209

Lied
Posted on January 16, 2019 by David M Willis

209 thoughts on “Lied”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “…so that’s the secret! LYING”

    *ticket to popularity ahoy*

    1. lilyliv

      I mean, you’re not wrong.

      1. DarkoNeko

        right ?

    2. Jamie

      Now go run for President.

      1. Jon Rich

        I was hoping to find that line.

    3. Plasma Mongoose

      Lying is such an ugly word, better to use the term “creative truth-telling”

      1. Ana Chronistic

        Alternative Facts

        1. Arawn

          Someone already used that one. It’s ok, though, Truth isn’t Truth anyway.

        2. Ghostforge

          so sayeth MiniTru!

  2. Cattleprod

    “I forgot you there in my direct line of sight since you were off-panel.”

  3. butts

    this just in: Billie lies

    1. Yumi

      Yeah, but Lucy lied too!
      (“Congratulations, I think you just found the world’s thinnest argument.”)

      1. Killer Klown

        Or every political debate ever.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      You cannot spell Billie without lie, bi and bill.

      1. DarkoNeko

        bi lies ? :/

    3. Keulen

      In other news, water is wet.

  4. Doctor_Who

    Then the Blue Fairy appears and assigns Lucy the job of being Billie’s conscience.

    1. BBCC

      I made this joke on patreon, but it needs to be made here – that’s a full time job with a lot of stress and little potential emotional rewards. Billie better cough up a thriving wage and kick ass benefits.

      1. Doctor_Who

        Lucy will receive a golden badge and swank top hat.

        1. Deanatay

          Billie: Eh, how about I just give you 20 bucks every now and then to go away?
          Lucy:… That’ll do.

      2. Regalli

        Billingsdad can probably afford it.

        1. BBCC

          But will he?

        2. Catman

          We have it on good authority (Billie) that the only way he knows how to show he cares about Billie is by flexing his wallet, so maybe for the sake of her improving as a person he might?

          Okay maybe Billie isn’t GOOD authority. Maybe, like, neutral-positive but unreliable.

    2. ValdVin

      Lucy can handle that job. I mean, it’s only 25 hours a day, right?

      1. abysswatcher1993

        She has to do it to get her wings… Sorry, wrong movie.

  5. BBCC

    So for those of you still doubting, yeah, Lucy’s being a button. Or an alpha sweetie as Bagge calls her, because Bagge is adorable.

    I mean, Billie’s totally going to be at movie night later, and that’s probably where the falling out with Ruth that Willis mentioned drawing on twitter will happen. But Lucy was concerned about Ruth’s feelings.

    1. Piotr W

      What’s a “button”? I mean, aside from a thing you push?

      1. BBCC

        An adorable person. Agatha is also a button.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          I thought button was slang for someone who butts in.

        2. Dean

          I thought it was a replacement for a banned word, like bongo.

        3. Roborat

          I thought she was a spark.

        4. 3-I

          I’ll hetero YOUR dyne.

        5. thejeff

          hetero your dina?

          Wait. Dina isn’t hetero.

        6. 3-I

          Wrong Agatha. Also, I refuse to hetero Dina.

      2. Doctor_Who

        Is it like being a cinnamon roll? Is being a cinnamon roll still a thing?

        1. BBCC

          I still call people that.

          Buttons seems to be a me thing. I got it from Degrassi but it doesn’t seem to have caught on.

        2. Yumi

          Degrassi!
          Also, for others, you can think of it like, “cute as a button.”
          (Does that come from something? Are buttons particularly cute? I’m too lazy to look into it right now.)

        3. BBCC

          I have no idea where that phrase comes from. All I know is apparently button was my first word because my mom’s friend was playing with me. Well, she was trying. I wanted to play with the buttons on her shirt.

        4. Geneseepaws

          My great grandmother used to say, “cute as a button,” for a compliment if we were well dress and goomed. And she used say,” bright as a brass button,” if we did or said something that showed we had half a brain. (We were pretty often horrible kids)

        5. lilyliv

          Is it related to “cute as a button?” Because Lucy definitely is that.

        6. BBCC

          Sure, let’s go with that!

        7. thejeff

          I’ve heard “bright as a button” as well.
          And even “sharp as a button”, though I don’t really get that one.

          Never “button” on its own.

        8. Plasma Mongoose

          I like cinnamon donuts better even if they are messy to eat.

      3. Blanche Quizno

        “Cute as a button”?

    2. Kyrik Michalowski

      Where did Willis mention drawing their falling out on Twitter? I’m going to be very disappointed, though I full expect it at this point, if that turns out to be the case.

