234

One thing
Posted on June 30, 2021 by David M Willis

234 thoughts on “One thing”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Jason: “well, now I REALLY want to leave, why hang around in cuffs if it wasn’t a sex thing”

    [alt.] Ruth: “yeah, so my name’s Okarin now”

    1. Proxiehunter

      I think she prefers Hououin Kyouma.

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        if Ruth’s Okabe, then who the heck is Kurisu??

        1. Lys

          Walky!

          neat.

  2. Thag Simmons

    Oh so they didn’t shag. That’s one question answered.

    1. Thag Simmons

      Also whoever wanted to know why Jason answered the door, that question’s been answered as well

    2. Tan

      Frankly this answers every question I had and several I didn’t know I had.

      1. Clif

        Frankly it raises several more more questions. If nothing else happened, why is he wearing a t-shirt with no bow tie. With anyone else, you might think they changed into something less formal to leave work. But this is Jason.

        This screams cover story and plausible deniability. Therefore it must be true.

        1. Ryan

          He is in his undershirt with his dress shirt bunched on his left arm, trapped by the handcuffs.

        2. Clif

          So which of them removed the shirt and why?

        3. Daibhid C

          It’s the next morning. Even Jason doesn’t sleep in a bowtie. Probably.

        4. Deanatay

          WILLIS ASKS THE IMPORTANT QUESTION

        5. zee

          Well the dude had to sleep at some point and probably wanted to he comfortable. I imagine being cuffed to the door made that difficult enough already without the bowtie factoring in

  3. BBCC

    Ruthless is back! ….Wait.

    Yeah, I wouldn’t let Rachel know about this.

    1. Thag Simmons

      I mean I’m pretty sure this is a crime, so I don’t know if you want to let anyone know about this.

      At least Jason seems rather chill about it.

      1. Jamie

        Jason’s legal status might help him be chill about it.

        1. misanthropope

          kinda the sacred principle of Amurrican Law, isn’t it? better rights for Better People (TM)

      2. I am Nothing

        What’s the point of holding someone hostage if you never tell anyone you have a hostage?

        Note: Telling the hostage doesn’t count.

        1. Clif

          If the hostage just thought they were having kinky sex, I feel that telling the hostage certainly should count.

        2. Taellosse

          I think it all depends on WHY you’re holding them hostage, though…

    2. Yotomoe

      That raises an interesting question. What is Ruth? Like is Ruth politeness? Or like…mercy? What is Ruth?

      1. Yotomoe

        Like in the context that Ruthless (ie. a lack of ruth) is a lack of mercy or kindness.

        1. Thag Simmons

          A quick google says it means “a feeling of pity, distress, or grief”

        2. LSDF

          Jinx.

        3. Xenocide

          That is a weird thing for people to be naming their children after, I have to say. You wouldn’t call a child Pity, Distress or Grief.

        4. King Daniel

          Everyone named Dolores says hello.

        5. milu

          wiktionary also suggests mercy, compassion (so, you were right Yoto) which sounds like a less fucked thing to call your baby?

          Its worth noting that “Ruth” is also just a biblical name (of unrelated etymology) for a pretty cool character. Wikipediasaysthe puritans were attracted to the pun but most Ruths were probably just named after the bible chick

        6. milu

          …

        7. milu

          Oopsie

        8. Taellosse

          SHAME!

        9. Xenocide

          Apparently the meaning of the name Ruth is: “companion”, “friend” or “vision of beauty”, or even compassionate friend according to one site, and comes from the Hebrew word רְעוּת (re’ut).

          That’s a much more reasonable thing to be naming people after (though it is mostly gonna be because it’s in the Bible/Torah).

          I wonder if Ruth, the kidnapper, appreciates that her name means compassionate friend.

        10. milu

          have some ruth

        11. LSDF

          According to Google, it is “a feeling of pity, distress, or grief.”

      2. Thag Simmons

        Oh, it’s derived from “rue”.

        1. StClair

          “‘Rue the day’? Who talks like that?”

        2. Sunny

          Sidney Yus?

        3. Regalli

          Galasso, too.

      3. Jhon

        Whatever ‘Ruth’ is, we have less of it now.

