242

A nice place
Posted on July 7, 2021 by David M Willis

242 thoughts on “A nice place”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Ruth still exerting her DOMinion, I see

  2. Shitbird

    Lowkey, ew

    1. Dara

      highkey, ew

      1. King Daniel

        Loki, you

        1. a/snow/mous/e

          Hi, Q

        2. a/snow/mous/e

          (“Haikyu!!”?)

        3. Demoted Oblivious

          Look you!

          Don’t break the pattern!

        4. Jett

          Haiku!

        5. Ryek Hvek

          Gesundheit !!

      2. Cmasta1992

        Midkey, ew

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          Gnocci, oooOo!

    2. JepMZ

      Because the hand cuff is sweaty and sticky by now?

      1. Shitbird

        No I just don’t like the idea of these two as more than friends/acquaintances

        1. Imogen

          Honestly, I like Jason fine. I’m a big Ruth fan. I guess I just don’t like this couple. It’s, like, a weird Mirror-verse version of Billie and Ruth, without any of the shared trauma or mutual sexual confusion that made that pairing bearable. It feels like a bad step to take for both characters, and not in a “bad choice” way, in a “are we having fun yet” way.

  3. NinjaNick

    I wonder if Ruth will have Jason on a leash.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Absolutely, it just remains to be seen whether it’s a literal or metaphorical one.

    2. Yotomoe

      I can only hope but I know I don’t deserve something so beautiful.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Hey now. We all deserve to be loved and to feel loved. If that is how Jason feels loved, who are we to judge. And if seeing that is how you feel loved, well, you deserve it too.

        n.b. When these came out 5ish years apart, I had to message PBF and cheer that the couple was still together. They sent a thanks for noticing in reply. ❤

    3. Reltzik

      What, you mean, like a REGULAR tie?

  4. Wagstaff

    Anyone care to guess what the restaurant’s gonna be?

    1. King Daniel

      Arby’s

      1. Clif

        Yes, but only metaphorically.

        1. Wagstaff

          Oh, because they have the meats?

        2. King Daniel

          Because we’re all handcuffed to the looming specter of death as it stares us in the face with cold, unfeeling jet-black pits of darkness. Metaphorically.

          Eat Arby’s.

        3. Wagstaff

          Sounds less like Arby’s, more like an Arby’s commercial YTP.

        4. Tan

          Some days I feel like the only person who remembers Nihilist Arby’s. Thank you. I appreciate you.

        5. Wagstaff

          Oh, is it like that Nihilist ice cream truck from Invader Zim?

        6. egg egg

          I think you’d enjoy Welcome to Nightvale’s Arby’s.

        7. StClair

          Some have succumbed to utter despair. Some have passed on. Some have done both.

          Some remain. Pity them most of all.

        8. Sunny

          Eat Arby’s.

    2. tim gueguen

      Lorde Jim’s Ye Olde Fishe and Chipesse.

    3. Yotomoe

      Chuck-E-Cheese’s

      1. Wagstaff

        Sounds more like a choice restaurant for Becky and Dina, honestly.

    4. Bicycle Bill

      If you’re gonna pull out all the stops … then it’s gotta be Applebee’s.

    5. Thag Simmons

      I’d say either McAwesomes or that fancy place Jen and Ruth went to on their first proper date

    6. Keulen

      Someplace that serves British food.

      1. Jason

        We don’t have food any more. We just steal everyone else’s.

        In part because who actually wants to eat nettle and mutton soup.

        1. misanthropope

          “forty-two religions and only two sauces” 🙂

    7. Needfuldoer

      Maybe that fancy-looking place Ruth and Jennifer tried that one time, before they ended up at the sports bar instead.

      Or maybe just an English pub like Ye Olde Stereotype.

    8. Deanatay

      Round-The-Clock?

    9. Lars

      Mc Awesomes?

  5. Demoted Oblivious

    While I generally like Ruth, this is worse than threatening femur removal.

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Oh and, if this is the morning, is she keeping him shackled until dinner? Because that could get… messy.

  6. Sirksome

    If he was still standing there that really means he didn’t want to leave. I refuse to believe he doesn’t have a cell phone.

    1. Sirksome

      Also uh, RIP Daisy x Ruth. This feels like the final nail in the coffin on that. I hope Daisy ends up with someone who respects her enough to at least not leave her hanging on a date.

      1. Thag Simmons

        Because I want Jen’s “get my boss and my ex to bang” plan to backfire as hard as it possibly can, I want her to get with Alice as a direct result of the failed date with Ruth.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Does Jennifer even consider Alice an ‘ex’, or just “former best friend”? There’s a bonus strip that made their relationship sound like an unrequited romance, and it would be in-character for Jennifer to see it as “best friends can fool around a little, that’s not unusual”.

        2. Schpoonman

          I don’t think Jennifer does, but Alice seemed to take it all more personally.

