324

Framework
Posted on February 23, 2017 by David M Willis

324 thoughts on “Framework”

  1. Doctor_Who

    “Here’s the button for the air conditioning, here’s the cup holder, here’s the anti-personnel mines.”

    “What was that last one?”

    “…Cup holder?”

    1. shewhosmilesatdeath

      Oh gods where is Ana Cronistic! *panic* *actually worries*

      Also, I want shoes with active airconditioning, that’d be cool.

      1. Wack'd

        Me too. My feet get really hot when I use shoes for any amount of time.

        1. Masumi

          Same here. Stopped wearing shoes.

      2. Pablo360

        I think Ana said they would be out for a bit.

      3. Reltzik

        I’d vent about overly hot shoes, except I’m pretty sure that was a sole-sucking pun.

        1. H3xx

          You’re right, a pun like that would blow…

      4. N0083rP00F

        I think they call them by various archaic names – flip flops, terradactyles, croakers etc etc

      5. Roborat

        I see what you did there.

  2. factorsofx

    Get engineering’d, Joyce.

    1. Reltzik

      Do you even wrench, girl-bro?

      Icouldputsistherebutitdoesn’tscanquiterightwiththeoriginalbutIcan’tusetheunalteredoriginalbecausegettinggenderrightissuperimportantinthiscaseandohgeezIjustgottheworstofbothworldsdidn’tI?

      1. Dark

        Bro is gender neutral, bro.

        1. GreyDefender

          “I’m a dude, he’s a dude, she’s a dude, hey, we’re all dudes”

    2. All-Purpose Guru

      You made fun of us nerds because you KNEW we were gonna take over the world. Now we have. Enjoy that iPhone, we exchanged it for your SOUL.

      1. Clif

        https://www.spreadshirt.com/create-your-own?product=1015997783&view=1

        1. leafirebender

          The wait for it to load made the joke all the better

  3. AnvilPro

    Joyce is too pure for defeat Carla, the only winning move was not to play.

    1. Kingmonster

      I thought that only applies to Computers that play nuclear war games?

      1. Killjoy

        Joyce is the thermonuclear of nice.

  4. Porto

    D’aaaawwwwww!

    1. Angelbadman

      Panels three and four are all the adorables.

  5. Nono

    Carla is TALL.

    1. Rocketboy1313

      Skates.

    2. Kernanator

      She’s not tall, the building is just hobbit-sized!

    3. tim gueguen

      Yep. Of course she might be wearing her skates here, making her even taller.

    4. Viktoria

      She’s not that tall, she just looks big because she’s standing next to a bug.

      1. Needfuldoer

        A 5’4″ bug.

        She’s about a head taller than Joyce, so Carla’s probably close to 6′ (plus a couple inches when she’s wearing skates).

  6. ValdVin

    Carla, nice from Joyce is default, a given. Don’t you know yet?

    1. Pablo360

      Actually, how much DOES Carla know about Joyce? Their interactions thus far have not been many.

      1. ValdVin

        Point taken. Carla will learn in time. She may not know what to do with someone treating her like Joyce does, after the survival mechanisms Carla has needed.

        1. Pablo360

          I sense some somber backstory/wacky hijinx coming up where Carla bares her soul to Joyce and shares her deepest insecurities; Joyce, not knowing what to do, eventually confides in Sal, who thinks these are Joyce’s own feelings and consoles her. Joyce then passes this back to Carla.

          This keeps going for a while, until one day through happenstance, Carla and Sal figure out that Joyce was just a third wheel for this weird therapy session, and the two of them find happiness in each other that they were denied by the world…

          Sometimes I wonder why I don’t write fanfiction.

        2. Dellaran

          I think you just did!

        3. ValdVin

          Yes, I think so also.

          I’m not going that far.in the shipping channel, but that’s my nature. I can’t recall who knows about Carla at this point, but I do think you’re right about Carla confiding and Joyce somehow making another ally for Carla out.of someone on the floor.

        4. Reltzik

          I expect a bunch of freakout soon because Joyce has no proper idea of what a trans woman is.

        5. Cerberus

          Wait. Fundie girl who isn’t calling me a hell spawn or making inappropriate comments about my genitals or where I “belong” and is instead being super nice no matter how much I try and snap at her?

          What is this spore of madness?!?

        6. BBCC

          A spore of madness who has not figured it out yet.

          That will be…a conversation. Hopefully a good conversation.

        7. Deanatay

          I can easily imagine a line of conversation with Dorothy:

          D: You DO realize Carla is transsexual, right?
          J: What?? Dottie, don’t be silly! That’s kinda sexist of you!
          D: Of ME? Wha-?
          J: Just because Carla acts kinda manly sometimes, doesn’t mean she wants to BE a guy, silly! Tomboys are a thing!
          D: Wh-? No, Joyce – Carla USED TO BE A GUY.
          J: What?? No, NO, that’s even sillier! There’s no way our school would let someone who was born a man use the same bathroom as normal women wait this is my horribly sexist upbringing lying to me again, isn’t it?
          D: Sorry, Joyce.
          J: Dammit.

        8. Pablo360

          “used to be a guy” is not acceptable terminology, and more importantly I feel like Dorothy would be aware of this

        9. Li

          Also transsexual is probably not the word Dorothy would use, that’s from an older generation. Transgender or trans.

        10. Pablo360

          Transsexual is SOMETIMES used to refer to people who have had surgery, esp. related to genitals, but it’s fallen out of use and is not an acceptable general term (since sex ≠ gender).

        11. Kamino Neko

          There’s still plenty of people who prefer transsexual.

          Some of them even hate ‘transgender’, because of its umbrella nature. (I’ve encountered one woman who considered it the worst thing you could call her.)

        12. sun tzu

          It’s not like Joyce knows Carla is trans.

        13. C.T. Phipps

          I think Joyce might actually, which would be a nice twist as it wouldn’t require a “My god, trans people exist” scene like so many other events in her life.

        14. Emperor Daniel

          Unless Joyce has since learned about it off-screen, all Joyce knows about Carla is that “she gets a room all to herself for some reason”.

        15. Fart Captor

          She IS taking a gender studies class, so it’s not impossible

        16. thejeff

          Possible, but dramatically poor. Joyce growing and learning about such issues is a large part of the point of the comic. Having that happen off screen would likely ruin the dramatic tension of the conflict. As, in my opinion, would Joyce learning to accept trans-people through Carla rather than when she finds out about Jocelyn. That’s where the stakes are highest for her, so that’s where the confrontation should happen.

        17. begbert2

          I’m pretty sure Joyce could handle the learning process a lot better with Carla, and then when/if Jocelyn gets revealed it could then be Joyce demonstrating how she’s grown in the face of the rest of her family’s rejection. That would probably be narratively stronger than Joyce learning from Jocelyn’s situation and taking that knowledge back ‘home’ to deal with Carla, a lower-stakes situation.

        18. thejeff

          Maybe, but it drastically lowers the stakes when Jocelyn comes out, since we’ll already know Joyce will be fine with it.

