Discussion (102) ¬
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 22d
Bayjmin Tuckles @bayjmin-tuckles.bsky.social ⋅ 17h
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 22d
Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social ⋅ 21h
Mae Dean @maegodhavemercy.com ⋅ 2d
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I’m calling you FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT
*Gasp* Ruth, you heinous bongo!
Wait, is heinous the word I want here? Or will despicable do? Either way it’s sarcasm.
You misspelled ‘hilarious.’
FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT
Clearly, it isn’t Mike who’s the “Mike” of this ‘verse (except for his tweets). Ruth is the “Mike.”
So, when do the two meet?
I don’t know, but I imagine that it will involve a universe ending catastrophe. Though that may be because I’ve been watching too much Back to the Future. Curse you AMC!!!
They will meet.
And then they will bang.
EPICALLY.
And the Multi-verse will implode.
And some people doubt the Big Bang theory. :p
Owwwwwwwwwwww
Ruth and Mike shall EpicHateFuck.
Ruth shall be the man.
I second this shipping.
@Trae Dorn
then he will bang her mom
No, Ruth’s actions are for a reason, Mike’s an asshole just to be one.
Why do I feel Walky will end up in a wig and dress to impersonate his sister to sign that thing for Billie?
…what do you mean, “to sign that thing for Billie”? :p
Yeah, you talk like Walky doesn’t already do that for fun.
I meant the roommate agreement but that other things sound interesting too
I’m not sure you need a disguise in order to forge a signature.
I’m just assuming that Ruth would want to see both of them sign it just to make sure Billie didn’t forge it
Somewhere, Mike currently has an erection.
But it has more to do with your mom
Or Joe’s pants just tightened…
i’m sure that’s what billie was talking about..
… I can’t believe that I never recognized Rachel lurking around in the background until now. W- wait. He tags all appearing characters? Well, damn.
Wait. Mary? Another cameo! I feel really dumb- are there any more? *goes back to reread archives*
Mary’s that girl from Joyce and Walky who Billie hates. She got knocked up
Damn it why isn’t my avatar aslan
That’s not exactly fair. It’s funny, but not really fair to Billie.
I want to see Ruth threaten Sal.
Doesn’t it seem a little early to say Billie’s packed on the Freshmen Fifteen?
Just saw the poll, have to say that she’s delightfully curvy.
Some girls just gain their weight in more flattering areas than others (I’m sadly not one of them, thankfully my metabolism is still good).
I’d say Billie isn’t fat at all.
I wasn’t saying fat. I said delightfully curvy. She looks to be of a pretty healthy build, but you definitely couldn’t call her skinny.
I agree that she’s nicely curvy but I don’t understand why that makes it impossible to call her skinny… unless we’re using a REAL definition of skinny:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/skinny
Sorry, I don’t mean to jump on you more than you already have been; I’m just with MrGBH here, the fact that the readers are so comfortable with the idea that Billie is somehow overweight really makes me uncomfortable. It’s like the psychotic claim in — say — Father of the Bride P2 that a pregnant woman would ever be 120 lbs. I mean, that’s a friggin irresponsible message to the women watching that movie, most of whom are going to be over that weight, especially if they’re as tall as Diane Keaton (5’7″) or Kimberly Williams-Paisley (5’5″). And they will NOT necessarily all be fat.
./blah blah blah spleen vented
Saying there aren’t only absolutes. Fat and skinny are valid, but so is average, which I described as a healthy build.
Anyone else hoping for Ruth/Mike now? Just to see the world explode?
When does this ship leave dock?
*checks watch* 1 hour :55 mins ago,
…I’m not sure I’m entirely keen on the UCS posting with a Joe gravatar. There’s just something frighteningly unholy about that. Much like the Ruth/Mike ship, though, so I suppose it’s fitting in this case.
Wow. I don’t like this Ruth. Irrational and arbitrary bongoyness seems to be her only character trait. If Ruth is so controlling and on top of everything, why isn’t she tracking down Sal herself? Why assume Billy’s the hold up, when Sal is the only one who wasn’t at the floor meeting?
Billie’s the easier target. She’s there. You can’t threaten someone who you can’t find. I think Ruth may see herself as “playful” somewhat.
