Dumbing of Age Book Fourteen

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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BUFFER WATCH Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:

October 20, 2026

Tags

agatha amazi-girl amber art asher becky blaine booster carla carol charles danny dexter dina dorothy ethan fan art faz hank jacob jason jennifer jocelyne joe joyce leslie linda liz lucy malaya marcie mary mike monkey master patreon rachel raidah robin ross roz ruth sal sarah sierra walky
i'd CORRECTLY say powerglide here but too many of you wouldn't know your combiner wars and be annoying at me all day
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Masc

Posted In: comic
└ Tags: amber, booster

Discussion (132) ¬

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  1. The Wellerman
    The Wellerman
    August 30, 2022 at 12:02 am | # | Reply

    *insert Homestuck meme about stack data structures*

    • Clif
      Clif
      August 30, 2022 at 3:38 am | # | Reply

      Say what?

      • Pylgrim
        Pylgrim
        August 30, 2022 at 6:47 am | # | Reply

        FIFO, obviously

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      August 30, 2022 at 4:07 am | # | Reply

      Meme inserted and found excellent.

      • The Wellerman
        The Wellerman
        August 30, 2022 at 4:16 am | # | Reply

        Thanks Taffy, that means a lot.

        Especially since the indie game studio just informed me that they had to lay me off because of budget reasons and stupid European laws

        ??? ???

        • Spriteless Aunty
          Spriteless Aunty
          August 30, 2022 at 5:12 am | # | Reply

          Crap. If your interview project was useful you might want to try to get paid for that much.

        • milu
          milu
          August 30, 2022 at 7:25 am | # | Reply

          Oh no! Sympathies. That sucks.
          I know fuckall about the game industry but if its anything like other creative gig economies this sounds par for the course, as will be hundreds of unpaid and barely-paid hours and assorted indignities…

          Hope you’re dealing OK, take care

          • MC
            MC
            August 30, 2022 at 8:35 am | # | Reply

            Been in games for a bit over a decade. The vast majority of the game industry is an established tech industry. Layoffs are dramatic but fairly rare, paychecks are constant (but lower than other parts of tech), and work-life balance varies from studio to studio. It can be a lovely place to work, but you do have to remember that “indie studio” can sometimes be code for ‘A group of people who have no idea what they’re doing and no funding’ as opposed to most actual indie game studios, which are just small companies. Never work anywhere if they miss a single paycheck.

            Condolences here, as it sounds like they wandered into the former as opposed to the latter.

            • Needfuldoer
              Needfuldoer
              August 30, 2022 at 7:34 pm | # | Reply

              Agreed, it sounds like they didn’t realize the legal and financial implications of “hiring an employee” vs “commissioning freelance work”. (Especially if said employee is outside the EU, which brings international laws into play IIRC.)

              Please don’t take it personally or be too hard on yourself! You got that far through the interview process! That was an oversight on their part, not any fault of yours.

              • The Wellerman
                The Wellerman
                August 30, 2022 at 10:45 pm | # | Reply

                Thanks ?

    • davidbreslin101
      davidbreslin101
      August 31, 2022 at 4:49 am | # | Reply

      Further down the corridor, someone goes “OW! Who threw this Fireflight at me?”

  2. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    August 30, 2022 at 12:02 am | # | Reply

    …are we sure ETHAN won’t start calling Booster “Replacement Mike”?

    • chuckroast
      chuckroast
      August 30, 2022 at 12:04 am | # | Reply

      Only in bed.

    • ThunderNight
      ThunderNight
      August 30, 2022 at 12:04 am | # | Reply

      depends which transformer facts he would need to forget

      • Bryy
        Bryy
        August 30, 2022 at 1:05 am | # | Reply

        Booster’ll make him forget all of them.

    • Kamino Neko
      Kamino Neko
      August 30, 2022 at 2:50 am | # | Reply

      That requires Ethan to think Mike can be replaced.

      Mike Usurper seems more likely.

    • Twitcher
      Twitcher
      August 30, 2022 at 2:41 pm | # | Reply

      So, does this mean Booster leans femme-presenting more often than not, and that’s the reason Ethan won’t be into them, or is it because Booster is just not straight-up masculine, like Ethan presumably prefers?

