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TechCrunch @techcrunch.com ⋅ 1d
ceej @ceej.online ⋅ 2m
Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 14h
Diem @diemtf.bsky.social ⋅ 16h
Paul Southworth 
@southworth.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 3d
nami @namioshiro.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
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the petard
it has been hoisted
A petard is a bomb. The petard is not hoisted. The person blown up by their own is the thing that is hoisted.
The bomb is the tied shoelaces. The shoelaces have been hoisted. Hence, the petard she has been hoisted. Hoisted by your own weapon, pedantry.
+1
Funnily enough, if we replace “shoelaces” with “bootstraps” we arrive to the same meaning, using a different idiom.
Actually, it’s only called a petard when it’s above ground, otherwise it’s called Magma
A petard is also a fart. Shakespeare was talking about someone achieving powered flight through explosive flatulence.
…. at least I assume so. He liked double-meanings like that.
That’s kind of amazing, I hope it’s true. It’s totally plausible to me that such a phrase would be used as a pseudo-dysphemism for farting in common parlance among people familiar with the term and also farting.
The petard was a 16th century breaching charge, meant to be pushed into a door, gate or weak spot in a wall and blow it open. It derives its name from the French verb “péter”, meaning “to fart” (the noun is “pet”). Today the word “petard” usually refers to a firecracker.
The bomb predates the play by about two decades, so while Shakespeare invented (or popularised) the saying and was probably well aware of the etymology, I’d like to think he’d be more clever than that if he had really wanted to make a farting pun out of it.
Sidenote: The saying originates in Hamlet, which is set in medieval Denmark way before anyone would know what a “petard” is, and is one of many examples of Shakespeare being intentionally anachronistic for the sake of spinning a good yarn for his audience.
Looking up the line, it appears Hamlet was using the imagery of a battlefield sapper, knowing that Claudius had sent him, Rosencrans, and Guildenstern to England with R&G carrying a letter instructing the English to execute Hamlet. He had escaped from the ship, substituting a letter of his own ordering R&G’s execution, and reversing their plan upon itself.
“There’s letters sealed; and my two schoolfellows,
Whom I will trust as I will adders fanged,
They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work,
For ’tis the sport to have the Engineer
Hoist with his own petard; and ’t shall go hard,
But I will delve one yard below their mines
And blow them at the moon. O, ’tis most sweet
When in one line two crafts directly meet.”
Arrgh! There was a popup that moved my cursor out of the comment box every time it changed. The bit at the beginning? Change all that past tense to present – the conversation with Gertrude took place before the trip.
For some speculation:
https://interestingliterature.com/2020/07/hoist-with-his-own-petard-phrase-origins-meaning/
What happen!
Somebody set up us the petard!
We get signal. What!
Main screen turn on! It’s you!
HOW ARE YOU GENTLEMEN
ALL YOUR LACE ARE TIED BY US!
ALL YOUR LACE LACE
AL YOUR LACE ARE KNOTTED BY US
oontzing intensifies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qItugh-fFgg
“All your lace are too long for us.”
(So we shorten them by tying them together.)
off: happy to see you’re back
That petard got hoisted so hard
The circle (of shoelaces) is now compete.
1. It was her own petard.
2. Good to see you again!
The petard, hoisted…ITSELF?? Genius.
…..WHEN?!?
Between panels of course.
Panels 2 and 3, to be exact
It’s not the timing that concerns me. It’s the spacing! Panels 2-4 show that Carla was standing with her legs spread, in a classic action pose. Somehow Charlie moved Carla’s shoes together, and tied the shoelaces, without moving either herself or Carla! Genius level pranksterism!
TECHNICALLY all we can see is that Carla’s upper legs are angled apart. She could have her feet together and she’s just squatting down a little with weird form. As a prank on the readers of the comic, you know, to trick them into exactly this sort of confusion. It’s all very meta.
one day, carla will be wearing a cute clown outfit befitting of her japery. and it will be amazing. this is my DOA 2035 prediction
Clown Carla with Ring Leader Charlie would go so hard.
Or next week in strip time.
Ninja skills learned from Dina.
Take them. Take all the internets.
Charlie has telekinesis confirmed.
I wonder if you we know the person in the chair but the tags say otherwise.
classic Bloodrose
if it was bloodrose those shoes would be black
more evidence for my “Bloodrose has gone normie” theory.
The are clearly decoy shoes which Charlie set up ahead of time.
I am here for this headcanon.
Truly a golden moment courtesy of Charlie; now how will she top it?
Having proved her superiority over Carla there is now no higher to top.
Apex prankster?
I think Carla had some ideas how she can top
looks like that time hanging out with Dina has rubbed off on her
Charlie gonna be epic as a dom >:D
I’m sensing brat energy.
Pranks aren’t restricted to a particular role. They’re just a lovely part of relationships.
relationship goals
Alt text has a cleverer play on student becomes the master than I would have done
Only a pranker of hotness, Darth Simmons.
