302

So. So!
Posted on February 21, 2024 by David M Willis

302 thoughts on “So. So!”

  1. NGPZ

    ???

    *plays “Seahorse Dreams” by Kubbi on hacked muzak*

  2. Ana Chronistic

    so was Carla trolling Booster about trying to meet Charlie bc she was just shy about breaking the news to them or

    I mean, CHARLIE wasn’t gonna tell (sorry non-Patrons)

    1. DailyBrad

      I don’t think so, like I don’t think she’d let herself be that vulnerable in front of Booster if she didn’t feel like she needed to. That isn’t how she rolls.

      I think she is just that genuinely insecure sometimes.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Yeah! Skates are how she rolls.

      2. morleuca

        I think she’s always that insecure.

      3. Qlx

        I’m not sure how she hung out with Charlie several times and still thought she needed to be introduced. This is taking the useless lesbian phenomenon to a whole new level

        1. Arianod

          I’m gonna asume that Carla still needs to get the hang of how human relationships work. She’s a car, after all.

      4. Lysbeth

        How could she be insecure? She never shuts up about how perfect she is

        1. anon

          @Lysbeth to be fair ppl who’d talk like that would clearly seem like they’re over compensating unless they make it clear they’re joking like saying “i’m amazing” after a huge blunder

    2. Doopyboop

      I think Carla’s never had a partner before so along with this being her first reciprocated crush, she also thought they were still in the getting to know each other phase. Honestly with this strip I feel like they’re both really new to this, and really silly, but also sincerely interested in each other so this is just their first conversation of being like “you like me? I like you? Dating! 😀 “

    3. Kyrik Michalowski

      I think Carla was genuinely confused about all of it; Carla doesn’t seem to have great understanding in regards to relationships, both platonic and not.

      1. Coatl

        I think that by seeking Charlie’s attention, it is the beginning of Carla getting to know these types of interactions better.

    4. Caravelle

      Looking at all the other strips with Carla and Charlie I think everyone is being on the level here – Carla and Charlie hung out as described, it’s just that this “hanging out” consisted of Carla clowning around to be acknowledged and Charlie never acknowledging her in a way Carla could recognize (either literally not acknowledging her as in all the interactions we’ve seen, or acknowledging her in an ambiguous way as if she were a random buttered-toast-offering person and not CARLA).

      Like:
      Carla: YOUR HAND SEEMS COLD CARLA WILL HOLD IT
      Charlie: … …. …..
      Carla: !!!ACKNOWLEDGE CARLA’S MUNIFICENCE!!!
      Charlie: … …. …..
      Charlie (internally): are we girlfriends? holding hands is a girlfriend thing isn’t it?

    5. thejeff

      I think they hung out, but then Carla got confused and started second guessing herself when Charlie was too zoned out in class to acknowledge her, so she started badgering Booster in order to get a connection so she could figure out what was going on.
      She also obviously didn’t know where Charlie lived, so couldn’t find her outside of class.

      1. nicoleandmaggie

        ok, that sort of makes sense…

      2. thejeff

        Except I’m apparently wrong, since the butter toast seems to have been this weekend.

      3. a/snow/mous/e

        I think they probably hung out after class, but I’m not really sure of that.

    6. Aslan

      I’m reminded of what Carla told Lucy here. Perhaps Carla was nervous about approaching Charlie and had no idea how to get her attention other than being annoying, but since she likes Charlie and (probably) didn’t know if her feelings were reciprocated, she didn’t WANT to annoy her so she settled for the next best option, annoying her identical twin.

      1. Aslan

        Farts, the link didn’t work; I meant this comic:

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-9-comic/02-but-the-sun-still-shines/jello/

    7. Thag Simmons

      I’m going to assume trolling until an alternative explanation is given

  3. sdrainbow

    absolutely the fuck not

    1. sdrainbow

      this is the extent I care to engage in timeline fuckery:

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-14/01-everybodys-looking-for-nothing/butter/

      that’s probably when the butter toast happened.

      1. Bittersweet

        Ohmygod that’s why she needed butter

        1. anon

          Best way to one’s heart is thru their stomach so ppl say 8D;

      2. RacingTurtle

        Nice catch!

      3. Icalasari

        Oh my god and all this time Carla just

        And

        I just

        my brain asplodey

      4. clif

        We thought it was Joyce’s butter, but all the time it was Chekhov’s.

      5. MacareuxMoine

        Thats one question answered:
        last weekend was this weekend: They met Saturday evening (with buttered toast in Carla’s room) and apparently again on Sunday evening (after Carla’s 10 hours at Briscoe – either before or after pieing Walky)

        New Question: How does Carla still manage to assume Charlie is not aware of her?

        1. thejeff

          Right. That throws my theory out. I still don’t understand this.

        2. milu

          two words: Jeremy Bearimy

        3. MM

          So Carla used a time knife to spread the butter?

        4. anon

          maybe it’ll be explained in flashbacks

          or who knows maybe charlie ended up walking into carla’s room somehow and ate some toast she sat down lol

        5. HueSatLight

          possible timeline, not necessarily the correct one.
          Charlie’s in Read, looking for Booster, runs into Carla. Carla introduces herself, but Charlie doesn’t acknowledge her name, and is kind of lost in thought. They hang out in Carla’s room, Carla offers her food, doesn’t have much, but offers toast. Charlie asks for butter, we see Carla get butter from Joyce and Dorothy. Booster eventually texts, they’re waiting in the lobby for Charlie, so she leaves. Charlie never mentions to Booster she’d been hanging out with Carla.
          Sunday, Carla runs into Charlie after Brisco turned out to be a bust. Carla introduces herself again, and Charlie still doesn’t acknowledge. They’re at like student union, and Charlie is chilly, so Carla gives her her coat, or steals one from lost and found for her. They hang out for a while, Charlie talking about random things she thinks are cool. They hold hands. Eventually one or the other needs to go. Carla throws a pie at Walky later, because he deserved it.

          From Carla’s perspective: accidentally hanging out, holding hands maybe to warm them up, Charlie doesn’t ever call her by name, Carla doesn’t get a good read on how Charlie feels, but Carla is smitten by now.
          From Charlie’s perspective: she keeps running into someone who is interested in her and she shares lots of interesting things she thinks she’ll like. They spend time together and hold hands. She thinks its cute how Carla introduces herself each time.

          our perspective until yesterday: butter and coat.

