294

Butter
Posted on November 2, 2023 by David M Willis

294 thoughts on “Butter”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “the” secret trans person

    only one, folks, sorry

    1. Ana Chronistic

      Carla: “and they’ll do it again!! …and by they I mean I“

      1. Harmony

        Joyce: “But that still leaves the question of who it is!”

    2. Doctor_Who

      Also, the “secret” trans person.

      Dorothy just said it was national news, but she won’t tell Joyce, so it’s a “secret”.

      1. Daibhid C

        Well,yes, in that Dorothy is keeping it secret from Joyce, and Joyce probably isn’t going to go straight out and google it now that Dorothy has said it’s up to the secret trans person if they want her to know, so from Joyce’s perspective, it’s a secret.

        If everybody in the world except you knows something, and they won’t tell you what it is, then we’re… that is, they’re keeping it secret. W… they’re just keeping it secret from you specifically.

        You know, hypothetically.

        1. Eric

          Nice save – a l m o s t let the cat out of the bag!

    3. PirateTawnee

      So startle them away. They’ll soon be back, and in greater numbers.

    4. Thag Simmons

      Carla would prefer to have “the” preface any description of her. The one on the skates, the tall redhead, the girl with the pies, and so on, not because she is the only one but because it implies being the definitive example.
      There may be other tall redheads, but she is the tall redhead.

      1. Leorale

        “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman…”
        Carla just wants to be the Irene Adler of the spoooky transladies.

      2. HeatherJean

        To Joyce, she’ll always be the redhead with the big plastic jugs.

    5. Mark

      One to a customer. Thank you for understanding.

    6. Cracked_Egg

      Well technically Carla doesn’t keep it secret

      1. Ana Chronistic

        and if she does, it was an oversight

  2. NGPZ

    feliz Dia de los Muertos to all who celebrate!!! ???️?

    1. Coatl

      Feliz Dia !!!

    2. Eagle Rock

      That would be me – Nov. 1 is my B-day

      1. Laura

        Happy birthday!

        ¡Felicidades!

        ¡Feliz cumpleaños, Eagle Rock!

      2. NGPZ

        ? ? ? ? ? ?

        Happy birthday to you!!!

        The world is a zoo!!!

        We wish you a great party!!!

        And some sweet presents too!!!

    3. Amós Batista

      Feliz Dia de los Muertos, or Dia de Finados over here!
      ??⚰️

    4. Daibhid C

      Today is my Mum’s birthday, which used to be an interesting coincidence, and is now kind of disconcerting, with the religious slot on the radio saying “All Souls’ Day is a day to remember those we have lost” and me thinking “Yeah, no kidding.”

      1. Laura

        *Sends a caring pat on the shoulder.*

        1. NGPZ

          Same ;_;

    5. Chris Phoenix

      I recently learned that a couple of days before Halloween is another Dia de los Muertos, but for pets. It used to be just for dogs, but now it’s for all pets. They put pet treats on the graves.

      Source: A person in the California Bay Area whom I complemented on her Dia de los Muertos decor.

  3. Sirksome

    I heard the secret trans person is really rich. Like a billionaire! I bet Carla knows her. All billionaires know each other.

    1. Doctor_Who

      If Carla gets wind of this, she’s going to have so much fun with it.

      She’ll just take Joyce through the list of billionaires and convince Joyce that like half of them are trans.

      Joyce: And did you know he used to be called Ellen Musk?

      Dorothy: Dammit, Carla.

      1. Wack'd

        Unfortunately cis people have ruined this by starting their own right-wing conspiracy theories about everyone with a net worth being a secret trans.

        1. Dark_T_Zeratul

          I think my favorite one that I saw was someone on Twitter claiming Margot Robbie was actually a man, to which someone else replied “we have seen this woman’s entire vagina.”

        2. Taffy

          Have we? I know she wears some little shorts in that one movie about the clown lady, but I didn’t know there was full frontal.

        3. tbf

          Wolf of Wall Street

        4. danimagoo

          A full frontal would not show the vagina. It would show the vulva. We have most certainly NOT seen Margot Robbie’s vagina, because that’s the inside part.

          Also, not for nothing, but trans women can, and do, have vaginas. Source: me. I’m a trans woman. I have a vagina.

        5. Anna

          Yeah, I was just thinking about that. To see _that_ we’d need, I don’t know, some gynecologist’s equipment and a very small camera.

          Always confused the hell out of me when people claimed some photo showed that.

        6. Mym

          According to the barbie movie, she has no genitals

        7. adam Black

          It’s possible ( maybe not in humans) but it would be a serious illness.
          Nothing most sane people want to see.

          Rule 34. But Hollywood ain’t showing that

        8. adam Black

          Is that how Barbie ends?

          ( I flagged you by mistake and I am sorry.