All Charlie needs now are pies
the student has become the master
Silly Carla, if you have to show others you’re superior other than it being obvious from your sheer aura, maybe you’re not that superior after all.
Nope, sorry, Carla is empirically superior on the basis of being Carla
Untied shoelaces would lead me to believe that was Walky but red shoes also a level of fashion interest above zero so that ain’t him. Who’s the cool person? Style enough to wear bold red sneaks but won’t bother lacing them up. That’s everyone else’s problem.
So who did Alice & Jennifer run into yesterday?
a scene change, apparently
Billie could be argued to have run into Alice, but otherwise nobody.
The floor.
Same as this strip. So basically we have a theme going.
Over under on the chain ending with police tackling Joss?
That would suck to see.
The comedic rule of three says something will probably happen to put a tail on this trio of pratfalls, but I’m not sure Willis follows the rules.
trio* if someone falls tomorrow also
Okay, honestly, that’d kind of do it for me, too, so I get you, Carla.
Nature is healing
They’re so perfect for each other I love them
HA.
Carla’s stance implies her feet weren’t even together.
I know! That makes Charlie’s feat even more impressive!
check her shoulder for a star-shaped birthmark
no reason in particular
Can’t help but notice everyone seems to be having a pleasant morning as we move from scene to scene. Hope that isn’t setting us up. Tensions escalating at the protest still looms over all this.
Charlie continues to be the best.
Charlie has Magic Auto Shoelace Tying abilities
The true prank was Willis cutting away from Billie and Alice.
We cut back and now Billie has tied Alice’s shoelaces together
Oh, is that what the kids call it these days? ^^
How else are you supposed to knock her boots together?
Oh good, Carla…
Amazing!
Everyone it seems has found their person. Well, almost everyone. Willis is going to blow it all up anytime now.
happy pride
She’s the girlfriend that Carla wants, AND the girlfriend she deserves!
Not only did Charlie replace Carla’s roller skates with shoes that could be tied together, they got her to fall *backwards* when tripping trying to walk forwards, so that the shoes would be on panel. That’s true commitment to the bit.
Nah, the bending of Carla’s knees show that she did in fact fall forward. Instead, she flipped more than 90 degrees (closer to 135, I think), so her upper legs were going diagonally up. Combined with the knee bend, that’s shoes up.
The motion lines indicate a 90 degree backwards rotation
The motion lines show her body falling forwards, as is confirmed the next panel. From the arrangement of her knees and direction of her feet, it is clear that when she fell her knees were bent, leaving the shoes sticking up. This is also the most plausible physical outcome.
The motion lines aren’t shaded. It turns out they’re coming from behind, not from in front.
If it helps: The tail of the motion lines is near Charlie’s shoulder.
Forward – look at the shape of the feet. The heels are above the toes. Either she fell forward, or her legs are so badly shattered that she requires immediate medical attention.
I do see that she fell forward, but I’m confused by this comment. If I look from the bottom of the strip, it goes knees, heels, toes. And I could see how you could get that view of her shoes if she either fell backward or forward.
I could not see it as a forward fall last night, but I see it now.
If she fell backwards, she did a flip, because she’s on her face in the last panel.
This is just way too cute!
This is the other part of ADHD. Charlie is not flighty all the time. Sometimes the attention is so hyper focused that she gets the thing done with inhuman speed and efficiency.
Charlie acted wisely ^^
Also, Carla is not wearing skates???
Carla was wearing skates. Charlie is just so good at this (all that hyper-focus) that she got the skates off, replaced them with shoes, _and_ tied the laces together.
I’m impressed that Charlie did that without Carla noticing.
Carla owns shoes?
On one hand, yiiikes, Carla. “yeah i love to feel superior !” blablabla.
On the other, either it wasn’t Charlie or she’s a frigging magical girl lol XD
NGL, stuff like this is why I don’t really like Carla. I have an especially dim view of pranksters who do stuff like this that could actually result in (sometimes serious) injury.
It’s fine. Nobody got hurt. It’s fine.
As with the little stumble yesterday on Jennifer’s part, some people seem determined to make a federal case out of young people being silly in a comic strip.
Jennifer’s actions yesterday did seem like more than a stumble, with her arm wrapped around Alice’s waist like it was. Could have been she stumbled and grabbed on for support, or it could have been more a tackle. Tackle could have been something Alice found strange if it was more physically “aggressive” than they had previously been in their relationship. Or it could have been a familiar thing to them. Or it could have gotten…. very sexual tension filled.
Personally was hoping for that last one.
Anyway, yesterday’s was more open ended where it was going. This one, the vibes seem clearer.
Carla is the best and everything she does is awesome just to put that out there
She is also best when she is getting bested by Charlie.
Is this the theme of the storyline? Ladies making their girlfriends fall down?
Ladies tripping ladies tripping ladies tripping ladies…
Wait. My Only INCEPTION?
Hobbes would be proud of Charlie! (He got Calvin in likewise manner.)
