207

Ass-kissing
Posted on March 29, 2017 by David M Willis
And that’s when the attack comes. Not from the front, but from the side, from the Dumbing of Age Book 6 Kickstarter stretch goal you didn’t even know was there. (also we got Saturday and Sunday updates renewed for another year, hooray!!!!!!)

207 thoughts on “Ass-kissing”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “You’ll be like Melania!”

    “WHAT”

    “well, okay, no one’s paying THAT much to watch you–this IS Indiana, after all”

    1. Clif

      I’m undecided whether Melania is a well-known anime character and so I don’t get the joke, or if your just playing your Trump card.

  2. AnvilPro

    Conflict resolved! Conflict resolved! Conflict resolved!

    1. Woobie

      Well, I don’t expect Billie to move for another 3 years at least.
      In 2020.

      1. Cerberus

        Well, given the usual timetable of room reassignments… yeah, she’s not moving until the comic is over.

        1. Rukduk

          This is so true I laughed, cried, and then grumbled curses about my old college roommates under my breath.

        2. butting

          Remember the good old days when there was talk of the grownups in charge establishing order and doing the right thing by throwing Mary out?

          Ha. Ha. Ha.

          sigh.

        3. Ansel

          it could still happen. Of course, now there’s the risk of ex-roommates taking Billie and Mary’s rooms, and Billie and Mary being combined in a different floor or building to replace them D:

        4. butting

          That’d require Chloe to do something which ehhmmm yeah not really seeing that happen.

          (though if Chloe’s show-up-to-work-and-cash-cheques work ethic means less hostile attention on Becky, yehhh, let’s take it.)

        5. DSL

          “Heart in right place, head up ass,” is how we described the Chloes in our work environment back when it was a work environment.

        6. begbert2

          I’m still not sold on the “Chloe is a horrible person who cares about nothing except being paid for doing nothing.” She could be quite well-meaning but neither a psychologist or skilled at reading expressions. Sir is almost certainly extremely polite and congenial in public, and Ruth’s declarations that she’d rather be fired and unemployed and on the streets or whatever could have easily sounded like depressed self-defeatest rambling. Chloe certainly cares for Ruth and wants what’s best for her, which (to the obvious view) is both psychiatric care AND a job that includes the benefits of working at the school that is providing it. So Sir’s solution probably seemed like a godsend to somebody who cares about her.

          Is suppose the proof in the puddinghead will be whether she shows up with a brace of security guards, points at Becky, and shouts “Seize her!!” while standing over a low camera, underlit and with lightning flashing in the background. That at least would be a fairly unambiguous bad sign.

        7. Fart Captor

          She doesn’t have to be an absolute monster to be awful. She clearly seems to MEAN well, but you don’t need to be skilled at reading expressions to pick up on the fact that Ruth did not want to keep her job, and that there wad something fucked up going on between Ruth and Grandpa Asshat that she should follow up with Ruth about it (even though discussing it before bringing that asshole into this would have been much better)

          Hell,I think that between Ruth’s protests, her clearly troubled expressions, add the fact that he practically dragged Ruth out the door, even Dina would’ve noticed enough to check with Ruth to make sure this was actually helping Ruth, and there wasn’t anything important she was missing.

          Chloe didn’t need to be perfect at her job, or a therapist on the side to avoid this. She just needed to actually check in with the person she was making decisions for, or notice just one or two of the numerous red flags, and follow up with Ruth to see if something was wrong, making the tiniest effort to verify the assumptions she was acting upon.

          Instead, Chloe just charged ahead, never seeming to question whether the course of action which just *happened* to be the most convenient for her was actually beneficial for Ruth at all.

        8. Nyzer

          @Fart Captor

          You’re expecting her to be able to tell the difference between someone being terribly ashamed around their apparently doting (if overbearing) grandfather after attempting suicide, and someone freezing up from too much experience with emotional abuse.

          Chloe is seeing exactly what she expected to see, what Grandpa Asshole probably groomed her to expect to see while he was talking with her in the office.

        9. Dragon_Nataku

          1) Ruth was in the hospital. Someone has to pay for those bills and I don’t think you can get student health insurance as an international student (Ruth is Canadian). I’m not defending Chloe on this but that’s basically the same reason my abusive parents got called in when I ended up in the hospital under similar circumstances.

          2) I don’t expect Chloe to know anything about Ruth and her grandfather’s relationship since Billie barely knows much about it and Ruth doesn’t exactly open up about stuff (even we don’t know the extent, but even if it did fall under “a threat to self or others” I don’t think Ruth’s shrink has any obligation to tell Chloe specifically anything). However, the fact that she only calls him “Sir” should be a huge red flag, plus how she was acting around him. One assumes that, as Ruth’s direct superior, Chloe should at least know what “normal Ruth” acts like. She seems close enough to her to at least know something about that when Chloe showed up at the hospital.

          So yeah, excusable on some fronts, not so much on others.

        10. Fart Captor

          @Nyzer:
          Her failure began before he showed up. Sure, there’s lots of stuff we know that she doesn’t, but a lot of that’s because she doesn’t ask. She doesn’t check with Ruth to verify she still wants the job, much less any help keeping it. She doesn’t check if involving her grandfather is okay, or even Ruth know. She apparently thinks it’s reasonable to not to Ruth in any of these decisions or even inform her, even though she hadn’t spoken to Ruth since she’d had that one brief conversation at the health center. They literally did not speak again until Chloe cryptically told Ruth about the meeting.

          Sure, all that could just be caused by sucking at her job, but her complaining about how hard it would be to find a replacement while ignoring Ruth desperately telling her to get someone else is what sealed it for me.

