Cut your bangs
Posted on December 9, 2025 by David M Willis


Tags: becky, ruth

151 thoughts on “Cut your bangs”

  1. NGPZ

    “cry for help” is RIGHT

    :0

    1. Pocky

      cry for justice

      cry for freedom

      1. jeffepp

        Cry for Dawn!

        No, really. Go read Dawn. This comic’s kind of a reference to it. Haircut and all.

        1. Jeff K!

          … Have you been listening to War Rocket Ajax?
          If not, that’s WILD timing. Other than them, I haven’t heard anyone talk about Dawn in like twenty years.

        2. jeffepp

          Never heard of it.

          The problem is, Linser makes enough money doing covers and prints, that he doesn’t need to do comics, except when he wants to. So, Dawn has languished.

        3. C.T Phipps

          Cry Little Sister….

          *Becky bites Ruth on the neck*

      2. Effie

        cry for love between the brothers and the sisters, all over this land

        (also the non-binary siblings?)

      3. Steamweed

        Cry, Little Sister!
        *Becky breaks out the sax

      4. Erik

        Don’t cry for me, Indiana

    2. Nymphie

      Cry for joyce, i’d say

    3. RassilonTDavros

      And together, we can BE help!

  2. Doctor_Who

    Becky: I’ve got bangs.

    Ruth: Not as many as Joyce got last night, HEY-OOOO!

    Becky: …

    Ruth: Sorry, trying out some new RA techniques that aren’t violence-based. Think we scratch “Lighten the mood with a situationally relevant joke” off the setlist.

    1. Adam Black

      I wish this was the comic.
      Because without the outrageous hate the comments are boring

  3. Dot

    My “this is not a cry for help” haircut is raising a lot of questions already answered by the haircut

    1. Donovan

      Fuck you i was gonna make that joke!!!

    2. Pocky

      the problem is Ruth is rolling really low on investigation and persuasion rolls.

      1. John Campbell

        She just Takes 10 on them all because she can’t be bothered to put in the effort.

        1. John Campbell

          Also she used up all her skill points on Intimidate.

      2. Thag Simmons

        Further evidence for my “Ruth is a Barbarian” theory, she doesn’t have proficiencies in those.

  4. Sirksome

    Don’t trust obvious lies about not crying for help.

  5. Nono

    I wonder if Ruth is so used to her residents having cries for help that when she meets someone who seems relatively sane and settled, like Other Rachel, that she either thinks they’re a sane sigh of relief or the most boring people ever.

    1. furubatsu

      Or Secretly their normality is the biggest cry for help

    2. Thag Simmons

      I don’t know if I assume the rest of the floor is normal and sane and boring.

  6. Elf grrl

    PLEASE let this be healthy coping. I know its likely not but dangit let me believe in Becky

    1. Aus

      I mean, she cut her hair so it looks more like Dorothy’s, a person she knows Joyce, whom she carries a torch for, is attracted to.

      I don’t really see how it can be healthy.

  7. QueenofSodor

    DEFINITELY NOT A CRY FOR HELP, THIS WAS *DEFINITELY* A PRE-MEDITATED, MONTHS-LONG PLAN TO DOROTHIZE MY HAIR

    1. thejeff

      It definitely was a months-long plan. Pretty sure she’s mentioned it before.

      Which doesn’t mean recent events didn’t push her over the edge.

    2. Rose by Any other Name

      Like, honestly, I’m not even getting “Dorothy hair”.
      I used the tags to go to her first appearance, and Becky’s initial hairdo and this one look fairly similar. It isn’t exactly the same, but some of that is the improvement in Willis’s art over the past decade and a half.

  8. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    Why is Ruth so concerned with banging Becky?

    1. Clif

      Here, have a spare Internet or three.

    2. Pocky

      Oh good; I’m not the only one who noticed that Ruth was distracted with Becky’s unbanged face.

      1. Disastroid

        Next time, they can cut each other’s hair, and bang each other’s face.

    3. Bogeywoman

      I’d ship it. Or at least row boat it, ig

      1. ResRam

        Motor-boating not being an option with both of them?

  9. Someone

    Well I’m crying for help.

    Because it’s making Becky too cute.

    I appreciate that Ruth is trying to do her job here.

  10. Dave Van Domelen

    There’s a TMBG song for this.

    1. John Campbell

      There’s always a TMBG song for it.

      1. Needfuldoer

        People just like it better that way.

  11. Dara

    She still has the same number of bangs, just less, so: less bangs.

    As opposed to Dorothy and Joyce, who, obviously have more bangs.

