288

Fresher
Posted on November 3, 2020 by David M Willis

288 thoughts on “Fresher”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “well, ok then, guess I was wrong”

    1. clif

      Yep. I don’t know what could have misled us.

  2. Doctor_Who

    Ruth stops, pats her pockets. Wallet, phone, keys…no Billie.

    “Shit!”

    1. Thursday Violist

      has she checked under the couch?

      1. Keulen

        Billie was inside the couch cushions the whole time.

    2. nobodybasically

      She left Billie in her other pants.

      1. Stephen Bierce

        What Billie was doing wearing Ruth’s pants is subject to a Patreon comic, I expect.

        1. Reltzik

          Nope! Not Patreon! What Billie was doing in Ruth’s pants is on Slipshine.

        2. clif

          Maybe she was expressing solidarity with the elephant in Ruth’s pajamas.

    3. Ed Rhodes

      “Has no one looked in the washbasin?”

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        Go to the window …
        Go to the window …
        Go to the window …

        1. Ray Radlein

          All you have to do is whistle feemous Beethoven’s feemous Ninth Symphony

      2. Lars

        Look inside the fridge.

    4. FacelessDeviant

      Shes always in the last place you look

    5. Needfuldoer

      She’s inside the small mailbox outside the white house with the boarded-up front door.

  3. Nono

    On one hand, Ruth literally asked for it.

    On the other hand, ugh, psych majors are the worst.

    1. Madock345

      At least Booster is really good at it instead of being like most psych students who only think they know things.

      1. leaf

        Why is Booster even in college

        1. goggleman64

          Booster is a double-secret counselor that the college hired because they realized Reed Hall had so many cases of protagon-itis. They’re trying to keep Willis from catching on.

        2. clif

          Odd. Booster looks exactly like Mike except for the glasses.

        3. King Daniel

          No they don’t.

        4. Needfuldoer

          They have the same head shape, same build, similar hairstyles (but Booster’s doesn’t bend dimensional space like Mike’s did)… Several commenters (myself included) thought Booster’s silhouette was Mike (with his hair growing back after the hospital shaved it to treat his TBI) until they were revealed.

          Mike was Booster’s Wario, wasn’t he.

        5. Nono

          Booster’s head is thinner and longer than Mike’s, whose head was more squarish aside from the chin. They also seem to be a bit slimmer in build.

          Also while heights can vary between strips, I think Mike is very slightly taller. Checking previous strips, Walky seems to go up to around Booster’s eyes, but only up to around Mike’s nose.

        6. Deanatay

          I’m sure it’s only a coincidence that he’s antagonizing Ruth.

        7. Deanatay

          Dah, “they’re”, I’m really bad at that.

        8. Van Jealous

          Booster is actually being portrayed by Marina Sirtis!

        9. Thrabalen

          No, Booster is good at this.

        10. Makkabee

          I sense great snark!

    2. Kyrik Michalowski

      I once considered majoring in psychology, but I realized I was way too fucked up to try and help others. Also I didn’t want to start psychoanalyzing my friends and family.

      1. Mr. Random

        Sibling went out with one.
        Nice person, but they said they sometimes had to actively hol themselves back from doing that.

      2. Alan in DC

        Glad I read all of these before I posted. That’s exactly what I was going to say: few things in college are more tedious and annoying than a late teen with a couple of psych courses in them. My sis-in-law was impossible to live with for two years — it took that long for her to take the hint from her friends.

      3. Inlaa

        As a psych major, the biggest issue I ever had was when people misused psychological terms. I actively hate the word ‘psychoanalyze’ and if people quote Freud in a conversation I will probably beat them with a shoe.

        1. Jess

          As a former English major, same re: Freud.

      4. BarerMender

        I was going to major in psych. I took one course and realized they didn’t know what they were talking about. This was back in ’66, so maybe they know more, now.

      5. LateCustomer

        Funny, I thought most psych majors got into it BECAUSE they felt they were pretty fucked up.

    3. Stu

      “Eyebrows.”

    4. JessWitt

      Former psych major here, I was oblivious to my own problems from my readings and classes. Pretty much couldn’t psychoanalyze myself out of a paper bag.

    5. Rose by Any Other Name

      Okay Booster – now do Rachel.
      … cause Rachel sucks in a very particular way where she only sees the worst in others, and that has to have a juicy backstory that will destroy her to reveal.
      What? I don’t like Rachel and am feelin’ kinda pissy about the current state of my favorite ships.

      1. Keulen

        I would also like to see Booster psycho-analyze Rachel.

        1. a/snow/mous/e

          Hear hear!

      2. Jhon

        I’d buy popcorn to see that.

        ( have moved from ignoring rachel to disliking her )

        1. Arioch

          *passes popcorn* I also have snowcaps.
          I don’t necessarily dislike Rachel, but all the things I liked about Rachel were *Rachel x Joe* in another comic and not just Rachel. I would dearly like to see Booster psychoanalyze Rachel.

  4. meanderling

    Lord save us from second-semester psych majors.

    1. Reltzik

      … by turning them into third-semester psych majors?

  5. Kyrik Michalowski

    Now I am curious to know what happened to Billie and Ruth during the break. This doesn’t bode well for my ideal world where they live happily ever after.

    Also Booster, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Even if she literally asked for it, am I wrong?

