189

Sockets
Posted on March 11, 2019 by David M Willis
The eight book collection is here, and you can go pledge for it now! : http://kck.st/2HnJIyg  And right now, you can also pledge for either or both of two character magnets: Joyce and Fuckface the Iguana. This book will collect "Year Eight," spanning the four storylines that start on September 1, 2017, and complete on August 30, 2018. This includes new commentary, behind-the-scenes artwork, and new character designs into an 222-page tome with luxurious glossy paper all bound up into a sturdy presentation!  

189 thoughts on “Sockets”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    New Leaky Eyes, Same Great Ruth™

    1. Ana Chronistic

      *clicks link*
      *scrolls all the way down to whatever the last pledge tier is*
      *SUBMIT*
      *ponders which parents should be making out this time as a distraction from how obscenely relatable Ruth is rn*

      1. Ana Chronistic

        *watches main page ROCKET $2000+ in like a minute*

      2. Regalli

        One of the Warners maybe? They don’t get much in the way of attention.

        1. Ana Chronistic

          Once I was thinking Snoop and Daniel the Dalmatian but the last oddball request I made was too hard ?

      3. Aislashu

        The real question is…WHO’S MAKING OUT FOR YOU?

    2. Deanatay

      DEM GREEN JOYCE-EYES

  2. Doctor_Who

    I wanna see that eye socket thing. How much does the Kickstarter need to make for Ruth to be added to the next Mortal Kombat, I don’t see that stretch goal.

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      This is one of the great examples of Willis out-Old Testamenting the Old Testament. Stuff someone’s severed body parts in their own mouth? Old Testament. Stuff someone’s severed body parts in their own eye sockets? Willis.

    2. foamy

      Something similar happens in Alita.

      1. Doctor_Who

        How much do I have to pay James Cameron to add Ruth to Alita.

      2. LeslieBean4Shizzle

        **SQUEE**
        I’m finally getting to see Alita tomorrow!
        I’ve been reading the manga since it was being released as actual comic books back in the late 90s/early 2000s. So fucking HYPED.
        Oh, and Doc, if you want Ruth added to Alita, you would need to talk to Yukito Kishiro, the mangaka. He takes fan requests on minor characters, so that is actually a thing that could happen.

        1. EvilMidnightLurker

          IT IS SO GOOD. I have been waiting almost twenty years for Cameron to get around to this movie! I treated my wife and father-in-law to 3D IMAX seats. Sixty dollars WELL SPENT.

    3. mrnoidea

      Gotta make sure they’re femurs in the eye sockets, as well.

      1. Chris Phoenix

        Ugh, the engineer in me tried to guesstimate whether the ball at the end of the femur would fit in the eye socket and make an efficient joint. The rest of me went GAAH! Quit thinking about that!!

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Well, don’t leave us in suspense. Would it?

        2. Deathjavu

          After also pondering it for too long and being pretty sure it doesn’t fit, the engineer in me went and looked it up. Femur head diameter, the smallest part of the bone, is ~4-5 cm, so no, would not fit.

          I think what’s implied here is that one of these bones (femur, eye socket) is not surviving this collision. Cause it don’t fit.

    4. Delicious Taffy

      Why stop at Mortal Kombat? We’re all thinking too small, here. A full-scale fighting game is the only way to go.

  3. Nono

    Huh, Billie wasn’t in the forefront of everything she’s been crying about.

    1. meep

      It comes in waves, this is the first one, Billie will be in one of the later ones.

      1. Doctor_Who

        So this is like the coming attractions before the feature presentation?

      2. Mollyscribbles

        From my experience, it’s probably not gonna go chronologically. She might veer from her parents’ funeral to that teacher in second grade who was, on reflection, oddly cruel to children, to stuff from a few years ago, to Billie, to suddenly feeling bizarrely guilty over crying more while watching Up than at the deaths of loved ones.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Unmedicated Ruth doesn’t show a lot of emotion (besides anger), and even shuts down when she’s under severe emotional distress. The meds helped open the floodgates.

          Ruth shouldn’t feel bad about not crying at the funeral; everyone expresses themselves differently, and you can grieve without crying. (I bet at least part of what she’s dealing with now are the scars from Clint’s emotional abuse.) Crying is an expression of emotion, but its absence doesn’t necessarily mean an absence of emotion.

          Hopefully this is something she brings up with her therapist so they can work on it together.

