101

Stormed
Posted on August 5, 2019 by David M Willis

101 thoughts on “Stormed”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “You know why I hate you so much? BECAUSE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!”

    yikes

    1. Ana Chronistic

      actually I bet there’s a Mad-Libs for couples fighting tho

    2. Doctor_Who

      My favorite is Billie’s “I hate your stupid grumpy face. I wanna kiss it.”

      Basically sums these two up.

      1. Clif

        I think this is going about as well as it’s going to go.

        1. Ana Chronistic

          Dumbing of Age Book 9: I Will NEVER Hate You, Except ALL THE GODDAMN TIME

        2. Ana Chronistic

          (psst, Ctrl-F failed)

          Dumbing of Age Book 10: I’d Say It Ultimately Backfired

  2. jeffepp

    “I love/hate you too!”

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      Ruth being an English major, she could go with “Odi et Amo.”

      1. wwwhhattt

        English majors study latin?

        1. Badgermole

          Dissecting etymology is our one party trick.

        2. Reltzik

          I thought puns were on the list somewhere.

        3. BrokenEye, the True False Prophet

          That’s a great way to have your English Major badge revoked

        4. Kat

          Your screenname makes me ponder. Do you give true sounding prophetic statements in a questioning tone? Do you give Prophecies about quantum particles? Are your prophecies only Boolean type? The mind wobbles…

        5. Rabid Rabbit

          Only if you don’t know to refer to them as”fatal Cleopatras.”

        6. Marsh Maryrose

          They study Catullus. At least I hope they still do.

      2. Kamino Neko

        If Odie et ammo, Jon’d better give him a purgative.

        1. Charles Kuhman

          and then leave the premises.

    2. BrokenEye, the True False Prophet

      I’ll kill you too, buddy. I’ll kill you too.

  3. ValdVin

    Book titles abound: “I will never hate you, except all the goddamn time”.

    1. Danielle

      it’s cool, i know that one

      1. Clif

        “It’s Excruciating, and I Long For the Peace of the Grave” is gong t be really hard to beat though

        1. LeslieBean4shizzle

          It’s a day later and that one still brings tears of mirth to my eyes.

          Although it’s better with the main title included.

        2. Needfuldoer

          A perfect title for the eventual multi-volume collection of books that take place during finals.

    2. Bagge

      Really sums up their relationship, doesn’t it?

    3. Marsh Maryrose

      What’s a DoA strip without two or book titles?

      “Maybe A Side of Revenge”
      “I Don’t Do This Shit Anymore”

  4. Sporky

    get outta here axel

    1. Lacuna

      You really do remember me this time? I’M SO FLATTERED!

      But you’re too late!

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Two!?

        1. MatthewTheLucky

          Got it memorized?

    2. abysswatcher1993

      He was busy solving some plots before the end.

  5. Stephen Bierce

    It’s just The Same Old Song
    But with a different beat since you’ve been gone…

  6. DailyBrad

    Billie, don’t be a wino
    don’t be a fool with your liiiiiiiiiife

  7. Newllend(henryvolt)

    Dumbing of age book 9: “I don’t hate you, expect all the God damn time.”

  8. Madock345

    They’re way too good together to be so terrible together

    1. Happilychaotic

      This.

  9. BBCC

    Oh, you beautiful, pissy little dandelions, I will pay for your therapy myself if you’ll both just GO.

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      “Pissy Little Dandelions” is my next band name.

    2. Kyrik Michalowski

      If Billie just wanted to get better and would go to the therapy she has been provided with then maybe they could work this out. But it only works if Billie wants it to work and wants to get better.

      1. Needfuldoer

        “Yeah but that’s hard and it takes effort!”
        – Billie’s internal monologue, probably

        1. Annamal

          Billie has a collossal supply of self-hatred andshe believes that she ruins everyone around her.

          That kind of feeling does not really prompt you into putting effort into self-care…

        2. Happilychaotic

          Yeah, you have to believe first that the therapy can actually work… Which is a hard mental leap to make when you think that you are just bad and that’s it.

        3. thejeff

          Yeah, that’s pretty much it. I’m sure it being hard plays into it, but mostly it’s just that she’s poison and therapy’s not going to fix it, so why bother with a doomed effort.

        4. Sunny

          She would probably just ruin the therapy for everyone else. Or so she’s convinced herself.

        5. thejeff

          “I can’t go to therapy. It would be bad for the therapist.”

