I like Malaya but then again I’ve gone on record saying that my favorite characters are assholes. I LOVE JERKS.
cbwroses
See, I didn’t really have a problem with Mike, who definitely did worse stuff than mouth off, and to more people.
And I love Walky, who has many Jerk moments.
There’s just something about her.
Maybe it’s the insistence on Sal being fake with no evidence of her being so.
HueSatLight
I don’t like when they say “fakey” instead of a word that other people also use. I’m not even sure what they mean by it, or if they know what they mean, because the whole “fakey” decider thing seems like a schtick.
cbwroses
I think she’s trying to establish how unique she is by slightly adjusting a real word.
Then again, I THINK it’s also a skateboard term, and she does skate, so maybe she got it from that.
cbwroses
There is a skateboard term called a Fakie.
Per Wikipedia –
Fakie: Rolling backwards; the rider is in the normal stance, but rolling in the opposite direction. (Basically a switch nollie position)
Meagan
I also think it’s a ridiculous word. Like…just say ‘poser.’ Her using the word makes her sound fakey/like a poser. It’s pretentious.
Yotomoe
Reminds me of certain characters saying think like “Dorkus”
Needfuldoer
[Somehow, a second Malaya bursts through the door]
“HA! FAKEY!”
Jason
Maybe it’s the context of seeing a character be stuck in a room with someone intent on making what should be their safe place hell. Malaya bullies Sal for no apparent reason, making her room a deeply unpleasant place for her to be. Mike, for all his flaws, wasn’t like that. (I think he’d sneer at Malaya’s way of trying to bother Sal, tbh, and he wasn’t really focused on Walky or on their room anyway.)
(Honestly, the idea of forcing two people who are complete strangers to share rooms like this is bizarre to me even before including the specific age of the strangers.)
thejeff
Mike was worse. Recording Walky crying to play back for his friends?
Walky is still half convinced Mike faked his death just to mess with him and will be hiding in a closet or something.
Vanessa
Yes, was about to say Mike made Walky’s life hell. But that jerky habit is why I also dislike Becky. Can’t she tell Dorothy is having on by her fingernails?! There is no reason to constantly needle her even when she’s trying to study. And to deliberately make the entire dorm room stink of dirty laundry and presumably piles of unwashed dishes and used tissues and food wrappers and discarded drink bottles too, ugh. (Yes, I have a teenager!)
zee
Mike was cartoonishly bad, and it helps that most of his worst stuff were off screen throwaway gags.
Malaya is realistically annoying, you can feasibly know someone like that or see yourself having to room with one. Relatable annoying is so much worse that cartoonish annoying. And most of her worst offensives are on screen, like when she shined the heat lamp in sal’s face. That triggered me so hard. I’d probably slap someone or throw the lamp if they tried to overwhelm me sensory like that
GholaHalleck
I know why Mala rubs the wrong way.
Mike and Walky had/have prolonged relationships with the people they harass. It’s basically banter at this point because they would not deal with Mike for as long as they did if there wasn’t some redeeming quality to their hanging out.
Mala came out the gate an asshole and wants nothing to do with anyone but Marcy.
There is dislike from the first foot so there’s nothing to even halfway assume she’s an asshole with a heart of gold.
On TOP of that, the only reason Marcy puts up with her is because she wants to crack her open like a Cloyster and evolve into Slowqueen.
Finally a kindred spirit for the hating of Malaya and her nonsense. I wouldn’t even mind her barbs to Sal if they had any truth behind them, but instead she arbitrarily decides what parts of Sal are fake, and which parts are real.
cbwroses
I am fist bumping you through my iPad right now.
Thag Simmons
Malaya can’t get along with Sal because they’re basically the same sort of person, although Sal’s a lot nicer.
Nono
I mean Sal called out Malaya and then basically muttered ‘alright where is that cumstain’.
Sal’s not a PEACH.
JBento
And then physically assaulted her. Great folks all around.
Thag Simmons
Malaya is a weapons grade bongo, so being a lot nicer than her is not particularly challenging
I will not deny that Malaya has not earned her spot, on the list of unlikable people, in this series. But, unlike, say, Jennifer, Mary, or Raidah, Malaya might be unlikable, but she’s not toxic. I would put her at the same place as Roz; you might not like her, but at the same time, you know you are not going to get steered in the wrong direction. Just like Roz, Malaya will be upfront with you on how she feels; she will never say one thing to your face, and another, behind your back. You may not like Malaya, but you always know what you’re getting, and I kind of like that.