Why do the work yourself when you can press others to do the work for you?
Having been an RA, I can say that you speak to whoever you see first or can find first, rarely do people even answer their doors or, in some cases, phones. It’s difficult to get anything done to the level your superiors may demand.
Why is it irrational?
From her point of view, she likely has a Hall Director demanding that she get the forms from all of her residents. Her boss is yelling at her, and she sees Billie as the obstacle between completing the task or not. As Billie’s (albeit true) story sounds far fetched, getting irritated with Billie is actually pretty normal and not irrational at all for Ruth.
I agree, for all we know. Ruths job is hellish and Billie isn’t helping…
Also, Billie is lots easier to track down than Sal…I mean, Sals Batman, after all.
Who doesn’t believe in doors. Only reason she uses them is when the room doesn’t have a window to crawl through or a wall to smash down.
If a room doesn’t have walls, how can it have a door? Is it even a room? Or is it, y’know… Outside?
It could have walls without having walls to smash through. For instance, steel-reinforced concrete might not be fun to smash through. She’d probably bruise a little.
But that’s the thing, Billie’s story isn’t at all hard to believe, because Ruth hasn’t been able to track down Sal. She went all over campus, and town even, hunting down residents for the floor meeting, but couldn’t find Sal. And she seems to be a very controlling RA, I find it hard to believe she hasn’t stayed up herself to ambush her absentee resident.
It seems Billie’s done very little to warrant this arbitrary hate, much less the non stop fat comments, while her inability to even contact Sal seems like it would have been much more likely to set her off.
So yeah, I’m confused where the Billie hatred is coming from, and I’m equally confused at the lack of Sal hatred.
I assume its just lack of credibility because of Billies first impression, but I can’t say for sure.
I dunno, I mean, staying up later than normal might not be Billies thing due to beauty sleep or w/e and Ruth might not have the time to hunt Sal down which is why she went to this extremity in the first place.
Sal might get some hatred if Ruth ever caught up with her. Ruth seems like the type to only voice her hatred of people directly at them. Also, if she did voice any Sal hatred around Billie, it would help Billie’s attempt to deflect the responsibility, which would be counterproductive to getting the forms signed.
Oh Billie, you so fat your scale reads, “please get off.”
I’m assuming that the school’s administration is corrupt and/or stupid. It’s the only explanation that could be offered to explain how Ruth has not been fired for terrorizing, abusing and now stealing from students. No college in the world would allow for this to happen in the dorms so easily.
Mind you, I don’t quite mind that Ruth is bullying Billie, what with her being an unnecessary bongo to Walky. I mean, yes, Ruth is being a bongo too, but at least we know there is a moderately explainable reason for it (she doesn’t like her fellow students and would rather they live in fear of her, rather than try and take advantage of her).
But still, I really wanna know how the school can allow someone with such a cruel and vindictive behavior to be an R.M.
You have to prove that the RA is abusing their power. She could be otherwise pleasant, she’s just picking on Billie.
Remember the first meeting that Ruth held? She verbally threatened EVERYONE to be at it. There is an entire dorm of people who first handed witnessed Ruth’s administrative behavior. That alone would get her fired in most schools.
Also the fact Ruth has Billie’s uniform in her possession would be proof enough of her abuse of power as she would have had to enter Ruth’s room to steal it and hold it hostage.
Just when I was starting to feel some sympathy for Ruth…
Ruth is actually doing Billie a huge favor, when one thinks about it: Roommate agreement forms are documented compromises between roommates…meaning that if Sal did anything against what she signed off on that form Billie could easily report it to Ruth (who I think WOULD do something because she takes her job very seriously despite disliking Billie) and be putty in Billie’s hands, and vice versa: If Billie did anything violating what she signed off on Sal could take it to Ruth as well. Point being that even if it is by force Ruth is trying to bring these two to a compromise.
Maybe if Billie hadn’t tried to punch Ruth at the meeting Ruth would believe her… Gotta watch those first impressions (She comes off as a bully at first here, but she kinda did when Joe and Danny first met her, too…Deep down she’s the same Ruth who helps others, though.)
Except that Ruth bullied Billie into throwing that punch in the first place. And I’d like to see you report your problems to the authority figure who’s been bullying you, calling you fat, and stealing your stuff from the moment you met her.
