Now that I’ve got your attention, Dumbing of Age is gonna be a launch title on the webcomics iOS app, Comic Chameleon! Don’t worry, it’s the good kind of app where they ask permission and pay me instead of just steal from me. There’s some mighty fine comics lined up on there!
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YES!
Nice yelling bird gravitar. Now if only someone had the Orb of Shame.
Nothing to be ashamed of here
Once again a perfect gravatar
69! 69! 69! 69! 69! 69! 69! 69! 69! 69!
The Milo Manara way!!!!
(time to get this comic more life-like! But NOT like MY life! That’s a dead zone!)
A winner is you!
I bet she waited for this for a long time.
Billie or Ruth?
Yes.
ou know what? It took me a minute but …………………………..I see what you are doing here, Mr. Willis LoLz – can’t wait til next week 😉
Dang it, I voted for Ethan and random guy who offered, but I will take this loss with the best, for it has a hot redhead and a hot Asian in it.
… and I go from being Mike to Dorothy with this update to the avatars… weird transition. Wait this means I must report on this! *runs to get camera for scoop*
YES!!!!!
I opened the comments with the intention of linking this exact video.
Glad I could help.
Now THAT gravitar is perfect expression for your post. Apologizing for any necro ahead of time.
Joe-logic prevails!
SQUEEEEE! 😀
Dat latent sexual tension.
no no no, it’s “GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!”
You are just determined to muddle the results of that poll, aren’t you?
I already voted on that long ago!
Wa… I got a Rachel Gravatar now! I think Willis just added her to the rotation… did she even appear in this yet?
I’m thinking it’s a rotation that’s between all his comics to make it easier to manage; when you have several same-character comics going on at once, I think, it’s easier to have one universal rotation of avatars.
And now I’m Galasso o.o Willis must be adding new gravatars.
Actually Shortpacked has a different rotation, at least last tme I checked.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/rachel/ – She was in the background of the dorm meeting, where all this sexual tension started. 😛
Fucking hell, I voted for Mike/your mom. I assumed that was happening as I clicked!
And you assumed wrong. That happened long before Willis even knew who Mike is/was and has perpetually happened ever since… for a nickle.
I don’t think so. Mike’s already boning your mom.
For a nickel, of course.
wait, what if…what if he’s actually going to set it up so that all of them are technically true as these events could hypothetically all be occurring concurrently…if that is what is going on that might actually get a damn you willis out of me.
What is to muddle? Mike already did everybodies mom in the entire university. Even one of the Professor’s mother that died in a tragic femur accident.
I’d like to think Mike was the cause of that one.
Wait…does this mean that Danny, Amazi-Girl, and Amber are going to be in a three-way?
Should I turn in my man card before or after I squee?
…no the by laws clearly stat Men can squee under the following
1. Big damn heros moments in movies( IE The Avengers treacking shotk) , TV shows( IE The Starfleet armada going to take back DS9), and animated productions
2. for the entrince of any wrestler then John Cena
3. For deviant sex acts they are a bout to witness ( but no more the 1.5 decimals)
You are quite knowledgeable, sir. I’ll say to you the same thing I was told by a bartender upon informing him that I wanted my doubleshot of 151 rum straight rather than diluted by that girly liquid known ac “Coke.”
“You’re a real man.”
Though on #2, I still have doubts about anybody, of either gender, really, reacting in an exceptionally enthusiastic manner for Santino…
Cobraaaaa!
I’m pretty sure Sal/Jason already won last Friday.
Whelp, can’t say I didn’t see that not coming.
I don’t know how to not react to this.
Oddly, it doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s pretty much what I expected. It is Willis, after all…
I would wear a REAR strap on to do them both at the same time, just out of courtesy!
I think this is just Ruth being an ass. Billie asks for consistency, for her to chose between friend and enemy, and Ruth throws one more potential label on the pile just to mess with her head.
Ruth is Billie’s everything.
While Mike is everything you don’t want him to be. We’ve found the Matter/Anti-Matter!
Well now I want the poll to have a Mike/Ruth option…
Hmmm. That one has to involve pegging.
pegging=boning=sex=OHGODMYEYES
And nothing at the same time. Just to build the confusion.
Billie is Ruth’s yoke in her sunnyside egg.
I’m scrambling to find out if Ruth will poach Billie’s ass.
I think there won’t be much drama here. It will go over easy.
I ova keep a close eye on these two…
Their love transcends all four quadrants
I don’t think there’s any auspisticing going on in here.
And they’re sort of anti-morails, bringing out the worst in each other.
You know what, I don’t see any matespiritship here either. They’re just kismeses.
Y’all do know those damned quadrants don’t really apply when Trolls aren’t involved, right? Also, as far as I see this could just be some ship tease flavored fanservice or it could be the start of the most epic hatefuck until the mail lady catches Jack.
Oh god best kismesises. What if Joyce auspisticised them? Though it seems to me Billie isn’t into the whole blackrom thing…
…Y’all know I was going for sarcasm, right? Holy crap, I didn’t think it would turn into a thing.
Glad it did though.
And she did it on a Friday to mess with the readers. Frickin’ genius.
No, it looks like Ruth is being earnest about this. Look at her hand, it relaxes from a fist in the third panel. If Ruth was screwing around, trying to mess with Billie, I don’t think Ruth would have relaxed into that kiss.
This is actually very true. You can discount my opinion, since I am but a lowly 13-year-old and have never had my first kiss (sob), but it makes sense to me.
Honey that is not how you tell girls you like them. DV isn’t just for heterosexual couples.
Can not find what DV means….at least I hope so in this context.
DV = domestic violence. The existence of abuse in same-gender couples does tend to get overlooked… I want to call this plain BST/hatefuck, but Ruth does have a position of authority, so it’s a liiiittle bit squintworthy.
I concur. This made me cringe just a tad, and this is coming from someone who thought that Worf and K’Ehleyr had one of the most touching romances I’ve seen on television.
*nod* Yep, domestice violence.
Pretty sure in this context “domestic violence.” This isn’t the healthiest first move in the world, you’ve got to admit.
Maybe she’s been reading too much terrible/cliche shojo manga and thinks that this is the normal first? She should really not take relationship advice from comics, though. Or she should read better shojo. I could recommend her some that avoid endorsing unhealthy relationships.
If we’re bringing in anime tropes, I’d like to point out Asuka from Eva. Some people just can’t express themselves well, due to serious psychological issues.
Yes, and that didn’t make Asuka’s actions any less excusable–just understandable. Asuka was still a HUGE goddamn bongo.
Agreed. I never could understand why everyone hated Shinji but loved the abusive Asuka. Everytime I heard her talk, I prayed for it to stop. But I tend to fall on the lawful side more than the chaotic.
Agreed. Adding psychological trauma or whatever to a character’s past is all well and good, but it doesn’t excuse their actions in the present. Yes, it sucks that you had a difficult childhood and it is understandable why you struggle with these problems, but nonetheless there comes a time for all of us to grow the hell up and take responsibility for ourselves. I hope Ruth can deal with her crap.
I believe the word you’re looking for to describe Ruth in anime terms is “tsundere“.
…with a capital TSUN.
I want to touch Ruth’s Tsunderiere.
That was awesome and horrible at the same time, Yotomoe.
I believe that she is a type II tsundere; e.i. nice to everyone except for the one she likes, due to the inability to handle her feelings.
I’d agree with your assessment, though not the reason. I strongly suspect that her actions here are something not too unrelated to why she drinks. How Billie reacts is going to be exceptionally important though…
I’d say the comic before this one pretty much confirms that Type II diagnosis, but I agree with vlademirt that the underlying causes may be more complex.
I would think that comics would be the ideal place for a person in a world like the one Ruth lives in to get relationship advice.
This.
May not be healthy for them, but DAMNED ENTERTAINING for me! Spank that bongo… one of you! I don’t care which one of you wants to be the spanked bongo!
Your commentary is consistently very unpleasant
Not the healthiest? The relationships as depicted in Twilight and 50 Shades of Gray are healthier…
Let’s not say things we can’t take back, now…
Yes, let’s say thing we can’t take back now!
This. Mixed signals are one thing, but when there’s verbal harassment and physical abuse up in the mix…well, if I were Billie, I’d get the hell out of there.
I guess ever now and again that “now kiss” thing really works.
QUICK, WHO ELSE CAN WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN TO
ALL THE CRACK PAIRINGS
ALL OF THEM
Joyce/Motorcycle?
That’s not crack that’s canon.
She’s totally ridden that bad boy.
