194

Murder
Posted on August 18, 2022 by David M Willis

194 thoughts on “Murder”

  1. The Wellerman

    It’s over already?!?!

    But we didn’t even get to see Dina smash anything! ☚ī¸

    Oh well, at least on the plus side, we get to see comics in full color again.

    1. Thag Simmons

      Something tells me we’re going to be getting the rest of the flashback intercut with the present day argument

      1. Bryy

        I honestly hope Jason catches up to her and is all “uh dude don’t assault people”.

    2. anon

      Well, now that the flashback is over, plenty of future/present arguments lol

    3. Yet_One_More_Idiot

      The change from flashback colouring to regular colouring…is this “Dumbing of Age: Memento Edition”? xD

  2. Doctor_Who

    The siege lasted into November (which was a few hours away, so not a big deal). Although the invaders hoped starvation would bring about a swift conclusion, little did they know the defenders had been blessed with a bountiful harvest that year of Timbits and Molson.

    The stalemate was finally broken when the aggressors had a cunning plan: pretend to accept defeat and depart, but secretly hide inside the wooden Stanley Cup left as a peace offering.

    1. Thag Simmons

      The brave heroism of a smuggler offering much needed relief to the siege earned them the moniker “the Timbit Knight”

  3. Ana Chronistic

    helmets are for MATURE GROWN-UPS

    and also anyone ACTIVELY riding a motor vehicle, especially one w/o seat belts

    1. ThunderNight

      or skiing

    2. Taffy

      Helmets would be pretty handy in a lot of scenarios, really.

    3. Michael Haneline

      Apparently if you wear a motorcycle helmet around in a walmart, the manger will call the cops on you, who will then belittle you for “talking back” and then arrest you for not answering their questions.

      1. Gigafreak

        Professor Oak making absolutely sure you stop (motor)cycling indoors

    4. Eric

      Motorcycles don’t have seatbelts, and it would be bad if they did.

      1. JBento

        That’s what I thought, but then I realised that Ana said “motor VEHICLES” not “motorCYCLES”.

        1. MacareuxMoine

          this detail escaped me as well

        2. Eric

          ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ok.

  4. darkoneko

    Go bang on the door loudly, and scream, do it.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Billie (banging on door): AHHHHHHH!

      Carla: What are you doing?

      Billie: Ruth won’t come out.

      Carla: So wait, you’re deliberately being a public nuisance without fear of the local authority figure stopping you because her doing so would require giving you exactly the attention you want?

      Billie: I suppose.

      Carla: That’s my jam. Can I take a shift?

      Billie: Sure, I guess I could go get a drink. Later.

      Carla (banging on door): AHHHHHHH!

      1. epitome of incomprehensibility

        I could see this!

      2. Caro

        inb4 this month’s bonus strip

  5. Animedingo

    ok so ghosting wasn’t necessarily the BEST option

    But

    This shit was toxic

    1. alongcameaspider

      What other option did Ruth have? It was all but stated that this wasn’t the first time she tried to break it off but Billie always strong armed her way back and Ruth knew at that point it was too toxic

      I think Ruth handled it as well as she could have all things consodered

      1. BarerMender

        Ruth could have handled it better by not buying trouble and accepting she had a working relationship and not fucking dumping the girl she loves.

        1. Nova

          Ruth wanted to break up.

          Suggesting that someone should “just accept” their relationship and “not fucking dump” someone when THEY WANT TO BREAK UP is super gross.

          Regardless of her reasoning, or how you feel about it, Ruth isn’t in the wrong for not staying in a relationship she wanted out of. It’s so unbelievably weird how many people in the comment section don’t seem to understand that.

        2. alongcameaspider

          Exactly, I’m sorry but there is no such thing as a bad reason to break up with someone, and it’s kind of gross of people to say there is

        3. thejeff

          That I have to disagree with. There are certainly bad reasons to break up. That’s not an excuse to force someone to stay, but they can be to criticize the decision.
          The “I’m so toxic you’re not safe with me” that Jennifer was trying to pull earlier might be an example.

          More simply, any case where the reason given is about the person being dumped and just isn’t true. You have to accept they don’t want to be with you anymore, but you don’t have to accept their reasons.

          Granted, a lot of the obvious examples might be good reasons

      2. C.T. Phipps

        Sadly, Ruth NEVER knew it was toxic and believed the exact opposite.

    2. JBento

      Regardless of anyone’s moral take on ghosting, I think it’s not in question that it isn’t a viable tactic when the one you’re ghosting not only knows where you live, they actually live two doors down the hall.

