’s the soupçon of levity that defuses a tense meeting.
Defuses you say?
Hell, I’ve been reading this comic for over a decade, and I can’t remember what Ethan’s last name is.
Me either, but I looked it up. It’s Siegel.
Well. TIL, indeed.
They met less than a week ago. Not that surprising.
i mean between the hookups and such i guess there’s never been a time to bring it up/necessary
I love how that was highlighted. It could have been a punchline in itself but instead was snuck in.
It could have been, “Hello Jacob’s roommate’s mom.” That would be so much better.
Jesus fuck Naomi what in the actual hell is wrong with you
Anyway have fun with that fatphobia of yours in about seventeen years, give or take
Naomi being a straight female wouldn’t understand the many different types of women men find themselves appreciating. She most likely she only really has one fixed ideal on what a beautiful woman should be.
That aside the real issue with Amber isn’t her looks it’s her baggage and dysfunctional tendencies that only the very bold or very downbad would be willing to pursue…I like to think of myself as both.
That aside, fuck you Naomi.
It seems she’s 100% aware of her husband not finding her sexually desirable.
Oh wait, is her husband gay? (Or ace IG, but that would more likely to be out?) Like, confirmed?
Mmm, I don’t know. Ace can even be harder to talk about, sometimes.
The subtext is that he probably is (this strip being a particularly blunt example of it, pun not intended: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/blunt/ ).
The thing is also just that whether or not Ethan’s father is gay, Naomi is absolutely terrified that either he is, or she knows that he is and is terrified that he’ll figure that out about himself.
And you know what? She deserves to cries herself sleep at night thinking that it’s her fault every time he blatantly lies about being to tired to have sex her he doesn’t want or refuse to look at her the entire time when he does.
not only she think gayness be like fuckin’ sacrilege,
how DARE a girl EVER exist outside her ideal package D:<
Such a closed minded fool she is.
Nobody tell Mrs Ethan’s Mother about the amount of tail Amber gets.
Probably more than she currently gets with sham loveless marriage.
She probably only gets some occasionally when it’s customary. Christmas, V-day, her B-day, their anniversary, and sometimes when she’s convincing enough.
Oh, I didn’t realize Naomi was medically braindead. Not to objectify a fictional character, but Amber’s [series of increasingly absurd cartoon noises, accompanied by strange behavior including but not limited to hitting oneself on the head with a wooden mallet, stomping on the floor vigorously while howling, emitting steam whistle noises, and achieving Super Saiyan God], and it’s heartbreaking that poor Naomi is unable to understand this.
How badly she treats people, probably has a lot to do with how recently she feels like that person has wronged her. Amber wronged her, by not properly fixing her son, like a good woman is supposed to. Therefore, Amber will always be the ugliest, most morally-detestable woman in existence to her.
It’s just like how a woman becomes an “ugly, dumb slut” to a guy who was hitting on her, the second she firmly rejects him. When you see other people more as objects than as people, then you naturally start to feel angry when those objects don’t work the way you feel they’re supposed to work. If my toaster broke for no reason, I’d swear at it, too!
Flawless logic
Ah there’s the Naomi I know and hate, still pinning the blame on Amber. I’m expecting her to tear down Joyce in the next strip.
kind of love her ngl
….. how? Everything she is saying is fucking rancid toxic shit
tbf there are tons of ‘terrible’ charas that have fans, if not love to hate, or watching ‘trashy’ stuff like reality tv of celebs fighting each other or whatever goes on in the jersey shore
So what?
That’s true for all of the antagonists in this comic.
The thing is, they are mostly boring. Mary’s whole repertoire is by the numbers high school level politics and barely coherent young earth creationist rants. Blaine was as obsessed with Amber as your average Joker is with Batman, but without any of the wit, style or insanity to keep that fresh. They became just noise to me after some time. Toedad was a Little interesting to Me, but I know I was in the minority. People more familiar with U.S. fundies had his number by the first few strips he was in. Even his affection for his family was fully informed by his ass-backwards religion. They all have shown zero self-awareness.
I appreciate that Raidah regularly rubs her braincells together, but intelligent behavior does not equal depth – she does everything to get ahead in the social scene and build powerful connections. We know what she is About, we know what she is going to do, because she only has that one thing going on. It’s predictable.
People didn’t come read the comic to find out what’s gonna happen to them next. They are here to create conflict so Other characters have a chance to be in more interesting situations.
Naomi can string sentences together. She has motivations other than the bigotry she is here to represent.
She is frustrated, tired and spiteful, but she communicates that in a civil manner, instead of screeching it at the top of her lungs or hiding it from herself and others.