You think Sal knows?
Mike/Walky
Mike/Joyce
Mike/Sal
Mike/Joe
Joe/Ethan
Next strip we zoom out to reveal Lucy staring at her hands in shock.
Lucy could give Obi-Wan Kenobi a run for his republic credits.
THIS. OH GODS THIS. PLEASE WILLIS. PLEEEEASE.
I think someone saw how many hits he got last week and wanted a repeat.
Wait, these are done in advance. He must be psychic!
I mean… It’s hardly difficult to predict “Characters hooking up= hits”
called it
…Huh. I…but…she…they…it…is…wut.
Right… there…. with you.
Let me simplify this for you.
Females. Kissing. There are females kissing. On your computer screen.
Surely this isn’t the first time this happens to you…
Those some appropriate avatars. Also.
HATE FUCK HATE FUCK
The best part of this comment is that (at least at the moment) your avatar is Billie yelling.
I usally skip past the kissing to the god parts 😉
I meant “good”
I assumed you meant “god particles.”
Don’t get physical! Get PHYSICS!!
Ooh Mr. Higgs-Boson: A Scientist Fanfiction
Huh??? I feel like I just woke up on Bizzaro world!
Totally unexpected…
Uh, Damn you Willis….? Bless you? I… don’t even know anymore.
You couldn’t have a better gravatar.
I’d go with “Oh you!”
Oh… my… Cheese…
This explains why this website is hard as hell to access right now. The entire Internet coming to see if these two make out.
This is a highly acceptable outcome at this time. I’ll wait until later to see what the rationalization comes out to; Willis does well with those.
Also Billie’s face is great.
Willis single handedly crashed the internet.
Billie’s FAAAAAAAAACE got kissed!
And in the next cut scene they awkwardly find a pair of well worn shoes.
Welp. I ship it.
I’ve been expecting this for weeks and I still managed to be surprised. Well played.
… I’m ok with this
FINALLY.
Your gravatar makes that comment perfect.
Holy fuck, they actually did it. They actually did it. I mean, I would joke about it all the time, and I would think about it, but I didn’t think Willis would actually do it. And yes, I know about the thingy in the original Walkyverse, that doesn’t count for this incarnation.
Just.
Bless you Willis. I think.
But… he did it before. It was in the Roomies on a clip about why Roomies wouldnt be able to be a newspaper comic
That’s exactly what I’m talking about.
They did it? Right now, it looks more like Ruth did it. Next week we MIGHT see if Billie did too.
And maybe if Sal and Jason did.
But not until after Dorothy and Walky get to a hot and heavy state of affairs.
And Danny and Amazi-Girl. Or Amber. It matters not which.
Oh, and let us not forget Joe and that Cheerleader that wants to have sex with him.
In summary, things are gearing up for taking a third option: everyone banging everyone else AT THE SAME TIME.
But most importantly Mike and Your Mom.
And damn it, I forgot about Joyce and Ethan. Dat dream…
Pre-marital hankie-pankies for all!
As Joyce has demonstrated for us, the correct plural for hanky-panky is actually hankies-panky 😛
Speaking of Joe, what are the odds that he’s passing at this very moment?
Your reaction: I completely understand! 🙂
BLESS YOU WILLLLLLIIIISSSSSS
I’ve had it as the link for my gravitar for a while, but I never thought it would actually happen. Like… ever.
Right there with you. Right. There. With. You.
Apparently I am not longer suggestiveJoe. Perhaps that’s for the best.
-Seriously-?!
That was the last thing I expected to -actually- happen!
It’s secretly what I wanted the most, but still expected the least.
I know EXACTLY how you feel.
Yeah, count me in for that reaction too.
I…don’t…what
I didn’t expect them to actually DO it! *shock and awe*
Oddly enough, as much as I wanted Ruth/Billie, I never thought Willis would make it happen.
That aside, BEST BIRTHDAY SURPRISE EVER!
It’s your birthday? How old are you? How many birthday licks do you get?
Let’s find out.
1…2…3…
*CRUNCH*
3.
Win.
I’m 52 Today! I was conceived roughly about the time the Ruby Laser was invented.
Coincidence? I think NOT!
HAPPY BURTHDAY!!! Have a cell medal!
Danke… whats a cell medal?
Oooh…that tough to explain to a non-Rider fan.
Okay…in Japan there are heroes name Kamen Riders. They each have a unique set of powers that in most cases come from/is aided by a belt with is also in most cases their henshin/morphing device to change into their hero form.
Kamen Rider OOO’s ( O’s ) used Core Medals of different animals to form a three part outfit (one attribute of each animal) and his powers was based on his form.
Core Medals were the bricks, but cell medals were the concrete that held them all together. So when the bad guys got strong everytime they got a new Core Medal they needed more Cell Medals to hold the form together.
The guy who found all this stuff on a archelogy dig was fond of making Birthday cakes and would shout ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ whenever a new form was discovered or some major was revealed as ‘birth’ of a new character.
Probably the worse summary of Kamen Rider O”s you’ll see, but hope it helps.
I think I got the gist of it.
YESSSSSSS.
Ok, who did *not* call this?
Billie’s reaction is my reaction. Also DAMN YOU WILLIS!!!
I didn’t seriously expect that to happen, but I’m also fine with this. Now let’s see how Billie reacts after the eye-bulging.
…I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but if this really did surprise you, you might want to read Redux.
Heh. I guess what with me being such a Penny and Aggie fan, this shouldn’t surprise me.
read what?
EEEEEEEEEEEEEIKNEWITIKNEWITIKNEWITIKNEWIT.
…What, I had a long day to think about this as a possibility. Don’t lookit me like I’m crazy.
YES. – that is all
D= *has the power*
*channels Lucy*
The best part about this (other than that adorable second panel [can we get a blown up version, please?]) is that this has been a looong time coming. I don’t think this is something fan-prompted. It is a reasoned, calculated strip that I can only assume makes Ruth a more 3D character from now on, and not just a big old meanie.
Also, jeez. Ruth just did not let up about Billie’s weight. Does she have a thing for big gals?
Oh yeah, and what goes around comes around: What goes around comes around: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/02-choosing-my-religion/business/
No, the line is: Fat-bottomed girls, you make the rockin’ world go ’round.
Oh geez, I know that song by heart.
That’s my second fave Queen song. My fave being Bicycle
No love for Princes of the Universe?
Though I can understand no love for Bohemiem Raphsody. It’s a GREAT song, but man it’s overplayed on the radio. Queen has done other songs ya know.
Who Wants to Live Forever beats Princes of the Universe for me any day of the year… can’t speak of how they stack against the songs from other Queen albums in relation to all that though as it’s exceptionally complicated.
I thought Fat Bottomed Girls was a Spinal Tap song.
Ruth is being raised by Gordon Ramsay. Which explains a lot, really.
But she’s a cheerleader!
(Someone had to say it.)
Ahaha
GIMME A T…
GIMME An O…
GIMME A N…
GIMME A G…
GIMME A U…
GIMME An E…
WHAT HAVE YOU GOT?
Grammar Nazi rage because it should have been ‘An N’.
Now I have to assume that it’s some sort of do-it-yourself acrostic.
Toaster
Oven,
New
Girl.
Use
Excessively.
No no no, this is a better one
Threshing
Our
Newly
Guided
Union
Evermore
Mono!
French kiss the cheerleader, save the world…?
…I think I love you.
You’re more than welcome!
Ha. Haha. Hahahahahahahahahaha! Oh sweet merciful Baldr that was perfect.
Not anymore, she’s not!
And then Danny walks by and his brain explodes.
Come on… WHO DIDN’T SEE THAT ONE COMING?!?
Hey… I didn’t say you should stop…
Now you’re just fishing for views.
And it worked.
So much so that the effort it took to load this page made my laptop actually crash. The phrase “Damn you Willis!” has never been more appropriate.
It was a cunning plan, which did not fail. 😀
Executed by a cunning linguist, no doubt.
I like the cut of your jib. 😀
Actually, the remark was rather tongue in cheek.
Still counts. 😀
Or was that the other cheek?
SCHWING
God Bless you Willis! You are the maker of dreams!
So when do we get a naked version of this one on Tumblr?
I see what I can do, it might take a while though.
Your new avatar made that comment hilarious. Also, I’m really liking the new avatars.
Here is my naked edit of today’s comic.
(As there are no nipples to be seen, it should be SFW)
Thanks for a fun bit of editing, its naughty and suggestive without being too much on the naughty scale to share with a friend.
So much yes.