          Willis you need to update flagging
          with confirmations)

        9. Cloud

          Happened to me the other day as well

        10. Dean

          And also not have ‘Reply’ and ‘Flag’ be two tiny links right next to each other.

        11. DashWallkick

          Transvestigators are the lowest form of the terf because they’ve wrapped their petty, stupid little greivance against the world into a disease that has fully enveloped their brains. You could literally just tell them “they did porn and there’s a video of them giving birth, they are not trans” and they would go “But do we *KNOW* that though???” and spam more charts of bone structure in faces.

        12. Tan

          Everyone knows real cis women don’t have bones.

        13. Zero

          I think they’ve moved on to everyone being secret trans.

        14. Smallmoon

          the version I have heard is “Hollywood/The Elites mandates that you transition to become famous as an initiation ritual” so, for example, Elliot Page actually DEtransitioned, and every other currently-active movie star is Assigned Counter To Their Presentation at Birth.

        15. Needfuldoer

          Then wouldn’t they hold him in esteem for coming out?

          Oh right, doublethink. The lack of narrative continuity is a feature. Never mind!

        16. Daibhid C

          Terfs ruin everything.

          I used to think “how do weird kids’ characters work, biologically?” was a fun game of the “subjecting something to more analysis than it’s intended to bear is funny” variety, until a Twitter terf freaked out that there was a nonhuman character who had they/them pronouns, and started demanding that the creator explained how the entire species worked.

          (But, seriously, where did the baby Teletubbies in the newer episodes come from? AFAIK, there’s no suggestion the “grown up” Teletubbies are their parents, which would be kind of weird anyway, since the “grown up” Teletubbies aren’t really protrayed as actually being grown ups. Are they younger siblings? And does that mean there are actually grown up Teletubbies, who are presumably ten feet tall or something?)

        17. TulipKitten

          There are TERFs who like Steven Universe and that just makes me sad. Because the gems aren’t “biologically female” but look feminine and use she/her pronouns. And the creator is non-binary. And the last episode of the original series is a blatantly obvious transgender allegory.

        18. Chris Phoenix

          An enby person told me, in a conversation about trans stuff, that Steven Universe was the most important show on television.

        19. Adam Black

          Pretty certain I remember a YouTube horror about adult Teletubbies

  4. Kamino Neko

    Joyce Brown: Master Detective.

    1. Jamie

      The official title is “Love Sleuth”, remember? 😛

      1. Agentomega

        love sleuth

        Ok I’mma need Joyce doing the Chika Dance now…

      2. Wack'd

        Homoromantic Love Sleuth

        1. ValdVin

          “Homoromantic” modifies “love”, not “sleuth”. As of now, that is.

    2. David DeLaney

      Mister Detective

      –Dave, to get technical about it

  5. Chiatroll

    We’ll never find out who it is.

    1. Reltzik

      Unless that someone WANTS attention…

      1. butting

        But we’ll never even know that, what with Carla constantly jumping up and down in the way.

  6. shadowcell

    Dumbing of Age! Totally Gets Corrupted By the Spooky Transgenders

  7. Grimey

    Carla in Panel 4 is highly entertained ‘hah, neat’ energy.

    If only she knew.

    1. Raen

      I think she does know, and she’s having a go at Joyce’s expense.

  8. NGPZ

    > Alt Text,

    Wait Carla dyes?

    1. Sirksome

      Carla ain’t natty?

      1. NGPZ

        natty? pika pika?

        1. RassilonTDavros

          Short for “natural,” presumably, as in a “natural redhead.”

        2. Sirksome

          “Natty” is an abbreviation of “natural” and is used in the body building community in reference to whether the condition and appearance of physiques are naturally achieved or aided with the use steroid enhancement, but it can also be used generally to refer to any trait. In this case the alt text implies Carla is not a natural red head. She dyes. She ain’t natty.

        3. Jamie

          I swear to flying spaghetti monster that the best indicator of my age is that I keep learning new slang and also I’m grumpy about it because I have a headache right now.

        4. Laura

          I hope your head feels better soon!

          Does it help to drape a warm damp washcloth on your forehead? Sometimes that can help. Good luck!

        5. clif

          On the plus side, having to learn new slang means you aren’t dead yet.

        6. Psychie

          I actually would argue that that is *not* an indicator of age, because minus the headache, that’s how I’ve been reacting to new slang since I was like 10. Frankly, I get annoyed that certain older, obsolete slang terms are cooler or more useful than many modern ones. 23skiddoo will ALWAYS be better than GTFO, but nobody knows what I mean when I say it. And “going steady” is an incredibly useful phrase that hardly anyone has used since the 1950s despite MANY people having expressed a desire for a simple phrase to sum up the classic “define the relationship” conversation. It’s SO much simpler to just ask “do you want to go steady?” than it is to be all like “so, we’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks now, I haven’t been really seeing anybody else, and I really like you, so do you wanna, like, be my exclusive significant other?”

