When you speak I hear silence
Every word a defiance
I can hear, oh, I can hear
Think I’ll go where it suits me
Moving out to the country
With everyone, oh, everyone,
Before we all become one
Tell yourself that you’re lucky
Lying down never struck me
As something fun, oh, any fun
Stabbing pain for the feeling
Now your wound’s never healing
‘Til you mumble, “Is it bad?”
Before we all become one
Oh we all, we all become one
Oh we all, we all become one
Oh we all, we all become one
Oh we all, we all become one
Start breathing
Start leaving
Before we all become one
RUN
Oh we all, we all become…
Finally another person who played Transistor. Despite all the criticism that game got (mainly for not living up to Bastion) it had some truly great music.
Mark my words, Phallustrator, The Ultimate Porn Lord shall rise again, encapsulating our world with crudely drawn sets of flaccid phalluses and testicles once again!
. . .
That was the stupidest thing I have ever typed. Ever.
People need to understand the difference between two people who are fucked up being in a relationship and a relationship that is fucked up. The two are not necessarily compatible.
Apparently it was late last night. Yes, I did mean something along the lines of “mutually inclusive”. Not sure what word I actually wanted to use, but whatever.
This line is actually always so funny to me, because it’s not like people were dying like flies before he said that. In the season with Nine not a lot of people actually died. So, like, thanks Doctor, but everybody living is really not as big a deal as you’re making it ;p
I’ve seen very little of the classic series, that’s true. And I do know that the Doctor is clearly talking about all the people who’ve died in his 9 (10) regenations up to that point, but, like, Rose doesn’t know about any of those. And I did specify Nine’s season. Just… in recent years there has been SO much more death on this show, just in terms of volume, that’s really what made me say that. Nine’s season felt almost quaint in comparison when it comes to the death toll lol.
So true. One time I tried to play the ‘find a story where no one dies’ game and I could only come up with two, one of which was psychological horror and the other of which was incredibly depressing (though to be fair I haven’t seen everything, and idk if something like Mission to the Unknown was death-free).
Applies to all of the show, really. There’s only a handful of stories where no one dies post 2005 either.
In retrospect, yeah, totally. He’s just come off being The War Doctor. But at the time? I’m just saying, at the time Nine’s season aired I was a bit like, yeah, ok, no one died, big whoop xD
I think it was Davies’ and Moffat’s way of expounding on the Doctor’s back story to new viewers, who may not have watched the old series. The line implies that the Doctor has a past full of death, and that a day where no one dies is like a splendid miracle to him.
In addition to what everyone else said, at least one person died in every single episode leading up to that. And almost if not every episode after it too for that matter.
Maybe I’m just judging him by Eleven, who felt like a regular old killing machine compared to Nine, just in terms of sheer volume lol. I mean, you do have a point, people did die in Nine’s season. But it *feels* (at least to me) like it’s a lot less people than these days.
I always thought of it from a “I wasn’t able to save this ONE person that I actually met” being felt more keenly. One death is tragic. two thousand is a statistic and all that.
The weird thing, though? Way, way more characters actually died during the Ninth Doctor’s tenure than the Eleventh. It’s ironic that Moffat wrote The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, because he has such a huge aversion to actual consequences for his characters. They never die – they always end up trapped in the past or stranded or something. Seriously, make an actual bodycount sometime. I never noticed until it was pointed out to me, and I was honestly surprised.
The Jonestown Massacre is a rare exception when name brand word association as a subtle threat to this nation’s free trade does less harm to the smaller company.
I find that the worst thing to put into Kool-aid is hope, since it never tastes as good as it did when I was a kid.
This doesn’t seem to be a problem with Country Time. Then again, I didn’t grow up with Country Time.
We tend to call that combination in Mexico “aguas locas” (crazy water). Is the kind of stuff drunk people prepare when there are only cheap ingredients available XD God help you if the only vodka available is “Oso negro”
My college roommate used to make what we called “death punch”, which was a gallon jug of cherry Kool-Aid made with a bottle of 151 rum and the balance with water. It would get people way drunker way faster than expected, and caused horrific hangovers.