        6. MacareuxMoine

          Your detailed rundown of (possible) events actually answers my question. Thank you

        7. shellshockbp

          Willis misdirection combined with Carla being a disaster lesbian.

      6. Mturtle7

        I honestly did not think the mystery of why Carla needed butter that one time would ever be solved. More fool I, to underestimate Willis like that!

  4. Karla Jean

    Happy ending?

    1. Coatl

      For Carla, yes….I guess

      1. Proxiehunter

        And Charlie.

    2. Zero

      All’s well that ends.

    3. Amós Batista

      Not for Booster, that was trolled big fucking time.
      Like as all entire DoA readers.

    4. clif

      Is it really happy if Booster is eating cold fries?

  5. bubba0077

    SO many questions.

    1. clif

      Dumbing of Age 14: If You’ve Still Got Butter Toast, You Can Lead the Way

  6. Kyrik Michalowski

    This is pretty cute, added cuteness too because I believe Carla has never had a significant other.

  7. shadowcell

    so many questions, but only one answer: butter toast

    1. NGPZ

      it’s tasty and simple

      and provides +1 speed stat to anime school girls

      1. Switchchris26

        It also gives +5 Strength to himbos named Ed.

    2. Needfuldoer

      And gravy?

      [ed_laughing.wav]

    3. M!a

      **BUTTERED TOOOOAST!*

      (Ed laugh)

      (So sorry for the accidental flag) ?

    4. Schpoonman

      “Josie’s on a vacation far away…”

      1. Needfuldoer

        ? I don’t want to lose your love tonight… ?

    5. anon

      and buttered noodles to go with it too 8D;

  8. Nathan

    Look, either I’m having a stroke or these folks are, that’s all I’m saying.

    1. Rose by Any Other Name

      And so say all of us.

    2. Tan

      I am having an aneurysm in the very best way

    3. Pergola

      Totoro, I don’t think we’re in Kansai anymore…

  9. Animedingo

    Oh no they’re both stupid

    1. Zero

      We already knew that.

      1. Vanessa

        Very true, how in character for Carla to be clueless and insecure while shouting about her brilliance. Brava. They both deserve a sincere face palm, let’s hope they are good for each other.

  10. HueSatLight

    so it was this last weekend.

    1. Aura

      Yep, confirmed that one of the two times was when Carla came into the kitchen to borrow some butter (good call whoever’s speculation that was!)

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        Maybe the other time was after gender studies class on Friday, but Charlie didn’t talk the whole time, so Carla went to Booster and asked them to tell Charlie she exists?

  11. brionl

    I sense some whacky hijinks incoming.

  12. DailyBrad

    Her having Charlie’s coat does make me think the notion that she’s just humoring Charlie isn’t on point, since yeah, why would she have it?

    “Why did I have the bowl, Bart? Why did I have the bowl?”

    But yeah, I get it, this is abrupt, though I feel like this strip is kind of selling me on the insanity, in combination with the past one.

    1. Prince Mech

      So what super embarrassing thing is Taffy going to change their Gravatar to? They did promise after all that vitriol yesterday.

      1. DailyBrad

        I don’t want them to beat themselves up, like it’s a comic, we should have fun. It doesn’t have to be this high-stakes shit worth fighting about.

        So, I mean, they can do whatever, so long as they have fun with it, I guess.

      2. Taffy

        Idk about “all that”. It implies I was vitriolic to any large extent. I said one combative thing, and that got removed pretty quickly.

        1. zee

          Your new grav made me laugh

        2. Taffy

          I’m very sorry for your loss.

        3. DailyBrad

          Ah, I missed what got removed so I didn’t realize the extent. The new gravitar is funny in any case.

        4. Taffy

          You didn’t miss much. It was about as useful and valid as any other post of mine that’s ever been deleted.

    2. Aura

      It honestly feels very in keeping with both these characters and their dynamic that it turned out this way, keeping it off-screen so we didn’t know was probably necessary for the gag to land. Also haha clueless lesbian stereotypes etc.

  13. EAG46

    Well knock me over with a feather. They do look cute together, I’ll say that. Now I suppose Booster’s going to complain and grumble that their sister was seduced by an evil capitalist. Hee.

    1. NGPZ

      oh contraire, this is not a trap for Charlie, but a trap for Carla,

      ポリリリリリリリリリリリ…. >:D

      1. HueSatLight

        They’ll be burning down her parents’ money bin within a month.

      2. clif

        Very astute.

  14. Coatl

    Well, there it is, Carla got the attention she wanted, although I thought Charlie would put up a little more resistance.

    1. Vanessa

      Carla also shown to be massively insecure, haha, she must have had her mind blown by Charlies’s imperturbable obliviousness.

  15. Kyrik Michalowski

    Can someone direct me to which strips Carla and Charlie were together, and whether it was obvious?

    1. RacingTurtle

      None of the relevant interactions have appeared on-panel unless I seriously failed my archive dive

      1. RacingTurtle

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/charlie+carla/

    2. Jo_cubstar

      I think these dates happened off screen?

    3. Opus the Poet

      Apparently it was all off camera.

  16. anonymsly

    Okay, they are very cute, and I do like that Carla is genuinely very focused on what Charlie wants/needs. If Booster had stuck around for this conversation, I like to think they’d be reassured – quite probably in addition to still being annoyed about their cold lunch.

    1. Wraithy2773

      I don’t think Booster is so much worried about Charlie as they are exhausted by Carla…

      1. DailyBrad

        Probably by both of them, but yeah, a combination of Carla being a lot and “we spent how much time worrying about this over nothing?”

        I think Booster just wants their sister to be happy, and they did previously tacitly concede that, yeah, Carla has demonstrated the requisite patience.

        So, probably a lot of “fucking whatever, it’s fine”.

    2. anon

      given how into her she seems to be i don’t think carla would accidentally say something passive aggressively b*tchy even if they do have banter with a bit of snark in it but i’m sure there’ll be plenty of times for booster to observe/be a third wheel lol

  17. Nono

    I don’t like the ‘surprise! They were girlfriends all along’ reveal. Feels like we just wasted all that Carla angst and potential for character development for nothing.