          For the record, I am in my 20s.

        7. StClair

          I remember when “huck” occupied roughly the same space that “yeet” now does.

        8. Chris Phoenix

          Heh, I know that one – and yet “huck a loogie” somehow seems very different than “yeet a loogie”

        9. David DeLaney

          huh. i always heard it as ‘hock a loogie’

          –Dave, cushlamochree!

        10. khn0

          In this context, should we really use slang that is already in used for other type of hairs? Natty=having dreadlocks in jamaican creole.

        11. zee

          Eh, patois is basically it’s own language. I wouldn’t really call the vocabulary slang. Different languages share words with different meanings

        12. milu

          Wait how does the fact that you are learning new slang say anything about your age

        13. Nipo

          Oh yeah. Is that “natty” the same word they use when singing “Natty Dread”?

          Talk about educational.

        14. Daibhid C

          If you mean “natty” for “natural hair” then no. Further to khn0’s point above, I was inspired to do some research, suspecting the two terms might be related, and it seems the Creole word actually derives from “knotty”.

        15. Mark

          OK, but before that it meant carefully and stylishly, usually referring to dress, which is why some of us gave you a confused look. Carla is always well turned out.

        16. Bibliholic93

          khn0 are you suggesting the english language makes sense? :p

          Ate eight wait weight, all pronounced differently than height and mostly spelled differently than hate XD the mostly makes it worse tbh.

          Words in a living language happen. This natty already sounds like AAVE, and in fact referencing hair or anything else natural seems a logical step actually. As opposed to people “buying the farm” as in needing to buy a grave, or “being a monday night quarterback” as in questioning choices after the fact.

        17. khn0

          No, I’m not saying it’s consistent (different from making sense) nor phonetically nor semantically.

          Just to me, it’d feel a bit insensitive to form a new word and make its use erase the former one when it comes from a community that already struggles to get recognition of its languages. In that aspect, if language even exists, even “patois” -which is derogatory in french while creole ceased to be derogatory after decades of Matinik, Gwada, Haiti born academics, poets and philosopher updating it- comes from the unification of a group where a majority founds the rules and a minority gets its own practices overruled.

          So english language is not a thing, hence can’t make sense, hence has social practices as ever evoluting basis, and like all social constructs we have to make sense out of it and, likely in this case, try to keep in mind the self designation of a religious aspect that may be a basis of a post-colonial identity, over some marketing target slang (even if ofc it can always be a subversion led by people who rightfully comprehend the subtext, but I somehow doubt of that).

          tl;dr: I’m not fun at parties.

        18. Chris Phoenix

          If “natty” for natural originated in bodybuilding (as comments above state), then it’s coincidence, not appropriation. I really can’t see that it’s disrespectful to use a word in one of its original senses that’s unrelated to its other origin.

          It may be confusing. And it may seem disrespectful to someone who only knows the other origin. But I don’t think we can call someone disrespectful for using a word with a 100% legitimate original meaning, just because it happens to be the same spelling as another word.

          If someone feels disrespected by the use of a word like this, I’d hope they would have at least enough chill to learn the reason it was being used, and would then decide to live and let live rather than trying to eradicate part of someone else’s language.

        19. khn0

          I was really angry after reading your comment.

          First some people (not you) implies I don’t know how languages works. Fine, it’s my field of work, albeit not in english, and I spent several years studying how it works, included how it is socially used in struggles between groups, and how words themselves struggle to be kept alive and the idea they represent.

          Whatever, this is internet, everyone is an expert (and it’s maybe even true).

          Then you go and accuse me (indirectly with “if someone”, so the hypothetic target isn’t there but I still get how unchill *I* am for dining it disrectful, nicely done) of cancelling when I am trying to educate. I was never saying the OP is bad for employing it – I’ve read them enough to know they wouldn’t be OK with whitewashing. I was giving the word a context *when it regard hairs* (so in a context that even differs from the use of community of bodybuilding) to make observe it’s related to rasta religion, and that designing then the white hair as natural (for her I get it’s implied) wouldn’t be in better taste, a statement I made it with introductory words expressing subjectivity AND a modal verb. I may not be a native speaker, but what the hell.

          So now I’m mad, and I even had to calm down in order to justify myself of something I didn’t do so I’m even angrier. Good job internet. Good job english as a global language and domination tool. You’ve won: now I will only post in esperanto or baleybelen.

      2. Smallmoon

        I don’t find it that surprising mean, she’s made more involved alterations to her body in the interest of achieving peak Herself.

        1. morleuca

          Perfection is a process, not an end result.

    2. Cattleprod

      Yeah, as I recall she doesn’t need glasses either. The glasses and red hair are to make her look more like Ultra Car.

      1. NGPZ

        Oh yeah! Thus why she clashed with Walky that one time…

      2. Cattleprod

        And now I’m imagining a sitcom misunderstanding where someone thinks she’s trying to emulate Ruth, they’re already the two characters I’m most likely to confuse for each other.

