I don’t like Malaya at all for this. It’s admirable that she wants to defend Leslie, but holy fuck, she’s just stupid. Mrs. Bean is right, she’s way the hell out of her depth.
No. She’s not. On any level. She is right, you and Mrs. Bean are objectively wrong.
I invite you to provide me with any possible ameliorating circumstances that would excuse a parent for disowning their child on the basis of sexuality, something we know the Beans did.
She’s right in that even though Malaya is coming from a good place, she simply has no concept of HOW to go about it.
Shitting on someone’s car is not going to make them regret disowning Leslie, and in fact would probably make her father glad that she’s gone if she chooses to date girls who shit on people’s property when they don’t get their way. Especially proving to her mother, who seems to be Leslie’s best chance at getting back into the family, that the people Leslie hangs out with aren’t good people at all.
Mrs. Bean wasn’t right for the disowning, but she WAS right that Malaya has no fucking clue what she’s doing and just got herself up to $1000 in fines that you know she can’t pay or up to 90 days in jail, depending on the state. Because you know they have security cameras and you know they can and likely will report it. This is of course assuming it’s Malaya’s first offense…and I greatly doubt it.
Of course I’m biased in that I don’t like Malaya at all. She grates on my every nerve, she’s every person you hate in real life, and she never faces any consequences for any of her actions. Could YOU flip off your boss and tell her to go fuck yourself and still expect to stay at work without being written up?
Honestly, Robin would have done a better job. Just let that sink in.
I believe what TDS was criticizing was showing up at her house, telling her her beliefs were bullshit, and then flipping her the bird and rubbing her ass on the hood of her car, and not her stated opinion that parents should accept and love their homosexual children (which I think we can safely say is right, yes).
Okay, for a minute I thought this was one of those reply-to-the-guy-above-you-because-we’ve-maxed-out-reply-depth things, and got entirely the wrong idea…
Lets all pray to all powerful Atheismo that this storyline is over.
I’m so tired of Malaya. Like ‘These Michal Bay Explosion scenes are so f***ing repetitive’ tires of her.
Malaya will return next summer in: Malaya 2: Electric FuckYou In space, no one can hear you bitch and moan
In all seriousness, I liked this story. It gave Malaya a bit of depth. Not a lot, mind you, but I can now see her as more than a walking complaint with her nose in the air. God/Willis willing, she will continue to develop.
Sugar in the gas tank, Malaya. Also, a banana in the tailpipe. It doesn’t work as good as Beverly Hills Cop would have you believe, but it’s still a nice homage.
I like this strip. Both Robin and Malaya are trying to come through for Leslie in their own way, but they have very different methods of going about it.
Oddly, Robin seems to be the mature one, here. Of course, it is pretty relative. Methinks Leslie has a thing for girls with adulthood issues.
I recommend mothballs in the gas tank myself. depending on the formulation of said mothballs the gas will either become the equivalent of Dallas Tap-water or F1 racing fuel. Either way it will leave a lasting impression…..
Here’s your problem, Malaya: empathy isn’t just about warm soft fuzzy things. It’s allows you to see from other people’s point of view, assess their position and tailor your negotiations accordingly. If you had any at all, it really would have helped you here.
Still, I give you credit for trying…and I don’t like to give you credit for anything. This here – this one truly unselfish action – is what I was waiting for before I admitted that your character even could develop, and that you might someday be worthy of some sympathy.
That said, it was also nice to see you get shut down by someone who was completely unimpressed by your antics.
This isn’t a bonding activity, it is vengence on behalf of thier lesbian! This is a gesture of their displeasure in how Leslie has been treated, an ass gesture,
Considering how polite Mrs. Bean treated her before, gave her booze, is very interested in what’s going on in her daughter’s life, wants to meet the girls her daughter likes as evidenced by her comments about Robin…. that was a pretty unjustified and shitty thing for Malaya to do.
On the other hand it was pretty shitty of Leslie’s parents to disown her for being a lesbian and even her “politeness” can be seen as condescending and questionable (I mean come on – “your life-style choice” and “is it because she’s BROWNER than the other one”).
On the other hand she let them use the helicopter!
I chalk it up to Malaya having difficulty handling things like this in a nice mature way…
Isn’t disowning meaning cutting off all contact? It’s a pretty involved disowning that Mrs. Bean is participating in then. Before we actually met Mrs. Bean, we had only Leslie’s word on what went down. Naturally, I assumed the worst because of that but I pulled back a bit once we actually saw Mrs. Bean’s interactions with her daughter recently. There is more going on here. While the base of it is displeasure at Leslie’s legitimate life choices, the situation seems to be a lot more layered and nuanced than that. Mrs. Bean looks like she’s trying. And trying may lead to acceptance. The road is long, but it does really look like she’s making the effort and it will probably develop even more over time.
Which makes it really weird to like Mrs. Bean a whole lot considering I disagree with her base view of Leslie’s lifestyle choices. So there is the person I disagree with but like more because she handles it better and is making effort. But I hate and loathe Malaya because she is completely incapable of handling *anything* in a decent manner, despite me agreeing her assertion that there isn’t anything wrong with Leslie’s choices.
The way things are handled really counts for a lot.
Never heard it before either, but given what I know about dog whistles, I’ll give translating this a shot:
It’s a form of “stealth” bigotry, bigotry disguised as not-bigotry, that goes unnoticed by many. Those who can pick up on it, though, are generally annoyed to all heck by it.
Sounds more like you’re full of Malaya’s special brand of car wax to me…
It’s very easy to love someone and not approve of what they’ve done. If you haven’t figured that out in life yet you’ve got a long haul to go there, trucker.
Being polite doesn’t make someone a good person; Leslie’s mom is a great example of this. Being an asshole doesn’t make someone a bad person; Malaya is a great example of this.
