198

Take care
Posted on December 30, 2014 by David M Willis
2014-12-patreon2previewThe second of this month's two bonus strips is now up on Patreon!  The subject of this strip was up to me, rather than being vote-driven, so I chose Dorothy listening to music while on her morning jog.  See the rest of the strip over on the Dumbing of Age Patreon!

198 thoughts on “Take care”

  1. Jen Aside

    “GOT TOO MUCH TO DO–I’LL DIE WHEN I’M DEAD”

    is that how it goes

    1. Cynthia

      “People die when they are killed!”

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Hair dyes when it is coloured.

        1. thebombzen

          And Hebrew dies when it’s enough

          (Dai (די) is Hebrew for “enough”)

        2. Evan Dark

          And Japanese die (大 – dai), when they are big.

        3. nothri

          My dice die if I only have one of them to roll (singular of dice being one die).

        4. Animal

          I remember tie-dying. (It was far out, man!)

          That’s as opposed to what happens in textile mills in Southeast Asia, which is Thai-dying.

        5. Animal

          Dammit. Dyeing, not dying.

        6. Roborat

          You probably had it right the first time.

        7. Animal

          Nope.

          http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dye

          Dammit, I HATE it when I mess up stupidly easy stuff like that.

        8. Kyrros

          I’m sure he was just making a statement on the poor working conditions of the sweatshop laborers in the developing world. :-p

        9. sps48

          “If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.”

        10. Rachel Roth

          As do eggs.

      2. Mattyos

        and that is how it should be.

      3. ze doctor14

        I GET THAT REFERENCE. I APPRECIATE IT. HA HA. Aaaah fate….

    2. Deanatay

      “You load sixteen tons, what do you get,
      Another day older and deeper in debt.
      Satan don’t you call me, ‘cuz I cain’t go,
      I owe my soul to the company store…”

      1. gwalla

        The lyric is “St. Peter, don’t you call me” IIRC

  2. Camachri

    Sometimes it’s just the little things that keep us going. Like the unending flow of time…

  3. Idon'tcarenomore

    Yeah a little rough, but it is Them. And they talk. Gotta help.

    1. Yet_One_More_Idiot

      All I took from today’s strip is that they’re adorable together and that Billie should wear her hair down more often, it looks cute like that. :3

  4. Luzahn

    Aaaaah it’s simultaneously adorable and horrifying.

    I don’t know what these feelings are!

    1. Annamal

      Adorifying try adorifying.

      1. Luzahn

        Perfect. Now that there’s a name for it, nothing can go wrong! 😀

        …right?

        1. Jen Aside

          “not sure if want”?

        2. Bagge

          Adorifying (med. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious)

          It is adorifying how they wake up side by side
          It is adorifying how they talk of suicide
          It is adorifying how they always have to hide
          Adorable and horrifying, it’s adorifying

          Ruth and Billie used to fight and scream and butt their head
          When Billie asked her “what the fuck” Ruth kissed her hard instead,
          They fought and drank and hurt themselves and ended up in bed.
          Their ‘ship is fascinating for us in the comments thread.

          It is adorifying with their mutual devotion
          It is adorifying with destruction in slow motion
          It is adorifying how we have all this emotion*
          Adorable and horrifying, it’s adorifying

          *) FEELS

        3. Kryss LaBryn

          You win. Have all the Internets. That is glorious.

        4. Bagge

          Today I got both a cookie and an internet. Hooray, hooray, oh glorious day.

          Fun that you liked it – I had a spot of creativity and decided to use it on something constructive 🙂

        5. grantimusmaximus

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxAKFlpdcfc

        6. Chris Phoenix

          Best laugh all week! You are awesome. Great work.

        7. No Name

          One more song for the DoA album. And reading this Willis? Maybe that should be a stretch goal on the next Patreon. I dunno.

    2. Tunaro

      It’s adorrifying, a word I am almost 100% certain actually came from one of the old comment threads on this site.

      1. Bill

        A quick Google check indicates that someone added this word to the Urban Dictionary back in February of this year.

  5. Aolbain

    Aww

    Sort of.

  6. Tunaro

    Ya know, I was beginning to forget what part of this relationship I found adorable, but this comic pretty much just takes that question and punches me in the face with it.