    3. Nicoleandmaggie

      I thought ghosting was when you just disappeared, not when you actually say “there won’t be a second date.” Or in this case. “We’re breaking up.”

    4. Ana Chronistic

      Ghosting on Hallowe’en FTW

  6. RassilonTDavros

    See? She’s totally over Ruth!

  7. thakoru

    Aaand we’re back!

  8. Sirksome

    Nooooo! Wearing Sal’s helmet was the coolest Walky had ever been!â€ĻOh and I guess it’s pretty fucked up how Ruth ended this relationship.

    1. darkoneko

      Frankly, if it wasn’t for her still being RA and alive, i’d think she was overdosing on meds on the other side of that door.

      1. Laura

        Well, exactly. Which is how Billie (then-Billie) managed to justify it to herself: “She’d be dead by now if it weren’t for me. So I have to strong-arm Ruth into being in this relationship with me for her own good. I have to coerce her just to keep her from backsliding into her suicidal depression. I’m just doing this because I care about her.”

        You can justify a lot if you live in a state of constant emergency or fear of emergency.

        It’s how the “rescuer” can so easily slip into “persecutor” in the victim-rescuer-persecutor drama triangle. I’ve certainly been guilty of that kind of thinking. Maybe others have, too. I take care of people so much it gets controlling.

        …

        I was going to say Billie (then-Billie) was acting like a “rage-addicted dry drunk” but there’s no need for stigma words. How about some resources instead. (Providing resources is my compulsive soothing distraction of choice.)

        Info on post-acute alcoholism withdrawal:
        https://www.healthline.com/health/dry-drunk

        “Play Musical Addictions,” Item #82, page 200, from Kate Bornstein’s essential book, “Hello, Cruel World — 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws”:
        https://silentscreamsandskinnydreams.weebly.com/uploads/5/0/1/4/50148213/kate_bornstein_-_hello_cruel_world.pdf

    2. Devin

      I struggle to picture any possible end to that relationship that wouldn’t be some level of fucked up. Starting a relationship as a suicide pact doesn’t exactly lend itself well to relationship health.

      Ruth’s reasons for ending the relationship are a lot more suspect to me than her methods. But bad reasons for ending a bad relationship that started off badly seem…not worth getting all judgy about.

      1. Sirksome

        I mean I can still be upset by it though right? That’s all my comment is meant to convey. That and Walky looked cool in Sal’s helmet.

        1. Devin

          Ssssssssssure, but “…I guess it’s pretty fucked up how Ruth ended this relationship” sure reads like passing judgement.

        2. Sirksome

          I don’t know maybe, probably yes. They’re fictional characters and I do try to mix hyperbole in my comments for comedic effect toâ€Ļ.let’s generously say a mixed reception. Like if my comments annoy you just let me know cause I don’t like ruining other commenters reading experience or discussions. Thanks for the advice.

        3. Thag Simmons

          Unfortunately the choice between trying to be funny and avoiding being misunderstood is often a mutually exclusive one

        4. Clif

          Or as J.R. Bob Dobbs infamously said …

      2. Tan

        > Starting a relationship as a suicide pact

        Technically the relationship started as imbalanced power dynamic harassment and abuse. The suicide pact was after.

        Also, if Jennifer doesn’t like the way Ruth acts as a romantic partner vis a vis the ghosting, she always has the recourse to break u-… Oh.

  9. alongcameaspider

    She seems to be handling this in a healthy well adjusted manner

    1. Vanessa

      Haha no. I did about face after Jennifer’s overreaction and I’m totally on Ruth’s side here. She didn’t explain the situation well to Dorothy, it’s that same “trying to take all the blame” she does in the present. Jennifer seems extremely toxic and it’s time for a restraining order to keep her out of this dorm.

  10. True Survivor

    Well if that was Halloween, I’d hate to see Thanksgiving.

    1. Needfuldoer

      “That was October 11th.”

      – Ruth, probably

      1. shellshockbp

        almost certainly

  11. Bagge

    Ouch. That was a downright cruel transition

  12. Beef

    When your phone is in bedtime mode so you don’t realize the comics back in color until you read the alt text ?

  13. Mr. Random

    So…
    She’s mad she didn’t try harder?

    1. True Survivor

      Maybe? That or she is really upset about damage to school property.

    2. alongcameaspider

      Seems more like she’s mad Ruth actually managed to make the breakup stick

      Which seems like abuser logic when I type it out like that

      1. Jamie

        It does, doesn’t it.