    1. Prince Mech

      Honestly, Booster and the stuff surrounding them has felt pretty weak since the get go for me, and this just kind of continues that trend?

      I’m holding my judgement on Charlie as a character because we do not actually really know anything about her at the moment other than she (according the comments section) has ADHD, and she’s… spacey.

      1. DailyBrad

        I like Booster and kind of wonder if they exist, in part, to deconstruct the idea someone could just stroll in, pull apart everyone’s anxieties and damage, and that it’d actually be a *good* thing or have immediately positive results.

        Like whenever people say “so and so should get therapy”, and some of those character factually do get therapy already and it doesn’t just magically make them better in two sessions, for instance, or “why doesn’t so and so call them out for-” without addressing the issue of why they would even listen in the first place.

        1. Nono

          I think Booster was interesting when they showed actual vulnerability, like when they inadvertently showed that they have a crush on Amber.

          The snooty psych student could be interesting but it also needs them to actually get foiled actively, not just narratively.

    2. HueSatLight

      She did have character development, just not when it appeared at first. And I think her angst was mostly real. She didn’t know how Charlie felt, and she’s smitten, and now she’s tickled that Charlie likes her too.

      She can do all that and mess with Booster at the same time.

      1. DailyBrad

        I kind of agree, yeah. It still feels valid, even if it’s what can be dubbed a “screw the audience” joke. I don’t think fucking with the reader is unacceptable or anything, even if I tend to prefer the callback jokes we usually get.

        1. a/snow/mous/e

          At least Booster’s perspective aligns with the audience’s, I suppose.

      2. Nono

        I want to say that ‘Carla anxiously wakes up Booster at 4am and then waits in the lobby for 8 hours on the off chance Charlie passes by’ feels too intense if they’ve already hung out before a couple times.

        Like… how did it happen? Did they text? Then Carla can communicate with her somehow. Was it in class? Then she’ll see her again next class.

        I know part of it is a ‘haha! You’ll see’ reveal, but as a reader, I’m not excited. Feels like we jumped through hoops that didn’t make sense just to punk’d with the reader.

  18. RacingTurtle

    I guess this is Charlie’s world now and we’re just living in it. Confusion reigns

    At least a pair of our dummies are happy

  19. Bittersweet

    From the perspective of an author I am perplexed, highly critical, bamboozled, and just very confused.

    From the perspective of an aspiring comedian, I’m rolling, this is ridiculous and hilarious. I have been punk’d, I don’t understand what’s going on, these two are a wreck, and I enjoy being trolled every now and then so I’m still pretty happy overall lol

    1. Icalasari

      Yeah, this may not be very narratively sound, but screw it DoA is still a comedy and this is peak comedy

    2. Bash

      It makes no sense but it’s also HILARIOUS

  20. RassilonTDavros

    I wonder if Charlie actually thinks she left her coat in Carla’s room or if she’s just playing along here.

    1. anon

      well we know she’s a bit ‘spacey’ so her accidentally leaving a jacket in a friend (well, gf now i guess)’s room isn’t that unbelievable

  21. Bittersweet

    Maybe this is all another dream who knows anymore, maybe this is Booster’s dream, maybe this is Walky’s

    1. Opus the Poet

      I think that if this is a dream it’s Carla’s mightnare.

    2. PedanticJerkass

      In a few strips from now, Carla wakes up dazed on the floor and realizes that everything that she believed to happen in the past few strips was really nothing more than a temporary delusion she suffered as a result of hitting her head and knocking herself out, shortly after the end of this strip.

  22. Reltzik

    I mean, the teal coat being in Carla’s room makes absolutely no sense in terms of cause and effect. But if we look at it in terms of its ultimate purpose of getting Charlie into Carla’s room, then it’s perfectly teal-eo-logical.

    1. Sajuuk-Khar

      You sly motherfucker. Have an Internet on me.

  23. Sajuuk-Khar

    One of them is a beautiful Ultra Car-loving goddess incarnate, probably of cats, due to her feline self-absorption and adorable nature

    The other is a Yithian possessing a human body who can only focus her massive time-spanning alien mind for very short intervals and loves butter toast

    they’re lesbiabs

    and it’s Beautiful

    (it’s very goofy, it is Goof Troop goofy and has plot holes you could drive the entirety of David Lynch’s DUNE through, but it’s cute as fuck)

    1. milu

      nod nod!

  24. Dev

    I am so confused.

  25. AlexaSpuds

    They’re the cute but initially dysfunctional lesbian couple everyone in any remotely sapphic community/space/friend group knows

    1. morleuca

      Nods vigorously

  26. Blume

    They’re cute so I forgive them for confusing the shit out of me <3

  27. Shitbird

    Fucking classic

  28. Jon

    I’m struggling with this plot line and not in a fun way.

    For a twist to work for me, I have to feel like I missed information that was hinted at multiple times before. But in this case I just feel like prior strips were so misleading that they just straight-up lied to me. And that makes the twist not feel rewarding.

    1. sdrainbow

      or they were maybe patreon specific, I guess? I don’t know what happened in the charlie Patreon strip but this definitely FEELS like a “hey don’t you want to know”

      1. HueSatLight

        Charlie stands outside the student union for an extended period of time, lost in thought. Booster shows up in the last panel and says something about the nintendo, and something about her new coat, and she replies she lost her old one.

        It’s now appears that strip took place on Sunday.

    2. Nono

      Agreed. Not the first time that the strip has jumped through hoops that don’t make sense, and those storylines tend to deflate my interest.

      Even Ruth/Jason felt less asspullery as a reveal because you can see the buildup.

      1. Sajuuk-Khar

        I really like that the storyline has ended up with them together but it feels like the rug pull was authorial fiat or the supernatural at work.

        I’m more bemused than irritated mostly because it seems like a net positive plot development: Charlie is fun, Carla in love is precious, Booster’s angst/bathos about this gives them depth and feeds lovers and haters of Booster alike, etc.

    3. Taffy

      I would much rather have seen these two interacting earlier, instead of the Linda Walkerton Eats 400 Meals arc.

      1. HueSatLight

        can’t disagree with you there. Gonna go edit all the strips with Linda to focus on Carla and Charlie in the background, holding hands.

      2. PedanticJerkass

        I’d rather see a few hundred nearly identical strips of nothing but snow melting and grass growing than to see Linda back any time soon.