I couldn’t stand her but this strip changes my vision of her.
She actually has a belief system, and a coherent one.
I don’t find her likable at all, but she just earned some respect here.
I like Malaya. That doesn’t mean I blindly defend them, but I like her nuances. They’re complicated.
(Also, getting ahead of tonight’s Malaya Discourse now: If she reminds you of someone who treated you badly IRL, that’s okay and valid, but just keep in mind that that’s not a framing everyone has for the conversation, and it can be difficult if you don’t communicate that personal context up-front.)
Thank you. I like her too. I often feel like the only one. If I was in college I would have thought Sal did seem kind of fake or like a poser or whatever. Like getting a window into Sal’s trauma makes me sympathetic to her, otherwise I’d think ill of her the way Malaya does
She reminds me of multiple people who treated me badly IRL. Just since you being that aspect up. She’s a bully who makes Sal’s home base- the place which is supposed to be safe- an unpleasant place to be.
That sort of thing is far more damaging to a person’s mental health and well-being than the typical bullying of this nature, because the place Sal is supposed to be able to get away is the place it’s happening. The place where she is most vulnerable- where she sleeps and lets her guard down- is rendered a place she cannot be at ease.
I’ve said it above but I’ll say it again, I am deeply against strangers being forced to share rooms. It gets worse at this age range, but for any age range.
(Admittedly good for fictional drama and storytelling.)
I guess now that I think about it *Sal* makes me think of someone who treated me badly, so that’s probably where my like of Malaya and dislike of Sal come from. It’s also probably biased by… This is a comic with Ross and Blaine, and also people like Mary and Radish, so Malaya to be seems incredibly tame for the amount of hate she gets
Also tbf, I feel like we know nothing about Malaya compared to Sal. They might feel unsafe too
Big agree on not having people forced to share rooms – college freshman year was hell for that reason
She’s just, annoying to me. I’ve never met someone like her but if i were in sal’s situation I’d feel so suffocated I’d halfway move out until she got moved
Which is funny to me, because honestly, her utter lack of nuance is what annoys me about Malaya. She’s one-note (and an annoying note, at that) for the most part, declaring herself the ultimate arbiter of what is ‘real’ and what is ‘fakey’. It doesn’t even make her a compelling foil, IMNSHO, so she annoys me as a character as well as a portrayal of a person.
Hell, I’m inclined to say that MARY has more nuance than Malaya. And Mike was positively three-dimensional in comparison. Honestly, Malaya seems to exist solely to provide a reason for other characters to have a falling-out.
Malaya checking everybody’s doors while they’re away at class, and trying on all their clothes when they’re unlocked. Think that’s too specific for bonus strip voting?
It might be how Malya speaks to everyone but i do not remember her trying seduce Danny although knowing Malya condescension and insults might be her form of seduction.
in a brief two-strip interlude while Walky was at breakfast and Dorothy was stuck in a BSOD. We did not actually see Malaya proposition Danny, just said bringing flowers was a kink.
UrsulaDavina
I’m aware of that but I what I don’t remember is Malya actually propositioning Danny
It’s possible that she said/tried something as part of the act of receiving the flowers after the camera cut away? Cause she thought cornball romantic gestures are Danny’s fetish?
Malaya continues to be the worst and I continue to love them for that. I would love to see some backstory deconstructing their obsession with phoniness, but until that backstory comes I’m just enjoying the ride.
I can’t help but wonder if it’s externalized self loathing. Malaya’s had some issues with their own identity after all, wouldn’t surprise me if this whole thing about “Fake” people and “Real” people is their way of dealing with their uncertainty about themself and their gender identity. Or at least started that way.
Malaya seems inclined to assume the worst of most people, and they’re very aware that people hate her (they explicitly sought out Joe at least in part because they felt he was equally disliked). I think they just have serious trust issues, which gives them a guarded and prickly manner that hurts their ability to make friends and thus exacerbates those trust issues. They may also be autistic and bad at reading people, which leads to anxiety, which leads to demanding that everybody be 100% up-front and blunt and leave no doubt as to intentions. I’d believe that.
Malaya being the worst and thinking people doing random things is “fakey” is why I find them really annoying. I’d love to know what’s wrong with Malaya that they think so many of the things the people around her do are “fake”, because most of them don’t seem very fake to me.
Beat me to it.
And, yeah it’s changed with a circle around the spider itself and horizontal lines that seem to wrap around her arm, from what I can tell by staring way too closely at my screen.
