Dynamite
Posted on March 31, 2017 by David M Willis

254 thoughts on “Dynamite”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “They’re your half”

    “EEW… it didn’t archive the whole site”

    1. Aeron

      Holy shit! I remember that comic, very first webcomic I ever read. 🙂

      +1 Ana

    2. Roborat

      Kinda sad I missed that one, it looked interesting, from what little I could see of it. When did it run?

      1. Ana Chronistic

        archive says 2000 to ~2006, I know he got married and possibly lives near me but that’s about it other than my vague memory of the plot outline

  2. Doctor_Who

    How old is Howard supposed to be? I mean, he’s pretty naive for someone with an older sister.

    Even as a little kid I knew girls use those things to plug their noses at night because snoring is unladylike.

    1. Danni

      i suspect hes 17

    2. Schpoonman

      Oh my god that is the greatest twist I’ve seen in months.

    3. CandidCanid

      He’s twelve in a sixteen-year-old body, I like to think.

    4. Woobie

      No, they are for nosebleeds.

      1. Leorale

        I think I know somebody whose little brother was like “you don’t have to hide that cotton candy in the bathroom anymore, I won’t steal it, I tried some and it was awful.”

    5. Bicycle Bill

      Achmed the Dead Terrorist:  Well, we found a machine. And if you put two shekels in it, a small missile would come out!

      Jeff Dunham:  A missile?

      Achmed the Dead Terrorist:  Well, I think it was. It had a little white fuse. And it must’ve been a very special missile, because it was lightly scented. And then you could put two shekels in the other machine and get the bonus accuracy package.

      Jeff Dunham:  What?

      Achmed the Dead Terrorist:  It had WINGS!

    6. Tawdry Quirks

      It’s a mouse-in-a-telescope present!

      1. Joe Covenant

        “Oh there’s a whole box of them in here! They’re called…. I have to go to the toilet!”

        (great days!)

      2. merbrat

        When I was in college, a friend used pads to line his speaker cabinet interiors. (I think he made his mom buy them for him,though). Said it worked great!

    7. zoelogical

      im. tampons for noses. what?

      1. Vulcanodon

        For severe nosebleed, cut 1cm tampon section, insert into nostril. Whole tampon can be used for bullet wound.

        1. Baronbrian

          Pads work well for wounds as well.

        2. Leorale

          Pads or diapers are also the best if your tent has leaked, it can soak up the standing water. It’s almost like they were designed to soak up liquid.

        3. zoelogical

          whoa

        4. Leorale

          That’s right, we self-treat our bullet wounds every month, period-havers are hardcore!

        5. Rukduk

          See, this is why a tribe of motorcycle Amazons has an edge in the post apocalypse.
          …
          Note to self: pitch post-apocalypse motorcycle Amazon tribe to struggling author friend to see if it’s cool or bullshit.

        6. Vulcanodon

          From what some of my woman friends tell me, a period can be just about as much discomfort!

    8. Joe Covenant

      “She uses them to blot her lipstick!”

  3. Danni

    the cousin to bad news bears: bad ideas billie

  4. Schpoonman

    Oh my god they’re having an adorable moment EEEEE.

    1. TheAnonymousGuy

      Lets enjoy the moment while it last, tomorrow it’s back to solving the everyday catastrophes

      1. Schpoonman

        SHIT.

        1. Haven

          Eh, that’s life though. Cuddle and be merry for tomorrow ye have shitty self-loathing thoughts that won’t go away.

      2. Koms

        Yeah.. Marcie being mad at Sal for instance.

      3. Andy

        And whatever Sir is doing to maintain his control over Ruth. Which scares the hell out of me.

  5. Shmid

    :’)

    just to be clear, ruth never has said she loved billie in this comic before, right?

    1. Danni

      the closest she came was “i dont like you, either”

    2. Valerie

      In the Slipshine comics I think they’ve said it.

      1. Valerie

        Never mind, I read back through their comic just now. They didn’t say it.

      2. madock345

        Even if they did, I think everyone knows sex “I love you”s don’t count.

        1. KristiEllKay

          I hope that’s a joke, and not the really troubling remark it seems to be at first blush… =/

        2. a4lbi

          I think what they were going for “sex != [does not equal] romance” thing, but there could be another angle I didn’t catch.

    3. Mnemnosyne

      I seem to remember Ruth saying it to a sleeping Billie in her bed at some point, hence the ‘you weren’t paying attention’ part.

    4. David F

      Actually, Ruth has said “I love you” to Billie before. It was just kind of sarcastic.

      December 30, 2014

  6. Doctor_Who

    Ruth in panel two has reach some new, previously undiscovered level of Tsundere.

    “What? J-just because I love you doesn’t mean I like you or anything.”

  7. fillerusername

    They’re tampons, right? He’s never seen or heard of tampons?

    1. Danni

      hes probably never seen them

    2. NotPiffany

      American Sex Ed hasn’t done him any favors.

      Or he could be messing with Ruth.

      1. Danni

        american sex ed is shit

        1. fillerusername

          Even with american sex ed I still have to believe he’s been pretty deeply sheltered to have made it to 16 without knowing what tampons are. He lived with Ruth and he doesn’t seem that respectful of privacy so I find it hard to believe he wouldn’t have stumbled on them in her possession in the past.

        2. fillerusername

          Also like assuming he goes to a public high school and has any access to internet or tv or has just walked aimlessly through a drug store at any point and seen them advertised. They’re not some big secret.

        3. fillerusername

          So yeah this degree of naivety actually makes me more worried about him.

        4. BBCC

          He might know what tampons are and just not recognize them on sight. Especially since Meredith apparently stores them unpackaged.

        5. fillerusername

          That’s still Meredith’s room? Them not being Ruth’s makes this so much worse.

        6. BBCC

          They haven’t left that area, so I think it is. Poor Meredith.

        7. StClair

          This is my guess.

          And yes, poor Meredith.