        11. thejeff

          @Dragon_Nataku: Ruth’s from Canada, but there’s little reason to assume she’s not a US citizen. She’s an Indiana resident. Her grandfather lives there. The simplest assumption is that he’s a citizen and that her mother was also, allowing Ruth to inherit citizenship even if she was born in Canada.

        12. Camille Chanu

          I’d say things are different, since Dina knows she might have problems interpreting situations correctly, but Chloe is pretty sure (wrongly, as we know) that she is interpreting things correctly

        13. Nyzer

          Yeah, she really comes across as just not having the experience to realize the difference between Ruth acting ashamed and depressed and Ruth acting like an emotional abuse victim.

          And, as far as she’s aware, the current situation is about as good as it can get for Ruth. I mean, what’re the other options? Ruth gets fired (which does look bad on a future resume, no matter the reason) and possibly has to leave uni, essentially just winding up stuck at her grandfather’s home with nothing productive to do in between therapy sessions.
          OR she keeps her job, gets treated with kid gloves by her manager, gets to stay in school without having a conflict of interest thanks to Chloe now personally handling any future potential issues with Billie, and remains near the people who care about her well-being (from Chloe’s perspective, this at least means Carla and Billie – possibly others depending whether she talked to other students about Ruth), while being probably a bit more likely to continue taking therapy and medication, as she’s staying active.
          The blackmail situation is completely resolved now, and as far as Chloe’s aware, that and the relationship with Billie were the only stressors of the job. (Not including Grandpa Asshole’s unseen influence, the same is true from the readers’ perspective as well.)

          To Chloe, Ruth’s protests LOOK like nothing more than the self-loathing and total lack of self-confidence one would expect to see in someone who just attempted suicide. Chloe’s trying to show that she trusts Ruth and has confidence in her, while also dealing with her situation herself, in what seems to be the best possible way.

          Her unease around her grandfather can very, very easily be interpreted as simple, overwhelming shame after a suicide attempt, which again is something one would expect to see. Sure, the way he talked to her might raise some suspicions – if he hadn’t just shown up to spend the day countering every (obvious) negative consequence of Ruth’s hospitalization and affair, which isn’t something you’d EXPECT an emotionally abusive guardian to do.

        14. thejeff

          Honestly, I’m not even sure this isn’t the best option for Ruth. It’s nasty as hell taking away her agency and forcing her into it, but her chances of pushing through depression and finding a job and a place to live and arranging loans and everything else needed to get/keep her life together on her own are not great.

        15. trlkly

          thejeff: NO, JUST NO. You even start it right. It’s evil that they took away her agency. That makes it wrong. That means it is no what’s best for her.

          What’s best for her is for her to get therapy, not be in charge of even more stress that she can’t handle.

          I get tired of this need to defend evil shit. It’s why Trump is president. Stop it.

        16. Fart Captor

          ^^ yeah, the fact that even Ruth of all people seemed to feel like she could figure it out is pretty strong testimony to just how much better off she would have been.

          Not having that responsibility weighing down on her was clearly doing her a lot of good.

        17. trlkly

          That probably comes off too mean. But I do get frustrated about this. I really do think this natural tendency to come up with excuses is a huge problem, and is indeed why Trump was palatable for a lot of people–they just constantly make excuses for him.

          Until Trump, I just saw it as a quirk of human behavior. But now that quirk had real consequences.

          That said, I’m not saying you’re a Trump supporter or anything. I’m just frustrated with this pattern now that it’s hurting people in real life.

          I get “looking on the bright side,” but that doesn’t pretend that the bad thing is “what’s best.” The bad thing is never “what’s best.” And taking away the autonomy of someone who is mentally ill is always wrong (except not letting them commit suicide).

          In short, this is not what’s best for Ruth, not by a long shot. And pretending it is can only make what Pudding Head and “Sir” did seem not so evil.

        18. thejeff

          Of course she should be in therapy (though she wasn’t given any agency in choosing that either?)
          And it would also be better if Clint would happily support her college career without forcing her into the RA job – which she’s lousy at and is horribly stressful for her.
          But the actual alternative we’ve seen is “losing housing and on the street looking for work, loans & a place to live while still suicidally depressed.” It’s really hard for me to get behind that even if she thinks it’s better.

          Clint’s an asshole and he certainly doesn’t have Ruth’s best interests in mind. Chloe, I think, actually does, but she’s been snowed by Clint and is missing all the red flags. No excuses for him. Provisional ones for her.

        19. trlkly

          For fuck’s sake. It doesn’t matter that she can’t read expressions. Everything Chloe did about this was wrong. “Sir” should not have even been contacted. A depressed person who was just suicidal should not be in charge of the day-to-day lives of other people. She cannot handle this job, and if Chloe gave a shit, she wouldn’t make her.

          No, “Sir” came in and paid Chloe off. That’s who Chloe is. The type of person who takes a bribe.

        20. StClair

          I don’t think he bribed Chloe – rather, the bribery was done at higher levels, in the guise of “donations”, and the orders came down from those levels to Chloe to make everything go smoothly for Mr. Hughes and his granddaughter.

        21. Liliet

          I mean let’s be honest Ruth/Billie relationship can REALLY benefit from Ruth being no longer in charge of personally her. This is a good thing, even if Ruth can’t see it as such yet.

        22. Clif

          In the Ruth/Billie relationship, Ruth was not really the one in charge. At least not once it started. Ruth was in charge back when Billie was someone she was punishing for her parent’s death. After Billie decided that if Ruth was going to hell she was taking Billie with her, not so much.