Good is different from nice, to be sure. But Leslie’s mother is clearly someone that can be talked to and reasoned with. I don’t know about Leslie’s *father* since Leslie has to be hidden from him still. I would very much rather take my chances with Mrs. Bean than I would with Malaya, who is utterly incapable of seeing things from another’s perspective when it comes to most people we’ve seen her interactive. Really, from what we’ve seen of both, Malaya is far more of a close-minded person than Mrs. Bean. Mrs. Bean asks her daughter why Leslie likes Malaya. That means she’s trying to understand. Mrs. Bean isn’t a purely a representation of a stance everyone on here disagrees with. She’s clearly something in between. She’s got her own thing going. and I hope we see more of her because I can see her coming around.
Malaya flips people off if she’s so much as ruffled no matter how justified the person ruffling her is. Being an asshole doesn’t automatically hide a hidden heart of gold. It’s only indicative of them being an asshole!
Flipping someone off is hardly comparable to allowing one’s own child to be treated like a diseased outcast for the sake of placating an ignorant bigot. Anything short of, “That’s our daughter, jackass, so learn to deal with it,” is beyond unacceptable.
The last two sentences of your comment are in response to an imaginary sentiment expressed by precisely no one.
The last two sentences were referencing Malaya telling Amber off when Amber asked Malaya if she were true or playing a game with Leslie. Considering Amber is a good friend of Leslie’s, has known Leslie a LOT longer than Malaya has, saw an infuriated Leslie in the previous strip, and has seen Malaya being a bitch to a LOT of people, it’s pretty justified to ask Malaya if she’s on the level. But Malaya flips her shit instead. I don’t really see much of anything that has any particular consideration for others outside of Leslie and that is just indicative of being a bitch. Calm down, Malaya!
And if Mrs. Bean is eventually does tell that to her husband? Because I can see that happening, especially with how much she still reaches out to Leslie. You don’t reach out and take interest in diseased outcasts. As much as I would love to have everyone to share my own views which would include both her parents accepting Leslie for who she is, I also recognize that Mrs. Bean is making efforts. Leslie’s own incapability for confrontation and speaking up doesn’t help things, as she has said. Should Malaya’s influence rub off on her, it may cause Leslie to grow in the way Leslie desires in order to move things forward with her parents. Reconciliation is one of the sweetest things in the world, after all.
And all of them can finally be ok with each other, which would be great. So I do hope Leslie takes Malaya’s influence to heart ’cause good things can happen from it.
Perhaps if the Mrs. Bean was interested in her daughters life, she could make a gesture beyond the shared consumption of alcohol and the clandestine use of the helicopter while her daughter works a minimum wage job. Perhaps she might start by calling her on the phone occasionally, something she obviously never does if she never even learned robins name. Perhaps she could have asked Leslie how she was doing considering she is her daughter. Perhaps she could have not kicked her out of her house. Courtesy, like respect, is earned. Mrs. Bean started in the negative, not at zero, and a kindly manner should not disguise her cold behavior.
As a side note not really related to much, I would TOTALLY love compensation for something in the form of liquor and flying a helicopter. In that order. “Well, you guessed over the price of the helicopter, so we can’t give it to you. But we CAN get you plastered and let you take it out for a spin!” “Woo-hoo! Tequila me up, baby!”
I think the earlier strips forgot to mention that Malaya’s heart grew three sizes that day and she has chosen to take her bitchy behavior and use it as a force of good…
Funny thing is – this seems in direct response to Leslie mentioning that part of her still wants to make her parents proud even though they kicked her out of the family…
This isn’t a very mature way to act, but it’s a very Malaya way to act!
Shall Malaya become our bitch with a gold heart? Some direction is pointing to yes…
and shit…
Only flaw here is she totally should have brought Ultra Car with her and caused unquestioned mayhem!
While the Beans kicking Leslie out for being a lesbian is awful (though it seems Mrs. B probably didn’t/doesn’t want Leslie out of the family, whatever her sexual preference, but for some reason won’t stand up to her husband for her daughter’s sake which…is almost worse?)…
Er, aside from that.
I kind of like Mrs. B’s reaction. “Oh. Well. I am undone.” Malaya pisses so many people off without even making the effort, and now that she’s really trying, she can’t seem to make a dent.
Malaya apparently sucks at being mean intentionally. It seems like she was trying to go for her version of “polite” by it quickly fell apart by panel three…
The nearest metaphor I can think of is like when some athletes who normally can do something well without thinking but if they suddenly think of how to do something, they end up doing it wrong.
I would gave her a D+ for effort. Insulting one’s religion is a sure fire way to escalate the situation. I think Malaya needs to learn how to approach things with sensitivity.
I get the feeling that Malaya is one of those people who has never won an argument, but is convinced that the fact they all turn out the same means she won all of them.
Maybe she could go into politics. It would increase the compare/contrast thing she has with Robin. Sidney Yus will be up for reelection this year, seeing this tactic used during a debate with her would be amusing.
It’s weird, she is clearly trying to do the right thing but it’s like she either doesn’t have the tools to do so or doesn’t quite know how to use them.
It will be interesting to see where Malaya goes from here, and unlike when she first joined the cast I actually hope she sticks around.
Not bad for a youngster, but she could have been more subtle.
A little “matter” in the door handles for that initial under-the-fingrnail surprise and some more in the front grill for air intake issues.
Wow. This just…. whereas before I was fascinated with the journey Malaya might be taking in the future… this is so weird and immature. All hope that I had that Malaya would be looking at herself… gone. She’s never going to get it. First, she goes to Leslie’s mom with nothing but “you’re rude”, then she proceeds to flip her off…. and when that doesn’t work, she decides the next best thing is to shit on the car? Yeah, my hope for Malaya just left the building.
