248

Train wreck
Posted on January 25, 2025 by David M Willis

248 thoughts on “Train wreck”

  1. NGPZ

    HOPSCOTCH! D:<

  2. Rose by Any other Name

    I too believe that Sarah can fuck this football player.
    Will she? No idea. But I am certain that she is capable.

    1. Michael Steamweed

      Fully expecting Mr. Willis to be near completion on the Slipshine “Sara Finds A Newer, Better Version Of Herself Through Fucking This Football Player”.

      1. Bleuryder

        I was hoping it would be named “Sarah finally eats some filet mignon”

        1. Michael Steamweed

          That is certainly a short title. More easily fit onto a book cover.

  3. Sirksome

    I actually want Sarah to become a worse person by fucking Tony, thank you very much!

    1. Axel

      Better and worse but in different ways

    2. Yumi

      “I can fix her,” bleh
      “I can make her worse,” ?

      1. Rose by Any other Name

        Welcome to Trash Roof, Sarah, where we can all be trash together.

      2. ian livs

        I want to see if they can manage to do both at the same time

      3. zee

        “she can make me worse” ???

    3. Circeus

      They can both make each other worse >:D

  4. Schpoonman

    Booster, very unironically: :CLAP: GET :CLAP: THAT :CLAP: DICK :CLAP:

    1. Rose by Any other Name

      Generally, when getting that dick, you want to avoid the clap.

      1. saltchocolate

        Best comment.

      2. DJTsurugi

        remember kids, always use a condom. ~<3

        1. Lokitsu

          And not for finger puppets this time.

        2. Chaucer59

          Water balloons it is.

      3. Michael Steamweed

        Especially four claps. That’s just overkill, and the community health clinic has to report it.

      4. VicMortimer

        It’s a sportsball player. Not sure that’s possible.

  5. Kyrik Michalowski

    Booster… why do I enjoy you being around? You are a tool, and kind of a dick. Anyone else feel similar?

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      Grav roulette time.

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        Nope.

        1. Kyrik Michalowski

          No thanks.

        2. Kyrik Michalowski

          Interesting, but not Sal

        3. Kyrik Michalowski

          Fucking no.

        4. Kyrik Michalowski

          Double no.

        5. Kyrik Michalowski

          So many gravatars, and yet I somehow manage duplicates.

        6. Sirksome

          You got Sarah though which is the one I’d want if I was still in the grav game!

        7. Miafillene

          I just go with whatever I get

        8. HueSatLight

          There’s 36 currently, so by your 8th try, you’ve got a greater than 50% chance of having gotten a duplicate by then.

      2. missilentmurmur

        Let me join in

        1. missilentmurmur

          Another please

        2. missilentmurmur

          Someone else?

        3. missilentmurmur

          Not bad, but one more

    2. Vukodlak

      You miss Mike

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        A little bit, probably; he is still an asshole, but he was interesting.

        1. Kyrik Michalowski

          Whoa, didn’t expect that gravatar

        2. Clif

          I miss Mike. He was an incredible catalyst and a force of nature..

    3. Grimey

      Booster is that friend that has actively converts all their toxicity for good.

    4. thejeff

      As a reader, Booster’s usually fun to see, but if I was there I’d definitely be on Sarah’s “Get out of here” side.

    5. PedanticJerkass

      I agree, except for the “enjoy you being around” part, at least in this particular instance.

  6. elfroyalty

    i really like booster. they’re such a little weirdo 🙂

    1. Jeremiah

      You have good taste.

    2. NGPZ

      like Daffy Duck, but less of an incompetent twit XD

      1. DailyBrad

        For me, Robin’s the Daffy Duck. Booster’s giving more Bugs to me, though usually not *as* smug.

  7. Yumi

    Tony approaching the table as panel 4 happens and stopping a few feet back to go “what the fuck.”

    1. Michael Steamweed

      Shouldn’t really take long just to go to a nearby trashcan. But maybe he got stopped by an acquaintance or visited the restroom also.

  8. Nono

    Honestly surprised Booster doesn’t want to follow noted drama hurricane Jennifer around.

    1. Samniel

      That’s the thing. Jennifer doesn’t experience drama, she creates it, Booster would rather not get caught in the hurricane

      1. Needfuldoer

        Then they need to be like those NOAA airplanes, battle-hardened to get through unscathed and full of instrumentation to collect as much data as possible along the way.

  9. CidGregor

    Tony sure is taking his time throwing that cup away.

    Hope he didn’t see whatever this is and nope out.

    1. Yumi

      With each passing strip, it becomes more and more possible that he got kidnapped. (/j)

    2. DailyBrad

      Maybe he needs to pee and didn’t want to come right out and say that.