    1. leaf

      You are wrong. Booster is moving the plot towards us finding out what happened to Billie and that is good.

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        Ok ignoring that this is a comic and it is good for plot, it isn’t a cool thing to actually do, even if you can.

        1. Reltzik

          Booster is also partway-defusing the drama explosion in the hall by redirecting most of the rage and attention to an outsider who will not be living in close quarters with them for the rest of the term.

          …. also, my newest headcanon says that Booster is empirically testing whether getting body-slammed nets a date with Ruth.

        2. clif

          Making you face something you didn’t want to face.

          Did you ever notice how Booster looks exactly like Mike except for the glasses?

        3. Tarnagh

          Well, there’s no unseeing THAT now! Thanks! LOL

        4. UnfrozenNeanderthal

          Yeah, it’s kinda like if Drunk Mike got split off from normal Mike into their own separate character

        5. Sombrero

          Booster Warner, they have a twin.

        6. UnfrozenNeanderthal

          They have a Twin Sister, and she probably is not secretly Mike

        7. Sombrero

          She is Mike under a protection witness program.

        8. Lingo

          Yes! Join the good ship RuthBooster! BoosterRuth?
          Ruthster?
          Bruiser?
          Punky Brewster?

        9. Needfuldoer

          Rooster.

        10. Sunny

          I was going to suggest Buster, but yours is better.

        11. Reltzik

          Rooster it is. Now let’s all carefully and conscientiously avoid making any puns about cocks.

        12. Lingo

          Dang, why didn’t I think of that?

        13. Arioch

          I am all on board for the good ship Rooster. I am giggling, which considering today – that is amazing.

        14. Needfuldoer

          Can’t blame Booster for that. I mean, I would in their position.

    2. Apostate

      I don’t get why anyone would ask for something they very specifically do not want. I have never understood this.

      1. BarerMender

        Getting what you don’t want is better than dreading it?

  6. abysswatcher1993

    Okay Willis, what happened to Billie? Unlike the current Inuyasha sequel, I know I will get answers to my questions earlier in this comic.

    1. UnfrozenNeanderthal

      I’m assuming truck.

      1. Doctor_Who

        Billie drives a truck now? I mean, it’s good money, but what about her journalism career?

        1. DSL

          Have you _seen_ journalism lately?

        2. Needfuldoer

          Tell me about it. Legitimate organizations doing real journalism get shouted down by politicians and the general public screeching bullshit on social media. Local station news crews get attacked because of the network logo on the side of their microphone. (Watch election night coverage, I doubt you’ll see many TV satellite vans or crews decked out with their usual station gear. Hell, just carrying a shoulder-mount camcorder and a stick mic paints a big target on you in our current hell.)

        3. Daniel M Ball

          not for quite some time, actually, DSL. Our local affiliate has maybe two minutes of local coverage and the rest is canned and distributed from outside with the commercials. The days of local affiliate reporters taking risks to get actual stories are dead. Now, they just read the press releases and faithfully spout the line from the head office.

        4. Needfuldoer

          Sinclair. Sinclair never changes.

          Small, independent stations generally don’t have the resources to do much investigative work. That usually falls under the purview of stations owned by a larger group, or stations that are owned and operated by the networks they’re affiliated with. (They can rely on their parent company’s resources for national news and larger stories.) Stations in small markets get enough money to keep the lights on, put together a weather report, and keep a couple MMJs on staff (reporters who run their own camera and edit their own footage). Stations in top-10 markets are still fully staffed.

        5. Reltzik

          I think Billie got PLASTERED by a truck. ….-load of booze.

        6. Cholma

          I think Kestrel from Queen of Wands was driving that truck.

        7. clif

          My money is on drunk driving and running into a truck.

          But only a tiny bit of money. Alternately she became a college cheerleader.

        8. Khyrin

          The truck was totaled and the driver finally released from his 20+ year durance driving that one stretch of road, only becoming visible when someone acts with integrity, showing no regrets.

        9. Demoted Oblivious

          That is not the relationship Kestrel tends to have with vehicles in motion.

        10. Needfuldoer

          She saw the Jim Beam truck and she’s chasing it down like Garfield and the ice cream truck.

        11. BarerMender

          Yeah, driving is good money, and she can pick up a little extra at rest stops.

    2. Sunny

      There’s an Inuyasha sequel?

  7. Sirksome

    Well I’m sure this was fun for someone, but not me, not really. But hey I guess this confirms they broke up right?

    1. Alanari

      I think long distance is a possibility too. It can feel like losing someone when they move thousand kilometres away and you’re too poor to visit them.

      1. Sirksome

        That might be it. While I think it’s possible they broke up Ruth’s comment is leading me more into believing Billie went away to rehab. She was shown multiple times to struggle with her alcoholism. Ruth and her tried to quit once but Billie was sneaking booze and even when she recommitted to it near the end of last semester she still had booze stashed in her room. She probably needed more professional support than Ruth could provide by herself.

        1. Reltzik

          Relapse is my #1 theory. #2 theory is that Billie got too caught up in being Queen of Forest Quad.

        2. Lingo

          I think that Gramps’s (aka Clint’s) prediction that Billie will forget all about Ruth once they get separated came true in some fashion, and eventually Gramps will reappear to gloat about it.

