Herded
Posted on November 2, 2020 by David M Willis

330 thoughts on “Herded”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “MY TIME HAS COME”

    or

    “LET THEY WHO IS WITHOUT FEMURS CAST THE FIRST PSYCHOANALYSIS”

    …

    Just in time for Arsehole’s Day!

    “That’s All SOULS Day”

    hush, you

    1. abysswatcher1993

      I pay respects during Dia de Muertos.

      1. Deanatay

        F?

    2. Miri

      I was JUST at the “sipping hot chocolate into mouth” stage but luckily had not begun to swallow it WHEN I read that and thus managed to avoid choking and snorting it out of my nose or spit-taking with it.

    3. Demoted Oblivious

      With Sean Connery having passed the pee really gay test. Peter. It’s a most apropos celebration of assholes and all souls day.

      “That’s the ‘Pearly Gates, St. Peter'” -Alex
      “Oh suck it Trebec” -Sean

      1. Chronos

        Ah, Celebrity Jeopardy! The one time SNL was almost funny.

  2. Chris

    Daylight savings time has ended in the places that do it, and now my webcomics update an hour later. This will take some getting used to.

  3. Ana Chronistic

    did I do that code wrong

    “psychoanalySUS”

    1. Ana Chronistic

      yay I know how to thread, oh well

  4. Sirksome

    Does Rachel even exist for any reason beyond talking shit about Ruth?

    1. leaf

      Being pretty

      Calling out Joe

      1. goki

        That was something I always wondered, that list he made. Was that something he posted online or was it just for himself?

        1. Jamie

          He stored it online. He shared the password sometimes.

        2. Freemage

          I don’t think he shared it. He just hadn’t changed since he first made the list as a… high school freshman, I think? Meaning that it was ridiculously easy for someone to figure out. (Joe is, after all, also the sort of guy who uses the exact same password for all his apps and accounts.)

        3. BBCC

          He asked Danny if he subscribed to the RSS feed. You don’t make an RSS feed or try to get subscribers for a private list.

        4. brute

          i just want to know who shared it. someone did it without his knowledge, and i just reread that arc recently and there was never an answer.

        5. Deanatay

          It’s still a mystery, never revealed.

        6. leaf

          I think it was online but only a few people knew about it initially

        7. thejeff

          But he was constantly talking about it and offering to share the password, so that couldn’t last.

      2. goki

        Thank you to the people who answered. It did kinda bug me and I always suspected Racheal had a hand in this (hence why I brought it up now with her the center of attention and Joe being mentioned)

        1. Cfb

          Rachel explicitly said she wouldn’t do it. She saw the list as a map for any sexual predator who might be interested in the women at Clark winfi

    2. Spencer

      It’s a tough job but someone’s gotta do it.

      Probably.

      Maybe.

      I’m not sure.

  5. Schpoonman

    Fuck you, Tall Rachel.

    1. Schpoonman

      Fucking go, Ruth. Don’t take any more of her shit.

    2. Sirksome

      I don’t think you need to qualify her with “tall” anymore as in I really think Other Rachel/short Rachel is just gone now. I have no idea what happened to her and I’m really curious about it.

      1. Nono

        They’re roommmates as far as we know, and Ruth didn’t mention losing anyone other than Agatha’s roommate (and Billie).

        1. Sirksome

          I checked her tag some time ago and apparently Other Rachel’s last appearance was in a background shot of an argument between Becky and Roz back when Becky was working for Robing. I don’t think Other Rachel’s dead but I’d buy her dropping out. She wasn’t really even a character in the first place.

        2. showler

          Walky referenced Rachel and Other Rachel during the introduction strips.

      2. Corneel

        She fell foul of the rule that no two person on the same floor will have the same given name.

    3. brute

      yes thank you, i definitely prefer the height-based qualifier.

    4. 3-I

      One-Note Rachel

  6. Daniel M Ball

    well…someone just started an argument they can’t win.

    1. Reltzik

      But which someone.

      1. SuperZero

        All three of them, probably. I do not foresee winners.

      2. Freemage

        Why not both? Seriously, Rachel despises Ruth, and is never going to be argued out of that position, at most just getting pissed at people who support her.

        And there are many people in the room who will support Ruth sincerely and earnestly.

        So after this meeting is over, there will be no real change in the status quo. Neither of them can ‘win’ this through an argument.

        1. Vukodlak

          If she doesn’t want people to support Ruth maybe Rachel should try shutting up because every time she speaks there is a net loss of joy in the universe.The only reason I can conceive she hasn’t transferred to another Dorm is to carry out her vendetta.

        2. Bryy

          Rachel needs to fucking realize that every single time she has gone after Ruth, it has been to proxy defend a far more horrible person.

        3. RowenMorland

          Has it?

        4. thejeff

          How? Like right now, for example?

        5. Spencer

          What

        6. Reltzik

          …. like, Roz?

          I mean I get Ruth’s trying to end Roz’s detour into politics-land, so Rachel cutting in here might be a defense of Roz. And yes, Roz can get pretty obnoxious and nasty sometimes. Is anything Roz has done anywhere near as bad as Ruth’s misconduct in running the wing?

          And she did kinda tagteam with Mary that one time, but didn’t exactly rise to Mary’s defense.

      3. DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership

        Who cares?

        Ruth lives for this kind of masochistic direction, and Rachel may be doubling down on showing Ruth how little power she has over her because Ruth’s the only authority figure, real or imagined, she can get away with telling off like this.

        All for the illusion of power, because it’s easier to just find yourself a little weenie to pick on like all the others than direct your resentment that it’s cause and face *that* uphill battle…

        Maybe Booster can offer to play ref, I mean if there was really no reason to prolong the meeting other than Rachel going ‘Get at me, bro!!’ and Ruth using everyone else to go “Oh YEAH?!’ that is…

  7. BBCC

    Ohhhhhhhhh yes please. This I gotta see.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Booster: I diagnose you with Cotard’s Syndrome!

      Ruth: …

      Booster: What, I’m a freshman starting my second semester, I’ve taken like one psych class. I’m about as qualified as someone who once watched Silence of the Lambs half-asleep on a plane.

      1. spookyfox

        you underestimate the audacity of a freshman psych major

        1. clif

          I was going to say.

        2. dinajoyce

          do we know Booster is a freshman? Sarah is a sophomore, so Booster could be in this dorm and be a sophomore in theory right?

        3. dinajoyce

          not that sophomore psych majors tend to be significantly more qualified than freshmen ones, but still. Some of them might be slightly more aware that that they’re not qualified?

        4. BBCC

          Hell, Rachel and Ruth are juniors.

        5. Nono

          Why is Rachel still living in the dorms? Unless it’s to try to save on cash but isn’t student housing kind of ‘gut your wallet’?

        6. spookyfox

          so’s rent

        7. Needfuldoer

          Get a roommate and rent’s probably cheaper.

        8. thejeff

          Don’t lots of people live in dorms the whole 4 years? Probably depends on the college.

          Basically everyone I knew back in college did. There were people living off campus, but most of them seemed to be doing it so they could party without restrictions.

        9. Thulcandran

          Depends on the college. In rural areas, it’s really hard to find housing off campus, so I know almost everyone in UConn lives in dorms, and I’d imagine it’s similar here, but in urban areas where housing is a little easier to find, a lot of folks move off campus as soon as their first year is over.

        10. DSL

          You get a scholarship that pays housing — why not live in the dorms?

        11. Demoted Oblivious

          Ooooh. Now I know where the title, “Audacity of Hope.” Came from.

        12. Willoughby chase

          Hubris knows no bounds in the very young …

      2. showler

        Out of curiousity, did you recently play Vampyr or is the mention of Cotard’s Syndrome from something else?

  8. Jade

    Walky looks like he is trying Very Hard not to speak.

    1. Doctor_Who

      He’s hoping that the hoodie will provide some protection against femur-shrapnel.

    2. RacingTurtle

      I would be doing the same thing with my hoodie, but in my case it would be trying Very Hard not to exist in the same dimension as this floor meeting

      1. SuperZero

        Walky wanted to be there. Showed up uninvited, even.

