173

All-encompassing
Posted on January 3, 2019 by David M Willis

173 thoughts on “All-encompassing”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “hang on, I need a drink”

    *sips*

    *SPIT TAKE* “BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH”

    1. Doctor_Who

      I just realized who I can’t stop imagining Carla as…she’s Whirl!

      Interesting that this comment gave me that epiphany, as I don’t even think Whirl is capable of doing a Spit Take.

      1. Kamino Neko

        Nah, she’s more Brainstorm. While I’m sure she could put together a pretty awesome watch, her skills go beyond that. And Whirl’s asshole person is more actively hostile, where Carla and Brainstorm are more ‘I didn’t even factor you into my calculations, but I know you respect and adore me, even so.’

        1. Doctor_Who

          She’s kinda both; has Brainstorm’s tech skills and arrogance, but I can’t really picture BS reacting like Carla in the above strip, or staging and elaborate and comical prank like Carla did with Mary. Whirl once helped plant a fake bomb in Swerve as a joke.

  2. Rosicrucian

    But Carla, she was a cheerleader.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Cheerleaders are so last decade.

    2. ValdVin

      Lucy: ” Everyone, prepare yourself emotionally for the all-encompassing popularity that is Jennifer Billingsworth…

      Wait, what?”

      1. timemonkey

        I get that reference.

  3. Deathhead

    Dat Lucy face 🙁

    1. Yet_One_More_Idiot

      I saw your comment and wanted to revive the FAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE meme, but I shan’t because I’m more mature than that.

      …hahaha not really.Also FFFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—

      1. Felix

        FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE

        1. thejeff

          Stop the Faces!

        2. Yet_One_More_Idiot

          No, you stop YOUR face! xD

          lol

  4. BBCC

    Well, I hope Billie enjoyed that bubble while it lasted.

    1. Reltzik

      Yup, it’s definitely popped now. No one would continue to have faith in an inexplicably-charismatic-to-some figure whose basis for a following has been exposed as a sham with the most basic of background research.

      1. Doctor_Who

        I think we know who’ll be running against Dorothy someday…

      2. tyersome

        My first thought was “Is this a political or a religious comment?”

        I’m assuming you’ve met some humans and so your answer is going to be some variant on “yes” 😉

      3. Jon Rich

        Nice, Reltzik. Nice.

        1. Clif

          Background research is so last decade.

      4. BBCC

        Can you not let me pretend? 😛

    2. Needfuldoer

      How long has she been in Forest quad? Less than a week?

      1. Michael Haneline

        I think like 3 days

      2. Marsh Maryrose

        She moved in last Sunday and it’s now Thursday.

        1. Needfuldoer

          A brief, but eventful reign.

  5. Stephen Bierce

    *plays The Captain & Tennile’s “Muskrat Love” on the hacked Muzak* (Rest In Peace, Captain)

    1. merbrat

      <3

    2. Bicycle Bill

      FYI – Daryl Dragon (a/k/a the Captain) got his nickname during his stint as a member of the Beach Boys. During his stint as a keyboard player with the band, Brian Love dubbed him “Captain Keyboard” and it stuck.

      1. ValdVin

        Dragon passed away today. RIP, Captain.

        1. ValdVin

          And I see I missed S Bierce’s note. Oops.

      2. merbrat

        He comes by his musical chops, honestly: his father was Carmen Dragon, a famous conductor/composer/arranger.

  6. Kyrik Michalowski

    This is why you’re here Lucy? Oh this little adventure will end well, I already foresee it.

    1. Clif

      Indeed.

  7. timemonkey

    Sorry Lucy, this dorm isn’t filled with sheep.

    1. Doctor_Who

      No, but the one next door that was built sideways is filled with cows.

      1. Kamino Neko

        Sit down, Todd.

        1. TheHorseCouncil

          God i love this comment section. Always on point with your references and enducing actual laughs. 🙂

        2. Ana Chronistic

          Everybody mooed.

        3. Clif

          Ok, that was delightful. Thank y’all. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NBXQAD9/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

    2. newllend(henryvolt)

      First Rule of Read Hall, “Nobody gives a fuck.”

      1. Clif

        Pretty sure nobody told Roz.

        1. abysswatcher1993

          Why is that woman a politician wannabe and not a porn star?

        2. Clif

          Because it’s actually important to her. She spends her free time handing out condoms because she cares about it.