Yeah, this Ruth doesn’t seem to be out to help people. She seems to be out to make freshmen miserable for no reason, while complaining about the minimal responsibilities of an entirely voluntary position.
Hmmmm, I don’t think bullying is the entirely correct word…”Provoked” maybe…Billie said she could “destroy” Ruth and Ruth simply wanted her to put her money where her mouth was, so to speak. Keep in mind while Ruth was being assertive with Billie while interrogating her Billie was the one that disrespected her authority by telling her to step off (quite rudely). Sadly my RA was just as bad as Ruth, which is why I went to her boss who actually DID help me (I DO know how Billie feels) and luckily I transferred.
When Dorothy turned to her Ruth did not deny her at all and even reassured Dorothy of what she needed to do.
While Ruth has shown moments of good behavior she did go around threatening and bullying everyone to be at the meeting and is even now abusing her position by stealing people’s property and verbally abusing Ruth. Her general behavior normally would be allowed or tolerated at most schools.
Yes, I know, and I disapprove of the actions and behavior, certainly NOT what you want in your RA…but I choose not to judge Ruth as a person yet (as we barely know her in this universe)
If this is how she acts in a position where her purpose is to help students and keep order amongst them, we’re already seeing what kind of person she is Dahlia. She’s a bully.
She enjoys using power to terrorize people. That doesn’t mean she can’t be occassionally nice, but that doesn’t negate how she act in 4 out of 5 scenarios.
Bully’s can later be revealed to have some good trait, but that doesn’t take away from the abuse they inflict on people who don’t necessarily deserve it. I mean, I hate Billie, but she doesn’t control her roommate and Ruth holding her uniform hostage is nothing short of malicious behavior on Ruth’s part.
Thats true…
I’m sure her interaction with Dorothy foreshadowed said good traits….D: (I hope)
I respectfully disagree. Clearly, it was Billie who initiated the hostilities.
-airfox
Woah, I got up at 5:00, you all get here fast. Any way…… Billie does seemed to have gained wait compared to roo/walk/y and Joyce. intentional?
They stay up until the comic is posted.
See, I didn’t go to bed til 7, so yeah.
I think I’m in love with Ruth.
I’ll admit I wasnt to fond of Ruth at first…but the firey minx is starting to grow on me
Billie’s excuse does ring a bit hollow when she shares at least one class with Sal.
But they never actually talked to each other.
Billie knows who she is. She knows what she’s required to get from her. She saw her. She knows she’s in that class.
Therefore, “They never actually talked,” is not an excuse.
I’m actually feeling sorry for Billie here. Ruth’s just being a bongo.
Is that… is that a Zune? Wow. Ruth really IS evil.
So Ruth’s best way to get a room-mate agreement out of Sal is to steal from Billie?
Yeah, that’s not illegal at all.
And as an aside, I notice that there isn’t any option in today’s poll for “Billie isn’t fat”. It’s just three different ways of agreeing with the question.
“I harbor PSL” is not an agreement to the question. It’s the CORRECT answer to that question! ;D
Billie is hawt and she knows it; unfortunately she uses that knowledge to be a bongo instead of a charmer.
Respectfully, I have to disagree. “Perverse” only makes sense if she’s supposed to be in some way unattractive.
It’s PERVERSE because she’s a drawing and you’re a real person and Noids do NOT have sex with Doodles, it’s the oldest rule.
Prove theft. I doubt Ruth’s left it anywhere it can be connected to her. I’m sure there are nice “hiding places” in the laundry room that are likely places something might have “slipped”.
The fact that Ruth’s got a photo of it on her phone? The two witnesses passing by?
Besides, we don’t need proof. We’re on the outside looking in.
Photos get passed around. The witnesses don’t care.
The truth is not a deciding factor here.
Who brings her high school cheerleader outfit with her to university?
…You know what? No, I really don’t want to know the answer to that. That’s a sad, sad person.
Plenty of kinks require a high school cheerleader outfit. XD Nothing sad about that!
Picking one up for a fantasy session? Whatever floats your boat. This is a case of someone disturbingly wrapped up in her high school glory. The only thing that could make it worse would be playing a fetish token just to recapture those moments.