Eh, I’m not buying that the relationship is insanely self destructive. The only one of those that I can buy that with is Ethan/Joyce, and then only for Ethan. Nearly everyone has self destructive tendencies, but the relationships aren’t it.
pretty much, Ruth and Billie may be kind of broken, but together they can fill the missing parts of each other to enough for one whole functional human being.
Except that they’re prone to exactly the same kinds of issues, so it’s insanely easy for them to get caught in a negative feedback loop with each other.
They clearly need to deal with their personal shit, individually or together, but that’s not the same thing as the RELATIONSHIP being self-destructive. They won’t last as a couple if they can’t deal with their problems, but the two of them being together has yet (for me, anyway) to be proven as definitively a bad thing.
It’s not like they even have to be in a serious relationship. I doubt they even know what they’re doing. I think they really just need each other because they’re the only people who understand each other’s scars. They’re attracted to each other because it at least feels better to be broken with someone, than be broken alone.
Meh, some people never shake their demons in life. They might as well find someone who is equally haunted and try to eek out a little happiness.
After all, the stable people (or rather, the people who think they are stable) would just send them packing with a to-do list of things they need to fix “before they can ever be in a relationship.”
Well, it could have been that way before her and Walky started getting along better than in the past. She saw it one day recently and decided to make it right
Some address book interfaces present a field for a first name, and a field for a last name. Typing off-the-cuff would probably have Billie enter “David” and “Walkerton” instead of “Fuckin'” and “Walky.”
Plus the latter runs the risk of some ridiculous Siri-related misunderstandings. “Call the fucking cops!” “Address book updated: Fuckin’ Walky is now known as Cops Walky.”
They have been good friend in the past. It sounds like it’s just high school where Billie being a cheerleader got in the way of their friendship for a bit.
I would almost be with you. Except there’s a difference between being mature and being, you know, not depressed, which seems to be Ruth’s problem (and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. I feel like her reasons have been mentioned, but not sure where). Billie is immature, an alcoholic, and depressed. All of which are a really bad combination.
Dead parents caused by drunk driver, her own spiral into alcoholism and guilt because of it, a relationship with her grandfather that is hinted to be very, very ugly, and probably some brain chemistry shit on top of that. Depressed people don’t always need reasons to be depressed, though Ruth certainly has plenty. Often you just wake up and for no apparent reason, your brain thinks you should feel like shit for being you. And then you stop remembering how to feel anything except like shit, not for any reason but just because you exist and what are you adding to the world, really. And then it just sort of gets worse from there, and you’re really tired all the time because you don’t have any energy and it takes too much effort to get up and what does it matter, really, since we’ve already established you’re a worthless piece of shit, and then you just sort of curl up into a ball of your own misery.
Depression really, really sucks, is what I’m saying.
This is one of the best ways I’ve seen of describing what depression is like, run-ons not withstanding. Although, the run-ons actually kinda add to the explanation rather than hurting it.
Have you seen “Adventures in Depression” and “Depression Part Two” from Hyperbole and a Half? Having gone through my own bout of depression many years ago, I have to say she really nailed it. It’s a couple of great links for people who just don’t get it.
Thanks. Yeah, run-ons are a bit of a problem for me sometimes. But stream-of-consciousness sentences do sum up just how constant it is. And the lack of energy/care required to go back and break things up a bit. (I’m only just now mostly out of my last spiral, so the thought process is still pretty fresh in my mind.)
And Kryss, seconding the love of Hyperbole and a Half’s depression posts with as much enthusiasm as possible. The first time I read the part two post I just thought “Yes. This is it. This, right here, is EXACTLY what it feels like.”
Depression doesn’t need a reason. It can be triggered by one thing, many things, or no things at all. It’s a malfunction in the chemical and electrical makeup of the brain. That’s why depressed people can’t just ‘get over it’. They have to either be taught how to cope with the extremely painful and destructive lows, or they need chemical assistance to regulate their brains back into proper function. It’s not ‘the blues’. It’s an illness no less than the flu or explosive diarrhea, only not as funny.
Very much so. This question of “Why are you depressed?” isn’t really the right question. It’s like asking “Why do you have the flu?” Virus or brain chemical imbalance, the root cause is still the same kind of deal.
Also, explosive diarrhea can be very, very not funny. D: (Though I must admit, the word “diarrhea” is a funny word.)
