Shortpacked! by David Willis
Toys are serious business.
Convention appearances:
Calgary Expo Calgary, AB: April 26-28
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Multiplex
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
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Comics Curmudgeon
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Wapsi Square
Wonderella
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Frumph.NET
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Dresden Codak
Fans!
Fleen
Gastrophobia
Girl Genius
Girls with Slingshots
Goats
Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
Intrepid Girlbot
Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
Octopus Pie
Overcompensating
Penny Arcade
PhDcomics
Power Nap
Questionable Content
Real Life
Rob and Elliot
Bad Machinery
Schlock Mercenary
Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
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“You’re real chill not to punch me in the face when I flip you the bird!”
Generally, punching someone in the face because they flipped you the bird is a good sign you have anger management issues.
That being said, how can anyone like this character. She’s like every person I hate in real life!
Who, Amber? Yeah, she’s kinda insensitive now and then, isn’t she.
Because she is like every person you hate and real life.
Plus; unlike the less common and over the top, Mike (who is is sometimes compared to). We all have a bit of Malaya in us – heck I used to be a full-blown Malaya to certain people. I think the attraction to Malaya is based in a embracing and laughing at a part of ourselves we know we have.
If Mike is the kind of over the top evil ass we wish we could get away with from time to time then Malaya is the kind of ass we ARE from time to time. She’s everyone you hate and yourself at your worst.
Basically – you’ll never be Mike – you’ll never mean to be Malaya…
Even at her nicest Malaya misses important steps in her rational thinking and over-reacts rather justified or not. She takes everything more personally than she should…
Not that the people who dislike her hate themselves; they just don’t find amusement in said flaw and/or have probably dealt with one to many real-life Malaya’s who unlike most of us never seemed to quit being asses.
I personally feel Malaya as a character CAN become a better person because she is like normal people in many ways – she just needs more work than most since she rarely seems to leave shallow and petty mode.
No, I don’t buy this explanation. It assumes every person is the same in the inside and nothing could be further from the truth (unless you’re speaking in a literal sense, in which it’s totally the truth, what with all we having all the same organs inside and such).
I really don’t like this girl. I like Mike and Faz even though I’d hate both in real life because they’re fun characters and they have different character traits and defects besides “being an asshole”. Malaya, on the other hand, has none. She seems to be written to be hated.
And yet, the fandom will assume you’re still lying Malaya. Ya can’t win, lady.
This is still awesome. If this strip was to become “It’s Malaya!” I would not object at all.
Malaya just can’t deal with the real world. She’s doing what she has done since she was first introduced: making excuses. “I don’t want to work because I have morals” “I LOVE Leslie, but I don’t want to be with her”
Love doesn’t always equal sex. I mean, you love your parents, right? or your dog?
Who said anything about sex?
Malaya did. I believe she used the term “bang her”.
and, “I LOVE Leslie, but I don’t want to be with her.” Malaya said “bang.” She was talking about sex. She wants to hold a close friendship with Leslie, but also wants to keep it platonic.
Holy Moodswings Batman!
I know. I got a serious case of mood whiplash there.
I think we better wear neck braces next time she shows up in a comic, just in case.
I’m reading that less as mood swings and more as a three second time delay on realizing she just told her boss to fuck off.
I have officially stopped hating Malaya. Still don’t like her, but the hatred’s gone ou the window after all this character development.
Also, Malaya flipping the bird has to become a gravatar.
Really?
I’m still Hot Shot.
…
come to think of it, I think I’ve always been hot shot.
I think that deep down we are all Hot Shot to some degree, and it’s important that we look inside ourselves and accept the JaAm within our hearts, so we can better-
Oh, wait, you are talking about your gravatar. Yes, you are Hot Shot.
..That uh…
that was some heavy stuff there. Want to talk about it?
That comment made my whole evening.
Brownie points ain’t gonna work now Malaya
Zero to Bitch in 3.3 seconds.
I think it’s always bitch… just different flavors of bitch. Like… harsh bitch versus manipulative bitch versus just plain selfish bitch.
Wow, she’s like Robin’s evil(er) twin…
Well I wonder how you can patch things up with Leslie and your co-workers who think poorly of you: better spaz out like a crazy bitch.
I have a sneaking suspicion that MIKE is going to be the one to give Malaya the Heart-to-Heart monologue.
But a foot-to-crotch monologue isn’t as effective on a lady.
I understand it’s actually more effective, as women have a few vital veins there, meaning a good kick to the crotch can actually kill them.
But it just isn’t as fun to point and laugh at someone who’s ACTUALLY dying, just the ones who feel like they might be.
As a lady who has been kicked there, quite a lot (sparring–women in karate are vicious)…eh, nah, it doesn’t hurt all that much. Depends on the kind of kick, really.
I mean, it’s not the downy tap of a feather, but it hurts a lot less than taking a suckerpunch to the gut.
Believe me, as a female who’s slipped crossing a few fences herself, it still hurts like a sonofabitch.
Just not for quite as long, I think, and probably not as much. But it still hurts.
One thing I love about Malaya is how she takes things so personally. Pretty much any other ‘serious’ character would react like an adult and know not to take it personally when confronted with a question like that, but Malaya is all ‘no fuck off where do you get off asking that shit’.
It amuses me.
