328

Exciting dating development
Posted on January 24, 2025 by David M Willis

328 thoughts on “Exciting dating development”

  1. Jeremiah

    It is very on brand for them. Look at that fancy wallpaper!

    1. Clif

      Are skunks fancy?

      1. Thag Simmons

        Usually not but if you put in the effort they can be

      2. Jeremiah

        They are fancy when they in wallpaper, say I.

      3. RacingTurtle

        Of course! Look at their little tuxedos!

      4. Furie

        The only one I know of has a French accent. Can’t get more hoity toity than that.

        1. Thag Simmons

          Pepe Le Pew is a wannabe, not nearly so fancy as he fancies himself

        2. Daibhid C

          Real afficionados of cartoon skunks with French accents know Miss Mam’selle Hepzibah is where it’s at.

      5. TheScreenJockey

        Skunks are very fancy, yes. All the time.

    2. anon

      tony did say it was a ‘bit of a trek’ but i imagine they’d still get a handful of college students to where they might promote cheap prices as opposed to seeming hipstery decoration wise

  2. Kyrik Michalowski

    Booster is becoming self-aware; how long until he discovers the 4th wall?

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      They*
      Also, no to that gravatar.

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        Ijteresting, but not Sal.

        1. Kyrik Michalowski

          Interesting*
          I hate how many duplicates I have.

        2. Kyrik Michalowski

          Dorothy is cool, might come back to this one if I can’t get Sal.

        3. Kyrik Michalowski

          Carla! (Still not Sal)

        4. Kyrik Michalowski

          Nope

        5. Kyrik Michalowski

          Last roll of the night.

        6. Clif

          You can do it!

        7. DJTsurugi

          I would have stuck with Carla, because she is the best character. ~<3

        8. Sirksome

          I always wonder who this black and white Joyce with sunglasses is. Do we know her?

        9. HueSatLight

          Julia Gray, fighter pilot

        10. HueSatLight

          from these bonus strips. https://www.dumbingofage.com/interloper/#sidebar-overblog https://www.dumbingofage.com/sevenpercent/#sidebar-overblog

        11. Yumi

          What Hue said, and adding a link:
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/julia-gray/

        12. Thag Simmons

          She’s the evil NegaJoyce from the arc where she runs away to a cottage in the canadian shield after she breaks up with Joe. Hasn’t happened yet but it’s going to be sick when it does

        13. Clif

          And she’s married to President Doris.

        14. Taffy

          That’s Mina Carrot.

        15. Cholma

          That’s Joyce’s character in her stories where Dorothy is President, and she is a famous pilot. (but she uses different names for her & Dorothy)

        16. StClair

          original character donut steel

        17. Adept

          I’m gonna use ”Original Character Donut Steel” as a superhero name in an RPG some day now.

        18. Michael Steamweed

          Totally not based on Dorothy or Joyce! The names are different and everything!

    2. GreyICE

      Hopefully they jump through it and vanish. I can’t believe they’re actually worse than Mike.

  3. Dave Van Domelen

    A veritable college of deans.

    1. Michael Steamweed

      “Dean” is just a title meaning you’re in charge of an entire department at the campus. Could be any number from 3 to 60+.

      1. HueSatLight

        Isn’t the head of a department a chair? A dean would be head of a school at a university, or like the dean of students.

        1. Michael Steamweed

          Also called Chair. In my experience, the Chair is the academic head of the department or subdepartment (overseeing academics and research and stuff). The Dean is the administrative head of the department (overseeing accounting, HR, grants, etc). Chair reports to the Dean. And the college or system’s President oversees everything.

  4. Clif

    Is plethora the collective noun of deans?

    1. Laura

      “A colloquy of deans.”

    2. Dante

      I don’t know why “a murder of deans” sounds so nicely to my brain

      1. Michael Steamweed

        As a former Dean, I approve the use of “murder” as a collective noun.

        Every time we had an admins meeting, it was a murder.

        Every time we tried to have a meeting but couldn’t get everyone, it was an attempted murder.

        And we tracked all our murders and attempted murders via Google Calendar and TEAMS.

        😀

    3. Casi

      Isn’t it a winchester of deans?

      1. Casi

        Nope

        1. Casi

          okay maybe, one more roll

        2. Casi

          just one more turn

        3. Casi

          i accept the lesbian “Not anyone’s mom” leslie

        4. Michael Steamweed

          I like that one.

        5. Thag Simmons

          beat me to it

  5. Laura

    I don’t like this…

    1. NGPZ

      yeah, Booster has yet to get outta Tony’s seat :/

    2. True Survivor

      Oops, I meant to hit reply not report. My apologizes.

      This also gives me an uneasy feeling. I can’t tell if Booster is trying to be a malicious gremlin, a beneficent trickster, or is just inserting themselves into others affairs out of boredom.

      1. Nono

        My guess is a combination of A and C.

      2. Bogeywoman

        Booster inserts themself into the world to the exact extent that Charlie excerpts herself out of the world

        1. thejeff

          In all things there is balance

        2. Michael Steamweed

          Appropriate gravatar or not? I’m unsure.

        3. NGPZ

          Eh, Professor Brock strikes me less as a wise Uncle Iroh, and more like a tired old nihilist honestly XD

      3. Freemage

        Here, Booster is being as much of an ass as Raidah was to Dorothy, without even the basic justification. It’s boredom.

  6. Thag Simmons

    Quickly Sarah distract them with a lie about some more interesting drama on the other side of campus

    1. Wizard

      Or just tell ’em to fuck off. I seem to recall almost liking Booster in a recent appearance, but now they’re right back to being an equal-opportunity pain in the ass.

      1. Adept

        The replacement Mike.

        1. Ferret

          Frankly, Mike at least had a weird charm about him that made you kinda want to rationalize his assholishness. Booster’s just unpleasant.

    2. Freemage

      Even better, Sarah, help Booster out. Dump your coffee in the smug asshole’s lap. Hopefully it’ll lead to a hospital trip that will prevent Booster’s appearance for a few weeks of strip time, after which I will probably be dead of old age and not have to worry about it.

      1. anon

        i mean as satisfying as it is to see someone ‘throw their drink in the face’ /lap of someone who might ‘deserve it’ (in fiction , irl i don’t see how this wouldn’t backfire on ppl) i feel like that still might get you arrested for assault, if not at the very least banned from the cafe

        Tho prolly not the best impression to give to tony either

        1. Freemage

          I dunno, if Sarah explained what happened, Tony might be inclined to buy her a fresh, hotter coffee. Also, if the cops start spontaneously showing up now to arrest people who have committed assault, then Sarah can just turn states’ evidence on, like, half the hall’s residents and make a deal with the DA.

        2. anon

          Eh well i don’t think booster’s being as ‘invasive’ as that incelerator guy but i imagine most would not be amused by their antics

  7. Bryy

    Gonna be so fucking interesting to see how Raidah reacts to this in addition to the myriad of things going on.

    1. Michael Steamweed

      I’m expecting an attempt to sabotage the nascent relationship.

      “Do you know who those people are?”
      *followed by skewed anecdotes

  8. Sirksome

    I’m sorry but does Booster know Sarah well? Or at all really? What the hell are they talking about with “outside your comfort zone” How do you know what’s outside her comfort zone? This might be the longest conversation you’ve had with her.

    1. Davus

      Booster cold reads people as a crutch, and I think they have had opportunity enough to observe Sarah to know that social shit isn’t her jam, but you nonetheless have a valid point. (I’m getting a little ick here, Booster should be backing off.)