    1. Roborat

      In the FAAAAAAAACCCCEEEE!

      Sorry, force of habit.

      1. Thomas64

        FAAAACE
        Makes a man take things over
        FAAAACE
        Keeps him loose, hard to swallow

  7. Steven

    Awwwwwww?

  8. Yotomoe

    You know damn well Billie’s just gonna text her during class. I mean she’s like…18. That’s ALL THEY DO.

    1. The wizard

      Sadly, this is true.

      1. Dean

        R U DRUNK YET?

        NO

        HOW BOUT NOW?

        NO! STFY!

        U MISTYPED DOES THAT MEAN UR DRUNK

        …YES. SAVE U SOME?

        OK THX

        1. The wizard

          Look, here is what we will do; for every word you type in text speak, we will take a shot of Gin, Moonshine, and juice mixed together, OK?

        2. Dean

          I’m sorry. If it helps, I hate myself a little for typing that.

        3. The wizard

          It is already too late, I have the alcohol right here; so now its time to die of alcohol poisoning. First shot is on the house…..

        4. gwalla

          Rollin down the street, smokin indo…

        5. Dirk Strider's Splinter Hopeself

          so fuckin accurate

        6. Dirk Strider's Splinter Hopeself

          so fuckin accurate

        7. Deanatay

          I DIDNT MISTYP I WAS SAYIN SHUT THE FUDGE YUP

    2. Jen Aside

      also on the way to and from class

      and in the bathroom

      and pretty much anywhere

    3. Kk

      This is true. One of my professors last semester actually threatened to kick out anyone she caught using their cell phone.
      She wasn’t very popular with the class.

      1. Disloyal Subject

        That’s a warning 90% of my professors have laid down, on day 1 and explicitly printed in the syllabus. Most of them relax the restriction about halfway through the semester, since by then the problem individuals are mostly gone so the phonery’s probably important, but it still seems to be the default around here.

        1. Kryss LaBryn

          I work in a call centre with pretty heavy security restrictions; if they catch you on the call floor with an electronic device you will be instantly fired.

          Every now and again someone forgets to shut off their cell phone before they start taking calls, and an incoming text alert will go off somewhere. Heads will pop up all over like meercats hearing a hawk.

          So the lunchroom is pretty much 100% texting, 100% of the time.

  9. The wizard

    You’re not allowed to die Ruth, I shall make sure of that; I’ll place a curse of eternal life upon you! What? If Thanos can do it to deadpool then I can do it to Ruth!

    1. feministicman

      Ruth: Who wants to live forever,
      Who dares to love forever,
      When love must die?!?!?!

      1. The wizard

        Love is eternal as long as….. *insert some melodramatic speech that makes everyone wants to kill themselves, sponsored by Disney.*

        1. Kryss LaBryn

          “That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons, even Death may die.”

          –Oh no wait you said “love”. Sorry. My bad.

      2. Kryss LaBryn

        But touch my tears with your lips,
        Touch my world with your fingertips…

    2. Bagge

      Someone has already cursed Clark Wing with eternal Ruth.

      1. The wizard

        You deserve a Cookie!

        1. Bagge

          I GOT A COOKIE!!!

        2. Disloyal Subject

          Regrettably, my gluttony has ensured that I cannot contribute to the cookie tribute. Have some peppermint bark.

        3. Bill

          Very good, Fischer.  You win a cookie.

        4. Chris

          So “have a cookie” ISN’T a tribute to tiny text files? Man, you classic movies, always contributing SO much to culture. You disgust me.

  10. Pantheon the Mantheon

    Pantheon is confused…. is this strip a heartseeker? Or a Skyfall?…. too many conflicting feelings. PANTHEON MUST FIGHT THE FEELS!….. WITH VIOLENCE!

    1. Illusory Orb

      Fight the feels with BAKED GOODS

      1. Gadgeteer Smashwidget

        fight the feels with PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICHES

    2. feministicman

      Have you considered taking a course in “Mastery of your Emotions?” It’s lead by Spock.

  11. Plasma Mongoose

    They really put the diss in dysfunctional.