      1. Thing2

        But open and direct Tony would just come right out with it, esp. if he was concerned that Sarah might take off.

        1. Sirksome

          Maybe pee paranoia is his one weird hang up? I can see it now. Tony can never let anyone know when he has to pee ever again because of that one time he did and it cost him. Pooping is fine though. People knowing that won’t destroy what he holds dear.

    3. JessWitt

      That should be the bonus strip – see what Tony was up to offscreen during Sarah and Booster’s conversation.

      1. Michael Steamweed

        Maybe someone stopped him to ask about the upcoming Hoosiers-Boilermakers game.

  10. True Survivor

    I am very curious about the wallpaper. Is that a skunk? I think they get a bad wrap, but who would print wallpaper with that design? Additionally, Why would you want skunk decor in a restaurant? Especially one which sells coffee, a substance whose smell is half the appeal? This place is carnival of insanity.

    1. Yumi

      People get pretty weird about this normal woodland-themed wallpaper, huh

      1. NGPZ

        yee, is very common design alongside those featuring moose and geese up near Canada, eh? XD

    2. HueSatLight

      The odor comes from glands near the base of their tail. not from what they look like.

      1. Freemage

        Yes, but people don’t associate the smell with posterior glands, they associate it with ‘skunk’. And so yes, sticking a skunk up on the wall of pretty much any food/drink establishment is a very odd choice.

        1. HueSatLight

          Skunks are delightful woodland creatures. Don’t overthink the wallpaper. It has a picture of a skunk. Not the smell.

        2. HueSatLight

          correction: from yelp, it looks like it’s painted, not wallpaper. It’s painted pictures of skunks, hens, fish, cobras, spilled coffee, roller skates, and some kind of coneflower looking flower.

    3. Needfuldoer

      Who doesn’t love fart weasels? They’re right up there near the top of the suburban fauna list with trash pandas.

    4. Sirksome

      We need to bring the skunk into mainstream appeal. Squirrels and raccoons have taken most of the woodland creature spotlight. We shouldn’t be questioning “why?” When we see a skunk pattern wallpaper. Put a cartoon skunk on a box of cereal, make the skunk a main character in your early 2000’s 3D platformer, base a superhero off skunk powers and launch multiple series of successful movies, shows, and merchandise!

    5. thejeff

      It’s apparently a real restaurant with that real wallpaper. Someone tracked it down in an earlier strip.

      1. Yumi

        Also worth noting that the wallpaper, both in the strip and in real life, isn’t *just* skunks, but includes a few different animals as well. True, the setup of the strips has emphasized the skunk more.

        1. thejeff

          As do the pictures that were linked. There’s some kind of bird, maybe a chicken or duck? Couldn’t tell if there was anything else.

        2. HueSatLight

          Because most of the other parts are just lines. The skunk, the spilled coffee, and the herb branches are the only solid parts. The spilled coffee is small and the herb branches frame the skunk (and hen, cobra, and fish).

        3. thejeff

          Not sure about the spilled part and I still don’t see the cobra at all, but I’ve got no idea how I missed the fish.

        4. Yumi

          I can see some elements here that I couldn’t in other pictures (including the cobra): https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/OzBLUak5pmGSv7HsVUhvgQ/o.jpg

        5. thejeff

          That’s definitely clearer than anything I remember seeing when I looked before.

          Guess it’s partly because the skunk is the only dark one – the others get washed out.

  11. Gojira007

    …ok so like.
    am i the only one who kind of wants to see Booster and Sarah hook up now instead of Tony and Sarah?
    I don’t even 100% know WHY this strip makes me feel that way entirely, and I’m DEFINITELY not banking on that happening, but.
    I dunno.
    Somehow, This Strip Has Awakened Me.

    1. Nymph

      I ship it. Let the ship sail. I’m also fully on board for Tony – Booster – Sarah.

      1. Tan

        I don’t think this is prelude to a Tony Booster Sarah threesome, but if it is, I’m fucking here for it.

      2. Queezle

        That would be a fascinating dynamic, I am here for it. Probably not going to happen, but still.

    2. zee

      Not instead of, but yes. I want this threesome

    3. PedanticJerkass

      Hell.
      No.

  12. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    Booster, she explicitly told you to go away.

    You didn’t.

    So you aren’t some insightful commentator.

    You think you have the right to harass people who have told you to stop.

    You are just an asshole.

    1. Freemage

      An asshole who also gets plot armor from consequences for this behavior.

    2. showler

      Well, yeah. Mike’s dead.

      1. Michael Steamweed

        Said in the same tone as “Well, yeah, the Comedian’s dead.”

  13. Animedingo

    Booster being meta is just annoying

    1. Liara

      Where are they being meta, cause they used the phrase “character growth”? That’s completely applicable to real people.