        6. StClair

          There’s a really twisted bit of ego there, too: the notion that one is uniquely and especially terrible and toxic, and the therapist has never seen a case as bad as yours.
          (ha ha, no.)

        7. thejeff

          It’s a common one though.

          Rooted in the “I’m too messed up. No one can help me. It’s hopeless.” dynamic.

        8. Needfuldoer

          See also: Amber.

    3. JBento

      I mean, that might be part of the issue for Ruth, but Billie’s reason for not going to therapy (or doing anything else, really) is never going to be “that costs money”.

      1. BBCC

        No, see, it’ll work, because who doesn’t love free stuff?

  10. abysswatcher1993

    Yes, yes, they are talking seriously about their problems. Now, I WANT TO SEE HOW THE LEAGUE OF EVIL PARENTS IS DOING!

    1. Doctor_Who

      I don’t. If the next strip had a footnote saying that Blaine died on the way back to his home planet, I’d dance with glee.

      1. abysswatcher1993

        Willis: “We all know that fictional characters can come back to life. However, here’s a contract that establishes that Blaine wouldn’t appear in Dumbing of Age ever!”

      2. Dean

        Next strip: Asher is standing next to an elderly Korean man. Two guys with shovels are filling in a hole.

        ASHER: Sorry to bother you about this, Grandpa.
        GRANDPA: It’s fine. I never liked that guy anyway.

        1. Josh Spicer

          This is how we’re introduced to Grandpa, but not by burying Blaine (because of course not), just him doing his job and Asher bein like “so yeah I got this thing.”

        2. Nico

          i chuckled. god i wish this would happen.

        3. Marie

          Hahaha! Thanks for the mental picture. I laughed.

      3. jmsr7

        Oh Poochie, we hardly knew ye – wait. No, you were a horrible mistake and i’m glad you’re dead.

    2. Clif

      Thou shalt not tempt the Willis.

      1. Marsh Maryrose

        Pfft. Like any of us could out-evil the Willis.

        “I choose to wear the tattered flesh of my enemies!”
        “I’ll snap off your legs and feed them back to you through your eye sockets!”
        “I will beat you both to death myself with your own bloody femurs.”

    3. Keulen

      I’d much rather see Billie and Ruth talking about their problems than the league of evil parents. Which means the next strip will probably go back to them.

  11. JessWitt

    Off tangent but I feel robbed we didn’t see more of Sydney Yus, emergency driver.

    1. Bagge

      AND THAT WILL BE OUR UNDOING!

    2. Keulen

      I’m sure we have not seen the last of her.

      1. Clif

        You have to leave something for the patrion strips.

    3. JBento

      Sydney will appear in the next Blaine strip.
      Blaine: “Rules are for inferior people. I refuse to take the trouble to look both ways before crossing the road.”
      *a car hits him*
      Sydney: “FOOL! THAT HAS BEEN YOUR UNDOING!”
      Last panel: “This was a DOA PSA, because now that I have kids I have to take every opportunity to reduce the chances that their monkey brains don’t get them killed.”

  12. Pocky

    Pissy weary love

    1. Clif

      The second and third panels sum up the core of their relationship.

  13. Rabid Rabbit

    Gasp! Is it at all possibly that without her glasses, Billie is defenceless? Or at least vulnerable.

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      An’ possibly mundane!

  14. Sunfish

    Ermagerd the KH ref yaaaassss

  15. Bagge

    Horray, their relationship is back on track again!

    …that’s good, right?

    1. fire_daws

      Let’s hope that it’s not the railroad that leads to destruction.

      1. Bagge

        …whenever has it ever been something else?

        1. Willoughby Chase

          I choose to believe, gainst all the evidence, that this time they’re going to make it.

        2. DailyBrad

          They’ve seemingly had some revelations, so there’s that, at least. Kinda early to tell if anything will come of it.

          I do wish Billie would tell her what happened with Alice, though, given that might give additional context as to her keeping up barriers with Ruth and her fear of being poison. But hey, one step at a time.

        3. fire_daws

          Huh. Well full steam ahead then.

    2. JBento

      How could it not be?

      *Warning: Bridge out ahead*

      Oh.

  16. Delicious Taffy

    Since Willis deliberately quoted Axel Kingdomhearts on purpose, what’s everybody’s favorite Keyblade?

    I like Kingdom Key W and Midnight Blue.

    1. Nenja

      I really like Guardian Bell and Pumpkinhead

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Out of the Didney world Keyblades in KH1, those two are the best-looking.

    2. Rayndel

      Oblivion. Hands down.