And sometimes, some people, who are racked with guilt, don’t actually need forgiveness… They need to come to the realization that they shouldn’t be feeling guilty in the first place.
I desperately want them to make this work. To get sober together and have a happy, functioning relationship where they support each other because of their mutual understanding and use their similar issues to keep the other from going off the deep end and make each other better people. But seeing as this is Dumbing of Age, they’re probably going to drink themselves to death, enable the others bad habits and probably crash and burn.
So does Ruth need Billie’s forgiveness, or does Ruth need Ruth’s forgiveness, or both?
Anyway, let’s enjoy the current sweetness because the next chapter has an ominous title. (Oh hey, the chapter after that one has been named. Let the speculation begin!)
How does a whole business slowly get stoned? I was lead to believe that lager groups get stoned faster, like a contest… or do they not have enough for everyone, and therefore take turns?
Ok.. can we just leave those two together and growing happy? haha. Though whenevver someone gets a happy end they seem to get written out (as per the walkyverse stuff). So I guess it’s unlikely.
See? Mind-broken sex doesn’t always lead to worse situations. It really depends on the personalities involved in the first place. In fact, sex is a huge stress relief mechanism, she likely REALLY needed this.
Huh. For a second, that looked like a healthy relationship.
We all know what the Demon Willis will do, though. It will most likely involve hearts being smashed.
I’m glad Ruth addressed that. It was bugging me that her anger seemed to vanish about when they hooked up. Still very broken people that need to work out a lot of things, but its nice that they can find a moment of peace.
Not that I wouldn’t mind seeing Billie apologize officially, mind you, but this is nice too.
There’ll be tempests and tears and depression and beers, but it’s the barest of hope you’ve given this fox that this tenuous ship won’t be dashed on the rocks.
For just one tiniest moment, for just a moment, let’s let them have this one encounter in bliss. That’s our lives: terror, dread, ennui, entropy, anxiety, and sometimes Hell on Earth, interspersed with fleeting moments of joy, mirth, and happyness. And the the Wheel of the Dharma turns right back on.
Cue Carl Orf’s “Carmina Burana” followed by Barber’s “Adagio For Strings”
Oh god, I want so bad for them to support each other and get better. It has the potential to be very destructive but also the potential to be their saving and I want to believe they can still save each other.
Its a start, in that they can both admit their problems to each other. If they don’t, or try to back peddle from where they are, it’s going to end badly.
The next step is much rougher. The seeking and sticking with getting help. This will require a very obstinate and intrusive 3rd party they both can respect. They could play that part for each other… except when they both snap, as almost happened. Which took Walky being pushy to get Billy going again and prompt Ruth.
“The trick is to find somone whose demons play nicely with your own”
-A gem of Facebook wisdom.
But still, it’s sadly true- and while neither billy nor Ruth are functional by any stretch of imagination, and any relationship they have will at first be just that written large, they could work incredibly well together.
Thank you, Willis. This has to be my favorite strip you’ve done in ages. I ship these two fiercely, and while I’d hate to see “Instant Perpetual Happiness!!!” for these two (as that would be rather unrealistic and unsatisfying), giving us a genuine tender moment between them gives us readers who are into this pairing hope.
I really hope we continue to see the two of them grow together, as individuals and as a couple. Sure, with the occasional bump on the road. But between those bumps having some measure of happiness together.
(And please, please don’t have given us this happy moment because the next time we see them a sixteen ton weight falls from the sky, crushing one or both of them to a pulp. Don’t make me say, “Damn you, Willis!” ‘Cause I will say it! I will!)
Incidentally, a bit belated, I suppose, but I hope you had a happy anniversary. May there be a plethora more to come!
Okay now I feel like these two have a chance, which is nice. But Joyce is probably going to do something awful when she (inevitably) sees them together, which is awful.
Even after the horribleness that got them to this point, Ruth demonstrates some amazing maturity. This is still going to end poorly. This short, sweet moment will likely make that horrible end that much worse.
Click on the archives tab just under the comic. The archives are separated by chapter. The first two of book 5 are already named. (I assume they get official names when Willis uploads the first strip in each new chapter.)