          It would certainly be easier for Jocelyn if Joyce is already prepared. 🙂

      2. Angelbadman

        Are you asking how would Carla know about the girl in her dorm that injured her arm punching out the gun wielding homophobe that came to kidnap his homosexual daughter and return her to Jesus’ sunny goodness by force?

        No idea, but there might have been talk, you never know.

        1. Cerberus

          Ooh, we do know that she heard about that incident and talked to one of the people involved, so that would be super cool if it turned out Carla did this partially to thank her for standing up for the queer kids.

        2. Angelbadman

          I think so as well. Either that or this is Carla’s way of showing care to someone that has been through a dramatically negative experience that Carla herself can relate to. Either way, Carla rules.

        3. begbert2

          At this point I prefer to think that Carla is just horrifically offended by poor engineering. Sometimes it’s nice if not *everything* is related to something deep.

        4. Hellespont

          can’t agree, there is a whole extra layer of unnecessary contact going on with all of that big talk. Unless you are saying Carla really is an unreconstructed narcissist?

  7. tim gueguen

    Nice verbal aikido, Joyce.

  8. MM

    Panel four may be the most adorable Joyce has ever been.

  9. bearfuz

    I ship this. Those two will learn important things from each other.

    1. Travestyhat

      I’d be down for this.

    2. Viktoria

      An asexual girl and a girl who is panicked at the thought of sex while so horny she’s about to explode? I see no way this could go wrong.

      1. Pablo360

        Well, when it comes down to that, Carla could just use her — oh wait, she doesn’t have that in this universe…

        1. WonderRabbit

          Or DOES she?

        2. Emperor Daniel

          That hand she used to pie Mary had to come from somewhere…

        3. merbrat

          Detachable.
          Transferred to External Rube Goldberg Delivery System..

      2. Wack'd

        “No no it’s great we can help each other control our urges”

        “I have no urges”

        “I’m not sure what to do with this information”

      3. Tan

        Perhaps Carla takes to building more and more elaborate sex toys to the point that all Joyce has to do is step into Carla’s room (and only Joyce, with facial recognition and gait analysis, and the door will shut and Joyce will be whisked around the room, pleasured in ways unfathomable to mere non-engineer mortals and placed in bed with Carla for cuddles while the various equipment goes through sanitation and sterilization cycle.

    3. Bagge

      I look forward to all the things Joyce will learn from Carla. She will be a delightfully bad influence.

      1. Pablo360

        “Hey, Joyce. Now that we’re (ugh) ‘friends’, there’s something I’ve always wanted to do… but you’re the only one who can pull it off.”

        “What is it, Carla?”

        Take this socket wrench and go to Mary’s room on Friday night when she’s at her ‘faith’ retreat…”

        1. Pablo360

          That was by far the most complicated comment I have ever made, and it all worked perfectly… EXCEPT I FORGOT A “

          This is somehow even more annoying than if it were completely broken.

        2. sun tzu

          …Man, Feynman was kind of a jerk.

        3. MatthewTheLucky

          I believe the term is Magnificent Bastard.

        4. NotPiffany

          Give the man credit. He never lied about it.

        5. Pablo360

          In fact, he openly admitted it!

        6. NotPiffany

          Twice! (Before they believed him.)

        7. vlademir1

          I knew the 762 thing with a .999999 and so forth certainty, but I didn’t know the door thing until I clicked.

          Mind you I didn’t know the 762 story until a while back when I saw a Mathologer video where he was wearing a t-shirt referencing it without mentioning Feynman and went to Google trying to figure out what that was about.

  10. Some1

    Is this Carla’s fetish? This feels like a fetish

    1. Foxhack

      Owning people? I’m pretty sure that’s just her default mode.

      1. Reltzik

        She’s clearly a master engineer.

    2. Leorale

      She’s asexual, but this may be what she’s got instead of a fetish.

    3. Bagge

      I think it’s her version of small talk

    4. Emily

      I think it’s more a combo of various defense mechanisms. Not letting people close and bolstering your self worth whenever you can are lessons a lot of trans people learn pretty early on.

  11. Tacos

    So what else can those jug shoes do?

    1. Wack'd

      They can play Street Fighter 2.

      1. Dark

        And Doom.

      2. Tomas

        I understood that reference.

    2. Angelbadman

      Hold water?

      1. Neeks

        That might prove a problem when Joyce goes to shower, actually.

      2. Gwen

        Carla may have fixed that too; all you need to do is poke some holes in the bottom to let it run out.

        1. Hellespont

          That would undermine the already suspect structural integrity, Insaid, just being difficult.

    3. Needfuldoer

      Open up pun opportunities?

  12. miados

    sometimes people want to be nice but dont want to be seen as nice. I’m not sure why though. I mean i want to be seen but for some reason tend to try and hide so……

    1. Carms

      I want to be slightly intimidating, but also able to be relied upon for kindness. like, I *could* crush you like a bug, but you can be reasonably sure I won’t. That’s the vibe I’m going for.

      1. A Scientist

        That’s what I am! I wasn’t trying to achieve it, but now that I have, I kind of like it. I can be as kind as I want to be to everyone without fear of anyone messing with me. It’s pretty great.

        1. carms

          shit son damn. and a scientist. damn son shit.

        2. A Scientist

          If I were any good at being a scientist, I would have reached peak me.

    2. StClair

      To some, admitting that you care or feel – about anything – is admitting vulnerability. Because others can take advantage of that.

      This is, of course, dysfunctional and toxic as hell.

      1. miados

        I want to feel but well i have a hard time feeling and such. I have had a doctor once tell me I am a little numb and have a hard time noticing emotions compared to most people. Not severe but still enough that it was noticed….. I think its part of why i was scared/confused when i was on some medication that made me start to cry sometimes and i didn’t know how to handle it.

        1. Leorale

          That makes perfect sense. Feelings often don’t come back all at once, and there’s often an adjustment period as they even themselves out.
          Here’s a comic about that: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2013/05/depression-part-two.html?m=1

      2. thejeff

        Dysfunctional and toxic as hell, and a very useful defense mechanism when you are very vulnerable. Projecting an image of being a dangerous asshole can keep you from being targeted.

    3. Cerberus

      Kindness gets seen as weakness a lot by bigot types. And when you’re marginalized, being nice can often serve as a radioactive glowing sign around your neck saying “you can kick this one as much as you like, she won’t fight back”.

      Being seen as prickly, as someone who will cut you if you do them wrong can get the cowardly bigots to back off. It’s pretty much the reason I have resting bongo face anytime I need to go somewhere public. Because it reduces the amount of casual harassment I get by half.

      But actually being an asshole is well… shit.

      So better to be a good person, but only let safe people know that.

      1. Cerberus

        Like, we can actually see that rather directly in the left, how kindness and empathy were turned into reasons to attack us and how bigots relied on our strong belief in fairness and empathizing with others to get us not to actively fight back. Now we see that a few blows makes them very hesitant to fuck with us and the bigots are very uneasy about a state of affairs where their former abuse targets are angry, organized, and willing to punch back if necessary.

