Wow, Roz is ready for some action??? Just walk away Billie, just walk away. Seems that Ruth would start something, but Billie might just end up calling her bluff.
The anger hit might’ve been an accident, but fearing the fight is an even worse mistake at this point. Might as well call her bluff and, if not a bluff, take the abuse to mount herself a case!
[Years ago, I had a co-worker threaten me if I moved his stuff out of somewhere it didn’t belong again, now I kinda wish I’d called his bluff on it…]
Sometimes, one punch is enough. The point has been made. If the other person wants to fight… be prepared to bring it. Otherwise, walk away with dignity.
And from an angle, it seems Ruth fixed her glasses, weird. Though Billie snapped them straight in the middle so the two sides are still able to fit on the ears just fine.
I’d say “fair fight” is apt. I mean, in Fight Night Round 1, Ruth gave Billie the first shot, and only after she was ready, so it was pretty fair. Might’ve been a little cruel to throw the judo flip on her, but still, once the fight is on, anything goes.
Great. I’d managed to keep my thoughts free of the fake Sheikh ad, demonstrating the sensitivity of the brand with a car door. Thanks a lot. The only way I’m going to get that out of my head is by replaying the Trust ad.
I’d assume they like Billie more than Ruth. After all, Billie hasn’t been going around threatening people, stealing their stuff allegedly and trying to provoke fights the way Ruth has.
Ruth has only done one of those things to everyone. Some of them thought it was awesome when she provoked that fight with Ruth, though, and really they know that by staying on Ruth’s good side she won’t bother them.
“Stay out of my way and I stay out of yours.”
So why would they then get in her way with regards to Billie? Sure, she’d get removed as RA, but I can guarantee you Ruth will remember each and every person who tries to stand against her and WILL do something back to them, because that’s the twisted person she is. Ruth is the kind of person you don’t want to piss off.
Not true! If you’re afraid of getting in trouble for lying, you might tell the truth anyway. This happens in high school all the time, and a lot of these characters are barely past high school emotionally.
2. Self defense WILL apply if Billie attacks again and Ruth simply counters and stops. Ruth is clearly giving Billie the chance to NOT do this and any intent to continue will show hostility on Billie’s part. Sure, it might not save her job as an RA but it will keep her out of jail for this particular instance (It won’t do much in regards to the uniform or the clotheslining Billie, though)
I’ve been dying to say it all week, so I’ll address it first. Your avatar makes me smile and I’m just not sure why.
1. I really want Billie to grab the polaroid, but on it’s own, it proves nothing.
2. I thought self defense didn’t apply unless the defender broke off the fight at the earliest opportunity? Granted, it’d be smart for Billie to walk away, and Ruth is giving her a perfect opportunity.
Haha, thanks. If you want, I can give you a link to what it’s from.
1. On its own, no, But it could be combined to give Billie the edge she needs. I’m hoping it’ll turn out someone will see the Polaroid and go “this is Photoshop’d”
2. Not for Billie, for Ruth. Yes, Ruth DID clothesline her, but it wasn’t out of a hostile need but rather enforcing the rules through extreme means. Yes, Ruth probably got a kick out of doing that to Billie, but that aside… There was a pause between this and Billie’s punch. That punch became an offensive punch. At this point if Billie attacks again and Ruth counters, providing Ruth just stops her and then leaves it, then that particular hit Ruth makes is in self defense. She’s “asking” Billie to step down from this and NOT continue, showing she doesn’t want to fight and thus if Billie makes an act then Ruth’s counter becomes self defense. At least I’m fairly certain it will.
But then again, why bother discussing things like law when we know Willis isn’t going to work it in. 😀
You’re kind of right. Getting away does matter. Thing here, though, is that on Ruth’s part this isn’t a fight yet. She’s trying to intimidate Billie and she’s not going to make herself seem weaker since she’s the RA, but right now Ruth is on the defensive because Billie hit her first (And for others, no, the clothesling doesn’t count as a fight initiator in this, given that Ruth used it to stop Billie from breaking a rule and there has been a sufficient period of time since she did that. The ground was made neutral up until Billie hit her) and Ruth is giving her the chance to stop. So in terms of grounding, Ruth was initially on the offense with the clothesline, but her reasoning for it and the time passed has made everything neutral. Billie punches, making Billie on the offense. Ruth has yet to counter and has given Billie the chance to walk away. Billie choosing to continue makes her on the offense and puts Ruth on the defense, who is not looking to continue this fight but she can’t back down because it’d make her look weak and inferior to Billie.
And since they both have superiority complexes, neither of them wants to back down.
Actually, Ruth can’t claim self-defense exactly. The fact she as the RA used physical force on a student, puts her in the cross-hairs along with Billie. R.A.’s are REQUIRED to use none physical means to deal with students. The clotheslining of Billie breaks those rules and if any other students saw that and side with Billie, than Ruth is the one who gets in trouble.
The fact Billie struck Ruth, can be argued as a provoked attack, as Ruth physically knocked down Billie and then proceeded to bully her verbally, provoking the attack.
Ruth meanwhile is continuing the provocation in front of a crowd of people. She can claim it was self-defense, but the fact that she is choosing to stand there and fight, rather than write-up Billie or report her to campus security will work against her. As the R.A., she’s supposed to set a better example, which Ruth is failing to do spectacularly.
Not in regards to her job as an RA, but in regards to the law in general. As an RA, yes, total failure. If Billie tried to charge her with assault, not so much. It’d only be the clothesline thing, and she has some minor workarounds on that. They wouldn’t be enough to drop that charge but it would be lessened a bit.
Restraint is the better part of valor. And now that she has got everyone’s attention, airing her grievances against Ruth may actually get her some support, and worry Ruth enough that they will go to the administration that she returns the uniform.