        23. Liliet

          It’s honestly complicated, and it could stand to be less so. Also, privileging Billie over other floor residents is as much a problem as asserting power over her.

        24. Reltzik

          Except, you know, her moving means time’s up for Becky, so it’ll actually happen in a timely manner.

    2. Nono

      I read that in the voice from Crisis Core.

      1. Krys Brynhildr

        Such a great game…that the ending leaves me bawling during the entire final special fight sequence after the last boss. Super hard to survive the maximum time limit on that when you can’t actually see properly, but I did it.

  3. Pigeon Pollyx

    oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh shit I’m not anticipating THOSE words going over well

  4. butts

    That’s cold, Ruth

  5. miados

    they are shipping away the ship?

  6. Nono

    If Garfield taught me anything, Billie is never getting shipped to Abu Dhabi.

    1. Baronbrian

      She could go the Lyman route

      1. Leorale

        I hear that the Amazon is very nice this time of year.

        1. Gwen

          … if Carla has anything to say about it

        2. Cholma

          Doh!

        3. inqntrol

          Yeah I heard they have quite a good coffee over there.

        4. Chris

          What about Fed-Ex? Heard they offer deals

        5. Chris

          Oh wait. Never mi d, thought you meant the company Amazon. Durp. Anyway, Billie should see Scotland. Heard they’re having nice weather. *cues Joe Covenant*

      2. Cholma

        Knowing Willis… I hope Billie likes the Amazon!

        1. Falling Star

          She’d be the best Amazon.

      3. Delicious Taffy

        Billie doesn’t have a dog to abandon with Ruth, though.

  7. Kris

    The chance she has is to change her personality and appearance to become an evil we don’t recognize!

  8. TemporalShrew

    Maaaaaaybe the “I don’t really care too much about *that*, though” delivery wasn’t the best choice here, Ruth?

  9. BBCC

    “Elsewhere” in the Giver sense.

    Run, Billie.

    1. ety

      yikes

      1. BBCC

        Yeah, it’s a freaky ass book. Good enough that I went out and bought a copy after reading it for school though.

        1. Krys Brynhildr

          Great book. Messed up society in it though. Which…was sort of the point.

        2. BBCC

          Exactly.

        3. Goblin Scribe

          I never really got where Karl Marx talked about a dead baby chute, but The Giver assures me it’s in that manifesto, so I will keep looking.

    2. Rukduk

      Holy shit that’s darker than I expected.

      1. BBCC

        It was just past midnight, morbid jokes were entirely appropriate!

        1. Rukduk

          I live in a different time zone but point taken.

        2. BBCC

          Fine, appropriate for my time zone. 😛

    3. Historyman68

      Did anyone actually see the movie with TaySwiff?

      1. Historyman68

        It just didn’t feel like a book that could… use a movie, like at all.

      2. Krys Brynhildr

        Nope. I mean why would I need to when I could just read the book again? You know, if I wanted to be sad over some quality literature for some reason.

      3. BBCC

        No, but I meant to.

  10. Kernanator

    Time for Billie’s identical twin “Penelope” to make an appearance!

    1. No Name

      So what, they’re Penny and Jenny? (watch as three other people make that joke before me)…

      1. No Name

        Oh hey! I was wrong!

      2. Tan

        They also have some brothers who are identical triplets of each other: Benjamin, Kenneth, and Leonard.

        Literally none of them are amused when you offer to take them to Denny’s.

        1. DSL

          Indeed, they don’t find it at all fenny.

  11. John

    Well, I mean, just because they give you a room in a different dorm doesn’t mean you can’t still spend all your time in Ruth’s bed. Makes things a bit awkward for Becky, though.

    I’m still kind of hoping Billie gets swapped with Malaya. I bet Lucy’d be okay with putting Becky up, and Sal and Malaya as roommates would be endless hilarity.

    I initially read Ruth’s self-identification in the penultimate panel as “warlord”. I think I prefer that.

    1. BBCC

      I don’t think that Indiana university is interested in being a murder scene. Particularly someone with so many blood stains.

      1. Rukduk

        Hey, when the apocalypse happens Indiana University will be happy to embrace Ruth as their rightful lesbian warlord who reigns from atop a throne made of the femurs of her enemies.
        …
        Ok, now that I read that, that sounds like the beginning of really metal anime.

        1. BBCC

          I was referring to the murder that would take place should Malaya and Sal be forced to live together, but I like your idea better.

        2. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          Bi warlord. Why does no one ever seem to remember that they’re both bi?

        3. BBCC

          It doesn’t help that Ruth doesn’t know how she identifies, her only romantic or sexual interaction on screen was with Billie, and she refers to them as a ‘sexy lesbian suicide pact’.

          Billie, though, there’s little excuse – she’s tried to get some from Joe, Danny, Tony, etc. and also tried to mack on Sal before getting with Ruth.

        4. John

          And Alice, and Ethan… and I kind of suspect she’s got a deeply buried thing for Walky. Actually, I tend to just assume that Billie’s tsundere for pretty much everyone.

        5. BBCC

          True about Alice and Ethan. I’m inclined to believe her about Walky though, if only because I know how utterly off pissing it is to have people refuse to believe you’re just friends with someone and then using you being mad as ‘proof’ you like them, somehow.

        6. Nyzer

          Are they? I know Billie is, but I thought that hadn’t ever been confirmed for Ruth.

        7. John

          Word of God is Ruth’s bi, too, though, yeah, there hasn’t really been any in-strip evidence of her being attracted to guys, or really anyone but Billie.

        8. BBCC

          Ruth did say she had a boyfriend once when she lived in Canada, but that she hadn’t been interested in anyone since she moved to the US, iirc.

