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Kendra, regular version @kendrawcandraw.bsky.social ⋅ 13h
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Carla-grade apathy is a full contact sport
Carla-sempai, please teach me your apathy calisthenics technique!
You heard her, Malaya, Carla doesn’t sell any of her natural aloofness.
She also doesn’t sell internal sense of gender identity.
Carla and Malaya,
sitting on the roof.
…
More like standing, wait Carla smokes? Nice one.
More like one times four hundred and twenty, what uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
I thought it was some kind of candy on a stick, but she is holding it like a cigarette. But it’s got an odd bend. I don’t know.
It’s a blunt.
it’s not a blunt, it’s a joint or a spliff. Blunts are wrapped in cigar/tobacco leaves. Her spliff is white which means she used wrapping papers or a cigarette.
Well, that does explain Carla’s original comment. And here I thought she got high on engineering.
Carla gets high on Carla.
Huh!
If I’m remembering correctly, Clif is one of the few other codgers like myself who has actually used a slide rule.
And is therefore presumptivley familiar, from a young age, with the wildwood weed.
I was trained in the proper care and feeding of a slipstick too.
Slide rules rule ~ Cackle-ators drool
I saw one in rosewood and real ivory once, it was from the late 18th Century. It was very pretty wood work, but was too big and bulky. I still have my K+E in the real leath box. But no longer have the round one. Dunno where it went.
Is that what you’d call the little crop growing in the back corner of the gas station lot, where everyone dumped their ashtrays?
Carla and Malaya standing on the roof
Each shows the other she is more aloof?
Yeah
More like aROOF, am I right? Eh? Eh??
Oh god, I’m so sorry
We’ve seen Carla smoke before.
(check the hovertext)
thanks for reminding me.
God, stealing someone’s jay is even more fucked up than not offering when someone you know smokes runs into you.
That’s actually a really cool etiquette thing. Thank you for sharing.
Haha she does work really hard on that not working at all image
“B-baka. It’s not like I CARE or anything!”
So, does this refer to a specific manga series or does it happen in most?
Haha it happens enough that it has its own trope. It’s not quite Malaya, but I’m referring to the overall idea of Tsundere not caring.
I think it’s like the “Luke I am your father”- the literal words technically may not appear in any manga/anime, but so recognizable people understand it.
(the main reason I don’t think it’s literal dialogue is because translators don’t usually mix together japanese and english the way fans do)
The sentiment is soooooo common, though. It’s a major trope in anime for a character to be really aggressive towards a person, constantly denying they like them, while being super possessive and lovestruck.
If you want to lose the rest of your day to TV Tropes -> https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tsundere
((“Luke, I am your father” is not the literal quote- the actual quote is “No, I am your father”. However ‘Luke’ makes it recognizable so it’s one of the most well-known quotes despite not *actually* appearing in any dialogue))
“Play it again, Sam” is another iconic misquote. Both actually work better as isolated lines than the real lines would.
Actually, I probably would swear the line appears in Detective Conan between Aoko and Kaito, but I saw/read most of it as fansub (and mostly she would say Ba-kaito), but it could also be Shinichi to Ran or Heiji to Kazuha, which in and of itself makes it a trope.
“the main reason I don’t think it’s literal dialogue is because translators don’t usually mix together japanese and english the way fans do”
It may well have been found in a scanslation in the late 90s or early 00s, before commercial manga translation really took off. This is exactly the sort of phrasing you’d see all the time in those.
As for the quote that everyone knows but which never actually appeared in the source, that’s a trope of its own: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BeamMeUpScotty
I wouldn’t listen to this advice. There’s basically no evidence Carla has ever successfully convinced anyone she doesn’t care.
She’s convinced plenty of commenters.
Most of whom tends to look at one specific strip for their “GOTCHA!” moments, then completely ignoring the ones that are immediately following it.
They are also generally not taking into consideration a lot of the context that is necessary to understand her behaviour.
The finest Tsundere?