      1. Nono

        Booster also enjoys needling people for no reason, like at the dorm meeting.

    2. Jeremiah

      It’s been established Booster it’s very observant and what not, they probably didn’t need to have long I interaction to get a general grasp of what Sarah is like. And it’s not like she make any kind of secrets of it.

    3. Cattleprod

      This is the 11th time they’ve been in a strip together and mostly they just happen to be in the same room, but this does feel like a proper follow up to their most meaningful interaction:

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/03-see-you-in-the-funny-page/giddy/

      1. Clif

        And of course not everything happens on screen, as it were.

        1. Nymph

          I wish this was on a banner at the top of the comic every day tbh.

        2. Michael Steamweed

          The bane of our existences. Willis needs a team of 13 interns, all busy filling in what’s going on with other characters who are off the main screen.

        3. Clif

          The downside is that managing 13 interns would take time away from the comic.

        4. Michael Steamweed

          *rubs chin thoughtfully

          Yeah, you’re right. Better hire an entry leveler to manage them.

      2. Dante

        They also bore witness to the entire trainwreck (their words, not mine) of the party where Sarah was very open about her difficulties with emotions … And then Lucy kissed Jacob in front of her.

        Also Walky, who’s Lucy’s ex, is their roomie and was very insecure about Jacob. So they likely talked about it because, again, it’s the closest non-girl person he has.

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-14/04-for-me-it-was-tuesday/rebounding/

  9. Yumi

    And hey, further development in the disposable/reusable cups in cafés discussion!

    1. Thomas

      Going by the squiggle that is their logo, the name of this place is probably Lyman’s Mustache. Could also be a branch of Coffeeright Theft, with a Skunk instead of a Marten as their regular fixture.

      1. Michael Steamweed

        Callbacks to Garfield (I have not seen Lyman in, like, 50 years) and Questionable Content (I hope Mood Coffee does well)!

    2. anon

      might depend on how fancy or local but i imagine some ppl drinking ‘here’ rather than to go might be given these but i feel like i’d want a to go thing either way and not accidentally steal the mug on teh way out lol. if there’s not a “bring in your own cup” kinda policy

  10. Chaucer59

    Is Booster trying to be revelatory or cock-blocky?

    And it’s a symposium of deans.

    1. Wraithy2773

      I think they’re trying to be helpful and revelatory, and not realizing how much of a giant asshole they’re being instead.

      1. Wizard

        Inclined to agreed, although I’m not entirely sure Booster isn’t embracing the assholery.

    2. Nono

      Though in this case it would be the female version of a cock-block, so a clam-jam?

      1. NGPZ

        Tony’s getting cock-blocked

        Sarah’s getting clam-jammed XD

  11. Yumi

    Also, I’ve been rewatching Community, so mentions of the Dean are causing me to imagine Jim Rash in this comic.

    1. JessWitt

      Well now I’m imagining Dean McHenry in Dean Pelton’s many outfits and the contrast is jarring.

      1. Yumi

        https://youtu.be/UKDp5ZiClLI?si=91wkJc-e9Qx5Mbz4
        Hm. Yes.

    2. Marianne

      A Pelton of Deans. That’s the plural everyone’s been searching for.

  12. BBCC

    Look at it this way Sarah – if it works out, you have a cute boyfriend AND Raidah’s head will pop.

    And if the Dean ends up adoring her I’m gonna cackle.

    For the record – the restaurant is Hopscotch Coffee IRL.

    1. BBCC

      Dammit, right, Search for Sal episode.

    2. Nono

      With how stoic they are I’m not sure what a McHenry showing ‘adoration’ would look like.

      1. BBCC

        A more professional, less mean version of the way Sarah shows adoration I’d imagine.

  13. Doopyboop

    I’m also confused about how dating the ‘son of the dean’ translates to being outside of her comfort zone. Maybe because of the expectation that she needs to impress the dad? But I think that’d be a given for… anyone?

    1. Doopyboop

      This was supposed to be a reply for Sirksome, whoops! Oh well!

    2. Nono

      If you want to really be cynical it could be to have an in given that she was very close to losing her scholarship last year. But that would be so cynical it would be like combining Ruth and Sarah into one megacynic.

    3. Nono

      Would Raidah date a white guy to climb socially? I don’t think it’s off the table but I feel like it’s slightly frowned upon in the Muslim faith so might depend on how much you want to buck the trend.

      1. NGPZ

        re: frowned upon in Islamic faith,

        source? like Raidah doesn’t believe in angels, but some Muslims do

        may very well be same basic dealio with whether or some believe it’s morally right to date a white guy just to climb socially, really it depends, Islam ain’t a monolith anymore than Christianity or Judaism

      2. RacingTurtle

        Why not? “White guy” isn’t a religion, and she already dated someone with a different ethnic and religious background in the comic.

      3. BBCC

        Not so much the white guy part that’d be a problem so much as the ‘not a Muslim’ part which is a thing for some devout Muslims.

        That said, Raidah’s already dated a non-Muslim with Jacob so I think it’s safe to say she personally does not care about that part.

      4. Amelie Wikström

        As far as we’ve seen Raidah’s religion IS social climbing. Figure she goes to mosque because it’s, well, socially expected.

      5. Thag Simmons

        She’s definitely willing to date a christian, which as far as I know would be a bigger deal for a conservative muslim family.

        That’s assuming Raidah has a conservative muslim family, which I don’t think she does.

      6. HueSatLight

        Whoever told you that about Islam was a bigot. There’s white Muslims, ffs.

    4. Dante

      Sarah’s there on a scholarship (can’t pay for school otherwise), Tony is a wealthy white guy, and Booster is a Latine from a small town. So…

      – Just a comment on the expectations of impressing someone’s parent?
      – Class/Race intersection?
      – Just them knowing Sarah isn’t used to have good things happen to her?
      – Do they keep in touch with Lucy and so they’re privy to Raidah’s habits?

      There’s many exciting possibilities.Booster is also nosy as hell, granted, but I do think they’re happy for Sarah and wanting to be helpful.

      1. Doopyboop

        You know what, that’s a good point! I suppose part of my issue is usually seeing mentions of someone’s comfort zone as being them, like, branching out into something negative or stressful. Although there is a bit of stress with the son of dean thing, I can also see it now being a case of “your comfort zone is usually not experiencing great stuff, and this guy’s a good catch”.

      2. HueSatLight

        Why would Lucy be privy to Raidah’s habits?

    5. Bogeywoman

      Popular. The popularest. The one everyone is constantly wanting to be around.

    6. Michael Steamweed

      No need at all for Sarah to impress Tony’s father (the Dean). It’s guaranteed he knows who she and all the group are. All senior admins (and he’s def one) have to be fully updated on all the criminal, legal, and unusual goings-on there.

    7. Caro

      It’s ‘out of her comfort zone’ because it’s a very Raidah thing to do

    8. Freemage

      Doesn’t matter, Booster is periodically shown making off-hand remarks that pierce the target’s psyche, despite there being no reason it should, other than authorial fiat. Consider https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-11/02-look-straight-ahead/atlength/
      In that strip, there is no reason for Joe to start his incomplete line in panel 5. If he remotely agrees that it’s a ‘rookie mistake’ to have a scruffy chin brillo, then he wouldn’t be doing it, or would simply reply that he’s only in ‘scope’ mode right now, rather than ‘attract mod’. If, OTOH, he thinks this tactic will draw female attention, he’ll make that case. But instead, because the words were spoken by Booster, who is apparently magic, the line totally flummoxes Joe and leaves him unable to answer.