        3. thejeff

          I hope not. She was getting over that. I hate to see character development reverse.

        4. BarerMender

          I was assuming Billie flunked out.

      2. Fogel

        As an old blues song put it: “romance without finance is a nuisance”

  8. Suet

    Zippa-dee-doo-ouch, did something really happen during the three months

  9. Mra

    Please don’t be inexplicably dead. Please don’t be inexplicably dead. Please don’t be inexplicably dead.

    1. Sirksome

      Billie’s not dead. They probably broke up for any of numerous possible reasons since their relationship was founded on mutual toxicity and self loathing. The biggest tell Billie is alive is that both Walky and Sal would be way more noticeably devastated by the death of what was essentially a step sister to them and even an adopted daughter to their parents.

      1. Doctor_Who

        According to this strip, she is now “Elusive”.

        1. Cholma

          I thought Billie was the girl in the yellow shirt in the first panel!

        2. clif

          Dead people are frequently elusive. Look at Mike.

          If you can.

        3. Needfuldoer

          You looked where he was, but now he’s gone!

          He’s behind you. Watching. Judging. Snarking. His pocket is full of nickels.

        4. Jhon

          Billie is on the lam after stealing Sal’s motorcycle.

        5. GLaDOS

          Demned elusive. [raises quizzing-glass to eye]

    2. Segnosaur

      It is unlikely she is dead.

      It is possible she dropped out if school though. (The cast drawing still has one unrevealed character, who could be Billie but could also be Marcie)

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        It definitely looks like Marcie’s haircut… but I do hope Billie is still in the comic. And Ethan! Maybe just as minor characters, but still!

    3. Marsh Maryrose

      From a storytelling point of view, there are lots of directions this could go, and the most boring one is that Billie died tragically. Willis does not do boring, so take comfort in that.

      Also, just in terms of emotional arcs, I think it seems unlikely that Willis would just suddenly drop Billie’s death on us like a lead balloon on top of the long arc of Mike’s death.

      1. Norah

        If Billie was dead, Walky would’ve said so. He wouldn’t have said she was “elusive”. And he’d be more broken up about it.

  10. ADLegend21

    Got ‘er.

  11. Stephen Bierce

    Aha! Moment, classic circumstance.

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Bierce, I thought you were going to drop some Aha! on the hacked muzac. Or was it too painfully obvious to do?

      Also, what happened to Sal’s bike?!?

  12. bcb

    Now tell us where Billie is RIGHT NOW!

    1. clif

      And by right now we mean sometime in the next couple of years.

      1. Edwin I Callahan

        We should probably be grateful if we find out by the end of the decade. (Or maybe tomorrow, depending on what Ruth says next.)

  13. TemporalShrew

    This whole conversation just feels sort of gross, even if Ruth “requested” it, something I wouldn’t read into as providing actual permission given the tone with which she did it.

    Kind of weird for someone who presumes to know so much about Ruth’s mental state to also be totally unable to read a room.

    1. clif

      Oh, I think they can read a room.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        And maybe Booster is a little more like Mike than we’ve been yet given to understand.

  14. danielle

    is billie dead too?

  15. Ornithophobix

    This is some hamfisted exposition for a writer as talented as Willis. And wildly inappropriate and plain weird as an in-universe interaction between two strangers.

    1. Sunny Bruv

      I reluctantly agree. I feel like we skipped a strip where Ruth tried to go back to Ruthless but failed to commit to it, but as it stands it feels like Booster is just being used to setup this reveal of what happened to Billie.

      1. Spencer

        We did see Ruth put at least some performative effort into being Ruthless again when she first reappeared, which was then immediately defused.

        1. clif

          Someone thinks there is an imminent reveal of what happened to Billie.

          Maybe they’re right, but what are the odds?

          People who are patrons, don’t tell me the odds.

    2. Bryy

      This is college. Shit like this happens all the time.

    3. Chris Phoenix

      “wildly inappropriate and plain weird” – Um, did you read the title of this strip?

      Given what we’ve seen of Booster so far, I’m not surprised that they took Ruth up on her challenge, and I’m only a bit surprised that they hit so close to home. Booster sees a lot and is clearly intelligent. And probably has a bit of Carla complex: “My existence is not mainstream-socially appropriate, so fuck you all, I’m going to stand out on my own terms!”

      You may not like what Booster is doing, but I feel like it’s good consistent character design. So far, not much exposition has actually happened; we’ll see how much does happen. Keep in mind that many readers really want to know what happened with Ruth and Billie… which makes it likely that Willis will deny us that! One thing Willis is not, is careless. (He stretches physics and mechanics too much for my taste, but hey, a guy’s got to have fun somehow!)

      1. Badgermole

        I’m not gonna argue with strangers on the internet about questionable storytelling today. We have other shit going on. I’ll just say that I’ve been reading Willis’ work a long time and one of the things he does best is make ‘unreal’ stuff (cartoon physics, masked vigilantes) seem meaningful and emotionally compelling. There’s a horizon of ‘believability’ holding together the absurd DoA universe. But since the new semester reboot there have been a few missteps, narratively speaking, which threaten that. Things that seem expedient, or ring untrue somehow. This is one of those. I like Willis’ work but don’t believe he’s so infallible that I ignore my own sense of what doesn’t work in a story.

