162

Briscoe Lobby
Posted on December 9, 2023 by David M Willis

162 thoughts on “Briscoe Lobby”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “Don’t be fooled. She’s just a regular Bloomington Carla with a stupid, cheap hat. She still embodies all the awful shenanigans she did before!”

    “But she’s got a new hat!”

    1. 3oranges

      Believe in yourself, and you can do anything. …no, wait, that’s the other one.

      1. Yet_One_More_Idiot

        Wrong way around? Believe in anything, and you can do yourself… wait no, that’s even worse. REVERSE! REVERSE!

        1. CrimsonStorm

          Believe in nothing and you can do everyone? Oh no…

        2. M.Blind

          Mike believed in nickels.

        3. Decidedly Orthogonal

          And he did everyone’s moms!

          …

          And Emothan.

        4. Some Ed

          I’ve been doing myself since I was a teenager. I suspect a lot of people are like this. So I think it does work in that order.

          Yourself in believe, and anything can do you: My mother warned me about this one.

          You in yourself, believe can do anything: I don’t even know what this means.

      2. Opus the Poet

        Believe in anything and you can do anyone? Yeah, that’s the ticket.

    2. Cattleprod

      If this site had upvotes I’d give you one.

      1. Mym

        I’ve caught on that we say “+1” to convey such an action

        Or…
        Perhaps I have been incredibly wrong and I’ve been harassing people

        1. M!a

          Only if you’re dialing from outside the US.

        2. LiamKav

          Genuine LOL for that.

        3. khn0

          +1ing Ana would liekly result in Ddos.

        4. Mark

          I’ve been promoting “+1” because so many people say they want an upvote button. It means “I support/approve that” in a different context. (Probably IRC. Anybody here old enough, and nerdy enough, to remember IRC?)

        5. Decidedly Orthogonal

          IRC and usenet. Both still active. Though usenet has progressively less support from ISP’s.

        6. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          Yo.

        7. John Campbell

          I run my own IRC server. It’s the primary way some of my friends communicate with me. And I’m still op on #avalon, even though it’s been like 20 years since Josh disowned us.

    3. BadRoad

      The hat looks expensive to me.

  2. NGPZ

    Where’d that hat come from?

    Oh who am I kiddin? Between this and Dina’s beanie, it’s safe to assume at this point that in Dummiverse, hats can just be sentient XD

    1. RassilonTDavros

      “Between this and Dina’s beanie”

      Hat-off! Hat-off!

    2. True Survivor

      I’d say this sounds like your hat is made of tinfoil, but then maybe the conspiracy theorists are the only ones not being controlled by the hats. The tinfoil cones really do protect you from mind control – not because they block radiation or anything, but because if you are wearing a tinfoil hat, you aren’t wearing a real one.

      1. NGPZ

        Not unless the hats in this universe follow Toy Story 4 rules! XD

      2. Psychie

        My hat is sentient, but I have been lead to believe that mine is more the exception than the rule in that regard, especially since I’m the one who rendered it as such, and I did so entirely on purpose. It is also worth noting, for the record, that I am not mind controlled by my hat, the hat *is* capable of puppeteering my body, but only when I allow it and I only do so for the sake of efficiency. My hat essentially functions as a second brain to enable me to process information much faster or to split my attention on more things than I normally could, naturally when I need to move about and physically do things but wish to devote the entirety of my attention on whatever I’m thinking about, having a secondary brain to control my body and pay attention to my surroundings on my behalf is quite appreciated.

        1. Decidedly Orthogonal

          You ever have shenanigans because you’re not paying attention and Hat takes you to the wrong place or does the wrong thing?

        2. Psychie

          No more than my normal brain does when I’m not wearing the hat, if anything it happens less with the hat because I have two sets of situational awareness and two sets of focus.

      3. Needfuldoer

        Tin foil hats only protect you from mind control if you fold it shiny side out.

        If you fold it shiny side in, it contains your thoughts so they can’t be read.

        If you want both, you have to make it double-layered.

        1. Opus the Poet

          No, tin foil hats only protect you if you run a ground strap down both legs and under your feet so that at least one side is touching the ground at all times to shunt the thought control radiation to ground, any competent EET can tell you that shields have to be grounded to be effective.

      4. Mark

        Actually the tinfoil acts as an antenna and re-radiates the mind-control rays, focused, so the conspiracy theorists are actually the most effectively controlled.

    3. HueSatLight

      she could grab a hat from a lost and found… where’s her coat!?