      1. BBCC

        He mentioned a few months ago he was drawing a Ruth and Billie fight. That was around the time the buffer was in (late) February, towards the start of March. The next storyline starts in March.

        1. BBCC

          I could always be wrong though. Maybe their ‘fight’ is more akin to when Ruth was chasing her around and they ended up making out. Hell, for all I know, my timing is way off and that was the fight in question.

        2. Yumi

          “Is this one of our sexy fights?”

          Time will tell.

        3. Needfuldoer

          My theory is that Ruth and Billie go to movie night in Forest Quad, and Billie poorly handles balancing the reality of their relationship with the legend she’s woven for her new neighbors. Ruth and Billie fight about this, which snowballs into fighting about Billie not detoxing and seeing the counselor like she said she was supposed to. The fight leads to at least a temporary breakup. Depending on how bad it gets, and how long the split lasts, Ruth starts slipping and gets tempted by the bottle again, and hopefully Billie realizes what she threw away just for meaningless clique-y high school bullshit.

          I hope I’m at least partially wrong about this; maybe posting it will rewrite comics that are already finished. Somehow, maybe out of pure spite.

        4. thejeff

          I think at this point I’d be happier if it was Billie who went on the downward spiral after screwing up. Having to confront her drinking problem for her own sake, not just for Ruth.

      2. ktbear

        Here’s my take on it, which will be completely wrong of course. Ruth is going to a lot of effort trying to get better, taking meds, attending councilling, giving up drink. Billie isn’t doing any of that because she doesn’t have a problem and so long as she has the girls in Forrest dotting on her, Ruth to love and to be loved by, that is probably going to continue to be the case.
        Billie has already shown an almost callous disregard for the fact Ruth is trying to remain sober and happily suggests they go out for drinks. I can see this eventually becoming an issue for Ruth, what she is doing is damned hard enough without the person she loves trying to sabotage it. As a result it wouldn’t surprise me if next time that happens Ruth snaps at Billie and initiates the fight that Willis has alluded to. It could even result in them breaking up. I had two friends once who broke up because one of them stopped smoking and the other one wouldn’t.
        However, I feel this would actually be a good thing from the point of view of Billie loosing Ruth, or even if she just believes she will. Perhaps then she will re-evaluate things. If she is prepared to die for Ruth, is she also prepared to give up drink for her? Sounds simple, perhaps, but Billie is an alcoholic so there is no garauntee that she will pick Ruth over drink. Which would be incredibly sad as these are two of my faorite characters and I’d love to see them work through this.

    3. Keulen

      I don’t understand how people were doubting her before. Lucy’s been an adorable, sweet cinnamon roll in every strip she’s been in.

    4. Bagge

      Darn straight I’m adorable! As is Lucy.

      But that’s not QUITE what I mean with ‘Alpha Sweetie’. As I read her, Lucy tries to achieve a similar social position as Billie when she’s on the top of a game. The middle of the social circle, the one people come to with problems – and the one who can solve them, the one people wants to be friend with, and for good reason.

      A bit of a gossip, a bit of a busy-body, a bit of a ‘friend mom’. Both Joyce and Dorothy have similar tendencies.

      The difference between an alpha bongo and an alpha sweetie lies in the execution. While Billie shoves you in a locker, Lucy gives you a hug. But both wants to be on the top of the heap.

      1. Rabid Rabbit

        Given your avatar, that really ought to be “Damn queer I’m adorable.” :p

        1. Bagge

          Now I really hope to hear Becky use that line at some point.

        2. ValdVin

          Seconded.

      2. BBCC

        Makes sense, but I stand by saying Lucy is both.

        1. Bagge

          That is the truth.

  6. Mr. Random

    Lying.
    It solves ALL your problems.

    1. Mr. Random

      And that’s the truth.

      1. Catman

        Is that a lie?

        1. King Daniel

          The cake is, as is this statement.

        2. Needfuldoer

          This… sentence… is… FALSE! Don’tthinkaboutitdon’tthinkaboutitdon’tthinkaboutit

        3. Roborat

          Ah, the famous Kirk gambit.

    2. Yumi

      That’s why I lie all the time. I’m probably lying right now.

    3. Plasma Mongoose

      Because people just cant seem to handle the truth, hence why we live in a post-truth society now.

    4. showler

      Lying is the alcohol of talking.

    5. Bagge

      That’s one of Billie’s main relationship tools
      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/02-that-perfect-girl/separate-2/

    6. karmax

      I thought that beer was the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.