        3. thejeff

          There was a point where I think Jennifer realized it retroactively, but I agree she didn’t think of it that way at the time.

      2. GreyICE

        The ship that never was.

        Honestly Daisy deserves better than whatever sort of mess Ruth is right now.

        1. Shitbird

          Daisy deserves only the best

    2. Thag Simmons

      If you take a hostage you confiscate their phones and their weapons, obvi.

      1. Reltzik

        That would explain why Jason’s bow is missing.

  7. Octopus Ink

    Another train pulls into Dysfunction Junction on Track 9.
    Hopefully there won’t be a wreck.
    (Paging Casey Jones!)

  8. Thag Simmons

    The funny outcome would be if he bolts the second he gets outta those cuffs

    1. Yotomoe

      That’s how my dad left…I told my mom not to loosen his cuffs but nobody listens to me!

  9. BlackScarabFilmZ

    I don’t think you have any idea how much I desperately want the next panel of this story to be Jason and Ruth sitting at a table at a restaurant, with the door (which Jason is still handcuffed to) sitting in the third chair.

    1. Charles Spencer

      This.

    2. Opus the Poet

      TBH that sounds more like a Yotomoe fan fic.

  10. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    They are using mind control powers on each other, right?

    1. Thag Simmons

      No, they’re just morons

      1. Clif

        Say what you will, they’re morons with a date.

      2. Wagstaff

        Can confirm. I can name 10 books that concisely prove how all psychics are frauds.

        1. Reltzik

          I can parse that as “10 books, each of which concisely proves that psychics are frauds”, or “10 books which, taken together, concisely prove how all psychics are frauds”.

          I don’t think that “10 books” and “concisely” belong in the same thought process, but I have the same problem with putting an entire book and “concisely” together. So that doesn’t narrow it down.

          Hmm. Have to figure this out. This is clearly the most important thing for me to focus on, since the alternative is doing the dishes.

        2. Wagstaff

          Well I could tell you, but doing dishes doesn’t sound like fun.

          Unless of course that’s just code for something else…..

        3. Delicious Taffy

          It’s code for “fucking the dishes”.

        4. Wagstaff

          That doesn’t even make any sense!

          Unless some of those dishes are mechanical phallae or vulvae.

        5. Arian

          *phalli.

        6. Delicious Taffy

          Every dish is fuckable if you’re not a coward. Standard mammalian genital configurations are for the unimaginative. It’s all about the plates and cups, this year.

        7. Demoted Oblivious

          Does that include cutlery? Cuz while there are some pretty sexy, saucy spoons out there, the thought of getting fresh with a fork, or naughty with a knife, kind of petrifies my peter in a pathetically petit position (probably prefering personal preservation).

        8. Siva

          Obligatory “Rule 34” mention.

        9. Clif

          If that doesn’t protect you from the mind reading psychics, I don’t know what would.

        10. Jhon

          Concise? I’d call 10 books ‘at length’.

  11. Yotomoe

    Ok I promise I’ll draw something super kinky with them in the not to distant future.

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      What about yesterday? Did you get my callout? Or did it go too far?

      1. Yotomoe

        Oh I didn’t check the comments yesterday. Let me bloo scadoo right over there and then respond in kind.

        1. Yotomoe

          Now I have read it and I simply cannot imagine how I’d draw that and make it work. Anatomically. Sal’s pretty big.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          Yeah, it’s one of those things that is easy to write until you take body mechanics into account. Is Danny’s laptop on the floor and Sal just walks up and plops herself in his way? I don’t know, but the idea is just stuck in my mind like loose gravel rattling in my sinus’.

        3. Wagstaff

          Might as well draw them playing Twister….

        4. I am Nothing

          Wagstaff, this is the second time you’ve mentioned Twister in this context.

          I think it’s time we hold an intervention.

        5. Wagstaff

          Well, at least you’re not one of those forsaken “witch” hunters rounding up Ouija boards and Magic: The Gathering cards.

        6. I am Nothing

          If you’re carrying any of those “devil games”, we’ll have to confiscate those too.

        7. Wagstaff

          I stand corrected…

        8. Schpoonman

          What if Sal just drops herself into Danny’s lap when he’s watching Netflix?

        9. Yotomoe

          Only if it’s a hip drop and it breaks his legs.
          Not because I have animosity towards Danny. I just think a powerful hip drop is hot

    2. newlland(Henryvolt)

      Glad to know that artistic vision of your is always moving forward.

    3. Needfuldoer

      Thank you.

    4. Demoted Oblivious

      Oh, yes, I got hung up on my previous perversion. All I can say about the parent post is,”Oh please, oh please, oh please.”

  12. newlland(Henryvolt)

    From a romantic suicide pact to a strange type of hostage situation. They’re just getting around to a first date but if it manages to last is this an Acceptable example of relationship goals?

    1. Clif

      I have a weakness for twisted, so not the person to ask.