  16. aelfwine

    So is Booster supposed to have psychic powers or something? This is ridiculously breaking my suspension of disbelief, if they’re supposed to have intuited so much about Ruth. It’s absurd.

    1. AGV

      I’ve seen more perceptive people on the internet

      Some people are just too good at reading others

      1. Madock345

        He would make a good Mentalist. Always my favorite kind of magician. Amazing what you can be trained to pick up or get people to do.

      2. aelfwine

        You mean perceptive about *you*? Because if you’ve seen them be perceptive about others, you can’t actually know how close to the mark their perceptiveness actually is.

    2. Segnosaur

      Well, if it helps you can always assume that Booster may have heard some more details about Ruth off-screen. (Enough to get a better handle on what is happening.)

    3. Apostate

      I dunno he’s been getting a crash course on Ruth’s psychology and past since he arrived, and she isn’t exactly hard to read.

  17. cmasta1992

    Billie’s in jail isn’t she?

    1. Rotunda

      We simply do not know Billie’s situation at this point.

    2. Marsh Maryrose

      She’s Schroedinger’s Billie.

  18. DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership

    Look who’s a Godsend….

  19. Spencer

    Billie dropped out of college and became a deckhand on the Acts of Integrity, sailing the seven seas and getting embroiled in exciting pirate adventures.

    Unfortunately she missed being the first drunk bisexual pirate in comics.

    1. Geneseepaws

      But was she the ‘Fifth’?

      1. Spencer

        Kitty Pryde beat her to it.

  20. BBCC

    YOU KEEP TALKING I WANNA KNOW WHAT’S UP WITH BILLIE.

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      You are saying what we’re all thinking, and we all know the mantra for when it takes forever to learn something in this comic.

      1. clif

        Damn you Booster? Something like that?

      2. Jhon

        Damn you LaPorte!

  21. Switchchris

    the Look on Booster’s face in that 4th panel looks like they actually care and are worried about Ruth… they will be one of the few good therapists once they graduate college.
    And that last panel, Ruth realizing Booster is correct and not knowing how to deal with it.
    Im guessing that Billie had to go to a different college as to protect Ruth from getting in trouble, or Billie dropped out and her can only see Ruth when outside of college, as to prevent ruth from getting in trouble, and ruth has to hide it.

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      Or they just broke up, but that is equally plausible, if only because Willis would torture us like that.

  22. Dave

    +1 Psychology Rank

  23. Mattyos

    Booster – 1 Ruth – 1 heaping pile of sadness and self realization

  24. woobie

    I figured she was in the other dorm.

    Also, YOUR FEMURS ARE FORFEIT!
    Booster would fall for the “your comments will be off the record, trust me, I swear”.

    1. Lingo

      COMMENCE THE BODY-SLAMMING!

  25. Peter

    Holy shit, Buster! For an encore, what are you gonna do? Prick out her eyes?

    1. Miri

      Funnily enough, last night I was reading about Juliane, Henry I’s illegitimate daughter. Her husband made a power play, so Henry got him to hostage swap his two daughters (Henry’s granddaughters) with another noble’s son. The husband cut out the boy’s eyes and sent them back to the other noble, so Henry allowed the other noble to cut out the girls’ eyes and cut off the tips of their noses for justice.

      Juliane tried to fire a crossbow at her father at a parlay, failed to kill him, and ultimately needed to beg forgiveness.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        It’s always wonderful to reminded how horrible people can be.

  26. Bryy

    I will be amazed if Rachel lets Booster get away with:
    1) Saying she is ALMOST right.
    2) Not talking to Ruth in a condescending manner.

    1. DSL

      Not that I’m a big fan of insta-diagnosing someone’s brain bugs in public, but it would be fun from a story standpoint to watch Booster then offer a similar service to Rachel.

      1. Bryy

        People like Rachel, in my experience, *need* their Ruths to be the devil in order to confront them over and over in a weird reverse-bullying situation that’s literally just bullying. They think they can make the other person obedient by constantly dressing them down.

        1. TemperaryObsessor

          The trick is to choose fictional people.

    2. AGV

      I think that what will make Rachel react will be the comment about how Ruth has been changed, considering her narrative that people (or at least Ruth) don’t really change

      1. thejeff

        On the other hand, if Ruth’s trying to be the old (bullying, abusive) Ruth, that might have something to do with Rachel bringing this up again.

  27. DaveM

    (Sarcasm)
    “And that’s why Booster is a Mary Sue”.
    (/Sarcasm)

    1. Regina phalange

      Why the sarcasm? With this they’ve basically been given supernaturally perceptive powers. Even Sherlock Holmes went based off of evidence, but Booster just *knows*? Frankly they’re starting to ring “perfect” to me. I mean, they kinda have a personality—but on the other hand, they have done no wrong, and are now showing off this quirk/talent that aligns well with an audience-insert.

      1. clif

        Come on. Everyone knows that psych majors are really evil magic mind-altering wizards.

        But I’m interested in the equating of author-insert and audience-insert. Doesn’t it have to be one or the other?

      2. DaveM

        Maybe because the author is a better writer than that, and genre savy enough to realise he’d fallen into the “Mary Sue” trap.

