467

Rube
Posted on May 28, 2016 by David M Willis

467 thoughts on “Rube”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    turn the crank

    hit the plank

    kick the boot

    and down the chute

    watch it roll

    hit the pole

    in the tub

    a rub-a-dub

    put the man

    in the pan

    the trap is SET

    and dro-o-o-o-o-o-op the net

    GOTCHA

    1. Captain Batson

      Hehe, mousetrap was a fun game.

      1. Hoboturtle

        How did you play moise trap. A friend of mine had a copy when we were kids and we couldnt figure it out. We just built the full trap instead and watched it as it went.

        1. smashman42

          Wait, that isn’t how you play it?

        2. Cholma

          I haven’t played or even SEEN the game since the 1970s, so I don’t remember the rules, but our family had the game when I was a kid. (with 6 kids, our house was FILLED with Playskool, Hasbro, & Milton Bradley products! Plus, my dad was a wargamer, who got me hooked, so we also had a ton of Avalon Hill wargames as well)

        3. MrSpkr

          I wish you had loaned your dad out to me a few times. I’ve played dozens of AH war games back in the 70s and 80s, nearly all solitary myself.

        4. Cholma

          That’s what he would do, with rare exceptions, until I was old enough to play with him. Blitzkrieg, Sink the Bismark, Gettysburgh, Against the Reich, Hit the Beach! Axis & Allies, and so many others that I can’t even remember the names of. Plus chess, of course. Can’t be a serious wargamer if you can’t played chess. (it’s the original wargame! (AFAIK))

        5. Ana Chronistic

          Go predates chess by about a millennium, if we’re “well actually”ing here

          though I’m curious if I’m the only one who’s heard of Troke (and only because my folks had an incomplete copy from the 1905s that my ex ended up leaving outside the garage where it got covered in oil)

        6. Cholma

          Doh! How could I forget about “Go”?! As for Troke, I’ve never heard of it, but a quick search shows me this. Looks like an interesting and novel take on Chinese Checkers.

          And now you’ve reminded me that when I served in Korea back in the 1980s, I used to play a game called 장기 (Chahng-gi), also known as Korean Chess. Wonder how old that is, although it’s based on an even older Chinese game that’s very similar. I even have a copy of 장기 in a box somewhere (probably with all my other military items/mementos) but I’ve forgotten how to play.

        7. Skorpeyon

          Basically, if I remember right, you had to get all the cards to build the trap, then try to catch someone when they landed on the proper space. I literally never once played the game “correctly”, though, I just built the thing like everyone else. I randomly read the rules one day when I was bored and was all “Oh, there’s RULES??” or whatever.

        8. vlademir1

          That’s more or less right. I only ever played it twice, but it’s essentially your standard roll and move game. You land on the spaces that let you build one piece of the trap and collect cheese, eventually players are in the final loop under the cage and the goal is to expend a cheese counter on the one space on the board that lets you set the trap off to capture, and thereby eliminate, your opponents who are on the not safe parts of the loop.
          Hasbro has a copy of the rules on their website as a PDF if anyone wants to actually read them

        9. Formedras

          Unfortunately, then came Elefun & Friends Mouse Trap.

        10. Rowen Morland

          As players travel the board they get squares that give them the right to put parts of the trap together. The goal is to either get to the cheese before it is built or to be the second mouse/only remaining free mouse.

        11. Ed Rhodes

          You were supposed to move your mouse around the board. When you hit a “piece” space, you put the next piece of the trap on the board. Toward the end, you have the entire trap built and are waiting until one of the other people is in the right spot to get caught. Then you turn the wheel and watch the trap in action.

      2. merbrat

        Find the Maker Faire near you. They tour with a Life Size Mouse Trap set-up. (real bath tub, etc. It is wonderous.
        http://www.seeker.com/life-size-mouse-trap-kicks-off-maker-faire-1767530130.html#news.discovery.com

        1. All-Purpose Guru

          Dude, I always wanted to build a full-sized Mouse Trap game.

        2. merbrat

          “Maker Faire Mousetrap” in images. Go. do eeet. Plot. Plan. Make.

      3. JetstreamGW

        It was a game? I thought it was just a cute rube goldberg thing you set up to watch it do its thing 😛

        1. Yet_One_More_Idiot

          Surely though, Mary could just set off the trap by fully opening the door, then slam it shut before the final step goes off and avoid the end result?

        2. CianM1301

          That is a possibility, yes, but she’s probably to busy staring in horror at what horrible thing is about to happen to her.

    2. nothri

      Okay, just how in the fuck of fuck did you type all of that and still make the first comment? Do you control the Speed Force?

      1. miados

        i think patreon subscribers get early access even if they have to post like anyone else only after it is out in general. so copy and paste.

        1. butting

          All that, and Ana controls the Speed Force.

          It is Known.

        2. Ntrovert60

          It is known.

        3. nothri

          Is it known?

        4. Cholma

          Yep. Patreon peeps get the next day’s comic shortly after the current one posts (Saturday night’s comic arrived in my mailbox a few minutes ago) and so Ana has 24 hours to figure out a comment, write it down, then copy+paste at the appropriate time.

        5. Ana Chronistic

          Oh, not all the time! Only when it was funny =D

          P-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B

        6. miados

          Hmmmmm i can make a joke here about todays not being funny here…..

    3. Sionyx

      Aw, ya beat me to it, complete with mouseovers! Damn net getting stuck…

      I SO hope that Carla’s got a camera set up.

  2. Mr. Random

    Revenge-goldberg machine.

    1. Clif

      Ending with a pie to the face. Calling it now.

      1. Rutee

        So many pies.

      2. Tunaro

        Much as I would love that, I think this’ll do absolutely nothing outside of driving Mary ever closer to the edge of a paranoid psychotic breakdown. Which is also good.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          Arguably better, as it further reduces the chance that any authorities she whines at will give a fuck.

        2. Commodore Jeep-Eep

          Yeah, but she might start acting out in other ways.

        3. Ethan

          Unfortunately, college authorities tend to listen to who whines the loudest, and it’s very obvious that Mary’s safe space is being intruded upon.

        4. Zamer

          It’s a good thing Tchaikovsky’s Overture will help lower the volume of the whining.

      3. Lokitsu

        There’s no pie in the machine sorry. On the other hand, I can’t quite tell what it does.

        1. showler

          I’m guessing the tubes on the poles are glue, and the box contains feathers?

        2. Clif

          Pie.

    2. JessWitt

      Rutten-Goldberg machine.

      1. Mr. Random

        Rude-Goldberg machine.

    3. TheAnonymousGuy

      so, who else noticed that Carla has a box with billies name on it? well her first name Jenifer

      1. Baf

        That box also appeared here, when Carla started whistling the 1812 Overture.

        It’s from the care package from Mrs. Walkerton.

        It’s totally a pie.

        1. TheAnonymousGuy

          I know, I’ve been following since the middle of book 5, however I’m confused on weather or not Mary knows about Ruth and Billie. there was a strip a few weeks ago that made me question weather or not she knew and if they really had to call it quits. Also amber needs to chill out about sal. just saying

        2. Neeks

          Mary made reference to Ruth “defiling the cheerleader” and I highly doubt she was referring to ruth de-embroidering Billie’s old uniform. So yeah, she probably knows.

        3. Coren

          I think it’s related to alcohol use or something else – check out this one
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/03-when-god-closes-the-door/charade/
          This doesn’t sound like someone who thinks the other party has been engaging in a same sex relationship, does it?

        4. Excal

          Oh, that’s actually a pretty subtle catch. Excellent point.

        5. TheAnonymousGuy

          YES! that’s exactly the strip I’m talking about

        6. trlkly

          No, Mary knows:
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/dvr/

          Found this when I was archive binging.

        7. TheAnonymousGuy

          Hmmm…well on a second look, you could make the argument Mary’s looking at Becky. I mean she did announce her preference to the main lobby.

        8. thejeff

          No. That was when Joyce was first introducing Becky to everyone. Before she was out at all. Before her confession to Joyce.

  3. Haven

    I know the alt text identifies it, but my first thought was that song whistled near the start of Kill Bill.

    1. Tunaro

      I thought so too at first, but nah, 1812 totally suits the moment.
      https://youtu.be/DtQIS1-8SYU

    2. Bicycle Bill

      It is the 1812 Overture; it’s what she has been whistling here and here too.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        second link failed; click here.

  4. Nick Piers

    *impression of Rhino from the movie BOLT*

    Let it begin.
    Let it begin!
    LET IT BEGIIIIIIIN!

    1. StClair

      +1

  5. Mr. Mendo

    It has begun!

    1. modulusshift

      So let’s see, the bowling ball bounces off of the books onto the trampoline, and hits the flyswatter, which I assume turns the hairdryer on and pushes the balloon over to the needle which pops it, but I can’t tell what happens after that.

      1. thomas

        It looks like the balloon is meant to drop something (maybe a marble inside it?) onto that ramp thing, which will roll to the bottom… and then idk what happens after that. I almost but not quite recognize the candleholder like things with the yellow wire things attached to them…

      2. Tunaro

        I believe the balloon will then probably release a marble to travel down the paper chutes which does… something to the yellow devices attached to the row of black poles.

        1. Darastrix

          I’m thinking maybe a marble from the popped balloon rolls down the first chute, bumps the pipe, which causes a marble placed at the top of the next chute to roll down and bump the next pipe, which causes the marble in the NEXT chute…. Because that’s not a single continuous ramp; it’s four ramps between each pair of pipes.

          As for the pipes…I have no idea, so, speculation – the pipe things are on vibration-sensitive timers that kick off at the first marble impact, so each is on a shorter timer than the last, so while Mary’s watching the marbles travel, the countdown is happening. At 0:00 the pipe things go off all at once and do…something. Maybe they just create a brief flash to blind Mary for a few seconds, which could be why Carla is standing to the side instead of at a point where she could watch (Mary’s so focused on the machine, she probably wouldn’t notice Carla if she were further out into the hall and watching), and then when she recovers, pie from Carla.

        2. Bearmarshal

          Someone suggested the chandeliers were synched to the cannons in the 1812 Overture, which makes me believe they’re prepped with gunpowder, and those yellow things are either lighters or detonators (I’m inclined to believe the latter, as the cord from them goes upwards). A marble rolling down the chute could be meant to trigger them at evenly spaced intervals (yeah, it looks a bit broken for that, but perhaps it would roll around?).

          Also, I’m having my doubts about that being a needle for popping the balloon. It’s too far down, even if the balloon gets stuck on the plug on the cord (and it looks too tightly fastened to travel at all). I was speculating that the hair dryer would heat the balloon, causing it to rise, but I’m not sure to what effect…

          Also, there’s something straight and metallic-looking on the floor going out from the chandelier to off-screen, which for the purpose of analysing this machine could be a wildcard…

        3. Clif

          Engineering genius at it’s finest.

      3. JoyceParty

        I think something is in the balloon, which would fall from the white cup down the white slide to… something.

      4. Reltzik

        There’s a weight in the cup which will land in the spoon/cup at the end of the arm. Levering action will pull the entire arm down, triggering what… look like gas-fed torches?

        And then… what?

        I’m still trying to figure out what happens if Mary just slams the door shut for the next minute.

        1. Reltzik

          *weight in the baloon

        2. StClair

          She won’t. She can’t.
          She has to watch it play out.

        3. Kirby

          I think it’s a complicated distraction that’ll make Mary breathe a sigh of relief when she realize it doesn’t do anything, then Carla pies her.

        4. podian

          YES.

        5. Needfuldoer

          There’s a lull for the pie, then it shoots some confetti and a pneumatic valve lets air out of a balloon through a party horn.

        6. nicostrat

          It’s an unskippable cutscene

  6. Wheelpath

    This is setting up for something amazing

    1. Clif

      Pie can be amazing.

  7. TheAnonymousGuy

    When the last note leaves her lips, vengeance will be finalized

  8. miados

    its a science project……. yeah a project.

    1. Stephen R. Bierce

      The difference between goofing off and science is that we write down our results. (Paraphrased from Mythbusters)

      1. Tacos

        As long as you say, “For Science!” everything’s good.

        1. miados

          why are you killing me?!?!

          for science!

        2. chris2315

          Well, I guess at least it’s for a good cause.

        3. Harvey Janus

          “I think we can put our differences behind us… for science… you monster.”

        4. StClair

          “I’ve just sucked one year of your life away. I might one day go as high as five, but I really don’t know what that would do to you. So, let’s just start with what we have. What did this do to you? Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity, so be honest. How do you feel?”

        5. Sensei Le Roof

          “NOT FIFTY!!!”

  9. Stephen R. Bierce

    She must have been her grade school’s champion at Mousetrap.

  10. Lauralot

    I’ve never been more in love.

    1. Dellaran

      what’s going on in my pants?

  11. Dara

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand WE’RE OFF!