“Oh, wait, Amber’s my boss. Flipping her off might cause those…things…what do you call them, they happen to other people all the time…oh yeah! Consequences! I might experience consequences! How does one avoid these consequence-things? I suppose I could try acting like a peon for a moment or two, see if that gets me off the hook.”
Dammit, meant to make that a separate post.
“Man, I am the smartest person [i]ever.[/i]“
“Where the hell do you, my girlfriend’s good friend and roomie, get off asking a question about my motives behind forming a relationship that just took a pretty damned hard stumble when I revealed that I am not actually of the appropriate gender alignment to even have a girlfriend after all? FUCK YOU!”
Wow. Yeah. Nope, still don’t like Malaya. Surprise?
Where do you, person who knows my ex-girlfriend very well, but knows jack shit about me and has never expressed any interest in me, get off acting like you know me well enough to ask that kind of question like you are some kind of neutral third party or cool headed protector here and not just someone speaking in the interest of a friend they care about to a person they consider disposable both personally and professionally?
And no, I’m not surprised, but not for the reasons you think.
“What? Not real?! Lookit me, being defensive here being suddenly under the spotlights! Now I’m so angry I’m gonna flip you the bird and rush off angrily.”
“…Oh, here I am a bit calmer after two seconds. We cool, right?”
That’s how it went in my head, anyway.
Take away the words and that’s how it would appear to be playing out.
Mostly it’s just “Oh crap, I flipped off my boss” at the end
“Hey, why is Leslie upset? I thought we made up for the weeks that I was stringing her along?”
Months, I believe. Shortpacked is realtime, and she was flirting with her for a LONG while.
Funny. I’m not a fan of Malaya, and that’s still not the way she comes off to me.
From where I sit it looks more like she’s actually developed romantic feelings for Leslie over the last nine months, whether or not she originally hooked up with her just to be a dick to Sakura and Robin, and is honestly upset to hear it framed as Amber, rightly as a concerned friend, from my perspective, did.
And there goes almost all of my sympathy for Malaya. Don’t get me wrong, I do feel sorry for her but no need to go all defensive like that, especially to your boss.
No, Malaya, you are indeed full of shit.
“Full of shit” and “in love with Leslie” are not mutually exclusive, however. Just look at Robin.
Robin is not full of shit. Robin is full of pixie stix and mountain dew.
Everyone is full of shit. In the comic and the real world. Malaya just has more than most people.
Which are converted to shit by her digestive system.
Well, she was a politician and as we all know, most if not all politicians are full of shit.
+2 internets
Yes, the internets, like politicians, are full of shit. That’s because they’re made of of people, and people are full of shit. That’s why they invented toilet paper. And colostomy bags.
*Ties on a green neckerchief* The internets! They’re made of PEOPLE!
That explains the verbal diarrhoea…
I kind of appreciate what she said. Mind you, I’m pretty sure she was saying that to many of the commenters here. But I could see most people being very offended with that question.
It’s a reasonable question. Amber cares about Leslie. And I wanted to know the answer too.
Well, to be fair, I could see myself getting offended when this person I barely know starts asking me personal questions.
Of course, I wouldn’t swear, flip her off, and walk off in a huff either.
They’ve worked together for months and she’s one of Leslie’s best friends. If Malaya barely knows Amber, it’s because she can’t be bothered.
True.
They’ve worked together for month’s, and she’s Leslie’s one day ex. If Amber barely knows her, it’s because she can’t be bothered.
Also the thing about Amber being Leslie’s best friend, and Malaya’s supervisor, so in really every way the burden is on Amber in this social situation.
And I might get offended if I thought someone was jerking my friend around for shits and giggles. Amber wanted to know whether Malaya was that terrible, or if she was actually a decent, if confused, human being.
And the answer to that question is why I no longer hate Malaya. I had a feeling the hate would lessen once I knew her motivation.
Yeah, and Malaya is well within her rights to say “None of yer damn business.”
This is gonna turn into either an “agree to disagree” thing or a flame war, isn’t it? I admire Amber for making the effort to see whether Malaya hurt Leslie through bitchiness or more innocent confusion. I probably wouldn’t be that logical in her shoes.
I’m willing to leave it ‘agree to disagree’ if you are.
Sounds good.
Most people would conduct themselves better, but the sentiment would still be there. Unspoken, but definitely there.
She wouldn’t be Malaya though if she left the “Where the hell do you get off” unspoken in favor of manners, tact, and job preservation.
It’s like if Gollum had boobs and a retail job.
That’s the third weirdest thing I’ve seen on the internet today, and I’ve been looking at gifs of Disney movies with Nigel Thornberry’s head posted in all day.
I’ve been confused about that particular meme since I saw it yesterday. Wtf is that all about?
I have no idea. I’m just gonna sit back and enjoy the ride while it lasts.
Christ, overreaction, much?
“I love Leslie in a romantic way, I’m just not attracted to her in a romantic way! Jesus! What about that is so hard to understand?”
There is a difference between emotional attraction and sexual attraction. The girl seems to have been confused, as many young persons are, about how the two interplay.
Well, I do know asexuals that aren’t aromantic, so I suppose homoromantic and heterosexual would be a theoretical, if annoying, possibility.
I’m pretty sure none of those words are real.
To which a respond:
Read a book.
They are areal words.
As an asexual, panromantic woman who you say isn’t real:
Fuck You.
