108

Monitor
Posted on May 30, 2023 by David M Willis

108 thoughts on “Monitor”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Becky playing 12th-dimensional chess again?

    1. Mr. Random

      Or at least 2nd-dimensional chess.

      1. Switchchris

        Or it is 8th-dimensional checkers and we just think she is playing chess.

        1. motorfirebox

          8th-dimensional checkers actually factors down into several games of 1-dimensional parcheesi.

        2. motorfirebox

          Haha holy shit I’m blowjob cat this is amazing

      2. Dana

        I prefer one dimensional chess. I’m a sucker for stalemate.

      3. Harmony

        That’s impressive, considering normal chess IS three dimensional considering the time component.

        1. Alaric

          Four dimensional. You have to pick up the pieces to move them.

    2. Angel

      i mean she and dina were shouting/bragging after they hooked uplol

    3. ValdVin

      There but a single strategy in chess: Always be thinking one move dimension ahead of your opponent.

      1. milu

        And then flip the table when your opponent says that time-travelling laser-shooting bishops are not allowed

    4. Xaeon

      She is attempting to, however this is a tic tac toe board.

  2. Shitbird

    What’s the secret?

    1. Erica

      I think that Joyce is dating Joe?

      1. Thag Simmons

        That seems like a secret in the same way Becky and Dina fucking was a secret. It’s a thing that happened but it’s not exactly privileged information at this point.

    2. Thag Simmons

      I assume that Dorothy decided against going to Yale.

    3. Jo_cubstar

      I thought the secret was that Dorothy doesn’t wanna go to the college she was accepted to… I forgot what the school was

      1. BarerMender

        Yole? Yal?

        1. Mancuso

          Yool

        2. Anna

          Y’all

        3. Theluxland

          Yikes

        4. milu

          Yeowlz

        5. Stanistani

          Yanaconda

        6. Rose by Any Other Name

          Yeul

      2. Thag Simmons

        Not Brown?

    4. RassilonTDavros

      The reason why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

    5. V

      That Dorothy isn’t going to Yale, I assume, since that’s the secret that both Becky and Ruth know.
      Becky: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-13/02-turning-saints-into-the-sea/accepted/
      Ruth: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-13/03-joementum/inwithyou/

    6. HueSatLight

      The only secret they both know is that Dorothy’s not going to Yale, but that’s not what Ruth is worried about.

      1. JessWitt

        She’s worried about letting Dorothy drink from her stash, right?

    7. NGPZ

      how much ya wanna bet Dorothy is sleeping in the Pile of Lesbos?

    8. Needfuldoer

      Antiperspirant, but that’s not important right now.

      1. RoyanRannedos

        And don’t call me Shirley!

  3. DailyBrad

    I love how Becky isn’t afraid to push Ruth’s buttons a little. Probably for the best. If Ruth didn’t have someone to annoy her a bit, she’d go kinda nuts.

    1. jeffepp

      Redhead dominance. Only one can be the true daywalker.

      1. Reltzik

        … that’d be the one with SPF 2000.

        1. Reltzik

          (Because it’s winter. If it was summer it would need to be over 9000.)

        2. Kyrik Michalowski

          Vegeta9000.gif

        3. Thag Simmons

          Look you just need to live in a climate where the sun never shines and when it does you can dress in heavy clothing without broiling alive.

    2. Angel

      it’s the slightly b*tchy wlw solidarity 8D

      1. DailyBrad

        Yeah, that’s probably part of how she can get away with that. Ruth and her both mutually know they’ve been through shit, plus Ruth knows Becky respects her.

  4. tim gueguen

    Some day Becky and Carla will team up. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

    1. Just an Armadillo

      As long as they’re teaming up against Mary or somebody else of her ilk I can tolerate that sort of combo. But if they aren’t working to destroy a homo/trans phobe then I’m probably going to get very fed up with them very quickly.

    2. Switchchris

      I don’t think Becky would actually vibe with Carla. Becky may be a troll but she is a good natured troll, she never actually tries to ruin people’s day or anything. Carla on the other hand Lives to be the center of everybody’s world to the point of forcing herself into them in any way possible. She seems like the kind of troll that would see you enjoying a date with the person you love and then roller-skate over and flip the table you are eatting at. Becky would simply tease you a little bit after the date was over.

