373

Erase
Posted on June 17, 2015 by David M Willis

373 thoughts on “Erase”

  1. DarkoNeko

    D’awwwwwwww

    1. Jen Aside

      *signs* She-follow-home-can-keep-?

      “Oh, FINE.”

      *signs* Yay! =D

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        But you have to feed her, wash her…

        1. Yotomoe

          At the same time?

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          To save time, yeah of cause.

        3. DarkoNeko

          Especially wash her.

      2. Doctor_Who

        But you have to feed her and walk and change her papers every day.

        1. Kris

          I’m sorry are we still talking about Malaya or a pet chihuahua she picked up off the street?

        2. Jen Aside

          either one’s getting dumped once Easter’s over tho

          wait that was bunnies, sorry

          still prolly getting dumped if history holds up, tho

        3. Robbzilla

          What a waste! Bunnies are frightfully tasty!

        4. Doctor_Who

          The yappy one.

        5. N0083rP00F

          Sorry still can’t tell the difference.

    2. StClair

      I would like to second this d’awwww.

      1. OwenSohmer

        All of the d’awwwws

        1. Arianod

          All of them ^^

        2. Oddball

          *beep beep beeep, backs up and dumps a semi tailor of d’awwwws at their feet* That’ll be 350 sadness and 540 pains please.

        3. Roborat

          Why did you drop off a tailor? and where is the rest of him?

  2. Camachri

    :3

  3. Leorale

    Friends! <3

  4. AgentKeen

    “At least she doesn’t wear bow ties.”

    1. Kris

      Marcie finally gets into Malaya’s room. Discovers drawer full of bow ties and a picture of her vacation to London.

      1. Yotomoe

        That’s why she’s so bitter all the time. There’s no place to get good Tea in america. Nary a crumpet nor even a good biscuit. For some daft reason they call Biscuits COOKIES. FOR WHAT PURPOSE.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Marcie certainly is interested in a bit of crumpet if you know what I mean. 😀

        2. Arianod

          I think we do 😀

        3. fogel

          wink, wink, nudge, nudge
          (Had to post that, necessary)

        4. Deanatay

          Say no more, guv’nor!

        5. Willoughby Chase

          More tea vicar?

        6. AgentKeen

          Because biscuits are SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT.

        7. Rich

          As are English muffins. Love those nooks and crannies.

        8. Captain Batson

          That’s because brits are crazy people who drink unsweetened, un-iced tea.

        9. Em

          They’re missing out. Iced tea is the shit. Especially with a lemon wedge. And anyone with a deep love of anything sweet would love sweet tea.

        10. Em

          Err. A love for all things sweet. Where my family comes from, we didn’t make sweet tea super super sweet, but in some places, it’s like drinking straight up sugar water. xD Doesn’t have to be though.

        11. fogel

          My Australian wife says that Americans make everything crazy sweet because we were nursed on Coca-Cola.

        12. Someone

          Fun fact when an American is born. They have him drink a bottle of cola. It’s a right of passage.

        13. Rycan

          Also part of the citizenship test.

        14. Dean

          Ahem. RITE of passage.

        15. fogel

          That, too.

        16. Tacos

          I actually dislike tea that is iced. I like hot teas like mint, lemon grass, or cinnamon.

        17. Li

          I like unsweetened iced tea. And unsweetened hot tea. And tea lattes with or without sweetening. But NOT sweet iced tea, which for the record was until recently mostly a southern U.S. thing, while us northern states mostly kept iced tea “refreshing”.

          Cannot stand sweet tea. Am kind of bitter that sweet tea is starting to replace my beloved unsweetened iced tea on the east coast. (I wouldn’t care except for the REPLACE part, for example the McDonalds near where I work literally no longer serves anything but sweet tea.)

        18. Karen Lynn

          Being from the south, I love sweet tea, and can hardly palate unsweetened tea.

          But seriously, they’re replacing, and not offering both? That’s a horrible business decision.

        19. Li

          Yeah, I mean I had no strong feelings before! I didn’t hate sweet tea, and I wouldn’t have put refreshing in quotes like that before. 🙁 But the REPLACEMENT! The replacement is not okay.

          /stares off into the middle distance and dreams of unsweetened iced tea

          (What follows is more detail on McDonalds tea than anyone else cares about!)

          I originally hail from CO, which started offering sweet tea in a big push maybe back in 2007? But always both. The first time I ever encountered a McDonalds that didn’t have unsweetened tea at all was in NYC. Here in Philly, my mall kiosk McDonalds had both, but had to enter it in their system as a sweet tea and then holler “that iced tea is unsweetened!” over their shoulder. Then they closed and I had to go to a McDonalds that was just across the street, but not only did they not carry unsweetened iced tea, they acted like they’d never heard of such a thing. 🙁

        20. Em

          What? That’s super weird! My family is from the south, and while we do love sweet tea, we also drink unsweetened as well. I don’t understand why they’d replace it…often times, we order iced tea, and then sweeten it ourselves with the sugar packets on the table.

        21. Kya

          This is the real manifest destiny. You’re encompassed by sweet iced tea on all sides – we in the True North drink our iced tea with lots of sugar too. It’s only a matter of time before all unsweetened iced tea is eliminated! MUAHAHAHAHAH!

        22. Li

          I know! It’s almost like they’re trying to make me personally cry. It’s a weird region for sweet-only tea to take by storm, while meanwhile in my home state they’re still doing both.

          It’s also clearly not every McDonalds, but it does feel like an escalation from the one where it wasn’t on the menu to the one where it didn’t exist at all. 🙁

        23. Karen Lynn

          Maybe it’s because they’re yanks? 😛 Yankees are weird. They get all food police on ya, then don’t even let you have the option of picking the healthier choice.

        24. AgentKeen

          I’m the type of person that, if I’m drinking tea, just wants cold, unsweetened tea, preferably not very strong. But anytime you try and find unsweetened cold tea at stores or vending machines, you can’t! It’s either sweet, or with citrus, or raspberry, or something else.

        25. fogel

          That, too

        26. Ross Vernal

          McDonald’s sweet tea is imitation imitation sweet tea.

        27. Karen Lynn

          Y’all need some biscuits and gravy.

          Yes, biscuits. Closest y’all got is buttermilk scones. Make’em right, and y’all’ll have the best damn breakfast that side o’the sea.

        28. Disloyal Subject

          You just have to know where to look. We have decent tea.

        29. fogel

          BISCUIT is English word for lotta kinds baked noms, used for dif noms dif places. Cookie is from Dutch, it was taken into American from the culture of New Holland/New Amsterdam: there were lots of Dutch speakers in “New York” for decades after the English conquest. Other Dutchisms: Cole slaw; boss; The Boss, ie, Springsteen;…

        30. What Was The Question Again?

          wait, I thought crumpets were american biscuits?

        31. Em

          This is an American biscuit.

        32. Li

          Yeah, no. We call those “English muffins”. The link is definitely what we mean by biscuit.

        33. N0083rP00F

          Blame the French influence. [ knowing nod ]

        34. Roborat

          And was she ever confused when she was asked what kind of pants she wore.

        35. Benjamin Riceman

          not to mention the fact that the US
          doesn’t even have decent healthcare

    2. Willoughby Chase

      Heathens.

      Dear god. It’s milk first, then tea, then two sugars, and Mary Poppins up the crumpet. Whoops-a-daisy! Just mind your meat and two veg as you slide down the apple and pears.