I have to say that even though Malaya stiffed her, (and not in a good way) I’m glad she stood up for Leslie (even though she turned out to be straight after all)
I take great comfort in people thinking Malaya took the wrong approach here. I have met SOOO many people who thinks debating idiologies actually works like this. (Minus the shitting on the car bit. Probably.)
Okay, NOW I like Malaya. It’ll probably only last for the weekend; Monday she’ll do something to piss me off again. But for taking the time and effort to go to Mrs. Bean’s house and tell her directly and clearly that kicking Leslie out was a dick move, I like her.
–I don’t think her argument was effective, mind you, but it was satisfying.
Me, I’ve got a problem with any religion that says your god is more important than your family…
God: Hey! Abraham! Go ahead and sacrifice your son to me, ‘kay?
Abraham: Wut?
God: Just kill your son. For me. Because I told you to.
Abraham: Well… oookay, then? *Goes to kill son*
God: Psyche! You can stop. You don’t have to kill your son after all.
Abraham: …Good?
God: It was totally a test. You passed, btw. Good on you for being willing to kill your child just because I told you to. *Snicker*
–I really don’t want to shit on someone else’s religion or start any fights here (I’m a Heathen if that helps anyone; feel free to target comments accordingly *smile*) but that never made any sense to me. How can your children not come before everything? Just one of those things I don’t get, I guess.
I do wonder, though, if parents like Mrs. Bean, with a gay child they ostracize for it, are secretly, at some level, deep inside, pleased that they have been given this chance to kick them out and treat them like shit, so they can be just like Abraham, and be willing to sacrifice their child (even if not literally) for the sake of their god? I wonder if treating their child so terribly in the name of their religion gives them a warm glow inside? :-/
Not to be pendantic (though I’m totally about to be), and not to say it isn’t still a really…um…bizarre passage, but it was more than just a test about “will you do whatever I tell you.” The context is that Abraham was super-old and God said he would give Abraham descendants that outnumbered the stars, etc. And then Abraham and his wife have a kid, which should have been impossible. The demand for a sacrifice was more a test of Abraham believing God would deliver what he promised.
But yeah, it is kind of an upsetting passage.
I don’t think that parents like that are pleased, per se, but I do think they feel justified–like even if it makes them sad, they feel they have something they can point to to prove they’re right to do it. That’s more personal experience from watching my mother and my sister (and sometimes my mother and me) go at it over matters of religion. I don’t think there’s any “warm glow” unless we’re talking an absolute psycho. A rift in the family, whether caused by religion or not, is always a pretty painful thing, for both parties, even the party that is very very wrong.
I’m going to disagree here. If I believed, REALLY believed, that the omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent creator of the universe had important instructions for me, then I would kind of be obliged to give them top priority over everything.
Just one of many reasons why I’m really glad there’s no reason whatsoever to believe that it’s true.
The ultimate irrelevancy is that the biblical code for dealing with a family member you consider a sinner is not exile. It is support, love, prayer, you know, all of the things that kicking them out of the family would ensure the prevention of. The Beans are just bad people.
I gotta say, as much as I hate Malaya, I really like the effort (although as weakly delievered and crude as it was) she went to on Leslie’s behalf. She really could have tried to present her case a bit better though, but it IS Malaya after all.
In addition to her being stupid and immature even if it’s for the right reason this could have other consequences. So far Leslie has been secretly visiting her Mom behind her Dad’s back. After vandalizing his car I’m sure he’s going to want to know who did it and if he finds out that Leslie isn’t entirely out of the picture even secret access will be impossible. So in sticking up for a friend she probably made things worse.
The idea that whenever Malaya ‘tries’ to do good, things end up far worse for that person she is ‘helping’ appeals to me from a characterization prospective.
I just wonder how familiar Malay is with her heritage, because she is just living out one of the most truthful adages we have: Pikon talo and if Leslie’s mom has security cameras, Malaya is going to lose in a really big way.
If Malaya was a better person she might be able to come up with something about people like Mrs. Bean being ther reason there’s more atheists than ever, especially among young people, or it’s amazing how actual good people like Leslie come from people who only think they’re good people and maybe actually do a little undoing.
I know this won’t be a popular sentiment.. but there is something just plain awesome about leslie’s mom… I mean.. the whole disowning thing is sucky, but her demeanor is pretty nifty to me.
Yeah. It’s an impressive bit of characterization to make the character who disowned (or allowed to be disowned) her daughter due to said daughter’s sexuality be the less dickish of the two on the page.
Even though she went about it in just about the worst way possible, she tried to do something FOR somebody else when there’s no real benefit to her. And she did it in a way that was actually amusing! Color me pleasantly surprised. She just earned herself a probationary promotion from “character I hate” to “character I love to hate,” putting her in company with Faz and Mike.
ON THE GLASS, Malaya!
See? I told you all that Malaya was awesome!
squeezing one out?….scrunched up face
Butts
And thus Malaya is best character.
Also, butt.
You may wish to grab an umbrella. Or a riot shield.
Or a butt
Meat shields would also suffice.
I think that’s for the best, Willis.
And here I thought butts could do no wrong…
Butts can be used for good or evil. With great butts comes great responsibility.
Always protect yourself to stop the spread of butts disease.
Butts Disease etc etc
BUTTS
And then she gets arrested because they have security cameras.
Well, this was unexpected.
Okay, fine. I like Malaya a bit now. I’m sure it won’t last, but for now: awesome.
Yeah, you have to give her credit for sticking her neck (among other things) out for Leslie.
She certainly is putting her ass on the line.
Lets hope she doesn’t wind up in deep shit. If Leslie’s parents sue, she could easily wind up in arrears. Then her ass would be in a sling.