        3. Nikol Geier

          She doesn’t want to be a politician, though. She’s been pretty clear about that. She’s an activist, not a campaigner—her run against Dorothy was for a room, not because she enjoyed the competition.

        4. Rex Vivat

          I do believe the Dean was pretty clear about not giving a fuck, or at least not on camera.

    3. abysswatcher1993

      It’s filled with antisocials and penis drawers.

      1. OBBWG

        I first read that as “droars” (like underwear or places to keep dildos) rather than “draw – ers”. Not inaccurate.

    4. Kinoko

      Woooow why so much hate for the Forest Quad folks? I know they were all intro’d at the same time and have less personality, but like. That’s the point. They’re a foil. They’re the functional to Read’s dysfunctional in this story.

      1. Solenoid

        Not sure how functional going starry-eyed over Billie is.

  8. tim gueguen

    Poor Lucy. Her entire worldview has been shattered.

    1. Doctor_Who

      But she got a free and awesome jacket!

      1. Clif

        Seems a fair trade.

  9. Sam

    I like Lucy more knowing that she came here to look for ways to conflict resolve/cope.

  10. Stu

    Oh thank god this facade is crumbling down.

  11. AntJ

    WOW that is so extra. “I’m spurned so I’m going to ask her old friends how to destroy her” like WHAT

    Lucy is supposed to be Hufflepuff, not Slytherin! Someone give this girl a chill pill.

    Or, we let her wreck Billie’s reputation in Foster Quad. That actually doesn’t sound bad. Maybe it ends with Lucy asking for a room transfer.

    1. Laladoria

      Less destroy, more resolve the conflict Billie is causing for her. Lucy is probably the last person in the cast to instigate conflict if we go by how she was in Shortpacked!, at least in my opinion

      1. AntJ

        Lucy strikes me as A Good Person™️, not a good person. She’s curated this image and is seeking to restore it at Billie’s expense. Yes, she wants to de-brainwash her friends, but she’s the main benefactor and Billie’s charade would shatter.

        1. Zach

          WOW! I’ve never seen a projection cast so hard.
          Billy is actively mean to her, she has lots of reasons to want this to stop.
          We also haven’t seen her take any action as of yet. She may just wonder why billy is mean to her. She may even black male Billy into simply being polite al-lah ‘every time you condescend to me in front of my friends or talk about me without acknowledging me, I’m bringing over someone you used to know to hang out’, which would be growth for her as far as demanding respect.

        2. Cyrus

          It’s spelled “à la” and is French for “in the style of”. I normally try to repress my obnoxious correcting urges, but that was too egregious.

        3. Chris Phoenix

          I think you’re correcting text-to-speech. I assume Zach themself knows the difference between “black male” and “blackmail.”

        4. Zach

          Thanks, but let me anglecanize that for you.
          Allah. It needs to be one word now and/or Latin.
          It’s also now a troublesome homograph.

        5. Needfuldoer

          Is that like when people write/say “walla” instead of “voilà”, then backpedal by saying “English is always changing” as if that’s an excuse?

          If so, I don’t like it.

        6. Kinoko

          They’re going to all of garden. 😛

        7. Clif

          To meet with Al Fred O.

        8. Narx

          I don’t know you, but just in case, I feel like I should probably point out that it’s “blackmail”, not “black male”. I don’t usually bother correcting strangers on the internet, but I feel like this one could save a life. XD

        9. BarerMender

          I’m with AntJ. Lucy jumped arrogant and overbearing with Billie and Billie didn’t eat it, so Lucy’s looking to destroy Billie, or at least put her in her place..

        10. Nikol Geier

          Yeah, Lucy has had a small problem throughout with people-pleasing and “you have to be friends with me”, which Billie, being naturally fairly independent, chafed under. Up until now, they were about equally unpleasant roommates in different ways. Now Lucy’s crossing the line.

          And I am genuinely weary of people saying that “Lucy would be an awesome roommate”. Those people are lucky to have never had a roommate who demanded a friendship that they weren’t keen on reciprocating. Roommates are business partners. Trying to elevate the relationship beyond that can cross into a kind of emotional blackmail fast.

          “Be friends with me or our housing situation will get insanely uncomfortable.”

          Billie’s a somewhat rude roommate. Lucy is an outright *bad* roommate. I’d rather have a roommate who ignores me than a roommate who demands my affection. I’ve dealt with both.