      1. Em

        Perfect gravatar is perfect.

  5. Kris

    Now I want the rematch that will never happen. 🙁

    1. otusasio451

      You wanna bet? If this Malaya is anything like the Shortpacked Malaya, Marcie’s gonna be heartbroken (well, less heartbroken and more pissed off at being rejected), and Sal’s gonna kill her.

      1. Arianod

        Sad but true :c But if there is one thing that we who follow these strips know for certain, it’s that the Willis will break your heart, one way or another. Let’s just hope that Marcie is a strong girl and will recover from heartbreak.

        1. aydr

          Pretty sure that Willis would break my heart more by leaving her with Malaya than by having it not work out.

        2. Arianod

          As I said: one way or another.

      2. Freezer

        The characters are less eggagerated in the Dumbiverse, so Malaya might be capable of showing emotions other than hate and spite.

        1. DarkoNeko

          I’m not sure the same is true for us commenters tho.

        2. Disloyal Subject

          Here, have an internet.
          Spend it well.

        3. Rich

          If only cats and porn were legal currency.

        4. fogel

          SP Malaya had more range with a VERY few peeple: Leslie, Ultracar (sexy times). On the other hand, see her in the crossover with Multiplex-spontaneous happy sex in the broom closet turns into a Hardwick halfway through.

    2. Yotomoe

      If that happens I want Malaya to still win. Through her jerkass powers?
      Oh wait can I still say jerkass?

      1. Kris

        Also it should either be on a rooftop in the rain or over a pit of lava.

        1. DarkoNeko

          Let’s, how far from this university is Yellowstone ?

        2. Opus the Poet

          According to Google 1400 miles +/-.

        3. Rycan

          Yellowstone has pits of scalding hot acid. It’ll burn you, but not quite the same thing.

          When there is lava in Yellowstone, you will want to be somewhere far away.

        4. DarkoNeko

          Hell no, you won’t have time to run away anyway, may as well enjoy the supervolcanosplosion

        5. Opus the Poet

          Yep, if you want pits of lava you need to go to the Big Island in Hawaii. Interesting place.

        6. JWLM

          You can always try Yosemite. Or Mt. St. Helens. Or Mt. Rainier. Or pretty much any of the Cascade Range volcanoes. We have a lot of them.

        7. Rycan

          Once again, if you go to any of those and see lava, that is not where you want to be.

        8. Roborat

          When there is lava in Yellowstone, you will have difficulty managing to be far enough away.

        9. Rycan

          Completely unrelated, but I must say: QC is on Guest Week, there’s a rocket made to look like a giant ass – and Willis is of course somehow involved. It was inevitable.

        10. Rycan

          DAMMIT, WHY IS THIS A REPLY?

        11. Rich

          You’re going to set off the crossover shippers when they realize the robosexual potential of Malaya + May.

      2. Tacos

        You can say anything. Only the word that starts with “B” and rhymes with “witch” gets replaced with “bongo”. So far anyways.

        1. Yotomoe

          I was makin’ an obscure joke.

        2. 3oranges

          Bongo powers can win a lot of fights, if Smash Bros. DK has taught me anything.

        3. Rycan

          Must say, that is brilliant.

        4. nothri

          You can ‘bewitched’ just fine, bro.

        5. Tenn

          Pretty sure you can’t say Ultracar either.

        6. Tenn

          That one’s been lifted? Ultra-Car ultracar Ultra Car?

      3. Disloyal Subject

        I do kinda want the fight to somehow happen later. It’d be horrible for all involved, but I was all psyched up for some violence.

    3. Smiling Cat

      At least not until Amazigirl, Sal, Joyce, Becky, and Dorothy form the Amazi-league to battle Ryan’s Legion of Jerkasses.

      Malaya will be a member of the Legion at first because she considers the Amazi-league to be lame, leading to her battle against Sal (this will be overshadowed by the epic beatdown Ryan will get from everybody else).

      However, once she learns his true colors, she will switch allegiances and join the beatdown. She’ll then go into independent vigilantism, because she still thinks the Amazi-league is lame, and will clash with Sal several more times over the years.

  6. Smiling Cat

    She kinda did, she’s just blissfully unaware how.

  7. otusasio451

    Well, if this goes anything like the Shortpacked Leslie and Malaya relationship, someone is gonna die. That someone is Malaya.

    1. DarkoNeko

      There, there.

    2. That Damn Rat

      So what I’m hearing is there’s an upside.

  8. Plasma Mongoose

    Sal likes T.As.
    Marcie likes T and A.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Yep, about like that.

    2. Yotomoe

      You could say Marcie like Ta-tas.
      And Sal likes gents who leave whilst saying “Ta ta”.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        I’ll buy that for a dollar.

        1. Bicycle Bill

          And Joe will bang it for a nickel.

        2. Rycan

          You mixing your Joe and Mike wisecracks?

        3. Disloyal Subject

          I wonder which of Joe’s belongings he’d most like nickel-plated.

        4. fogel

          Joe will bang it for nothing if it makes his list. Mike will bang it’s mother for a nickel if he wants to, but not necessarily for the reason that you want.

    3. Rich

      I’m not sure “likes” is the right word for Sal’s feeling for Jason.

      1. Pteropine

        More like “hates”.

        1. Rycan

          You mean ‘hatefucks’

        2. Captain Batson

          But not in the most epic of ways. That honor belongs to Walkyverse residents Mike and Amber Warner.

    4. nothri

      Someone had to say it.

  9. Captain Batson

    Marcie hugs touch my soul.

    1. Karen Lynn

      Stranger Danger?

  10. LiaHansen

    Why do I get the feeling Malaya wont reciprocate?

    1. Rich

      Because it would make Marcie fans very sad, and Willis lives on our tears?

    2. Em

      Because of these reasons:

      1. You read shortpacked.

      or

      2. That’s just the kind of thing Willis would do.

      Or both!

    3. caesaria82

      Shushh with this negativity, I won’t allow it. There will be sex and there will be fun and there will be happiness, because SOMEONE, ANYONE, for the love of all that’s holy, needs to get to be happy in this here webcomic. Even if it’s just for one night.

      1. Tacos

        Well Dina seems pretty happy at the moment.

        1. caesaria82

          Ok, yes, several people are not unhappy actually, Dotty and Walky for instance. But I was making a ~dramatic point~ lol

        2. Shade

          Word to the wise: never give Willis a challenge. If you see somebody happy in DOA, it is very nearly guaranteed that something awful will happen to them very soon.

        3. Rycan

          I think Ruth has caught on to this already

          (of course, she has all sorts of problems already – well, just ethanol and depression, but they’re big ones)

        4. Deanatay

          Willis allows people to be happy in his comic, but only two at a time. Usually together. It’s Willis’ Law Of Conservation Of Happiness – a person can only become happy at the expense of somebody else.

        5. DSL

          He should change his name to “David R.R. Willis.”

        6. Opus the Poet

          I forget, is that a reference to “Lord of the Rings” or to “Game of Thrones”?

        7. Em

          Game of Thrones. George R.R Martin wrote the Song of Ice and Fire series, and Tolkien wrote Lord of the Rings. (I can’t remember his first name. xP)

        8. chisci

          And this is when I notice that George R.R. Martin and J.R.R. Tolkien share middle initials

        9. Rich

          IIRC, it’s John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and George Raymond Richard Martin. Common middle initials but no common names.