A-grade?
Asuka?
Asuka.
“I-it’s not like I care what grade you give me, or anything. Baka!”
Actually, the best tsundere can express that sentiment with a toss of the head and a mere “Hmph!”
And the smirk, which is mandatory.
Smirk might not be the right word for that face…unless I’m missing a joke.
Yeah, my terminology may be off. But whatever it’s called, what she does with the mouth is part of the tsundere whole.
I usually see it described as a pout.
Aha!
Message received: I do need to watch more anime.
First of all, no. That title goes to Taiga of Toradora.
Second, Misato best girl.
I’ll see your “best girl” and raise you “best character in the story”.
Yup, I was going to say Taiga if nobody else did.
Garbage-Roof 2: The Garbaging?
Gender Roof
I’m worried that one of these days, Garbage Roof is going to wind up like the stateroom scene in A Night at the Opera.
You’d have to be an old coot to get that reference.
S/f: (honk)
And one egg.
Is anyone else SUPER SATISFIED that Malaya just got her usual line to Sal thrown back in her face super casual by Carla?
“Is Malaya fakey”, the longest comment thread in Dumbing of Age history, locked after three thousand two hundred responses
I actually really like Malaya and think Sal deserves everything Malaya throws at her, but I feel super alone in that opinion
You really are.
I really really honestly don’t get why people hate on Malaya. They act like she’s toedad.
Not true.
I don’t want Toedad to get sass from Carla.
I want Toedad IN PRISON.
I do not want Malaya (or Sal) in prison.
Thus not acting like they are the same.
I wasn’t talking about what you said, I was talking about what I’ve seen from brief glimpses into the comments section. >~<
… You think Sal deserves to be called a poser because of superficial qualities?
A character can be wrong, and still be liked.
Yeah but Airyu says Sal does deserve it.
Yeah I don’t think Malaya is wrong, from someone who doesn’t know Sal’s background, Sal would come off as a faker
Plus Sal’s been just as if not more meaner to her than she’s been to sal imo but everyone else excuses that
Actually, no, that hasn’t been the case at all. No one, particularly me, has been excusing Sal.
You seem to be missing the idea that both Malaya and Sal are sucky people.
If some (not me) have been giving Sal more leeway, it’s likely due to the fact that Sal has taken an active effort to be less sucky while Malaya has not taken any such effort.
I think Sal comes off as having an air of not caring when she does, which is what a loser is, so yes
*poser, not loser
Depends about what.
She’s definitely not adopting a cool pose for popularity, which is what Malaya’s generally accused her of.
A couple things.
First, Sal isn’t “faking” – her affect is the result of childhood trauma and her need to feel safe, not “trying to look cool”. So even if Sal deserves to be called a jerk sometimes, she doesn’t deserve to be called “fake”.
Second, it has become pretty clear by this point that Malaya is projecting like a drive in movie theater in the early 1960s. This makes Malaya more interesting and complex, but doesn’t excuse her actions – in fact, it makes her actions seem worse since she’s clearly a massive hypocrite.
Between those two, while I am starting to be more interested in Malaya, I am still highly amused to see her get some of her own medicine, and in a deserved fashion rather than the target projecting at her in turn. Carla sees through Malaya’s wall of BS to see the actual faker beneath.
And I hope this helps Malaya grow as a character. I’d love to see her become someone I actually like.
Finally, to be clear, I am not a Sal fan either. It’s just that I prefer to see Sal get called out for things she actually does rather than stuff she doesn’t do.
Oh – one thing that occurred to me on my drive to work.
While Malaya considers herself a “faker” because of whatever gender or body issues she has, I don’t find that part of her fake at all – that’s very true to many LGBT+ people’s experience. It certainly was to mine (I felt very weird and out of place until I realized that bisexuality was a thing that existed).
However, Malaya also does this “first year psych student” thing where she thinks she can analyze a person after a few seconds and know them. I have met people like that IRL and they are super annoying and pompous – which Malaya is. Malaya thinks she sees through people, but she doesn’t.