    3. True Survivor

      I’m more concerned that she is “despectacled” – which I guess means her glasses are either for show (or more disturbingly) she has another pair of glasses which she has removed. Did she used to wear two pairs of glasses on top of each other? Does she have another secret pair of eyes? Is Carla an X-man (X-womans? Having female members of the x-men always confused me when it comes to grammar)?

      1. Kimi

        Could also be that she needed glasses when she was older. I didn’t start needing glasses until 5th grade. Was very cranky about having to get them and my eyes have only slowly gotten worse.

      2. Thag Simmons

        it was evidently a typo

      3. Nipo

        My logic is that “man” means actually “human”, “woman” means “female human” specifically, and male humans don’t need a specific word anymore.. But of course I am not a native speaker!

        1. Regret

          Before 1300 or so, male humans were called wer. Which is where werewolf got its were from.

        2. Thag Simmons

          With the words “Man, Woman, Human” having the unmodified version refer to only a single sex genuinely makes me angry. “Man” should obviously be unisex and there should be some other word to refer to male humans.

    4. RassilonTDavros

      Yeah, she has blonde* hair as a child in one of the Patreon strips. Presumably she dyes it red to better resemble Ultra Car.

      *it looks light blue because it’s a flashback, but the color character model clearly shows that it’s blonde.

      1. Vanessa

        Twitter is apparently broken again

        1. RassilonTDavros

          Here’s a third-party front-end, for as long as it holds out.

        2. clif

          Xtwitter.

        3. Chris Phoenix

          xitter, pronounced “sh!tter”

      2. NGPZ

        oh yeah i forgot about that thanx

      3. HueSatLight

        also on tumblr

    5. Nono

      That shade of red is, I imagine, fairly rare as a natural hair colour.

      1. Ray Radlein

        Significantly rarer than transgender individuals, in fact, IIRC.

      2. Thag Simmons

        Yeah it’s not common. Also if you have hair that’s naturally that colour you will get consistently complimented in public by people who love your hair no matter how badly you’re styling it

      3. Weatherheight

        Went to Junior High School & High School with a young woman whose hair was just that color. She most definitely did not dye – sat behind her quite often in class (assigned seating – bleh) and her roots *never* changed.

        That said, she *was* the only woman I’ve ever known with the shade that *didn’t* have some augmentation along the way. So yeah, very fair point from my experience.

        She was a pretty good person too. 😀

    6. Thag Simmons

      Yeah, although I don’t know if it’s been called out in the comic proper before

    7. Carla's #2 Fan

      Carla successfully pulled what I did in college! I dyed my hair red from 9th grade till a few years after college (it’s teal now). Once I entered college, only one person there had seen me before I started dying it, everyone else assumed it was natural.

    8. ValdVin

      Willis has mentioned this isn’t her natural hair color but I thought that that meant darker.

      1. Chris Phoenix

        You Want It Darker – IMO one of the timelessly great songs

    9. David DeLaney

      yeah, but then she uses the resurrection tubes

      –Dave, then has to go through this all OVER again

  9. RassilonTDavros

    Heh

    Heh heh heh HA HA HA

    1. RassilonTDavros

      I have not laughed this hard in a while.

  10. Wraithy2773

    Cue “Naked Gun Facepalm” scene…

  11. Amós Batista

    Lock the door, to keep the cliffhanger going on.

  12. Decidedly Orthogonal

    Alt… But Carla has glasses? Is this just one of her “rules don’t apply to me” things?

    1. Decidedly Orthogonal

      n.b. at the time of comment, it says:

      “carla attends the tall, despectacled blonde-who-dyes convention”

      1. Wraithy2773

        I think its just the inverse of her comment in panel 2.

  13. Taffy

    She probably doesn’t know. Why would she?

    1. HueSatLight

      She doesn’t seem like the “read news magazines” type to me.

      1. David DeLaney

        you don’t have to read them
        when you’re in them
        myanmar shave

        –Dave, no, not ‘malaya’

  14. ANeM

    So Carla being Carla and having a one track mind, how do you think she’s going to use half a stick of butter to win over Charlie?

    1. Angel

      shes’ gonna butter her up 8D;

      1. Dday

        *rimshot*

    2. Laura

      Bake brownies!

    3. Reltzik

      Carla no.

      I don’t know what I’m saying Carla no to, but definitely Carla no oh dammit she’s making a pie isn’t she.

      1. David DeLaney

        you don’t have to actually say it
        you could just make a sign to hold up

        –Dave, cue the Hallelujah Chorus monks

    4. Proxiehunter

      Cannibutter.

      1. NGPZ

        *plays “Psychedelic” by Bensound on hacked muzak*

    5. Null Set

      The pies gotta come from somewhere

  15. DarkoNeko

    So carla was original blond ? 😮

    1. Decidedly Orthogonal

      It also says DEspectacled, so I’ve no idea what’s going on there. ?