  12. Julie

    CARLA: THE REVENGEANCE

    1. RandomRedMage

      Metal Carla Solid: Revengeance

      1. Mordecai

        RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINES, SON. They activate in response to thinly-veiled bigotry! You can’t hurt me, Mary!

    2. Schpoonman

      RULES OF NATURE

      1. AGV

        The arrogance of Mary is thinking that the floor is under her control, and not the other way around. Let them fight.

  13. Charles Phipps

    I’m almost regretful it won’t end with Mary dying in a horrific cartoon manner.

    1. AGV

      Itchy and Scratchy style?

  14. newllend(henryvolt)

    So she’s going Tom and Jerry on her ass?

  15. Tunaro

    I have no words, only tears of joy.

  16. RandomRedMage

    Im kinda sad this isnt going to be an animated moment…

    1. Cholma

      Oh man! What a perfect strip for a .gif panel! Wait, no. TOMORROW’S strip should be the animated one. Yessss.

    2. Shade

      Don’t worry. somebody will make it after this is over.

  17. Doctor_Who

    Awww, how sweet. Carla made Mary a replica of Pee-Wee Herman’s breakfast machine as a peace offering.

    One bit of Mr. T cereal, and Mary will realize Carla isn’t all that bad.

    1. Rukduk

      “I pity the fool who doesn’t eat Mr. T’s cereal!”

      1. Needfuldoer

        “It’s cool!”

    2. Gamaran Sepudomyn

      More like Wallace and Gromit than anything else, from what I can see.

      1. Geneseepaws

        Also: Heath Robinson, the metric version of Rube’s particular genius.

  18. Mada

    Yes, but what exactly is all that going to DO?

    1. Smiling Cat

      Real secret? It doesn’t do anything, except make Mary panic, shut her door to avoid setting it off, and descend into paranoid insanity over what might happen if she leaves the room.

      As a backup plan, Carla has a pie in the box.

      1. Jason

        That was my suspicion! Mary will slam the door, and when she next looks out all of this will be gone and Carla pretends nothing happened.

        1. RIP12081990

          Best revenge plot ever cause undue paranoia in the target (Mary) and make them fear leaving their room carla you have my heart if this is what your doing otherwise it unfortunately still belongs to mike

  19. Danny

    So Mary is pretty much trapped, right?

    1. EmilyK

      Not for long- she already triggered it, hence the bowling ball “falling” and the piece of wood starting to fly through the air. Let the shenanigans commence!

    2. Jason

      She could pull a Sal (or an Amazi-Girl) and escape through the window, maybe?

  20. Kingmabel

    I’m like, 80% sure that this is against some rules… I would be willing to overlook those rules in this one instance

    1. Bicycle Bill

      In a situation like this, I would channel my inner Sgt. Schultz — “I see nothing, I was not here, I did not even get up this morning…”

      1. Ntrovert60

        I did not say this.

        I was never here…

    2. Dean

      Ruth: “Sorry Mary, there’s no school regulation forbidding complex revenge machines. I know because I checked when Carla asked me about it a few days ago.”

  21. horrorshow88

    All I can think of is the cannons in the 1812 Overture, and it makes me very excited.

  22. Cerberus

    Cue 30 million posts of either “CARLA!” or “RUBE-GOLDBERG!” machine… that said…

    CARLA!!!!!
    RUBE-GOLDBERG MACHINE!!!

    1. heyman

      Um, why the dash?

    2. Cerberus

      Cause I’m an idiot who always assumed there was a dash?

      1. Deanatay

        Maybe you thought it was a joint invention, by two guys named Mr. Rube and Mr. Goldberg?

        1. Cerberus

          Or maybe it was by their daughter Maxine Rube-Goldberg?

  23. Guairdean

    Wait! Joyce, Jocelyne, and Becky have 200 bucks! Do they get to order from the adult menu? I’m still working on the end result of the trap.

  24. JessWitt

    The Revengineer strikes!

    Oh, but did she take steps to ensure Roz wouldn’t be targeted?

    1. Rachel

      tbh Roz (while she tries) kinda sucks when it comes to allyship. while I think Mary is far more deserving of Carla’s wrath, I wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to give Roz a pie to the face.

      1. Sam

        She’s kind of like one of those people who isn’t LGBT+ but gets offended on behalf of them and gets mad at them for not being offended too.

        Her heart is in the right place but she just usually isn’t going about things right.

  25. Leorale

    Yessss
    Also, her angry whistling-face in the last panel, so delightful.

    1. inqntrol

      That’s the “Vengeance will be mine” face.

  26. Dean

    I just want to know what the box is for.

    1. Leorale

      98% chance it has a pie in it.

      1. inqntrol

        How big are the chances that after Mary gets a pie to the face Carla will double flip her and then a third arm comes out of her chest which will also gives Mary the bird?

        1. Clif

          In this universe, unfortunately slim.

        2. Leorale

          Only in our hearts.

  27. Opus the Poet

    Old Ruben would have been proud.

  28. Vabolo

    I just hope that Mary doesn’t insta-close the door to ruin Carla’s vengeance before it could end proper.

    1. StClair

      Nah. The laws of comedy require her to stand there, watching each step of the machine’s operation, to its inevitable and humiliating conclusion.

      1. modulusshift

        Seriously, just try not to do that in real life.

    2. Deanatay

      Maybe the trap is ACTUALLY triggered by CLOSING the door… heheh…

  29. CriticalQuit

    Clean up in dorm 5!

  30. Cattleprod

    Is this based on an actual machine that we could perhaps watch on Youtube? If not, could someone build such a machine so we could watch on Youtube?

  31. Some1

    Mary gets scissors, cuts string in half

    Carla: Shit!

    1. EmilyK

      Too late! It started! She pulled that piece of wood out from under the bowling ball.

  32. Shiro

    I’m so happy. I’m guessing that does something incredibly innocuous, but it’s sure to freak Mary right the fuck out.

    1. merbrat

      I dunno…. bowling ball + trampoline… its a start of something wonderfun!

  33. AniDanny

    I’m excited for whatever the heck Carla’s doing. 😀

  34. Tacos

    Ha! So her vengeance will indeed be swift and ridiculous. I love it.

    1. Deanatay

      And cold, don’t forget cold… I bet that pie has been well-refrigerated…

  35. lia47

    carlas gonna fucking kill mary dude thats a death contraption if i ever saw one

  36. Van Jealous

    For more fun with Rube Goldberg, see The Three Stooges 1932 feature film “Soup To Nuts” (Rube wrote the script and some of his contraptions make an appearance). For you gamer-types, pick up a copy of the old 1960’s game “Mouse-Trap” (Rube designed it for Ideal Toys)…..or just find some of his old comics at http://www.rubegoldberg.com/gallery.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Or pick up Garry’s Mod on Steam. It gives you free reign with the Source engine’s physics system so you can build everything from Rube Goldberg machines to a bazooka that shoots toilets. (I wish this game had full VR headset support!)

    2. DaveM

      Or find a copy of the old DOS game “The incredible machine” (should run under DOSEMU if nothing else works) and make your own. Seriously that game (and it’s sequels) need a modern reboot NOW.

      1. Achallenger

        great googly moogly i had forgotten about that game1 /me reverts 20 years and replays the shit out of it

      2. skaryzgik

        There is! I think it’s called Contraption Maker or something like that! I even remember some of the puzzles being the same!

  37. M-M

    I love that she’s carrying Billie’s box. Nice conspiracy!

  38. LograyX

    I’m willing to bet this thing does nothing, but Mary’s reaction to it will do all the damage.

    1. Rutee

      [Same]

    2. Tacos

      I’m half expecting for this thing to just be an elaborate distraction that does nothing and Carla to then just Pie Mary in the face with a pie that was in the box Carla is holding.

      1. Cerberus

        That would be glorious!

      2. Reltzik

        Okay…. BUT WHAT TYPE OF PIE?

        I mean, banana-cream or chocolate-cream is the standard, but I think minced meat would ruin her outfit better. Oooooh, or blueberry!

        1. Leorale

          Sweet pickle pie, of course! It is the yuckiest and most humorous of pies.

        2. anonymsly

          Banana cream. Because bananas and you have to wonder what happened to the skins? They’re somewhere, the slippery jerks.

  39. DinaWho

    I’m wondering about the tops of those posts. They look like something could come out of them…

  40. Aislashu

    This damn thing is gonna take four strips to play out ain’t it? lmao

    1. Bicycle Bill

      At least, and Willis is going to only show us about one panel a week while he cuts the storyline back and forth between “Becky MacIntyre and the Haunted House” and “Revenge of the Skater”.

  41. Kitschensyngk

    Cue the cannons!

  42. Cerberus

    Comic Analysis?:

    That this is Carla’s revenge or at least the first part of it is clear. That this is Carla making her mark, nonviolently, but not as a pliant victim willing to accept whatever misery Mary deals out just because authority doesn’t really have her back. This is her handling the problem in her own way. This is her getting revenge for her skates which matter so much to her. This is her capitalizing on the exact way Mary interacts with the hall, peek out the door, head hanging out, knowing she’ll have no choice but to take in the elaborateness of what Carla has to offer. And will no doubt end in a glorious cannon-shot of pies.

    But more than that I love how the shifting context of these last few months has change the tenor of this conflict from when it was first written. Because of the shifting timeline of this comic and it being set in our universe, Mary’s awfulness now comes at a time of massive bigot escalation against trans rights.

    Where it is now publicly debated whether or not we have a right to shit. Where bigots are openly calling trans women child molesters and pretending that cis people have a reason to be “scared” of trans people in bathrooms or locker rooms despite most bathroom-based violence occurring against trans people. Where lawsuits have been filed claiming simply allowing a trans person access to bathrooms or locker rooms or gendered dorm areas constitutes an act of literal sexual harassment and where actual elected officials are now campaigning on a platform of nothing more than how much they hate trans people.

    Where bigots have been stomping around Targets around the country screaming intense transphobia to “protest”, but more specifically to harass and instill fear in trans people of ever going anywhere public. Where violence against trans folks and gender-non-conforming folks is increasing and more gross cis people feel it is their right to “police” gendered spaces for people like Carla.

    Mary’s outburst, in societal context, is not just gross, but part of a larger social battle of attacking people like Carla and trying to make them feel unsafe in public and in the privacy of her own dorm room. Of people feeling entitled to police where she can live and exist.

    And it makes this action braver. Mary escalates. It’s what she does and now she’s got options to make Carla’s existence in the halls some “political” issue that’s “controversial” and which the school needs to defend in light of the recent Title IX clarifications.

    But Carla is not afraid. She’s not just going to passively accept this intentional dehumanizing bigotry. She’s going to make the bigots afraid of her. She’s going to remind them. She’s going to remind Mary that she’s not some convenient pawn for political goals and she’s not going to simply accept her shit.

    Carla loathes Mary and getting the upper hand here matters more to her and her standing in the world far more than Willis even intended when he actually penned this strip.

    And that’s kind of cool to me.

    1. Shiro

      Fantastic analysis, as usual.

    2. Reltzik

      On the one hand, I don’t see how this fixes anything. (Other than Carla asserting her own empowerment, which is valuable, but I meant more big-picture.) On the other hand… maybe fixing things is an unrealistic goal and it’s best to focus on more gratifying victories.

      1. Cerberus

        The empowerment is the thing.

        Like, because of the circles I run in, I see how all the anti-trans stuff is just devastating on a personal level. People feeling powerless and scared. Exasperation of anxiety and depression among a lot of trans folks and everyone just feeling kinda hunted.

        So for Carla to aggressively take her power back is a major thing and shows how she’s really got buckets of strength and fortitude. She’s not afraid of anything and she shows it so beautifully well.

        1. Arian

          *Exacerbation? ‘Exasperation’ seems sort of understated. 🙂

        2. a snow mous e

          seems probable

        3. Cerberus

          Ah, homonym dyslexia, my old foe. We meet again.

      2. Orion Fury

        We occasionally need a laugh as a chaser for the feels that we get here. Who doesn’t love a good old Looney Tunes reference?

      3. Rukduk

        One way it can help to fix things is by teaching Mary that there are consequences to her actions. That she doesn’t have free reign to be an asshole. And maybe this will make her think twice, because in the back of Mary’s mind there will always be this lingering thought, sometimes unconscious, “What if this person decides to fight back? And what if I can’t win?”

        1. Cerberus

          This. The bigots feel empowered and untouchable. Having small things like the Obama Administration and the ACLU unequivocally have our back and major companies boycotting helps a lot in creating consequences for such cynical intentional bigotry for votes. But the only way to stop it once and for all is for bigots to feel as unsupported and alone as they do on gay marriage.

      4. Fwip

        I don’t think Carla’s intent is to fix anything.

        1. Spencer

          Nor she should be expected to. Being Queer doesn’t mean you need to always take the high road.