    1. John Campbell

      She has alienated her girlfriend, though, so she has fewer bangs.

    2. Thing 2

      Ruth got bangs.

  12. KM

    I am not equipped to tell if this is in fact a cry for help. Do enlighten me.

    1. Nyzer

      I don’t believe it is. Pretty sure Becky did mention she was waiting to do this before. If anything, it’s probably something she did to distract herself and feel like she had something she could be in control of.

      You can be depressed, even to the point of suicidal ideation, and still function. In fact, things are easier when you are. You can distract yourself from all the thoughts that keep surging to the front of your mind about how useless and broken you are.

      (Also, accidentally fat-fingered Report Comment here. Apologies for that, both to you and to Willis.)

      1. Clif

        And we believer her, why?

        1. Nyzer

          Again, this was already something she had been planning. See: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-11/02-look-straight-ahead/lawnweeds/

          She didn’t take scissors to her hair herself out of some “fuck it” approach, she didn’t buzz it all off, she didn’t do something really wild like getting a facial tattoo or some shit. She went out and got a haircut like she had planned for a while.

          Cries for help are usually destructive in some way, rather than manifesting through the person doing things they were already planning to do before they were upset.

      2. Bittersweet

        This actually makes it sound very much like a cry for help actually

    2. furubatsu

      Eh, a dramatic haircut can sometimes be a sign that the hair-owner feels like they’re losing control of their life and needs to do something dramatic to extort control over themselves. Cutting hair is like the most low risk of those changes (as opposed to like, getting a tattoo). Of course it’s now always emblematic of that, or if it is its not even negative (people cutting hair after a bad breakup to jump into the “new me” mindset, for example) but everyone seems pretty sure Joyce coming out/being outed as sapphire is going to be the straw thar breaks Becky’s camels back in the year that has been DoA so a dramatic haircut is seen as a warning sign that shes spiralling. The fact that as people pointed out yesterday, the cut makes her look Dorothy-esque, does not help her defence.

      1. Bruceski

        For me it was because i was losing control of my hair. As it thinned out with age it also got thinner and floppier and I could no longer just “get up and go”. So frustrating. It took me years to finally start shaving it because I was worried people would see it as a “cry for help” thing and ignore the actual words I was saying. Pandemic helped there, less interaction with people who thought ignoring boundaries was how you show you care. Only had to put my foot down with one person

    3. StarfighterVicki

      It’s hard to tell. On the one hand, she really has been planning this a long time. On the other, it’s very possible for someone to cry for help, get scared about it, and try to hide it. And for a person to do something they planned, fueled by something new. And maybe that’s a habit she picked up from living with Toedad, when cries for help weren’t safe.

      But I’m projecting like an IMAX here, so who knows.

  13. Marianne

    No Borg implants!? Boo, worst Locutus ever!

  14. NGPZ

    okay so update on my leg inflammation:

    got results of the skin sample culture back from the hospital, thankfully no growth was seen

    however, they still think it’s cellulitis given the ultrasound and other circumstances, at least it’s not severe given the culture results. This has been really agonizingly painful and going on for over a month, I really need to get it under control,

    so I’m going on this very powerful antibiotic they gave me which could fuck me up if I ain’t careful

    will probably be very AFK and not here for over 5 days

    I just want to be able to walk again…

    I’m so scared… TT~TT

    1. Someone

      Hi! Lymphodema and cellulitis sufferer here.

      If it’s ciprophloxen bare in mind some of the stomach issues related to taking it can linger for awhile. Hope that goes okay for you.

      If it’s IV I know it but can’t think of the name. It can make you feel pretty bleh so take it easy each day.

      Well wishes on your recovery!

    2. RassilonTDavros

      Take good care of yourself! We’ll be happy to hear from you when you’re up to it, but your health comes first.

    3. Kim

      I hope it gets better (or controled/on the way to get better) soon <3

      All the best

    4. Laura

      ??

      Sending all hopes for your host body’s recovery and success!!!
      I hope you can walk again soon.
      I’ve had cellulitis before. Scary stuff! I REALLY hope the antibiotics do the trick!!!
      For me, they prescribed me compression stockings to wear for the rest of my life after the inflammation died down. I hope they find the right treatment for you!

      …I’m in a similar situation after an injury on Friday. Holed up in bed: can’t walk or use a potty or sit or stand. Just trying to hold on for right now.

      Holding your hands tight! We can do this!!!

      1. NGPZ

        ???

        no growth in the culture test and lotta skin peeling (possibly a sign of healing) seem to be good signs?

        glass half full

        1. Laura

          Glass half full.?