    9. anon

      Depends on if they get ‘serious’ enough for a ‘meet the parents’ type of situation

      although sal has more personal issues/hangups like “Oh most parents wouldn’t like/approve of me” or so.

  14. Wraithy2773

    …sorry, Booster, but I’m looking for some of your fucking business around here, but I can’t seem to find any. Maybe you should go find some literally anywhere else.

  15. Pocky

    Booster continues to be a character I can’t bring myself to like.

    Just too much of a snark.

    1. Nono

      They’re also being willingly obtuse, they knew what Sarah meant with ‘what are you doing here’.

      1. Jeremiah

        And that is funny.

    2. Jeremiah

      Unlike literally every other character in this strip who never snark at each other for the sake of comedy.

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        Yeah, but Booster has only been here for like a month, and they barely interact with the other characters except to psychoanalyze them. This kind of snark feels a little more intrusive when it’s coming from a random acquaintance.

        1. a/snow/mous/e

          (oops, forgot to change the gravatar thing, that’s annoying)

  16. Nono

    I’m not sure why Booster would be surprised that Sarah doesn’t know who Tony is, that would imply she likes watching football.

    Which I mean, she could. But given that this is a local team, it would involve physically going to games. With people and cheering and noise.

    1. HueSatLight

      Tony lives on their floor.

      1. Nono

        He does, but on the male side of the wing, and Sarah has no reason to go there other than to visit Jacob, much less get familiar with any of the other residents.

        She wouldn’t know Tony from Arnold from Thad.

        1. HueSatLight

          Sarah and Tony are both sophomores too. She doesn’t have to be going over there to be social to have heard he lived on their floor. My point is Booster’s mild surprise is not inappropriate.

  17. Alongcameaspider

    Anyone else think Booster inserting themself into situations that aren’t their business kind of obnoxious?

    1. Animedingo

      We know autism runs in the family

      1. Jeremiah

        Wow, what an absolutely not relevant and weird thing to say. Say the autistic person.

      2. Nymph

        Oh wow, does ableism run in yours?

      3. NGPZ

        try to get neurotypicals to stop automatically pathologizing being obnoxious

        Challenge Level: Impossible (9-9)

    2. Nymph

      I super don’t. I think it’s fun, but I’m aware that opinion isn’t everyone’s.

      1. Jeremiah

        I love Booster precisely because of the reason people hate them. It wouldn’t be them without those parts. And my opinions are always objective and correct so that settled the matter.

        1. Nothri

          See usually I’m okay with Booster being a busybody because they’ve often commented on the self destructive parts of the relationship or people’s behavior. This doesn’t feel like booster being helpful with their unabashed honesty. This feels like them just being disruptive at a time when Sarah appears ready to move on from her recent heart break. I don’t really see Booster’s endgame here- maybe there are red flags with Tony he sees that I don’t. At the moment this feels more like Mike type behavior.

        2. Effie

          Booster has been called “Replacement Mike”

        3. Effie

          Okay that was NOT the gravatar I was expecting!

          … but maybe I’m okay with it?

        4. Thag Simmons

          Booster exists to do Mike type behaviour in a way that’s a little less outright abrasive, so that would make sense

        5. HueSatLight

          Yup. To me, it’s like Booster needles people in a way that people are more likely to put up with, and they’re obnoxious in a way that they can develop as a character without a complete 180.

        6. Charles Phipps

          It actually feels a lot more slimy.

          Mike is a cartoon after all.

          Booster…too real.

        7. Jeremiah

          You are assuming some kind of ulterior motive and sabotage that we really have no reason to. They were just there and saw someone they know doing something interesting and get in on that. Maybe that is not “socially acceptable” or whatever but it result in a fun interaction between characters so I don’t care.

      2. PedanticJerkass

        As a thing that is happening in a fictional webcomic story on the Internet that one is reading for entertainment? Sure, I guess it could be possibly viewed as a “fun” scene involving a character of dubious likeability. If Booster were a real person doing this real thing in real life, though? Not so much. So… yeah, good thing this is all fictional, I guess!!!

        To answer OP: yes, it is very obnoxious.

        1. Nymph

          Oh, I mean I like both the character and the scene they’re in. I think both are fun and I’m very excited to see where their story goes!

        2. Jeremiah

          Man the “you won’t like this person if they were real” yeah that is true of a good majority of fictional characters and people are still perfectly capable of liking them. It is so very unnecessary to add.

        3. Yumi

          I also experience a fun inverse of this, personally, where Dorothy was my least favorite major character for a long time because I just didn’t find her that interesting…but also, she’s probably the cast member I would have been most likely to be friends with in real life, at least when I was around 18.

        4. Freemage

          But I dislike the character because no one reacts to Booster like they should. As a result, Booster merely serves to disrupt the suspension of disbelief that allows me to accept the existence of Amazi-girl, or Joyce’s mom being as horrible as she is.
          Sarah should’ve dumped her hot coffee in Booster’s lap the moment the latter sat down. Instead, she sits there and lets the conversation proceed without ever actually reacting like either a real person OR Sarah-the-character would, all for the sake of plot.

        5. Yumi

          I think that’s a more fair critique of the character, but I do think it’s funny that your “should’ve” example is dumping hot coffee in someone’s lap. That’s way extreme. XD

    3. Taffy

      Yes, because I’m capable of basic reading comprehension. Booster is written to be obnoxious, that’s the character.

      1. PedanticJerkass

        And they’re ruining this scene with their presence. They can go be an obnoxious busybody somewhere else, just this once. But, of course, they’re not, because Mr. Willis has (unfortunately, in my opinion) written the scene to be this way, in which Booster is being an obnoxious busybody, butting in where he’s not wanted. I’m capable of reading comprehension, too, but that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy the interaction being presented in this scene.

        To be fair to Booster (or, rather, since we’re apparently being all Doylist at the moment, Mr. Willis’s writing of Booster), I haven’t actually found myself disliking them or their antics prior to now, even if they have been (written as) an obnoxious busybody in the past as well. Booster’s derailment of this scene just feels… undeserved… at least as far as Sarah is concerned. And this is being said by someone who has not been Sarah’s biggest fan lately, either (prior to her meeting Tony, at least). I just don’t think she deserved having Booster inflicted upon her at this particular moment in the story. And yet, here we are.

        1. PedanticJerkass

          Crap, a “he’s” slipped in there. Should be “they’re,” of course.

        2. Mark

          I wonder if Booster has been inserted so that a returning Tony can notice the vibe and ask, “Sarah, is this person bothering you?” while wearing his best game face. Booster has an “uh-oh!” moment. Exit Booster. Date continues.

        3. Insanenoodlyguy

          Don’t be fair to Booster. Booster is Mike 2.0. That’s their purpose. Willis Killed Mike off because Mike is too problematic but he wanted a Mike so we got Booster.

        4. Jeremiah

          What a reductive and incurious way to look at a character.

        5. Freemage

          What has Booster brought to the table that is distinct from Mike, in your opinion? Voyeuristic tendencies?

        6. Taffy

          Sorry Booster killed your cousin or whatever

        7. anon

          IDK if they don’t actually have self awareness or simply don’t care but interesting if it’s like a ‘coping mechanism’ of like how “I have to get involved with everyone’s business and add my two cents b/c my own life is boring/empty inside” or so, but i’m sure there are far more ‘interesting’ case studies booster could have as a psych student or so

          not saying it’s right, but depending on the person/situation, ppl probably dumped their coffee on them like ppl have been saying

    4. Elf grrl

      It’s pretty presumptuous for them to insert themselves but not out of character. Sarah already likes Tony and vice versa based on their interaction. Why throw in social class standing in the mix? Unless Booster thinks Sarah cares about something so superficial. I wonder what Tony’s interaction will be to Booster

    5. True Survivor

      It sort of is, yes. However, I am not sold on it being malicious. I think Booster is either trying to be some form of benign trickster (they come in cause chaos, prove themselves oh so smart and insightful, and leave the situation better for all), or Booster, having just come from a small town with only a sister who is largely lost in her own head, is just very lonely and desperately inserting themselves any where they think they might fit.