      2. Devin

        SURE DOES

      3. StClair

        How dare you beat me to the punch win at Ignoring Consent!

      4. june gloom

        Y U P

  14. BBCC

    Yeah, neither of them are taking this well. We kinda knew that already but at least now we know why.

  15. Suet

    Color already? But I haven’t opened any box of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cookies yet!

    “DoA: We’re knobs to knobs”

  16. The Oracle

    The helmet wasn’t even the right color anyway, Walky.

  17. Sirksome

    Yeah so Ruth is a pretty terrible romantic partner. My feelings on this scenario aside she’s 2 for 2 on ditching people like this since she also left Daisy high and dry on that date instead of telling her she wasn’t interested. Like I feel bad for Jason now. Jason! Cause trend is she’s just gonna end things with no warning and no explanation at any time so I hope he doesn’t get too invested in her.

    1. alongcameaspider

      I mean it was pretty strongly implied that she has tried breaking up with Billie with more traditional means in the past but Billie goes to insane lengths to not let her

      1. Sirksome

        I understand this scenario has specific circumstances but how do you justify Daisy? That had no stakes for Ruth at all. She just didn’t want to have an awkward conversation.

        1. Fuzzy

          I mean one time does not a pattern make. If this scenario doesn’t actually fit then you only have the Daisy thing.

        2. Sirksome

          I do think this scenario fits but I don’t really want to get into that discussion since the Ruth x Jennifer relationship history is so loaded. I already upset some folks and am trying to avoid that again.

        3. Devin

          Daisy was a first date. Not to mention a blind date. It is not the same.

        4. Thag Simmons

          Daisy was a blind first date and she at least had the decency to text

          The vibe I get is that Ruth doesn’t feel like she can have these conversations in person because she might not be able to go through with it if she does.

        5. Needfuldoer

          And we know from yesterday that Jennifer would just ignore her at best or veto her at worst.

        6. thejeff

          Just like Ruth asked her to.

        7. Nova

          Right. So she had to do something else to make it CLEAR that she didn’t want Billie to do that.

          People can set new boundaries. If this is the only way Ruth felt she could do that effectively then that sucks for both of them, but it had the intended effect.

          “Ruth started it” isn’t a justification for Billie’s abuse.

        8. Needfuldoer

          Thank you.

        9. thejeff

          Sure. She can absolutely set new boundaries. But muttering “we’re breaking up” as she leaves the room isn’t doing that and treating Billie as abusive for not recognizing those boundaries have changed isn’t fair.

        10. Nova

          Again – That is not the first time she’s tried to break up with Billie. By Billie’s admission this has happened multiple times, and at some point people take drastic action to get their points across.

          I’m treating Billie as abusive for: Stalking, breaking in, sneaking into the bed of someone who said NO, and treating Ruth’s desires as unworthy of consideration.

          Also, regardless of HOW she set a new boundary, no is a no. The hoops people are jumping through to find an excuse where ignoring a “No” is acceptable really creeps me out.

        11. thejeff

          “Don’t listen when I try to break up with you.”
          “Okay.”
          “I’m breaking up with you”
          “No, I’m not listening”
          “Good, I’m glad you didn’t.”
          “I’m breaking up with you”
          “No, I’m not listening”
          “Good, I’m glad you didn’t.”
          “I’m breaking up with you”
          “No, I’m not listening”
          “Good, I’m glad you didn’t.”
          “I’m breaking up with you”
          “No, I’m not listening”
          “You monster, how dare you not listen”

          Now, I may be reading their past history wrong and there may have been incidents between the start of the timeskip and this flashback that were worse, but the cases we did see didn’t read as abusive.

        12. Nova

          I’m not sure where you’re getting the “Good I’m glad you didn’t listen” from “I break into her room, sneak into her bed, and everything’s fine in the morning” but I’ll wager that you and I just aren’t going to agree on this topic.

          I personally don’t believe that you can waive your right to break up with someone any time and for any reason that you like. I personally think there’s an appropriate way to deal with any concern you might have that you’re being broken up with in a way that isn’t intended to stick (though that’s already a toxic situation) and that way isn’t B&E and sneaking into their bed or threatening them with violence.

          You clearly believe otherwise. I don’t think there’s much point in continuing the conversation for either of us.

        13. thejeff

          I think it’s definitely a screwed up situation, but I do think that Ruth literally asking her to do what she’s done mitigates it.

  18. Akane

    Yeah if your reaction to being broken up with is either ignoring that, saying no and acting like nothing happened, or physical violence/threat thereof, that’s a very good reason for someone to dump you.

