308

Wall
Posted on February 23, 2015 by David M Willis

308 thoughts on “Wall”

  1. J Kelly

    Getting sick of your shit….

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Sal’s just jelly…

      I cannot believe I used that word.

      1. JustCheetoDust

        Yeah, I would’ve used a different adverb myself.

        1. Doctor_Who

          Sal’s just marmalade? Sal’s just preserves? Wait, I know.

          Sal’s just JaAm!

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          Over here in Oz, jelly is what we call gelatine/Jell-O so when I first heard about Americans and their obsession with peanut and jelly sandwiches, I thought “What in the heck?”

        3. 世界を食べるメガン

          That actually sound kinda yummy…assuming Jell-O is the same thing here and there…

        4. Plasma Mongoose

          By Jell-O, I mean those edible wobbly translucent blobs which seem to scare aliens for some reason.

        5. 世界を食べるメガン

          Yup sounds awesome ^_^

        6. Plasma Mongoose

          Meghan eats world?

        7. 世界を食べるメガン

          Oh hah. Google translate is total shite.
          It’s Meghan the World Eater like I usually have. (Well technically it’s Meghan who eats the world but whatever.)
          I find a lot of online forums won’t accept Japanese characters so I thought I’d see if I couldn’t here. I was pleasantly surprised.
          I’ll have it back in English tomorrow though.

        8. Disloyal Subject

          “By Jell-O, I mean those edible wobbly translucent blobs which seem to scare aliens for some reason.”
          Evidence that aliens are sane, the weaklings. Bovines are “fucking monstrous 500kg slabs of muscle and fat, capable of crushing a man to death. We made an industry of killing , eating, and using their bodily remains.” Jell-O = gelatin = hooves. Yum yum. That, and it just looks weird.

        9. Deanatay

          Our ancestors would approve. When they killed a beast, they used EVERY part of it for something – nothing went to waste. Would you rather we threw away the bones, or made something tasty out of them?

        10. Jen

          I gotta join iforgetwhatiputhere and scoff at Crazy Dina’s use of the term “most important”, too. There’s a lot of other people who post regularly and add interesting conversation to the mix (I’m not saying I should be included in that list, I don’t post nearly enough and my posts aren’t that great). Off the top of my head, Doctor Who is quite the frequent poster and there are a bunch of other peeps I now I’m forgetting currently because I’m still groggy and not quite awake yet. So, I add a scoff as well.

          *scoff 😉

          (and just to be clear, this is meant in a gentle teasing manner, I’m not actually upset by this at all. I just found it a funny choice of words. 🙂 )

        11. Screwball

          By Jell-O, I mean those edible wobbly translucent blobs which seem to scare aliens for some reason..

          You mean this freaky stuff? It’s just not natural, it’s solid, yet it moves like it’s fluid, but it’s not! Daniel the Human’s tried explaining it to me & tried getting to try it, but it just does not compute with me well…

        12. Crazy Dina

          Hi. This is the first time I’ve seen you in this comic, and the characters in your name are not on my keyboard. What would you like me to call you?

          The quick translation I did on your name suggests that your name is “Megan to eat the world” in Japanese. Is Megan fine?

        13. 世界を食べるメガン

          The characters in my name aren’t on my keyboard either 😛

        14. 世界を食べるメガン

          Also you and I have talked before we had a conversation about you planting thoughts in my mind while I slept…unless you’re an impostor!

        15. Crazy Dina

          Quick introduction to the important peeps. Willis hasn’t posted yet, so good luck with that. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn’t.

          There’s Jen Aside who usually gets first comment. It’s her specialty, I guess.

          There’s Plasma Mongoose, who usually has a new gravitar every day. Her name currently points to her gravitars by day since she started actually logging them.

          There’s Screwball. He claims to be a transformer, but I’m sketchy on the details. He also has a human persona that posts under the same name.

          Then there’s YoToMoe. NEVER click one of his links. They are not always SFW!!!!! *shudder* I still have Faz and Dina ETCHED INTO MY MIND!!!!

          And Amazistool. I’m not quite sure what that thing’s sitution is. (Thing is correct, right? It claims to be a stool after all, although who am I to deny stools gender?)

          Then there’s myself. Good luck figuring out my legacy.

          Oh, and I can’t forget Bagge and the rest. Although when you ask me to remember that many people without stable patterns… well you’re out of luck.

        16. Crazy Dina

          Oh… I blame the name.

        17. 世界を食べるメガン

          I’m kinda disappointed I didn’t get included in the Crazy Dina intro D: (of course I’ve only recently started commenting regularly sooo) but I also think it’s pretty cool that you’re willing to do that.

        18. All Hail Dina

          Yeah, sorry. It’s hard for me to recognize people unless they have a special and unique signiture, like being a stool or a robot, or first, or being seen consistently.

        19. 世界を食べるメガン

          -Notices name change-
          -Squints eyes-
          My unique signature is aggressively staring disinterestedly elsewhere when talking to people.

        20. iforgetwhatiputhere

          In the spirit of today’s comic, I want to take a second and scoff at your use of “important people” when you mean “people who post here all the time and whose names I happen to remember just now”…

          *scoff*

        21. Disloyal Subject

          Many posters, there are. I’m a bloodthirsty geek, Kelly and Bagge really liked Becky (haven’t seen them in a while, but I’ve been too busy to read all the comments), newllend has bad grammar…
          Cripes, we are legion. I’d list more, but I’m too tired after driving several hundred miles to remember much, and I’m already giving undeservedly unflattering reviews. Welcome aboard, and goodnight.

        22. nothri

          Well, fine then. I didn’t want to be on your silly list anyway.