        9. BBCC

          * Actually, what she said was she’d never dated a girl, but she’d had a boyfriend before in Canada.

        10. John

          I just hope it wasn’t Ryan in this universe.

        11. BBCC

          ………I forgot that.

          WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

        12. Rukduk

          Shit! I swear I’m normally better about this! My brain just has not been working correctly the past couple of days. I’ve been forgetting schedules, appointments, even briefly didn’t realize who someone I routinely work with was. I’m seeing a doctor about it latter in the week. I swear if I have early onset Alzheimer’s like my aunt I am going to be so pissed.

        13. BBCC

          Good luck at your doctor! Hopefully it’s nothing serious!

      2. trlkly

        Seeing as they kept Ruth in charge, despite knowing she abuses those under her?

        Yeah, I think they’d be okay with a murder as long as they get a hefty donation out of it.

        1. BBCC

          But a murder is much harder to bury than abuse and ‘I hate her guts’ is a much less sympathetic story than ‘depressed alcoholic abuse victim’ if they get caught.

          Especially since I’m not sure Malaya’s mother has the money to make a sizeable ‘murder cover up’ donation and I simply don’t think the Walkertons WOULD for Sal (for Walky, maybe, MAYBE, because he’s their golden baby boy), assuming they have the money (they’re clearly comfortable and middle/upper middle class but I dunno they’re rich or have ‘murder bribe’ money).

    2. Pat

      They gave her a different room so she can spend all her time in Ruth’s bed.

  12. Shiro

    The juxtaposition of Ruth’s “it’s not over” vs Billie’s “it’s not over” is…interesting. Ruth’s is frantic, trapped, “it’s not over as long as he controls me.” Billie’s is relieved, “it’s not over for the two of us.”

    Idk how I feel about that.

    1. tim gueguen

      Billie’s always been self centred.

    2. Fart Captor

      I think it really clearly demonstrates why their kind of codependency is unhealthy

      She’s not directly happy that things are still awful, but she still is desperately afraid that if everything isn’t awful, Ruth won’t need her anymore 🙁

      1. Fart Captor

        I’m not even sure what gave me the impression she was relieved. Maybe because her shock seems so neutral compared to Ruth’s expression? I dunno

        1. Shiro

          That, and the curly tail on her speech bubble, which to me reads relieved? Idk, I might be misinterpreting.

  13. Danni

    are they still together? or are they broken up?

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Yes.

    2. Cerberus

      Still together. Billie is not going to accept any attempt by Ruth to break up and even reaffirmed their relationship and her desire to fight for it last strip.

      1. Danni

        😀

  14. Stephen Bierce

    *plays the Hues Corporation’s “Rock The Boat” on the hacked Muzak*

  15. a4lbi

    THAT’S gonna be one hell of a strip tomorrow.

  16. Leorale

    So, to Billie, Ruth’s explanation sounds like “our relationship isn’t over, but they’re kicking you out of school, ” right?

    1. pjeseb

      Oh, shit. I completely forgot, Billie wasn’t present for Chloe’s “solution” explanation.

  17. Pizza Strumpet

    Ah College Drama . ……………Gay College Drama !

    1. Cerberus

      Wlw college drama, which is the dramaiest drama of them all.

      1. Rukduk

        Is it weird that because the first “w” was capitalized I understood that as “Wacky lesbian wuv” instead of “womanlwoman” for a good fifty seconds?

        1. MatsuoTanuki

          I prefer the former interpretation personally.

        2. Li

          The correction here is specifically to avoid calling two bi women lesbians, though.

        3. Rukduk

          Right. Mea culpa. I’m normally better about this sort of thing.

      2. Shiro

        Nonsense, we can add poly and kink circles in there too for the ultimate drama cocktail!

        (This comment brought to you by the bullshit interpersonal drama playing out in BOTH my local kink groups currently)

        1. StClair

          “Holy shit

          guys

          people are complicated“

  18. lejwocky

    Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.

  19. Fallingivy

    If I, as a student, had zero context or knowledge about their relationship and was made aware of this, I as an ignorant observer would be pissed off to see that the end result of an RA who punched (I think), and constantly fought with, and in the end was revealed to be dating a resident of her dorm…is that the RA gets to stay in her position and the girl she was in the relationship gets kicked out of the dorm and sent somewhere else.

    Even with the knowledge of her depression added, it just would not have sat well with me?

    1. No Name

      Even with? Try ESPECIALLY with!

    2. Gwen

      The thing is, Ruth shares your assessment. She shouldn’t have the job, she doesn’t WANT the job, but thanks to the machinations of “Sir,” she can’t walk away from it.

      1. Fallingivy

        Oh yeah! Ruth doesn’t want this even a little bit and I’m glad for it.

        1. Cerberus

          The worst part is I can definitely see a Rachel type trying to rise to defend Billie against this rampant and transparent unfairness and blaming her for a decision she did not want, actively fought against, and which she is only trapped inside due to an abuser’s manipulations.

        2. Fallingivy

          Right, that’s something I’m worried about. Rachel seemed very vocally against this (rightfully so), and I feel like there may be some kind of confrontation there in the near future. But then again, Billie is likely assertive enough to shut down any of that being done on her behalf.

        3. Greenygal

          Yeah, Billie will definitely not stand for anyone trying to defend her on this count. And honestly she would probably be perfectly happy to explain why Ruth is staying to everyone (it’s exactly what she did with Mary’s blackmail) but I expect Ruth will veto that.

        4. BBCC

          Now see, I’m sure Rachel herself would be very understanding if she had the whole story.