    1. Needfuldoer

      +1

      Why is this under dispute? Even if their relationship was built upon mutually assured destruction, Billiefer’s response to Ruth pulling up shouldn’t have been to double down and pretend things haven’t changed.

      1. Nova

        Why is this under dispute?

        I would honestly love to know the answer to this question. The comments section has flip flopped between victim blaming, defending abuse/gaslighting/manipulation/stalking, and suggesting that Ruth should have never tried to break up in the first place because secretly this was a super healthy very happy relationship??

        I’m confused.

        1. Schpoonman

          Ruth: “I know I can’t trust my brain 100%, but the fact we were both willing to help each other die scares the shit out of me.”

          Commentariat: “Well, obviously you should let Jennifer continue to dictate the terms of your relationship no matter what misgivings you may have or how many trips to the hospital you need to take.”

        2. Nova

          Right? “OMG What a silly reason to break up, you should just Be Happy!”

          Not wanting to continue a toxic relationship (despite being in love still) because you recognize your patterns and want something healthy is like… goals? I thought?

    2. Icalasari

      And them still being bitter and holding a grudge over it months later?

      Like holy crap Jennifer scares me a little right now

      1. Vanessa

        Oh yes agreed. The more we learn about this story the more I want Ruth to escape. Billie was doing a great job pretending to be mature, over Ruth, and non-abusive. But she’s totally given up here for some reason. Because Ruth has a nice boyfriend?

  19. Dr. Gonzo

    While Ruth might be doing the right thing regardless of how underhanded and half-assed her handling of the situation, it should also be noted that she either forgot (or lied) about going to check up on Amber.

  20. dinajoyce

    Am I imagining things or did the tags switch to Billie for most of the flashback but now they’re back to Jennifer?

    1. RassilonTDavros

      I’m pretty sure the tag has just been “Jennifer” this whole time.

      1. Clif

        There’s a very simple way to check. Just go back to the. strips in.quesition and see.

        1. thejeff

          They were changed back. A bunch of strips in the middle were tagged with “Billie”, but they got changed partway through.

    2. Laura

      It’s been switching back and forth.

    3. Owlmirror

      If you check the web archives for some of the pages where Jennifer appears during Halloween, you can see that the tag of “billie” is there. As noted, all such tags were eventually changed to “jennifer”.

      Willis could have chosen to have all appearances of her with long hair tagged as “billie”, and all appearances of her with short hair as “jennifer”, but didn’t.

      As with Jocelyne (where, again, the tags show her assigned name rather than her chosen name in the web archives of the pages where she first appears), her new chosen name seems to be intended to apply permanently and retroactively.

  21. Kravis

    BACK TO THE SHACK- I mean, present!

  22. Steve

    Love how, present day, Ruth is happy, adjusting and moving on while Jennifer is only pretending to do the same.

    1. Devin

      I think that’s a stretch for Ruth, to be honest. I think she’s trying to move on, and trying to do the things she thinks will demonstrate having moved on, but everything we’ve been seeing from her interactions with Jennifer after the timeskip scream to me that Ruth isn’t even remotely over her. Or particularly happy.

      1. Sirksome

        Honestly until just now in their present time it seemed like Jennifer was doing much better than Ruth. Ruth has went back to drinking which is a red flag from almost any perspective. I don’t think either of them are doing well but Ruth seems like she was more isolated until Jason came along.

        1. alongcameaspider

          I feel like they’ve both been pretending to be over it for a while

          Looking at what we know now Ruth seems closer to actually being over it though even if she’s not there yet

      2. Thag Simmons

        I don’t think Ruth is over her either, but she isn’t nearly so resentful about it. She believes this was the right thing to do and she’s probably correct about that.

        1. justin8448

          Yeah, knowing that it was the right thing to do may be driving Ruth to keep moving forward even if it’s a long, hard process.

          But Jennifer’s bitterness might keep her stuck in the past. Or drive her to make big changes that are intended to prove to everyone (including herself) that she has moved on, while she actually hasn’t.

      3. Eric

        That’s kinda how breakups work.

        1. Vanessa

          Yup

  23. RassilonTDavros

    cinematic parallels

  24. Owlmirror

    So Jason is still wondering “What happened on Halloween?”, because he didn’t actually get to see the flashback, and Mary snarling “Lesbians desecrated the Queer Satanic Sex Altar in my Hell House!” is not particularly enlightening.