Sure, her homophobia might have religious roots, but she’s weighted that against other things she cares about, otherwise she wouldn’t be here. Nobody fed her these awful, bigoted ideas – they are Her awful, bigoted ideas.
You bet I wanna know what happens to her next. Cranky old bigot lady here has the most charisma in this room.
Like a friend ofthen quotes “true evil is boring”, awful people in real life are not actually interesting or all that complicated, most of the time they suck and that’s it, sometimes they can grow but it’s not likely, it’s why we create cool villains to give it some spice to evil, but sometimes it’s also good to remember the banality of these kind of people.
It’s pretty much why everybody has white-hot frothing rage towards Dolores Umbridge, but nobody has even thought twice about Voldemort. The latter is a plot device; the former is a completely realistic terrible person, who feels as if she was ripped out of our real world.
Bad characters you can actually believe would exist in the real world, are always more interesting than nebulously evil caricatures.
Though people like Mary and Toe dad do very much exist in real life and has been getting louder lately. Blaine is a bit more exaggerated but his abuse towards Amber overall is also pretty realistic. Real doesn’t always mean depth or interesting, sometimes it means awful and pointless.
Which is why I think the fact that she’s at least got some one-liners while she’s being awful, and isn’t committing any felonies, makes it a lot easier for many people to enjoy her, by comparison. I wouldn’t say I enjoy her, but I can see how so many people would find her more fun to read than any of the other characters you mentioned.
Mike was in this comic up until like two years ago. Overly blunt antagonistic forces can be fun.
Asher needs to have like two more butts to compare to Amber.
… I mean, she’s not wrong about Asher, but also consider: The guys I think we know to have had the most sex so far besides Joe The Previous Sexman is Walky & Danny.
The Looks-To-Sex Ratio feels unbalanced, but correct.
Though Ethan’s probably had sex with the most people, other than possibly Joe.
I am impressed with Naomi’s ability to get close to saying something right and then careening at light speed to the worst thing possible.
@hovertext
3) insists on treating orientation as a choice.
I mean yeah, if all men looked like Asher then if being gay actually were a choice, it wouldn’t be a hard one at all.
little does she know amber’s probably had more relationships than ethan at this point
So much for the mom possibly being a lesbian
More relationships, but Ethan went through a phase of hooking up with all the available/interested dudes.
Panel 1 typo: “laid eyes”
It’s because she wanted to lay Jacob with her eyes.
Put her back in the archives.
What the hell, Siegal. Amber is hot as hell.
IDK what kinda women she does find ‘attractive’ but i imagine amber isn’t rly ‘conventionally pretty’ enough for her i guess. She might approve of Sal tho but even if ethan was bi i guess that’d raise some eyebrows if she knew who sal was (even tho ethan and sal basically made amends otherwise)
It’s real hard to tell because cartoonified, and the “hot” to me always feels informed (but I’m at least ‘somewhere’ on the asexual spectrum, even if not 100% asexual by any means), but to me Amber’s quite attractive. I like a little meat, beats out being bony with ribs showing by a mile (sorry Dorothy).
Agreed about Amber, but I find Dorothy quite attractive too. Each has all of her features in proportion, and for some reason that’s more important to me than any particular build.
Pretty sure it’s because she’s bitter at Amber, blaming her for Ethan being gay. Which of course is dumb, but hey that’s homophobia for you.
My immediate reaction was that I’m a terrible person because of how much Naomi’s last line made me laugh, even if one disagrees with the statement.
Then I remembered that I actually am a terrible person, so it doesn’t matter as much.
Still, what I’m interested in finding out is what Naomi thought of Amber before she “convinced Ethan he was gay”. Back when everyone thought they were going to get married — did Naomi like Amber (because she wasn’t Mike, which would be fair enough if her problem wasn’t that Mike was Mike, but that Mike had a penis), or did she always think Amber was terrible (and too short and dumpy) for her son, but put up with it because at least she has a vagina?
I think Naomi only “liked her” in that moment of time because Amber gave her that reassurance she needed that her son was gay before doing a 180 by becoming the thing that confirmed to the world that he was gay and her fears were coming true.
That aside she is witty with the quips, but fuck her foe her past transgressions against Amber.
IIRC, she blames Amber for Ethan being gay.
Definitely, but the question was what did she think before then.
Of course, she already worried about him being gay before they were dating. Maybe she was always afraid Amber wasn’t hot enough to overcome his gay tendencies. (Not that it works that way, but …)
And if that’s the way she thinks, does that feed back to her not being attractive enough to overcome Saul’s?