Of course, this strip is called Dumbing of Age for a reason, and odds are good that regardless of what happens next, someone will do something very dumb.
Lets see, Ruth illegally entered a students room, Illegally took personal property (ie THEFT) of a student, and then insulted and threatened said student in front of other students. I’m sorry but this seems to me to be a major violation of a students personal and legal rights and from Ruth it looks like a case of mental illness (She does not care about anyone else or see that they have rights and that she has overstepped her bounds (Some call that being a bit of a sociopath by the way)). The school, if it was in a real world, would be looking at a major lawsuit and reaming by the media for letting Ruth get away with this behavior.
They do. I’m good friends with my RA and I’ve already been told by housing that I’d qualify for the position if I had the time for it. Regardless, I can add some input on this. Yes, RA’s do have access to all of the dorms in a hall, as does the maintenance department, via a master key. With the exception of maintenance, there are only about 2 other master keys for a dorm; one kept in the housing office, and one kept in the dorm’s office to be used for emergencies or during room inspections.
That being said, room inspections are really the only reason an RA should ever be in a resident’s room when they aren’t there. And the room inspections at my college make privacy top-priority. Unless they have probable cause (and even that is iffy), they aren’t allowed to open a resident’s drawers, open a closed closet, or even lift a bedspread up to look under a bed. They are only allowed to check to make sure the surge protectors aren’t overloaded, make sure our garbage is being taken out, and make sure the bathroom/room is acceptably clean.
We keep our room so clean my RA usually does our room first just to get it out of the way, since the inspection is done so quickly. Hope that helps some.
Oops I forgot to add the willful destruction of the stolen property and displaying it in a way to induce the maximum mental anguish to the victim. Man that is a lot of time in a psych-ward or jail in my state.
I read a Dear Abby once. A guy was pissed as hell because his friend ‘ratted him out’…. The ‘friend’ had left the door to his dorm unlocked and to ‘teach him a lesson’ the guy had ‘hidden’ his friend’s laptop in HIS dorm room and informed his friend of this…. without having returned said computer… Police were called, the guy was kicked out of school, and is facing jailtime. He blames his friend for ‘ruining his life’… Abby told the friend ‘get over him, he’s a dumbass’. Okay she said it in Abby terms but STILL!
Ruth is in DEEP shit if Billie says ‘fuck this, I’m going over your head’.
Alright! Question! Since when have the Willisverses ever followed the rules of the normal one? Even if you take out all manner of super powers, they’ve never ran in a way that could work in the real world. So, I’m going to enjoy Ruth for what she is, an exaggeration of power hungry authority figures that would work awesomely in a sitcom, but would be locked away in a psych ward if they truly demonstrated the things they can in their respective imaginary worlds. Personally, I always love seeing her because I know then we get some mental anguish and twitching. Poor Billie, but I love to watch her suffer… just a little. I can actually see the lot of this turning into an odd understanding and friendship. Maybe a tag-team against Sal.
I’m not bugged that it’s so unrealistic but rather the fact that it’s being focused on Billie. Someone brought this up a few days ago in regards to Mike’s antics, but really, the biggest difference is that Mike is an ass to everyone. Ruth seems to only be doing it to Billie.
Nah….when we first saw Ruth she was an adorable psychotic, forcing everyone to come to meetings and using crazy kung fu on the loud mouthed freshmen. For me she crossed a line somewhere. Now she just feels like a big bully. And those, my friend, are the least likable characters anywhere…Mike being the exception that proves the rule.
Mike has never been a bully. He’s more like a genie adept at twisting the words and wishes of other people.
And, “The exception proves the rule,” still doesn’t mean anything when used like that. A rule demonstrated to be without exception is still a rule. A rule shown to have an exception may be on the edge of refutation.
This isn’t the Walkyverse anymore though is it? It’s an alternate universe where it seems Walky is going for a more real-world approach. No super-powers, no aliens and no drama-tags.
But either way, just because things are exaggerated, doesn’t mean we can’t ask how she’s getting away with this? I mean, she’s an R.A. not Stalin. It’s not like there aren’t teachers and admin that the kids can’t complain to.
No, but this is Willis we’re talking about. I’m also pretty sure he said “the drama tag has been pre-pulled” for this, though I’d imagine trying to find that quote would take MONTHS of searching. Or maybe a couple hours, but I’m too lazy for that.
I was kinda hoping to see Billie hulk out and kick Ruth’s ass. The humiliation for the sake of a demonstration was one thing, Billie rose to the challenge and got shut down. Defacing a keepsake in order to enforce paperwork on the other hand… Especially when it involves catching Sal (who I think would require several beartraps to catch and hold her long enough)… thats beyond ruthless, that’s cruel. I can respect ruthlessness, but cruelty for its own sake is just pointless. When that uniform gets returned it better not be missing a stitch.
Got to disagree with Pinnelipe here: I’ve seen plenty of people act EXACTLY as Ruth does in this strip, and again, ridiculously, they GET AWAY WITH IT with no consequences, and more often than not, are REWARDED for their behavior and are very rarely caught. Unfortunately in our world, the bad guys win pretty much all the time.
So yeah: I’d love to see Ruth get run over by a truck. She’s an evil person with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
I imagine sooner or later, something will be revealed to make Ruth at least somewhat redeemable. Perhaps, if the author would like to be creative, a drunken night of partying will leave Ruth the only person left to drag a certain former cheerleader and an experimenting bible-thumper back to the dorms.
Yeah, I’m guessing Ruth was constantly dumped on by the queen bee cheerleader types in high school or something. She sees Billie acting the same way and decides to put her in her place. It’s wrong of her, but I wouldn’t say she’s evil.