        8. Dragon_Nataku

          Not all women use tampons. Some just use the pads exclusively. I’ll spare you the details.

        9. fillerusername

          Yeah I’m aware.

        10. fillerusername

          I also made the assumption they were Ruth’s tampons when I thought he was in Ruth’s room, not still in Meredith’s.

        11. fillerusername

          Which is why I assumed he would have stumbled upon them while living with Ruth and snooping in her possessions at some point.

        12. KristiEllKay

          I had to wait until I was in college/out on my own to get tampons. I got the impression they were dirty or slutty (??) from my parents, and Nice Girls ™ used pads.

          Admittedly, I realize now that we were at least pseudo-fundies (a term I’d never even heard of before Willis comics), and I don’t think Ruth was, but then again, she recognized Amy Grant playing at Joyce’s party, so who knows.

        13. tim gueguen

          Amy Grant had secular pop hits, so Ruth wouldn’t need to have ever heard her gospel stuff to recognise her.

        14. 0kami-kun

          American ̶S̶e̶x̶ Ed is shit

          Fixed that for ya.

        15. Andy

          But even by our low standards, our sex ed is generally shit.

        16. Roborat

          If you think that is bad, you should see what Japan is like.

        17. Baronbrian

          American Sex Ed is shit.

          Fixed it twice for ya.

        18. SgtWadeyWilson

          That seems largely unfair to, like, Canada and at least parts of South and Central America.

        19. Baronbrian

          Sorry. I’m a product of American education. They only teach you about one America there.

        20. tim gueguen

          Calling a Canadian an American will get you a dirty look.

        21. Leorale

          And then profuse apologies for looking at you rudely.

        22. BBCC

          Nah, you call us Americans, you deserve whatever look you get.

        23. BBCC

          Canada is not part of America in that sense. We call that chunk of land North America, not just America.

    3. Sam

      He may repress some memories and information to be able to act as innocent and mostly cheerful as he does. After all, he did say in his last visit that life in America wasn’t as bad as Ruth made it out to be… even though he is the target of their grandfather’s aggression as we now know.

    4. zoelogical

      honestly like…. sometimes you can just super oblivious to things that are not in your personal experience, you know?? and a lot of dudes do not attempt to learn the ways of periods, because a)blood b)unmanly or something. like if you don’t have up close and personal experience with something and only ever hear about it vaguely it can make the thing feel unreal.

      anyways odds are that howard doesn’t take out ruth’s bathroom trash

    5. JohnF

      Many years ago a male friend went shopping with my sister. She bought some pads. At the chechout, Graeme asked “What are these? Some kind of health food?”

      He was 25.

      A surprising number of adult men, with sisters, have no clue whatsoever about feminine sanitary products.

  8. Fart Captor

    Awwwww ^_^

    1. Micro-Girl

      I second that Awww! :3

  9. Cholma

    Ask Joyce, Howie; they’re probably “hair curlers”.

  10. Shiro

    …sweet honey child, how in the world have you gotten to the age of wanting to see a boob without learning what a tampon is.

    Also, panel 3 is just so wonderfully sweet and vulnerable and lovely that my land is fertile, my well is fresh, my crops are fruitful, the hole in the ozone is closing, etc etc. New fave, I think ♥

    1. Shiro

      Should that be my new icon? Does it beat the super-allies-team-up? Hmmm…

    2. BBCC

      You’d be surprised how many guys I know forget about periods or don’t know how it or other bodily functions work.

      1. Shiro

        That’s a point. I did once have to explain to an 18-year-old guy, legally a grown-ass adult, that women were not all lactating at all times.

        1. BBCC

          You’d be surprised how many folks believe a hymen is a sort of filmy cover that is SUPPOSED to break like a freshness seal your first time (it can, as it can with any serious physical activity, but it’s not necessarily SUPPOSED to – that thing is meant to stretch).

        2. Fart Captor

          What? Next you’ll be telling me that girls don’t pee from the butt

        3. Fart Captor

          …which always confused me. If a guy has to pee in the girl’s butt to make a baby, how do girls not end up impregnating themselves all the time??

        4. BBCC

          Different holes and fluids, FC. Different holes and fluids.

        5. Fart Captor

          You mean girls got TWO buttholes??

        6. BBCC

          ….Yes, dear, that’s it.

          Have a cookie.

        7. Dana

          I’m so tempted to set this comment, with no context, as my status on Skype.

        8. Cerberus

          Yeah, the amount of biologic ignorance about these things in America is pretty bad. Which is why I try and spend a little extra time on the reproductive system when I can going over pregnancy effects on the carrying parent, menstruation, similarities in hormone patterns for testosteronated systems and estrogenated systems, intersex, what a hymen actually is, and the clitoris and its similarities to the penis.

          And its terrifying for how many high schoolers some of these concepts is the first they’ve heard of these things.

        9. BBCC

          I’m glad they have you, and their ignorance is unsurprising but concerning.

        10. Fart Captor

          Geez, I don’t even think my high school sex ed class covered that stuff. They sorted out the basics of puberty and “how is babby formed?” by middle school, but capoodle operation and maintenance was not explained to boys except in most abstract terms, to the point where I actually did end up thinking girls peed from their butts in second or third grade, after they’d taught basic sex ed.

          High school sex ed was almost entirely focused on scaring you about STDs and unplanned pregnancy, though my school at least acknowledged the existence of condoms and birth control :/

        11. Andy

          @Cerberus I wrote a fanfic with an explicit lesbian sex scene, and had one character insist on protection as a characterization moment. I Years later, I am still depressed by how many comments of “I didn’t know dental dams were a thing!” I still get. You are doing the work of glory there, we need it badly.