Yes, you can, Jen Aside. You can also use different e-mail addys to get different avatars as long as they are valid addys. Gmail lets me use myname@gmail.com for a base addy and then use myname.1, myname.2, myname.3 etc to send some mail directly to spam if a bot manages to bet hold of the e-mail addys of various sites.
In fact, the email I use here is distinct from all other emails (‘Why is this site unlike all other sites?”) just so that I could block spam if someone broke in here.
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D’aaaaaaawwwwwww
My heart just esploded! *SQUEEK*
her little heart, it could explode
… Eels?
I also have
When you speak I hear silence
Every word a defiance
I can hear, oh, I can hear
Think I’ll go where it suits me
Moving out to the country
With everyone, oh, everyone,
Before we all become one
Tell yourself that you’re lucky
Lying down never struck me
As something fun, oh, any fun
Stabbing pain for the feeling
Now your wound’s never healing
‘Til you mumble, “Is it bad?”
Before we all become one
Oh we all, we all become one
Oh we all, we all become one
Oh we all, we all become one
Oh we all, we all become one
Start breathing
Start leaving
Before we all become one
RUN
Oh we all, we all become…
Finally another person who played Transistor. Despite all the criticism that game got (mainly for not living up to Bastion) it had some truly great music.
Waaaaaaaa’d
yay for yuri!
Mark my words, Phallustrator, The Ultimate Porn Lord shall rise again, encapsulating our world with crudely drawn sets of flaccid phalluses and testicles once again!
. . .
That was the stupidest thing I have ever typed. Ever.
Lol Dicks
He called the dicks ‘phalluses.’
See, that’s what happens when you paste a precomment before reading the new comic.
man I was WONDERING wtf that was about, thank you as ever sps48.
aww how can you be ruthless when you’re so adorbs =<
She needs her caffeine fix before she can go into proper Ruthless mode.
She’s like a weeping angel. Her heart is stone unless you aren’t looking directly at her.
She like Sarah that way – a bongo, unless no one is listening.
Being snuggled by a voluptuous, drunk ex-cheerleader is a great defuser.
Ruth’s living up to her name for once and is being all merciful and ruth…ful.
But I digress. DAAAAAAAWWWW
Ruthmore?
Okay, so this has the POTENTIAL to not be a fucked up relationship.
Depends on how stressed out both of them can get.
And with alcohol not getting within half a kilometer of either of them.
It’s college, so not a chance.
I remain hopeful.
People need to understand the difference between two people who are fucked up being in a relationship and a relationship that is fucked up. The two are not necessarily compatible.
Not sure what you mean by “compatible.” Did you mean mutually inclusive by chance?
Possibly meant comparable…
But yes, agreed.
Apparently it was late last night. Yes, I did mean something along the lines of “mutually inclusive”. Not sure what word I actually wanted to use, but whatever.
Indeed. If I didn’t know better, I’d be almost hopeful for these two ^^
Most fucked up relationships aren’t fucked up 100% of the time. That’s how people convince themselves it’s not fucked up.
And everybody wins and everybody lives!
“Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once, everybody lives!”
This line is actually always so funny to me, because it’s not like people were dying like flies before he said that. In the season with Nine not a lot of people actually died. So, like, thanks Doctor, but everybody living is really not as big a deal as you’re making it ;p
Spoken like someone who has never seen the classic series. In the old Who if you were an extra you didn’t stand a chance.
I’ve seen very little of the classic series, that’s true. And I do know that the Doctor is clearly talking about all the people who’ve died in his 9 (10) regenations up to that point, but, like, Rose doesn’t know about any of those. And I did specify Nine’s season. Just… in recent years there has been SO much more death on this show, just in terms of volume, that’s really what made me say that. Nine’s season felt almost quaint in comparison when it comes to the death toll lol.
So true. One time I tried to play the ‘find a story where no one dies’ game and I could only come up with two, one of which was psychological horror and the other of which was incredibly depressing (though to be fair I haven’t seen everything, and idk if something like Mission to the Unknown was death-free).
Applies to all of the show, really. There’s only a handful of stories where no one dies post 2005 either.
Yup, they were redshirts before there were redshirts.
Until you consider that that’s his first regeneration since the Time War.
And consider how many people the twelfth killed.