        1. RacingTurtle

          and what a fool he was

        2. clif

          No, no. This will be educational.

          But I do love the fact that he knows himself well enough that he has taken pains to make sure that words will not come out of his mouth.

    3. Needfuldoer

      He looks like Beaker.

  9. Ray Radlein

    It’s not too late to leave, Walky. She’ll probably even let you

  10. leaf

    What a fucking edgelord, calm down girl. It’s a routine meeting, every RA’s doing it.

    1. BBCC

      Walky’s isn’t.

      1. Reltzik

        Every RA who halfway gives a damn about their job is doing it.

      2. Swissaboo

        Sounds like even he is, based on Walky’s “lax about attendence.”

      3. Shade

        He can’t be lax on attendance if there’s no meeting to attend.

    2. abysswatcher1993

      Rachel just has a bone to pick with Ruth, and it isn’t her femurs.

  11. cmasta1992

    Rachel is pretty high ranking with insufferable characters and I’m not even a huge Ruth person.

    1. Shade

      Like I can understand she hasn’t forgiven Ruth for her behavior and that’s valid but just needling her over something she’s probably required to do is extremely petty.

    2. abysswatcher1993

      I understand Mary beaing a religious zealot and Roz being a liberal snob, but Rachel just seems to take a grudge too far.

    3. Lord_Circe

      Yeah… TBH, I found Toedad to be more palatable as a human being, even with how much of a douchecanoe he was.

      1. clif

        Um.

      2. Sporky

        Seriously? Yikes. Rachel is obnoxious but she’s worth about 50 Toedads

      3. Demoted Oblivious

        While I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that, I think I understand the perspective. Although he went too far with it, Ross had a clearly explained motivation behind his behaviour,and I dare say that it was driven from what he thought was a place of love (as horribly confused as it was.)

        Rachel seems to go out of her way to be nasty, just to show the world she is nasty. Ross could at least participate in a dialogue in a civil manner.

        1. Lord_Circe

          Pretty much this. At the very least, his motivations could have led to positive outcomes if he was so extremely twisted and misguided. Rachel… I literally can’t see any positive motivation in any action she has been shown taking on-screen.

        2. Lord_Circe

          *wasn’t so extremely twisted and misguided.

        3. thejeff

          Seriously? His motivations were all possession and control. There was nothing positive there.

          Possibly more understandable, but that’s more of matter of the storyline not having focused on Rachel yet.

          As for civil manner – go reread Ross chat with Becky in the car while he was kidnapping her.

    4. Jon

      No kidding. I get refusing to forgive Ruth’s past behavior, but this meeting’s definitely mandated campus-wide. Rule #1 of obligatory meetings: shut up and get through it so we can all go on with our day.

      But hey, Rachel, if you want to join Mary and Roz in their exclusive club for Unreasonable Self-Righteous Dark-Haired Minor Characters Clamoring for Undeserved Attention, be my guest!

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Jon, the USRDHMCCfUA is an absolutely crap accronym, unless… wait, there it is. Day to day they just operate as the F.U.A. club, don’t they?

        1. Jon

          I smell a TVTropes article.

  12. Spencer

    I’m going to argue about Rachel for the next 24 hours and I do it entirely to myself.

    *ahem*

    Rachel

    Is

    Right

    (I mean not about Ruth actively trying to fuck with her wards because she’s outgrown that, but rather that Ruth has a long way to go before she gets the benefit of the doubt)

    1. Rectilinear Propagation

      Rachel doesn’t have to give Ruth the benefit of the doubt. She also doesn’t have to pick a fight with her every time she’s within 50 feet of her and she definitely doesn’t have to subject every single person in the hall to it.

      Like, if she wants to be in B.E.C. mode with Ruth, then could she at least do it on her own time?

      1. Delicious Taffy

        B.E.C.?

        1. RacingTurtle

          bongo Eating Crackers. For when you hate someone so much that even completely innocuous things they do irritate the hell out of you. As in “Look at this bongo eating crackers like she owns the place.”

        2. RacingTurtle

          The filter does not preserve capitalization and this is aesthetically displeasing

        3. clif

          If you prefilter it yourself, you can capitalize as you wish. Just saying.

        4. Delicious Taffy

          That’s a beautiful term and I enjoy it a lot.

      2. Spencer

        For whatever reason (likely due to whatever went down during Freshman year on top of what Ruth has done in-comic so far) Rachel has it out for Ruth big time. Other than a general resentment against Ruth seemingly brushing off her past acts of abuse that one time that kickstarted this entire affair, we don’t actually know what’s driving her yet.

        1. Rectilinear Propagation

          I’m not arguing that she doesn’t have a good reason to be angry at Ruth. I’m arguing that she doesn’t have to make this everyone else’s problem.

      3. thejeff

        Might have something to do with new and improved no longer abusive Ruth still using threats of violence to get people to the meeting?

        1. Shade

          Considering Rachel has made it clear she doesn’t think its even possible for people to change, you’re giving her a lot of credit for seeing something we have no idea she did.

        2. MW

          A threat of violence with no intent to carry it out can hardly be called a threat. She’s herding them brusquely, at most.

        3. Spencer

          That’s not how that works nor does it make it okay.

        4. thejeff

          Yeah, what Spencer said. It can be taken as a joke among friends, but Ruth has in the past used violence against her charges. Threatening to continue to do so is not something former victims should take lightly.

      4. Matticus

        *Especially* not at the start of the mandatory First Day of Semester meeting. Like, I get that Rachel doesn’t like Ruth, but she’s also presumably been in college long enough to know that these mandated meetings happen at the start of *every* semester?

        All she’s doing is picking a fight and derailing a meeting that otherwise would have been over in about five minutes.

    2. Some1

      I agree, the only reason people are on Ruth’s side is because we know her backstory. If you were actually under her ward, you would fucking hate her. From Rachel’s perspective, Ruth is a bully who overstepped boundaries, stole and damaged personal property, and physically attacked/threatened students. Ruth then gives an apology but doesn’t step down from the position, making it seem as though she isn’t really sorry. Yes we know that Ruth’s grandfather is making her keep the job, but Rachel doesn’t know that.

      1. Shade

        I wouldn’t say I like Ruth, but there’s a time and place for calling out bullshit behavior over a meeting that’s required regardless of how much there is to cover, isn’t one of them.

      2. Lone Wolf

        I posit that even if she knew, Rachel wouldn’t care. She strikes me as the kind of person who would find out about Ruth’s grandfather and his abuse towards her and just claim that it’s not a valid excuse for Ruth’s past behavior. She’d probably even accuse Ruth of trying to avoid taking responsibility for her actions by passing the blame on to someone else.

        At the end of the day, holding on to her grudges is more important to her than the truth, which is why she’s never bothered to go out of her way to learn why Ruth remains an RA instead of just quitting or getting dismissed by the college due to being unsuitable for the position.

        1. Username Taken

          Sir’s abuse isn’t a valid excuse for Ruth’s abusive behavior. It’s probably a key part of the reason, but that doesn’t excuse perpetuating the cycle of abuse.

          That said, I don’t think this is the time, place, or way to address it. Rachel isn’t accomplishing anything by venting her frustrations in this meeting.

      3. Devin

        Honestly a lot of people criticizing Rachel aren’t even on Ruth’s side per se, or at least aren’t arguing from that place, but rather that’s it’s getting kind of old that Rachel finds every single opening to snipe at Ruth even when Ruth isn’t actually doing an objectionable thing.

        I don’t know about anyone else, but at this point I just want to know why, because I feel like it’s been well-established that there is some specific reason for it (separate from Ruth’s general abuse of power), but we have absolutely no idea what that reason is.

      4. Demoted Oblivious

        Meh. Ruth is extremely forthright, and the theft happened with a near romantic partner, not as a general case. (hell, does Rachel even know about the theft?) That doesn’t make it ok.