She Physically assaulted someone, stole their property AND Ruined it.. AFTER breaking into their room to get it Yes that is pretty evil and if not evil a huge bongo move
Ah yes, fair fight is the term commonly used for when you trick someone into overcommiting into the martial arts move you secretly mastered. Because we all know cheerleaders are skilled fist fighters so any amount of training and premeditated violence is justified. I would strongly advise Billie to leave, but as she’s super flawed, she will not and Ruth will beat her up. HOPEFULLY, the other residents will turn on her and she’ll have lost anything she hoped to gain from this sad little exercise. If Willis is going lame on this, they will be “cowed with fear” of the RAs ability to beat them up and not even think of… I dunno telling her superiors what’s going on.
There are no fair fights. Fighting with a pre-established and understood set of rules isn’t a fight, it’s a sparring match.
There are two types of people who ask for a fair fight. Fools, and those who would take advantage of fools.
If I had a nickel for every time I heard the “Dude, I thought this was a fist fight.” line, I don’t know what I’d do with them. Like I’m here to indulge their need to assert their manliness or some such BS.
Really, the “Fair Fight” is the most pretentious idiotic set of bullshit cheaply available. Like we’re all gonna adhere to some kind of samurai code when we engage in violence. You notice it’s always the freakishly able who preach the virtues of fighting fair too. Of course the jock thinks I should fight him on equal terms. He’s twice my size and can crush a walnut with his grip.
Anyway, I better cut this rant short. Suffice it to say that the very notion of a fair fight is inherently ridiculous, self contradictory, and blatantly rigged.
A fair fight is starting on equal ground, with both sides knowing a fight has started. Not a lot of rules come into play. Honestly, fair fights do exist. They are just not favorable fights. There are other ways to deal with the jock without getting into a fight, but if you want to fight him, he wants to do so fairly cause he doesn’t want to get stabbed or shot.
If you can’t fight the jock on equal terms, you should reconsider fighting at all in the first place.
Lol. I’ll have you know that I have never once initiated a fight. I don’t enjoy fighting. It’s not something I do. When the man’s pummeling me though, I don’t have a hell of a lot of options. So sue me if I grab a nearby rock or engage in some other form of “Foul Play”. I never asked for any of it. I never wanted any of it. I never consented to his archaic rules.
Once again, the difference between a fight and a sparring match. Sparring is a form of sport. A fight is nothing so pretty.
Really, the way people talk about the attempt to physically damage another, or the attempt to prevent ones own damage depending on which side you’re on, as if it’s some kind of performance just seems ridiculous to me.
No, he doesn’t want to get stabbed. That’s why it’s a good way to prevent him from coming back. I’m not looking to turn this into a frequent occurrence.
I do feel that Billie should put more effort into finding a nonviolent solution. There’s an extensive list of reasons, both ethical and practical, that this isn’t appropriate. Once she’s attacking someone though, sucker punch beats the hell out of announcing your intentions beforehand.
So what if Billie had a gun or knife and just shot or stabbed Ruth, “relatively” unprovoked? Still beats the hell out of announcing your intentions beforehand, right?
Fighting is not always just about hurting someone else as much as possible, especially in “fair fight” situations. It is, in fact, a sparring match by any other name. It’s trying to prove who is “better” and to prove a point by testing toughness, strength and fighting ability, and to take out aggression, of course.
What you describe as a “fight” sounds more like a situation where someone is trying to kill you or put you into the hospital, and I assure you that those are not everyone’s intentions during a fight.
Oh, I wholeheartedly agree that Billie should tackle this nonviolently. I was just pointing out that a fair fight is when two people don’t bring knives to a fist fight.
So you’re going to stab the jock. Who’s to say he won’t stab you next or shoot you? At least when you punch him, he’ll tend towards punching you.
But it takes two(or more) to fight. In our example above, Ruth has demonstrated a willingness not to fight. If Billie walks away, there is no fight. If either attacks and the other doesn’t retaliate, there is no fight. If someone’s wailing on you, it’s not a fight until you strike back.
If you don’t want a fair fight, don’t agree to one. But don’t be surprised when you get stabbed if you bring a knife to a fist fight.
Fair enough. I’ve never seen a fight be what you two describe. Quite frankly any situation where I could stop a fight just by refusing to participate it didn’t happen. It’s not fun. It’s painful. Even if you win you still get hurt.
Anyway, I really do just have a hang-up on the whole “Fair Fight” situation. I’ve only seen that clause of combat brought up when I’ve done pretty sensible things like kick someone while he’s down or knee him in the gut after being attacked without provocation. I just want the guy to stop moving so I can start running.
Personally, I don’t actually use knives and such. Seems like there’s too much potential for disaster once they knock it out of my hand. It’s suspicious to carry a knife on you anyway.
Anyway, I can accept that there are some social circles that would use fighting for less malicious means. If either party here lacked malicious intent I’d be more inclined to believe I was seeing it, but I’ll keep an eye open. See how it goes.
Ruth really does have no excuse for taking part in the fight in the sense you list. She has the power to leave at any time, and she seems capable of fending Billie off without causing harm. I’ll agree that in this case, both characters are aggressors.
Actually, I’m betting Sal just comes along out of nowhere with the signed papers and then Billie never sees her again.
Failing that, somebody restrains Billie and advises her to go over Ruth’s head. If Ruth seriously gets out of this one without some form of consequence in that case, the rest of the cast is in for an interesting school year.
Honestly, if this is like most colleges, they’d both get shit since there’s usually a zero tolerance policy about fighting. Wouldn’t matter who was right or wrong, or in this case wrong or more in the wrong.
Do colleges really care who fights who? It hasn’t come up since I started going to college. Fighting just seems like a kind of highschool thing anyway. I’d just assumed they let the students take care of themselves and any violence issues would just go to the police if the victim decided intervention was needed. It had never occurred to me that one there was even someone within a college who’s domain it would be to listen to such reports.