    2. Reltzik

      Compared to how Ruth first came on to whatserface, this IS healthier. So… improvement?

  13. RassilonTDavros

    These two are a disaster waiting to happen.

    So basically a typical relationship for either of them, really.

    1. Reltzik

      Better than the lesbian suicide pact, which was a cycle of multiple periodically-recurring disasters.

  14. Schpoonman

    Okay, look, I’m 100% on board with them being snarky and standoffish but what the fuck Ruth uncuff him.

    1. Thag Simmons

      I think she’s going to get the keys for the cuffs.

      That or a screwdriver to take the door off it’s hinges.

      1. Clif

        She’s fetching Jennifer to unlock him.

        1. Schpoonman

          Didn’t Ruth teach her how to pick locks? Or at least suggest it? Anyway I think Ruth knows how.

        2. Delicious Taffy

          Jennifer has a Keyblade?

        3. John

          I like Jennifer as much as the next guy, but no Keyblade wielder would ever perform an Inheritance Ceremony on her, ever. Just no. She does not get to be a Guardian of Light.

  15. Kravis

    She’s not going to uncuff him, the door is coming too.

    1. Megan Rivera

      hah!

    2. Reltzik

      Chloe: “Okay, think, brain. Last term when I had to repeatedly fix the lock on Ruth’s door a whole lot of times it was a huge warning sign that I missed. Now, the entire door’s gone. But it’s not a recurring event, so everything’s fine!”

      1. Schpoonman

        Dude, please don’t. Puddinghead is actually that much of an idiot. Don’t put that evil on us.

    3. JessWitt

      The door will make a good table if they can’t find one.

  16. DailyBrad

    I feel like this would creep me out with like literally any other character, but Jason being in this spot makes it feel like hijinks. He’s just more cartoonish than most of the cast, in his way, plus how he has this air of dignity even in humiliating situations.

    1. Jamie

      He exists to make everyone else funnier by comparison.

      So the next step is to introduce him to Mary.

    2. Thag Simmons

      Him not seeming all that bothered by it is the only thing keeping this funny.

      1. anonymsly

        It’s the same for me, ultimately. Like yes, Ruth’s racking up the felonies but Jason just seems annoyed, not scared or stressed.

    3. StClair

      You know who else is like that?

      Batman.

  17. Stephen Bierce

    Wotsamatter you
    Got ya no respect
    Whatta tink ya do
    Why ya lookin’ so sad
    Itsa not so bad
    Itsa nice-a place
    –Aaah Shaddap You Face!

    1. Arian

      It’s “Gotta no respect”.

  18. Josh Spicer

    Come on now.

  19. Kitschensyngk

    This looks like the beginning of a beautiful doomed relationship.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Due to the inherent impermanence of all things and our own ticking mortality, every relationship is doomed. It’s redundant to point it out is all I’m saying.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Yes,YES! (except the redundancy) Someone else gets it. When they announced their engagement, I had to explain this thinking to my brother and brother in law when I was explaining how proud of them I was that they were brave enough to chase happiness despite knowing how much pain was inevitably coming. My own cowardice makes me a monstrous hypocrite, but I’m happy for them that they are happy.

        A lot of linguistic communication is redundant, but still serves a purpose either for sharing emotions or establishing a platform for further dialogue.

  20. MrSmith

    I’m not sure if this is one of those storylines we’re supposed to take seriously in which case this is not good, not good at all or if its supposed to be more whimsical in which case I wonder what Joe and Joyce are doing

    (Of course most of the time I’m reading this strip I’m thinking what are Joe and Joyce up to)

    1. Josh Spicer

      Agreed. Joe and Joyce seems to be at the forefront of my thoughts when reading the comic. Sal and Danny have now quickly taken second place.

      1. MrSmith

        That last panel with Joe putting his hand on Joyces head and Joyce feeling safe enough around Joe to comfortably enjoy, and allow, it was really well done

  21. Keith Curtis

    This will end well.

  22. Shiro

    I love this in combination with today’s QC. There are two types of budding relationships

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Oh. Oh wow! Yeah, you go for it Clint! After his flaming wreckage with Emily, it’s nice to see him have some confidence.

  23. BBCC

    Ruth please, I know you’re in self destruct mode right now but this is a terrible way to ask out someone.

    Also – I wonder if we’re gonna get anyone else mistaking Ruth for a lesbian and being a jerk face about it.

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      I’m not sure what that would say about Ruth OR Jason, but yeah the perp would definitely be a qualified jerk-face.

    2. Schpoonman

      Someone being an ass about an LGBT character? On the internet? No!

    3. Sol

      Well if you look down a couple comments you’ll find your answer…

      It’s like clockwork with every comic that has Ruth and Jason in it. Does Willis need to put “btw Ruth is bi” somewhere in every comic..?

  24. plasticwrap

    This is weird. Not sure if I like it.