        I’ve had far worse team leaders and supervisors that actually pretended to care and listen, but would straight up shit on anyone below them, the first every chance they got. (including outright theft of posessions from subordinates)

        Ruth is agressive and openly hostile *BUT* she sets well-defined, (normally) easily achieved goals, and she exercises her position to actually lookout for the well-being, preferences and privacy of those in her jurisdiction (and beyond).

        1. Spencer

          *Ruth is aggressive and openly hostile*

          Yeah that’s the important part.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          Huh. While I understand why people don’t like that, I respect her open presentation of who she is, far more than someone who plays nice, just so they can hurt you later.

          From a humanist perspective, I took the important part as *she looks after the well-being of her charges*. She may not try to be their friend, but she does her job that she doesn’t want and that even she believes she shouldn’t have.

        3. Spencer

          * I respect her open presentation of who she is, far more than someone who plays nice, just so they can hurt you later.*

          Yeah that’s how Ruth presented herself to her bosses so she could continue abusing her charges.

        4. thejeff

          I can certainly sympathize with Ruth and I can see her good points, but there is no way in hell she should have that job given what she’s done. I certainly don’t expect her charges to give her leeway.

          Is she better than someone subtler, but just as abusive? Maybe, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay.

        5. King Daniel

          Ruth also stole Joyce’s gloves and threw them out a third(?)-floor window. I don’t think Ruth and Joyce have ever been romantically involved.

    3. Cyrus

      Yay, let’s have another drawn out argument about how Rachel is a poor put upon victim of her abusive RA despite the fact that she’s the one who’s gone looking to harass Ruth in literally every single confrontation between them that we’ve seen.

      Let’s start with: Rachel. Is. An. Idiot. Who. Doesn’t. Grasp. The. Most. Basic. Requirements. Of. An. RA. Job. Such. As. Mandatory. Meetings.

      1. Spencer

        Unwarranted and unnecessary harassment was Ruth’s MO for like two full years of comics.

        1. Shade

          Yes and that was bad.

        2. Spencer

          And now she’s reaping the consequences of her actions.

        3. june gloom

          … The consequences of her actions were nearly losing her job and being threatened by Sir. She doesn’t need Rachel telling her she’s a terrible person every five minutes, especially when Ruth is dealing with a lot of mental health stuff.

        4. Khyrin

          Also, just a reminder: Ruth only accepted Sir’s forcing her back into the job because she thought that Sir would hurt Howard if she didn’t. She was fully prepared to step down. She was PLANNING to step down… and then the college ‘arranged’ for her to continue working with very little input from her.

        5. BBCC

          The consequences of her actions are also that Rachel doesn’t trust or forgive her. That is also a consequence.

        6. june gloom

          “Rachel doesn’t trust or forgive her” is very different from “Rachel is constantly antagonizing someone who is a suicide risk.”

        7. Shade

          No.

          Rachel is doing the bad thing now.

        8. Spencer

          “Doing the bad thing” isn’t a game of hot potato. Ruth isn’t retroactively vindicated for her past abuse because now someone is lashing out at her, only without her the position of power that lets her get away with it.

        9. Shade

          I agree it isn’t, and no one has suggested the possibility of Ruth being retroactively vindicated except you. But that doesn’t vindicate what Rachel is doing now either.

          Past Ruth and present Rachel can both be in the wrong.

        10. Spencer

          So what should Rachel do to the abusive RA who got to keep her job if yelling at her sometimes is off the table?

        11. Shade

          She doesn’t have to do anything? But at the very least she could wait for Ruth to actually slip up and fall into her old behaviors. So far all she’s done was try to get a meeting back on track without threatening anyone like she would have last semester.

          Now to be clear since people seem to struggle with this, that doesn’t mean Ruth should get a medal for not doing that, that also doesn’t mean what she did in the past is okay, it also doesn’t mean she’s changed. I’m also not saying Rachel has to forgive shit or give her credit for trying. Just like don’t start shit in a mandatory meeting being run properly maybe.

        12. Spencer

          Ruth made it clear what kind of person she was when she used her authority over her dorm to lord over them.

          Rachel doesn’t have to be Ruth’s morality police there to call her out when she slips up, she can also just be angrily lashing out at the abusive authority figure.

        13. thejeff

          As for “slip up and fall back into her old behaviors”, we didn’t see her do most of the recruiting for this meeting, but one bit we did see was her threatening to drag Walky’s corpse in.
          Plus a fill out these roommate agreements “or I’ll bathe in your gore” to Becky and Dorothy.

          It seems she’s at least putting on a show of her old behavior.

        14. 3-I

          Dude, there’s holding people accountable and then there’s petty antagonism for sport.

          You’re defending the latter, not the former.

        15. Cyrus

          *two months of “real” time

      2. Needfuldoer

        I think Rachel is the type who would carry a grudge to the moon and back, and who lets first impressions be an indelible mark of someone’s character.

        1. Andy

          Rachel seems to be the embodiment of the much-decried cancel culture. Ruth did some Shitty Things? She’s canceled forever. Joe did a Shitty Thing? He’s canceled forever. Once you’re canceled, that’s it. No redemption for you. If you don’t care about redemption, that just shows how morally bankrupt you are because how dare you not strive to earn her approval–er, redemption.

        2. Spencer

          Cancel Culture doesn’t exist and if it did it certainly wouldn’t be “holding people accountable for the terrible and flagrant acts of abuse they willingly and gleefully inflicted onto people who couldn’t fight back.”

        3. Shade

          Except that’s not what she’s doing. No one is saying she has to forgive what happened or even like Ruth, but what she’s doing here? Not holding anything to account just feeling like taking a shot at her in the middle of a thing Ruth has to do.

        4. Spencer

          Oh well.

          If Ruth didn’t want to be held accountable for her actions she shouldn’t have done them.

        5. Shade

          If Ruth had slipped up right then and Rachel called her on it then she’d be holding her accountable. If Ruth was making excuses for her past behavior calling her out like this would be holding her to account.

          All we’ve seen Ruth do this meeting is normal RA things, that’s not holding her accountable its taking a shot in the middle of a meeting and Ruth sure as hell did want to be held accountable for her actions she was denied that.

        6. BBCC

          Ruth was threatening people to go to the meeting. Rachel calling her on herding them there to a meeting with no real material to cover when she was falling into old habits to do it is holding her accountable.

        7. Needfuldoer

          Yeah, that comment was an unnecessary pot shot. Ruth didn’t make the meeting about herself; Rachel did, then held it up as an example of Ruth abusing the power of her position.

        8. thejeff

          But the excess she goes to make sure everyone attends does hint at the abuse of power Rachel’s talking about.

          I think she’s got the motive wrong, but she’s not wrong about there being something there.

        9. Insanenoodlyguy

          She did shitty things that should have caused her to lose her job. That’s not cancel culture, it’s a genuine failing by the college to take care of it’s own students. Rachel is right to be mad. Ruth should have been fired the first week.

    4. Shade

      Sure but a meeting she’s probably required to hold and coever certain material in doesn’t really seem like the time or place unless she actually exhibits some kind of behavior to call her out on. So far she hadn’t, but this could go south quickly.

      1. thejeff

        You mean like threatening to drag Walky’s corpse to the meeting? By extension, we can guess she probably did the same to others.

        But obviously, she’s changed and isn’t abusive anymore.

        1. Shade

          Who suggested she’s changed? That stuff is a process and while that’s an issue she hasn’t done anything during the meeting to suggest she did this for any reason other than she had to as the RA.

        2. thejeff

          Okay: So Ruth is still an abusive bully. She showed that in getting people to this meeting, but because she hasn’t yet done anything during the meeting, criticism makes Rachel a monster?

          It’s the “herding” them there Rachel mentions and she’s suggesting a reason that Ruth threatens and drags them to compel their attendance when we know other RAs don’t. They have to hold the meetings. They don’t have to go to the lengths Ruth does to get everyone to them. That suggests other reasons why Ruth’s doing it.

          Mind you, I don’t think Rachel’s right about why, but that doesn’t mean she’s wrong to call it out.