        I’m thinking (ok, hoping) that this all could be a coma dream by Mike, a sort of “Anti-It’s a wonderful life” where Mike is gone but is replaced by a wise and caring person who will help everybody confront their demons and rise above their past. Let’s face it, if anything could get Mike out of a coma it’d be to prevent a smarmy beloved know it all from taking his place.

        But realistically, Mike is dead, Booster is real, and I for one am interested as to why Willis is dragging such an obvious Mary Sue across our path at every step.

      3. ninja_jesus

        Booster doesn’t just know, they’re guessing based on Ruth’s behavior and Walky’s info from the strip High Stakes, combined with Rachel’s comment.

      4. Vukodlak

        It might take Booster more then a couple weeks worth of strips to display yeye flaws. Especially because in most of those strips Booster was receiving exposition to catch yeye up on what happened last semester.

  28. Sirksome

    Okay so this is really impressive from Booster probably but for real….How does Booster have these insights? They only met Ruth once very briefly. Walky gave them a rundown but was that and a spat with Rachel all it took? This seems like magic. Like Booster has telepathy or something.

    1. clif

      Psychiatric insights may seem magical to those poor souls untrained in Jungian psychobable, but the engrams of the id are a powerful tool for the enhanced analysis of the universal unconscious which binds the universe together and fills our destiny with the ultimate power to cloud men’s minds.

      1. Sirksome

        I always suspected psychiatrists possessed ancient and arcane knowledge of the universe. It’s clear now Booster even as a fledgling apprentice of the psychiatric arts has been inducted into the coven of arch therapists! This is but a glimpse of their full potential.

      2. Jhon

        10 points for Cliffendor!

    2. Apostate

      I dunno he’s been getting a crash course on Ruth’s psychology and past since he arrived, and she isn’t exactly hard to read. When you listen carefully and know a thing or two about minds you can learn a lot about people very quickly.

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        Booster’s a “they”, not a “he”. (Just giving a reminder; I’m not trying to make you out to be an asshole or anything. I know it can sometimes take a while for [especially cis] people to adjust to unfamiliar pronouns. I’ve certainly struggled in the past when people disclosed that they preferred different pronouns than I assumed, or than they had been using before coming to a better understanding of their gender identity.)

  29. carcinoGeneticist

    Has anyone yet posed the theory that “Booster” is a witness-protection identity for Mike, having let everything *think* he’s dead? Because this frighteningly-on-point psychoanalysis of people shit is exactly what Mike used to do, except now “Booster” has the psych major excuse to cover for it.

    Also maybe I’m missing some subtext because I just thought everyone was talking about Billie being moved to the other dorm but all y’all in here are talking like she’s dead/dropped out/broken up? That honestly never even occurred to me. Interesting if true.

    1. Regina phalange

      I mean, Booster doesn’t really have the “psych major” excuse. They’re an undergrad, not a professional, nor telepathic. This whole exchange is so awkward and forced. I’d actually be really into the angle that Booster is Mike just to explain this, but I doubt it—if only because I don’t think a cis-man masquerading as a non-binary person would play well with most of this comic’s audience, based on the general vibe of the comments section.

      1. clif

        Like Mike would mind pissing off the comment section.

      2. a/snow/mous/e

        Maybe Mike has just become more honest with themselves???

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Booster is Mike reincarnated.

      (Time doesn’t work the way you thought it did.)

      1. Spencer

        TIL Booster is one of the Scarlet Witch’s kids.

        1. clif

          Time never did work the way you thought it did. But it might someday.

        2. anonymsly

          Scarlet Witch never really had children. This is the hill I will die on. (It’s a dumb hill.) She literally stole parts from a demon and shaped them into illusion babies who only ever existed while she was thinking about them. They cannot reincarnate because they never incarnated in the first place.

          I’ve never been anything but confused that said ‘reincarnation‘ is apparently canon.

      2. Needfuldoer

        Booster is basically Drunk Mike from Shortpacked!.

    3. Chronos

      I don’t think Witness Protection would put someone at the exact same place that their previous persona died. Pretty sure Booster is a different person entirely.

      1. King Daniel

        Also, I’d like to think Willis would be above putting Mike in brownface.

        1. clif

          It’s the fact that no one would think Witness Protection would put him in the same place that makes it so effective.

          Anyone can have a slight tan.

      2. Reltzik

        Which is exactly what Witness Protection WANTS the mob to think.

    4. clif

      But no. Booster is really Mike is such a crackpot theory it’s impossible that anyone could have considered it before now.

      1. clif

        This was a reply to Carcinogenesis. Not sure how it wound up here.

    5. Lingo

      I don’t think anything more dramatic happened with Billie other than she and Ruth had a big fight and broke up. I’m sure we’ll follow Lucy back to her dorm after this meeting and Billie will still be there as her roommate.

      1. Jhon

        That would give the narrative a reason for having Lucy present.

        ( other than puppy dogging walky )

  30. Reltzik

    So, um… was Mike the END of the no-character-deaths rule, or just a one-time exception?

    Asking for a friend named Booster.

  31. Spectre

    One the one hand, this is some really awkward exposition.

    On the other hand, Booster has spent the last few strips being pummeled in the face with exposition, so… fair play?

  32. Regalli

    Oddly prescient given they’ve only heard a couple threats and Walky exposition. Then again, I could buy Walky feeding them more exposition than previously let on and realizing ‘oh shit I said too much and now she’s offering it up’ last strip.