In retrospect, yeah, totally. He’s just come off being The War Doctor. But at the time? I’m just saying, at the time Nine’s season aired I was a bit like, yeah, ok, no one died, big whoop xD
I think it was Davies’ and Moffat’s way of expounding on the Doctor’s back story to new viewers, who may not have watched the old series. The line implies that the Doctor has a past full of death, and that a day where no one dies is like a splendid miracle to him.
One could almost call it… Miracle Day? 🙂
In addition to what everyone else said, at least one person died in every single episode leading up to that. And almost if not every episode after it too for that matter.
Maybe I’m just judging him by Eleven, who felt like a regular old killing machine compared to Nine, just in terms of sheer volume lol. I mean, you do have a point, people did die in Nine’s season. But it *feels* (at least to me) like it’s a lot less people than these days.
So wait, that nearly entire space station invaded by dalek’s in the Parting of the Ways is not a lot of people?
I always thought of it from a “I wasn’t able to save this ONE person that I actually met” being felt more keenly. One death is tragic. two thousand is a statistic and all that.
Still my favourite season of Doctor Who.
The weird thing, though? Way, way more characters actually died during the Ninth Doctor’s tenure than the Eleventh. It’s ironic that Moffat wrote The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, because he has such a huge aversion to actual consequences for his characters. They never die – they always end up trapped in the past or stranded or something. Seriously, make an actual bodycount sometime. I never noticed until it was pointed out to me, and I was honestly surprised.
I don’t care if they just had “tragic drunk person sex”. They’re an adorable fuckin’ couple.
They’re fun to watch aren’t they.
Could’ve worded that differently when replying to a comment containing the phrase “tragic drunk person sex”.
But why would he want to?
This would be so incredibly sweet if it weren’t also so incredibly self destructive.
Self destruction can be sweet too.
Like putting five cups of sugar in your cherry Kool-Aid!
Worse things than sugar have been put in Kool-Aid.
Like putting five cups of vodka in your cherry Kool-Aid!
Even worse things have been put in kool-aid.
Like Salt instead of sugar.
Common misconception: Jim Jones and the People’s Temple actually used Flavor Aid, a less popular competitor of Kool-Aid.
I find that the worst thing to put into Kool-aid is hope, since it never tastes as good as it did when I was a kid.
The Jonestown Massacre is a rare exception when name brand word association as a subtle threat to this nation’s free trade does less harm to the smaller company.
I find that the worst thing to put into Kool-aid is hope, since it never tastes as good as it did when I was a kid.
This doesn’t seem to be a problem with Country Time. Then again, I didn’t grow up with Country Time.
We tend to call that combination in Mexico “aguas locas” (crazy water). Is the kind of stuff drunk people prepare when there are only cheap ingredients available XD God help you if the only vodka available is “Oso negro”
My college roommate used to make what we called “death punch”, which was a gallon jug of cherry Kool-Aid made with a bottle of 151 rum and the balance with water. It would get people way drunker way faster than expected, and caused horrific hangovers.
Sugar Implosion!
But that fact that they’re both so self destructive is what makes this good, they give each other a little bit of peace and stability.
Eh, I’m not buying that the relationship is insanely self destructive. The only one of those that I can buy that with is Ethan/Joyce, and then only for Ethan. Nearly everyone has self destructive tendencies, but the relationships aren’t it.
pretty much, Ruth and Billie may be kind of broken, but together they can fill the missing parts of each other to enough for one whole functional human being.
Except that they’re prone to exactly the same kinds of issues, so it’s insanely easy for them to get caught in a negative feedback loop with each other.
They clearly need to deal with their personal shit, individually or together, but that’s not the same thing as the RELATIONSHIP being self-destructive. They won’t last as a couple if they can’t deal with their problems, but the two of them being together has yet (for me, anyway) to be proven as definitively a bad thing.
It’s not like they even have to be in a serious relationship. I doubt they even know what they’re doing. I think they really just need each other because they’re the only people who understand each other’s scars. They’re attracted to each other because it at least feels better to be broken with someone, than be broken alone.
Oh, I agree, I’m just saying that I understand why it would be self destructive IF they started relying on the other to ‘fix’ them.
Meh, some people never shake their demons in life. They might as well find someone who is equally haunted and try to eek out a little happiness.