          It’s something I appreciate about Carla as a character, that she has zero time for being a Magic Queer. Carla’s gonna be a little turd and laugh at you and flip double birds and steal your cookies, because she’s an individual and isn’t the sum total of all trans people ever.

        2. Cerberus

          Ditto.

          She’s the Laura Jane Grace type of trans girl, taking no shit, burning birth certificates on stage, doing what she does, cause fuck it, amirite? And sometimes she’ll be a selfish little turd or a petty jerkface or just try way too hide the fact that she’s a good person.

          But she’s not going to be the happy magic trans who sacrifices herself so all the cis characters can learn a valuable lesson about acceptance and tolerance and how much more important their lives are than any given trans person.

          She’s the anti-Rayon from Dallas Buyer’s Club and that’s fucking amazing to see in fiction!

        3. Fwip

          I think the expectations really depend on what standards you hold people to in general, dunnit?

        4. Cerberus

          Not really, trans folk and other marginalized groups tend to be held to higher standards culturally than any other group. Like a white man can rant and rave and get super angry about stupid shit, but if a black man gets upset about something legitimately upsetting like the murder of his child, it gets read as “animalistic”, “dangerous”, “ferocious”.

          Similarly a cis person can be a little bit cheeky or snarky or even have a whole edgelord persona and most people will handwave that away, especially if they are a cis man, but a trans person being justifiably bitter about oppression and depressing facts tends to be viewed as beyond the pale, especially if they are rude or short with a cis person.

          One behavioral set of standards for one group, one for another.

          And it serves as an axis of oppression because that ends up becoming a barrier to humanity. Because people will tell you that if you slip up and reveal you’re human after all and prone to just the same human frustrations. And it does end up leading to bad things for the ones affected as they start to read those unfair social expectations as things that are just inherent and proof that they are less human or valuable than their peers.

          When a straight kid pummels a gay kid and its the gay kid who is suspended or punished for “starting fights” because they dared fight back. When we literally have trans women of color sitting in jail right now, because someone tried to murder them and they fought back against their murderer, the separation between the expected standards of behavior get really really sick and prompt a lot of suicide attempts just to think about.

        5. Fwip

          Does the acknowledgement that we have a double-standard – or at least refuse to enforce those standards in a manner that is equitable – make those original standards innately undesirable or wrong?

          In other words, should we remove the standards we hold as desirable because we’re ineffectual at enforcing them, or should we work to enforce them more equally and equitably?

        6. Cerberus

          I honestly don’t see how we fix the problem of unequal double-standards by enforcing them at the double-standard against the marginalized group member first.

          It’s like, we don’t solve our country’s racist drug laws by continuing to enforce them at their ludicrous level against young black men and then muse about how someday, we should really start working on getting around to arresting white men at the same level.

          That’s never going to happen.

          And so “work to enforce them equally” never works as well as “work to eliminate the double-standard itself by not overly punishing marginalized group members for minor crimes while excusing dominant group members for major ones”. Cause that prompts change if we actually realize that a standard of behavior is a good thing against everyone.

          But the existence of double-standards reveals that at least in America, we genuinely believe the set of laws for different groups of people should be completely different. And that certain groups should be able to get away with literal theft and murder simply because of their identity and the identity of their main targets. *cough cough Zimmerman, cough cough trans panic defenses, cough cough*

        7. Nightsbridge

          …? I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Nobody ever said ‘let’s throw everything out, anarchy!’ They said, ‘it’s unfair that trans people are policed more than cisgender people and Carla’s refusal to play a rigged game is refreshing. No one is saying that nothing should apply, ever, though even if we did, most of what Carla has done has been either A: annoy people B: be rude. Hell, this is the FIRST prank we’ve actually seen her do.

          You are allowed to be annoying, rude and abrasive, if you want. So why is Carla not? And why are you interpreting that as some kind of burn the system dismiss of all order and social structure?

        8. PlainMarie

          This and also your other spot-on comments.

    3. Leorale

      Added bonus: as time and society continue to shift, we’ll look back on this comic in a couple years, and Mary will be such a throwback. Like I’m sure haters aren’t going anywhere, but it’ll be more like looking at those bakers who won’t sell cakes for gay weddings nowadays. I look forward to when Mary isn’t a symbol of greater society, but weird, and publicly laughable. I wonder how long it’ll take.

      1. Rutee

        That is way too optimistic for me.

        1. Cerberus

          Yeah, I can’t wait for that day, but I’m preparing for a long haul fight over the next decade or two cause the hate groups are just warming up right now and there are two many perfectly willing to fall for their frames and relegate trans lives to just one more thing that’s “political” and “controversial”.

        2. Rukduk

          I just want to say, and I know this might not mean much coming from some guy over the Internet, you won’t be alone. There are plenty of people who won’t buy into the hate. And hopefully we can make that long haul shorter. Because no one deserves to live in fear because of someone else’s hate. It isn’t right and it’s disgusting when that happens.

        3. Cerberus

          Thanks.

        4. Fwip

          I don’t disagree that the take is overly optimistic, but I don’t think they’re warming up; they’re stumbling from a hard kick and flailing. The tide has turned against them when it comes to homosexuality and they need a new target. Not much consolation, I imagine, but… At least it shows the fight can be won.

          In the words of a bio-circuit diagram, vive la resistance!

        5. thejeff

          That’s my take as well. In a lot of ways I’m reminded of 10 years or so ago when anti-same-sex marriage amendments were passing in so many states. When that was the big issue driving Republican voters to the polls. They’re trying to gin that kind of enthusiasm up again and it’s not working. Sure, there’s a core that’s up in arms but a lot of states have backed off from legislation after seeing the reaction. Even where it’s been passed, the political fallout has been against them. McCrory in NC has taken a serious popularity hit. This isn’t a winning issue for them. Already. And I don’t see it getting better.
          I could be over optimistic. Public opinion can always swing. But I don’t see this lasting decades, unless there’s a serious reversal.

          As for the legal side of it all – one more even moderately liberal Supreme Court Justice changes everything.

        6. Leorale

          Exactly. That’s why I’m estimating a few years instead of a few decades. Like, let’s look at how long marriage equality took in the US:

          1988: Darkest days, families screaming that AIDS sufferers deserved it. Legal gay marriage certainly considered impossible.

          1998: States passing specific laws against same-sex-marriage.

          2008: Other states specifically legalizing same-sex marriage.

          2015: White House lit up like a rainbow when they passed same-sex marriage nationally. Woo! People still denying it individually, but now they’re absurd.

          So, from complete denial of existence to the most important legal rights, it took 27ish years.

          In trans rights, we’re at 1998, right? The Average Joe knows that transpeople exist, but has serious misconceptions about what that means. Laws are sprouting up against transpeople, but it’s also a public fact that people are working to change those laws.

          That would give us ~17yrs, except, for this battle, the ground is much more fertile for change. We have the internet, we have the (overwhelmingly pro-LGBTQ+) Millennials coming of age, and we’ve had a national practice run at learning not to be dicks to people. I really think we can do this in under ten. Time will tell!

        7. Leorale

          tl;dr: Yep, under a decade is pretty dang optimistic, but it’s possible. Behold, my Gay Agenda.

        8. Cerberus

          I hope you’re right. I’m just worried we’re at the Briggs Initative step what with so many trying to argue we’re an inherent threat to kids. That got slapped down too, but it was a long ride from there to any form of public positive treatment.

  43. Huh

    Is she whistling Powerhouse?

    1. Ryek Hvek

      {alt text}

    2. Tacos

      1812 Overture.

    3. Maveric1984

      If you donate through Patreon, tomorrow’s comic comes with a link to Powerhouse as the machine does its work.

  44. caesaria82

    lmao I love Carla so much. I love a good Rube Goldberg machine.

  45. Ryek Hvek

    theme music for the animation

  46. Lordmazapan

    ta ra ta ta ra ra ra ta, ta ra ta ra ra ta, ta ra ta ta ra ra ta, ta ra ra ta ta ra.
    Warner bros cartoons song when a trap is in progress.

    1. merbrat

      “Where’s the ka-boom? There’s supposed to be an earth shattering ka-boom at the end? Hmmm?” -Marvin the Martian

    2. Deanatay

      It’s called “Powerhouse”, and it’s been mentioned previously.

  47. kkiten

    Does she only whistle the overture when plotting revenge, or is that her favorite song?

    1. Dean

      It’s her favourite song BECAUSE she whistles it when she’s plotting revenge.

  48. Some1

    Is it bad that I would be slightly tempted to fuck over this plan if I was there, with the small part of me that is Mike. Believe me I’m not homo/transphobic at all. I’m just an asshole, and the more complex a plan is the more I want to exploit that one flaw. It works best when the person deserves it, but I can make an exception here.

    1. Anonymouse

      If I were Mike, and I saw this, I think I’d realize that this is exactly the kind of thing that would amuse me too, and immediately drop what I’m doing, help make this happen, offer no explanation. and leave without a word.

      Either that, or fall in love. Without so much as breaking a smile outwardly, but inwardly…

      1. Clodia

        I’d ship that.

        1. bhtooefr

          Doesn’t it go against her orientation?

        2. Deanatay

          It goes against Carla’s orientation.

          It doesn’t go against Mike’s.

          Yeah, it’s a one-sided ship – but he can’t help how he feels…

        3. Willoughby Chase

          Shipping solo, just not Han Solo.

    2. Rukduk

      So, you’re the guy who would have blown up the Death Star from his TIE-fighter if the rebel alliance hadn’t, just because that exhaust vent was so very tempting, aren’t you?

      1. Some1

        Hmmm on one hand they do blow up planets, and have killed billions, on other hand they do pay my salary. Wait a second that Tarkin asshole forgot my coffee creamer yesterday! FUCK YOOOOOUUUU! “blows up Death Star”

    3. Fwip

      You could always take a picture and post it online. That’d basically make everything worse for everyone.

  49. Mr. Random

    Also Tchaikovsky holds up pretty well. Still really good.

  50. ladychalk

    …are those mustard bottles?

  51. detective boomwolf

    … Someone watched a lot of Tom and Jerry as a kid…

    1. Ryek Hvek

      of course, the T&J designs usually culminated with a bowling ball, so this is a delightful variation on the theme

    2. Bagge

      +1

  52. Hyzenthleia

    This contraption is either going to pie Mary in the face or instantaneously transport her to the Amazon. Calling it now. I’ll take either one, honestly. Don’t even need a good explanation on how it’d work.

  53. Ana Chronistic

    link for you: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/03-when-god-closes-the-door/needs/

    1. Ana Chronistic

      dangit this thing chugs so much after there are more than two comments and dropped the thread

  54. The Phantom's Belch

    The look of sheer terror in Mary’s face is so worth this. There is no way this is anything more than a really loud Rube Goldberg noisemaker … possibly with confetti in the balloon … but that’s okay! That it ultimately does nothing will make Mary ponder just what would happen if Carla was truly evil and not just deviously mischievous.

    Never mess with the engineering students! (If Carla is not an Engineering major, she needs to switch!)

    1. Bicycle Bill

      Glitter.  If there’s anything at all in the balloon it will be glitter.  Have you ever tried to get every last piece of that shit out of a carpet?

      1. Orion Fury

        It’s the herpes of art projects.

        1. Tacos

          Hrm, I don’t think I’ve ever heard glitter described that way.

        2. AutobotDen

          Microglitter is even worse. I have a small vial of it I keep on hand as a safety precaution. Anyone that tries to mess with me will get a baptism of sparkles and the police will be able to tell who did it.

      2. Kickback

        Yes! This was a prank pulled on me in university haha, glitter filled balloons in my rooms. Popped them without thinking and it went everywhere. I was honestly finding the odd bit of glitter two years later.

    2. Amazi-Stool

      If Carla is not an Engineering major, she needs to switch
      Problem is: The only “Engineering major” that IU has to offer is “Intelligent Systems Engineering”.

      Yeah, i really like it! Willis captured in his self-chosen limits of the boundaries of his story-telling! And the obvious solution would be Purdue, but that bites with the idea that Carla lives on campus of IU.

      Maybe next time don’t hate on the engineering students so much (we remember the traffic sign that was allegedly vandalised by Purdue students)!

  55. Some1

    At the end of the comic, they’re going to be trying to figure out who the mastermind behind everything is. Dorothy will have a realization and will drop her coffee cup, quickly running outside just before Howard lights a cigaret and speeds away in a car.

    “We got the nerd from Canadia, He mentioned Mary Bradford, my guess is after that, you’ll never hear from him again.”

  56. Goliath

    I’m probably going to be called an asshole for this, but I REALLY hope Carla gets in trouble by the end of this. Don’t get me wrong, Mary went WAAAAAY too far with her transphobic bigotry, but let’s not pretend that Carla is blameless in all of this. All of this started because she was being super inconsiderate to her dormmates by skating around the halls and making a bunch of noise. Mary asked her to stop, and Carla basically went “Nah.”