          ::leans up against a wall, smokes a cigarette, and sneers at you::

        23. AndieStardust

          I’ll click aaall over Yotomoe’s links if I want to!
          😀

        24. Bagge

          That kinda sums me up neatly. And I regularly try to start running gags with varying success.

        25. timemonkey

          Aw, I’m not part of the introduction? *sad mask*

        26. All Hail Dina

          Would you guys feel better if I had said “famous”?

        27. No Name

          I’d say you forgot T Campbell.

        28. Kryss LaBryn

          FYI, Plasma’s a guy. 😉

        29. Screwball

          Quick introduction to the important peeps……There’s Screwball. He claims to be a transformer, but I’m sketchy on the details. He also has a human persona that posts under the same name..

          Of course I’m important, I’m awesome 🙂

          HI, Screwball here. Cybertronian Minicon here, AKA human sized Transformer. Was a Decepticon, but my Megatron was a loony who shoots his own guys, so when I got my Pretender Armour which makes me look Human I ran off & never went back. Had a few jobs since, but doing something fun now…

          As for the Human pesonaah, puseso, as for the Human thing, I’m crashing with Daniel the Human, he’s teaching me about Humans, kinda stole his Gravatar account tho, he just jumps on it every now & again to say something…

          …and throw magnets at me…

        30. All Hail Dina

          Darn it! How did I?!?! Okay, Plasma’s use of all female (And one robot who oddly looks female… maybe he was a girl in that continuum?? I don’t exactly know) is NOT helping me remember his gender. 🙁

          He can use female gravs all he wants. But I’m still blaming that on my inability to remember what gender he is.

        31. Doctor_Lantern

          Let us not forget Doctor_Who and myself who use Whovian gravatars. (and mine is also specially laced with GL, of course.)

        32. All Hail Dina

          Hey, at least I introduced everyone I remembered the name and ego of! You guys want to take a shot at recalling every name who posts here regularly?!?! How about remembering the names and special signatures of everybody here?!?! At least I gave it a shot!

        33. Kamino Neko

          I will never understand where the idea that gelatin is made from hooves comes from. It’s collagen, of which there is little or none in hooves (they’re made primarily of keratin). Is ‘skin, bones, and sinew put through a chemical bath to extract the stretchy chemicals’ really not gross enough? And is ‘no, it’s feet’ really that much grosser?

        34. Dellaran

          Meghan, the Japanese in your name is actually correct if you want to say “Meghan who eats/will eat the world”. There might be a more idiomatic way to say it, but it’s not wrong. (Disclaimer: Not a native Japanese speaker..)

        35. JustCheetoDust

          Honestly, I don’t see many Americans that are really into peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (not since grade school at least), and I’ve lived in the Midwest and in the South.

          Personally, I’m into club sandwiches and Monte Cristos.

        36. vlademir1

          The PB&J, especially with the crusts removed, is more or less considered kids fare in the typical American stereotype. It’s both too simple and too sugarry for most of us.

          Personally give me a ruben, a cheese steak, or a roasted portebello on rye.

        37. Incomitatus

          Adults graduate to peanut butter and honey. Or peanut butter and bananas. Or… you know… meat.

        38. Plasma Mongoose

          Meat sandwiches are the best, I love chicken sandwiches NO MAYO, silverside sandwiches, beef bolognaise sandwiches and even roast turkey sandwiches.

        39. neeks

          Pbj sandwiches are awesome adult food if you’re on a budget. Though if I can find a jar of apple butter at the store, I’m in hog heaven. Too bad it’s not usually on sale, though. 🙁

          (Apple butter is…a spread, I guess? Not really a jam or a jelly. My grandparents had an apple press when I was growing up and every summer we had homemade apple butter and cider and it was just the best)

        40. Kryss LaBryn

          My comfort sandwiches are grilled cheese. On white. With plastic cheese. With ketchup to dip it in.

          We used to go to a little local diner semi-regularly as a kid. I’d always order the same thing (the above with fries and a vanilla shake). I liked it so much my parents couldn’t get me to try anything else.

          Then when I was three and my mum had to spend a week in the hospital while she was having my little brother, my Dad took me there for lunch every single day. I had grilled cheese sandwiches every single day. 😀

          I love clubs and roast beef with mayo and horseradish and Havarti and lettuce on multi-grain, and toasted cheese sandwiches are awesome (melted cheese, open-faced, on toast); but I <3 grilled cheese forever.

        41. Yet_One_More_Idiot

          Yes, meat sandwiches are awesome. My personal fave is the classic Bacon Sarnie. 😀

          Back when I was in primary school though, it was an Onion sandwich. This was partially ‘cos I love the taste of raw onions, and partially out of self-preservation. Since I was always getting bullied at school, having super-stinky onion breath made the bullies less likely to approach. 😛

        42. JustCheetoDust

          I loved grilled cheese until I went too far and started using it as a substitute for hamburger buns.

        43. Incomitatus

          @neeks – Apple butter is indeed delicious. We always bought it from the Amish when I was young, and it is one of the (few) things I miss about living in Indiana. It makes a great bagel topping.

        44. Alan Lafond

          To be fair, it’s only the Americans without taste buds who are crazy for peanut butter and jelly. Jelly (aka fake jam) is an evil abomination that does not belong on any food, and definitely should never be mixed with peanut butter. Jam doesn’t belong with peanut butter either (or regular butter, for that matter), but at least it tastes good on toast.

          Then again, I’m only American by continent, not country. 😛 We have better food sense here in Canada, for the most part. I hear about a lot of weird food combinations from our neighbours down below.

        45. Incomitatus

          Jam and jelly are synonymous in the US lexicon. I know they mean different products in the UK, and in Canada it would seem, but not here. They’re used interchangeably.