      1. David DeLaney

        Asma bursting in with raised voice in 3 .. 2 .. 1 ..

        1. Opus the Poet

          Wrong dorm, Asma is at Reed.

    4. pdp15

      Hatspace is clearly a variant of hammerspace.

      1. M!a

        I was going to reply with a Myspace joke but no way are you peeps that old. xD

        1. Opus the Poet

          I predate Myspace on the internet, I still remember Altavista.

      2. Weatherheight

        Exactly.

    5. M!a

      I like to think she ran like bare naked HELL to the nearest Party City and back.

      …after unsuccessfully demanding at least three others to do so.

    6. Weatherheight

      You’ve heard of HammerSpace.
      HatSpace is just to the left.

      1. David DeLaney

        and then a step to the ri-i-i-i-i-ight

        –Dave, not sorry

    7. a/snow/mous/e

      She was holding it behind her back. How she put it on her head, though, I have no idea.

    8. Ana Chronistic

      she has Ruttech drones

  3. Thag Simmons

    Carla those two garments do not match at all

    1. Raja

      That’s what makes it so attention grabbing, and therefore, perfect

      1. Thag Simmons

        I feel like a glowing purple outfit that matched the hat would be equally eye catching

        1. Mym

          I think a digital style zoot suit would work super well

  4. DailyBrad

    I’d love if Walky’s BS-d suggestion of where Charlie was turned out to somehow be right on the money.

    That being said, Carla’s looking cute as hell, so I am sure she’s catching someone’s eye, be it Charlie’s or otherwise.

    1. Thag Simmons

      I mean it’s a 1-in-(however many dorm buildings are at this school, i assume it’s a small number) shot

      1. HueSatLight

        assuming it’s more or less the same as real life, there’s 21 including campus apartments. At least one of them is multiple buildings.

        I may have felt compelled to figure out which building Charlie was in front of in the most recent bonus strip. It’s not a dorm, so no hints from that if Walky was right. Unless Charlie is living in the hotel.

        1. David M Willis

          The bonus strip takes place in front of the student union building

          that’s right no hints

      2. CrazyJ

        I don’t know the campus or even the state but the number probably isn’t that small. I went to a smaller college than there but they still had nearly a dozen resident halls.

        1. DailyBrad

          Indiana is the state, in any case.

        2. Needfuldoer

          DoA is set at the Indiana University campus in a slightly fictionalized version of Bloomington, Indiana.

          Read Hall is at coordinates 39.16596424161893, -86.51489460920973.

    2. anon

      imagine after all this if charlie’s ‘type’ was whatever the opposite of what carla is aesthetics/personality wise but the point is that carla was trying so hard b/c charlie was the only one not giving her attention so she’d prolly tell anyone else approaching her to F off, although tbh if i saw that even if i was acquainted with someone that’d def be offp utting or i’d at least think they were in a bad mood to where i wouldn’t talk to someone acting that way

  5. Animedingo

    Flawless

  6. tim gueguen

    Carla, never change.

    No, actually, Carla, you probably should change.

    1. Yotomoe

      But she just put the dress on!

    2. anon

      maybe it would’ve been more successful if she dressed like booster if only to lure her that way tho that’d be kinda creepy behavior out of some psych horror ver lol

  7. shrub

    It seems denial isn’t just a river in Africa

  8. Warcodered

    Well this is adorable, and sad if by realism that it probably won’t work, though if laws of comic probability apply maybe it’ll work out.

    1. anon

      well, nothing wrong with her being vulnerable, maybe booster will come b/c walky told them that that’s where he told carla she’d be and be like “Fine ,have lunch with us”

      (And while i do feel sorry for carla in this moment i wish i could ignore/tune out ppl’s yelling even if charlie isn’t doing it intentionally)

  9. Nono

    Carla is underestimating the ability of uni students to exist in a state of fugue in their rooms throughout the entire weekend.

    1. anon

      imagine if it /is/ the right lobby but charlie decides to have lunch somewhere else, or they somehow passed each other.

      Or she has some kinda heated up (assuming it’s a weekend. Well, yeah, sunday since walky/lucy/becky went to church lol) meal to be in her own dorm room and slowly takes hours to eat it lol. that def happens to me even without a busy university schedule tho i tend to eat slower as i’ve gotten older, not that ia te super fast/large portions to begin with

  10. Yotomoe

    And she’d never ignore a girl wearing a collar with a little bell on it that rings when she moves.
    On a Pogo stick.
    Playing the Banjo!