Aww, now that’s gonna come up when people google my name. There’s a weird job interview in my future.
“So… It seems in your spare time, you inspire nude webcomic edits?”
“That… That was another Brian Lynch?”
If it’s any consolation, I’d hire you. My organization needs more people to inspire nude webcomic edits!
It’s not that rare a name, you can get away with it.
Or just own it and be like “I’m that awesome, what can I say?”
Why is it so small? Why?
I’m not sure why, when I edited it, it was the same size as the original, for some reason Tumblr shrunk it.
Upload the full size one on tinypic or something. I must see it in full size. I must! lol
Ruth Billie nude edit full size
Hopefully…
well… …. …
i did not see that coming…
…..Willis, you can still surprise me after all these years. Interested to see what happens.
YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD! YOU DID IT!
jesus christ, ruth, billie literally just asked you to stop giving her mixed signals
this is the OPPOSITE OF THAT
What you don’t see right now is Ruth punching the inside of Billie’s mouth with her tongue.
She also asked what Ruth is to her. So I guess she got her answer to that particular question.
Quoth George Takei: Ohhhh myyyy
But what if Billie rejects her? I mean… that’s not allowed, is it? That’s kind of like committing suicide, isn’t it?
I’ve been thinking about that. Had Billie ever shown an interest in women in other stuff? It’s been awhile and I’ve never read “Joyce and Walky!” so I could be forgetting something.
According to TVTropes there was something between Billie and Ruth in the past of the Walkiverse – not that I would remember, I’ve read the whole thing 3 years ago.
Walkyverse – always have to correct myself.
Why do I imagine the Walkiverse to be the R63 version of the Walkyverse, where all the characters there are the opposite gender they are in the canon verse and nearly nothing else is different?
Because it works as a name and most likely does exist?
There was that one time with Ruth in Rommies! Redux, posted on the It’s Walky! archive on February 24, 2005.
She did try and kiss Sal that one time. I mean she was drunk but still…
Wait what?! I’m confused.. Totally didn’t see this coming… I think Billie will be too next page…
i would love to see them licky-licky style
So, the setup was perfect for this, but because of that, I didn’t expect it because I didn’t think that the plot would be so predictable, but that in itself made it unpredictable.
Well played, Willis.
Yessss
DAMN YOU WILLIS!
Thanks to this the “Now kiss!” comments will only grow in frequency.
Anyways great strip Willis, I appreciate that you can write characters who’s sexuality isn’t their defining feature.
In the year 2000 Dumbing of Age will consist of nothing but one strip wherein two characters are talking and the next strip wherein they are kissing.
That soon?
As he said…IN THE YEAR 3000!!!
Wait…she did it? She actually did it? Holy cow!
Wow. OMFG. I thought this was just going to be dangled like a carrot in an unending will they won’t they trope-verse limbo. Well dip me in chocolate, roll me in sprinkles and call me Bertha. Hot dayum.
Woot! cant wait to see what happens next.
Y’know, thinking back on Roomies, I don’t remember Ruth ever dating anyone. I guess it’s possible she was gay there to. Or so I can only guess as we never really got to know her all to well.
Unless this is all an act to screw royely screw with Billies head like someone up above mentioned.
You know, given how messed up Ruth can act, I would not be surprised if it was both at the same time.
Oh I am so happy I don’t even have words please don’t let this just be Ruth trying to mess with Billie’s mind or something I want them to be together so much!!
Your Ethan gravatar made me read that in a stereo-typical homosexuals voice. It was hilarious.
Your Doom gravatar made me read that in a stereo-typical “Dictator of Latveria” voice. It was hilarious.
Well, that was out of left field.
Squeeeeeee!!!!!!
Aww yiss…
Mother.
Fucking.
Lesbians.
Ahaha! Must have duck Gravatar!
Daw. Such a cute couple… now drag her to your room and make out all licky style.
Knew it!
Okay, first contact with an alien, not QUITE what I was expecting.
Anyone else having a Glee flashback? (Season 2, when the bully football guy cornered Kurt in the locker room, then kissed him…)
Will Billie return the kiss? Will she pull her away? Will we even get to find out on Monday?
Nope. Chuck Testa.
I LOL’d
I am glad someone else watches that show…. hub and I quote random things from the episodes all of the time… fountain of health… presidential car wash… DING…. mens cuts, only $2
We may get strange looks from people.
It has been years since a web comic made me say “WHOA!” out loud. Like, with my mouth in genuine surprise.
Excellent job!
I saw this and cheered, waking up my entire household. So worth it. Willis, you are my hero!!
Don’t do it, Billie! It’ll just be another abusive LUG relationship!
Do abusive LUG relationship occur that often?
VERY.
YES!
*cue “Let’s Get It On” background music*
😀
…………….what?
What?
WHAT?!?
Man Willis, you have suprised me. Not that I am anyone special, but still, that is suprisingly suprising!
My sentiments exactly, Aras.
I just came from the wonderful drama machine that is BCB, and I was utterly unfazed by an unexpected (yet unsurprising) kiss. I come here and Willis utterly throws me for a loop.
Hell, I think I’m going to end my comment how you started yours…
WHAT!?
BCB got me in the feels man.
This was jsut lolwut
So I went back to previous strips just to see if this was at least hinted. You gotta admit, Ruth was always up on Billie’s ass about SOMETHING.
You that was Ruth on Billie’s ass? You ain’t seen nothin yet *badum TISHH*
You thought that* dammit my brain fails
I’m glad I’m not the only one who saw it coming. I’m surprised that so many other people found it so surprising. Still, I am surprised how quickly it happened, given how long it usually takes for anything to happen in this comic.
Well shit. I thought this ship was a joke. It was canon. Was everyone in on this with Willis except me?
Yeah, we wanted to tell you before, but we just never found the right moment. Sorry you had to learn this the hard way.
Sorry you had to learn this THE BEST WAY
Perhaps there should have been one more option in that last poll:
Everyone except you.
WE CALLED IT O3O
HA! YES! Finally! Thank you! *strikes up the band and gets pom-poms for the cheer*
Awesome. Ruth is almost definitely messing with Billie’s head….isn’t she?
…I just realized, I don’t know. Ruth could possibly swing the other way. Alternate versions of the characters mean alternate sexuality is possible, and it’s college.
Huh. Well played.
1. All characters have the same sexuality.
2. That Billie and Ruth were indeed having sex. Walky made a joke about it just a few SP! strips ago; it’s in Redux.
Give me a link to this page or you’ll never see your family again.
Here and here.
Walky’s allusion is here.
I’d like to point out that Ruth took initiative seemingly out of the blue there too.
…spam filter ate my links. Go to the old It’s Walky! page and look up the strips for February 24 and March 1, 2005 – the free strips didn’t have names then, so it’s pretty easy even though the archive system’s gone wonky. Walky’s allusion is… September 24 of last year? Huh. Thought it was more recent.
I grabbed it out of the spam filter.
For the greater good!
This is the Walkyverse, all characters are attracted to females until proven otherwise.
Ethan hasn’t proved his love for men yet, so… does that mean Ethan is straight in this universe? 😛
Ethan’s homosexuality is a multiversal constant.
Pics or it didn’t happen. 😉
What the BALLS just happened?!
DoA, where AMAZING happens.
Where we’re going, we don’t need balls.
What if the real reason Billie’s eyes are bugging out in the 3rd panel was due to what Ruth is doing with her other hand?
That would be awesome?
Brandishing some manner of blunt instrument?
OH MY GOSH.
…THIS TOTALLY VIOLATES RESIDENT ASSISTANT RULES I’M TELLING ON YOU.
http://tinyurl.com/b9bymvm
how did ALL OF YOU CALL THAT
aaaa
We’re actually awakened Mages and willed it into being. Now for the paradox backlash…
A NWoD reference on the same page as ladies makin’ out? I have found my people.
I was thinking OWoD, but really either applies. =P
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
AND THEN THEY PART LIPS AND WE SEE JOYCE FREAKING THE FUCK OUT BEHIND THEM
This was my prediction. I will laaaaaugh…
Let’s see.
A Mormon makes her ramble.
An atheist leaves her in hiccups.
What will two lesbians kissing do to her?
Maybe it will make her faint?
Actually, now that you bring it up, could it be that this is leading up to Joyce finding out about Ethan’s homosexuality?
Laying the ground work for a domestic violence story arc?
I can’t say “I KNEW IT” ’cause really I only suspected it, but… awww yeah. n_n
O_o i…. uh… bwuh??….