    (What did happen to Peter? Maybe Mary’s rant continues “… and my boyfriend left me, and then took up with some painted Whore of Babylon!” (i.e, a Catholic))

    1. Kitschensyngk

      Indecent exposure charges, hopefully.

      1. Owlmirror

        I don’t think Becky or Dina are vindictive enough to rat him out.

        1. GholaHalleck

          I’m sure they’re not the only ones who were drawn into watching the trainwreck that is Mary.

  25. Yotomoe

    Long time no see.
    I cried for the first time in a while tonight. Thought it’d make me feel better but I still feel this heaviness in my chest. Like there’s still more cry in me I can’t seem to get out.

    1. Laura

      Hi Yotomoe.

      It’s good to see you here.

      I hope the cry brings you some release and relief. Like washing the windows of your heart. Like raining out the field.

      Take good care.

    2. Devin

      Good to see you. It may not feel like it, but every step forward is progress. We appreciate you here and I hope things get better for you.

    3. Sirksome

      Yotomoe! Glad to have you back!

    4. cbwroses

      Don’t know why you were gone, glad to see you back, and I hope that whatever was the reason you needed to cry (and needed to take a break if they weren’t the same or related), you feel some degree of better that will continue to increase.

      1. Yotomoe

        I mostly just took a break cuz the comment section was stressing me out and I needed to focus on my animation. Can’t promise I’ll post as frequently as I used to but i’m all caught up now and back to work on my fancomic so who knows.

  26. Yotomoe

    I don’t condone Walky’s behavior but I understand it’s outta hurt. It sucks too cuz Amber/Walky were and still are my OTP. I don’t think ol’ Walky can salvage this one but I sure do hope he finds a way.

    1. Devin

      Yeah, Walky was just sadly not equipped to handle any of this well, and I don’t think he’s any better equipped to fix it. It’s a sucky situation all around.

  27. Yotomoe

    https://imgur.com/a/TmxbM2D (nsfw?)

    btw i’m back working on this. I apologize for taking a break, I had to finish an animation for a reanimate collab I was super behind on. I’ve been slowly chipping away at these strips again, trying to make them as good as i can.

    1. The Wellerman

      Super pro!!!! ? I love it!

    2. Devin

      You absolutely do not have to apologize for taking a break. Be it to work on something else that needed your attention or even if you just needed to step away from it for a bit.

    3. Sirksome

      You don’t have to talk about it, but I’m interested in how you do your inking. Is this digital or hand drawn. I struggle a bit with digital inking and your lines look really smooth.

      1. Yotomoe

        It’s Digital. I made the brush by fiddling with the settings in CSP and adding a texture to it to give it a slightly grainy and messier feel. I tend to do lineart by drawing large sweeping lines and then building on them or chipping away at them until they have the line weight that I want for them. Also I use a wacom intuos 3. I hope this helped. I’ll be honesty I only barely know what I’m doing 😛

        1. Sirksome

          No one knows what they’re doing with art really. There’s a million different ways to do anything. It helps. I work on a cintiq but I don’t really have the hand discipline to get smooth lines so it take me forever to get a clean line.

        2. AlaninDC

          Yotes (as Becky might say), wasnt there a link to the entire story line? Even though the work isn’t polished yet, can you repost that?

        3. Yotomoe

          https://imgur.com/a/9Ob1cy3 (NSFW)
          There you go.

    4. Sharaku

      These are awesome. Just to note though, the text is a little small. I’m reading them on my laptop and i had to squint to read (though it may be imgur compressing, i know it did the same with my comics).

      1. Yotomoe

        I can see that. I may have to adjust the size of the characters in the frame to fit better with the dialogue, in that case.

  28. Kenny Williams

    yeah you messed Wally, feel bad.

  29. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

    >:(

  30. BMBLB

    Holy crap, colors!

  31. Celese

    I love how people have been debating the semantics of Billie/Jennifers current mood towards Ruth and what awful terrible thing Ruth must have done and how she’s just as toxic but, while this is obviously not a healthy way to break up, its also pretty clear now no healthy way of breaking up was going to get through to Billie, it was always going to be messy, and the Jennifer we have now, is really truly honestly just still Billie, and I never believed her shit for a second ☠ī¸

    1. Nova

      100%

      1. Nova

        weird…

    2. Devin

      Couldn’t agree more

    3. The Oracle

      When you’ve set no boundaries against violent, stalkerish behavior and find that you really do want those boundaries, suddenly you’re the unreasonable one for doing whatever you have to.

    4. Vanessa

      Oh yes. Billie is 100% faking it.