      4. Deanatay

        Baby don’t hurt me

  4. Octopus Ink

    Oh, whew!! What a relief! For a second, I thought it was gonna be something ABNORMAL!

    1. Clif

      She just wanted to be sure he didn’t leave before seeing her femur collection.

  5. Josh Spicer

    Well this took a turn.

    1. Clif

      Sal would agree. Love her expression in the last panel.

  6. RassilonTDavros

    Yup that sounds about right for Ruth

    (haven’t read the slipshines, does she use the handcuffs in those?)

    1. Delicious Taffy

      She only uses the cuffs for a quick murder, just before her and Gregorios do some intensely acrobatic ceiling sex.

    2. Makkabee

      Ruth seems like the kind of person who keeps her sex cuffs and her felony cuffs separate.

      1. BrokenEye, the True False Prophet

        Very kosher of her

    3. milu

      Ruth is not portrayed using handcuffs in any of the slipshines. there is one pinup where her hands are tied with her jersey— make of that what you will

  7. Sirksome

    This doesn’t actually help my shipping prospects at all though. But perhaps there is egg on my face to be wiped off.

    1. Lanie

      Maybe the tiniest egg, like a hummingbird egg?

    2. Mr D

      I have no idea how much egg I have to wipe

      1. Sirksome

        We all obviously got manipulated. This is a punchline to a joke we didn’t even know was being setup. Like being told to guess a number between 1 and 10 only be told they were thinking of -15.

        1. Clif

          And this completely explains the clothing hanging from Jason’s arm.

        2. zee

          I’d be with you if almost everyone in the comments hadn’t guessed it anyway (not including the handcuffs)

        3. Demoted Oblivious

          Well, I mean yeah. If two people are imagining a number, it’s gonna come out negative, or at least it is very likely to be orthogonal to the number-line.

        4. Devin

          Also known as misdirection? Calling it manipulation is kind of…intense.

      2. Deanatay

        Ostrich.

  8. Stephen Bierce

    *plays INXS’ “The One Thing” on the hacked Muzak*

  9. Spencer

    Why in the world would Ruth have a pair of handcuffs lying around? That’s silly.

    1. Thag Simmons

      Some people are into that sort of thing

      1. Wagstaff

        Hopefully those who are have the wisdom to use safe words.

        1. He Who Abides

          Depends on how it factors into your relationship. If, for example, it’s a thing where someone just likes wearing kit around the house, safe words might not be as relevant (yes, from experience).

      2. Spencer

        What thing?

        1. Clif

          Being prepared.

          For situations.

          For situations that call for handcuffs.

        2. King Daniel

          They’re just best friends now?
          Half the commenters yesterday thought they’d hooked up.
          Even you, as I recall.
          Yes, you.
          For real?
          U said this could be a cover story further up.
          Come on, how unlikely is this chain of events?
          (Keep at it, Ruth and Jason.)
          If this doesn’t turn out to be a cover story, though, I won’t be surprised.
          Not in the slightest.
          Goes to show that some commenters just read too much into everything.

        3. Clif

          That’s half the fun.

        4. milu

          @King Daniel.
          hm suddenly you’re talking weird, how odd. it’s almost like you‘re trying to sneak some hidden message or something. though i would hate to read too much into your comment of course

      3. Xenocide

        Don’t handcuffs for such recreational uses generally have quick release buttons built in? I know all the ones I’ve had experience with did.

        1. He Who Abides

          Most recreational ones do, but you can find ones that don’t.

          Citation: Mrs. Abides thinks it’s “no fun” if she can uncuff herself by pressing a button.

    2. BBCC

      Well, they WERE for Jennifer but she doesn’t wanna play hostage with her anymore.

      1. Spencer

        “Were for Jennifer” implies Ruth is not the biggest sub in the world and that this isn’t the first time those cuffs were used on anyone but her.

        I thought Becky was a bottom, but Ruth is just through the floor and tunneling into the basement.

        1. Taellosse

          I think you may be right, but it seems it wasn’t something she’d realized about herself when we last saw her and Billie together – a big part of their sex life was fighting for dominance, and neither was prepared to concede to the other.

