266

Matchsies
Posted on October 18, 2018 by David M Willis

266 thoughts on “Matchsies”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “You’re ‘My Hostage’ now!”

    “ok sure Okarin”

    1. Durandal_1707

      How do you like them apples, Sal?

      1. HeySo

        Groaaaaaaaaan.

        ..oh well. Still better than you having her ask for some applesauce.
        ..crap, I went there.

        1. cybik

          Take my reluctant approval of your dadly pun and get outta here.

    2. SgtWadeyWilson

      Okay, now I can’t stop picturing Sal in a lab coat, and like…

      …thank you?

      1. Ana Chronistic

        prob wouldn’t be too different from http://sgpsketch.tumblr.com/post/87568870834/what-is-this-i-dont-even ?

        1. SgtWadeyWilson

          I mean… It looks great but… Not the same.

          Need to take note for next time I have the emotional capacity to actually draw things…

        2. Ana Chronistic

          Ok this one then

        3. SgtWadeyWilson

          *Bows.* Thank you.

          I should probably still make myself draw a version though, I need to be practicing more.

  2. Doctor_Who

    And henceforth Ethan was known to all as “A Hostage”.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Dangit, teach me to try to beat Ana to a comment.

      1. Reltzik

        Okay.

        Step 1: Subscribe to Patreon, see the strip a day early.
        Step 2: Write your comment out in advance.
        Step 3: Write a script to post said comment the second the comic’s RSS pings.
        Step 4: Share these steps in the comments section so everyone can do it.
        Step 5: Possibly get in trouble because auto-posting from scripts violates some sort of terms of service? I dunno, maybe, my point is you probably shouldn’t do any of this without checking that.

        1. Ana Chronistic

          I don’t do that stuff tho? =o

          (ok 1 and 2 I GUESS)

    2. HeySo

      I mean, it’s still probably a better nickname than “Apples-to-Apples”, “Second Hunkiest Student In This School After Jacob”, and “That Transformers Geek”.

      ..Ethan really doesn’t have good luck with his impressions, now that I think about it.

      1. Psi Baka Onna

        I dunno, I think Ethan would wear “That Transformers Geek” like a badge of honour…

        1. Screwball

          Robo-Geek? We are Robots In Disguise…

  3. Bagge

    Narrator: Carla did not cram it for just one second.

    1. HeySo

      You may be severely underestimating Willis’s commitment to Slipshine’ing everything and anything.

      1. thejeff

        Except Carla. No Slipshine for Carla.

        1. ischemgeek

          Carla’s slipshine is just her getting all MadEngineery about some contraption she’s building. With all the evil laughter.

        2. Jacques Cornelius Parrot III

          Damn, I think that would convince me to get an account.

  4. Nono

    So, ‘Braeburn’, ‘Fuji’, ‘Granny Smith’, or ‘Lady Pink’?

    1. Cheesy1

      “‘White Delicious’, baby!” :p

      1. Doctor_Who

        There’s a type of apple called Jazz, and there’s no way Ethan would miss the opportunity for a Transformers name.

        1. Shiro

          There’s a Transformers reference in The Good Place that I only caught because of Willis’ tumblr/twitter and this comments section

    2. Keulen

      Applejack? Big Macintosh? Apple Bloom?

      1. wwwhhattt

        …Pinkie Pie?
        I did spend slightly too long trying to work out who Fuji and Lady Pink were…

    3. Viktoria

      Well, Joyce is Honeycrisp, Becky is Red Delicious, Sal herself is Arkansas Black, Jen is Cameo, Carla is the Pink Lady, that leaves Ethan with Melrose.

      Mike, of course, is a Sour Apple.

      1. not someone else

        Becky deserves a less ironic name than Red Delicious.

        I feel that Sarah would make a perfect Granny Smith, though.

        1. foamy

          Sarah is clearly Babs Seed

        2. Bagge

          What, that sour pony who in the end craved friendship?

          Can’t see ANY similarities to Sarah

        3. Needfuldoer

          Not a crabapple?

      2. Regalli

        Becky also deserves a better apple than the betrayal fruit that is Red Delicious. Maybe an Ingrid Marie, perhaps?

        There’s also a variety called ‘King of the Pippins’ which must belong to SOMEONE. Good for desserts, apparently.

        1. Bagge

          Apples are a jerk to Becky anyway

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/darling/

        2. BBCC

          I mean, they weren’t exactly WRONG.

        3. LordSimian

          There’s no way “King of the Pippins” is anybody BUT Jason.

        4. Bagge

          Wasn’t Pippin a FRENCH king?

        5. Deanatay

          Yeah, and? The British and the French intermarried. A LOT. There’s a lot of French in Britain.

        6. Bagge

          Jason: SLANDER!
          Walky: Oi, lebaguette!

    4. Dana

      Johnny

    5. 3oranges

      And so it was that Ethan became known as “grapples”.

    6. HeySo

      Lady Pink is a hilariously appropriate nickname for Ethan’s demeanor and stature- though given his orientation, also unfortunately quite inappropriate. Alas.

      ..I do want to pair him up with someone with the nickname of Pacific Rose (also an apple) now, though. :S

    7. SgtWadeyWilson

      Disappointed nobody mentioned Sweet Tango, but also pretty sure that’s more of an apple-based pet name suited for a lover, so probably better that it wasn’t?

      Oops.

  5. Roger

    why’s Ethan Apples-to-Apples anyhow

    1. Axel

      That’s how she met him

    2. Nono

      They met (in college time) over the game.