I don’t know, perhaps she could find some cracks in LesRents’ arguments. You know, really wipe the floor with them.
Wow. I’d be arsed to find more puns in one place.
It’s the gluteus maximum allowable by statute.
I dunno, I think we can make a few more asscracks.
“Ass Malaya goes, so goes the nation.”
Well Malaya was always pretty cheeky, I think.
Yeah, we don’t want to fall behind on our pun quotient. Malaya
should just be glad that she’s not the butt of the joke this time.
I just hope this doesn’t come back and bite Malaya in the ass.
Yeah, it’d be pretty crappy for her if that happened.
Aren’t the skidmarks supposed to be under the car?
I don’t like Malaya at all for this. It’s admirable that she wants to defend Leslie, but holy fuck, she’s just stupid. Mrs. Bean is right, she’s way the hell out of her depth.
No. She’s not. On any level. She is right, you and Mrs. Bean are objectively wrong.
I invite you to provide me with any possible ameliorating circumstances that would excuse a parent for disowning their child on the basis of sexuality, something we know the Beans did.
She’s right in that even though Malaya is coming from a good place, she simply has no concept of HOW to go about it.
Shitting on someone’s car is not going to make them regret disowning Leslie, and in fact would probably make her father glad that she’s gone if she chooses to date girls who shit on people’s property when they don’t get their way. Especially proving to her mother, who seems to be Leslie’s best chance at getting back into the family, that the people Leslie hangs out with aren’t good people at all.
Mrs. Bean wasn’t right for the disowning, but she WAS right that Malaya has no fucking clue what she’s doing and just got herself up to $1000 in fines that you know she can’t pay or up to 90 days in jail, depending on the state. Because you know they have security cameras and you know they can and likely will report it. This is of course assuming it’s Malaya’s first offense…and I greatly doubt it.
Of course I’m biased in that I don’t like Malaya at all. She grates on my every nerve, she’s every person you hate in real life, and she never faces any consequences for any of her actions. Could YOU flip off your boss and tell her to go fuck yourself and still expect to stay at work without being written up?
Honestly, Robin would have done a better job. Just let that sink in.
I thought Faz was every person you hate in real life?
I believe what TDS was criticizing was showing up at her house, telling her her beliefs were bullshit, and then flipping her the bird and rubbing her ass on the hood of her car, and not her stated opinion that parents should accept and love their homosexual children (which I think we can safely say is right, yes).
Guys. GUYS. I think Malaya just got *MORE* awesome.
… Different.
It’s nice to see Malaya using her powers for good instead of evil.
It’s a shame her only ‘powers’ are a potty mouth and the ability to shit all over stuff.
Walky would be impressed.
I only hope she had some spicy food beforehand.
I think we all have to agree that Malaya’s Scott Pilgrim cosplay is pretty cool though.
true, but we gotta find a way to make her wear that x-men jacket.
One girl one car? No that doesn’t work…
Oh noes! Willis has got the Butts disease again.
Jeph Jacques infected him! Dammit, Jeph!
well this is SLIGHTLY redeeming…
Oh, okay. It’s a normal car.
I kept asking myself, “Why’s she showing her ass on top of Ultra Car?”
I did the same double-take. I think it’s because this comic never depicts cars that AREN’T Ultra Car.
Bumblebee. Jazz. Rodimus.
/facetious
Those aren’t cars, they’re actually robots in disguise!
That is Rodimus.
http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/4/4f/KPHotRodimus.jpg
Well, he deserves it.
ok seriously, am i the ONLY one who likes rodimus!?
yup!
That was Kiss Player Rodimus.
He probably gets off on scat.
My dad does , so you’re not alone.
Okay, for a minute I thought this was one of those reply-to-the-guy-above-you-because-we’ve-maxed-out-reply-depth things, and got entirely the wrong idea…
@Garth: LOL, me too.
Maybe he just meant “scat” as in the musical genre? Scat-Man Carruthers?
Please?
@Garth: LOL, me too.
Maybe he just meant “scat” as in the musical genre? Scat-Man Carruthers?
Please?
Also, thanks to the Internet, that will never not look wrong again. Thanks, Internet. Scat USED to be cool. *Makes disgusted face*
No you are not. I personally prefer roddy over optimus basically beacause roddy is an imperfect character which makes him more interesting
no, no. rodimus is a ford gt, and this is clearly a dodge viper.
Ethan’s car existed for a while before UC got jealous.
http://www.shortpacked.com/2007/comic/book-4/12-ethans-strawman/acetone/
Well, she’s had bad relationships with guys, turns out she doesn’t like girls, so seducing the gender-free car seemed like the next logical step.
What? Plenty of girls find satisfaction from mechanical devices. Also, Amber’s favorite turtle. Donatello does machines.
So this is a case of auto-eroticism?
That reminds me of when I first watched the Nicholas Cage “Gone in 60 Seconds”.
I swear half that movie I was the director fulfilling a fantasy of Angelina Jolie molesting cars.
I wouldn’t call a Viper “normal”, but yes, more conventional than Ultra, anyway.
Ooh, sitting on a car. That’s real mature of you.
In Soviet Russia, we have skidmarks on cars.
In Soviet Russia, car crashes YOU!
We got a free ass, I’m not complaining…
I think she is trying to make them give a crap by craping on there car.
Lets all pray to all powerful Atheismo that this storyline is over.
I’m so tired of Malaya. Like ‘These Michal Bay Explosion scenes are so f***ing repetitive’ tires of her.
End of the storyline, not end of the character.
Malaya will return next summer in:
Malaya 2: Electric FuckYou
In space, no one can hear you bitch and moan
In all seriousness, I liked this story. It gave Malaya a bit of depth. Not a lot, mind you, but I can now see her as more than a walking complaint with her nose in the air. God/Willis willing, she will continue to develop.