        2. Li

          Glass half full!!

    5. a/snow/mous/e

      Oof, that sucks… Rest up for the next few days, and hopefully you’ll start feeling better soon. <3

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        (I don’t have experience with cellulitis… it sounds scary! Nevertheless, I’m sure everything will turn out fine. Best wishes)

    6. Jay

      Yo wait what I’ve missed all these updates. Sending good vibes your way I hope you recover soon(ish)

    7. Adept

      I hope the treatment goes well NGPZ

  15. Toby

    If we have any Dina fans in the chat…! I’m trying to find a good home for our girl.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/317640558277

    1. Risky

      With signature dorothy haircut.

  16. Nono

    Also I know Becky isn’t exactly like, okay, but boy she’s gotten remarkably (and sadly) adept at masking.

    1. StClair

      Becky? Masking? When has she ever done that?
      /s

    2. apocryphascribe

      Yeah the masking levels here are off the charts.

  17. SunflowerBanjo

    Song of the day nomination: Emotional Haircut by LCD Soundsystem

  18. StClair

    First, she would have to want, or believe she deserves, help.

  19. Sirksome

    Game recognizes game says one chronically depressed, gay, redhead to another. She even owns her own depression cut. You wear it long enough and you forget why you got it.

  20. IntangibleMatter

    I mean, I AM crying for help, but I’ve had a haircut scheduled for a few weeks. This was genuinely unrelated.

  21. Astariel

    I also am not used to seeing the other side of Becky’s face, and in no way do I believe that this is not a cry for help.

    1. Sirksome

      Maybe she just wanted to be less rad?

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/blbfghlpf/

      I feel like there’s some irony in this strip about her last haircut also having her critique Dorothy.

      1. Astariel

        But why would she want to be less rad? That’s gotta be a cry for help.

  22. a/snow/mous/e

    Less bangs. Bangs are continuous. (I guess you could count them by the hair, but…)

    1. Thing 2

      Less bang, not fewer bangs?

  23. Francoinblanco

    Yeah i always wanted buy a sport bike. Just because i happen to be 40 years old is just coincidence

  24. Kim

    James Bobd villain hidden scar?
    Is she thinking of Meg Ryan from Captain Planet? I think Becky’s gettin’ her 90’s cartoon shows mixed together. This is either a neat narrative trick to up the feeling of unhinged dread, or a true sign that all is not well T-T

    Becks… </3

  25. SunflowerBanjo

    Before I saw everyone pointing out her haircut is very Dorothy-coded, I thought she’d gone back to how she was styling it at the start of the comic before her first haircut.
    Either way, makes me sad. She looks so “normal” (I guess I just mean plain?) now, where her side shave gave her so much visual personality. It really fit Becky™️. Now she just feels so subdued.

    I’m not complaining about Willis’s decision to change it, to be clear!! Just lamenting what it means for Becky as a character/what she’s going through.

    1. Astariel

      Totally agree with this. I’m really going to miss her old hair.

  26. Risky

    It was just time as in time for calling for help.

  27. Stormtide Leviathan

    My “Not a cry for help” shirt is raising a lot of questions already answered by my “Not a cry for help” shirt

  28. ZombieKyrik

    Does Becky actually think having the same haircut as Dorothy will somehow win her Joyce’s love? Also how is everyone else (especially Dina) going to react to Becky’s new hair?

    1. furubatsu

      It’d be funny if Dina doesn’t even bring up the haircut past “oh yeah, the salon appointment was today”

  29. SarahTerra

    The scars are hidden by the bangs on the inside.

    Becky is a hairwolf.

  30. moon

    no “awesome james bond villain scars r’ nothin” *yet*
    there’s still time

  31. Kyulen

    Somehow I get the feeling Becky is not being entirely honest with Ruth.

    1. Clif

      What gave it away?

  32. SvenTS

    Only emotional scars!

  33. sickolesbian

    yaaaay ruth and becky, two of my favorite characters

    you know i dont especially dislike dorothy or joyce and im happy they are being lesbians now, but tbh i am more interested in basically any of the other female characters

    however like, i dont dislike them!!!! so whatever???? i would like to see more carla i love carla so much loooooove carla

  34. Corey C.

    I suspect this was thought of the night Joyce went out with Dorothy to get drunk together and actually acted upon when Becky realized that Joyce was in love with Dotty. She’s gone full Knives Chaou.

    “Dorothy Keener stole my Joyce… but I know how to get her back!”