After all, the stable people (or rather, the people who think they are stable) would just send them packing with a to-do list of things they need to fix “before they can ever be in a relationship.”
I think Ruth forgiving Billie is one of the least destructive things that’s happened to these two.
That last panel is the sweetest thing ever.
The whole thing is sweet
Billie will continue to wake up in new places.
DAMN YOU WILL—wait, that’s not right.
Th-thank…you…Willis?
WILL YOU DAMNIS
In the old message board days it was occasionally BLESS YOU WILLIS.
I’m going with that one today!
I can see that was hard for you, Beck. Good job!
Is anyone else surprised that Billie saved the contact as just “David Walkerton” and not something like, “Fuckin’ Walky”?
Gotta be honest, it took me a minute to parse the first panel even with “David Walkerton”… [I don’t smartphone]
Well, it could have been that way before her and Walky started getting along better than in the past. She saw it one day recently and decided to make it right
Some address book interfaces present a field for a first name, and a field for a last name. Typing off-the-cuff would probably have Billie enter “David” and “Walkerton” instead of “Fuckin'” and “Walky.”
Plus the latter runs the risk of some ridiculous Siri-related misunderstandings. “Call the fucking cops!” “Address book updated: Fuckin’ Walky is now known as Cops Walky.”
haha Siri does not sell me on joining the smartphone age
They have been good friend in the past. It sounds like it’s just high school where Billie being a cheerleader got in the way of their friendship for a bit.
Nice strip
Where? It looks like they’re both clothed in today’s comic.
:p
Has anyone ever said you’re an ass?
HAS ANYONE EVER TOLD YOU A HELMET
*Hearts everything forever* Oh I hope they can help each other out…please oh please oh pleaaase.
…Yep, still shipping this so hard that you could basically end the comic here and I wouldn’t complain >_>
But that would mean Ethan and Danny never get a chance to kiss…
It looks like Mike is having introspective thoughts about his own life…
Acceptable casualties. But yes, bring us moar.
Looks like Ruth has the maturity to maybe make this relationship not be a trainwreck. Here’s hoping.
I would almost be with you. Except there’s a difference between being mature and being, you know, not depressed, which seems to be Ruth’s problem (and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. I feel like her reasons have been mentioned, but not sure where). Billie is immature, an alcoholic, and depressed. All of which are a really bad combination.
Dead parents caused by drunk driver, her own spiral into alcoholism and guilt because of it, a relationship with her grandfather that is hinted to be very, very ugly, and probably some brain chemistry shit on top of that. Depressed people don’t always need reasons to be depressed, though Ruth certainly has plenty. Often you just wake up and for no apparent reason, your brain thinks you should feel like shit for being you. And then you stop remembering how to feel anything except like shit, not for any reason but just because you exist and what are you adding to the world, really. And then it just sort of gets worse from there, and you’re really tired all the time because you don’t have any energy and it takes too much effort to get up and what does it matter, really, since we’ve already established you’re a worthless piece of shit, and then you just sort of curl up into a ball of your own misery.
Depression really, really sucks, is what I’m saying.
Amen.
This is one of the best ways I’ve seen of describing what depression is like, run-ons not withstanding. Although, the run-ons actually kinda add to the explanation rather than hurting it.
Have you seen “Adventures in Depression” and “Depression Part Two” from Hyperbole and a Half? Having gone through my own bout of depression many years ago, I have to say she really nailed it. It’s a couple of great links for people who just don’t get it.
Sorry; messed up that first link there. “Adventures in Depression“.
Another one http://www.depressioncomix.com/
Thanks. Yeah, run-ons are a bit of a problem for me sometimes. But stream-of-consciousness sentences do sum up just how constant it is. And the lack of energy/care required to go back and break things up a bit. (I’m only just now mostly out of my last spiral, so the thought process is still pretty fresh in my mind.)
And Kryss, seconding the love of Hyperbole and a Half’s depression posts with as much enthusiasm as possible. The first time I read the part two post I just thought “Yes. This is it. This, right here, is EXACTLY what it feels like.”
So. Much.
THIS.