          The key word being ‘if’. She ain’t gonna get that story.

    3. Nico

      You’re exactly right! Even if the administration just “wants to get this over with,” they should at least have gone for a “solution” that doesn’t look so bad. It was a poor decision overall, made even worse by the context and background that we (the audience) are privy to. God.

      1. Temperaryobsessor

        Its a fine solution to the problem. Ruth and Billie should have thought of it themselves. Where Billie’s empty bed is makes the difference between something they have to hide and two students dating. Thing is because Billie wasn’t consulted instead of it looking like making sure if Ruth continues to date Billie there is no power imbalance, it looks like their punishing the victim. Actually the fact that Billie wasn’t consulted means that the Administration figured it would be easier to punish the victim and its just luck that it actually is a decent solution.

        1. thejeff

          Billie moving is a fine solution. It would have been the obvious one had there been less abuse and alcoholism and depression going around.

          Ruth staying as RA is the poor decision – made worse by being made under Clint’s influence rather than as an impartial judgment.

    4. JBento

      You can still be. Billie aside, Ruth, by virtue of her psychological issues, is manifestly not suited to be an RA. We focus on the Billie-Ruth dynamic here because that’s what the comic focuses on, but everyone on the floor ALSO has to deal with Ruth, who seemed keen on establishing a reign of fear and threats.

      1. JBento

        Wops, I meant “by virtue of her psychological issues or just who she is” up there.

  20. No Name

    Except for the whole “Dumbing of Age Book 6 Kickstarter stretch goal” bit, the under comic news blurb thing would be a pretty good descriptor of what happened in the comic.

  21. carl320

    Did she say something about a ship?

  22. Cerberus

    Comic Reactions:

    Panel 1: Wait, what? Did you remember to tell them about slapping a sharpie penis onto Mary’s cheek? Really? That still wasn’t enough, eh? Damn, Chloe wasn’t kidding about the pool of options on RAs being thin… I mean, ha ha, that’s good, right?

    Panels 2-3: One of the things that most messed me up with my dad besides having to survive an all-out assault of him trying every trick in the book to get me into reparative therapy, was the feeling of being completely trapped, like anything I tried literally didn’t matter even when it was destroying me.

    At the time I was in a job actively discriminating against me and just looking for an excuse to fire me (I retain some small measure of pride at never giving them the satisfaction by performing my role flawlessly, but it cost me in a lot of mental health and was deeply unhealthy as I’ve learned trying and then rejecting reaccessing the same headspace to survive the current bullshit at work (it’s really not worth dipping into that dark dark headspace just to survive one asshole, especially when I have proof that he ignored direct warnings to let a student get assaulted).

    And so I had that going down, where my performance there only mattered as far as it kept things from getting worse at the feeling of knowing there was no real way to “win”. And I had the shit with my family where any attempt to salvage what I had there was poisoned by my dad trying to use that connection to attack me, which is why the only family I’ve retained were the folks he alienated years ago and knew that he molested a child in his previous marriage (found that out after I finally escaped him, he really was a lovely man I have many positive feelings about). And I had a disintegrating relationship that was getting more and more abusive as both of our families were heavily dumping on my ex and making her feeling trapped and attacked and thus more likely to lash out in hurtful ways.

    And I overshare all of that to say, that feeling of being trapped, of it never being over, of looking at your deteriorating mental health and despairing that this might just be your life now, is all deeply familiar. And I fully feel Ruth’s panic and her fear that what little mental health she’s been regaining will be threatened by this show of force and control.

    But I also know from surviving it that one can eventually escape those monsters even if they are determined and Ruth will eventually be able to break away from “sir” and make it stick. Even if she needs to club him with his own walking stick to do so.

    1. Chris

      These comments are so deep and genuine. *applauds*

      1. StClair

        As long as you’re comfortable, please continue.

    2. Rukduk

      *hugs* hey. Never feel like you’re oversharing here. It’s ok to share these things with us (commenters) because we care about you, and I guess we sorta count as a form of community.
      …
      Heh. Now that I think about it, I think you may have said something along the same vein to me a while back.

    3. zoelogical

      feeling trapped…is…the worst

  23. Cerberus

    Panel 4: Oh that wide-eyed Billie shot. You can tell she’s flashing a little bit to Ruth’s worst depression moments and worrying that she’s going to backslide back to them. But she shouldn’t worry. Ruth is being doom and gloom, but she’s already way more motivated and aware than she was before and has therapy and drugs to help cope with an untenable situation.

    Panel 5: Well… yeah. I mean, not about being an asslord, but yeah, you’re clinically depressed, the only reliable emotion you can feel is anger and you’ve been abusing that to threaten your charges into line and create a climate of fear and used that to also bully the woman you currently love more than anything before you dated. Okay, so maybe the asslord as well.

    But again, I take this as a good sign that she’s being more aware of her situation and where she’s been flailing in her desperate attempt not to drown and hurting others in the process. I hope this is the first real steps to no longer being that person. In the meantime… I dunno. Set “sir’s” ringtone to vibrate? Like long term escape is the plan, but that might require graduating first and leaving no forwarding information.

    Panel 6: Oh… Ruth… Like, the Billie news genuinely was the big silver lining of Chloe’s shit cloud. She’s got a green light to continue her relationship and there’s no rules on them going right back to cohabitating when Billie is “officially” some other RAs problem and it removes the abuse of power corruption to your relationship so Billie is not under implicit pressure to stay in the relationship so as to avoid consequences in her dorm life. It’s basically a wink and a wave to keep on doing the status quo. Even if that status quo is a bit “lesbian suicide pact”y.