      2. DarkoNeko

        Agreed.

      3. Les

        @caesaria82: Plus Willis is going to eventually need another Slipshine couple…

        1. caesaria82

          I like the way you’re thinking 😀

    4. Rycan

      I’m being optimistic and thinking that it’s up in the air right now.

      1. Em

        Actually, he said her sexuality is undetermined…so I’ll be optimistic with ya!

    5. Majere

      Because it’s the most tediously melodramatic thing that could happen.

  11. Litch Opus the Poet

    D’aww, that’s so cute. Nothing like what’s going on over in my universe… well a little, with less blood than in mine.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Actually in his universe Their “Sal” equivalent is clutching “Marcie” to her side while standing on the corpse of “Malaya” with a single word balloon saying “MINE!!!” in a single-panel spread that looks very Boris Vallejo-ish but with no armor and more female clothing. “Marcie” has a ripped shirt but all you can see is a sports bra. And blood, lots and lots of blood. The universe where I came back without rebooting seems to allow more violence in web comics than this one, or maybe it’s just that universe’s Willis…

      1. Opus the Poet

        My computer was acting funny so I checked out cached pages from LOtP’s side. Exploitation Now is still an active series over there, Poe is NOT impoverished (or married), Slipshine is free and Lesnick is both rich and NOT an alcoholic. Bush was impeached in 2006, and Cheney was executed for war crimes in 2008. And Willis is a frigging millionaire…

  12. Yotomoe

    Malaya did make Sal look like a pussy punk beach.
    Oh can I still say beach?
    Malaya did make Sal look like an exceptional individual.

    1. fogel

      Did you mean bongo?

      1. Deanatay

        Beach bongos!

        1. Roborat

          Beach Blanket Bongos!

  13. Too Old To Be Cool

    “We ain’t never been a hugging kinda family”…

    1. Bagge

      But this is Marcie

      1. DarkoNeko

        And Sal didn’t initiate it. Took her a bit to reciprocate, too.

        1. Rich

          Being fair, it’s hard to hug someone when your arms are pinned from behind.

        2. DarkoNeko

          I see it more like

          ??!!!!!!

          *grin*

          “Aw I give up”

        3. Rycan

          I don’t think Marcie was going to let go until Sal reciprocated 🙂

        4. DarkoNeko

          that’s one way to see it XD

  14. Amber

    That smile. That smiiiiiiile.

    :3

    1. Arianod

      Yeeeeeeees :333

  15. Tacos

    Well this is real nice.

    1. Rich

      Was, wasn’t it? Much better resolution for everyone involved than expected.

      1. Rycan

        100% fewer emergency room visits!

        1. DarkoNeko

          For now 🙂

  16. caesaria82

    Did not think this could get even more adorable. Was wrong. *squeeeeeee*

  17. brasca1

    Here’s hoping Sal is going to seek out Becky and see if she knows ASL and if not teach her. Marcie needs a better selection.

    1. Em

      What’s wrong with Malaya?

      1. Rich

        Well, we’re not sure she’s into sexy time with women. That remains a potential sticking point. Bit early to be recruiting Becky as a backup, though.

        And Daisy is in line ahead of her anyway, dammit.

        1. Em

          Okay good point.

        2. timemonkey

          Daisy is eternally waiting at the lesbian bus stop.

        3. xKiv

          Not ASL-an enough.

        4. Rycan

          At least she has company.

      2. Rutee

        In the last verse, she was a sexual being who was not into either dudes or women. So not ace, not gay, not straight. And she’s presumably not pan either, given Leslie.

        If there’s a character who’s sexuality doesn’t translate, I suspect it’ll be her.

        1. That Damn Rat

          She was a mechanophile, which is a paraphillia, not an orientation, so it’s a little hard to say. (And yes there are real world mechanophiles like the woman who married the Eiffel Tower).

        2. Lasenna

          I’m not so sure that was because she was really into machines as she was into the media attention at the time.

        3. Lasenna

          Just saying because she claimed the marriage was a commitment ceremony, yet she doesn’t live around it, and has an ongoing relationship with the Berlin Wall and her achery bow, but maybe the Tower is okay with having an “open” relationship with her.

        4. That Damn Rat

          Maybe so, it’s just the one the sticks in my memory. I remember catching part of a documentary on it and there was one guy in it who was seriously into cars. Like was creeping on them, in an unmistakably sexual way.

        5. Lyssie

          Wait, I thought she married the Berlin Wall. Or is there actually more than one person in the world who has a thing for the Berlin Wall?

        6. Opus the Poet

          Well I know a few people from the former East Germany…

        7. Rich

          Does that make her a widow?

        8. Rich

          Well, Parisians are supposed to be pretty open-minded. Eiffel draws the line at three-ways with his cousin Tokyo though.

        9. Rycan

          I thought Lady Liberty was his cousin? Or would that be his sister?

        10. Rich

          Older sister. They were both Eiffel’s work, but the Tower was three years later.

    2. Rycan

      Marcie’s disapproving family is still at it, I see.

      1. DarkoNeko

        *snerk*

      2. Bagge

        That still makes me giggle. Because it’s true.

    3. Lasenna

      Actually I don’t think that’s a bad idea, especially since we don’t really know if Malaya is even an option (if she turns out to be straight). We know Becky most definitely IS an option if there is mutual attraction. And aside from her jealousy of Dorothy, Becky seems to get along well with others.

      1. Bagge

        Then I’d root for Becky and Malaya instead. Unless they annoy each other too much they would be such a great double act and annoy everyone else instead. Both are kinda immature even compared with the others, both have tons of energy and little sense of how to direct it, both talks more than they think and both are the comedians of their social circle.

        If nothing else a date would be hilarious.

      2. Kamino Neko

        We know that Malaya’s not straight. The only successful relationship she had in Shortpacked! was with a woman. Mis-gendering Ultra-Car is not cool.

    4. DarkoNeko

      I kinda feel the “hey, they’re both lesbian they WILL necessary like each other” mindset to be kinda rude, tho.

      1. Rycan

        Reminds me of this.

        1. brasca1

          A little bit, but the people Sal would most likely recommend are the people she knows and as far as we know Becky is the only other one she might know. We the readers have the benefit of knowing who is gay or bisexual, but Sal does not and actually did not know her best friend is a lesbian until now. Malaya is very unlikable, but in the Shortpacked universe Ultracar brought out her better qualities. Maybe Marcie can do the same or maybe she will find out that Malaya is not into girls and have to look somewhere else.

        2. Spencer

          Marcie’s bi.

        3. Rycan

          Well, there’s what Spencer said, and the fact that the comments section has been shipping Becky with Daisy pretty hard, despite the entire basis of this ship being that they’re both single lesbians. What I’m saying is that it’s a pattern for the comments section here.

          Sure, Becky needs to find somebody eventually, but I still find the ‘ship Becky with ALL the lesbians! (and bi women)’ trend to be amusing

        4. Rich

          Daisy’s entire character is built around a the joke of her becoming increasingly frustrated over time. It makes her an obvious choice for any and all girl-on-girl shipping, no matter how ill-justified. Hopefully that doesn’t mean everyone’s serious about it.

        5. fogel

          Brasca1, ‘re “Malaya is very unlikable, but in the Shortpacked universe Ultracar brought out her better qualities. ” by which you mean ‘turning to jelly orgasms in the store’?

