177

Jammer
Posted on June 9, 2021 by David M Willis
The Dumbing of Age Patreon has its second bonus strip of the month ready for Patrons, and its star is NIGHTGUY!    You can read this month's new bonus strip and the backlog of literally hundreds of previous bonus strips at the Dumbing of Age Patreon! Remember that if you pledge up to $5 or more per month, you can always read tomorrow's strip today!  Right now, even.

177 thoughts on “Jammer”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Jammer shoulda just snuck past instead of telegraphing her actions

    1. Wizard

      Honestly, that was what I was expecting.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Likely why DyW didn’t. He’s got his own tropes (Grand League of Evil Dads) , he doesn’t need to retread other’s ground.

    2. milu

      she gonna get hell from her own Malaya later on

      1. Felix

        I want to see that. No, I mean it. I actually want to see that.

    3. Keulen

      That would’ve made sense. She coulda snuck past while Sal and Malaya were arguing, or at least tried to.

      1. thejeff

        I assumed she’d been trying to slip past, but not getting anywhere, so she tried to confuse them.

    4. Geneseepaws

      Annnnnnd …there they go, monologuing again.

  2. Doctor_Who

    I don’t know how Roller Derby is played. I assume it all makes perfect sense, like this.

    1. Scoops!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajILNbKvpBU

      1. Doctor_Who

        Hotbox!

      2. Doctor_Who

        (Seriously though, thanks for the link, it was helpful)

      3. Bicycle Bill

        Learned something.  When I saw the earlier references to “Whip It”, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what an old DEVO song had to do with roller derby.

        1. Rainhat

          Me too. Then I stepped forward. Moved ahead. Tried to detect it. Was not too late.

    2. Paradoxius

      Five to a team. One person on each team is the jammer. Jammers have stars on their helmets and start behind the rest of the players. The objective for the jammer is to get to the front of the pack before the jammer on the other team, and then lap as much of the opposing team as possible to score points. Blockers are responsible for blocking the opposing jammer and helping their own.

      (If I understand correctly, that is.)

      1. Jamie

        I was gonna comment, “I should look up the rules for this game since I don’t know them,” but you have summarized it very nicely for me already. Thank you!

        So it’s basically racing around a track, but with some hockey stuff thrown in. (I also don’t know much about hockey.) I can see why people like doing it, and like watching it. Cool.

      2. Segnosaur

        Yup, those are the basic rules.

        It should also be noted that players don’t just skate around the track indefinitely… instead, the game is broken up into 2-minute ‘jams’, after which teams can substitute players, and they go back to their starting points. And the team who’s Jammer is the first to go around the track is the ‘lead jammer’, and they can end the jam at any time. (They may do that if they think the other team is going to score some points. So there is some strategy involved.)

        You also have things like

        – penalties (such as ‘cutting the track’ and illegal blocks), at which point the player goes to the ‘penalty box’ for a certain period of time. (That means your team could be missing a blocker, making it harder to stop the other team’s jammer, or even missing the jammer, so they can’t score points)

        – the ‘star pass’… if your jammer isn’t able to get through the pack to score points, they can pass their star on to a player on the team called the ‘pivot’, who then becomes the jammer

        1. brionl

          So which one carries the quaffle?

      3. Needfuldoer

        The star-helmeted skaters had helmets with stars.

        The plain-helmeted skaters had none upon thars.

    3. Rotunda

      I went and read the Wikipedia article, watched a match online, and read the rules. It’s starting to make sense, but it’s definitely a very unusual sport.

  3. Megan Rivera

    In my head the next panel is a double elbow to the sternum–ouch!!

  4. Wagstaff

    Moxy levels are rising! Oh yeah!!!

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Now I’m hearing the great Phil Hartman’s “Saucy. … VERY Saucy.”

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Oh wait… maybe it was “sassy”.

      2. Wagstaff

        Yes! SAUCE!!!

  5. Regalli

    I now want the jammer for next month’s Patreon comic. It’s been three seconds but I love her already.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Does that mean she gets a name? Can she be Jammifer?

      I’ve already named the ref Reffanie.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Green Derby Team gets voted for next month’s bonus strip. Punny names are part of the sport, so it’s perfect!

      (Please? We haven’t seen enough of #31.)

  6. Sirksome

    See, this is what’s interesting to me! I assume Malaya is team leader or at least way more experienced at roller derby than Sal but their personalities clash so much she won’t listen. It will be interesting if they lose this match because of it.