      1. morleuca

        Contact lenses? Lasix? Prk?

        1. Decidedly Orthogonal

          Typo. ? Though whether it was me or the alt text, I’ll never tell.

  16. John Campbell

    Carla doesn’t know about the secret trans person. She only knows about the incredibly out trans person.

    1. StClair

      see also Becky and closeted lesbians.

  17. DarkoNeko

    also Carla, do I want to know why you need butter to bring away from the floor’s only kitchen/official eating area ? 😀

    1. HeatherJean

      Microwaved popcorn?

    2. Laura

      …To grease the wheels of her roller skates, OF COURSE!

      1. Laura

        *axles

    3. Bicycle Bill

      At the U-Wisconsin branch where I used to work, most students had a microwave in their rooms, and crockpots and the occasional hotplate could also be found.  I’m just wondering how students keep their foodstuffs separate and secure if that refrigerator in the rear is the only thing they have to keep cold things (like butter) cold.

  18. ian livs

    Okay, but penultimate panel Carla reacts exactly how I and most of my trans friends would react to that statement, lol

  19. Raen

    Wait, Carla’s blonde?

    1. clif

      Secretly blond. So don’t tell anyone.

  20. Nono

    Not a secret trans person, Joyce. Like… you can google this. It was big news.

    1. HueSatLight

      “who is a secret trans” probably going to return a transvestigation instructible.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Or the beginning of an Internet rabbit hole full of scum and villainy.

        1. Mark

          A virtual Mos Eisley?

    2. thejeff

      But only by googling everyone she knows. From what Dorothy said, it’s not even clear the secret trans person is on their floor. Could be someone she knows from a class or something.

      1. HueSatLight

        “Robin DeSanto secret trans” is probably going to return some pages. you know, Robin is probably the best person Joyce could ask too personal questions to.

  21. Qube

    I doubt carla knows much

    1. Raen

      I have to think, ultimately she’s going to say something along the lines of “what do you mean you didn’t know?!”

  22. Rikunda

    Carla looks amazing today.

    1. DailyBrad

      Yeah, she is always cute, but this another really good look for her.

      1. Laura

        As in, rockin’ a rockin’ bod! Out, loud, and proud. 😀

        1. Laura

          Oops, sorry! Wrong avvy for that comment!

        2. Laura

          (Joyce knows what I’m talking about.)

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-13/02-turning-saints-into-the-sea/bigger-2/

    2. Needfuldoer

      Add an unbuttoned plaid button-down and she’d be unstoppable.

  23. TDKnave

    Anyone else alarmed by what Carla could possibly need butter for?

    1. Tan

      Alarmed, no. Anticipatorily curious, yes.

    2. UrsulaDavina

      A Pie.

    3. DailyBrad

      Grilled cheese, maybe? Though her taking it with her out of this area is a bit odder. Uhh, maybe she already has food in her room and just wants to put butter on it?

      1. UrsulaDavina

        Perhaps popcorn.

        1. Wack'd

          perhaps to get supplies

    4. Taffy

      She’s getting ready to perform oral sex, but she’s not very familiar with the process.

      1. clif

        When it comes to oral sex using butter, I too am unfamiliar with the process.

        It sounds complex. Yotomoe would probably have to illustrate the process before I could comprehend it.

    5. milu

      Space cookies. Do americans call them space cookies? Or is that one of those fake loanwords

      1. BarerMender

        This American has never heard of space cookies. Space ham, yes. Space cookies, no.

      2. HueSatLight

        pot cookies? It’s been a long time since I hung out with stoners, but when I did most baked goods with pot in them were “pot …”
        except pie.

        1. milu

          right pot cookies. so it is some weird fake french anglicism meant to sound ???cool?????

        2. Laura

          Dutch, too.

        3. HueSatLight

          how gauche. 😉

        4. milu

          Or as we say in france: c’est cringe 😉

        5. NGPZ

          In the US we sometimes call cannabis candies space gummies LOL

          But according to bonus strips, Carla ain’t gonna share weed with anyone on account of how expensive it is.

          We just have to wait and see if that includes Charlie I guess hehehe.

          (but even if it is pot cookies she probably wouldn’t be baking it in the dorm on account of the smell, unless of course she just infusing a microdoses via cannabis butter into a simple glaze or something…)

        6. Zero

          If she was baking anything she’d be staying in the kitchen, not collecting butter and then leaving.

        7. NGPZ

          Her single room has it’s own kitchenette, no?

      3. Bittersweet

        In the US, I’ve only heard Space to mean a pot baked good that had like shroom’ icing or some shroom component to it. And that’s only because I watched a thing on Amsterdam, so idek if they’d actually be called that here lol.

    6. Raen

      I think I’m going to go with Occam on this one and say “bread.”