Sugar in the gas tank, Malaya. Also, a banana in the tailpipe. It doesn’t work as good as Beverly Hills Cop would have you believe, but it’s still a nice homage.
I like this strip. Both Robin and Malaya are trying to come through for Leslie in their own way, but they have very different methods of going about it.
Oddly, Robin seems to be the mature one, here. Of course, it is pretty relative. Methinks Leslie has a thing for girls with adulthood issues.
A Viper has more tailpipes than Malaya has friends. Good luck with the bananas.
They come in bunches for specifically this reason.
Mrs. Bean doesn’t have to worry. Bananas are only the atheist’s nightmare.
I recommend mothballs in the gas tank myself. depending on the formulation of said mothballs the gas will either become the equivalent of Dallas Tap-water or F1 racing fuel. Either way it will leave a lasting impression…..
I used to dislike her for for being the Anti-Robin. But sometimes that works.
I hope this is how Malaya solves all her problems from now on!
So, like Ultra-Car with the pies?
Well yeah, but Ultra Car was never funny, so better than Ultra Car I guess.
Give him credit where it’s due – his attempt at being Spider-car was universally funny.
Here’s your problem, Malaya: empathy isn’t just about warm soft fuzzy things. It’s allows you to see from other people’s point of view, assess their position and tailor your negotiations accordingly. If you had any at all, it really would have helped you here.
Still, I give you credit for trying…and I don’t like to give you credit for anything. This here – this one truly unselfish action – is what I was waiting for before I admitted that your character even could develop, and that you might someday be worthy of some sympathy.
That said, it was also nice to see you get shut down by someone who was completely unimpressed by your antics.
Also, you have a nice ass.
The Beans are lacking in empathy to a degree far deeper than Malaya. She fucked up a relationship. They fucked up parenting.
Yes. And?
Is…is she SHITTING on their car?
That is full of WIN. And shit. But also WIN. Shitty win? Winning shit? Meh.
Nah, she’s resting her butt right on it, which would make that difficult. I think she’s just leaving prints.
Her facial expression suggests otherwise.
Or else the hood of that car is really cold.
I think it’s supposed to be a scowl.
Well, at least she is showing concern for another human being, and it’s ah…nice that she is making an effort, bare butt and all.
Meanwhile on FAANS!–Feel the city breakin’ and everybody’s shakin’/And you’re Staying Ali~i~i~ive!
Ah ah ah ah Stayin Aliiiiive!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39OUZxDOu5U
If she wants it done right she should call Robin to give a super speed butt buff job to everything in the general area.
That would imply that Malaya and Robin are friends. That isn’t quite true, is it?
They might unite for this cause.
This isn’t a bonding activity, it is vengence on behalf of thier lesbian! This is a gesture of their displeasure in how Leslie has been treated, an ass gesture,
Considering how polite Mrs. Bean treated her before, gave her booze, is very interested in what’s going on in her daughter’s life, wants to meet the girls her daughter likes as evidenced by her comments about Robin…. that was a pretty unjustified and shitty thing for Malaya to do.
I mean that metaphorically as well as literally.
On the other hand it was pretty shitty of Leslie’s parents to disown her for being a lesbian and even her “politeness” can be seen as condescending and questionable (I mean come on – “your life-style choice” and “is it because she’s BROWNER than the other one”).
On the other hand she let them use the helicopter!
I chalk it up to Malaya having difficulty handling things like this in a nice mature way…
Isn’t disowning meaning cutting off all contact? It’s a pretty involved disowning that Mrs. Bean is participating in then. Before we actually met Mrs. Bean, we had only Leslie’s word on what went down. Naturally, I assumed the worst because of that but I pulled back a bit once we actually saw Mrs. Bean’s interactions with her daughter recently. There is more going on here. While the base of it is displeasure at Leslie’s legitimate life choices, the situation seems to be a lot more layered and nuanced than that. Mrs. Bean looks like she’s trying. And trying may lead to acceptance. The road is long, but it does really look like she’s making the effort and it will probably develop even more over time.
Which makes it really weird to like Mrs. Bean a whole lot considering I disagree with her base view of Leslie’s lifestyle choices. So there is the person I disagree with but like more because she handles it better and is making effort. But I hate and loathe Malaya because she is completely incapable of handling *anything* in a decent manner, despite me agreeing her assertion that there isn’t anything wrong with Leslie’s choices.
The way things are handled really counts for a lot.
Someone probably told her to love the sinner, hate the sin.
Which is dog-whistle bigotry at best, really.
I’m not familiar with that term. What does it mean?
Never heard it before either, but given what I know about dog whistles, I’ll give translating this a shot:
It’s a form of “stealth” bigotry, bigotry disguised as not-bigotry, that goes unnoticed by many. Those who can pick up on it, though, are generally annoyed to all heck by it.
Yeah, that sounds workable.
It’s also the exact opposite of what it actually means.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog-whistle_politics
Sounds more like you’re full of Malaya’s special brand of car wax to me…
It’s very easy to love someone and not approve of what they’ve done. If you haven’t figured that out in life yet you’ve got a long haul to go there, trucker.
Where exactly is there a choice what sex you like? With persona who are bi, I suppose there is a choice, but Leslie isn’t bi.
Well, there isn’t a choice for being flat-out gay.
Well, there’s a choice between recognizing and accepting who you are, and trying to deny yourself to appease society and your religion.
Being polite doesn’t make someone a good person; Leslie’s mom is a great example of this. Being an asshole doesn’t make someone a bad person; Malaya is a great example of this.