        11. Nikol Geier

          And to be clear, Lucy’s a great character! She’s meant to be flawed in this way—it’s an interesting flaw that will interact interestingly with characters like Billie, Carla, and the rest. But it *is* a flaw. It’s just a flaw that, like Dorothy’s overwork, is coded by our society as more “acceptable”—especially in a comic where you don’t have to live with the characters.

      2. Dana

        Huh, I never would have thought that of Shortpacked! Lucy, but with you mentioning it I can totally understand that interpretation.

        1. Clif

          My understanding of a Mary Sue was an unrealistic authorial self insert. Lucy as a self insert of Willis just sounds bizarre to me. So you must be saying something else I don’t understand.

    2. Doctor_Who

      I don’t think there’s malice in Lucy’s actions, I think she feels alone now that all her friends are ignoring her for Billie, and she thought she’d find people here who know what that’s like.

      1. AntJ

        I don’t see malice, but I do see jealousy. She wants back the respect that is now given exclusively to Billie. Since she was the one Billie dethroned, her actions certainly suggest self-promotion.

    3. Sam

      That is what *Billie* would do. This is Lucy. I think she is more genuinely asking for tips on how to cope/conflict resolve/handle the situation so her feelings are hurt less. Not to spite Billie.

      1. AntJ

        This isn’t spite, but it will probably destroy Billie nonetheless

        1. Emily

          It seems like Billie needs to be destroyed before she will experience character growth.

        2. Sam

          That is Billie’s problem for not dealing with her own hangups, not Lucy’s for searching for solutions to help herself. If it destroys Billie, I strongly doubt it will be because Lucy purposely goes out of her way to do so, it is far more likely to be a destruction mostly of Billie’s own making. If someone explodes your house because they accidentally created a spark, it’s not really their fault when you had filled your entire house with hydrogen and refused to clear it out despite ample opportunity to.

        3. Stu

          And Billie’s destruction would be at the hands of her own hubris and not coming clean so she could reattain that “I’m the alpha bongo Cheerleader!” glory she had in High School. It’s the old “Liar Revealed” trope – https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LiarRevealed – and can only happen when someone actively cultivates that kind of lie.

      2. GenJen

        I think its a combo of both. Lucy seems very much caught up in her own world at times. I’m sure she *thinks* that going off to Billy’s old hall and asking every stranger she bumps into questions about Billy beneficial for the group, even though she’s the only one who has a problem with Billy.

        Gotta agree with AntJ on this. She’s jealous and confused as to why people would rather listen to Billy, who has little filter, than her, who forcefully maintains this aura of sunshine and compliance.

        There were a bunch of other ways to go about this. This…doesn’t really seem to be the best.

        Also, Billy has been pretty reserved in the new dorm. It’s everyone else who’s drooling over her. Lucy’s problem isn’t with Billy. She had Malaya as a roommate. Her problem is with her “friends” but she’s not willing to confront them on how they’ve been treating her.

        1. Sam

          I don’t think she is *jealous* though so much as she is *hurt*. She doesn’t dislike Billie or want to hurt Billie, she wants to know how to cope with the fact Billie is super popular with them to the point her friends chose Billie over her. So she decided to ask the people who were likely to have dealt with that before i.e. her old dorm, not knowing that Billie wasn’t popular there at all.

        2. Nikol Geier

          Both are definitely true. Lucy needs people to like her, and Billie’s popularity—especially coupled with the fact that Billie clearly does not really work to earn it the way Lucy does—is frustrating to her.

          [Ironically, both Billie and Lucy desperately need the high opinions of others to be happy. It just leads them in different places.]

    4. butts

      We’ll see what she does with this information, really.

      1. AntJ

        My money’s on either “keeps it to herself after finding why Billie really came to Foster” or “ruins Billie’s facade and causes a breakdown”. Willis doesn’t do “return to normalcy” until we’ve had a falling out.

        1. CoMa

          It might also be “wants to keep it to herself/doesn’t know what to do with this exactly, but blurts it out right after having been ignored/glossed over again”

  12. Tacos

    Pfft! “Incredibly powerful. All-encompassing.” she says.

  13. Some1

    I know that Carla’s trying to convince people she’s an asshole so they don’t hate her for being trans, but I don’t think that’s how it works. Transphobes aren’t going to forget your trans because they hate you for other reasons, they’ll just hate you for more than one reason.