    4. Yumi

      Gratitude makes me uncomfortable, so that’s part of my reasoning.

  13. Dana

    Aww Carla. We love you.

  14. Passchendaele

    I’m pretty sure there was supposed to be a “a pitiful bug” in that compound word. 😛

    Domination, one jug shoe at a time!

  15. fillerusername

    Aww Carla made a friend.

    1. Pablo360

      JOYCE ISN’T MY FRIEND, SHE IS MY LOYAL SUBJECT!

      (from the bathroom) “What — but Rachel’s hair hasn’t been that color since — GAH!”

      AND AS HER LIEGE I MUST NOW… PUNISH HER FOR… ANNOYING ME! (grabs handmade, specialized hair vacuum)

    2. Bagge

      NO! SHE DOMINATED A BUG, SHE DOESN’T HAVE FRIENDS, SHE IS TOO COOL FOR FRIENDS (she didn’t hurt Joyce’s feelings or anything, right, just have to check… NOT THAT SHE CARES, OF COURSE)

      1. BBCC

        Well OF course she had to check, duh, she’s an asshole, not mean.

        Not that she cares about being mean, just, y’know, setting the record straight so she can CONTINUE to not care about being mean.

        1. Deanatay

          Carla Rutten – tsundere via engineering.

          I’m not being nice, I’m being a badass engineer! Any beneficial side-effects are purely unintended, and any attempts to credit them to my personality will be met with extreme hostility! I do NOT require you to like my work!

          …

          That being said, you DO like my work, right?

  16. Dave

    If engineering ends up not working out for her (far-fetched as that is), Carla has a promising career ahead of her as a dom.

    1. Killian

      Depending on whether or not she’s sex-repulsed. I kinda feel like in SP, Ultra-Car was sex-indifferent-I-just-don’t-want-to-have-any, but I don’t know how much of that carried over, since I don’t know if that counts as part of the multiversal constant of sexuality…..

      (Sorry, I relate highly to Ultra-Car’s feelings on sex. I might not be a trans-chassis robot car, but I am a non-binary sarcastic misanthrope.)

      1. boop

        from what i understand, a lot of professional doms are purely non-sexual. i know my own dom/sub tendencies have little to do with sex and more to do with service/praise *shrug*

        1. Dave

          That was what I meant, yeah. Pro doms don’t do sex to their clients, because it’d be prostitution and illegal (unless they’re in Nevada).

  17. Stephen Bierce

    *for no reason presented in the strip, plays The Hollies’ “Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress” on the hacked Muzak*

  18. Fart Captor

    I love everything about this ^_^

    1. Leorale

      I know, right? I just want to comment a series of hearts.

  19. Solenoid

    Joyce sees right through the prickly facade. D’awww

  20. DinaWho

    So Carla basically overnighted this. Nice.

    I like how it takes into account Joyce’s desire to switch out the jugs after each use too.

  21. Sam

    Carla: *Rescuing puppies* THESE PUPPIES ARE BEING OWNED. *Takes them home*

    1. CrockedCop

      “and bakes them into cookies”

      1. Cerberus

        Yeah, that’s right, that’s how evil I am! I just murdered puppies!

        *arfing sounds from dorm room*

        … you heard nothing.

  22. Keulan

    Carla, if you really want people to think you’re a jerk, you have to stuff doing nice things for them.

    1. Keulan

      stop, not stuff, I don’t know how I messed that up

      1. Nono

        Stuff is also a synonym, so that works.

  23. Emperor Daniel

    Joyce is now Carla’s eternal bug slave. She’s the worker ant to Carla’s queen bee.

    1. Tacos

      Wouldn’t Joyce be a worker bee instead?

    2. Leorale

      The ant/bee language divide is tough but it’s worth it.

      1. Dellaran

        I know, right? I never could understand old Aunt Bea…

  24. lia47

    shipping it a lil

  25. Opus the Poet

    Yes Carla, how you pwn people is by being nice to them.

  26. Architex

    If this is how Carla’s pranks go, I can see why everyone kinda forgot she’s an ass.

    1. Cerberus

      “Yeah, there was the time she fixed my chair and made me call myself a bug. It was weird.”

  27. Larkle

    THIS IS NOT KINDNESS THIS IS DOMINANCE!

    1. Bagge

      Hmmmmm. You might be onto an entirely new form of fetish there.

      1. Reltzik

        I thought that super-kind-but-still-completely-in-control dom was an EXISTING fetish.

        1. Emperor Norton II

          “I’m going to give you a backrub now… But only to show how superior I am at giving backrubs!”

        2. Gwen

          I have a friend who refers to himself as a “service dom.” He’ll give you exactly what he wants while being totally in charge.

        3. Reltzik

          Sooo…. Microsoft Automatic Updates.

      2. Emily

        You say that as if gentle dominance isn’t already a kink.

        1. Bagge

          Reltik and Emily: It exists? Oh… um… I may have some googling to do right now…

      3. Deanatay

        “You’re being… NICE to me.

        Is that supposed to… turn me on, or something?

        Because… because it DOESN’T!! OBVIOUSLY!! I’m not that kind of girl!! Not some kind of… romantic poems and chivalry… -loving FREAK!!

        … BAKA!”

  28. Shiro

    God Joyce quit breaking character, that’s not what a bug would say at all!

    (Look at my baby all bein’ nice to people c: )

    1. Shiro

      Also that teeny slice of Slipshine keeps tricking me into thinking it’s an invisible (in this crop) threesome, what with how screamy Sayid is being an’ all.

  29. Kernanator

    “You are owned, you are owned!” I scream as I try to use my witchcraft to turn you into a corn cob.

    1. Reltzik

      Don’t scream like that, or your voice will get all raw and husky.

      *flees for dear punning life*

    2. Emperor Daniel

      Now that you’re here, I can see the value of your corn!

  30. BBCC

    I love Carla’s face at the end – just like ‘what are the words coming out of your mouth, you little peon?’

    1. Reltzik

      “… not as loud as your actions?”

      “WELL I CAN FIX THAT IS THIS BETTER HUH?“

  31. Marvelman

    Okay, I admit this one is cute.

    I still can’t post without using a proxy though. I wonder what if I did something to cheese Willis off?

    1. Pablo360

      If you have to post using a proxy you probably shouldn’t be posting.

    2. Angelbadman

      Ignore the thread police, whatever it was, don’t do it again. Welcome back, that is not a proxy, it is the kinder, gentler, newer you.

      1. Marvelman

        Thank-you. I did say something stupid which I later apologized for. You make on dumb remark and you’re branded forever… Sheesh. And I thought conservatives were supposed to be the intolerant ones.

        1. Angelbadman

          yeah, this year has provided a lot of shock value for conservatives. Find out they aren’t looking at a bunch of pacifist doormats has come as a shock to many.

        2. Marvelman

          I would consider myself a progressive, and I don’t think it’s the majority of conservatives who are bad people. I think it’s just that the lunatic fringe has taken over the Republican Party.

        3. Emily

          And the majority of conservatives that didn’t care enough about marginalized people to stop them. If you stuck with the Republican Party through all of its blatant bigotry and corruption you’re NOT a good person you’re the white moderate Dr. King railed against.