      Booster’s barely leaning against the 4th wall here, not breaking it

      1. Mark

        By panel 4 I was thinking, “woah, Booster is everybody in the comments rolled into one character.”

    2. Nymph

      (I love it)

      1. PedanticJerkass

        (I loathe it)

    3. zee

      Nah you just hate things that are fun. Also they’re not being meta, using terms like character growth in irl conversations is normal

  14. Golden Yak

    I hate Booster.

    1. Clif

      He’s growing on me.

      No fungus jokes.

      1. Freemage

        Nah.

        Wouldn’t want to insult the fungus.

        1. Clif

          (drum roll)

  15. IntangibleMatter

    Booster might legitimately be the only person in this strip with any long-term planning abilities

    1. NGPZ

      I dunno.

      Dina being able to break Becky’s Chains of Sunday School via scientific endeavor in Trial and Sarah must have taken quite a lot of planning on her part.

  16. Taffy

    Sarah should stop showing interest in Tony, just to spite Booster.

    1. Clif

      That would show him.

  17. AbacusWizard

    booster, no, this is not your date

    1. HueSatLight

      “… thank you …” going better than “Do you have any friends of your own? I’m sorry I talked to you.”
      Still past time to invite themself out of her date.

  18. Queen Anthai

    I’ve said it before, but I HATE how Booster sees others as a collection of various mental disorders rather than people. I kinda get that it’s probably related to their major, but they really irritate me when they do that.

    1. BorkBorkBork

      Yeah, me too.

      I’m a little tired about whenever you call them out on it, they’ve got a brigade of people defending them.

      Look, they’re saying it here. They don’t really see people as people. They’re characters. Train wrecks, successes, failures, whatever; what happens to the PERSON doesn’t matter; it’s just entertainment. They would get just as much out of watching, say, Dorothy crash and burn and drop out, as they would see her go on to any Ivy League.

      That’s normally a BAD thing, folks.

      The only person that Booster has ever shown that they care about beyond a superficial way is Charlie, and they used her to torture Carla for a good few days.

      1. Nymph

        The thing is, people are allowed to like and defend characters who are behaving in ways that wouldn’t be acceptable IRL. It’s fiction, it’s totally fine to like characters for being interesting rather than some definition of “good”.

        1. Freemage

          But it’s not just that the character is an arguably bad person if they were in real life. In Booster’s case, it’s that all consequence for said bad acts is removed. Booster simply never suffers any adverse reaction to this behavior, even when dealing with characters who would not react to anyone else ignoring their boundaries like Booster does.

        2. Jeremiah

          Except they do, all the time. Character often step into boundaries of other characters because of their personality (this comment section often complains about it). And those characters often if not always let it go without that much of a fuzz. Because this is part comedy and those moments aren’t meant to be taken that seriously.

        3. Leorale

          Also, in real life, people often do bad acts without suffering much in the way of consequences.

          Here, Booster annoys Sarah and doesn’t go away when she says so. So now Sarah doesn’t like Booster, and probably won’t choose to hang out with them if she can help it …which is all that would happen in real life, too.

        4. zee

          What consequences? They’re just annoying to other people. They go annoy people and those people go away and don’t hang out with them. That’s typically the consequences of being annoying. What do you want, for them to get punched? Should they be fined? Get detention?

        5. BorkBorkBork

          Of course we do. There are villains that you just love to hate. Mark Hamill’s Joker, for example. Final Fantasy’s Kefka, or Kuja.

          But I guess I just can’t abide the person who pretends to be a friend who just isn’t. I can stand cruelty from a monster; I can’t from a friend. It makes me feel awful inside like few other things do.

          Though I guess, the one thing that Booster does, is that they’re very *open* about it. It’s not like Amber, who straight up lied to Dorothy to get her to make some dumb decisions. Booster isn’t trying to hide who they are.

        6. Nymph

          I guess my thing is that I don’t really find them to be cruel. I can see (based on other explanations you’ve given) why you do, but I definitely don’t put the same kind of weight behind those actions. I also have a lot of leeway for flawed characters, since all the characters in this setting are flawed, which allows me to mostly view them through a lens of being excited to see how they’ll change and grow rather than being upset with how they currently are.

          Again, I do totally see where you’re coming from, but I think that’s maybe one of the reasons opinions are differing here. I like Booster because I find them interesting, not because I love to hate them. I don’t hate them at all.

        7. Pergola

          Booster is not fun to hate. Just annoying.

        8. zee

          Nah, they’re not fun to hate. Just fun

        9. PedanticJerkass

          Booster is not cruel nor are they a villain. They’re just, in this particular moment, being more of an obnoxious jagoff than they normally are. Which, in my particular case, is making me join the “Fuck off, Booster,” bandwagon in this case.