      3. Sajuuk-Khar

        Absolute consensus with this, I don’t think we gained much from that arc beyond mild character growth for Walky at the expense of subtlety

        and yeah, it was welcome growth but like, the subtlety was a pretty good thing to maintain and also it was unpleasant to watch literally any of that arc

        1. Sajuuk-Khar

          Correction: The parts where Danny was a good egg were nice. I love Danny and I love Danny x Sal.

          also I’m extending the term arc strictly to characters tied direct to the Walkertons.

        2. Taffy

          Hell, I don’t even care about the subtlety part. It’s the complete lack of traits that interest me that makes her scenes such a chore. Nothing about her really gets me invested (and if it used to, I guess that wore off), so when she’s around I just can’t help but think “Gee, I wonder what literally anyone else is up to”.

        3. Sajuuk-Khar

          I think you’re onto something, because I used to be a little more interested in Linda as a character; she was never an awesome person or a good parent but she had some points of interest, and over the course of the 4000 meals she became less interesting and more like a big bag of trash with smell lines coming off of it.

    4. Aura

      I don’t know if it will help, but I think of it as a kind of character humour, rather than exactly a plot twist. Explaining the joke time, because that always helps!

      It’s bouncing off Carla’s need for attention with Charlie’s… Charlie-ness, taking it to the most extreme possible conclusion, and adding in a hefty dose of clueless lesbian stereotyping (‘Ok, she’s just proposed to me, but maybe she just wants to be married, like, as friends?’). There’s also a big helping of (traditional!) irony there in that the plotline is based off both multiple characters and the audience not knowing that not only is Charlie fully aware of Carla’s existence but even considers her to be her girlfriend.

      1. milu

        I like that! yeah the disorientation is not just a gratuitous twist. It also mirrors aspects of this relationship

    5. Keulen

      Same, it bothers me that, as far as I can tell, there have been no hints on-panel that these two had already become a couple.

  29. Bootshivers

    Willis, ily man, but this is not your strongest plot twist

    1. clif

      Not twisty enough for you?

    2. anon

      sometimes you gotta write stuff for yourself versus the audience

  30. Rectilinear Propagation

    Wait, WHAT?!

  31. Bo

    This continues to get stupider, I LOVE it…

    1. Nicoleandmaggie

      Agreed with that first statement…

  32. HueSatLight

    I have questions, but they’re “what are the details?” type questions, not “how is any of this possible?”
    I can imagine a timeline or two that make sense.

    1. HueSatLight

      Saturday morning she has a contentious talk with Booster, but she probably thinks about what Booster had to say. https://www.dumbingofage.com/spent/
      Saturday afternoon/evening she’s talking to Booster and says she wants to get Charlie’s attention, but doesn’t want to do any of her usual ways of getting attention because they can be mean. https://www.dumbingofage.com/shoelaces-2/
      The next time we see Carla is later that evening, when she borrows butter from Dorothy and Joyce. https://www.dumbingofage.com/butter/ The butter seemed conspicuous at the time, and now here’s confirmation.

      I don’t know if the whole Briscoe thing was an elaborate prank on Booster, but I don’t think it has to be. Perhaps: On Sunday, Carla’s doesn’t know how to get ahold of Charlie, and is unsure how Charlie feels about her or if she even remembers her name. She’s got butterflies in her stomach, from hanging out and holding hands though, so she gets up early and waits until Sunrise to ask Booster where to find her.

      On the other hand, she might have left during the day, to get the hat and Fuckface, and only gone back to Briscoe to make it look like she’d been there all day before Booster showed up. Or just sat their all day and got Fuckface and hat through the power of comedy.

      1. Aura

        My current guess is same as you up until Briscoe, I think it makes a lot of sense that they were hanging out on Saturday (confirmed at this point!) and Carla wanted to get a hold of Charlie/see her again and maybe clarify things or maybe just spend more time with her and receive acknowledgement. I think she probably managed to track down Charlie after she found out she wasn’t at Briscoe (there should have easily been time Sunday evening) and that’s when the second time would have been.

        1. HueSatLight

          Ya, the “other time” is where I’m most uncertain, but after Briscoe is a good guess. Runner up guess would be on Friday (or maybe even Thursday), but the mood of Carla’s Saturday morning talk with Booster feels off for that.

        2. Aura

          Agreed, Friday night’s my second guess as well, Sunday night leads for me because the Carla was acting Sunday I think it would make sense that she wouldn’t give up upon finding out Charlie wasn’t at Briscoe after all.

      2. smolgrlboi

        THANK YOU like on the one hand i’m into this bait and switch sorta thing Willis is doing but I also wanted just like the most basic grasp on what the hell just happened. You’d doing god’s work.

  33. NGPZ

    ?

    *plays “Fly Me To The Moon” by Megumi Hayashibara on hacked muzak*

  34. Icalasari

    In her roo-

    Carla, how did, I just, what?

  35. Sarah

    Urber Erber’s

  36. Jerach

    These two communicate in a way that works super well between the two of them and is incomprehensible to anybody else.

  37. Taffy

    Im waiting for the other half.

  38. Taffy

    Also she’s doing the hand thing. What is the hand thing? I haven’t seen anyone do it ever.

    1. milu

      Yeah it’s a bit much, especially with both hands. But i think i do make this kind of “giving” gesture to show i’m agreeing with someone?

      However i think here it’s more to do with making the scene more energetic, interactive, and paradoxically showing that Charlie can have a normal-ish conversation actually ^^

    2. HueSatLight

      it is a cross between a “yes, that’s it” gesture (where she would typically be pointing upwards with her pointer fingers) and a “I would like to touch your boobs” gesture.

      1. Taffy

        Something of a “Yes, that’s your boobs”

        1. Schpoonman

          Joyce and Charlie having an incredibly lengthy conversation about Carla’s bust.

  39. AMagicalDuck

    Wow Carla that is an impressive level of Lesbian Obliviousness™

  40. Queezle

    So why was Carla so anxious to be introduced to Charlie if she already was in her room?
    But still, I think panel two Carla is kind of cute.
    I do not know how I feel about this reveal, but I like Carla better now than I did two weeks ago.

    1. Queezle

      Let’s try that again.

      Also: I think I would like to see more of these two interacting.