        4. vlademir1

          What does that say about those who were Dems during the era of the Dixicrats? Also what does it say about those who stayed with the Republican party, as the most representative voice of their views otherwise, while fighting unsuccessfully against the BS from the leadership? It’s important to not paint whole large groups of people with a single broad brush even, and perhaps especially, when we disagree with them.

          Were I to not keep that in mind at all times I would have to call out the vast majority of people in the US for supporting either the Democrats or the Republicans as the public back and forth between the two while working together to ensure no other Party viewpoint has a chance to oust either is what keeps both being relevant enough to have lead us to the present issues of the broken backwards BS from the republican leadership not leading to a serious rift or out and out split. Kill either and the other will inevitably topple and we’re stuck with a broken system where ballot access rules keeps everyone from having a chance to have a voice in national governance.

        5. Hellespont

          60 odd million people voted for Trump specifically. They endorsed and validated everything that is happening now. That is not a marginal group. Hiding behind things that happened three generations ago does not change or excuse what is happening here.

        6. thejeff

          A couple points: As much as the Dixiecrats sucked, Republicans of the era weren’t much better at least by early 20th century. And frankly, for most Dems in that period, what it says is that they were racist. Like most white people of the time. Even before the final split after the Civil Rights Era, when the Dixiecrats largely shifted parties, the (Northern) Democrats had moved to being the less racist party – drawing support from blacks as part of the labor movement, integrating the military, etc.

          And it’s not “ballot access rules”, but the fundamental nature of the first past the post electoral system that keeps us stuck with two parties.

        7. trlkly

          Tolerance does not mean that people have to tolerate intolerance. An apology does not mean that someone has to accept it.

          You are being understandably cagey about what you actually said and what your apology actually consists of. Without that, we cannot in any way judge whether Willis was right.

          I will admit that he does seem to get too angry at times. But, having also been raised in a conservative just world fallacy, I get it. It sucks how unjust the world actually is. Sometimes we just want to attack back.

          I’ve cringed at what he’s said before, but I also cringe at what I’ve said. There’s almost always a better way to say it without coming off as a jerk, but I don’t always take it.

          Point is, he may have overreacted, but, if he did, it’s perfectly understandable. And he may not have overreacted at all, since we don’t know what happened.

          Either way, tolerance is not a weapon. Please don’t use it to attack people.

        8. Sam

          This is true, going ‘wow, thought X were supposed to be the intolerant ones!’ makes it sound less like you learned from what you said, and more like you just want to make people feel guilty for you being punished at all.

          No one has to ‘tolerate’ comments that they find hurtful/offensive/harmful and they don’t have to remove the consequences just because you apologise as an apology should be you accepting you did wrong and deserved consequences of some kind, not a means to getting consequences removed or reduced, as people don’t have to forgive you; it isn’t an appeasement to quell their wrath, it is accepting fault.

          And even if they do forgive you, that still doesn’t mean they have to remove the consequences when they prevent you causing the same kind of harm again.

        9. Elitist Oars

          “Tolerance does not mean that people have to tolerate intolerance. ”

          More coherently: Everyone tolerates some things but not others,
          but most people only ever brand as “intolerance” the things that *others*
          don’t tolerate.

          In the American progressive sphere “intolerance” refers to the attitude of
          people that don’t tolerate what American progressives tolerate, never to
          what American progressives themselves don’t tolerate.

          Myself I’d argue that tolerance can only ever be shown towards things you don’t
          accept as good. There’s hardly a difficulty in “tolerating” things that you
          believe are fine and excellent. I’ve not seen progressives be more tolerant towards
          things they believe to be bad than conservatives do.

          They’re better than conservatives basically in having better beliefs about what is good and bad, not in being more tolerant towards others.

        10. thejeff

          I think it’s more about tolerating difference, not necessarily badness. Tolerating different religions, different cultures, different tastes, etc. That’s all one thing.

          Tolerating things that are directly harming or trying to harm yourself or others is another story all together. Tolerating bigotry isn’t a virtue.
          I’m an atheist. I don’t believe religion is good. But I don’t have a problem tolerating any religion that isn’t trying to force itself or it’s rules on others. Some (not all, but some) religious people are bothered by the mere presence or even existence of people of other religions. Or, like Mary, are bothered by Carla even existing.

        11. Pablo360

          Frankly, “tolerance” is the wrong word to describe the progressive movement’s goals. We want acceptance, for things that AREN’T bad, just SEEN as bad. Tolerance is a similar-sounding but separate thing. And the real problem with the left today is people mixing them up.

        12. Marvelman

          Here is what I did wrong…

          I suggested that one way for Dorothy to get RA position over Roz would be for Dorothy to “slut-shame” Roz in the school newspaper for having made a sex video in her dorm room. I did not use that exact word but it amounts to the same thing.

          I regret making that comment because it was misogynistic, but also because it does not reflect my true thoughts on the matter. I do think it is fair to raise the issue of the sex video because it calls into question Roz’s judgement and sense of responsibility, but I don’t think she should be branded with a scarlet letter for it. And, I would say the same thing about Joe if he was applying for an RA job. He willingly participated in the video, right? Or, do I have that wrong?

          I apologized for the remark almost immediately. I deserved to be called out for it. But I don’t think I deserved to be called a “horrible person” for having made this one remark – as if my whole life could be boiled down to this one misstep. I am usually very civil and I have made many positive contributions to this forum. But, no, nobody is obligated to accept my apology. I also can’t say for sure that Willis banned me, but my posts were blocked shortly after I made this comment, so I imagine it was him. If it was him, I think his response was an over-reaction.

        13. BBCC

          Didn’t you also go on a long post about how Trump wasn’t racist or homophobic or am I thinking of a different person?

        14. Marvelman

          No. That was definitely another poster.

        15. Marvelman

          And Trump is a racist and a homophobic!

  32. Mick The Nerd

    What is it with fictional characters and making a HUGE deal about being nice to someone?

    1. Deanatay

      Look up ‘tsundere’.

  33. JessWitt

    This pairing is yielding more joy than I anticipated. Carla let her snark guard down … but at least not to Mary.

  34. Travestyhat

    See, this? This I like. Solid and funny characterization all around.

  35. Rukduk

    Sorry Carla, but Joyce can see the heart of gold under that (increasingly thin) layer of jerk.

    1. Bagge

      She can see EVERYONE’S heart of gold.

      1. Pablo360

        Except Toedad’s. And possibly Carol’s.

        1. Bagge

          Not for lack of trying.

          FUDGE YOU TOEDAD!!!!

        2. Emperor Norton II

          Who knew that a heart of pyrite made such a poor substitution?

        3. Reltzik

          Actually, one of the (many) messed-up things about Toedad is that he DID have good, selfless, altruistic intentions. Warped, deluded, misguided, and horribly overbearing good intentions that deserved to land him in jail, but good intentions.

          For a REAL heart of anti-gold, reference Blaine instead.