      • Opus the Poet
        Opus the Poet
        August 30, 2022 at 4:12 pm | # | Reply

        I would think the former, that Booster is more femme-presenting what with the lipstick and everything.

      • Seregiel
        Seregiel
        August 30, 2022 at 6:16 pm | # | Reply

        Or it could be they want to be seen and aknowmeged as they and since Ethan is gay, not overall queer that the relationship wouldn’t go forward anyways because they are not a he.

  3. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    August 30, 2022 at 12:02 am | # | Reply

    Booster: Alright new friend, I have here some cards of suggested conversational topics. Tell me, what are your thoughts on…”FIRRIB”?! I don’t…what is that?

    (Ethan launches into three hour explanation/rant. Booster shrugs and sits back to admire.)

    • John
      John
      August 30, 2022 at 1:08 am | # | Reply

      I’ll tell you what firrib is: the correct answer!

    • The Other Mike
      The Other Mike
      August 30, 2022 at 5:58 am | # | Reply

      Um, I think you meant RIRFIB.

      • EvilMidnightLurker
        EvilMidnightLurker
        August 30, 2022 at 7:47 pm | # | Reply

        RIFRIB!

    • Freezer
      Freezer
      August 30, 2022 at 9:20 pm | # | Reply

      “Okay, let’s try… ‘TRUK NOT MUNKEY?’ Seriously what the hell?”

  4. BBCC
    BBCC
    August 30, 2022 at 12:02 am | # | Reply

    Huh, actually, not as bad a train wreck as I thought it’d be.

    I guess the day is young but that didn’t go too badly.

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      August 30, 2022 at 12:13 am | # | Reply

      I’m curious how this will go when they actually get to Ethan. He may not be in the mood to make a new friend. Ethan might already know who Booster is as well and know he is Walky’s new roommate, and thus know he is “Replacement Mike.”

      • anon
        anon
        August 30, 2022 at 12:15 am | # | Reply

        well if they’re in the same dorm area they’d run into each other eventually but ambers just speeding up the project

        • Clif
          Clif
          August 30, 2022 at 3:40 am | # | Reply

          You have to admire her sales technique.

          Well, I have to.

  5. Opus the Poet
    Opus the Poet
    August 30, 2022 at 12:03 am | # | Reply

    Looking forward to Ethster sometime next week.

    • PirateTawnee
      PirateTawnee
      August 30, 2022 at 2:23 am | # | Reply

      I guess I’m ok with that name, given the alternative is Boothan, which is a little too close to Bothan for my liking (they die for information, so they probably die for entertainment too, and we don’t need that kind of carnage on our hands)

      • Ana Chronistic
        Ana Chronistic
        August 30, 2022 at 9:10 am | # | Reply

        Ether

  6. Nono
    Nono
    August 30, 2022 at 12:04 am | # | Reply

    Okay, friendshipping. That’s… better.

    Also I don’t know if Ethan is strictly masc-for-masc. Danny’s not exactly a paragon of hulkitude.

    He seems to have a decently varied taste, going between Danny/Mike/Thad/Drew.

    • Anna
      Anna
      August 30, 2022 at 3:25 am | # | Reply

      I was thinking that too. He was into Jocelyn too, who of course looked just like a man, but still. Booster is biologically male, I assume, given that they live in the men’s dorm, and their looks are (to me at least) those of a man who embraces certain feminine things, not those of a woman. Just because their gender is non-binary doesn’t necessarily mean a gay man won’t be into them based on their biological sex.

      And I hope I didn’t unintentionally insult or hurt anyone with my words. Everyone deserves to be able to live as they identify, and find a nice partner of their preferred gender & sex, if they want to.

      • Psi Baka Onna
        Psi Baka Onna
        August 30, 2022 at 3:49 am | # | Reply

        As someone who fairly recently learnt they were demi-sexual, I’d say your assessment is valid. Sometimes all you want is someone who makes decent Batman jokes and that ain’t restricted to one body type last I checked.