      1. Queezle

        just one more

    2. Zaxares

      Yeah, this reveal is… kinda odd. Even if Charlie is kind of that head-in-the-clouds absent minded person, SURELY Carla would have picked up on the “she’s in my room, talking to me, we are therefore now acquainted” stage. >.>

    3. dalniente

      I don’t think she was anxious to be introduced, TODAY… she told Booster she might tell them the nature of her feelings if Booster introduced them. We assumed that’s because she hadn’t made contact with Charlie yet. But we have no idea what actually transpired between the last time we saw Carla and today (except that she hit Walky with a pie). She could very easily have taken matters into her own hands.

      And the asking Booster to be introduced again seemed quite confident. I’m pretty sure Carla was just messing with them.

  41. Thomas

    Getting Charlie’s coat for her is a dangerous proposal, Carla. She’ll probably have wandered off again when you return!

  42. Carl Muckenhoupt

    This is all reminding me a bit of a certain subplot in Bugsnax. If you’ve played it, you know the one I mean.

  43. Suet

    So many questions, but the answers are so few. <abbr title="All I really know is AAAAAAAHHH WHATTTTTTTTTTT

    Is this really the tryst in the wind? There has to be more love in the air, right?

    1. HueSatLight

      It’s not strictly in the definition, but the impression I get from “tryst” is there’s some transgression involved. Like meeting up for sexy time has to be arranged, to avoid being caught.

      So more love in the air. Ethan+Asher, Ruth+Jennifer, Walky+Dorothy, and/or Joyce+Joe. Or a surprise storyline about Tristan and Wendy.

      1. NGPZ

        There can be multiple trysts at play, yee!

        Probably a build-up for next-storyline, which Willis states is “hornier than usual”. :p

  44. Dday

    Well, that explains that.
    *affected dusting off hands motion*

  45. AGV

    The punchline being on the audience pov is pretty funny. It’s even funnier that Carla felt super ignored even when Charlie has been in her room.

  46. GUIGUI

    Wait, does this mean that Charlie actually spend time in Carla’s room at some point in the past, or that Carla simply “borrowed” it from Charlie so she could have an excuse to interact with her later on?

    Because if it’s the former, and accounting for the previous strip as well, it feels like Carla has purposely been misleading for the sake of punking the readership itself.

    1. Throwatron

      it’s not a punk, lesbians are just like this, sometimes

  47. JustBeth

    I am cackling. I think trolling not only Booster but also the audience is maybe the most Carla thing Carla has ever done.

  48. Kim

    This is so good! ^^

  49. LiamKav

    God knows I don’t want to start any sort of international food discourse, but is “butter toast” literally just… toast with butter on it?

    1. Doopyboop

      It is! It’s honestly pretty bland. I myself like to take a slice of toast, cut it in half, and spread butter on one half and peanut butter on the other. I could see someone preferring buttered toast if they have a texture issue with food or prefer something blander. I worked with kids who liked butter sandwiches after all. And yes, you read that right. Two slices of bread, butter slathered in the middle, boom.

    2. Taffy

      I’ve only ever heard or read it as “buttered“, but yes. I think someone would punch you for ignoring the suffix, around here.

      1. HueSatLight

        “Toast” implies that it’s bread toast. So if someone says, “I’m going to have cauliflower toast”, it means they’re toasting cauliflower. “Butter toast” is probably just toasted butter.

      2. Pergola

        ‘Butter toast’ and ‘buttered toast’ are obviously NOT the same thing.

        1. Taffy

          How can you toast butter? It would melt first, and there’s already a term for making the melted butter brown. It’s called browning it. Are you trying to imply that Carla and Charlie were sitting in Carla’s room, browning butter and then drinking it? That would be scary as hell.

        2. a/snow/mous/e

          I think this is just pedantry.

          That being said, I would also balk at “butter toast”. I’m sure there are places where people say it instead of buttered toast, but also tbh idk why you’d say either instead of just “toast”? Nobody eats dry toast, and if you just say toast, I think people would assume it was buttered anyway…

        3. a/snow/mous/e

          Maybe it’s to emphasize there’s a LOT of butter on it or something? idk

        4. Taffy

          I eat dry toast. It’s great when you want the texture and aren’t fussed about the flavor.

    3. Da Boy

      Want to hear something even more scandalous? Here in Poland we just put it on regular, untoasted bread. Outrageous, isn’t it?

      1. randomMadman

        Not really, that’s fairly common in the States too, and I believe I’ve heard of the practice in other parts of Europe too outside of your home.

        Or are you being sarcastic? It can be so hard to tell over the internet.

        1. Da Boy

          Mostly joking around, yeah XD

        2. RowenMorland

          Sarcasm is the bread and butter of the internet.

        3. Nicoleandmaggie

          Slow clap

        4. clif

          Have a buttered Internet.

  50. nightshade

    aww its meet cute and dumb lol

  51. thumb

    No, no questions. Not even a single one. I want no answers. I am upset. I wanted Carla to fall flat on her face.
    *shakes fist at the heavens*
    Damn you, Willis!

  52. Wereg

    VERY funny. I still hope Carla gets some more development though.

    1. Jeremiah

      I mean, she is having a rather friendly and joyful conversation with someone without making any boast about how great she is. I think that’s progress.

      1. Throwatron

        you know she’s down bad if she forgets to talk herself up XD

  53. Yumi

    So I know Carla didn’t know Joyce by name until this semester, even though they had several previous interactions… maybe she just thinks that’s normal? Like, yeah, Charlie and I have spent time together, but that doesn’t mean she knows who I am.

    (“People SHOULD know who I am, but if they show me the level of (dis)regard I show others, that must mean they’re super cool and I should admire them as others admire me”?)

    1. Jeremiah

      I think you cracked the Carla code!

      1. Throwatron

        people are only just now getting that carla’s exuberant confidence is an extremely obvious front, and she’s actually one of the most insecure women in the comic? that’s like, the whole joke!

        1. Yumi

          I mean, yeah, but that’s not actually what I was focusing on in my comment.

  54. Taffy

    Y’know what, fuck it. They can have some gay toast and teal coat for lunch, it’s allowed.

    1. Nymph

      Your new avatar is great.

      1. Taffy

        I’ve been using it for two weeks, wym “new”?

    2. milu

      And if it wasn’t allowed, they could do it anyway.