    1. Leorale

      Being an annoying jerk never means you deserve hate speech. Nobody deserves hate speech.
      Also, we’ve discussed this to death.

    2. Cerberus

      Mm, so because Carla… in the middle of the day… during non-quiet hours… on carpet that muted the sound of her skates and made them a dull shuffling… and where we’ve established that Mary does her little door freakout about the slightest of sounds and angrily demands things of people as her default greeting… where Mary could have studied in the quiet room DOWN THE HALL if she actually cared about noise and not about enforcing arbitrary Mary rules…

      DARED to skate, like a teenager, thus somehow embodying the soul of a thousand loud neighbors to a bunch of whiny ass pissbaby commenters. Because of all that. And because Carla didn’t automatically respond with deference and respect to an infamous bigot who famously hates everyone like her and who has spent the last X comics revealing that to the fullest extent possible. And nonetheless did not turn violent as Mary escalated and escalated, to the point where she destroyed her skates and then try and lead her to the boy’s dorm all for a transphobic “joke” and a setup for blackmailing her RA over “all the gay shit” and while calling Carla a literal, and I quote, “misplaced freak”.

      She is somehow equally to blame, to the extent that you expect and, I quote, “REALLY hope” she gets in trouble for “this” as to the aforementioned blackmailing, bigoted, deliberately dehumanizing walking trash can that is Mary, a Mary who has escalated to violence and property destruction and blackmailing and trying to utterly destroy and eliminate of her floor or otherwise drive to suicide multiple queer individuals and rob them of any form of safety or refuge in their own homes.

      You “suppose” you’ll be called an asshole for that.

      Well, sorry to disappoint you, but you’re not an asshole. You’re just a tired, standard issue reactionary bigot, perfectly at home with transphobia so long as you can do the bare minimum and think of yourself as not prejudiced.

      But hey, good job on your super “edgy” opinion, bro! We trans folk super appreciate it and don’t at all perceive it as the insultingly dehumanizing claptrap it is nor as a sign of the stacked decks that get thrust in front of us where we’re expected to play nice and hyper respectful with enemies that literally want us dead lest it be “our fault too, in a way”.

      K, thanks, bye.

      1. Orion Fury

        Screw the comics, some comments need trigger warnings. Granted, it’d mainly consist of “Ignorant Comment Inbound”, but still.

        1. Cerberus

          Yeah, I’m a wee bit out of patience for that “blame Carla” claptrap, because just like the $20 haircut Becky folks, it’s such a thin justification for just hating on a queer person who has been victimized, because otherwise the commenter might have to empathize and recognize a system of oppression for what it is.

          And at this point, there is literally noooo justification for excusing all the shit Mary has pulled in order to pretend quietly skating and not being polite is somehow the worse offense.

        2. Charles Phipps

          I can hate skating to annoy someone while also thinking bigots deserve no sympathy, pure contempt, and a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech.

        3. Cerberus

          She wasn’t skating “to annoy someone”. She was skating to skate, because she’s a punk-ass skater chick who doesn’t give a fuck about rules and saw a quiet empty hallway and decided to have some silly stupid fun like a billion other college girls before her.

          She was a jerk to Mary to annoy her, but that was already after Mary did her trademark curtain-twitcher routine, which we’ve now demonstrated that she reliably does every time anyone so much as walks past her door (hence why she has blackmail material on Ruth to start with) and was being that old lovable Mary that makes he so lovely to deal with.

          I mean, sure, you can hate Carla. You can even hate Carla for truly stupid reasons, like flame-red hair on skates remind you too much of Ghost Rider.

          But just like Becky, Carla is given a harder time and is expected to be the bigger person far and above what is reasonable entirely because she ran afoul of this awful person and because we expect trans folks to be penitent and contrite and never ever brash or abrasive or refusing to back down from a fight.

          And frankly, I’m much more likely to be helpful explainy trans voice, but I got mad respect for the Carlas who get shit on and refuse to just take it.

        4. Charles Phipps

          I see no reason to expect Carla to be less of a jerk than any of the other cast, straight or otherwise. I’m just saying that I can and do think respect for your fellow dorm mates is an important thing I wish in any situation. The fact Carla doesn’t have any doesn’t make her any worse than any of the cast who are all flawed to a certain degree. I’m just saying it’s still jerkish.

          But it’s a minor matter compared to all the crap she’s dealt with and got dumped into. Poor Carla got her skates ruined but also dumped into Ruth’s personal drama as well as the bigot’s blackmail scheme.

        5. Cerberus

          Totes, she’s a jerk. But she’s also not that level of jerk to the other outsider characters and queer folk. She’ll even soften her tough outer shell for girls she’s got a romantic crush on (Sal) or those who are out and queer (Billie and Ruth).

          Mary is infamous on that floor, because queer folk learn really quickly who in their living environment is actively unsafe to be around and they share that info with each other. And Mary’s awful is a step above and is actively dehumanizing to Carla on multiple identity angles.

          To “respect” her, Carla would have to actively disrespect herself and the other queer women on the floor by side-stepping the reality of Mary’s active bigotry and active efforts to shame, abuse, harm, and literally blackmail the other queer women who share her hall.

          Like Carla didn’t pick that fight, but Bob damn was she not going to bother to turn down her jerk exterior for that uptight priss.

        6. thejeff

          Or soften it for anyone in trouble, like when Amber was hurt.

          But more generally and beyond all that, “respect for your fellow dorm mates”?
          I think someone’s got a distorted idea of what college is like.
          Carla skating in the halls is so far below the threshold of things people did in college that pissed me off that it doesn’t even register. In the middle of the day. Without even screaming and banging on doors.
          We’d play with frisbees and soccer balls in the hallways.

          It’s also been established that Carla’s always on skates and nobody else seems to care in the slightest.
          The “Parkour!” bit later might have been a bit much.

        7. Orion Fury

          To wit I’m thankful for. The voice part, that is.

      2. AUnicornNoOneAskedFor

        *picks the mic up from where Cerberus dropped it and carefully replaces it on the stand*

        1. Orion Fury

          “Those things cost money, you know!”

      3. Rukduk

        Ok, Internet high five. This arguement rocks.

        1. Rukduk

          As in, Cereberus’s arguement rocks, not the actual comment thread.

        2. Cerberus

          Thanks.

          I get exceptionally frosty at this kind of crap, because I take a lot of shit on the chin without much complaint, but bob damn am I going to take a third party saying I or others like me should take it on the chin otherwise we’re “equally responsible” or “the real instigators”. Like, I shouldn’t have to take shit on the chin and neither should any other trans person. So fuck that noise.

          Also, high five right back atcha!

      4. Gecko

        Thank you for somehow finding the energy to keep iterating this. I don’t have it, and it’s frustrating to see people leave skewed opinions without being able to collect my thoughts enough to point out how they are skewed.

    3. Rukduk

      Yeshua ben Yoseph Nazarene but I thought this had been settled a long time ago.
      It is a college dorm. It was the middle of the day a.k.a. not quiet hours. These facts mean that it was not a conducive learning environment. What Carla did, roller skating on a carpeted floor, is probably one of the least disruptive things to have ever happened in a dorm during the day. Carla was not at fault. Any further argumentation has been covered by Cerberus.

    4. EvolutionistX

      I have studied through people blowing things up and slept through power saws. Roller skates are nothing. If she can’t study through that, she’ll never survive an office job in a building full of hundreds of other people coughing, talking, walking, moving their chairs, typing, using the phone, farting, etc.

      1. Cerberus

        Well if any of those office workers are trans, clearly they’ll deserve her retribution.

      2. StClair

        Some people have suggested, in previous threads, that teaching students to put up with such things (and study anyway) is, in fact, [i]one of the aims[/i] (even if not explicitly stated to them) of dorm housing. Learning to live with people not related to you, people who may be very different from you, is in fact an important life skill.

        Some people outright refuse to learn this.

        1. Cerberus

          And that’s part of Mary’s battle. She’s encountering a mode of living where she has to learn how to accept and cohabitate with people who are not exactly like her. And her response to that is to try and enforce through a terror campaign the type of home environment she is used to instead.

          Drive out the queers, yell and scream at anyone who makes the slightest of noises, build an air of paranoia where people just don’t bother with you and make excuses to be off the floor, and blackmail the RA to get fundie prayer circles and forced conversions.

          Recreate suburban hell on the floor by any means necessary by making life as miserable for everyone else rather than just accept that she’s 18 years old now and it’s time to fucking grow up and learn to deal with the real world.

    5. Kamino Neko

      All of this started because she was being super inconsiderate to her dormmates by skating around the halls and making a bunch of noise.

      No.

      It.

      Fucking.

      Didn’t.

      She was not making anything resembling ‘a bunch of noise’. She was, in fact, until Mary escalated to attempts to injure her and vandalizing the hall and Carla’s property, making less noise than Mary.

      It started because Mary’s a complete goddamn asshole.

      Full. Goddamn. Stop.

      1. Cerberus

        Seriously. All of this.

        Was Carla technically breaking rules? Sure. Did Carla not even try to deescalate a tense interaction with a known bigot? Yeppers.

        But she didn’t start shit and actively tried to ignore her way out of a confrontation by just countering and doin’ her thing (hell, she even told Mary to go tell on her, which would have been the “proper” way to handle it if she cared more about the rule-breaking rather than instilling fear and pain on the (slur for trans woman)). Mary instigated. Mary decided to treat some light shuffling like a crime against her senses. Mary decided to pull her whole curtain-twitching routine that has finally gotten her into this jam.

        And Mary has continually demonstrated why someone like Carla would not really be feeling like giving her the time of day or backing down to her given all the shit she has been spewing about queer folks.

    6. Fwip

      Gonna raise my hand and say I’d agree with you, like, a few months back (and said the same thing when this all started), but there comes a point where one party’s actions outweigh another’s, y’know?

      Carla deserves to be called a jerk – because she totally is – but actual punitive action at this point really belongs on the shoulders of Mary and Ruth (the former of whom used hateful slurs to demean another student and has been blackmailing an RA, and the latter of whom physically assaulted Mary way back when, slept with a student under her auspices, and submitted to the aforementioned blackmail).

      Ideally, the maturity fairy would fly around and give everyone a big ol’ zap, see some apologies handed out, and everyone could get the hell on with their lives through showing a basic modicum of respect, whether they like or agree with each other or not.

      … Also, I don’t get where people are saying Carla didn’t instigate this whole chain of events? Being a jerk and an instigator and initially in the wrong doesn’t mean she is not the substantially more aggrieved party, or that nothing she did makes it okay for Mary to slur her.

      1. Cerberus

        But she didn’t instigate.

        She was a jerk, yes, totally. Justifiably so in my opinion, but definitely a total jerkwad with literally zero respect for Mary or putting up with her games or de-escalating the situation by “being the bigger person” and taking it on the chin like most trans folks are expected to do.

        And she’s an asshole with a petty streak a mile wide, no arguments there.

        But this chain of events? This conflict? Began with Mary doing her curtain-twitching routine that we see above, door half-cocked, eyeing with contempt, demanding to know what’s going on and demanding it stop no matter what it is. The nosey assholery that has led her to this situation and which also gave her all the information to blackmail her floormates. It’s the reason her nose is in everyone’s business and why Roz has hit an absolute floor with regards to how done she is with Mary’s shit.

        Mary instigated, Carla returned tit for tat and played around with her, made her look like a fool, got her pissed off, and showed absolutely no respect for her petty rule-mongering.

        So Mary went way far and above as you note.

        Oh, one point on the maturity fairy bit. That presumes a false equivalence. Carla shouldn’t have to suck up intentional dehumanization and abuse in order to be “mature” to someone who fundamentally doesn’t respect her right to live. And from personal experience, I can assure you that the weight of being the better person is swallowing a lot of bullshit on a daily basis and enjoying the fine PTSD aftermath where you start to genuinely believe you deserve all the abuse and you are worth less than cis folk.

        Carla is doing what she needs to do to regain her sense of agency and self and her standing up against a bigot who has more than shown her hand at this point is not a sign of her lack of maturity.

        The fact that she has not punched her repeatedly in the face is a sign of her infinite restraint and better nature. But it is fully on Mary to grow the fuck up and accept that trans and GLB folk exist and stop trying to bully and harass them into playing by her Calvinball rules.

        1. Fwip

          I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree, Cerb. Mary had every right to be annoyed with Carla skating in the hall; it was interrupting her studying and was against the rules. Regardless of whether you feel that Mary is being overly persnickety or a busybody, the fact is that she was in the right there. She asked Carla not to, Carla was flippant about showing even a minor degree of respect to someone.

          You poke someone until they swing, they’re still in the wrong for swinging, but you’re still the instigator.