  7. Yumi

    Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish a particular couple’s ba-thumping from the general noises of ba-thumping that may filter through a college dorm.

    1. BBCC

      I mean, Carla overheard ’em, but she thought it was Ruth taking her aggression out on the walls.

      She wasn’t ENTIRELY wrong.

    2. Doctor_Who

      Play some music and see if after a few seconds the ba-thumping starts to sync up to the beat.

  8. Illithid

    Yay for thick dorm walls!

    Boo for lying in relationships.

    Although I’m sure I did the same or worse. I can remember being young and stupid, but the details sometimes blur.

  9. Electriccombines

    Nah Billie, they just assumed Ruth had a sudden surge of unchecked aggression…
    Plus frustrated shouting and annoyed moans of course. How could anyone figure it out unless they walked in?

  10. Catman

    God Lucy is adorable

    AND SO IS HAPPY RUTH! This whole comic is filled to the brim with dorbs!

  11. Stephen Bierce

    *too many songs titled “Little White Lies”–I can’t decide*

    1. Cholma

      Can’t go wrong with Fleetwood Mac!

    2. Marsh Maryrose

      Just curious — what are the songs that beat out Thompson Twins?

      1. Roborat

        Any song ever written.

  12. Deadjolras

    Bless Lucy for being the first character to point out that private conversations in a hallway outside other people’s rooms aren’t so private after all.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      If the floors are carpeted, it’s not so back but tiled floors carry “private conversations” longer distances than most would like.

  13. chris73

    So did Billie genuinely think that she could keep her relationship secret? Like I don’t know far apart the dorms are but it seems a little short sighted on her part, also Walky doesn’t deserve Lucy…maybe a Jacob or a Joe instead

    1. Catman

      One of few people I’ve seen who would rank Joe higher than Walky in terms of relationship material

      1. Matthew Davis

        I’m not sure I’d rank Joe higher, but since the list and talking heart-to-heart with Joyce he seems to be on a path to being better. And he’s always, always been about consent, which puts him higher than some of the Joe-haters want to place him.

        1. Fart Captor

          If he’d always been about consent beyond the absolute bare minimum that whole arc that ended with Joyce explaining why treating women like objects was bad never would’ve been necessary

          There’s hope for him now that he’s gotten that into his thick skull, but jfc he was NOT “always, always about consent”

      2. geno

        I’d definitely rank Joe at this point higher than Walky, and if he ends up half as successful as he does in Walkyverse then he would definitely be one of the higher rated dudes in the comic. Walky is a nice idiot. That is it.

      3. chris73

        If you want a relationship with a 14 year old (emotionally and physically) then yes Walky would be a good choice

    2. 3oranges

      Walky and Jacob would not work well, but his pretend marriage with Joe seemed promising. 😉

      1. Catman

        Nice

    3. Marsh Maryrose

      She apparently thought that she could keep the fact that she wears glasses secret, even though she seems to wear them everywhere except Forest. So I’m going with, apparently she did think that.

      The official IU-Bloomington housing site divides the dorms/apartments into four neighborhoods, and both Read and Forest are in the same neighborhood. According to Google Maps, Read and Forest are about 5 minutes walk from each other.

      But don’t forget — IU-Bloomington is enormous in terms of student population — for undergraduates, 15th largest public university in the US. It’s possible someone from Forest might graduate without ever knowingly running into someone from Read.

    4. Blanche Quizno

      Lucy is Jacob’s sister – we can’t go shipping that.

      1. thejeff

        Not sure if serious, but no, she’s not.
        Jacob hasn’t mentioned a sister. She’s mentioned an older brother, but Jacob’s also a freshman.

  14. DSL

    Dorm walls thick enough to block sound from the other side? All right, NOW I’m calling bullsh!t.

    1. Catman

      Might be enough to just obscure the words

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      Hearing distinct words is different from hearing human voice noises.

  15. Roger

    Billie’s gotta listen to Lucy to become a remotely better person

    1. DailyBrad

      Billie’s better than when the strip began, but yeah, it’s a work in progress. She’s changed, but not to the level Joyce has, or Sal at the rate we’re going with her.

  16. newllend(henryvolt)

    Lucy has now been promoted from Billies shadow to her damage control. Honestly I pitty her because it’s a lot of work and there are no good benefits.

  17. mrnoidea

    In my experience, the walls are thick enough. The doors, not so much.

  18. Bagge

    Wow, that’s the nicest thing anyone said about Lucy this entire comic (and coming from Walky who genuinely cares about Billie, worries about it and have a difficult time expressing it, that says something) . Bask in it while you have the chance, Lucy.