I assume there are people who still fight in college somewhere. Seems like a high stakes game once you can be charged as an adult though.
hahaha have you READ the comments on previous strips? EVERYTHING is over-analyzed and taken too seriously by the commenting readers! Of course, we have jokes and the like but we analyze every outcome and possibility of the action in the current strip.
Anybody else reminded of that scene in Dead Wood where Calamity Jane tells Al Swearengen that she’s, “… not afraid of him,” and he responds, “Yeah. You are,” and then Jane totally freaking loses it?
Anyway. I thought I should announce the formation of “Oh Rillie”, my new Billie/Ruth shipping faction.
Does Roz have a camera going on this? I know about helmet cameras (cyclist), but a condom hat camera would be Roz’ style, even though each individually is over the top.
Hmm just wondering… couldn’t it be that the cheerleader uniform is not Billie’s but Ruth’s? See, if that would make sense that they get along after that.
Ruth looks sad in the last two panels. I realize it’s her hair lines extending into her glasses, but still it makes me thinks she’s sad that Billie didn’t swing at her.
“So that’s how it’s going to be”? Well, what does she expect was going to happen after a point? She’s been pushing and threatening Billie for days now. Its not exactly shocking that she snaps.
And I find it funny that Ruth is talking about a “fair fight”. She hasn’t been playing fair since she was introduced.
No, she was quite fair to Billie in their first encounter. Billie threatened to destroy her. Ruth gave her the chance to try. Billie took the opportunity and paid for it, and Ruth at stopped at knocking the wind out of her.
Holding her wardrobe hostage, sure, illegal, but unfair? Was the task of talking to someone Billie saw in class between the time of the request and the present somehow beyond a college student’s ability? She even met Sal before class, but didn’t make any effort to talk with her then.
Combine a reasonable assignment with an excessive penalty and the result is still up to the person that isn’t doing the job. Seems fair enough.
Billie tried voicing concern about such a task, however, since she’d only seen Sal once and she hadn’t come back to the room. Combined with the fact that she vandalized the uniform on the same day she gave the task, it seems a little unfair. Had she actually given a week to do the job, I could see it as being fair. Not right, but fair.
The letters weren’t un-stitched out. The suggested idea is that Ruth somehow CUT the entire part of the shirt. It leaves a hole in the shirt. THAT can’t be fixed.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the fight was avoided somehow. but if they do fight, i also wouldn’t be surprised to see it a little more even this time around, tricks like pulling a reversal only work once if the person isn’t expecting it, as Billie obviously was not, this time she is unlikely to try a flying punch, and commit herself wholly to one attack, which would give her a bit of the upper hand when it comes to hand to hand combat, since she seems to have more strength and probably decent speed and reflexes from years as a cheerleader.
Even so, comics seem to exaggerate the violence present in schools, i’ve seen maybe one fight in my college years, and that was 2 really drunk guys fighting over some girl who had dumped both of them. In your experience is violence really this present in the educational setting? R.A. training is all about de-escalating violence and arbitrating arguments so they don’t end in violence, Ruth may be trying to set herself up as some unholy terror so that her dormies don’t cause trouble, but she just comes across as a heartless person.
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Wow, Roz is ready for some action??? Just walk away Billie, just walk away. Seems that Ruth would start something, but Billie might just end up calling her bluff.
The anger hit might’ve been an accident, but fearing the fight is an even worse mistake at this point. Might as well call her bluff and, if not a bluff, take the abuse to mount herself a case!
[Years ago, I had a co-worker threaten me if I moved his stuff out of somewhere it didn’t belong again, now I kinda wish I’d called his bluff on it…]
Good point. Either way, a win win. Though it still doesn’t help Billie’s feelings for the whole outfit thing.
Sometimes, one punch is enough. The point has been made. If the other person wants to fight… be prepared to bring it. Otherwise, walk away with dignity.
And from an angle, it seems Ruth fixed her glasses, weird. Though Billie snapped them straight in the middle so the two sides are still able to fit on the ears just fine.
They weren’t snapped, it just got bent in the middle. Ruth fixed it in the last comic.
I was going to disagree, but after a careful re-read of the last strip you’re right. Never realized that though. Those are some real strong glasses.
Makes you wonder just how many times Ruth has had to fix them after getting whacked in the face, and just how deep her violence runs.
It’s almost as if she planned for Billie to hit her, like she knew Billie would do this.
She’s wearing flex-frame glasses; basically pliable, acrylic-wrapped wire attached to the lenses.
Yeah, but even those can break if nailed hard enough. And that was a hard punch.
I feel so bad for Billie.
“Fair fight” is kind of a misnomer, don’tchathink?
Anywho, I’m thinking that it’s not over, yet.
Any bets on who that is yelling from the Peanut Gallery? Or does that matter?
It’s Mike.
Nah, he’s in class.
I read it and I said Go Dinah!
OMG I LOVE YOUR PLATYPUS!!!!!
I’d say “fair fight” is apt. I mean, in Fight Night Round 1, Ruth gave Billie the first shot, and only after she was ready, so it was pretty fair. Might’ve been a little cruel to throw the judo flip on her, but still, once the fight is on, anything goes.
This time Billie just threw a sucker-punch.
This time Billie just threw a well-deserved sucker-punch.
Fixed it for you. =D
That platypus reminds me of Appa (AVATAR: Last Airbender)
Dammit! If there’s no fight, Amazi-girl left her raid for nothing!
Why Willis, why! She’s missing her raid. She’s missing her raiddd!
I thought the point was that she Diddn’t leave the raid, and she was dissapointed that she had to miss the fight.
Roz is totally safe. You can’t punch someone with a condom hat. The laws of physics won’t allow it.
She can use the condom hat as a minor shield.
Multi-purpose condom hat!
+10 to Stamina
So you’re saying the condom hat is like… protection?