      • Florence
        Florence
        August 30, 2022 at 5:05 am | # | Reply

        It would probably matter to booster that Ethan recognise they’re gender cause it doesn’t feel great when the person you’re with isn’t actually attracted to who you actually are. Booster probably wants to be with someone who is attracted to their non-binary self, not “I’m into you because I view you as a guy, but won’t say anything”

        • Psi Baka Onna
          Psi Baka Onna
          August 30, 2022 at 6:09 am | # | Reply

          I could be way off base as I’m not attracted to people’s bodily arrangement but what I think Anna meant was that Ethan could find Booster physically attractive as they don’t have overt female characteristics aka boobs and a vagina. That doesn’t mean wouldn’t be attractive to who they actually are as sex and gender are two different things ( what you were born as vs what you identify as) so in theory you could be attracted to the physical package and the various cerebral quirks that make up a humanbeing. Does that sound fair?

        • Anna
          Anna
          August 30, 2022 at 6:12 am | # | Reply

          That’s the other side of it, of course: even if Ethan is into Booster, does Booster want Ethan? B does think E is hot, so that would help. And who knows how Ethan feels about a non-binary person, for all we know he is into biologically male bodies with whatever gender. On the other hand, he backed right off from Jocelyn when Jocelyn told him she’s not a man, despite her looks.

          • Florence
            Florence
            August 30, 2022 at 9:30 am | # | Reply

            That’s actually true, I’d forgotten he was actually good about that.

            It would be an interesting avenue of queerness to explore, often it’s a seemingly cis het character discovering queerness, but a cis gay man going out with a queer person who isn’t strictly in the boxes is not something you see expired often

            It would be a funny relationship considering booster is not that angsty and even if booster can resist their analysis brain, I don’t think they’d be able to stop themselves at least making helpful suggestions. Like the opposite of garbage roof type relationship. Does Ethan even want the good version of a relationship with booster considering how he currently is?

          • Nono
            Nono
            August 30, 2022 at 9:50 am | # | Reply

            Did he actually back right off from Jocelyne because of that? He kinda tried to flirt with her, then she confronted him with ‘wait you’re gay, why are you dating my sister’ and he got enough second hand embarrassment to back off. The ‘finding out she’s not a man’ was pretty much after the dust had settled, and it was via text.

      • Myth
        Myth
        August 30, 2022 at 6:12 pm | # | Reply

        @Anna
        Disclaimer: none of this is intended as a criticism. I saw your comment and thought you might find this helpful!

        I am no expert myself, but if I remember correctly (my memory is poor and accepted terminology varies greatly!) a better term for Booster would be “assigned male at birth” (AMAB) rather than “biologically male.” As many people educated in biology have pointed out, there are *tons* of biological indicators of sex, and a human being can have some very interesting combinations that defy sorting into a gender binary even on a purely biological basis. (For example, most people have no reason to know what their chromosomal sex actually is, so some people that were assigned male at birth, have presented and identified as male their entire lives, and have considered-male sex characteristics including deep voice, lots of body hair, etc. are actually chromosomally XX.) So, since the sex/gender assigned at birth is based on simple straightforward visual cues (“does the baby have a D or a V,” and of course this is why assigning gender at birth is so flawed) it’s typically a better shorthand for the kind of thing you’re referring to here about Booster 🙂 People will understand what you mean either way, though.

        Also, Booster still has a good point; sexual orientation/attraction is so varied and unique from person to person, Ethan being gay doesn’t tell us much about whether or not he’d be into Booster. Danny is not exactly the most masculine dude ever, but he is still a conventionally masculine presenting dude, and everyone else Ethan’s slept with is either the same amount of or more masculine than Danny. We really have nothing we can point to in determining whether Ethan is into gender-nonconforming dudes. I wouldn’t count Jocelyn because, as a result of her being closeted for safety, she probably looks even *less* femme than Booster. She seemed to think Ethan wouldn’t be interested in pursuing her after learning she’s trans, but I think that’s because Jocelyne does hope to transition someday

        • Anna
          Anna
          September 1, 2022 at 3:55 am | # | Reply

          @Myth, I appreciate it! I know the term assigned male at birth/AMAB and how it is useful, and I know sex is a spectrum, both when it comes to chromosomes and in what a person has between their legs. All this is interesting and in my view everyone should be able to live a life that matches their gender, and only have operations on their sexual characteristics if they want that themselves.