    1. grantimusmaximus

      If that’s the case, would Amber and Danny put the “code” in “codependency”?

      1. Catullus

        It’s comments like this that make me wish DoA’s comments had a like button.

    2. feministicman

      I’m quite sure that Willis’s customers would say that Danny puts the “buy” in “bisexual.”

    3. Deanatay

      And Mike puts the “nickle” in “doing your mom”.

      1. Yet Another Laura H.

        Deanatay, do you mean…. pump ‘er?

      2. feministicman

        LOLGASM

  12. Opus the Poet

    Hurrah for not being able to commit suicide by alcohol poisoning in under an hour! Except that you can do exactly that, if you chug a distilled liquor.

    1. Dirk Strider's Splinter Hopeself

      While it’s probably innocuous enough to order alcohol in different drinks, getting your hands on distilled ethyl alcohol will probably be a bit more noticable.

      1. Mandy

        Never drink ethanol from a chemistry lab’s stores. A chem professor once told me that all lab ethanol has a small amount of methanol in it to prevent just that – because methanol will kill you dead.

        1. Bagge

          ****Never, ever drink ethanol from chemistry lab stores. ****

          Kinda true. It’s not added to prevent theft – simply because they don’t want to kill stupid ethanol thieves dead. However, sometimes it’s added for tax reasons. The tax is lower on non-consumable ethanol. Also, the production of high percentage ethanol usually means methanol gets mixed in and it’s extremely hard and expensive to remove.

          There is also no guarantee that no one has contaminated the bottle with who-knows-what in an earlier lab.Also, in some horrible cases people have taken the wrong bottle and ended up with pure methanol instead.

          ****Never, ever drink ethanol from chemistry lab stores. ****

        2. Carriethedragon

          That way, if someone mistakenly drinks it, they’ll die. That’ll teach ’em!
          …
          Yep, this logic is sound.

      2. JWLM

        Basic rule of thumb we always taught freshmen and -women: “Don’t worry about alcohol poisoning: if you can get a fifth of distilled spirits down before it comes back up, then you’ll develop alcohol poisoning, but that’s pretty much it. Focus on how easy it is to kill yourself with any kind of alcohol by driving intoxicated.”

  13. Kk

    Aw they’re adorable!
    … And… incredibly disturbing in how they casually they discuss Ruth’s suicidal tendencies… hm.

    1. Lawzlo

      So, okay, Ruth has a lotta Suicidal Tendencies. Sometimes people just really like skater punk and crossover thrash.

      …And all she wanted was a Pepsi. Just one Pepsi.

      1. grantimusmaximus

        No it’s okay, you know she’ll figure it out, just leave her alone she’ll figure it out.
        You know she’ll just work by herself.

    2. grantimusmaximus

      Of course, the more you talk about suicidal tendencies, the less likely you are to go through with them–or so the theories go. Ruth’s bottling her bad thoughts less by letting them out to Billie. Billie has a project and a partner in self destruction. Could it be healthier? Sure. For now, it can work.

      1. Luzahn

        More importantly, I’m seeing this as a potential gateway to actual therapy.

        Because I’m a filthy optimist. 😛

        1. grantimusmaximus

          One can dream!

        2. grantimusmaximus

          Waitaminute…optimistic Sokka is always suspiciously wrong in the end…

        3. Luzahn

          Yep. We’re doomed.

      2. JWLM

        That’s a very dangerous misconception. Any mention of suicidal thoughts is a red flag. More than one mention is a potential medical emergency. (As in, yes, 911 here in the States.)

    3. AtomsOrSystems

      I’ll be perfectly honest, I think casually discussing suicidal tendencies is probably one of the better parts of this relationship, right now. Having someone to talk about that stuff with, and to keep an eye on you just in case, can be the single most helpful thing you can have.

      1. grantimusmaximus

        Absolutely. The less of a taboo it is, the more honest you become with your thoughts about it, and the easier it is to deal. Works for me most of the time.

  14. Kennerly

    The bottle is lonely.