So when I say Malaya deserves to get called out as a faker, it’s because of THAT, not her actual issues, which are the most real thing about her.
Okay, clarification done.
Oh, I see. Malaya doesn’t come off as pompous to me as all. To me is seems like sal is mean to her for no reason, so Malaya gives her a taste of her own medicine
That makes sense. But I feel like everyone assumes Malaya has no truama and the only reason they dislike her is that she is she doesn’t like Sal… And from the outside, without Sal’s background, I can see why she wouldn’t. I think Malaya was a bad guy in one of Willis’s previous comics and that’s why people hate her? But I don’t see her as having done anything wrong in this comic
I don’t think any has implied they assume that Malaya has no trauma. The whole “projecting like a 50s drive in theater” thing suggests exactly the opposite – that Malaya does have an interesting backstory. Doesn’t mean people need to like her.
As to what Sal’s background looks like from the outside – why does that matter to the audience? We know Sal’s backstory. We know for a fact that Malaya is full of crap. Why would that make Malaya more sympathetic?
As far as Malaya’s actions in the comic? I just went back through her earliest tags and – yeah, Sal is mean to her in her very first comic with dialogue for no apparent reason. And Malaya seems like she’s trying then. So Sal started it, fair enough. But Malaya has dug her own grave, several times over, since then. If she was once justified, that justification has long since run out.
While I’m kind of neutral on Malaya, given that we know very little about her other than the fact that she’s been recently revealed as projecting and completely unsure of herself, I get this opinion.
Interesting backstory does not always absolve a character’s actions. Previous trauma is not license to be an unrepentent arse. A character and a person stand on their decisions and should be judged on them. What is more telling about Malaya than her relationship with Sal is that we don’t see anyone other than Marcie(? I think that’s the correct name) that she actually seems to get along with. We see her interact with several other characters, but rarely favorably. Ergo, my dislike of her is not based on Sal V. Malaya, which is just two people who don’t get along not getting along, but on watching the rest of her interactions.
And now I read TheJeff’s comments.
I don’t know what to say, other that sorry I don’t agree? I think the characters pov matters more than what the audience knows.
How are we supposed to judge characters based on things we don’t know about them?
Malaya doesn’t like anybody – except Marcie and maybe recently Carla. With, for most of her appearances, little to no examination of why or any redeeming features. It looks like we’re getting a deeper look into Malaya, so I’d expect attitudes towards her to change.
Also, on the previous comic point…
Why don’t you go over to It’s Walky and look through my comments there?
I HATE Walkyverse Sal. More than any other character in that series. Not just because she does awful things but because she gets away with it, all of it, and ends up crashing on Walky’s sofa when she should be in prison for war crimes.
Compared to her, Walkyverse Malaya is just a self-centered jerk, and that I mostly just find dull.
The Dumbverse versions of both characters are more nuanced and interesting.
I still don’t like either of them, but more equally.
I’ve been avoiding walkyverse and shortpacked because I feel like it would be too confusing for me with DoA…
Also this is exactly the kind of reason why I hardly ever talk in the comments section anymore. I just get big long stretches of why people think I’m wrong or bad when all I said was one little comment.
They are defending themselves and explaining their views fully because you responded to a thread started by an individual stating you didn’t get it, had an opposite view, and everyone (not those people) reduced her to toe dad status or it was just because they liked Sal more when the individual you responded to doesn’t. Plenty of people would also agree with you, but you’re not going to find a long winded “Preach Sister” in a personal thread.
In the not directly at Sal bad things shes done because she was Sal adjacent: Tried to use sex with another being against Sal (This person is Joe and she was upfront with the “we’re both hot just bone” but the motivation making it so she reduced Joe into a tool versus him being a tool is on his own was scummy. Still dislike Joe on his own.) Tried again when Sal actually stated she was into someone (even though she wasn’t, it was just to make the spite point). Got upset at someone for having more interest in a podcast than her body. Transferred rooms because she didn’t like someone’s personality. Poor care of pet (presumed because hidden in a dorm and free ranging in said dorm with tiny heat lamp).