    1. DailyBrad

      Walky loves Billie like a sister, but he is also very familiar with her short-sighted decision processes.

  19. Bagge

    The walls are not THAT thick…

    Go Leafs

    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/sure/

    1. stoodmuffin

      I had forgot. Thank you

    2. DailyBrad

      I think that’s more because Carla has the adjacent room to Ruth, so it’s easier to hear people one room over mashing against the closet door.

  20. Yumi

    I made a Zuko (from Avatar, not, like, Danny Zuko) fanvideo. Current copyright claims may or may not have it currently visible to others, though, so could someone tell me if they’re able to view it?:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWjDxsxoTUo

    (Also, this means the DoA video I have planned should be next on my list…so much image gathering to do, though…)

    1. Yumi

      Oh, ALSO, the video uses Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt,” which is entirely this comic’s fault.

      1. BBCC

        Huh. An angsty teenager who did legitimately awful things but wants to be better, while still having anger at a terrible societal system that hurt the whole world including them, and confronted (and helped defeat) an abusive parent and a favoured sibling?

        Somehow, I think Sal would approve.

        (I mean, it’s not an exact parallel – Zuko and Sal have very different societal problems hurting them but still).

  21. fire_daws

    With each adorable comic the greater the next DYW moment will be.

    1. ShinyNeen

      It’s okay! The comic two days ago was dramatic enough to siphon off some of the DYW energy. We should be good to enjoy the adorbs for a little while longer, at least.

  22. mister gray

    woah wall is thicc

  23. William Leonard Reese Jr.

    . . . Well know we KNOW that this is a fictional universe. The dorms at my college were paper thin. So thin that you could literally hear your dorm mate and next door neighbors walking across their floors.

    1. Matthew Davis

      Do you know when your dorm was built? Most mid-century dorms that first housed WWII-era or Boomer students are concrete block construction, but lack the apartment-like amenities that universities have convinced themselves students (or more likely, their helicopter parents) want. The dorms built to have said amenities tend to be built like modern apartment buildings, so as inexpensively as possible. Soundproofing costs money that could go to marble countertops and the like — you know, things that can be shown off in brochures.

      1. Liquid Len

        Yeah, my freshman dorm was one of those. Even had the tilt-out windows for ventilation. No AC, and no individual thermostats for the heat. So even in an upstate NY winter you might have a window open because it was too hot in the room

  24. Questionor

    I’m very glad to have been wrong about Lucy

  25. Lux

    Ok, NOW I think Lucy’s a good character. I didn’t like the pseudo-flirting with her and Walky (mostly because I think Walky shouldn’t be within a mile of a relationship right now)

    1. Matthew Davis

      You can’t blame Lucy for that, though — it’s not like she knows that about him and we have it on good authority he’s some kind of caramel hotness if you like nerdy guys.

    2. geno

      So I have reread that bit a few times now, and I don’t see where any flirting occurred. Multiple people have suggested it did though, so I guess I am the weird one

      1. a4lbi

        That makes two of us, then.

      2. brokshi

        she’s just being nice and most people take that between 2 people of opposite genders as flirting for some reason

        1. C.T Phipps

          I don’t ship Walky and Lucy hard. It’s amazing how sink-ship it.

        2. Emily

          I mean there was blushing and asking him for contact info so it’s got some grounding. Lucy can and should do better though.

        3. MK15

          Maybe not everyone’s thinking back to the chat in Billie’s dorm about Walky’s relationships, but Lucy was keenly interested in the thought of being with Walky then when Billie casually brought it up.

      3. Miri

        This comic? Where her response to “guy apparently on the rebound should book up with you once he’s ‘got boning another girl out of his system'” is to blush, smile, then try to connect with him on social media? This reads as non-flirtatious friendliness? I apparently went on one or two dates I didn’t realise were dates when I was about their age and was also dumped by somebody I didn’t realise I was supposedly in a relationship with as a teen – I don’t tend to see flirting when there isn’t – and I’m calling flirting.

  26. stoodmuffin

    Ooooooooooooooooh. I seeeeeeeeee.

  27. abysswatcher1993

    Walky isn’t wrong. People like Billie always need others to be reminded about how to be a good person. Hmmm… that would make Lucy the exception of the trend that the roommates in this story are enablers: Sarah doesn’t care about stopping Joyce; Walky is Mike’s metaphorical punching bag; Dina doesn’t understand that Amber’s vigilantism is dangerous.

    1. Bagge

      Joyce on the other hand completely fails to enable Sarah in her misantropic quest of isolation.

      Stupid Joyce.