      1. Dante

        You’ve got it. Thank you.

        Booster is the kind of person who’s been lonely enough to know how to Read People, yet have zero training on Interacting With People. They have no idea of how to make friends so they try to be helpful instead, except they’re also allergic to be vulnerable (due to said combo of a lack of interacting, queerness, neurodivergence, and a small town.) I adore them.

        1. thejeff

          They’re also not as good at Reading People as they think they are, which I hope will eventually come back to bite them. A lot of their reads are very superficial and sometimes just outright wrong.

        2. Freemage

          I could accept that. The issue I have is that Booster is regularly shown doing the ‘reading people’ stunt, and no one reacting the way either real people OR these fictional characters would react based on their prior presentation. Booster is a bad tool for this purpose, precisely because this approach disrupts the narrative.

    6. zee

      Nah it’s great and they should do it more

    7. anon

      autistic comments/analyzing aside, that’s just how some teens are/young adults. there are prolly a handful of ppl like booster who’d just join in and have their two cents about a situation of acquaintances they don’t know the same way there are ‘boomers’ out there asking why a 20 something year old isn’t dating/married/having babies yet lol

  18. Animedingo

    I dont not care for booster

    1. True Survivor

      I think they are, at the very least, a pretty unique and interesting character. I believe this has value on its own. For example, I did not necessarily enjoy most A24’s the Green Knight, but it is still a cool film that is certainly … something. I am glad I watched it, but I am not sure I would wish to do so again for some time. So I am glad that Booster is here, if only to watch Mr. Willis at his craft with this new and strange creation.

  19. Queezle

    Most of the time I kind of like Booster. But I think sometimes they get a little too personal with people they do not know all that well.

    1. Wraithy2773

      When Booster is in a situation where people are asking them for help, or otherwise intentionally involving them in their situations, they’re great! Booster’s pretty sharp and good at reading people.

      But they need to learn boundaries and respect other people’s agency, and they have shown to have terrible judgement in that regard.

      1. Nono

        I think the only people we’ve seen ask them for help might be Amber and Carla, right? And then they were kind of annoying about it.

    2. BSD

      Yes that is in fact their whole deal. They’re nice about it but it’s kind of rude and mean even when they’re nice about it.

      1. Queezle

        I think one of the reasons I kind of have a problem with Booster, despite on the whole still kind of liking them as a char, is that we sort of have clashing personality flaws. They are kind of bad at recognizing/respecting social boundaries, and I am bad at stating my boundaries and clarifying when someone makes me uncomfortable. So irl, they would be the kind of person I kind of dread being around.

      2. thejeff

        I think rude, but not mean. And that’s the big distinction between them and Mike. Booster isn’t trying to hurt. Not even trying to help by hurting, like some think Mike was. They’re just doing their little analysis schtick.

        It’s rude and it can hurt or disrupt things, but they’re not malicious about it.

    3. Nymph

      Good! Room for character growth is always better than people just turning up in the comic without a single issue to be boring and perfect all the time.

      1. Dante

        ♥

        I really want them to learn how to actually make friends with someone tbh :33 So far they’ve been Assigned Friend By Amber (to Ethan), and then kinda stayed talking with Amber because both are messy and love drama. And there’s Walky who is their roommate. Neither are that organic.

        1. Mark

          So, Jennifer.

      2. BBCC

        Yeah, this isn’t really the kind of story where ‘the Ace’ archetype works. Any Ace-seeming types will be broken down into a pile of issues eventually.

        1. Yumi

          I had just been thinking about asexuality, so this comment seemed acephobic to me for a second. And then I was confused because it was you commenting. And then I remembered how to use context clues.

        2. BBCC

          XD I wondered if I should’ve dropped the TV Tropes link in this comment. Yeah, I meant ‘The Ace” as in the trope, not the sexuality.

  20. brionl

    A veritable plethora of deans.

  21. Lamppost

    Continuing yesterday’s observation: now Booster has a regular cup? While Tony had a single use one? What kind of a place is this!?

    1. Yumi

      A normal one.

    2. Taffy

      Seems like a coffee shop. Morally and ethically, we must consider the possibility of the establishment selling mugs. I don’t recognize that fucked-up ancient glyph on the one Booster is using, though.

      1. Nymph

        Also an excellent point.

    3. RacingTurtle

      I have not done it, but I have heard of cynical people on coffee dates getting their cups to go in case the date sucks

      1. Nymph

        Sounds practical rather than cynical, better than getting stuck or wasting coffee.

        1. RacingTurtle

          True! I probably said cynical because it was Tony and Sarah, tbh

        2. Nymph

          Honestly valid.

        3. NGPZ

          yee yee! coffee is one of our most precious natural resources! ^^

    4. Nymph

      Maybe it’s a place where you can choose to bring your own cup, but if you don’t then they have disposables.

    5. Yumi

      A lot of places offer reusable cups for there even if they default to disposable ones. Even at some of the Starbucks near me, I know you can order your drink specifically “for here” and get it in a ceramic mug. (I prefer bringing my own reusable cup places… when I remember…)

      But places often want most customers getting their coffee to go, so they don’t bring up the option (or the worker forgets to ask, and the disposable cup is the safe bet).

      1. anon

        I feel like other than accidentally (or purposefully lol) stealing/leaving with the mugs they might only either offer it to a ‘regular’ or someone that’d be planning to stay in the cafe for hours or so working on a project or just simply not wanting to go anywhere else for a while (I dont think anyone cares anymore b/c you still pay but i have read some things where it’s a complaint like “he’s been here for 5 hours and he’s only ordered one cup of coffee” or so)

    6. Dante

      Well, a paper coffee cup means no expectations. If Tony and Sarah hadn’t hit it off, boom coffee has been bought, we can leave now. They’re liking each other, though, so they sat down to drink and now Tony’s gone straight to the matter at hand (but seems to be tidy enough to dislike an empty cup in front of him.)

    7. Mark

      Maybe it’s one of those places where the regulars have their own mugs. The squiggle on the side says “Booster”.

      1. HueSatLight

        Fairly certain the squiggle on the side says “Hopscotch”, or whatever the name of the establishment is, if the Dumbiverse name is different.
        https://hopscotchcoffee.com/

    8. Thing2

      Came here to say this. So now I will say I had a friend who was meeting a Fuckbuddy at a cafe to say they had found a boyfriend so … and the fuckbuddy had come to say that they wanted it to be more than fuckbuddies, they were ready for a relationship. The losing party was so upset they left before their coffee came. If this were Coffee of Doom, the server would have said “Do you want your ex-lover’s coffee in a takeaway cup?”

  22. IntangibleMatter

    Booster how dare you be a regular at this place where Sarah is flirting with a guy, it’s so inconsiderate of you to be here!

    1. thejeff

      Even if they’re a regular there (or just happens to be there otherwise), they don’t have to sit down at their table to analyze Sarah’s date the second Tony steps away

  23. AbacusWizard

    booster you were not invited to this date; back off a little and let sarah have something nice for once

  24. DailyBrad

    Booster is such a shit-stirrer. I generally love it, but don’t fuck this up for Sarah.