    3. MatthewTheLucky

      He was playing Apples-to-Apples when they met the second time.

    4. Reltzik

      Also, she REEEEEALY goes for tall guys like Ethan, and she associates Apples-to-Apples with the first time she got laid.

      ….

      …. I mean she didn’t SAY that but my headcannon has those two facts meeting up somewhere in her subconscious.

  6. Kris

    Carla’s really obsessed with this jacket thing.

    1. Axel

      I think/know she’s mostly been teasing, but I also think it’s adorable in this comic.

      1. Doctor_Who

        Yeah, she looks legitimately let down in panel two.

    2. Regalli

      Yeah she was apparently going on about it for the time it took Sal to have several months’ worth of flashback. That’s gotta be, like, at least a minute or so where Sal completely did not react.

      1. ShinyNeen

        How many insane jacket-related schemes and tangents did we miss Carla concocting during the flashback?

      2. Kris

        It actually kinda feels like maybe Carla doesn’t have a lot of friends. The jacket obsession feels like a convenient excuse to hang out with Sal more.

        1. chris73

          Maybe she’ll start to consider whether the way she acts is whats getting in the way of being able to have real relationships with people

        2. Dana

          I imagine she knows that on some level. The question is if letting people in is worth the risk.

        3. Axel

          Is she really driving off Sal though? Sal generally seems fine (or at least tolerant) with Carla’s antics, barring that this time she had to be somewhere.

          And if you mean she’s driving off like, other people, some people don’t want to make that many friends and would rather have a couple closer ones (which makes sense to me in Sal’s relationship with Marcie, and how Carla is behaving with Sal)

        4. BBCC

          Carla and Sal have generally been friendly and that’s always included ribbing. They’ve occasionally gone over the line to actually irritating the other (Sal did it too when she said Carla liked Ruth) but they’ve generally been friendly.

      3. thejeff

        I’m not sure flashbacking takes any significant amount of time. Certainly not any consistent amount. It’s a narrative device.

        1. SgtWadeyWilson

          I mean, IRL it can, so it stands to reason that art would imitate.

        2. thejeff

          But a real “flashback” or just memories triggered by the realization that Ethan was her Boy Hostage would very likely have just focused on the event itself. No reason for Sal to go chronologically through everything that led up to it.

  7. Stephen Bierce

    *plays “Ready Or Not Here I Come” on the hacked Muzak*

  8. Doopyboop

    I gotta admit this is…almost adorable? I hope their talk goes well!

  9. Goki

    I think she might want to apologize to Ethan, but it will be interesting to see if she realizes that Amber was the girl who stabbed her hand or if Ethan will be the one who spills the beans.

    Will Sal want to apologize to her to… or want REVENGE? Stay tooned and find out true believers.

    1. Inahc

      somehow I don’t think sal’s big on revenge.

      1. DailyBrad

        Yeah, revenge is very un-Sal.

        1. Goki

          I don’t know… that one time where Amazagirl tossed Malaya like a rag doll (one of my fave moments to be honest), Sal said she would kill Amazagirl, and she was never Malaya’s biggest fan, so imagine if Sal is still … sore…. about the hand. It might normally be in Sal’s nature, but isn’t completely off the table either.

        2. BBCC

          It might be different regarding the hand vs AG tossing someone she’s very reluctantly befriended (her words, not mine) around. Sal was also almost immediately talked down by Marcie so I’m not sure we should take her words 100% literally.

        3. Needfuldoer

          Wasn’t that when Amazi-Girl caught them drinking in a parking lot? I’d expect “leave us the hell alone”, not “how dare you hurt the acquaintance I begrudgingly tolerate” to be the motivation there.

        4. Deanatay

          As I said then, “Hey! Kickin’ the shit outta Malaya’s MY job, bongo!!”

        5. Kinoko

          Same as already stated, I don’t think she was defending Malaya on a personal level, she was defending her group, which yes, happens to include Malaya. Sal hates people who power-trip on enforcing rules, and AG stated she was coming after them because they were drinking underage (though really, just an excuse to fight Sal). So from Sal’s perspective, fighting back makes sense. You don’t have to rationalize Malaya or vengeance into it.

    2. Regalli

      I’m hoping maybe what happens is Ethan tells Sal if asked ‘yes, my friend is at the same school too’ and then texts Amber saying he ran into Sal by chance again and it’s time for the three of them to have a talk. Because otherwise we’re either going to have Ethan outing Amber and Sal on their next meeting being Weird (and probably not entirely happy) or Sal seeing Amber again and having her own trauma flashback now that she knows at least one of her victims is vaguely in her social circle.

      And that’s before we bring Walky into it, and not even taking as a given that Amber brings up AG there. (Though I imagine that could also set up Sal’s trauma flashback of realization – ‘I hear your voice in my nightmares’. Shit, Sal might end up having the Realization three times, with Ethan and Amber and AG.)

      1. Kris

        I’d be very surprised if Amber ever takks to Sal! She has made no progress on that front. If anything she’s taken steps backwards. Is she even aware AG hangs out with Sal? Does AG speak for Amber. Chances are Amber’s gonna chicken out if they just have an impromptu sit down. She’d need a warning first and prep time at minimum.

        1. Inahc

          well, Amber did manage to get through her last panic without letting AG take over. that… is not entirely good, but she’s at least doing something other than purely running away.

          (and no, she’s not aware of AG’s activities any more.)

          warning and prep time would be needed, yes. and someone there to help her stay grounded.

