Superpowers, monsters and conspiracies. Piras, the spoiled Dameschi heir, fights to recover his identity after becoming a terrorist!
Obelisk
Ashley McCammon
In 1908 New York, a young woman struggles to put her life back together in the wake of her father's death - until she discovers a vampire in the shambles of her inheritance.
Anacrine Complex
Sae Cotton
A superhuman heist involving probably too many pigeons than entirely necessary.
Heart of Gold
Eliot Baum, Viv Tanner
A pianist with failing eyesight seeks out a priest with a miraculous healing touch, drawing him deeper into a world of miracles and curses.
Patrik the Vampire
Bree Paulsen
Patrik loves to knit, bake, and help his friends while dealing with his own demons... like his thirst for blood because, oh yeah--he's a vampire.
The Otherknown
Lorian Merriman
Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
Tove
Severin
The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
Lunar Blight
Studio CARTRIDGE, Laura Lee
Lunar Blight is a gothic horror story about an elite knight serving a moon cult who must choose between upholding his honoured duty or condemning everything he’s grown to know.
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
Countdown to Countdown
Velinxi
Iris Black is a self-proclaimed inventor with the curious ability to bring his drawings to life, and yearns to find a space where he can use his powers freely.
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
Whomp!
Ronnie
A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
Folklore
Adam Ma, Colin Tan Wei
A superhuman horror story focused on a small band of survivors trying to navigate a war-torn world in the aftermath of the Federation’s collapse.
Shaderunners
Alex Assan, Lin Darrow
A ragtag band of bootleggers open a speakeasy for bottled colour in the greyscale city of Ironwell.
Demon Studies
Miyuli
Four students summon and study potentially dangerous demons within the walls of the mysterious Summerland University.
Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan
Troubled by gangster rodents, lovesick vampire stalkers, or confused ninja assassins? Don't panic! Sam and Fuzzy are here to help. (For a reasonable fee.)
Demon's Mirror
Harry Bogosian
Based loosely off of "The Snow Queen", a story by Hans Christian Andersen, we see things take a different turn as the demons become central characters, and the side characters stick around. Yup, that's the only differences. Enjoy!
2 Slices
RJ Morel
After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Solstoria
Angelica Maria
After her brother goes missing, Samantha vows to become a Knight and help those around her in the Kingdom of St. Helena.
Drugs & Wires
Mary Safro, Io Black
Dan used to be a VR operator until his brain got fried by malware. Now he's stuck delivering packages in a post-Soviet hellhole all while trying to adjust to his new life and find some answers.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Go Get a Roomie
Clover
Experience the queer journey of an upbeat hippie and the friendships she makes along the way! A tale of self-discovery and love of many forms.
Come Hell or High Water
Jenny/Star, Mori
Prince Gladimir was never meant to fall for a pirate. Swearing off love for duty, the threat of war propels him back into the Captain’s world of high seas and high stakes. Their relationship could be the thing to save the kingdom of Yvoire - or destroy it.
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
No End
Erli, Kromi
A queer romance about people attempting to build lives in a cold, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by hordes of undead.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Goblins
Ellipsis
A fantasy RPG as told through the eyes of the low-level monsters.
Hazy London
Scotty
A story about messy relationships. From friendly foes to crazy families. Nothing is black and white, just full of color. But, all colors can get a little hazy...
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Girl Genius
Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
Monster Pulse
Magnolia Porter Siddell
Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
[un]Divine
Ayme
A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
The Lonely Vincent Bellingham
Diana Huh
Vincent is an unkind man looking to disappear, and finds himself in the care of a vampire and her two wicked children.
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
MASKLESS
kickingshoes
In a world where people can wield the magic of elemental Masks, all Ashe wants to do is help. Maskless and useless, with dreams of fire and smoke on the back of his tongue, he finds himself on a strange, dangerous path to uncovering the secrets of these incredible objects, and the source of the monsters plaguing his home.
Sunshine Boy
Moosopp
New-kid Kelly is sweet but naive. Luckily, he's got his outgoing neighbor Grey in his corner.
Far to the North
Allison Shaw
Kelu turns to the monsters of her remote mountain home when her family is held hostage by outsiders.
Fairmeadow
Kendra P. / KP
A wayward soldier finds herself in a pacifist commune deep in the wilderness of a war-weary land. Living in isolation brings her closer to those she was sworn to kill than she could ever imagine - but also threatens to tear the place apart.
Clockwork
Chikuto
Cog Kleinschmidt is a diligent, quiet worker at the Mercia Fortress, the world power's leading stronghold. His orderly life is thrown into chaos when an enemy kingdom sends a diplomat for peace talks. This diplomat needs something from Cog - whether he agrees to their terms or not!
Killjoys
Flatw00ds
When two disgraced ex-feds fall backwards into trouble with the clown mafia, getting out in one piece is gonna be no joke!
How to be a Werewolf
Shawn Lenore
Malaya Walters was bitten by a werewolf as a child. After being raised by her human family, she faces the chance to learn what being a werewolf is really like as an adult.
Between Failures
Jackie Wohlenhaus
The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
The Witch Door
Anni K.