      1. Vanessa

        Haha and apparently has given that up just now.

  32. AGV

    Back to Jennifer

    1. Airyu

      I read this with like a sitcom laugh track in the background
      “And nowwww… Back to Jennifer!” Hahahahaha

  33. Needfuldoer

    Whoa, what’s up with the last panel?

    1. The Oracle

      There’s a bunch of weird colors in it, some of them nearly the opposite of blue. This is freaking me out.

  34. Francoinblanco

    Walky how dare you not run to apologize Amber about you made her push you and be casual about DRAMA

  35. Airyu

    Wait I want to know how Mary knew about any of this. In present day *she* of all people was the one who told Jason about this, but she’s not even at Joyce/Sarah’s party

    1. Rotunda

      It is not impossible that Mary believes that her stupid hell house at least broke up Ruth and Billie.

  36. Bobcat

    Is the Alt Text a Cerebus reference?…

    1. Needfuldoer

      I hope they’re doing alright.

  37. Reaver

    Forgot Jennifer was wearing a jedi robe, was wondering why she was now wearing a bathrobe… lol

  38. Little Big Steve

    Oh, color I have missed you! So. Tired. Of. Blue. Bluuuuuuue…

    1. Needfuldoer

      We’re either snapping back to the present, or it’s signifying a skip forward to the slightly-less-distant past.

    2. MacareuxMoine

      Yeah. Looking forward to not relying on characters describing colors for me (there was an orange sweater and a pink shirt and probably more that I forgot).

  39. Freddie!

    Gotta say …

    Nice transition.

  40. Seralyna

    Re-reading the last part of Billie-ving that lead up to this part helped me to remember how much better this comic is when read in bulk. it’s kinda wild how much easier it was to parse and remember and interpret when read that way.

    Oh also incidentally, have all of the Storyline titles been song references? I’m not really that well versed in music, so I was wondering if it was a consistant thing or just an occasional theme.

    1. Schpoonman

      More than occasionally storylines have musical references. I don’t think it’s always but frequently.

  41. Abel Undercity

    Me before the flashback: “Billie and Ruth broke up? How terrible!”

    Me after the flashback: “Good call, Ruth. Do you have enough furniture in front of that door?”

    1. Needfuldoer

      Billie bursts through the wall, leaving a her-shaped hole behind.

  42. Grayfinity

    Ah, I get it Ruth.

    You’re both terrible at this.

  43. The Oracle

    Just a couple of scattered thoughts here.

    Ruth and Billie started off terrible and stayed at least pretty bad throughout. A few rays of sunshine in the middle don’t get rid of that fact honestly, and I feel might actually make it worse by making it seem less awful in the moment. They both started from a violent, toxic baseline, yes absolutely and under every circumstance, but sure you could say they both agreed to it. What we see here is Ruth, no longer agreeing, for basically any reason in the world, and it feels like people are treating that as “not okay” to some degree. I don’t understand this concept, that a breakup should be mutual in any way, because that’s not how anything else in the world works. If you go to the store with the intent of buying hot dogs, for example, there are several times before leaving with said hot dogs, where anyone involved could say “No hot dogs for Anon”. You can decide not to buy them literally as you’re handing the money to the cashier, and the only inconvenience it causes is wasting their time. Yes, that sucks, probably don’t do that, but if the cashier decides to yank the money out of your hand, stuff it in the drawer, bag your hot dogs and print you out a receipt, you’d probably have some fucking questions and/or objections. If the cashier runs out of the store behind you, kicks you into the dirt, takes the exact cost of the hot dogs and then throws the hot dogs at you, you’d probably want to avoid this cashier.

    Now, the metaphor is breaking down a bit, but I hope that illustrates what I’m trying to convey. If not, at least you get to think about hot dogs.

    1. Devin

      Absolutely. Sometimes a “good” breakup path just isn’t an option, and I’d say this is a very good example of that.

    2. The Wellerman

      Not touching this strip at all today, but thanks a lot, now I’m hungry for hotdogs.

  44. AlaninDC

    If this were 2003, there would be at least four links here to the “U Mad Bro” Troll meme.

    I ain’t doing it…. you know how search engines work.

  45. C.T. Phipps

    I feel it’s deeply unsatisfying that I *WANT* Ruth to have triumphed over a controlling, violent, physical bully in Billie. I WANT her to have moved on and be away from someone who threatens her while trying to control her with no boundaries. But I can’t because Ruth’s reasononing that its an idealized relationship too good for her is the opposite of how she should feel.