    5. Tenn

      Marcie knows what Marcie needs.

      And I’m shipping it. ^_^

  18. Bagge

    Malaya is getting awfully mixed signals. Oh well, time for some”special” signs

    I am picked up a remarkably intimate behavior from Marcie back when she taught Malaya ASL, with touches and getting into her personal space. Glad to see it wasn’t just in my head

    1. Rich

      ASL tutoring as a pickup technique/icebreaker? Interesting concept.

      1. Bagge

        It would be such a cute movie. “Signs of affection” perhaps.

        1. Rich

          I’d greenlight that. Need subtitles for the general public, though. Self included – my ASL skills are sadly decayed after 30 years of disuse.

    2. fogel

      “Getting into her personal space”, … hurr, hurr, hurr, Bagge said “personal space”

      1. Bagge

        Marcie is getting there – give her time 🙂

  19. Rich

    Note that Malaya was pointedly giving them their privacy by keeping her distance with her back turned. So much for the people saying she’d be spying because she’s Malaya. Be much harder to dislike if she keeps that up, won’t she?

    1. MM

      She’s Malaya. She’ll come up with something far less expected and infinitely more obnoxious. And I say this with all due love and affection.

    2. caesaria82

      Yeah negl, I’ve softened quite a bit on Malaya over the past few days. She’ll never be my fave, but I totally get her now, as a person. She’s just a little bit angry and maybe a bit, y’know, abrasive. But there are way worse sins.

      See, pair someone I don’t like up with a beautiful soul I love and immediately I soften on that person lol. This is also the premise of about 99% of all fanfiction ever created xD

      1. Opus the Poet

        She’s a teenager, a few years of growing up will cure most of that. What remains will be her true personality.

        1. Lasenna

          Actually that’s a good question. How old is Malaya really? Most of the cast are young college age students, so it makes sense to think Malaya is as well. At the very least she has to be 18 if she’s in the derby, and some states require 21. I agree that she needs to grow up, but I don’t know if “just a teenager” is a valid excuse this far along.

        2. Rich

          She’s too young to buy beer legally. We know that much from the brawl with Amazi-Girl. Carla (a sophomore) was along because her fake ID was better than theirs, and Sal’s “my looks get me a free pass” trick only works in bars, not at the checkout register.

          Malaya might be 20, but no older.

      2. Rycan

        “But there are way worse sins”

        Processing…

        Nope, sorry, your statement cannot be reconciled with your Mary Gravatar. I’m afraid you’ll need to rephrase that, or get a new Gravatar. We apologize for the inconvenience.

        1. caesaria82

          Imagine how I actually feel. Everything I say automatically becomes sanctimonious bs from your (un)friendly neighborhood fundie xD

        2. Lasenna

          Hey, everytime I post it seems like I’m a guy. That’s not easy for me either.

        3. Rycan

          Pfft, I seem to be a girl, and I CHOSE this grav!

          (in case you’re wondering, I chose this because I identify strongly with Sarah’s character. Which is weird, since I’m not overtly misanthropic).

        4. fogel

          I actually do self-identify as a Jackson Pollock painting.

        5. Rycan

          If it actually bothers you, the process of getting your own Gravatar is pretty painless.

          I just found the fundamental incompatibility between your words and your grav to be funny

    3. Bagge

      Yup, I think for all the noise she makes, Malaya behaves well. Even before we knew that Marcie hopes to… block that jam (I’m not that hip to Roller derby terminology, unfortunately), I could see what they saw in each other.

      They have FUN, Malaya appreciates her as a friend and a teammate, they have a good chemistry. It’s still remains to be seen if they will… have a bout together, but even if they don’t they have a positive relationship.

    4. fogel

      Say what? I know it was a very radical zigzag, but Sal really did offer Malaya a sincere hand for Marcie’s sake and Malaya had to restart the bongodrumming. (Not to mention that she’s so dumb and arrogant that she thinks that she beat Sal in a fight because Marcie stopped it.)

      1. Rich

        That might be a fight etiquette thing. In some circles the winner of a fight is supposed to offer to shake hands with the loser to show…something. Honor? No hard feelings? Respect for the other person having put up a good fight? I don’t really understand the psychology myself, but I’ve seen it done a few times and it seems to diffuse things when done right. Refusing to shake can result in escalation or other people getting involved.

        Malaya won that fight (in her head, anyway) and here’s Sal initiating the handshake. If she follows that same “barroom manners” that’s backward and confusing, and asserting that she won is an appropriate response.

        Not a universal behavior by any means, so Sal is probably working under entirely different rules.

        1. Rycan

          No hard feelings? Yeah right.

        2. Rich

          If you mean Malaya and Sal, obviously not.

          If you mean in general, yeah, I don’t understand the behavior, may be misinterpreting the intent, and have never heard a coherent explanation of it. Does seem to keep the knives from coming out, though.

  20. Em

    So Sal is gonna go back to Joyce’s party, isn’t she?

    AMBER AND SAL SHENANIGANS HAVE NOT BEEN AVOIDED.

    1. AgentKeen

      Ehh, looks like she’s heading away from the dorm, so maybe she’s going to go for some parking lot drinking.

      Besides, we still have some Joyce/Dina/Becky drama in progress.

      1. Rycan

        But doors are for squares. Sal uses windows.

      2. Captain Batson

        The dorm she’s in front of is directly across from her own, so I think she may very well be heading back to the party.

        1. Deanatay

          So, that building is a dorm? I guess that means Malaya is a student, then? Good for her, if she is.

        2. Rycan

          Yeah, I think Marcie is the only non-student in that age group.

        3. timemonkey

          And Becky. Her classes were cancelled. Forever.

        4. Rycan

          Oh, yeah.

    2. DarkoNeko

      Unless she goes drink with Carla. Or ends up in that bar again.

    3. JessWitt

      *Arms flailing, meteors falling*

    4. saki

      Wishes do come true! 😀

      (is it very bad that I wish for situation where Amber would probably inevitably go through some serious PTSD just because I love drama?)

      1. DarkoNeko

        They’ll need to address that issue eventually, tho.

        …Hopefully with no death involved.

        1. Rycan

          I would think that getting professional help would be the way to address PTSD, rather than getting triggered again.

          But, let’s be realistic. Out of all the characters with issues in Willis comics, I think only Jacob in Shortpacked! has sought professional help.

        2. saki

          I want it to be addressed as soon as possible so it can be resolved as soon as possible. Though I don’t know how well it can be resolved without professional help since that incident clearly had a huge negative impact on Amber. I’m picturing Amber confronting Sal, punches being thrown, maybe, if it happens in the setting of Joyce party, both being pulled away from each other and restrained while yelling at each other, and maybe in all the yelling Sal throws in some reasons for her actions that day and Amber has some sudden moment of “Oh, she’s human too, she was just a kid lashing out, I see” (not to imply that Sal’s actions were totally cool or anything, just, when something bad happens to us because of someone, we get angry at the other party, and if it’s a stranger we sort of monster-ify them, which makes it easier to hate them. Realising they are also human makes it in turn easier to forgive them, I think, and forgiving is probably the healthiest way to put bad experiences behind you. (not that I think you should always unconditionally forgive people who have done horrible things of course. But in Amber’s situation I think it’s the best way for her to get better)). And then they both have a talk and everyone lives happily ever after. 😀 (in writing this I discover why I love drama. It brings out things that have been left unsaid, which in turn leads or at least can lead to resolution.) (Or am I being very naive here?) (Sorry for all the parentheses.)