Katariina Lehto discovers her neighbor is a witch called Jousia Muotka. Jousia introduces Katariina to the strange people and places beyond the witch door...
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you really gonna tell sal there’s something she can’t make look cool and badass? sal can make apples to apples cool and badass. sal did make apples to apples cool and badass.
One time I saw what could be best described as a ‘rat rod cruiser’. It was an older v-twin (think Harley), but with fading paint and rust, and it had a homemade sidecar that was pretty much just a galvanized steel washtub or horse watering trough on wheels. That was pretty cool.
Hopefully Sal didn’t wreck the bike, just had to park for the winter. Maybe she can get a dual-sport with studded snow tires! Something like a Honda XR600L or Suzuki DR650.
Uh-oh! There’s a story a-brewin’!
Place yer bets:
Simple accident or Ghost Rider commandeered her ride and left it a flaming wreck after a battle with Dr. Octopus!
Or Sal *is* Ghost Rider, the bike just appears when she really needs it, and she and her Penance Stare are going to make Garbage Roof muuuuuch less fun.
My sexual experience tells me that a good turkey sandwich is just as if not more satisfying, and takes way less work. And if you you try to tell me I just haven’t had the “right” experience, my eyes gonna roll out the door.
One of my romantic partners is much more impressed by sex, and has a drive to rival the Energizer Bunny. But he still decided that blue ballsing himself was worth a zero-sex relationship with me and friendship with three other people he’s massively attracted to. And he’s never got so hung up on chasing any of his romantic or sexual partners that he disregarded his friends, either.
So I dunno… Still pretty not understandable to me. Honestly I have no idea how anyone could get horny enough to ditch someone they’ve been friends with for a decade. *Shrug*
Decade and change. Sal and Marcie definitely looked under ten in their first flashback together. The awkwardness last time they were in a strip together was all about the ‘Marcie had a crush on Sal for years, things are Slightly Weird now’ anyway. Sal is at least abstractly fine with Marcie hooking up with Malaya if that makes Marcie happy, and has made pretty clear attempts to be civil to Malaya even if she can’t manage genuinely friendly against Malaya’s insistence Sal is totally fake.
And add me to the Confused Ace line. I have a libido but like. In about the same way I sometimes want to play a favorite video game.
For some, sex feels like a biological imperative, like thirst. Masturbation can help a lot to take the edge off, but the prospect of going without sex forever would be more than a disappointment, they can have full grief.
Thirsty people do destroy relationships that they deeply value for a shot at slaking their thirst. (Not saying it’s right, just that it’s a behaviour that has been observed.) I hope you and your Energizer Bunny have found good ways around that sexuality mismatch.
See, the fact that they’ve been friends since they were kids tells me this was on its way out anyway. People change as they grow, we drift apart. Marcie isn’t ditching Sal for Malaya. She’s making an effort to meet and befriend new people, and it so happens Sal is less important than she once was. Frankly, Marcie gives me the impression that she’s almost fed up with Sal’s nonsense, but maybe I’ve been interpreting the shine on her goggles as eyerolls.
And Sal is still, to at least some extents, financially dependent on her parents. (If only in college tuition. I suspect she keeps as much money as she can somewhere Linda can’t access it after Linda already stole from her, but for a college student – or any 18-year-old in this economy – it’s not nearly enough for a lawyer.)
And I suspect if Carla heard about Linda trashing Sal’s motorcycle because she asked for help, it’d be less ‘here’s $200 for the consult’ and much more ‘The Rutten Heiress shows up on their doorstep as flashily as humanly possible and immediately begs her Dear Friend Sal to join her on the family’s winter vacation at their private chalet in the mountains that may or may not exist, because she so misses the company of her peers.’ And then what do you know, every subsequent break Carla ALSO has plans involving her bosom chums including Sal! The whole break! Funny how that works. You wouldn’t want to pass up a networking chance like that, would you, Linda?
… I would seriously love to see Carla vs Linda though.
I dunno which I want more – them to see Sal with someone who meets all their social clout standards or is otherwise ‘too good’ for Sal (Tony, Carla, Danny) or someone they would HATE just out of spite (Marcie, Asher, etc.) So many ships, so little time.
I doubt she was ever paying for the insurance. Sal’s not gonna let her have control over something she cares about again and I doubt Sal went to all the effort to get a motorcycle license and pay for a brand new one and not be able to pay for insurance herself.
That’s not really what’s going on with Sal and Marcie. Marcie pretty clearly likes Malaya in addition to being attracted to her. And her break with Sal before was not about Malaya at all, but about Sal fighting and costing her her job.
But more importantly, valuing sexual pleasure over friendship might be shallow, but a friend who wants to keep you from having sex is too controlling to be much of a friend.
Not that Sal was ever really doing that – she was trying to keep Marcie from having other friends, but was actually okay when she learned she wanted sex with Malaya, so I’ve got no idea where that idea came from. Mind you, gatekeeping her friends is shitty in itself, but she’s gotten past that as well.
I think she was OK with Marcie having other friends in theory but in practice she was used to Marcie always being there for her, waiting for her to be ready to hang out, unless she was working etc, and Marcie making other friends bothered her more than she would have anticipated.