    1. anonymsly

      I think if Sarah tells Booster off in no uncertain terms, it may well plus her in Tony’s estimation: immediate proof of her lack of patience for buffoonery.

  25. Dante

    I don’t think Booster is trying to start drama tbh. They were having a cup of coffee nearby (likely on the next table), and caught enough of the conversation to go their version of “OMG GURL SO HAPPY FOR YOU.”

    Also to dole out advice because they seem to like Sarah and dating a Dean’s son might feel overwhelming, and that’s the closest they (know how to) get to having a friend. I really don’t think it’s malicious.

    1. Nono

      I don’t think anyone really thinks Booster is malicious (at least not in the same way Mike was), it’s just that they’re being a little unwanted right now (Sarah clearly doesn’t want them around, and they’re deliberately not moving).

      1. Dante

        Eh, I saw some comments going that way. I’ll take obnoxious, though ;3 I maintain they don’t know how to make friends unless they’re kinda forced into proximity, but one thing doesn’t preclude the other.

        Since I went for a quick check, though… This is two days after the party. Booster did see Sarah’s heart getting broken quite publicly.

        1. Jeremiah

          Some people really think they are some kind of of unfeeling evil thing that see people only as a “specimens” or whatever.

    2. Regina phalange

      While I agree with you that Booster struggles to make friends (while seeming to desperately want to), I think your interpretation of the “dean” comment is at odds with their character as introduced so far.

      We’ve been shown they have a very good grasp on people—just maybe some difficulty translating that into their own interactions with those people. So when they elbow themselves into conversations or don’t know how to actually talk *to* the people they’ve been analyzing, that all makes sense. But here? Either Booster really understands people, or they don’t—for your interpretation to make sense, they would have to be totally off-base about Sarah’s character, and we haven’t seen them be wrong about people like that before (and Sarah’s a pretty easy one). Like, Sarah is who she is; she doesn’t hide like a lot of the other people in this cast. I genuinely dont see how someone who has known Sarah for more than a week would think of the “dean” comment as something that would encourage her as opposed to something that would stir shit.

      Even looking at it through the lens of, “booster knows people but struggles to apply that to their own relationships,” I genuinely don’t see how panel 3 is anything more generous than teasing (taunting if malicious), let alone genuine “advice.” (I mean, “advice”? You know what’s a good way to not make making a dean’s kid seem overwhelming—NOT TELLING THEM. Again, either booster gets people, or they don’t.)

      1. thejeff

        Booster doesn’t get people nearly as well as they think they do. At least that’s my read. They’re good at picking up surface stuff, but often think that’s all there really is.

        As for the “dean’s son” part, that seems like it should tie into the Sarah/Raidah conflict and Raidah’s social climbing bullshit, but I don’t know if it makes sense for Booster to know anything at all about that.

  26. Samniel

    Yay! I actually like Booster, so them and Sarah together should be very… amusing

    1. Samniel

      …perfect gravatar I’m gonna keep this

  27. DiDi

    I’ve always been pretty neutral concerning Booster.

    But now I’m wary and bordering a possible hostility. I don’t know what their deal is but they better not be trying to start shit.

    1. Queezle

      I think Booster maybe the sort of Person who sometimes start shit without trying and entirely against their own intention.

  28. AnonGrouch

    Man I really doubt Booster is going to be the one to help Sarah relax and just let things happen rather than her trying to conform to the standards of others. Mostly because Booster to use the comic’s own words, participates in buffoonery.

  29. Francoinblanco

    Erm Tony just leave to throw out cup meeting dont end here, why Buster almost getting started singin Summer Nights as somewhat Sarah bestie?

    1. Yumi

      Seems like Tony should be back at the table by now, maybe he got kidnapped.

  30. Karla Jean

    Fuck off, Booster.

    1. Taffy

      They’re not even doing anything wrong.

      1. PedanticJerkass

        Other than sticking their nose in where it doesn’t belong? Sure, they’re not doing anything “wrong,” technically.

        They can still fuck all the way off, though.

        1. Taffy

          No, including that. There’s no “other than” in what I said. Booster is innocent and well-behaved in this strip.

        2. AnonGrouch

          I mean yes and no. Booster is pointing out something about the guy that would have, if not pointed out, come up naturally after she’s had a chance to relax and get to know him. Now she’s going to have a bunch of baggage going into interacting with him because he’s the type of guy to attract her mortal enemy.

        3. Taffy

          That remains to be seen. “Going to” implies a done deal.

  31. Risky

    Been there, coffee was decent, wallpaper unmistakable, grammed.

  32. darkoneko

    Booster why do you like you’re trying to sink that ship

  33. staszu13

    Being chaotic evil of course, Sarah

  34. Florence

    “Also here’s a bunch of other useful info”

    *booster throws some files across the table to Sarah*

    “Thought I’d throw some ethical drama into what looks like a new permanent relationship in the strip”

    “The what?”

    1. Taffy

      What ethical drama?

      1. NGPZ

        ever here of organized crime?

        this is Organized Pestering Out Of Boredom XD

      2. Florence

        I could be wrong but I think Sarah wouldn’t like to succeed via someone she’s dating, or at least she’ll struggle with that

        Even if she’s cool with those kinds of benefits, would she want the one guy she truly clicks with to have that making her feel like she’s using him

        1. Taffy

          I doubt any of that is gonna happen, at least not in a way that turns it into a dilemma.

        2. Florence

          Just you wait taffy-Maximillion Pegasus! What are you doing here?!?

        3. Taffy

          Sending you to the Shadow Realm, of course.

          Technically, he’s standing in Amaurot from Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, not the Shadow realm. Pegasus and Emet-Selch have very similar energy.

  35. ThomasQuinn

    I find the way Sarah objectifies men really jarring. And I also find it jarring that she constantly gets a pass on it. It’s just as bad as objectifying women, because *it’s exactly the same thing* – reducing a person, with feelings, a personality, opinions, a unique perspective, to a thing to be used for your pleasure.

    1. Amelie Wikström

      It helps that it’s just her way of expressing sexual desire, and she has a lot more going on than wanting to have sex. Though it was weird when she tried to get Jacob in bed while he made it clear he was trying to be friends, I got the impression she learned her lesson when she didn’t get Jacob. She has been attentive to Tony and appreciating his opinions in a way she’s never been seen to interact with anyone before. The slab comment is maybe a little over the line of appreciating what she finds attractive about his physique, but I’m willing to attribute that to muscle memory – repeating a familiar refrain without thinking.

      1. Regina phalange

        I mean, she’s also a fictional character who is meant to be, like, 20. It’s okay for her to objectify people. It was even okay for Joe to objectify people, back in the day. They’re all meant to be 18-20 years old. When I was 20 and dating my now-husband, I called him a “pussy” once over something stupid—I hated as soon as I did it and still feel disgusted/embarrassed over it (and it’s been like 10 years). Sometimes I think people in these comments forget how old the characters are *meant* to be because so much drama is constantly happening and characters keep dropping comments or insights that read super mature.

      2. ThomasQuinn

        I’m not saying it’s deliberately malicious, but it is dehumanizing, which was blatantly obvious in the arc with Jacob, where his agency and his feelings were completely dismissed by Sarah. I just don’t think it’s ok to treat people like that, and I find it more than a little disturbing that many kinds of bad behaviour do get called out in the comments, but treating people like objects should somehow get a pass if it’s muscular men being objectified.

        1. HueSatLight

          I think Sarah crosses the line sometimes, and more importantly, Sarah thinks she crosses the line sometimes, so it’s weird to see erasure of a character’s double standard the character recognizes and regrets.