    1. Adept

      That’s a good summary. Billie is a horrible person, no matter how hot she is.

    2. Sirksome

      Okay I have to say that’s not what their relationship was. It was toxic and unhealthy but framing Billie as a violent bully is inaccurate to their dynamic. Billie has potential for violence but she was never abusive or a bully to Ruth. Quite the opposite sometimes as Ruth regularly abused and psychologically tormented Billie before they ever got together and even sexually harassed her.
      Their relationship was toxic but in a consensual, mutual destruction kind of way. Kinda like a Thelma and Louise I’ll drive off this cliff if you’re with me type deal. They were co dependent on each other to be miserable together.

      This is a triumph for Ruth in that them being apart it’s more likely at least one of them won’t die but it’s also flawed as she assumes it is solely her that was the problem.

      1. thejeff

        Yeah, this relationship was toxic in all kinds of ways, though it really did look like it was getting better – especially with both of them sober and in therapy.

        But it’s just a misread to paint this sequence as Ruth trying to escape a “controlling, violent, physical bully”. The evidence just isn’t there for it. Ruth never suggests anything like that. The violence has been at least mutual and consensual all along – they started it to hide their relationship and found out it turned them both on.
        Even Billie refusing to let it end is just what Ruth asked her to do at the start – which is certainly screwed up, but hard to blame on just Billie.

    3. Buli-buli

      I think Ruth conflates her healthier headspace with her relationship with Jennifer.
      And to be fair, Jennifer was supportive of the goal of a healthier, happier Ruth and one of Ruth’s primary motivations to improve.
      Of course, Jennifer was less than supportive of the practical, day-to-day steps of Ruth’s journey positive mental health and emotional well-being.
      And, their relationship didn’t lift Ruth up so much as throw her straight down to rock bottom so hard she bounced higher than she started.

  46. Adept

    Billie’s totally over it, obviously.

  47. AbacusWizard

    â€Ļand she is still standing in that hallway glaring at the broken doorknob to this very day

  48. Rabisch

    I think Ruth has doing the sane thing. But I can’t help but think that she was the one who dragged Billie into that situation. It’s true that Billie already had so many problems by herself, but being with Ruth has made everything worse and now that Ruth is better and she can see the problems of their relationship, she leaves her. It’s the healthy thing, sure, but I don’t know if it’s the right one. It seems to me selfishness, the healthy selfishness that you use to save your life.

    1. Alex

      Breaking up is usually selfish, because it means putting your desire to end the relationship over your partner’s desire to continue the relationship. I think an excess of selfishness is bad, but I don’t think we should place selflessness on such a high pedestal.

      1. Rabisch

        The problem is that Ruth still repeat to herself she has do that for Jennifer’s sake, not for her own sake.

  49. wakeangel2001

    I was expecting his face to be all messed up from crying under that thing

    1. poyo

      me too !!!!

    2. anon

      given the “i’m a boy so i only own one pair of shoes” he’s also probably internalized the “boys don’t cry” and holding back anything (i think the last time he cried was when asher punched him)

      1. Schpoonman

        Strictly speaking, he punched Asher, he just hurt his hand probably worse than he hurt Asher.

  50. John

    I feel that Ruth totally did the right thing here, but I am not sure if she did it in the right way.

  51. y3k

    …I am so glad my college dorm hall wasn’t like this.

  52. Hof1991

    If a 20 year old girl was so desperate to end a relationship that she destroyed the door lock and blockaded the door and her dumped partner was threatening violence at the top of their lungs, it reads differently if it is a man or woman being dumped. If this was a guy, security would be called.

    1. Schpoonman

      Imagine if Danny had reacted like this when Dorothy or Amber dumped him. Of course we have the context that he’s a wet paper bag on a good day, but it would be ten times as alarming for literally anyone who didn’t have that knowledge.

      1. thejeff

        But we do have that knowledge. If Danny (or Walky?) had reacted like that when Amber dumped him and Amber had barricaded herself in her room, would we be ignoring everything else we know about the characters and assuming she was physically frightened of his violence?
        Or that she was trying to avoid the awkward social interaction?

        So why are we assuming Ruth is frightened of Billie now, when she’s never shown a hint of it before?

    2. Alex

      I think there’s more to it than just gender. Ruth and Billie have attacked each other in public before. In fact Ruth was often the instigator in the beginning. So there’s proof that this isn’t just a one-sided abusive relationship with Ruth desperate to get away because she fears for her safety. Plus there is the context of the conversation with Dorothy. If Ruth had said she was afraid Billie might hurt her instead of the other way around, I think Dorothy WOULD be calling security right now.