          But when it comes to this specific person Booster and whether or not Ethan would be attracted to them, I think it matters not so much that Booster is presumably AMAB but that they (probably) have the physical features of a man. A trans woman can have a vagina and boobs, and I think we can safely assume that Ethan would not be attracted to her, even if she was exactly as AMAB as Ethan himself or Booster or Mike or etc.

          Hence my choice of the term ‘biologically male’; perhaps ‘with the physical features of a man’ or ‘physically male’ would have been a better choice.

          @Psi Baka Onna: Yes, that is what I meant.

          @Nono: maybe you’re right, I might misremember exactly how and when Ethan backed off from Jocelyn.

  7. Cattleprod
    Cattleprod
    August 30, 2022 at 12:05 am | # | Reply

    The red ONE? I thought there were several who were at least partially red. I’ll never work this out.

    • Dave Van Domelen
      Dave Van Domelen
      August 30, 2022 at 12:06 am | # | Reply

      From memory, I think Fireflight is the one with the most red, but Slingshot is the only one I had as a “kid” (teenager).

  8. Opus the Poet
    Opus the Poet
    August 30, 2022 at 12:05 am | # | Reply

    Feeling called out by the alt-text.

    • John
      John
      August 30, 2022 at 1:13 am | # | Reply

      he was a smaller legends class toy, and like that line’s shockwave and a couple others, he could be turned into a gun for a bigger figure. box art canon had him as superion’s weapon.

      • The Other Mike
        The Other Mike
        August 30, 2022 at 6:06 am | # | Reply

        Amusingly enough, he can be wielded in gun mode by his larger 2008 toy.

    • Liquid Len
      Liquid Len
      August 30, 2022 at 8:22 am | # | Reply

      IM so called out bu the alt-text – my first thought of Powerglide was a GM automatic transmission!

      • Opus the Poet
        Opus the Poet
        August 30, 2022 at 4:17 pm | # | Reply

        Likewise, Had one in my race car for years. Mainly because it was lightweight and gave me a trans that would survive hard launches and had a reverse gear.

  9. Johan
    Johan
    August 30, 2022 at 12:05 am | # | Reply

    Ha! Got ’em.

  10. Thag Simmons
    Thag Simmons
    August 30, 2022 at 12:05 am | # | Reply

    Don’t worry, it’s not emotional labour, you aren’t getting paid

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      August 30, 2022 at 12:11 am | # | Reply

      “You wouldn’t be doing my emotional labour, you’re not getting paid anything for this” would have been a better sentence than this. Oh well

    • anon
      anon
      August 30, 2022 at 12:12 am | # | Reply

      1 dollar for a kind/sympathetic smile, 5 dollars for a hug

    • Kamino Neko
      Kamino Neko
      August 30, 2022 at 2:19 am | # | Reply

      That would be an emotional job.

      Labour doesn’t necessarily mean payment.

      • Clif
        Clif
        August 30, 2022 at 3:45 am | # | Reply

        Ask anyone who was never paid for their labor.

    • milu
      milu
      August 30, 2022 at 7:03 am | # | Reply

      The concept of “domestic labour” was developed by 2nd-wave Marxist feminists precisely to name the unpaid value produced by women’s work in the house. The phrase “emotional labour” follows the same template, as do further elaborations such as “sexual labour”.

      I believe in typical marxist terminology ” labour” is the value-producing effort itself, with or without compensation. The word for the commodification of that labour is “service”. See “domestic service workers”, “sexual services” etc.

      Anyway, for further reading I highly recommend Jess Zimmerman’s riotous and whip-smart essay, Where’s My Cut?

      • Joy
        Joy
        September 1, 2022 at 1:56 pm | # | Reply

        Good comment!

        Oh and don’t forget gestational labor/reproductive labor. :3

  11. Dafydd
    Dafydd
    August 30, 2022 at 12:06 am | # | Reply

    Fuck combiner wars. The red one’s Fireflight. (And his alt mode is an F4 Phantom II.)