  25. C.T. Phipps

    Is anyone else happy to have crazy awful Ruth back? She’s at her most entertaining not just when she’s threatening to remove femurs BUT WHEN SHE MEANS IT.

    🙂

    1. MrSmith

      I always thought she was a mean, nasty bully so no I’m not glad shes back but hopefully she can keep up with her therapy

      1. C.T. Phipps

        What’s good for Ruth as a person isn’t good for a reader necessarily.

      2. zee

        Mean nasty bullies (in fiction) make for entertaining drama

        1. thejeff

          They make good villains. Not good protagonists – even in ensemble casts.

  26. Pocky

    Yup, this is all sorts of weird.

    Thanks, I hate it.

    1. Lux

      Yeah, this is all kinds of unpleasant.

      1. C.T. Phipps

        I like it.

        It will be a trainwreck.

  27. Orangey

    Why is he still cuffed

    And ugh I like seeing Jason as little as possible so I am not a fan of this new Ruth/Jason development

    1. Thag Simmons

      I on the other hand, have wanted Jason (along with Daisy and Tony) to get more paneltime for a while so I’m happy with this new development.

      1. Needfuldoer

        After all the awful shit Tony went through in the old continuity, the poor kid deserved a break.

        It’s been more than a decade of just brief cameos though, time for him to get back in the saddle.

    2. C.T. Phipps

      I’m happy to have Jason back after he was off camera for so long.

  28. Bagge

    Hey, Ruth, maybe try a not-messed up relationship. Just a thought.

  29. bryy

    Oh my God, both Mary and Billie will have a field day with this for very different reasons.

    1. C.T. Phipps

      Who is Billie?

      Jennifer does not care about her ex. Honest.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        You raise an interesting point, kind of. What does using someone’s old nickname qualify as , when it’s not a part of a larger identity change? Billie is Jennifer after all. It’s a play on her last name. This isn’t on par with dead-naming someone. Dead-naming is about refusing to recognize something that is an important part of a person’s identity. Calling Jennifer, ‘Billie,’ seems closer to not enabling her in denying a part of her own identity. Depending on intent and reception, I suppose it could still be bullying. But frankly I don’t think in this case it qualifies as either. That Ms Billingsworth is in some kind of distress seems fairly obvious, but that may only be confirmed as that train-wreck slides on down the track.

        1. thejeff

          Nonetheless, she’s asked to be called Jennifer. It’s at least rude not to do so.

          Admittedly, it’s a bit different with her being fictional and thus not affected by whatever we say, but it’s still good practice.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          Fair enough. Since DyW has taken the time to retcon the tags to the degree that old links don’t even work, I suppose despite disagreeing with the seriousness of Jennifer’s intent, DyW’s stance on this has precedence (word of Gyallahwehd n’ all that). Still, it’s not easy shaking my own experiences with people who used identity changes to have another excuse to rage on the people around them. Kinda gotta fall back on Maya Angelou (echoed by Oprah) here:
          “When someone shows you who they really are, believe them!”

        3. C.T. Phipps

          I choose to believe rather than deadnaming it, it is actually a Star Wars reference.

          “That name no longer has any meaning for me.”

          “It is your true name [as a bisexual failed cheerleader], you’ve only forgotten it!”

        4. Demoted Oblivious

          Ooh, I like that interpretation. Though I don’t know I would describe her as a failed cheerleader, so much as retired. She was accepted at every level she made it to, and then was kicked out/had to bow out due to the DUI. Maybe she violated a team code of ethics or something though. THAT would be failure depending on the code.

        5. thejeff

          I don’t really see any signs of Jennifer doing that. She’s dropped a nickname, but doesn’t seem to have really disassociated herself from her past actions. She’s tried to make a break, but it’s not really clear why.

        6. Demoted Oblivious

          Exactly. She’s trying to make a break from past behaviour. Sadly she is distancing herself from part of her identity that was perfectly healthy and is instead fully investing in creating acharicature of herself and the more awful aspects of her personality. Kind of like knowing she had to pick a direction and chosing to go in exactly the wrong direction.

        7. thejeff

          Is she? I don’t think we really know what she’s up to yet. There were lots of parts of the relationship with Ruth that were not at all healthy.

          I don’t think she’s actually making so much of a break with past behavior as with past friends. Which other than Walky, who’s a long term childhood near brother, isn’t really that big a deal for the people you knew the first couple months of college.

          I do suspect it’s not healthy, but I’m reserving judgement on how and why. We don’t know enough yet.

  30. TheFlamingonator

    if you’re not gonna unhandcuff him at least pull the door off the hinges so he can leave

    1. Keulen

      Nah, Jason’s gonna have to take that door with him everywhere he goes from now on.

    2. Amos Batista

      Jason will have to take a piece of the door to the date.

  31. Arianod

    Ah yes, I’ve heard about this. It’s called Stockholm syndrome.

    1. Wagstaff

      Wonder if Willis is gonna say it again….