She talked often about how they only needed each other, no one else, and then changed her whole attitude towards Malaya when she found out Marcie wanted sex with her.
I love how they talk about Billie like she’s another sibling.
*gasp* oh noes! What happened to the motorcycle?! So many friends will never get motorcycle rides now! The entire floor will be devastated! (except Malaya)
Ah, yes, the periodic reminder Sal’s parents unironically make her want to die. GOD I hate them.
I’m picking a not infuriating answer and am saying Sal left her bike with Marcie over the break so her parents wouldn’t see it because that’s not something she needs on one of her first trip back home since boarding school (assuming she went home for Thanksgiving).
Agreed. Pretty sure Walky wouldn’t be making jokes if she totaled it due to drama/an accident, and if it was Linda and Charles pulling another Marcie’s surgery money incident…
I think my feelings for that are best expressed not with words, but with fire. Lots and lots of fire.
But if Sal’s already been deciding to straighten her hair less, I could totally buy her picking her battles and going for the one Linda can’t actually do anything about! (Though if it turns out I DO need to express myself with fire, will people finally stop disputing that Linda Walkerton is an abusive parent and that it was bad for both the twins’ psyches to be in that environment knowing what she’d do when you didn’t do what she just knows is best for you? Probably not, Ross still got defenders, but I can dream damnit.)
There were a bunch during his initial appearance – questioning whether Becky was lying about what happened. They mostly went away when the gun came out.
There was something of a resurgence during the recent arc, mostly by comparison to Blaine.
I don’t want a pickle
Just want to ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want a tickle
‘Cause I’d rather ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want to die
I just want to ride on my motorcy-
Cle
Elusive Billie?….That’s interesting. I’m guessing since her absentee parents are well…absentee, that she shacked up with Ruth somewhere and that is where she is now. With Ruth. …Or maybe not. Maybe we’ll finally after ten years see a Billingsworth parent and it will be all dramatic and sad. I’d actually like to see that just for the mystery of it.
At least one Senior Billingsworth showed up when Billie and Danny got married over in the other universe,* but obscured and only from about the chin down. And Mrs. Billingsworth showed up in a flashback about Ruth’s origin story there (where she was Billie and Walky’s babysitter), but also obscured about that much. As far as I can tell it takes about that level of Momentous With Social Expectations Of Parent for Billingsdad to actually show up.
(The wedding strip also discussed the elder Billingsworths with ‘no immediate plans, but it seems likely someday.’ So yeah, probably we’ll see him eventually. Hopefully Billie won’t have to announce her marriage first! http://www.itswalky.com/comic/so-smug/ )
So yeah, I could see her choosing to stay somewhere else. Though if Ruth was at Sir’s – which, probably, if only to keep an eye on Howard – I think they’d want to keep Billie at a distance for that. He definitely does not seem to like Ruth dating.
Maybe Sal has the Motorcycle parked somewhere in the name of Linda not finding out about it’s existence and not adding more tension to the time she spent with her parents.
I have so many questions.
But my first guess for the “Where is billie?” question is that Ruth decided to leave and Billie went with her, and they are atm aggressively snuggling in front of a camp fire somewhere trying not to be found.
Or Billie is in therapy to help with her issues and will come to school after her therapy is over and she wont relapse into the alcohol thing since it would be super easy in college. Or im overthinking it and she has just been trying to lay low for whatever reason to avoid drama.
If Billie is in the silhouette she’s had a haircut – very possible! The figure that had the smooth ponytail was also as tall as Joe and wearing roller skates so I think Carla.
I hope one of you is right.. I think I will die if Billie is being elusive because she and Ruth broke up or something. I can’t help but worry about something like that happening to couples I love after every time skip across media… I just love them together so much
Too me a hot minute to realize the gal in the first panel with black hair, a pony tail, and a yellow shirt was… not in fact Billie. Like, Walky said she hasn’t been around a lot lately, and here I am just staring back at that first panel, confused, bc “Wait what, Billie’s right there!” Sometimes I’m just…really slow.
Also, I love seeing the Walkerton Twins being so close! That makes my heart happy!
Based on silhouette speculation, Billie might have cropped her hair short like it was in later Walkyverse strips. The gigantic ponytail had to find a new host. Unfortunately, the new host is a background character, so it’s not going to have as many opportunities to cause shot framing issues. It will be back someday, and it will have its revenge!
This is like one of those “Mom and Baby are fine!” birth announcements that get emailed out, except in this scenario, the baby is a parasitic bundle of human hair, latching on to anyone who makes the mistake of getting too close.
So here’s my guess re: the motorbike – she sold it to cover Amber’s tuition costs now that there’s no Blaine paying alimony. Or made some sort of compromise deal with her mom that kept her from running Amber out of school. (As Linda probably doesn’t approve of the bike.)
600-class sport bikes are generally around $8,000 to $12,000 MSRP brand new. On the used market they’ll go for half to two thirds of that. Figure she most likely bought it used and a few years old, it’s probably worth about $2-4k on the private market.
She actually seems to have bought it new – when she bought it, it came with a jacket. That doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you’d get when buying used.