    1. AeromechanicalAce

      Honestly, I’m amazed Marcie, let alone anyone can interact with Malaya WITHOUT their personalities clashing.

      1. Doctor_Who

        Maybe it’s difficult for Malaya to argue with someone who doesn’t speak, so she acts nice out of sheer confusion.

      2. Sirksome

        I don’t think it’s that hard honestly. Malaya and Sal just have very alpha personalities. Malaya’s not really that bad to people who naturally tune her out. Sal’s problem is she doesn’t tolerate disrespect and has a short temper. It just feeds into Malaya’s attitude. Also Marcie doesn’t talk and also wants to bang Malaya both which make her much easier to be around. Malaya is at face value very abrassive and unpleasant but this is also very much a Sal specific issue.

        1. RedCat

          I’m not a very ‘alpha’ person, but I wouldn’t let someone like Malaya walk all over me and make me feel bad. And I really seems like you have to let her, in order to be friends with her.

        2. RedCat

          *it

      3. Hrodvitnir

        Yeah, I find them absolutely intolerable. Seeing them, again, go out of their way to be an incredible douchebag actually sours my mood.

        I literally don’t care what their problem is, anyone who is a total fuckwit to anyone who doesn’t let them steamroll them sucks.

    2. Devin

      Based on my googling last night, the stripe on her helmet means that yes, Malaya is as close to a team leader as there is (apparently this isn’t a hard-and-fast thing according to what I read).

      She may have acquired this position by being the most senior member of the team who can speak in a language everyone else on the team understands. This is a bit of an assumption on my part, but I don’t think we’ve seen any evidence yet that Carla or Amber/AG understand ASL.

      Or maybe she actually knows what she’s doing, but I don’t feel like she’s earned my benefit of the doubt yet.

      1. Segnosaur

        The stripe on the helmet means the player is a ‘pivot’. Pivots are players who, if the Jammer is having trouble scoring points, can receive the ‘star’ from the jammer (and thus become the jammer themselves).

        Not sure about the rules the team in Dumbing of Age is following, but if its like the leagues I’ve seen, the role of the pivot (i.e. the strip on the helmet) is not a fixed position on the team, but instead different players take turns in the role.

        (There is no official ‘team captain’ position, like there is in hockey. But, teams can have coaches. Malaya might actually be a player-coach.)

        1. Devin

          Huh, that wasn’t mentioned at all in what I read. The name of the striped player was mentioned, but not that role at all, at least as I recall. Either I missed something or I found a bad source.

        2. Segnosaur

          Well, the ‘star pass’ from the jammer to the pivot isn’t done very often (I think I’ve seen games where its only been done once or twice), so its probably one of these rules that can get overlooked, since its not key to the game.

        3. RedCat

          I’ve seen it twice, I think, but I wasn’t to that many games, so maybe just coincidence. They had caps over their helmets to quickly be able to do that. Here, that would be difficult and dangerous to do, because the stripses and stars are apparently on their helmets?

        4. Segnosaur

          I think that they are always supposed to use a nylon covering over the helmet (for both the pivot stripe and jammer star).

          It does like as if they are attached directly to the helmets in the artwork here. But, I assume its just a case of the art being limited in the detail it can show.

        5. Rex Blocker

          The pivot and jammer are fungible positions, designated by a (as mentioned) helmet cover that can be transferred from player to player. DURING a jam, the jammer can remove their cover and transfer it to their pivot (thus transferring all rights of the jammer position to the pivot, while becoming a blocker themselves), but this is the ONLY such change that can be made mid-jam. Though RedCat says they’ve only seen it twice, it’s an extremely common occurrence, as it is quite a strategic move (for instance, if the other jammer is already out of the pack and scoring points, passing the star, as it’s known, means you can have your pivot-turned-jammer free to put pressure on the other team, maybe limiting the damage they can cause with repeated scoring passes).

          There is absolutely a designated team captain – there must be, by rule – but that person does not have to ever be a jammer or pivot. They must, however, be on skates and participating in the game.

          Finally, please note that “Whip It” depicts banked-track derby (the derby most people are familiar with from being on TV in the 70s), whereas Bleeding Heartland and the leagues in the WFTDA play on a flat track. There are a number of similarities in the rule sets, but also a number of significant differences…

        6. Delicious Taffy

          So what you’re saying is, Malaya’s the off-tank.

