I'm goin' to the 2019 Toronto Comic Arts Festival! That's right, TCAF! In Canada!
oh god here comes the anxiety
Well, I've got until May 11 and 12th to get my butt together.
If we’ve established anything about Carla beneath her surface bluster, it’s that she cares more than she wants to. I think it’s not that she doesn’t care so much as that she’s so practiced at playing the part of the asshole that she can ignore her better angels. Any moment people see her take an interest in anyone’s needs but her own is an opening in her defenses that can be used to hurt her.
Emily
More than she wants to but seeing as she doesn’t want to at all that’s not actually as encouraging as you seem to think it is.
Although this could prove to be the kick in the pants Billie needs to stop being self-obsessed and harmful to people like Walky and Ruth who care about her.
Carla once again saving Billie by tearing off the band-aid, only indirectly this time, through Lucy.
Warning someone that someone is having a suicidal episode is not the same as gossiping about said suicidal episode after the fact with someone completely unrelated to it.
Yeah. That said, I think that Carla deeply resents her actions being perceived as wrong when she feels that she saved Ruth and possibly Billie’s lives. So, given the character’s personality, mentioning that was pretty much inevitable.
That said, ‘alcoholic, depressive and possibly suicidal’ is the sort of thing about which I think a room-mate would have a need-to-know.
I don’t think she so much resents it as worries that that they were wrong. We see her checking in on Ruth to make sure she’s okay and reassure herself that it turned out for the better.
Billie hating her for it hurts and she’s scared that Billie’s right.
All covered up with her usual bravado and bluster, of course.
Well and you know saying in front of Ruth how the whole situación turned so beneficial for her because Malaya move in, complaining that Ruth is acting “soft” now ( even if she’s justo joking about still a wonder Ruth and Billie are a little pissed at her).
Given that it’s common public knowledge on the floor and in the rumor mill, it’s hard for me to see it as a big deal.
If it was a secret – say Billie had reacted reasonably to being told Ruth wanted to die and they’d managed to get her help quietly, that would be a different story, but there’s a point at which you just can’t pretend things are secret anymore.
Maybe not a big deal, still something I wouldn’t recommend someone doing. There’s also a difference between pretending things are secret and practicing, like, basic levels of discreteness.
Telling her new roommate that Billie’s recently been suicidal is actually pretty smart of her. They almost lost Ruth because not enough people knew to keep an eye on her.
I might be able to see that–though I would still personally disagree with it– if I believed it was Carla’s intention in doing so. I’m sure people will argue that, in fact, was her intention, but while I like Carla, I’m not quite as sold on giving her the most benevolent intentions at all times.
Oh hey, a reference to invasion of the body snatchers! Just like the one I made! Lucy, you’re alright in my book. And also Carla’s pretty damn accurate.
I hope she doesn’t mean to, because it’ll happen either way and I want to see Lucy as bewildered by it as everyone else, not cackling evilly in the corner twirling her Snidely Whiplash mustache.
I really don’t know why you think that? Lucy’s been shown to be a generally nice person who wants people to like her, not acerbic or cutting, and likely to be a little too much of a people-pleaser at her own expense rather than a poison butterfly.
Like, if Malaya didn’t tempt her to harm, and she’s clearly convinced it’s her fault Malaya didn’t like her (when really Malaya doesn’t like much of anyone except Marcie, Fuckface, and maybe Carla?) then I can’t imagine why anyone would think she would want to harm Billie.
BarerMender
I see Lucy as a little more complicated than that. Her niceness is manipulative. If she can’t manipulate, she bullies. I don’t like Lucy.
BarerMender
Furthermore. The girls in the dorm made Billie their hero. They swarmed around her even when she preferred to be alone. They wake her up to smell milk. How is that Billie’s fault?
Emily
Yeah, Billie totally didn’t immediately start actively feeding into their misconception of her to bolster her own ego.