It could happen, I’ve seen private party ads for used bikes that come with a jacket or helmet before. (Don’t trust a used helmet, kids. Besides the yuck factor, who knows if it’s already taken a beating or if the foam’s still within spec.) Sometimes people buy them thinking riding is for them, only to find out they’re wrong later. Or maybe whoever she bought it from got the matching jacket with the bike and just threw it in because it didn’t go with the old one and was a “freebie” anyway.
It can, but I think it’s more likely she just bought the motorcycle new, especially since the jacket conveniently fits Sal fine and it was apparently part of a Ruttech promotion.
I’m never quite sure if Walky is kidding in times like this. He can be disturbingly self-centred sometimes and other times he uses his reputation for being self-centred to adorn his class clown credentials!
What did happen to the bike, though? Was it impounded by the Walkerton parents to try to forestall more vigilante adventures on Sal’s part. Certainly, from what she says, the last few weeks have been somewhat difficult.
Also, what about Billie? I’m wondering if she and Ruth stayed somewhere together, mostly to keep Ruth away from her grandfather, an arrangement to the satisfaction of both parties.
Though we must remember that the last few weeks were going to be difficult anyway, because those were the first time in five years that she’s been constantly in the parents’ company, from the sound of things.
I’m sure it would be more badass to travel back to college on Sal’s motorcycle, but I’m assuming it would be difficult to take their luggage with them that way.
My guess is that what happened to the motorcycle has something to do with the:
Billie: What, do they blame Sal for the kidnapping somehow?
Sal: No, that would be ridiculous. It’s too early, they’ll work up to it.
Not that she’s not a young adult, but being home for the holidays can be CLOYING especially with your mother’s racism and parental judgement, and sometimes you’ll acquiesce to ridiculous demands like “get rid of the bike” to keep the peace. (Or maybe mum sold it behind her back.) source: experience
To clarify, I’m not saying they would be all “you put Blaine up to this!!” But I can imagine “you’re the troublemaker, why weren’t you kidnapped as opposed to our darling baby boy?”
IME, they can’t sell it behind her back but they *can* disapprove of it super strongly and withhold things she needs on the condition of selling it or (as my folks did with one of my instruments) give it away and then ask her for permission in front of the person they gave it to who is effusively grateful and happy so that you’re the evil villain if you say it’s not ok.
hell, parents who actually care do this shit sometimes (either because they underestimate the importance of something or because (worse parents) forget that their kids’ stuff isn’t their own. As a much less fraught example, my cousin worked at a book store and got her favourite book signed & met the author at an event the bookstore she worked at. My aunt/her mom asked to read it, then instead of giving it back to my cousin, gave it to my mom and said my mom could share it on or giv it to the thrift store once she read it. I talked to my cousin and had to call my mom and track down which of her friend’s had the book to eventually get it back to my cousin, and it was worse for the wear by then.
Lots of parents just don’t think about their kids, and Linda is actively malicious to Sal, so yeah no doubt she pulled some shit like ischemgeek said
Linda probably didn’t know about the motorcycle. In the course of the kidnapping events, she found out about it and made Sal sell it. No way she would have allowed the initial purchase if she had known. Like the money Sal raised for Marcie, she took it away. Sal could walk away but that would be away from college and family and into poverty. She would live like Marcie, which is a high price to pay.
I’m sort of looking forward to Linda’s reaction when she’s arrested for theft and informed that confiscating her adult daughter’s money and property cannot be justified by the fact that she’s her mother.
I’ll have anyone who reads this comment know that I started this series last week, caught up today, and used Control+F to search “nickel” on every page after the… I want to say fourth comic with Mike. (What’s my Gravatar gonna be?)
So I see a bunch of comments saying Sal hid her bike with Marcie. But what if she lent it to Billie and Ruth? Just a thought that the two threads could be connected idk.
I want to ride my Motorcycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my Motorcycle
I want to ride it where I like
You say black, I say white
You say bark, I say bite
You say shark, I say hey man
Jaws was never my scene
And I don’t like Star Wars
You say Rolls, I say Royce
You say God give me a choice
You say Lord, I say Christ
I don’t believe in Peter Pan
Frankenstein or Superman
All I wanna do is…….
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dude you really think Sal has a motorcycle trailer to haul your shit there
Of course not, there’s no way to make a motorcycle trailer look cool and badass.
Where there’s a will (and paint with which to put flames on the side) there’s a way!
you really gonna tell sal there’s something she can’t make look cool and badass? sal can make apples to apples cool and badass. sal did make apples to apples cool and badass.
One time I saw what could be best described as a ‘rat rod cruiser’. It was an older v-twin (think Harley), but with fading paint and rust, and it had a homemade sidecar that was pretty much just a galvanized steel washtub or horse watering trough on wheels. That was pretty cool.
Hopefully Sal didn’t wreck the bike, just had to park for the winter. Maybe she can get a dual-sport with studded snow tires! Something like a Honda XR600L or Suzuki DR650.
Uh-oh! There’s a story a-brewin’!
Place yer bets:
Simple accident or Ghost Rider commandeered her ride and left it a flaming wreck after a battle with Dr. Octopus!