I’m bisexual and homoromantic, I guess, so it can definitely be a thing the other way, I’d imagine.
Of course, at the end of the day, I just identify as a lesbian, so I have it easier, I guess.
Malaya is one of those cases where the more she gets exposed in the comic, the more I hate her as a person, and the more I like her as a character.
Hate is a strong word. She’s one of those people I would go out of my way to avoid getting to know.
But, her casual bitchiness and all around detestability make her a fun character to read.
And I’ll say it again, she is NOT a poor-man’s Mike.
I will come out now and admit this: As a person, I would tell her to stay away from me “or you will not like where things go.” As a character, she is at least interesting to see where she’s going. And she’s totally not a poor-man’s Mike, because Mike doesn’t make his meanness a casual, walk-by sort of thing. He puts some effort into it, dammit.
There are many characters in many stories which you think are pretty awesome, but if you really think about it for a while, you realise that you most likely not get along too well with them IRL.
Which is why I tend to pick and choose my fiction a lot. I end up asking, before I’m halfway through the book, or game, or about five episodes “How much would I want to punch this person, if they were real and acting like this in front of me?” Shows like Prison Break, Dexter, and others in that vein have thus been ignored by me, as a result. (Also very much not into things where we’re supposed to cheer for the villain. So far Proffit has been my only exception.)
Exactly.
I would totally bang Malaya.
If I was into hatefucking, I would too.
This right here? This is the point where I go from being amused by Malaya to full-on love for the character. Also for Willis, for that matter.
I’m shocked how horrible an event some of the haters are twisting this into…
This is apparently proof that Malaya is the most horrible character and selfish character in Shortpacked!
Christ Mikey, maybe you should just not read the comments if you’re going to react so emotionally to anyone’s dislike of your, apparently, favorite character.
I’ve only read this far down on the page and approximately half the threads are people saying “I love Malaya!” or at least “This development has caused me to be more interested in her.”
But I suppose if you didn’t focus exclusively on the negative, you wouldn’t have any fuel for your self-righteous rage. I hardly ever remember’s people’s names in these comments, but I surely do remember YOURS: you’re the guy who goes into histrionics about how much people hate malaya every fucking time she appears in a comic.
Seriously dude, just try NOT READING THE COMICS since there are so many people in there who carry opinions that HURT you so.
What the hell are you talkin’ about – my favorite character is Ethan. He’s a total stud well Malaya is a bitch I wouldn’t date if it would bring world peace – she’s not even in my top five favs…
I just like Malaya – I find her entertaining…
My feelings are far from hurt, but I’m happy you take such a vested interest in my mental health and stress – thank you!
Um wait – I only started defending Malaya last week anyway – most of the time I only comment when Ethan’s around…
Leslie sure has a thing for girls that love her but aren’t totally sexually attracted to her, huh.
Exactly my observation too.
Huh…
I love Malaya’s hurt expression.
It may be just me, but I love how clueless she is of EVERYONE and EVERYTHING around her. I love clearly defined villains.
(Not saying she’s a villain, that’s just how I see her)
Okay, maybe I’m old and out of touch, I did recently turn 25, but is “chill’ good, as in ‘cool’ or bad, as in ‘frigid bitch’?
Chill is dope. Word.
::Does the Macarena and plays with Pogs::
Good, as in “calm and laid back”.
Chillin’ like a villain who ate all the cream fillin’.
Aaaaaaaand she’s back to being a cunt. Delightful.
DAMMIT WILLIS.
I love Malaya so much now.
Malaya, you’re a goddamned idiot.
Of COURSE she’s feeling bad, you insensitive TWIT. What you did WAS screw around with her feelings – this isn’t the kind of thing where you can just play around to see what you’re feeling and whether or not you feel that way or not – you’re supposed to be a friggin’ adult, so start acting like one. You say you love her, yet you don’t understand anything about her or the situation you created. You hurt her and frankly it’s a miracle she hasn’t punched your face in. You say it’s not a game when you have treated it exactly like a game – manipulating the feelings of others for your own benefit, little Miss “I have decided I am straight because kissing a girl and feeling nothing means I lack any physical attraction.”
Your feelings WEREN’T real and you are a selfish dumbass. Go to hell – I have no sympathy for you.
Oh yes because any feelings of love that aren’t grounded in wanting to fuck someone are lies.
As we all love everyone we’ve ever fucked…
As we all want to fuck everyone we love…
Yeah – everyone…
You do know there is more to love than sex right?
I’m not talking about the sex part. I’m talking about the “Gee, she still seems bothered! That is unusual to me. And now I will act indignant when I have done nothing but be a complete idiot about this whole thing.”
I do agree Malaya is quite insensitive about that; sorry I’m getting sick of some of these peoples reactions basically being – “Malaya doesn’t wanna bang Leslie so she doesn’t love her and what she says is a total lie”
Malaya is kinda clueless…
Leslie has poor taste in girls – it’s hard to tell who pays less attention to her overall feelings…
Robin has problems to be sure, but she’s always felt bad any time she realized that she hurt Leslie’s feelings. She’s selfish, certainly, but not COMPLETELY clueless.