  7. Stephen Bierce

    *plays Stevie Wonder’s “Masterblaster” on the rink speakers*

    1. Wagstaff

      How are you so sure that’s not a Muzak they’re using?

      1. Stephen Bierce

        You have met my sister’s second ex.

        1. Wagstaff

          Are you referring to my Voxola? Or was that just a question you mistyped?

  8. Nayann Martinelli

    Clearly, the right play would be to try and pity them against each other.

  9. newlland(Henryvolt)

    So I noticed so many of us were unaware of how the rules of the game goes when it comes to Roller Derby. So I took it upon myself to look into a couple of articles and also found this 4 minute quick summary of the rules- https://youtu.be/sFC6YE8zLmY

    basically there are only 3 different positions and 5 out of 10 players are allowed on the field at all times.

    Also for those who have been wondering Roller Derby is a pro transgender friendly sport so Carla here has every right to be a part of this game.

  10. Spencer

    Is Roller Derby actually Calvin Ball?

    1. Segnosaur

      Nope. There are fixed rules, and actual real strategy to the game. There are also organizing bodies (such as the Women’s flat track derby association) that publishes rules that various leagues/teams follow.

      (I’ve been watching roller derby live for about a decade now, and I have never seen any sort of rule change, or ‘lets make stuff up).

    2. Thag Simmons

      Unfortunately no.

    3. Keulen

      I’m pretty sure roller derby actually has rules or something and you’re not just making it up as you go along. I’m not entirely sure what those rules are.

  11. Barf Ninjason

    Malaya’s just mad cuz Sal, like most people, IS better than her, the vicious lil snotball. Actually between her and Carla, this team ain’t exactly at a loss for self-obsessed jerkwads. (Carla at least makes a sorta…glam carnival game? about it though. Still, someone I would hate in real life.) Huh, once again I’m astounded at how much these fictitious people piss me off. (I mean, it’s only like, five of them, but, still. Impressive characterization, I suppose.)

    1. Barf Ninjason

      OOh, and I’m Amber now, one of my *favorite* people. Go Team Actually-interesting-and-at-least-semi-nice-person

    2. thejeff

      I actually like Carla quite a bit. I probably wouldn’t in real life, but that’s because in real life I likely wouldn’t get the chance to see beneath that defensive shell.
      Malaya may be the same way, but as yet we haven’t really seen much below the shell. A little bit of the conflict she’s hiding, but still little actual empathy or concern for anyone else – except Marcie of course.

  12. BBCC

    Sorry, Jammer, you have to do better than that. XD

  13. newlland(Henryvolt)

    It’s like watching Leonardo and Raphael argue, except you don’t know which one is Raphael.

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      maycalangelo

      1. Deanatay

        vs Salonardo.

    2. cbwroses

      In this case, since Malaya is telling Sal something she already knows and complaining that she doesn’t always follow the plan, while Sal outright states she thinks Malaya’s directives aren’t always the best, thereby implying it’s right for her not to listen, I’m putting Sal firmly in the Raph position and Malaya in the Leo position (which works great for me as I prefer Raph over Leo any day of the week and the same applies with Sal and Malaya).

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Leo and Raph both had redeaming qualities. Sal is classy and awesome, but Malaya is just coarse sand-paper that doesn’t even work to smooth others rough edges.

        1. milu

          I thought Henryvolt was making some highbrow reference to a beef between Italian Renaissance painters but I’m starting to have doubts

        2. thejeff

          I’m definitely taking Leonardo’s side in that dispute. Raphael was an incredible painter, but Leo was an incredible everything.

        3. Demoted Oblivious

          Oh yeah totally. Although Raph’s toungue-in-cheek inclusions in his catholic commissions, as well as the GIANT FREAKING SKULL that is the (ahem) Cistine Chapel, reveal a pretty worthy sense of humour.

          For you milu, there’s a certain quartet of gotham turtles who have studied genetic manipulation, the classics, and martial arts.

    3. Fist_of_Life

      I assume in this analogy that AG is Donatello, and Carla is Michelangelo. Does that mean Marcie would be Splinter?

      1. RassilonTDavros

        …I mean, I have an answer, but I don’t particularly want Peter Laird to break into my house and kill me.

  14. Brumagem

    Failed at the sport because they were arguing is probably the single most overused trope that exists.

    1. Spencer

      They go through the underdog sports movie bonding but then come the championship they just start arguing again.