    7. Zero

      An excuse to enter the kitchen after overhearing Dorothy and Joyce.

    8. Vulcanodon

      Mac ‘n cheese?

    9. HueSatLight

      She’s going on a quest for Booster to Baba Yaga’s hut, and needs the butter to grease the gate.

    10. Mturtle7

      Intrigued more than alarmed, but yes.

      Initially, I just assumed it was for a weird gadget and/or prank, but @HueSatLught’s comment has reminded me that Carla’s arc in this storyline is all about her totally-not-a-courtship of Charlie, Booster’s sister. So now I’m guessing pie. …Which she’s somehow not making in the kitchen? Hm. Definitely has to be SOMETHING Charlie-related, though.

      1. David DeLaney

        i am alarmed at the number of commenters who are NOT immediately saying “oh, if it’s Carla, it’s gotta be a pie”

        –Dave, i mean, we haven’t even GOTTEN to the creampies part of the conversation, and there’s only so much time, people

  24. Tan

    Carla got what she wanted, and also learned that she was the topic of discussion unprompted, and so also got what she wanted.

    Today has been a good day for Carla.

  25. Suet

    *flippant* Jocelyn? Her saga was on national news?

    Would both conventions even have a sizeable following?

  26. UrsulaDavina

    As long as Carla is center of everyone’s attention Carla is happy.

  27. Yotomoe

    Carla’s pretty hot.

    1. NGPZ

      RIGHT?

      1. Mark

        RIGHT!

    2. Mturtle7

      Your statement is axiomatic, of course!

      Though also, I did kinda notice she’s in a more revealing outfit here than usual. Guns out, cleavage showing, the works. Which obviously helps make the punchline here that much funnier!

  28. Pun-ter the Harharharbarian

    I was gonna make the joke “Carla isn’t trans, she’s transformer!”, hyperlink-referencing her being Ultra Car in Shortpacked!, but to my shock, when looking up Ultra Car on the Shortpacked! website there weren’t even any one-offs of Ultra Car as a transformer to be found. If I’m wrong and it was just my laziness that made me fail the Investigation check, I welcome being proven incorrect.

    1. David DeLaney

      oh NOW you’ve invoked Rule 34

      –Dave, and we’re on the internet so it goes meta immediately

  29. sdrainbow

    Huh.

    This really should trigger my “ugh, fuck off” senses, but this one comes off more as “this is my bit”. Maybe I’m growing. Maybe Carla is.

    Also the second to last panel is very cute.

  30. Kyrik Michalowski

    Oh Dorothy, your restraint is to be envied.

    Carla, your everything is to be envied, as it should be.

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      Not bad, but not Sal.

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        Not Sal.

        1. Kyrik Michalowski

          Not Sal, but Sal inspired.

        2. Kyrik Michalowski

          No.

        3. Kyrik Michalowski

          No, but better than Asher.

        4. Kyrik Michalowski

          Last try tonight.

        5. Kyrik Michalowski

          It ends as it began.

        6. NGPZ

          What are the odds?

          ~19.4% after 6 rolls.

      2. milu

        I have perpetrated further fansmut: behold! (Nsfw~)

        (previous episode, i guess)

        1. milu

          That was not meant to go here. Hey Kyrik

        2. Kyrik Michalowski

          Hello, and I’m happy it did. I was about to close my browser, but now I didn’t miss it.

        3. Kyrik Michalowski

          I approve of all of this.

        4. NGPZ

          They just keep coming… ??

          *plays “Awaken (Pillar Men Theme) EPIC Version” by Samuel Kim on hacked muzak*

  31. Call Me Deacon Blues

    Wait, Carla is trans?! But isn’t she rich? I’m pretty sure it’s been established that she was rich, and as we all know, a character can’t be more than one thing.

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      So Mary can’t be both a bongo and a conga? We have to pick one or the other?

      1. TulipKitten

        I wonder if you said bongo and conga or bongo and congo.

        1. TulipKitten

          ^ well you know which order I made them

  32. HueSatLight

    Her hair’s down. She wears it both up and down, but she was wearing it up talking to Booster. Is she going to use actual butter for hair butter? That can be the only logical conclusion.

  33. milu

    hrm hrm take two.
    …behold! nsfw!

    1. NGPZ

      At this rate you will certainly cause people here to fail No Nut November, that’s for sure! XD

      1. milu

        Legal disclaimer: the author will not be held responsible for any nutting being performed by, with, upon or around the viewer.

    2. milu

      ugh i bungled the link this time?!

      anyway i’m reuploading it all in one post so here it is and this is 100% definitely probably my last comment tonight ugh blegh

      behold, or whatever

      1. Yotomoe

        Haha that’s how Malaya would say it.
        ALSO NICE. Dig the sunglasses haha

        1. milu

          Hehe. Thank you sensei ?