    5. Nono

      Rachel could also put in an official complaint about Ruth instead of continuously making passive aggressive snipes.

      1. Spencer

        That I agree with. We don’t know why Rachel didn’t try to get Ruth removed yet. Maybe she did try and Ruth’s bosses rebuked her (since Ruth gloated about how Billie was an acceptable loss and all they cared about was that she kept her dorm quiet).

        1. Zatar

          Even when Ruth wanted to leave the job they wouldn’t let her. I doubt a complaint would mean anything.

      2. Delicious Taffy

        “Passive” my assive.

        1. brute

          this is my favorite comment of the night. thank you for this.

        2. Needfuldoer

          I’m just going to yoink this for my vernacular…

    6. BBCC

      I’m with you – I almost chose to duck out of the comments but I have no self control 😛

      1. clif

        Walky is smarter than all of us.

    7. showler

      Rachel doesn’t believe people can change. Apparently, she applies that to herself as well as Ruth.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        That’s my biggest sticking point with her. Too absolutist.

        1. Devin

          This pattern of taking shots at Ruth even when she hasn’t actually done an objectionable thing is also getting kind of old for me. It’s also been established that Rachel has some extra personal history with Ruth having been roommates with her, but we don’t have much insight into what that entails yet. It could be that Rachel is very justified in an extra-poor view of Ruth. But taking almost every conversational opening to announce that view is not a good look for her, especially to people who don’t have her context. Like the rest of her floor. Also us.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          Willis has given Rachel over 3500 comics to justify her ‘tude. Instead she sits up on her soap box tower with her sniper rifle.

        3. Devin

          I mean a character using their words isn’t the only tool in Willis’ toolbox. He uses flashbacks as a solid go-to option, and given how closed Rachel has been about what happened between them, that seems the most likely venue for it. Willis has done a good job in character development as far as I’m concerned, good enough for me to stick with wait-and-see. Mind you that won’t help the perception of the other characters, but I’m intensely curious.

    8. C.T. Phipps

      I feel like if you go after the mentally ill out of a grudge, you’re a shitty person.

      So, uh, Rachel is.

      1. thejeff

        How about if you go after a mentally ill bully because they’re still bullying, is that any different?
        Does being mentally ill mean carte blanche?

        1. C.T. Phipps

          If a person is mentally ill and the cause is their illness, yes you are complete scum, if you go after them.

          There’s no defense. She’s basically kicking someone’s crutch out of them or beating a homeless person for equivalency.

        2. thejeff

          So yes, then being mentally is carte blanche. The perfect excuse for anything. “I’m mentally ill, so I get to threaten and abuse people.”

          Not buying it.

        3. C.T. Phipps

          Yes, that’s not how a disability works. It’s also a gross and ableist way of looking at it.

          We know when a person’s behavior is beyond their control.

        4. thejeff

          Are Ruth’s threats and abuse beyond her control?
          If so, does it matter if she’s still put in control of people?

    9. 3-I

      It’s a floor meeting, Spencer.

  13. Stephen Bierce

    *plays Modest Mouse’s “Float On” from the hacked Muzak*

  14. Dave Van Domelen

    Booster, may he rest in peace.

    1. Spencer

      Booster goes by they/them pronouns.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Correction: Booster went by they/them pronouns. By which I mean they will now perish at Ruth’s hands.

  15. butts

    okay seriously though who crawled into Rachel’s ass and died

    1. Spencer

      The RA who gleefully bullied her charges.

    2. Chaucer59

      I’ve been wondering that for quite awhile now.

    3. Gwydion

      Rachel did, because she’s so far up her own ass that she can’t see beyond her own crap

    4. Rectilinear Propagation

      There was a brief flashback showing they were roommates previously but we didn’t see anything more than that.

    5. Sirksome

      Ruth was a jerk to her freshman year and generally a bully for much of the first semester and Rachel’s main character trait is apparently holding grudges. Behold the deep lore of their history. It is a story for the ages!

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/resort/

      1. dinajoyce

        A roommate who is antisocial and doesn’t talk to you really isn’t the worst thing in the world. It’s not even actively being a jerk. it’s just not wanting to be friends. I get rachel being mad about how Ruth treated everybody first semester, buuuuuut everybody dealt with that. And they all learned that Ruth had some pretty bad stuff she was dealing with in her own personal life and she apologized and everything. Rachel needs to stop being a total jerk to her. She doesn’t have to LIKE Ruth. But she has to be a decent human being to her.

        1. BBCC

          Why are you assuming her being antisocial and not talking to Rachel is the extent of what happened?

        2. Sirksome

          I think the problem is that we really have no other context besides this and Ruth’s general behavior in the first semester. I don’t think we can really assume one way or the other yet. I’m personally interested in exactly where we will fall if/when more details are revealed. Either Ruth did something truly awful and we’ll have to re-examine our opinions on her or what we’ve gotten truly is all there is to tell and most of us have made up our minds already.

          Do you think there’s more to this or do you think Rachel is just holding a grudge? And do you think that grudge is validated based only on how we’ve seen Ruth behave so far?

          A lot of the comment section (me included) seem to agree that it doesn’t.

        3. Devin

          I definitely agree, but I also feel like there’s more to their personal history that we haven’t yet seen, so as I read these comics I’m also thinking “Okay are we going to find out what’s going on here or what?”

          I’m going to be a little disappointed if there isn’t anything more than we’ve yet seen.

        4. Demoted Oblivious

          But how will you know *when* to be disappointed about that?

        5. Devin

          I don’t know yet, I’m just going to have to see how this develops I guess. But the way this is going feels to me like Willis is leading into something. But overall I’m happy with the comic, it keeps me anticipating coming back every day, so it’s not like I’m setting up benchmarks for me to get ready to leave. I don’t think I have to rigidly define it, really.

        6. BBCC

          I definitely think there’s more to this but even if there weren’t? Fuck yeah, Rachel’s justified by her shit last semester by itself. Play asshole games, win asshole prizes, Ruth.

      2. Andy

        The weird flow if time for this comic vs our world, along with the 2019-2020 hockey season, does make me wonder now: what happens if you mention Zamboni drivers to Ruth?

    6. clif

      They had to store Mike’s body somewhere.

  16. NinjaNick

    What a brave soul.

  17. Chaucer59

    That’s it, Booster, both feet at once.

    1. RacingTurtle

      Some people are outgoing by nature. Booster makes those people look shy and timid by comparison.

  18. Mackabre

    I’m not saying Rachel has to like Ruth or anything like that but I am saying I would like to see her show up and do something other than this occasionally

    1. abysswatcher1993

      It’s a common mistake to thinking cynicsm is a good substitute for smart ideas.

    2. Sirksome

      It’s kind of her defining character trait though. What else is she gonna do? She’s barely more than a background character herself.

      1. DrunkenNordmann

        She could start wearing a hat.

        1. Ray Radlein

          ^^^^^

          underrated

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          Why did I only now notice that Ray’s avatar is a live action version of Nordmann’s and vice versa?

        3. 3-I

          Can’t unsee it!

    3. Norah

      I wouldn’t care if she hated Ruth forever, and refused to ever forgive her. She doesn’t need to keep calling her out during these meetings, which most RA’s probably have. What does she hope to accomplish?

      1. Mackabre

        Exactly. In this specific instance, they probably would’ve been done with the meeting in less than five minutes and going about their day but Rachel has to get in her unneccesary dose of venom

  19. Dean

    Panel 3 should be ‘psychoanalyze’ with a Y.

  20. Robbie

    I have no idea what they’re gonna say and I’m so ready for it

    1. clif

      Tomorrow we will be cutting away to Danny.

  21. poofdepoof

    Booster is really gonna just dive in. All right, good luck!

    1. clif

      Way to go Booster. Mike would be proud of the opportunity you are creating.

  22. BlackScarabFilmZ

    Is it bad that I kind of wish that *this* Rachel had been kidnapped by the Head Alien instead of the Walkyverse’s Rachel? I don’t foresee any of the main characters going on a multiverse spanning quest to get her back, though.

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Maybe that is why you are wishing for it?