        4. trlkly

          No, he didn’t. His intentions were all selfish. He wasn’t going to lose Becky, too. It wasn’t remotely about what was good for her, but what was good for him.

        5. Larkle

          Also Ryan.

  36. Pluto

    I just wanted to let y’all know that I keep getting AstroGlide ads on this page.

    Thanks, Sayid.

  37. Wack'd

    It’s adorable that Carla’s trying to hide her niceness but she miiiight wanna consider that she’s reenforcing some terrible behavior on Joyce, who grew up learning that demeaning yourself to gain the favor of your betters is just the done thing.

  38. Heavensrun

    (Gets to Panel 5)

    (MELTS)

    1. Bagge

      You too, huh?

      1. Solenoid

        We’re all just a growing puddle here, tbh

        1. CrockedCop

          Don’t worry Carla can rebuild us!!

        2. Emperor Norton II

          In fact, she’ll make you better, because you were all obviously very flawed from an engineering point of view!

        3. Pablo360

          I mean, first of all, what’s with that blood vessel in front of our eyes?

        4. Reltzik

          For added meltage, realize that this is Joyce’s lifelong dream-scenario of the bossy-but-helpful older sister that she never (knowingly) had.

        5. Bagge

          *Double melts*

        6. Reltzik

          What a world, what a world.

  39. Gryph

    Carla for RA.

    1. Bagge

      Nooooooo, what about her street cred.

      1. Pablo360

        Eh, she’d be filling RUTH’S shoes. Her street cred isn’t necessarily ruined.

        1. Bagge

          That’s a very good point

    2. CrockedCop

      Agree 100%

      But there will be a lack of femurs.

      1. Deanatay

        *Carla hurries back to lab to whip up automatic femur removal gun*

        1. Reltzik

          Instead of a flechette weapon, it’s a filet weapon.

    3. NotPiffany

      Mary’s head would explode. I approve.

    4. Hellespont

      I am still holding out for Ruth to walk back into her old job.

      1. thejeff

        Well, she’s getting out of hospital today and no one has told her on screen that she isn’t, so I’d assume she’ll be heading back to the dorm.

  40. StClair

    IT’S NOT LIKE I LIKE YOU OR ANYTHING

    1. Pablo360

      B-BAKA

  41. LooksLikeDaniel

    Out of curiosity, does Joyce know Carla is trans?

    1. Yossarianduck

      Nope, only that she has a single room “for some reason”.

    2. Pablo360

      I doubt it, if only because Willis wouldn’t rob us of seeing Joyce’s reaction, and the path she takes to accepting it. You know, since Joyce being accepting of trans identities is going to be very important sometime in the foreseeable future (cough Jocelyne cough).

    3. NotPiffany

      I don’t think Joyce knows that transgender folks exist yet.

      1. Pablo360

        It’ll probably come up in her gender studies class at the most narratively-convenient time. So, today.

        1. NotPiffany

          So, what do you think? Will Joyce have some sort of “does not compute” BSOD, or will she say something like “People can be born with missing body parts and extra chromosomes and stuff. Some people get a brain-genital mismatch. Ok?”

          I just have this image of everyone else expecting Joyce to explode, and Joyce looking at them in confusion and saying “What’s the big deal?”

        2. Pablo360

          Given Joyce’s character development, the latter is probably most likely.

        3. thejeff

          I doubt it’s coming up in class soon, but I expect her to have her usual “does not compute” reaction, probably involving some very awkward things being said, quickly trumped by her also usual “Wait my beliefs are hurting real people?” quick backdown.

  42. newllend(Henryvolt)

    Holy shit Carla is fucking huge, is she taller than Sierra !?

    1. Angelbadman

      Yes. Unless you mean without skates on, in which case I have no idea.

      1. Reltzik

        If she doesn’t have skates on, is she really still Carla?

        1. Emily

          No. She’s some kind of weird proto-Carla.

        2. Hellespont

          Whoa, Dumbing Zen, man

    2. Cerberus

      I think the only one in the hall she’s not taller than is Ruth. Ruth is a fucking amazon.

      1. BBCC

        Nope, she’s taller than Ruth too. Ruth’s average guy height (about 5’10). Carla’s somewhere around the 6 foot mark.

        Carla’s pretty dang tall.

        1. Greenygal

          She’s as tall as Ethan–maybe even slightly taller, she’s leaning a bit in that panel–so that would be about right.

          Also, holy shit, Mike in that strip. Ethan has every good reason to think that Mike sleeping with somebody is an evil plan, and I just hope he remembers that going forward.

  43. Emperor Norton II

    Today’s strip is officially (as in my headcanon) dedicated to anyone who needs a Carla in their life.

    Which is pretty much everybody.

    1. Bagge

      Not to mention how many people need a Joyce in their life.

      1. Emperor Norton II

        And let’s not forget everyone who needs a Becky and Dina in their lives.

        1. Pablo360

          But, most importantly…

          A shoutout to all the people who need a Danny in their lives.

        2. Emperor Norton II

          Sal certainly did. She needed someone who listened to her, didn’t demean her, and tried to figure out how to explain math in a way she could relate to and understand.

          Oh sweet, sweet Danny.

      2. Bagge

        Open your heart to Joy(ce)

    2. Pablo360

      I’m currently in college so I can get a degree in Computer Carla. It’s like computer engineering but you pretend to hate computers so that you avoid showing any exploitable vulnerability.

      1. CrockedCop

        So hacking?

    3. Emily

      I am the Carla in people’s lives.

      1. MaximumZero

        I put on a Mike face, but I’m pretty sure I’m actually the Dina.

  44. Bagge

    Sara: “Give up, Carla, you can’t defeat that happy, trusting, caring smile. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

    1. Emperor Norton II

      Later, in a meeting room, where the chairs are arranged in a circle… It’s the weekly meeting of “Nice people that are trying really hard to appear as not nice but failing badly at it Anonymus”.

      “Hey, I’m Carla, and I haven’t helped anyone in three days now.”
      *Sal stares at her*
      “Fine, I just helped Joyce getting some new shower shoes before this meeting! But sheesh, you should’ve seen shoddy engineering! Absolutely horrible. A disgrace to shower shoes everywhere! That doesn’t mean I’m nice!”
      *Sal stares at her again*
      “Shut up, Sal!”

      1. BBCC

        Pfft, you’re (general you, not you, your Majesty) kidding yourself if you think Sal would be caught dead at anything remotely resembling group therapy, but I like this exchange anyways!

        1. Emperor Norton II

          Sal is in fact not really there. It’s just a body pillow with a picture of Sal staring disapprovingly at everyone. Someone just adjusts it to look at whoever’s speaking.

          But I thought that this detail was so obvious, it didn’t really need mentioning.

        2. BBCC

          Of course, just double checking to make sure.

          (thank you. I needed that laugh. Was just looking through the LGBTQ Caucus’ twitter and it nearly made me cry like a baby. In a good way, but still. Praise be to the Emperor).

        3. Emperor Norton II

          Man, someone needs to make a picture of Sal, Carla, and Sarah all staring disapprovingly at you (general you again) for the choices you made today. Because your choices were all wrong. And stupid. And stupidly wrong.