        12. BBCC

          My sex ed started around 5th grade. That was about periods and very basic ‘what the hell is going on with my body’ puberty stuff. 6th was much the same, plus ‘this is how you make a baby’. 7th was I think about anatomy (don’t think we learned about the hymen – I heard that first from an older lady friend when I was 15-16ish iirc who pointed me at scarleteen or maybe a very snarky 50 shades review). When I was in 8th, I mostly recall them trying to get us comfortable talking about it and saying words and talking about what pregnancy was like.

          We only had to take gym (and therefore health) in 9th grade at my high school, but they were pretty good. We talked about consent, body image, STDs, SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF BIRTH CONTROL HOLY SHIT, and also about your options if you were pregnant – what giving birth entailed, what giving up for adoption entailed, and because this was a Catholic school a quick little line going ‘And sure, you COULD get an abortion, but that’s not okay with the Church, but if you really want to you could, here, let’s watch another video about someone who was given up for adoption and about waiting until marriage.’ And no word about other orientations or gender identities (though the psychology class there taught us that trans kids were valid and could definitely know they were trans, and the school counsellors had LGBT+ support stickers saying those kids could come in to talk if they needed it, so win some, lose some?)

        13. Mr.Morningstar

          beleieve or not when i was a little little kid i did think girls had two butts because i saw a girl naked in the changing room (we were all young enough that it wasn’t weird) and that she had a butt on the front

        14. KristiEllKay

          30 years old, and never heard that before in my life. It was kind of progressive to admit they could break by some sort of physical activity that wasn’t sex. Then again, my home state is making it legal for doctors to lie to pregnant women if they think they might get an abortion if they know the truth, so yeah.

        15. Baronbrian

          I just imagined a new can of Pringles and yeah, I giggled.

        16. tim gueguen

          Fetish porn, you have much to apologise for.

        17. Jon Rich

          “That’s a point. I did once have to explain to an 18-year-old guy, legally a grown-ass adult, that women were not all lactating at all times.”

          ….Shouldn’t that be *beyond* obvious, if he’s ever seen an adult woman? Specifically, an adult woman not breastfeeding or using a breast pump at the time? The milk has to go somewhere. I can’t even fathom how anyone could fail to understand that, no matter how bad (or even non-existent) their sex education is.

        18. BBCC

          Should be obvious, and yet apparently isn’t.

        19. 3oranges

          I think it must have meant being able to lactate like in nursing, and not doing so continuously. That’s still wrong, but it’s not quite breaks-conservation-of-mass wrong.

        20. Shiro

          Nope, he thought that all women had milk in their breasts at all times and if sufficiently manually stimulated, it would come out.

          He also thought that doing so would make a visual difference in breast size.

          Did I mention I was also fwb with the guy at the time? (This was back in high school.) He most definitely should have known better.

        21. Victor

          So, yeah, it’s kinda wrong. But…

          http://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/lactating-not-pregnant

        22. Shiro

          That could be where he got the idea, but I very much was not lactating at the time and he definitely thought it was universal rather than just possible.

        23. Roborat

          This sub thread is funny and sad at the same time.

        24. Roborat

          Maybe he figured he was manually stimulating you wrong.

  11. Derek

    Howard has my sympathy for having to live under the thumb of Horrible Grandpa but I don’t like him, then again I don’t like Joyce but I sympathize with her situation too

    1. thejeff

      Not surprising. Abused kids often appear unlikable. They act out. They’ve learned inappropriate behaviors. They have weird coping mechanisms.

  12. Keulan

    Dammit Howard stop killing the adorable moment.

    1. Bagge

      He’s a little brother. That’s what they are for

  13. Stephen Bierce

    Should I have started a h8-fk bracket for March?

    1. Danni

      i want to keep some money in my checking account

  14. Kris

    Meredith stashes explosives on campus!

  15. PapayaPunkPixie

    Who’s the person in the bottom right of panel 4?

    1. John

      My theory is that it’s Bloodrose, and she’s Agatha’s roommate.

      1. Keulan

        I was thinking the same thing. I’m gonna assume she’s Bloodrose until Willis says otherwise.

        1. Cholma

          I’m pretty sure that’s a Naruto character who accidentally wandered into the wrong show. 😉

        2. Needfuldoer

          We’re sure it’s not that character from Adventure Time?

    2. AgentKeen

      Hmmm, no tag, so probably unnamed extra.

      Quick, everyone decide they’re your favorite so that Willis puts them in a Patreon strip and has to name them.

      1. Dana

        I’m still hoping for a woman in the red car/puppy Dorothy team up.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Guns locked everyone else out of the weight room in the gym so she has it all to herself, it’s their job to convince her to let eveybody else back in.

          The apologists in the comments all shout “she was just trying to st pump iron!”

      2. John

        She appears back here, too.

        So, back in the Walkyverse, Squad 135, who were the designated Squad That Actually Does Stuff But Aren’t The Main Protagonists Or Cameos By Willis’s Internet Friends, had five members… Daisy, Beef, Bryan, Jim, and Bloodrose. It was kind of a running gag that Bloodrose was never clearly seen in the strip. She’d appear as a boot sticking past a panel border, or a silhouette in the shadows, or the like.

        Agatha’s roommate is still unaccounted for, and goth-chick Bloodrose seems like exactly the kind of person whoever came up with the room assignments that put Roz and Mary together would think would make a hilarious match for indefatigably cheerful Agatha. So, yeah, that’s my theory.

        1. BBCC

          My head canon was Meredith, but I can see Bloodrose too.

        2. BBCC

          * For Agatha’s roommate, that is, tattooed girl is totally Bloodrose.

      3. BBCC

        BITE YOUR TONGUE. If I have to wait any longer to see how Marcie’s doing post rally, my head will actually pop.

        (I am of course joking, you all should vote however you like).

    3. Kamino Neko

      That’s not a person…a zombie apocalypse happened in the backstory, now they’re allowed to just wander around because people have realized they’re harmless.

  16. Jess

    Panels four and five are so sweet. I don’t much approve of their relationship as is, but I’m glad they don’t have to hide it anymore.