          Possibly part of what ultimately split them up. Though the drinking was likely part of it, too.

        2. BBCC

          “For Jennifer” doesn’t mean used on Jennifer.

    3. Taellosse

      Sometimes you need to do the femur extractions while the target is still conscious.

  10. Black

    …What the fuck? Why did she take a hostage?

    1. King Daniel

      Zombie Toedad.

      1. Clif

        It was her birthday. She deserved a hostage.

        1. Sam

          Ruth can have a hostage. As a treat.

      2. Eldritchy

        Well Englishmen can deal with zombies without guns, just watch Shaun of the Dead

    2. Lingo

      “I need $5 million dollars and a helicopter within the next 12 hours, or I will remove a femur from this man every hour.”
      “…But he only has 2 femurs.”
      “I’ll reinsert them.”

    3. Keulen

      No idea why, but Jason seems to be really easy to take hostage.

    4. Deanatay

      It was cheaper than buying one?

    5. Ana Chronistic

      She didn’t want him to leave, DUH

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        +drunklogic

    6. Devin

      The “Take a Hostage Leave a Hostage” bin was overflowing?

  11. Kernanator

    Well now, that just raises the question of why she wanted a hostage in the first place.

    1. Clif

      I understand they’re very handy to have in a tight spot.

    2. Lingo

      Ya know, it’s not really the first time Jason’s been taken hostage in this story.

  12. AlexanderHammil

    Sal’s face in the last panel is very correct.

    1. Clif

      as long as it isn’t her dang-I-should-have-thought-of-that face.

    2. David

      Sal is us. We are Sal.

  13. Lanie

    Well, that is, in fact, not banging. However, the S.S. Friendship appears stuck in port due to some unfavorable clouds on the horizon…

    1. Clif

      Maybe. Maybe not. Is there any evidence that Jason was trying to escape? Like, for instance, banging on the door and yelling to attract attention.

      1. thejeff

        Sure, blame the victim. 🙂

        1. Clif

          It’s all Daisy’s fault.

          What?

  14. Mr. Random

    I’m assuming her medication is acting up.
    Probably.

  15. Yotomoe

    Handcuffs can be used for TWO things.

    1. Wizard

      At least.

      1. Clif

        Sounds like the beginning of a Monty Python skit to me.

    2. Xenocide

      Okay, I’ll bite.

      One of them is cuffing hands (well, more specifically, wrists).

      1. AGV

        The other cuffing ankles

        1. Jhon

          Or you can cuff an ankle to a wrist.

        2. King Daniel

          THREE things.

        3. P!enapple

          3. You can cuff other things together, including handcuffs. Like if you need to break out of the supply room of a prison at the edge of a cliff, or create a barrier.

          Applied use of python. Lol to Clif

        4. P!enapple

          4 i meant to type… Rolls eyes

          While i’m having to type another post anyway, another use if they are composed of the right material, is to conduct electricity, say if you need to short out an electrical system to escape said prison on a cliff

        5. Taellosse

          You seem to have spent an unusual amount of time considering prison escape methods…

        6. Demoted Oblivious

          FIVE! The five things you can use handcuffs for-
          No, wait here. We’ll go out and come back in…

        7. milu

          you’re supposed to handcuff your briefcase to your wrist, that’s how they know you’re a professional

        8. milu

          maybe it’s a really expensive door and Ruth didn’t want anyone to steal it, you know

  16. Some1

    On this day, June 7 2021, Ruth committed a felony.

    1. Clif

      it’s not June. The semester just started.

      1. Needfuldoer

        It’s Wednesday January something-th, but we don’t have enough clues to pin down an exact date yet.

        We know it is Wednesday (my dudes) because the partnered reports for Professor Brock’s class are due in under three hours.

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/03-see-you-in-the-funny-page/partnered/

    2. Demoted Oblivious

      Since he is now in the US illegally…
      Since many aliens get incarcerated anyways…
      Does Jason at this point actually have rights (that the US recognizes) to be violated by Ruth’s actions?

      1. milu

        the US is a pretty bizarre country as i’m told, but i still don’t believe crimes only count if the victim is a lawful resident there

        1. thejeff

          Plus, while he might not be a legal resident, he’s still white.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          I’m torn between saying “exactly” and just going and having a good cry.