    Or it’s clumsy exposition. Hopefully Booster gets a moment or two to be completely off-base with their psychoanalysis later. It’s early yet, but I want to see them fail to get, say, Agatha’s deal in some completely harmless but hilarious way.

    1. Sirksome

      I already don’t like Walky but that would be exceptionally shitty to just mention that Ruth’s parents are dead to Booster.

      1. Regalli

        I was assuming about Billie, which Walky would know firsthand and where he has some actual stake in the matter to justify bringing it up since she’s functionally his sister.

        Dead parents, yeah, totally shitty. (Do we actually know Walky knows about that one? I mean I’d assume offscreen Billie could fill him in, but she does have some sense of tact.)

        1. clif

          At the risk of pointing out the obvious, Booster never said Ruth’s parents were dead.

          For all he knows, they are in a witness protection program.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          And also, booster didnt say ruth lost her parents. Ruths response gives us that but also lets booster see that the missing parents arent whats ailing ruth, (by her own reaction). This is what let booster continue to persue the loss angle.

    2. Regalli

      As an aside, best of luck this hell week to everyone else stuck in the US (or watching us with absolute dread). I will likely either be hyper-online or avoidant for the next… while. (Gotta love a year in which you decide that no, you’re going to need a second round of brain magnets that keeps you in a public building during a pandemic for over half an hour every weekday just to deal with the stress of the last seven months alone.)

      And vote if you haven’t already. Downballot.

      1. Keulen

        I’m gonna try to avoid election news coverage as much as possible for at least the next 24 hours, if I can.

        1. clif

          I think you’re going to have to do better than 24 hours.

        2. thejeff

          Polling looks good. Early voting looks better than good. No last minute surprises to shift that. If this wasn’t 2020 and we didn’t know there was going to be massive voter suppression and legal shenanigan, I’d be confident of a landslide.
          As it is, I’m hopeful, but still terrified.

        3. Needfuldoer

          Imagine it’s your job, and you’ve been at it long enough that familiar-sounding news coverage is more comforting than not knowing at all.

          The real ratfuckery isn’t going to hit today. If all goes the way we how it will, we’re in for a long slog to January 20th.

        4. Reltzik

          It’s been nonstop ratfuckery for years now.

          And I think the real ratfuckery MAY start today, late this evening, when polls close and Trump goes to the courts he’s stacked to try to force states to stop counting (predominantly-blue) ballots that were mailed in.

          But, yes, it’s going to be a long 78 days.

  33. goki

    psychiatrists can make the best and worst friends…

  34. Chronos

    Oh, so hopefully we’ll find out what happened to Billie shortly.

    That just leaves Ethan among major characters that we don’t know what’s going on with them at all.

  35. RacingTurtle

    Booster is Betazoid, confirmed

    1. CrazyJ

      “Shut up Wesley”

  36. Angel

    And that’s how Walky’s second roommate died.

    1. RacingTurtle

      RIP Booster. Good luck to Roommate 3!

      1. RedCat

        Not cool, booster.

    2. clif

      And that’s how Walky passed math two semesters in a row.

  37. Zach

    Who is gossiping about her being an orphan?
    Why does he think her social mask is indicative of anything deeper than the plastic smile or a waitress who’s had a bad day?

    Why do people assume Booster is anywhere near right and not just wildly offensive? He’s making some wild accusations about who she is.

    I think A: it’s ridiculous the data he has and
    B he’s actually this semester’s greatest jerk and he’s putting buttons just looking for reactions to, then, psychoanalyze.

    1. Derek

      Booster is “them” but yeah

    2. BenRG

      I don’t think anyone is gossiping about it. Ruth is just so sensitive at the moment that she’s assuming that Booster knows more than they do.

    3. thejeff

      Booster says nothing about her parents. She brought them up. I’d guess the “healed from that” is based on her reaction – she’s willing to bring it up dismissively, so that’s not the problem.

      As for why we assume they’re right – because it fits with Ruth’s characterization and with Ruth’s reaction.

      1. Sirksome

        What Booster’s doing here feels a lot like what fortune tellers do. You start with a pretty vague statement. “You’re tired of losing people” which could apply to a lot of people and then let the person interpret that how they wish and tell you everything.

        1. thejeff

          But the key insight about illusion of control rather than power and it being about losing people is real. They’re not trying to impress by knowing the details

    4. Apostate

      Booster’s perceptive and a psych major. You learn things about how people’s brains work and this isn’t exactly the coldest read ever.

  38. NinjaNick

    Billie got expelled…or something like that.

    1. BenRG

      My guess: In a deep irony, her parents withdrew her from the ‘dangerous’ school whilst she was too busy working to stop the Walkertons from doing the same to Sal and Walky.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Good lord (irony), what’s the age of majority in Indianna?.
        “18, but 21 for alcohol” -The google

        So Billie’s parents could not withdraw her, but they could cut funding. Although that’s pretty extreme since Billie’s not even in the same dorm. (read: is safe)

  39. brute

    i feel like this is one scene that might play out better in a video setting, just because i suspect booster’s estimate is from ruth phoning it in/clearly acting a part, but in a way that is difficult to translate into comics. perhaps.

  40. BenRG

    My feeling about Panel 6 is that Ruth didn’t think about that possible connection about her behaviour. She’s currently too shocked to continue to be angry.