      2. Jeremiah

        Okay I was just gonna be “I wouldn’t myself a brigade” but the “Booster used charlie to torture Carla” thing is so weird I can’t let it go. That is not a thing that happened, by any stretch if the imagination. They just didn’t want to present Charlie to her because they didn’t trust her to treat their sister right, that’s it. I honestly I find the weird way you talk about them like they are unfelling or whatever is really unnerving, and I saw your comment yesterday bringing psychopathy into this. I gotta say, you looking like a weirdo.

        1. Queezle

          Yes, I do think that Booster can be rude and boundary stomping and calling Sarah a train wreck and “entertaining” was really rude. And irl I would dread being around them (that is in part due to my own hang-ups, and inability to clearly sate my boundaries and to leave situations that make me uncomfortable). But calling them a psychopath is way over doing it.
          I read the Carla situation like you do, they were not sure if she would treat their sibling with kindness, so they were apprehensive about introducing them.

        2. BorkBorkBork

          Yeah, sorry, that was a bit over-embellished.

          Some of the things Booster did to Carla I saw as needlessly cruel. Less like testing, and more like hazing. Booster’s an excellent judge of character and observer of people; I’m not sure everything they put Carla through was strictly to test her.

          Perhaps ‘psychopath’ is too far. But look back up. Reread what Booster is saying here. About really, really loving a train wreck. About that train wreck being Sarah. About loving interesting “things” and the whole last two panels. Let Booster speak for themself here.

          What kind of a friend even thinks that, let alone says that? In what way do we see that Booster thinks of Sarah as something *more* than a source of entertainment? Do they not know just how hard this is for Sarah, how difficult it is to open up, and just how painful this could be if it goes wrong? Sure, Walky or Billie would be oblivious, but Booster???

        3. Yumi

          You’re putting a lot– a lot— of your own interpretation onto Booster here. And that’s fine! But it’s not as objective or absolute as you seem to be thinking.

          I also don’t think Booster’s an excellent judge of character. I think they’re decent, but my interpretation is that they’re not as good at it as they might think or try to be. Which really effects a lot of how their interactions come across, because no, they don’t know! Sarah thinks they started in because they wanted to watch her fail (because not particularly liking someone is a more natural/common consequence of their actions than some of the things that have been suggested), and they’re surprised by that. They want to see her succeed, and they didn’t recognize Sarah’s view of them so far.

        4. thejeff

          One of the things that amuses me about Booster is that I think their cold reads are pretty superficial, but that means they often match a casual reader’s take on the characters, so they seem right to much of the audience.

        5. Jeremiah

          I have read he comic including this, which w
          Is why I think your take o. Booster is overly harsh and a bit weird. They are not some villain that only people as entertainment. They are just a bit weird. They still have fellings, they still can care about others. Just because you don’t think so, doesn’t make it not true.

      3. justin8448

        Booster really is “replacement Mike.”

        1. Queen Anthai

          Nah, Mike was worse. He was like a comment section come to life.

      4. zee

        I don’t really care, they’re fun. Fictional characters are allowed to do bad things and still be fun.

    2. Amelie Wikström

      Careful, we talked about objectification in yesterday’s comments and they got ugly. But maybe it’ll turn out different when it’s a nonbinary person objectifying everyone without sexism. . .?

      1. Jeremiah

        I mean, it probably wouldn’t have come up if you haven’t mentioned it..

      2. Nymph

        “got ugly” here meaning “people had a conversation about a serious topic where no one called each other names or anything”

        1. HueSatLight

          It devolved into someone portraying all analogies as inherently invalid for purposes of explanation.

        2. Yumi

          Assuming this is me, I was agreeing with thejeff about “reverse the oppressor and the marginalized groups” arguments. Analogies as explanations can be great, analogies that require major changes in a situation to make an argument, less so.

        3. HueSatLight

          I have no intention of getting into the discussion, it was a fucking mess.

        4. Taffy

          Look, when I used the term “breeding stock”, what I meant was —

        5. Yumi

          I disagree with that assessment of it, but if you don’t want to get into it, you might refrain from bringing up your interpretations of what someone else said in it.

        6. HueSatLight

          i didn’t even remember you were part of it. but if you were in on the dogpile and are feeling defensive, whatever. It definitely got ugly.

        7. Yumi

          It stands whether you were thinking of something I said or not– don’t want to get into it, don’t bring up your critique of other’s points.

        8. thejeff

          Yeah, if that’s what they’re talking about, I don’t see the “all analogies are inherently invalid” part at all.

        9. Yumi

          I honestly didn’t see that anywhere in the discussion, but mine was the closest I could see as being misinterpreted that way.