        2. Abbefaria

          Compartmentalization is hell when the boxes start all opening at once.

        3. Spieguh

          Wow, that’s a great way to put it!

    2. Bryy

      Billie is the the most recent emotion. Ruth is currently experiencing regret and pain from basically her entire life. And on cosmic scale, her parents dying is much bigger than Billie.

    3. Sam

      That will likely come. Sadness has just come back. It needs time to work.

  4. MatthewTheLucky

    No, see, now she gives you back your femurs!

    1. Romanticide

      A very important difference.

      1. Jamie

        They said it was better to give than receive.

  5. Bicycle Bill

    That’s the Ruth — the one with the femur fetish — that we all remember and love.

  6. Nono

    Also, nice wordplay on “wasted”.

    1. AntJ

      Really made me think of Ed’s backstory from Digger.

      1. John Smith

        Yay, people remember Digger!

  7. Regalli

    Yeeeeeep! That’s the meds kicking in!

    And Ruth, honey. You’re still really young, it has not been a waste. Fuck that noise.

  8. Stephen Bierce

    *plays a selection from the Ghost In The Shell soundtrack on the hacked Muzak*

    1. mrnoidea

      Is it wrong that I instead thought of Angel’s Egg? (I don’t know how to type in italics)

    2. Delicious Taffy

      Are we talking the old animated movie, Stand Alone Complex, the new movie nobody saw, or the new-ish anime with the commercials that look like they’re selling perfume?

      Because I’d totally pay to see animation of Ruth ripping femurs out with Run Rabbit Junk playing in the background.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Look, I promise I’m good at HTML.

  9. meep

    Ah, adjusting to medication can suck. I remember crying more over the thought of a fictional dog getting hurt from a movie I did not even watch than I did at my grandma’s funeral.

  10. cbwroses

    Am I the only one getting an “I’m king of the world” vibe from the Book 8 cover?
    *Which is kinda ironic considering the title*

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      “I’m the scum of the earth! Woo-hoo-hoo!”

    2. ShinyNeen

      Hey, the Garbarge didn’t crash until Book 9, right? S’totally fitting!

  11. BBCC

    Oh, honey, you’re 20. You have more time. And yeah, seems like her meds have unlocked some serious emotions. I wonder what others will be unlocked as time goes on?

    Ruth needs a hug, but maybe not at this moment.

    And yeaaaaaaaaah, as much as I love colourful hypothetical ways to kill people (I’m a writer, not a serial killer, I promise), thaaaat may not be the wise thing to say in the communal shower of the people you bullied.

    1. Xenocide

      “Maybe not at this moment” is an understatement, as much as a hug may do her good I don’t think breaking the shower cubicle’s door down and hugging her whilst she’s devoid of clothing would make her feel particularly better. Although the femur removal that follows might.

      1. BBCC

        …Y’know, that’s a good point. Maybe she needs to remove a femur or two.

  12. DailyBrad

    The meds have broken the depression wall of ice. Now comes the, err, fun part?

    1. Inahc

      Don’t let them in
      Don’t let them see
      Be the strict RA
      You always have to be…

      1. Meagan

        A+

  13. Dunedon

    FYI … might want to check the Kickstarter … a few 7’s and sevens in the pledge lists (sorry, don’t have any other way to get this seen) … delete or don’t approve as it’s not really on content for the comic.

  14. ValdVin

    Panel four: The biggest green eyes Willis has ever drawn, methinks.

    1. ShinyNeen

      They rival the most bug-out eyes Joyce has ever had and I’m still having trouble processing that

      1. ValdVin

        I may have done some studying on the subject of Joyce’s eyes.

        https://valdvin.tumblr.com/post/164408586553/is-this-peak-joyce-iris

        1. ShinyNeen

          I remember that post! Good stuff.

          So, in your expert opinion, how does Ruth in panel 4 stack up to our reigning champ?

        2. ValdVin

          I will look tomorrow when I’m at my laptop and find out.

        3. ValdVin

          I put a new post up about eyes, including Ruth’s today.

          And I’ve been where she is now. (No, not in a shower stall in the womens’ wing at college.) The effects are scary, sometimes, and unpredictable, but I just like how Ruth isn’t giving up. She needs an appropriate hug at the appropriate time.

        4. ShinyNeen

          Oh, cool! I didn’t expect you to do a whole Tumblr-post thing. Hope I didn’t make you feel pressured or anything!