  17. Shane Wegner

    It kinda is your fault, Billie, or at least you shared in it and contributed. Cold shouldering Ruth because she stood up for yourself was CRUEL, and you can feel now what Ruth was trying to prevent.

    On the upside, this should brushable under the rug as far as her RA job, it’s not wrong to go to the hospital for worry about an allergic reaction.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Ruth made an ultimatum and Billie walked out on her, I don’t see how that’s not healthy behavior.

      Oh wait, it’s because it’s over alcoholism.

      :sarcasm intended:

      1. thejeff

        “Stop trying to kill me” is a hell of an ultimatum. I can see how Billie is completely at fault here.

        Of course, none of that is what happened, as Billie is telling us here. She didn’t leave because Ruth made an ultimatum. She left because she thinks she’s poison and dangerous to Ruth and tried to piss her off so she could leave without it hurting Ruth so much.
        Which is fucked up in so many ways, but well-intentioned, I guess.

      2. TemperaryObsessor

        Ultimatums for dickish people who want to control the other party, and for people who can’t get the other party to respect basic boundries any other way.
        Also for business deals but please only make them in groups or if your okay with the other party following through.

  18. etherealdesiign

    im not sure if i love this or hate this, even though i love billie and ruth’s relationship a lot more than i would than if it were real life friends of mine dealin with something this toxic.

    it looks like they’re both really trying, just, really, really badly.

    so, carry on, i guess.

  19. Rabisch

    Finally a true discussion between them!

  20. Alan in DC

    Other than providing a compelling story arc here, there is no reason in real life a relationship like this would continue. Billie is 18, Ruth is 20 — they would either outgrow each other or realize thru therapy that they are unhealthily codependent.
    Having been through a few relationships with toxic people, I can tell you these dont last. To expect their love to last by the time Billie hits her mid-20 is unrealistic.
    Of course, the fact that freshman first semester has taken 15+ years here makes the situation feel more draining to us than to them.

    1. thejeff

      That’s true, but it doesn’t make those teenage/college age relationships seem any less serious or important while you’re in them.

    2. Sam

      While they don’t usually, I have heard of a select number of couples who have had unhealthy toxic relationships but later surprisingly turned them around because both of them decided to work for it. It isn’t unrealistic or impossible – it just isn’t the most common of outcomes, and usually because one of them has no interest in committing to doing anything differently. I’ve also heard of a couple where a terrible relationship turned into a great relationship then was ended for different reasons too so even if they turn it around, it doesn’t guarantee anything.

  21. BenRG

    Ruth’s bad attitude is alcohol-impelled confirmed.

    Meanwhile, I think that the time has come for Billie to realise that she and Ruth are going to have to heal together or not at all.

  22. CMasta

    I don’t think this interaction could be more self-destructive unless they Thelma and Louise’d themselves

  23. Marie

    Aw, I love these two.

  24. Mouse

    Angry Ruth is normal. Vulnerable Billie is creepy.

  25. ego

    panel 2 is the best single line you have ever written, david.

  26. Leorale

    It’s cool how they know their pattern. Self-aware characters, woo!

  27. PB

    This is … oddly reassuring.

  28. Megz

    To everyone who is saying that Billie needs to stay with Ruth in order for Ruth or both of them to heal: You Are Never In Charge Of Someone Else’s Healing! They can break up and then get help separately. Ruth might need a support network right now but it doesn’t need to involve Billie. This kind of feels like Ruth is (unintentionally) emotionally blackmailing Billie to stay with her right now.

    Yes, Billie shouldn’t have left the way she did but Ruth gave her an ultimatum that she (Billie) wasn’t interested in dealing with and she left thinking that Ruth was better without her. They were both stupid but they can continue to do so separately.

    1. thejeff

      Or together. They could stay together and get help too.

      I get what you say about emotional blackmail, but I don’t think that’s what’s happening here, even unintentionally. Billie wants to stay with Ruth, but thinks she’s poison and will hurt her if she stayed, so she pulls the self-sacrifice ploy and leaves, trying to piss Ruth off so she won’t be hurt as badly.
      And that backfires, so here we are.
      Now we get to see if Billie can really step up or if this has to still get worse.

    2. Sam

      I don’t think they need to stay together to heal but I do think Billie needed something like this to happen to learn that you can’t protect someone by trying to forcibly tear yourself out of their heart and life when they clearly do not want that.

  29. Shane

    “Durr I could get better too, with you, but that sounds hard”

    Because this way is so easier, amirite Billie?

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