…I’m surprised everyone’s surprised. It might just be that I had the window half-open yesterday, and I thought the S in “SLAM” was “SMOOCH.”
Premarital Hanky Panky FTW!
premarital LESBIAN hanky panky.
And that, my friends, is how you absolutely do *not* establish stability.
Well played, Mr. Willis. Well played, indeed.
Doing my best George Takei impression: “Oh my!” 🙂
I am actually surprised because I thought this was too obvious to actually happen. Some kind of inverse drama rule is at play that I can’t quite get my head around.
You were thinking of ‘The Untwist’ trope perhaps?
I have had this page open for four freaking hours and I can’t close it. Damn you, Willis. Damn you.
Willis, you are so good to us. I am never going back to mainstream media.
So true, mainstream comics like Garfield or For Better & Worse just cannot compete with DoA.
What I find hilarious is that, not only did Billie’s eyes just bug out in surprise, but her ears pointed up as well. I didn’t know “vulcanism” was an expression of shock, but damn if it doesn’t work as a visual cue . . . .
I believe the traditional cartoon sound effect for Billie’s reaction is “Poit!”
Ohohohoho! That’s superb.
And i can’t believe Joe’s advice worked.
“Now kiss!” 😀
@.@
Hooray! Now an attention-starved egomaniac and a violent control-freak have gotten together, and…hm. Somehow, I don’t think this relationship is going to work out very well.
(Then again, who knows? Mike and Amber turned out alright.)
The most romantic kiss is a kiss from a person you think is about the punch you in the face!
First Jess Day and now this? No week should be this awesome.
Awesome. Didn’t see that coming at all.
AHHH YES.
But they’re in the hallway! Everyone will seeeeeeeeeeee!
You guys cheering about this all know how gross it would be if Billie accepted the advances of a person who’s been bullying her constantly, right?
I know about that but I still like it. I made a post asking why we expect people who are being really mean to each other that it’s a subtext for wanting to take a trip to bone city.
But I think their relationship is a bit more complex than that. When Ruth came to Billie’s room they got along okay and when Ruth seemed upset Billie was concerned and asked her what was wrong.
True, but I don’t think the comic will portray it as nothing but good healthy romance if she does accept it. If this is the start of a relationship, I think they’ve got a long and complex path to go before they’ll really be at ease with each other and what’s going on, but as Pinja said, they’ve gotten along fine before, even if it was just one moment…
Billie’s snapped at Ruth, and Ruth’s snapped at Billie, but they’ve also tried to help each other sometimes (Billie asking Ruth how she feels and letting her into her room, Ruth clearing the elevator so Billie would get to class on time).
They’ve got some sort of…vague understanding, I think, and yesterday’s strip was Billie trying to get that understanding clearly explained.
In short: I know this is skeevy right now, but hopefully they’ll manage to trust each other eventually and everyone will live happily ever after! (Oh wait, Willis. Okay, live in a state of tolerable misery ever after.)
Yeeeah, both this and the thing with Sal are skeevy, but I doubt it is going to be potrayed a Good and Right moving forward. Willis does not normally just throw out creepy shit as if it were normal and desirable.
Yeah, I know. (And, in hindsight, calling it a relationship at this point seems a bit hasty. Ruth seems more attracted to Billie — Billie just seems like she wants a friend. We haven’t seen the aftermath of this yet, so it’s too soon to call.)
And about “Willis does not normally throw out creepy shit as if it were normal and desirable” — I know, and I don’t think he will. I was going to say he’s “made exceptions”, because Mike and Amber have a sort of unconventional relationship, but they’re aware that it’s unconventional and it’s not being treated as desirable. I think it’s going to be the same thing here, and if these two turn out to come into some sort of relationship, it’s not going to be portrayed as clean and healthy.
That’s another thing about Willis — he’s got so many characters, all with different standards of good and normal and healthy, that anyone can be called on anything that any one character finds unappealing.
(Also, sorry, but were you being sarcastic? No undertones on the internet and all that.)
I dunno, Amber and Mike were pretty creepy as was Robin and Leslie.
Think more that the character in DoA are complex multi-faceted. This budding relationship won’t be portrayed as purely good or purely bad but as it is in real life: Complicated and hard to understand for anyone, including the parties involved.
Yeah, basically this. Some characters’ definition of a relationship won’t work for other characters. Some aren’t sure what they’re doing, some know it looks strange but think it works for them and so on. (The Walkyverse’s most conventional relationship was probably the original Joyce/Walky, and we’ve come quite a ways since then. They were love-at-first-sight, troubles-along-the-way ones — the characters in DoA are more a stewpot of egos and interests and motives, where it doesn’t seem like anyone’s set up specifically for another.)
Christ I need to learn how to write shorter comments.
I am writing down your name so I can hunt for your comments just to encourage you not to stop.
Unless your reasons for stopping are based on a relationship of time and effort against impact and gain (I’m the sort of idiot who took five minutes to write this comment) rather than the fear of the invisible opinions.
Aw bless you, sweetheart. Honey. Other-old-woman-terms-of-affection.
Actually, it’s more to explain every single aspect of what I’m saying so that it won’t get misunderstood or misinterpreted, especially when it’s being said on the internet. If you’re dumping a lot of info at the same time, and one brick in the wall of text is ambigous, then the whole text can turn ambigous. Then if you’re met with a confrontation to that opinion, you might reply while having a wrongful idea of what the issue is (you think they have an issue with your opinion, they actually have an issue about what they construe as your opinion because you didn’t define it clearly enough). That just leads to senseless confrontation and bad-aftertastes all-around. Of course, I’m not saying that the crowd on this site are liable to misunderstand or misinterpret a comment, just…(etc, etc. You get the idea.)
Can I just say I love my Grav here? It makes me feel like the word-spouting nerdy kid in a 90’s TV show. Marcie’s just…got that kind of expression.
Actually, yes, thanks for your comments. My knee-jerk reaction of “but Ruth is terrible bully” is now being tempered by my “but Dave Willis is a very good storyteller and that’s why you read this comic” reaction.
To Jelli (because I can’t reply directly anymore) — no problem! Glad to be of use.
Oh, my reaction is entirely to the comments. I don’t expect the *writing* to go in a direction I don’t like.
Ohh, alright. Sorry, I misunderstood you.
It will be fun to watch the fan reactions when it all ends in fire. So many tears… So delicious…
Why fire when there are three, or is that four more elements. There is Earth … no that’s morbid or at best possibly rockin’ ….. Wind in her sails … um, yeah ……. Water. Yeah it could end in water, all wet like … uhm, oh, eh, right then. I think the last one was wood ….. Oh My!
I don’t see how it is “gross”. Creepy, maybe, but not gross.
I think he means the implications — if character A is mean bordering on abusive to character B, then kisses them and character A instantly forgives them with no problems. It’s pretty skeevy.
Maybe. Ruth might be working through some things too, and just not know how to express it ( obviously). Not just her sexuality, but the way she interacts with people. They have an adversarial relationship, but that doesn’t mean Ruth would be abusive, and Billie apparently isn’t actually scared of her, as a victim of abuse would be.
Yeah, true. Ruth has been pretty inconsistent in her behavior, and it makes sense that she’d be stressed and suddenly conflicted, faced with unfamiliar situations, and so on.
I wasn’t really taking that into account, though (that’s why I used character A and B rather than specifics, too — to reduce this situation to the basest components) because that would include complexities. If they try to define their relationship, try to sort things out, and basically Deal With Things as things arise, I’d be cool with that. If Billie forgave Ruth for past behavior right now, but later strips showed no indicator that such behavior was going to stop, with Billie still not consenting to it, I wouldn’t. (And, well, this is probably not what’s going to happen. Willis knows his stuff and wouldn’t portray it as excusable, yo.
…Probably not what’s going to happen unless this is leading up to a genuine domestic abuse storyline. Hm. Which could be interesting.)
That’s what I meant, basically — McG said it would be gross if Billie just accepted the advances of someone who’s been bullying her for a long time, Heatth said “I don’t see how it’s ‘gross'”, and I tried to explain. And here we all are today! (…And the explanation was probably redundant because ‘creepy’ and ‘gross’ could mean about the same thing in this context. Hm. Oh well.)
A little thing, though–it’s not that she would be abusive, it’s that she’s already sort of been by using violence in the past. She’s fought with her (although I think both those fights were started by Billie, so it’s mutual), she’s tripped her up for no stated reason except boredom (and, as you posited, possibly other things bubbling under the surface), and there’s the SLAM! in yesterday’s strip. She’s…pretty rough. And even if Billie isn’t scared of her (sort of arguable — she looks pretty dang worried in the first two panels of today’s strip, and in the last panel of yesterday’s), that doesn’t make it non-violence.