  55. Jeremiah

    Hey, now we know why Carla wanted the butter from the kitchen that one time.

  56. Thomas

    Carla’s idea of courtship is that she will annoy a woman until she takes notice. That obviously doesn’t work with Charlie. So instead, Carla felt the need to annoy Booster as a stand-in.

    1. Da Boy

      Got this mental image of Carla, Charlie and Booster in bed. Carla is trying to go down on Charlie but it’s not going well and she turns to Booster (who looks bored and is reading a book) and demands that they mediate
      “No.”
      Is Booster’s response

  57. Taigan

    We’re going to find out that Carla’s been fretting about getting Charlie’s attention, and all this time they’ve already had sex. ?

    1. Woop de doop

      Carla’s not interested in having sex. They probably cuddled under the covers together and watched Ultra Car.

  58. DarkoNeko

    Carla why would you have butter toast in your room

    1. Taffy

      Why don’tyou?

      1. clif

        Many dorm rooms of the well off sport mini refrigerators, and among students toaster ovens, small microwaves and/or crockpots are common, even when against the rules. Carla has access to Rutten technology and funds and twice the space with no roommate, so Ghue knows what she’s got in her room.

    2. Jeremiah

      Some people have no concern over crumbs. I am guilty of this and I always paid the consequences (being itchy).

      1. clif

        Do not recommend eating toast in bed.

    3. HueSatLight

      Joe and Danny have a microwave, it’s not a stretch that Carla has a toaster oven.

    4. milu

      don’t be silly, they’re not gonna let you build the bonfire in the common room

    5. David M Willis

      well we’ve established she didn’t, in fact, have butter

      1. NGPZ

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-14/01-everybodys-looking-for-nothing/butter/

  59. Amós Batista

    Both “Charlie went all sudden and now she consider herself Carla’s girlfriend” and “Charlie and Carla are hard trolling Booster” plot are so awesome.

    But these last strips are so open to interpretation. There’s so other plots…

  60. Juanoku

    What is happening????

    1. NGPZ

      Romance has evolved to be more accessible neurodivergents ✨???♾️

      1. Amós Batista

        Manifesting…??????

        1. NGPZ

          I really wish autism rainbow emoji existed here, sigh

  61. milu

    oh btw i started a joke yesterday, i was curious to see if people were going to guess the punchline from the context where i posted it. anyway here it is,

    a priest an imam and a rabbit walk into a blood bank.
    the rabbit says, “i think i’m a type-o”

    1. Taffy

      Oh, because the letter O is round like the moon, where rabbits come from.

    2. Aura

      I love it! I’ll have to try to remember that one

    3. clif

      Thank you!

    4. HueSatLight

      It’s a bun, or to use fancier sounding words, a logomorph.

      1. milu

        that is greek to me. and i speak greek. therefore, rofl

        1. HueSatLight

          I spent like 15 minutes the other day trying to come up with a “it’s all greek to me” joke. :Þ

  62. Carla's #2 Fan

    I’m gonna need to go back and reread some stuff. I’m happy for them, but so confused!

    1. Taffy

      We didn’t see any of the mentioned events, so you’ll be reading for a while.

      1. Carla's #2 Fan

        I figured that, I just wanna see hints or where it could fit

  63. Nicoleandmaggie

    Maybe we have to have this amount of dumb so the strip can keep its name even as Sal or Joe show personal growth.

  64. JepMZ

    So confusing. So they were already hanging out ? But Carla needed an introduction? Or…. She took the jacket?

    1. Throwatron

      Well, they were spending time near each other, but Carla had zero confidence that Charlie was even aware of her existence the whole time, because Charlie is a supernatural-grade space cadet.

      lesbians being unable to tell that they are in a relationship with other lesbians, is also a queer comedy trope as old as time. and it’s honestly based on reality.

  65. Spriteless Aunty

    So sometime after lunchtime and the hat with glowing letters, Charlie wandered into the hall she doesn’t live in, very in character, and Carla glued herself to her for the rest of the day. Hence we didn’t see Carla when she pied Walky that night.

    1. Jeremiah

      The thing with the butter actually seem to have happened before all that that, unless Carla always have butter toast in her room:
      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-14/01-everybodys-looking-for-nothing/butter/

      1. Jeremiah

        Sorry, I think I misread your comment, ignore me.

  66. milu

    some people (esp esteemed dumbologists like HSL and thejeff) are angsting over how this makes sense within the confines of diegetic spacetime.

    others are like “this work of fiction LIED TO ME!!!1!”

    meanwhile, middle-of-the-road dumbasses such as me go “bwahaha wtf ?”

    …the three genders

    1. Mr.Morningstar

      I mean I thinknits hilarious but it’s still a bit

      Flabbergasting

    2. Jeremiah

      I don’t care if this doesn’t make “logical sense” it makes comedic sense and that’s objectively better.

      1. Throwatron

        it didn’t make logical sense when Sal jumped a car on a motorcycle to catch Joyce out of mid-air, either, but this is what is hurting people’s suspension of disbelief?

        1. Jeremiah

          Let me tell you, these days people just don’t bother to exercise their suspension of disbelief, that’s why they are so weak and break so easily. You gotta keep them STRONG so they stand firm against even the most contrived narrative bullshit!/hj

        2. Taffy

          People complain about that, too. It’s just not happening in this strip, so it’s not what we’re all talking about right now.

        3. Li

          Gonna be honest, some of the specific incredulity around Sal and Amber’s physical capabilities is annoying. We were told very early on that both of them were basically Batman, and that comic book-typical acrobatics were to be expected. Amber specifically has been training for a significant chunk of her life. Why does “trained to be the best at everything bc that’s cool” only ever seem to be an okay explanation for white cis dudes lol.

    3. thejeff

      I have to say that the way my mind works, it’s funnier if I can see how it happened, even after the fact.

      And I liked the version of Carla who was flailing around in class trying to get Charlie to notice her, after hanging out holding hands all the last weekend, while Charlie was just too absorbed in her own thoughts to realize what her girlfriend was up to.

    4. HueSatLight

      This grin’s too big for angst. It’s whatever emotion Archimedes had after the bath-tub, when he’s running around dunking gold-plated objects in water, still wearing his bath towel.