    3. StClair

      It’s not that different from what Amber does with many of her friends. (And isn’t at all shy about telling them so.)

      Here’s something else that’s important, IMO: to each other, within the comic, these aren’t just fictional characters that they’re idly analyzing, objectifying, and/or fetishizing. They’re real people.

  19. HueSatLight

    I like how her hand looks in panel 1. like she’s pointing out of the strip.

    1. NGPZ

      Sarah: “Get out of here!”

      Booster: “Okay.”

      Booster: *proceeds to climb outside the strip like it’s a window*

      1. Michael Steamweed

        I will accept Booster=Deadpool only if suddenly, we are joined by a new prolific commenter with name “Booster”.

      2. zee

        Someone draw booster in gwenpools outfit

    2. Thomas

      Sarah points at the fourth wall to send Booster out of the comic.

    3. HueSatLight

      Also meant as a compliment to the artwork and hand posing. It’s no more weird that real hands o no I just looked at my hands without a weirdness filter why are hands

      1. Clif

        As someone who has tried to draw hands, I can confirm. Hands are really weird.

  20. Wraithy2773

    Booster: “I want you to bang this person and not get sidetracked by any intrusive thoughts!”

    Me: “…don’t you realize that you’re actively working against this at this very moment by inserting yourself into this situation, bringing up those issues so that Susan might second-guess herself, making it all about your desire for gossip which is absolutely going to be a mood killer, and just simply refusing to go away when told to?”

    Sigh.

    1. Queen Anthai

      *Sarah

      1. Wraithy2773

        …gah, I’m shit with names sometimes >_<.

    2. Laura

      …OK, so, …mindfulness? I’m not sure why banging a football player who is also a son of a Dean (and bears some kind of quasi-serial-would-have-been-step-sibling-ish relationship with Walky and Sal) would make Sarah more mindful.

      Could someone please enlighten me?

      1. Jeremiah

        I think they might be referring to her mind state and fellings in general, Sarah tend to want to avoid being vulnerable and she specifically hadn’t wanted an actual wanted romantic connection as much as someone to fuck. Which might change with Tony. Basically that if Sarah sleep with Tony and end up wanting more out of it, that be fine.

        1. Laura

          Huh. Interesting. Thanks, Jeremiah!

      2. Wraithy2773

        I was more thinking that Sarah is clearly attracted to Tony the Football Player, but might start overthinking things once she’s aware of Tony’s more privileged status at the school.

        Also, there’s just an element of “don’t think about a purple elephant” thing potentially going on. Booster alluding to Sarah’s issues might get her to think about her issues, including the whole height thing, in ways that she wouldn’t if Booster wasn’t bringing it up.

        1. BorkBorkBork

          Almost as if it was…. intentional?

          Naw, couldn’t be. Booster must just be really socially awkward. Probably doesn’t even realize that their words can subtly influence people if said in just the right way.

        2. Jeremiah

          Ohhhh, they are TALKING how scary.

        3. Mark

          I’ve been thinking that Booster wants to be a friend but doesn’t know how, and is unable to learn how by observation, resulting in a sort of random superficial “friendliness” that simply doesn’t work.

        4. Buck Ripsnort

          In fairness, there aren’t a lot of people in this strip you’d observe in order to learn real friendliness. Sarcasm, bitterness, smug superiority, outright hostility maybe, not so much friendliness.

        5. Laura

          Maybe uses a veneer of superiority to deflect from that insecurity…

        6. Wraithy2773

          I dunno, my boi and his S-tier hat seem to have the method nailed down!

        7. Laura

          Oh, wow, thank you! That brings more nuance to it all!

  21. Laura

    (Referencing True Survivor’s comment on wallpaper, above, but not wanting to hijack True Survivor’s comment thread…)

    Who’s up for a fun game?

    Q.: If you ran a coffee shop, what wallpaper, paint, or other wall décor would you put up, and why?

    Bonus points if you can link to a picture of what that might look like. (We can’t embed images here, right?)

    1. NGPZ

      Mine would have a custom world map

      I imagine it’d look more or less like this, but with much more information of coffee styles and houses from countries all over the world ^^

      https://stockcake.com/i/global-coffee-map_1057396_1019803

      1. Laura

        Whoa, so cool! I can just see it now. Nifty!

    2. Laura

      For mine, I would have to be the architect too, but I would make my coffeehouse a tensile structure held together with steel beams connected by panels of shatterproof tempered glass. I would coat the glass panels with semitranslucent photochromic/thermochromic silvering. That way, it would reflect sunlight and heat in the summertime and conserve its own internal heat in the wintertime, letting more light through on dark winter days.