      1. BenRG

        I don’t know; I think that Joyce succeeded in some ways but not in the way she hoped. Sarah has come out of her shell somewhat because she thinks she needs to be there for Joyce, who has managed to work herself into quite an emotional mess during her short time at IU.

        1. DailyBrad

          Yeah, due to Joyce’s direct or indirect actions, Sarah is more social than when the strip began, even if she still sometimes goes into shutdown mode and shoves people out.

          Still, we have stuff like her Dina interactions that suggest to me that Sarah doesn’t mind an outlet, it’s more she’s got a lot of “I reject you before you can reject me” hangups leftover from the Raidah fallout.

        2. Bagge

          And she dislikes teenage drama, which is a real handicap in this comic.

    2. Fart Captor

      Calling Walky an enabler is ridiculous. He’s never more than put up with Mike’s bullshit, and has stood up to him multiple times.

      It’s also unfair to assume Dina doesn’t understand that Amber’s vigilantism is dangerous. She’s not a child. She’s simply decided to trust that Amber can handle herself.

      1. BBCC

        If by ‘dangerous’ OP meant Dina isn’t stopping the increased split – that’s unfair, imo. Dina doesn’t know how bad it’s gotten. She probably thinks the vigilantism is dangerous in the sense getting into any fight is dangerous.

        1. Zatar

          Also she’s not a therapist. It’s not her job to stop the increased split and the idea that she would even be capable of doing so is ridicules.

        2. BBCC

          Well, yes, but I guess hypothetically she could suggest one if she’d noticed. Though that still relies on Amber listening.

      2. thejeff

        She also thinks that Amazi-Girl saved Becky (and she’s right), so it’s a hell of a big ask for her to respond with “That was too dangerous, you shouldn’t do that” instead of thanking her and helping her.

      3. Charlotte

        Agree. Calling Walky an enabler of Mike’s assholery is really cynical — Walky has suffered from Mike’s abusive behaviour on multiple occasions. That’s not enabling.

    3. JBento

      I don’t think you understand what “enabler” is. It’s not merely NOT STOPPING people from doing stuff. If there’s an alcoholic and you don’t stop them from going drinking, that’s not enabling; lending them cash that you know they’re going to spend on booze is.

  28. Owlmirror

    Walls may be thick, but doors can be slightly cracked open. And have eyes and ears at the cracks.

    Right, Mary?

  29. RacingTurtle

    I really hope that suspicions of outright villainy on Lucy’s part will die down now.

    I mean, seriously, guys. It’s not like she’s a parent.

  30. Keulen

    When will the lies end?!

  31. brokshi

    why DO people think lucy’s a villain? she’s been nothing but thoughtful and nice so far. this entire segment is because all her friends blew her off because billie Might Potentially Have Other Plans and she’s trying to find out how billie was handled in the other dorm. there hasn’t been room for Secret Sinister Motivations because all her reasonings have been clearly communicated so far.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Probably because she’s snooping into Billie’s personal life. You know, versus just accepting her friends don’t want to go to movie night.

      1. Doopyboop

        If her friends had normal reasons for going, that’s fine. But they switched on a dime because Almighty Billie won’t go. If I were Lucy, I’d snoop just a tad too, if only because this entire situation is uncanny. I’d be concerned that Billie had mind control powers.

        Plus her only questions have been “how did you deal with Billie’s supernatural popularity” which isn’t very nosy because it’s focused more on the others and NOT Billie, as well as “what would entice Billie to a party?”. I think Lucy thought the answer would be centered on favorite movies, or snacks. Lucy you absolute monster.

        1. Doopyboop

          *not going, feck

      2. Emily

        This does not qualify as snooping. She asked people who knew Billie about what kind of things Billie likes this is not an invasion of privacy.

        1. Charlotte

          Agree. She’s not snooping. She’s trying to find out how to be nice to Billie to get her to be friends (or at least friendly).
          She can’t know that this is doomed to fail.

    2. Tadpole7

      I think some of it came from her trying to engage Billie as she was just waking and ignoring the very obvious signs Billie wasn’t interested. Maybe not for the first time. Which IMO is rather rude and not likely to get her what she wanted. Plus she’s having some issues with her dorm mates hero worship which has made her a little stressed out.

      Honestly it’s spillover from that rather then her being a villain.

      I personally think Lucy is a rather sweet girl who has a desire to be socially successful. She does need to let people say no to participating in things.

    3. timemonkey

      People project themselves onto other people and assume they’re acting in the same way they would in that circumstance.

  32. Robbie

    I read Lucy’s part with the voice of Connie (SU) in my head.