  41. clif

    From the alt text, we knew this day would come.
    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/terrible-2/

  42. Geneseepaws

    with with all the yo-yo-ing, and all the Ambering, and Amazing Girl wildness, and all the Walky Matress-Roulette, I had One ship that was solid, one relationship that was good and growing. Yeah, he killed Mike, but I had BillieRuth. It was awful and getting so healthy that I loved it.
    I invested in a Willis comic and now I pay the price.
    (Sob)

    1. Keulen

      I was definitely hoping he wouldn’t sink this ship. But the Willis giveth and the Willis taketh away.

  43. AGV

    Peeps here assuming that Booster knows all of Ruth’s life when they only needed her behaviour and Rachel’s antagonism to know that Ruth was at least perceived as a despot and that she’s hurt.

  44. DarkoNeko

    busteeeed

  45. CJ

    Now we are getting somewhere.

  46. ninja_jesus

    Honestly I think people are missing the fact that Booster could’ve guessed this from the fact that Ruth chooses to go out of her way to find everyone in the dorm (in the strip High Stakes), Rachel’s snark from the previous strip, and the scant amount of info from Walky (from High Stakes, he mentions she’s cheerier than last semester). Notice how she didn’t specify WHO Ruth lost; Ruth assumed that knowledge herself. Booster kept it an ambiguous “they”.

  47. Heather

    And Rachel will also argue against this because ‘people don’t change’ thus uniting her and Ruth with a common enemy. Or not.

    1. Throwatron

      Honestly I think the turn here is that Booster has an EQUALLY scathing rebuttal for what’s-her-nuts clearly and intentionally singling out Ruth to morally agitate, and how it’s less about her moral compulsions and more about her absolute moral narcissism.

  48. Bagge

    Maybe…. maybe Ruth didn’t actually want to be psychoanalyzed.

    Just putting that out there.

    1. Jake'm

      Oh totally – that was her shutting folks up whilst she’s trying to do her job as RA. It is just mildly unfortunate for her that we have A Psych Major™ in the room as well that’s willing to take that challenge.

    2. Apostate

      I don’t get why people request things they very specifically do not want. It has never made sense to me. (NLD)

  49. Colineo

    Booster is Mike in disguise 100% confirmed.

    1. BenRG

      They are the anti-Mike. They do in a public setting what Mike would be careful to do in private for maximum impact. They also are perpetually cheerful and clearly think that they’re helping when Mike mostly did it for his own bitter satisfaction to rip the mask of self-deceit off of others’ faces.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Mike was Booster’s Wario confirmed.

        (Or maybe Waluigi.)

  50. foducool

    “T-THAT DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING OKAY?!”

  51. Anon A Mouse

    Regardless of how awkward and forced Boosters dialogue is I feel the like the bottom line is “Don’t psychoanalyze people in front of a room of their peers, even if they ask you too because it is rude as hell”. Even if its a fit of passion or whatever it is never cool to talk about what you ASSUME are someone elses problems even if you are accurate.

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      yeeeaaahhhhh this is pretty crappy

  52. thumb

    Best place for that specific conversation, I figure.

  53. Arianod

    OK Booster, how did you know all that.

    1. Jay

      Psych major

      1. Arianod

        First year???

        1. Jay

          Some people are really good at reading people lol

        2. thejeff

          Mike was doing this shit in middle school and nobody here blinked.

        3. Anon A Mouse

          People have been complaining about how cartoonishly on point Mike has been the entire time. Having Booster do it instead doesn’t really make it better or worse in my opinion. Still glad Mike’s dead.

    2. thumb

      They didn’t. They haven’t inferred anything specific. And based on what Walky told them, what Rachel just said, and Ruth being so tightly wound, it’s more than enough to do a cold read.

  54. frogger44

    Booster didn’t know about Ruth’s parents. What they did parsed out that Ruth has people. Ruth mentioned the dead parents and Booster more than likely figured that she has healed from that pain. It’s not really a curveball and they being a Psych major probably prepared for that. Not to mention the exposition Walky gave them earlier on-screen and probably off.

    1. thejeff

      Specifically because of the way she used the dead parents to deflect, that’s obviously not the current sore point.

  55. Schpoonman

    So Billie relapsed, huh? I wish she had done better.

  56. Sombrero

    Next on DoA Season 2: Booster “Power” Warner vs the Axis of R (Rachel-Roz-Raidah)

  57. BenRG

    People have been joking about this but I’ve just noticed Booster’s haircut is Mike’s in brown. They are the anti-Mike!

  58. Josh Spicer

    First of all: I’m actually for Booster here.

    Second of all: WHY did you end Billie/Ruth? For real. WHY?

    1. Josh Spicer

      To make it clear I don’t support Booster having the metaphorical balls to say this to somebody he doesn’t even know publicly. But he isn’t wrong in his words.

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        “they” but agreed, this is really stupid and callous. I thought they were better than this … but i guess it is called Dumbing of Age for a reason…

        1. Josh Spicer

          Shit, sorry. I keep defaulting on that.

    2. Alex Boston

      As for the second point: Drama fuel! If everything goes well for everybody in the fiction then there is no story!

  59. Coriander

    Everyone who can, please remember to vote today!