Sorta both. She got into an accident, but it was with Ghost Rider.
Luckily, he was at fault and has good coverage because all the biggest insurance companies are headquartered in Hell.
That made me laugh
Because it’s true
And then I cried, … Because it’s true
Also it’s January in Indiana, not exactly prime motorcycling weather
Bingo!! You don’t see people using skis or operating snowmobiles in the summertime for much the same reason.
Where’s there’s a will, there’s a way. Never underestimate the drive to hoon!
The motorcycle got lost in Sal’s hair. Sometimes she thinks that she can hear it revving faintly, but it might just be the wind.
Depends on the mufflers – could be tinnitus
It’s become the Amazi-Cycle.
My guess is that she forgot where she parked it and won’t admit it.
Or it got left at the crime scene and it’s too far to walk but she has too much pride to ask for a lift (and no account to ask for a Lyft)
Or Sal *is* Ghost Rider, the bike just appears when she really needs it, and she and her Penance Stare are going to make Garbage Roof muuuuuch less fun.
Her motorcycle uses RuTech nanotech so it appears when she wants like Iron Man’s suit in the later movies.
I was gonna guess it broke down or was stolen, but the Ghost Rider idea sounds much cooler.
*fingers crossed* she sold it to help amber pay for tuition #fuckyoumum
Wow my first thought was she sold it to help Marcie.
Or sold it to pay Amber’s tuition.
How many years before we find out what happened?
My vote is approximately 17 real world months.
Outstanding questions:
What is Mike’s status?
Is there homicide in Dorothy’s future?
Where is Sal’s bike?
I guess either Linda destroyed the motorcycle, or Sal is still pissed that Marcie values more sexual pleasure over friendship.
Sex done right is pretty awesome so this is understandable. Even if it’s Malaya
. . . .
Maybe it’s my utter lack of libido, but your statement makes zero sense to me.
My sexual experience tells me that a good turkey sandwich is just as if not more satisfying, and takes way less work. And if you you try to tell me I just haven’t had the “right” experience, my eyes gonna roll out the door.
One of my romantic partners is much more impressed by sex, and has a drive to rival the Energizer Bunny. But he still decided that blue ballsing himself was worth a zero-sex relationship with me and friendship with three other people he’s massively attracted to. And he’s never got so hung up on chasing any of his romantic or sexual partners that he disregarded his friends, either.
So I dunno… Still pretty not understandable to me. Honestly I have no idea how anyone could get horny enough to ditch someone they’ve been friends with for a decade. *Shrug*
Decade and change. Sal and Marcie definitely looked under ten in their first flashback together. The awkwardness last time they were in a strip together was all about the ‘Marcie had a crush on Sal for years, things are Slightly Weird now’ anyway. Sal is at least abstractly fine with Marcie hooking up with Malaya if that makes Marcie happy, and has made pretty clear attempts to be civil to Malaya even if she can’t manage genuinely friendly against Malaya’s insistence Sal is totally fake.
And add me to the Confused Ace line. I have a libido but like. In about the same way I sometimes want to play a favorite video game.
They were five when they first met, so about 13 years.
For some, sex feels like a biological imperative, like thirst. Masturbation can help a lot to take the edge off, but the prospect of going without sex forever would be more than a disappointment, they can have full grief.
Thirsty people do destroy relationships that they deeply value for a shot at slaking their thirst. (Not saying it’s right, just that it’s a behaviour that has been observed.) I hope you and your Energizer Bunny have found good ways around that sexuality mismatch.
See, the fact that they’ve been friends since they were kids tells me this was on its way out anyway. People change as they grow, we drift apart. Marcie isn’t ditching Sal for Malaya. She’s making an effort to meet and befriend new people, and it so happens Sal is less important than she once was. Frankly, Marcie gives me the impression that she’s almost fed up with Sal’s nonsense, but maybe I’ve been interpreting the shine on her goggles as eyerolls.
I don’t know if Linda would destroy her adult child’s personal vehicle.
I mean, it’d just open her up to a lawsuit or worse.
Unfortunately, you need money to sue.
A not-insignificant amount of money.
And Sal is still, to at least some extents, financially dependent on her parents. (If only in college tuition. I suspect she keeps as much money as she can somewhere Linda can’t access it after Linda already stole from her, but for a college student – or any 18-year-old in this economy – it’s not nearly enough for a lawyer.)
The closest thing she has to lawyer money is being friends with Carla.
And I suspect if Carla heard about Linda trashing Sal’s motorcycle because she asked for help, it’d be less ‘here’s $200 for the consult’ and much more ‘The Rutten Heiress shows up on their doorstep as flashily as humanly possible and immediately begs her Dear Friend Sal to join her on the family’s winter vacation at their private chalet in the mountains that may or may not exist, because she so misses the company of her peers.’ And then what do you know, every subsequent break Carla ALSO has plans involving her bosom chums including Sal! The whole break! Funny how that works. You wouldn’t want to pass up a networking chance like that, would you, Linda?
… I would seriously love to see Carla vs Linda though.
I want it so badly. I have multiple fic ideas centred around that concept.