Depression doesn’t need a reason. It can be triggered by one thing, many things, or no things at all. It’s a malfunction in the chemical and electrical makeup of the brain. That’s why depressed people can’t just ‘get over it’. They have to either be taught how to cope with the extremely painful and destructive lows, or they need chemical assistance to regulate their brains back into proper function. It’s not ‘the blues’. It’s an illness no less than the flu or explosive diarrhea, only not as funny.
Very much so. This question of “Why are you depressed?” isn’t really the right question. It’s like asking “Why do you have the flu?” Virus or brain chemical imbalance, the root cause is still the same kind of deal.
Also, explosive diarrhea can be very, very not funny. D: (Though I must admit, the word “diarrhea” is a funny word.)
Better a trainwreck than a truckwreck, as far as Ruth is concerned, amirite?
(I may not be right.)
I’ve said it before: As long as no one’s dead, they’re doing better than in the Walkyverse.
Keep hoping. But remember: the Willis giveth, and the Willis taketh away.
Thank you.
And sometimes, some people, who are racked with guilt, don’t actually need forgiveness… They need to come to the realization that they shouldn’t be feeling guilty in the first place.
It’s not healthy, but at least it isn’t quite as soul-crushing as before?
Well, at least slight improvement’s still improvement in some form. I’ll take it.
Same here.
What’s unhealthy about Ruth forgiving Billie?
I desperately want them to make this work. To get sober together and have a happy, functioning relationship where they support each other because of their mutual understanding and use their similar issues to keep the other from going off the deep end and make each other better people. But seeing as this is Dumbing of Age, they’re probably going to drink themselves to death, enable the others bad habits and probably crash and burn.
And it will be glorious to watch.
Close enough.
Aw, happy feels for once. Well, bittersweet happy, but I’ll take it.
I think they both just Need each other
Happy nervous feels for me. Nervs feels should be a thing actually.
I’m pretty sure that’s just called “hopeful”.
So does Ruth need Billie’s forgiveness, or does Ruth need Ruth’s forgiveness, or both?
Anyway, let’s enjoy the current sweetness because the next chapter has an ominous title. (Oh hey, the chapter after that one has been named. Let the speculation begin!)
Say it with me, Audience:
“AAAAAWWWW!”
🙂
Awwdience.
Billie has fallen into a lot of pits in college and highschool before that, but Ruth is tossing her a 1-Up. Really hoping Billie takes her up on it.
It’s a genuinely sweet moment …
… where’s the catch? There’s always a catch. YOU’RE NOT FOOLING ME!
The catch is that sadly, they are still trying to beat booze, as well as Ruth and her depression, and Billie with her own emotional problems.
Even if they are there for each other, they have a long, painful road ahead of them.
But the catch of the catch is that for the first time, both of them have someone to walk that road with. And a reason to walk back that road.
Let us all savour this sweet, gentle and loving moment until the next time something miserable happens. That is the Way of the DoA Reader. Amen.
::savours::
I like how Walky takes 25 minutes to add: “Okay fine I’m asking”.
I’m just glad that Walky is also going to be there for Billie. He’s a good guy.
I so want the both of them to be okay. Hell, the genius of the strip is how the characters are all likeable in some way.
I see your assertion and raise you a Mary, a Ryan, a Faz, and a Blaine. (And to a lesser extent: Joyce’s parents and Sal/Walky’s parents.)
And Ethan’s parents
On the other hand, Galasso is not supposed to be likeable but is THOROUGHLY likeable!
“They’re sharing a drink they call loneliness, But it’s better than drinking alone.”
That impossible, I heard it can’t be shared.
Oh it can. But only between a waitress practicing politics and business slowly getting stoned.
How does a whole business slowly get stoned? I was lead to believe that lager groups get stoned faster, like a contest… or do they not have enough for everyone, and therefore take turns?
Lager groups don’t get stoned faster, but some groups of stouts do.
*man
Ok.. can we just leave those two together and growing happy? haha. Though whenevver someone gets a happy end they seem to get written out (as per the walkyverse stuff). So I guess it’s unlikely.
Maybe, maybe one day these two will share a tender moment without having their shields up when both of them are both sober and awake. One day.
*plays Don Henley’s “Heart Of The Matter” on the Muzak*
See? Mind-broken sex doesn’t always lead to worse situations. It really depends on the personalities involved in the first place. In fact, sex is a huge stress relief mechanism, she likely REALLY needed this.