    1. chris73

      Being that shes an extremely rich, white girl thats probably never wanted for anything, had everything given to her on a plate and never really had to work for anything maybe shes just saying that as an excuse because she really is just an asshole, for the sake of being an asshole

      1. butts

        y’know it can be both those things, right

        like those are not mutually exclusive and in fact work very well together

        1. chris73

          “in fact work very well together”

          I don’t know if I’ve read that right but I’d have thought that, as Some1 said, they won’t forget you’re trans so they’ll hate you even more for being trans and an asshole

        2. Adam Black

          “Ive heard it both ways”

        3. Uly

          No you have not.

      2. Chris Phoenix

        But she’s not naturally an asshole. If she were remotely the character you think, she would have asked one of her fixers to make Mary disappear.

        Instead, she saved Ruth’s life at the cost of several people being mad at her; she gave Joyce specially designed shower shoes; she committed a very thoughtful and non-destructive revenge on Mary.

        She did not get a correctly gendered body handed to her on a silver platter, which 99% of us do.

        Your character description fits Trump. Think about the vast difference in character between Carla and Trump, and then ask yourself why you are so down on Carla.

        1. chris73

          So Trumps an asshole therefore Carla isn’t an asshole?

          In real life no one is without their redeeming features and Carla does have some herself but that doesn’t change her entitled, asshole actions like skating down halls and knocking people over, then blaming them for it

        2. Needfuldoer

          Carla’s a pineapple. Prickly outside, acidic but sweet inside.

        3. Uly

          She did not get a correctly gendered body handed to her on a silver platter, which 99% of us do.

          Although it seems that her parents are 110% supportive and awesome, to the point where, iirc, she didn’t really grasp that some parents aren’t.

          Everybody should be so lucky.

        4. Emily

          You can be a selfish, entitled asshole and still do the right thing in a crisis situation or perform occasional acts of kindness that cost you nothing.

          And she had all the possible resources to deal with having the wrong body handed to her on a silver platter and her obscene wealth heavily insulates her from the societal consequences of being trans.

        5. not someone else

          …Man, I think there’s a difference between saying someone is being a massive douche to compensate for suddenly dealing with inner emotional turmoil they don’t know how to deal with constructively, and saying someone would take out a fucking hit on someone.

          And while I’m not sure myself on the exact degree of actual asshole, or privilege, or prejudice, or acceptance, or whatever in Carla’s un-fleshed backstory, trans people are entirely capable of experiencing all those things to some extent or other. Like, her being trans may or may not be part of why she acts like this, or hell being a woman with an interest in science, but she is also rich and white, and a lot of other things.

        6. Clif

          Self confident, exuberant, cute.

        7. Chris Phoenix

          I didn’t say take out a hit. Just make her disappear from Carla’s life.

      3. Uly

        Mike’s an asshole for the sake of being an asshole. He sets the bar so low, Carla can leap over it in those skates without even trying.

      4. thejeff

        @chris73: Saying what? I don’t remember her ever telling anyone why she’s posing as an asshole as some kind of excuse. If she’s not telling people, then it can’t be that kind of excuse. Doesn’t even make sense.

        As Dana says below, the theory isn’t that less people will hate her, it’s that it’ll hurt less if they hate her for being an asshole than for just for being trans.

    2. Dana

      Seems to me it’s more that if she chooses to be an asshole she can tell herself people hate her for something she can control, and not because of who she is. It’s more dealing with the haters in her own mind than in theirs. I often self-sabotage to deal with depression in a similar sort of way.

      1. Uly

        That’s… actually weirdly plausible.

      2. thejeff

        That’s how I always understood it.

        I’m not even sure what some of the people in this thread think the facade is for.

        1. Emily

          I’m not really convinced its a facade. I think she might just be an entitled jerk who isn’t devoid of the capacity for empathy and compassion because people can be complicated like that.

      3. Kinoko

        Yeah, this sounds more plausible to me.

        Honestly, I think it’s a coping mechanism where she feels the need to double down on self-confidence to make it abundantly clear she’s happy with herself as she currently is. That’s actually not the worst thing she could do. In words, she proclaims her awesomeness, but in deeds, she does help others out when they need it.

    3. Emily

      Seriously her “facade” just means that transphobes hate her for being trans and everyone else hates her for being her.