        2. thejeff

          Though Amber is aware that Amazi-Girl and Sal were working together to find Ryan before they stopped sharing memories, so I doubt it would entirely shock her to find out they were still doing so. Except she might be shocked by how much AG is still active.

        3. Regalli

          There was a step forward before the Gashface incident, but yeah, it’s gonna be panic central. And a scheduled meeting instead of just ‘get here now’ would probably be preferable, yes. At the same time, I see no way this is going to end well, and with Sal piecing things together no way the status quo is sustainable anymore the way Amber wanted to just ‘like Walky without it being a thing’. I’m worried if it’s not an immediate meeting then, Willis being as Willis is, they’ll have an inadvertent confrontation that ends up triggering them both later in the day ANYWAY.

          I mean ideally I’m pretty sure this is the kind of thing you want a neutral professional around for, but Sal has had only bad experiences with therapists and Amber has had zero plus cultural stigma and I’m not sure IU offers the kind of mediation services for this level of history.

        4. Reltzik

          There will be an entire book (not chapter, book) of Amber repeatedly getting ready to sit down and have the talk and then chickening out (or freaking out or blacking out or whatever) every time so it doesn’t happen, and each time Willis is cackling because he managed to tease the conversation we want for the umpteenth time.

        5. Fart Captor

          Being able to interact with Sal indirectly when they played MarioKart was pretty significant progress. She might be able to get there in time. Though having that discussion face to face probably isn’t going to be a good idea any time soon

    3. Regalli

      I’m not certain Sal will respond with a need for vengeance, per se, but I think she will be upset. In the ‘Amber dating Walky’ circle it’s gonna create a lot of tension. No clue how exactly that will play out. And with AG… I think it’ll make a lot of sense to Sal (another moment like Ethan had earlier where he wondered how he could miss it,) but maybe also a little betrayal? Like, AG was talking about making Sal her sidekick (let’s ignore that Sal wasn’t onboard with this,) they had gotten a degree of camaraderie and synergy while fighting… and AG knew, all along, that she stabbed Sal and never actually told Sal about it. Hell, AG made a comment about stabbing someone around Sal. That is likely to hurt even if they started as serious enemies.

      (… On a mostly unrelated note, maybe this would also give Sal an opportunity to inform AG in her comic book violence world that what she’s doing has real permanent consequences? I’m leaning more towards that one being a real blowout the more I think about it, actually.)

      1. Kris

        Sal seems pretty chill over all so I doubt she’d want revenge, but she probably would want Amber to stop being Amazi-girl. The AG/Sal relationship is more one sided than it appears. Sal has said multiple times she thinks AG’s crime fighting is dangerous.

        1. Regalli

          One of the reasons I think that’ll be a blowout fight. Also made all the dicier should Amber not explain that there’s dissociation in play or Sal not understand that or the degree to which it’s happening. Hell, Amber can promise she’s thrown AG out and that could be how she realizes the full extent of the nighttime outings. There’s a lot of ways this could go.

        2. Minotaur

          Given some real life experience with people who “seem pretty chill” until certain buttons are pushed, I’m not willing to make any predictions.

          Also: is Amber at all aware that what she and AG are has anything to do with something called dissociation? I mean, do we have reason to assume she would be able to explain in a way that other people are able to understand?

          I mean, I got the impression that Danny saw the whole Amber/AG thing as a form of role-play, and I’m not sure even Ethan quite understands…

        3. Delicious Taffy

          Well, she told Joe’s dad about her dissociating, that one time. That probably counts.

        4. thejeff

          The lack of understanding seems more a result of Amber’s unwillingness to talk about it than her lack of understanding.
          Not only did she use the term as Delicious Taffy said, she talked to Danny about having to share a meat-puppet. I think Danny’s got a pretty good idea, though most of it’s post-break up revelation. More than anyone else, even Ethan, since her disassociation was less distinct before recent events.

  10. Shiro

    Carla understands nothing about what just happened but is 100% going to go do that now

    Dammit, I am SO CLOSE to upping my Patreon pledge to see tomorrow’s strip already, but then I’d just have to wait for more…

    1. BBCC

      Do it! Do it! One of us, one of us!

      1. Inahc

        Ooh. I could do it; my husband accepted an offer just yesterday, so money is a thing we’ll continue having 🙂

        1. BBCC

          Excellent! Plus you get like bonus strips and stuff which is pretty neat.

        2. Inahc

          yeah, already had those from the $1 tier. although I wish they were searchable like regular comics.

        3. Inahc

          while I’m updating patreon stuff, what else do y’all pledge for?

        4. Regalli

          If you like comics about superhero comics (specifically all the weird shit that accrues over decades of continuity, focusing particularly on the X-Men and the extended family containing both the Maximoffs and the Pyms,) Waiting for the Trade is a solid creator. I have a shortlist I’m about ready to start putting pledges on and that’s one near the top.

        5. CJ

          I’m on http://www.egscomics.com/.
          High school setting, mostly less serious. But don’t start at the beginning, the early comics were, well early. shade part 1 and 2 are important, but you can start from Sister.

        6. Roborat

          No, you got to start at the beginning. Watching his art style develop is half the fun of EGS.

        7. thejeff

          Maybe start with something later and go back and read once you’re hooked.

          I can see being turned off enough by the early stuff to not bother continuing if you don’t know where it’s going.

          It’s like hearing about Dumbing of Age and deciding to start with Roomies! to see the development.