      3. Chubseus

        Years ago in our time, if I remember correctly, when Jacob first offhandedly told Sarah he wasn’t that interested in a physical relationship Sarah immediately backed off hard, and she eventually sublimated/repressed that desire and they became friends/acquaintances. I want to say Sarah only started acting ‘uncontrollably’ weird around Jacob after her kidnapping/near death experience, but also her weirdness ramped up after Joyce called her out for being stuck in a rut and Jacob told her that he knew she liked him. She only began pursuing Jacob (and giving air to the voices in her head) after Jacob told her he knew about her feelings and encouraged her to be honest.

      4. thejeff

        Not just her way of expressing sexual desire, but another layer of her emotional armor.
        She’s much more comfortable expressing physical interest than with the emotional vulnerability it takes to admit she’s interested in more than that. She was definitely interested in Jacob as more than a slab of meat, but saying that is scary.
        That’s a character flaw and I suspect a good part of what we’ll see develop in her arc, but it’s not the same as Joe’s early treatment of all women as just sexual objects, even if it seems similar on the surface.

    2. Zaxares

      My personal stance is that it’s OK to see people as sexual objects (it’s a normal part of sexuality and the vast majority of people will do it to some degree or another). What’s important is that you don’t ONLY see them as sexual objects, and whether or not you find someone or a type sexually attractive must not lead to you treating them in a objectifying, harassing or derogatory manner.

      1. ThomasQuinn

        Well, I suppose I see things differently. I just find that kind of thinking – people as (sexual) objects – very unsettling. Maybe I’m weird that way, but I certainly don’t recognize myself in the statement “the vast majority of people will do it to some degree or another”. A person is always a person, not a “slab” or a “piece of a**” or anything like that.

        1. Insanenoodlyguy

          It’s fairly common to experience a physical attraction as an an initial impression, and then begin to consider emotional ones beyond that. When all you know of a person is their fuckablity, you may form an opinion on that first.

    3. Nymph

      That seems dramatic and ignores a lot of reasons why it isn’t at all “exactly the same thing”.

      She’s into him for a lot of reasons, and one of them is allowed to be “because he’s a total fucking hottie”.

      1. ThomasQuinn

        I’m sorry, maybe I’m reading this wrong – are you really saying that objectifying a man is somehow fundamentally different from objectifying a woman?

        1. Nymph

          That is one of the things I was saying, yes.

          Objectifying a man (which, again, I don’t think is happening here) is rude. It’s dehumanizing. It definitely is not okay. It doesn’t, however, have the same knock-on effects that objectifying women does (as a general rule).

          Therefore, is not “exactly the same thing”. If your opinion differs, that’s fine, but for me – the effect of an action matters as much as the intent. And while the intent of objectifying any gender might be the same, the effect varies wildly based on their position within society.

        2. ThomasQuinn

          I find that a pretty horrible world view, and fiercely counterproductive to the aim of equality. You’re basically saying that because women suffered from institutionalized sexism, they get to be sexist. Which just perpetuates sexism. Belgium got trampled by Germany in 1914 – that doesn’t mean they get to invade Germany

        3. Nymph

          So, a few things here:

          If you ever find yourself saying “you’re basically saying” you should just stop right there. You rephrased what I said so that it was easier for you to attack. I very specifically said that it isn’t okay and it’s rude and it’s dehumanizing to objectify men. Which you ignored because you’re ready for a fight and that didn’t fit into the fight you wanted to have.

          Cultural context adds a different weight to similar actions taken against different people. Being racist against white people doesn’t have the same effect as being racist against black people. Being sexist against men doesn’t have the same effect as being sexist against women. You can feel your big feelings about that, but it’s objective truth.

          And that is what matters to me, personally, when deciding whether something is “exactly the same thing” as something else.

          As for your “horrible world view” comment – that’s fine. I wasn’t asking for your approval.

        4. thejeff

          Yeah, basically any of the “but what if we reverse the oppressor and the marginalized groups” scenarios just don’t work. Even if it sucks on a personal level, one side has the weight of centuries of cultural power and tradition behind it.
          It’s the kind of bullshit that leads to “Christian white men are the only group it’s okay to oppress today” grievance politics.

        5. Yumi

          “If the situation were different, you would feel differently!” Yup, sure would!

          Also wondering about the past tense– “because women suffered from institutional sexism”? It could just be a way of phrasing it, but combined with a historical events expansion, just want to be clear that it is very much ongoing.

        6. Taffy

          Yeah but how would you feel if all men were used as breeding stock and had to get monthly shots that replaced their cum with the cum of their girlfriends’ ideal mates, enforced by heat-seeking missile turrets that were installed on every traffic sign worldwide? Bet you’d think twice about that, huh?

        7. Insanenoodlyguy

          Just cause the impact of your being a shit is more or less doesn’t change the amount of shit you are.

          It’s better for the world when my dog decides to take a shit outside rather than take it on the carpet. And yet for all the latter is clearly worse for everybody in the house, in neither case do I want to pick it up with my bare hands and take a nice deep whiff. It’s still an unpleasant smelly shit.

        8. Nymph

          Yes it does. Hope this helps.

        9. Taffy

          Men being sexist leads to deeply unsettling and horrific outcomes like forced pregnancies and sex trafficking. Women being sexist leads to men getting their ego wounded temporarily. There’s a vast gulf of difference.

  36. GUIGUI

    Too much deans and not enough beans.

  37. Suet

    I hope being an authority figure (or a child of) isn’t a turn-off

    Forget Booster, that mug is a cryptid

  38. Needfuldoer

    I reiterate.

    Nobody asked, Booster.

    1. Taffy

      Exactly. Nobody’s asked Booster why they have encyclopedic knowledge of the faculty and extended families thereof. What do they need that information for?

      1. Insanenoodlyguy

        They don’t know how to make people like them, so they do their best to know people instead.

    2. Nymph

      I mean, nobody asked you either (no rudeness intended, just making the point). Sometimes people talk without being asked, that’s pretty standard.

  39. Kyulen

    Booster, please don’t mess this up for Sarah. Just let her enjoy this good thing with Tony.

  40. Bogeywoman

    I need my pic to not be Jacob rn. I feel like he’s judging me

    1. Bogeywoman

      Mmmn…nnaaahhhv

      1. Bogeywoman

        :/

        1. Chris

          and you thought Jacob was judgy…

  41. Masumi

    For a moment there my subconciousness assumed Booster to be a figment of Sarah’s imagination.

  42. Ornathe

    I’m definitely getting the feeling that Booster just doesn’t quite know how to turn off the “I know just enough about both of you that I can start playing the prediction game to start psychoanalyzing how I think this will turn out” switch and keep their mouth shut. I’ve known plenty of people like that IRL. I do actually like Booster *and* I think they’re being much less helpful than they think, so I’m excited to see how they end up developing, especially since they haven’t experienced a lot of consequences yet for their butting in on people’s moments.

    Also, honestly, I just can’t wait to see how Tony’s going to deal with them, given his stated intolerance of buffoonery and the like.

    1. Wraithy2773

      The problem I have is that Booster’s shown awareness that this is an issue of theirs, that they instinctively butt in and drop Freshman Psych Student Bombs through cold reading on people.

      Obviously its not as simple as “if you demonstrate one iota of awareness of a problem, you should have total control over it”, but I expect some effort from them on trying to hold themself back and… Booster’s just full-on indulging here.