      1. Imogen

        This feels like a cartoonishly meanspirited read of Carla, even by the “comedic narcissist” rewrite of Carla we’ve seen lately.

        I kind of enjoy Carla better than Becky. I don’t know why, but it might be because we know a lot of Carla’s cockiness comes from defensiveness, whereas Becky’s is more “teen rebellion”.

        1. DailyBrad

          Meanwhile, I like both of them a lot.

        2. Wereg

          Carla’s attitude really reminds me of a transwoman I used to be friends with. Got real confident after she came out and it was incredibly nice to see, even if it did seem to border on the narcissistic sometimes.

          Good memories. Carla’s always fun to see.

      2. cbwroses

        Carla would definitely skate by a loving couple on a date, but she would not flip the table over or do anything else destructive.
        She would get their attention just long enough to tell them not enough of their attention was on her and would then skate away.

    3. DailyBrad

      I’d dig it, honestly.

    4. PirateTawnee

      If it gets Carla to appear in more strips, then I’m all for it.

  5. DarkoNeko

    Sure you are.

    1. Angel

      well she does like shouting that she’s a lesbian to ppl but that’s not exactly a secret

  6. RassilonTDavros

    Look Becky, Dorothy being Amazi-Girl is old news at this point

    1. Needfuldoer

      I thought that was Sal?

      1. Furie

        Nah, she’s Spider-Car.

  7. Stephen Bierce

    *cues up The Beatles to follow up Buckingham*

  8. Amelie Wikström

    I think Becky’s found the most effective way possible to argue against being included on a secret?

    1. Amelie Wikström

      Like, she’s clearly either lying or bluffing, but either way that look in panel 5 just says “don’t trust me.” What’s Ruth supposed to do with that besides go “fine we’ll just drop it then”?

    2. Angel

      lol well hopefully ppl won’t be too tempted/be respectful if someone is just like “oh i can’t/won’t keep a secret” that said ruth could just ask becky to keep an eye on dorothy without giving a reason but i’d hope she’d care about dorothy enough to be concerned if she was acting a bit ‘off’, alcohol or not

  9. Thag Simmons

    You know what, A for Effort.

  10. Rogue 7

    Honestly Ruth’s expression is how I think I’d look if I had to deal with Becky.

  11. Reltzik

    “Everyone likes to play ‘I know that you know that I know that you know’ with me. But I don’t actually know anything, and that lets me outsmart ’em!”

    (No, I don’t know which one of them would be saying that. I still thought it was funny.)

    1. Ray Radlein

      Congrats, you’ve just written the first half of Nine Princes in Amber

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        So now it’s time for the car-eating dogs?

        1. Ray Radlein

          It’s always time for car-eating dogs

    2. Needfuldoer

      I know, you know, that I’m not telling the truth.
      I know, you know, they just don’t have any proof.

  12. Grayfinity

    Ruth: This was a mistake…

  13. BBCC

    She does, doesn’t she?

    Doesn’t she?

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      I want to take a shot in the dark and say that is a Flight of Conchords reference.

  14. Kyrik Michalowski

    Spoilers: Becky’s big secret and Ruth’s big secret are similar, but Ruth’s sees more of the whole picture.
    In short Becky? No you don’t know the same secret, you just know a bit of Ruth’s.

    1. justin8448

      I’m pretty sure that Becky knows *why* Dorothy plans to turn down Yale, while Ruth does not. That might be important information later.

      So I think they both have only part of the secret.

      1. Mark

        Overlapping distinct secrets? Wanna start the Venn diagram? How many secrets are there, and what do they share?

        1. milu

          The venn diagram has an isolated circle way off to the side labeled “jennifer” and containing “amazi-girl = sal”

    2. HueSatLight

      It’s something she’d piece together with just a little more information, Becky’s astute and the last conversation between them we saw was Dorothy being in semi-denial about needing to be ethically gray to be president. Becky wouldn’t be playing this “I know a secret” game if she knew Ruth was talking about Dorothy’s Dark Night of the Soul.

  15. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    Sorry, but asking her to “Monitor Dorothy’s Mood” has me thinking of Becky lying on a float in a swimming pool with a cheesebox on her back.

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      I thought for a moment you said “cheesecake.” I was prepared to go retrieve it from Becky’s back, but a cheesebox isn’t as exciting.