And now you have won an internet today, sir or ma’am. 😀
Great. I’d managed to keep my thoughts free of the fake Sheikh ad, demonstrating the sensitivity of the brand with a car door. Thanks a lot. The only way I’m going to get that out of my head is by replaying the Trust ad.
Shut your FAAAAAAACE back there!
i still have a perverse sexual lust for Ruth in that shirt.
And i guess a “dam you willis?”
Dam? As in Hoover?
“Willis, I command you to construct a wooden structure within the confines of your main plumbing tube so as to dampen your creativity”
Then blow it up.
I wonder how many of these people actually like Ruth and would corroborate her story?
Like…Ruth? I’m not sure I understand. Remember how she treats people? I doubt anyone likes her.
Like? No.
Fear? Very yes.
Well, like her more than Billie.
I’d assume they like Billie more than Ruth. After all, Billie hasn’t been going around threatening people, stealing their stuff allegedly and trying to provoke fights the way Ruth has.
Ruth has only done one of those things to everyone. Some of them thought it was awesome when she provoked that fight with Ruth, though, and really they know that by staying on Ruth’s good side she won’t bother them.
“Stay out of my way and I stay out of yours.”
So why would they then get in her way with regards to Billie? Sure, she’d get removed as RA, but I can guarantee you Ruth will remember each and every person who tries to stand against her and WILL do something back to them, because that’s the twisted person she is. Ruth is the kind of person you don’t want to piss off.
They don’t have to like Ruth. They just have to like Ruth more than Billie.
Not true! If you’re afraid of getting in trouble for lying, you might tell the truth anyway. This happens in high school all the time, and a lot of these characters are barely past high school emotionally.
I would.
So, does Roz just like wearing that hat? I could totally see that look catching on.
The Roz hat is the most disturbing thing in this strip! When I saw her in the 3rd panel I went, wow, Roz is fast.
By disturbing I assume you mean best?
I would buy one of those.
It’d be cool if that was Sal, but she’d be at class right now.
Things I’ve noticed about this page:
1. The polaroid has fallen to the ground.
2. Self defense WILL apply if Billie attacks again and Ruth simply counters and stops. Ruth is clearly giving Billie the chance to NOT do this and any intent to continue will show hostility on Billie’s part. Sure, it might not save her job as an RA but it will keep her out of jail for this particular instance (It won’t do much in regards to the uniform or the clotheslining Billie, though)
I’ve been dying to say it all week, so I’ll address it first. Your avatar makes me smile and I’m just not sure why.
1. I really want Billie to grab the polaroid, but on it’s own, it proves nothing.
2. I thought self defense didn’t apply unless the defender broke off the fight at the earliest opportunity? Granted, it’d be smart for Billie to walk away, and Ruth is giving her a perfect opportunity.
Haha, thanks. If you want, I can give you a link to what it’s from.
1. On its own, no, But it could be combined to give Billie the edge she needs. I’m hoping it’ll turn out someone will see the Polaroid and go “this is Photoshop’d”
2. Not for Billie, for Ruth. Yes, Ruth DID clothesline her, but it wasn’t out of a hostile need but rather enforcing the rules through extreme means. Yes, Ruth probably got a kick out of doing that to Billie, but that aside… There was a pause between this and Billie’s punch. That punch became an offensive punch. At this point if Billie attacks again and Ruth counters, providing Ruth just stops her and then leaves it, then that particular hit Ruth makes is in self defense. She’s “asking” Billie to step down from this and NOT continue, showing she doesn’t want to fight and thus if Billie makes an act then Ruth’s counter becomes self defense. At least I’m fairly certain it will.
But then again, why bother discussing things like law when we know Willis isn’t going to work it in. 😀
Ah, I meant for self defense for Ruth and that link would be most appreciated.
You’re kind of right. Getting away does matter. Thing here, though, is that on Ruth’s part this isn’t a fight yet. She’s trying to intimidate Billie and she’s not going to make herself seem weaker since she’s the RA, but right now Ruth is on the defensive because Billie hit her first (And for others, no, the clothesling doesn’t count as a fight initiator in this, given that Ruth used it to stop Billie from breaking a rule and there has been a sufficient period of time since she did that. The ground was made neutral up until Billie hit her) and Ruth is giving her the chance to stop. So in terms of grounding, Ruth was initially on the offense with the clothesline, but her reasoning for it and the time passed has made everything neutral. Billie punches, making Billie on the offense. Ruth has yet to counter and has given Billie the chance to walk away. Billie choosing to continue makes her on the offense and puts Ruth on the defense, who is not looking to continue this fight but she can’t back down because it’d make her look weak and inferior to Billie.
And since they both have superiority complexes, neither of them wants to back down.
And here’s that link:
http://fav.me/d326yb5
Actually, Ruth can’t claim self-defense exactly. The fact she as the RA used physical force on a student, puts her in the cross-hairs along with Billie. R.A.’s are REQUIRED to use none physical means to deal with students. The clotheslining of Billie breaks those rules and if any other students saw that and side with Billie, than Ruth is the one who gets in trouble.
The fact Billie struck Ruth, can be argued as a provoked attack, as Ruth physically knocked down Billie and then proceeded to bully her verbally, provoking the attack.
Ruth meanwhile is continuing the provocation in front of a crowd of people. She can claim it was self-defense, but the fact that she is choosing to stand there and fight, rather than write-up Billie or report her to campus security will work against her. As the R.A., she’s supposed to set a better example, which Ruth is failing to do spectacularly.
Not in regards to her job as an RA, but in regards to the law in general. As an RA, yes, total failure. If Billie tried to charge her with assault, not so much. It’d only be the clothesline thing, and she has some minor workarounds on that. They wouldn’t be enough to drop that charge but it would be lessened a bit.