Good is different from nice, to be sure. But Leslie’s mother is clearly someone that can be talked to and reasoned with. I don’t know about Leslie’s *father* since Leslie has to be hidden from him still. I would very much rather take my chances with Mrs. Bean than I would with Malaya, who is utterly incapable of seeing things from another’s perspective when it comes to most people we’ve seen her interactive. Really, from what we’ve seen of both, Malaya is far more of a close-minded person than Mrs. Bean. Mrs. Bean asks her daughter why Leslie likes Malaya. That means she’s trying to understand. Mrs. Bean isn’t a purely a representation of a stance everyone on here disagrees with. She’s clearly something in between. She’s got her own thing going. and I hope we see more of her because I can see her coming around.
Malaya flips people off if she’s so much as ruffled no matter how justified the person ruffling her is. Being an asshole doesn’t automatically hide a hidden heart of gold. It’s only indicative of them being an asshole!
Flipping someone off is hardly comparable to allowing one’s own child to be treated like a diseased outcast for the sake of placating an ignorant bigot. Anything short of, “That’s our daughter, jackass, so learn to deal with it,” is beyond unacceptable.
The last two sentences of your comment are in response to an imaginary sentiment expressed by precisely no one.
The last two sentences were referencing Malaya telling Amber off when Amber asked Malaya if she were true or playing a game with Leslie. Considering Amber is a good friend of Leslie’s, has known Leslie a LOT longer than Malaya has, saw an infuriated Leslie in the previous strip, and has seen Malaya being a bitch to a LOT of people, it’s pretty justified to ask Malaya if she’s on the level. But Malaya flips her shit instead. I don’t really see much of anything that has any particular consideration for others outside of Leslie and that is just indicative of being a bitch. Calm down, Malaya!
And if Mrs. Bean is eventually does tell that to her husband? Because I can see that happening, especially with how much she still reaches out to Leslie. You don’t reach out and take interest in diseased outcasts. As much as I would love to have everyone to share my own views which would include both her parents accepting Leslie for who she is, I also recognize that Mrs. Bean is making efforts. Leslie’s own incapability for confrontation and speaking up doesn’t help things, as she has said. Should Malaya’s influence rub off on her, it may cause Leslie to grow in the way Leslie desires in order to move things forward with her parents. Reconciliation is one of the sweetest things in the world, after all.
And all of them can finally be ok with each other, which would be great. So I do hope Leslie takes Malaya’s influence to heart ’cause good things can happen from it.
Perhaps if the Mrs. Bean was interested in her daughters life, she could make a gesture beyond the shared consumption of alcohol and the clandestine use of the helicopter while her daughter works a minimum wage job. Perhaps she might start by calling her on the phone occasionally, something she obviously never does if she never even learned robins name. Perhaps she could have asked Leslie how she was doing considering she is her daughter. Perhaps she could have not kicked her out of her house. Courtesy, like respect, is earned. Mrs. Bean started in the negative, not at zero, and a kindly manner should not disguise her cold behavior.
As a side note not really related to much, I would TOTALLY love compensation for something in the form of liquor and flying a helicopter. In that order. “Well, you guessed over the price of the helicopter, so we can’t give it to you. But we CAN get you plastered and let you take it out for a spin!” “Woo-hoo! Tequila me up, baby!”
I think the earlier strips forgot to mention that Malaya’s heart grew three sizes that day and she has chosen to take her bitchy behavior and use it as a force of good…
Funny thing is – this seems in direct response to Leslie mentioning that part of her still wants to make her parents proud even though they kicked her out of the family…
This isn’t a very mature way to act, but it’s a very Malaya way to act!
Shall Malaya become our bitch with a gold heart? Some direction is pointing to yes…
and shit…
If her heart grew three sizes that day, she would either be in cardiac intensive care or dead.
*facepalm* That’s the kind of Diplomacy that causes World Wars, Malaya. Well…it’s…the thought that…counts?
Sadly, I think more thought needs to go into it than “Imma go up there and tell that bitch off!” Malaya used Tell-Off! It had no effect…
Leslie’s Mom used Snark. It’s not very effective.
Mrs. Bean just became a pretty cool character. Not even pretending to care about Malaya…I approve.
Except for the whole “disowning her daughter for being gay” part, maybe. Still a cunt in my book.
Bingo.
I like bare butts and I can not lie
You other brothers can’t deny…
While the Beans kicking Leslie out for being a lesbian is awful (though it seems Mrs. B probably didn’t/doesn’t want Leslie out of the family, whatever her sexual preference, but for some reason won’t stand up to her husband for her daughter’s sake which…is almost worse?)…
Er, aside from that.
I kind of like Mrs. B’s reaction. “Oh. Well. I am undone.” Malaya pisses so many people off without even making the effort, and now that she’s really trying, she can’t seem to make a dent.
I wouldn’t say that.
Denting the hood of a car is quite easy, even by just sitting on it.
Now, Mike has empathy. He uses it to find out how to hurt people. (Sometimes it’s as easy as “I’d hate it if someone kicked ME in the crotch.”)
Not impressed since some servant will probably end up cleaning off her butt prints.
The butt may be gone but the taint remains.
Oh my guiche
eh, they have a half dozen cars just like it in the other garage.
Well, Malaya won’t be running out of ass anytime soon, there’s plenty to go around.
On one hand, fanservice. On the other, squick.
C for effort, Malaya. The thought is appreciated, but you really should have come armed with something other than “I think you’re a jerk.”
Malaya apparently sucks at being mean intentionally. It seems like she was trying to go for her version of “polite” by it quickly fell apart by panel three…
She would indeed be more successful if she just used her natural assholiness instead of forcing it.
Sure looks like she’s using her natural assholiness to me.
But she is actively trying to be rude.