        3. Wagstaff

          Well, it’s complicated. You can’t really overgeneralize because the way those kinds of things are handled actually varies tremendously from state to state. Plus in some states, officers are basically allowed to act on their own discretion, regardless of what the law says (I know for sure it’s up to their discretion to determine what actually counts as a crime when they report statistics).

        4. milu

          oh sure, there’s what the books say, there’s how judges rule and there’s who the cops feel deserve their protection or their brutality.

          Demoted asked about whether being an illegal alien meant Jason had no legal rights to invoke, that’s a different question from whether cops would care

        5. Clif

          Immigration is federal. If they realized he violated his student visa, they would start deportation procedures, but it might not come up. He’s a student with a visa on university property.. Theoretically, Ruth could go to jail for some variation of unlawful restraint and kidnapping or such, which depends on the state. But it won’t be reported because Jason doesn’t want the official attention and he hasn’t been damaged, just inconvenienced by the crazy lady he likes and has something in common with.

    3. Some1

      Shit, I mean June 30, no idea why I wrote the 7th.

  17. Sirksome

    I’m not surewhat Ruth’s door situation is but in my door experience I feel like the way Jason is cuffed means he could easily slip the cuffs off the handle or knob. But I would need to get a better look at how Ruth cuffed him to be sure.

    1. Mr D

      Do you…
      Do you have many experiences with handcuffs??

      1. Sirksome

        Not enough to claim to be an expert. I did once know someone in college who did magic and demonstrated how to slip cuffs and let everybody try. I never figured out how to do it though. I’m just saying in this case the handcuffs look bigger than the part of the door they’re wrapped around. Probably just an art limitation though. If we saw it from a different angle it might look more secure.

        1. Clif

          I refuse to start an archive binge to see what the inside doorknob of Ruth’s room looks like.

        2. Needfuldoer

          … Fine.

          It’s a regular round doorknob. The cuffs could be ratcheted down around the thin part tight enough that they can’t slip off without being unlocked.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/04-of-mike-and-men/sessions/

        3. cbwroses

          The hero we don’t deserve.

        4. Chris (the other one)

          That was doing that needed done, well done needfuldoer…

        5. Demoted Oblivious

          How… how long have you been saving that up?

          《joker clap.gif》

        6. milu

          …or you could look at the bonus strip teaser picture on the main page

          here let me provide a link to that:

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/

          (mahaha)

        7. Needfuldoer

          Check the time stamps on my comment and that post.

          I’m tech support, not a time lord.

        8. Demoted Oblivious

          That’s exactly what a time lord would say to protect their identity.

        9. milu

          oh. indeed. sorreeee ^^

        10. Clif

          Only a time lord could have made a heroic archive binge so fast. You can’t fool us.

    2. Taellosse

      Pretty sure the doorknob is of the type with a big round knob and a much thinner stem. Ratcheting the cuff to its tightest possible setting should make it too small to slip over the knob.

  18. Jane

    Ruth, I know you have issues with people leaving you, but you should probably avoid committing actual crimes.

  19. TemporalShrew

    If anything this suggests a *greater* degree of attachment than sex would have.

  20. BarerMender

    Led. One thing led to another.

    1. Spencer

      “Lead to another” means that Ruth had a pitched gunfight while drunk.

    2. King Daniel

      Maybe Ruth switched to grammatically-incorrect present tense for a panel?

      1. BarerMender

        Or Willis made a solecism.

        1. Clif

          Twist. The handcuffs are made of lead.

        2. King Daniel

          And Jason’s about to succumb.

        3. Taellosse

          Lead is a terrible material to make restraints from. It’s even softer than gold. Easy to bend apart.

    3. saltchocolate

      It had to be sed.

    4. Leadsynth

      Came here to say this. It’s “led” and maybe Willis will want to fix the typo for book purposes!

  21. Schpoonman

    I. What the fuck?

    Also, we all saw how Sal addressed a surprise Jason appearance with the exact same terms Jennifer did (Math T.A.!), right?

    1. Thag Simmons

      I don’t think anyone actually knows his name.

