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(he/him)
⚧
New game! BOLTED 
those chairs look curvier than I remember
12:13 now, server!
(also, I bet they heard the skates)
Place your bets for how Booster knew:
1) They have amazing powers of observation.
2) Loud roller skates down the hall.
3) Oncoming scent of banana cream pie.
4) Carla just plays entrance music everywhere she goes like a pro wrestler.
All of the above?
Actually that seems the most “on brand” for Carla.
And a reminder from all the way back in 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUXvrWeQU0g&ab_channel=CNN
I feel like if it were 4 someone would have done something drastic about it by now. She still has both femurs, for example.
I *was* going to vote 3, but 4 actually seems like the most realistic answer. Her entrance music includes an advertisement for her family’s company, of course.
going for 3 too
It’s probably 4, but I hope not.
“Now entering the Lobby/Cafeteria/Mailroom/DormRoom/Classroom . . . put your hands together for . . . CARLA RUTTER!!!!!” *smoke suddenly billows from hidden projectors along with green laser lights as the “We Like To Party” theme song from Six Flags parks plays*
1 and 2, but I want it to be 4.
I do like the idea that Carla smells like banana cream pie. That’s nice. (I think Walky is the only character we have an idea of what they smell like. He smells like Nachitos. Also Robin, who smells like Skittles due to her high sugar intake. Although that’s Walkyverse Robin.)
5. Willis just finds Booster’s powers funny and will never offer a “rational” explanation.
I like the idea that Carla’s signature scent is a niche gourmand fragrance that smells like banana cream pie. I’m imagining something like this: https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Hilde-Soliani/Donna-Sentenza-52061.html
You’ve returned! I look a little less stupid now. xD
Wow, that smells really good. I assume. It’s impossible to tell through text and pictures.
I can hear the trumpets now.
Even privacy chairs are susceptible to the freshman fifteen…
I mean everything looks curvier just after your mind’s been melted into the happiest, gayest goo ever, like mine right now for intance 🥰 🫠
🥹
You mean you almost mistook Booster for Charlie? :p
No I mean I’ve been having some of the gayest times with my friend this month, it’s been oh so wonderful 🥰🫠
*plays “Starlight Festival” from Super Mario Galaxy on hacked muzak*
Aww, that’s cute!
Could be estrogen?
That’s my anti-drug! Beautiful beautiful estrogen….
they look more magnetic than I remember
I didn’t have “woken up at 6AM by loud thunder and thus on time to see DoA updating” on my schedule today but I’ll take it
Gawwwwwwd works in mysterious ways.
Okay, “Jetpack” is fantastic.
Must tell my friend Magnus.
Sounds very transformers-y
Or like a super hero team name “Jetpack & Booster”
Beats heck out of “High Chair” as an alternative name. I’d grab that in a second if I were Booster
high chair sounds like that’d be something to give to a baby superhero or a parent themeed one XD
I applaud that and also Booster for studying so early on a Saturday.
Maybe Walky SNORES
Might be avoiding his reaction to waking up without the Nintendo Switch
Can confirm this is how transfers meet NBS in the wild
real
On the advice of council, and in accordance with the 5th amendment in the bill of rights and my rights and privileges as outlined within, I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations as presented before me on this day.
Yay, Carla
Yay, Carla!
Carla, yay!
I meant trans femmes but that work too I guess
Y’know, I bet Carla has some Thoughts And Feelings about another openly T/NB/GNC person being around. As prickly as she is… most of us are pretty desperate for community.
Especially since the other main option is fuckin’ Malaya.
she seemed to be fond of malaya tho even if malaya was indiff at best/tolerating carla up to the point of hanging out together otuside of roller derby practice
…this might end up being a question for actual scholars in the field, but how much Ace is it when you take a sort of pride in how efficiently and/or aggressively you can bring your partner to climax, even if you’re not receiving any physical pleasure from the act?
This isn’t meant to diminish or demean Carla’s ace-ness in Shortpacked (and maybe DoA? It hasn’t exactly been relevant before), just more of a “break out the tweezers and tiny brushers it’s sciencing time” mentality here :).
Nothing like an actual scholar in the field, but I’m thinking perhaps this extends mostly along the romance axis rather than the sexuality axis.
There are sex-positive asexual people. If they’re in a romantic relationship (because asexual people can have romantic attraction), they might want to experience the closeness of sex, they might want to make their partner happy, or they might just want to bump uglies because they are horny.