          Also, I don’t see any presumption of equivalence in what I said. Nowhere did I assume that Carla wasn’t the more aggrieved party. That’s not the point. Any psychologist can tell you that a revenge focus is unhealthy and ultimately just leaves you as defined by the person you loathe as complete submission to them does; you let them dominate your life. Actually taking revenge just perpetuates a vicious cycle that could lead to someone actually getting hurt. I’ve got chipped bones and deformed ribs that can attest to that.

          This isn’t about shrugging and saying everyone’s equally to blame because they aren’t. It’s about not letting that person control your life. That, in my eyes, is agency.

          Something tells me, though, that this isn’t a point we agree on either.

        2. Cerberus

          Are we still bothering to pretend that Mary pokes her head out of her room because “her studies have been interrupted by noise”? For fuck’s sake, she did this same door peek shit for soft whistling. For Dorothy mumbling to herself at the foot of the door. People simply walking past carrying garbage. And Carla softly whistling.

          Mary was “disturbed out of her studies” for shit. She was hearing evidence that a person was doing something odd outside a door. And that it was the sound of skates, so that meant that that (slur for trans woman) was daring to be outside her room instead of in her “place”. And so she Mary’d.

          Because to Mary the existence of other people in common spaces is an affront to her and God and needs the moralizing hand of a complete busybody with nothing better to do. If she genuinely cared about studies and was somehow genuinely so incapable of studying without distraction that even the slightest mouse cough will set her off, she needed to have gotten her ass to the silent room on the floor weeks ago, because it is unreasonable to expect people to not even open and shut their doors down the hall or talk to each other in the hall without Mary sneaking out and shaming them for it or using it as blackmail fuel.

          Yeah, Mary told her to stop, Carla told her nope, tell on me if it’s that important to you. And then Mary didn’t go do that, revealing that to her it was about showing that uppity (slur for trans woman) what what and not actually about her skating. This then got extra proved when she destroyed her skates, called her a boy, and now is continuing to try and get her removed as a “misplaced freak”.

          That’s not Carla being flippant about showing respect to “anyone”. It’s Carla having no respect for an infamous bigot who has been screaming bloody murder at every queer coupling on the floor and just being a general bigoted asshole to everyone.

          It’s like a trans person not showing “respect” to some asshole Target protester screaming about how trans people are child molesters.

          And it’s why the roles are reversed. Mary wanted a confrontation, Mary wanted an excuse and needled and Carla just ignored and deflected up until the point that her skates were destroyed and shit got real for her.

          If anyone has been poked until they swung, it’s fucking Carla and there’s no real way to spin things as anything but seeing as how even if you buy the bullshit that is “Mary was interrupted when studying”, Mary was still the one instigating and escalating at every turn, Carla was simply not bothering to back down like most trans folks do.

          As for your second half, bullies are tricky. I did the “better man” route a whole fuck of a lot. It didn’t actually get them to back down and in fact they escalated because what they wanted (me dead) didn’t really matter if I struck back or not.

          But those that swung tended to get the bullies to back off. But they also tended to get the book thrown at them by an authority that was fully on the bigots side.

          Mary is now engaging in a blackmail campaign that has the removal of Carla from the floor one way or another as a central part of it and thinks she now has carte blanche to openly hurl abuse at and harass Carla and have the nearest person of authority back her up.

          Carla ignoring it now would not change that any more than people targeted by hate groups trying to ignore it causes the hate groups to stop harassing them.

          So, where she’s at now, there’s no real good options. And that’s not her fault for getting sucked into it at first. Mary is a master at sucking people she hates into her little games. But maybe, just maybe, this method will get Mary to back off and go after targets with less bite.

          Also, final point? I’ve done the “taking it on the chin” thing a lot in my life. It has deep costs for one’s mental health and ends up convincing you that you deserve all the awful that flows your way. Carla accepting Mary’s open transphobic abuse and being the better person would have very real consequences for her mental health and her feelings of safety in her own goddamn home.

        3. Fwip

          Given that the comic shows Mary studying, displays Carla’s skate noises in bold, red, text, and shows a look of exasperation on Mary’s face… Yeah, I’d say the story is telling us she feels intruded upon. Just like she did when Dorothy was standing outside her door, talking to herself, and Mary appeared and demanded not to know what was going on but to be left the hell alone.

          Even if Mary’s a busybody, though, who feels her nose has to be in everything, she still had every right to tell Carla to go take her skating outside. It is against the rules to skate in the dorms; rules Carla agreed to obey when signing the documents necessary to get the room. Even if Mary wasn’t feeling the slightest bit bothered (which I disagree with, but whatever), she was still completely within her right to do it.

          It doesn’t really matter what Mary’s motive for saying it was. We can disagree about internal motives or why she did it, but up until the point where she started trying to take this matter into her own hands, she didn’t make any unreasonable demands.

          There’s no getting around that. The instigator of this conflict was Carla; she broke the rules, she knew she did, and she flipped the bird at someone asking (not telling, asking, however crudely) her to skate elsewhere.

          Everything else… I think is a difference of opinion and path in life. Learning to just let stuff go saved my life, or at least ensured I’ll only die at fifty instead of in my teens.

        4. Cerberus

          I think we’re just going to fundamentally disagree if someone doing something relatively unobtrusive outside (even if it is technically against rules) constitutes “instigation”.

          And Mary isn’t just “if she’s a busybody”, she’s well established to be a busybody who is a curtain-twitcher just looking for an angle on everyone around. And it doesn’t actually take a noise disturbance to get her peeking out her doors and glaring at folk:
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/clear/

          Billie walking past all quiet like is enough. What Mary sees as an intrusion is the existence of other people. And she likes to try and destroy said other people, especially if they are queer (she stored that moment to not only blackmail Ruth about it, but do a nasty bit of “hey Joyce you agree all queer people are evil” in front of Becky, and to get away with the bullying and harassment of a trans student.

          Her internal motives are the point. They are critical to why that encounter even happened and why Mary harped on a technical rule-breaking and why technical rule-breakings are frequently used to justify disproportionate violence against marginalized group members. Hell, that’s point one of all this bathroom shit right now, to make it so trans people have “trespassed” in some way in order to justify violence and discrimination against them. And that’s resulted in a shit ton of trans and gender non-conforming people getting angrily confronted in bathrooms or literally dragged out of them.

          Taking a minor “fault” to justify disproportionate violence. After all, Carla “instigated” by doing something with no victim that was technically against the rules and because she was rude to a person who has been nothing but awful towards ever queer and non-normative person on the floor.

          And that’s what makes the “letting it go” equation different. When marginalized group members “let” injustice go, it tends to hang around and get comfy and just become the “normal” of “how things go” and how we expect marginalized group members to act to earn rights. And that’s not okay.

          Carla instigated jack shit. Escalated? Yes. Showed no damn respect? Hell yes. But if Mary had wandered off, Carla would have just done her thing. If Carla did, Mary would have taken it as a sign of power and would have continued to go after her.

          Hell, we see that in the moment where Carla calls out the bluff and says report me. What does Mary do? Ruin her stuff and try to physically injure her. Because that’s who she is and she didn’t actually give a single fuck about the skating so why should we all pretend she did on her behalf.

          Also, I’m pretty sure this is unintentional on your part but those last two paragraphs basically read that Carla broke some rules and that was wrong and really everything else is just whatever, she should let it go. Which I don’t think is your meaning, cause otherwise that is some gross intentional erasure of transphobia and how toxic and damaging that really is and how dangerous that is to leave unchecked.

        5. Cerberus

          Like to clarify. Are the road construction crews outside my apartment “instigating” things by loudly tearing up the sidewalk outside? Would I be justified in harassing them about it and if one told me to fuck off, injuring them?

          What about if some kids were pounding around the hall? Or some idiots doing some wheelies in a parking lot?

          I can report them (and be an asshole and a narc). But confronting them? Escalating to violence when they are rude to me?

          No, no jury in the world would read that as “they instigated me”… unless I was a rich asshole with a Judge dad stalking a black teenager multiple blocks on his way home from the convenience store.

        6. Fwip

          Cerb, if that’s what you got from my last two paragraphs, you’re reading a lot into it that isn’t there. I’ve never said this is just “whatever”; I’ve said several times now that Carla is the badly aggrieved party in this. She’s got every right to be upset and angry. Walking away isn’t advisable because she doesn’t have a reason to be upset but because letting someone like Mary get to her is just giving Mary what she wants: Power and control over Carla’s life.

          Instigating conflict doesn’t mean that the other person is somehow okay in all this, or that whatever followed was in any way justified.

          As for your examples, road crews have a legitimate and legal purpose to be there. However, kids playing in the hall of an apartment building is usually a violation of lease agreements and safety guidelines. If it causes aggravation for their neighbours, conflict was instigated technically by the parents (since minors aren’t really totally accountable for their actions) for letting them play there.

          If, however, one of their neighbours bursts into the hall and proceeds to cuss the kids out and break their toys? Hoo boy. You better believe that person is in the wrong, and all legal ramifications would for the act would hang on their head.

          Instigation of conflict doesn’t make you somehow responsible for the other person’s actions; it doesn’t make their actions in any way automatically reasonable or understandable. Provoking a response doesn’t make the response proportionate.

          I think, though, that I am seeing the point of contention between us. You see Mary as being a busybody who reacted to the sound of skating and then tried to impose her will because she hates Carla. I see her as having been trying to study and been distracted by the noise; asking Carla to stop for the same reason she asked Dorothy to go away; because she has a low threshold for distraction. I’ve stated my reasons for this already.

          If we follow your perspective (assuming I’m correct), it’s reasonable to say Mary instigated it. I don’t think that’s what happened, but everyone has a right to their own interpretation. Maybe Willis will clarify if we ask?

        7. Cerberus

          I think our points of disagreement are twofold:

          1) We have differing defintions for “instigation”. You seem to be favoring a definition that is more the “inciting incident” which may be neutral or merely an excuse for an encounter, whereas I’m going with one that has more of a cultural connotation of fault. Which I think might be why we’re talking past each other on that point.

          2) I think we have very different life experiences and attitudes towards rules. I’m much more sympathetic to anti-authoritarian perspectives and feel that many rules and laws are actually overly enforced and selectively enforced as a means of justifying state violence against marginalized group members. I also grew up in a neighborhood ruled over by curtain-twitchers and so have a particular hatred for the technical rule lawyer types using the excuse of “disturbances” and what’s in the charter to selectively bully and harass kids and neighbors perceived as too liberal.

          Whereas you seem to be coming from a perspective where you’re much more concerned about anarchy and feel like laws should be enforced across the board, though some weight must be given to the level and measure of crime or rule break that has been committed. And life experiences where letting go of disagreements avoided potentially deadly encounters.

          And I suspect we may have very different amounts of life experience with Mary types and the shit that gets played with “rules” surrounding trans folks.

          I also think you’re right on how we view the Carla and Mary confrontation. And yeah, I don’t think that’s going to get resolved seeing as how I think it’s been rather starkly outlined in the last few comics how Mary being a busybody who’ll flip out over the slightest bit of anything anywhere near her room is the only reason this revenge plan has been working.

          Agree to disagree for now?

    7. fogel

      EVEN IF Carla had been loud enough to wake the proverbial dead that wouldn’t justify Mary because what Mary did is unjustifiable. There’s no need to mitigate Carla’s skating in relation to Mary playing the Bigot Card, because it does not matter how loud Carla was or how much of a jerk she is, she did not “deserve” being Maryd, for which there is no justification.

    8. Kindra

      That argument held more weight before Mary maliciously destroyed Carla’s property instead of, say, registering a complaint with the RA about the noise.

    9. Goliath

      Just read through all of this. Looking back, I probably could have worded my comment better, but honestly, I feel like no matter how I worded it, the responses would have been the same. That said, I would like to take a moment to clarify some points.

      I do not believe that Carla is equally culpable as Mary. As I said, Mary took it too far when she made this an issue of Carla being transgendered. Mary is a despicable human being. No one is denying that. In addition to her constant open bigotry against not only Carla but other LGBT students and people of different faiths, she also blackmailing her RA and committed vandalism and destruction of property. At the very least she needs to be kicked out of the dorm, though preferably she should be flat out expelled.

      Some people have claimed that Carla wasn’t doing anything wrong, she was just skating in an empty hallway during the day, and that Mary was just doing her typical Mary bullshit. Even ignoring the fact that skating in the hallways is almost definitely against dorm rules and extremely dangerous, once Mary came out and asked her to stop, Carla chose to antagonize her. It didn’t occur to her that hey, if one person is studying in their dorm, maybe other people are too, and she should stop being a jerk and go outside. She saw a chance to annoy Mary, and she took it. Yes, Mary could have just gone to Ruth or called campus security or gone to the library or something. Instead she chose to escalate the situation and ruin Carla’s skates with glue, and that was not okay.