Eldritch Gentleman
Seriously? Lucy generally strikes me as That Socially Awkward Nerd nobody likes. She isn’t some Queen Bee.
thejeff
I’m not sure where you see the bullying.
I mean, maybe it’ll happen, but it’s not there yet.
Emily
There is literally no basis for this interpretation. Like, at worst Lucy is overly pushy in her need to people please but there’s been zero indication that her motivation is anything darker than “get people to like her because she is a lonely nerd.”
There’s a difference between harm and putting someone in their place. This seems underhanded, yes, but not malicious. (That doesn’t mean I agree with it!)
TemperaryObsessor
Yea, putting someone in there place implies a desire to maintain a shitty status quo for a disadvantaged group by stopping an specific member of the group from thinking they deserve respect.
Putting someone in there place: You were created by humans to obey humans you will never be our equal.
Harm: Pee…kaa…Chuuuu.
Y’all really thinks Lucy is some outwardly malicious evil Disney queen bongo huh? She might be a *little* manipulative (everyone is a little manipulative, c’mon), but she’s just a teenage girl who was probably bullied/excluded in highschool, almost definitely bullied by her most recent roommate, and is losing all her friends at once and just wants people to like her.
Given that Lucy’s dormmates fall over themselves for Billie and the stories about Billie and the RA of her last dorm (BTW, who is the RA in the new dorm?), it makes sense that Lucy tries to find out how things were with Billie in the last dorm. Because it just doesn’t add up. And naturally, Lucy wants to find a way to counter the body-snatcher effect, who wouldn’t? In a mystery story that’s what the heroin does.
She didn’t decide to put Billie in her place until Billie turned her back and walked away from Lucy’s shit. Billie left the room to Lucy for the morning. Why should that piss Lucy off?
Jengoci
Pay attention, it’s because al her friends are acting like sheep following everything about Billie. She’s justo asking how to de al with that kind of popularity not how to put Billie in her place.
Zee
Do you remember what happened immediately after that? All her friends pretty much said her opinion and events don’t matter unless Billie is involved, come on dude.
I know this is the silliest thing ever to have always wondered about, but oh well. Does Carla dye her hair because I have to use a bottle for that shade of deep red myself. It’s like my favorite shade of red hair but I honestly have never seen it on anyone that hadn’t bought it.
146 thoughts on “Spirited”
Ana Chronistic
YAAAAAAY!
LeslieBean4Shizzle
Did… did you change your gravitar specifically for this comment?
I think you are my hero.
Clif
And she did it just for our enjoyment. Thank you Lucy, err Ana.
DarkoNeko
YAAAAY
Roborat
I am picturing Carla doing the Kermit flail in the last panel.
Doctor_Who
It is hereby decreed that today shall be Carla Appreciation Day.
This strip features Carla. Appreciate it!
Jamie
Book title!
Needfuldoer
Dumbing of Age Book 9:This
stripbook features Carla. Appreciate it!Abel Undercity
Dumbing of Age Book 9: Carla Saves Everyone, Big Hero Time
Tan
I have attempted to improve this strip for you (and for everyone else as well): http://i.imgur.com/xkiyXnc.png
Doctor_Who
Lovely!
Yet_One_More_Idiot
Why are Joyce’s eyes just visible peeking over the top of Carla’s speech bubbles? 🙂
Tan
Her blush is also correspondingly at the bottom of each panel.
Tim
WHAT DAY IS IT? RUSEV AND CARLA DAY.
Rosstifer
Great. Now I want to see him and his luscious beard in every DOA strip.
Bagge
Praise be
Clif
What’s the proper way to celebrate Carla Appreciation Day? Not all of us have the proper skill set to build pie throwing machines.
Felian
Skating and wearing Ruttech jackets?
butts
PRAISE BE TO CARLA you happy now
Bagge
A bit too toned down, but works for a start.
TemperaryObsessor
ALL HAIL THE GODDESS ULTRA CARLA!!! WE ARE NOT WORTHY TO BASK IN GER PRESENCE!!!!