      1. Clif

        Stringbean. Eventually the tags will be retroactively corrected.

  22. Mr D

    Man, look at Sal’s face.
    Something tells me she’s either Flashbacking in shame or really off-put that someone ELSE is moving in on her prey.

    1. JessWitt

      Oh yeah, she might be remembering her own arrest from years ago.

      1. Clif

        We’ll know for sure when she starts looking around to see if Amber is running up to stab Jason in the hand.

  23. Megan Rivera

    Jason has really nice eyebrows

    1. Clif

      They match his bowtie.

  24. Proto_Eevee

    My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined

    1. Proto_Eevee

      Just kidding, but I thought they was fuckin

      1. Clif

        So far, we have a sequence of events. No-one has actually said that those were the only events that occured. In fact there seems to be a fair amount of time that isn’t accounted for.

  25. MrSmith

    So the police are going to be called about this or mental services or something at least?

    1. Clif

      No.

    2. Rabisch

      Maybe a blacksmith.

    3. thejeff

      Up to Jason, I’d say.

    4. Demoted Oblivious

      Naw I’m sure Ruth has a key. In fact, because of Ms. Billingsworth’s penchant for key duplication, there may in fact be dozens of keys. Also, cuffs aren’t exactly hard to pick.

  26. Geneseepaws

    There can be multiple reasons a female might like to have a male around in a secured fashion. Usually it is to feed off him while she lays her eggs, or to have a food source to deposit her eggs in.

  27. JessWitt

    Oh gods I wish Ruth and Jason had consensual sex instead.

    1. Wagstaff

      Look on the bright side. This means the next Slipshine may be even better!

    2. Taellosse

      Hey, nothing says it couldn’t have been, but then afterwards Ruth decided to cuff him nonconsensually.

      Although she has previously expressed an explicit disinterest in male companionship, so that may not be the most likely scenario.

      1. Proto_Eevee

        when did that happen? I was pretty certain Ruth is bisexual.

        1. BBCC

          She is.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          She is, but she may not want (or have wanted at the time) that kind of companionship. A hetero-cis-male can be intellectually and emotionally mostly not interested in female companionship, depsite their body’s persistent protestations to the contrary.

  28. Rycan

    Aren’t explanations supposed to make matters less confusing?

    1. Clif

      It all depends on the purpose of the explanation.

  29. Bagge

    Me: Ruth, you have some explaining to do.
    Ruth: *explains*
    Me: Ruth, I beg you, less explaining.

    1. Clif

      She hasn’t even finished the explanation yet.

      1. Bagge

        I beg her to stop

        1. Lone Duck

          See, attitude like that is why she needs the handcuffs.

    2. Regalli

      Yeah, this is… this is a lot, even by Ruth’s self-destructive tendencies standards. (I’m torn between desperately wanting to know what bizarre drunken thought process led to holding someone HOSTAGE sounding like a good idea, and absolutely NOT wanting to know this because nothing good can come of further explanation.)

  30. Varangian

    It’s my party, and I’ll take hostages if I want to

  31. WanderingLynx

    You know what? I wasn’t into anything but “bffs” for them, both could use a friend. Even if I didn’t care much about the date with Daisy (sorry, y’all, she’s very lovely but that date was a disaster.) I did want more Jason, and I would’ve loved if Ruth had gone out with Booster in the end.

    I’ve been converted. They’d literally get along like a house on fire, and Jennifer predicted it! Pessimistic, Pissy, Desperate. Spot on for Jason. This ship is afloat.

  32. RacingTurtle

    I…wut

  33. BenRG

    All readers should know that Ruth has loneliness issues. However, when large amounts of alcohol are added, these issues tend to have… odd consequences.

    “Whilst you two are here, can you help me find the key? I’m just hoping that I didn’t swallow it or something.”

    1. Needfuldoer

      They spend hours looking for it, but end up having to call building maintenance for the trash chute and to hacksaw Jason free. “Third one this week”, remarks Groundskeeper Boothby.

      1. LynziGraye

        Ah, so Boothby is an undercover temporal agent whose assignments take him to Indiana University as well as Starfleet Academy.

        Headcanon accepted.