  15. Thomas64

    Those two are super cute together, and I love how they manage to both be kinda messed up and practical at the same time. Ruth is better at it but of course she’s had more practice, she’s not a freshman any more.
    I thought it would take a while for the comic to build to the same level of interest after the intense drama of the next chapter, but no, happy to say I was wrong. *breaks out the popcorn*

    1. Thomas64

      *the drama of the previous chapter (two beers with dinner on a weeknight: not the greatest idea)

      1. Bagge

        TIME TRAVELING SPOILERS! We heard it here first – there will be intense drama next chapter.

        1. Gigafreak

          I didn’t need time travel to tell me that.

        2. JWLM

          Wow! Willis gets upset if the Patreons spoil tomorrow’s strip. I wonder what he’s going to do about you spoiling the twist in the next chapter.

  16. Gate of Seven Ores

    God dammit Ruth!

    Damn you, Willis!

    Gate throws the comic out the window.

    1. Pantheon the Mantheon

      NOOO I MUST KNOW HOW IT ENDS!!! *Goes diving after it with blind devotion, only realizing as the ground rushed towards me that it’s on the internet and I could view it from any computer*

      1. Gate of Seven Ores

        Gate then proceeds to cover the world in a electromagnetic field, nullifying all electronics.

        Now no one will have to torture themselves anymore.

        World peace is inadvertently created.

        1. blackhat64

          Blasphemy! The only one who can create world peace is Congresswoman Robin DeSanto. Well, temporarily.

        2. Gate of Seven Ores

          Lesbians for all and to all a great night!

        3. StClair

          There was a story a while back with the premise that an idealistic inventor is trying to end war by inventing a device that can make any metal – in this case, specifically targeted at weapons – rapidly rust away to uselessness. He manages to get an interview with a general, who doubts that such a thing (if it existed) would really bring about peace; people would use clubs, or fists, and if you somehow took all of that away, they’d just fill the air so full of hate that the birds would fall out of it stone dead.

          The twist, of course, is that he’s already invented the thing; and after he (sadly) leaves, the general finds his gun has dissolved in its holster. He ends up breaking off a table leg and chasing after the inventor, proving his own point.

        4. Animal

          Yeah, because the world was really peaceful before electronics.

        5. jadedcynic

          “Yeah, because the world was really peaceful before metalsmithing”

          FTFY

        6. Chris

          “yeah, because the world was really peaceful before sticks” FTFY
          “yeah, because the world was really peaceful before rocks” FTFY…

        7. jadedcynic

          …you tl;dr’ed the synopsis of that story in the post above, didn’t you? 🙂

  17. swoop

    Do they really think they are in love? That’s a little soon.

    1. Dirk Strider's Splinter Hopeself

      I refuse to believe that you’ve never grown up and had a hopeless crush on someone during elementary/middle/high school / college. Besides, a whole subplot of the story from the start had sexual tension brewing between them, letting time for love to develop.

      1. swoop

        Sorry friend, I’m having a little trouble understanding that first part. What do you refuse to believe?

        1. Thomas64

          I refuse to believe you’re having trouble understanding that first part. 😀

        2. jadedcynic

          apt avatar is apt 😀

      2. Rorror

        Well, if twenty is grown up enough for you (I’m of full age and can drink all kinds of alcohol and stuff since over two years now. I don’t really do this though.), I totally did that. Two girls I might have crushed a little on and even that’s debatable (I have a heart of stone or something. Maybe I should see a doctor about that.) and definitely nothig hopeless.

    2. yukaraya

      Tell that to my fiance. We started telling each other that we loved each other a few weeks after we started dating. Almost a year later and I’ve never loved anyone more in my life.

      1. swoop

        That’s actually really sweet. I hope you have a great wedding and an even better marriage. I know you won’t need my hope for that, but there it is anyway.

      2. jadedcynic

        …it was about a month in when I declared my love for my gf. Then a couple of months later, I proposed to her (with the understanding that the wedding might be a few years off)

        …then about six months later, I actually met her IRL for the first time. 😉

        Now it’s fifteen years and nine months since our wedding, and we’re still happy and together and nauseatingly in love with each other 🙂

        …of course, YMMV…

    3. chisci

      bud, are you asking that because of the “love you, too” ruth dropped? dorky didnt take a bullet so that you could dismiss its lesson on how that word only has the weight you give it 😀

      Nah but in all seriousness, give it a couple of weeks (years). They’ll come around.