      1. Ornathe

        Yeah, I definitely think they need the reminder that they’re not actually close enough to certain people (like Sarah) for this to be within acceptable parameters. It can be hard to gauge whether you’re actually close with someone or if you just spend a lot of time somewhat adjacently to someone, especially if you tend to observe people so much you think you know them really well and forget you’ve barely actually held any conversations with them.

        Whatever Booster is trying to get at with this conversation, I do genuinely hope Tony shows up and makes it clear that Booster’s not just overtly intruding on them both, but ignoring Sarah’s very clearly stated current boundaries of “get outta here”, because that’s at least as much of an issue as the uninvited social analysis Booster’s decided to put in her face.

  43. thumb

    Booster, you’re giving Cheschire Cat. Stop that. Just talk like a human being.

    1. Taffy

      Speaking with my authority as Themperor, I’ve decided it’s phobic of some kind to ask a nonbinary person not to talk like a weirdo.

      1. Insanenoodlyguy

        Sometimes a weirdo is still being a jackass and since they are talking about you to you in particular you’d like them to stop.

        1. Taffy

          Irrelevant

  44. Jess

    Please please please let Raidah find out that Sarah and Tony are starting to hit it off an try a buffoonery. It’d be satisfying for her to actually face consequences for how she treats people.

    1. Jess

      Oh lemme try a new icon.

      1. Jess

        Cute but nah.

  45. Jess

    God dammit Mayala

    1. Jess

      Well it didn’t go to reply but Joyce is ok, but I’m not feeling it.

      1. Jess

        Joyce twice in a row? wtf?

        1. Jess

          Nooooooo

        2. Jess

          Ok Sal is acceptable. At the very least I love her vibe.

        3. Michael Steamweed

          Yes, a preferable alternative to the Malaya one. And on-par with the Joyce one. You got a good one here. 😀

  46. Michael Steamweed

    Dumbing of Age Book XX: That’s The Comfortest Of Zones For Me.

  47. ValdVin

    What is Booster doing there? By the looks of that mug, playing mahjong.

    I do want to hear more about Sarah’s dating past.

  48. zee

    Rollin

    1. zee

      Man that’s a pretty Ruth. Anyway

      1. zee

        Rollin

        1. zee

          Rollin

        2. zee

          One more?

        3. Rectilinear Propagation

          Though the streams are swollen
          Keep them dogies rollin’, rawhide

  49. goggleman64

    if the college shut down you’d have a diaspora of deans

  50. Mr.Morningstar

    i dont doubt booster genuinely was just there for coffee but they really just cannot help but butting their nose into other peoples business huh?

  51. Icalasari

    WAIT HOW DID I THINK THIS WAS BOOSTER’S SIBLING!?

    This WHOLE time I was all, “Oddly… Put together?”

    1. Charles Phipps

      Charlie is, honestly, a lot more memorable.

  52. Charles Phipps

    I believe this is where Booster went from being amateur psychologist to cold-reading shit stirrer.

    1. Daibhid C

      “Cold-reading shit stirrer” seems like an excellent description of their first appearance.

    2. Shakes

      Shit stirring cold-reading was their establishing character moment during the floor meeting!

  53. BorkBorkBork

    People are drawing parallels with Booster and Mike. I’d go so far as to say that this is worse than Mike.

    With Mike, you’d know he was being an asshole. He was very clearly being hostile. You knew where you stood with him. The twist was that sometimes, he acted that way because he cared for the other person and wanted to push them to be better.

    With Booster, they’re complimentary! Friendly! Chummy even! Except we know that they pay EXTREMELY close attention to people and their behaviors, and so when their interaction with someone else causes them extreme discomfort, it’s likely that they intended it. The twist with Booster is, despite how downright affable they are, there’s no evidence that they think of other people as anything more than interesting things to play with. They are close with no one.

    1. Daibhid C

      I find it interesting that people are far quicker to ascribe noble motives to Mike than to Booster. You may even be right, but their motives seem equally opaque, and their results seem roughly similar.

      I guess the moral is, if you want to make someone a better person through discomfort, make sure they know that you’re being an asshole on purpose. Punching them is an option.

      1. Charles Phipps

        Mike had Shortpacked fans and Its Walky too.

        Basically, a decade or so of people who knew he was an asshole with a heart of gold like Wolverine.

      2. Devin

        I don’t remember if it was ever explicitly said, but we were definitely pointed in the direction of Mike being at least partly motivated by improving people.

        We haven’t really gotten much of Booster’s history yet or all that much time with them, so it’s so far easier to see them as being a shit-stirrer more than anything else. Their “help” has also escalated some conflicts iirc (I don’t have the time right now to go look for specific strips, so I could be wrong).

        We had a lot of time with Mike and also the possibility of having good motivations wasn’t enough to redeem Mike in a lot of people’s eyes (very reasonably). So it doesn’t surprise me that Booster seems to have a worse image in a lot of readers’ eyes (mine included so far).

      3. BorkBorkBork

        I think it’s because with Mike, we got to see behind the curtain. Mike had friends, he defended his friends, he fought for those friends. And when he was a jerk to people, that pushed them to be better. Walky cleaned up, stopped dressing like a slob, and now is seen as hot, partially because Mike pushed it to the edge with the pajama jeans. Ethan stopped being embarrassed about being gay and started meeting people *because* of Mike.

        And the reason he acts that way was partially due to trauma, of seeing just how horrible Amber’s father was, and realizing that people like that existed and that the only way to protect the people you love is to fight.

        Whereas Booster’s first major action is calling out and psychoanalyzing half the people in Ruth’s RA meeting to an extremely personal degree, feigning sympathy but not really making any real meaningful connection with any of them. They took an opening given by Ruth and seemed to really have fun with it. They purposefully seek out the people who have the most interesting and problematic issues, and add kindling to the fire to see what happens. We don’t know yet if they intend good or bad, but we see this happening before they have a meaningful connection or friendship with any of them. So Booster is either a saint, who goes out of their way to try to help and aid every person that they ever encounter, and is just so gosh-darned oblivious that they miss that they sometimes step way over the line, or their interpersonal relationships are just massive social experiments..

        I’m not sure that Mike and Booster have the same result at all. Mike’s results were *immediately* far worse, but you could comfortably ignore them. There’s only so often someone can say “your mom for a nickel” before you roll your eyes and ignore them. With Booster, you can’t ignore them without being rude, and if you call them out, you’re being antisocial. And while Mike’s end goal might have been to help his friends, we don’t know what Booster’s end goal is, if they have any.

        Mike may have been a sociopath, but sociopaths can still make friendships, feel guilt, have remorse. Booster’s behavior – superficially charming, manipulative, with no close friendships and just a tad bit narcissistic – well, there’s more than a few parallels with psychopathy. And as Willis has done a few things to draw parallels between Mike and Booster (both rooming the same, both having the same essential role in the story, several people even calling them “new Mike” in the beginning) it’s something that I keep in mind as I watch their antics.

        1. Taffy

          I’m still not fully on the up-and-up with sociopathy vs psychopathy. Is the implication that Booster could be screaming something terrible?

        2. BorkBorkBork

          Both are antisocial disorders that struggle with empathy to other people.

          Sociopath is the one who struggles with anger, is occasionally physically and verbally abusive, routinely breaks rules and laws, lies frequently, and is very impulsive. They CAN have friendships, they can feel feelings, but often its a bit shallow and short. They are capable at times of guilt but don’t often show it. They may make some close friends, but very few.