It was unchanged during the Halloween flashback, but changed at the derby event, which is the first time we see her with short sleeves since the time skip, that I could tell.
RickZarber
I was incredulous that I had missed that Sal’s tattoo was now a sleeve, but learning that the only time we ever saw it was like two or three strips from two years ago, I feel less bad about it now.
157 thoughts on “Some dork”
Ana Chronistic
what’s the crisis, Sal has a social life?
Plaaaa
Her brother was kidnapped and his roommate died.
Plaaaa
Or at least, that’s what THEY want you to believe happened!
GholaHalleck
yessss… more “Booster is Mike with lip injections and a spray tan” Tin foil enthusiasts join the collective.
DarkoNeko
She was looking the other way, how could she even see you smiling
cbwroses
Heard it in her voice like you can hear someone smiling over the phone.
Yotomoe
Because as we know, only someone DEDICATED to Sal would turn down Malaya.
cbwroses
I can’t stand Malaya.
Out of all the characters that aren’t super villains, trauma inducing parents, or Mary or Raidah, I dislike her the most.
Yotomoe
I like Malaya but then again I’ve gone on record saying that my favorite characters are assholes. I LOVE JERKS.
cbwroses
See, I didn’t really have a problem with Mike, who definitely did worse stuff than mouth off, and to more people.
And I love Walky, who has many Jerk moments.
There’s just something about her.
Maybe it’s the insistence on Sal being fake with no evidence of her being so.
HueSatLight
I don’t like when they say “fakey” instead of a word that other people also use. I’m not even sure what they mean by it, or if they know what they mean, because the whole “fakey” decider thing seems like a schtick.
cbwroses
I think she’s trying to establish how unique she is by slightly adjusting a real word.
Then again, I THINK it’s also a skateboard term, and she does skate, so maybe she got it from that.
cbwroses
There is a skateboard term called a Fakie.
Per Wikipedia –
Fakie: Rolling backwards; the rider is in the normal stance, but rolling in the opposite direction. (Basically a switch nollie position)
Meagan
I also think it’s a ridiculous word. Like…just say ‘poser.’ Her using the word makes her sound fakey/like a poser. It’s pretentious.
Yotomoe
Reminds me of certain characters saying think like “Dorkus”
Needfuldoer
[Somehow, a second Malaya bursts through the door]
“HA! FAKEY!”
Jason
Maybe it’s the context of seeing a character be stuck in a room with someone intent on making what should be their safe place hell. Malaya bullies Sal for no apparent reason, making her room a deeply unpleasant place for her to be. Mike, for all his flaws, wasn’t like that. (I think he’d sneer at Malaya’s way of trying to bother Sal, tbh, and he wasn’t really focused on Walky or on their room anyway.)
(Honestly, the idea of forcing two people who are complete strangers to share rooms like this is bizarre to me even before including the specific age of the strangers.)
thejeff
Mike was worse. Recording Walky crying to play back for his friends?
Walky is still half convinced Mike faked his death just to mess with him and will be hiding in a closet or something.
Vanessa
Yes, was about to say Mike made Walky’s life hell. But that jerky habit is why I also dislike Becky. Can’t she tell Dorothy is having on by her fingernails?! There is no reason to constantly needle her even when she’s trying to study. And to deliberately make the entire dorm room stink of dirty laundry and presumably piles of unwashed dishes and used tissues and food wrappers and discarded drink bottles too, ugh. (Yes, I have a teenager!)
zee
Mike was cartoonishly bad, and it helps that most of his worst stuff were off screen throwaway gags.
Malaya is realistically annoying, you can feasibly know someone like that or see yourself having to room with one. Relatable annoying is so much worse that cartoonish annoying. And most of her worst offensives are on screen, like when she shined the heat lamp in sal’s face. That triggered me so hard. I’d probably slap someone or throw the lamp if they tried to overwhelm me sensory like that
GholaHalleck
I know why Mala rubs the wrong way.
Mike and Walky had/have prolonged relationships with the people they harass. It’s basically banter at this point because they would not deal with Mike for as long as they did if there wasn’t some redeeming quality to their hanging out.
Mala came out the gate an asshole and wants nothing to do with anyone but Marcy.
There is dislike from the first foot so there’s nothing to even halfway assume she’s an asshole with a heart of gold.
On TOP of that, the only reason Marcy puts up with her is because she wants to crack her open like a Cloyster and evolve into Slowqueen.