I’ll give her that – but Robin’s a whole ‘nother set of issues…
Leslie needs a girl who isn’t Robin OR Malaya – but I suppose that that’d b be a new character…
Unless Amber realizes something about herself…
Erm….ummm…Connie? Roz? Okay, okay, scratch that, definitely a new character.
I think that’s the problem, though, is that Malaya hasn’t actually realized that she DID hurt Leslie’s feelings. She’s not particularly adept at the whole “empathy” thing–that’s what’s made her such a hateful creature from the get-go, casually crapping on people’s happiness.
Malaya barely knows her, so it isn’t love. She snagged Leslie on the rebound and pretty much was using her as her own relationship experiment. There’s really no graceful way to claim she’s not awful for this development.
I wouldn’t say she barely knows her. That doesn’t seem right. SP! happens in a kind of real time, & Malaya’s been around since last April, & was hanging out or close to Leslie since that time. I think 9 months or so is MORE than enough to feel a love for someone. Right?
I’m with you on this one. I get that there’s more than one way to love, and I MIGHT even be persuaded to believe that Malaya didn’t deliberately set out to hurt Leslie. But Malaya DID hurt her, and it’s foolish to act as though, only a few days after the fact, Leslie has already reached the statute of limitations on feeling angry and sad and whatever else she wants to feel about being led on for weeks (months maybe?) and shot down at the last minute.
Y’know, I’m trying to provide a response to this one, but I’m having REAL trouble. That’s not what Linkara said. It doesn’t even RESEMBLE what Linkara said.
I’ll come back when my opinion of your response has fewer invectives in it.
I’m just tired and snapped at him over something he didn’t say – I feel bad enough as it is okay…
I spent more than ten minutes writing and deleting things. When I posted ya’ll hadn’t carried on a conversation yet.
It’s okay – happens to the best of us right?
It seems to me that Malaya just learned the difference herself two strips ago. It’s part of being a kid, the confusion and belief that love and lust are interrelated, while ignoring the facts of all those you love and don’t lust and vice versa. She was very confused, and now has woken up.
I think it goes back to Malaya being more “someone that you know and hate.” I know people like Malaya. Hell, one of my friends can be a bit like her, and so can my sister–some people just have this inability to grasp how others feel. It’s actually entirely possible that she needs it spelled out for her as to why Leslie would be as hurt as she is.
From Malaya’s PoV, she lost nothing. She hadn’t been having sex and kissy-times with Leslie before, and she won’t be having them now, but that’s no reason they can’t still do everything else they do together, to her mind. She is too focused on herself to realize how much Leslie had been looking forward to taking their relationship a step beyond and maybe even making it a permanent thing.
I dunno, I still really can’t stand her, and definitely expecting it to just magically get better on Leslie’s end is ricockulous, but this actually seems like a real problem that people can have. I can’t say I experimented with the, er, other team (failed euphemism?), but the Booster Gold to my Ted Kord is a guy I tried to date for awhile, until I came to terms with the fact that there just wasn’t any physical attraction. I mean, unlike Malaya, we handled it tactfully and it was long enough ago to be funny now, but yeah, it can be pretty easy to confuse feelings of attraction–that is, wanted to be around someone as often as possible because they’re like the other half of you (and are the only ones who will not only tolerate, but participate in, your hijinks)–for feelings of sexual attraction which, sadly, doesn’t always follow the former.
Er. But. Yeah.
Malaya’s still like some kind of chaos-front, leaving careless destruction in her wake with no thought for the people whose lives she affects, but maybe we’re heading toward her having a wake-up call and growing as a person.
Or maybe Willis will have her keep on keeping on, just to screw with us. Because that would be hilarious and frustrating.
Malaya’s look in panel three sums up her entire character, I think.
Despite some of the bizarre “Malaya’s full of shit” interpretations which seem ground more in ‘let’s hate Malaya’ than reality…
I now love her – I suddenly find myself caring about Malaya as a character. Yeah I’ve been defending her up until now anyway, but I was just disgusted by peoples insanely blind hate…
I seriously like her now!
Malaya is fuckin’ awesome!
I just want to reiterate, after looking at the comments here and in the last few days:
According to most people, it’s okay to come out of the closet and realize that you’re gay. However, it is NOT okay to realize that you are straight. That’s an unforgivable realization.
“According to most people, it’s okay to come out of the closet and realize that you’re gay. However, it is NOT okay to realize that you are straight. That’s an unforgivable realization.”
… wait, what?
Malaya didn’t ever think she was gay. She was just experimenting, which she should have made clear to Leslie. Everyone is commenting negatively because Malaya is a manipulative bitch that only thinks about herself.
Are you honestly going to try to turn this into some sort of Gay Agenda/Liberals are stupid tomfoolery?
Um Malaya did think she was gay. Also -
“Are you honestly going to try to turn this into some sort of Gay Agenda/Liberals are stupid tomfoolery?”
Um could you be trying to poison the argument by trying to paint the other person as a homophobe?
Because I could easily (based off your own comments) paint you as someone who thinks love is purely based on how much you want to FUCK someone!
This is coming from a liberal bisexual!
And yes it does come off as if Malaya’s crime is realizing that her sexual orientation was not what she thought it was and she has every right to be straight just like I have every right to be bi and Leslie has every right to be a lesbian!
At least she was honest with the women she loved that they where incompatible in that manner when she realized it!