    1. Arianod

      Thank you. Now it’s part of my headcanon too.

    2. ValdVin

      Are you just trying to get us to like Lucy more? Because that’s how that happens.

      1. ValdVin

        (I’d like to ETA, “that’s one way how that happens”).

    3. Some1

      I thought I was the only one!

  33. BenRG

    It probably says a lot about Billie’s issues that she immediately fell back on the 12-year-old’s defensive strategy of: “Well, yeah but you do it too!”

  34. C.T Phipps

    Lucy….in the words of Samuel L. Jackson.

    “Shut the blanket blank up, large person. This ain’t none of your blanket blank beeswax.”

    Well, as read by Joyce.

    Seriously, you should stay out of other people’s affairs. It’s NOSY!

    1. Emily

      No. When people’s actions are hurting others you don’t “stay out of their affairs.” That’s moral cowardice talking. Really I think Lucy should have ripped the band-aid off and told Ruth what a piece of shit her girlfriend has been being because all this has accomplished is delaying the inevitable moment when she finds out for herself.

      1. Adam Black

        Yes, Lucy should have told the truth!
        Lets see, “im billies roommate. She left this morning because she ssaid my cheerfulness was irritating her at 7am. So i came here to old floor to meet her friends, commiserate what a stone cold bongo Billie is, and try to get blackmail material to manipulate Billie into coming to my nerd movie parties — or no one will show up.

        Then she could have added, “Billie didn’t tell me much about you, im going to smugly presume shes ashamed of your relationship, one which is no ne of my business, and not because she values her privacy ”

        Lucy has graduated from sweet nice girl , to passive aggressive Cu Next Tuesday. She has out Mar ied Mary.

        1. Emily

          Yikes.

        2. Zee

          Big Yikes

        3. thejeff

          I echo the “Yikes”, but in particular it’s not just that Billie didn’t tell her much about Ruth, it’s that she let everyone assume she was a sexual conquest, not a romance.
          Nothing to do with valuing privacy.

        4. 3-I

          Uh, hi, just gonna throw this out there: Screw you. Mary literally attempted to blackmail a depressed lesbian into looking the other way so she could be a transphobic bigot to Carla, because she fundamentally believes she is morally superior to literally everyone and has no qualms about using that to hurt people for her own amusement.

          Lucy, even if we ACCEPT your ridiculously inaccurate read of the character, has gone to try and figure out what Billie likes because her entire friend group abandoned her for Billie and she wants to remain friends with them, noticed someone being really really shitty, and reacted to someone being embarrassed as hell by a shitty action on Billie’s part with a white lie about Billie saying nice things about Ruth. Meaning she is willing to alter her actions to stay friends with people and she cares about the feelings of other human beings when you think she shouldn’t.

          These. Things. Are. Not. Equivalent. And the latter sure as hell is not worse. And I and every other trans person in these comments are sick of being your collateral damage. Knock it off.

        5. Emily

          Yeah that was like the bulk of the yikesness of that comment. Everything Lucy has ever done bad in this comic combined doesn’t even match Mary telling Carla she belongs in the men’s dorm let alone the rest of the vile crap she’s pulled.

        6. the final pam

          I just want to make a correction: Ruth’s not a lesbian, she’s bisexual. Same with Billie.

        7. 3-I

          Fair point!

        8. thejeff

          I mean theoretically, if Lucy winds up blackmailing Billie with this information as some people apparently expect (for no reason I can see), she’d get a lot closer to Mary, though she’d have to push it pretty hard to match her.

          It’s possible I’m misreading Lucy completely, as some have made excuses for villains in this comic before, but I just can’t see it. I don’t see the red flags that have been there in other cases and I don’t see anyone in the comments pointing them out either, despite the claims she’s a monster.

  35. FacelessDeviant

    “I told you that I would never lie, that was the first time that I did it”.

    Kinda sad that Billie reacted like that, a relationship that needs lies to survive can’t be very good :/

    1. BenRG

      I’ve got this feeling that Billie lies to everyone, including herself, on an almost constant basis. She does this in order to sustain the illusion that she tells herself is the only possible life she can at least tolerate.

    2. Seregiel

      Their entire relationship was started around lies/ misdirection and then hidden with more lies/misdirection to their dorm as a mutual decision. This dorm accepted them when they were honest…. except those that didn’t and used it to argue about power dynamics, etc – besides the popularity side effect, she just might not trust and or care enough about new dorm to enlighten them.