Nono
I mean, it’s also because they’re hot, isn’t it.
Kyrik Michalowski
Finally a kindred spirit for the hating of Malaya and her nonsense. I wouldn’t even mind her barbs to Sal if they had any truth behind them, but instead she arbitrarily decides what parts of Sal are fake, and which parts are real.
cbwroses
I am fist bumping you through my iPad right now.
Thag Simmons
Malaya can’t get along with Sal because they’re basically the same sort of person, although Sal’s a lot nicer.
Nono
I mean Sal called out Malaya and then basically muttered ‘alright where is that cumstain’.
Sal’s not a PEACH.
JBento
And then physically assaulted her. Great folks all around.
Thag Simmons
Malaya is a weapons grade bongo, so being a lot nicer than her is not particularly challenging
Stephen Nedland
I will not deny that Malaya has not earned her spot, on the list of unlikable people, in this series. But, unlike, say, Jennifer, Mary, or Raidah, Malaya might be unlikable, but she’s not toxic. I would put her at the same place as Roz; you might not like her, but at the same time, you know you are not going to get steered in the wrong direction. Just like Roz, Malaya will be upfront with you on how she feels; she will never say one thing to your face, and another, behind your back. You may not like Malaya, but you always know what you’re getting, and I kind of like that.
Swissaboo
Malaya is toxic
Lien
I couldn’t stand her but this strip changes my vision of her.
She actually has a belief system, and a coherent one.
I don’t find her likable at all, but she just earned some respect here.
Imogen
I like Malaya. That doesn’t mean I blindly defend them, but I like her nuances. They’re complicated.
(Also, getting ahead of tonight’s Malaya Discourse now: If she reminds you of someone who treated you badly IRL, that’s okay and valid, but just keep in mind that that’s not a framing everyone has for the conversation, and it can be difficult if you don’t communicate that personal context up-front.)
Airyu
Thank you. I like her too. I often feel like the only one. If I was in college I would have thought Sal did seem kind of fake or like a poser or whatever. Like getting a window into Sal’s trauma makes me sympathetic to her, otherwise I’d think ill of her the way Malaya does
Jason
She reminds me of multiple people who treated me badly IRL. Just since you being that aspect up. She’s a bully who makes Sal’s home base- the place which is supposed to be safe- an unpleasant place to be.
That sort of thing is far more damaging to a person’s mental health and well-being than the typical bullying of this nature, because the place Sal is supposed to be able to get away is the place it’s happening. The place where she is most vulnerable- where she sleeps and lets her guard down- is rendered a place she cannot be at ease.
I’ve said it above but I’ll say it again, I am deeply against strangers being forced to share rooms. It gets worse at this age range, but for any age range.
(Admittedly good for fictional drama and storytelling.)
Airyu
I guess now that I think about it *Sal* makes me think of someone who treated me badly, so that’s probably where my like of Malaya and dislike of Sal come from. It’s also probably biased by… This is a comic with Ross and Blaine, and also people like Mary and Radish, so Malaya to be seems incredibly tame for the amount of hate she gets
Also tbf, I feel like we know nothing about Malaya compared to Sal. They might feel unsafe too
Big agree on not having people forced to share rooms – college freshman year was hell for that reason
zee
She’s just, annoying to me. I’ve never met someone like her but if i were in sal’s situation I’d feel so suffocated I’d halfway move out until she got moved
Freemage
Which is funny to me, because honestly, her utter lack of nuance is what annoys me about Malaya. She’s one-note (and an annoying note, at that) for the most part, declaring herself the ultimate arbiter of what is ‘real’ and what is ‘fakey’. It doesn’t even make her a compelling foil, IMNSHO, so she annoys me as a character as well as a portrayal of a person.
Hell, I’m inclined to say that MARY has more nuance than Malaya. And Mike was positively three-dimensional in comparison. Honestly, Malaya seems to exist solely to provide a reason for other characters to have a falling-out.
Kyrik Michalowski
I still hate Malaya, but at least she isn’t being a bongo right at this moment. As for Sal, I am happy she is happy to get flowers from Danny.
Now… when is the next kick to the particulars coming for these two?
Yotomoe
Malaya actually really just wanted to get in his pants. They’re nice pants and she wanted to see if they wore the same size.
Sirksome
She could fit maybe. He’s not much taller than her. He might not have enough ass though, could be a tight fit for Malaya.
Kyrik Michalowski
The literal form of getting into someone’s pants, and all that comes with it.