          I hadn’t even thought about non-Joyce characters, so that’s neat. The thing that stands out to me is that all of the other examples you used are from far more dramatic moments than what’s happening right now. And that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? Having that level of emotion hit out of nowhere like that is… well I don’t have any personal experience to help me relate but it sounds overwhelming, yeah >.>

        5. ValdVin

          Nah, no prob at all.

          I’m old enough to remember when there was room for real drawings in the “funny papers”, so I notice webcomic creativity even though I have zilch book learning on it.

        6. Bagge

          I love your compilations!

        7. ValdVin

          Thanx!

  15. Lacuna

    …would legs even fit in the eye sockets?

    Like I don’t doubt you could try, I just feel like there’s some physical impediments involved. And that’s not even considering the eyeballs.

    1. Keulen

      Ruth would find a way to make them fit, I’m sure.

    2. Liquid Len

      Toes first!

  16. mister gray

    I’ve never liked Rachel and I will continue to despise her forever.

    1. dethtolldotmid

      She ain’t shit. And the people who make excuses for her sicken me.

      1. Yumi

        I don’t care for Rachel myself, but it seems like you take it a step far when you put down real people over the character.

        1. dethtolldotmid

          Probably true, but defending someone bullying a suicide risk, fictional or not, is not a sign of someone I particularly want to be friends with, because what will they excuse from real people?

    2. Inahc

      *sigh*

    3. Pl0x

      I mean it’s what she asked for, after all!

    4. Keulen

      I like Rachel in the other universe much better than this version of her. Mainly because this universe’s Rachel thinks people can’t be redeemed.

      1. BBCC

        I’m hoping we see more Rachel because I’m hoping she gets some character development on that point – whether she forgives Ruth or not, that way of thinking is super toxic.

  17. Jess

    I can’t believe these kids get actual closing doors on their individual stall showers. At my college they were old group showers that they’d just rigged white plastic curtains around. This right here is classy, is what.

    1. Yumi

      Mine had individual stalls for showers, where there was a door–not a full door, but like a bathroom stall door– into an area about the size of the shower with little benches, then a curtain between that and the shower itself. It wasn’t too bad. It was still better once I have myself permission to just use the single-person unisex bathroom, through.

      1. Norah

        We had suites with 4 bedrooms and a living room area. Each suite had bathrooms with at least one shower— I can’t remember, as it was over 40 years ago.

    2. thejeff

      You had white plastic curtains. Luxury.

      I think we had one between the showers and the rest of the bathroom.

      1. Bagge

        You had a curtain between the showers and the rest of the bathroom? We DREAMED about having a curtain separating the showers and the rest of the bathroom. All we had was a bucket in an open field, and if it had rained we could shower in the rain water.

        (Full disclaimer: I’m full of shit. In real life I had a perfectly ordinary shower with a lockable door. Only downside was that it was gross because we were four dudes sharing it).

        1. JBento

          Gosh, you had a BUCKET? In an open field? THEY LET YOU GO OUTSIDE?! I’m so jealous, truly Sweden cares for its people.

        2. Roborat

          They took our bucket away, and turned the field into a parking lot. We had to spit into the wind to get a shower.

        3. ValdVin

          Almost-obligatory.

        4. Rukdug

          If that’s not a link to “Four Yorkshiremen”, I will be disappointed.

        5. Rukdug

          Post script: I was not disappointed.

        6. ValdVin

          Heh. “Luxury,” as a single word sentence, is almost a trigger for this.

        7. Abel Undercity

          This… this is why this is my favorite comment section in all of the internet.

  18. Jenny Islander

    …I want to go back mumblety years in a TARDIS to my old dorm and just, like, hug some people.

    And also slap some people, but definitely hug some people.

    1. Bagge

      I would be VERY nervous if someone I know suddenly pops back from the future just to give me a hug.

      “Just… just how bad is my future going to be?”

      1. Liquid Len

        More nervous than if they suddenly appeared and slapped you? “Just what kind of an asshole did I turn in to?”

        1. Delicious Taffy

          If they’re hugging me, I’m probably dead. If they slap me, I can just change my behavior and avoid the bad future.

        2. Abel Undercity

          What if they both hug AND slap me?

          I’m going to guess it means we dated.

  19. SUGauthor

    As someone who basically lived in voluntary house arrest for years after high school due to struggles with depression I cannot begin to describe how much this resonates with me. So much time I’ll never get back.