    2. Viktoria

      I specifically donate $4 so that I give Willis what I can but I don’t see the new strip. I don’t want to miss out on the comments section experience.

  11. Bagge

    After that mad rush, it must feel oddly anticlimactic for Sal to just find him.

    That said… I’m really impressed by her right now. It would have been SO EASY to let it fester. Both Sal and Ethan earns a big bucket of grown-up-points today.

    1. Meagan

      Co-sign on both of them getting grown up points

  12. Axel

    I’m happy for a breather comic that also isn’t completely unrelated to what was just happening, nor full comedy.

    1. JessWitt

      Same here. It was getting too bleak.

  13. tirachokko

    Oh Sal

    1. tirachokko

      Also Carla looks a tiny tiny bit hurt at being brushed off, but maybe that’s just a misjudgment of her facial expressions. Also lol @ their faces in the last panel.

      1. Inahc

        nah, she does look hurt, more than a tiny bit. she has no clue how big a deal this conversation is, so to her it’s “sal isn’t responding to my jokes, she’s practically ignoring me, wtf?”

        1. Bagge

          “I thought we were having a banter here”

          No, Carla. YOU had. Try flirting in a more uplifting manner instead. Shoves are note loves.

        2. Meagan

          This keeps coming up as an inconsistency, but I suppose a lot of people have this mental division between physical violence and hurting people verbally.

  14. Kris

    You could always call him “hostage boy”! Niether of you will ever forget it.

  15. Inahc

    yay! talking! (hopefully.)

  16. Xccj

    I hope this conversation they’re about to have will be healthy for both of them. But then again, I know how this comic tends to go.

  17. Kyrik Michalowski

    As much as I want Sal and Ethan to talk, that sad look on Carla’s face does make me want to give her a hug.

    Still, Sal going to talk to Ethan is for the best and I can’t wait for this conversation. Mostly because I want to see them talk about all this and partially because I want to savor the slightly awkward moment of “I keep calling you by a nickname and not knowing your actual name despite that incident 5 years ago, whoops.”

  18. BBCC

    Carla, we’ve been over this. There are less jackass-y ways to ask a pretty girl to wear matching jackets with you. I know the jackass-y way is the most fun, but it’s also the least likely to get you the results you want.

    And yeaaaaahhhhh, that nickname is…unfitting to say the least. I do like that this seems to be a pretty consistent mannerism of her’s though. She calls people nicknames when she doesn’t know them well. Or, if she’s mad at them, she’s liable to just call them names. She’s done it with Amber, Joyce, Dorothy, Joe, Malaya, Jason, and Danny too (although Danny’s nickname’s since become more affectionate). Barring Danny, she almost never uses nicknames with someone she knows more than a passing ‘seen them around’ way and is actually fond of. We’ve only seen her call Marcie anything but her name back when they first met that I recall. I don’t think we’ve EVER seen her call Carla anything but her name. So yeah, very consistent trait and I like it!

    …What?

    …WHAT?

    …Okay, fine, this is me babbling so I don’t drive myself up the wall wanting to see Sal’s POV on everything else (whilst simultaneously dreading it because I’m positive we’ll see more emotional abuse from her parents and morbidly curious if there will be anymore red panels).

    1. lilyliv

      Ooh, good analysis!

    2. Bagge

      Goddamit, Malaya

    3. Regalli

      Yeah, I think the only time Sal calls Marcie anything else is before getting her name?

      Nice catching with this trait, I’ve forgotten some of the characters she does it towards much less the circumstances.

    4. Zee

      Willis deleted doomskas comments, thank god. I really hope that guy gets banned

      1. BBCC

        I just went back and checked and yeah, they added some more to yesterday’s strip too. Fun.

        1. Zee

          I saw how they responded to my point that he was insulting victims of the same abuse sal underwent -a thread that had one of said victims in it. Just…god, how can you claim to hold the moral high ground while spewing such disgusting vitriolic shit.

        2. BBCC

          Yeah, they seem incapable of understanding that abuse is not a competition, it’s a rot in society that affects everyone differently and everyone has a different threshold for it. And also that you can feel sad instead of angry about a person’s situation and behaviour while still not condoning it and while still feeling sad about the trauma inflicted by their behaviour as well.

          That was extremely pleasant. Odds are if Willis has deleted two days worth of comments from them, they won’t be back though.

        3. Kinoko

          Oh phew. I’m glad. That was completely over the line.

        4. Zee

          Upd8: went back and checked, all if yesterdays got deleted too. Hopefully Willis will be on the look out for this jerk from now on, assuming he hasn’t been banned

  19. Confuzor

    What’s that red-ish spot on Ethan’s shirt? Its there in both panels he’s in.

    1. Catullus

      Just a shadow, I think.

    2. Ashley

      I think it’s supposed to show pec cleavage.

    3. vlademir1

      I think it’s a food stain. It’s reddish and looks like a liquid spilled and dripped slightly before being wiped off, also it’s right at the point the fabric naturally folds between his pecs which is the most common placement when eating something messy in my experience (also when cooking in my experience, but I doubt he’s been cooking).

    4. Koms

      It’s applesauce

    5. FacelessDeviant

      Easy. Its the spot where he is vulnerable. If you attack any other place, you will just be rewarded with an unsatisfying “tink”.

  20. Ashley

    It’s hard to get a read on Carla.

    1. Bagge

      She’s obnoxiously flirting and is miffed that it didn’t pay off.