    4. Nikol Geier

      All this talk about “facades” is… honestly pretty weird to me. I’m sure some of the people talking about this aren’t cis, but it can’t help but read to me as, “Do cis people really not understand catharsis?”

      Look, society kind of hates us. Not just in the “you’re trans and gross” way, but even putting aside blatant transphobia, society kind of hates everything about us. Even if we have money, even if we can change our bodies and our names and our voices, why should we have to? We have to because society hates us, and demands, at a bare minimum, that we be as unlike “us” as possible.

      Carla is rich, yes, and she can afford a lot I can’t. But society still hates her, and she’s probably always known that.

      So with that established, does it really not click to anyone here that there is an enormous kind of catharsis in just being a casual “sick pranks”-style asshole? Not, you know, trying to hurt anyone, but in expressing a kind of snarky, nihilistic loner attitude that lets you push away everyone you don’t have patience for?

      It feels wonderful to be able to just say, “Fuck off,” to the rest of society, even just on occasion. And we can’t do it. Because if we do, society will kill us. Society loves assholes, mind you—yes, there’s Trump, but also consider Simon Cowell, Chef Bourdain, Joe Biden, and a million other actors, comedians and politicians who built a brand off of being “unpolished” and “blunt” and sometimes outright rude. Goddammit, Carla even references how much she loves pranks—look at Youtube prank channels! But they’re all cis. So they get to be admired. Carla, as she points out to Ruth, has to follow different rules to be a “good trans woman”.

      Carla is rich, and her family loves her. She is relatively safe from getting killed for what she says. So she refuses to play nice. She skates in the hallways. She trolls the dorm transphobe. She strolls into a room and asks Billie for cookies, because screw it, she wants cookies. She tries to “overwhelm people with her physicality”, as Sal puts it. She wants attention, and she doesn’t want to worry about etiquette or decorum, because you know who lectures people about decorum? The same old white people who want to legislate her out of existence.

      And yes, she’s kind of a jerk. Like, obviously. But I am utterly perplexed at all of you who act like a trans woman from a rich family* has no reason to be angry at society, no reason to put up walls or be a bit of an ass.

      I don’t see this contempt for Ruth, who has been far more needlessly antagonistic. I don’t know if I even see it for Sarah, Walky or Robin, who are all often rather thoughtless or rude towards people in various ways. (I won’t bring up Malaya, Mike, Joe or Billie because those four get a shitton of hate.)

      This, by the way, is the definitive “Carla’s motivation” comic:
      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/02-that-perfect-girl/antagonize/

      *Which, by the way, is not exactly the same thing as a rich trans woman.

      1. Emily

        I’m not expecting Carla to be “that perfect girl” I’m expecting her to be a generally decent person who doesn’t actively make the lives of the people she interacts with worse for no reason other than disregard for anything but her own juvenile whims. I DON’T see the catharsis in Carla’s behaviour. I don’t see the point in being an ass to people who haven’t earned it because it would make me feel pretty awful and guilty. It’s not railing against society because individual people who’ve never done anything to you are not stand-ins for society they are human beings with feelings and they deserve a basic modicum of respect and kindness no matter how raw the deal you may have been dealt (and Carla has been dealt pretty much the least raw deal a trans person can hope for).

        1. Nikol Geier

          So, um… what has Carla actually done?

          “Actively makes the lives of people she interacts with worse” is a pretty strong statement. Aside from Mary, I can’t think of a single character Carla has done more than mildly annoy. The worst I can think of is her accidentally knocking some people over. Which is, yes, kind of jerky, but nobody has ever been hurt—in fact, Carla has shown instinctively helpful instincts when she sees people who are hurt, even if she doesn’t know them.

          It feels like you’re taking a true statement—”Carla is kind of a jerk”—and extrapolating from there into some ridiculous reading of her as a malicious bully.

        2. Nikol Geier

          “Instinctively helpful instincts” where’s my Pulitzer

          I will also say that what Carla is doing isn’t “railing against the world” or an act of active protest. It’s a refusal to bow to norms of any kind—including those of politeness, which, yes, exist for a reason. Carla is uninterested in spending time being nice to people she doesn’t like. It’s a norm that she has no patience for.

          The catharsis is in being totally independent, libertarian—which, yes, as with actual libertarians, means you’re occasionally a bit jerky. Carla never hits Ayn Rand levels (again, she helps strangers treat their injuries), but she does refuse to worry about slightly inconveniencing people.