          What I assume you are calling jam, we would call preserves. Or pretentious USians would call them preserves… most would probably still call them jam… or jelly. Because we don’t know better.

        46. Alan Lafond

          Jelly is usually thicker than jam, and somewhat gelatinous. Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of jars of jelly are labelled as “spread” instead of “jelly” but the final product is the same. If the jar doesn’t say “jam” or the ingredients don’t include pectin, I won’t touch it.

        47. JustCheetoDust

          No, the adverb “just.”

          I’m going to bail on my earlier attempt at dry humor so I can talk about sandwiches some more.

        48. Kryss LaBryn

          DUDE I AM EATING CHEETOS RIGHT NOW.

          I feel so close to you. 😀

        49. JustCheetoDust

          I do wish “Just Cheeto Dust” was an actual thing and not only a fictional junk food from Married With Children.

        50. la6ue mous snow angel

          Ends in -ly, therefore is adverb.

        51. la6ue mous snow angel

          #logic

      2. Cheryl

        The jelly is real! and there isn’t enough toast for it.

    2. sps48

      But sneering while leaning against a wall is so much cooler than having fun!

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        What do you expect from someone who wears the cold-war era rebel uniform?

        1. Lawzlo

          The Battle of Hoth. Never forget.

  2. Jen Aside

    she also likes kneeing vigilantes in the stomach and getting thrown

    okay maybe not the second part but that certainly is a thing

    1. JustCheetoDust

      she also likes…getting thrown

      You say that like she’s Jazz from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

  3. Dusk Tornado

    she sounds hideous

    1. Jason

      /Jake from State Farm

  4. Plasma Mongoose

    How do you solve a problem like Malaya…

    1. JessWitt

      Not by singing. I don’t think she digs musicals.

      1. 世界を食べるメガン

        Well then singing is the perfect way to fix the problem. Since the problem is her being there singing should get her to leave.

      2. Plasma Mongoose

        How could anyone hate musicals??

        1. JessWitt

          Her first musical exposure was to Glee.

        2. MM

          And she decided Sue was her spirit animal? That explains a lot, actually.

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          I know it might be harder to enjoy Singing In The Rain if you watched Clockwork Orange first.

        4. JustCheetoDust

          I actually enjoyed it more because of Malcolm MacDowell. Even more so when Gene Kelly hated that scene.

        5. John

          ITYM “easier”.

    2. Kris

      You befriend it apparently.

      1. neeks

        Something something Abe Lincoln quote something

    3. winter

      I hear it involves throwing pies at people.

      Also, Kozue may be my most favourite character in anything ever. The icons may change again, but I don’t think you’ll be able to outdo this one. You can’t beat the blue-haired twincest.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        At least the anime Utena series gives side characters like Kozue and Shiori an OKish amount of screen time.

        1. winter

          There is never enough Kozue (or Shiori for that matter). But I suppose I wouldn’t care about them enough to feel that way if the series didn’t give them decent screen time to begin with.

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          It has been a few years since I sat down and watched SKU but my Utena DVDs has developed a large number of glitches which makes watching them no longer worthwhile.

        3. LeslieBean4Shizzle

          I highly recommend picking up the “remastered” boxed sets released a year or three back. They’re much better quality (not the video so much, apart from the first 13 episodes, but the DVDs themselves).

        4. Kryss LaBryn

          If you’ve got an actual video rental store in the area, they should have a disk-polishing machine that will buff out scratches. Ours used to do it for $10 before they closed. Otherwise, maybe if you’ve got a shop that sells like used console games? Or used DVDs maybe?

          You can get a thing that does that but the one the stores have is better.

        5. Plasma Mongoose

          The main problem is that Utena was never shown on Australian TV at any stage(SBS may have featured AoU once never the series)

        6. LeslieBean4Shizzle

          Actually, it (probably) isn’t scratches – the original release of Utena was insanely cheap (because the company was in the process of going under) and the compression rate on the episodes is stupidly high, causing video damage. Between that and a glitchy interface, they were just ass overall.
          The remaster/re-release did them up right. Plus they come in these neat black boxes with cool new art on them.

      2. LeslieBean4Shizzle

        Yay! Another Utena fan! And a Black Rose Duelist fan ta-boot! ^^

    4. No Name

      Willis hates the Sound of Music because his little sister played it over and over and over and over and over and over…. You get the idea. Anyway, that’s why the aliens over at It’s Walky! use it as a torture device.

      1. sheikh mabuti

        I hates it as well. By far, my least favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein effort, and there are several among my best liked ones. SoM makes me feel like I’m drowning in treacle.

  5. Stephen Bierce

    *plays “Rev It Up” on the Muzak*

  6. TheTJ

    Then Joyce walks up with a pencil in her mouth and tries her best to sneer.

    It is adorable.

    1. AgentKeen

      “Aww, are you sleepy”
      “What? No, I’m sneering! I have fury!”

      1. Gigafreak

        Joyce speaking like Fawful would be both amazing and horrifying

      2. Doctor_Who

        I bet it looks like a cross between a being about to sneeze and having a tummyache.

    2. Bagge

      REBEL!!!

      1. 世界を食べるメガン

        Rebel enough to cancel out grammatical errors?

        1. Bagge

          That’s what the sneer is for.

  7. AgentKeen

    I was about to say ‘So jealousy is this chapter’s theme?’ and then I remembered the title.

    1. Jen Aside

      “Three’s Company”?

      no wait

      1. JustCheetoDust

        Now I want Don Knotts to be part of the faculty.

        1. Marc in MN

          “What’s going on in here????…..”

        2. Opus the Poet

          Norman Fell was better…

        3. JustCheetoDust

          Well, he did get a spin-off, even if it suffered a fate much worse than it deserved.