    2. bogeywoman

      On the otherhand, succeeding at the sport because they were arguing is fresh and hilarious

      1. milu

        i think here it’s not so much failing or succeeding due to arguing, so much as it is, their unrealistically long-winded arguments fall under comic licence and don’t actually impact their playing.

    3. Needfuldoer

      Hence the lampshade in the last panel.

  15. DailyBrad

    Sal and Malaya are being petty, but I guess their baseline skill is such that they can still operate competently enough.

    I don’t know enough about roller derby, wonder if it’s to Carla’s benefit she’s tall, if it gives her more stride, or if it doesn’t work like that with skating.

    1. Jamie

      I was archive-diving anyways to find the first time Sal did skating in-comic and that bit starts with this strip: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/purpleandskates/

      Sal specifically points out Carla’s height as an advantage!

    2. Rex Blocker

      Height can be an advantage for a longer stride, sure, but it also provides increased target areas for blocks from opponents, and a higher centre of gravity…

      One of the great things about derby is there’s no one ideal body type, nor do the various positions require certain body types in order to be successful (unlike, say, in football, where a short wide receiver is considerably less likely to get anywhere professionally)

  16. Johan

    So how is Malaya spose to take the pantie if the skunk is painted on?

    1. Rex Blocker

      swap helmets? I mean, you’d immediately go to the box for an equipment violation, but…

  17. CrazyJ

    Wait, why can they all hear each other? Better helmets, hearing aids, picked up the improved hearing perk, or do they all talk louder than Carla?

    1. SuperZero

      They’re all together and moving together at the same speed?

      1. milu

        cos it would be boring otherwise?

        1. milu

          OR as someone suggested yesterday, Amber could actually hear Carla fine.

    2. Rex Blocker

      Most skater helmets don’t actually cover the ears, unlike what’s depicted here. Skaters can usually hear each other just fine, despite the background music constantly playing. They don’t seem to hear skating officials blowing whistles at them and announcing penalties, but… (note, only roller derby and water polo assess penalties without stopping play to do so. Skaters are sent off when penalties occur, and must safely leave the track while play continues on without them).

  18. Thag Simmons

    That Jammer must be so confused

  19. Bagge

    It was a nice try

  20. Sirksome

    Side thought for a sec but I have to know what that guy in the bonus strip looks like from the front! In profile he has like the hugest chin I’ve seen on any character in this comic! If anyone read the strip and he is seen from the front please let me know if it’s still that huge.

    1. Devin

      Having read it it’s not entirely clear if it’s his chin or a beard, but the shape and size is consistent.

      I’m leaning beard because the color matches the hair, but it does at first read look like a chin.

  21. JessWitt

    The extent of my roller derby knowledge is from watching “Whip It”. From what I remember, Drew Barrymore did a fantastic job.

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Being an actor, or in ensuring the film correctly portrayed the sport?

      1. milu

        Or did you mean Drew Barrymore’s character did a fantastic job at playing Roller Derby in that film maybe

        What did you mean JessWitt
        W H A T D I D Y O U M E A N

    2. JessWitt

      Pardon my nebulous statement. She not only acted in the film but it was her first time directing, which was impressive.

      1. milu

        i forgive you but don’t do it again.

        1. JessWitt

          ?

        2. milu

          your emoji is satisfactory. i will endeavour to see that movie.

      2. Demoted Oblivious

        To echo milu, I will add it to my list as well (I’d forgot it) so thank you for the reminder. As to the rest, “don’t let it happen again.”

  22. Bryy

    Malaya has serious psychological issues she is not addressing. Her obsession with being right is incredibly unhealthy. She’s literally Atheist Mary.

    1. Needfuldoer

      But she’s not being fakey, so she sees no need to reevaluate.

    2. Rabisch

      The positive fact is that Malaya has not interest to find people that agree with her and want to impose their ideas to others. But I agree, she and Mary are kind similar.

      1. milu

        Rabisch out there being relentlessly positive

        “sure, it might be an issue that they’re obsessed with being right, on the other hand, they don’t actually give a single fuck what anyone thinks” XD

        …which i guess is a good encapsulation of why i find Malaya to be so much fun.

        1. milu

          also, i disagree that it’s necessarily “unhealthy”.
          it’s their personality. not a condition. it doesn’t seem to affect their ability to live a normal life or even form bonds with people.

    3. zee

      Fair but i don’t think that really applies here when they’re doing a team sport

    4. Wagstaff

      Now just how do you know Malaya’s an athiest?