    Please note that I have also said that Joyce has gone full Scott Pilgrim about a month back.

    1. nadamás

      Of course this means eventually there will an alternative universe animated spin off where Joyce from a bad future kidnap her Present Joyce and Dorothy has to confront her exes to find out what happened.

  35. Jay

    This might be my new single favourite page in the entire comic.

    “Well why do you still read DOA?” This is why.

    I love this, I love becky, I love Ruth and this whole interaction is just perfect.

  36. Rachel

    the implication of countable bangs on a single person scares and intrigues me

    1. Thing 2

      In the past, bangs seemed to mean something else. Now it seems to mean over-forehead hair. But it doesn’t seem as if that has changed, just shorter on the right hand side… sorta less hang.

    2. Throwatron

      this naturally implies the existence of the Bangline Paradox, where bangs count as more bangs, the more closely you try to measure them.

    3. yak

      far more disturbing is the idea of uncountably many bangs

  37. YourCousinJay

    well darn, someone remove her entry from TVtropes I guess

  38. Lee

    Too late Becky it’s already been uploaded to TVTropes you can’t back out now!

  39. Thing 2

    OK, so I know this is Becky, I mean, it’s a cartoon, and hair colour, and context, and etc, But I do have prosopamnesia/prosopagnosia. So can someone tell me, please, is the only change her haircut? Because she looks to me like she is drawn totally differently.
    (can’t form memory of faces, could compare if I had pictures side by side)

    1. YourCousinJay

      yeah it’s just her hair but by proxy the framing of her face is now different which feels weird

    2. Nymph

      Here’s a side-by-side comparison, they appear to be the same style.

      1. Thing 2

        Thanks so much. Sadly that’s timing out for me, possibly different part of the world problems, but I will keep trying. But You and YourCousinJay both telling me its the face recognition difficulty speaking, but not only to me!

        1. Thing 2

          Yeah, thanks. Definitely me. I can see it if I don’t have to remember while I look away!

  40. Thing 2

    Also this is not a Dorothy hair-cut, surely….
    Dorothy hair is a rounded dome over the top and the separate curl-outs occur somewhere down by her chin/neck. Becky’s is more of a flat top or a valley with curls coming out much higher up.

    1. YourCousinJay

      If you go to Willis’ bluesky you can see some of the design notes on the new haircut and while I don’t think it was fully intentional the note for this haircut does point out it’s potentially too similar to Dot’s

      1. Thing 2

        Thank you. Interesting.

  41. Qube

    I was more partial to Dr. Blight, personally

  42. darkoneko

    definitely not a cry for help, nothing to see here

  43. Acher4

    Damn, she really doesn’t look like Becky now, does she? :/

    1. Thing 2

      No. Quite literally, to me!

  44. eskimolos

    maybe somebody else has mentioned this already but I love this strip especially because I can just press “first strip” and voila, there’s becky with basically this haircut, right in the first strip.

    1. YourCousinJay

      oh wow it really is lol, just more brushed down

      should it be worrying if a person revisits a hairstyle from the most repressed time of their live..?

      1. Icalasari

        Werf, yeah, that’s looking more likely than her styling it after Dorothy

        1. Nymph

          I mean, she probably didn’t style it this time. The stylist at the salon will likely have given her a blowout.

  45. YourCousinJay

    Slowly entering the dotty-verse as more and more women are assimulated into dorothyness

  46. GUIGUI

    that’s because the scar are on the inside.?

  47. Da Boy

    Not trusting that smile, still holding onto the taser gun, in case she decides to do something supremely self-destructive, and we need to drop her on her silly face fast.

  48. Shakes

    At this point I would just like Becky to be telling the truth and the haircut to be a red herring.

    1. Icalasari

      With how much the alt text this and last strip draws attention to it, I feel like it can’t be a red herring. it practically influences people to ensure the entry is on TVTropes. Little bit too far for a red herring

  49. kotarisu

    Less bangs just means more faaaaaaaace, which will surely trigger Jennifer.

  50. Maddie B

    Then the morning comes, shadowed by the moon
    And the angels for whom you speak
    Cry for light, cry for all of us
    Shards of old gathered in the name of the meek

  51. Jernacious

    Delicious, finally some good fucking cry for help.

  52. Adept

    Tonight on: Gingertalk.

  53. Opinion

    “I’ve been planning this for a while” and “this is a cry for help” are not mutually exclusive.

    1. Corey C.

      I’m guessing it was planned when she found out Joyce and Dotty went drinking without her and she went through with it once it was confirmed Joyce was in love with Dotty.