        4. Roborat

          The original british version was better.

  8. Bilal Kalyal

    How does one schmuck have the right to make an opinion on another schmuck I wonder……buncha schmucks everywhere.

    1. Yotomoe

      They all eat Schmuckers brand Jam on their sandwiches.

      1. Opus the Poet

        Schmuckers peanut butter and jelly…

        1. Gigafreak

          It’s peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time!
          Peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat!

        2. Bilal Kalyal

          Ah, I remember
          All I could think that Sarah was wishing to say was, “And you will my name it is the LAWD! WHEN I LAY MA VENGEANCE UPON THEE!”

      2. Sailor_Arashi

        With a name like Schmuckers, it has to be good.

    2. Kryss LaBryn

      Buncha schmucks, standing around.

  9. advancecasette

    I get the vibe that malaya actually puts in effort with her friends in this universe

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      She tries with her friends and yet she plays it off like she hates everyone… actually I like that its sort of cool

  10. Kris

    Malaya has redeeming value in this universe maybe?

    1. Solenoid

      Maybe. For now, though, the read I’m getting off her is just “impulsive”.

    2. quix

      She was willing to learn sign language to communicate with Marcie. That’s a step up, anyway.

      1. newllend(henryvolt)

        Ya that’s a far langth to go just to communicate with a friend, or is it? How hard is it to learn sign ? Anyway guess she ain’t that bad.

        1. Jason

          like any other language except more so.

        2. Kaoy

          Actually, simple signs are easier to learn than most foreign languages because it is the same language, just with a new “vocabulary”. You might have to ask for an explanation from time to time when a more advanced sign gets used, but the basic language can be pretty easily learned in a few months with repeated practice.

          The fact that ASL still uses “Americanisms” also helps the learning progress, as “talking” it requires a lot less awkward wording for a beginner.

        3. Eric

          Mmmmm ASL is derived from French, so i’d imagine there’s more to it than just vocabulary.

        4. Em

          It’s not the same language though. A lot of people view ASL as “english on hands” but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s a completely separate language.

        5. JWLM

          I actually don’t think we know how much Malaya has learned to sign. We know she’s put in the effort to try to start understanding sign, which is something the SP! Malaya would never have dreamt of doing, but we don’t know whether she’s tried to sign completely with Marcie or has learned to understand well enough for the two of them to talk.

        6. Orbit Junkie

          To be fair, she just started yesterday. It’s going to be a while before she’s fluent.

        7. Rycan

          How do you people keep track of the timeline of this plot?!?

    3. Gigafreak

      I figure it’s more that she has more opportunities to display them now considering she doesn’t spend most of her waking hours working at a toy store in this universe.

    4. Opus the Poet

      I think so. Get a load of the thighs on that woman. Yowza!

    5. timemonkey

      Malaya has redeeming qualities in every universe, the question is if you are willing to acknowledge them.

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        The other question is if they balance out her flaws. IMO in Shortpacked! they don’t. Here, we’ll see…

  11. Regina Phalange

    I’m starting to get the Marcie flashback…poor Sal, makes it even worse that Malaya so intolerable to most humans

    1. Yotomoe

      Malaya’s honestly been one of my more liked characters since SP!.

      1. AnnBann

        Same. I’m asexual and my dream is a relationship with someone who is actually perfectly okay not having sex, not just puts up with it cause they like me.

      2. Kris

        I didn’t have much of a problem with Malaya in SP but she wasn’t winning any points either. This one’s I don’t know. I’d like to think Marcie a good judge of character so there’s gotta be something there….Sal might lose this one.

        1. JustCheetoDust

          No points at all? Not even for scooping up macaroni and cheese with pieces of fried chicken?

        2. Yotomoe

          I swooned when she did that. My dream girl.

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          When did that happen??

        4. JustCheetoDust

          http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=2078

        5. Plasma Mongoose

          I remember now and I would totally gorge myself on KFC, potato and gravy, home-made corned silverside, different types of chocolate and Pepsi Max if I thought I was going to die soon anyway.

        6. Gigafreak

          Most people’s bucket lists generally don’t involve an actual bucket– KFC or otherwise

          You are ahead of the curve

        7. Plasma Mongoose

          Well people are far more likely to remember a funeral where they have to use a crane-truck to lower the body.

        8. JustCheetoDust

          Despite the wordplay with the word “bucket” I envisioned all of the food described above in a trough. Let’s be honest, at this point dignity is an afterthought.

        9. Kris

          There was a whole arc where Malaya let herself go cause she didn’t have to worry about being attractive for U.C.

  12. dailybrad

    I like Carla’s antagonistic friendship of sorts with Sal.

  13. Varius

    I like Carla.

    1. JessWitt

      Her biting sardonicism is welcoming.

  14. GlaceEx

    I am kinda sad, I was hoping for more on the Joyce/Becky thing… oh well not bad of a page… 🙂

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      I’m glad to have a break from them at least for now.

      1. newllend(henryvolt)

        Ya like a said a couple days ago the last 3 Arcs was mainly about her and Becky , we have all these great characters that need more screen time we can’t just focus on the one.

        That’s like have a number of pets that include 5 Dogs 4 cats 3 Hamsters 2 birds and Gold fish , and all you do is give attention and feed only the gold fish

        1. 世界を食べるメガン

          Except that if will fail to check in on the other characters they wouldn’t die.

        2. 世界を食べるメガン

          I wrote ‘will’ instead of ‘we’ like a fuckin tool!

        3. newllend(henryvolt)

          You get my point though, most of us have a lot of favorite characters that aren’t always Joyce and we want to see more of them. I want to see more of Amber, Billie, Ruth, Danny and Mike

        4. 世界を食べるメガン

          I know what ya mean. Despite my grav I’m always in the mood for more Carla so today is a good day.