      And the external silver coating would function as a one-way mirror, so that the passersby would see only a wall of opaque reflective glass, but the café patrons inside would have a 360-degree view in every direction to see everything and everyone outside around them. Giving the same view as if they were actually sitting outdoors, but protected from outside gazes and from the elements.

      *sigh*… dream!

      https://www.archdaily.com/969872/when-design-meets-functionality-in-facades-high-tech-aluminium-surfaces

      https://storables.com/furniture-and-design/interior-design-trends/what-is-the-strongest-glass

    3. Mark

      Pastel lime green paint and natural wood. Because I’m boring. If I ran a restaurant, it would be the place you go because there you don’t notice your surroundings.

      1. Laura

        I like that. A place to lose yourself in place and time. Just to be here now, not to get fascinated by fixtures… I like that.

        1. Laura

          (Gotta differentiate the pastel color from “institutional green,” though. Not the same ambience at all…)

    4. Michael Steamweed

      Wallpaper of all books on shelves.

      https://www.vertigohome.us/cdn/shop/products/Book-Shelf-WP20112-1MindtheGapWallpaperwww.vertigohome.us_2100x.jpg?v=1612207042

      1. Laura

        Ooh, I love that! So soothing!

    5. HueSatLight

      brick

      1. HueSatLight

        just being nostalgic about a coffee and sandwich shop that had like brick walls, wooden tables, chairs that didn’t quite match, a courtyard that was a little too small, a bookshelf with board games, and a little corkboard people could post things on. I imagine they weren’t thriving even in the best of times, but it didn’t make it through covid. And now a cookie store with generic plain decor that feels like a Subway is there.

        1. Laura

          That nostalgia shop sounds like a lovely memory, though.

          I love my own memories of hole-in-the-wall coffee shops that were actually cozy little bookshops, too, where you could get lost in the shelves and sit down with a stack of titles to peruse between sips…

          Brick sounds perfect.

  22. Shakes

    Booster is only doing what we the readers do rooting for characters to bang.

    1. Alongcameaspider

      He’s a commentor that somehow stumbled in to the comic

      1. NGPZ

        *they

    2. Council

      I ship relentlessly, and with passion, but I wouldn’t use that to stand in front of actual people I know in passing and encourage them to bang.

      1. Clif

        Would it help to know them better or know them less?

  23. Foolissa

    I used to really like Booster. But this sequence has pushed me to the anti-Booster side of the aisle. This is no longer a mildly annoying yet somehow adorable quirk paired with insight. This is actively, arrogantly harassing behavior. I really hope Booster has some humbling experiences coming up in their character development arc. :-p

    1. Jeremiah

      More booster for me!

      1. Alan in DC

        Not me. If I knew someone like Booster, I’d transfer to Ivy Tech Community College down the street.

        1. Jeremiah

          Good thing you wouldn’t, because Booster is a fictional character in a comic.

    2. Pocky

      I’ve wanted to like them, but they have never really done anything to endear themselves to me.

      All power to those that find their shtick charming, its kinda just grating to me.

      1. 3oranges

        Wait, is the power Booster just some sparkly shtick?

        1. BorkBorkBork

          bu dum tssss

  24. DailyBrad

    Be the you that can fuck that football player if you wanna.

  25. Thing2

    Sarah, Don’t let Booster spoil this for you.

  26. Reltzik

    You can accrue mindfulness?

    … okay, so the real question is, how will GAAP track this?

    1. Laura

      Generally Accepted Accounting Principles?

      1. Reltzik

        Yeah. You have to record accruals in the books. But is mindfulness an increase in the value of human capital, or is it more of an equity that the turns into profit for the owner?

        1. Clif

          Your also accruing a mindfulness debt, so it balances.

  27. BBCC

    Gee, Booster, tell us how you really feel.

  28. Reltzik

    …. It has just occurred to me that I let three comics go by in which Sarah fucking Tony is being discussed, and with Tony being described as a steak of a man, and I failed to make a T-bone pun.

    1. Nymph

      But no longer.

    2. Kep

      Well done! 😀

      Maybe your pun needed a bit more time to cook

      1. Michael Steamweed

        Ugh. T-bone steak should _not_ be well done. Medium-rare is the only good tasty doneness.

  29. Kaffeeteria

    I wish Booster would just SHUT UP.

    1. Taffy

      Booster should be in every strip. Other characters’ heads should start transforming into Booster’s head and they should all become Booster clones.

      1. Council

        I wish Booster appeared in a measured amount of comics where their insights are tempered with listening to their own good sense and not nosing on everyone’s business uninvited for the short term thrill of it.

        1. Jeremiah

          I also like eating unsalted boiled potatoes./j

        2. eh, whatever

          You need better potatoes.

        3. Taffy

          So, a different character then.