I’d also like to take the chance to say many in the comments claim their very first interactions were Sal starting the animosity between them. I could be wrong, but pretty sure the very first was when Sal and Malaya were together in a parking lot underaged drinking with Marcie and Carla. Sal was the leader who restrained but didn’t answer Amazigirls call to fight. Malaya got more aggressive with Amazigirl after Sal tried to get people to leave. Previous to that, she was complaining about the beer being provided to her. Taking that cue, I’m presuming Malaya was not only worse off screen in between point A and B but the fact Marcie ignored that escalation while holding Sal accountable for similar behaviors is grating as hell. Her being humanized doesn’t reduce her criticizing, minimizing, using behaviors. Heck, those very behaviors are what Carla WANTED from her.
Personal thread? I didn’t realize someone owned the space.
And what do you all want from me?? “Sorry, Malaya is garbage and I’m garbage for liking her”?? It sucks to see my favorite character ducked on all the time for what I see as no reason. So there, whatever, you win. I’ll never out again. I’m out. This was the worst comments or form experience I’ve encountered in my life
GEN-DER. GEN-DER. GEN-DER.
Yesssss!
The famous Gender Chant, as seen in Thor: Ragnarok, during the arena fight scene.
Piss off, ghost!
(That had no relevance; I just wanted to say it.)
Never a wrong time to say that line.
Well, these two ARE technically fri, er, acquaintances from work.
Yaaaay some much-needed support for Malaya!
I’m glad we’re getting to see more, I was tired of their fakey fakiness that is fake, let me see the person, and give them some love.
The extra ironic part is how super serious Malaya is about having a Bullshit and Fakery Eeing Through Detector. Alas, it can be pointed at everyone except itself.
*plays “Flying Saucer” on the hacked speakers*
Where is someone to call Malaya out for being fake about not caring, huh? Girl needs a dose of her own medicine at some point
I kinda take that as Carla giving her a bit of that here.
Carla’s right there. If anyone’s up to the task, she is.
Unfortunately Carla’s not around Malaya to call her out on this all the time.
I can’t imagine Carla cares enough to call her out consistently. She’s not really known for policing people. Even Mary she rarely calls out- she just gets even.
Oh, is this happening? (I don’t know what “this” is but I demand to know whether or not it’s happening regardleth)
I don’t know what’s happening either, but I like Carla’s sass.
Malaya’s so cute in the third panel.
Oh man, I hope we can see some of the more open and honest Malaya in the coming strips. I’m wondering of she was either a) looking for Sal, or b) wanted to talk to Carla about gender identity stuff. I mean we’ve got some identity talk between Drew and Danny, so it’ll fit the theme we’ve got going.
Geeze, you’d think an engineering student could roll a better joint. That’s just sad.
She’s smoking to relax! Extending effort is kind of counterproductive!
How do you know her roll isn’t optimal? If you’re going to make a statement like that, we’re going to need to see your paper on the efficiency of different joint configurations. Lab experiments >> hypothetical analyses.
It looks like it got bent in her pocket. She’s probably afraid to straighten it out because she might break it.
The problem with this theory, of course, is that girls don’t got pockets.
The other problem is that you’re assuming that straight joints are a more efficient delivery system than bent joints. I don’t have any evidence that that is not true, but I also don’t have any evidence that it is true. Let’s see some models and some experimental evidence.
Also why would she transport it in her pocket? And not like, in her cigarette pack where it would stay ok? It’s probably just hand-rolled with little care.
Carla doesn’t have cigarette packs. She doesn’t smoke cigarettes, weed aside, and as far as I know, weed doesn’t have cigarette packs.
Oh, well, makes sense.
On another unrelated note, glad to see you back!