    1. David DeLaney

      but whomst among us would dare
      to bell the Carla?

      –Dave, we lose more freshmen that way

      1. M!a

        True to form, the one who suggested said belling.

  11. TheKelliestKelly

    I like to think the hat lowered itself onto Carla’s head from somehow

    1. Thag Simmons

      Zoomr drone delivery system

      1. anon

        well she is a billionaire be hilarious if somehow there were robots/devices in each of the major dorm rooms that act as robotic butlers to carla’s every whim

        1. Mark

          There weren’t, until she built them last year. Facilities is still trying to figure out where she put them.

    2. 3oranges

      And the last speech bubble is from the hat, not her. 🙂

      1. Mym

        The hat has become too powerful, all knowing

      2. Mark

        Meet the Robinsons crossover!

  12. pope suburban

    I choose to believe that the hat is from Neon Cowboys, which, as the name suggests, sells cowboy hats that light up.

    1. True Survivor

      I think I now know what I’m getting one of my friends for Christmas – thank you.

  13. True Survivor

    The hat screams Dolly Parton,

    but at least its not the dress. That damn thing won’t stop whispering about how the moon landing was faked.

  14. Ray Radlein

    That cowboy hat in this dorm makes a real Briscoe Country vibe, Junior

    1. Opus the Poet

      I understood that reference dot gif. Seriously, that was a better show than given credit for. I was just not in a period in my life that I could appreciate it.

  15. UrsulaDavina

    The hat really does tie the outfit together

    1. Steelbright

      Goddamn it i just came here to say this and you beat me to it. I am bested, i lay down my sword (and say hats off to you… Haha)

    2. Needfuldoer

      I thought that was the shoulder straps’ job?

  16. Yumi

    I just feel like there’s no way that “lunch time” is a concept that links to any specific action for Charlie.

    1. anon

      i imagine it’s a bit more “flexible” at like the college level compared to more public schools (tho be sucky if cafeteria ladies were stuck working til five), if not either just a cereal bar that’s like automated (tho feels like some ppl would just steal the food/snacks if subconsciously if there’s not some human handling the money or so but be nice if you could get free meals as part of tuition) or the dorm kitchen like what joyce was using,

      or some kinda setup where food trucks are permitted to set up around campus every now and then if not some other 3rd party restaurants renting out the main dining area as a food court sorta way lol

      1. Mark

        Back in the Dark Ages, when I was their age, my (now) wife’s college had set mealtimes in the single dining hall, which served other purposes in between those times, while at my school we were lucky there was a burger joint next door. Nowadays dining hours at my college are all day, there are grab-and-go sites scattered through the buildings with somewhat more limited hours and, yes, pre-COVID there were food trucks.

      2. Yumi

        At my college, the dining hall was open from 7am-11pm or so. The stations that served different meals had times within those hours where that food would be available; breakfast was from like 7am-10am, lunch was 11am-2pm, dinner was 5pm-8pm. But in the in between times, there was still stuff available, like cereal, a salad bar, some dessert items, sandwiches. Some dining halls might have pizza or breadsticks or burgers and fries also between lunch and dinner and after dinner. The dining hall I went to most had a “sushi hour” that happened between lunch and dinner hours.

        The “cafeteria ladies” were mostly either students or people hired through a local temp company, from what I remember. All the dining halls were all-you-can-eat. You had to have a dining plan, which all had unlimited meals for you, if you lived in the dorms.

        So what I imagine is that if Charlie doesn’t look up from what she’s doing until 4pm, 4pm will be when she wanders down to dining hall for whatever’s available. Will it be her lunch? Her dinner? Who’s to say.

  17. Joe Moose

    Oh no, don’t tell us she has been waiting there all this time

  18. Sirksome

    We still don’t actually know Charlie lives at Briscoe right? That’s just something Walky made up. Time to see if he has latent powers of foresight or however you describe being correct about something you don’t know.

    1. HueSatLight

      It’s about the farthest away, so he probably picked it for that, and not because he subconsciously remembered what dorm Booster moved from.

      1. Nono

        Booster doesn’t even necessarily have to be assigned to the same dorm as their sister.

      2. anon

        i don’t know if walky even knows/remember what booster mentioned when they first transferred to be his roommate

  19. Reltzik

    Shoulda gone with lime green.

    1. Mym

      Hear me out: rotating color palette connected to phone. Perhaps she can upload a new image onto it

  20. HueSatLight

    The hat is so bright, it would brick you-all’s phones if it were shown for real, like the Saint Mary Lake photo.