  34. Rabisch

    What a wild night! Sal’s expressions are so intense, way to extreme for this. she seems jealous and not just speechless for the absurdity of Ruth’s actions. I still think she’s feeling lonely. Jason is showing the typical English aplomb, he’s really calm and seems not mad at Ruth. I like him!

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Yep. Stiff upper lip and all that. Possibly other things too.

  35. Beau Kirin Maysey

    sex would’ve been easier to explain, i think…

  36. Wishwater

    Theyre so weird together. I actually love it. All aboard!

  37. Eldritchy

    Well it went from cute to felony in 5 panels…

  38. cbwroses

    “There’s one thing I don’t understand.”
    “One thing-?”
    “What was Jason doing there?”
    “Watching Ruth. He was making sure she didn’t have a bad reaction to her alcohol.”
    “So this had nothing to do with Ruth’s lowered inhibitions, her loneliness, or how well they seemed to get along?”
    “No. Drunken immigrant sex was just a red herring.”

    1. Lone Duck

      Nice Clue reference.

      1. cbwroses

        Thank you. I was hoping a person of culture would express their appreciation.

    2. JBento

      Sal DOES look like she has flames, flames on the side of her face.

    3. P!enapple

      Niccccccce!!!!

  39. Keulen

    Did Jason think he could get out of the handcuffs by removing his long-sleeved shirt and vest and bowtie? If so, I’m not sure why he thought that would work.

    1. darkoneko

      maybe he was simply feeling too hot

      1. AGV

        Keeping in mind that he probably slept handcuffed to the door, he probably didn’t want all of his clothing getting wrinkled

  40. thumb

    Was it established that Ruth had a pair of handcuffs? Because I think it might be important to establish how your RA’s got a pair of handcuffs.

    1. zee

      Listen what Ruth gets up to in the privacy of her bedroom is her business and hers alone

  41. darkoneko

    I want to know why Ruthless has handcuffes in her room, but then again I’m not sure I do

  42. Sombrero

    Panel 5 Sal is wondering if she wants to try the handcuffs thing next time she hits on Jason.

    1. BenRG

      No, I think that, like characters in Questionable Content, she’s wondering when this became her normality.

    2. Eldritchy

      Sal is like “Can I go back to listening to Lucy being adorable? That was much preferable.”

  43. AGV

    Jason is now Ruth’s emotional support bartender

    Kinda like Alfred and Batman but with worse pay

    1. Deanatay

      AKA PET

      …

      Checks out.

  44. Amos Batista

    Damn, could you both just wait until get to the bed??

  45. raultsi

    awwww

  46. :0

    So, yeah… We were talking about consent yesterday…
    How does it work again?

    1. BenRG

      Ruth certainly doesn’t know; at least not when she’s drunk and tripping thanks to the interaction between it and her anti-depressants!

  47. John

    Hey, I have seen relationships built on stranger foundations than handcuffing and mild hostage taking, just saying.

  48. Biblioholic93

    I only have MORE questions, but at least they are now very specific.

    I do get the un”balancing an old drinking problem with new meds” situation. It is difficult. There’s no easy way to learn that you just can’t like who you are drunk anymore, when your body’s chemical memory tells you “more please,” “want to be happy” and “im cooler when im drunk.” None of this is true. The last was never true, for anyone, but hinges on group total intoxication. Damn body doesn’t know what it’s doing, not before, not now.

    Another problem is being “too happy.” It really sucks. Highlights underlying issues more than anything. Like what Ruth did to her date. It was all too good, for the likes of her, and she couldn’t bear those foreign feelings of enjoyment and care and happiness.. and particularly, the guilt, that she doesn’t deserve this they deserve better no one deserves me.

    None of that is my primary question, but it explains it. RUTH DO YOU KNOW HOW WRONG YOU ARE YOU BEAUTIFUL PERSON?! CAN I PLEASE SMACK YOU AND THEN HUG YOU? Like jeez. Learn already, it’s BAD. The meds are WORKING. Except when you do the thing. Yes, the thing may or may not be part of why you still stand and breathe… the impulse is so hard to even recognize. I used to barely realize I’d skipped class before I was back FROM the corner store. Man, I get it.