Phew. Uh. Time to sleep now, methinks.
I got that. And I agree with that principle (although I doubt it will be that simple. But it is still not “gross”. Only really creepy.
Yeah, alright. Then it’s just a matter of different choice of words.
Yeah. It is just gross kinda have bad implications in this situation, I feel, which is why I made a case out of it.
So what does it say about either of them if this is a dream?
I don’t think Willis does that whole “it was all a dream – tricked you!” stuff.
Bracing myself for a bunch of posts stating contrary evidence, but having read his strips for years I’m fairly confident making this statement.
Yeah. If it’s a dream, he makes it pretty darned obvious it’s a dream.
Case in point: Joyce’s dream from a couple of weeks ago.
Twist: That WASN’T a dream. This is
Your entire life has been a dream and Dumbing of Age is but a window into reality. The time in the comic is only slow relative to the speed of the time in your dream and time skips are when you enter a state of sleep other than REM.
Because only punk-bongo writer do that “It was all a dream shit” without making it obvious it was so from the start and Willis doesn’t look like a bongo to me.
That’s not what your mom said last night!
…wait.
What?
So Willis is similar to Marcellus Wallace?
This is so awesome! :’)
Odd some people were surprised at this though, especially with everyone having called it.
But I expect this to go pretty badly for them with at least one of them freaking out and running off before making up and talking it out later.
There was some strong foreshadowing of Ruth’s attraction to Billie the time they hung out and had beers together (a few months ago in real time), so I wouldn’t say that it came out of left field, if you’ve been paying attention. It would seem that a complicated and painful relationship is in the offing . . . Or maybe we’re going to see a girl fight in the next strip, or some extended self-torture on Billie’s part as she wrestles with whether to report Ruth for a sexual assault. It will be interesting any way it turns out.
Really? I didnt see signs from either one at all. This seems forced to me, and if I was in the same situation Id feel pity for Ruth and ask her if she had someone she could trust to talk to about all the stuff shes going through. If Billie actually liked what was happening, Id call bullshit. How anyone could be suddenly attracted to someone that treats them like shit makes no sense whatsoever to me.
I don’t think Billie was ever attracted to Ruth, just wanted her to be her friend as she has been having trouble making friends. So I suppose when Ruth waltzed in and started “hanging out” with her she thought there was a chance she could be making a friend who is not a nerd or loser in her eyes (I put quotation marks around hanging out because from what I saw it looked awkward).
Ruth, on the other hand, treats Billie extra special which is usually what someone who is attracted to a person would do. Yes, there are always other possible reasons for Ruth to treat Billie differently compared to others, but the fact that she picked Billie out of all the other people staying at the dorm to hang out with when she was feeling poorly and after treating her so bad, would indicate some sort of special attraction.
Her excessive meanness to Billie might be an indicator in and of itself. Maybe Ruth is emotionally stuck at that point in all our lives where you express you like a girl by yanking on her pigtails.
I’m pretty sure the meanness comes from a much darker place. Remember the poor relationship she has with her father? I bet she has received bad treatment and is really torn about her sexuality.
She has a poor relationship with her father? I thought she said her father was dead, and I don’t think she’s spoken about him otherwise. I may be wrong, though.
(But that’s a point — she may have had a very controlling father in a high position who taught her how to control people, know you’re in power, and so on. If she didn’t have many friends early on, then she might not know what to do about friendly or affectionate relationships.)
Her father is dead, although it’s possible that she was on the phone with her adoptive father/stepfather/other living father figure. Your theory might apply to her relationship with either or both of them, and I like it either way.
That’s not foreshadowing; it’s development. If you want foreshadowing, then let’s recall when Billie said “Rivalries like these always lead to Bone City.”
Called it!
My birthday just came early ^^
Only 185 comments? I would’ve thought…40,000 or so.
The comic had only been up 4 hours when you commented. 😛
My comment stands.
This is a dream sequence. That’s my bet.
But who’s?
I’m saying Joe if it’s a dream sequence
Does anyone else hear Paula Cole?
Like that will help “establish some fucking stability”…
Gosh, it’ll be very interesting to see how this will fold out.
Whelp it was good knowing Ruth this time around. Willis just signed her death warrent.
So predictable.
DAMN YO—– No… no… I must not…
YOU BASTARD!
I READ YOUR COMIC!
It’s the Showgirls mentality. It’s been that way all along! Oh my goodness. So many parallels. I just compared DoA to Showgirls. Halp.
(ahem) WIIIIIIILLIIIIIIIISSSSSS!!!
CALLED IT!
Hehe, saw this coming ^_^
“What is this?” I asked myself. “More fan art?”
Then I continued: “Wait… isn’t that the place where the real comic is supposed to… OH!”
Well, it’s time to give in. Perhaps if I wear a false beard everyone on the Billie/Ruth ship will believe I’ve been here the whole time. It’s a big ship, after all.
Maybe this arc will end like that scene in Amélie with everyone boning and having simultaneous orgasms: Sal/Jason, Billie/Ruth, Dorothy/Walky, Danny/Amber, Joe/Roz/Mary/Agatha/Sierra/Mandy/Grace, Ethan/Mike/Your mum
Either that or they fail to get together and it cut them them all being miserable and alone.
Yeah, but who ends up with the travelling lawn gnome?
That gets fired into space
… I have no idea what I can comment, but I will anyway just to keep the amount of time I had this page open much less awkward.
“Oh, I see, you’re the person who’s going to sexually assault me. Eat mace.”
Bluh. I saw it coming… but to actually happen! :O
Billie is surprised because this is the first time she’s made out with another chick while sober.
Okay, this. Never mind Book 2. I want Book 3 in print already!
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”…Yoko Ono, 1980
“AaI’m a touchy feely-holic!” – Homsar, 2007
WoW.
I know a lot of people called it (jokingly?), but I really didn’t see that coming.
Wow, I just missed the update for seven hours and I did not expect to find this. But then again, Willis has been known to throw a swerve every now and again.
Eeeeexcellent.
I did NOT see that coming …
(inhis Casey Kasem voive)This goes out to those crazy kids at doa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoXu6QmxpJE
For reals, I’m interested to see where this goes past “Yaaay, all-lady licky-style!”
That said, WOO! LICKY-STYLE!
OMG I DIDN’T THINK EVERYONE’S INVOCATIONS OF “NOW KISS” WOULD ACTUALLY WORK!
Despite my avatar, that was not my disappointed all-caps. 😀
We have the power!
Use it only for good! [I have a very broad definition of good]
Huh, I was actually not expecting that.
I guess all unresolved tension really IS sexual tension after all. Who knew?
I’m beginning to see a pattern here…
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAL!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
<(^_^^_^)>
That describes my feelings so well!
I think my brain just imploded….
Part of me saw it coming, but another part of me didn’t think it would actually happen. Holy crap!
Well, I’m sleeping well tonight.
This Month on Dumbing of Age, Everybody gets some…Except Joyce
Joyce gets PTSD nightmares 🙁
Oh My!
Oh No!
Oh LOL!
*Bursts through a wall* OH YEAH!
Welp, now I feel like a hypocrite. This is no more good-for-the-long-term a start than any of the other relationships have had, but I’m still pleased to see it. Stupid double standards.
Also, I hereby proclaim today Lesbian Friday. Sound good? Good.
Well, Mike/Amber worked and there are parallels here, so maybe you’re subconsciously expecting a mix of awesomeness, horribleness, and epic hatefucks?
I’m pretty sure I’m just pleased because The Gay is underrepresented in media, so every time I see it I have a fist-pump reaction regardless of how I’d feel in any other circumstance.
Willis has a reputation now among fans for being The Gay Jesus of Webcomics, but he doesn’t overwhelm all the rest of the media I consume where they’re extremely, painfully rare, and in spite of all the jokes they don’t actually overwhelm his straight characters, either.
But I did like Mike/Amber, when all was said and done.
Wait, there was a straight Jesus?
Well. I saw this coming.
Wow. I hope Billie punches Ruth into motherfuckin’ week-after-next.
I VOTED BILLIE/RUTH! And I laughed and said “Like that’s ever going to come close to happening, but now I laugh again!
The Billy/Ruth shipping is successfull
Yay! My avatar’s now Danny! <3 <3 <3
Oh, and I cheered at this comic.
Is Ruth gay in this universe?