And her timing wasn’t THAT bad, either. They reached a point in their relationship where they really needed to figure out how things stood. She could have afforded to figure it out earlier, but any later than this (or worse, lying about it till later) would have been quite bad.
The bad part is that it took her months to get to this point. Leslie has had months of this going on, and “suddenly” Malaya gets all “oh, whoops, guess my experiment didn’t work, even after all those failed relationships with males.” Right now, Leslie is feeling very much as if she was just Malaya’s little distraction – and I can understand how that feels. No one likes to have just “been a little bit of playing on the side.”
No, but it’s certainly where a portion of the massive hate comes from. She had an honest self-realization about her sexuality. Over the last few days, some people have treated that as unforgivable. This is kind of like how some of the hate for her undoubtedly comes from the fact that she is female, or non-white, or similar to rela-life bullies.
The general consensus seems to be on the ‘wanting to experiment is fine but she should have given Leslie a heads up first”.
When Leslie and Robin hooked up for real Robin was upfront that she wasn’t sure how it would go but was willing to try and redefine their relationship. As such their relationship progressed through stages as Robin became more comfortable with being intimate with a woman.
“This is kind of like how some of the hate for her undoubtedly comes from the fact that she is female, or non-white, or similar to real-life bullies.”
I am extremely confused as to why you grouped those three together. Are you trying to imply that we aren’t allowed to hate people who are realistically portrayed as bullies? Or that we ARE allowed to hate women and non-whites?
Um even I’m a little confused about that one…
I mean Malaya’s not a nice person or anything. I just personally think she’s capable of changing and getting tired of the “evil and will never change” crap in a series where a man known for fucking’ moms for revenge (that being one of his lesser cruelties) is getting married and having a child and seems on his way to a fairly nice life – and yes I love Mike – his antics are funny.
I also find Malaya funny – other than one time I implied it might be possible that her being a women had something to do with it when it came between her an Mike even I have to admit that Ridureyu comment has me confused…
I was just grouping together a lot of probable reasons why people dislike her. “just like how” implies that there are different opinions, and those are likely included among them.
I think you’re way off – people dislike her because she’s – well kind of a bitch…
Well, that’s by far the most common reason why people dislike her – she resembles real-life Malayas. But there’s also the fact that she would receive less hate if she were white, or male. Like that one guy the other day who compared Mike and Malaya by calling them a “jerk” and a “bitch.” Ever notice how “bitch” is an inherently worse word than even “asshole” or any other male-centric insult?
I thought “asshole” was the standard word for Mike? I mean, it’s the one that shows up most often in the comic itself, at least. I think?
@Ridureyu: That says more about society than about how people’s dislike of Malaya ties into her gender. Which, btw, I don’t believe it does.
Yes, because not liking somebody because they’re nasty and rude is totally the same as being sexist, racist and homophobic.
Who cares about her honest realization about her sexuality? That’s fine and good and self-knowledge is a wonderful thing. But if you are not sure about your alignment, and are trying out a different one (whichever that may be) for the first time, then the polite thing to do is to bring that up, fairly early on, before the other person is invested in what they think is a real relationship. You don’t lead them on for months and then drop that in their lap with no warning. It’s rude and thoughtless, no matter what the genders involved are. It has nothing to do with it not being okay because she realizes she’s actually straight, and everything to do with not being a dick to someone you have been purporting to care about, and who now cares for you.
Also:
This is kind of like how some of the hate for her undoubtedly comes from the fact that she is female, or non-white, or similar to rela-life bullies.
Dude, where are you even getting this from? Okay, she is being called a “bitch”, but that’s because it’s a common term for a hateful character who happens to be female. This isn’t a case of “she’s female therefore we hate her and will call her a bitch,” it’s a case of “she is being an insensitive, selfish asshole, the term for which, since she is female, is ‘bitch’ so we’ll call her that.” If that’s what you mean?
I dunno. I don’t see any hate on her for being female, or non-white (seriously, where did you even get that from? Half the characters here aren’t Caucasian and no one hates on them for that because doing so is the action of a racist dickhead); and as for the real-life bullies thing, I don’t see that either. All I see are a lot of people going “I don’t like Malaya because she is very realistic in her nastiness and reminds me of people I know IRL and can do without, which by extension means I can do without her and her nastiness too.” I haven’t seen anyone saying “I don’t like Malaya because she reminds me of someone who used to/does bully me/beat me up.”
I think you may need to reread some of the comments because while I’ve seen tonnes of hate and dislike of Malaya, I haven’t seen any based on her being female, or non-white, or similar to real-life bullies, so I’m wondering (she asked politely) where the heck you’re getting that from? O_o
Y’know what though? It’s NOT an equivalent situation. It simply isn’t. Gay people try to convince themselves that they’re straight because the alternative is a lifetime of being judged and ostracized by the majority of the civilized world, including your own friends and family. Malaya tried to appropriate the identity of a marginalized demographic (“Fuckin’ breeders, am I right?”) because she sucks at having boyfriends.
When Leslie came out and left her husband, she was sacrificing the security and comfort of a lifestyle deemed appropriate by the majority rule of the country, all because she decided to be honest with herself. When Malaya decided that she’s straight again, she’s (intentionally or not) shedding herself of any and all hardships she would have faced as a queer woman in lieu of all the social privileges that her heterosexuality affords her.