There’s definitely a correlation there. Her perspective can probably be summed up as “why didn’t this dumbass bongo lock down my dumbass son and cure his dumbass brain of his gay phase? Doesn’t she know that he was the hottest guy she could ever pull, looking all dumpy like she does?! I can’t believe she let her only chance at a good man slip away!”
Because, continuing the metaphor…if Amber didn’t do exactly what Naomi did in roughly the same situation, then the only option, is that Amber must therefore believe that Ethan is not up to her standard, or worth her fighting for, to be with him. Which, indirectly, means that Naomi has concluded that Amber must think that she is better than her. Someone as self-centered as Naomi frequently takes it as a direct rejection or rebuttal, if a different person simply doesn’t make the same choice that they would make, in the same situation.
Naomi knows that Naomi knows better than everybody, and that she will always make the best choices about everything. When other people don’t fall in line with what she believes is right, then that person must either be corrected, or rejected. And Naomi has repeatedly said things that are meant to alienate Amber and Ethan from each other. Because Amber offended her, by not doing right by her son, the same way Naomi did right by Saul.
Ohh this makes everything make sense!
It’s also hard to say because when you’re kids… well, you’re kids, so you’re automatically cute (usually), then you have those awkward tween/teen years where you looking like an awkward mess is just par for the course, then by the end of high school, you turn their son gay (this didn’t happen) and now they’re biased against you.
It can also happen that when you know someone consistently over time, you don’t really notice how their physical appearance gradually changes. Anyway, it’d be interesting to see Naomi interacting with Amber in flashbacks.
Naomi is unbearable but she did get a chuckle out of me with that one I cannot lie
amber is a national treasure and she is very pretty
I bet if Jacon didn’t dump her, and this didn’t go well, Raida would consider this a noble move on Jacob’s part.
Ironic!
Nah, just good old hypocrisy.
I mean, Jacob’s brother is a lawyer so famous and talented that he works directly for billionaire tech magnates. I feel like Jacob could do nearly anything, without making Raidah actually do anything bad to him. He’d have to go out of his way to try to make her his enemy.
Last panel is harsh but not completely wrong
Amber agrees with a low opinion of herself and a desire to watch these people bang
Specifically the not wrong parts are that Asher is hot and….. Not actually that’s it.
damn, fuck off ethan’s mom, amber has so much pull
Did…did Ethan’s mom just insult my taste in women? See, now I’m all conflicted. On the one hand, I would like to punch her, but on the other I confess I’m relieved by her disapproval…
If someone like Naomi is upset at you, at the very least, you can be sure that whatever you are doing, must be even more right than you initially thought!
That last line is SO mean but I cackled, I won’t even lie. Poor Amber. I think she’s cute!
After Joyce and Jennifer, Amber is deffo top of my do list as far as this comic’s concerned.
The Seagals are just… such a blunt family.
Felt that last line deep in my soul. Having low self-esteem and also being name Amber. Some mothers really know how to crush a young woman’s spirit.
Oh and there’s my laughter when I can’t figure out how else I’m supposed to react. *whistles*
that’s crazy cause amber’s the hottest character in the cast
Amber out there catching strays.
I’d like to see Asher pull of a two step wall run, three on a good day.
Naomi: Not so homophobic she can’t appreciate how pretty Asher is.
Still idiot enough to disparage Amber, who could only be hotter if she were queer. But small steps I guess.
(Also: “We fuck sometimes” and Asher being so chill with it lmaooo that’s either an excellent sense of humor, or holy shit boy, how did Jennifer treat you?)
I have suspicions that Asher is also used to over-bearing parental expectations, with no actual direct emotional connection, or emotional support. In a way, Jennifer, Ethan, and Asher are likely all in the same boat, that way.
“Well, at least my son has good tastes…”
That’s got to be the most sideways “compliment” I’ve ever seen.
Incredible, she’s more Amberphobic than homophobic
With Amber its probably personal.
Wasn’t she convinced that Amber was such a failure as a woman that Ethan turned gay?
Mmmmm yeah
In short, that’s exactly what it is.
I’m guessing Ethan should keep Asher away from his dad?
Or maybe try to hook him up with Asher’s dad… which is probably an even worse idea.
Why?
Eh you know, the whole Mafia thing
We know Asher is bad news in a way that Ethan may break his arms or something when he finds out what Asher has kept from him, and we know Amber is clever, skillful, principled and secretly built like a superhero, but what does Naomi know? Way to judge people by appearance.
While judging a book by its cover isn’t *always* a sure-fire way to judge its contents, you also have to consider that a lot of book covers are very much “what you see is what you get”.