          (It’s also probably influenced by the fact that she has never had any friends aside from her parents, and we can guess that her previous attempts to *be* polite and friendly to strangers did not bear helpful consequences for her.)

        3. Nikol Geier

          But seriously, yes, people call Carla an asshole a lot, and she calls herself one, but notice that Mary’s pretty much the only one who shows any real dislike for her. The others either like her okay or treat her with the same weary tolerance they show Joyce. Contrast this with the open contempt shown for Malaya, Mike, Mary, Joe, and even Ruth.

          The way Carla is called an “asshole” often seems to border on fondness, or at least understanding that it’s essentially a front. Carla doesn’t really want to be hated. She just doesn’t have patience for people interested in hating her—and she figures everyone decent will eventually work her out and either leave her alone or accept her. Consider her relationship with Joyce, which is very good for both of them. Carla plays with Joyce a little, but is never genuinely mean to her, even though she could be.

          Carla doesn’t want friends unless they’re good friends. She wants good friends, strangers, and enemies, so her abrasiveness is sort of a screening process. But she’s not actually particularly mean. She’s sometimes annoying and usually rude, which is not a good thing. Carla is flawed. But you’re making way too much out of it.

      2. not someone else

        *raises hand* Not cis.

        I honestly don’t think her being trans should be considered a good excuse for being an asshole. I’m not convinced she is one the more we see her, but dealing with your trauma by fucking with other people is unacceptable behavior no matter how much catharsis it brings you. Especially when you never know when the person you’re alienating is another traumatized person, or even someone with the same trauma.

        It’s an understandable, sympathetic reason that not everyone in the comments seems to get, but like, so is what Ruth used to be like or what Amber does. Even Walky’s shittiness to his sister is understandably because of his mother, but still not remotely okay. Carla is probably not quite the same as those- maybe closest to Ruth?- but she really does at least try to give the impression she’s more than just not-perfect, that she is actively an asshole.

        So, I dunno. She’s complicated. And she’s allowed that much. She’s only like 19-20 anyway and frankly a lot of her negative traits I interpret as being “obnoxious teenager things” more than anything else.

        1. Nikol Geier

          Yeah, I said it above, but I don’t consider Carla a genuine asshole. While there’s a place in my heart for the much more problematically cathartic “scrappy trans woman antivillain” (it’s a trope I can’t stop writing, honestly), Carla is a pretty mild version of that. She’s just mildly rude. But I do think that rudeness is a way she finds to express her contempt for society, to show that she doesn’t care what people think of her and has little patience for people she has to play gentle around.

          Honestly, I think part of why she seems to enjoy Joyce is that Joyce takes her impoliteness in good humor and patience. Joyce has survived the “screening process”, so Carla is willing to sort of mess with her without being overtly mean the way she is with someone who was more uptight, like Mary.

        2. Nikol Geier

          Also, I do want to say, ’cause you’re clearly aware of the nuance but it feels like some of what I meant was lost in translation, I’m not saying being trans would “excuse” Carla being a jerk. She’s still a bit of a jerk—it’s kind of a huge part of her character.

          Obligatory pointing to the comic’s title, yadda yadda, but my main point was that I feel like people are okay with Ruth’s jerkiness (once its root causes were explained) but continue to act perplexed with Carla’s jerkiness, even though her root causes feel pretty obvious and sympathetic to me.

        3. thejeff

          Part of the reason I think the asshole thing is a facade, is that it seems so performative. “It’s all these new freshmen. I’ve got to build mindshare all over again.” She’s not good at being an asshole. It’s not natural to her. She doth protest too much.
          There’s probably a lot in what you say about her motivations, but I think it’s very much not her natural style. If she could relax, I think it would fall away. But of course, she can’t.
          Even in this little interaction, how much do you think she tensed up behind that facade when she realized Lucy recognized her?

        4. Nikol Geier

          Honestly, I don’t think her “natural style” is defined by fear at all. her natural style is not exactly subtle—it’s abrasive and loud and proud. Fear influences her in that she refuses to let it control her, even in the sense of “I’m afraid people will think I’m an ass if I’m rude, so I’m gonna be rude.”

        5. Nikol Geier

          Also, “being an asshole is not natural to her” is only true in that she’s not really an asshole, and very few people really see her as one. She’s an “asshole” in the lowkey, exagerated way people use the word—she’s rude and blunt, and deeply impatient with people (her handling of the entire Billie/Ruth arc is evidence of that). And *that* comes very naturally to her.