It’s not an equivalent situation AT ALL. Not saying that straight people shouldn’t be allowed to experiment and question their sexuality. But to compare Leslie’s situation with Malaya’s is just going to make Malaya look worse.
She REALLY IS the Anti-Robin I swear.
I want Amber to fire her… Then just have her keep showing up to work…
And Galasso keeps paying her. Just ‘cuz he can’t be bothered to listen to why she should be let go.
That would be… really entertaining for some reason.
We could also get the same hilarity if you instead do the same to Faz.
what dropping Faz out of a helicopter?
oh wait that didnt happen to Malaya nevermind
Damn, Malaya’s haters just got TOLD
I’ve said this before, but I’m not a Malaya fan. I don’t hate her, but I’m not a fan. The main reason for this is how real of a person she is to me since I have known my fair share of Malayas. I have to admit that this most recent development is major growth for her. Yes, she did overreact to Amber’s question, but she did have good reason to be upset.
I’ve known plenty of people that I have loved in my time, but I certainly wouldn’t want to “bang” all of them. I can also say with absolute honesty that I have confused platonic love for romantic love. Just because you love someone does not mean that there will be a physical desire or spark.
Malaya is upset that her honest feelings were being questioned because she did not fully understand them herself when she acted on them. She apologized to Leslie, but that’s just not enough. Leslie needs time. Seeing as how this is probably the closest Malaya has ever been to anyone emotionally, it’s understandable for her to be bothered that things can’t go back to the way they were before the kiss and self discovery. Not being on good terms with Leslie was something she was unprepared for because she thought they were okay after Leslie forgave her and Amber’s questioning of her feelings was just a heavy blow after she felt she had probably grown a little. ESPECIALLY since her HONESTY about how she feels and what she thinks are the things that Leslie said she liked best about her.
Yeah, this pretty much says it all.
I’d add only that the last panel really seems to be “newer, nicer Malaya” at work. She’s never shown Amber any deference just because Amber’s the boss before, in fact she’s insulted Amber to her face and again behind her back. In fact, this is the first nice thing she’s said about ANYONE who isn’t Leslie (or maybe Ken), and I think the timing is significant.
With that in mind, I have a very interesting idea about where this might be going, but if I’m right, I reeeally don’t want to spoil it. It’s something nobody’s come close to guessing yet.
Don’t tell me: Next she ends up dating Ninja Rick, or Faz.
[cough]Ultra Car[cough]
All her relationships with men failed not because she was homosexual, but rather because she’s robosexual! It all adds up!
I feel it’s worth mentioning at this point that Robin didn’t exactly want to bang Leslie at first either.
Yes, but Robin didn’t hide that.
She REALL IS the Anti-Robin I Swear
Supposed to be REALLY.
I’ve been all over the place on my opinion of Malaya. Sort of sympathized with her when it looked like she was questioning her sexuality. Kinda hated her when I found out it was just because her relationships with men went bad so she tried women. Severe irritation when she acted like everything between her and Leslie was cool. Now I friggin’ love her for telling Amber to fuck off.
I’m sure Leslie will get over it soon enough. I mean geez, it’s not like Malaya married her knowing full-well her sexual orientation and THEN broke up with her…..oh.
Bit confused here… I would think that someone who was questioning their sexuality could come out of it realizing they were straight as well as gay/bi/pan/omni/ace/insert-self-identification-here. :/ And people could be questioning for multiple reasons, especially since she does seem to have a nonsexual love for Leslie.
Also, she didn’t come up until after Leslie vented at Amber, and Leslie did say she “forgave her” for at least some value of forgiveness, so she’s somewhat justified in walking in thinking thinks are all right. Slightly insensitive, but not a total dick move.
people seem to be assuming that flipping off Amber is a serious thing. Amber is having Mikes baby, I don’t think a little bird flipping would offend her.
Sorry, English is not my native language. Can I ask what does “chill” means? I understand something cold, or a figurative form to said “being calm”, but in the context I think both ways may be wrong.
She’s either calling amber cool (bueno, assuming you speak Spanish from your name), or accusing her of killing Thomas and Martha Wayne.
Thank you, but I doubt it would matter for Amber that murder. Splinter by other way… And yes, I speak spanish, “bueno” sounded weird because it means something like “although”, so I was expecting a “then” until I re-read the sentence. xD
One step forward, two steps back… well at least she made it clear she was sincere.
Prediction:
In an attempt to be inclusive and open-minded, Mrs. Bean will make certain to ask Leslie how Malaya’s doing the next time they see each other.
Awkwardness will ensue.
There’s a world of difference between loving someone and wanting to BE beloved. They can be confused, but there are important differences. How much you actually care about the other person’s feelings is one of the big differences (see “There Will Be Blood” and Plainsview’s relationship with his son).
I’m kind amazed anyone thought Malaya was just stringing Leslie along. I mean, have you MET Malaya? She’s childish, rude, self-centered, impulsive, and quick to anger. No way in hell she has the patience and control to court someone for months, convince them she honestly cares for them, and then break their heart at precisely the right moment.
Yeah, there are reasons to not like her, but “devilishly manipulative” doesn’t really fit her.
EXACTLY.
What about “unwittingly manipulative”? How does that one strike you?
That seems kinda oxymoronic, to me.