    1. dethtolldotmid

      I feel like I’ve wasted most of the last 20 years of my life due to a controlling and smothering parent.

      It’s not a fun feeling. My mom dying has devastated me, but it’s also freed me.

  20. Pocky

    side effects include: opening of the flood gates.

  21. Pl0x

    New book is so green. Sickeningly green, like vomit and garbage. BLURGH

    1. Yumi

      Is that the color your vomit tends to be? What does your diet consist of?

      1. SUGauthor

        Cartoon vomit is always green.

        1. Yumi

          I have scenes from Family Guy tragically lodged inside my head that say otherwise

      2. Pl0x

        veggies :b

    2. BBCC

      Looks like Mountain Dew green to me.

      1. Inahc

        huh, on my monitor it’s mint green.
        …that might be affected by evening anti-blue-light thingy though.

        1. Inahc

          OTOH, joyce’s waterbottle looks radioactive. 🙂

        2. Pl0x

          oh god yeah, i just noticed that. but that’s the thing with sports gear.

      2. Yumi

        Like someone vomited a bunch of Mountain Dew. Compromise.

        I actually quite like the green color of it, but I know it can suck when sensory input has strong negative associations. Maybe the book cover looks less intense in real life?

      3. ShinyNeen

        Dammit, is that why I find that shade of green so pleasing? I haven’t drank the stuff in years! Am I ever going to escape the curse of the Dew!?

        1. Needfuldoer

          Dew of the Mountain is no curse, friend!

        2. ShinyNeen

          So it’s not a curse, it’s just wizards hooking people on drugs

          Th-that’s cool…

      4. Pl0x

        Either way I hate it!!

        1. BBCC

          Perfectly reasonable.

          I wonder if we’ll ever get a black DoA book?

        2. Needfuldoer

          I bet it would be a compilation of the Slipshines.

          A copulation compilation.

        3. BBCC

          He can’t sell those. A) Slipshine owns them because they bought them as commissions and B) He doesn’t want to sell them at conventions with kids.

        4. Needfuldoer

          (I know. The wordplay came to mind and I couldn’t just let it go to waste!)

        5. BBCC

          (Ah, I gotcha! I respect the need to take awesome wordplay!)

    3. Rabid Rabbit

      It’s as green as Ruth’s eyes!

      Cause, you see, despite their smiles, those two hate themselves (at that point) almost as much as Ruth does.

    4. thejeff

      Piss green

  22. MatsuoTanuki

    https://youtu.be/mLxv4oj4OcY

  23. abysswatcher1993

    Ruth really needs a hug… and one done by a really resistant character that can survive punches.

    1. MatsuoTanuki

      The comforting hugs can come a bit later.

    2. Agemegos

      Not Joe then. Mike?

      1. MatsuoTanuki

        I’d nominate Sal actually. Further progress to opening up for her emotions, and the obligatory “You deserve so much better than… THAT.” from a sibling figure. Billie and the Walkertons were tightly knit back, it wouldn’t be out of character for Sal to be aware of Billie”s bullhonky

        1. BBCC

          Sort of – Billie and Walky had a sibling esque relationship. It doesn’t look like Sal and Billie did. Billie certainly didn’t have any conflicted ‘but she’s like my sister’ feelings when she was trying to kiss Sal.

          Besides, the Walkerton family crest is a knight vehemently refusing to discuss his feelings. 😛 You’d have better luck pulling teeth than getting Sal to talk about emotions without something really big (or being named Danny or Marcie). She even said back with Amber that she was no good at talking through feelings.

          I’m sure the Walkerton family’s emotional constipation will come up more in the future, but I’m hoping in the form of awkward sibling chats! 😀

        2. Clif

          Don’t listen to them Joyce. Ruth is virtually crying out for a hug. You can do this. Be on of the Proud. The Few. The Femurless.

        3. Clif

          How did this get here? Let’s try it again in the right place.

        4. BBCC

          Maybe not while Ruth is naked though. She might not be okay with that.

  24. PB

    SOMEONE HUG RUTH I DON’T CARE WHO MAYBE RACHEL SHE KIND OF OWES HER FOR THAT CRAP SHE SAID AT THE FLOOR MEETING OR MAYBE JOYCE SHE’S LEAST LIKELY TO DIE FROM IT BUT SOMEONE HUG HERRRRRRRRR

    1. AntJ

      Not Joyce – Ruth is in fact pantsless: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/plenty/

      1. Bagge

        Eep!