    But I understand why Ruth only hears the “she’s being shipped away” part and that’s all she translates to Billie. Everything else of that meeting was so awful that it’d be difficult to retain that silver lining and not see it as one more thing being taken from her. Still, Billie’s smart, I think she’ll eventually worm out the exact details and realize the giant loophole carved out for her.

    1. Rukduk

      In my mind, I hear Ruth talking in that last panel with a bitter faux-happy tone. Because she’s trying to make light of something that’s about to make her cry, or send her back down into another catatonic depressive spiral if she focuses to much on it without someone else there. And the self recognition of her flaws as an RA is a really good thing, and probably something she will be able to work on fixing. I may still be hoping that she asks for Carla’s help in getting hilarious vengeance on Chloe and Sir (followed by the old man blowing his cool in public before having a stroke, which his insurance just so happens to not cover because American Healthcare) but that’s just me.

    2. Krys Brynhildr

      Well, its not like Billie ever does what she’s told anyways.

      Which in this case at least, might be one of her good points. Particularly if it means staying over in Ruth’s room anyways without the ‘rules’ saying there’s a conflict of interest.

    3. Andy

      On Panel 6: What “giant loophole?” I may be kinda dense but I don’t see it.

      1. Clif

        The loophole that lets her stay with Ruth.

      2. Gwen

        Your avatar was perfect there, Andy

  24. March

    Everything about this is so sad it breaks my heart. Absolutely no one cares about Billie or Ruth in a way that matters except one another. They’re just inconvenient to the Powers That Be.

    No one is reaching out to them for their alcohol dependency. No one is helping Billie with the fact she wrapped her car around a tree, nearly died, and is obviously having problems (she jokes but her parents don’t care and she knows it). No one helped Ruth through the clearly abusive household she has lived in.

    God fucking damn it. They are both so young.

    1. PapayaPunkPixie

      I agree, this is depressing. Ruth has a parent who keeps throttling her in response to her emotional/mental illness, Billie has parents that ignore hers entirely. Having two sets of parents, I’ve been on both ends. It took complete independence, years of self destruction, and years of supportive friendship to come back from that.

      1. Clif

        Ruth has parents that are dead, courtesy of a drunk truck driver. We don’t actually know it was a truck, but you know that it was.

        1. PapayaPunkPixie

          Well by parent I mean relative who has authority over her life, not necessarily a biological mom or dad

    2. Reltzik

      Oh, come on, you can’t say that NO ONE cares about them.

      Billie’s got Walky!

      And that’s awesome, because it’s Walky! Walky is aweso-nope, couldn’t say it with a straight face.

      1. MatsuoTanuki

        *bust out laughing* Y-You al… *wheeeeze* You almost had me going for a second there!

        1. Clif

          Of course Walky is awesome, he has the pajama jeans to prove it.

      2. thejeff

        Walky can be awesome, but it’s a lot of work and he doesn’t want to be known for it, so he doesn’t do it most of the time.

        He has done certainly shown that he does care for and worry about Billie and that’s despite everything she’s done to push him away – including some bullying (or at least tolerance of bullying by her clique) in high school.

      3. Fart Captor

        She does have Walky. Until Dorothy reached out, nobody else had been as successful at their attempts to comfort or support her as her surrogate brother. She also has Sal, who genuinely cares, even if Billie didn’t want to open up to her, and of course Joyce, whether she likes it or not. Billie has many more people who care about her than she’s willing to admit to herself.

        Ruth only really has Billie and Howard though. Carla is about the only other person we’ve seen her interact with on a remotely personal level.

        I am extremely curious about how the next conversation between those two is gonna to go.

        1. BBCC

          Also, Becky, who may not be super close to either of them, but will watch them both like a hawk to make sure they will never ever die.

    3. boop

      iunno, it sounds like Ruth at least has therapy! therapy effective enough it gave her big green eyes back after a suicide attempt. if she keeps going, that’ll be a huge help.

      . . . but yeah, not quite the same as a close personal relationship, huh

    4. Sam

      Well Walky cares, Becky cares, Joyce cares, Dorothy cares.

      Ruth and Billie eagerly push them away at most opportunities though – Billie especially. It is less than there is no care available, and more that they reject it if they don’t feel like dealing with people trying to express it to them.

  25. Keulan

    It sounds like Ruth thinks that her relationship with Billie will be over once Billie’s moved to a new dorm, but really that just makes it easier for them to stay together since there’s no longer the problem of Ruth dating someone she’s in a position of power over.

    1. Roborat

      That was the first thing I thought. Billy being moved would be a good thing, as they could then pursue their relationship openly.

    2. thejeff

      And by “moves into another dorm”, we mean carry her stuff back into Ruth’s room after saying “Hi” to her new roommate and new RA. 🙂

  26. LBD "Nytetrayn"

    The rollover text did not disappoint.

  27. JessWitt

    Yipes, Ruth just went and ripped off that band-aid on Billie’s heart, no warning.

  28. Rukduk

    Does anyone else imagine Ruth as using a “fake-sarcastic-but-actually-really-nervous-laughter” in that final panel? One of those tones you use when you’re trying to joke about something that’s in actuality something on the verge of making you breakdown sobbing?

    1. DonDueed

      Sounds about right.

  29. Bagge

    Awwww, Billie… She shouldn’t be so glad for those news. What they had was dangerous and destructive and getting back will just be more dangerous and destructive….

    But she IS so glad for it, and Billie having even an oasis of happiness in a crappy world is better than usual.

  30. MatsuoTanuki

    Geez Ruth, just back the bus right over her why doncha…

  31. Chris

    What the? Have Ruth’s straps on her suspenders always been disconnected from her overralls?