People can manipulate others without realizing or knowing they’re doing it. Seriously, go people watch some time. It’s interesting (and a tad depressing) to see how often it happens, without either side being fully aware that it’s what’s going on.
I like the way that Amber treats Malaya as more of a spectacle and curiosity than a person or peer. Malaya is angry and hostile and outraged and offended it has no significance to Amber because she’s really not interested in being liked by someone like Malaya or earning her trust. To her Malaya is just a manifestation of pointless unrestrained anti-social drama masquerading as a human being. It’s as if Amber is watching a corny TV show she cares nothing much about.
” Hmmm. Now Malaya seems to be flipping me off. Interesting. Now she’s walking away. Now she’s back. Whatever. Say, I could go for a candy bar right now. “
I guess when you call a pregnant lady fat after developing a reputation of being a toxic little trouble maker you get socially sealed away in a little vacuole and filed under “who cares”. Like Faz but without the horror.
i really like this observation. it’s refreshing to read after countless “i love/hate malaya because…” posts.
I really like this observation because it is brilliant, likely true, and yet I managed to not even, wander in that direction of thought until it was pointed out. Those are my faves. Fresh out of internets but may I offer you radio and television?
I don’t understand you people, to me that outburst is a positive thing for Malaya: for now I’ll assume she’s sincere, and she really wanted to be with Leslie… but found herself incompatible. Sure, she’s kind of an ass, but this strip also has Mike (tough his over the top asshattery paradoxically makes him look better).
If she’s supposed to be someone the readers are supposed to dislike, she’s written a lot better than Roz.
I liked Malaya from the start and I continue to do so, even tough I’d probably dislike someone like that in real life (I don’t hate anyone; hatred requires passion).
Good thing is this a comic strip, because in the real world, Malaya’s ass would probably be fired pretty fast. Heck, a guy at my restaurant job got fired last month, for saying “piss off” to a manager under his breath.
While I can’t blame Malaya for being offended that Amber asked that, I also can’t blame Amber it. Considering how rude and inconsiderate Malaya is a majority of the time without any concern to the feelings of others, you can’t blame people who care for Leslie for questioning Malaya’s motives.
If Ethan and the gang were able to keep their jobs after locking Galasso up fro many weeks, then Malaya can get away with insults.
technically they didn’t keep their jobs. They all did get fired after. Galasso just rehired them, when Leslie essentially convinced him that he would forever own their asses forever as lackeys and slaves (who get paid).
Actually, they’d been fired long before then. it was only after Glassoo confirmed their dismissal that they locked him in the video game cage.
After knocking him out twice!
The only reason he was able to fire them the third time was because they were too worn out physically and emotionally to really care anymore…
…Until they heard that Glasso was shutting down Shotpacked. They came back to SAVE it, Glasso’s opinion be damned! (not that they had much difficulty bringing him around to their way of thinking…)
PS: somebody show Malaya the last panel from this strip if that doesn’t fill her with PSL for leslie, I don’t know what will.
Ken should make an appearance.
He seems to be the only one who’s NOT a chick who can break through to Malaya.
Yes, if Van were more Joe-ish he’d be right there offering that the obvious solution is that Malaya have sex with some convenient guy – say, I don’t know, a roommate maybe – and spend all her other time with Leslie.
Yanno, I dunno how many of you follow MMA, but with her short temper, occasionally anti-social tendencies, and propensity for flipping the bird, Malaya is basically a female version of Nick Diaz:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e230/nickdiaz209/computer.jpg
What does chill mean?
Calm down
I AM calm! I just want to know what CHILL means!!!!
Chill = To enhance your calm.
What did Malaya mean when she described Amber as a chill boss? I’m not familiar with this (I assume American) expression so it is confusing me. Does it mean that she is relaxed? Or cool?
chill boss = cool boss
Thank you
Joking aside, I know what it means as a verb, both in its literal sense and its figurative sense. Never seen it as an adjective before, except in the archaic phrase, “chill wind”, which probably isn’t the usage seen here.
I just can’t keep up with slang these days. (Buys rocking chair, waves fist at kids on lawn.)
Chill is kind of the genesis of “chill out”. Kind of the continuation of the conversation, if you will. You’d tell a person to chill out if they were excitable or emotional to any extreme (happy, sad, nervous, irritated, etc.). A person who is already none of these things would say “I am chill.” So it then follows that when observing a person who isn’t overly excitable you could call them chill as well.
…Or, you know, it’s just a variant of ‘cool’, as in, ‘you are a pretty cool boss’.
Or maybe that’s too old, too. Maybe I’M too old because I knew that! *laugh*
But if you were continuing that conversation in English, rather than Slanglish, the term to use would be “chilled”. Sidestepping the language’s conventions of word use just pings my wrongdar.
Now pardon me while I go chastise some whippersnappers.
Okay. about the whole hating malaya thing?
i personally hate her because she is annoying.some people find that entertaining.I am not one of them.
But that is only my opinion and everyone can disagree as much as they like.
Also she steals valuable Mike-time which is a Big crime. Because Mike is awesome in his own cruesome ways. i just hope malaya becomes a Background character fast so we can get back to the main cast.
(again.only my opinion.)
I disagree – you *are* one of them.