Ruth was gay in the other universe.
She was bi in the other universe. Presumably she’s bi in this one too. Or, given lack of other evidence, yep, she’s gay. Until or unless she starts declaring her love of boy-parts.
This is going to be the Ethan thing all over again isn’t it?
You should’ve been more argumentative in your post. Your gravatar would’ve been hilariously defensive. But anyway, I don’t remember her interacting romantically in IW with anyone other than Billie, so I’m gonna stick to my contention, but it’s not like it matters. People are who they are. We can slap labels on them all we want, but they’ll be who they want to be, do what they want to do, and kiss who they want to kiss, regardless. Ruth could well be straight in both universes, and Billie is a frustrating and confusing exception, which is where the hostility came from.
This is true.
There was that one dude in the flashback, wasn’t there? Then again, it wasn’t exactly a good relationship if I recall correctly.
There was indeed that dude in the flashback, and it wasn’t a good relationship. She thought he understood him, he turned out to be playing a role for her affections.
It was this guy. He may seem familiar.
(After reading It’s Walky!, I sort of vaguely thought, but I never really checked. There you are, though.)
Oh, so he’s a horrible jackass in BOTH universes. Good to know.
Universal constants so far:
1: Ethan being gay
2: Mike being an asshole
3: Ryan being a jackass (do not confuse this with being an asshole)
As I said further down to someone else in a comment chain that also included you: Willis has made a point of saying in previous comments that Ethan being gay is a constant because being gay is genetic. So Ethan being gay in one universe or another should be no more reason for surprise than his having black hair and a square jaw.
Same thing goes for Ruth, Billie, Leslie, Robin, and for that matter: Amber, Joyce, Walky, Dorothy. Straight characters stay straight, gay characters stay gay, bi characters stay bi. Characters can be more or less accepting of their sexual orientations in one universe, but those sexual orientations are still the same.
Cuss the eventual lack of direct reply — but yeah, I’ve seen Willis’ comment. (He said it with a very witty method, too.) And I know sexual orientations stay the same. This was mostly left as a joke, because the ‘universal constants’ thing has been joked about before, I think.
[scrapes feet] Sorry.
Awww it’s okay! I’m sorry I misunderstood. 🙂 I liked Willis’s response a lot, so I’ve been mentioning it around. Your response to my babbling analysis lower down made me smile, btw. While I’m commenting, and on my phone.
Hot if it wasn’t, you know, sexual harassment. Yick. Kissing someone you’re in a position of power over, after bullying her and then being physically violent … No thanks.
Your picture is how I immagine you look whenever anyone else has fun.
…. but yeah… ruth is soooo fired IRL.
Seriously. This is sexual assault. You can (and should) be arrested for this.
I pity the place that would lock someone up over a single kiss. Lose your position of power? That makes total sense. Restraining order for repeating this Totally. Calling the cops over being kissed once not over your objections but before you had a chance? Grow up.
What’s the bet Ruth is just messing with her?
Well that was… unexpected. Not unpleasant, though.
In an unrelated note, I’m trying to sign up for the Comic Chameleon iOS beta, but I’m not getting the confirmation email. Any advice? Anyone?
Perhaps tweeting them will help? https://twitter.com/comicchameleon
I didn’t sign up ‘cuz I don’t got an iAnything.
And on Monday the camera pulls back to show Billie with a knife stabbed through her belly.
Nonono, see, it goes on for a few panels where Billie refuses to hold her. Then Ruth runs into her room, shouting how kissing to kill time is dumb, and gargles in the bathroom, but it’s only to hide her tears.
Oh wait, she isn’t holding Billie’s nose closed, never mind.
Ruth is Asuka?? well I can see that but I have a hard time seeing Billie as Shinji.
Well, Billie does seem close to a mental breakdown, does that count?
Billie: “I’m so fucked up.”
Gah! *twitch*
I may not have seen this series, but I have a few assholes as friends who tell me of such things – if I want to hear them or not.
*jaw drops*
Why DIDN’T I see this coming?!
Come one Billie, go with it, GO WITH IT!
HOLY WOW
You guys totally called it!!!! And I still didnt expect it!
That’s exactly why I didn’t expect it!
Ahh! I’m Joyce and I’m reading such sinful things!
Well, now we know this isn’t gonna work out.
In fact, I bet $5 that no one ends up happy next week. Because Willis won’t let happiness thrive.
He and Randy Milholland were separated at birth; photoshop an unkempt beard and less hair onto a picture of Willis if you don’t believe it. Theirs is a bloodline of misery.
Willis is bad at times doing that, but now you’re just making him sound like Matty Collector and that’s just wrong.
NO ONE should be compared to Matty Collector.
You down with OTP? Yeah, you know me!
Random thought: Suppose Billie and Ruth -do- hook up. how do you think Billie’s sexually frustrated lesbian boss at the newspaper would react to that news?
She’d demand a threesome
Or at least a recording. For the story about the RA scandal, of course.
Actually, that could be an interesting story. Daisy hears about the pending scandal but is unable to be objective and does something stupid.
YESSSSSSSSS
This…is an odd time to bring this up, but I really enjoy Billie as a character. Some days I dislike her as a person, and other days my heart goes out to her. She feels very “real” to me. She may actually be my favorite part of this comic.
I totally agree, and it is nice to see someone else express it so well. There are other characters that feel more fun, like Joyce, but Billie seems much more real and well-rounded.
“Billie” … “well-rounded” …
*badum-ching*
Agreed! Someone of the fanart-makers said “she’s not a very good person, but I want her to be” and I think that sums it up alright. She hasn’t often been nice, but she’s clearly able to when it matters (analyzing Joyce’s condition at the party), and she’s had moments of insecurity that show there’s something going on behind the default too-cool-for-you confidence. She’s not as bombastic or over-the-top as some of the other characters, either, so I think she feels more real because of that.
…Willis writes his strips like a really good soap opera. Drama! Excitement! Actually caring about the characters!
Billie is my fave too. She seems mean superficially but when it comes down to it she’s always been there for her friends, she’s brave and stands up for herself and she’s funny. She’s very complicated and that makes her real and that makes me care.
People in the comments are far too judgmental of all the characters. Danny and Dorothy also get way too much shit.
Re: Danny and Dorothy — yeah, I can see that. Danny hasn’t exactly been showing stellar behavior, but his entire conceivable future was crushed and he’s still recovering. Dorothy’s pretty reserved and professional, but she’s focusing on what’s important to her, which you can’t really be faulted for.
Plus Sal got lots of crap when she went off with Jason, and Joyce got lots of crap when she freaked out on Dorothy for saying her and Walky were going to sleep in the same room…I can see why people get mad at characters in their more unsympathetic moments, but it’d be weird if they just didn’t have them.
It won’t show up for me. But I can see al the comments and I just wanna see the licky-style make outs pleaseeeee
Over 300 comments.
I am shocked. =P
In seriousness, it’ll be interesting to see where this goes.
Legitimate slip of the feels?
Further mindgames?
Purely blatant fanservice?
…I suppose it could be more than one of those, hehe.
It has been quite a number of months since any DoA comic had over 500 comments.
I predict Billie pushing Ruth off and running away. Only to later decide she liked it and wants more, but now an awkwardness hangs in the air between them until Billie gets the courage to let it be known.
Concurred
…You’re both Ruth. Uhm.
I’m not actually Ruth and I think it’s highly likely neither is Aeyt.
But I can’t confirm that proposition for sure.
Guest writer for this strip, M. Night Shyamalan.
“What a Twist!”
Aw, man. Now we’re going to have to wait until next week to see if Ruth ever answers Billie’s question. =(
OMFG FINALLY WOO
After every third comment yesterday predicted this, it just seems cliche now.
Woo’s in this?
But I don’t see a talking racoon or his tween owner Sandra anywhere in this strip!
Comedy is tragedy plus timing.
This is hilarious.
WHAT
Your avatar is perfect
And the ironic part in all this is both girls are 100 % straight.
Wow, great page, I honestly didn’t expect this, precisely because it was too obvious. So we got the double fake out, well done sir.
And I see the forum is exploding, over 300 comments already, are we going for a new record, I wonder?
Just noticed, maybe they aren’t kissing? Perhaps Ruth is giving CPR, as Billie’s chest seems to have inflated in the last panel.
“And the ironic part in all this is both girls are 100 % straight.”
The strip seems to present evidence to the contrary
Pretty sure I’ve seen strips with over 600 comments before, actually. Let me dig ’em up.
This and this.
…Sorry for making you relive those memories, folks.