    • BarerMender
      BarerMender
      August 30, 2022 at 12:22 am | # | Reply

      I don’t know from combiner wars or Firefight, but I know F4s are powerful planes. I was on Nellis when the Thunderbirds flew F4s. If they got some speed up, they could fly straight up clear out of sight. If you ducked under one, though, you’d better be wearing a helmet. All kinds of things sticking down to cut your head open.

      • StClair
        StClair
        August 30, 2022 at 12:32 am | # | Reply

        I’ve heard both the F4 and the Shuttle offered as proof that – with sufficient power, and some minimal streamlining and control surfaces – you can make a brick fly.

        • Bicycle Bill
          Bicycle Bill
          August 30, 2022 at 7:27 am | # | Reply

          I think that same logic is what gave us that breed of watercraft called the “bass boat”.

        • Roborat
          Roborat
          August 30, 2022 at 4:14 pm | # | Reply

          My dad was a fighter pilot, and that was how he described the F-4.

  12. UrsulaDavina
    UrsulaDavina
    August 30, 2022 at 12:06 am | # | Reply

    How much is Booster into transformers? Or at least willing to feign intrest in transformers?

    • C.T. Phipps
      C.T. Phipps
      August 30, 2022 at 2:01 am | # | Reply

      “I’m sorry, I’m into Go-Bots.”

      *Ethan dies of apoplexy*

      • Kamino Neko
        Kamino Neko
        August 30, 2022 at 2:25 am | # | Reply

        Since Go-Bots have been part of Transformers for longer than these characters have been alive, probably more confusion than anything else.

        (In their lifetime, I believe it’s been pretty much always the pre-school-aimed lines, except for when it was the characters from the original brought into a G1ish Transformers universe.)

  13. Dragonfire
    Dragonfire
    August 30, 2022 at 12:07 am | # | Reply

    But ‘the red one’ could be any of them except for, what… Barrel Roll? The others have all got red on them, anyway.

  14. Kyrik Michalowski
    Kyrik Michalowski
    August 30, 2022 at 12:07 am | # | Reply

    That went… surprisingly well.
    I don’t trust it, when is Willis going to pull the rug out from underneath us?

    • anon
      anon
      August 30, 2022 at 12:11 am | # | Reply

      dunno how receptive ethan would be to being approached, even with just friendship esp if he knows they’re a psych major. depends on how organic the meeting is versus ethan just sulking in a public space like teh cafeteria/common area and booster just asking if he’s alright versus them approaching him and saying “amber said you could use a new friend” or so

      • milu
        milu
        August 30, 2022 at 7:38 am | # | Reply

        OK I’ve decided this “psych major” nonsense has wrapped round from irritating to funny now

        I mean, i’m not sure you mean it as a joke, which might mean I’m laughing *at* you now, but oh well

    • Masumi
      Masumi
      August 30, 2022 at 12:20 am | # | Reply

      First he’s got to slide the rug back under us

      • Clif
        Clif
        August 30, 2022 at 3:46 am | # | Reply

        This!

        • Clif
          Clif
          August 30, 2022 at 3:47 am | # | Reply

          We have to become emotionally invested first.

    • justin8448
      justin8448
      August 30, 2022 at 2:27 am | # | Reply

      You gotta build first, so later you can blow it all up or tear it all down.

    • Seralyna
      Seralyna
      August 30, 2022 at 9:35 am | # | Reply

      We do need a way to get ethan firmly back like, actually participating in the story before any real heartbreak can happen. I imagine anything bad happening too early would just result in ‘Well, guess that guy is gonna continue to not exist in the comic anymore’

  15. Mr. Random
    Mr. Random
    August 30, 2022 at 12:07 am | # | Reply

    I’m sure the robot wars you’re referring to are incredibly deep and dense and full of genuinely tragic and heart-rending moments….
    But that’s not really my demographic.

    • deliverything
      deliverything
      August 30, 2022 at 3:28 am | # | Reply

      Make robot love, not robot war!
      https://youtu.be/24PQ1_sMzLM
      (Don’ t worry, nothing NSFW about this.)