Restraint is the better part of valor. And now that she has got everyone’s attention, airing her grievances against Ruth may actually get her some support, and worry Ruth enough that they will go to the administration that she returns the uniform.
Of course, this strip is called Dumbing of Age for a reason, and odds are good that regardless of what happens next, someone will do something very dumb.
Curses, you’ve seen through his machinations. You must be dealt with.
in the FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE.
Not the face! Anywhere but the FAAACE!!!
That’s a lot more control than I expected from Ruth.
Agreed. I expected this strip to involve an exchange of blows, not an exchange of words.
Lets see, Ruth illegally entered a students room, Illegally took personal property (ie THEFT) of a student, and then insulted and threatened said student in front of other students. I’m sorry but this seems to me to be a major violation of a students personal and legal rights and from Ruth it looks like a case of mental illness (She does not care about anyone else or see that they have rights and that she has overstepped her bounds (Some call that being a bit of a sociopath by the way)). The school, if it was in a real world, would be looking at a major lawsuit and reaming by the media for letting Ruth get away with this behavior.
I thought an R.A had full access to any Dorm room?
Only for official reasons.
And I’m pretty sure nicking stuff does not count as an official reason.
They do. I’m good friends with my RA and I’ve already been told by housing that I’d qualify for the position if I had the time for it. Regardless, I can add some input on this. Yes, RA’s do have access to all of the dorms in a hall, as does the maintenance department, via a master key. With the exception of maintenance, there are only about 2 other master keys for a dorm; one kept in the housing office, and one kept in the dorm’s office to be used for emergencies or during room inspections.
That being said, room inspections are really the only reason an RA should ever be in a resident’s room when they aren’t there. And the room inspections at my college make privacy top-priority. Unless they have probable cause (and even that is iffy), they aren’t allowed to open a resident’s drawers, open a closed closet, or even lift a bedspread up to look under a bed. They are only allowed to check to make sure the surge protectors aren’t overloaded, make sure our garbage is being taken out, and make sure the bathroom/room is acceptably clean.
We keep our room so clean my RA usually does our room first just to get it out of the way, since the inspection is done so quickly. Hope that helps some.
Yeah, in the real world, Ruth would have already been fired and arrested for breaking both the rules of the school, as well as the law in general.
Oops I forgot to add the willful destruction of the stolen property and displaying it in a way to induce the maximum mental anguish to the victim. Man that is a lot of time in a psych-ward or jail in my state.
Who let one of the fans into the crowd?
I’m betting the voice was Joe. Five cookies.
I read a Dear Abby once. A guy was pissed as hell because his friend ‘ratted him out’…. The ‘friend’ had left the door to his dorm unlocked and to ‘teach him a lesson’ the guy had ‘hidden’ his friend’s laptop in HIS dorm room and informed his friend of this…. without having returned said computer… Police were called, the guy was kicked out of school, and is facing jailtime. He blames his friend for ‘ruining his life’… Abby told the friend ‘get over him, he’s a dumbass’. Okay she said it in Abby terms but STILL!
Ruth is in DEEP shit if Billie says ‘fuck this, I’m going over your head’.
Alright! Question! Since when have the Willisverses ever followed the rules of the normal one? Even if you take out all manner of super powers, they’ve never ran in a way that could work in the real world. So, I’m going to enjoy Ruth for what she is, an exaggeration of power hungry authority figures that would work awesomely in a sitcom, but would be locked away in a psych ward if they truly demonstrated the things they can in their respective imaginary worlds. Personally, I always love seeing her because I know then we get some mental anguish and twitching. Poor Billie, but I love to watch her suffer… just a little. I can actually see the lot of this turning into an odd understanding and friendship. Maybe a tag-team against Sal.
Thank you! Finally, someone says it!
maybe instead of tag team against sal they can tag team sal
I’m not bugged that it’s so unrealistic but rather the fact that it’s being focused on Billie. Someone brought this up a few days ago in regards to Mike’s antics, but really, the biggest difference is that Mike is an ass to everyone. Ruth seems to only be doing it to Billie.
Nah….when we first saw Ruth she was an adorable psychotic, forcing everyone to come to meetings and using crazy kung fu on the loud mouthed freshmen. For me she crossed a line somewhere. Now she just feels like a big bully. And those, my friend, are the least likable characters anywhere…Mike being the exception that proves the rule.
Mike has never been a bully. He’s more like a genie adept at twisting the words and wishes of other people.
And, “The exception proves the rule,” still doesn’t mean anything when used like that. A rule demonstrated to be without exception is still a rule. A rule shown to have an exception may be on the edge of refutation.
This isn’t the Walkyverse anymore though is it? It’s an alternate universe where it seems Walky is going for a more real-world approach. No super-powers, no aliens and no drama-tags.
But either way, just because things are exaggerated, doesn’t mean we can’t ask how she’s getting away with this? I mean, she’s an R.A. not Stalin. It’s not like there aren’t teachers and admin that the kids can’t complain to.
No, but this is Willis we’re talking about. I’m also pretty sure he said “the drama tag has been pre-pulled” for this, though I’d imagine trying to find that quote would take MONTHS of searching. Or maybe a couple hours, but I’m too lazy for that.
I was kinda hoping to see Billie hulk out and kick Ruth’s ass. The humiliation for the sake of a demonstration was one thing, Billie rose to the challenge and got shut down. Defacing a keepsake in order to enforce paperwork on the other hand… Especially when it involves catching Sal (who I think would require several beartraps to catch and hold her long enough)… thats beyond ruthless, that’s cruel. I can respect ruthlessness, but cruelty for its own sake is just pointless. When that uniform gets returned it better not be missing a stitch.
heh, I’d watch this fight, even if all they did was stand there.
Got to disagree with Pinnelipe here: I’ve seen plenty of people act EXACTLY as Ruth does in this strip, and again, ridiculously, they GET AWAY WITH IT with no consequences, and more often than not, are REWARDED for their behavior and are very rarely caught. Unfortunately in our world, the bad guys win pretty much all the time.