  23. Nono

    Times like this I have to take a deep breath and remind myself these kids are 17-20 and they’re going to be stupid a lot.

    1. clif

      It will be okay. Booster knows how to read a room.

  24. RacingTurtle

    This floor meeting has lots of freckles, and lots of pissy people whose names begin with R.

  25. abysswatcher1993

    If I met someone liek Rachel in real life I would make fart noises to mock them during a meeting. Cynical people disgust me more than naive people.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Cynicism has its merits. It’s not a substitute for a personality, however.

      1. abysswatcher1993

        Cynicism doesn’t ahve merits. Skepticism and pragmatism does. Cynicism just means you use philosophy to justify being shitty.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          “Fusion is just a cheap tactic to make weak Gems stronger.”

        2. clif

          Education is just a cheap tactic to keep from learning everything for yourself from scratch.

        3. abysswatcher1993

          Altruism is just a cheap tactic to keep people from dying.

  26. Beef

    It goes without saying that you don’t owe anybody who wronged you on the past (granted we still don’t know how how badly Ruth hurt Rachel in the past) but actively sabotaging her when she’s been trying to improve is low

    1. abysswatcher1993

      Exactly. I don’t go to the twitter pages of the people that bullied me to remind them every day that they bullied me. Actually, I don’t know if they even have twitter pages.

      1. thejeff

        Do you live with them? Are they in charge of you?

        1. abysswatcher1993

          No, but I am not pitty enough to harass former teenage bullies like some bully hunter.

        2. thejeff

          But again, “former teenage bullies”, as opposed to current ones.

        3. Insanenoodlyguy

          By this logic, should a cop who’s been proven to violently assaulting people during arrests in violation of their rights, be rehired to a new police department because they are “Former abusers?”

          Because that’s a real life thing that’s happened many times over I doubt most people here defending Ruth would ever be okay with.

        4. 3-I

          By that logic, how can we eat noodles when snakes, which are also long and slippery, can be poisonous?

  27. Reltzik

    Booster, I like you well enough given how little I know about you… but you are being SUCH an FNG right now.

    Also, props to Walky for wearing a face-covering and social-distancing. (Person you’re rooming with counts as your family unit.) Walky Most Responsible Cast Member.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      All is lost, then.

    2. emusam

      For purposes of the sliding calendar, it’s January 2020, right? So last chapter was October 2020 when it ended, and they should have been wearing masks, but now they’re far enough back in time that they blissfully live in a world where major world leaders are claiming the potential for pandemic is not risky enough to take steps to avoid. And soon, maybe before their day is over, it will jump ahead a year, and we all get to celebrate one comic when in-verse and out-verse have the same date.

  28. JessWitt

    Rachel could stand to remember that something awful happened involving Ruth and going to psych eval.

    And if she does remember? Well, she should have moved out with Bloodrose and Guns too.

    1. Rectilinear Propagation

      Rachel told Ruth that she’s incapable of change immediately after Ruth came back from the clinic/hospital. She doesn’t consider that a mitigating factor.

      1. Devin

        I have to wonder if Rachel would consider it conceding defeat to move out of the dorm Ruth has jurisdiction over, because why else would she stick around? I know that if I hated my RA that much I’d have gotten out of that dorm.

      2. Regalli

        Yeah, that is still my ‘holy shit, time and place’ moment for her, so honestly this over a mandatory meeting (‘lax on attendance’ means that yeah, Walky’s RA is holding one, and also first night of the semester is, y’know, standard) is… not that surprising. Like, that Rachel doesn’t give Ruth the benefit of the doubt is fine, especially since there’s implications their time as roommates was genuinely terrible for Rachel, but once you’re telling someone they will always be terrible and can never change the day they’ve been discharged from a hospital stay for suicidal tendencies (and a very short-term one at that,) that is A LOT riskier than I think Rachel really would want to be playing with if she actually realized the risk.

        (Because yeah, that is ABSOLUTELY the kind of thing that can send someone who’s too depressed to function and wants to die even further down the latter path. And I am certain Rachel would not want to think that she encouraged Ruth to kill herself. But I wonder if she’d acknowledge it had Ruth actually tried that night, even if called on it, because… well, there would have been a causal link. Hell, I wonder how Rachel would react if confronted with how close to home that hit Amber. I like to think she’d be horrified, but I’m not certain she’d actually own that she’s as capable of affecting other people’s mental states with her actions whether she intends to or not as Ruth is. She could well try to rationalize it. Ah, 20-year-olds.)

        Rachel’s not wrong in disliking Ruth, and Ruth definitely leans into her Terrifying Asshole aspects as RA, but this is absolutely a meeting everyone had to call. Not the best time to pick a fight over. Gives your opponent ground and everyone else had to sit through this all, so some proportion of them are going to be aiming their ire at you for starting it then.

        But hey, DRAMA. *Gets popcorn*

        1. emusam

          Yay drama!

  29. Delicious Taffy

    Today’s strip is brought to you by… Fucking Porsche?!?!?
    What in the actual fuck? That’s one hell of an ad for a fast food worker to get. A fucking luxury car that costs more than my entire place of work makes in a fucking year.

    1. Reltzik

      It’s a good ad strategy.

      The more they make us proles disgusted by people rich and wasteful enough to buy Porsches, the more it becomes a status symbol and the more the rich are likely to buy it.

      #Capitalism

    2. Rectilinear Propagation

      Are you effectively blocking trackers? (DNT beacon, blocking cookies, opting-out, etc.) Because I get all kinds of nonsense when ad scripts have to serve me something random. (Also, a lot of Republican BS unfortunately.)

    3. Shade

      Mine is for Cop Rice who are apparently serious about equine nutrition.

    4. Needfuldoer

      There are cheap Porsches out there! They’re just ticking time bombs or need a new everything to run.

      Just look at the 914! It’s basically a first-party VW Beetle kit car.

  30. Sirksome

    I know this was just a setup for Booster to have a character moment but I’d actually be pretty impressed with them if they somehow leverage their assumedly second semester freshmen psychology education to foster the repair of this Rachel/Ruth feud. Cause seriously with no real context it feels like one sided bullying.

  31. SuperFroakie82

    Oh boy, I can’t imagine this going well.

  32. Nono

    As much of a butt as Rachel is being… it’s also highly unprofessional of Ruth to drag the entire floor into this.

    1. RacingTurtle

      yyyup

    2. dinajoyce

      What are RAs like where you go to school? because at my college most of them were drinking with the freshmen (both RAs and freshmen were generally underage, freshmen dorms were supposed to be dry, and enforcing alcohol policies was basically the only thing RAs had to do). Sleeping with Freshmen would get RAs in trouble (but I think that only applied to freshmen RAs, I think it was fine for any other RA) but basically nothing else did.

      1. Devin

        One of mine tried to buy some of my ADHD meds off of me! Good times!

      2. Zee

        Its funny for me seeing this kind of thing when the RAs at my dorm were all post grads with jobs. One of them was a doctor.
        We did have people who functioned the same as american RAs tho

    3. Devin

      Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh, I mean you’re not wrong, but also the level of professionalism you’re expecting from a position that’s practically untrained and without qualification requirements is a little much.

  33. Judas Peckerwood

    Booster, I like the cut of your jib!

    1. clif

      I too am attracted to idiots with no sense of self preservation.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Twist: Booster just wants to ask a question.

  34. DEAD MEME

    RIP Booster’s Femurs

    2020-2020

    “They were pretty cool, for a bunch of femurs.”

    1. rose capose

      “a bunch”? does Booster carry extras?

  35. Lingo

    Anybody else think Booster is hoping to be bodyslammed and then dated? Just throwing that out there.

    1. brute

      …well now i do

    2. BenRG

      Okay, congratulations on coming up with an idea that never even occurred to me before I read your comment!

  36. Bagge

    Carla? Malaya? Come on! This is open invitation to make something about you.

  37. Dax

    May your memory be a blessing Booster, maybe we have a new more gentle Ruth. I wouldn’t count on it though.