The ironic part is your certainty that both girls are 100% straight. What do you base this on? Are you just assuming it because straight is “the default” and unless a character tells you otherwise, they’re 100% straight?
Because that is not how anything works, buddy.
I was trying to be funny, obviously I failed.
triple reverse anti-twist
Wish I could say I didn’t see this coming
I must turn in my teenage boy card, because I just squealed like a little girl.
Come, one and all, to witness the greatest girl/girl kiss in webcomicdom since Rosemary!
(If you just Googled that… mission accomplished.)
Billie, it’s hard.
Being a kid and growing up.
It’s hard and no one understands.
Lemme see if I got this right. Willis has already made all the strips in which each couple mentioned in the poll get it on, and the order in which they are posted depends on the results of the poll? If that’s the way it is, then you are a devious mastermind, Willis! 😀
I know we all joked about this for a while, but I gotta admit, I didn’t see this coming. Love it though. 😀
S•E•X•Y•T•I•M•E•S! LiCkYsTyLe!
My Headcanon Explosm!
I should have seen this coming. The fat jokes, the ruined cheerleader outfit, the overlooking of booze in her room, the occasional physical abuse…
If this is sarcasm, let me just say that at least Ruth has obvious genuine issues. She’s not a Brooding Mysterious Stranger with a Secret Heart of Gold and she won’t be encouraging anyone to go into a relationship with the intention of fixing an abusive asshole.
I think Ruth could really use a stable, supportive friend, but there are limits to what that friend has to put up with.
On the other hand, the last strip DID just demonstrate pretty baldly that Ruth can be a perfectly sweet and thoughtful RA, and she just has a hate-on for Billie. While not ideal, lashing out is the way some people express attraction (like the adult version of pulling on pigtails), and with same-sex attraction, which often brings with it a whole truckload of self-loathing, lashing out can be the result of self-hatred and learning to accept yourself can eliminate that.
I think I just took a very long, roundabout journey to “Billie would be within her rights to be upset and walk away from this, but Ruth could really use someone in a supportive position, and it IS possible that Ruth’s abusiveness could go away with support and ideally some form of therapy, and then maybe these two could have a healthy relationship”.
But this is college, and Willis’s very title drives home that college is a place where a lot of people make a lot of really dumb decisions.
That’s a pretty good conclusion, there, especially the “Billie would be within her rights” and “there are limits to what that friend has to put up with”. Ruth just seems…unaccustomed to the whole situation. That “she can be a perfectly thoughtful RA” thing is interesting, too, because it seems that kindness and smiles is her ‘professional’ response — when she has to deal with unaccounted-for situations (such as the stragglers in one of her early strips), she uses her own methods, which often seem to involve force and intimidation. It may be something similar here — this is unusual to her, outside the scripted-responses zone, so she deals with it using those same methods.
I didn’t really take into account the issues she might be facing with her own sexuality, but you raise interesting points. It’s also possible Ruth’s lashing out because she wants Billie to avoid her, and then she may not have to deal with these emotions…but she also seems to want to make contact with Billie herself, judging from the fact that she was the one who approached her when they watched sports together. (This is an even longer shot, but back in It’s Walky, young Ruth had a great disdain for the ‘popular kids’ in school with no perspective on the outside world, and Billie may remind her of that. Of course, this Ruth may not have had those same experiences.)
As you say, it’s definitely not simple, and both parties seem uncertain about the whole situation.
I do agree that Ruth needs a stable and supportive friend, and that’s also what Billie needs right now, and I’m not sure she’s fully equipped to handle this situation. Even if she is, I’m not sure she trusts Ruth enough to think this is genuine. And even if she was, well…as you say, they’re just in college. She may not know what to do. Wherever this goes from here, though, it’s going to be Interesting-Ville. (Excitement Valley?)
…So I basically commented to say “yes, yes, yes and yes”. This is the most redundant comment ever.
Plus, you sure can’t tell me that the “they fight all the time, he’s an asshole to her and she’s a bongo to him” trope isn’t plenty common in straight romance. I’m pretty much looking at every action movie ever, I think because the less time you have to devote to your romance the easier it is to just go with a
loathsometrope.Amazi-Girl The Action Movie needs to happen, just so that Amber and Mike can be an interesting version of this trope.
(…Although not an exactly straight version, since Amber isn’t a jerk to Mike. Hm.)
YES, YES!
*Fistpump*
OH – SNAP
“You’s my wimminz now, Billie! You’s m’bongo!”
Well, that’s one way to end a fight.
“Sexual tension just started snapping everywhere. It was called the Boneularity.”
So is this exclusive to this verse or is Ruth lesbian in all of them?
Ruth had a thing with Billie in It’s Walky (although I’m not 100% about that — it showed up in a series of more humorous, forth-wally comics) and at Amber and Mike’s wedding, Walky mentions that “Billie made out with our babysitter”, that babysitter being Ruth.
Willis has made a point of keeping characters’ sexuality consistent across universes, since, as he pretty much said in response to a commentator, “It’s genetic, and genetics don’t change.”
Oh damn, he said that? My respect just keeps growing.
He did! He made a comment on Shortpacked’s AU a week or two back to a bunch of people wondering why Ethan’s sexuality seems to be “a universal constant”, and he said something like: “Ethan also always has black hair and a square jaw, yet no one ever asks me about that.”
Commentator: “But those are genetic traits, and everyone knows it’s personality that chan… Saaaay.”
And then Willis said bingo or like’d the comment or something. It was very, very telling.
“It’s genetic, and genetics don’t change.”
But if I recall correctly, Billie wasn’t half asian in the other realities.
… Did they ever say she wasn’t? The Walkypedia says her Walky!verse version is half-Chinese.
Correction: Billie wasn’t ORIGINALLY intended to be half-Chinese, but it was a popular fan assumption, and Willis decided he liked it so he made a point of validating it later on and here. Willis changed his mind about what her genetics had always been, but they didn’t literally change between universe.
And on this day a thousand ships lifted out of the water and flew into the heavens, blessed with the promise of the official cannon, they would never sink again.
CALLED IT
wow, you people called it… i never would have seen this…
wow, you people called it… i never would have seen this coming…
WOOT
damn i did not see that coming xD
i wonder how this will turn out.
I repeat: That escalated quickly.
Well done Willis well done. 🙂
*begins slow clapping*
I had my money on an Ethan/Mike shamefuck. Damn you, Willis!
Your mom is Ethan?
Of course not! Ethan is secretly Amazi-Girl.
panel 2: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/01-pajama-jeans/jurisdiction/
YES!
Welp, looks like Ruth’s done as an RA.
New betting pool: who loses their job first? Ruth or Jason?
Side pool: Will Mike be involved somehow?
If she can get away with throwing people around, I think a little kiss is going to go unnoticed by boss people. This is also a webcomic universe, so please don’t give Dave ideas. DAAAMN IIIITTT!
Didn’t see that coming O.O
I was thinking she was just going to storm off!
Right in the FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!
/slowclap
I keep replaying it over and over from the Pie scene…epic.
Yeeesh, 450 comments in just over 24 hours. I guess kisses are commentary gold.
Yeah. I, like many, called that yesterday. Wasn’t really expecting it until I couldn’t even get on here because of site timeout today.
Throughout history, artists have yearned for acknowledgement. As such, when art began to appear on the internet, be it in the form of pictures, videos, or writing (particularly fanfiction), those artworks which had positive, quantifiable responses, generated further works, as the artist attempted to sate their thirst; usually works of a similar nature, so as to capitalise on whatever factor brought the initial windfall. Artists without such a response went elsewhere.
Consequently, those who appreciate art on the internet – including this webcomic – are trained to respond more often when they like what they see, because they believe it will bring more of the same.
Then there’s the secondary effect, which is the one that’s dragging me in; people comment more when there appear to be more people to read what they write (and possibly reply) – so there’s an exponential growth factor to comment counts. But after a small period of time, the count certainly becomes more dependent on the time that has passed since the comic was first posted.
*cough*mygravatarthatno-one’severcommentedoneventhoughImadeitmyselfwithVBAcode*cough*
Noce try, but blatantly false imho 😀
I have been reading Willis’ work for over a decade. And this is the very first time I have felt the need to register and comment. This one moment is one of the most shocking/intriguing/sweet(?)/memorable in the entire series.
Worth noting that the two characters involved are such rotten people otherwise, to see such tenderness is like a glass of ice water in the face.
Wow, look at all the comments.
Both surprised and not at the page, wonder how Billie’s going to react!
Ding dong the witch is dead.