Weird seeing Carla in regular shoes, I thought she was always on skates.
they’re retractible, of course.
Today’s Dinosaur Day, btw! Dina’s not in this strip but happy Dino Day to her
Finally actual lesbians
So Dina and Becky are what, exactly? If I was you, I’d start walking back slowly as to not trip.
Guessing here but maybe just someone tired of the Joycothy (Doyce?) will-they-won’t-they-is-it-cheating limbo
Well, Becky
Dina is bi? There’s literally a sex comic featuring the two of them on Slipshine and it’s canon.
Granted, but Dina’s said before that she’s unsure if gender expression matters to her. She could be a lesbian, but she could also be bisexual.
Besides, if Slipshine was the final say on orientation, Danny has to be straight, because he’s only had sex with women on there.
very true its a limited sample pool
Yeah, I’m aware? I’m truly not sure what your point is. Unless you’re asking if Dina is bi? In which case, yeah, I believe Dina is biromantic. In comic, the support is around how she’s said that she’s unsure if gender expression matters to her; out of universe, the “rule” in Willis’ various comics is generally that sexualities are consistent across universes, and in other Willis strips, Dina has been in relationships (or love, or both, I haven’t actually read them) with guys.
(Also, if your point is that Dina is into girls, I don’t think one would need to go the Slipshine for that. Definitely wouldn’t think Dina is straight, considering she’s dating Becky and has been for a while. Would be even wilder than thinking Joyce was straight.)
The point is not to discount Dina as a lesbian, even if Dina has other stuff going on. Like literally only God (aka Willis) knows Dina’s entire deal, and he’s probably not been bothered to have to make it entirely black and white.
Im pretty sure Dinas lesbian, idt we’ve ever seen her show interest in a man
they’re also beautiful lesbians
Yes. I love this.
Omg this is ADORABLE. Also lays bare the issue so many people do not understand about Carla: she acts out bc she desperately wants to get put in her place. She’s just like me frfr.
This is awesome,but the alt-text reminds me of a scene in The Last Continent where Archchancellor Ridcully says “We do not play pranks! Students are prankers!” and is corrected with “prankster”. Part of the joke, from a UK English perspective, is that “pranker” sounds like a certain other word.
Although I guess there are people in this comment section (not me) who might agree that Carla is a total pranker.
I respect that Carla is consistent in her valuations.
Carla + Charlie = Becky + Dina – sex
I wish Carla was remotely likeable and not someone you just want to slap……..
Good news, she is!
Sure she is a funny character, but would you share an apartment with a person that acted like that? Or a 1000 mile car ride?
Good thing I don’t ever have to do any of that because she is a fictional character and so it has no effect on her likability.
The likability of characters in a fictional work has nothing to do with whether or not they’d be likeable in real life
One can also like someone in real life while not wanting to live with them or go on long trips together. Plenty of people I know, like, and care about that I feel that way about.
She’s extremely likeable, you’re just wrong.
Obnoxious, overbearing, inconsiderate to the point of sociopathy. Rude, arrogant and self centered. Whats likeable? We get damn little representation as it is. And the bias is that we are considered vain and self centered simply for existing. Not exactly good representation.
Why don’t you get over yourself!
Huh. Everyone seems to think that Charlie speed-tied Carla’s shoes.
How about a minority report possibility? Keep in mind that Carla likes being topped/humiliated in certain ways by those she’s interested in.
Maybe Carla tied her own shoes together. She then takes a deliberate and carefully flamboyant pratfall, flipping her legs and feet up so that her tied shoes are offered for Charlie to view, and then flopping down (submissively) before her.
Her words “C’mon, I’ll show you” are meant as a deliberate prelude to the personal demonstration.
It sounds convoluted, but consider how convoluted her laser-lights-name+pie surprise prank was.
So how do you interpret Carla’s comment in the last panel in this lens?
She’s expressing her humiliation kink? “See, you are superior to me because I fell and you did not — and that makes you so hot!”
I mean, I don’t think any of this is actually what happened, but I can see that in a kinda “if you squint and tilt your head way.” It doesn’t actually work, but the universe where it happens isn’t too far away.
Since this is a pretty low traffic strip I take the chance to Proselytize: The Lilo and Stitch live action remake is absolutely dog shit and kinda racist and nobody should watch it! Not even hate watch! It isn’t even worth pirating! Go watch the original instead, or the show or the direct to tv sequels, or even that one anime, any of them is miles better that this garbage.
I appreciate this take away. Reading the plot synopsis hinted to me it went this way, but it was one of my favs so I was on the fence.
I’ll say this for Carla. She not only lives by her own rules, she sticks to them.
i’m jsust more surprised carla’s waering normal shoes today (tho i’m sure there are skates out there with laces that can be tied like that lol)
There are definitely skates with laces– it’s possible Willis didn’t want to draw skates at this angle
Carla does wear shoes sometimes.
Skater shoes
Step on her, Charley. She’ll love it.
Awwww, she’s falling in love!