In the case of Shortpacked! Carla and Malaya’s interactions, it is likely the desire to give Malaya pleasure mixed with Carla’s desire to be the best, even if it’s the best at fucking. Carla doesn’t need to be sexually attracted to Malaya to have those desires.
Sex is just an activity for people to do together. Different people get different things from it and enjoy different pieces of it, same as any other activity. Enjoying being offered control and trust (for example) and/or just plain old taking pride in your skill is not necessarily a sexual thing at all.
So I’d say what you’re describing is about as ace or allo as anything else. It’s all down to the individual. Trying to assess how “much” ace something like this is kinda misses the complexities and infinite variations of the human experience. Asexuality has nothing to do with whether or not (or in what way) we enjoy sex, it’s about how and whether we experience sexual attraction.
I mean, she had no problem fucking Malaya (in a very Ace way) last continuity, but I’m also
1- Very much agreeing with you, I’m pumped by this interaction :33
2- On board with “fucking Malaya” remaining a marker of chagrin and nothing else
She was pretty excited Malaya was moving to her hall.
Doesn’t Booster’s twin present as NB or GNC too? Carla really doesn’t like them…
Well, she has a more ‘masculine’/tom boy ish name, but booster did say “sister” than sibling and i imagine they’d be more conscious about that if charlie did also ID as NB like booster does
Booster also refers to Charlie as “she”
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-13/03-joementum/twinsister/
I figured she was cis female, but given how horrible my gaydar is I wouldn’t be surprised if my gender-dar is busted too.
Come on, “gendar” was the right there.
Uze the transceiver
Speaking of desperate for community, how the fuck does a 30-year-old genderwhatever in a bigoted rural town meet other queer people? I always see suggestions like “Go to your local queer meeting spot”, like it’s just a given that one exists in every town.
Try hanging around your local public library, if you have one. See what activities or meetings they offer. Google and Duckduckgo “lgbt queer community Town Name, State” and see what turns up – even outdated posts are worth something if you can reach out to whoever posted them. If your town is really tiny they might all be hiding and you may need to take the plunge and kick something off yourself, for which I would again suggest the library.
Another possibility might be to find the closest Unitarian Universalist church and go on a day trip if it’s at all feasible. It might be a bit of a hike and it’s a long shot either way, but if you have one somewhere within… say, a two-hour radius, somebody there might be able to connect you to someone more local.
The sad truth is there simply may not be anyone willing to come out in your area. But I hope that ends up not being the case and you’ll find some folks with a bit more digging. Good luck.
Thanks for the advice. A quick search revealed that there are no clearly-labeled public queer groups in my reachable area. None of those churches you mentioned, either. (Not that I’d ever willingly go to a church if it was even remotely avoidable.) The website for the library was borderline unusable, but it also didn’t seem to have anything openly labeled. Kind of a frustrating search, to be honest. Either there’s no queer community here or they’re all afraid to be open.
If you do try to start something yourself — depending on how queer-unfriendly your local area is — I wonder if it might be good to form a group that’s not overtly queer but just hints at it (for deniability’s sake, in case unpleasant people start poking around)?
A book club called Alphabet Soup, for example, could relate to a sort-of humorous nickname for the LGBTQIA+ abbreviation when a friendly person asks, and just a reference to books when people like Toedad happen by.
Having a dual-purpose group (e.g. reading and queerness) could also be more inviting to people who aren’t sure they’re ready to be out yet, as they could appear to just be hanging around and reading or whatever while they cautiously explore other options.
…but take this suggestion with a pinch of salt, please. I’ve no actual personal experience with these matters, being an aromantic asexual with social anxiety; while I like that queer groups and such things exist, I’ve never had much interest in joining one.
Just to add: that Alphabet Soup idea has already been taken by both sites like https://www.mic.com/articles/28093/lgbtqia-a-beginner-s-guide-to-the-great-alphabet-soup-of-queer-identity and already-existing book clubs. Maybe you’ll think of something more original than I managed.
Far as starting a group myself goes, I have absolutely zero experience leading anyone at anything. I don’t have the knowledge or personality for that. Plus, if everyone else feels unsafe being out, maybe I don’t need to be the first one to get my head caved in.
Unfortunate, my sympathies. I hope something turns up for you eventually.