      • Mr. Random
        Mr. Random
        August 30, 2022 at 12:52 pm | # | Reply

        Did they just make Daffy…. openly gay in that version?

        • Opus the Poet
          Opus the Poet
          August 30, 2022 at 4:25 pm | # | Reply

          Pretty sure both Bugs and Daffy have been Bi.

  16. anon
    anon
    August 30, 2022 at 12:10 am | # | Reply

    that’s what the wiki is for lol

  17. ubertenorman
    ubertenorman
    August 30, 2022 at 12:12 am | # | Reply

    off the top of my head it’s slingshot right?

  18. newlland(Henryvolt)
    newlland(Henryvolt)
    August 30, 2022 at 12:14 am | # | Reply

    I see that her time with Walky and Sal has resulted in her getting some of that Walkerton Charm to rub off on her.

    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/population/

    • newlland(Henryvolt)
      newlland(Henryvolt)
      August 30, 2022 at 12:15 am | # | Reply

      I regret posting this.

      • Kyrik Michalowski
        Kyrik Michalowski
        August 30, 2022 at 5:43 am | # | Reply

        Why? I see no issue here, unless I’m missing something obvious.

    • Amós Batista
      Amós Batista
      August 30, 2022 at 10:10 am | # | Reply

      This never-remember-a-name issue isn’t only from Sal and Amber, huh?

  19. EAG46
    EAG46
    August 30, 2022 at 12:17 am | # | Reply

    This turned out better than I thought it would…Maybe this isn’t a bad idea, as ideas in this universe go. Perhaps Booster would be good for Ethan. And at least Amber realizes Ethan needs someone.

  20. Kitschensyngk
    Kitschensyngk
    August 30, 2022 at 12:17 am | # | Reply

    It might help if you dyed your hair blonde and started wearing black shirts.

    Also, I know it’s a bit strange, but talk about how you did his mom for a quarter. It might break the ice a little.

    • Cass
      Cass
      August 30, 2022 at 12:40 am | # | Reply

      Her price has gone up to a quarter? Man, inflation’s hitting everything these days.

      • Clif
        Clif
        August 30, 2022 at 3:48 am | # | Reply

        Only Mike could talk her down to a nickel.

  21. Suet
    Suet
    August 30, 2022 at 12:19 am | # | Reply

    “Ethan Siegal Needs a Friend”

    And so does anybody, actually. Even it may be transient, it’s still friendship.

  22. alongcameaspider
    alongcameaspider
    August 30, 2022 at 12:22 am | # | Reply

    Oh that’s far less bad then the previous strip led me to believe

  23. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    August 30, 2022 at 12:27 am | # | Reply

    Huh.

    I thought the correct answer was Fireflight. Guess I lose.

  24. cmasta1992
    cmasta1992
    August 30, 2022 at 12:28 am | # | Reply

    The red one turns into a dinosaur

  25. Cholma
    Cholma
    August 30, 2022 at 12:38 am | # | Reply

    Maybe Randy could spare Fluffmodeus, and they could be Ethan’s “New Friend” for awhile!

    • Stanistani
      Stanistani
      August 30, 2022 at 7:39 pm | # | Reply

      That’s a crossover I’d really enjoy.

  26. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    August 30, 2022 at 12:41 am | # | Reply

    Makes sense. I guess it also probably means us getting more Booster and Ethan around, whether this works or not. Should prove interesting.

    Also, good to know Amber wasn’t misgendering Booster, and that we, and Booster, were just somewhat jumping to conclusions.

  27. Romanticide
    Romanticide
    August 30, 2022 at 1:07 am | # | Reply

    This very sweet, there is no guarantee of sucess but then again nothing is in this life. Ask your aquantainces if they can try to befriend Ethan is better than doing nothing

  28. Poskie
    Poskie
    August 30, 2022 at 1:09 am | # | Reply

    First panel: VINDICATION!!!

    • Poskie
      Poskie
      August 30, 2022 at 1:10 am | # | Reply

      Second panel: …ah.