Thank you! Just took a couple days on patreon. I’m okay.
Eh, there are plenty of ways to get a cigarette pack without actually smoking cigarettes. People have a bad habit of leaving them basically everywhere, if you don’t mind grabbing a used container.
I mean, true, but from what I know, people don’t generally do that with their joints. Granted, I know very very little about weed, so maybe they do.
MarshMaryrose, you need to explain how you can roll something in a piece of paper and get other than a roughly cylindrical shape. If you roll it on a flat surface it’ll come out straight. If you roll it on a stair step surface, it won’t roll. Feel free to experiment.
Wow. People are geeking out. Over joints.
People can geek out over anything. Have you ever seen engineers planning a barbecue?
I’m volunteering for the clinical trials, m’kay?
Girls don’t get pockets. Carla makes her own.
Is it even a joint? There’s no smoke rising from it.
That said, I have absolutely no idea what else it could be.
Crap, my message below would have made far more sense as a direct reply to you.
But yeah, I thought it was a lollipop.
While I do not partake. (semi-amusing story that is best told in person) due to being allergic to the pollen a resin. BUT, I do partake in Tabaco for it’s actual uses except the spiritual… And I roll my own. Use a “NULITE” roller. Bugler tabac and papers.
Except for when I miss load always perfect every time. Now, you who may partake. spark up for someone who is too fearful of anaphylaxis.
I didn’t even realize that was supposed to be a joint until this comment. I thought she was eating a lollipop.
Of course, that said, the “I don’t sell any” comment makes far more sense if it’s a joint.
Carla is not your candy dealer.
Not until she (downgrades? upgrades?) from 8 wheels to 4. I can see her Mystery Machining it with fuckface as Scooby, but I probably wouldn’t buy any edible Carla could engineer. She’s more the Weasley Twins in that regard.
Huh, since when do they “don’t care” about each other? Carla is usually more like “Malaya! Malaya! Malaya! Malaya! Malaya! Malaya! Malaya!!”
Carla has, perhaps, noticed that Malaya isn’t really receptive to her usual puppydog behavior. And not even Sal-level “ugh go away” unreceptive, just genuinely does not seem to react at all.
Another possibility is that Carla wasn’t expecting an encounter with Malaya–Carla usually seeks her out–and thus doesn’t have that kinda energy on hand.
The third of course is that she’s simply too zen in general at the moment.
Also you tend to seek a private place and are generally leery of passersby while smoking weed, especially if you’re in (I know they’re not technically in it, shush) a university building. At least in a conservative state like Indiana.
Carla’s filthy rich, the U is not going to so much as give her lip over weed. She probably just wants to smoke weed on her own, lest her own façade drops while she’s high.
Umm… I get that this is fiction and so author-sama could write her out of any such situation like that, but if somehow the university police were to happen upon her in obvious possession of pot, ain’t nothin’ nobody can do to help her outta that jam. And this ain’t California, ain’t even Ohio. Indiana has some seriously overblown drug policies. And I say that as someone who grew up only about 50 minutes from the state line to Indiana. There is an itty bitty town there called Delphos. Sweet, wholesome, very Catholic. And in the 2000s, it was an epicenter for meth. Then about ten years later, the game switched to pretty swiftly to heroin. Why this place? Because it’s on the Ohio side of the line, not too far from Fort Wayne, not too far from I-75, and it’s rural as all hell. Now these country folk and country cops, they hear about explosive method labs and ODing high schoolers and war vets, they get scared, they get angry. They start comin’ down like a ton o’bricks on everybody, start putting money into surveillance planes to make sure nobody’s got patches of trees growin’ inside the cornfields. And you better believe that they have communication and support networks set up between the police forces to help out the poorer counties and to make sure that everybody gets with the program. The war on drugs is still being waged in the rust and corn belt, I assure you.
I think Carla was only like that once, when she was in the mood to get insulted and Malaya was handing them out.