    Can you hang in there Ruth? And Sal please can you know to call the date and Jennifer?

    (Jennifer has BAD identity problems but as long as her boyfriend gets left at home she’ll remember how to be Billie for Ruth’s REALITY CHECK!)

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      I mean, nail, meet hammer. I do and don’t want to pry into your own experiences of what drove the skipping, (I think we’re citing the same play book when we talk about self compassion) but for Ruth… Even with effective medication, like any well practiced skill, you get so good at a particular way of thinking that it just comes naturally to you. When you have an ogre of a parent, well, you get mentored in thinking that way from the minute you wake up until you are unconcious. Eventually you know what to do when they aren’t even around. Like having the 10,000 hours needed to master a skill under your belt by the time you’re 8, then you go on to become a virtuoso before you can drive. It is often not until you’re 25 or so before someone even tells you that you shouldn’t think that way about yourself. Even when you get the help to start undoing the damage, the old skill set not only persistently undermines your efforts to learn better self talk, it continues to develop, adapt and counter the new skills you are learning. Self-compassion is incredibly hard to do when you keep developing countering skill that bring you back to the ways of thinking you are good at. Especially when being so good at it makes it feel easier.

      I guess this wasn’t really a response at you Biblio, as you seem to have relevant familiar experience, but for others who don’t understand how Ruth can so easily make mistakes driven by her past behaviour.

      (and to others who may be thinking that this excuses someone being a jerk, it does not. Even when an asshole’s behaviour is understood, even if they know what drives it, it does not give them an excuse to continue being a jerk. Especially since so many rationalize it to themselves and keep going, instead of using it to recognize that they need to change)

      1. Biblioholic93

        Yeah thanks, myself I’m in a much better place now with all those problems. 2 months sober and got amazing support for it. Miraculously a college grad. Should have mentioned college. I just relate pretty hard.

        Yeah the abuse I don’t particularly understand, worst I had was confrontational and drinker parent, slight verbal abuse I guess. Was mostly anxiety/depression, self worth. But yeah, Alcoholism is a helluva beast. It takes time and support and understanding that it’s very much a problem to get through. Ruth is pretty lonely, has self worth and communication issues. I won’t say i’d be qualified in the slightest as a psychologist or anything but the core ofnthe issue is alcoholism, self worth and damage unhealed. She probably misses her parents (grandda is abusive controlling). Abandonment from moving so far, and support ripped away.

        It’s hard and no one understands there’s support there where she needs it. An intervention clearly needed, her friends need to watch how she’s doing.

        Hoping the best for her.

  49. Jhon

    It’s all perfectly innocent. Ruth cuffed Jason and removed his clothes before answering the door. That way you don’t need to hide the body or eat the handcuffs.

  50. P!enapple

    Lmao this is a new fave strip. So many questions answered, brilliant in execution, artistically wonderful, and hysterically funny!! Thank you, Mr Willis!!

  51. P!enapple

    Btw, when and why did the avatars change??? Nothing against booster, but i’d prefer the other one

    1. Regalli

      Most recently, when Professor Brock showed up. Change the capitalization in your email address and you’ll get a different spin on the Grav Roulette, but don’t do it too many times in short succession (things generally seem okay if it’s twice in a day, but there’s been trouble in the past where too many instances and the moderation filter thinks your email address is spamming or something.)

      1. P!enapple

        Ah. Ty. To both of you for answers. 🙂

        I haven’t changed the spelling, capitalization or anything, but still got a new one. Booster’s okay, i just liked my angry face Joyce. Seemed appropriate to/for me lolol

    2. Demoted Oblivious

      Grav Roulette has been discussed plenty in the forum before, but to save you a search see the provided link (DoA wiki).

      1. milu

        speaking of which?! are you trying to discourage people from picking fights with you ^^

        1. milu

          haha ok you’re still trying out, i should stop commenting until you reach your final form probably
          anyway that is less intimidating

          …i want to describe it as ruthful
          (based on extensive (more than 1 websites were consulted) and collaborative research performed earlier today, see above)

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          Mike’s character always made sense to me, but also makes sense with my privilege. As for this particular one, well, near as I could tell, this was the moment when Mike first realized how horrible people could be. His path from here to who he became is a bitter-sweet mix than I understand, cheer and mourn. It’s easy to become that which you despise. Mike’s development is a reminder to not go too far.