        1. Clif

          Don’t listen to them Joyce. Ruth is virtually crying out for a hug. You can do this. Be one of the Proud. The Few. The Femurless.

        2. Sam

          OVERCOME YOUR WEAKNESS. ACHIEVE THE ABILITY TO LIVE WITHOUT FEMURS! Come on Joyce, do it!

        3. Delicious Taffy

          *cue USMC recruitment music, but it keeps distorting and there’s a muffled ringing noise that gets louder over tine*

        4. PB

          … +1 Internet

  25. HeinousActsZX

    Ugh, my least favorite Dumbing of Age is desperately shoving a punchline in at the end of a dramatic strip.

    I was invested in Ruth having an intense emotional moment until it gets ruined by the end.

    I’m just gonna pretend those last two panels didn’t happen.

    1. HeinousActsZX

      *Dumbing of Age trope

    2. Chrissy

      Some don’t end with jokes… like this one for example

  26. Marsh Maryrose

    I often forget to check the alt-text.

    I know this time it’s referring to panel six.

    But I can’t help thinking of it referring to panel four.

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      Referring to the eyes and the crinkly mouth, not the actual text.

  27. Needfuldoer

    Ruth has at least three murder plans on deck at all times.

  28. Bagge

    Bless her heart. Busybody Joyce dives right in, ask what’s wrong and tries to help, while the Rachels stand to the side and make snide comments.

    And that’s why, VASTLY annoying as she is, you are yet happy to have a Joyce in your life.

  29. Icalasari

    Eh, her threats could still be the meds. If she’s finally experiencing emotions again after depression robbed her of them, then…

  30. Zaxares

    If it’s any consolation, Ruth, people not crying at the funerals of their family members is more common than you’d think. Some people are still numb or in denial, and the entire proceeding just feels unreal. Then, months or even years later, they’ll find themselves doing something that all of a sudden just reminds them of the deceased, and then it will all come rushing back, along with the realization that they will never see the deceased again. And THAT’S when the waterworks start.

    1. Clif

      Yep.

      1. SEREGIEL

        I cry more at movies and books than during traumatic experiences happening in real time. I think it’s because of empathy and having time to process and relate to what is being shown versus going at 101mph to get to a conclusion/solution of some sort. Then my mind says “oh thank f*** that’s done!” And tried to rapidly decompress the stress. It doesn’t begin to parse how I feel about the events until the next quiet but relatable thing pops up. I didn’t cry about my grandfather for a year after he died, but there’s little moments that the loss hits and “there it is!” TL;DR: yes, that thing you said

  31. FacelessDeviant

    Oh Ruth. Sympathy via light physical contact.

    1. NoHeart

      Preferably after she gets out of the shower and into some clothes

      1. BenRG

        Although, in all seriousness, sometimes there isn’t the time and the hugee really can’t bring themselves to move that far.

      2. FacelessDeviant

        Yep, without a doubt.

    2. Zee

      That just made me imagine Joyce’s arm warping and stretching over the stall door to lightly pat Ruth on the shoulder

  32. BenRG

    Yeah, it’s been a shitty life for her, hasn’t it? Still, she’s still Ruth and that’s a relief because a total change of approach would worry me!

  33. JessWitt

    Is Ruth taking antidepressants? Because I’m on a type that suppresses my emotions so hard I’m lucky to get a few tears out during some real tough moments.

    1. Sam

      She is and they are throwing her emotions back into functioning starting with sadness/crying.

      1. JessWitt

        So not so much an emotional suppressant but an emotional rebalancer for Ruth.

        1. Sam

          Yep! Ruth is here, she’s queer, and she’s fucking crying her eyes out because her meds are working at helping change things from 90% apathy, 10% emotion to 1000% emotion!

    2. Angie

      it didn’t even occur to me that antidepressants would work the opposite way for some people. I call my meds my no-more-tears pills because before I was on them it was a struggle to not cry in public every gotdamb day

    3. Lena

      Same here, I honestly hate how they suppress my emotions but this is like the fifth kind I’ve been on and I’m not sure if I want to deal with the possibility of being on worse ones for a while again. (Anxiety’s a riot!)

  34. ADLegend21

    [John Mulaney voice]: We don’t have time to unpack all of this in one strip.

  35. tirachokko

    Oh Joyce – a sudden outpouring of dammed repressed emotions maketh not a different person

    1. BenRG

      A lot depends on your perception of them. Joyce probably sees Roth as The Terrible and Strong. To hear her express grief must be a profound paradigm shift for her!