      1. milu

        Archimedes’ flatmate, through the door: have you seen my gold-plated brooch, i can’t find it anywhere
        Archimedes: EUREKA!
        Flatmate: oh cool that’s a relief

        1. Pergola

          +^

    5. NGPZ

      You forgot cool hat :p

    6. Taffy

      My pronouns are lol/wut

    7. Li

      hi5

  67. Erica

    What the hell. I know it’s supposed to be silly but it just doesn’t make any sense to me why Carla was trying to introduce herself to Charlie, acting as if she’s never met her before, when they’ve apparently held hands and Charlie has been in her room

    1. clif

      Are you really unable to reconstruct the timeline from contextual clues?

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        We might need the clif’s notes 🙂

    2. Throwatron

      lesbians are just like that sometimes

    3. a/snow/mous/e

      I think what happened is that Carla hung out with Charlie for a bit after gender studies class on Friday, but wasn’t sure if Charlie noticed she was there, despite the fact that she had held Charlie’s hand during that time (maybe asking Charlie if she was cold first). After they each went back to their respective dorms, Carla went to Booster and asked them “Tell your sister that I exist.” Booster refused. The next morning (Saturday), she redoubled her efforts by giving Booster her X-box. Booster still didn’t want to get involved. Shortly afterward, Carla ran into Charlie, who might’ve come to see Booster, and Carla invited her over. Charlie asked for buttered toast, but Carla didn’t have butter, so she borrowed some from Dorothy. Then, very early the next morning (Sunday), Carla demanded the name of Charlie’s dormitory, which Booster didn’t tell her, and Walky sent her to the completely wrong building. Then on Monday (today), Carla ran into Booster and asked for an introduction, but Charlie had retained more information than Carla had given credit for.

      1. Taffy

        This is all very coherent and seems to make a lot of sense. Unfortunately, you made one crucial mistake that’s going to cost you the entire lawsuit. There’s no hyphen in “Xbox”.

  68. Caro

    they’re so cute and so funny this is my new favorite ship

  69. superglucose

    My gay butt is reading these last two strips like “LMAO yup that’s almost exactly how this happens sometimes”

    It’s like the story of the two lesbian queen: they rule a queendom together and share a bed but they’re not sure if they’re dating yet.

    1. Yeet

      entirely in character for almost every lesbian I know yeah

      1. Throwatron

        every single person who says this is unrealistic or a weird ass-pull story is just telling on themselves that they don’t know any young lesbians, and it’s hilarious

        1. Taffy

          A lot of us would get sent to prison for knowing any young lesbians.

  70. Amelie Wikström

    I take it Carla doesn’t have a working phone. At least that’s the funniest possible explanation why she hasn’t just called Charlie

    I also take it she’s really anxious for Booster to see her as a real person rather than an evil billionaire heiress. That, and her giant problems with trying to act like a real person, could explain everything else about this.

    1. HueSatLight

      I bet Charlie hasn’t given her her number yet. And I’m guessing yesterday’s strip is the first time she called Carla by her name. Charlie doesn’t seem to have conversations in the typical way, and it’s left Carla confused and enamored.

      1. milu

        plus her phone is in the teal coat maybe

  71. Pocky

    W’s for Charlie and Carla

    L’s for Booster

    win-win in my book

    1. Daibhid C

      Pretty sure “the whole Carla and Charlie thing is no longer a problem, or at least no longer my problem” is a W for Booster.

      1. Throwatron

        the primary L here is that Booster’s lunch got cold.

  72. Hambone Jones

    Is this Lord of the Rings now? Why is all the cool stuff happening off-panel? I want to see what happened on the dates that were also accidentally hanging out! Damn you Willis!

  73. Buttery Commissar

    NGL I’m extremely tired so I know I’m wrong, but my take was that Charlie has short term memory problems and both Carla and Booster adore her.

  74. BBCC

    Awww, they seem super cute. And yeah I’m taking this as ‘they were trolling Booster’ about the introduction (after they said no the first couple times anyway).

  75. Straximus

    I love this story-line so much. I can’t wait for the flashback of their epic first ‘date’.

  76. Derek

    I’m not going to be mean and say this is “somehow…Palpatine has returned” level of plot ass-pull, but it’s pretty up there.
    Plot reveals that happen after a series of foreshadowing and hints feel very satisfying when they finally happen; and they’re more of a delight when the hints were so subtle they’re purposefully easy to miss. This is why Sixth Sense is one of those movies that might be even better on a rewatch, because now you see all the things you thought indicated a shaky marriage was actually one character not realizing they’re a ghost.

    But when the author purposefully hides or misleads the audience just to be shocking, it just feels like we as the readers are being trolled. See the entire latter half of M. Night Shyamalan’s filmography.

    1. Throwatron

      on the other hand, if you’re like me, and have known a lot of neuro-divergent lesbians…this just seems altogether pretty believable.

      1. Yumi

        There are different things happening that elements of people’s comments are pertaining to, I think. Is this believable? Could it make sense? In my opinion, sure.

        However, those things don’t necessarily mean it was well presented. That, to me, seems to be more what Derek’s comment focuses on.

    2. Da Boy

      Well you should have played Fortnite and you’d know all about it!

    3. sdrainbow

      this is the exact reason I can’t stand The Locked Tomb. there’s foreshadowing and plot twists, and then there’s straight up disrespecting your readers.

  77. Rabisch

    I like how they are watching each other with increasing happiness in every panel. Dunno how much they’ll stay together, but they’re really good to see together.

  78. elfroyalty

    A bit later than last time, but I’m here to overanalyze this strip hehe.

    It can be assumed that Carla and Charlie’s two hangouts happened in the following contexts:
    – Carla and Charlie hung out off-screen, shortly after the November 2nd, 2023 strip ‘Butter’ (buttered toast baybee). Toast was involved. So this last Saturday in-universe!
    – Charlie lost her coat sometime over the weekend, corroborated in a December bonus strip. I won’t go super far into detail on that since it IS a bonus strip! I think though that the most likely points their other hangout took place is either Friday (and Charlie purchased a new coat over the weekend), or the less-likely Sunday scenario (Charlie lent Carla her coat, but that would displace the bonus strip completely out of time)

    I don’t personally think Carla was intentionally messing with Booster, as Carla doesn’t really mess with people the way someone like Mike does – she’s obstinate, blunt, and rude (in general a bit of A Jerk) and more than incidentally participates in bugs bunny-style antics. Stringing Booster along for a weekend is NOT her style.

    all-around magnificent disaster, lesbians are just like this sometimes. :3

  79. Cloud

    I’ve never felt more neurodivergent as these past few comics have made me feel, what is happening and is it normal?