    1. Cerberus

      Yeah, there’s a lot of freedom in being out of the closet and it reduces a lot of stress and fear. Their ability to comfort each other in the hall is a really sweet moment and would be impossible in the state they were in before.

      1. Roborat

        Yes, but standing there for three days is a bit much.

    2. Samantha

      I actually do approve of their relationship now. They have developed into a much healthier and more stable dynamic they are actually communicating and explaining their feelings and getting help it’s much more hopeful. Ruth actually explained why she was nervous and pushed Billie to leave and Billie actually didn’t interrupt or cause tension until she saw Ruth being threatened she came to her defense I think they can work and help each other much better now

      1. Jess

        What you say is true, but they’re still codependent and that Worries me. It’s also pretty early in the recovery process for Ruth, so it’s hard to tell how that’s going to go or how it will affect their relationship, especially re: codependency. But I guess we’ll see.

        TLDR It definitely is better than it was, but it’s only been like half a day since they were back in the same space in comic-time so I’m still very concerned about the whole thing.

        1. Samantha JohnsonSa

          This is very true but I for once feel goood about rooting for them and think they can actually be goodnfor eachother as thry recover together in liking this very protective and sweet billie and seeing a more vilnersble human ruth i think thry can make it work

    3. KristiEllKay

      YES! My initial thought was everyone was crowding around, just by the way the others were oriented in 4, and then BAM, panel 5 shows they were just walking past. I love that it’s not even a big deal to anyone, it’s just so ~normal and accepted~ it makes my heart ache for them.

  17. Lingo

    The girl in the foreground in Panel 4 reminds me of Sally from A Nightmare Before Christmas. A rebellious teenage Sally. (So basically Sal.)

  18. MissFortune

    That would be a good April Fools joke, since tomorrow is March 31.

  19. RacingTurtle

    …The untagged person is Bloodrose, isn’t it.

    No Walkyverse character left unused! Kinda!

    1. BBCC

      That’s my head canon!

  20. Cody Connelly

    That third panel is one of the most adorable panels I’ve seen in awhile.

  21. Just Here

    It’s like pulling the pin on a grenade. Three seconds later…

  22. Valerie

    It took me a minute to realize that Howard is talking about tampons, and now I’m just wondering what made him think to open the package and take them out of the applicator.

    1. Ansel

      applicator-less ones, maybe? although yeah seriously who looks at menstrual supplies and opens them? if anything they look like sterile-packed first aid stuff or something, and presumably he can read (even if he didn’t get what the labeling meant, he could read enough to know they’re not like, snacks).

      1. Joe Covenant

        Unless it’s one of those – “Look! FLOWERS! And nothing else! Because we all know how MORTIFIED you would be if anyone knew you carried TAMPONS around with you!” – boxes….?

        1. Ansel

          oh yeah, fair. I assumed they’d just be in their packaging. But in a case, or loose to be stuffed into a purse would make more sense.

          Although still, also, why would you open more than one? When it’s not even your house?

  23. Fart Captor

    Given the context here, where you’re talking about violence against a kid who’s been abused, describing it someone trying to explain away the injuries they’ve caused, this is kinda gross.

  24. Shiro

    That “joke” was in extraordinarily poor taste given that we just found out Howard’s an abused kid.

  25. Fallingivy

    So, does Howard act ‘younger’ than he is (presumably 16 or 17) as a defense mechanism? I know that was something I particularly used to do sometimes, acting more immaturely in a ‘cute’ sort of way as a way of making myself seem…I guess, unassuming, or more innocent. So I wouldn’t get punished. I’m wondering if that’s part of why his behavior seems off for his age to me.

    1. fillerusername

      I’m thinking it’s either a coping mechanism or he’s been very deeply sheltered. Likely by Ruth who I’m guessing stepped up as the actual nurturer in his life at a very young age. He wasn’t getting that from “Sir.” His grandfather probably paid very limited attention to him and Ruth probably never stopped seeing him as her baby brother.

  26. JayTheBookworm

    Ye gods, it’s almost like they are in a healthy caring relationship! :O

    1. Dana

      Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll find a way to return to normal.

  27. MatsuoTanuki

    *spontaneously grows yet another hand and quadruple facepalms*

    1. Tacos

      How many hands will you have spontaneously grown by the end of this?

      1. MatsuoTanuki

        Depends on how many times Howie says or does something stupid or oblivious.

        1. Tacos

          So… all of the hands then?

        2. MatsuoTanuki

          If it keeps up at this rate I’ll look like a failed Hecatoncheir by mid-April…

  28. Rayrayravona

    But who is the untagged MYSTERY CHARACTER in the bottom right of panel four???

    1. Ashley

      It’s Pikachu!

      1. Schpoonman

        “GODDAMMIT AAAAA-“

  29. Fart Captor

    You really need to flip between yesterday’s strip and today’s to fully appreciate Billie’s delayed reaction. It’s adorable

  30. Some1

    Is there any possibility that an accident (such as a car crash) when someone is a baby would cause them to act younger than they are?

    1. JessWitt

      Well, developmental regression is a possible repercussion among victims of abuse, but I can’t really say if that applies to Howard without further evidence.

  31. Jaime

    SQUEE! 😀

    Yeah, I’m in the Ruth/Billie camp here, I’m afraid. Yeah, they are both damaged, and they run the danger of continuing to enable each other in their relationship.

    But, if you think about it: Ruth is on medication and starting to get the help she needs (even if it took a pretty catatrophic event for her to get that help). When is the last time we’ve seen Billie drink on-panel? Of course that doesn’t mean she has stopped drinking, but she appears to be functional and supportive enough of Ruth lately that she doesn’t seem to be falling-down drunk, as we’ve seen her before.

    I grew up in the Northeast with mandatory sex education in school and a very open-minded mom; I actually have no memory of ever NOT knowing what sex, menstruation, human anatomy, and childbirth were. I’ve got no personal authority to say what it’s like for people in other parts of the country and with repressive parents like Sir.