      1. thejeff

        I’m not convinced by the “flirting” part, but otherwise, yeah.
        Basically I’m not sure her aim is so much romantic as just obnoxious friendly banter.

        1. Clif

          Go back and look at where she was flirting with Malaya.

        2. Bagge

          She’s obnoxiously flirting fishing for attention and is miffed that it didn’t pay off.

  21. ShinyNeen

    This is going to be good. Hopefully genuinely good and not “explodes in everyone’s faces” ‘good’.

    So, Sal recognizes Ethan fully now. I wonder if she’ll recognize Amber now, too?

  22. DailyBrad

    I thought Carla was just teasing Sal at first, but now it kinda seems more like she legitimately just wants to be buddies with Sal. I wouldn’t mind that, I’ve always kinda dug their dynamic.

    I wonder if this ties back into when Carla kept insisting Sal didn’t know how to skate, until Sal showed that she’s, in fact, quite good. I think that, and her disappointment when Ruth went soft on everyone, shows that Carla likes someone who pushes back with her.

    (Obviously, NOT in a hateful, bigoted way like Mary.)

    1. BBCC

      I think they’ve been friendly for a while and I’d love to see them be actual friends. She’s been on my list of ‘needs to be better friends with Sal’ forever (said list also includes Dorothy, Billie, Danny, and is starting to include Ethan, assuming he’s still feeling as gracious as he did previously).

      1. BBCC

        *Shit, forgot my crack pick, Roz.

        1. thejeff

          Have Roz and Sal even talked? Would be an interesting pair, but something external would have to push them together.

        2. wwwhhattt

          The only time I can see it having happened already is when Roz was doing her campaign trail shtick to become RA/get away from Malaya, and I don’t really see Sal reacting well (or maybe just at all) to that

        3. BBCC

          It’s a crack pick. I just think they’d be fun. Preferably after Roz learns to listen better first, but eh. I’m down for whatever they get up to.

        4. Regalli

          Roz puts up a note on the hall bulletin board.

          ‘Wanted: Totally Unsuitable Dinner Date (preferably one, but flexible. All qualified candidates considered.) Do you want to antagonize noted politician Robin DeSanto? Alternately, would you like anything more than having to spend all of winter break with your family? I can pay you for it!’

          Sal, meanwhile, could use a new jacket and maybe a nice scarf. Comedy gold.

          (One of the qualifications is ‘Not Mary.’)

        5. BBCC

          Literally half of them hanging out would be planning ways to piss off their families without going quite far enough to bring on legal consequences.

      2. vlademir1

        I like that list and almost want to include Amber & AG in there, but at the same time I feel like that would be unhealthy for Amber in the long run because of their shared history. Her becoming friends with Ethan is would be a big issue for Amber as it is, I suspect.

        1. Regalli

          I think with Amber and AG and Sal it could potentially be really helpful (each realizing the other was so much more similar than they could ever have guessed,) but also potentially extremely painful. And probably at least a little of the latter before the former comes up at all.

          And I mean, the thing is Sal’s not obligated to forgive Amber, either. She got stabbed and then stalked. But I think if they do get to the point where they can share why each of them did things (a lot of which boils down to ‘I felt helpless, like my friend was in trouble because of me, and then there was my parent…’) there’ll be few people better equipped to understand just what they felt and went through as kids.

        2. thejeff

          Though they never would, I’d love to see them both simultaneously describe it like that to the other.

        3. BBCC

          I think they’d be interesting, but I think there’d be a lot of rough patches. I’m thinking more along the lines of people who could ALSO take over for Marcie support-wise when she’s not there (or, like now, Marcie’s mad at Sal). Same reason I didn’t list Joyce – I think Joyce would listen, sure, but I also think she’d (unintentionally) end up grating a lot and she still needs to work out her issues with boundaries first. Friends by itself though? I think it’d be nice so yeah, bring on Amber, AG, and/or Joyce.

  23. jeffepp

    We need a tag for Sal’s Hair. Just sayin’.

  24. Tacos

    Too late. His nickname shall be “Apples” forevermore.

  25. Kamino Neko

    Don’t worry, Carla. You’re still a motherfucking goddess. Unfortunately, you’re the Goddess of Crappy Timing.

  26. Keulen

    I like that Sal and Ethan are finally going to talk about this, but I was kinda hoping to see more of the flashback. Sal must have gotten lucky and got busted by some cops who don’t just shoot any black person holding a weapon.

    1. BBCC

      According to the books, the police ended the situation peacefully.

      Given Sal’s opinions of police, the general climate surrounding police brutality, and the way the clerk spoke about it, it seems like ‘peacefully’ in this case means ‘nobody got shot or stabbed/cut’.

      1. not someone else

        At least not by the police.

        1. BBCC

          Fuck. Yeah. Poor choice of words.

      2. Tacos

        Oh somebody got stabbed alright…

      3. Alanari

        This was a hostage situation. Main priority probably was to get ethan out there alive. The hostage and other bystanders come first, the criminal last.

        I’m really curious about how the story went on though. Her disappointment with the police and “the system” isn’t really explained. I mean, adult sal knows she really screwed up and probably doesn’t hold a grudge just because her robbery was stopped. There’s probably something else.

        1. ischemgeek

          Prediction: Cops blamed Marcie for her injury.

        2. BBCC

          I’m referring to police brutality, i.e. going beyond what is necessary. It’s one thing to prioritize rescuing the hostage and another to veer into police brutality.

    2. thejeff

      I suspect the flashbacking isn’t over yet. We’ll be back to it.