    2. eh, whatever

      Doesn’t seem to actually exist, though.

  32. Rabisch

    They are both broken persons with horribles relatives who have done terribles mistakes in the past. I’m not sure if a relationship between them will become a great thing or a true nightmare. Seems to me like a situation of an old, sad France movie in black and white that will end with the death of both the main characters. It’s sad, but I just can’t see this ending well. Even if their interaction at the bar were good, now that seems to be changed.

  33. Rycan

    Can’t tell if this is flirting or a hostage negotiation…

    1. Juanoku

      Let’s call it 50/50

  34. Juanoku

    This feels like watching a carcrash in slow motion

  35. Ryan

    I’m honestly disappointed that both Ruth and Billie seem to be going the route of “my lesbian experimentation is now complete, whereupon I shall immediately seek out the nearest dick I can and never even think about tits ever again EVER.”

    I mean, Billie I can understand, that’s her villain origin story, it’s what makes her so enjoyably detestable. But I really expected better from Ruth, it really seemed as though she was in deep denial about her own queerness for a long time and finally come to peace with it. Except “NOPE! Haha, fooled you! I was straight all along boys! ~~I kissed a girl just to try it / hope my boyfriend don’t mind it~~”

    1. MrSmith

      I thought she was bi and therefore also liked the D

      1. Sunny

        Yes. Ruth can find both men and women sexually attractive, from the comics when her brother visited I think it’s safe to say she knows and has accepted this for herself. Billifer experiences the same attractions, but in contrast to Ruth she tells herself that this is true of everyone and that all girls go through an “experimental phase” before settling for a hetero relationship. She thought bisexuality was a thing that only exists in porn for Cod’s sake!

    2. C.T. Phipps

      Well Ruth and Billie are both bi.

      Unlike Leslie, Becky, and Daisy.

      1. Ryan

        Is that just Word of Willis? ‘Cause I don’t recall Ruth mentioning a single time that she was bisexual. In fact, I don’t think she’s ever talked about her sexuality in detail at all On Screen. Her thing with Billie was just something that… happened, and like I said, I got strong denial vibes coming off of her, that this was one more thing in her shitshow of a life that she just wasn’t ready to deal with yet.

        It’s why today’s strip feels like so much backsliding.

        1. Yumi

          She’s been mentioned to have a boyfriend in the past, though people love to point out that many gay people have also had past relationships like that. But so have many bi people!

          Also, bi people are queer, so like… if you read her as struggling to accept her queerness, that hasn’t gone away?

          Really not a fan of the assumptions and judgments you’ve made in your comments.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          Yeah. We just had a thread yanked because it was essentially a flamewar over accusations of bi-erasure, and now this is basically a claim of les-erasure. Neither claim could be defensibly held when DyW’s body of work is considered, or even just these specific characters.

          I said it before, but, “Regardless of overall orientation people are attracted to who they’re attracted to.” No-one outside of that person gets to deny that.

        3. Yumi

          The first post in that previous thread was doing more for bi-erasure than the comic itself.

        4. C.T. Phipps

          I thought it was “Word of God” (see TV tropes) that she was bi and this indicates it pretty overtly. Willis is hardly unclear with the sexualities of his characters.

          “I AM A LESBIAN!”

          I mean, obviously Becky is very opaque about her preferences.

        5. Daibhid C

          Ruth’s first attempt at post-Billie dating was with another woman?

        6. Daibhid C

          Even if you go by Faz’s famous misunderstanding of how the Kinsey scale works, Ruth has dated two women (Jennifer and Daisy) and two guys (her past boyfriend and Jason), so she’s exactly balanced.

          If you go by the normal Kinsey scale, she likes boys and girls. And not only is there’s a word for that, but she’s one of the few people in the comic who already knew it.

        7. eh, whatever

          “Just”, or “Word of Willis”?

          And when do people actually get into a situation where they talk about their sexuality…?

        8. QuixoticMaunster

          To be honest? If you’re bisexual and dating it comes up SO MUCH because every time you date a different gender people come out of the woodwork to complain about you “not being a lesbian” or “not being straight” anymore.

          Despite the fact that you were already not a lesbian and not straight because you were bisexual the whole time.

          Measurably worse is when bigots congratulate you on briefly passing as hetero.

        9. Spencer

          She said she had on a boyfriend. On panel. Her granddad was a dick about it.

      2. Yumi

        This is unrelated, but it kind of amuses me that you posted a “Who is Billie?” comment two minutes before posting this.

        1. C.T. Phipps

          I am interested in finding out what being “Jennifer” vs. “Billie” is to her.

    3. Thag Simmons

      Bi people do not stop being queer just because they’re in a het relationship

      For fuck’s sake

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Yeah, I’m pretty sure there’s a term for women who are queer and specifically just into women, but I can’t think of it at the moment. If only it had any conversational relevance, I might remember it. Oh if only we didn’t have direct confirmation that the two named characters were bisexual rather than whatever-that-word-is.