      2. Doctor_Lantern

        Same here. I think a breather from their storyline will do well to give us time to readjust… etc. . .

  15. Yotomoe

    Well she’s got pretty eyes, a nice figure, a great negative attitude, a nice skin tone, freckles, and isn’t very prudish. 8/10 would date.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Eh, her attitude gets old though that’s her one but completely huge turn off.

      1. Yotomoe

        I’m attracted to awful people. Just in general. I like jerks because jerks are real and let you know how they feel about something. They’re not trying to please people all the time.

        1. newllend(henryvolt)

          Can’t really say anything about that since that’s what most of do in real life.

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          I find many “awful” characters appealing from a story POV but I would be insane to date them.

        3. Arikel

          amen

  16. GoogerGeiger

    Finally a break from Becky. I’ve had about all I can take of her.

    1. JustCheetoDust

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h97kbv4mbsc

    2. Barf Ninjason

      Don’t worry, I’m sure a costumed vigilante, depressive Resident Advisor or omnidirectionally lesbian lusting newspaper editor will soon be contracted to administer unto Becky a perfectly appropriate spanking with no sexual undertones whatsoever. #fanfiction

    3. ninja_jesus

      Yeah, I’m not really a fan of her music, either.

      1. Architex

        Is that a jab at Taylor Swift?

        1. Rabbitman

          Haters gonna hate,
          Skaters gonna skate

        2. ninja_jesus

          No that’s Becky

  17. TSB

    I can’t wait to see more of Marcie’s past with Sal. It looks like she’s going to develop into an important character.

    1. Bilal Kalyal

      I thought that would’ve happened alot earlier, but noooooooo, Sal’s mom had to go and end the flashback.

      1. timemonkey

        Sal’s mom ruins everything. EVERYTHING.

  18. Someone

    You know.

    Carla is the anti-Mike.

    Mike gives you crap because it makes him feel good.

    Carla tells you the truth about what you’re doing and what it means for other people.

    oth, jealous Sal is cute in a way. She’s had this friend she’s felt like she’s had this super impenatrable bond with … but she’s beginning to realize that hey, that friendship isn’t automatically the best it can be all the time. You have to actually work to maintain your friendships. And that’s a nice touch.

    1. Architex

      ‘Tis a nice touch indeed, but will Sal work to maintain that friendship?

      Cheese forbid, she could actually be warm and friendly.

      1. Solenoid

        Psst. Sal. Carla’s tellin’ you you’re BORING.

        1. Solenoid

          At least, that’s the message she’s more likely to take away from this rather than the whole cold-and-distant thing she’s got going for her.

        2. Gigafreak

          Sal rides a motorcycle, sneaks off campus in the middle of the night to go drinking, prefers to enter and leave buildings through the windows, and had a secret affair with a TA…

          And yet, right now, Carla would be absolutely right: Sal really is being boring.

  19. tim gueguen

    And here I was going to jokingly suggest in last comic’s discussion that Sal should hook up with Marcie. Sounds here like she might actually be interested in Marcie.

    1. Yotomoe

      Who isn’t? Marcie is a mute badass with cool goggles, Great fashion sense, (my ideal body type) and She’s a hardcore boarder….
      Shit I think I’m just gonna be talking about how cute I think these ladies are all night, whoops.

      1. tim gueguen

        Given the tiny bit we’ve seen of her backstory I’ve been hoping to see some more Marcie.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      And I have been voting for Marcie whenever she’s an option in the voting poll.

    3. Kris

      She’s definitly on the border of being a bit too jealous.

    4. LeslieBean4Shizzle

      I would totally be up for an arc where Sal explores her bisexuality.
      There could be parallels drawn to Danny exploring his bisexuality.

      1. Gigafreak

        I think Marcie is canonically bi, but I didn’t know Sal was. Sal probably wouldn’t hook up with Marcie, though. Sal’s known Marcie for almost as long as Walky’s known Billie– and it’s made Walky and Billie too much like family for romance.

        1. John

          Marcie’s bi, but I’m pretty sure Sal’s straight. Sal’s clearly jealous here, but I think it’s platonic jealousy.

          I’m also reasonably convinced that Billie is totally tsundere for both of the Walkerton twins. Unfortunately for her, Sal’s straight and Walky sees her as a sister.

        2. Solenoid

          Which, lest we forget, is good news for Ruth, as she’d probably enter a tailspin if Billie were to start seeing other people.

          …

          Wouldn’t be as good for her as actually getting help, but hey, this is Dumbing of Age, not Making Good Decisions of Age.

          Back to Sal and Marcie, did Sal ever explicitly say she was straight, or are we just taking it as implicit? ‘Cause implicit stuff can be unreliable…

        3. Rycan

          Well, is the alt-text canonical?

        4. Solenoid

          Huh. I guess I managed to forget that one. Thanks for the link.

  20. Architex

    Wait, doesn’t Sal take Marcie window-climbing and what not?

    1. MM

      Window-climbing isn’t an activity. It’s just how Sal leaves rooms.

    2. JWLM

      I think that Sal mostly takes Marcie for granted.

      1. ninja_jesus

        MEGA BURN

        1. Solenoid

          *z-snap*

  21. Dean

    Malaya is smiling, and not at someone else’s misery. My world is rocking on its’ foundation.

    1. No Name

      Don’t worry I can save this: Maybe Malaya knows just how cheesed off she’s making Sal by hanging out with Marcie.

    2. Bagge

      I love how Malaya is used. She is kinda obnoxious and self-centered, but mostly she fills the role of the tag-along kid of the group and subject of Sal’s jealousy. But since she was such a jerk in the other comic we are surprised when she doesn’t fill the same role here.