      2. Amós Batista

        great profanity, I loved it

        1. milu

          thanks! um, profanity? where
          (did i do a profanity without realizing, entirely possible)

        2. Li

          I think as in a synonym for obscenity which itself can be used to mean pornography ?

  34. Segnosaur

    I wonder if it has started to cross Dorothy’s mind… “Should I continue to respect Carla’s privacy or should I let Joyce know so she doesn’t accidentally say something offensive” (Not that Joyce would do so out of malice, but its a new experience for her to deal with.)

    1. Bash

      I think she is more concerned that joyce would say something well-meaning but offensive if she DID know it was Carla.

    2. Amelie Wikström

      If Dorothy tells her, she’ll be the one who enabled whatever happens next. That’s probably a bigger concern than privacy at this point. “It was national news” but “I’m not gonna tell you if you act this weird.”

  35. milu

    I heard there was a secret trans
    That david made and it pleased the crowd
    But joyce can’t really read the comments can she

    1. Laura

      Rock on!

      “And even though it posted wrong,
      You’ll stand right there, Prez, with heart in song,
      and nothing on, because that’s how Joyce drew ya…”

      1. StClair

        I hate you both now.

        (not really)

      2. milu

        Haha <3

    2. David DeLaney

      *pleased the fans

      –Dave, I hate my-self fo-or lo-ving this

  36. Jamie

    Who was the future-seeing person who anticipated Carla coming in for some instant ramen? You should win something.

  37. PirateTawnee

    I want to make a comment about there being no spooooky transgenders around, what with this being November now, but that makes no sense in comic time, and I have no idea what day it is on campus either.

  38. fireprincesslily

    Carla is an inspiration

  39. milu

    They win one (1) basking in Carla’s presence!

    1. milu

      Goddammit website/phone/brain
      Ok back to sleep with me

  40. Alongcameaspider

    I wonder if Joyce came to her for help figuring out who the secret transgender is would Carla play along for amusement or just instantly tell Joyce it’s her

    Given it was a huge news story is probably doesn’t even occur to Carla someone might not know she’s trans

    1. Thag Simmons

      Assuming Carla did not instinctively reveal it was her before recognizing the opportunity for hijinks she’d probably do some sort of bit, although overt transphobia does seem to be something that does knock Carla off her game a bit

    2. Dean

      Carla would probably sit down with Joyce and a list to ‘help’ her work out who it is.

  41. AbacusWizard

    Shortpacked, Book 17: Your Short Bespectacled Blonde Convention About Whatever

  42. BBCC

    Yeah, I think Carla might have a hunch or two who it is.

    1. BBCC

      Uh uh. Not doing that.

  43. Azu

    Carla dyes her hair?

    1. Azu

      ^ he said, suddenly acquiring a Carla profile pic lol

  44. Freezer

    I was under the impression that Carla’s trans status was an open secret: Not everyone knows, but she won’t bother to hide it, if one inquires directly. Am I incorrect in this?

    1. miz

      that is literally the joke in this subplot, yes.

    2. Bash

      I’d say that’s a good reading on it, yeah. But Joyce doesn’t know and Dorothy thinks she would be weird about it, so she doesn’t want to say anything.

    3. C.T. Phipps

      It’s not even an open secret because it’s not a secret.

    4. Mturtle7

      I get the impression that Dorothy is solely holding back the information because she (somewhat justifiably) feels like it would be gauche to tell someone who doesn’t already know about Carla’s queer status. And this is absolutely going to end up biting her in the ass at some point.

  45. HueSatLight

    Dorothy handling Carla walking in exceptionally smooth.

  46. TheCozburger

    Oh Joyce sweety honey no…

  47. Needfuldoer

    She absolutely knows, Joyce.

  48. adam Black

    Damnit I hate accidentally flagging ppl.

    Update please.

    Now I have swollen joints and guilt.

    Maybe everyone can FLAG my comment to get seen. I deserve it

    1. milu

      I flagged you, hope this helps <3
      (Ps take it easy flagging doesn't really do anything lol)

      1. Adam Black

        Thanks. I probably feel guilty for procrastinating important stuff, deadlines so I have to accept trivial punishment where I find it

    2. Needfuldoer

      It takes something like five separate devices flagging a post to have any effect.

      Then all that happens is the post gets bumped into a moderation queue, and if it’s benign Willis will approve it. Then it reappears exactly where it was, but the Flag link will be un-clickable text that says “Moderated” so the post can’t get flagged again.

      1. Adam Black

        I guess I need 3 more

    3. Mym

      I accidentally flag people all the time, fat thumbs and all. It’s never taken a comment down, dw

  49. The Jighole Man

    “secret”
    my concern for joyce grows by the day

  50. Da Boy

    Dotty’s urge to dope slap Joyce as her Straight Man. rises XD

  51. morleuca

    It is multiversally impossible for me to love today’s strip more.