      2. Thag Simmons

        Also are you seriously casting Jen as “enjoyably detestable” because she’s in denial about her own queerness?

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          Being generous I would guess Ryan just chose their words poorly, and was referring to how Ms. Billingsworth is just generally not a great human being. That said, their exact phrasing does compute a match to your query. Still, even as messed up as Ms. Billingsworth is, I find the step all the way to “detestable” “villain” a bit of a stretch. I doubt I would even rank her far below neutral. Certainly in a good/evil spectrum she’s not lower than 40% (NNE)

        2. C.T. Phipps

          I don’t think Jennifer was actually entirely accepting of it as Billie. It’s possible, for all we know, that she identifies as Bi more openly and with greater acceptance as Jennifer but is just dating a dude.

          It happens.

        3. Yumi

          She did, as Jennifer, describe her time with Ruth/her attraction to Ruth (depending on how you read it) as “a weird phase [she] was going through.”

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/03-see-you-in-the-funny-page/phase/

        4. thejeff

          It might be a reversion to her old “I’m not queer, everyone likes girls sometimes” thing, but I can’t really see it going any farther than that and I honestly doubt it’s that either. It might well be the messed up nature of her relationship with Ruth that was the “phase”, not the queerness of it.

          There’s plenty about the sexy lesbian suicide pact that it makes sense to want to distance from, as much as I liked them together by the end.

        5. C.T. Phipps

          I wonder if Ruth was the phase or bi in that comic.

          Maybe I’m overthinking it.

    4. Keulen

      Are you just unaware that bisexuality is a thing? Because judging by your comments you seem to not understand that some people (like Billie and Ruth in this comic) can be attracted to both men and women.

    5. K

      Fuck you

    6. Eldritchy

      Well Billie is trying to build herself a new image. A clean, nice, good-girl image, trying to abandon the self-destructive lifestyle she had before.
      As for Ruth… well it seems like she needs/like partners who are assertive and can bite back while having something to bond over with them.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Ruth enjoys a good sparring partner. I think part of the reason the date with Daisy crashed and burned was that Daisy’s thirst made her far too eager to please for Ruth’s liking.

        1. Joyfulldreams

          It’s because Daisy was too nice. Ruth doesn’t feel comfortable dating someone who is nice, because she feels like she’ll “ruin” them with her toxicity. She felt so uncomfortable with the idea of dating someone who she considers to be ‘nice’ that she had to get herself drunk. That’s about the long and short of it, I think.

      2. C.T. Phipps

        I don’t think dating motorcycle ex-criminal is necessarily her trying to build a respectable image. It may just be that she decided to ghost Walky and Ruth because of other reasons.

        Willis is good at building the mystery of Jennifer’s transformation

        1. Eldritchy

          But he is Hot and Cool, which is giving her the social points she craves.
          In all seriousness though, is she aware of his criminal connections?

    7. Spencer

      A few minutes ago I thought was I gonna make an ultra sarcastic comment like “wow, David Willis, it sure is curious that you complained about 9 Chickweed Lane having a gay character fantasize about a woman, but then have Ruth date a man. Very progressive, clearly :)))))” to clown on all the dumbasses who consistently misidentify Ruth’s sexuality every single time she’s on panel AND THEN IT’S ALREADY FUCKING HERE.

      1. Rabisch

        C’mon. All those tweets are just for fun. David Williams is without doubt one of the biggest “9 Chickweed Lane” fans. His constantly speaks about it has surely make discovery the strip to hundreds of new readers.

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          Indeed. While I haven’t read the full backlog, 9 chickweed is interesting to follow even just for how the artist plays with the format of a strip comic.

        2. Rabisch

          And the ” Pibgorn” story that Brooke McEldowney is doing right now is really awesome for art and story. Probably one of the best he has done.

    8. BBCC

      *glares at universe*

      Oh, come on! I was JOKING!

    9. zee

      Concept: bisexual women are allowed to date men. That’s kind of the whole point of being bisexual, gender doesn’t matter. Like come on dude, what the fuck? It’s not “backsliding” or “denial” she’s just not a lesbian. This is honestly such a disgusting thing to say about a character that’s CLEARLY bi, if that weren’t the case, if she were a lesbian in denial, don’t you think Willis would put more emphasis on that? That sounds like a pretty major plot point to me.
      Fucking hell man, the biphobes are just crawling out of the woodwork this storyline…

      1. thejeff

        If this was the only bisexual (or lesbian) representation in the comic and it seemed that both these relationships looked to be endgame, I can see it as a bisexual erasure trope – “okay, we’ve teased the queer relationships, now we move on to the real het ones”. It’s enough of a trope that I don’t blame some people for being sensitive to it.

        Given how this comic has gone over the years though and the amount of queer representation in it, I can’t begin to imagine it applying here.