        4. Deanatay

          Ruth: Hi, I’m Ruth, I haven’t been nice to anyone in two weeks. Although, I’m thinking about changing that.
          Sarah: Be strong, girl! Don’t give in now!
          Ruth: But everyone at the hospital has been SOO nice to me! I just feel…
          Sal: That’s how they getcha! They ACT all nice, shower you with free drinks and free tutoring sessions, to the point where yoah battered little heart begins to open – and then they STAB!
          Ruth: They DO poke me with needles, sometimes…
          Sal: ‘Zactly! THAT’S why you gotta stay mean!
          *Sarah and Carla nod emphatically*
          Sal: You gotta hit ’em first! Even when they’re so sweet and dorky that they don’t even realize you’re trying to hurt ’em! Even when they’re so strong and brave that they take yer hits an’ still stay witcha…
          *Sal wipes tears from her eyes. Ruth is bawling*
          Shadowy Figure: What a bunch of weepy bongoes!
          Carla: What?? Who’s that?
          Sarah: Dunno, he always shows up to meetings, but he’s never said anything before, just lurks in the shadows…
          Shadowy Figure: I thought this was a meeting for mean people, not some kinda whiny tear-fest! REAL mean people are mean because they HATE people, not because they’re concealing their inner scaredy-bongo!
          Sal: WHAT did you just call me??
          Ruth: My hands thirst for his femurs!
          Shadowy Figure: Yess! Let the hate flow through you!!
          *Ruth, Sal, Carla, and Sarah surround Shadowy Figure, beat him to a pulp*
          Ruth: Thanks, guys. I feel a lot better about being mean to people, now!
          Sal: Me, too! I mean, FUCK everyone!
          Carla: Meh, whatever, losers!
          Sarah: That’s the spirit, everyone! Same time next week!
          *girls leave. Shadowy Figure, beaten and bloody, struggles to his feet, stumbles into the light*
          Mike Warner: My work here is done.

        5. NotPiffany

          Mike wipes his jawline and smiles in ecstasy.

          Seriously, that would be the start of a Mike Warner harem fantasy.

  45. CrockedCop

    Dose this mean Carla owns Joyce?

  46. Cody C.

    This strip makes me love Carla even more. I also love seeing her interact with Joyce. It’s both funny and incredibly adorable.

  47. Doopyboop

    Gotta admit, after two strips of creepy Robin and one strip of Mike being Mike, this strip was like a breath of fresh air. Lookit dat Joyce face. Lookit Carla being nice without wanting to be nice.

    1. Emperor Daniel

      Yes, she definitely does not want to be nice. I-it’s not like she wants to be Joyce’s friend or anything, baka.

      1. Doopyboop

        Joyce just looked super pathetic and needed to be reminded of how great Carla is, that’s all!

  48. Joslyn

    And carla’s heart grew three sizes that day…

    1. Reltzik

      One trip to the emergency room later, Carla is reminded why she should never ever be nice.

  49. Arianod

    The Tsundere is strong with this one.

  50. BenRG

    “Stop telling me that I’m a nice person! Stop telling me that I’m a niiice peeerrrsssooonnn!!!“

  51. Wraithy2773

    ……um. I was computer science, not engineering, but… Carla knows about “Traction”, right?

    And how plastic doesn’t really have much?

    Especially on wet floors?

    Especially on soapy/greasy wet floors?

    1. Needfuldoer

      She only fixed the structural integrity issues in Joyce’s design. When they slip all over the place, Joyce will come back to have them revised again. Another opportunity to tinker flaunt superiority!

      1. BenRG

        The whole thing is likely to spiral out of control. I’m expecting Carla and Joyce get locked in this “prototype beta test” cycle of constantly revising Joyce’s basic concept. Eventually, creating the ideal home-made shower shoe will become an objective in of itself and both ladies will completely forget why they’re doing it.

        Meanwhile, the others on the dorm floor will look on in a sort of fascinated horror.

        1. Needfuldoer

          One day Joyce walks into the showers in an Alien-type mech suit built out of aluminum stock and cut-up gallon jugs.

  52. Freckled-Queen

    Anybody else seeing the possibility of Carla becoming RA after all? it’s not the first time she’s been helpful and nice (Think of Amber) to her floormates. She may have laughed at the position but I think this hints to her becoming RA as she actually meets the requirements!

    1. BenRG

      Carla brings with herself a parcel of drawbacks from a strict level of maintaining discipline. That said, if she ever got over her need to be an edgy and marginal figure, she’s really got the mindset for the job.

    2. Cerberus

      Not only helpful and nice but also efficient at solving problems. In both this and the Amber incident, she intervened quickly and provided quick care that met the needs of the individuals at those times.

  53. Danni

    weirdly heartwarming

  54. Leonou

    Joyce, Stop being a jerk to Carla when she is being nice owning you !

  55. Kingmonster

    JOYCE, INFERIOR. CARLA, SUPERIOR.

  56. Bicycle Bill

    Hey Joyce!  Nice jugs!
    (Aw, c’mon, you knew someone was going to say it)

    1. Emperor Norton II

      Actually, we’d already gotten this far without someone saying it, so we were hoping that we might be able to go all the way in.

      1. Killjoy

        “All the way in” huh?

        1. Emperor Daniel

          That’s what the Emperor said.

  57. Wack'd

    You will be soft owned by me
    Though it may take some time, I know eventually
    You will be soft owned by me

  58. DarkoNeko

    I AM NOT A NICE PERSON, DAMNIT think of my image

    1. DarkoNeko

      Uh, I lost my gravatar ? why ?

      1. BenRG

        It looks to me like WordPress is using a user account avatar instead of one of the procedurally generated gravitars.

      2. NotPiffany

        The universe decided you needed to show everyone the cute kitty. By the way, that’s a cute kitty.

        1. DarkoNeko

          Thanks ! It’s a random cat from Wikimedia Commons.

  59. zellgato

    ..huh.. carley seems… way taller than we usually see her..
    though her height always feels like it fluctuates.
    probably just a result of panel perspective

    1. Hellespont

      Yeah, looking at them Carla is only a head or so taller than Joyce. Considering there is an 8 or 9 inches height difference that does not seem extreme. But Carla being framed by the doorway enhances her height.

  60. LionHeart

    What about the muffin button?

  61. Abel Undercity (@AbelUndercity)

    “Someone’s getting a hug!”

    “Agh! No hug! Acknowledge my superiority and move on!”

    Carla is my cat.

  62. Eldritch Gentleman

    Sooo… Carla is a tsundere Good Samaritan?

    1. nightsbridge

      Good Tsunderitan

    2. Pinja

      She’ll rescue from the side of the road but draw ding-dongs on your face while you’re recovering in the inn

  63. Arkzus

    Carla looks abnormally tall here. She wearing her skates again perhaps?

    1. Annika

      Nah, Carla’s always been that tall. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/unbeliever/

      1. Arkzus

        I see, guess Joyce is just short then, awesome.