      1. Gigafreak

        Her situation is different here, so her responses to it– and her default mode– are different as well. Keep in mind that the other universe’s Malaya spends more than half her waking hours working at a job she hates, was recruited into it by a guy who blatantly wanted to have sex with her, steeped in a culture that she views as stupid and inferior.

        Take away the biggest sources of her perpetual rage and frustration, and Malaya can exhibit other qualities more often. Even in the other universe, Malaya was fiercely loyal to the few people she’d willingly associate with, but you’d usually have to take her out of the perpetual-frustration context that is the toy store before she’d be able to show it.

        1. Spencer

          I’m none too fond of Malaya (read: hoping she gets catapulted into the sun) in either verse, but she has shown a compassionate side on some occasions. I can recall a specific instance in SP! where Ethan looked depressed and Malaya asked him if he wanted to talk about it, until it turned out to be something ridiculous, not to mention how she genuinely did love Ultra Car and had a lot of respect for Leslie.

        2. Spencer

          Actually, I think that’s why people hate her so much. Mike is such a cartoonish asshole that most of what he does is hilarious by virtue of it never being able to fly in real life, but Malaya, who’s mostly a dismissive, obnoxious, jerkface who occasionally shows a better part to herself, ends up being more realistic, and hence more hate fueling.

        3. Bagge

          That’s a good point, and thanks for reminding me of one of her finer moments on Shortpacked.

    3. Roborat

      Malaya is smiling, she just tripped over the curb and she is grimacing in terror as she is falling.

      1. Roborat

        correction, ‘isn’t”.

  22. Shanunu

    Malaya appears to be travelling at a fairly high speed and is currently applying her skate brake to the ground. I think she’s about to faceplant.

    1. 世界を食べるメガン

      Nah physics don’t apply here.

    2. Bagge

      Only if Sal spontaneously develops telekinetic powers filled by jealousy.

  23. Keroshino

    Ohhh…somebody is Jealous!!! 😀

    1. JessWitt

      I feel dumb for not catching on to that. :-p

  24. Kraken

    Sal’s the best at doin’ shit!
    As long as an authority figure isn’t ordering her to do it.

  25. Rodimiss

    Oops, I’m shipping Carla and Sal, and I feel like that’s not the point of this strip.

    1. MM

      …Coming up with new and improbable ships isn’t the point of this comic? Well, damn. Guess I’m doing it wrong.

      1. Keroshino

        I ship all of the main cast of girls with Daisy

        …that’s how shipping works. RIGHT?

        1. John

          Perfect comment/random gravatar synergy.

        2. Rycan

          She ought to get a bulk shipping rate for that. *ducks*

        3. xKiv

          At the same time?

        4. Daisy

          …
          …
          …yes.

    2. Blue

      I’m shipping Malaya and Marcie, if that makes you feel better.

      1. winter

        I feel like somebody said Marcie was bi at some point…?

        idk, all I’m saying is that it could be canon. I mean that it should be canon – there I said it.

        1. John

          We haven’t had any indication here, but Marcie was bi in the Walkyverse.

          I really don’t get Malaya’s sexuality, but I can’t rule out her being into Marcie. (Really, who wouldn’t be?)

        2. Solenoid

          Word of God is that sexuality is a cross-universal constant.

          … There’s also the pic that Willis posted a while back with Billie, Danny, and Marcie where he mentioned this.

          And also the bit in the hovertext when we got Sal’s flashback to the playground about how that wasn’t really the place to go into that revelation.

        3. Rycan

          In other words, Malaya is into men and gynoids

    3. Plasma Mongoose

      Shipping is half the point of the comment section.

      1. JustCheetoDust

        Some might say shipping is more important than food, or drinking water.

        1. Roborat

          Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but shipping is an important method for getting your products to market.

        2. JustCheetoDust

          Poor “handling,” wondering when someone’s going to stand up for it.

    4. Standback

      That was my immediate reaction, too!

      I think I keep finding new lesbian ‘ships because Willis has so few strong male characters.

      1. Rycan

        Well, DoA does center around the girls’ floor of a dorm. There are what, no more than seven guys in DoA’s rather large main cast?

  26. newllend(henryvolt)

    Owned, And this all goes back to the Question what the hell do you do in your Spare time Sal ?

    1. Yotomoe

      Jason.

      1. newllend(henryvolt)

        Well not anymore that is

  27. winter

    Heck, Malaya is learning sign language, mainly for the purpose of communicating with Marcie. ASL is a full fledged language, as complicated as any other to learn.

    That is a really incredibly nice gesture for Malaya to make. Just sayin’, Sal.

    1. Kennerly

      But she’s only interested in learning how to insult people!

      1. Yotomoe

        Exactly! She’s learning everything she knows in spoken english.

      2. winter

        I see what you’re saying. But since Marcie isn’t deaf and can understand Malaya in English, she doesn’t need to learn it for insults as much as for understanding what Marcie is signing to her.

        1. Gigafreak

          Hell, signing BACK to Marcie– when spoken words would really work just fine– indicates a kind of respect: that Malaya is willing to engage Marcie on her own level and on equal ground. Even Sal rarely does this.

        2. Solenoid

          Sal was treating it like a secret language. Perhaps that was more motivation for Malaya to learn? Sal doesn’t get to hide what she’s saying to Marcie about Malaya afterward… well, not as much. She’ll notice swearing, now.

  28. JessWitt

    And then AmaziGirl swings out of nowhere to put a stop to their loitering.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Be patient all good things come to thoughts who wait, that street fight will come one and will be Epic

  29. Plasma Mongoose

    I wouldn’t ship Becky and Carla cos Carla’s too bony for Becky’s taste.