      But then Carla had the same option as Mary did: She could have reported Mary for vandalism and destruction of property and let Ruth handle it. Instead, she chose to escalate the situation again and continue to antagonize Mary by hopping up and down outside her door. At this point in the conflict, they’ve both handled the situation terribly, and have both done things worthy of punitive action. That Mary’s next step went undeniably, indefensibly, and down-right unconscionably too far does not negate Carla’s own behavior.

      The reason I want Carla to be punished has nothing to do with her transgender status. I don’t hold her to any higher standard than any other character like some people claim. To be frank, I think Carla should be punished because she’s, by her own admittance, an asshole. The fact that Mary is a MUCH bigger asshole than her doesn’t make her being an asshole ok. If any part of this elaborate Ruth Goldberg machine causes bodily harm to Mary, she needs to be punished. Even if it’s all a bluff and the worst that happens to Mary is she gets a pie to the face, that’s still assault. She needs to learn that her behavior isn’t okay either. Her being punished for her own misbehavior does not justify Mary’s actions even a little bit.

      To try and put this in a different perspective, there’s no question that Mary’s blackmail of Ruth is horrible, but is there any denying that Ruth should definitely be removed as RA? She’s a serious alcoholic, uses violence against students, and engaged in a sexual relationship with one of her residents, who also happens to be a serious alcoholic. The fact that she’s being blackmailed doesn’t mean that she’s free of blame.

      1. fogel

        A suggestion: your separate points are legit taken each by itself, its juxtaposing anything that Carla did with Mary’s trans-baiting that has riled folks, i think, because those two things don’t belong in the same post or thread: they’re incomensurable. If you truly believe that nothing that Carla did or could do would justify Mary’s attack on Carla for being trans — for existing — then please dont talk about them together. They are absolutely separate issues.

        1. thejeff

          Even more though, nothing Carla did justifies anything Mary did beyond maybe the sitting in and blocking the hallway – which could be seen as harmless, fun escalation.

          And it all has to be viewed through the lens of Mary being prejudiced against Carla for being trans. That certainly colored her reactions throughout.

        2. Cerberus

          This. It colors things a lot more to realize that Mary’s true goal is the elimination of all queer people off her floor one way or another and that this is something she’ll escalate to blackmailing the RA to try and get. And that she is fueled by rather direct animus against Carla because of the way she is.

          It makes Mary’s little rule-lawyering way different in intention and her escalations way more clear as deliberate acts of violence and way more justifies the lack of fucks Carla gave to her shit to start with.

          The reality of her intentional transphobia colors everything about every one of their encounters and to examine those encounters without this lens is to ignore a fundamental aspect of why it is happening at all.

      2. Cerberus

        I see where you’re coming, but you’re also stretching like hell on the Carla thing.

        A pie to the face would constitute assault? Technically maybe, but that’d be a stretch. It wouldn’t be a stretch that is unrealistic, the law is fundamentally misapplied to trans folks and we are blamed and arrested and jailed if we do anything in response to our attackers or those who do those everyday microaggressions that make waking up an hour long fight against the desire to return to the void.

        I remember, quite vividly the number of times family members or very ex-friends tried to blame me for someone seriously musing about coming back and killing me for being trans because when that asshole was just doing a catcall at “some dykes” I stuck my tongue out at him. That apparently was enough to show I deserved it. And I remember cops trying to actively find any excuse for why someone chucked a plate at my head because he thought I was gay or telling trans friends who were raped that there must have been something they did to provoke the person who raped them in front of a Safeway.

        And that’s where the whole thing really falls apart for me. Pies to the face would be an action of extreme restraint in the face of acts of intentional abuse and harassment on the part of Mary, acts that the authority figure is aware of and is doing nothing about (like so many times in Carla’s past).

        And skating in the halls is dumb. And it is conceivably possible she could have bumped into someone and hurt them, but it’s not some inherently dangerous act that needed to be stopped at once and would have been punished severely if Mary had gotten an RA. Carla would have been told to knock it off, if she refused then, she would have gotten written up and maybe fined or had her skates confiscated for a short time. It’s against the “rules” but again, just as a technicality, because its stupid and you don’t want to encourage everyone to do that, but it’s more likely to be ignored as stupid dorm stuff than anything else.

        Also, is anyone still buying the narrative that poor Mary’s studying was “interrupted”? Like, how many times do we have to see Mary doing her little “I’m a snoppy little shit” door peek to hammer home the fact that Mary will use the slightest bit of noise to justify going out and being a busybody. Because being a busybody and a snoop matter far more to her than her studies.

        Like, was Billie making too much noise for Mary to study, when Mary went a-snoopin’ after she simply opened and closed Ruth’s door? Or when Carla was just softly whispering outside her room? Or when Billie was taking out trash with bottles in it? Or when Dorothy was talking at a normal volume to herself outside the door?

        Cause she’s done it every time:

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/survey/
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/03-answers-in-hennessy/clinkclink/
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/clear/
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/03-when-god-closes-the-door/measuring/

        Skates on carpet are quiet. Stupid, yes, but quiet. Mary just needed an excuse and someone to feel morally superior to. And for that any noise that reveals that people exist in her vicinity sets off her excuses to go and snoop and moralize and butt into everyone else’s business.

        And Carla made a great target because Carla despises authority, because authority has let her down time and time again and thus also doesn’t seek it out when she’s being actively bullied:

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/02-that-perfect-girl/antagonize/

        And that’s the real rub of it. Carla was being a prickly pear and a snarky jerk and not backing down when a known bigot was being a rules lawyer. Being a bit of a jerk because you’ve had a shit life and you’re out of patience for niceties is not something one really needs to be hoping for “punishment” to correct and so when you do that and gloss over the true horror of what Mary is doing, it will come off as at least colored by social expectations for the behavior of trans people at the very least.

        And as for your example. Ruth is abusive and unfit for her role as RA. But when you talk about Mary and Ruth together, now you’ve awakened the spectre that is Mary actively blackmailing Ruth for her sexuality (cause that’s at the core of what Mary cares about, that she’s dating a woman and it’s why she would have gotten her in trouble with the bosses). And suddenly, it becomes clear that that conflict has only one person in the wrong, because of what is happening there.

        That doesn’t excuse the person’s actions, but it does change the lens we’re seeing them through and suddenly it becomes very important that whatever may eventually remove Ruth from her RA duties not have anything to do with Mary ever.

        1. Marie

          The measuring strip you linked is probably way closer to what was going on with Mary in the skating ones than what Mary said.

          But even if that speculation is wrong, it’s a good example of Mary being Mary. Roz is the one who actually is studying, and isn’t bothered, Mary is just listening at the door. As she seems to do a lot.

    10. WaytoomanyUIDs

      The dorm is full of annoying noisy jerks. Her roomie for one. But which one did Mary assault? The one related to a conservative state senator, or the one who also happens to be a trans woman?

      That’s what makes it a hate crime

      1. Cerberus

        That’s a really good point.

    11. Marie

      Flashback to several comment pages ago, when several people were shocked that comments like this could have happened

  57. Noclevername

    Bowling ball to Mary’s skull? (Hope hope hope hope)

    1. Some1

      Holy shit man!

    2. Cerberus

      … hmmm…

      Nah, that’d be way out of line and Carla is a dedicated pacifist who isn’t really comfortable with physical violence.

      That said… I’m definitely hoping for either a metric butt-ton of pies or a pound of glitter (the herpes of arts and crafts).

      1. Orion Fury

        Damn it, you made that joke already. Reference. Quote? Eh, credit to you before me, anyways.

        1. Cerberus

          Given the time stamps, I’d say it’s more a sign that dumbiverse minds think alike cause I’m pretty sure we were both typing it at pretty much the exact same time.

    3. Rukduk

      Pretty sure that would cause death. And Willis already said there would be no on screen deaths. So my money is on pies. Lots and lots of pies, glitter, feathers, and glue.

  58. adam

    Is THIS JUST A Massive distraction ,
    so Carla can manually pie Mary in the face?

    1. TheGrammarLegionary

      I… this is the best possible resolution. I want this so badly now.

    2. Cerberus

      I think it might. Look at the end of the Rube-Goldberg machine. There doesn’t appear to be anything that would actually do anything towards Mary other than show off how good of an Engineer Carla is… unless I’m missing something.

  59. Spongegirl Circleskirt

    I bet it just holds up a sign that says “YER A JERK, MARY!”

    1. Orion Fury

      I read that in Hagrid’s voice. Was not disappointed.

  60. brionl

    Many moons ago when I was a young ‘un, the library had a big ol’ book of Rube Goldberg cartoons.

    It was a really great book, I’d love to get a copy of it.

  61. Bicycle Bill

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arZdeg_fL-I

  62. Achallenger

    remember kids, if ur rude ur gonna get rubed

    1. Bagge

      +1

  63. Reltzik

    I’m going to call that there will be several days of comics showing the Rube Goldberg machine, executing step by step, interspersed with a growing look of horror and panic on Mary’s face.

  64. Bicycle Bill

    I can’t help noticing that there seems to be something — a pipe, a cord, something — going off-panel to the left, and that the white track/trough slanting downwards from right to left seems to lead directly to it.  I think we are only seeing the first phase of Carla’s Vengeance Weapon and there’s more that we have not yet been shown.

    1. Orion Fury

      I believe it’s an extension cord for the hair dryer.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        No, it looks like that is coming in from the right side.  The little yellow thingamabob is the socket, and the hair dryer cord — which has the balloon tied onto it — is plugged into that.

        1. Orion Fury

          Yeah I just noticed I read the direction wrong there. It’s either a feed in for the ‘torches’ or a feed out to another contraption, possibly a distraction for the end.

  65. Palamdrone

    Let me guess…this is going to climax with a pie to the face.

    1. Ryek Hvek

      a coconut custard pie with whipped cream

      1. Deanatay

        “Pwease, Mistah Bogart… it was a tewwible mistake…”

    2. Orion Fury

      [Insert Sexual Climax Joke Here]

      1. Deanatay

        If only all climaxes tasted like coconut custard…

        1. Orion Fury

          If you had a wiring/chemical imbalance in the brain, I think that could be possible.

  66. Skizz

    That feeling when you know you should just close the door, but you really want to see how it turns out. Even when you know how it turns out won’t be good for you.

  67. nobodybasically

    So who else is expecting the chain reaction to be nothing but a distraction, causing Mary to lower her guard at the end when nothing happens only for Carla to fling something in her face out of the box?

  68. Rukduk

    Oh this is gonna be…sweet.

  69. merbrat

    When I was a kid, we had the Rube Goldberg cartoons in our Sunday Funnies! I loved following the dotted line showing the path of mayhem!

  70. Some1

    When you receive hate, do not respond with violence, instead respond with pies, and goofy machines. These are the lessons that Carla has taught us, and I think were all better of for it.

    Makes me wonder if at some point we’ll get a liberal character who’s just as bad as someone like Ross with the difference being that she or he is going after Mary. Like a character who uses LGBT issues as an excuse to kill people under some weird sense of justice that no one else follows, and they just made up in their head. Like the average Tumblr user! I kid I kid!

    1. Rukduk

      So, Harvey Dent’s third alter from the animated series, “The Judge”?

    2. Cerberus

      Sure, once that becomes as common a personality type as the Ross’s of the world and serve as a major source of personal trauma in Willis’s youth representing all the bigotry and hatred in the worldview in which he was raised, I’m sure we’ll see it.

      All we need is a time machine and for that to have ever have been a thing ever.

      1. Orion Fury

        Sounds a bit like a GP taken to 11. Kinda hard to picture in real life, but fiction based on real life? Like a crime drama? That I could see. (A producer’s ‘comfortable’ way of addressing the issues)

      2. Some1

        Remember this bullshit

        http://www.dailydot.com/geek/steven-universe-fanartist-bullied-controversy/

        1. Cerberus

          Oh yeah, what an abusive little turd.

          Still not really as common or as present in Willis’s formative years as the Toedad types, but I do have a special loathing for those who hide behind calls for social justice to abuse, harass, and try and kill others.

        2. Spencer

          I mean, that’s sort of Roz. She flipped her shit at Joyce because Joyce is an evil fundie and Roz is the paragon of social justice so obviously she deserves to scream in Joyce’s face about how she’s vile to gay people, over the objections of her gay teacher who is telling her to knock that shit off because this is a classroom and not Roz’s tumblr. It’s just that Roz practices what she preaches, she does mean well, and she’s a dumb kid like the rest of the cast with a lot of growing up to do.

          Douchebag liberals exist because douchebag everythings exist, and folks who use social justice concerns to actively harm people are a massive bag of dicks, but I don’t think some asshole with a tumblr is nearly as endemic or harmful as the worst elements of the right who are on a decades long crusade to deny basic human rights to those icky sex weirdos. It’s still fine to talk about how they’re dumb and worthy of mockery, but it just really isn’t as big a deal.