    Also, considering Sir’s abusiveness, and Howard’s exictedness about “Game of Thrones,” it does seem like Howard grew up fairly sheltered.

    I also wonder if this isn’t a wee bit of a commentary about how non-period-having people in this country aren’t expected to know much about what it means to be a period-having-person? (I’m trying here to avoid problematic gendered language.) I’m a cisgender female, and I can tell you a LOT about condoms, vasectomies, nocturnal emissions, and the whole supression of the “male birth control pill,” because that’s information that it’s important for and even contingent upon me to know. But I don’t know if non-period-having people are generally given the equivalent level of information or even feel that is necessary.

    (Quick anecdote: During that “time of the month,” I get VERY sick. A number of years ago I was on a road trip with a whole bunch of my male friends at the time and I had to tell them we unexpectedly needed to stop at a pharmacy so I could get a refill on my pain meds and some tampons. Since I was with my friends, I explained the situation. I SWEAR every single guy – except the man who is now my long-term partner – froze up, shrank away from me, and basically started stammering about *anything else* but the fact that I was currently having a period. True story.) 🙁

    1. Rukduk

      I’m a cisgender male and do thankfully know some things about the menstrual cycle and periods. I’m also really, really confused that a lot of other cis-guys either don’t know a damn thing or prefer to talk about something else. It’s a perfectly normal function of the human body and something every straight (and bisexual) cis-guy should know about if they want to have a healthy relationship later on in life. For example, one my friends suffers from incredibly bad stomach cramps. I’ve been helping her out whenever she runs out of pain meds or tampons for a good four years now. Did the same thing for the few people I’ve dated as well. I was shocked that they were surprised I was willing to do that for them no questions asked. Is the assumption that I’ll somehow be emasculated if I’m seen in the female hygiene aisle? If so, said assumption is ridiculous.

      1. BenRG

        It’s not exactly something that I enjoy thinking about on several levels but I don’t see any point pretending that it doesn’t happen or building a wall of ignorance around it.

    2. Cerberus

      The way so many in our society consider it a positive masculine quality to be deeply ignorant of the biology of people with uteruses is frankly deplorable, but yeah, it’s wide-spread and there tends to be a system of violence where cis dudes who show no squeamishness and seem to understand how it all works get viciously mocked by the ignorant ones for being “gay”.

      1. Gwen

        You would think if anything, knowledge of how vaginas work might indicate an interest in them rather than the opposite. But, you know, attitudes and culture are not always rational.

    3. Dandi_Andi

      I do not have a uterus, but I know enough about menstrual cycles to not embarrass myself publicly as Howard has. I credit a rather magnificent friend of mine who refuses to allow me to remain ignorant about things that are important to her. She also refuses to feel ashamed of her bodily functions.

      At Howard’s age, though? While I knew what tampons are, I didn’t know much about menstruation beyond “women get moody and irrational once a month and bleed from their genitals.” My mother had a full hysterectomy when I was very young, so it didn’t come up in my house until my little sister hit puberty. Even then, it was treated as something embarrassing and personal that was better left undiscussed.

      What seems to me both unimaginable and yet painfully obvious is that even my ex-wife didn’t really talk much about her cycle. Occasionally, she’d ask me to bring home hygiene products of one type or another, but didn’t discuss it otherwise. I say it seems unimaginable because I lived with her and it happened every month. I really should have been more aware of it. Of course, I didn’t have to deal with it and it was “embarrassing and personal and better left undiscussed”.

    4. ischemgeek

      I believe Howard’s level of ignorance here – because my father, an emergency room physician who would stick his hand in your face and loudly proclaim that he “Didn’t need to hear that” if you breathed a whiff of a hint in menstruation’s general conversational direction (despite being a man who would to show his macho card loudly regale everyone with the size, consistency and malodorousness of his shit at lunch and who, I remind you, works at an ER and therefore sees everything from perforated bowels to fracture dislocations to infected diabetic ulcers on a regular basis) has yelled at the menstruating members of the household before for:
      * Using “too many” menstrual products (one a day in the case of pads or 3 a day in the case of tampons “should be enough” – FYI even with pads you want to change more than once a few days because otherwise you can get yeast and vaginal infections and besides, the stink of a pad that’s been rotting at your crotch for a day is something you wouldn’t believe. On a hygiene basis, trust me non-menstruators, you want to change it more often).
      * Being sick during our menstruation. I am a person who, when not on birth control, gets systemically ill for my period. By “systemically ill,” I mean, I am puking, weak, shakey, nauseous, sweaty, and feverish, with muscle pain and muscle swelling. Plus, have you ever worked out really hard and got that muscle-burning feeling? Imagine that feeling everywhere in your body at once. All that together is how I get on my period when not on birth control. I don’t get cramps, I get sick. To the point that I am essentially bedridden for three days every time it comes around if I’m not on BC. My father in his infinite wisdom decided I wasn’t really sick and just needed to get over being such a drama queen about my period.
      *Messes caused by surprise appearances of the damn thing. Cuz womminz are supposed to have a sixth sense about when our crotch is going to decide it wants to bleed a week early less than a year after getting their first-ever period, amirite?

      … and I could go on.

      I’ve also seen male bosses ask if employees could “hold it” when they realized their period came at work (… no. No she can’t. Let her go put a fucking menstrual product in. It’ll take like five minutes).

      I’ve seen dudes in residence chase each other around with and run screaming in horror from a new tampon still in its wrapper.