She’s the perfect opponent. So much bombast. So much social clout even Linda can’t object. So totally, genuinely likes Sal.
I dunno which I want more – them to see Sal with someone who meets all their social clout standards or is otherwise ‘too good’ for Sal (Tony, Carla, Danny) or someone they would HATE just out of spite (Marcie, Asher, etc.) So many ships, so little time.
Have you considered the Roller Derby Polycule option?
Sounds like a bloodbath.
But yes.
…watchin’ the ships roll in
Then I watch them roll away again
She doesn’t need to physically wreck it. All she needs to do is to stop paying for insurance for it.
And well, since its a crime to drive uninsured, its probably something that Sal wants to stay far away from.
I doubt she was ever paying for the insurance. Sal’s not gonna let her have control over something she cares about again and I doubt Sal went to all the effort to get a motorcycle license and pay for a brand new one and not be able to pay for insurance herself.
Walky would know if Linda destroyed it
That’s not really what’s going on with Sal and Marcie. Marcie pretty clearly likes Malaya in addition to being attracted to her. And her break with Sal before was not about Malaya at all, but about Sal fighting and costing her her job.
But more importantly, valuing sexual pleasure over friendship might be shallow, but a friend who wants to keep you from having sex is too controlling to be much of a friend.
Not that Sal was ever really doing that – she was trying to keep Marcie from having other friends, but was actually okay when she learned she wanted sex with Malaya, so I’ve got no idea where that idea came from. Mind you, gatekeeping her friends is shitty in itself, but she’s gotten past that as well.
I think she was OK with Marcie having other friends in theory but in practice she was used to Marcie always being there for her, waiting for her to be ready to hang out, unless she was working etc, and Marcie making other friends bothered her more than she would have anticipated.
She talked often about how they only needed each other, no one else, and then changed her whole attitude towards Malaya when she found out Marcie wanted sex with her.
1) What Leaf said.
2) Sal’s willing to ride with Danny and Joyce and others.
I’m guessing it’s some problem from hanging out with AG.
Addendum:
3) The Forest gang wouldn’t stop fangirling over it every time she appeared in public with it.
I don’t know why Walky thinks Billie’s being elusive. She’s right there in the first panel.
Nope, she isn’t tagged, clearly that is a doppelganger.
Billie should sue, no one else can have black hair and a yellow shirt.
Her lawsuit against Frieda is currently pending.
and Billie got moved to a different building and has therefor no business at this center desk.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only person who thought that looked like Billie.
I hope the alt text is in fact a Queen reference because that would make my day.
Unrelated to that, can I say how much I love Sal’s hair?
You can have a Queen reference. So says the Muzak hacker.
As a treat.
I want to ride it where i like.
Don’t see how it could be anything else.
No fat bottomed girls in today’s strip though.
I love how they talk about Billie like she’s another sibling.
*gasp* oh noes! What happened to the motorcycle?! So many friends will never get motorcycle rides now! The entire floor will be devastated! (except Malaya)
She basically IS the third Walkerton sibling. Remember how she defused the Amber situation with their parents (before they said eff this because her dad was murdered in the hospital)?
Did it get destroyed in the chase?
Nah, it was fine last we saw it: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/i/
Clearly we need a “sal’s motorcycle” tag.
More likely their mom found out she was paying for the insurance on it, and had it cancelled.
I think Sal knows better than to put anything she cares about in the hands of her mother, even if her mother didn’t know about it.
i’m just staring at their new hairstyles. love the new post quarantine long hair looks.
awwwww. Little mouse boy has done good helping his big sis
Is LMB the new tag for Walky’s alter-ego?
Ah, yes, the periodic reminder Sal’s parents unironically make her want to die. GOD I hate them.
I’m picking a not infuriating answer and am saying Sal left her bike with Marcie over the break so her parents wouldn’t see it because that’s not something she needs on one of her first trip back home since boarding school (assuming she went home for Thanksgiving).
Agreed. Pretty sure Walky wouldn’t be making jokes if she totaled it due to drama/an accident, and if it was Linda and Charles pulling another Marcie’s surgery money incident…
I think my feelings for that are best expressed not with words, but with fire. Lots and lots of fire.
But if Sal’s already been deciding to straighten her hair less, I could totally buy her picking her battles and going for the one Linda can’t actually do anything about! (Though if it turns out I DO need to express myself with fire, will people finally stop disputing that Linda Walkerton is an abusive parent and that it was bad for both the twins’ psyches to be in that environment knowing what she’d do when you didn’t do what she just knows is best for you? Probably not, Ross still got defenders, but I can dream damnit.)
I mean, Sal’s already said being in that house made her feel like she was dying every day. At thirteen. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/kicked/
If people can still defend the Walkerton parents after that, her stealing the motorcycle won’t do it.
Lord I forgot that exact strip and phrasing exists but auuuuugh I hate them.
I do too. That exact phrasing never fails to make my eye do they angry twitchy thing.
… did those Ross defending comments get deleted or did my brain do me a solid and mind wipe? I don’t recall that level of dense at allll…
There were a bunch during his initial appearance – questioning whether Becky was lying about what happened. They mostly went away when the gun came out.