        3. saki

          … That was much shorter in my head. o_o

        4. Rycan

          Paragraph breaks 😉

        5. saki

          Yeah, I really need to work on my structuring, don’t I… ^^”

        6. fogel

          Put a blank line after every sentence. 🙂

  21. JessWitt

    Present company always and forever excluded. Amen.

  22. Mkvenner

    Finally something happy and not awkward.

  23. Pteropine

    This is the only Willis comic I’ve read, so forgive my ignorance, but does Malaya have any redeeming qualities?

    1. brionl

      Well, she settled down some when she hooked up with ultracar. IIRC, she also helped take care of the triplets.

    2. Arianod

      She acquired some, eventually. This Malaya will likely do the same, if she hasn’t already. So my advice is: if you want to hate her, do it while you can ^^

      1. fogel

        Wait, you’re saying hate should have some basis in the hatee’s character and behavior?

    3. Torra

      Being Malaya is her redeeming quality!

    4. LiaHansen

      everybody always says that, and I will never understand it. All she’s done in DoA is respond in kind to other people’s rudeness, and she was never perfect in SP, but nobody else was either except Ninja Rick

      1. Arianod

        Two words: Redeeming Qualities. Nearly everyone in SP had them; Malaya? Not so much. Only in the end did she mellow out a little bit and start being less of a jerk to the world at large.

        1. timemonkey

          There’ve been entire lists made about her redeeming qualities, irrational haters like you insist on ignoring them.

    5. Deanatay

      S*P Malaya had a redeeming quality. It’s name was Fuckface. It was awesome.

  24. NinjaNick

    Cuteness overload!

  25. Keulan

    Well, this is adorable. I’d like to hope things go well between Marcie and Malaya, but my knowledge of Malaya in the Shortpacked verse makes me pessimistic.

  26. Kennerly

    Squishies!

  27. Nono

    Is it possible for Willis to get a clarification on Malaya’s sexuality? In SP! she thought she might be bi but then turned out be straight (and UltraCarsexual).

    1. David M Willis

      undetermined

      1. Riku

        Is that undetermined as in we don’t know yet or undetermined as in she hasn’t fully explored it yet? (I hope I don’t come off as trying to be a smart ass with this comment I’m bad at words)

        1. Jen Aside

          it’s called “this isn’t the end of the story give it time* to develop you ninny”

          *potentially years

        2. Jen Aside

          (ninny as “I mean silly person but I forget how slurry some slurs have gotten over time so sorry if I’m inadvertently offensive but come on I can’t Google ALL the things and anyway Urban Dictionary says everything is sex or drug related so I’m screwed regardless”)

        3. Rycan

          Yes, you must Google ALL the things.
          . . .

          Well? I’m waiting.

        4. Arianod

          All of them! ^O^

        5. Deanatay

          Googling ‘all of the things’ gets you an image of a stick figure guy yelling and waving a torch. At least for me.

        6. DarkoNeko

          …now I’m curious.

          [one short search later]

          Oh, right, THAT guy.

        7. Rebecca

          The “all the things” meme is from a blog by hyperboleandahalf. It’s a girl holding a broom to “CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!” in an attempt to be an adult. Also those blogs are hilarious, and you should read them.

        8. NotFred

          English is not my first language so I need to google a lot of slang and some unusual (to me) words.

          You think you have problems? I just looked for “cleave” and the synonymous are “split” and “adhere” 😛

        9. Leorale

          ‘Cleave’ is actually an interesting one — as you noted, things can cleave together (adhere), or you can cleave them in twain (split them apart). Either way it’s an archaic word that people don’t use anymore, but it does interesting things to the Adam and Eve translation if you read it both ways. The More You Know.

        10. DarkoNeko

          I thought it came from the “cleaver” here.

        11. Jen Aside

          that’s called a “Janus” word

          like “dust” can be to add dust (for fingerprints) or REMOVE dust (as in cleaning)

        12. Rycan

          Mostly shows up as the root for ‘cleavage’, given our obsession.

        13. Rich

          I’d also guess virtually everyone who’s played D&D in the last 15 years is familiar with the word “cleave” in the “split apart” sense. Sal strikes me as the type who’d play the fighter or barbarian in the group.

        14. fogel

          So cleavage goes all the way back to Genesis/Eden? “God said let there be cleavage and … saw that it was good.” Maybe that’s why Eve wanted those fig leaf pasties?

    2. AHR

      I mean my guess is she’s demisexual demiromantic, but only in terms of attraction to people, and still has a sex drive that’s fairly prominent in her life. This would be why she was so in on Ultra Car, but completely fizzled on Leslie, in the other universe.

      1. Leorale

        Just because she didn’t click with Leslie doesn’t rule out all women everywhere. (Even though Leslie is objectively super-great.)

        1. AHR

          my post also didn’t rule out women, so hooray on that.

      2. CJ

        Demisexual? Demiromantic? The new words (and concepts?) I learn here.
        Can someone point me to a website, please? I fear googling will turn up some unfortunate results…

      3. saki

        I’d heard the word demisexual before but was never sure what it meant so I googled it just now and UrbanDictionnary has some really adorable / funny conversation examples.
        Is it safe to assume these definitions are correct since there are several different ones that are basically saying the same thing?

        1. Rycan

          Well, I have my doubts about the ‘sexually attracted to Demi Lovato’ definition…

        2. saki

          I don’t know, it sounds reasonable to me, I mean, what do we have neology for if not so we can make up words just for the specific attraction to a specific celebrity? XD

          On a more serious note, the definitions further down are incredibly close minded. Though I shouldn’t be surprised, it is the Internet after all.

        3. CJ

          Thanks for the definition. I couldn’t help laughing. Isn’t the description just like the expected behavior and feelings of women until rather recently?

        4. Rycan

          I was under the impression that until recently, men didn’t even pretend to care about that.

    3. EvolutionistX

      I assume she’s into things/people with wheels, like UltraCar and ladies on skates.

      1. Rycan

        Axlesexual?

    4. Li

      Why do people keep saying she was straight? From what I remember, she thought she might be GAY, because no dudes ever did it for her, so she tried dating Leslie before declaring she wasn’t into that either.

      That’s ace spectrum stuff. She still had sexual desires, just no one she wanted to have sex WITH until Carla. Malaya articulated that everyone except Carla was gross to her, which is in no way her being “straight”.

      Personally I’m seeing her as a gray ace. Demisexual is one shade, where you are only attracted to people once you’ve formed an emotional bond with them. Marcie could qualify, but like Leslie won’t necessarily. Like every other sexual orientation in the world, Malaya is not obligated to be attracted to everyone she conceivably COULD be attracted to.

  28. caesaria82

    I hope we get a Macie/Malaya slipshine. Not that I can afford slipshine or anything. But. Y’know. I hope the general ‘we’ gets a slipshine. For the good of society 😀

    1. Em

      And when you can afford it, you’ll get ALL OF THE DOA SEX it’ll be great.

      1. caesaria82

        Aww what a nice comment :3 I can just imagine getting a little piggy bank for a ‘webcomic porn fund’ xD

    2. Riku

      Hell if it happened and I happened to remember you I’d buy you a month of slipshine so you could read it just because us people who don’t hate malaya have to stick together

      1. caesaria82

        Haha aww that is so cute of you :3 And I’ve just recently come around re: Malaya, I literally called her ‘the worst’ maybe 3 days ago in this here very comment section lol. But I’m warming up to her! Plus, who can be opposed to two cute ladies getting it on, really?