Jegus, Walky and Amber aren’t going to like to share their garbage roof.
Eh, they’ve shared it with Meredith before, it’ll be fine.
Maybe she just wants to set up an anti-Mary alliance?
Is Malaya looking to ask Carla questions about gender or am I missing something?
Nope I think you’re on the right track. Malaya knows Carla is trans and she’s likely gonna confer with her about her own gender-related concerns.
Does anyone besides me want to see a live-action movie of Dumbing of Age?
I’d rather it be 2D animated, mostly because I’ve already headcanon-cast voice actors for most of the characters.
Oooh! Care to share?
On mobile for now, but here’s an incomplete list in no particular order:
Dina – Anndi McAfee (Phoebe from Hey Arnold, but a bit more deliberate in her pronunciation.)
Jacob – Earl Alexander (Louis from Left 4 Dead
Harrison – Dulé Hill (Psych, The West Wing)
Clint (Ruth’s grandfather) – Kelsey Grammer (Frasier, Sideshow Bob.)
Toedad – Maurice LaMarche (Brain, half of Futurama)
Howard – Doc Hammer doing his cracking Henchman 21 voice from The Venture Bros.
Blaine – Corbin Bernsen (Psych, a bunch of movies)
Galasso – Frank Welker (what hasn’t he done?!)
Leslie – Ellen DeGeneres (I can’t not read her dialogue in Ellen’s voice.)
Sydney Yus – Cree Summer (you know her when you hear her)
Dorothy: Tara Strong, essentially reprising her Twilight Sparkle voice.
Thank you for putting a name to the voice I’ve been giving Jacob in my head. It makes exactly as much sense as Shelby Rabara voicing Ruth. Which is to say, perfect sense.
You’re welcome!
I never pictured Ruth’s voice quite as nasally as Shelby Rabara, though. Maybe closer to Grey DeLisle‘s natural speaking voice?
I know people don’t like Dumbiverse Malaya, but I do so squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Carla wants grade A tsundere. Complete with the “I- it’s not like I like you or anything! B- baka!!”
So, next on the’to-do’ list is to humanise Malaya a little? Seriously, she looks really nervous here; desperate for something but genuinely afraid to ask.
I’m glad at least one person sees through Malaya’s pretending not to care.
Is there anyone who doesn’t see through it?
? Doesn’t everyone? I think literally no characters fall for it.
Oh shit, this is going to be trans questions isn’t it?!?
I was wondering “Why IS Malaya here??”, that could be an answer.
Hope so!
That’s what I was thinking!
Awkwardness intensifies.
Neither of these two are good at communicating. Hopefully Malaya will be able to get across what she wants to ask.
We can dream.
Can the whole “smartass master and sincere student” thing work when you are both snarky smartasses?
I love Carla being serious for a change… and cutting right through Malaya’s bullsh*t.
… Did I miss something? Why is Malaya talking like this to Carla? This doesn’t seem like her at all, and the last thing I saw about Malaya was her sniping at Mary.
We’ll have to see, probably tomorrow.
However, Carla’s gender status is known to at least some. As Cerberus suggests above, Malaya may have some questions about her experience and when it was that she knew that this is what she wanted to do.
Carla was the first person Malaya directly acknowledged not knowing who she was to when the stuff with Marcie blew up. (I’m discounting the looking down/can’t argue bit because I don’t think her pieces quite clicked in her own noggin’ yet).
The humanization of Malaya continues!?
These two were VERY close in Shortpacked!
Here? Well, Malaya has questioned her gender identity a couple of times, maybe she’s come to an expert for advice?
I’unno. I’m not an expert. Let’s wait and see!
Garbage roof!
Indeed and what stays on Garbage Roof, stays on Garbage Roof!
Something’s off with Malaya today~
She has Questions about her relationship with Marcie but has no idea who to ask ?
Get in loser, we’re discovering our identity.
i understood that reference
I like this comment and I want you to know that
A+ mean girls reference.
The double Malaya