  21. Sajuuk-Khar

    The hat is perfect and if you say otherwise you’re a liar

    1. Mym

      I’ve been known to lie for fun

      1. Sajuuk-Khar

        Devious!

    2. anon

      I think if it was beige/tan it’d def fit down here in the south as some casual cowboy/southern type outfit/appeal haha

    3. Dday

      Agree this outfit is awesome

  22. DarkoNeko

    yeehaw.

  23. brionl

    Oh yeah, that hat totally seals the deal.

  24. Raen

    …okay… Carla is cute, but that is an UGLY dress, and the hat does NOT help.

    It’s a cliché, but has she tried being herself? Her tank-top-and-trousers self? Or, y’know, giving up?

    1. David DeLaney

      she’s been trying to be herself her whole LIFE so far

      –Dave, and clearly it had not yet registered with Charlie

      ps: have we already done “she’s just another of Charlie’s angels” to death yet

    2. Mym

      It’s also not even close to the season that dress could be acceptable. That is a late spring/summer color palette and silhouette.

      1. Mark

        Considering her usual style, it may be the only one she brought. Or she might have nipped out and bought it for the occasion.

        1. Mym

          Where would she nip out and buy this in January save for target’s discounted summer styles?? She’d have to buy it online, and even then.
          I’d imagine she got this dress as a one off last summer, but even then it’d be out of style.
          I am disappointed with Carla’s choice. At least layer it and turn it into a January style outfit

        2. Mark

          It’s January: the winter coats went on clearance just after Christmas and the swim togs will be arriving any day.

      2. Opus the Poet

        The “palette” is the trans flag colors. Pay attention.

        Actually I only noticed that on this strip because I wasn’t paying attention either.

        1. Mym

          Which trans flag has yellow?

        2. Raen

          …what? It’s not even close?

    3. anon

      i think the dress is pretty cute, more appealing than the hat at least. But at least she’s not wearing some over the top flashy ‘prom’ dress or so but ‘being herself’ didn’t rly work around charlie yet, but i imagine this will either work out or carla punching (or i guess, just throwing a pie at) walky haha

    4. Mark

      The dress does not make the woman beautiful; ’tis the other way ’round.

  25. Freezer

    Dammit, Carla! Why so cute?

  26. Dedlok

    Wait! Don’t be fooled! She’s just the regular Carla but with a stupid cheap hat! She still embodys all the sterotypes that she did before!

    1. anon

      imagine if we meet charlies roommate and they’re more or less pretty similar to carla but also thirsty for charlie but hasn’t made any kinda mood, idk if carla would prefer that as competition or someone super diff from her as a ‘rival’

      1. Mark

        Or the roommate falls for Carla.

  27. HueSatLight

    In church right now, the roof opens up and a giant bearded deity appears in the sky, wagging their finger at Walky, “ℑ ???? ?ℌ?? ??? ?ℑ?.”

    1. M!a

      How long did it take you to paste all those letters from your character map?

    2. Sajuuk-Khar

      “I AM He that is called I AM, and in My form as the Father and as the Son and as the Holy Spirit I am gonna get your ass.”

      “I-Is this because I called Lucy’s church a cult?!”

      “What? No. That’s not accurate, but you can have that opinion. I am after you for what you did to My daughter Carla.”

    3. Mark

      Then bursts into earth-shaking laughter.

  28. David DeLaney

    … putting the hat on _shifted the plaid_ on the dress

    –Dave, it’s not just me? some of the plaid colors are literally backing away from the hat?

    1. M!a

      I like to think DeeDub got fed up and just refused to draw them anymore.

      1. Miri

        Alternatively, if the dress is slightly holographic so the print itself does shift around in different lighting then yep, the presence or absence of a hat would affect the shade depth she’s standing in and therefore the plaid pattern…

        Or DW has a plaid brush for the dress and it comes out similar but not 100% identical each time?

        (Are we looking for in-world or beyond-fourth-wall explanations?

  29. anon

    LOL tbh that hat kinda clashes buti ‘m not big on hat, i think some kinda hairbow/ribbon would be cuter. or a more cap/beret shaped thing lol. And lol dang how long has carla been waiting. unless she actually made a pit stop back in her own room/dorm area to get breakfast or so xD

  30. AbacusWizard

    heck yeah hat!

  31. fireprincesslily

    People keep saying Carla should change… God forbid a woman have hobbies.