      Like, seriously, the level of willful ignorance and revulsion many cisdudes have with menstruation is completely beyond. And like as a trans dude my own menstration is its own kind of horrible for me but it’s more from a “my anatomy is wrong and I can’t escape it” sense than anything else (I fucking hate my period and my mental health basically drops off a cliff once a month. Been working on any doctor I meet to give me some form of BC that will stop the damn thing in its tracks but as a person who hasn’t had kids yet and looks feminine enough they parse me as cis female, I get a whole lot of “But there are risks associated with it, can’t you just put up with it! We don’t want you to end up infertile!” (UM, yes, actually, I do. In fact, the only reason I’m on BC in the first place is that I have yet to find a doc who’ll perform a hysterectomy/tubal ligation on me because I “might” change my mind about kids some day. Haven’t changed it in 20+ years, but ok, sure, doc. You know me better than I know me or whatever.).

      1. Gwen

        Ugh, I’m sorry about your dad, and also so sorry you haven’t been able to find supportive doctors.

      2. Derek

        too many menstrual products?? was he COUNTING them??

      3. Mr.Morningstar

        Yeah it’s super dumb. Honestly as a cis dude if my lady friends (or trans dude friends) are on their period my usual reaction is “shit that sucks”.

        I find it pretty dumb how we can’t actually talk about this bodily functions without someone going “EEEW” as if it’s some horrific thing.

        honestly the only thing i don’t like hearing about is poop. Anyone’s bowl movements should stay firmly out of my conversations :I

    5. thejeff

      Leaving the whole menstruation thing aside since it seems to have been well covered, the last time we saw Billie drinking on screen was, I believe, yesterday with Dorothy.
      She’s generally been a pretty functional drunk, with fairly long periods between actual falling down episodes. I don’t think there’s any reason to suspect she’s changed her drinking habits.

  32. JessWitt

    Public hugs! Glad Mary Killjoy is not around to dampen the mood.

    1. Gwen

      But have you seen the sketch of her over at kickstarter? It’s glorious.

  33. Ashley

    I don’t remember when I learned about tampons, but I’m glad that the women in my life never shied away from explaining stuff about their periods when I asked about it.

    1. JessWitt

      I’m sure a lot of male politicians would be more enlightened from such openness as well. Course they’d have to be receptive to it first.

  34. Rukduk

    1) Ok. Heart is melting and coming out my eyes.
    2) Oh Billie, you’re underestimating Howard. He only needs to be let loose for three minutes. And then somehow the dorm will be burning down, Meredith will be seeking a restraining order against Howard, and “Sir” will be in the same cell as Toedad. Because Howard is a completely unpredictable disappearing ball of naive destruction when unwatched.

    1. Bagge

      Howard: “Ooooops, how clumsy and stupid of little naive nincompoop Howard. Oooops, silly me, comitting arson as a minor. Oooops, my ‘dearest’ gramp is in jail…. sorry “Sir”, but when you play the game of thrones you…” *takes swig from coke bottle* “…play to win.”

      1. Rukduk

        Oh dear lord please tell me he hasn’t caught up with season 5!! He might get some dangerous ideas…

        1. Bagge

          That’s what this arc is all about. Howard’s epic quest for boobies will culminate in him watching the latest seasons and getting… ideas.

  35. Aprion

    Oh for the love of everything unholy, Howard, F off, you’re ruining a perfect little moment. Go be a little bawheed elsewere.

    1. Joe Covenant

      Do I spy a fellow Scot!? 🙂

  36. Peter

    I’m ashamed to admit that “spongy dynamite sticks” actually took me a moment to parse…

    1. Micro-Girl

      I didn’t figure it out until i read the comments 😛

      1. Peter

        I got there before reading the comments, but I had to think about it. In my defense, tampons aren’t really very popular in my native Denmark. All the women in my life have used pads.

    2. zoelogical

      SAME

      w t f

    3. Liliet

      same omfg I did not look too closely at the art until I came down to the comments and found out everyone seemed to know for a fact what they were

      1. Gamaran Sepudomyn

        Until I read your comment, I didn’t even realize they were in the drawing at all.

  37. Pigeon Pollyx

    Ya’ll flipped on Howard like a dime, huh

  38. Bagge

    Awwwwwwwwwwwwww. They love each other and they can display it openly. Some things are not worse.

  39. StClair

    First: Awwwwwww.

    Second: Pretty sure that Howard is that sheltered (remember Joyce’s first encounter with Other Jacob?); also, there’s a difference between knowing vaguely about something and actually coming across the actual item “in the wild”, as it were.

    I imagine a next strip in which Ruth states flatly, “They’re tampons,” and Howard reacts with some variation on “EWWW!” and flinging them at his sister as if they were already used.

  40. Tacos

    Jeez I think this kid is more sheltered than Joyce if he doesn’t know what tampons are. Also I don’t think they ever left Meredith’s room so….

    1. Scar Man!!!

      i guarantee you that Joyce’s brothers (and their secret sister) weren’t told either.

    2. Fart Captor

      This IS the same kid who thought Ruth might get lesbian pregnant…

      1. Scar Man!!!

        yep, definitely kept out of health class. I’d be honestly surprised if he knows what to call a vag

  41. vlademir1

    Ya know, if you didn’t know about or just out and out ignored all the more problematic stuff in their relationship, Ruth and Billie can make for a really cute couple. The above applies across both Willis continuities.

    Howard, meanwhile, is either the biggest ninny in this continuity compared to how he was in the other one (where he also had some serious issues) or else his defense mechanisms are so significantly honed that it’s depressing. This comes across as a mix of sublimation with some serious regression.

  42. Cerberus

    Comic Reactions:

    I love this moment without reservation. It’s genuinely sweet in a way they haven’t had and a clear sign that the therapy is working for Ruth and getting her to a headspace where she can be more present and open about how special and important Billie is to her. And Billie could use that confirmation of Ruth’s love for her.

    This moment is one where I’m actually starting to unreservedly root for these two to make it work, because no matter how much bad there has been and how much bad there still is to remove, this is a clear sign that they are on the road to being healthier and having a healthier more openly loving dynamic with each other with mutual support and recognition.