          Psychopaths seem like normal people. They are often charming, charismatic, flattering. They make friends, they’re generally liked, they often rise to the top of their social circles and get promotions at work. They do this because they intensely study people to understand them out of self-preservation, because they don’t feel any emotion at all. Any emotion they show is a carefully crafted facade. They don’t make close friends, only allies; they don’t have any moral compass or sense of right and wrong. They will happily lay off thousands of people if they can spin it just right and make bank for their shareholders.

          The psychopath is the healthcare CEO who denies coverage to tens of thousands of people as a matter of business and can quantify just how valuable certain clauses are in their insurance policy. The sociopath is the person who buys a gun, etches words into the bullets, and spends a few days tracking the CEO’s movements so he can shoot him in the middle of the street, because that CEO’s policy fucked with someone he cares about.

        3. Charles Phipps

          Psychopaths have reduced empathy but they’re also not serial killers or evil CEOs necessarily either. They can also treat their illness.

      4. Yumi

        Mike was way, way worse than Booster. That said, I can understand people finding him a fun character, and people are often more forgiving to characters they enjoy.

        1. BorkBorkBork

          Mike *as a whole* is worse than Booster.

          In this situation, Booster’s actions are worse than what Mike’s would have been.

          If Mike was sitting here, he’d say some cutting remark about how you don’t know if Tony likes you for the person you pretended to be today, or for who you really are, and how much of you do you reallly want to open up? And that would make Sarah angry. Then Tony would show up, ask if Mike was bothering her, she’d say yes, and Tony’d shove Mike in a trash can. Tony would then say that he likes her how she is, and they’d be that much stronger for it.

          With Booster here, they’re taking Sarah out of this moment and suddenly slapping a label on Tony as “The Dean’s Son,” which is going to drive how many insecurities and make it so that she’ll self-sabotage. And then when Tony shows up, he asks if Booster is bothering her, she says no but they’re just leaving, and Booster bows out graciously. If Tony heard mention of his father he might acknowledge it, but he won’t say much (because it doesn’t matter to him), and that will just hang more and more on Sarah’s mind as she starts to self-sabotage.

          Could this situation with Booster turn out good? Oh sure, absolutely. But Mike gives you an easy villain to put in their place and say, “No, you’re wrong, I’m better than this.” Booster’s subtler, plausibly deniable shitstirring is much harder to overcome, because there’s no obvious villain. Booster isn’t telling her “don’t open up” or “you’re not good enough” or “you can’t be yourself;” but their words will lead to Sarah feeling those things.

          Neither is good. I wouldn’t want to be friends with either. But Mike’s the sort of friend that would throw himself at a murderer and die to save you. Booster’s the kind of friend that I’d have for years, slowly and slowly feeling worse about myself, until I realized years later that it’s actually a toxic friendship, but I can’t do or say anything because they’re friends with all of my friends and any attempt to distance myself will make me look like an asshole and risk losing all of my friends.

        2. thejeff

          Mike is also the kind of friend who will also screw with his friend’s trauma and mental illness for years to turn her into “multiple time-bombs” to point at her dad.

          Much of the reason he died to save Amber was that he saw his own treatment of her reflected in Blaine’s abusive rant about trying to make her stronger.

  54. Max

    “Well you told me I have a plethora and I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora and find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora ”

    a classic

    1. BorkBorkBork

      A man goes to a funeral and asks the widow, “Mind if I say a word?”
      She replies, “Please do.”
      The man clears his throat and says, “Plethora.”
      The widow replies, “Thanks, that means a lot.”

      another classic

  55. Astariel

    I know it’s a trope of works in college settings, but it’s a bit weird to me how big a deal so many characters seem to think the dean is. I don’t think I could have even told you the dean’s name when I was in college, and that was a school about 1/40th the size of IU. Maybe deans are a bigger deal in bigger schools?

    1. BorkBorkBork

      My school was reasonably small – like 2500 students – but we knew the dean. Then again, we knew him because he had a reputation of being a lush on a campus that was advertised as “dry” but not enforced. And if you were ever a part of an event that had a social gathering at the Dean’s residence, you could guarantee drinks.

    2. Daibhid C

      To be fair, Sarah doesn’t seem to know who the dean is either.

      When I was at uni, I had absolutely zero idea how Edinburgh University was organised beyond what I needed to actually take classes, so I’m not even sure they had deans. It’s kind of like how I’m not sure who my immediate boss’s boss is, much less who’s at the top of the pyramid.

      But I’m sure there are people who prefer to know who’s ultimately in charge, and they may even have reasons for it other than sucking up to them.

    3. Yumi

      I don’t think Sarah really knows who the dean is, but she *does* see the dean as an important person. I get that– I couldn’t have named the dean for my part of the university when I was there, but one time I hade to meet with the *vice* dean, and that felt like a big deal. (Also, her office was super fancy.)

    4. HueSatLight

      We knew who the chancellor’s nephew was at mine, kind of a rumor mill about potential nepo or something.

  56. Rectilinear Propagation

    For a second, I thought Booster’s cup had the AO3 logo on it.

  57. Charles Phipps

    It’s a shame Booster and Mike could never meet.

    Mike: …

    Booster: You are just pure evil.

    1. Yak

      Mike/Booster would be my favorite toxic pairing. Nobody would ever mention how they’re obviously hooking up, they would never even hint at fond feelings for each other, but undeniable smashing would occur whenever their roommates are away.

  58. Yakumo

    I’m sure this has occurred to many people before, but I am wondering if Booster and Charilie have been doing the Lannister Twin thing. Westeros did not have any real recognition of LGBTQ+, so they had to stop at puberty, but I’m feeling slight adjustments for these two would allow it (not knowing voices, but balance of probabilities they could mimic each other).

  59. Rabisch

    There are more deans than necessary. Several should be eliminated.

    1. StClair

      I am not a crackpot.

  60. HueSatLight

    A surfeit of deans.

  61. Rocketboy1313

    For a woman who seems to find muscular or built dudes attractive she is weirdly hostile to Joe.
    I get that he projects a bit of scum-bag vibe, but if she is just looking to get pounded I am confused as to why she would see that as such a barrier to entry.

    1. NickG

      In ‘Roomies’ they were antagonists-with-benefits so Joe fits Sarah’s idea of physically attractive at least.

    2. Jeremiah

      Hating someone personally can definitely impact how attractive you find them.

      1. Casi

        Yup. personal feelings towards a person can drastically change how attractive someone is to you, in either direction.

    3. thejeff

      Their very first interaction involved Joe hitting on Joyce while shoving Danny at Sarah saying “wear a condom”. The follow up was the “fix her with my penis” bit.
      That set the tone and was a bit more than “bit of scum-bag vibe”. Following that up by hitting on her even after she told him to go away and talking about how he liked her angry energy certainly didn’t help.

  62. Poyo

    Booster I love you

    1. Jeremiah

      Finally someone who gets it.

    2. BBCC

      Meeee

    3. Bittersweet

      Booster is basically The Devil, or like… a little trickster spirit. I don’t know the trope name, I just love them so much when they pop up because it really feels like the specific trope whose name I’ve forgotten.

      Like, yeah they’re a little shit. It’s part of the fun.

      1. Jamie

        I kinda want the Yakuza font that you get in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth random encounters to pop up as a nameplate under Booster, like when you ram a palm tree and some guy falls out.

      2. Poyo

        idk the trope but they are very Fae-esque

  63. Arianod

    So, the ‘ster’ in Booster is for ‘hipster’?

  64. Romanticide

    Not cool Booster, not cool from your part.

  65. Asky

    Well now Sarah should date the hell out of him because it’d make Raidah very annoyed

  66. Shawn Levasseur

    “What are you doing here, Booster?!”

    “Exposition.”

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