  64. ischemgeek

    I didn’t realize that I needed Carla mentoring Joyce in the ways of mechanical engineering, but I needed it. 🙂

  65. achallenger

    ‘watch it joyce, those are some nice jugs you got there, would be a real shame if something were to happen to them…’

  66. ajm5007

    Carla IS great and Joyce’s eyes are rather buglike in proportion to her face . . . so I’m not seeing any controversy here.

  67. L!ghtn!ng

    I love this so much!

  68. Cerberus

    Comic Reactions:

    And for the third day in a row, we have a comic affected deeply by the real world context it happens to fall in with it now becoming okay for schools to once again harass their trans students, deny them equal accommodation, deny their gender identity, deadname them to classmates, and encourage their harassers to pile on them.

    And with it being justified by the scary spectre of “oooooh, trans women in bathrooms” which is especially rich seeing as how this is coming from the administration who’s main leader has openly bragged about committing sexual assault and who has burst into underaged girl’s dressing rooms deliberately to ogle at them.

    But it adds an extra layer to Carla’s context. We already know that she seeks to avoid the majority of harassment trans folks get for using shared bathrooms, showers, or changing facilities by showering at times when it is very unlikely for anyone else to be using them (in fact there would have been no one using them if Joyce wasn’t so keen to test out her new shower shoes). We know that she has been harassed at least once this year and likely a lot more than that (though probably not on this floor). And that she is politically minded and thus keenly aware of the assaults occurring for the last year against her rights.

    We also know that she’s been in Indiana in High School and so likely knew a time when harassment was perpetrated by both administration and students and she likely only was granted certain accommodations by the Title IX interpretation ruling by the Obama Administration.

    So her being chill, helping out, joking around, even when just wearing a towel after bumping into someone in the bathroom both really shows her fearlessness and makes this act of kindness (albeit with the standard denials that she is a kind person) a much bigger deal than it would otherwise be.

    Carla would have been well in her rights to casually and quietly make an exit when Joyce crunched her shoe, instead she built a free shoe improvement that retains all the benefits of why Joyce wanted the milk jug in the first place.

    She’ll deny it to her dying day, but Carla really is a good egg.

    1. Killjoy

      DoA-Carla is one of my favorite characters. She’s good on the inside, which makes her the opposite of someone like Mary, who puts on a “good” mask but is terrible on the inside.

      1. Cerberus

        They really are mirror-images of each other. Which makes sense, because a transphobic society is partially responsible in molding each of them.

        Mary, by teaching her that trans people are fakers or otherwise people undeserving of empathy and that no one will care if you hurt them. Carla by being the victim of bullying and harassment.

        And then here comes Joyce who was trained in deep transphobia, but I think once she realizes it’s a thing and messes up initially with people who are trans (crossing fingers on the long-term arc of this developing friendship), she’s going to reject that as hard as she did her homophobic raising.

        1. Killjoy

          I get the sense that regardless of what the atmosphere in their church was really like, what the people really thought… the part of the sermon that stuck for Joyce was “love thy neighbor”. No matter how much hate and judgement and pettiness is in “the god” of some believers… Joyce’s faith will always be based on that.

          That is, Joyce is constitutionally incapable of believing that god hates, or that she should hate. She’s going to see the good in anyone until they do something horrible, and not believe that god hates good people.

          But that’s just my take… as an agnostic empiricist.

        2. Cerberus

          Oh yes, I very much agree. She was given a lot of really bad stuff and some of it is really ingrained and brings her a lot of guilt and fear to discard. But her core self is definitely based on trying to do good by people and protect those who need protecting.

          And that core Joyce will always win in the end against the “cobwebs” as Becky calls them.

  69. Cerberus

    Panel 1: That’s… actually a really simple and elegant design that retains the main functionality and purpose of the original design, while not over-designing the additional features to the point where those are eclipsed or made more difficult to use and it appears to be a design that is simple and easy to use.

    Considering how many engineering projects fail to keep in mind things like original design’s intent, I’m genuinely impressed with Carla here. Well done.

    Also, I think we’re getting more and more signs that Carla is a “fixer”. Meaning that when she sees a problem she gets really antsy about processing it or dwelling on it, she just wants to move on to solution mode and addressing root problems. Like, not in a cruel way, but more in a “okay, let me help” way. We saw it with Amber and the quick application of first aid. We see it here with Joyce and rescuing her from her situation and improving the design where a Mike would have just stood there and mocked her. And we see the negative of that with the Billie and Ruth situation that still sits poorly with Carla.

    Rushing in and trying to “fix” things may have stumbled on a good solution here, but it’s a dangerous tactic because it presumes you always know the right solution (when you likely don’t) and that there might other factors that would make a utilitarian approach a bad idea (like say they have an abusive family member it would not be safe to go back home with).

    But as a former “fixer” myself, I know that’s a trait one tends to grow out of with time and empathy which we know Carla has the latter in spades even if she’s not willing to admit it.

    Panels 2-3: But she’s also scared of showing that, thinking it is safer if she is seen as a mean jerk with a superiority complex (and she likely also has a little of that, which I find beautiful because trans women are rarely allowed the space to be confident, much less over-confident and cocky, without being hit with “oh, here we see your internal maleness coming out” and other transphobic bullshit).

    So of course she tries to make the thank you on her joking terms where she can try and retain that image even though it is heavily likely that she’s helping because Joyce was in distress and Carla thought she could help. Just like that.*

    *I talked a bit above about why someone would do this, but yeah, the shorter of that is trans people become keenly aware how kindness and an expectation of harmlessness becomes a giant target on your back inviting harassment. The prickly dangerous mother-fucker? No one messes with to the same extent. And so, Carla is very familiar to me having mentored trans kids. She’s that cynical sophomore trying to build a crusty shell to repel all the hate, not realizing yet or not trusting yet that it’s possible to build safe healing spaces where you don’t have pretend to be an asshole to survive.**

    **Though it can still help to be seen as someone you don’t want to cross. It’s why I have resting bongo face when I go out in public, cause it dramatically reduces the harassment.

    1. Andy

      “Also, I think we’re getting more and more signs that Carla is a “fixer”. Meaning that when she sees a problem she gets really antsy about processing it or dwelling on it, she just wants to move on to solution mode and addressing root problems.”

      Seen in this light, Carla’s carrying Billie down the hall to Ruth’s room makes a lot more sense – like a lot of engineering types approaching social science problems:

      “Rushing in and trying to “fix” things may have stumbled on a good solution here, but it’s a dangerous tactic because it presumes you always know the right solution (when you likely don’t) and that there might other factors that would make a utilitarian approach a bad idea (like say they have an abusive family member it would not be safe to go back home with).”

      In smaller scale, it reminds me of tech types I know advocating for monarchy or other wacky forms of government because they haven’t taken the time to learn the detailed history of such attempts in the past.

      It’s an approach that can do some interesting things – I’m a tech-type and I’m damn proud of it – but I’ve learned to look very carefully at context before I deploy a quick-fix to a stubborn problem.

      1. StClair

        “This simple solution will definitely work, with no unintended consequences, and I’m positive that the only reason it hasn’t been tried before is that no one else but me was smart enough to see it.”