    And that’s beautiful to see because too often depictions of love in recovery are either “love cures mental illness” bullshit or “they’re doomed because they’re craaaaazy” and it’s nice to see all the stumbling and fuckups but a really positive direction of two folks recovering from hell together despite their own mental illnesses making things harder.

    And those Panels 4-5 are adorable. Hugging out in the open for minutes as the world moves around them. Just being present in the moment with each other, out in the open, without the fear and panic that has defined so much of their relationship.

    Carla took a big and exceedingly dangerous risk in outing them to try and save Ruth, but I’m glad she did because this is something they needed. To be able to be open and honest and real and not feel they had to play up their least healthy dynamics to “hide it away”.

    And it’s having a healthy effect on the hall. Already, we’ve seen Grace, Mandy, and Sierra being much more open and loving in the hallways where they were more reserved and cagey before and I suspect knowing that the RA is queer will make it feel safer for more folks to come out and feel safe expressing themselves more in public.

    And that’s really why Mary tried to drive Ruth to suicide. To stop that idea that queer kids can love themselves and be as open as straight kids about the ways they love. To prevent that feeling of safety for folks like Carla or Sierra or Grace or Mandy. That’s why Mary types in general try and make it punitive for queer folks to be in public.

    Because when queer kids see themselves around themselves, it’s much harder to convince them that their whole identity is wrong and must be hidden.

    This moment is a celebration of love. And that love is powerful. It’s not enough to save these two from their demons, but it’s enough to not be destroyed by those demons. And I can’t help hoping they sort out the rest of their shit and continue to build something that’s slowly healthier and healthier.

    1. pl0x

      I love this comment! Thank you Cerberus!

      1. Gwen

        Yes. I agree so wholeheartedly about the need for stories where people with mental illnesses are neither cured by love or prevented from enjoying love by their crazy. Hell, if you even try to look for resources on how to be the partner of someone with a mental illness, half of what you find will just tell them to run.

    2. Ryan

      THIS!

    3. Liliet

      god bless this comment (as ironic as this phrasing is in context)

      1. Rukduk

        Eh, if god really does exist, I’d say Cerberus already has a reserved seat for her in heaven at this rate. If not, I call dibs on haunting Oil Executives as a malicious ghost.

    4. JBento

      My favourite part about panels 4-5? That nobody cares. Everyone just passes them by as if there was nothing to see there, and that’s my favourite part because there really isn’t.

    5. Eukie

      Billie is a person who doesn’t put much value in people saying they love her. She only really believes it when she’s having sex with the people she’s in love with. I think today’s comic shows that Billie has started putting actual faith in Ruth’s declarations, rather than relying on sex.

      And she recognizes that, yes, she actually loves Ruth, and she knows/understands that saying it will reassure Ruth.

    6. Scar Man!!!

      hey Cerberus, unrelated, but you’re kind of a guru on this. Does being heterosexual but biromantic mean I can be considered part of the asexual/demisexual community?

      I mean, I’m pretty sure fear of aphobia will keep me from ever dating a guy, but some guys are just so adorable and dateable, or look like they’re big and strong and huggable

  43. BenRG

    I’m glad that Howard understands his traditional role well enough to be the pesky little brother who appears at just the wrong time and says just the wrong thing! If nothing else, his life can be remembered for this sparkling timing of his intervention here. What an achievement! 😀

  44. Ann Ominous

    Personally, I feel like there’s a bit of a tonal dissonance in how we were delivered the news that Howard is being abused by Clint yesterday and Billie insulting his intelligence today, as if she glossed over that bombshell entirely or if she’s just outright ignoring it.

    I dunno, it may just be me.

    1. Liliet

      Human mind compartmentalizes. You can’t keep this kind of thing in your awareness all the time, or you’d be non-functional.

      Also, this isn’t even Ruth’s room he’s coming out of, it’s Meredith’s. They aren’t insulting his intelligence, they are complimenting his capacity for spreading chaos and destruction.

  45. Micro-Girl

    I’m cool with Ruth as RA again, but didn’t we vote for “unknown evil”?

    1. Liliet

      did you seriously expect Willis to obey the vote?

    2. JBento

      You’re getting a known evil, and you’re going to LIKE IT!

    3. Cerberus

      And we got “sir”. Clearly we got what we asked for if not what we wanted.

      1. Scar Man!!!

        DAMN YOU, WILLIS!

        So glad I finally got to say that

    4. BBCC

      This storyline was already written, I almost guarantee it. It was an opinion poll, not a vote with weight.

    5. hof1991

      Ruth in therapy and love might be an “unknown evil”.

    6. Emperor Daniel

      Unknown Evil won the popular vote.

  46. Doopyboop

    I had a bad night tonight so even though she’s barely in this strip can I just extend my gratitude for Dina’s character? She’s good, and her relationship with Becky is lovely and I can see myself in her a lot. And it’s so nice to see a character who is still figuring themselves out, who doesn’t really FEEL a sex drive, yet can get into a relationship and gain some happiness from that.

    And gratitude is extended for Carla as well, for being confirmed Ace and an all around badass. She’s great, Dina is great, they’re lovely and they make me feel good.

    1. Cerberus

      *Appropriate gesture of ace celebration, but also support for the bad day* and yeah, I love the bits of ace rep we get in this strip!

      1. Scar Man!!!

        Willis’s Heel-face turn was slow but satisfying

      2. Doopyboop

        Thank you, Cerberus <3 I'm feeling much better than I did last night. Every little bit of support helps.

  47. StClair

    I’m choosing to take Ruth’s avoidance of eye contact as “cute” (and/or “tsun”) rather than “worrisome”.

  48. Valdvin

    I don’t remember Billie’s face having that happy-surprise look as in panel 1 for some time.

    The long shots, indicating passage of time, with the held hug are wonderful to see and a nice storytelling device.

    Dr. Beverly’s now subtly shown to have been taken seriously by, and of real help, to Ruth. Was wondering how Ruth did in hospital, and the little details being leaked out is a good bit.