  36. Sunny

    “You’re okay” is one of the nicest things Ruth has ever said to anybody. Sal was right, she must REALLY like him.

  37. AGV

    I’ve heard of hate sex but never of hate dating

    1. Needfuldoer

      Hating.

      Oh wait, that’s already a word isn’t it…

      1. King Daniel

        Dhating. Hdating?

        1. Sunny

          Hadating! It needs to be said with the same rhythm and tone as “Hadouken!”

        2. Schpoonman

          Said like that, Ruth would miss the reference while Jennifer says “Oh, Street Fighter!”

        3. thejeff

          “Not that I’m a nerd who would know that or anything.”

    2. zee

      To quote a wise sage
      “The nature of humanity is just that every so often, someone accidentally invents Homestuck again”

    3. misanthropope

      pull up a beer, i can tell you about hate marrying.

  38. Keulen

    Dumbing of Age Book 11: You’re Okay

  39. BenRG

    Jason, from Ruth, that’s a huge positive.

  40. Jhon

    You will make a witty and insightful reply to this comment.

    1. Needfuldoer

      You can’t tell me what to do.

      1. Deanatay

        I neither need nor want your approval.

    2. Lorien Inksong

      Your name is spelled in an atypical fashion.

      There is a shocking amount of casual misogyny applied to these situations by the fans in these discussions under the page.

      I will now be eaten by the fans/their allies. Make sure my meatcase’s nutrients go back into the system and don’t embalm my corpse or something similarly gross. (The leftovers obvs, if they finish the whole thing then please give them a cookie for dessert they did a good job.)

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Since you literally called out the entire fan-base as mysogynists, you kind of have it coming. This is a publicly accessible forum, and you’ll find all types here. What you’ll find less of, is valid opportunites to apply negative attributes to the whole group. I don’t doubt that you’ll find some people who fit your description (hell, I’ll throw my hat in that ring), but to paint everyone here with that brush is appallingly sloppy word-work.

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          n.b. I am aware that the above was not witty and barely insightful, but then, neither was its predecessor.

        2. Yumi

          I disagree that that’s what Lorien Inksong’s comment was doing. I get that some people need to be handheld through it with words like “some” and “not all” to not feel attacked, but it reads to me as “within this group, I see this happening.”

          Now, I do find the third paragraph to be kind of annoying. And I’m not sure I see what they do with the casual misogyny, so I’d appreciate more of an explanation if they were up for it. But no, I don’t feel they “literally called out the entire fan-base as mysogynists.”

        3. Demoted Oblivious

          That is a more generous reading for sure. But with their wording in the second, along with their expecting to get ripped, well, it seems like they were trolling for a fight.

          There is definitely curiousity about what Lorien sees as casual misogyny. For my part I’m self-aware enough to identify it in myself. Doesn’t stop me from supporting standard feminism. It does heavily interferes in my ability to develop relationships. Thankfully all my friends understand because they know the trainwrecks I’ve made, so I don’t often have to explain why I don’t want to.

        4. Lorien Inksong

          I see casual misogyny when female characters get double standards for behavior and male characters do creepy things without a blink. Its a comic and what the fandom members feel is their business, but it does get under my skin. And to be real I worry about people IRL giving men too much leeway to be creepy and getting hurt by actual creeps. Not to mention the continuation of double standards I see hammer my wife and sister on the daily. For example my sister got served a hamburger that was raw in the middle, flat out, and got treated like a Karen for not wanting to eat unsafe food by the restaurant peeps. (It was not a fancy burger place than had been asked for a super rare burger, but uh good reach, if you were.)

          Third paragraph is ‘kind of annoying’ because I’m annoyed to live it, and tired of having ‘hmmm… I feel like the fanbases’ collective reaction is tainted bc the character is female, we just saw one of the fellas do something like this’ being followed by swarms wringing their hands and demanding a cited paper. Its like this crazy double standard or something. So I made a joke about what was incoming. It did come, and apparently I ‘kind of have it coming’ for having the nerve to joke about it I guess.

          All I’m asking is that if you personally felt attacked by me saying ‘there are SOME signs of misogyny in the fanbase’ or ‘boy howdy the menfolk seem to get a way bigger pass to be problematic’ maybe take your gut reaction with a grain of salt. If you stop and think a minute and decide I’m still just net-Satan so be it, you stop and thought so I won’t try to dissuade you.

          And no I am not trolling. Its really surreal to assert ‘hmm I am concerned about casual misogyny’ (in a silly way because saying it seriously last time was Not Okay ™ ) and immediately be read as ‘looking for a fight’

        5. Lorien Inksong

          Ah more succinctly

          The tone-policing is enormous. Its like unless I practice perfect grammar, supernatural patience and grace, and gently kiss the forehead of anyone who might think they are somehow included all of what I said is automatically dismissed.