The nearest metaphor I can think of is like when some athletes who normally can do something well without thinking but if they suddenly think of how to do something, they end up doing it wrong.
Yeah, PM, I think maybe Gordon was making a joke out of “using her natural assholiness” in reference to her literally using her asshole.
#explainingthejoke
(As I said up above) Malaya used Tell-Off! It had no effect…
I would gave her a D+ for effort. Insulting one’s religion is a sure fire way to escalate the situation. I think Malaya needs to learn how to approach things with sensitivity.
Pretty hard to criticize Mrs. Bean’s rejection of Leslie without criticizing her religion, though.
I get the feeling that Malaya is one of those people who has never won an argument, but is convinced that the fact they all turn out the same means she won all of them.
Maybe she could go into politics. It would increase the compare/contrast thing she has with Robin. Sidney Yus will be up for reelection this year, seeing this tactic used during a debate with her would be amusing.
It’s weird, she is clearly trying to do the right thing but it’s like she either doesn’t have the tools to do so or doesn’t quite know how to use them.
It will be interesting to see where Malaya goes from here, and unlike when she first joined the cast I actually hope she sticks around.
Next strip is a two panel of FAZ sniffing that car and the rest of the cast vomiting.
also, he makes a chart based off of his car sniffing research.
For a moment I almost started to like Malaya. The impending defecation put a stop to that, though.
Not bad for a youngster, but she could have been more subtle.
A little “matter” in the door handles for that initial under-the-fingrnail surprise and some more in the front grill for air intake issues.
Leslie’s last name is Bean?
She’s Les Bean?
BRILLIANT
It’s just now you found out about the pun?
I don’t think I’ve ever heard Leslie’s last name before. When was it mentioned?
http://www.shortpacked.com/2008/comic/book-6/04-a-poor-mans-mike/phonecall/
At least that far back. It was probably mentioned earlier but I didn’t want to go all the way back to the begining to check.
Ultracar wishes she would do that to him.
Why don’t you try scratching the car, Malaya?
What she should do is piss into the interior air intake vents below the windshield.
That is a lovingly rendered butt, Mr. Willis. That’s about all I have to say about this story.
The man is truly dedicated to his art.
You guys, Malaya is mooning us.
Good job, Willis.
On Wednesday, she flipped you off.
So how long until she completes the trifecta and flashes us her boobs?
Go luck with that. I’m pretty sure we’ve seen more penises in this comic than boobs.
Yesterday’s Tumblr posts suddenly feel terribly relevant.
When you go to sleep, they’ll be watching.
Mardi Gras is coming up..who has some beads?
Isn’t that a Harry Kemelman story?
Ironically, this shows the development of some maturity by Malaya.
Oh that’s why I dislike Malaya. She’s terrible at framing arguments and apparently I hate bad debaters more than jerks. Who knew?
Wow. This just…. whereas before I was fascinated with the journey Malaya might be taking in the future… this is so weird and immature. All hope that I had that Malaya would be looking at herself… gone. She’s never going to get it. First, she goes to Leslie’s mom with nothing but “you’re rude”, then she proceeds to flip her off…. and when that doesn’t work, she decides the next best thing is to shit on the car? Yeah, my hope for Malaya just left the building.
I’ve seen this s#it before…
http://caveviews.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341bffd953ef01676008adfa970b-800wi
But FANS! is explicitly a different universe from the Walkyverse! Walky knows his snack foods.
If you can crossover once, you can crossover again!
That said, in the FANS! crossover it was explained that each of them had a duplicate living a different life in the Walkyverse. Just sayin’.
I know it doesn’t explain the absence of the men, but it does validate the comment that they were indeed up to that.
If this is alternate-universe stuff, let’s all hope Ethan got the job at McAwesome’s in that universe.
Not all of them, only the two that The Cheese claimed under his Right Of Salvage as Surplus.
Oh GOd! I need to see Mike’s ass now! I can see why Amber, Robin, and Ethan are drooling all over him! *_*
I’m surprised to see a girl’s ass in this comic, but at the same time, it gave me so much hope!
I mean– this doesn’t justifiy the way Malaya treats everyone else, but it’s nice that she finds another friend to care about besides Chun Li
I love Malaya. I just love her. No idea why. She’s amazing. She sucks, but she’s amazing. *Sigh*
Oh god, the butts disease!
IT’S AN EPIDEMIC.
I don’t know about you guys but I’m totally counting this as Malaya/Ultracar shipping.
let’s wait and see if malaya enjoys it first.
This strip sinks the Malaya/Ultracar ship, or at least dents the hull. Since that’s not Ultracar, Malaya’s effectively cheating on UC here.
So. . . I’m not sure if I knew and just forgot, or if I’m just now noticing. . . but “Leslie Bean”. I feel slow.
I have to say that even though Malaya stiffed her, (and not in a good way) I’m glad she stood up for Leslie (even though she turned out to be straight after all)
Aww Malaya.
Leslie’s mom looks like Old April.
I take great comfort in people thinking Malaya took the wrong approach here. I have met SOOO many people who thinks debating idiologies actually works like this. (Minus the shitting on the car bit. Probably.)
Haven’t been following the debates, then, have you?
What is this feeling, so sudden and new?
Felt it the moment I laid eyes on you!
Okay, I kind of like Malaya now.
Poop!
Okay, NOW I like Malaya. It’ll probably only last for the weekend; Monday she’ll do something to piss me off again. But for taking the time and effort to go to Mrs. Bean’s house and tell her directly and clearly that kicking Leslie out was a dick move, I like her.
–I don’t think her argument was effective, mind you, but it was satisfying.
Me, I’ve got a problem with any religion that says your god is more important than your family…
God: Hey! Abraham! Go ahead and sacrifice your son to me, ‘kay?