    1. 世界を食べるメガン

      Becky doesn’t even know bisexual is a word, could you imagine her trying to wrap her mind around the concept of being trans?

      1. caesaria82

        Poor Jocelynne.

        1. caesaria82

          I mean, I assume Becky knows Jocelynne. She’s gotta. Bffs siblings are a thing.

        2. anonymsly

          Becky would know Joshua. No one in the Brown family (except the lady herself) knows Jocelyne yet.

        3. 世界を食べるメガン

          Actually they all know Jocelyne, they just always call her by the name wrong name.

      2. Kris

        That’d be worth it just to see the look on her face. It would be one of those total brain crash moments. Sorry your Becky has to reboot!

        1. JustCheetoDust

          For no real reason I hope that reboot resembles Maurice Moss’.

        2. JustCheetoDust

          I also hope someone delivers a “Fuck off!” as well as Douglas Reynholm did soon after said Moss reboot.

        3. 世界を食べるメガン

          So I just googled that.
          I think “What the fuck” Is more appropriate than “Fuck off”

      3. Rycan

        Wait, what makes you think Carla is trans? Unless she’s a car stuck in a woman’s body, I’m not seeing it.

        (That is bound to be hella confusing to anyone unfamiliar with the Walkyverse)

        1. ewx

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/permanent/ and http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/introductions/ are the in-story hints I’ve noticed.

        2. Screwball

          There was another you missed…
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/purpleandskates/

        3. Majere

          There are a few things that hint at it like her having a solo room or her referring to a dick being drawn on her whiteboard as a hate crime before realizing they had been drawn on everyone else’s. That combined with the natures of her alternates has led most people to assume that she’s trans because she’s probably not a robot in this universe.

        4. timemonkey

          Plus there’s all the times Willis has said outright that she is. Like long before she even started appearing here.

        5. Kamino Neko

          Wait, what makes you think Carla is trans?

          Well, there’s the fact that Willis has said so, if you didn’t catch all the hints within the comic itself. (Single room, took the dick drawings as a hate message when she thought she was the only target, significantly taller than average. Probably others that aren’t coming to mind at the moment.)

        6. Nightsbridge

          Gets a room all to herself for Reasons, seems certain that roller derby folks wouldn’t let her play for Reasons . . ..

        7. Kamino Neko

          Ugh…rereading as I come back with an actual cite for that first part…that came out a bit more aggressive than I intended. Sorry if it felt like I was biting your head off.

        8. Architex

          Wow, I had no clue, that’s awesome!

  30. caesaria82

    Always happy to see my love Carla <3

  31. saltchocolate

    Hey! Holding up the wall is hard work! Somebody’s got to do it . . . 😀

  32. newllend(henryvolt)

    Now I don’t get this gripe really, Sal has been best friends with Marcie for most of their life and she thinks she just going be replaced just because Marcie’s making new friends? Seems unlikely if their as tight they think they are.

    Also you dont really see Marcie complain about the same thing with all the friends Sal has, and that’s a nother thing Sal is surrounded by people who love her want to be her friend or think she’s cool and she’s upset because one of them is making friends with other people ?

    1. Norah

      Sal doesn’t like those other people as much as she likes Marcie. And I think hat, as cool as Sal is, she may be a little bit insecure with people she really likes (and she doesn’t really like that many people, so there’s that too.)

      1. Bagge

        A liiiiiitle bit insecure. Try a big honking bike-load of insecureness.

        The way I read it it has been Marcia and Sal against the world forever, and now Marcia is getting new friends, and new activities (roller derby) and maybe doesn’t want to hang out with Sal anymore.

        They are also coming straight out from their row and the first thing Marcia does is to skate with Malaya instead of sneering with Sal. Burn.

        1. timemonkey

          Marcie.

        2. Bagge

          Oooops. Thanks

  33. John

    Hey, Sal, why don’t you put on your skates and go play with Marcie?

    (Not a rhetorical question. I’m really wondering why Sal has skates that she’s evidently very competent on but never uses.)

    1. Majere

      Because enjoying things and having fun is for losers. The cool kids are all about being bored and disaffected and miserable.

      1. Spencer

        I’m thinking that might be Sal’s thought process. The only reason she put skates on was to prove that she could, and even described herself as not enjoying “organized anything.”

    2. TheHorseCouncil

      Just as Majere said. Did you not see that Weekenders episode?

  34. JWLM

    Personally, I’m enjoying this whole Carla/Sal interaction. Sal skated a lot better than Carla expected. Now Carla is showing that she understands people a lot better than Sal expected.

  35. Idon'tcarenomore

    I think Malaya started learning sign because Marcie is one person who let her know in no uncertain terms, that she Marcie, isn’t going to take any shit from her. And they both like wheels.
    Sal CAN skate, she just apparently doesn’t feel the need these two do, to do it.

  36. MiffedMab

    Ooo, a Sal centered strip. I hope we’re getting some more.

    1. Keroshino

      I hope so too…it gives us a much needed break from Becky! 😀

  37. Rycan

    The Sal/Marcie rift is a shame, really. I get the distinct feeling that, were it not for Marcie, Sal would still be incarcerated right now.

    1. Bagge

      They were inseparable as teenagers – but now they are in college and growing up to be adults. Things are changing and Sal doesn’t want them to.

      1. Nono

        So, Danny and Joe, Joyce and Becky, Amber and Ethan (sorta).

        Welcome to Changing of Age.

        1. Bagge

          Yup, it’s a recurring theme. And Dorothy and Danny (even if she sorted out THAT quickly enough) and to a lesser extent Billie and Walky and Walky and Sal (they have lots of other issues though).