So yeah: I’d love to see Ruth get run over by a truck. She’s an evil person with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
YOU ! I don’t know what! I LUV RUTH! Reminds me of my sister a little.
I imagine sooner or later, something will be revealed to make Ruth at least somewhat redeemable. Perhaps, if the author would like to be creative, a drunken night of partying will leave Ruth the only person left to drag a certain former cheerleader and an experimenting bible-thumper back to the dorms.
Yeah, I’m guessing Ruth was constantly dumped on by the queen bee cheerleader types in high school or something. She sees Billie acting the same way and decides to put her in her place. It’s wrong of her, but I wouldn’t say she’s evil.
She Physically assaulted someone, stole their property AND Ruined it.. AFTER breaking into their room to get it Yes that is pretty evil and if not evil a huge bongo move
And after she’s thoroughly redeemed and in a defial of physics we all love her, then she’ll get hit by that truck.
I’m not sure the fan base could handle that particular threesome.
We would explode from the sheer Perverse Sexual Lust of the situation! IT WOULD BE AWESOME
TOTALLY AWESOME. But maybe I’m biased by PSL on Ruth (which is getting awkward since she roots for the Leaves…)
Kudos for that at the end! Run over by a truck indeed!
Ah yes, fair fight is the term commonly used for when you trick someone into overcommiting into the martial arts move you secretly mastered. Because we all know cheerleaders are skilled fist fighters so any amount of training and premeditated violence is justified. I would strongly advise Billie to leave, but as she’s super flawed, she will not and Ruth will beat her up. HOPEFULLY, the other residents will turn on her and she’ll have lost anything she hoped to gain from this sad little exercise. If Willis is going lame on this, they will be “cowed with fear” of the RAs ability to beat them up and not even think of… I dunno telling her superiors what’s going on.
Kim Possible has taught us that precautions must be taken when dealing with cheerleaders. If any naked mole-rats appear, Ruth better run for her life.
There are no fair fights. Fighting with a pre-established and understood set of rules isn’t a fight, it’s a sparring match.
There are two types of people who ask for a fair fight. Fools, and those who would take advantage of fools.
If I had a nickel for every time I heard the “Dude, I thought this was a fist fight.” line, I don’t know what I’d do with them. Like I’m here to indulge their need to assert their manliness or some such BS.
Really, the “Fair Fight” is the most pretentious idiotic set of bullshit cheaply available. Like we’re all gonna adhere to some kind of samurai code when we engage in violence. You notice it’s always the freakishly able who preach the virtues of fighting fair too. Of course the jock thinks I should fight him on equal terms. He’s twice my size and can crush a walnut with his grip.
Anyway, I better cut this rant short. Suffice it to say that the very notion of a fair fight is inherently ridiculous, self contradictory, and blatantly rigged.
A fair fight is starting on equal ground, with both sides knowing a fight has started. Not a lot of rules come into play. Honestly, fair fights do exist. They are just not favorable fights. There are other ways to deal with the jock without getting into a fight, but if you want to fight him, he wants to do so fairly cause he doesn’t want to get stabbed or shot.
If you can’t fight the jock on equal terms, you should reconsider fighting at all in the first place.
Lol. I’ll have you know that I have never once initiated a fight. I don’t enjoy fighting. It’s not something I do. When the man’s pummeling me though, I don’t have a hell of a lot of options. So sue me if I grab a nearby rock or engage in some other form of “Foul Play”. I never asked for any of it. I never wanted any of it. I never consented to his archaic rules.
Once again, the difference between a fight and a sparring match. Sparring is a form of sport. A fight is nothing so pretty.
Really, the way people talk about the attempt to physically damage another, or the attempt to prevent ones own damage depending on which side you’re on, as if it’s some kind of performance just seems ridiculous to me.
No, he doesn’t want to get stabbed. That’s why it’s a good way to prevent him from coming back. I’m not looking to turn this into a frequent occurrence.
I do feel that Billie should put more effort into finding a nonviolent solution. There’s an extensive list of reasons, both ethical and practical, that this isn’t appropriate. Once she’s attacking someone though, sucker punch beats the hell out of announcing your intentions beforehand.
So what if Billie had a gun or knife and just shot or stabbed Ruth, “relatively” unprovoked? Still beats the hell out of announcing your intentions beforehand, right?
Fighting is not always just about hurting someone else as much as possible, especially in “fair fight” situations. It is, in fact, a sparring match by any other name. It’s trying to prove who is “better” and to prove a point by testing toughness, strength and fighting ability, and to take out aggression, of course.
What you describe as a “fight” sounds more like a situation where someone is trying to kill you or put you into the hospital, and I assure you that those are not everyone’s intentions during a fight.
Oh, I wholeheartedly agree that Billie should tackle this nonviolently. I was just pointing out that a fair fight is when two people don’t bring knives to a fist fight.
So you’re going to stab the jock. Who’s to say he won’t stab you next or shoot you? At least when you punch him, he’ll tend towards punching you.
But it takes two(or more) to fight. In our example above, Ruth has demonstrated a willingness not to fight. If Billie walks away, there is no fight. If either attacks and the other doesn’t retaliate, there is no fight. If someone’s wailing on you, it’s not a fight until you strike back.
If you don’t want a fair fight, don’t agree to one. But don’t be surprised when you get stabbed if you bring a knife to a fist fight.
Fair enough. I’ve never seen a fight be what you two describe. Quite frankly any situation where I could stop a fight just by refusing to participate it didn’t happen. It’s not fun. It’s painful. Even if you win you still get hurt.