There was something of a resurgence during the recent arc, mostly by comparison to Blaine.
I don’t want a pickle
Just want to ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want a tickle
‘Cause I’d rather ride on my motorsickle
And I don’t want to die
I just want to ride on my motorcy-
Cle
Be careful you don’t run into the mountain.
I don’t wanna be your friend I wanna ride your motorcycle
Let go of your pickle!
I’ll sell it to you for $5000!
Ah, but I’m slightly different than your average customer. I’m only interested in two things; see if you can guess what they are.
(It’s a Frank Zappa reference.)
And I countered with a Firesign Theater reference.
where IS billie?
I’m gonna bet Canadian jail.
Elusive Billie?….That’s interesting. I’m guessing since her absentee parents are well…absentee, that she shacked up with Ruth somewhere and that is where she is now. With Ruth. …Or maybe not. Maybe we’ll finally after ten years see a Billingsworth parent and it will be all dramatic and sad. I’d actually like to see that just for the mystery of it.
At least one Senior Billingsworth showed up when Billie and Danny got married over in the other universe,* but obscured and only from about the chin down. And Mrs. Billingsworth showed up in a flashback about Ruth’s origin story there (where she was Billie and Walky’s babysitter), but also obscured about that much. As far as I can tell it takes about that level of Momentous With Social Expectations Of Parent for Billingsdad to actually show up.
(The wedding strip also discussed the elder Billingsworths with ‘no immediate plans, but it seems likely someday.’ So yeah, probably we’ll see him eventually. Hopefully Billie won’t have to announce her marriage first! http://www.itswalky.com/comic/so-smug/ )
So yeah, I could see her choosing to stay somewhere else. Though if Ruth was at Sir’s – which, probably, if only to keep an eye on Howard – I think they’d want to keep Billie at a distance for that. He definitely does not seem to like Ruth dating.
* It was a very different universe.
Did Sal crash it? Or her parents do something for punishment?
Maybe Sal has the Motorcycle parked somewhere in the name of Linda not finding out about it’s existence and not adding more tension to the time she spent with her parents.
I have so many questions.
But my first guess for the “Where is billie?” question is that Ruth decided to leave and Billie went with her, and they are atm aggressively snuggling in front of a camp fire somewhere trying not to be found.
Or Billie is in therapy to help with her issues and will come to school after her therapy is over and she wont relapse into the alcohol thing since it would be super easy in college. Or im overthinking it and she has just been trying to lay low for whatever reason to avoid drama.
Both Ruth and Billie could be seen in that silhouette of the cast.
If Billie is in the silhouette she’s had a haircut – very possible! The figure that had the smooth ponytail was also as tall as Joe and wearing roller skates so I think Carla.
I think Walky just meant that he hardly ever sees Billie anymore because she spends most of her free time with Ruth.
I hope one of you is right.. I think I will die if Billie is being elusive because she and Ruth broke up or something. I can’t help but worry about something like that happening to couples I love after every time skip across media… I just love them together so much
Ok yes sure but… who is that guy and what was he doing with that white sack?
It’s a sack fulla stuffed animals, just like what Joyce had her first time moving in
Look, does he interrogate you on your stuff?
ALL THE TIME
It’s… a thing
How rude! You should report him to campus services.
You don’t recognize the prestigious Hefty line of baggage?
Too me a hot minute to realize the gal in the first panel with black hair, a pony tail, and a yellow shirt was… not in fact Billie. Like, Walky said she hasn’t been around a lot lately, and here I am just staring back at that first panel, confused, bc “Wait what, Billie’s right there!” Sometimes I’m just…really slow.
Also, I love seeing the Walkerton Twins being so close! That makes my heart happy!
Based on silhouette speculation, Billie might have cropped her hair short like it was in later Walkyverse strips. The gigantic ponytail had to find a new host. Unfortunately, the new host is a background character, so it’s not going to have as many opportunities to cause shot framing issues. It will be back someday, and it will have its revenge!
This is like one of those “Mom and Baby are fine!” birth announcements that get emailed out, except in this scenario, the baby is a parasitic bundle of human hair, latching on to anyone who makes the mistake of getting too close.
Becky Background will be an alpha bongo cheerleader before she knows it.
So here’s my guess re: the motorbike – she sold it to cover Amber’s tuition costs now that there’s no Blaine paying alimony. Or made some sort of compromise deal with her mom that kept her from running Amber out of school. (As Linda probably doesn’t approve of the bike.)
I don’t think her motorcycle was valuable enough to pay someone’s tuition when it was brand new
I’m hoping for selling her bike to help amber, maybe with other supporters (the derby girls, Carla selling a signed jacket etc
600-class sport bikes are generally around $8,000 to $12,000 MSRP brand new. On the used market they’ll go for half to two thirds of that. Figure she most likely bought it used and a few years old, it’s probably worth about $2-4k on the private market.
She actually seems to have bought it new – when she bought it, it came with a jacket. That doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you’d get when buying used.