  23. Airyu

    Malaya: *is responsible for telling Sal what to do and does so*
    Sal: *is a jerk to her*
    Everyone: “Malaya is such a bad person and Sal is an angel!!!”

    1. MrSmith

      While not knowing anything about roller derby being that it’s a team sport it would be fair to say that the assigned positions were known before the start of play (probably at practices) which means Sal does know her role

      If Sal isn’t fulfilling her duties as blocker then the captain has every right to remind Sal (she’d be derelict in her duties if she didn’t)

      In this instance Sal hasn’t had a chance to block before Malaya reminds her which means Malaya is not being a good captain and she doesn’t trust Sal to do her role

      You don’t have to like your team mates but you do need to trust them, until they give you a reason not to

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Yeah, this feels like when I’m in a raid and some smartass DPS tells me to Raise the tank before they’re even dead. Like, yeah, I’m a Scholar, that’s literally my job to do if it needs done, but it hasn’t come up yet so why are they saying anything? It’s a pointless distraction that could lead to me making mistakes because I’m distracted by their bad attitude.

        1. MrSmith

          Exactly. If you practice your role and know your role then you don’t need to be reminded as to what your goal.

          Malaya is causing Sal to be distracted from her core role and thus more likely to fail which means Malaya can then legitimately criticize Sal

        2. Sunny

          Next time you should thank them for clarifying and say you thought you were supposed to give them a nice funeral if they died. I find that usually shuts the smartass up and/or gets a few laughs.

    2. Keulen

      I get the feeling Sal already knew that she’s not supposed to let the other team’s jammer pass, so really Malaya telling her that is completely unnecessary. It seems more like Malaya’s the one being the jerk to me.

      1. jilo

        Yeah, not letting the jammer pass is THE most basic thing about roller derby. Anyone who’s ever been drafted onto the team knows that when on the track and not jamming that that’s their job, so this is a very patronizing statement from Malaya.

    3. Needfuldoer

      Malaya is explaining the game and the participants’ roles more for our (the audience’s) benefit than for the other characters.

      Malaya felt the need to “remind” Sal about what she’s supposed to be doing, unprompted, based on what she assumed Sal would do based on her mental “Sal” caricature. Having been on the receiving end of that conversation many-a-time, I understand why Sal took offense.

      1. milu

        When i’ve been on the receiving end of that conversation i’ve tried to stay cool by reminding myself that i’m a hopeless bumblefuck in most areas so people are justified in assuming i need telling what to do C=

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          As a very skilled player in unhealthy-toxic levels of negative self talk, I’ll hypocritically point out that you are not obliged to justify someone being a patronizing ass to you. There are healthy ways of staying cool that don’t require you to beat yourself up after someone else is a jerk. “Huh, what a jerk.” can be sufficient, or the more wholesome, “they must be hurting today” gives people the benefit of the doubt.

        2. milu

          aw, you’re kind.
          i was probably exaggerating but really i guess i do try to think of it as what you said last, “ok that person is not being super considerate of me rn but maybe it’s because they’re stressed or tired or something”.

          but yeah, advice on how to be a friend to oneself does tend to be a cobbler wears the worst shoes type of thing, amirite *whistles*

        3. Needfuldoer

          Don’t let condescending assholes gaslight you into believing you’re stupid.

        4. milu

          oh no what is it with you people instantly seeing through my charmingly self-deprecating wit

          thank you though, you are right <3

        5. Airyu

          I know it’s hard but please try to not think like that. If you think that someone is being mean to you, please don’t think less of yourself :<

        6. milu

          and thanks to you too Airyu, though again i was really joking??? probably??? i am feeling slightly choked-up now, so perhaps I’ll try and keep y’all’s advice in mind. on the off chance it applies.

      2. thejeff

        There’s some of it being exposition, but it also works as characterization as you point out, which is good storytelling.

      3. Airyu

        That makes sense. Thank you for being kind in explaining things. I took it more like when people say “go for the goal,” like yes, that’s what you’re supposed to do, but it’s just a teamwork phrase

    4. RedCat

      Yes.

    5. Demoted Oblivious

      Spell and grammar check your post before hitting ‘Post’.

      1. milu

        what’s wrong with their post?

        1. milu

          oh sorry that was snark
          you did a snark
          i got it the second i hit post

          Hey, people, check if you’re being a dum-dum before hitting ‘Post’

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          I too was, as this world is full of snark, but I let more spill out. But at the same time, I’ve got no problem with shovelling it right back at those serving it up first. The problem is it leads to me being more prone to dish it out where it is not fair.