        3. Cerberus

          Plus Roz has to deal with Mary 24/7 so it’s understandable why she’d have zero to no patience for fundamentalism, especially coming from the girl who had slut-shamed her repeatedly before that moment.

          But yeah, overall, I really like the Roz arc where she thinks she’s got it all figured out with her social justice, but hasn’t fully developed her activism yet to not just be pounding on people who are already in pain and crisis. And I like that she learns from her mistakes even if she’s still got some wounded pride in admitting it.

          And seriously on that last paragraph. I get that tumblr is the latest “those kids today and their hippity-hops and vidjeo games, I tells ya” that all of us are supposed to look down on the teenagers for, but as you note, they don’t have nearly the same institutional power as literal sitting senators, governors, and billionaires buying out our entire justice system wholesale and thus have nowhere near the same power to ruin lives as the Toedads of the world.

        4. NZA

          The Mary’s of the world will gravitate towards what ever ideology will give them the most social power which for a long time has been Christianity, hell it’s not like the bible supports the way Mary is acting.

          Also a lot of the really nasty asshole liberals are aimed at trans people, With trans people Having been attacked and receiving death threats for showing up at pride events and all the TERF nonsense, probably because bullies prefer people who don’t have a lot of power to defend them selves

        5. Spencer

          True enough, especially on TERFs being gigantic shitmongers. A lot of leftist prejudice, I find, tends to display itself through punching downwards.

          I still feel that the power balance is skewed to the point where folks like that exist and also deserve a kick to the face, but that the problems caused by the right still exist in a more ingrained and institutionalized way.

        6. Cerberus

          This and what NZA said. And yeah, trans folks are definitely the target du jour for a lot of awful awful human wreckage. It’s about 90% of why I don’t bother having social media accounts.

        7. NZA

          Yeah the rights bullshit is more ingrained but the U.S. seems to be leaning left on the whole, probably why the right is lashing out so much at the moment.

          The risk in ignoring the leftist assholes is some of them could end up representing us ten years down the line.

        8. thejeff

          I’ll take that risk. I’d much rather focus on the ones doing damage now and worry about future problems from the left later than do anything to legitimize the current anti-political correctness nonsense.

          Yeah, there are some attacks from the left on transfolk, but compared to those from the right? And the vast majority of the support is from the left too.

        9. Some1

          Roz isn’t nearly that bad, Roz actually cares about the issues she brings up. She’s just overly rash, which is understandable, but she does try to help people. Like when she told Joyce to talk to someone about the party.

          People like that don’t actually give a fuck about the issues they claim to support. If they did they would spend their time actually helping suppressed people, and working with LGBT support groups. All they want to do is hurt people, and they’ll hide behind some idea of social justice while whining that they’re the victims whenever anyone tries to call them out on their shit. Their no better then people like Mary, or Gamer Gate or any other group of harassing assholes.

  71. Bagge

    I don’t see pie.

    I expected pie.

    1. StClair

      There Will Be Pie.

    2. Tacos

      The pie was a lie (for now anyways).

      1. Clif

        There is no pie inside the box.

    3. Orion Fury

      Never expect pie. Hope, sure.

    4. Cerberus

      Waiting for Pie-dot?

    5. Sushi

      When I’m expecting pie, I watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDJQ7zn3-2g

      1. merbrat

        Yuss! “Brandy! Throw more brandy!”
        The other one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AOeSrLCD-U

    6. Deanatay

      The pie’s in the box. The machine is actually just a distraction, meant to push Mary to the point of exasperation. She will scream, rant at Carla for a few minutes, and then angrily demand to know what’s in the box. Carla will tilt the box towards Mary, which triggers the spring-loaded arm that shoots the pie into her face.

  72. AUnicornNoOneAskedFor

    Part of me thinks: I hope that this is some elaborate way of setting Mary on edge and taking her enough out of her comfort zone so that Carla can SHOW HER that she’s being ridiculous.

    A much larger part of me thinks: Carla isn’t the fucking trans-spokeswoman and shouldn’t be burdened with having to teach and train bigots who don’t want to learn. PIE HER RIGHT IN THE FACE, GURL!

    1. Orion Fury

      I think I’ve see that second paragraph here before. In-universe or Comments, I don’t know.

    2. Cerberus

      That latter part, so much. And I think it’s the more likely.

      Carla is not the polite “hello, I’m your friendly neighborhood trans person” type that so many of us are forced to be in our daily lives. She’s the skater punk making jokes about the “down with cis” bus. And fuck yeah, do I love the lack of fucks she gives.

      Like, she doesn’t want to educate bigots. She wants to pie them in the face until they never again think they can get away with breaking her skates and calling her a boy.

      And it’s a large part of why I can’t ever get enough of Carla. Cause she’s a fearless badass who’s just 120% done with this transphobic shit.

      1. vivid

        definitely a wish fulfillment fantasy and i love it

        1. Cerberus

          Totes! It’s like, damn I’d love to give as few fucks as that.

        2. Clodia

          Characters who give no damns are my absolute weakness, especially when they’re still a good person too, as Mary is. I can only wish I could be as competent and no fuck giving as Carla.

        3. Clif

          Mary is a good person? Say what?

  73. Onion

    Welp, I’ve finally read up to the current page. My life could only be more complete if I knew the tune to 1812 Overture.

    1. Orion Fury

      No one’s life is complete without hearing it.

      1. Onion

        I UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING NOW

    2. Tacos

      Here you go then, 1812 Overture.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbxgYlcNxE8

  74. Indiana Bones

    it’s similar to, but not entirely like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWF2gDZU52U. For one thing, there’s fewer balloons

  75. Darwin

    Why is it always 1812 Overture, and not Powerhouse, by Raymond Scott (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9-7uLg-DZU&feature=player_detailpage#t=29s) ? That’s the song that always goes through my mind whenever there’s an elaborate Rube Goldberg-style prank machine.

    1. Orion Fury

      The background sounds like the “Jaws Theme“.

    2. PSadlon

      More people recognize the 1812 Overture and those who recognize Powerhouse know better to stick around to closely to see the results.

    3. hof1991

      Because it starts slow and quiet, explores a lot of themes and builds to an explosive climax? Ends triumphant, as will Carla. Like Bolero without the sex. By comparison, other music is just filler.

  76. EvergreenFir

    Mary’s in for a real Rube Goldberging

  77. mister gray

    this act needs to be a gif for the next comic 🙂

  78. Fwip

    If Mary’s smart, she’ll take whatever comes next and just walk away from it. ‘Cause at some point, one of them’s gonna have to be the mature one and move on, and it looks like it’s about to be Mary’s turn to make that decision.

    1. jaimehlers

      Not a chance in the world of her being smart enough to do that.

      What Mary will very likely do is go off on a rant at Carla, not suspecting that she might have a tape recorder on her.

      I don’t morally approve of blackmail, even if it’s to stop someone who is already using it, but Mary will have no room to complain since she’s the one who went there first.

      1. Fwip

        You are probably right.

        Who uses tape in this day and age, incidentally.

        1. Some1

          Peridot

        2. Fwip

          … Point.

      2. Schpoonman

        I don’t think Carla would ever resort to blackmail. Mary HAS to slink around and blackmail Ruth because IU would absolutely kick her out for transphobic slurs. She wants to be a monster, and she knows she can’t get away with it if the very top dogs know.

        Carla doesn’t have that restriction. If Mary goes off on her now and Carla records it, she takes that tape to a dean or Ruth’s boss, says “This is one of my floormates, help,” and Mary is gone. At that point, if Mary tries to bring up Ruth as one last “Fuck you,” at worst Ruth deals with someone investigating her while she deals with her ongoing sobriety. At best, they dismiss the whole thing and expel Mary there and then.

        Cerberus is right, Carla taking this into her hands, as opposed for the traditional tale of the transperson needing saving by cis allies, is the best way this story could have gone.

        1. thejeff

          I think that’s very optimistic. And I’m pretty sure, based on Carla’s comments to Ruth that she’d agree. That she wouldn’t expect the university to support her and kick Mary out.

          And the chances are pretty good she’d be right. Whatever the university’s official policies are.

        2. Spencer

          TBH I think it’s extremely likely that the school would, at worst, tell Mary to stop before going on Carla’s case and how she contributed to having hate speech thrown at her. I don’t think Carla would be comfortable having her folks sue the school into the ground, either.

          Carla’s cold, swift, and absolutely ridiculous revenge plan against Mary is probably the best justice she could get.

        3. Cerberus

          This. If IU is anything like most universities at the moment, the most that would likely happen is Mary would get a talking to and a warning about what are and aren’t acceptable ways to treat minority students.

          Universities talk a big game about being on the ball about things like trans discrimination, but during my experiences being a mentor for trans college kids, the reality on the ground is that the university frequently has a “la la la I can’t hear you” attitude towards trans reports of harassment and violence on campus and is especially silent on issues of students being awful in the dorms to trans students.

        4. Spencer

          Yeah, I fully believe that. Like, oh I’m sure the big university in the central US is going to side with the Queer lady who dares to be confrontational and *gasp* exist over the straight, cis, white fundamentalist Christian who “just wanted to be left alone.” I feel like they’d at least convey to Mary that she isn’t allowed to pull that shit, but I can’t see it being pushed to any significant degree, let alone Mary taking that lesson to heart.

          Heck, I don’t think Carla’s case would go any farther than “oh so why were you skating in the halls that’s rule breaking.”

  79. Matt

    So mary is an engineer I see

  80. Jesse

    https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/83/c7/b2/83c7b20bd6979da4090a235a66b86cff.jpg

  81. Megatron

    Carla is best fleshling.

  82. Falcon

    I don’t think I’ll ever like Carla, but she’s certainly earned my respect.

  83. Rycan

    This makes my day. Thank you.

  84. BenRG

    I was right! It is a Mousetrap ™!

  85. anonymsly

    You know what’ll really impress me? If the thingies attached to the poles explode or whatever in time with the cannon fire in the 1812.

    THAT is what will get me to permanently tip my cap to Carla. What precision!

  86. zmm

    Please let this be a pie

  87. doubleW

    The machine does nothing. The pie is in Carla’s hand

  88. DoggySpew

    It was at this moment Mary knew, she fucked up.

    1. Cerberus

      She dun goofed!

  89. NinjaNick

    Maybe Mary will get dumped by a bucket of blood al a Carrie.

    She’d be Bloody Mary. 😛

  90. David Alexander McDonald

    When Mary finally gets by/sets it off, and flees for her sanity, she finds Ok Go waiting for her. https://youtu.be/qybUFnY7Y8w

    And when she escapes *that* and gets outside…she finds Ok Go waiting for her. https://youtu.be/UJKythlXAIY

    Mary is never seen again.

    1. David Alexander McDonald

      That second Ok Go video is probably my favourite of theirs. Generally I can’t stand the music, but I love the videos.

  91. Willinwoods

    Aaand *1812 Ouverture swell/segue into Front 242s Headhunter* (Cudos to the OST composer/arranger!)

  92. Charles Phipps

    I hope this ends with many-many pies.

  93. Paul

    It has already been triggered. The first bowling ball is already falling.

    1. StClair

      It is too late for the billiards to vote.

  94. Gareth

    I know this is happening to Mary but I can’t help but be a little concerned.

  95. CJ

    Isn’t the big blue thing on the left a trampolin?
    So the bowling ball will fall, jump into the spoon on the right and then what?
    All those yellow thingies are mistifiying. Switches?

  96. vivid

    – suicide attempt warning –

    idk why but i find it hilarious that im going to the ER for overdose attempt right after checking doa for the update

    1. Cerberus

      *tight hugs* Hang in there. Remember that you are loved and you have people who want to see you stay safe and okay and I’m proud of you for making sure you get to the ER. Those dark thoughts are never fun to go through and I know how attempts can leave a person sheepish and drained, so just know that we’re all rooting for you and believe in you.

    2. Clodia

      [hugs] I hope you come back for many, many more updates. As someone who struggles with suicidal ideation, I sympathize and am sending you as many good thoughts that I can spare.

    3. Bagge

      *all the hugs*

    4. Valerie

      I hope everything turns out alright. Please take care of yourself. Get help if you need it. Love and light.

    5. Leorale

      Thank you for getting to the ER. I’m grateful that you have the unkillable part of you, the part that made sure that you got help. Good luck. <3

  97. DarkoNeko

    That box is for your head, Mary.

  98. Bagge

    Poor little bullied transgirl. Exhausted by Mary’s attack all she could do was slink away and…
    …figure out an overly convoluted revenge scheme
    …draw up schematics to a ridiculously complex rube goldberg machine
    …BUILD it
    …Spend the day whistling around in the corridors to catch Mary’s attention.
    …Move the machine in place
    …While whistling the 1812 Overture.

    The message this sends is that Carla
    – Is not afraid of Mary
    – Has not lost energy or agency over Mary
    – Does not take Mary serious enough as a threat that she is worth some SERIOUS counteraction
    – In fact has no fucks to give about Mary.