  29. Queezle
    Queezle
    August 30, 2022 at 1:50 am | # | Reply

    That was not nearly as uncomfortable as I feared it would be. I did not even feel real second-hand anxiety. Just a bit.

  30. Needfuldoer
    Needfuldoer
    August 30, 2022 at 2:34 am | # | Reply

    re: Alt-text:

    Everything I know about Transformers I learned by osmosis from going “yup, uh-huh, sure, robots” at all the references here.

  31. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    August 30, 2022 at 2:57 am | # | Reply

    Not a bad idea, so Booster will have an interesting case to study and Amber an excuse for periodically talk with Booster, becoming friends with them (and maybe something more, I ship Amber and Booster and the Amber/AmaziGirl’s “case” is like the ultimate dream for a psychology student). It would be a triple win! Let’s see what Ethan think about this.

    • Freddie!
      Freddie!
      August 30, 2022 at 3:04 am | # | Reply

      Thank you for “Ambooster” … thank you VERY much.

      • Rabisch
        Rabisch
        August 30, 2022 at 6:08 am | # | Reply

        I like this name♡. Ambooster forever!

  32. Taffy
    Taffy
    August 30, 2022 at 4:09 am | # | Reply

    I’d like fun at Amber for that but I also memorise NPCs with one line of dialogue in an MMO and every Power Ranger and Sonic character I’ve ever seen.

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      August 30, 2022 at 4:35 am | # | Reply

      I envy you, being able to memorize those things just for fun.

      Autistic burnout low-energy mode sucks ?

  33. foducool
    foducool
    August 30, 2022 at 4:22 am | # | Reply

    a great sacrifice was made today

  34. Sharaku
    Sharaku
    August 30, 2022 at 4:48 am | # | Reply

    Acceptable answers, in order of acceptability:

    Fireflight – The red and white one
    Slingshot – The white and red one
    Silver bolt – The white and red leader
    Alpha Bravo – The white and red helicopter (Combiner Wars)
    AirRazor – Mostly white with small hints of red (Powerlinx Combiner)
    Air Raid – The most black and white one, but with red parts
    Balloon – White and red dirigible

    Unacceptable answers

    Sky Dive – the black red and grey one
    Barrel Roll (IDW/minicon)- Green, grey and yellowish one
    Thurst (Armada Supercon) – Grey, cream, green and orange honorary aerialbot
    Powerglide – red and cream aerialbot (combiner wars)

    • ValdVin
      ValdVin
      August 30, 2022 at 7:34 am | # | Reply

      If there’s a Powerglide shouldn’t there be a TorqueFlite and a Ford-O-Matic to balance things out?

      • Liquid Len
        Liquid Len
        August 30, 2022 at 10:50 am | # | Reply

        I’m waiting for the Turbo-Hydramatic myself. 🙂

        • Opus the Poet
          Opus the Poet
          August 30, 2022 at 4:44 pm | # | Reply

          This whole thread shows why this forum needs a upvote button instead of a flag.

        • ValdVin
          ValdVin
          September 3, 2022 at 6:01 pm | # | Reply

          Agreed with Opus. Here’s your upvote.

          Although there may be a Turbo-Hydramatic in your future, there won’t be an Oldsmobile.

    • George the Archon
      George the Archon
      August 30, 2022 at 8:20 am | # | Reply

      Waitwaitwait. The one with ‘silver’ in its name isn’t silver?

      • Dr. T
        Dr. T
        August 30, 2022 at 12:15 pm | # | Reply

        Well, the version of Bluestreak that I got as a kid was silver, not blue (though his original mold appeared to be blue and white).

        • George the Archon
          George the Archon
          August 30, 2022 at 2:56 pm | # | Reply

          I begin to see why Amber needs to apply mental capacity to this. ?

  35. RedCat
    RedCat
    August 30, 2022 at 5:05 am | # | Reply

    Damn, Booster hardly ever met Ethan and knows he’s gay. That obvious, huh?

    • milu
      milu
      August 30, 2022 at 7:51 am | # | Reply

      Booster and Walky might have talked off-panel? (which is aggravating, I know) (how dare) (then again most of the things most people say most of the time are super boring so maybe its for the best)

      • JBento
        JBento
        August 30, 2022 at 8:14 am | # | Reply

        What’s this “off-panel” you speak of?