        3. milu

          oh believe me, i wear snarkskin boots for breakfast.
          …wait that wasn’t snark, that was nonsense

        4. Jhon

          I want those boots.

        5. milu

          careful, cos one of these days these boots are gonna snark all over you.

        6. thejeff

          Just be careful when you’re hunting the snark to make them out of, that it’s not a boojum.

        7. Demoted Oblivious

          You may be eaten by a grue. Or maybe Gru if you’re afraid of Steve Carrell.

        8. Airyu

          “I like Malaya”
          “Wow you’re dumb”
          Great convo, thanks for that :/
          This is why I hardly ever post here. God forbid I defend a character

        9. Imogen

          Malaya and Roz are genuinely such thankless characters to enjoy, because every time one appears, no matter what the context, people will go and get mad at you for enjoying the character and tell you that you’re wrong, and if you try to defend them you’ll get shouted down by like 10 people. One day I’ll learn to avoid the comment sections on days that they appear.

        10. Demoted Oblivious

          Hey, it’s cool that you like Malaya. my beef wasn’t that. You like her and that’s good for you. My issue was that the method of expression of that was casting the existing dialogue as devoid of any valid criticism of Malaya and equally incapable of registering that Sal has flaws. It didn’t read as really being about the characters, but as about commenters. Of course we are just a different sort of character. Xp~

          Sorry for my earlier snark. I hit post before thinking enough, and your kind words to others indicate that maybe you’re not the sort that intended to convey personal attacks against others. It was certainly not one of my finer moments (nor one of my worst).

        11. thejeff

          It requires years of training and experience to be able to tell if you’re being a dum-dum before you hit ‘Post’. For most, it’s immediately apparent after, but even they are more adept than those who never realize.

        12. Delicious Taffy

          See, the technique I’ve learned to employ is to always assume I’m being a dum-dum, and therefore I never post.

        13. milu

          But if you don’t get the joke then undoubtedlt many other dum-dums arn’t getting it either… someone has to take one for the team every now and then

          ✊ DUM-DUM SOLIDARITY ✊

        14. Demoted Oblivious

          Is that why we call them dum-dum bullets? Also, I assume that if I’m posting to the internet I assume I’m failing the dunning-kruger test. It’s why I’ve nuked my fb posts and comment pseudo-nonymously everywhere I may be leaving evidence.

          It’s a sad state where we have freedom of expression, but many are afraid of speaking for being wrong in the future of what we say now.

        15. zee

          I don’t get the snark here I’m confused. Am i just dum dum

        16. milu

          oops i only meant to make fun of myself, well that backfired.

          So, Airyu said “Malaya didn’t say anything bad,”
          then Demoted gave them very basic, very obvious advice on how to post a proper comment that would likely be perceived as condescending, as a way of demonstrating why what Malaya had said was, in fact, bad.

      2. Airyu

        I’m not being snarky! I stand by what I said. I love Malaya and really dislike Sal, and do not understand people comparing Malaya to Mike or Mary. I’ve even seen comparisons of Malaya to Ross ffs. It really doesn’t seem like Mayala is a bad person, and Sal is constantly terrible to them, but people seem to think she’s a godsend for some reason

        1. milu

          MALAYA ISN’T MIKE
          SAL IS MIKE
          DUH
          WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE

          just kidding i think they’re both, like, okay

        2. Airyu

          I don’t think Sal is like Mike either ^^;;
          Yeah, I guess them both being “okay” is probably a better way to put it. I could see myself being friends with Malaya over Sal but… I’d rather be friends with Dina lbr

        3. milu

          i would also be more comfortable around Malaya than Sal probably, but that’s a really subjective thing, like what personalities you mesh with based on your own personality…

          Dina is a special case, because i would absolutely listen to her prattle about dinosaurs all day

        4. BBCC

          I really don’t get the comparisons with Mary. I kinda see Mike a little bit because Mike was constantly grumpy, but the difference in reactions is ….something to behold. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Malaya telling Sal her role as the captain, but I also think that it’s true that in a game like this, circumstances can change fairly quickly and that might make changing the strategy on the fly important. We haven’t seen any games beforehand so we can’t really say if Sal’s going off Malaya’s strategy was justified or not. Sal’s not generally the type to do things like that for shits and giggles, so I feel comfortable assuming she meant well, but I can also see why Malaya would be annoyed. That said, Sal hasn’t done anything here and so I can see why she’s annoyed. Even with Malaya’s position, it can feel like nagging.