  38. Switchchris

    I cant wait for Booster to use their knowledge to totally ace the psychoanalysis and Ruth will either walk away without a word while being super pissed but unable to deny the truth being said, or will Throw that clipboard at their face.

    1. Badgermole

      That’s not how psychoanalysis works.

  39. BenRG

    Rachel, just… just shut up okay? Your bile and hate for Ruth has long since had any justification and has begun to come across as the critique of the pseudo-intellectual who wants everyone to know how detached and intelligent they are.

    Please don’t tell me that Willis introduced Booster only to have an ‘author insert’ who can just stand there and tell all the characters what’s wrong with them in a way that won’t need any kind of narrative structure to it!

    1. AGV

      What would be wrong about Booster being that?

      Also, by narrative structure we’re talking about consequences from their interactions, having a purpose or something else?

      1. BenRG

        Narrative Structure: Actually having a plausible in-story reason for the character to deliver exposition on the subject’s character and flaws whilst everyone stands around as set dressing. If Willis is doing this, it means that he’s got bored of the story and just wants to write monologues about the characters instead.

        1. Devin

          At this point a plausible in-story reason is just that they’re coming into a new environment with an outside perspective, completely separated from all of the previous context that all the other characters have had. A new perspective coming from outside fits into the narrative pretty well at this point, I think. And giving the characters the opportunity to react to that perspective can help drive the narrative, especially in a story that has been in large part character-driven so far.

          Basically what I’m saying is it’s a little early to start worrying about if Willis has gotten bored with the story.

        2. emusam

          I think if he were bored of the story, it would have been simpler to have a few months of clean up, let us see Halloween, and end the comic, instead of jumping ahead to a new semester.

  40. Lorien Inksong

    Uh oh. Well, they were fun even if their fictional life and presence in the story was short. RIP Booster.

  41. Shmid

    I love when Rachel shows up and sucks the joy out of anyone within earshot. So fun!!

  42. Myth

    I cannot believe nobody but Booster volunteered. Don’t they all LOVE to psychoanalyze each other? Does their passion for snarking at every opportunity exceed their fear of Ruthless?

    This strip made me realize, I think Booster is a psychology major, or similar. He seemed quite insightful (remarking on the motives behind Walky’s and Ruth’s statements, etc), and he seemed interested in Walky’s brief, mostly-snark introductions of people that paradoxically contained a lot of information about everyone’s respective psyche and neuroses…

    1. Myth

      fuck, typo

      *snarking at every opportunity NOT exceed their fear

    2. Reltzik

      Yes, they are majoring in psych. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-11/01-this-bright-millennium/ditchin/

      Also, rule of thumb, when an entire room of people have been given an open invite to psychoanalyze everyone in a hostile atmosphere, you keep your damn mouth shut and hope no one notices you.

      1. AGV

        Maybe the Jurassic Park T. rex’s motion-blindness was an insight on human nature

    3. Rachel McCall

      *they

      1. Myth

        @Rachel McCall Oh! Thank you! So sorry for messing up Booster’s pronouns. I have a couple of friends that came out as nonbinary/trans, but remembering the pronoun change always takes me a bit of time to get used to thanks to my ADHD bad memory. I apologize for misgendering Booster.

  43. Amelie Wikström

    Is this endless stream of passive aggressive comments about how sure you are that Ruth is going to continue to do the job wrong going somewhere, Rachel? Cause I think everyone already gets that you think that.

    Why not take it up with the administration that is clearly doing something to keep her on the job after her repeatedly publicly stated wish to get fired? Do you not want someone to do something?, do you just want to be annoying?

    1. AGV

      Ruth did something to her, alright, but what exactly is far from clear.
      So far Rachel seems more hellbent on getting back at Ruth than actually doing something that would change the situation.

      I just thought, maybe Rachel already tried to talk to admin and since nothing came out of it she resorted to being like this?

      1. Daibhid C

        Yeah, I feel like “the administration that is clearly doing something to keep her on the job after her repeatedly publicly stated wish to get fired” is in itself an indication that there may not be much traction in talking to them about it.

        1. Regalli

          Though you’d think that fact in itself might twig Rachel to the fact that there’s Something Odd going on there.

        2. Devin

          I don’t know, a vendetta can blind someone to clues like that. It’s entirely plausible that she’s figured out that some powerful entity wants to keep Ruth in place, and it could even be possible for her to find out that that entity is a relative of Ruth’s who’s a donor to the school, but that wouldn’t necessarily lead down a path to discovering Ruth’s relationship with Sir, and discovering that a powerful relative is keeping Ruth in power wouldn’t exactly lend itself towards benefit of the doubt. I think it would be more likely Rachel would disregard Ruth’s stated wishes to be fired as disingenuous.

        3. Regalli

          Yeah, that does seem more likely, alas. I’m with you, I really want to hear WHAT went down freshman year between the two of them. Because taking EVERY opportunity to snipe at her, no matter how inappropriate is… well, it had better be pretty awful to merit telling someone they can never improve while they’re basically still suicidal.

        4. Amelie Wikström

          Hmm it makes me think if she actually wants anything to happen and isn’t just constantly blinded by rage, it looks like what she wants is for Ruth to kill herself.

        5. thejeff

          Or you know, she thinks Ruth’s still an abusive bully who hasn’t changed or tried to change. Who got caught messing with one of her victims and got out of any consequences, got to keep both Billie and her position of power.

          Some of us have speculated that Rachel’s had to deal with an abuser before – possibly one who kept apologizing and promising to change, which is a pretty common pattern.

        6. Regalli

          You can hate someone and not be… well, tacitly encouraging them to kill themselves when you know they’ve been suicidal in the last 72 hours or so. Rachel knew Ruth was suicidal, because she’s the one who told Chloe. (Honestly, I REALLY want to know how Rachel would have reacted if Ruth had attempted that night. Would she rationalize it? Did she think antidepressants reach full effectiveness FAR faster than they really do? Was she actually thinking how it might impact Ruth at all? Like, yes this is an extremely dark train of thought but I cannot emphasize this enough, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY ENOUGH TO TRIGGER A RELAPSE ON ITS OWN and whatever medications Ruth was on were at most enough to pull her out of ‘too depressed to take any action at all.’ The reason all antidepressant ads include ‘may increase thoughts of suicide’ is that there’s frequently a period before you get any real emotions back where it does grant some degree of energy and motivation, and you can go from ‘completely nonfunctional and even the effort of killing yourself is too much’ to still feeling nothing but despair and hopelessness, but having just enough motivation to be able to turn that desire to die into actual plans or action.)

          It’s that line between ‘I hate you and will never forgive you’ and ‘I actively hope you die,’ especially in a situation where them dying is on the table. Feel the latter all you want, (I sure do,) but you say that to the person or their loved ones directly and you are in fact The (or at leas A) Asshole In That Exchange.

    2. thejeff

      While we all know Ruth wanted to be fired, I’m not sure how publicly stated it was. At the previous floor meeting all she said was “Look, I know you thought you’d be rid of me, but you’re still stuck with me, and that blows”

  44. Keulen

    Rachel’s reminding me why I don’t like her again.

  45. Mr. Random

    I kinda want Rachel to be a more recurring character.
    Her views on people kinda don’t shift after she gets a good(bad) first impression of someone.

    But her perception of people is always grounded pretty well.

  46. Human Bean

    Okay, Willis, you did it again, I’ll be sitting on the edge of my seat until tomorrow’s strip. I’m not being sarcastic, I’m super curious about Booster and whatever they might have to say.

  47. TheHabbadasher

    Oh, this is gonna be good

  48. DarkoNeko

    oh Booster. . .

    1. Arianod

      We hardly knew them…

  49. sliver

    1) Booster, no. Just no. Please.

    2) Ruth should hand bongo-Rachel the clipboard and tell her that since she knows Ruth’s job so well, _she_ can run the meeting. And leave.

    3) Other Rachel is clearly the Superior Rachel.

    1. Schpoonman

      Rachel’s name needs no modifier. This fucker needs to be identified with their only remarkable trait, that they’re on the tall end of the cast.