Bagge
WE ARE ALL BUGS
SPECIFICALLY, COMPUTER BUGS
AND SHE IS THE GREAT ENGINEER
PRAISE BE
ValdVin
Lucy may not have gone to finishing school but she knows what to do when someone theatrically coughs.
Yumi
Hm. Maybe…Maybe don’t casually throw out things about someone’s suicidal experiences without their knowledge?
Rycan
You’re absolutely right.
Problem is, Carla doesn’t care.
Dana
If we’ve established anything about Carla beneath her surface bluster, it’s that she cares more than she wants to. I think it’s not that she doesn’t care so much as that she’s so practiced at playing the part of the asshole that she can ignore her better angels. Any moment people see her take an interest in anyone’s needs but her own is an opening in her defenses that can be used to hurt her.
Emily
More than she wants to but seeing as she doesn’t want to at all that’s not actually as encouraging as you seem to think it is.
AntJ
That was kinda what Carla did to save Ruth…
Yumi
Kinda a huge difference in context, though.
AntJ
Although this could prove to be the kick in the pants Billie needs to stop being self-obsessed and harmful to people like Walky and Ruth who care about her.
Carla once again saving Billie by tearing off the band-aid, only indirectly this time, through Lucy.
Emily
Warning someone that someone is having a suicidal episode is not the same as gossiping about said suicidal episode after the fact with someone completely unrelated to it.
BenRG
Yeah. That said, I think that Carla deeply resents her actions being perceived as wrong when she feels that she saved Ruth and possibly Billie’s lives. So, given the character’s personality, mentioning that was pretty much inevitable.
That said, ‘alcoholic, depressive and possibly suicidal’ is the sort of thing about which I think a room-mate would have a need-to-know.
thejeff
I don’t think she so much resents it as worries that that they were wrong. We see her checking in on Ruth to make sure she’s okay and reassure herself that it turned out for the better.
Billie hating her for it hurts and she’s scared that Billie’s right.
All covered up with her usual bravado and bluster, of course.
Jengoci
Well and you know saying in front of Ruth how the whole situación turned so beneficial for her because Malaya move in, complaining that Ruth is acting “soft” now ( even if she’s justo joking about still a wonder Ruth and Billie are a little pissed at her).
thejeff
Given that it’s common public knowledge on the floor and in the rumor mill, it’s hard for me to see it as a big deal.
If it was a secret – say Billie had reacted reasonably to being told Ruth wanted to die and they’d managed to get her help quietly, that would be a different story, but there’s a point at which you just can’t pretend things are secret anymore.
Yumi
Maybe not a big deal, still something I wouldn’t recommend someone doing. There’s also a difference between pretending things are secret and practicing, like, basic levels of discreteness.
timemonkey
Telling her new roommate that Billie’s recently been suicidal is actually pretty smart of her. They almost lost Ruth because not enough people knew to keep an eye on her.
Yumi
I might be able to see that–though I would still personally disagree with it– if I believed it was Carla’s intention in doing so. I’m sure people will argue that, in fact, was her intention, but while I like Carla, I’m not quite as sold on giving her the most benevolent intentions at all times.
Doopyboop
Oh hey, a reference to invasion of the body snatchers! Just like the one I made! Lucy, you’re alright in my book. And also Carla’s pretty damn accurate.
KSClaw
Which version though?
ShinyNeen
Lucy is, uh, probably getting more of Billie’s story than she wanted now!
AntJ
I think this is EXACTLY what Lucy was looking for.
BarerMender
I’m pretty sure Lucy wants all the dope she can get. I think she means harm to Billie.
Dana
I hope she doesn’t mean to, because it’ll happen either way and I want to see Lucy as bewildered by it as everyone else, not cackling evilly in the corner twirling her Snidely Whiplash mustache.
inlovewithwords
I really don’t know why you think that? Lucy’s been shown to be a generally nice person who wants people to like her, not acerbic or cutting, and likely to be a little too much of a people-pleaser at her own expense rather than a poison butterfly.