HueSatLight
Malaya checking everybody’s doors while they’re away at class, and trying on all their clothes when they’re unlocked. Think that’s too specific for bonus strip voting?
UrsulaDavina
It might be how Malya speaks to everyone but i do not remember her trying seduce Danny although knowing Malya condescension and insults might be her form of seduction.
Kyrik Michalowski
I don’t even remember her talking to Danny. When did that happen?
cbwroses
She talked to Danny when he dropped off the flowers.
And she didn’t proposition him; I just checked.
Kyrik Michalowski
Can you link the strip of him dropping off the flowers?
cbwroses
This one and the strip after that.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-13/03-joementum/infavor/
Kyrik Michalowski
Thank you, I appreciate it.
cbwroses
No problem.
cbwroses
Unless it was in a Patreon strip.
HueSatLight
in a brief two-strip interlude while Walky was at breakfast and Dorothy was stuck in a BSOD. We did not actually see Malaya proposition Danny, just said bringing flowers was a kink.
UrsulaDavina
I’m aware of that but I what I don’t remember is Malya actually propositioning Danny
tunasammich
I just assumed they were joking around
DailyBrad
I assume it was offscreen. I can’t rule it out, either a genuine attempt or her just testing him.
I mean, she’s down for casual stuff, considering her hooking up with Joe with no real qualms.
Dana
She didn’t. Her going along with Sal’s question just might be playful.
Dday
It’s possible that she said/tried something as part of the act of receiving the flowers after the camera cut away? Cause she thought cornball romantic gestures are Danny’s fetish?
zee
I think its just another off screen gag
RassilonTDavros
Malaya continues to be the worst and I continue to love them for that. I would love to see some backstory deconstructing their obsession with phoniness, but until that backstory comes I’m just enjoying the ride.
Prince Mech
I can’t help but wonder if it’s externalized self loathing. Malaya’s had some issues with their own identity after all, wouldn’t surprise me if this whole thing about “Fake” people and “Real” people is their way of dealing with their uncertainty about themself and their gender identity. Or at least started that way.
Imogen
Malaya seems inclined to assume the worst of most people, and they’re very aware that people hate her (they explicitly sought out Joe at least in part because they felt he was equally disliked). I think they just have serious trust issues, which gives them a guarded and prickly manner that hurts their ability to make friends and thus exacerbates those trust issues. They may also be autistic and bad at reading people, which leads to anxiety, which leads to demanding that everybody be 100% up-front and blunt and leave no doubt as to intentions. I’d believe that.
StClair
this is my current guess (see also Bryy below).
Keulen
Malaya being the worst and thinking people doing random things is “fakey” is why I find them really annoying. I’d love to know what’s wrong with Malaya that they think so many of the things the people around her do are “fake”, because most of them don’t seem very fake to me.
Blue
I’m not defending the way they act, but a lot of college students can put on airs and it can get pretty tiring.
Bryy
I think it was established that it’s how she deals with her body dysmorphia, but that could be me wildly misinterpreting that strip.
SDRainbow
malaya brings me such joy
also panel 2 is really good
not someone else
I feel like this is them starting to get along-ish.
I also feel like I really wanna see a high-res version of Sal’s tattooes because that Spider-Man logo looks like a coverup.
Kyrik Michalowski
I didn’t even notice that it might be covering another tattoo. I thought it was just extra webbing, or extra design around the spider.
cbwroses
It could be a coverup.
Or it might be a spider in a dreamcatcher.
But I think it has changed.
I’ll see if I can notice anything.
HueSatLight
I don’t think it’s spider-man. It was this, but she’s had stuff added to it since the fall.
HueSatLight
https://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/98293895862/i-want-to-ask-something-cool-but-cant-think-of
HueSatLight
planning to add to: it https://www.dumbingofage.com/parental/
Still old version on Halloween: https://www.dumbingofage.com/oc/
First time new version visible (mid January): https://www.dumbingofage.com/juke/
cbwroses
Beat me to it.
And, yeah it’s changed with a circle around the spider itself and horizontal lines that seem to wrap around her arm, from what I can tell by staring way too closely at my screen.
It was unchanged during the Halloween flashback, but changed at the derby event, which is the first time we see her with short sleeves since the time skip, that I could tell.
RickZarber
I was incredulous that I had missed that Sal’s tattoo was now a sleeve, but learning that the only time we ever saw it was like two or three strips from two years ago, I feel less bad about it now.