          That may well be because her privileged upbringing allowed her to be however she wanted, knowing her family would protect her, or it may be an act of spite after her upbringing, while privileged, *failed* to protect her from the worst of the world. Either way, though, it’s not just a facade. It’s freedom. It’s catharsis.

          I’m personally a very people-pleasing person, but I get really impatient with any investment of emotional labor, especially when it’s around my identity. Carla’s total disregard is very empowering, even if it’s not behavior anyone should be advised to emulate.

        6. thejeff

          My point is that I don’t think what we see is her natural style.

          I mean, she might still be loud and proud, but she wouldn’t be proclaiming all the time how much she doesn’t care.

  14. DailyBrad

    This is too goddamn adorable on many levels.

    Also, I know she’s on skates, so that adds to it, but I sometimes forget, oh yeah, Carla’s one of the tallest people in the comic.

    1. Lingo

      I know, right? I kept thinking, “Lucy, you can get off the floor now.”

  15. shadowcell

    Dumbing of Age Book 9: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA FUCKIN’ JESUS

    1. butts

      the next slipshine is Yeshua/Peter

    2. Dana

      Nope, I still prefer “GET OFF MY BED, YOU FUCKING NERD.”

      1. Zach

        Danny and Joe?
        Hot, but much more importantly, that would make so much drama!

    3. Keulen

      Dumbing of Age Book 9: She’s a Person My Brain Keeps Track of Despite Them Not Being Me

      1. Clif

        But that’s only because sometimes she has cookies.

  16. newllend(henryvolt)

    Lucy: How did you guys overcome her overwhelming popularity?

    *Carla basically pulling a bender*: https://youtu.be/_n5E7feJHw0

    1. Keulen

      I’m glad I’m not the only person who thought of that when I read today’s strip.

      1. StClair

        Definitely not.

  17. kitty

    u think her holding in laughter was on purpose just so she could point out how she doesnt care after

  18. caesaria82

    Carla’s laugh is just the best. Carla’s face in general is just the best. CARLA IS THE BEST IS WHAT I’M SAYING.

    1. chris73

      Except when shes knocking people over and blaming them for it I’m guessing?

      1. Dana

        She may not be the best while doing it, but she’s the best *at* doing it.

      2. kitty

        no thats good too

      3. Clif

        When Carla isn’t skating, she isn’t fully alive.

  19. Well_Played

    And…boom goes the dynamite.

  20. IKneedYou

    Damn Lucy. I have a hard time imagining someone doing a investigation over a current roommate like this. (unless something super sketchy was going on) It feels a little weird and violating.

    1. Dana

      As Black Joyce, Lucy is practically required to do a little weird and violating from time to time.

      1. BBCC

        Minor correction: Joyce is white Lucy, not vice versa. 😛

        1. Needfuldoer

          ¿Por qué no ambos?

        2. BBCC

          Why not both?

          Mostly cause I’m making a joke about how Joyce has already, in comic, been dubbed white Lucy.

        3. StClair

          Cue the Black/White Debbie scene…

        4. ValdVin

          Sealab 2021? That’s some nice old-school referencing.

    2. 3-I

      I mean, looking for help on dealing with someone you’re living with, from people who used to live with her, is not really that bad a thing. =/

      1. Sam

        I agree with you. That’s not really different from asking other people how they deal with a colleague/manager/classmate. It’s not unreasonable to ask people who have spent time with them before.

  21. Clif

    I’m sure that Lucy’s motives are purely benevolent

    1. Clif

      Though she should do her stalking online like a normal person.

  22. BenRG

    How does Carla explain to Lucy that someone who may be overwhelmingly popular to some is not so for others? It’s kind of difficult to lock your brain onto the fact that not every community has the same social dynamics!

    1. ninja_jesus

      The bottom of one barrel is actually the top of another, lower barrel?

      1. Clif

        It’s barrels all the way down. Actually I thought Carla was explaining that very point to Lucy very well.

      2. TemperaryObsessor

        There is sometimes medium fish small pond syndrome but its also a matter of different groups having different standards and knowing different things about you. nd have different history.
        I mean Peridot thought Amethyst was the best Crystal Gem. But Amethyst has the least standing in the Crystal gems except sometimes Steven.
        Garnet was the second in command of the Crystal gems and is now their leader except sometimes Steven.
        Pearl is a pearl, but she’s also a freaking diamonds pearl and once Homeworld had an idea what was going on the only Crystal gem besides Pink Diamond who was treated with anything resembling respect.