    3. thejeff

      Sure, the scenario you describe, knowing nothing else of the relationship other than that description, definitely calls for intervention. Regardless of gender – though it certainly would be read as more frightening if it was a man threatening violence.

      OTOH, we know Billie and Ruth and the history of their messed up relationship and if there’s anything I’m sure of in this situation, it’s that Ruth isn’t hiding due to fear of physical violence. And that chances things.

      1. Alex

        And the rest of the cast knows it too. If Dina had instigated a breakup and Becky had stalked down the hall threatening murder, someone would have at least tried to calm her down. Because without the pattern of public outbursts and violence this kind of thing IS worrying, regardless of gender.

        1. The Oracle

          Yeah, the rest of the cast does know the history. And they let it continue like it’s just something normal, instead of doing literally the smallest thing about it. Maybe other people disagree, but a community should intervene when nonsense like this happens, even if it’s just for the sake of shutting the troublemakers up for some blessed quiet.

        2. thejeff

          That’s fair – maybe things shouldn’t have gotten to this point, but it’s still not “Ruth is the victim of a violent controlling abuser”, which is somehow how a lot of commentators think we should read their history.

        3. The Oracle

          I don’t know the polite, delicate way to say “You don’t have to be a victim to want out of a physically violent relationship”, so let’s pretend I do know it and said it that way.

        4. Vanessa

          Very good. Maybe Ruth is afraid SHE will hurt Billie if they get into it. It’s smart and health to avoid that at all costs. This is definitely a mess and changed my mind about how Ruth shouldn’t break up.

  53. Schpoonman

    As “unfair” as it is for us to be left without information, we’re not privy to every single word or thought exchanged between characters, and I don’t have any issue making the logical leap from “This relationship was toxic and abusive on both sides,” to “One of the sides is starting to get a grip on just how poisonous it is,” to “Oh, fuck, I need to get out,” without it being spelled out to me like I’m watching Bleach.

    Also, and I cannot believe how many times this has been stressed and ignored, Ruth does not owe Jennifer a single word. They were in a fairly serious relationship and it would be nice if Ruth were able to nicely gather all her thoughts and provide a 30-minute 50-slide PowerPoint on why their relationship is toxic and they need to break up, but Ruth doesn’t owe Jennifer jack or shit and it’s horrifying that anyone in this comment section is acting otherwise.

    1. thejeff

      It would help if what we did get from Ruth even hinted at her thinking it was poisonous and that she needed to get out because of that, rather than her worrying about Billie.

      1. C.T. Phipps

        Yes, Ruth absolutely doesn’t recognize it as toxic.

        1. Schpoonman

          You should meet this dude I know who spent the entire runtime of The Last Jedi saying “None of thos is explained! ?” right before Snoke says he linked Rey and Kylo.

          You know, two people who have takes that are refuted by the text and subtext of the story but mindlessly lurch on regardless.

      2. Schpoonman

        Let me get this straight: Ruth said earlier “today” that the relationship was a time bomb but because she didn’t explicitly state terms in a way that satisfies you in that moment she’s the problem?

        1. thejeff

          My read on that is that she was afraid of Jennifer getting hurt. From that discussion, I take that she thinks the problem with the relationship is her and she’s trying to save Jennifer. Not what’s being suggested here, that she’s been trying to get herself away from an abuser.

    2. The Oracle

      >without it being spelled out to me like I’m watching Bleach

      But then how will we know the exact picosecond-to-picosecond morality of the situation and assign Blameâ„ĸ to every dilation of each character’s pupils? This is a contest and somebody has to win it, and you’re being very reductive and toxic by not wanting to kill your fellow commenters over “complicated” things that “pan out over time”. If we don’t have instant analysis of Ruth’s pores and their moral/emotional implications, are we even alive?

  54. Grayfinity

    Jennifer Billingsworth, Alpha Bongo, Problem Solver Extraordinaire, can’t take not being wanted.

  55. acebender

    no wonder she’s pissed

    1. The Oracle

      Not that she deserves to be.

  56. Smooti

    Damn, love to show my ex that she was wrong for cutting off a toxic relationship by destroying her property the second I’m in a bad mood.

    1. Vanessa

      Haha oh that’s our very mature Jennifer. She has snapped!

  57. lia

    FUMING lmao

  58. michaelinasmeal

    FINALLY!!! that shit was longer than a naruto flashback

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