  54. Steamweed

    “Fewer bangs” <– countable noun
    "Less hair". <–non-countable noun

    1. Thing 2

      Well, as somebody else said, individual hairs *could* be counted. To me, less hair is a lower hair volume (but, yeah, hair is a non-countable noun), which could be fewer hairs or it could be shorter hairs. Becky’s hairs are shorter on the newly cut side, so definitely less hair. At her age I wouldn’t expect significantly fewer hairs, unless they got pulled out or shaved off (even then they are still there in terms of regrowth potential).
      As for bangs, well, I’d have to find a decent definition of bangs! Are they discrete?

      1. Rectilinear Propagation

        Britannica says bangs are “the front section of a person’s hair when it is cut short and worn over the forehead”

        Cambridge similarly describes it as an area. Most dictionary sites have similar definitions, some beauty web sites say bangs are the name of the style of hair.

        Wikipedia says bangs are “are strands or locks of hair that fall over the scalp’s front hairline to cover the forehead”

        Which kind of sounds like they might be saying each hair is an individual bang, but it’s also an outlier in describing it that way.

        So the consensus seems to be that it’s that whole section of hair. Which means it’s only possible for a person to have 0 or 1 set of bangs. So you can’t have “less” bangs because if you have any, you have one, but saying someone has “fewer” bangs means they have none.

        In conclusion, the correct word is “shorter”. She has shorter bangs.

  55. Rimwalker55

    Maybe the hair is symbolic; “I’ve been unbalanced for a while now…”, but that would rather shortcut the whole ‘I’m the problem’ chapter wouldn’t it?

    1. deliverything

      Conservation of balance, maybe? Either Becky’s balanced or her hair is, but not both.

  56. amsterquinn

    When you lie to me, it’s in the small stuff

  57. DashWallkick

    In her defense, Becky *has* been trying to grow out her undercut for months. So, technically, she’s not wrong!

  58. JBento

    I feel like if we were supposed to read this haircut as “she’s trying to look more like Dorothy” Willis wouldn’t have done the hair study thing.

  59. Ray

    All I can picture somehow is Walky’s accidental gender dysphoria hair. Is that approximate range of hair just accidental cry for help hair overall?

  60. Rosicrucian

    So yes, it is very likely that Becky’s masking just kicked back in.

    It is also entirely possible she’s been texting with Jocelyne.

    Who has known her most of her life, and has the good grace to be annoyed by some of Joyce’s worse habits, and can lend some perspective.

    Heck, both can be true.

    1. Rosicrucian

      (and though I appreciate the drama of not knowing, I’d love to see it in flashback at some point)

    2. Dot

      The second she’s through that door that smile is coming offffff

      1. Li

        I feel like the way that she was completely blank-faced until Ruth turned to face her really said it all.

        1. StClair

          reminds me yet again of that old strip where Ruth attempts a Human Smile for Carla (so the latter will go away and leave her alone in black misery … with the cookies).

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/chief/

  61. Amós Batista

    Do, we will be able to see the dark side of the Becky, right?

  62. C.T Phipps

    “If someone has to clarify it’s not a cry for help, it’s a cry for help.”
    -Neuroatypical brain tips from experience

  63. Minivet

    Maybe I’m all mixed up, I’m a cis man, but from the contexts I saw it in I always read “cut one’s bangs” as synonymous in meaning with give oneself bangs. That is, cut and refashion one’s hair so that bangs are hanging in the right way (a tricky thing apparently). Not “remove bangs” like Becky and Ruth are using it. Am I wrong?

    1. kaleido

      no, you’re right, it’s often used in the context!

  64. TheFlamingonator

    No swirly eyebrow either!

  65. Owlmirror

    I cannot help but think this:

    https://www.dumbingofage.com/falls/

    But with Becky’s new face instead of Walky’s.

    All sorts of potential shenanigans.

  66. Makkabee

    The awesome James Bond villain scars are all psychological.

  67. RoyanRannedos

    Ah, she became an adult in a Miyazaki movie.

  68. Thing 2

    Willis
    May we have a poll along the lines of:
    Less hair
    Fewer Hairs
    Fewer bangs
    Less bangs
    Less bang for your buck
    ?

  69. Rectilinear Propagation

    As much as I appreciate seeing folks care about “less” vs “fewer”, I’m pretty sure only the size of bangs can change: longer, shorter, wider, thinner, etc.

    I’m being sincere when I say I appreciate seeing people care about the difference. No one wants to say fewer anymore.

  70. Ash

    I truly do love Becky.

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