  23. CianM1301

    “Aaaahahahaha!”
    “Oh wait, you were serious. Let me laugh even harder.”
    “AAAAHAHAHAHA!”

  24. abysswatcher1993

    Te people we consider cool may be considered ordinary by others. Joyce thinks Sal is cool, but Malaya thinks Sal is a poser; Walky thinks Dorothy is a genius, but Bongo Queen De Santo thinks she is a noob.

  25. Eldritch Gentleman

    Welp, Carla is the perfect person for releasing the cat and allowing it to achieve escape velocity.

    1. DinaWho

      Congratulations, my good eldritch sir, on your winning of one (1) internet.

  26. JoeCovenant

    “Ho-ho, and Ha-Ha, eh? I’ll Ho-Ho and Ha-Ha YOU!”

  27. Tawdry Quirks

    Anyone else see this ending in a drone flinging a cream pie at Billie?

  28. BenRG

    In the end, the only advice that Lucy needs is this: If your friends have decided to dump you because they’d rather hang out with Billie (even though Billlie would rather not hang out with them), then it may be time to find some new friends.

    Fortunately, I have the impression that Joyce, Becky, Sarah, Sal and Dorothy may all be wandering the corridors during this chapter, looking to expand on their own social circles.

    That aside, ‘from the mouth of two witnesses’ and all that. I wonder if Lucy is going to realise this means Joyce was right about Billie’s reputation at Read Hall?

    1. Emily

      Sarah is never looking to expand her social circle it just sorta happens to her while she protests ineffectually.

  29. Bagge

    Given that within her first five minutes in the dorm, Lucy was three kinds of insulted and ran over, I think she has her answer.

    1. BenRG

      The horrible thing is I suspect that Lucy is used to being demeaned and condescended to. Malaya probably did it a lot so nothing really has changed.

      1. Emily

        I can’t actually think of an interaction where Lucy has been treated with like basic respect. Maybe that one time with Walky?

        1. Bagge

          In my headcanon, Fuckface treated her with respect.

        2. JBento

          All the respect he shows lowly warmbloods, anyway.

        3. meep

          He respects his heat pillows. They give him warm snuggles, wich is important to cold blooded creatures.

        4. ValdVin

          And most of my cat’s affection is tied to my being the preferred food dspenser. It’s an accepted bargain.

        5. the final pam

          Her first meeting and interaction with Billie was relatively nice. Aside from going “Nope” at Lucy bringing up Hogwarts houses, Billie was a little overwhelmed by Lucy’s enthusiasm but still gently told her no thanks.

          But yeah, immediately after that, Lucy just starts being dismissed.

  30. Coco Pommel

    On one hand. Dammit Carla. On the other hand. Carla Yes. Always yes.

  31. Megz

    So, for one, I called it. And, two, I don’t know how this will shake out for Lucy but it’s not going to be a good for her. I’m sure Billie will be upset this sunshine girl wants to “knock her down a peg” but ultimately Billie has other people to hang out with and other things to do. Give it a day of not being an Alpha Bongo in her current dorm anymore but then she’ll move on, be with her real friends/girlfriend and have a very uncomfortable situation with roommate Lucy, who I’m sure will regret that sooner rather than later.

  32. Laladoria

    I’m just gonna say, regardless of if someone else already said it, the face Carla is making while holding in her laughter is way too good.

  33. DarkoNeko

    Not gonna lie, I’d have laughed too

  34. Whatt

    Duh, who wouldn’t?
    Carla: hate to break it to you, but Billie the cheerleader is a figment of your imagination.
    Lucy: wait what?
    Carla: it’s alright ,little one. Under my guidance and jacket, I shall guide you to the dark truth o for her existence!
    Lucy: I can’t believe this is true! What’s Billie’s truth?
    Carla: wait, what? Who’s that? I thought we were talking about Mary.
    Lucy: my life is a lie!

  35. Shane

    Fun fact- getting voice actors to do good laughs like this is actually pretty hard. They look good on paper but I don’t get as much mileage IRL as I’d hoped.

  36. Emily

    Carla is actually pretty likable when she’s dunking on other characters I don’t like.

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