  36. DarkoNeko

    wow, it hit her like a truck

    1. Eldritch Gentleman

      Is Ruth going to get isekaied?

    2. bunivasal

      At least it wasn’t an actual truck this time.

  37. JediMB

    It’s a good thing tears never show in the pouring rain
    As if a good thing ever could make up for all the pain

  38. C.T Phipps

    I wonder when Ruth will confess to the murder of dozens of undergrads that she keeps buried in the steam tunnels.

    “It seemed so rationale back then! It turns out you can’t live without femurs unless there’s a medic nearby!”

  39. Undrave

    Ruth has an obsession with leg-based brutality. Do you think she’s into legs?

  40. Deanatay

    Ruth, bawling like a baby…

    Baby Ruth?

    (Billie’ll be her Butterfinger)

    1. FacelessDeviant

      Baby Ruth doo doo doo doo

      Great, now I have that baby shark song in my head again.

  41. Josh Spicer

    Shut up Rachel.

    And I didn’t cry at Dad’s funeral, that I remember anyway.

  42. Betty Anne

    Rachel is being a room-sized bongo. I mean, I know that’s who she is, but…I’m starting to suspect her whole “people can’t change” bs is because SHE doesn’t want to put in the work to change herself. XP

    1. BenRG

      When Rachel said that to Joe, I really got the impression that it meant she considered herself irredeemable and couldn’t see anyone else ever really changing ever.

    2. Tan

      Far more likely that there’s someone in Rachel’s past to whom she gave many, many chances, who consistently squandered them and let her down. My money’s on her father, but could just as easily be mother, older sibling, or otherwise someone she grew up with. This does not make it okay for her to put that shit on Ruth (just as Ruth’s depression does not make her own Not Okay things she’s done to others okay), but we all come with our own baggage.

    3. Tom T.

      Ruth has bullied her residents since day 1. I don’t hold it against Rachel that she’s not willing to show sympathy at the first sign that the person who has been bullying her feels bad about herself.

      1. joyfulldreams

        I think there is maybe a little bit of a difference between ‘the first sign she feels bad about herself’ and ‘literally almost died and went to the hospital for suicidal ideation’.

        Like you don’t have to be nice, you don’t have to be super sympathetic and understanding and forgiving. But you could maybe decide not to openly and unnecessarily shit on a suicidal person. As I have said before many a time, she did not need to take it that far.

        At the moment Rachel is being fine. I brace for when she’ll be openly hostile and dismissive again without any real reason, but at the moment she’s just being kind of cold and distant. Cold and distant is fine. It’s normal to be offput by somebody you don’t really like crying loudly in a communal shower, and even a joke like ‘Ruth doesn’t have feelings’ is vaguely understandable as a way to break the tension. (Though…it probably wasn’t a joke, so, that makes me irritated.)

        So like. Rachel isn’t doing anything horrific right now. I might be irritated about the really distracting and uncomfortable interruption when I’m just trying to take a shower, too. And if I really really did not like the person for (reasonable!) reasons, then yeah, I might make a couple short sharp comments.

        But what she did before was just inexcusable, and Rachel still owes Ruth a fuckin apology. Not that she’ll ever give one, but, whatever. Rachel, if you can try to continue to just not actively get in Ruth’s way or intentionally try and kick her while she’s down, then I will phase back into just vaguely disliking you.

        1. brasca1

          Does Rachel know she’s suicidal? We do because we have the privilege of omniscience because we’re reading this story, but as far as Rachel knows Ruth is someone who has been an abusive person from the very first meeting and plenty of times after that. She knows she had a breakdown, but that’s not the same as being suicidal. Shortly after her breakdown Ruth holds another meeting to apologize for her actions, but apparently Rachel has dealt with people who have a pattern of abusing and then apologizing for their actions later and will not accept it. As far as she knows Ruth got caught sleeping with one of the people on her floor and is only making amends to keep her job so if I knew what Rachel knew I’d have as much sympathy too.

        2. Inahc

          She knows. Everyone on the floor knows. It was covered in the comments a couple of days ago.

        3. Tan

          Straight from Rachel’s mouth that Ruth is suicidal: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/chloe/

        4. Smarties

          Ruth being suicidal doesn’t excuse any of her behavior to the residents of her floor and she is entitled to none of their forgiveness or understanding if they don’t want to give it. Forgiveness is earned. Not pity gifted.