    Still waiting for Joyce Brown, Love Ghost to appear!

  49. BenRG

    Just an additional note: I’ve just worked out the punchline from Howie and I seriously can’t believe that any modern-educated boy could possibly be that ignorant!

    1. JBento

      I’m having problems with that – I’ve looked at a strip for MINUTES, and I’m still not sure. Is it tampons? I’m leaning towards tampons, but I’m having problems convincing my brain that a, what, 15 year old?, doesn’t know what a tampon looks like.

    2. Scar Man!!!

      it doesn’t surprise me. Especially with a conservative, controlling guardian and the state he lives in

  50. JBento

    Who’s tattoed girl in panel 4? Have we seen her before? Is she a random NPC of no consequence, or did Willis just forget to tag her?

    1. BenRG

      She’s untagged and, off hand, I have never seen a character with that look before in the strip. Then again, I’m not exactly the sort of guy who obsessively catalogues nameless and unspeaking background characters so I could be quite wrong.

      1. John

        Fortunately, I’m exactly that sort of guy. It’s not her first appearance. I’m assuming, until proven otherwise, that she’s minor Walkyverse character/running gag Bloodrose.

        1. JBento

          Hooray for that sort of guy!

  51. Mr.Morningstar

    does howard really not know what a tampon is at 16?

  52. Vulcanodon

    This strip confuses me; it is sweet and hopeful and there’s something in my eye.

  53. Guairdean Beatha

    One of my younger daughter’s friends had four brothers. She kept her snacks in an empty tampon box. They were never touched.

  54. Scar Man!!!

    is it sad that a 16 year old American boy not knowing what tampons are doesn’t surprise me? says a bunch about the state of Health classes and our general lack of effort in teaching boys about the needs of the female genitals and excretory system

    1. JepMZ

      It’s possible for the grandpa to reject the consent form

      But he must not have a lot of straight friends to still not know

      1. Scar Man!!!

        1) yeah, that makes sense. He thinks it’s “not appropriate” probably

        2) i don’t think he has a lot of friends, period.

  55. Derek

    I worked why Howard has managed to thoroughly rustle my jimmies: I don’t know about Meredith, but most the uterus-havers I know are VERY TOUCHY about their menstrual products, to the point where they don’t want their friends or even family touching them except when necessary.
    Meredith probably did not have those out in the open, but rather inside their box or a bag; and perhaps even that was inside a drawer.
    This means Howard was RUMMAGING through Meredith’s intimates! Yup, I do not like this guy, no sir

    1. Scar Man!!!

      oh shizz, I forgot that was Meridith’s room

    2. Shiro

      Maybe Meredith’s one of those people that keeps an open box in the bathroom or otherwise accessible for when a friend unexpectedly needs one.

    3. thejeff

      Much like we don’t like Ruth’s bullying RA style (and bullying courtship of Billie, especially).

      These two abuse victims have not been raised and socialized well.

      1. Scar Man!!!

        still shouldn’t do it, but go easy on them the first few times, right?

        also, omg, that was literally “they pulled your hair and threw rocks at you because they have a crush on you”

        1. thejeff

          Exactly. They need to learn better. They need to be corrected. They even need to be stopped. But the trashing of Howard here is sometimes just too much for me.
          And yeah, it really, really was. It was stereotypical 12 year old boy courtship rites.

        2. Scar Man!!!

          and in one way, that’s horrifying
          and in another, it’s hilarious
          let’s call it hilarifying for short

  56. Nenja

    The hug in panel 3 is so well drawn.

  57. Scar Man!!!

    You think there’s an abuse-related sad backstory for Ruth’s love of the sort of cutesy suspender-jeans usually seen on young children?

    1. Scar Man!!!

      meant overalls. did not know their name

      1. BBCC

        Nah, overalls are a thing older folks can wear too. I’m told they’re actually somewhat trendy now too on college campuses.

        1. Scar Man!!!

          huh. would not have predicted that one. That’s almost as bad as my mom’s story about thinking putting cameras on phones would never catch on.

  58. Gamaran Sepudomyn

    Because Dina, I feel I must mention that, after several years of waiting, the new, more complete Utahraptor skeletal has been published.

  59. bytchywitch

    yay! Ruth and Billie make me happy in a dysfunctional kinda way

  60. AniDanny

    April Fools? I don’t think that’ll happen until around the year 2041.

  61. AniDanny

    April Fools? I don’t think that’ll happen until around the year 2041.

  62. motorfirebox

    Sponge goes the dynamite!

  63. Tenn

    Wait.

    Dynamite sticks, to the best of my knowledge, are usually made with brownish paper, not white. And in cartoons, dynamite sticks are traditionally red, which is also not white.

    So for Howard to think of reddish-brown dynamite sticks…

    …did he actually grab a bunch of Meredith’s used–

    …

    Panel three is perfection.

    1. Fart Captor

      D:

  64. Crash

    I almost wanna pay for slipshine just to get to see the reverse hug.

  65. Vulcanodon

    I have a nephew-in-law who is definitely good in small doses. He was abused and neglected and not allowed to come in to the living room when he was small and a bunch of other things. It is a real challenge not to just be mad at him all the time. But he… needs us not to be. We are honest with him in hopes he will learn some social graces, but he has not been lucky in the parent department. So, Howard…

    1. Liliet

      Yup.

  66. Barf Ninjason

    Dina passed up a great opportunity to help out a fellow extreme-outlier-on-understanding-social-conventions there: “Those are tampons – they are inserted into human vaginas to stem the flow of menstrual fluid. Taking them and displaying them to others are both considered fairly extreme social transgressions.” Or perhaps Amber has levelled her up enough to understand that explaining such thing is best left to poor, poor Ruth.

  67. Commodore Jeep-Eep

    Transfeminine problems- not immediately getting the joke, then wishing you were one of the ones equipped to have that problem.

    1. Liliet

      Hug?

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