Yeah, Naomi strikes me as the kind of person who thinks if stereotypes are true nine out of ten times then that’s good enough to use them instead of wasting brain power making individual judgments about a person. Or six out of ten.
Or one out of ten. Or one out of two hundred seventy-eight. Or one out of three thousand. Or one out of five hundred thousand. Or one I imagined.
Hm, the books I go for usually scream “the designer has not read even one word of the content!”
It also depends on how you judge the book by its cover.
There’s the picture which you can take in in five seconds.
There’s the blurb on the back which may or may not tell you about the general plot.
If you’ve read other books by the author that will tell you stuff.
If your at a library there’s also a little tag which will usually tell you the genre.
Ah, gotta love the art of the back-handed compliment.
Excuse you Naomi, Amber’s been in a relationship with someone in college. Amazi-Girl too for that matter.
As shitty as she is you gotta appreciate the implied
“My son may be gay but Damn does he have a fine taste in men.”
Tell me you have ZERO taste in women without saying you have zero taste in women.
Exactly. Amber is great.
Okay Naomi, thank you for ‘allowing’ Ethan. Very nice, very heart.
Now leave. Without one more word.
Well fuck you too, Naomi.
It’s Siegel, Asher.
Amber is probably the most attractive girl in the cast next to Ruth, you damn cow.
Hey now! What you got against cows? :O
This is actually very inappropriate and insulting.
Cows are very kind, friendly animals, and they don’t deserve to be compared to a creature as lowly as Naomi.
I mean, ik’m sure if amber was considered a ‘bombshell’ in universe and such i’m sure naomi would’ve found something to criticize/still blame her for not being able to keep ethan ‘straight’
Exactly
wow someone’s being super rude to Amber
And to Ethan. And to Asher. And to Jacob.
Statistically, she’s been super rude to whoever she is talking to, for literally 100% of all of her dialogue since she was first introduced. She is literally never even slightly kind to another human being.
Dang Naomi, you’re really trying your hardest to not sound redeemable.
As the only woman-attracted person in the room, Asher has a chance to vouch for Amber’s hotness. He could also want to say something like, “She’s built like a superhero” if he wants to be suspicious about it.
Meanwhile in his head: I’ve already taken care of one shitty parent… what’s one more?
Hey now! What’s wrong with how Amber looks lady?
Someone ell Naomi it’s not a good idea to take shots at the cartoonist.
Did she body shame Amber? I already hate her, so much.
I’m sure she’s been body shaming Amber for most of Amber’s childhood, to be honest.
Amber isn’t even Morbidly obese, Amber is deliciously thicc AND athletic. She has some muscle under the gamer fluff to be Amazigirl…
Damn imagine not thinking Amber is hot…
HOORAY! Ethan’s mom likes Asher really a lot!
This has got to be the momest mom line ever
it’s sad how we expect this, it ain’t at all fair
talking to yo momma shouldn’t require AFTERCARE T_T
“Mon, this is Asher. We fuck sometimes”
Ethan played hard here, soon after hos mom conceded. It was a risky move, not gonna lie.
Atleast she approves of Ethan’s choice in men even if she’s still working on approving of him choosing men.
Jesus Christ, Naomi
Ethan learning the lesson all daughters of scumbag moms learn.
When you get a hot boyfriend, your mom wants to bone your hot boyfriend
I only scrolled down a couple of screens of comments, but is no one else going to point out that elephant tap-dancing all around the room? She’s agreed that he’s allowed to be gay for right now, but as soon as he’s “feeling better” she’s going right back to hammering on him to be straight again. This is just a cease-fire for purposes of evacuating the wounded, not an armistice, and certainly not an offer of a peace-and-friendship treaty.
Yeah we all get that but sadly accept it’s the best we get out of her right now. It’s better that nothing.
Given the strip’s timeline, it’s entirely possible that if she allows a one-year mourning period, it will be sometime in 2050 that she changes her mind.
No one else beside everyone who commented on it the last two strips?
Sorry, I know not everyone reads the comments every day, but the things from a strip are more likely to be discussed under *that* strip than the one after it (though sometimes it’s ongoing). The “for now”/”until you’re feeling better” of it have been brought many times.
Fuck you amber’s great, and she’s probably hiding a six pack that’s just never come up in conversation because with how much she worked out and stuff she’s gotta be top 3 physically strongest in the comic
Guys I think Naomi might be straight.
To be clear, this means I am pan and Amber and Asher are both hot.
Did she just call TWO of Ethan’s college mates hot, basically?