  24. Ob

    What other tasks are there apart from “don’t let their jammer pass”? I don’t know a lot about roller derby but it seems redundant to tell blockers to block the person they are supposed to block.

    1. Nymphie

      Only other task for blockers is to assist their jammer to get through and possibly give speed boosts like whips. So yeah, telling Sal to not let the jammer through is like telling a soccer player that you kick the ball

      1. Needfuldoer

        But don’t you understand Sal would run off as a ‘second’ jammer or go skip rope or something if there isn’t someone there to constantly keep her in line? ShE gOeS rOgUe WhEn LeFt To HeR oWn DeViCeS!

        1. Delicious Taffy

          I’d like to think Sal would know better than to go Rogue. She’s a high enough level now that she should be equipping her Ninja soul crystal by default, so she can actually play her class.

        2. Airyu

          Sal literally just admitted to not following the rules before…

        3. Imogen

          Yeah, I’m honestly pretty amazed at the mental gymnastics people are going to to hate Malaya in this scene. Like, yeah, she’s being abrasive, but this is one of the clearest instances available of her and Sal both rising to each other’s attitudes and needlessly escalating. Malaya even hints at her motivation, a motivation that is clearly been telegraphed up to this point but nobody’s wanted to see it – that Malaya is insecure and that Sal’s personality grates on her because she’s afraid of being dismissed or not being respected, which, when she initially joined the group, I will remind everybody that she WAS. Sal was rude to her long before Malaya hit these levels of antipathy towards her.

        4. Needfuldoer

          Well in my case it’s deep-seated annoyance at Malaya pulling that “I know you know, I’M JUSt remIndInG YoU” shit. Seriously my ADD-addled ass has heard that so many goddamned times about things I have made perfectly clear that I am fully aware of. And I could never push back against it because I’d just get tone policed and ignored. “Hey! miNd YOUr TOnE! TONe! ToNe! I’M nOt LisTEnINg To whAt yOu’rE saYiNg aNYmOrE beCAuSe you NEeD tO MINd yOUR TOnE!”

          It’s infantilizing, annoying condescension. People who do that shit deserve to always have their potato chip bags tear down the side when they open them.

        5. MrSmith

          Thats a different take then my sports-based problem with Malaya here but also just as applicable

        6. MrSmith

          Incorrect. Sal knows her through either prior team practices or the captains talk before the game starts

          Unless Sal has gone “rogue” in a game before then this is just a dick move from Maylaya, showing how much she distrusts Sal, which is fine if its happened in a game before but if it hasn’t its more likely to distract Sal, as evidenced by what the opposition player says in the last panel

        7. Demoted Oblivious

          Openly disparaging and belittling everyone for being ‘fakey’ isn’t exactly a charming way of endearing yourself to anyone. Sal generally seems content to be left to her own devices and leave others to theirs and gets (understandably) upset if people insist on dragging her into their stuff (or when she can’t sit by and watch others come to harm). Sal could definitely handle herself better and is plenty abrasive in her own approach. But there is ample evidence that Malaya was plenty abrasive on her own before engaging Sal. Both characters do also have redeeming qualities. Malaya learning ASL to be friends with Marcie, Sal not being willing to let AG sail into danger without help.

        8. Demoted Oblivious

          Sal’s comment could mean that or, more fitting with what we’ve seen in the comic, she’s refering more to her general life outlook and the fact that she bristles against needlessly bossy authority figures.

  25. Rabisch

    Sigh. Malaya and Sal still fight. Sal can’t stand to follow rules, we already know that. BUT the fact that Malaya is absolutely strict about follow the rules is a news, at least for me… BUT she’s the Capitan and she has to make the team follow a strategy… I’m really confused! But in the end, Malaya may be right.

    1. Woof

      It doesn’t matter whether she’s right in this exact instance. The fact is that Malaya only suddenly starts to care about rule following when Sal is involved…and as it happens, Sal was already doing what she was assigned. Malaya is just instigating a fight as usual.

      1. Imogen

        “it doesn’t matter if she’s right because she’s so mindlessly hateful, she’ll be a jerk to that character either way” seems like a pretty non self-aware way to criticize this character huh

    2. MrSmith

      A captain lays down the rules before the game starts, not during.

      Also we haven’t been shown Sal slacking off on her duties as a blocker so theres no need for Malaya to say anything (if Sal does slack off then sure Malaya should say something)

      All this is doing is distracting Sal from her task at hand, thats the issue.