  27. Marsh Maryrose

    Is that Drew on the right side of panel 3?

    1. JessWitt

      Nope, Drew has blue eyes and a scummier aura.

  28. Dean

    Judging from panel 2, relentless teasing is Carla’s way of making friends.

    1. chris73

      Might work in primary school, not sure how well it works in a university setting

      1. thejeff

        Doesn’t work to well if your aim is lots of friends, but if you want to be sure of the ones you wind up with …

  29. Catman

    Carla, don’t be so cute. It makes my heart make hnng noises.

    1. thejeff

      If your heart is making hnng noises, see your doctor immediately. 🙂

  30. LordLucan

    Love the random Steven Universe tshirt!

    1. LordLucan

      Argh, I’m a real person avatarwise! Unfair!

      1. Roborat

        Got to say, suddenly seeing a real pic in the sea of gravs is a little jarring.

    2. Inahc

      Omg I missed that! Awesome!

      1. Inahc

        Speaking of Steven Universe, yesterday I got caught up on my favourite fanfic, Faded Blue. It has a lot of good stuff about inequality and privilege, I think? And ohh so much Fridge Horror for the characters.

        1. Inahc

          oh, actually the correct trope would be https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExplainExplainOhCrap

    3. Needfuldoer

      I thought it was a Homestar Runner shirt.

      You must have signed up for a Gravatar at some point. Not sure if this works when you’re registered, but try playing with the capitalization of your email address. That grabs you a different one when you’re not registered.

      1. Lieutenant Dan

        Homestar’s star is white. Steven’s is yellow.

    4. Lieutenant Dan

      No tag for Esteban Universidad?

      ¡Pobrecito Esteban!

    5. David M Willis

      It’s not that random. Some people are just known for wearing Steven Universe shirts.

  31. StClair

    “… you got tall.”

  32. JessWitt

    Stack of Apples?

    1. Liquid Len

      Certainly more than three!

  33. avistel

    YES THANK YOU

    I would legit pay money for a whole bunch of strips where people say “Shut the fuck up” to Carla. Walter Sobchak style.

    1. chris73

      That would be amusing

  34. Rotunda

    Technical kudos for multiple Sals running down the corridor in the same frame! Very cool way to show her searching in haste.

    1. Bagge

      Agreed. Also catches how anxious the situation makes her

    2. C.

      Yo dawg, we heard you like Sal

    3. ValdVin

      That was a very good panel.

    4. ShinyNeen

      Yeah! I initially kind of thought there should be some sparse action lines to convey her motion more, but I think the way she’s supposed to be running erratically and stopping to look around it makes more sense the way Willis did it.

      And then you get to the last two panels and you really get a feel of “WOAH HEY I FOUND ETHAN-okay hang on maybe I need to slow down a sec”. It’s pretty good!

  35. MatsuoTanuki

    Please no one interrupt the chance for the healing to begin again…

    1. BenRG

      I think that this is the perfect time for Amber to turn up, black out and get into a struggle with Amazi-Girl over control of their body that plays out in a series of red and blue panels.

      I’m still calling that Sal and Amber to finally get calling after they both flash-back to the stabbing.

      1. BenRG

        ‘Talking’, not ‘calling’. Don’t ask me how that happened.

  36. Mkvenner

    I absolutely love panel three.

    1. 3oranges

      It occurs to me it is a very strange panel from the bystanders’ perspectives. You’re hanging out, wearing your Steven Universe shirt, when all of a sudden a woman runs by shouting “Apples! Apples-to-Apples, where y’at? Apples!” What on earth is that about?

      If one of them comes up after this conversation and offers Sal an apple, since she seemed so desperate to find one, I’ll be very happy.

  37. Danielle

    is this….carla reaching out to make friends?

    1. BenRG

      She’s trying to in her highly-neurotic way.

    2. Kamino Neko

      Pretty sure Carla thought they already WERE friends, which is why she looks so hurt when Sal brushes her off.

      (To the extent that Sal will let herself have friends who aren’t Marcie, I think they are, but this is crap timing for reasons Carla has no way of knowing ATM.)

    3. Shameless

      Gonna make a huge prediction here. Been wondering for awhile what Carla’s and Sal’s relationship is. Ruttan bike, custom jacket, apparently friends (only uses her chosen name)…I think Carla is one of the “nice” kids Sal’s mother wanted her to hang out with.

      “Hmm, we are friends with the Ruttans, they’re nice, rich, and their (son) doesn’t cause trouble. Maybe Sally should spend more time with them?”

      1. thejeff

        Unless they’re really hiding it, she’s not.
        Way back in her first appearance, Sal introduced her as “recognized her from my floor”. Marcie didn’t seem to know her.

  38. Alanari

    I kind of was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to find him. That would have added a bit extra drama for both ethan and Sal..

    1. Alanari

      Also if the nicknames refer to the first day of meeting, apples is still better than hostage, I think.

      1. Needfuldoer

        It can still be justified if the convenience store sells apples!

  39. BenRG

    Poor Carla! She isn’t used to suddenly simply not mattering to people around her. I think that the reason she didn’t respond to this is because she was suddenly in shock at this unexpected turn of events!

    I, personally, am taking this and yesterday’s strip as meaning that, no, on a certain level Sal didn’t remember Amber and Ethan and hadn’t up to this very moment. I also suspect that she is at a loss as to what to say to him. “Um… sorry for taking you hostage and holding a knife at your throat” seems woefully inadequate somehow.