  52. Chris

    Yep, saw this one coming a mile away. Mebbe two. Through the snow. Uphill both ways. yada yada… oh wait, that’s sex, never mind, these aren’t the droids you seek.

  53. davidbreslin101

    Well, that went about 3000% better than it had any right to.

  54. Lamppost

    Carla looks great!

    1. J.Gawain

      I agree! I think she looks especially great in panel 4!

  55. Alan in DC

    Dorothy: “Is there a melon baller in one of the kitchen drawers?”
    Joyce: “Here, I found one. What do you need it for?”
    Dorothy: “To scoop my eyeballs back in.” (see the fifth frame)

  56. Hof1991

    That’s nearly a triangle grin on Carla.

  57. bcb

    No, Carla only knows about the non-secret trans person. The one who knows about the secret trans person is Jocelyn. And Ethan, he knows too.

  58. Heavensrun

    Waitaminnit.

    Carla’s a BLONDE???

  59. Mr. Random

    Honest non-committal answer:
    Carla barely pays attention to anyone beyond herself.

  60. Caro

    i keep forgetting carla’s blonde

    1. NGPZ

      same here heh 😮

  61. milu

    More to the point: do you think if i asked her Carla would not pounce on the prime trolling possibilities this would afford her

  62. Nothri

    ::laugh track plays, followed by clapping and the dumbing of age theme song as the credits roll::

  63. DashWallkick

    Carla lookin’ good lately, I wonder if this is related to that “does Carla look bigger to you?” comment Joyce had earlier. If she’s so oblivious she sees Carla developing in her too-late second puberty and goes “huh, that’s weird” and never thinks about it.

    1. Arian

      When did Carla transition? Do we know she had a “first” puberty? What’s the good of being a billionaire if you can’t access puberty blockers?

  64. Scolopendra

    I love it when this happens to me personally. I’m more shocked that Carla is BLONDE WTF

  65. Hilzabub

    If nothing else, at least we got another few panels with Carla.

    She really needs her own spin-off strip or something.

    1. Mym

      Idk if the world could handle that. Too beautiful.

  66. Kaiyalai

    Joyce is adorable.

    Also I really wish I could see her sister taking a more central role in the comic… but that would be a different comic. (Which I would also read for over a decade.)

  67. HoopsieDaisy

    Is this the friendliest Carla’s ever been? Is Carla being legitimately half-charming here?

    1. HueSatLight

      She’s frequently friendly, behind a layer of being obnoxious. For example, she loaned Sarah the use of a car to take her sister back to Muncie, “as a prank”. Her obnoxiousness has been emphasized since the timeskip, possibly for narrative purposes.

    2. Schpoonman

      This may be the most sincere Carla’s ever been in the comic. Even more than when she hit Mary with a pie.

  68. Daniel M Ball

    heheheh… Carla, do a victory lap.

  69. MiaFillene

    I fell in love with a wonderful, beautiful transgender lady. And I was too damn stupid to work out my feelings for her before she moved away. I can’t just go after her, much as my heart wants. It’s painful, and it sucks royally. But there it is. Don’t ever let the one you love get away from you, okay?

    1. Mym

      Why can’t you go after her? Unless you never got her name or number, I suppose….

    2. TulipKitten

      Dammit, Mia. Go after her! Figure out the details later.

    3. Mark

      Truer words were never spoken.

  70. Mym

    Alright, at least this one made me laugh.

  71. thumb

    hijinks ensue

  72. Yeet

    man y’know joyce was totally staring at carla’s boobs in that one strip talking about her getting “bigger” so maybe she has been corrupted

  73. Ed Rhodes

    I showed this trip to my kid, and he did a perfect “Obi-wan Kenobi” and said; “Of course I know her… she’s me!”

  74. Opus the Poet

    If you transition early enough the only way they know is if you tell them.

  75. Diane

    I just noticed how much mac and cheese Joyce has left and I am insulted. I’m stealing the bowl and eating the rest myself, cooties be damned. (And gravitar roulette cause I’m not fond of mafia boy)

  76. JA

    Carla needs to leave her hair down more. Normally I’m all for ponytails, but this look really works for her.

  77. Vukodlak

    Never thought Captain Obvious would be so needed.

  78. Arian

    In Australia, butter comes in 250 gram blocks. I have heard the expression “stick of butter” before, but this is the first time I’ve seen one.

  79. Adept

    Carla’s growing on me. She must be in a good mood.

  80. Hinoron

    Is Joyce considered “blonde”? Her hair is the colour of a glass of chocolate milk.

  81. Kazuma Taichi

    TIL that Carla isn’t a natural redhead

  82. Felian

    Joyce, STOP.
    There is literally no need for you to know who’s trans and who isn’t. Until you are at the point where knowing does not make you treat them differently, you don’t really need to know. Just treat everyone as people and don’t assume things like their gender about them.

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