It can happen there is no such place. The former mayor of my town is gay, but you can’t find any queer spot in town. That doesn’t mean ther arent any event where you’ll find more gay/queer people: reading of progessive authors at libraries, concerts of bands known to be LGBTQ, movies about gay people, but you can also track activities that are socially devoted to one gender and see if people of the “unusual” gender join – while they may not be queer, they may be open minded people tat it could be nice enough to know.
I have a lot of personal experience with this exact issue! Your options are:
1) The internet!
2) Driving a long way!
3) Moving!
And it sucks.
She’s getting Charlie advice I bet.
Wonder how much they’ll help, i’m sure they’re fairly close but it totally would be a ‘sibling’ thing to list all the things she hates and tell carla it’s something she likes lol
This is what I’m hoping for, I wanna know more about Charlie!
i mean, jetpack would probably be a badass nickname.
Power-to-Weight ratio though Booster is a far stronger nickname.
You’d want thrust more than power with a booster, power’s more of a horizontal engine measurement
There is a difference? I thought Power was just how hard can it push stuff..
Thrust is how hard something is pushing stuff. You could call it power manifested as mechanical force.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_(physics)
Oh cool
Yee, for instance, a cookie has 6 times more energy than it’s weight in TNT, however, TNT has a LOT more power due to being able to release that energy in a chemical reaction that takes about a millionth of a second, creating enough air pressure to crack open a rock.
I have often wanted a jetpack, in social situations
Dumbing of Age Book 14: Applaud.
privacy chair redesign?
So close yet a little far, considering what with the whole Ruttech and all.
These chairs feel like they’d be a better fit for student-athletes.
Or for building a fort.
Oooo SPLENDID Joyce avatar
Loved it, too.
Wonder if it came from a preview
That definitely came from a strip, yes, not quite sure which one tho… :/
Of course, now I am thinking of the old “Love of Chair” sitcom.
Wait wasn’t that a Simpsons couch gag?
It was from “The Electric Company”, a PBS kids’ program from the 70s.
Hehehe, i a zoomer who got hooked on the 2009 reboot XD
Will be fun to see Booster pick Carla’s brain.
🧠
[offers popcorn]
Booster pretty much figured it out already though. Carla asked them to psychoanalyse her at the floor meeting and they said, “No.”
Yeah they know how Carla operates.
And are playing denial game with her XD
Not a lot to pick! She’s rich, smart, attractive and hilarious; but also so desperate for validation. Kinda like Billifer without the self-destructiveness… or the obsession with status… or the alcoholism… or… ok, not at all like Billifer really.
Carla’s known Joyce a lot longer and she’s just “Girl with Jugs”, so yeah, Booster’s beating the curve here.
CARLA!!!!
This is giving very Muppet Babies vibes. They look so tiny!!!
Honestly a better name; they should change it.
Carla you got the wrong twin.
Also Jesus, are those chairs growing?
maybe I got up today with my left foot but Carlas incorrect naming is not cute but rude.
That basically sums up Carla as a whole, not cute but rude.
She can be both!
I will admit that I’d hate her far more if she wasn’t a cute redhead XD
It’s rude not to remember the name of somebody you met once?
Nope, being proud about not remembering them and coming up with your own names though… Carla is self-absorbed to the extreme and lets everyone know.
Oh wow, is Carla self-absorbed? I hadn’t noticed. 🥱
There is your answer to the rude question
But she’s not “proud about not remembering”, she’s proud about almost remembering. There’s a difference.
It honestly depends, not remembering people’s names and being actually proud about it is a pattern with her. Even here she outright acknowledges that she doesn’t even really try to remember them.
I don’t think we’re working with the same concept of pride, here.
Might be
? Okay, well, she’s not bragging about not remembering names, or holding it up as something impressive she does (more so than anything else, that is), or any of that stuff. So like, where’s “proud” even enter the picture?
Well this is my perspective but she always comes off as very dismissive and jokesy about it. She doesn’t find it rude or a problem but more of a “haha look how quirky I am”, like it’s something to be proud of.
And like, I think I blew it out of proportion because it’s no grand crime like whatever Mary might be up to. It just makes her come off as rude selfish and inconsiderate because she doesn’t give a crap about people around her. It’s all MeMeMe.
Great, now I want a gif of Carla doing that meme dance
XD
If you don’t remember, the polite thing is to ask for their name again. If you have a guess, you should say it hesitantly and not confidently.