Abraham: Wut?
God: Just kill your son. For me. Because I told you to.
Abraham: Well… oookay, then? *Goes to kill son*
God: Psyche! You can stop. You don’t have to kill your son after all.
Abraham: …Good?
God: It was totally a test. You passed, btw. Good on you for being willing to kill your child just because I told you to. *Snicker*
–I really don’t want to shit on someone else’s religion or start any fights here (I’m a Heathen if that helps anyone; feel free to target comments accordingly *smile*) but that never made any sense to me. How can your children not come before everything? Just one of those things I don’t get, I guess.
I do wonder, though, if parents like Mrs. Bean, with a gay child they ostracize for it, are secretly, at some level, deep inside, pleased that they have been given this chance to kick them out and treat them like shit, so they can be just like Abraham, and be willing to sacrifice their child (even if not literally) for the sake of their god? I wonder if treating their child so terribly in the name of their religion gives them a warm glow inside? :-/
I sincerely hope not.
Not to be pendantic (though I’m totally about to be), and not to say it isn’t still a really…um…bizarre passage, but it was more than just a test about “will you do whatever I tell you.” The context is that Abraham was super-old and God said he would give Abraham descendants that outnumbered the stars, etc. And then Abraham and his wife have a kid, which should have been impossible. The demand for a sacrifice was more a test of Abraham believing God would deliver what he promised.
But yeah, it is kind of an upsetting passage.
I don’t think that parents like that are pleased, per se, but I do think they feel justified–like even if it makes them sad, they feel they have something they can point to to prove they’re right to do it. That’s more personal experience from watching my mother and my sister (and sometimes my mother and me) go at it over matters of religion. I don’t think there’s any “warm glow” unless we’re talking an absolute psycho. A rift in the family, whether caused by religion or not, is always a pretty painful thing, for both parties, even the party that is very very wrong.
I’m going to disagree here. If I believed, REALLY believed, that the omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent creator of the universe had important instructions for me, then I would kind of be obliged to give them top priority over everything.
Just one of many reasons why I’m really glad there’s no reason whatsoever to believe that it’s true.
The ultimate irrelevancy is that the biblical code for dealing with a family member you consider a sinner is not exile. It is support, love, prayer, you know, all of the things that kicking them out of the family would ensure the prevention of. The Beans are just bad people.
I gotta say, as much as I hate Malaya, I really like the effort (although as weakly delievered and crude as it was) she went to on Leslie’s behalf. She really could have tried to present her case a bit better though, but it IS Malaya after all.
In addition to her being stupid and immature even if it’s for the right reason this could have other consequences. So far Leslie has been secretly visiting her Mom behind her Dad’s back. After vandalizing his car I’m sure he’s going to want to know who did it and if he finds out that Leslie isn’t entirely out of the picture even secret access will be impossible. So in sticking up for a friend she probably made things worse.
The idea that whenever Malaya ‘tries’ to do good, things end up far worse for that person she is ‘helping’ appeals to me from a characterization prospective.
I notice you assume the car belongs to her father. Just saying.
My indifference towards Malaya has now been replaced by amusement.
I’m fascinated by the many ways in which this changes (or doesn’t change) people’s opinion of her, including mine.
http://www.shortpacked.com/2007/comic/book-4/09-yaoi-incest/a/
This seems relevant in the case of Malaya.
I have no idea what to think of Malaya anymore. XD
Despite the fact that she’s trying to do right by Leslie, I still cannot even remotely like Malaya. And thusly, I wish Faz upon her.
Why is she pulling a Popeye face in the last panel?
Why is it the most undesirable women have the most attractive ass…ets?
I….what….is….is she taking a dump on their car?! Wha…!?
Leslie’s family must be stinkin rich. A helicopter and a sports car?
Wow, that car does a really good impression of Cyclops.
hahahahaha
He might be channelling a little Geordi LaForge too.
I just wonder how familiar Malay is with her heritage, because she is just living out one of the most truthful adages we have: Pikon talo and if Leslie’s mom has security cameras, Malaya is going to lose in a really big way.
If Malaya was a better person she might be able to come up with something about people like Mrs. Bean being ther reason there’s more atheists than ever, especially among young people, or it’s amazing how actual good people like Leslie come from people who only think they’re good people and maybe actually do a little undoing.
I’m on team Malaya here. I make the shitty god argument a lot.
If it hasn’t already, that last panel is going to make for some weird rule 34.
So…shes got 1. ) breaking and entering alongside 2.) vandalizing property.
I’m SOOOO glad this storyline is over or else there would be a 99.99% chance the Bean’s WOULD PRESS CHARGES.
I’m glad she stuck up for Leslie, though…even if it probably leads to Leslie’s cover being blown and her never seeing her mom again…O_O;
Mrs. Bean:Badaas
Malaya: Ajerkable
Winner?
Also ASS! Is this the first ASS we’ve seen so far?
I know this won’t be a popular sentiment.. but there is something just plain awesome about leslie’s mom… I mean.. the whole disowning thing is sucky, but her demeanor is pretty nifty to me.
Yeah. It’s an impressive bit of characterization to make the character who disowned (or allowed to be disowned) her daughter due to said daughter’s sexuality be the less dickish of the two on the page.
Even though she went about it in just about the worst way possible, she tried to do something FOR somebody else when there’s no real benefit to her. And she did it in a way that was actually amusing! Color me pleasantly surprised. She just earned herself a probationary promotion from “character I hate” to “character I love to hate,” putting her in company with Faz and Mike.
Wow, when I started reading this comic, this was the latest strip. Kinda cool.
“Thou hast undone our mother.”
“Villain, I have done thy mother!”
Ah, she gained weight, and thus “Girthday”.
I am a clever detective, you see.