      1. chisci

        glad to know that if i typo a c out of my e-mail, my gravatar is jacob 😛

  18. etybolik

    Geez, man, the unhealthiness of this relationship just…asdfhapogaje;pofj

  19. John

    Ruth is making eye contact with Billie in panel two. She’s a stronger person than I.

    1. Pantheon the Mantheon

      She’s stronger than all of us.

    2. DK1105

      I was all like Good God Damn Willis I’m trying to read here.

  20. Dirk Strider's Splinter Hopeself

    Is the bottle half-empty or half-full? Trick question- It’s full. Of air. Ruth drank all the alcohol in it.

    1. grantimusmaximus

      This comment is a rollercoaster ride to feels town.

  21. Aubri

    Wait, is this the first time the L word has come up between them? No, not lesbian. Or lesbians.

    1. grantimusmaximus

      I believe it is–but remember, it’s all about the drama here. And that L-bomb came laced with weapons grade sass, so there’s that.

    2. fogel

      Aren’t they in lesbians with each other?

  22. Mr. Random

    The L word.
    This soon?

    1. AtomsOrSystems

      If you’ve never sarcastically responded to a friendly threat/insult with “Love you, too” well… I feel for you. ;P

    2. Carriethedragon

      I kinda don’t get why people are acting like she said “I love you.” She said “love you too” sarcastically which is a common reply to something callous or sarcastic.

  23. Historyman68

    *someone* didn’t have trouble saying the Love word. Though Walky probably would approve of this humorous ironic take.

  24. Stephen Bierce

    It’s A Dead Ruth’s Party/Who can ask for more?

    1. Ed

      Wasn’t that song from Clear and Present Danger?

  25. ConnertheCat

    I got a total ‘Springer’ from the original Transformers Movie vibe from Ruth’s last line about being too busy to die.

    (I pulled up the actual clip, it’s not as close as I had remembered but I’m still going to pretend damn it!)

  26. Bagge

    I’m impressed by Billie – she’s so devoted to take care of Ruth. I wonder if this is a role she had in previous relationships as well or if it’s new. I just hope they are strong enough to make it last – it’s a terrible burden to both keep up a relationship and be on suicide watch. It doesn’t help that they have to keep the relationship secret.

    1. grantimusmaximus

      Head cheerleader. Problem-solver. Super dysfunctional relationship haver.

      1. Thomas64

        And yet they both seem to be doing better now that they’ve found each other. Can’t fault Billie for going along with this, then.
        Not yet, anyway.

        1. Bagge

          Not faulting, no, but being super worried for.

        2. Solenoid

          I can fault them for not seeking actual counseling. (I can continue to fault them until they do)

      2. Yet Another Laura H.

        Grante Maxime, you have me wondering if that Momastery person reads this comic— or has lived it.

        1. grantimusmaximus

          Laura H.: No clue, but it would be neat if she ever showed up here. And kind of trippy. o_0

    2. Amazistool

      she’s so devoted to take care of Ruth. I wonder if this is a role she had in previous relationships as well

      Let’s hear again what her last partner had to say about it!

      1. Bagge

        …I take it as a Hell No.

  27. Boomwolf

    D’aaaaw these two.

  28. GoogerGeiger

    Just noticed Ruth is left-handed.

    Cool.

    1. jadedcynic

      That was brought up during the whole ‘whiteboard ding-dong bandit’ event – AG had the dubious deduction to rule the RA out for doing them since she’s a SP and wouldn’t draw an object like that pointing right. Except I’m left-handed, and I know I would (and have).

      That, and she’s shown drawing something on her right palm as she’s preparing a rebuttal to Mary’s trouble-making complaints.

      1. No Name

        That, however, got drowned out by the “wait a minute… That’s the wrong cheek!” thread.

        That sounds better in context.

        1. Solenoid

          Mary just turned the other cheek. Probably the only time she’d ever taken that verse to heart.

        2. jadedcynic

          Less out of the intent the verse had, and more out of cutting her losses 😉

      2. Bill

        Speaking of whiteboards and ding-dongs…..