        4. Council

          …Sure! I would like them to be “Dumb” in a way that is not in direct opposition of their narrative purpose, definitely.

          If you want a character wise beyond their years who studies the human condition, Maybe their defining flaw shouldn’t be that they don’t apply that knowledge to themselves on the grounds they find it hilarious.

        5. Taffy

          Booster isn’t “wise beyond their years”, they’re just nosey and observant.

        6. Jeremiah

          So yeah you want a different characters.

        7. Clif

          I can see it now. The Dumbness of Youth – same story with completely different characters.

      2. PedanticJerkass

        I kind of wish Booster’s planet would need him so that the can go now.

        1. PedanticJerkass

          *them *they

  30. Kyulen

    I’m kinda surprised Tony hasn’t come back to the table yet. How long does it take to throw away a disposable coffee cup?

    Also, I really wanted to like Booster, but their behavior so far makes them way more annoying than likeable for me.

    1. Amelie Wikström

      Sounding the dialogue out in my head while also counting, I estimate it’s been 20-45 seconds. Figure maybe Tony’s brief errand is meant to indicate they’re talking pretty fast.

      1. thejeff

        The strip per day format really throws off any sense of how long things take.

      2. Yumi

        I think you’re going too fast… my timing of it with the dialogue was about 1 minute and 20 seconds. Maybe a minute if they really are talking fast, but not 20 seconds.

        I wouldn’t think throwing out a cup and coming back would take more than 30 seconds, usually, but it’s also not a big enough difference for the delay to need to be something major. Someone saying hi, or there’s no trash bag in the closest trashcan so he’s looking around and going over to another one.

        Or he got kidnapped.

        1. Clif

          By aliens who inject him with the experimental super-power serum.

          It all depends on how far away the trash is. If it’s near the entry/exit and the table is in the back, it could take a little while.

    2. HueSatLight

      He’s fighting someone else from AG’s rogues’ gallery. Someone who littered once in September is now dressed like a giant frosted honey bun.

  31. darkoneko

    Booster you’re just bored and lonely because Charlie found a special other

  32. Arianod

    (Wallace voice) Trainwrecks are our speciality 😀

  33. Suet

    “Can”, but not yet “will”. Here’s hoping she’ll score real soon.

    For someone that just drank coffee, Booster loves the tea. Ha-larious, I know.

  34. Alaric

    Re: the alt text- that IS surprising.

  35. nothri

    Okay, this is better.

  36. Jay

    I think this single page made me do a complete 180 on booster

    1. Jay

      In a positive way

      This is hilarious and sarah needed it

  37. Hoboturtle

    Thing is I don’t hate Booster, but it is incredibly jarring whenever they appear cause it’s almost never in regards to characters they have connections to. Like it’s never Walky does something and they’re Walky’s roommate so of course they’re in the plot now. Or they knew this person before moving into their current room so that’s why they’re here. Or even someone was having a conversation with Booster when a big event happen. They just show up.

    Like Booster and Sarah only had a single conversation before this.

    1. Yumi

      Scrolling back through Booster’s character tag, and really the majority of their appearances aren’t what you described, but it’s definitely happened a few times and in a way that also stand out enough to me that I knew what you were talking about (and actually thought it might be a larger percentage of their interactions that went that way before going to look).

      It doesn’t feel as natural for them to integrate as much this far into the strip; early strip was also beginning of the school year (and of college, for most of the cast), so the parts where they’re all first meeting didn’t feel jarring. I wonder what Booster’s first semester was like.

      (I’ve also heard things like a lot of people’s closest college friends are those they meet in the first semester, sometimes even specifically by the first weekend. Hardly universal… the people I met in college who are still my friends today are people I met in my senior year, I stayed close with a couple of my high school friends who went to the same college as me, and the meaningful relationships I develop with people in college– including the new friends from senior year I mentioned– happened off-campus. But I also kind of hated my college experience in a way that, fortunately, most people don’t seem to.)

    2. Yeet

      moving house midway through the school year will do this to you

    3. Taffy

      Yeah, it’s like they just moved in or something

  38. Dark_Panda

    Booster and Charlie, the weirdest set of mirror twins ever invented. One’s in your head, the other is only in hers.

  39. Dark_Panda

    AND in my gravatars. How fitting.

  40. Caro

    booster’s a new fave idc what anyone says. they’re great

    1. Jeremiah

      They are. Sorry everyone else is wrong.

  41. Stephen Nedland

    Go do it, Sarah, get sacked by the sportsball player, multiple times, until you can’t walk straight for a few days. I have the utmost faith in you.

  42. AnonGrouch

    Listening to Booster continually stroke their ego is like drinking coffee grounds. I’m sure it’s eventually stimulating but they continue to be obnoxious for genuinely no reason.