    3. Lasenna

      It’s a bit early to ship this, especially if we don’t know if Malaya will be gay or even bi. At this point it’s just wishful thinking on Marcie’s part, and if Willis decides to make Malaya asexual, there’s plenty of other fish in the sea for Marcie.

      1. AnnBann

        Or Marcie and Malaya could work something out between the two of them?? Just because someone is asexual doesn’t mean they can’t have a relationship with a sexual person

        this has been your friendly neighborhood asexual’s fun facts corner

      2. caesaria82

        There is no such thing as ‘too early to ship this’. Not for me, anyway. I’ve even been known to ship characters occasionallly (in other fandoms) who’ve never even met in canon. So. Ship is sailing. Sorry not sorry 😉

      3. Em

        It’s never to early to ship! Every ship is basically wishful thinking until it happens.

  29. Rycan

    SAL reached Level 18!

    SAL learned PLAY NICE!

    1. DarkoNeko

      It only works as a combo move when Marcie’s on the field.

    2. Majere

      I mean she didn’t actually learn anything here, she’s still just as toxically possessive of Marcie and she’s going to do the exact same thing to anyone else who tries to be friends with her.

      1. DarkoNeko

        Maybe, maybe not. I feels like a first step in the good direction.

      2. Lasenna

        She seems to get along okay with Carla, and she’s comfortable with casual friendships even when she maintains her aloofness.

        1. Kamino Neko

          But Carla isn’t getting close to Marcie.

    3. Roborat

      But Sal can only learn four moves. What move will Sal forget?

      1. Rycan

        Let’s see… there’s STRAIGHTEN HAIR, MOTORCYCLE RIDE, WINDOW JUMP, and LOSE TEMPER.

        SAL forgot STRAIGHTEN HAIR,
        and learned PLAY NICE!

  30. Josh

    What building is this scene taking place in front of? This is still driving me nuts.

    1. Em

      I’m assuming it’s in front of one of the dorm buildings. My college had multiple ones, so I’m assuming this one does as well? But she could be in front of her own dorm. Perhaps Malaya is on a different floor from the main cast.

    2. David M Willis

      It’s Forest Residence Hall. It’s across the parking lot from Read.

      1. Josh

        Thank you! I feel much better now.

  31. Carms

    ARGH SO BEAUTIFUL AUUUUGGHG. I weep tears and contort my face into eldritch configurations.

    1. Arianod

      Seconded.

      (If by “eldritch configurations” you mean “huge-ass Cheshire cat smile” :333)

  32. Idon'tcarenomore

    “ARGH SO BEAUTIFUL AUUUUGGHG. I weep tears and contort my face into eldritch configurations.”

    What you said…..

  33. Joel Townsend

    Malaya’s better than Sally though

    1. Lasenna

      How do you figure that though? I might have agreed with that back in the days when Sal was a knife-wielding criminal, but she seems to have straightened out. Despite how much Sal dislikes Malaya, she did come bearing an olive branch which Malaya not only threw in her face but also started goading Sal into a fight. And yes, Sal shouldn’t have shoved Malaya into a wall, but she was STILL holding back and not fighting and trying to let Malaya know she wouldn’t take that attitude without repercussions. Of course, Malaya’s first reaction then is to start fighting for real (she threw the first punch after running her mouth off).

      1. Majere

        She came in using an olive branch as a switch and expecting her to like it before physically and verbally threatening her when she refused to put up with it. Malaya was well within the realm of reasonable self-defense.

      2. Tenn

        Can we stop mentioning the goddamn olive branch?! It makes me cringe like creationism.

  34. Rycan

    So, is it too much to hope that Sal will try this approach in the future?

  35. Idon'tcarenomore

    Kind of doubt it. Sal is a woman of action, considering the consequences afterwards.
    But, one of the things I like best about her, is she will admit she screwed up, and rectify if she can.
    Note her parting shot, Malaya got a reprieve, only that and nothing more.

  36. Em

    I’m hoping we get to see a Marcie/Malaya kiss. And not one like Joyce and Becky. One where it’s reciprocated so I can squee over it. xD Willis has said that Marcie has been poly since his creation of her (well 2001 anyway. Not sure if he created her before then) so I wonder if that side of her will be explored at all.

    1. Rycan

      Marcie was also in It’s Walky! and Joyce and Walky!
      (you know, we could almost rename Walkyverse the Exclamationverse, or !verse for short)

      1. Kamino Neko

        That would be the ‘bang-verse’…. I leave it as an exercise to the reader whether that would be an appropriate name or not.

  37. Torra

    AhhhI love this! Good friend stuff here. Easily accepting of her sexuality and partner even though she doesn’t like her for personal reasons, and saying ‘well ah cant judge so go ahead good luck’ d’awwwwwwwwwwwww. This page makes me happy 😀

  38. DarkoNeko

    Still, I’m happily surprised Malaya took that hand and accepted the truce that easily.

    That would have never happened without Marcie in the equation~ just sayin’

    1. DarkoNeko

      ’cause fuck if I’d have accepted the hand of a person doing what Sal did a minute before.

    2. Lasenna

      Well that’s just the point. Malaya ONLY took the hand BECAUSE Marcie was there. She wasn’t even really accepting a truce or she wouldn’t have thrown out that sad little comment. She just thinks she won because she was able to get her shots in and didn’t have to take any of the medicine because Marcie showed up and saved her.

      1. Majere

        She has no obligation to even pretend to be civil to Sal and the only good reason she has not to continue their confrontation is for Marcie’s sake because Sal sure as hell hasn’t done anything to warrant forgiveness for her jackassery.

        1. Spencer

          It’s quite simple.

          Motorcycle + Luxurious River of Chocolate Hair + Angst = Flawless Character.

  39. Kraken

    I kind of want to read a comic where Malaya is just as awesome as she says she is. Although I do think she was pretty awesome in this exchange. 😛

    Super cute hug!

    1. Bagge

      I said sort of the same thing a while back, and Gigafreak reminded me of one of Malaya’s finer moments over in Shortpacked (spoiler)

  40. Lasenna

    My God I hate Malaya. She’s one of those people who think they’re badass, but really are self-delusional posers. While it probably won’t happen for Marcie’s sake, I feel robbed of the opportunity of seeing Malaya getting the wake-up call that a thorough Sal smackdown would illuminate.

    1. Lasenna

      I’m on board with Rich when he was pointing out how Amazi-Girl totally kicked Malaya’s ass. It didn’t help my opinion of Malaya that she was such a little b* that she punched Amazi-Girl while she was being held by two other people and couldn’t fight back.

    2. Majere

      You pretty much described Sal to a T there.

      1. Arianod

        I beg to differ. I see Sal as keeping up a distant, defensive attitude because she is defensive about people and the world in general, and other people (e.g. Joyce) thinking she’s sooooo cool and all that; but it’s not like she’s trying to be the cool girl.

        1. DarkoNeko

          The only difference is that Malaya doesn’t have the cool/aloof look.

        2. Arianod

          No, dude :c Sal doesn’t go out of her way to gratuituously be a jerk to people; that’s the difference. She’s had her wtf moments for sure, but you can’t compare her to Malaya.