Like, if Malaya didn’t tempt her to harm, and she’s clearly convinced it’s her fault Malaya didn’t like her (when really Malaya doesn’t like much of anyone except Marcie, Fuckface, and maybe Carla?) then I can’t imagine why anyone would think she would want to harm Billie.
BarerMender
I see Lucy as a little more complicated than that. Her niceness is manipulative. If she can’t manipulate, she bullies. I don’t like Lucy.
BarerMender
Furthermore. The girls in the dorm made Billie their hero. They swarmed around her even when she preferred to be alone. They wake her up to smell milk. How is that Billie’s fault?
Emily
Yeah, Billie totally didn’t immediately start actively feeding into their misconception of her to bolster her own ego.
Eldritch Gentleman
Seriously? Lucy generally strikes me as That Socially Awkward Nerd nobody likes. She isn’t some Queen Bee.
thejeff
I’m not sure where you see the bullying.
I mean, maybe it’ll happen, but it’s not there yet.
Emily
There is literally no basis for this interpretation. Like, at worst Lucy is overly pushy in her need to people please but there’s been zero indication that her motivation is anything darker than “get people to like her because she is a lonely nerd.”
AntJ
There’s a difference between harm and putting someone in their place. This seems underhanded, yes, but not malicious. (That doesn’t mean I agree with it!)
TemperaryObsessor
Yea, putting someone in there place implies a desire to maintain a shitty status quo for a disadvantaged group by stopping an specific member of the group from thinking they deserve respect.
Putting someone in there place: You were created by humans to obey humans you will never be our equal.
Harm: Pee…kaa…Chuuuu.
Zee
Y’all really thinks Lucy is some outwardly malicious evil Disney queen bongo huh? She might be a *little* manipulative (everyone is a little manipulative, c’mon), but she’s just a teenage girl who was probably bullied/excluded in highschool, almost definitely bullied by her most recent roommate, and is losing all her friends at once and just wants people to like her.
CJ
Given that Lucy’s dormmates fall over themselves for Billie and the stories about Billie and the RA of her last dorm (BTW, who is the RA in the new dorm?), it makes sense that Lucy tries to find out how things were with Billie in the last dorm. Because it just doesn’t add up. And naturally, Lucy wants to find a way to counter the body-snatcher effect, who wouldn’t? In a mystery story that’s what the heroin does.
UniqueSnowflake2
The RA is Carly Spencer.
BarerMender
She didn’t decide to put Billie in her place until Billie turned her back and walked away from Lucy’s shit. Billie left the room to Lucy for the morning. Why should that piss Lucy off?
Jengoci
Pay attention, it’s because al her friends are acting like sheep following everything about Billie. She’s justo asking how to de al with that kind of popularity not how to put Billie in her place.
Zee
Do you remember what happened immediately after that? All her friends pretty much said her opinion and events don’t matter unless Billie is involved, come on dude.
Jupiterror
Yayy Carla
lilyliv
All hail the very excellent Carla! The majestic Carla! The… ultra Carla? Wait, no, that doesn’t sound quite right… 😛
Wizard
I’m pretty sure Carla would be okay with being called Ultra Carla. She put it on her door, after all.
Taellosse
Sure it does! She wrote it on her door, didn’t she? In big sparkly block letters, no less!
Stephen Bierce
*plays ZZ Top’s “Thank You” on the hacked Muzak*
Stephen Bierce
*thinks the title of that song really is “I Thank You”, but i too tired to check. Besides, I haven’t heard it in probably a decade*
Stephen Bierce
Gratitude.
Shiro
Lucy is upgraded to Carla’s new favorite person
Claire
OMG TCAFFFFFFF
I will have to fly my butt there for sure! !
Andora
I know this is the silliest thing ever to have always wondered about, but oh well. Does Carla dye her hair because I have to use a bottle for that shade of deep red myself. It’s like my favorite shade of red hair but I honestly have never seen it on anyone that hadn’t bought it.
David M Willis