    1. BBCC

      Willis doesn’t draw buckles or clasps or any of those things.

      Kinda like nostrils – they exist, they’re just not drawn.

      1. Chris

        I’m going to send him such a stern letter telling him to change that immediately… 🙂

    2. zoelogical

      what’s a buckle and why would you need one for your overall straps? i’m asking as someone who doesn’t have any joints 😉

  32. Chris

    When was the last time we saw Galasso? I want to see him provide some humorous comic relief please.

    galasso, galasso, Galasso, GAlasso, GALasso, GALASso, GALASSO, GALASSO, GALASSO! We want GALASSO?

    1. Clif

      He’s in his basement preparing his suicide bomb. Which he will use just as soon as his daughter provides him with a heir.

  33. Delicious Taffy

    Well, I said I’d keep some folks updated, so here’s the scope of it.

    Might have to move to Indiana, soon. On the upside, I’ll be able to apply at the college these crazy kids are attending. On the downside, I’ll be yanked away from everyone and everything I know, including the girlfriend I’m desperately trying to stay with. Unless I can find a job in the next few weeks, that’s the shape of things. Staying with Mom at her boyfriend’s house has its benefits, but they’re arguing so much, she’s ready to just upturn everything and move. They’re shouting at each other while I’m typing this, even.

    My girlfriend is trying her hardest to find work as well, so we can at least rent a two-room apartment so I don’t have to leave, and I’m so fucking lucky to have her, despite being an angry, belligerent asshole lately. The situation at this house doesn’t excuse my behavior toward her, but maybe it contextualises it? I don’t know, but the folks I’ve been talking to on here for the last several days have been a much bigger help than I ever expected, so thank you.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      So, does anyone know a way to find free-to-very-cheap housing in a very small time span? Otherwise, I am definitely going to be removed from my home area. The fighting has come to a head.

      1. Krys Brynhildr

        Sorry, I don’t know anything about that sort of thing. Hopefully someone else on here will have a better clue. Good luck.

      2. Chris

        Sorry, housing is really expensive where I live. But I hope you and your girlfriend find a good place. Maybe try somewhere a bit outside of town, like a new development. They gain good equity fairly quick. Maye live lie a Spartan until then. Good luck!

      3. Delicious Taffy

        Thank you for the thoughts. I believe there may be a better solution in the works, but I will not know for certain until tomorrow. I apologise for any erratic behavior, past, current, or soon-to-come. I am very frightened for my immediate future, and behaving in a manner which is inconsistent with any past events causing this particular level of stress. The primary symptom of this is an unusual pattern of speech and lack of outward sings of anger. Additionally, I feel compelled to apologise for venting this particular crisis here in the comments, though I am unsure where else to do so.

        1. Krys Brynhildr

          Hey, uh…crises happen. The thing you should be focusing on is doing your best to make sure you get through things on your end okay for now. Being a bit of and shaken up over it all is totally understandable so, yeah pretty sure everyone here will be understanding about it.

      4. BBCC

        Maybe search places like Kajiji? They sometimes have cheap rooms.

      5. trlkly

        The main thing I know to look for are homeless shelter type stuff. That’s about all that’s actually quick.

        The Section 8 housing stuff is always on a waiting list, so it can be a while. But do at least look into that.

        In other words, look for housing that provides assistance. That’s what we eventually got my cousin, who was homeless on the street for a while. (We took her in temporarily, but she’s not easy to live with.)

  34. Tomas

    Get in the Eva, Shinji.

  35. Charles RB

    Don;t Forget, You’re Here Forever.

    Because, you see, you’re here forever.

  36. Liliet

    Ruth. Ruth you do realize that you don’t have to live on the same floor to date, right? You two no longer have to hide it.

  37. brasca1

    Clint doesn’t strike me as the ass kissing type and certainly not Chloe if he did, but it would make an interesting slipshine addition.

    1. BenRG

      I suspect that he either offered a lot of money or he has some manner of influence (IU is his alma mater or he’s on the Board of Trustees).

  38. abczyx

    unless that school is strange.
    if they’re not on the same floor dating should be 100% ok no?
    if its just ad ifferent floor.. not like she can’t visit quite easily

  39. BenRG

    I’m thinking that Ruth is going to be okay, given that her cynical and cutting sense of humour seems to be back at full power.

    All we really need from her now is to say: “Screw it!” and either decide to reject her grandfather’s ‘generous’ offer or decide that she’s going to make this work for her because it’s something that she wants to do.

    1. Vulcanodon

      “Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational humor…” /Emperor voice

    2. thejeff

      All we really need now is for her to decide to kick her crippling depression and intentionally provoke an all out confrontation with her abuser.

      No big deal.

  40. John

    I just read that last panel as if Ruth were looking through the fourth wall and talking about us.

    Don’t worry, Ruth! I’m still shipping Billie with you!

    1. BenRG

      Yeah, it did have the air of an aside to the audience before the end of the episode or before the commercial break, didn’t it?

  41. Clif

    Who are the options for Sal’s new room-mate. Female, student, living on campus but in a different dorm. Reah?

    1. Andy

      I thought Ruth’d be fired and replaced with Sydney Yus, given some of the preview panels. Maybe Sydney is Sal’s new roommate.

      But maybe not – they’d kill each other within like 5 minutes.

    2. BBCC

      Or a different floor, yeah.

      Let’s see – Raidah or one of her crew, Sydney, Malaya, Lucy (I kinda wanna see Malaya and Billie be roommates tbh), someone along those lines.