      1. thejeff

        If you look back at that first strip where they ask her about seducing her RA, it’s clear she’s hesitant at first but seems like she’s going to tell the story (or a sanitized version of it – without the alcohol and suicide), but when they react with awe to her as a bad ass, she plays right into it. That’s when she lies about the relationship.
        It’s not that she doesn’t trust or care enough to enlighten them, it’s that she’s enjoying the way they react to the false story.

        1. Seregiel

          I’m not saying that isn’t true – it’s a lot harder to change behavior when it gets you a result you like. But it’s not mutually exclusive and truth/trust was already the hard way and not necessarily the one she would have been comfortable with anyways because of the past.

  36. DarkoNeko

    The walls are thick. The doors, on the other hand…

    1. BenRG

      I think that Lucy is overestimating the number of people who might care. I mean, there’s Mary but the day Ruth and Billie nearly went through with their suicide pact proved that no-one in authority actually cares what Mary says or thinks.

      1. thejeff

        I assume the person who might care is Ruth, who shouldn’t really overhear about how Lucy lied about Billie lying about their relationship.

      2. DarkoNeko

        And Carla only thought Ruth was banging against the wall
        which… was true, but not in the way she thought.

  37. Miri

    Anybody wondering if “I lied for you! You owe me! [Insert blackmail here]” may follow? ?

    Not sure if I think it will. I haven’t really warmed to Lucy yet although she may well be the least ridiculous person who started off their college life at that Halls… I don’t know. As somebody who has a chronic health condition or three worsened by lack of sleep, her “I’m cheerfully and loudly talking at you at 7:30 AM. Deal with it” is something that gets to me. When my now-husband thought he was being helpful when we first started living together and my alarm would go off and I’d say I needed to sleep for 5 more minutes and he’d respond by stealing the covers, turning the lights on and being loud, if the conversation had gone like that we would not have stayed together. (In fairness, when he was “person to call in the middle of the night when an alarm is going off” at his work, he gave them my number because he is HARD to wake up and his phone ringing wouldn’t do it, but I’m a lot more likely to answer mine. His current wake-up system involves a systematic set of alarms over 1.5 hours, including ones that make him do maths problems and ones that make him take a photograph downstairs, and prescription medication. He genuinely thought this was me being half-asleep and trying to make the morning go away, based on what he does, when I was actually waking up enough to assess that based on my level of energy, headache and muscle pains, I needed at least 5 more minutes of sleep to physically accomplish anything that day, and was therefore trying to go back to sleep before I woke up too much to do that, because being late is better than being completely absent and near tears with pain.) I know it’s a completely different situation, but genuinely nice people don’t usually goad other people to the point that their best option appears to be going on a 5 minute walk in a vest and knickers with their pillow to sleep elsewhere. And yes, Billie is fuelled by spite and somewhat tetchy – but You Don’t Mess With People’s Sleep.

    Seriously. I have a preschooler and a baby, and a husband who sleeps more heavily than some people who are comatose. If you don’t respect other people’s need to sleep I will almost definitely not like you. Husband gets a pass because if he’s nor working and I need to spend the day in bed he tries to keep the kiddos downstairs/out of the house so I can recharge. And coz I appreciate that he does in fact REALLY struggle to get up but also needs to go to work. The children get passes because they are waking me up due to their biological needs. My health is at a state where I may need to make use of a disability act this year… If you don’t HAVE to wake me up, don’t.

    1. Adam Black

      Shes here for blackmail material. She hit it

      1. thejeff

        Good to see the “Evil Lucy” contingent is still around.

    2. Deadjolras

      Lucy had the audacity of talking to her roommate when she noticed said roommate was waking up, which means she’s obviously the kind of person that would blackmail others.

      1. Emily

        Have you forgotten that morning people are literally the devil?

        1. Agemegos

          I haven’t.

        2. DarkoNeko

          I suspect they merely naturally produce caffeine

        3. BBCC

          I mean, they are, but not because Lucy said good morning when she saw her roommate wake up.

  38. JediMB

    Billie needs to learn that trust and respect are a lot more valuable than popularity. You’d think she would, since she seems to find superficial adoration to actually be annoying?

    1. BenRG

      Yes, she finds it annoying but she also finds it upbuilding and she really doesn’t know any other way to judge her own self-worth.

    2. thejeff

      Does she? Isn’t that more Sal’s thing?

      Billie seems to bask in it. I can’t remember her finding it annoying.

      1. BenRG

        She finds the admirers annoying. The admiration itself? Far less so.