  80. Li

    Dang Willis my sympathies on the unpleasable readership. This strip and all the strips involving these two? Pretty dang cute. ❤️

    1. Taffy

      It’s futile to expect consensus in such a large group.

      1. DailyBrad

        This is something I can certainly agree with. This is a very popular webcomic, and it has a wide appeal to a variety of groups.

        Like hell, I like Danny, Carla, Walky, Amber, Joe, Becky, etc. I’ve seen all of them get ripped to shreds in the comments at various times. Everyone gets their turn. Hell, even Sal got some vitriol at times, albeit not as much as any of the ones I named.

        1. Li

          Maybe I should rephrase. You’d think marshmallow-fluffy girl/girl oblivious-mutual-crushing would be at the very least inoffensive, and yet, lol. People have been screaming at Carla for how awful and creepy she is for weeks, today we find out it’s all okay and actually Carla is just such a useless lesbian she didn’t know she had already successfully wooed the girl, which would seem to be exactly the least problematic resolution……….. and yet still so many people so mad.

          That’s why I said unpleasable.

        2. Taffy

          And not to lay it on too thick, but this has been the case since like late October, early November. An entire season of people calling Carla everything short of a predator, instead of calling her a dopey derpy daffy dumb-dumb duncepilled doofus dipshit dingus on DVD.

        3. Li

          Oh, 500% agreed. Honestly Carla sneezes in this comic and gets wildly unhinged reactions so I should have known that being real cute with another mutually interested girl would not actually be allowed.

        4. Li

          Also Sal has definitely gotten as bad or worse, it’s just been a while since the last “what if this Black teenager claiming to experience racialized mistreatment is the REAL racist” explosion.

        5. Li

          I think Sal, Becky, Roz, and Carla have gotten the biggest splashes, the most people whose comments had to be deleted or whose IP addresses had to be banned; it was a Roz storyline that gave us the bongo filter because readers got so uncomfortably vitriolic.

          And then Willis ran a little experiment where they gave us Anna, who they deliberately wrote to be as much like Mike as possible (“my most popular character of all time”), and the reaction from the reader base to those same traits from a Black queer woman was uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh not great.

          I know Mike has never been unanimously popular with DoA readers and to an extent I think folks who had enjoyed him in past, less grounded properties and as past, less socially aware versions of themselves — well, Anna was never going to be as beloved as Mike. But boy was she ever almost universally hated, at a truly disproportionate volume, after only a couple of strips.

    2. Icalasari

      Honestly, my only worry was Carla not getting to grow as a character. This looks like she’ll be growing as a character, so I am pleased

      1. Li

        I definitely had some “have you never seen a film before? you watch, and information is revealed” feelings about the reaction yesterday.

        idk, not every storyline is going to work for everyone, maybe Carla’s growth will be unsatisfactory, but soooooo many people reacting and continuing to react to a strip that literally had “plot twist” as its alt text with “But this doesn’t make any sense and is bad writing grr argh!!!!!” …seems a little premature.

        Your reaction was valid yesterday! You know, by my obviously very important standards. Here’s hoping we get more Carla and more Charlie and that they’re interesting and stuff.

        1. Li

          Heck, today’s alt text is “so many questions” and yet much of the reaction continues to be “but what about all my questions, it makes no sense that I would currently have unanswered questions”. It’s wild stuff.

    3. tunasammich

      Yeah they’re harshing my mellow

      I for one love where this went lol

      1. Li

        It is both cute and funny! The gentlest trolling we could possibly have received!

    4. Aura

      With you there! I’m really enjoying this storyline, it’s working well for me ^^

      1. Li

        There are dozens of us! Dozens!!!

  81. NGPZ

    Many earthlings seem really confused here, but what is going on is romance.

    It is not apparent to them because the variety of romance they are used to most quickly perceiving is that which is built for the neurotypical everyman.

    1. HueSatLight

      getting off-topic for a second, I heard a lyric the other day that reminded me of you.
      “i am warmed
      by a foreign star;
      no this planet
      simply cannot
      be my own.”

      1. NGPZ

        Awe thx ?✨

  82. Maddie B

    I love them both, and wish them luck on their journey to become less useless and more lesbian.

  83. Zak

    In years of strips across multiple comics, this is the most likeable I’ve ever found Carla.

    Grats Willis.

  84. DailyBrad

    There is something hilarious about Charlie I guess dating a rich girl, and being impressed by her just having goddamn buttered toast.

  85. Kazuma Taichi

    oh Carla you absolute, incredible, dunce
    how did you manage to have a girl in your room and hold hands, but then not think she knew your existence

    I just, I can’t
    and yet this is one of my fav sapphic tropes

  86. Zamperla

    They’re idiots and I love them so much your honor. They can do whatever they want off screen.

  87. Weatherheight

    I for one would have preferred to see the “dates” on camera, with Carla coming away with a “was that a date? Pretty sure that wasn’t a date” view and with Charlie deciding “we spent more than ten minutes together and had physical contact so that must have been a date” view.

    Can’t be in synch with every reader I guess.

    1. Kazuma Taichi

      I’m personally hopeful for flashbacks

  88. Mr.Morningstar

    Okay, TO BE FAIR suspension of disbelief usually applies more to things a person normally “could not” do rather than “would not.” If that makes sense.

    Like I have seen people use suspension of disbelief to justify poor writing (not saying this is poorly written just an example).

    Sal jumping a car on her motorcycle is not something you would think someone could do, but in this case its a case of how could Carla be asking Booster to introduce her to their sister when they are already dating and doesnt seem to notice.

    Suspension of disbelief usually refers to someones capabilities that makes sense in the context of the story but would be impossible/improbable in reality. (the force, superpowers, kill bill where the lady kills an army of ninjas by herself etc.)

    Again, i think its absolutely hilarious but I have to admit its a stretch.

    But its an enjoyable nonsense so i can let it slide personally.

    1. Mr.Morningstar

      this was meant to be a reply.

      Oops

  89. Lia

    carla is a good chunk of the reason i read this comic and im loving this

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