        • milu
          milu
          August 30, 2022 at 9:26 am | # | Reply

          oh, excuse the jargon, it’s part a hypothetical model postulated by some dumbstrophysicists to explain a class of weird phenomena their current model fails to account for.

          The suggestion is that reality as we know it may be explained in terms of fundamental structures they are tentatively calling “strips”, which mathematically imply extra, unobservable, “off-panel” dimensions (alternatively described as particles called “scriptons”). Those dimensions were somehow (???) “folded into” reality around the time of the chaotic origination event technically known as the “Inaugural Poop”.

          This “Strip theory” is meant to help explain inconsistencies within the current experimentally-supported model of the dumbiverse, however it is debated, with critics considering this to be an untestable and therefore unscientific proposition.

          Some of them go as far as to call it a resurgence of the widely scoffed-at myth that all events in the dumbiverse are either (scholars differ) predetermined or constantly tinkered with by a mischievous divinity known as Willis.

          • JBento
            JBento
            August 30, 2022 at 10:17 am | # | Reply

            *applause*

            • Nicoleandmaggie
              Nicoleandmaggie
              August 30, 2022 at 4:48 pm | # | Reply

              Joins clapping.

  36. Yet_One_More_Idiot
    Yet_One_More_Idiot
    August 30, 2022 at 7:50 am | # | Reply

    Plot twist: The red aerialbot’s name was ALSO Booster. As in, “Booster Aerial”….

    …aaaaaaaand now I’ll let myself out. xD

  37. Dr. T
    Dr. T
    August 30, 2022 at 8:16 am | # | Reply

    Okay, now I’m confused. I thought Powerglide was the A-10, which was a stand-alone minibot, not a Combiner.

  38. Fetch85
    Fetch85
    August 30, 2022 at 9:31 am | # | Reply

    What? Isn’t Powerglide blue and Viper Red?

  39. Sharkfin Bangs
    Sharkfin Bangs
    August 30, 2022 at 10:26 am | # | Reply

    Amber writes superhero smut. Countdown to when she accidentally calls them “Boostle”.

  40. wakeangel2001
    wakeangel2001
    August 30, 2022 at 12:02 pm | # | Reply

    Powerglide is Superion’s gun, so he’s an Aerialbot now. This is canon to me and a great elevation of my favorite minibot. It’s not like Hasbro is doing anything with Powerglide in official fiction now…I love Windblade but I’m gonna be REAL upset if it turns out they think “we can only have one red autobot plane” because I wanted her to be blue!

  41. Alex
    Alex
    August 30, 2022 at 1:55 pm | # | Reply

    If these are her real intentions she’s a better person than we all gave her credit for yesterday.

  42. The Sad truth
    The Sad truth
    August 30, 2022 at 3:33 pm | # | Reply

    Urrrrgh. ooh no its Booster.
    It has been such a long (and very happy time) that i almost forgot Boosters
    existed.

  43. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    August 30, 2022 at 3:58 pm | # | Reply

    if it’s red, it’s the leader, right ?

    • Roborat
      Roborat
      August 30, 2022 at 4:17 pm | # | Reply

      Or it is about to die, if it’s in the Star Trek universe.

      • Keulen
        Keulen
        August 30, 2022 at 5:04 pm | # | Reply

        Only in the Original Series. In TNG and the other series made after it, the commanding officers usually wear red shirts, and the random yellow and blue shirt people are more likely to die.

  44. Ashley
    Ashley
    August 30, 2022 at 6:02 pm | # | Reply

    Hey, friendships that started for less have been good for everyone involved.

  45. tunasammich
    tunasammich
    August 30, 2022 at 11:05 pm | # | Reply

    Everyone is like, “Ethan is going to think of them as replacement Mike too,” and here I’m like, I hope he’s not that big of a jerkass?

  46. Juanoku
    Juanoku
    September 1, 2022 at 12:28 am | # | Reply

    It’s a weird experience to read this and not be a transformers fan

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