    1. Axel

      I’m hoping, since Ethan was the one to originally reach out to her, that he can maybe start the conversation (or at least pick it up if Sal fails to), since maybe he had some ideas in his head before he found her (vs Sal just realizing just now).

      1. thejeff

        He wasn’t doing so great earlier.

        It is an awkward thing to bring up though. 🙂

    2. thejeff

      I don’t think it was so much didn’t remember as didn’t recognize. Which we knew.
      She couldn’t really not remember, I think. Unless she somehow blacked out the whole robbery, which we’ve seen no hints of. The hostage thing had to be a big part of whatever legal process followed and she’d be reminded of Amber everytime she used her right hand.
      But there’s almost no reason to attach those memories to Ethan or Amber.

    3. Fart Captor

      I don’t think that’s what’s bothering Carla. Seems more like she’s worried she misjudged the fun report she thought she had going with Sal because she thinks Sal’s upset/annoyed with her

      1. the final pam

        Yeah, I mean Sal just abruptly said “Cram it, Carla” and left. That’d hurt anyone’s feelings, and doubly so if Carla realized that Sal wasn’t even paying attention to begin with.

  40. Riss

    I see you with the hand-looming-over-Ethan parallel in panel 4, Mr. Willis. (At least I think I do. If that was intentional.)

    1. Riss

      Oh no, I’m in the I-forgot-I-was-a-real-person club!

  41. Darkoneko

    At least make it Banana, or Pineapp—nah, wrong haircut

  42. Delicious Taffy

    Holy shit, Sal can multiply herself!

  43. Eldritch Gentleman

    Could it be… will we finally take first step in solving this fine mess with Sal, Ethan and Amber…
    Naah Willis is probably just messing with us…

  44. Thomas

    I’m pretty sure it’s just “matchies”, Carla.

  45. Stoodmuffin

    Yeah I think this is a sign that Sal wasn’t really phased by Carla before and it was kinda meant as gentle ribbing before.

    But, in this one strip, we get two girls who have different ways of trying to be “indifferent” or hide their emotional vulnerability at certain times, like.

    Man, fuck, I knew this would be gut wrenching but. Man.

    This is going to be a fucking doozy.

  46. BenRG

    The more times I look at panel 2, the more I think that poor Carla desperately needs a hug.

    1. Peter

      Yeah. At first, I assumed Carla was just being an arse as usual, but her reaction seems to indicate that she was genuinely reaching out to Sal. I am confused.

  47. Emily

    Straight up just ignoring Carla seems to be the best way to handle her bullshit because she pretty clearly just wants to be the center of attention be it positive or not.

  48. angel

    I really love the way panel four here calls back to the last panel of the previous comic.

  49. Bagge

    Women close to the edge of panic running wildly through Campus until they find Ethan.

    It’s a thing

    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/climbing/

    1. BenRG

      I suspect that Ethan is slowly getting used to the fact that he’s going to spend the rest of his life with women seeking him out to help get a handle on their own problems by way of trying to help him with what they perceive to be his problems.

      It happened a lot to him in the Walkyverse too!

      1. Bagge

        That’s his destiny!

        But I don’t think that’s what Sal is doing here… unless you count “having a lame nickname” as what she perceives his problem to be.

    2. JBento

      “Women Close to the Edge of Panic” is a good book name.

      1. Bagge

        Outside the context of Dumbing of Age, I’m really not sure what to expect from a book with that title.

        Feminist analysis of modern life, probably.

      2. Amazi-Stool

        Actually, it’s a movie!

        Original title: Mujeres al borde de un ataque de “nervios”

    3. ShinyNeen

      Bagge, I’m starting to think nobody could possibly compete with your archive-digging prowess.

      1. Bagge

        …I… I did not realise that is my super power.

        I’m honestly not sure what to do with it now that I know.

        Me: “HALT, EVILDOER, OR I WILL FIND YOU THE STRIP WHERE AMBER BEATS THE SHIT OUT OF HER DAD.”
        Evildoer: “Yes, do that please. I will stop doing evil if I can watch that piece of shit getting the shit beaten out of him.”

        1. Bagge

          Also, I’m having an increasingly hard time reading webcomics without multiple character tag systems (I’m looking at you, somethingpositive and questionable content).

        2. poofdepoof

          same, Bagge 🙁

        3. ShinyNeen

          Hey, any excuse to dress up in a costume and stop evildoers, right? Maybe vicarious catharsis is all the villains of the world need to change their ways!

          And yeah, character tagging is so incredibly super useful. I’m kind of surprised it hasn’t caught on in more comics. I guess I can understand it, since A: it’s more work for an already overworked webcomic creator, and B: it’s less necessary in comics that have fewer updates with more per page (like the majority of more recent webcomics, as far as I’m aware). But it’s so usefuuuuull!

        4. Bagge

          I think it also depends on when the infrastructure for the comic was set up. Going back and re-uploading several years worth of strips in a new framework sounds… less than appealing.

        5. ShinyNeen

          Oh, geez, yeah. Just thinking about doing something like that, obsessively tagging hundreds or even thousands of old pages, makes me feel kinda worn-out.

          I guess I was thinking more about why new comics don’t do it from the start? It’s like how I wish more comics would format update urls as a single number, so that you can just adjust that page number in the url to jump around the archive. The way QC does it, actually. It’s fairly minor, admittedly, but personally I find it helps a fair bit in archive-navigating. Though I think a bunch of newer comics seem to do ‘chapter # page #’ which is, y’know, close enough at least.