  29. grantimusmaximus

    As one who has wrestled with that demon suicide, Ruth’s attitude of “I have to much shit to do to die today,” is sometimes the only thing keeping you going on a really bad day. Then again, she also has the promise of a steady stream of hanky-panky, so she’s got that going for her, which is nice.

    1. jadedcynic

      DANGIT, I thought I got the gravatar stuff sorted out! (Oh well, I *do* like and empathize with Sarah, so it could be worse)

      Anyways, that’s totally true – for some life is simply an attempt to clear the ‘to-do’ list for something they want to do…but the list is neverending…

  30. Jason

    Billie looks a lot like Robin in that fourth panel. Also, super cute.

    1. feministicman

      Batman would fiercely disagree with you!

  31. LeslieBean4Shizzle

    Um… I know I should probably be commenting on the plot developments or something, but all I can think looking at that comic is “wow, no-glasses Billie looks weirdly like me.” I, like, JUST got that haircut last week. Also, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen no-glasses Billie (or since I’ve noticed anyway).

    1. LeslieBean4Shizzle

      Ah! No glasses and hair down. I think that’s what’s doing it. …. Huh. I have my hair up.. just like Billie usually wears it. How have I never noticed this before? Also, I’d make a joke about Willis spying on me, but considering the buffer, he drew this LONG before I had this hairdo.

      1. LeslieBean4Shizzle

        Okay, screw it. It seems it is my destiny to have a Billie gravatar. Fine. Signed up and pic loaded. …. I may look for other no-glasses hair-down Billies since I don’t think the current one is really capturing it.

        1. Bagge

          Nice gravatar though. Have fun archive binging the Billie tag

        2. LeslieBean4Shizzle

          Just finished. Unless I want the shower pic when she’s figuring out Ruth, there aren’t many that capture the hair style I’m looking for. Well, there might be more farther back, but Billie’s model has changed a bit over the years and I really like the current way Willis draws her, so going back more than two years is kinda not worth it.

  32. Lamer

    Relationship goals

  33. JessWitt

    Nothing says lovin’ like alcoholic underindulgence.

    1. tinfoil theory

      “If you ever drink yourself to death without me, I’ll be super pissed.”

      It’s funny because pissed means drunk in Canadian.

      1. JessWitt

        And also in Britain, too.

  34. Precious Roy

    Soooo, how many adorable faces can Billie make in a single strip?

    Apparently the answer is three. Which rhymes with squee. Fitting.

  35. Marvelman

    I’m not sure what the big deal here is. How is it unethical for Ruth to have a relationship with Billie? Ruth can’t be that much older than Billie. I don’t see a power imbalance. What am I missing?

    1. Kathleen

      Ruth is Billie’s R.A. which means she’s basically her dorm’s supervisor. She has the ability to write people citations for dorm misconduct and generally is there to be a mentor. So it’s unethical the way a boss-worker relationship is unethical- that is to say, super dependent on circumstance, but is generally percieved as leading to problems and different places have different rules about it.

    2. John

      I’m not convinced that it’s actually unethical, in the way that Jason banging Sal is, but it is against IU rules for an RA to date one of her own residents.

    3. takashid

      the only thing is that Ruth is her RA, so technically she has a certain amount of authority over Billie. so its a bit of a power imbalance there. But besides that there isnt really anything.

    4. Jen

      Speaking as someone who was an RA in a freshman dorm once, I could see where it could cause a lot of problems. Even if the resident and the RA are mature enough to not let it interfere with the RA’s ability to do her job, there could be a lot of tension the perception of favoritism, which is a huge can of worms when you’re dealing with a lot of 18 year olds who are away from mommy and daddy for the first time.

      Also, the RAs, in turn, have supervisors who would have a really hard time determining if the RA is playing favorites or not if a dispute comes up.

      And honestly, even for the most mature of individuals, it would be almost impossible to not have bias towards your significant other if a dispute came up and it’s really not fair to the other individual if the mediator (the RA) is in a romantic relationship with the other party in the dispute.

      1. Jen

        Oops. That should have been “there could be a lot of tension AND the perception of favoritism.”