      1. John

        I think Chan and Char got eaten by an Allosaurus. We’ve seen Raidah occasionally, but we haven’t seen her posse in years. Last appearance for both of them was storytime with Aunt Sarah, and that was in a flashback.

        1. BBCC

          We’ve seen them in Patreon canon since then, so they do still exist. I’m also going on girls who exist who don’t live in this dorm. XD

  42. Falling Star

    NOOOOOOOO

  43. Guairdean Beatha

    Why did I hear a rimshot after panel six?

  44. Yumi

    Anyway, I got to hear about how homosexuality is a choice and an abomination today, so I’m in a pretty good mood.

    1. Yumi

      Really, when I first read this comic this morning, it made me a bit skeptical toward the relationship again, but after hearing that conversation, I’m back to just rooting for them.

      1. JBento

        I’m sort of torn. On one hand, I’m suspicious of how healthy a relationship between two clinically depressed alcoholics with possible anger issues can be. On the other hand, look at that slipshine preview and see how happy happy Billie is – how do you say “yeah, this is bad” to something makes someone that happy? That’s the heartmeltingest of faces I’ve ever seen.

        I vote on “relationship yes, but also treatment yes,” subject to reevaluation as soon as someone with knowledge on mental health health can chime in.

    2. JBento

      But you did get to hear someone be wrong twice in one sentence, which isn’t all that common.

      I never understood where anyone would get the “homosexuality is a choice” from, because I don’t really remember going “boys or girls? boys or girls? or… both?” and then going heterosexual (clearly the smart option is bisexual anyway), and it makes me wonder if those people DID. But only for a moment, because then I realise they are not, in fact, in possession of information I’m not – they’re just assholes.

      To the best of my knowledge, we’re still not sure how a person’s sexuality is determined, but I never heard anyone with any kind of credibility put “choice” on the table.

      1. JBento

        Oh, er, I didn’t address it because in this commentariat it probably doesn’t need saying, but homosexuality is also not an abomination. And also we got “I don’t condone homosexuality” jackass yesterday, so I’ll say it again:

        Homosexuality is not an abomination, though claiming it is so IS.

    3. Guairdean Beatha

      I’ve heard that statement about homosexuality being a choice many times, but I’ve never met anyone that could successfully defend it. Usually, when pressed, they fall back to the claim that the choice is acting upon the preference. A friend (an elderly gent, nice, but set in his ways) went on a rant once about how wrong it was. I asked him if it was wrong for two people to act on their love for each other because there has always been too much love in the world. He changed the subject. The good news is that the current generation is more open and accepting. The bad news is that the fundamentalists are still indoctrinating everyone that will listen.

      1. Yumi

        The bad news in this case was that this conversation was occurring among a group of seventeen year olds.

        1. Guairdean Beatha

          We can only hope they grow up mentally as well as physically as well as mentally.

  45. Vi0l33t

    i just realized Ruth’s overalls are magic and have no fasteners on the bib or straps. i want magic overalls.

    1. KaitouKidisBae

      As much as I love the idea of magic overalls, the fasteners could be on the inside, and the part where they’re sewn in could be done in such a way to hide them/be barely visible on the outside. I have a mom who sews, I know things and have seen things that seem like magic.

      …Or they could just be magic overalls. In which case, I also want some.

      1. BBCC

        Word of Willis is that they exist, he just doesn’t draw them, much like nostrils.

  46. Luchucholo

    Jesuschrist. I know HE is a scumlord, and that you’re under his exploitative (and emotional) blackmail. He isn’t your legal tutor anymore, Ruth. Just family. Ditch him, kick that job, go work for Galasso, speak with Becky. Or open up to that colleage in the RA bussiness, find support in campus. There’s no demerit in speaking with the teachers, too.

    I’ve had shitty experiences in life, even depressions, and I despise the idea of someone lording over my proverbial life. Being dependant of someone that’s just yanking your chain is shitty. But there’s a point in which you swim or you sink. For me, that time came as liberating when I learned that I didn’t care to dissapoint someone that REALLY didn’t care about me.

    Oh, he barked back. He did what he could to fuck up me. But I was ME for once. I felt the bite, the mark is there… but FREEDOM. Guys, that word truly does exist. It is real. And it is always in your mind, at your beck and call, if you open that door.If you allow yourself to do so.

    1. Greenygal

      He’s the legal guardian of her sixteen-year-old brother. She can’t cut ties with him while he still has a hostage.

    2. thejeff

      Welcome to the story arc. It’s coming, but it’s not going to be that quick or simple. There’ll be a dramatic climax we reach first.

  47. Killjoy

    On what grounds are they going to justify force Billy to change rooms? Unless they know about her underage drinking on campus.

    1. KaitouKidisBae

      As RA, Ruth is in a position of authority over her, so the relationship would be considered problematic. To keep Ruth as RA but not interfere with the relationship, Billie needs to be roomed somewhere else.

    2. BBCC

      On the grounds of ‘if you wanna keep fucking, you gotta live elsewhere, fucking your residential advisor is not okay.’

      1. thejeff

        Exactly, not “forcing”, but “allowing”.

        OTOH, if Ruth really wants a second try at getting herself fired, Billie can refuse to move and keep openly seeing Ruth. It’s Ruth who’d get in trouble for that, not her. I doubt they could actually make Billie move. Or at least firing Ruth would be simpler.

      2. Killjoy

        This is why it’s better to never live on campus.

  48. Silly Name

    I feel like there are elements of meta-narrative in this strip.

  49. Mitsukara

    I misread it as “ass-kicking” and pictured him beating his way through the faculty with his cane like it was a sword. Alas.

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