        3. Demoted Oblivious

          ? Not sure the inspiration for the query I’m going to hypothesize about what to answer, but, no not at all. A fight is not necessarily a rigorous debate, but it can still be a useful platform for hearing other perspectives and considering one’s own. Humanity is exhausting, but when it’s as easy as typing or copypasta, it’s also not much of a burden to call out jerks for being jerks. The challenge is not causing decent people needless pain or creating conflict out of misunderstanding. i.e. Colonel Jessup was somewhat right about needed people willing to do bad things at the appropriate time, but he was of course incorrect about when those appropriate times were. (ref the earlier comment about it being wrong, killing each other out of anything other than compassion). Seeing and interpreting how someone is acting and figuring out if their behaviour is actually hostile is also difficult. We often assume the worst of people’s intentions. Certainly there was a lot of projection happening in yesterday’s thread that got nuked. So while it’s a preference to not sit idly by while people are being jerks, deciding how to proceed is… error-prone. Sometimes you stop a bully by ignoring them or sidestepping, sometimes you stop them by showing them love, and sometimes you stop them by pushing back as far as is needed. Sometimes you respond and are left wondering if you are being the bully.

          As for the new grav, well, I like Sarah’s character a great deal, but I am not a black woman and as someone else pointed out recently (nudge, wink), it seemed (to themselves, for themselves) to be a little disengenuous. My take away on that was for a throw-away comment not connected to a personality el-rando-gravo is fine, but after a certain amount of time it seemed less appropriate to have a gravatar which may give a false impression of the commenter.

          So… If someone wants a fight, maybe I’ll give ’em one. Couldn’t say if it’d be much of one considering how consistently my real-world efforts are for naught. It would depend on the purpose and if it would have a net benefit.

        4. Demoted Oblivious

          tl;dr – Blah blah blah, *bonk*

        5. milu

          oh, i wasnt talking about yesterday’s thread (i only read the opening salvos but by the time i got caught up late last night the whole thing was gone), i guess your first choice of grav just emanated that “don’t fuck with me” energy =3

          anyway yeah. internet fighting. i… don’t have anything intelligent to say about that.

          as for the gravsona misrepresentation question: …ditto

          wow, this comment really needed to exist lol

          i’m just so tired. i gave blood today, it just makes me so woozy and extra allergy-prone interestingly!

        6. Wagstaff

          You gave blood today? Fascinating!

          For what may I ask? And also, please be careful with that: traces of cannabis can stay around in the blood for as long as 75 days after exposure.

        7. milu

          no way, 75 days?! anyway not that kind of blood situation, i meant i donated blood to the blood bank. hence the tiredness

        8. Wagstaff

          I don’t know everything about blood donation in Europe, but many places blood is checked for the presence of such substances before it’s given to patients. There may be laws to protect the privacy of donors, but those vary substantially from place to place.

          This was actually part of the reason I was interested in knowing where you lived. I was afraid that if it was revealed that you consumed cannabis, I may never get to see you again!

        9. milu

          aww you’re sweet! nah, cannabis consumption is very lightly punished in france (dealing is another matter), and anyway i’ve given blood many times before and they don’t care about weed, they only ask about intraveinous drugs. i’m pretty sure they don’t even test for cannabis here *checks* …nope, they don’t.

  52. BlackScarabFilmZ

    But does she have the handcuffs because of sex? Or is she known for taking bartenders hostage?

    1. bcb

      She could easily have gotten them to threaten to handcuff students.

  53. zee

    This is. Incredibly funny. I need a detailed explanation as to why this happened

  54. C.T. Phipps

    Now that they’re sober, can they sleep together?

  55. milu

    Bartender is a pretty dangerous job

  56. C.T. Phipps

    Current headcanon: Ruth became a vampire and needed Jason for sustenance.

  57. Hinoron

    I want the next comic to be Sal calmly demonstrating to him that this model of doorknob just pulls off. (There are some like that)

  58. Steelbright

    what, Ruth, why

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