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        Cheesecake pictures of Becky in a swimming pool have their appeal, but that’s another area entirely.

    2. cbwroses

      What is a cheese box?
      Does it involve actual cheese or is it just a name?

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        It is a round box perhaps 3 inches tall and 12 inches across. But I was referencing the USS Monitor, a radical designed ironclad warship in the US Civil War, which was described as looking like a “cheesebox on a raft.

        Cheesecake, on the other hand, is a food item, but also used as an adjective for non-explicit sexy pictures.

        1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          And cheese was involved because cheeseboxes were used to store wheels of cheese, or so I assume.

        2. Ray Radlein

          You could make one merrymac ‘n’ cheese with that

        3. Needfuldoer

          Oh. I thought they were “made of”, not “for storing”.

        4. Mark

          Thanks: I had no clue about your reference, but now it makes perfect sense. Well imagined!

        5. Jo_cubstar

          Thanks for that explanation. I had no idea what a cheesebox was

  16. Sporky

    Ruth’s inner monologue: “I miss being able to threaten violence.”

  17. Jess

    I like the way Becky’s hair obscures her mouth a little bit in panel 3. that’s a really sweet detail imo

    1. Jess

      new gravatar!!!

  18. Kravis

    A jukebox materializes from out of nowhere just so Becky can hit it and say “Hey…”

  19. AbacusWizard

    Diabolical, Becky. Utterly diabolical. Keep up the good work.

  20. Sajuuk-Khar

    “Were it not for the laws of this land and my respect for the genus [i]Utahraptor[/i], Becky, I would utterly destroy you.”

    “…How d’you mean that, because—”

    “However you wish. I have a Dorothy to locate. Good day.”

    1. Sajuuk-Khar

      oh dammit I fucked up and bbcoded the html like an idiot. Please try not to comment on that, everyone, if you were going to. I can see the error, I have eyes.

      1. Thag Simmons

        Haha, messing up the proper formatting of a binomial name in a way that makes it clear you were trying to get it right even though you didn’t do it properly. I’ve certainly never made a mistake like that

        …

        At least one of those instances was Dakotaraptor, with hindsight I was kind of vindicated there

        1. milu

          Oh wow, i was not aware that “Dakotaraptor (meaning “thief from Dakota”) is a potentially chimaeric[2] genus of large dromaeosaurid theropod… Elements of the holotype and referred specimens were later found to belong to trionychid turtles,[3]”

          How often are bones misattributed to a dinosaur that aren’t even archosaurian

        2. Thag Simmons

          It happened because DePalma is up to some vintage bone wars shit. Dude’s a sensationalist who’s willing to bend and fabricate evidence to create a more compelling narrative

  21. Bogeywoman

    I’m the person everyone tells secrets to. Mostly because I have sieve-type ADHD memory and will forget it as soon as my attention turns elsewhere.

  22. Pocky

    Becky; continuing to be the best character

  23. Needfuldoer

    What? She is!

  24. Suet

    Knowing secrets about your “enemy” is like the juiciest of blackmail.

    Knowing this, however, Becky would be the weakest link in a mafia.

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      She’s the one you prime with misinformation to throw the cops off the track.

  25. Sombrero

    No gravatars with Panel 6 Ruth?

    1. Taffy

      Who uses a gravatar, these days?

      1. milu

        Grindian deities
        Grames Cameron

    2. Amós Batista

      I prefer the yesterday face.

      1. Sombrero

        Nice, but I thought Ruth Fry face would be an instant success.

        1. Taffy

          Speaking only for myself, it’s a little narrow, kind of a pain to crop down. I’ve made a few custom gravs from these strips over the years, and there’s a 2-3 pixel line that has to come off the edges along with the border, so it winds up being really small or losing detail. You maybe wouldn’t think it, but that line is super important for panels that don’t show a character’s full head.

  26. Pergola

    Great faces today.

  27. Hof1991

    Ruth’s transition from startled to resigned to “this shit is my life now” is sooo well done.

  28. milu

    Later:
    Dorothy: Becky, did you tell Ruth that I had hirsutism, that my parents were moonies AND scientologists, that i was a north korean spy and that I killed Nelson Mandela in prison???
    Becky: i panicked okay?

  29. Furie

    God tier expressions in the last three panels.

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