  50. Corneel

    Well the room could use a morale booster.

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Bravo *claps* bravo!

  51. foducool

    I see Booster, too, likes to live dangerously

  52. jufreire

    Everyone’s assuming what Ruth did to her was not that bad so clearly Rachel is the villain. I hope Booster can deescalate this… Somehow.

    1. BenRG

      I’ve got the feeling that Ruth was mean, demeaning and generally a nasty person to live with. However, I doubt that there was ever any directed abuse, just this air of: “I don’t like you and wish you were somewhere else starting shortly before we first met.” Not exactly the nicest thing to live with but it still doesn’t fully explain Rachel’s vendetta on Ruth, IMO.

      1. Devin

        I personally feel like there’s more to that story yet to be told, but we obviously can’t know that for sure.

        I really hope there is though, because as it stands right now feels really incomplete and unsatisfying. Most of the characters who have something powerfully driving them we have some kind of decent insight into what it is, and right now Rachel feels like the most glaring exception. And it feels to me like that’s being highlighted right now. I’m hoping that means Willis is leading into some reveals about what is driving her.

  53. TheFlamingonator

    Well, it was nice knowing you Booster. They were so young, so innocent, so easy to de-femur.

  54. Nenja

    Well, this will be interesting…

  55. Alan in DC

    Booster’s been given their own page on the DoA CAST page.

    Clearly, they’re being given some serious scene time between now and Feb 17 (the latest strip ready for rollout) to warrant this kind of billing.

    1. Devin

      The status of their femurs however…remains unclear.

    2. Alfa/Polaris

      Booster’s been on the cast page ever since they were introduced!

  56. Josh Spicer

    ….what the actual fuck Rachel?

    1. BenRG

      She is sure that Ruth is a monster and always will be a monster.

      1. Eldritchy

        And while Ruth is climbing her way out of the abyss Rachel is getting ready to jump in.

      2. BBCC

        And Ruth’s not doing much to prove her wrong by threatening people to go, is she?

    2. JetstreamGW

      Rachel’s kinda an asshole.

  57. FacelessDeviant

    Booster is too new to be intimidated by Ruth.

    They will be illuminated.

    1. Arianod

      That’s… a weird way of saying “beaten to death with their own bloody femurs”.

  58. Sol

    Has Rachel not considered that, perhaps, these floor meetings are mandated by the faculty that the RA must hold, regardless on the quality of the material that Ruth must present?

    Cuz these meetings definitely don’t seem like a thing Ruth would have come up with to do on her own.

    1. BenRG

      Rachel thinks that Ruth is a monster. So, naturally, her first assumption is that Ruth wants to abuse her dorm mates and will fabricate reasons to do so if she must.

    2. thejeff

      Maybe she’s realized that other RAs don’t use threats to get the people on their floor to attend?

      1. BenRG

        If the Read men’s RA is anything to go by, it’s possible that they don’t get people to attend at all!

        1. thejeff

          Which means Ruth doesn’t have to be abusive to herd people to hers.

  59. Vulcanodon

    Oh, Booster, no…

  60. Buli-Buli

    Honestly, given all the really serious issues Ruth had las semester, both personally and professionally, clearing the air like this day 1 is probably a good idea.

    Depending on how the consensus goes or what points are made, the night is going to go poorly for someone though.

  61. CJ

    Rachel, if you want to curtail Ruth’s actions as an RA, this is the wrong way to achieve that goal.
    On the other hand, if you want to piss off most of your fellow floor mates, the strategy is valid.

    OT: Why the hell do people think they have to defend (their) god against caricatures (by killing random people, to boot). Isn’t it more blasphemic to infringe on god’s right to deal with offenders (thus implying god is too weak to do it himself)?

    1. emusam

      Some gods command their humans to commit atrocities to prove they love them (with the implication that they’re not all-knowing, though that’s pretty clearly shown throughout such works as the Old Testament, or pretty much any other mythology).

      Some humans just like an excuse.

    2. thumb

      Well, sometimes it’s less specifically about your god being disrespected, and more about the society around you reminding you that disrespecting you for your religion and let’s be honest, quite possibly the colour of your skin, is fine and also laudable. That this disrespect is protected by law and that your complaints regarding this disrespect is also worthy of ridicule. The killing is still wrong, and I am not defending that at all. But there’s more than one way to frame what’s going on. I don’t even know if the perspective I’m giving is correct either. But things generally don’t make sense because they’re incorrect. And the framing of certain religions by the media has often been very much incorrect.

      1. CJ

        As far as I can tell, if Monty Python made Life of Brian now, some fundi Christian would burn down a cinema. It doesn’t matter which god or skin color, the principal of thinking blasphemy is a reason to kill people is just plain wrong.

        1. thumb

          Look, I was pointing out that “blasphemy” is a simplistic view at the whole thing. If the situation doesn’t make sense to you, then logically, it’s because you’re missing enough information to form a sound conclusion. i.e. It’s not simple and there are other factors at play.

  62. Username Taken

    There was some commenting that Walky shouldn’t have told Booster about Ruth bodyslamming and dating Billie, and now that Rachel is a bad person for being continually aggressive in calling out Ruth. I think Rachel is picking the wrong hill to die on with this particular fight, but still: Ruth has used a position of power to verbally, physically, and sexually assault students under her authority.

    I think it’s fair game for Walky to tell Booster the short version of the abusive Ruth/Billie saga. I think it’s fair game for Rachel or any of the extended cast to hate Ruth for her behavior. Ruth has not earned the benefit of the doubt from most of the cast, and she isn’t entitled to her abusive ways being kept private, imo.

    That said, I hope Ruth gets the help she needs to continue healing and trying to improve her behavior going forward. I also hope she and Howard can somehow get free of Sir’s influence, because Sir is one of the worst living characters in this comic.

  63. Rabisch

    This is so sad. I really liked Booser…Rachel truly is an annoying person.

  64. Willoughby chase

    Herded into the kill zone … too soon?

  65. Willoughby chase

    YAY FOR BOOSTER!!!!

  66. Smooti

    Given that we know that Rachel and Ruth were roommates freshmen year, my guess is this about much much more than about Ruth’s… behavior as an RA.

    That being said I am glad we have Rachel as a sort of counterpoint to Ruth. Cuz like, what Ruth did was wrong and while we see Ruth as a POV character it can be easy to forget the genuinely bad stuff she’s done. So having someone to call it out (even if she isn’t doing it in the best way ever) is good.

    1. thumb

      I’m always grateful for non-villain characters with a very different perspective from the heroes. Remind the readers that not everyone drinks the same kool aid. Although Ruth is probably well aware of that herself.

  67. ziggy78eog

    It is a trap, Booster! Do not fall for it, it is not worth it!

  68. thumb

    Honestly, dick move by Rachel, but since we’re here now, might as well get all the shit out in the open. Booster going over the top, Walky getting ready for incoming fire.

  69. Sirksome

    I guess I have some more thoughts on this whole Rachel hates Ruth thing as I try to get the full picture here.

    First my main problem with it isn’t really Rachel’s actions so much. Ruth was a jerk first semester and probably worse than we give her credit for since we sympathize with her more than non cast page credited, side character Rachel.

    What I do have a problem with is that Rachel generally lacks any empathy for Ruth, someone we know and she knows has severe depression and mental health issues. Mainly stuff like this were she frames Ruth having a complete breakdown in the shower as “some tears”

    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-9-comic/03-sometimes-the-sky-was-so-far-away/erase-2/

    Ruth did relapse into an open threat just before that so maybe Rachel still has a point. But her worldview on things in not exactly healthy in and of itself.

    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/redemption/

    But she could also have her own reasons for it beyond even anything Ruth did herself as this scene here with Joe is actually really cryptic for some reason.

    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/04-the-do-list/oath/

    What does this even mean?!!? Did Rachel accidentally kill a guy? Did she kill multiple people? Or know someone who did? I think Rachel killed a guy, or more likely made or witnessed some sort of mistake herself that ruined a relationship or aspect of her life that she thinks she can’t fix or change.