        3. DarkoNeko

          Aren’t you mixing with Shortpacked’s Malaya ?

        4. Em

          In DOA, Malaya has not gone out of her way to be a jerk to anyone. I’m very confused as to how you got to that conclusion.

        5. Lasenna

          Well aside from how she so gratuitously greeted Sal in this present arc, there’s this strip: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/03-up-all-night-to-get-vengeance/beer-weiser/

        6. Em

          She greeted her like that because she overheard Sal call her a cumstain. She was pissed off at that. And in that strip, she still wasn’t going out of her way to be a jerk. She was annoyed that Carla didn’t buy them more beer. Should she have been more polite? Probably. But I don’t count that as going out of her way.

          Also, Sal’s attempt at friendship was not thrown back in her face, because there was no attempt at friendship. She came over claiming she was making friends, but during this speech she insulted Malaya, making her upset. I don’t see how you count that as making friends. If someone called you a cumstain, then said that they wanted to be friends, even though they can’t see why someone would ever want to be friends with you…wouldn’t that upset you?

    3. Bagge

      What’s so bad with being a poser anyway?

      1. Arianod

        It must be really bad, because nobody likes one.

    4. Coco Pommel

      Wish Sal had gotten a shot in since she got c-punted at least.

  41. Majere

    Present company 100% included Sal, you are a pretty damn awful yourself.

  42. Bagge

    I think this is the first time I’ve seen Marcie show any other emotion than “cool/indifferent” or “annoyed with Sal”. Here she is genuinely relieved that she got Sal’s blessing. Awwwww

    1. Arianod

      Such heartwarming ^^

      1. Bagge

        Wow

  43. BenRG

    That closing hug was heart-warming! I wonder how long Marcie and Sal have been each other’s only significant emotional connection and anchor?

  44. Li

    That last two panels looks kinda like a “secret handshake” to me — like Marcie and Sal have come to hug one another in this special way over the years. Probably the “present company always excluded” comment helps — like that’s clearly a thing Sal has said before while for example saying the world sucks.

    Marcie must have already been out to Sal, right? Otherwise she wouldn’t have so confidently indicated her interest in Malaya in the flashback. :|a So that hug must be pure “thank you for showing that you care about me enough to switch gears so fast from literally beating the shit out of Malaya and ragging on me for wanting to hang out with her to bowing out and wishing me luck”.

    Though… Speaking from personal experience, friends you thought were cool with your sexuality in the abstract can suddenly start singing a very different tune when you start going on actual, visible dates. If Marcie was a little nervous deep down, she had reason to be.

    1. BenRG

      Maybe Marcie was ‘out’ to Sal or maybe, and this is the explanation that I prefer, Sal is just one of those personalities to whom it doesn’t matter. Marcie is so important to Sal that she values her and categorises her in ways far more important to her than a sexual orientation.

      1. Li

        Okay, but Marcie can’t know it doesn’t matter to Sal without being out to her. Even if Sal has seemed okay with LGBTQIA people generally, it’s sometimes different when it’s a friend. Again, speaking from personal experience. Friends who have been supposedly cool with LGBTQIA as a concept have turned around and treated me like shit after I came out to them.

        So whether or not Sal is “just cool with that stuff”, it doesn’t make Marcie’s potential nerves any less reasonable.

        Also fwit, as a queer woman, I don’t consider “it doesn’t matter to me” people to be extra awesome. I know it’s not how they mean it, but it sounds like they’re telling me my orientation doesn’t matter, when in fact it’s a pretty important facet of my identity. Especially not when coming out to that person was a little scary for me.

        A better reaction if you want the person who just came out to you to feel safe and accepted is “oh hey that’s cool.” Maybe “thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.” Or you could express interest in their life like, “so is there anyone special you want to introduce to me?” (This is way better than assuming they’re coming out to you because they want to date you. It might be true, and this gives them the chance to say so, but by not assuming you will put them less on the spot and make this, again, more comfortable and normal.)

        1. CJ

          I don’t know. Coming out to someone always is a bit scary – else coming out wouldn’t be needed – but actually, it is not the responsibility of the people you come out to. It’s your feeling (or mine). They just have to be respectful. On the other hand, obviously perceptions differ about what is respectful.
          Getting an answer like “oh hey that’s cool” would really get my back up, and I’d probably feel had when someone would use one of your other options.

        2. Li

          “It’s not the responsibility of the people you come out to”

          Not their responsibility to… what? To help you feel safe?

          Man if you don’t think friends have any obligation to not make you feel unsafe, that is… Tremendously sad to me. Seems like a weird definition of friend.

          It’s “our” feelings… I just genuinely cannot wrap my head around what you seem to be saying. Coming out wouldn’t be necessary if it weren’t scary? More like, if coming out weren’t so scary, more people would be able to do it.

          If you prefer to be told “dude, I don’t care”, fine. That’s you. I’ve heard displeasure at that response from lots of other people in the community though, so I know it’s not JUST me who finds it obnoxious.

          Are you imagining “oh that’s cool” being said like you told them something weird and fascinating? Because that’s not how I intended it to be said. I intended the tone to be casual and comfortable.

          I also think it’s deeply sad that having someone ask if you’re seeing someone special you want to introduce to them would make you feel like you were being made fun of or tricked or whatever. I’ll admit the particular phrasing was kind of parental,

          but I’m going for normalizing and accepting over indifference. That’s all I want. Acceptance is better than tolerance. So however someone expresses that, that’s the important message.

          Anyway, I expressly phrased this as “if you want the person coming out to you to feel safe and respected”. That’s an if. If they want to accept that “responsibility”. It’s not me commanding anyone to do anything.

  45. Deanatay

    Hugging an mute person is much like kissing a normal person – you can’t talk while doing it. Well, you can try, but it comes out a jumbled mess.

  46. Alexx

    Yeah, just keep pressing those buttons, Malaya. I’m sure one of them will be the kick-your-teeth-into-your-throat button, you just have to find it!

  47. Sub

    If things had been reversed and Malaya had grabbed Sal and she’d fought back people would be applauding, but because it was Malaya standing up to Sals shit everyones trying to justify Sals pretty vile behaviour. Anyway this was pretty heart warming and I hope Malaya and Marcia show up a bit to see what they’re getting up to together.

    1. OnyxIdol

      Nope. I, and several others were with Malaya on this one.

    2. Sam

      Um, nope. I wouldn’t have respected Sal if she had purposely escalated when it wasn’t needed just as I don’t respect Malaya for purposely escalating when it wasn’t needed.

      1. Lasenna

        Yeah if the situation had been reversed I would have been okay with Sal reacting by shoving Malaya off her, but by punching her in the face and then taking a groin shot immediately after (especially if Malaya had been yelling I don’t want to fight you), I would have lost a lot of respect for Sal.

        1. Em

          Sal actually said “Ah came here to make nice, but god damn if ah won’t embed your face into the wall if you keep pushin’ me.”

          That doesn’t really strike me as Sal yelling I don’t wanna fight you.

    3. Cyan1deDr3ams

      Amen, Sub.

    4. Em

      No? If Malaya started the violence, I would be pissed at Malaya. If Sal punched Malaya after being picked up and shoved into a wall, I would be fine with it, just like I am in the current canon. She would be defending herself.