          Mike doesn’t have that dynamic with Ethan or Amber though – surprisingly enough the thought of growing apart from him doesn’t bother them the least.

        2. timemonkey

          Billie and Walky are actually coming back together, they’re doing the reverse of what everyone else is.

        3. Bagge

          Well, none of them are necessarily coming apart (even Danny and Dorothy have started to find a dynamic as friends instead of high school sweethearts – “Danny is finally standing up to me”) . But for all of them their relationship is changing. They were one thing as children/teenagers – they will be a different thing as adults. Finding the way to that new thing is scary and confusing and very fitting for this comic.

          That’s super clear with Joe and Danny who have radically different ideas of what they want their relationship to be. I look forward to see more of what Marcie want her and Sal’s relationship to be.

  38. Hikaru

    i will support them
    dont let anyone question you and your choice of friends marcie

    1. Hikaru

      this is the absolutely wrong gravatar

      1. The Wizard

        Give it to me then, I’d take it!!!

    2. Bagge

      So true, especially let not your friends dictate your choice of other friends.

  39. The Wizard

    More Sal is always good, I think we should keep in this direction for a few days.

  40. deathjavu

    The two are paired off pretty damn well in this comic. Even their body positioning suggests their similarities.

  41. Mididoom

    Come on Sal, do shit!

  42. Thomas

    I suspect readers will request a larger version of the first panel. I also suspect this subject would make a good art print.

  43. Bagge

    NononononononoNO!!! Cut back to Becky. We were so busy with haircuts and insults that we forgot the entire “talk-to-Dorothy-and-Leslie-about-help-for-run-away-LGBT-youth”-thing.

    Sigh, oh well, I suppose I can survive without Becky for a few strips. Who do we have hear?

    Malaya! Oh yes!

    1. timemonkey

      Malaya is great.

      1. Bagge

        She sure is! Look at her in this strip. She is having FUN!

    2. 世界を食べるメガン

      She’s got bangin hair though! What more help does she need ‽

      1. Bagge

        That’s the silver lining. She’s also rad.

  44. No Name

    Sal’s smoking again. This is not a good sign, and not just because smoking is a huge turnoff for me.

    1. Bagge

      Did she ever try to quit? I didn’t catch that.

    2. SDGlyph

      Do you mean from here? Pretty sure that was weed, not a cigarette.

      1. No Name

        No, I meant from here. I might be over optimistic, but I took it as a quittin’ time thing. Like I said, smoking is a huge turnoff for me, and I like Sal otherwise, so, yeah…

        1. Kamino Neko

          That’s not really ‘quitting’ behaviour. That’s passive aggressive ‘I want to smoke, but I’m in a no-smoking area, and nobody can tell me what to do…but I can’t afford to get into too much trouble’ behaviour.

        2. Gigafreak

          This is probably true, though she’s rarely shown taking an actual drag from it– and I don’t think it’s ever shown lit at all between that day and this day. (Hell, she doesn’t even have the cig when we see her venture off campus in the middle of the night specifically to get intoxicated.)

          Of course, since the end doesn’t appear to be lit on today’s page either, it could have been secretly lit the whole time and I just had no idea.

        3. No Name

          Like I said, over optimistic.

        4. timemonkey

          The comments section had an entire discussion about how much trouble she’d get in for smoking indoors during those pages.

        5. Deanatay

          She didn’t have it lit because she was indoors, and didn’t want to earn the wrath of school officials, not because she was quitting.

  45. JBento

    Holy non-sequitur strip, BatWillis! I expected we’d be following one of the groups from yesterday, and you cut to the Fantastic Four instead.

    Thanks for that. I think we could use more time with them, especially Marcie, Carla and Malaya, who’ve been given very little strip-time so far. I’ve no base for Marcie (reading bringbackroomies instead of archive binging It’s Walky), but so far Malaya seems to be far less of an utter douche than in SP.

    Also, is it just me or does anybody else find Sal’s expression just adorable in that last panel?

    1. JBento

      But yeah, I could do without the smoking. Though I don’t remember her quitting, either.

      (If there’s an edit function, I couldn’t find it)

    2. John

      So, if they’re the Fantastic Four…

      Marcie’s Ben, I guess, because she’s stocky and orange and immovable. Carla’s tall and an asshole, so she must be Reed. I’m inclined to make Sal Sue and Malaya Johnny, though I don’t have a good reason for that.

  46. Amilam

    Ahh Malaya. Has she been notified that her reign as the patron saint of obnoxiousness has been toppled by Becky?

    Hail the new queen… in a fire

    1. Gigafreak

      But Becky’s the flaming one! She’s already got the fire!

  47. Spencer

    Does Sal find anything fun, beside drinking in a parking lot?

    1. Bagge

      Mario Cart!

  48. KKoro

    Wait, when did Sal and Malaya trade personalities?

  49. Em

    Sal, people get to have other friends too, regardless of if you approve of them or not.

    1. Spencer

      I don’t think she’s mad that she has other friends, I think she’s mad that having other friends means less time for her. Marcie can’t always be around her, but when she’s gone Sal has nobody else.

  50. Arianod

    Who are these people, and what have they done with the real UC and Malaya? <_<

  51. AnvilPro

    Hate fuck inbound

    1. Keroshino

      Sal and Malaya?
      or
      Sal and Carla?

      1. kishimobot

        A hateful threesome

  52. Tenn

    “Whoa-hoah, radical moves, dudettes!”

    *generic 80’s rock plays in background*

  53. Syntyche

    I kinda wanna know Malaya better.

    1. Keroshino

      So would I…so would I.

  54. advancecasette

    another thing

    that’s a pretty cool sweater

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