Anyway, I really do just have a hang-up on the whole “Fair Fight” situation. I’ve only seen that clause of combat brought up when I’ve done pretty sensible things like kick someone while he’s down or knee him in the gut after being attacked without provocation. I just want the guy to stop moving so I can start running.
Personally, I don’t actually use knives and such. Seems like there’s too much potential for disaster once they knock it out of my hand. It’s suspicious to carry a knife on you anyway.
Anyway, I can accept that there are some social circles that would use fighting for less malicious means. If either party here lacked malicious intent I’d be more inclined to believe I was seeing it, but I’ll keep an eye open. See how it goes.
Ruth really does have no excuse for taking part in the fight in the sense you list. She has the power to leave at any time, and she seems capable of fending Billie off without causing harm. I’ll agree that in this case, both characters are aggressors.
Im still voting for Akuma!!!
Actually, I’m betting Sal just comes along out of nowhere with the signed papers and then Billie never sees her again.
Failing that, somebody restrains Billie and advises her to go over Ruth’s head. If Ruth seriously gets out of this one without some form of consequence in that case, the rest of the cast is in for an interesting school year.
Honestly, if this is like most colleges, they’d both get shit since there’s usually a zero tolerance policy about fighting. Wouldn’t matter who was right or wrong, or in this case wrong or more in the wrong.
Do colleges really care who fights who? It hasn’t come up since I started going to college. Fighting just seems like a kind of highschool thing anyway. I’d just assumed they let the students take care of themselves and any violence issues would just go to the police if the victim decided intervention was needed. It had never occurred to me that one there was even someone within a college who’s domain it would be to listen to such reports.
I assume there are people who still fight in college somewhere. Seems like a high stakes game once you can be charged as an adult though.
Man, you guys take this comic strip way too serious-like.
hahaha have you READ the comments on previous strips? EVERYTHING is over-analyzed and taken too seriously by the commenting readers! Of course, we have jokes and the like but we analyze every outcome and possibility of the action in the current strip.
David’s got it made, he doesn’t need to write the comic so long as people keep giving every possible scenario in a grab-bag format!
/jealous
Anybody else reminded of that scene in Dead Wood where Calamity Jane tells Al Swearengen that she’s, “… not afraid of him,” and he responds, “Yeah. You are,” and then Jane totally freaking loses it?
Anyway. I thought I should announce the formation of “Oh Rillie”, my new Billie/Ruth shipping faction.
o rly?
Does Roz have a camera going on this? I know about helmet cameras (cyclist), but a condom hat camera would be Roz’ style, even though each individually is over the top.
Hmm just wondering… couldn’t it be that the cheerleader uniform is not Billie’s but Ruth’s? See, if that would make sense that they get along after that.
Read the archive…the DRAGONS cheerleader outfit was Billie’s.
Do not back down, Billie; thanks to that picture that Ruth handed you, you now have evidence to give to the HD.
I’ve seen way better fights at my school, to be sure. At the last one, a girl slammed another girl’s head into a wall of lockers.
I kind of wish Billie would just have at her. I’d like to see Ruth in a fightin’ mood again.
GO LEAFS GO!! willis, you sly dog…trying to hide that in there, thinking it would escape my attention…
Great. Roz still has the dildo on her head.
Boooooring. Make with the rending of garments! 😛
Ruth looks sad in the last two panels. I realize it’s her hair lines extending into her glasses, but still it makes me thinks she’s sad that Billie didn’t swing at her.
“So that’s how it’s going to be”? Well, what does she expect was going to happen after a point? She’s been pushing and threatening Billie for days now. Its not exactly shocking that she snaps.
And I find it funny that Ruth is talking about a “fair fight”. She hasn’t been playing fair since she was introduced.
No, she was quite fair to Billie in their first encounter. Billie threatened to destroy her. Ruth gave her the chance to try. Billie took the opportunity and paid for it, and Ruth at stopped at knocking the wind out of her.
Holding her wardrobe hostage, sure, illegal, but unfair? Was the task of talking to someone Billie saw in class between the time of the request and the present somehow beyond a college student’s ability? She even met Sal before class, but didn’t make any effort to talk with her then.
Combine a reasonable assignment with an excessive penalty and the result is still up to the person that isn’t doing the job. Seems fair enough.
Billie tried voicing concern about such a task, however, since she’d only seen Sal once and she hadn’t come back to the room. Combined with the fact that she vandalized the uniform on the same day she gave the task, it seems a little unfair. Had she actually given a week to do the job, I could see it as being fair. Not right, but fair.
Ruth should make another sucker punch. Preferably to a tender spot…the chestial area seems a perfect target.
Next frame is a sucker punch from Ruth as Billie turns back around.
One thought in the whole “Did Ruth ruin the shirt or not?” debate.
If those are stitched-on letters, couldn’t they be sewn back on after this is resolved? I ask this as someone who doesn’t sew.
The letters weren’t un-stitched out. The suggested idea is that Ruth somehow CUT the entire part of the shirt. It leaves a hole in the shirt. THAT can’t be fixed.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the fight was avoided somehow. but if they do fight, i also wouldn’t be surprised to see it a little more even this time around, tricks like pulling a reversal only work once if the person isn’t expecting it, as Billie obviously was not, this time she is unlikely to try a flying punch, and commit herself wholly to one attack, which would give her a bit of the upper hand when it comes to hand to hand combat, since she seems to have more strength and probably decent speed and reflexes from years as a cheerleader.
Even so, comics seem to exaggerate the violence present in schools, i’ve seen maybe one fight in my college years, and that was 2 really drunk guys fighting over some girl who had dumped both of them. In your experience is violence really this present in the educational setting? R.A. training is all about de-escalating violence and arbitrating arguments so they don’t end in violence, Ruth may be trying to set herself up as some unholy terror so that her dormies don’t cause trouble, but she just comes across as a heartless person.
Roz in her condom hat is hilarious.