        5. Inahc

          Nobody was saying she is :/

        6. Regalli

          Rachel’s allowed to be pissed at her and not forgive her, but the speech she made in that floor meeting was a step too far at a time when Ruth was still pretty damn high-risk. (Remember, the meds are only NOW starting to work.) Rachel knew full well Ruth was suicidal, she’s the one who told Chloe. If Ruth had hurt herself after that meeting, Rachel would bear some responsibility for it. Additionally, Rachel’s speech impacted Joyce and Amber, and probably helped set Amber back pretty damn significantly along with the stabbing later that night. (And I ask again: Would Amber have gone quite so far if she hadn’t just been told there’s no point in trying to be a better person because you’ll always be garbage? We don’t know. Don’t care mich because she stabbed a rapist who was attacking her, but the point still stands.) That was some serious harm she dealt as splash damage to two people who didn’t at all deserve it.

          Rachel’s perfectly allowed to hate Ruth, but she should definitely be more careful with her words. I doubt she wanted Ruth to harm herself that night, but telling that shit to a suicidal person is legitimately dangerous. I am certain she had no stake in or awareness of Amber and Joyce’s issues, but she hurt them nonetheless and I’m not sure Amber’s recovered since. (Again, what was ‘redemption is a myth’ and what was based in the stabbing is hard to tell.)

      2. joyfulldreams

        Oh also Ruth did more than just show a single sign of disliking herself, she actively sought to apologize for her behavior, control herself, and show how she intended towards taking actionable steps to improve things and make up for what she had done previously.

        Nobody is obligated to accept an apology, but you don’t have to toss it back in their face and, just for the fun of it, rake out their eyes for having the audacity to even try. Like. What the fuck?

        1. Smarties

          I don’t see where Rachel was having fun rejecting the apology. There was no evil glee there. And creating a hostile environment with threats of violence towards dozens of students who are living on their own for the first time in their lives is also terrible for people’s mental health, especially the students already in bad positions.

  43. Valis_kr3

    But she would tell bad about feeding you your own legs through your eye sockets so that’s different.

  44. Resneps

    I felt exactly like this after heart surgery, I had never cried so hard before.

  45. SEREGIEL

    The fact that anyone believed the femur threat was legitimate at any point in time still confounds me.

    1. thejeff

      Given that she did bodily haul stragglers to the first floor meeting and throw Billie across the room, I’m not surprised people took the threats of violence seriously, even if they realized that literal femur removal was an exaggeration.

      1. Seregiel

        I guess? This is a gen that has spent their entire lives plugged in – having threats thrown at you is a constant.

  46. Seregiel

    This has nothing to do with this strip, but while archive diving it just hit me: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/angel/ Joyce viewed Becky as God’s answer to not ignoring her… This is why Becky was in her original design in Joyce’s dream; it is because of the evolution of how she views Becky is another reason God feels absent. Becky is still her “angel” but she doesn’t feel she’s one of God’s with how she is treated and was taught to treat her in the name of God. A lot of people aren’t, and she’s not hearing a solution in her faith. 🙁

  47. Palaeoboy

    Panel 3. The profound sense of loss and waste when you emotions com back. That is so well expressed.

  48. C.T Phipps

    I know it’s probably not where it’s going but a part of me hopes that Ruth comes to a much better mental place, a healthier self-esteem, and a new appreciation for life–before immediately starting up beating, bullying, and abusing again.

    This time for her own pleasure. 🙂

  49. Smarties

    Rachel hasn’t done anything nearly as bad as Ruth in this comic, but because people relate to Ruth I guess that means everyone else has to coddle and immediately forgive her or they’re terrible.

    Being suicidal was an explanation for Ruth’s behavior, but it didn’t justify anything she did or said. Forgiveness is earned, and Ruth is doing a good job of earning it with people like Amber and Sal, but that doesn’t mean the whole floor trusts her. And they don’t have to. They don’t owe Ruth a thing.

    1. Inahc

      you’re arguing against something nobody’s said.

    2. BBCC

      I would argue Sal doesn’t trust Ruth. She definitely appreciates not getting the fight reported and Ruth saying she handled it, but she’s also very conscious that Ruth’s not been trustworthy and that Ruth still, to use her words, holds power over her.

  50. Bea

    ruth’s face in panel 4 🙁

  51. stoodmuffin

    OH SWEET POOR BBY ROOTH

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