D: Kay, I know people like Malaya as a character but hate her as a person and all (that’s really the only you CAN like Malaya s: ) but I’m pretty darn interested in Amber’s opini–
Whoop, nevermind. S’long as Malaya stays a good employee Amber isn’t gonna do anything but roll her eyes and shrug it off.
Now, if MIKE were watching Malaya yell at Amber, on the other hand…
Mike’s confident that his fiance can take care of herself. I’m pretty sure that’s part of what attracts him to her.
You know, I’ve known a lot of people like Malaya. They’re actually pretty cool and funny people if they like you. The hard part about having a relationship with them (platonically or romantically) is that you have to keep them separate from everyone else you know, ever, because they will NOT like everyone else in your group of friends, and they’re fucking annoying as babies MacIntyre because they can’t keep that to themselves.
By which I mean that Malaya’s a bitch, but I like her more and more.
Actually, that’s not just the hard part, that’s “the sad part.” Because that means they’re a very toxic person.
Methinks the
ladygirlhumanfemale doth protesteth too much.Goddammit Malaya…
Fact: You can kill a man by kicking his balls hard enough.
See Malaya, once you get past your shallow reasoning, people can be pretty nice!
If she hadn’t had any desire to try being with a lesbian, I think it’s safe to say she’d be treating Leslie the same as everyone else.
I’ve been thinking that everyone (myself included) have been a to heated about this to the point where we focus more on hating or liking Malaya and less on the comic itself.
Like-Malaya or Hate-Malaya I think; for the most part, we all enjoy Shortpacked! for our own reasons and I think that this is a really good series. Upon examining myself I came to the conclusion that I lost my rational no-bias belief that I hold dear over something kinda silly. I mean so what if someone doesn’t like Malaya – I’d still enjoy the series with or without her. Hell I even said that fan opinion doesn’t really effect Willis that must anyway so yeah.
So those who love her – those who hate her – and those in between. How about we set aside our differences and take a moment to point out something we like about today’s strip in a non-passive aggressive – trying to start trouble kind of way. I’m Willis works hard (using slave labor) to bring us consistent updates and I’m feeling guilty that we don’t show our gratitude for his hard work.
This may be the internet, but I think we all should be a bit ashamed of how we’ve been acting. People on both sides may not want to admit it, but we’ve been picking and goading each other with our responses and comments. Let’s be honest – some of what we said was layered in so much passive aggressive shit that if a random third party went though the comments they’d think Malaya was the only real focus of Shortpacked! and we all hate the series for reasons involving her.
You know what I think we all need to take a step back and – well chill…
It’s one thing to discuss or share our opinions – it’s another thing for us to act nuts because one girl. I’m just gonna sit back and see what Willis actually does because all this speculating and arguing is just gonna ruin the thing for me…
Now my good thing – I liked Amber’s face in the last panel. I personally think that and Malaya’s flippin the bird really make todays strip…
Side Note: Not everybody was acting that way, but I do think even those who did nothing should take a moment to say something they liked and then take a step back and chill. Mostly because that can be quite calming…
Here here! I’ve only been reading Willis’ work for about two years now, but of all the webcomics I read he’s the only author that has a comment section on display under all of his pages on all of his work readily accepting critisism from his readers. I would like to say that what I love most about Shortpacked! is that although it’s very cartoon-y most of the time it is filled with real and semi-real drama that actually hits me. If it didn’t I sure as heck wouldn’t be posting or reading the comments section (^_^)
Where? Where? >_>
Does anyone else find it funny that Malaya has reached full-on main-character status–with a picture in the title image, no less–while Ken, the guy that brought her into Shortpacked!, languishes in background-character hell?
Yeah – that is kinda sad. I’m sure Willis is just waiting for the right moment to give him his own vast story arc…
Or throw him away once he’s served his purpose – either or
Leslie did the same thing Malaya did to her husband.
This was long coming karma for Leslie.
Malaya had the decency to tell her it wasn’t working first kiss on the first date.
Leslie married the man, then broke his heart.
She’s the real so-and-so here, and I’m glad this comic is not sugar coating it anymore.
I just noticed that Amber looks a little annoyed at being called a “chill boss”, where previously she was just calmly stunned or something. Perhaps she doesn’t understand modern slang any better than I do?
Yeah i dont use slang often (probably the only teen in my town like me) unless im mocking it but i do understand most of it.
If i havent said it before i will now:
I f**king love this webcomic
How come i cant see my comment
Now i can see it i am going to say this:
I f-ing love this comic
And this f-ing comic loves you!
In a wrong way.
Better call a lawyer.
Though this has nothing to do with today’s comic, the new banner makes me happy. Mostly because of pregnant!Amber.
Oh wow, if an employee did that to me, there would an instant termination
Did anyone else notice that Malaya telling Amber that she’s a “chill boss” actually is a significant change in her attitude?
She only took the job because her roommates basically forced her to, and she had every intention of getting herself fired at first. Now her personal motivation for staying, being close to Leslie, is no longer a factor but still she’s sorta-kinda making nice with her boss (incompetently, since she’s pretty inherently abrasive).
I think Malaya is bipolar.
I get the feeling I’ve missed something. Mal is maybe not the most sympathetic character ever, and a little impulsive/short tempered, but I can’t see where all the hate is coming from, especially after the last few strips… I can still see where her thoughts and feelings are coming from and emphasise with them somewhat :-/
I know much worse people IRL…
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand fired.