  60. Jay

    This is why you don’t get the psych major to psychoanalyse you

  61. Vulcanodon

    That you, Mike?9

  62. Vulcanodon

    Not saying Mike was denied witness protection and had to DIY but it is a fun thought!

  63. Rabisch

    I know Booster is just a student. But a good psychologist will never be so direct saying that to someone. And… Ruth and Billie brokeup…? So sad.

    1. BenRG

      We don’t really know what happened with Billie other than the fact that she evidently isn’t with Ruth anymore. Beyond that, it’s guesswork. My guess is that her parents withdrew her from IU because of all the violence on campus.

    2. Throwatron

      A good psychologist won’t. But half-learned psych students tend to be pretty eager about this kind of thing. Even more eager than your average armchair hobbyist.

  64. hof1991

    First semester freshman, alcoholic, blowing off classes on a degree she doesn’t care about? They regularly end up in rehab or pulled by their parents.

    The attrition rate at large universities is high after 1-2 semesters. Walky is avoiding it only due to someone changing his grades. Sal easily could have been a casualty. Having only one person drop out is a pretty good record, considering there was a murder and a kidnapping.

    1. Eric

      It’s also why freshmen (and sophomores now) have to live in the dorms. There’s support structures there. I housed off-campus with a fellow in his first semester out of the dorms, and he got a 0.8 GPA that semester. You’re not an adult at 18, though you’ve got the responsibilities of one.

    2. thejeff

      Realistically possible. Narratively unlikely that Willis will just drop Billie and all her characterization and plot threads.

      Also, while I don’t think we’ve heard anything definitive, only Walky’s pre-mid term grades were changed – if he didn’t manage some kind of recovery, that wouldn’t have been enough to save him. (Or the “dead man’s curve” actually exists in the DOAverse.)

  65. Mel

    Loving the angry Jamie Lee Cutis look on those last two panels.

  66. Vulcanodon

    I just realized I’m as invested in Ruth’s happiness as Becky’s or Joyce’s or Amber’s.

  67. Zee

    I love booster so much. They’re my child

  68. Wereg

    Yeah, Booster. Let’s take the bait and do a fun and flirty emotional exposé on someone clearly having a pretty shitty time. Let’s completely ignore the fact that they were just actively bullied by Rachel.

    Seriously, this is either intentionally cruel or just thoughtless.

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      yeaahhhhhhh…
      Pretty sure it’s “thoughtless” but still, ooof. Did we really need somebody to fulfill Mike’s psychonalysis role that badly? Hopefully ,Booster will soon learn to use their powers for good, not evil.

    2. Eldritchy

      Booster wanted to flex those psych major muscles I guess…

    3. ninja_jesus

      I mean, Rachel’s shitty but RA is a position of power. Ruth is an authority figure here and she’s inevitably gotta put up with Rachel’s attitude.

  69. C.T. Phipps

    I’m for Rachel and Mary both getting abducted by the Head Alien and never seen again.

  70. Juanoku

    Rip booster – 2020

  71. Robert

    And the dagger goes in just a little deeper…

  72. Brighter Side

    Is Booster like the Greek Chorus all wrapped into one person?
    I’m torn, I mean, I want a suplex, but I also like the shattering effect of an objective outside perspective.
    Maybe Ruth can suplex a potted plant.

  73. Mr.Morningstar

    Booster no

  74. Huehuetotl

    I’m remembering how I thought Booster was pretentious and obnoxious as soon as they said “and ne’er shall i err” in their first strip.

  75. Rectilinear Propagation

    Ruth in the last panel is Katara from that one fan animation right before she screams, “WATERBEND!”.

  76. Notmuch

    Booster having an entirely way too “accurate” call on another character without any real build up to that assessment is just frustrating to read. Instead of a compelling pay off we get an ass pull. It’s frustrating because we could have been treated to how clever Booster is at putting information together. Here we just get “lol im the best, i know u.”

    1. ninja_jesus

      Except it’s not an asspull, Booster had enough information to make guesses, which is all they did. Being right about it doesn’t take away from the fact that they’re guessing. Booster could still be proven wrong somehow in the next strip.

    2. thumb

      You’ve got one strip. And frankly, they’re not really bringing up anything specific. That’s all Ruth. What they are doing is pushing Ruth’s buttons, something which was on offer. They’re still being an ass, but that’s point of Dumbing of Age. Everybody’s something of an ass.

  77. Icalasari

    So Booster is More Polite Mike, confirmed

  78. Vukodlak

    So spending the entire day with Walky learning about everyone in the dorm wasn’t build up?

  79. Victor Riley

    Okay… so is Billie dead, or did they just break-up? Or something else?

    Damn, I hate time-jumps.

  80. Delicious Taffy

    Sure can’t wait to check in tonight and be either pretty disappointed or horribly despaired. Don’t forget to vote if you can.

  81. Alex Boston

    So is Booster too smart to be in a comic titled “Dumbing of Age”?

    1. Jake'm

      I feel like we’ll get a blunder soon. Something to show they’re still learning.

  82. fefex

    Touche

  83. Animedingo

    What’s wrong with Ruth’s tooth in the second to last panel? There’s something red on it, like her tooth is chipped

    1. Alex Boston

      I think it is just that she is yelling loud so her mouth is wide open so we can see her gum line.

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