Games are wonderful, as long as you don’t play for the wrong reasons.
I…I don’t understand. Mike is one of my favorite characters. Ruth, I dislike immensely. And They’re not all that different.
either I have a misogynist streak that’s rearing it’s ugly head, or I have somehow become unable to take Mike’s misanthropism seriously. Either way, it’s a concern.
I suspect the difference in your opinion is that Mike’s behavior is so over-the-top (at least in the mainline universe) that its hard to take it seriously. Ruth however is being nasty in a way which we’ve all experienced at one time or another. Her ‘bongoiness’ is more realistic and thus more offensive. I’m really curious about WHY she’s so angry in DOA as opposed to her appearance in Roomies.
No aliens D=
HMM.
I’m sorry, but I can’t get behind Ruth. Even if Billie’s a whiny brat, Joyce called it right, Ruth is just pretty much a bully, and then using the discretionary power offered her as an outlet for her abusive persona. If she were ever to lose her grip on that position, it would probably be disastrous for her.
Mike, on the other hand, doesn’t need a reason to be an asshole. He is because he wants to be and makes no bones about it. And that’s why I love him.
Ok, so far I think I hate just about everyone in this comic. That being said, not sure how long I’m going to follow it.
There are some times where a character is being bongoy because it’s funny or personality development. This is just, well, introducing a character who is mildly despicable and a target of unpleasant feelings but who, other than that, is nothing else. Fat jokes? Stealing? Verbal abuse? Sure, let’s suspend disbelief. When will she start, I don’t know, sexually assaulting students to make sure they clean the bathrooms?
Also, Mike was mean to *everyone* and was, as someone said above, funny and over the top. This is petty and probably too similar to our real lives to be amusing.
Oh, no. No, not at all. Mike’s become a predictably cheap laugh. Ruth’s a coating of nasty with a chewy karma centre.
The only person she’s really come down on thus far has been Billie. She’s been ruthless about it, sure, and acted in an inappropriate manner, but if there was an award for Character Most Deserving of Three Swift Kicks to the Ass, Billie.would be one of the leading candidates for it.
There’s going to be a lot of crap and drama over the first year. Ruth’s the one who’s going to have to deal with cleanup, and she’s made it clear that she will use any source of her troubles as the mop.
Sure, she’s overcompensating, but she is acting in the best interests of people who have no idea why this is important before they get to escalate things to bad levels. Sadly, she’s ensured that some people are less likely to come to her with problems, but her handling of Dorothy’s was rather sympathetic. Yes, even with the implied violence.
I take no issue with people in comedy who make it clear that they will end you if you cause trouble. There’s something very satisfying about knowing that the selfish and self-absorbed can be beaten to within an inch of undeath.
In reality, that tends to be less pretty on either side of the fence. Neither Ruth nor Billie are that close to home. Thank goodness. Two years of working a summer camp in the Yukon was as much as I wanted of that nonsense. Drinking problems, fighting, accidental poisonings, job requirements that don’t provide the resources necessary to fulfill duties, people who have no concept of fire hazards, proper hygiene, or respect for other people’s property…much funnier with a decade or a fiction separating you from them.
…but I’m not bitter.
I’m having a really hard time reading Dumbing of Age. I’m finding it hard to like these characters, especially Billie and Ruth. I’ve read all of the other comics. I’ve really enjoyed the storytelling. This time, however, I just can’t find a protagonist that I can associate with. They’re all pissing me off.
I can be patient and wait for the events of a story to smooth over the rough edges of a character, but I need something in the characters that I can respect, associate with, or enjoy, and I’m just not seeing it this time.
This is something I’m working on! Your criticisms have merit.
Let this be heard now! I love Ruth!!
Actually, I’m now getting visions of Sal in a cheerleader outfit. She would storm off the practice field, throwing her pompoms at football players, knocking them over. She is Sal, destroyer of hopes.
Also, I am one of those who harbors perverse sexual lust for Billie. Ponytails, glasses, and other things turn me on.
And being a total bongo? ;P
Wait, room mate agreements are actually a thing?
At which point the school would be appointing a new R.A. to replace the one on theft charges.
Im kinda liking Ruth, but I’m also a little masochistic so…