  39. egg

    so many cute ruth faces in this arc

    i am happy

  40. Zee

    Lucy is best girl and I will fight any and everyone for her

    1. Charlotte

      I do hope she gets some character development! So far she’s been a pleasant person, and I’ve felt sorry for her a lot because of how badly everyone treats her, but I’m sure she has a lot more to contribute to the comic.

  41. Whaatt

    For once Walky is right. I don’t think that Billie woulda crashed into a tree in a car if Lucy was there.( mainly because she has already convinced her to go to a party and was suffering through a Pokémon battle or something)

  42. Emily

    You are cynical to the point of straight up paranoia dude.

  43. Megan

    Can Lucy be a main character in this comic now please? I really like her.

  44. ShinyNeen

    I’m still fairly sure apathy does more to protect the privacy of the residents than the walls do.

    And this is maybe kind of a random time to be thinking this, but I’ve really enjoyed how, I dunno, normal Ruth feels so far this storyline. Slept in, got breakfast and had some mild shenanigans with her girlfriend, and all her reactions to things so far have just felt really grounded and reasonable. I might be grasping at straws, the emphasis this storyline is on Billie’s problems and not Ruth’s necessarily, but still. It’s nice.

  45. JBento

    “What does Billie like?” is NOT fishing for blackmail material, unless what Billie likes is EXTREMELY bad. I DO think Lucy shouldn’t be doing this, but that’s mostly because literally no-one in Forest Quad seems to be worth the time. Like, Nash is outright horrible, combining the worst features of Carla and Joyce.

    1. ninja_jesus

      Arguably, alcohol is pretty bad.

  46. Josh Spicer

    Just stretch a bit more.

  47. 3oranges

    Not only is there no textual evidence for any of that, but I think it’s pretty insulting to suggest that simply being a gossip and blackmailer is enough to make her worse than Mary, who tried to profit by continuing a potentially suicidal situation and asked to be “given” a trans person to torment.

  48. Charlotte

    Yeah, really not sure we’re reading the same comic.

  49. timemonkey

    So is Lucy the new Dororthy? Where we somehow twist everything she does into the worst possible interpretation.

    1. BBCC

      Seriously, I can understand to an extent people saying Lucy should just accept her friends are being assholes and not try to get Billie to go somewhere she doesn’t want to go. I raise my eyebrow when they insist she’s aiming at blackmail when both this strip and last pretty clearly indicate she was acting out of concern for Ruth’s feelings.

      So, yeah, time to add Lucy to the list of ‘characters the comment section gets REALLY REALLY weird towards, beyond the bounds of reasonable criticism’ along with Sal, Amber, Dorothy, Carla, Becky, and Ruth.

      1. JBento

        Wait, Ruth?

        1. BBCC

          Not so much lately, but there was back in the day. And I’m not talking about people who criticized her as a shit RA or the health of her and Billie’s relationship, but there were plenty who crapped on her for being depressed and acted like she was exaggerating or misinterpreting her grandfather’s abuse.

          I did not enjoy those days in the comment section.

        2. JBento

          Thanks.

      2. Emily

        Don’t forget Roz, who IIRC the reaction to her being like mildly harsh in her critique of Joyce was so disproportionate and vitriolic it inspired the “bongo” filter.

        1. BBCC

          Yes, dear GOD, yes.

  50. rtmq

    @ Adam Black: Yikes, my dude. “All my friends said they’ll come if Billie comes, so let’s find out what it takes to get her to come to the party from the only other people that might have that knowledge” is not “Let me find something to blackmail her into coming and paint myself as the victim!”

    Lucy is legit being treated kinda shittily by her dormmates in this arc (flat out telling her that they care more about what Billie thinks than spending time with someone who is ostensibly their friend). Lucy is the new Collateral Damage, this time it’s of Billie’s obsession with being the Alpha and the one everyone envies and centers their life around. She’s acting a little desperately and crossing a vague/thin boundary by talking to Billie’s friends and neighbors, but we’ve seen zero evidence it has any malicious intent. Certainly she hasn’t been seeking out any gossip so far, hasn’t manipulated anyone, and just helped Billie save face with her girlfriend.

    Don’t count your Marys before they’ve schemed.

  51. ValdVin

    All the faces in the last panel are wonderful.

  52. 3-I

    Oh, good, you spammed this mary apologia all across the entire comment section. Good. Great. Awesome. Outstanding. Amazing.

  53. BBCC

    Unless and until a character blackmails someone until they’re suicidal AND CONTINUES AFTER KNOWING THEY ARE SUICIDAL, and then afterwards asks to be ‘given’ a person to torment in a similar fashion, they will not have out Maryied Mary.

  54. timemonkey

    Did we lose some comments during the day?

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