    But does that justify forcing her cynical worldview onto others? I don’t think it does and more than that it isn’t really productive for positive change, but I guess Rachel doesn’t really believe in that anyway.

    Some people are saying that Rachel is holding Ruth accountable for backsliding with this group meeting which does have some truth to it. Ruth DID just threaten Becky and Dorothy.

    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-11/01-this-bright-millennium/newnew/

    Although this feels way more tongue and cheek than anything Ruth did last semester considering Ruth physically dragged in students that time. She is actually trying to change.

    And I think that’s the zinger here. Ruth IS showing positive change something Rachel doesn’t think she can do or that anyone can do and I think that maybe irks her, although that’s just an assumption on my part.

    I do think Rachel constantly calling Ruth out for her past bullshit is justified but I don’t think it will solve anything. It does risk stressing Ruth the person struggling with alcoholism and severe depression into potentially backsliding though which is real fun.

    That’s not really on Rachel though. Ruth’s mental health issues are just that “her” issues and don’t excuse past behavior. In fact learning how to cope with difficult people and situations is vital to the recovery process probably. (Don’t look at me I know nothing about that I’m not Booster) but I don’t think Rachel adding fuel to the flame actually solves anything.

    And that’s my take on it. Rachel can do what she wants. She maybe even has the moral high ground but her actions are also actively making things worse. Ruth daring people to psychoanalyze her is not a good move for her and it only happened because Rachel taunted her. Good job, Rachel. You’ve proven your point that no one can change. I don’t agree with that and would prefer Ruth become a better person. But keep doing you. I believe Ruth is strong enough to take it.

    So there it is. Thanks for reading if you even bothered because this is was a text wall!

  70. Sam

    Honestly, if I was in this meeting, I would want to throw hands with Rachel.

    Everyone gets it, you aren’t ever going to forgive or like Ruth, that’s fine, no one expects you to. But trying to bring up some nefarious motivation just to antagonise Ruth and prolong the damn floor meeting by starting a pointless fight when she’s just trying to get it over with is just… What are you even trying to achieve? You’re just making people hate you and Ruth can’t even explain why you’re doing it, because she doesn’t remember specifically what created this exact level of hatred due to the depression brain fog.

  71. Victor Riley

    I looked back at the tags for Rachel… we haven’t really heard from her in a year (our time). And that last time was her mentioning how Ruth didn’t seem to remember Freshman year… but that Rachel did.

    So she’s been holding on to some wrongdoing from the previous year (I’m assuming they’re both Sophomores). As she’s made mention of Ruth’s bullying, it seems she was victim to it.

    Yes, Ruth is going through a lot, fighting depression and all that. It’s often said how bullies are that way because of some trauma and/or abuse that they haven’t been able to deal with.

    But Rachel is under no obligation to ever forgive the one who bullied her. There’s plenty of douchebags I have no intention of ever forgiving.

    A few weeks ago, guy from High School mentioned that a guy he knew had passed away, and was posting his facebook eulogy-tribute. And the name was one I recognized, but was not a friend. In fact, my most vivid memory of him was in 6th grade… when I bent down to pick something up, he intentionally took his stack of books, held them over my head and dropped them. Just because it was “funny”. And this was 33 years ago for me.

    Hearing him pass, I didn’t give any comment… but I just silently said, “Good”.

    Maybe he became a better person, a more loving one. I hope so. But that doesn’t mean I have an obligation to forgive, just because he may have had it rough back then, too.

    1. Schpoonman

      The point is that you walked away from the abuser and moved on with your life. Asshole Rachel has apparently been sitting in wait (I’m hearing they’re Juniors, by the way), and when Ruth was at her lowest she stormed in and started kicking Ruth when she was down.

      Seriously, I cannot overstate how much I fucking hate her for “Redemption is a story.”

      1. Regalli

        Yeah, I really cannot overstate how dangerous it is to say that to someone immediately after they’ve been hospitalized for suicidal ideation – even if we didn’t know self-loathing was a highkey part of Ruth’s depression, it… look if someone reaches the point where they want to kill themselves like that, the BEST-CASE scenario for their self-image is ‘completely powerless to ever effect meaningful change in the world.’ I tend to consider myself absolutely useless and a waste of space, but considering yourself an irredeemably terrible person is also a distinct possibility. And any scenario where you even contemplate the thought includes thinking that’s never going to change, because suicide pretty much inherently requires you to be out of hope. Rachel, I am certain*, did not think she was encouraging Ruth to kill herself. She didn’t say it in so many words. But she was echoing precisely what Ruth’s depressed brain was saying, and Rachel knew why Ruth had been hospitalized. She’s the one who told Chloe, in exactly those words, that Ruth was suicidal. (Reference: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/chloe/ ) That was dangerous.

        And given how similar Amber’s rhetoric about how AG ‘failed’ and was therefore unnecessary was in the aftermath of the stabbing? The stabbing that occurred that night, shortly after? That speech almost certainly had splash damage, too. I highly doubt it was the factor between Amber stabbing him and not, but I suspect she took it as validation of her and AG’s most damaging thoughts about herself in the aftermath.

        * If only because there are only two actual characters (excluding Ryan, who’s not a character so much as a boogeyman) we have seen who are anywhere near that evil among the students, and when confronted with irrefutable evidence that what he was doing was in fact that bad, Mike was horrified enough to… well, throw himself off a building at a fatal height. Mary just doesn’t give a shit and can rationalize well beyond that.

        1. Sirksome

          Ugh! You had to go ahead and remind me how awful their floor manager is at her job! Pudding head lady, that one teacher from the Marcie incident flashbacks, a teacher at Amber’s highschool, there’s like a running theme of incredibly incompetent or blatantly horrible people in authority positions particularly when it comes to teaching or guiding youth. Yikes.

        2. Regalli

          Also the professor Penny and Jason TA’d for, as well as both of them themselves. It’s a comic about kids finding themselves in college. Adults who don’t suck tend to provide less narrative drama, sadly. It’s why we’ve seen so little of the Keeners or Saruyamas, comparatively. Or Sierra, for that matter, who’s way more comfortable with herself than most of the main cast.

    2. Sam

      Clearly she is holding some wrongdoing close, but no one has ever suggested she needs to forgive or ever like Ruth. Because she doesn’t. Even if she does change completely. I don’t think I’ve seen a single person say that she needs to forgive her. It is Rachel’s specific methods most people have a problem with – it is all snide commentary and cruelty at Ruth’s lowest points, none of which achieves anything or helps anyone. It is all opportunistic vindictive cruelty.

      She seriously needs to learn the tact to not try to tear out Ruth’s throat in the most unsympathetic ways possible at every low point she sees her in and Ruth can’t even explain to anyone what is up with her doing that, because Rachel opted not to remind the person with depression brain fog which specific slight she holds above the rest against her.

      Ruth literally came back from the hospital for wanting to kill herself and Rachel decided that meant it was fine to tell her redemption was a story a.k.a. something that very easily could have made Ruth kill herself if her mood was already in a down swing. Like, Mary was perfectly willing to push Ruth towards killing herself and Rachel despises her readily for that, but apparently it’s fine to do if you’re not using it as blackmail?

      I am perfectly fine with Rachel not liking Ruth. But I am also perfectly fine with Ruth, as she regains a sense of self-esteem, getting annoyed with her cryptic bs and with her taking potshots at her at every opportunity. Ruth has let a lot of Rachel’s antagonism slide in the past but part of having self-esteem is getting annoyed when people treat you badly. Which is what Rachel is doing. Regardless of if she has a reason for why she is doing it, her methods are still abhorrent.

  72. Sarpiedon

    So long, poor Booster. We hardly knew ye.

  73. BarerMender

    Jesus, Rachel, what do you want? Do you want Ruth to drop out of school? Die? What do you want? Because you’re getting tedious.

  74. Juanoku

    They were so young too… Rip booster, you’ll live on in our hearts

  75. Wendy

    Am I the only person here who loves Rachel? Haha she’s so salty all the time. I love it.

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