          And I see a lot more freaking out and picking apart the language and well just tone policing with the female characters in the comments than the male ones. I has a concern.
          (I haven’t mentioned the NB cast because we don’t have enough openly NB characters to have a sample set being ‘Booster reactions’ and that’s bad science)

        6. Lorien Inksong

          Oh to be clear I am in the NB category but my name and gravitar read as femme, hence the inclusion of my own experiences in the discussion of tone policing.

  41. Lorien Inksong

    I know it looks bad (real bad) but this seems promising. Yes kids this isn’t a healthy perfect start, I don’t recommend it IRL and Ruth is very problematic and everything. Just please remember Jason is being just as problematic here.

    Anyway disclaimer disclaimed they both seem into it, they seem emotionally prepared to deal with each other, and if this is a D/s dynamic it seems like a pretty good start to me. Jason SHOULD NOT have to do this but he could call out for help or use his phone if he big time did not consent to the situation. Other characters even came by. So yeah call me problematic too but I’m actually really interested in where this goes.

    1. zee

      Is Jason being problematic? I mean he’s the one who was taken hostage here.
      Not that i don’t love where this is going, it’s either gonna be a cute ship or a fun dramatic mess, either way I’m IN

      1. thejeff

        Obviously we didn’t see the start, but him enabling this, apparently without objection, is kind of a problem. Nothing wrong with this kind of thing – whatever it is, but you really need to negotiate the boundaries up front, especially with near strangers.

      2. Lorien Inksong

        Zee sweet summer child a rational reasonable bar-tender does not go home with a client. An inebriated client he could theoretically take advantage of. Having her stay at the bar to look out for her potentially having a reaction? Kindly and sweet. Probably should have tried to reach her contacts or get her a cab if he was worried about her beyond that point. Even if she initiated he shouldn’t have gone with her. ;; (Apologies my memory is in ribbons I’d have to go back to check for that detail.)

        Nah I wanted to point a neon sign at that bc all the readers seem to have already forgotten and I’m honestly worried about a young person giving a man a pass for being a creep when they shouldn’t and getting hurt. Its like the only thing I worry about with the next generation. Too trusting/weirdly defensive or taking light of things that shouldn’t be trusted.

  42. thumb

    I am feeling so bad for Daisy right now

    1. Zaxares

      I felt much the same way when Leslie cut short her date with… um, that dental assistant whose name I’ve now forgotten. IIRC, Leslie’s words to her were “I’m sorry, but I guess I’m not ready for dating yet.” And yet only a few days/weeks later, the assistant finds out that Leslie is boinking the dentist (whom the assistant has a HUGE unrequited love for). So while Leslie was trying to let her down easy, it must have been absolutely soul crushing to realize that what Leslie really meant was “I’m not ready for dating YOU”. :/

      1. zee

        Her name was Mindy!

      2. Sirksome

        That is actually a very similar and accurate comparison. Especially considering both girls got rejected for “being too nice”. Sure there were differences in justification for it. *Leslie saw too much of herself in Mindy as a people pleaser* *I guess Ruth is just self conscious about dating someone she thinks is a good person* but they ultimately left the “nice” person. That’s kind of a rough pill to swallow.

    2. Rabisch

      Why? She avoided to be handcuffed to a door by a very messed up character!

  43. eh, whatever

    UNHAND ME, VILLAIN!

    1. BenRG

      RUTH: “Do you really want me to?”

      JASON: “Other than the handcuffs? No.”

  44. Deanatay

    Panel 5 – clear evidence of Stockholm Syndrome?

    Wait… Sexy Stockholm Syndrome? Is that a thing?

  45. Alex

    This is really cute despite Jason still being handcuffed.

  46. Joya

    Not going to lie, I didn’t see this going in this direction at all. I am looking forward to seeing this unfold.

  47. zee

    Oh you know they fuckin

    1. zee

      Look at that anger on Ruth’s face. That’s her “we fuckin later” face

  48. Disastromatic

    Having screwed things up with America, England now tries to learn from its mistakes with Canada.

  49. Bleuryder

    This is coming from a place of ignorance so I apologize in advance, but isn’t Ruth a lesbian or was she bi like Billie too? It just seems a little weird to me that she’d be into a dude (again, I’m under the impression that she’s a lesbian), though not necessarily a bad thing.

    1. Beef

      I think Ruth was still unsure of her sexuality at the time. It seemed like Jennifer was the first woman she was with, that’s the impression I got from her conversation with Howard anyway.

    2. Spencer

      Ruth is bisexual and had a boyfriend back when she lived in Ontario. His name was Ciaran.

  50. Beef

    I hate this relationship and hope it ends soon

  51. Meagan

    I hella ship it. And thanks for the bi representation. Sometimes it seems like once a bi female is paired with a woman in a story, there’s some taboo about her getting with a guy after because then she’ll lose her queerness or something….

  52. MacareuxMoine

    I wonder whether Jason has a shift to work today – and how much he cares about whether he can make it, now.

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