  48. Spencer

    I’m curious as to what Sal is going to take from this, especially given that of all the things she could say to try and patch things up with Malaya, it’s “Marcie is yours for the night.” Maybe I’m looking too deep into this, but I think Sal is expecting them to bang, whereupon Marcie will drop Malaya and go back to spending all her time with Sal.

    1. Em

      I think she’s just saying that she’s gonna leave them alone. I don’t think she’s expecting Marcie to drop her, since Marcie said that she wants to date Malaya. That implies more than just a one night stand.

      1. Spencer

        Possibly, though I doubt “they’re friends and Marcie isn’t spending time with me” is all that different from “they’re dating and Marcie isn’t spending time with me.” All the same problems still exist except perhaps Sal is now going to at least try harder at being nice to Malaya for Marcie’s sake.

        At least Sal is taking Marcie’s happiness into account now.

  49. Foxhack

    Hopefully someone still sees this:

    Is anyone having issues with the site? I’m not getting a background on the site for some reason, it’s all white. This is happening in multiple browsers. I’m trying to figure out if my ISP is randomly blocking whatever image used to be in the background here. 🙁

    1. Lasenna

      Did not have this problem any of the times I was here today.

  50. Ghola

    Okay, So Marcie’s just mute then? Or did she just not lipread what Sal was saying the in second panel and filled in via context clues?

    1. Reaver

      As Willis has said 1000 times now, yes she’s Mute, she’s not deaf,

      1. tim gueguen

        He’s really going to have to draw a strip with Marcie skating along with a giant boombox resting on one shoulder one of these days.

        1. Deanatay

          Many deaf people can still feel vibrations, which allows them to ‘listen to’ music, if it’s held close to the head.

          Just nit-picking. 🙂

        2. DarkoNeko

          Hold a boombox near your head long enough and you’ll be deaf as well.

  51. Reaver

    Seriously people being nasty towards Malaya (saying she deserves it/Marcy deserves better ect)

    Stop going off of Shortpacked Malaya! I hated her too, her indifference towards others was annoying there but her and THIS Malaya are two different characters in a sense.

    So far all you’ve seen this Malaya do is 1: be unwilling to take ANYONE’S shit, 2: take a cheap shot (that was kinda lame) and 3: Not take Sal’s crap.

    Anyone that says Malaya deserved Sal’s threats, pinning to the wall, and blah blah blah, is being ridiculous, SAL has had more attitude problems than Malaya, at least Malaya is indifferent to most people, Sal told Billy nobody was going to care if she got kissed/ her RA forced herself onto her, and is sleeping with a teacher for good grades.

    We’re damning Malaya for a past that’s not hers here, and yet Sal gets head pats for the things she’s going through in this verse? Not fair, cmon now, treat Malaya the same way, other than take a cheap shot she’s done nothing to deserve being told she DESERVES to be hit by Sal.

    (Who might I remind you acted like Malaya was shit, called her a cumstain, started the violence because Malaya wouldn’t bend to her)

    So let Malaya’s character develop a little here, we’ve seen SO little, and try to forget about Shortpacked Malaya…><

    1. Cyan1deDr3ams

      Completely agree with you on this. Though I also liked Malaya in Shortpacked.

    2. Em

      Thank you for this! People are being AWFUL to Malaya for no reason. She’s done nothing to deserve this hatred. NOTHING. Sal has done much worse, and nobody bats an eye.

      1. Rich

        “Nobody bats an eye” about Sal’s frequently awful behavior is so hyperbolic and untrue it doesn’t merit discussion.

        1. Li

          This is true. Both Sal and Malaya get a disproportionate amount of shit. (I’m not contesting that Sal’s approach here was crappy, I’m just saying the reaction to her in many situations has been disproportionate.)

          Sal is a bad character to make this comparison with. Walky? Amber?

        2. Reaver

          Joyce? 😛

        3. Li

          Heh. Joyce is… tough. She sometimes gets a lot of hate too, but the hate in her case often isn’t really related to anything about her, exactly.

          When we get a strip where Joyce displays her ignorance, new commenters often show up by the truckload to complain about how Joyce is “obviously” an unfair Christian strawman. Meanwhile other commenters lash out at her, because she represents something very personal for some of us, especially when she was originally expressing anti-LGBTQIA sentiments.

          Luke Malaya in Shortpacked hating on nerds (that project, with all of its pop culture references to comic books and toys, had a much bigger nerd audience, but a much smaller audience overall per Willis), Joyce sometimes hits people too close to home. Our reaction to Joyce isn’t fully rational or impartial, which isn’t something I’m going to apologize for.

          I do think that Joyce has been working really hard to be more accepting, so it wouldn’t surprise me if people have been softening on her though and she hasn’t gotten much hate in a while!

    3. Nadda

      I dunno. The “Don’t Care” Malaya did was played for laughs but if you take the humor of it away was kind of dickish and said for no reason (especially since it was said when Sal was sharing good news with Marcie). Also I think during the whole fight with Amazi-girl, Sal and Malaya were pretty cordial, so they weren’t always at each other’s throats.

      But we do have a little more context to Malaya than just the last few strips. Granted, not as much. Can say from someone who hasn’t read Shortpacked or any previous Walkyverse strips that I’m kind of indifferent here.

  52. Cyan1deDr3ams

    I suppose I’ll never get the hate towards Malaya re: her relationship with Leslie. Some people explore their own sexuality and while it might seem like all the pieces for attraction are there, perhaps they just aren’t attracted enough for intimacy and that isn’t clear until they try. I really don’t think that whole thing was a ruse to make DeSanto pissed off.

    1. Rich

      I think part of it is how very badly Leslie reacted to it initially – her response colors the feelings of her fans. And Malaya wasn’t terribly tactful about ending it, although there was a lot of not-really-very-nice going on that night. Leslie’s “amazing rack” comment kind of trivialized their connection, and you could see Malaya wasn’t thrilled about it.

      Also, while she wasn’t just chasing Leslie to annoy Robin, that was undeniably part of it. That’s kind of terrible.

  53. Bicycle Bill

    “Ah will cleave yer head from yer neck.”

    How in the helll did *that* phrase happen to find itself in Sal’s vocabulary?

    1. Bicycle Bill

      Just to clarify, I’m referring mostly to the use of the word “cleave”….

    2. tim gueguen

      Sal is secretly an Immortal, and has been spending a bunch of time learning from a much older one. Hence she’s picked up certain of his language patterns.

      1. AgentKeen

        The reason Malaya and Sal actually don’t like each other is the Quickening.

        1. tim gueguen

          In the end there can only be one.

          Unfortunately for all concerned in the DoA universe it will be Mary.

  54. Willoughby Chase

    It’s a wonderful life

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01JUJYK5ALQ

  55. Melanie

    Just read the whole comic! Now I have to wait for updates like everyone else. 🙁

  56. brumagem

    I feel like Marcie gives really, really good hugs. Like good and squeezy without being bone-crushing or inappropriately amorous.

    1. Rycan

      Well, she had to become pretty skilled at non-verbal communication.

  57. HeySo

    And that’s just adorable.

  58. OmegaDez

    Damnit. Marcie is incredibly cute in this comic.
    She’s really growing on me.

    I wonder if she keeps her goggles on when she… does it with Malaya.

  59. Em

    That… that is so cute I don’t think i can function… where’s Dina’s hoodie when you need it?

  60. Gecko

    When Sal answers the love-sign-hug in the last panel, just, awww ~ ^u^

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