    While so far not hurting Mary AT ALL, and also making sure the entire floor knows about the conflict. If Mary tries to escalate after this she will look even more petty than she already does.

    The perfect revenge in other words.

    1. Charles Phipps

      Eh, if Mary thinks she can blackmail Ruth into being completely protected, Carla should do whatever she wants to her.

      1. Bagge

        She does! That’s the beauty of it. Carla doesn’t need to do anything worse than this to burst Mary’s bubble.

        It doesn’t have to be BAD only RIDICULOUS!

        1. Cerberus

          Yup, and it’s a beauteous derailing of the standard trans victim storyline, where it’s all about the cis allies overcoming their prejudice to finally see the trans person as a human and speak strongly one single time on their behalf and thus solve transphobia forever.

          Carla refused all that nonsense and refused Ruth’s attempts to smuggle her into her self-destructive narrative of “failing her”. And she’s doing everything in her power to gain her power back, put Mary on the back foot and teach her why there are consequences for fucking with her, that having Carla’s full attention is a bad idea, and makes sure everyone is more aware of the nastiness and open bigotry and abuse that’s up until now just been passively accepted by everyone else.

          Carla is fucking brilliant and I’m loving the sheer intelligence and exactness of her setup. She really thought deep on how best to send exactly the messages she wanted to send with zero non-Mary casualties.

        2. DeltaRiver

          I’m going to be honest, as someone who’s genderqueer and largely closeted, I’m afraid, especially when I read your comments. That’s not an insult, your comments are very well-reasoned, rational, and are very, very real. They reflect a hateful, destructive reality, one that I will have to go into at some point. So I’m scared.

        3. Cerberus

          I’m not going to snow you and say being trans is an easy hand to have been dealt, but I can say this with confidence. Being yourself ends up being worth it. The amount I’ve been able to fully engage with my life by not burying all my dysphoria into a box has been literally life-changing. And for all the shit, there will come a time when you’ll look back and be damn happy with how your life is shaped.

          I’m getting there now. I’ve got a job as an out trans teacher and am mentoring 5 trans kids making sure they don’t have the same tough road I did with school and home. I’ve got a girlfriend and an enbyfriend I love very much. And I have the piece of my family that fully accepts me for what I am and has provided real comfort in dark moments.

          And I will fight every day to make sure you don’t have to go through all the shit I did coming out and being me. Because you deserve to be you. Fully and completely and unapologetically. And for what it’s worth, I can tell you this. I have your back 100% of the way.

          *approprtiate gesture of comfort and support*

          You’ve got this!

        4. DeltaRiver

          Is it alright if I print this comment out or something so I have it to look at? That was beautifully put!

        5. Cerberus

          Please do!

        6. Leorale

          <3

    2. BrokenEye, The True False Prophet

      Problem is, I don’t think Mary cares about looking petty. Or is even aware of it, for that matter.

  99. No

    Why even be frightened by this stupidity I mean just knock one thing out of place and walk away… I think a questioning look would be a lot more appropriate.

    1. Cerberus

      Mary is very paranoid about everything and that makes her very stupid about things. And it’s why this trap is perfect for her. Mary will freak over a Rube Goldberg machine. Roz will shrug. And someone like Dina will get a closer look because Rube Goldberg machines are cool.

      I’m also suspecting like a lot of the board that this machine is just one big distraction for Carla to bean her with a pie to the face.

    2. Bicycle Bill

      You look out your door (triggering it as you do so) and see something like this.  You must first assess what it is, determine what it is going to do, acknowledge that it is a threat or danger to you, and then take an appropriate action.  But by then it’s too late.

  100. Chaucer59

    I have a genuine, newfound respect for Carla.

  101. Abel Undercity

    As long as everyone’s dropping appropriate music, I thought I’d throw out this theme-relevant piece from Professor Elemental: https://soundcloud.com/jmob/clockwork

    1. Clodia

      Excellent choice, Professor Elemental is fantastic.

  102. BrokenEye, The True False Prophet

    What does the device actually do?

    1. Bagge

      Awesome things, that’s what!!!

  103. TheHabbadasher

    Ok, it’s official, as official as can be, Carla is quite simply the best.

  104. Kaos

    Ah a storm petersen gagdet. I love these. so much fun in these. rock on!

    1. figureaddict

      Heath Robison was actually the first person to come up with the rudimentary idea, Rube Goldberg then made them much more elaborate and interesting, Storm P coppied Rube Goldberg.

      1. Kaos

        So i see. still i will call these Storm Petersen gadget/machines since it is a strong part of my culture. Not hard to guess where i am from right? xD
        H was indeed inspired by Rube Goldberg. he loved the idea to do a simple thing with silly complicated machines. he simply drawed so many.

  105. Hawke

    Yes, hi, I’m now officially completely in love with Carla.

    This can only end well.

    1. QWERTY

      Or Mary ends up in the hospital because she tried to climb out her window.

  106. Mr.Morningstar

    and thus it was said that karma, much like mary

    is a bongo

    1. Mr.Morningstar

      oh right i forgot that word is censored

      1. Shade

        And yet somehow, the censor makes it sound so much better.

  107. Deltron

    You know what would be amazing here, would be if there was a fire, and then Mary burned to death because Carla had trapped her inside her room

  108. elbowmac

    You know what would be amazing here, would be if there was a fire, and then Mary burned to death because Carla had trapped her inside her room

    1. Spencer

      That would be horrifying, Mary’s apparently decent enough parents would lose their daughter, Roz would lose her room and belongings, and Carla would be a murderer.

      1. Jerry

        Sooo… Where’s the problem?

        1. JT

          The part where Carla commits a major felony and likely ends up in a mens prison because this is Indiana.

        2. Cerberus

          Yeah, that part.

          Plus the whole, Mary doesn’t deserve to die even if she’s an awful piece of human sewage thing.

  109. Sam

    Uh oh

    These are the moments when the Coyote realized that was actually running on thin air.

  110. QWERTY

    Sweet,sweet revenge- Goldberg style.

    1. figureaddict

      Rube-Golderg that witch!

  111. Matthew Chapdelaine

    The trap is meaningless for a reason. Mary will get so flustered by this elaborate trap that she will go downstairs and be in such a stressed out huff that she will accidentally incriminate herself. Carla’s plan all along.

  112. a snow mous e

    WOOT RUBE GOLDBERG

  113. a snow mous e

    How the hell was that plank up there in the first place? What was holding it in place before Mary pulled the door?

    1. a snow mous e

      OK, I think I see how it worked… works best if the top of the plank has a slight slope…

  114. Sensei Le Roof

    It won’t work. The pink book (the one on a slant) is unsupported, so when the bowling ball hits it’ll just slide flat. After that, the heavier it is, the less likely it’ll roll onto the trampoline.

    1. a snow mous e

      It could be glued to the wood.

    2. a snow mous e

      Also, how did Mary even open the door if it was supporting the weight of a bowling ball as seems to be implied?

      1. Orion Fury

        Simple Machines are Magic!

  115. Harvey Janus

    I hope the machine actually does have a pay-off separate from whatever is in the box. OR conversely I hope the pay-off is Mary breaking down into a long screaming, barely coherent, tirade that draws everyone’s attention, just before Mary attempts physical violence, not realizing everyone is watching. At which point Carla’s pie in the face would be self-defense and one of the other residents would go get campus security.

    1. Regalli

      That’s my guess as well. Mary’s already escalated it to ranting and slurs, Carla appears to have set this up in the hall without majorly inconveniencing anyone (since it is a Saturday evening, presumably everyone who has somewhere to go is already out and everyone else is either inside chilling WITHOUT being bothered by minor noise or watching Carla’s whole installation with interest,) it will take very very little to set Mary off and most people in the hall will take Carla’s side easy.

    2. Commodore Jeep-Eep

      Considering that preview I saw on Dumblr of age, this war is only getting started.

  116. Regalli

    The best part of this by far is that from the looks of things, it’s an entirely useless art/engineering project designed to look impressive and intimidating but do nothing else whatsoever.

    Because the pie is, of course, in the box Carla’s holding.

  117. Zatar

    Oh man I needed this this morning. Reverse Damn you Willis.

    1. a snow mous e

      silliw uoy sselb

  118. a snow mous e

    So, if the bowling ball does roll onto the trampoline, then it will hit the stack of books, and then… wait, what’s keeping the hairdryer and flyswatter up?

    1. thejeff

      Seems to be attached to the stack of books.
      I think the theory is that the bowling ball bounces on the trampoline, hits the flyswatter which turns the hairdryer on, blowing the balloon into the needle, releasing something into the bowl at the end of the ramp/arm. Not sure what happens from there.

      1. anonymsly

        I think the popped balloon falls into the bowl and weights it down enough to push up the white bar(s) and release whatever thingies are attached to the poles.

        I’m currently wondering why the poles have those candlesticky trident tops.

        1. Dr. T

          It really just looks like a really complex way to light four torches, which is scary enough for Mary, but I don’t know how that really gets her unless the point is for it to “fail”, only for Carla to “apologize” to Mary for the failure and promise that her surprise will work the next time. I think it would be glorious if the point is to make Mary afraid to leave her room and force her to stay out of everyone’s business for fear of opening the door when the contraption works right the next time.

  119. Orion Fury

    And the insensitive, assholish comment got deleted. We don’t need that kind of stuff around here. Or anywhere else, for that matter. And now I shall leave the comment I was going to leave, but didn’t since I had checked out of here upon seeing said deleted comment.

    Fourth Panel: “What have I wrought?”

    1. Cerberus

      *hug*

      Yeah, that comment was really fucking gross.

  120. The Phantom's Belch

    *reads comments* Wait… Carla is trans? When was this revealed? (I know Mary hates all – except maybe Joyce as a fellow fundie Christian, and even then I have doubts because Mary is by nature a Hater – but I don’t recall Carla ever being outted as trans.)

    1. Cerberus

      Heh.

      But just in case it was serious and not a joke question, Carla canon stated she was trans in this strip:
      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/02-that-perfect-girl/antagonize/

      Though there have been multiple clues in her earlier appearances like her initial anger at seeing a dick drawn on her door.

      1. Orion Fury

        I periodically quote her lines in that strip.

  121. TeaTime

    The way the bowling ball is falling makes me think that it’ll just knock that book down rather than use it as a mini-ramp, meaning that if it goes on the trampoline it’ll probably just bounce uselessly? Cartoon logic will probably make it work right, however working right is with this contraption, but a large part of me wants the machine to fail horribly and then have Carla be like “*shrug* whelp, back tot he drawing board”

    1. Cerberus

      I’m pretty sure that book is nailed to those boards. I’m gonna guess it’s a last year book she couldn’t sell back to the student bookstore.

  122. Charles Phipps

    On a simpler note: Having actually had to deal with dorm life where it was hell with other residents due to the noise made, it’s a personal bugbear but I’d rather deal with a million Carlas than one Mary. Mary is an insidious sort of bigot who plays the victim but is constantly using every method, by hook or by crook (as the Prisoner would say) to destroy the queer folk on her floor. They have committed the crime of existing and anything they do is justification for attacking them.

  123. Jimmy

    I have both Pee Wee Herman’s Big Adventure and The Goonies in my head now.

    1. Janet

      Don’t forget Honey I Shrunk The Kids

  124. sliver

    Can I just be impressed that Carla can apparently whistle the entire 1812 Overture? Building the Rube Goldberg machine is just icing on the cake.

  125. Felgraf

    I deeply, deeply need to figure out how to make a Vibrating Gif of Carla’s face in the last panel with “1812 OVERTURE INTENSIFIES” plastered over it.

  126. THE GREETEST PAPYRUS

    Now if she was smart she would just close the door.

  127. Nezumi

    It looks to me like that wouldn’t actually do anything except look ominous.

  128. Charles Phipps

    Is it wrong that, since Willis says no one dies, I want Mary to leave the strip by leaving school?

    1. Nezumi

      I’m still pushing for him to make an exception just for her.

  129. Sir Robin

    What would happen if Roz opened the door?

    1. sjmcc13

      fun things 😉
      The trap may be Roz Proof, or have a disarm mechanism in case she opened the door.

  130. Raen

    Rube Goldberg vs. Napoleon.

  131. Dylan

    While there’s part of me that wants to see Mary humiliated by whatever this device does, I’m wondering if this isn’t more of a psychological lesson. “You know how unsafe you’re feeling right now? That’s how I feel. ALL. THE. TIME.”

  132. Jhon

    Yes! Yes! YES!
    The Sweet Engineering I’ve been hoping for!

    (engineer here, if you hadn’t guessed)

  133. halcyon1234

    Silly Carla. The 1812 Overture was used for “Perfection”, not “Mousetrap”. Back to school with you.

  134. Muchacho NL

    Why did I think about TIM (The Incredible Machine) rather than Mouse Trap?

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