O.O
Why do epic webcomic things only ever happen on Fridays.
Why.
You realize, of course, that Willis is going to skip to an entirely different scene on Monday, leaving us with TWO different romantic scenes occurring off stage.
It’s alright. We already know that they’re going to end badly for all parties involved.
I mean, this is Willis we’re talking about.
Sal/Jason, Billie/Ruth, Joe/Cheerleader…wonder if Walky and Dorothy have gotten back from shopping.
(There’s a thing — how does time work in Dumbing Of Age? I mean, most often, it seems like interactions occur, then, after they’ve ended, we skip away to other interactions that happen later, giving an illusion of real-time progression. However, it’s sometimes been the case that we’ve left scenes, mostly due to cliffhanger reasons, then when the perspective comes back it’s from where we left off. Which couldn’t happen if all interactions are after one another. Probably they all just happen in vague blocks of time, so that interactions go on roughly at the same time but in different places.)
Personally I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Joe/Ethan
I hadn’t considered that, and it could be interesting! Sexuality stays constant, though, and I don’t think we’ve ever seen Joe attracted to a man. (Have we? Someone, prove me wrong.) Of course, that’s not saying he can’t be, just that he hasn’t been attracted to a man yet.
Ok, I honestly did NOT see that coming…
This should be interesting.
Holy Cow!!!
I wounder if the mystery person Ruth has been having an issue with is her girl friend?
What, the person she talked to on the phone? She said sir like fifteen times. Or did I miss a strip?
It’s a part of their dom/sub relationship. When strap-on’s on, feminism’s gone.
…Well, that puts a new spin on Peppermint Patty.
Really? I’d heard that theory before. I think it might even have been on Willis’ Tumblr for some reason.
It was bound to happen but, so soon?
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
As a rule, I disapprove of any DoA relationships that occurred previously in the IW universe, just because it is so refreshing to see the characters avoid such well-trod grounds.
This does not fall into that rule because (1) two strips do not make a ground well-trod, and (2) this looks like a hell of a lot of fun.
I’m really hoping that Willis lets us get to the fun part (i.e. these two coming to terms with reconciling what they are feeling now with what they felt before and what this may or may not mean to them in the future, and what they are willing and/or ready to do about it) and that he isn’t just ship-teasing or starting an excruciating long no-real-progress standoff with these two tsundere-ing each other for a couple years before either giving in or giving up.
Please, no, Willis. Don’t do that. That’s a cheap trick and a crutch for writers who can’t figure out how to make their story interesting after the lovers get together. We know that you are better than that. Keep striving.
—–
And as a postscript, let me add that I’m not sure what to think about the Sal/Jason hanky-panky. On one hand, this has been done before, sorta. On the other hand, both of them are in such different places in regards to shared history and tragic pasts and all that crap, that in many ways, it’s a brand new scenario that just happens to have two very similar characters in it. In any event, it’s much much better than any DoA Sal/Danny would ever be.
I don’t mind any relationship reoccurring that wasn’t in Shortpacked + Joyce/Walky.
Everything else was too long ago for me to care. It also doesn’t seem like Ruth/Billie was a big deal
Your gravatar makes it weird whenever you agree with someone. But I agree with you about the old relationships: the characters aren’t exactly analogous to their “current” Walkyverse selves but they have even less in common with IW because IW’s premise not happening is kinda the point here.
..Brb my brain just blew outa both of my ears.. o__o
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS
I bet that this shipping will actually work out, while Jason will refuse Sal’s approach (for now at least) 😛
Just to confuse people who expected the other way around 😉
Awww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other! <3
is there a Android app coming in the near future?
Eventually! http://www.comicchameleon.com/android
So glad this strip didn’t happen 2 months later.
I personally think Ruth is being legit here, all my bias aside. There are indicators. Look at how tense Ruth is in the first panel, then there is a shift in her attitude, to a more somber look, then she completely loosens up at the end. I doubt she would be so calm in the final panel, if she was just trolling Billie, i think she would be more tense, for shes not only kissing someone, shes kissing Billie. She would be tense to defend herself against Billies reaction. And shes not.
Also, this is epic timing on Ruths part, with Billie not only feeling “Less popular” But also having some issues on the sexual department, just being ignored by someone she was coming onto (Joe) and the whole reason she was so upset in the last strip.
Overall I think this entire relationship can easily be deduced. Ruth is much like a very young girl who suddenly develops feelings for another person. Feelings she either has had bad luck with, or that are new to her. Either way, she reacts much like the young girl, and instead of acting nice, acts mean. Atleast this is how I’ve read into Ruth, who happens to be my favorite DOA character.
Anyways, excellent strip David, really caught the attention of alot of people here. I just hope it goes the way I’m hoping it goes. Too many times I’ve had my favorite pairings go to hell and end up ruining the comic for me.
Yes because spending quality time with someone you care about (although how much quality is in getting drunk while watching sports is up for debate) and also clearing out an elevator so that same someone isn’t late for class are both mean things. Although the tripping in the hall in between those things may be typical of getting attention through meanness.
She does do some odd things. Being nice but also being mean. Who knows. I still stand by my “Playground Romance” Theory though. 😛
heck yes. thank you. thank you very very much.
Now kiss back, Billie. Kiss back hard.
I take it this is the episode where everybody gets laid.
This will either go very well or very poorly… I’m entirely unsure which.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present you with a quote made by Billie on August 12 of last year in response to Sarah’s story about her freshman year:
“Whatever. Sarah and Raidah should just make out and get it over with. I’ve seen enough to know that bitter rivalries like these ALWAYS lead straight into bone city.”
I don’t know if I really have a point here, but I find this so much more amusing now.
Oh hey, I’m back to a Joe Gravitar! Excellent. My lewd comments never feel quite right unless they have have Joe’s suggestive smirk to go along with them.
Nothri, I love you. Day has been made ^^
You deserve as many +1s as I can spare.
I think somebody else mentioned this, but you gave date and quote so you win the comment section.
Totally calignous for each other. Figures they’d be each other’s kismesis.
Homestuck for the win.
Well, I definitely didn’t see that one coming.
Neither did Billie, from the sound of it.
Ruth might later, though, if she plays her cards right. Heyo!
I think the most important thing to wonder about here is, if Billie tweets this, what will she say?
https://twitter.com/Billie_B97
You know, it’s little things like these twitter feeds that shows how much Willis cares for his comics.
Well, those and the extra he occasionally references, like butt-taco.org. And the deep background planning he does on the comics. And the fact that he’s putting put multiple comics at once…
Okay. So it was already apparent. But these twitters are cool too. =)
New Theory. The poll was just to screw with us. Willis is going to have a montage comic of almost every character getting it on with their chosen person, with the last 2 panels being Joe with like 4 girls, and Dina or Sarah sitting alone.
Calling this right now. Next week, (tomorrow), we will jump to another pairing. I personally think it’ll be the long awaited Danny/Amazi-girl pairing.
We’ll have a Valentine special with all three pairings, Sal/Jason, Billie/Ruth, and Danny/Amazi-girl that will involve love, confetti, and possibly at least one heartbreak. Not going to pretend I can guess which couple won’t work. Maybe he’ll make all three fall through and have us cursing “DAMN YOU WILLIS!” once more.
“Maybe?”
You’re being awfully optimistic.
You know, this could actually work out.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/03-the-first-step-towards-recovery/unimpressed/
But no, seriously.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/05-saturdays-all-right-for-slighting/bonecity/
I’ll be in my bunk.
YAAAAY! Finally!
This comic is now awesome.
Well…. I kind of saw that coming, but thought it was the 12 year old part of my brain. At least I’m not wrong.
Hmmm….
*sharp intake* OH!
… how did i NOT see this coming?
Aw, dangit, this thing was SO CLOSE to having over 600 comics.
Oh snap! I had a feeling but I thought the author was just throwing us a curveball <3
OH
SNAP
of all the things.
Seriously.
This.
Wow.
WHAT. THE. HECK.
My mind == blown
Wow yes, fucking called it but agin just jokeing like I said unpredictable…then again should have sa that comeing ith the bally ball tournament thing
On a side note: FUCK YA this is greatist webcomic of all time!
YES! MY ALT UNIVERSE SISTER DID IT! YESSS <3
Wohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
THESE ARE TOTALLY HEALTHY POWER DYNAMICS AND DO NOT WARRENT CLOSER EXAMINATION OF ANY KIND
Not THAT’S a plot twist.
oh my god it happened~ *does a little squee*
im such shipping trash arent i?