  50. adjudicus

    Ok I’m sure most of the characters in Panel 3 are references or cameos.

  51. JBento

    “An’ yet, “Kid Ah Once Held Hostage Wit A Knife Ta His Throat” doesn’t really roll off tha tongue, ya know?”

    1. thejeff

      Ethan the Boy Hostage? He’s a Batman fan, right?
      And Sal’s basically Batman.

      I’m not sure where this is going all of a sudden.

    2. Deanatay

      “Convenience-Store Guy”? Doesn’t really shorten…

      “Close Shave”? (Ya know, cuz, dagger to the throat?)

      ooh, “Clean Cut”! It describes him, AND carries a bad connotation!

  52. Deanatay

    Panel 3: Maan, I wish I could split into Multi-Form when I’m looking for someone. Sooo convenient…

  53. Gojira

    How do you like them apples?

  54. Council

    Sweet Jesus, my friend. There are better outlets for resentment than this site.

    1. Council

      I don’t know why this is here. If possible, please remove it.

  55. abysswatcher1993

    So Carla has a crush on Sal? Also, nice Steven Universe reference, Willis.

    1. BBCC

      That’s how patreon’s been reading it!
      And IKR? Hi, Steven!

  56. Thulcandran

    It’s just so weird and inexplicable to me how many people hate Carla with a fiery passion, since neither Malaya, nor Mike, nor Walky at his most “like me!est,” get so much utter loathing.

    I suspect a venn diagram with the people who think QC’s Claire is also infuriating, annoying, or irrelevant and wish she would disappear from the cast would be fascinating.

    1. Kamino Neko

      I dunno…my loathing of Mike might match some people’s loathing of Carla… But I definitely agree with the rest of your post… Carla gets hate far, far out of proportion to her actual bad behaviour (most of which is well-intentioned bad ideas, or ultimately harmless self-centredness). So do Walky and Malaya, for that matter.

      1. thejeff

        It seems to me that for awhile now, there’s been a lot of characters getting a lot of hate. Carla certainly gets her share and it seems more than is justified by either her behavior or even her number of appearances.

        But lately there seems to be more intensity to criticism of any character doing anything wrong. Obviously Sal and Amber are psychopathic monsters. Joyce is horrible. Dorothy. Walky.
        It’s getting depressing reading the comments. I don’t even know why some of these people even keep reading since they seem to hate all the characters.

        1. Regalli

          I get seriously frustrated with Walky and Joyce, particularly in their most recent strips (baby Walky’s insensitivity towards Sal and her concerns, Joyce really needing to learn boundaries like three weeks ago – which Carla also does,) but at the same time they’re all kids and the point of the comic is that they need to learn to do better. And I like them a lot of the time as well.

          I think the only student characters I truly dislike beyond any real expectation of improvement are Raidah (who nonetheless isn’t always wrong, it’s just the ableism and classism and elitism are pretty damn big dealbreakers for me,) Mary (Fuck her) and Mike. I’m even slightly more okay and interested in Jason now that he’s no longer a teacher.

        2. thejeff

          Yeah to me basically all the main characters are sympathetic, despite their (sometimes serious) flaws. Mary’s just a villain, though something interesting could probably be done with her, without actually redeeming her. And yeah, Mike.

        3. C.T Phipps

          Carla has one of those personalities that remind people a lot of people they loathe in real life. The people who THINK they’re entertaining as fuck by being obnoxious but are just obnoxious.

          There’s also probably some transphobes.

    2. Emily

      I really like Claire and rather dislike Carla. It probably has something to do with Claire not being a rich asshole who goes out of her way to aggravate people.

    3. chris73

      I don’t read it as hate so much as it is frustration with someones actions. Carla comes off as , to me, both aloof and as wanting to be the centre of attention. I understand why she acts the way she does but if I met her irl I’d find her insufferable and wouldn’t want anything to do with her

      Similar to how I feel about Becky, I see why she is the way she is but it also means I find her annoyingly arrogant but it doesn’t mean I hate her

      Mike is just a nasty person and, to me, should be classified as one of the villains of the comic

      1. thejeff

        Mike’s definitely nasty, but he doesn’t really play a villain role, which might be what confuses some. He’s an annoyance and he’s definitely damaging to his “friends”, but he doesn’t actually wind up in the proper opposition role of a villain.

        He might get there, depending on what happens with his Ethan scheme, but I don’t think that’s where we’re going.

        1. chris73

          With Mike I class him as the least worst of the villains but repeatedly punching Joe (and Joyce if Joe hadn’t stopped him), the way he treats Walky (as annoying a roommate as Walky would be he doesn’t deserve the treatment Mikes dishes out), the way he tried to get Dorothy and, potentially, what happens with Ethan to me makes him a villain, albeit the least of them

        2. thejeff

          I’m close to the last to defend Mike. As a person, he’s awful.

          But his role in the story isn’t a villain’s role. (At least not yet – as I said, the thing with Ethan could go there.)

  57. Bagge

    Again, for all this stuff about Willis being evil… Sal could not have found Ethan until tomorrows strip. Just imagine, the third panel being the last, with an ever smaller Sal running through the corridors.

  58. Micki

    This whole sequence is some of Willis’s best work! The tension is palpable.

  59. DT

    “Hey Apple! Apple! Apple!”
    So Sal’s The Annoying Orange now?
    *shudders*

    1. Bagge

      Those things really can’t compare

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