    1. Jeremiah

      Okay in what way are they stroking their ego here?

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        If anything, they’re stroking Sarah’s ego.

    2. NGPZ

      yeah, is basically unsolicited PsychToGo :/

      1. AnonGrouch

        Which is egostroking yes. There is one consistent writing rule to Booster (until the author finally gives them character growth) and it is definitely that they see themselves above others. Being willing to give ‘psychtogo’ is thinking you have a valuable opinion to share to begin with when it’s pretty clear Booster barely knows Sarah.

  43. a/snow/mous/e

    Booster feels a lot more genuine here. It’s a nice change of pace to see them focus on their own feelings rather than fixating on everyone else’s flaws.

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      (I guess Greek choruses are just generally off-putting. Probably because of how reductive it feels.)

  44. Opus the Poet

    I have been depressed for so long that when I take the full dose of my antidepressant it feels like euphoria. My doctor says that’s not euphoria, I just forgot what “normal” feels like. The last time I wasn’t depressed was in 1975, so maybe he’s right? I stopped the suicidal ideation back in the 1980s, so that’s as close as I got to “not depressed” in 50 years, until I got on Cimbalta last fall. When I take my antidepressant as initially prescribed I didn’t have any dreams at night, so I don’t take the second capsule at bedtime now. I take it with lunch so it doesn’t mess with my dreams. I don’t get nightmares any more, and if I don’t take my last dose of the day at bedtime I still have regular dreams.

    It feels really weird to not be depressed even with a convicted felon in the White House.

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      I’m so glad that you’re out of that depressive mindset! I understand the situation with the presidency is awful, but also… you can’t give him control of your feelings. You have every right to be happy.

    2. NGPZ

      that’s the thing about depression these days — it’s increasingly hard to tell how much of it is from your neurochemistry, and how much of it is from how fucked up the world at large is right now.

      I think it’s good to be aware of the problems plaguing humanity and be sad about them, but not to such an extent that it impairs our ability to function.

      For if we cannot function, how can we do what we are able to for the sake of helping others who need it?

      For the sake of progress, we must not conflate awareness of the problems affecting society with this pervasive sense of *complete* despair, the latter of which will only serve to distort our thinking.

      Stay safe, stay woke, and may peace be with you.

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        Exactly; you can have mindfulness and empathy without dwelling on the bad stuff constantly.

        1. NGPZ

          THIS ?

          speaking as someone disabled six ways to sunday and struggling to function and working all the time to feed myself, knowing how many trans n queer homies be suffering makes me feel so helpless with how little I am able to do about it

          I code games for work, I know people like games and need them to restore themselves, but like, I just wish I knew more *specific* ways I could do that so as to maximize/optimize the difference I can make for vulnerable people with what little energy I can spare in my condition T_T

        2. Clif

          Not what you were looking for, but learn to work with AI in your coding and it will make you more effective.

        3. NGPZ

          *taps the sign*

          https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/

    3. Yumi

      Happy for you! I’ve had some similar moments of feeling good and wondering if I’m experiencing hypomania and then being like, “I think I was just in a good mood for a bit. Weird!”

      I’m glad you found a medication that works and that you can get familiar with what “not depressed” feels like.

    4. yak

      The state of things like the nation or the climate have a pretty small impact on our day-to-day lives, compared to our immediate circumstances and our relationships with others. There’s no shame in having a good time even as things are generally getting worse (long as your good time doesn’t make things worse, which it generally doesn’t, at least not compared to having a bad time).

      I also think it’s important to think about how far we’ve come, and how hard it would be for it all to be undone. Even the greatest war ever fought, that involved the worst genocides ever committed and the meteoric rise of the worst hypernationalist ideologies ever thought up, was able to permanently cow the human spirit. I think that counts for something.

  45. Poyo

    WE LOVE BOOSTER !!!!!!

  46. anon

    is it ‘gossip’ if it’s accurate? THo i don’t know if you wanna reveal “yeah if you do succeed in hooking up with this jock i’ll totally tell ppl” or so

    1. Jeremiah

      I think in this case th gossip would be Sarah sharing how her “conquest” went.

    2. Yumi

      Gossip is often accurate.

    3. Yeet

      yeah anyone else’s business can be gossip, even if it’s true and not malicious

  47. Amós Batista

    Booster is cuter today. Is too soon to say it?

    1. Jeremiah

      Yeah because Booster is ALWAYS CUTE!!

  48. Newlland(Henryvolt)

    They could…but they’re probably thinking “not today though” or maybe they will I forget V-days in like a month.

    Also I don’t think Jason would be to broken up about, if they split right now the record would show Ruth left him in a better place then when she found him with extra employment.

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