  32. M!a

    Panel 4. Doubtful Carla face. Sho kyooot. x3

  33. Lanie

    Ok, but that’s just a really cute plaid dress, and I really do love how cute Carla looks in this whole strip. Like, absolutely adorable in both the pose and facial expression departments!

    As an aside, didn’t Willis essentially say drawing plaid sucks back when that was the print for one of Joyce’s button downs? Or maybe my brain just straight confabulated that? Regardless of what’s true, I’m surprised to see such a big piece of clothing with the print. I guess you have to draw it less on a secondary character.

  34. CianM1301

    And she chuckled and she clucked, “What a great Carla trick!”
    “With this dress and this hat, she’ll think I look so slick!”

  35. Li

    Maaaan that fourth panel. Ow my heart.

  36. Queezle

    I feel kind of bad for Carla.

    1. Alan in DC

      I feel bad for Willis. I thought he hated drawing plaids.

  37. PirateTawnee

    She’s so adorable.

    I don’t like her shoes, they do nothing for her or the outfit.

    1. Mym

      The outfit does nothing for the outfit. Carla is the only good part of it

    2. Morleuca

      but they’re shoes. not skates. that’s how serious she is about this.

  38. Plaaaaaa

    Charlie is going to notice her, but she won’t be able to react until several years later

    1. thejeff

      Be funny if Charlie completely ignores her here, but then walks into their next class and says “That was a cute dress”.

  39. AGV

    Damn, she’s down BAD

  40. J.Gawain

    I hope she pulled that hat from the same hammerspace that she put her coat in because that couldn’t have been a fun walk in the Indiana mid-January morning.

  41. Mark

    I’m surprised we can see Carla — there should be an uninterrupted semicircle of guys trying to chat her up.

  42. Carla's #2 Fan

    Dang, if this works out for them, I’m gonna have to change my 2 to a 3

  43. Chubsius

    Carla is beginning to crack in panel five.

  44. Dday

    You know, it occurs to me that Carla never bothered to ask Booster “What interests Charlie?” Isn’t she supposed to be really smart?

    1. Morleuca

      this isn’t a situation Carla’s been in before, so she has no frame of reference. You can’t research what you don’t know you need to research.

      1. Dday

        I guess she’s just got crappy social intelligence, even though she’s proven to be a total powerhouse for creative problem solving.

        1. Morleuca

          defense mechanism. Doesn’t matter how rich you are when you always have a target on your back.

    2. HueSatLight

      Some credit due, she noticed that Charlie and Booster shared a nintendo they had to trade back and forth, and offered to gift them a gaming system. And has put that on back burner, based off of Booster’s observations.
      And she asked Booster if she should wear a pretty dress.

  45. BBCC

    Perfect plan, no notes, I see no possible issue.

  46. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    “People aren’t wearing enough hats.”

  47. Heather

    Not good enough Carla. You need to Doug Dimmadome that hat.

  48. David DeLaney

    zhe hass gained a hat. ziss issa gut plan.

    1. Morleuca

      und eet eees a verra nize hat

    2. Sajuuk-Khar

      If you iz goink to go ze Lady’s vay of knockeeng their socks off vhen zey are seeing you, you GOTS to have a really really goot hat!

  49. ElderlyMarxist

    aw, hopeful carla is adorable

  50. DaveM

    If this was the Girl Genius website, and I was speaking Jager I believe my response would be “Dollink, hu needz a hat dotz a leedle better, yez?”

    1. Morleuca

      but only gained through combat

      1. Sajuuk-Khar

        Carla plays roller derby, she knows the Jägertroth

  51. Sajuuk-Khar

    This strip is unofficially dedicated by me to Taffy, an OG commenter and a cool cat. Yesterday they hoped to see a cutaway from Dorothy’s suffering and I opined that they would love this, because it is filled with Carla and blessed hope.

    I hope you’re doing OK today, Taffy. You’re pretty rad.

  52. Proto

    Carla in panel 5 reminds me of a Peanuts character for some reason.
    I guess it’s her huge smile

  53. Dev

    *remembers the name of this chapter*

    Uh oh.

  54. P!enapple

    As egotistical as Carla is, seeing her in this situation is depressing. 🙁

    1. Vulcanodon

      Even though she’s kind of obnoxious, she has also done kind things and I hate to see her headed for pain.

  55. JepMZ

    I’m getting secondhand embarrassment lol

    1. David DeLaney

      *secondhat

      –Dave, it was right there

  56. Adam Black

    do i see a dinosaur suit in the background ?

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