  26. Sombrero

    Subtle change of dynamics. In DoA Season 1 Malaya always kept cool and got into Sal’s nerves. Did something happened to her during the timeskip? Is Sal gradually winning the war against her roommate? Where is Fuckface? Questions, questions…

    1. Daibhid C

      Yeah, I was thinking that. Season 1 Malaya would be more “You act like you think you’re better than me, but only because you know you aren’t, which means I win again” or something.

    2. Eldritchy

      Perhaps it’s the Derby? Malaya really wants to win and it puts her on edge?

    3. milu

      I know right???!!!! …regarding Fuckface.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        I just figured he’d be under the blanket, or maybe chillin’ on joyces head while Malaya’s busy.

        1. Sombrero

          I first thought Fuckface would be under Malaya’s helmet, but then I guess Malaya would be “I can see through your shit” as usual.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          That would be an ineffective way of wearing a helmet and likely incredibly dangerous for fuckface. But this is also a comic, so… =\__(.)__/=
          (which seems to have become a cyclops hands up/shrugging cuz I couldn’t bother to google the shrug unicode string).

    4. Imogen

      I think it’s more of that we are seeing more sides of Malaya than we were before, and that the depth of why she is uncomfortable around Sal is being more clearly explored. People who are used to just thinking “Malaya is a mindless jerk for no reason” are confused by it because, to them, Malaya has never been a complex character, she’s just a mean person who they hate. Somebody on this comment section actually called her a snot ball, which is such a weird and hateful response for a comic in which both she and Sal are being rude to each other.

      1. Sombrero

        DoA Malaya doesn’t fit “mindless jerk” or “mean person”. I guess part of the hate is really for Shortpacked! Malaya (although by the end of Shortpacked! she got a nice character development arc) and the other part is haters gonna hate.

        1. Sam

          She definitely fits the definition of mean person. In most of her interactions with Sal, she has been antagonistic first and falsely accusing her of things e.g. that she hates animals for not wanting blinded by a heat lamp. She is in fact the type of person who would purposely sleep with your crush just to upset you as she did in fact try to do that just to spite Sal. She’s not horrifically evil, but she is still mean pretty often to people she has decided are ‘fakey’ and applies it equally to people who deserve the comeuppance like Mary and people that just want left alone by her like Sal.

  27. milu

    people in the comments for the last 3 days: “so the rules of this game are…”
    me: *claps ears and sings very loudly and tunelessy*

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Don’t worry, many(most?) examples have been about as useful as a roofing hammer at a piano recital. I laughed at them, but there’s a lot of joking which is really belying our own ignorance of the sport and an unhealthy amount of pride in same. We might be fostering an atmosphere as unwelcoming to actual players and the sport (or women in general, since it’s largely a sport popularly ascribed as a woman’s). Then again, maybe said examples were provided by players of the game having a go at us rubes.

      1. milu

        i was being overdramatic, i did flick over many comments about the game, but i just couldn’t seem to focus. I know i’m missing out, I can see how passionate people get about The Sports ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          There’s the shrug string. ^^^^

    2. Sombrero

      First rule about Roller Derby is…

  28. Smooti

    this is making me want to try roller derby, despite having all the grace and strength of a particularly arthritic slug.

    something tells me though that despite malaya being malaya, i think sal would genuinely still have problems in a team sport, especially ones where she cant decide to rush in and fix something she sees happening. my guess is malaya is reminding her (in-universe anyway, out of it’s for our benefit) because sal has a tendency to do that.

    and also because malaya definitely has a weird tsundere thing for sal, right? not just me?

    1. Airyu

      “and also because malaya definitely has a weird tsundere thing for sal, right? not just me?”

      This made me laugh a lot x’3 I hope it’s canon

  29. Kitschensyngk

    Their mutual hatred of one another just makes their friendship stronger.

  30. RedCat

    It really weird how people in this comment section are acting like the fighting is equally Malaya’s and Sal’s fault. Malaya started harrassing her, in ways that definitely fit the description of bullying, and didn’t leave her alone even when Sal called the fighting off for Marie’s sake.
    And people are surprised when other people don’t give Malaya the benefit of the doubt.

    1. thejeff

      In the very first strip they share, Sal says “I do hate that we’ve somehow befriended Malaya”. It doesn’t get better from there.

      I suspect it’s really mostly mutual, but it’s certainly not entirely Malaya’s fault.

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