        1. StClair

          (five minutes later)

          holy shit

          guys

          people are complicated!

    2. Bagge

      Carla knows her shit and like to show it. I don’t think this is ONLY her being nice to a freshman who is bad at engineering. I also think it’s her taking pride in something she is really good at.

  70. Cerberus

    Panel 4: Joyce is so earnest here I love it.

    Panel 5: Oh, dear Carla, you’re in trouble, it’s the disarming smile. Sarah has learned the hard way that there’s no fighting the disarming smile. She’s going to see the good you try to lock away and hide and appreciate it. Whether you like it or not.

    Panel 6: And here Joyce deploys that. And yeah, Joyce has got Carla’s number dead to rights, no mistaking it. She recognizes the kind act hidden behind the bluster of jerky superiority. That final line of hers really gets to why Carla’s jerk pose won’t be able to sustain itself long into her life (though the cynicism is likely timeless, we trans folks often have great reason to be deeply cynical).

    She cares too much about people and especially people who are in a shit situation and need help. It’s why she couldn’t refuse helping Ruth and kept circling back to fulfilling that promise to check in on her. It’s why she helped Amber when she was bleeding in the bathroom. And it’s why she intervened here.

    And that’s no small thing. Like, I’d love to believe that word of mouth has spread word of Joyce, homophobic dad puncher and this kindness is partially in service to that, but that might end up being a stretch.

    What isn’t likely a stretch is that Carla would know Joyce as a fundamentalist Christian. And so I wonder if part of the bluster here is that sense of unease that if Carla lets her guard down and be seen as nice, it could lead to being hit really hard when Joyce figures out or internalizes the fact that Carla is trans and ace and so on (as Carla has said, people have hated her for a lot of reasons).

    1. Andy

      I have a new ugly suspicion that Mary will probably out Carla to Joyce as trans with the typical threat-to-women rhetoric that’s been so prevalent across society, but pushed especially by the fascist right and TERFs, for the last couple decades.

      But I suspect that Joyce’s reaction will not be what Mary hopes for. Her reaction to Ethan coming out, problematic and fucked-up as it was, came from a place of love and care for him, shaped by her upbringing and expectations. (Contrast with Mary, who’s much about the glory and the *power* of God as opposed to love.) Now she’s in this post-Becky place, with gender studies class and dorm life breaking down her fundie upbringing, I suspect she’ll react in a much better way.

      1. BBCC

        I think she might fumble the initial conversation, but she’ll get it sooner or later.

      2. Greenygal

        I almost hope it does come from Mary, because Joyce thought Mary was a b-word before any of the stuff with Ruth and Carla happened–and before Ethan and Becky and Ross, for that matter–and hearing it from her may make it easier for Joyce to say “Yeah, no, I am not going to be on your side about this.”

    2. Bagge

      Joyce has adopted another one. Be afraid Carla, your crusty shell will have a hard time surviving the Joyce

  71. Tenn

    You know what would be great? Panel four, with Joyce’s speech balloon but without Carla’s. Like it was something that Joyce said spontaneously without being prompted to. 😀

  72. Hari

    No offence, but isn’t Purdue the engineering school for Indiana?

    1. Knayt

      Indiana State has an engineering program – with a lot of majors. A quick google search pulls up 13 degrees with engineering in the name, and while some of this is just them being weirdly highly specialized they do have civil, computer, mechanical, and what they call electronics but is probably electrical. There’s no chemical engineering program, so they’re missing one of the big ones, but there’s a lot in the way of manufacturing and process engineering.

      1. BBCC

        I believe Word of Willis is that’s she’s in Intelligent Systems Engineering (possibly with a focus on computer engineering, but that’s my conjecture).

  73. trlkly

    It dawns on me that I’ve literally never told anyone they are awesome except when they were doing something nice–even if that nice thing was standing up for someone else against a bully.

    So maybe Joyce can get across this idea that you can be nice and awesome at the same time. At least, with the people you trust.

  74. AeroQC

    There is no winning against Joyce when you are doing something nice for her.

  75. crys

    if carla did all that in a few minutes, i’m pretty impressed!

    1. Emperor Daniel

      When we last saw Carla and Joyce, it was the previous in-universe evening. She’s been at this all night.

      1. Knayt

        Maybe, maybe not. She came back a day later, that doesn’t mean she was at it all night. What little we’ve seen of her engineering skills thus far suggests that this was probably a pretty quick project.

  76. Steampunkette

    … Is it awful that I now ship Jorla?

    1. nobilis

      The only ship to be shipped is Cardinala!

      1. thejeff

        I ship Carla with Carla. No one else is worthy. 🙂

        But maybe some of the better students will be allowed to be friends subjects.

        1. Emperor Daniel

          Bug subjects.

          Subugjects.

  77. Akahane

    Daw, bbs.

  78. chris73

    Normally I find the quick change between serious storyline and whacky storyline a little jarring but in this instance it’s quite a nice, pleasant change

  79. Pinja

    And now I have a powerful need to write smut fic, what the hell?

    1. Pinja

      Urgh, size difference, contrasting in pretty much every way, she’s already talking about dominance and if it was canon it’d be so pleasingly unexpected.

      It’s meeting all my standards : /

  80. RedNoBlue

    Carla is way taller than I thought.

  81. MikeEllis253

    Who wants a really strange week? Start on Saturday when you realize you have nothing to do. Jump to Dumbing of Age one and read through the whole comic to present day. Then realize that you never got back to reading Roomies, so start from square one, then go through all the other archives until you get back to the end of Shortpacked! Then when you go back to the new Dumbing of Age comics you get a sort of temporal displacement feeling like you were in Voyagers! or Sliders for anyone who doesn’t go back that far. Going through a few hundred comics a day is a soothing way to spend you time while your other screen is in a chat session trying to get tech support for your school.

  82. Kugai

    Face it Carla, you did something nice and got appreciated for it. That’s not a bad thing.

  83. KingOfGreyfell

    A thought occurs. Is Joyce aware of Carla being trans? Assuming she is not, how might she react?

    1. BBCC

      She doesn’t know and I am not sure.

  84. chris73

    Based on other reactions it’ll probably be shock followed by over compensating before levelling off at acceptance

  85. Vulcanodon

    Sorry, Carla; you have met your match.

  86. Ed Rhodes

    “I am not nice. I am not kind. And I’m still taking you to Horde-prime!” – Skeletor -He-man and She-ra Christmas Special.

  87. zombody

    i feel like this (possible incoming Trans Acceptance Moment) could lead to jocelyne showing up again and i am Excited

    1. leafirebender

      Screw whatever else could come next. I want this.

  88. butts

    oh my god

    PANEL 4/5 SO CUUUTE

  89. Tomas

    Cut to Joyce skipping down the hall wearing cute plastic antennae.

    “I’m a bug! I’m a bug! Wheee!”

  90. Nezumi

    I desperately need to be more Carla and less Joyce.

Leave a Reply to MikeEllis253 Cancel reply

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

*

*

*

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