      2. John

        My college experience was that most of the RAs didn’t do their jobs anyway, and were biased towards their friends even if they weren’t banging them (one of the floors I lived on, the RA’s wannabee-frat-rat buddies were the primary source of obnoxious hallway shenanigans, so complaints accomplished nothing), so I don’t really see that it would make all that much difference.

        (I was basically okay with this state of affairs, because part of the job they weren’t doing was enforcing rules that I usually preferred not to have enforced, like the one about how often I could stay in my girlfriend’s room after hours. I solved the favoritism problem by hanging out on floors where my friends were RA. (I got one of my friends to write himself up for underage drinking one night. He turned the form in to the RD and everything.))

  36. Arianod

    Billie is looking like a completely different person today…

    1. Aolbain

      No glasses

  37. Krzysz

    I legit went “Awww” at the end of today’s strip. I’m glad my idea of a healthy relationship is healthy.

  38. Rev. Bear

    Death Flag. Calling it right now.

  39. chris73

    For some reason todays strip reminds me of a sitcom episode,it just needed a “duh duh duh” for the third panel and a laugh track for the last panel

    1. jadedcynic

      Wow; sitcom humour has gotten this dark and cynical? I might have to turn the TV on again…

  40. Alison E

    She’s got better things to do tonight than die.

  41. Zem

    Too much shit to do to die today
    at a minute or two to two,
    A thing distincly hard to say,
    But an easier thing to do.

    For they’ll beat a tattoo at two today
    A rat-tat-tat tattoo for you
    And the dragon will come when he hears the drum
    There’s nothing for you to do but stay
    And the dragon will do for you.

  42. Charles Phipps

    I still hope they break up and strongly dislike Ruth but I hope she gets the help she needs and find happiness.

    1. Killjoy

      Ruth is an unrepentant abusive bully… she needs help with that too.

      1. Lord Geovanni

        Billie is the help. P.S. Billie wanted to be just like Ruth just Ruth out bullies the Billie

  43. Focal Malice

    I can really see how Billie got that Prom Queen or whatever in high school, what with her hair down and un-bespectacled eyes.

    1. StClair

      And, um, other attributes.

      1. Bagge

        Most notably popularity.

      2. Rorror

        Its the hands, right? What she does with them in the penultimate panel? That is some seriously complicated shit right there how her hands are drawn. (and i totally don’t mean that in multiple ways 😉

  44. -Sentinel-

    In the background, is that a dartboard with the symbol of the Ottawa Senators?

    I wonder if it ever appeared before in the comic…

    1. -Sentinel-

      Oh yeah, turns out it appeared (and was noticed by commenters) here: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/pick-2/

      Got to love continuity.

      1. Killjoy

        I’d say that Willis either has a great memory, copious notes, or reference sketches of the various repeatedly-show rooms from various angles, or some combination thereof.

        1. JWLM

          He keeps background images in exactly the way he builds clothing studies. He periodically posts one of the backgrounds.

  45. JepMZ

    At first, I thought Mary confronted Ruth for a second there

  46. Tenn

    She’ll still be alive? Well, under the circumstances, I guess that is a triumph.

    1. jadedcynic

      baby steps…when helping someone fight off the demon of depression, sometimes any tiny compromise is a victory…

      …even making your granddaughter hate and fear you so that she won’t just waste away from apathy and grief(?)

  47. sithknightgalen

    Odd, does that last comment by Billie just imply a verbal contract for an alcohol induced murder suicide pact? O.o

    At least she’s willing to see Ruth through the rough times, hopefully. (And I feel there will be some rough times ahead, especially with a Mary-cane brewing in the wings.)

    1. John

      The technical term is “sexy lesbian suicide pact”.

    2. jadedcynic

      Yeah, not just ‘imply’, but “sexy lesbian suicide pact” is actually stated.

      1. jadedcynic

        …dangit let’s try this again

  48. jadedcynic

    Okay, this has been nagging at me – “‘sides, I got too much shit to do to die today“. Does that feel like foreshadowing of something notable, or just the usual ‘college daily itinerary’?

  49. Hinoron

    Billie: “If you’re going to drink yourself to death, I want to be hammered enough that watching you choke to death on your own bile is hilarious to me!”
    Ruth: “Okay, we’ve now crossed the line past where this was cute.”

Leave a Reply to Deanatay Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.