It could happen, I’ve seen private party ads for used bikes that come with a jacket or helmet before. (Don’t trust a used helmet, kids. Besides the yuck factor, who knows if it’s already taken a beating or if the foam’s still within spec.) Sometimes people buy them thinking riding is for them, only to find out they’re wrong later. Or maybe whoever she bought it from got the matching jacket with the bike and just threw it in because it didn’t go with the old one and was a “freebie” anyway.
It can, but I think it’s more likely she just bought the motorcycle new, especially since the jacket conveniently fits Sal fine and it was apparently part of a Ruttech promotion.
I got the grim feeling that Linda happened.
“North star” is the clue; Billie is busy with someone Canadian and gay
Can’t imagine who that might be. Are we going to be getting a new character?
I’m never quite sure if Walky is kidding in times like this. He can be disturbingly self-centred sometimes and other times he uses his reputation for being self-centred to adorn his class clown credentials!
What did happen to the bike, though? Was it impounded by the Walkerton parents to try to forestall more vigilante adventures on Sal’s part. Certainly, from what she says, the last few weeks have been somewhat difficult.
Also, what about Billie? I’m wondering if she and Ruth stayed somewhere together, mostly to keep Ruth away from her grandfather, an arrangement to the satisfaction of both parties.
Though we must remember that the last few weeks were going to be difficult anyway, because those were the first time in five years that she’s been constantly in the parents’ company, from the sound of things.
I’m sure it would be more badass to travel back to college on Sal’s motorcycle, but I’m assuming it would be difficult to take their luggage with them that way.
She must have some way to get luggage there since she drove on her motorcycle to school and she wasn’t with her parents then.
Though, considering Marcie moved up with her after being in Tennessee, maybe they got a mover’s truck or something.
It’s okay, Sal. Walky can handle the truth.
Walky, you’re not cool enough to be on Sal’s motorcycle.
“I’m out of gas funds”
That guy in panel 1 just arrived with his belongings stored in Santa’s bag.
My guess is that what happened to the motorcycle has something to do with the:
Billie: What, do they blame Sal for the kidnapping somehow?
Sal: No, that would be ridiculous. It’s too early, they’ll work up to it.
Not that she’s not a young adult, but being home for the holidays can be CLOYING especially with your mother’s racism and parental judgement, and sometimes you’ll acquiesce to ridiculous demands like “get rid of the bike” to keep the peace. (Or maybe mum sold it behind her back.) source: experience
To clarify, I’m not saying they would be all “you put Blaine up to this!!” But I can imagine “you’re the troublemaker, why weren’t you kidnapped as opposed to our darling baby boy?”
I don’t think you can sell someone else’s property without their permission, especially a registered vehicle??
IME, they can’t sell it behind her back but they *can* disapprove of it super strongly and withhold things she needs on the condition of selling it or (as my folks did with one of my instruments) give it away and then ask her for permission in front of the person they gave it to who is effusively grateful and happy so that you’re the evil villain if you say it’s not ok.
hell, parents who actually care do this shit sometimes (either because they underestimate the importance of something or because (worse parents) forget that their kids’ stuff isn’t their own. As a much less fraught example, my cousin worked at a book store and got her favourite book signed & met the author at an event the bookstore she worked at. My aunt/her mom asked to read it, then instead of giving it back to my cousin, gave it to my mom and said my mom could share it on or giv it to the thrift store once she read it. I talked to my cousin and had to call my mom and track down which of her friend’s had the book to eventually get it back to my cousin, and it was worse for the wear by then.
Lots of parents just don’t think about their kids, and Linda is actively malicious to Sal, so yeah no doubt she pulled some shit like ischemgeek said
(sorry for the weird repeat, it’s hard to see what I already typed on mobile)
Aw look at them being actual siblings. Now when they fight and draw blood, it will be the blood of family.
They’re so cute with their matching luggage!
No motorcycle is a punishment.
Linda probably didn’t know about the motorcycle. In the course of the kidnapping events, she found out about it and made Sal sell it. No way she would have allowed the initial purchase if she had known. Like the money Sal raised for Marcie, she took it away. Sal could walk away but that would be away from college and family and into poverty. She would live like Marcie, which is a high price to pay.
I’m sort of looking forward to Linda’s reaction when she’s arrested for theft and informed that confiscating her adult daughter’s money and property cannot be justified by the fact that she’s her mother.
Huh. Walky actually does look like he’s grown up a bit. Weird.
Awww. Siblings love ♡.
I’ll have anyone who reads this comment know that I started this series last week, caught up today, and used Control+F to search “nickel” on every page after the… I want to say fourth comic with Mike. (What’s my Gravatar gonna be?)
(Yeah, dump “has had relationships” and this basically fits.)
So I see a bunch of comments saying Sal hid her bike with Marcie. But what if she lent it to Billie and Ruth? Just a thought that the two threads could be connected idk.
I want to ride my Motorcycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my Motorcycle
I want to ride it where I like
You say black, I say white
You say bark, I say bite
You say shark, I say hey man
Jaws was never my scene
And I don’t like Star Wars
You say Rolls, I say Royce
You say God give me a choice
You say Lord, I say Christ
I don’t believe in Peter Pan
Frankenstein or Superman
All I wanna do is…….
Did you see the Dumbing of Age reference Jeph Jacques put in today’s Questionable Content strip?