This just sounds like micromanaging.
What is even going on in this picture?
Carla’s bothering Booster, and either forgetting their name or pretending to as a conversation starter. Booster is in the big weird intimidating chair, trying to read.
Getting someone’s name wrong means they have to pay a little more attention to you so they can correct you. Another win for Carla!
This indeed. She did not misremember Booster’s name. She remembered & humorously came up with something similar. She’s trolling Booster *and* the audience, judging from reactions directly above. That she touches a nerve is another win for Carla.
Big win for a trans person to misname someone…
Jetpack is not a gendered name & pr-o-o-o-bably not Booster’s deadname. She still respects their gender identity.
Still a kinda disrespectful thing to do, she of all people should know to respect names.
I’m so here for this dynamic.
YEEEES!
The chairs returned!
This reminded of Rafiki and Simba’s scene for some reason
On one hand, giving careful regard to the people around you and showing them respect (or at least remember their names and faces) is something a great person would do because people like that, but on the other, where’s the challenge?
If names genuinely don’t stick in one’s memory, it’s quite the challenge.
So, there’s this story about the DC Superhero Power Girl, that the creators of her comic book decided to keep drawing her breasts larger and larger to see if anyone would write in and complain.
There’s probably a lot of truth to this tale, because the character is more well known for this fact than that of her actual dang origin, but I’m more thinking of this because I’m wondering if Willis has been experimenting in that manner with Carla.
Namely, if he’s making Carla more and more insufferably annoying over time to see at what point the general fandom turns against her.
…
Starting to get there, I think.
Why? She’s been like this for OTL years, occasionally quite a bit worse even.
A lot of people complain about various characters in the story. I don’t think Willis takes it too seriously.
I mean, if that was something a writer did, secretly making a main character who has been presented as highly sympathetic into a full on asshole without giving any solid rationale for it or even saying that it is happening in the narrative, that’s probably the point where people stop reading. It seems like a terrible writing decision, even if you have another dozen or so characters left for people to want to read about.
Carla being a pill? Must be a day ending in F.
Fridayf
Thr beginning of a beautiful friendship? It’s rare to see Carla so interested in someone.
Not remembering people’s name: relatable
Just substituting your own guess: offputting
When I can’t remember someone’s name, which is usually, I just mess up my eye contact timing and awkwardly maneuver around that moment in the conversation. I’m sure that isn’t offputting at all…
Actually thought that was Charlie at first.
Jet pack is a really cute nickname for someone named booster, ya gotta admit. Very excited to see what these two get up to.
How does Booster detect Carla? App tracking on the smartphone, maybe? Distributed by the dorm to all residents?
(including carla, because it pleases her immensely?)
Feels the shiver of entering Carla’s Ego Range
Charlie and Dina alike are like eldritch entities to which the field has no effect.
♾️
Could Dina be… a Culexus Assassin…
A massive range! The Carla Ego field permeates the localized universe!
Carla was probably the one who distributed it, since she would no doubt want people to be aware when she walks into a room so they can marvel in her presence.
Ugggg, Carla. I continue to both like and hate her.
If I may ask, is this what earthlings refer to as “hatred with passion”?
Passion is a deep or overmastering emotion. It can be love; it can be lust; it can be hatred or disgust or envy or….
3 days since I commented that it had been a while since Carla had been in a comic, and here she is. I.. I don’t know how I feel about these new powers.
Who cares, more Carla, everything is all ok again!
Thank you for summoning the Carla.
Heyyyy is Booster wearing a Dr. Venture style speed suit?
I assumed pajamas but I like your idea better.
Yeah I assumed it’s a jumpsuit, They’re pretty trendy right now. Booster’s specifically looks like one from a brand I like, haha.
https://www.pistoladenim.com/collections/all-jumpsuits-and-rompers/products/grover-short-sleeve-field-suit-flamingo?variant=43418977730726
Privacy chair redesign looks like a … Booster Seat.
Is it wierd that I have a serious thing for Carla?
No. I mean, give her what she wants, it be a perfect symbiosis, no?
you are not alone
“Applaud” has Jeb! vibes, Carla’s off her game.
Well..I guess calling him “Jetpack” is better than “Child Seat”, “Cheerleader” or my favorite “Follow-Up inoculation”. Just saying..