This is the cutest/saddest/most tragic thing I have seen in a long long time. Damn you Willis for my tears.
“Oh and alcohol. That’s the second thing we’ve always had in common.”
Same problems. Same coping mechanisms.
I believe in these two crazy kids :3
Bring her in gently, lasses. She’s taken a beating… but we’ve made port. Get the goods unloaded, we’ll make a fortune 😀
These feels. I know we’re not done with drama, but these feels <3
I'm sure the wife will enjoy when she's up too <3
Yea!!!
I wish to know more on this development
Huh. For a second, that looked like a healthy relationship.
We all know what the Demon Willis will do, though. It will most likely involve hearts being smashed.
WILLIS – I am dead serious about this. Dead serious.
If I sent you nudez as thanks for this being created/posted, would you be creeped out or appreciative?
Wow
This comic would’ve been so damn awesome if only the site wasn’t showing me ads for Garth Brooks’ new album.
… it’s not a joke. Garth Brooks won’t let me daaaaww at this comic. DAMN HIM.
Aww?
That profile photo. ~Nostalgia~.
You know what, these kids are gonna be alright
I’m glad Ruth addressed that. It was bugging me that her anger seemed to vanish about when they hooked up. Still very broken people that need to work out a lot of things, but its nice that they can find a moment of peace.
Not that I wouldn’t mind seeing Billie apologize officially, mind you, but this is nice too.
This changes nothing. It’s a nice moment, but we all know how this started.
Ohhhh, sweetest moment 🙂
Thank you Willis.
There’ll be tempests and tears and depression and beers, but it’s the barest of hope you’ve given this fox that this tenuous ship won’t be dashed on the rocks.
That was beautiful, man.
For just one tiniest moment, for just a moment, let’s let them have this one encounter in bliss. That’s our lives: terror, dread, ennui, entropy, anxiety, and sometimes Hell on Earth, interspersed with fleeting moments of joy, mirth, and happyness. And the the Wheel of the Dharma turns right back on.
Cue Carl Orf’s “Carmina Burana” followed by Barber’s “Adagio For Strings”
I want this to work but I’m also certain they’re going to need professional help to avoid turning into train wrecks.
the drama hurricanes have transformed into a fine spring breeze which brings the scent of flowers
Oh god, I want so bad for them to support each other and get better. It has the potential to be very destructive but also the potential to be their saving and I want to believe they can still save each other.
Its a start, in that they can both admit their problems to each other. If they don’t, or try to back peddle from where they are, it’s going to end badly.
The next step is much rougher. The seeking and sticking with getting help. This will require a very obstinate and intrusive 3rd party they both can respect. They could play that part for each other… except when they both snap, as almost happened. Which took Walky being pushy to get Billy going again and prompt Ruth.
not really a fan of couples getting together to save each other. not a good idea even in real life 🙂 just my two cents
Sometimes, though, it’s, “Who ELSE is gonna save them?”
i’m not opposed to them being together. 🙂 they.. deserve (?) each other i guess
“The trick is to find somone whose demons play nicely with your own”
-A gem of Facebook wisdom.
But still, it’s sadly true- and while neither billy nor Ruth are functional by any stretch of imagination, and any relationship they have will at first be just that written large, they could work incredibly well together.
For now. *tries to ignore incoming truck*
Too soon.
RIP Walkyverse Ruth
My face is not able to convey my feelings for this.
I hope this story ends with one of them cheating with Malaya. Why? Because I am evil and spite incarnate.
🙂
Damn you, Phipps!
Praise be to the (Porn)Lord !
At least a perfectly happy strip ….. and so cute.
aww ruth being sweet is so sweet. this storyline is still upsetting though.
Whose forgiveness does Ruth need? And for what? Hmmm.
She did kind of treat Billie like dirt when they first met.
Thank you, Willis. This has to be my favorite strip you’ve done in ages. I ship these two fiercely, and while I’d hate to see “Instant Perpetual Happiness!!!” for these two (as that would be rather unrealistic and unsatisfying), giving us a genuine tender moment between them gives us readers who are into this pairing hope.
I really hope we continue to see the two of them grow together, as individuals and as a couple. Sure, with the occasional bump on the road. But between those bumps having some measure of happiness together.
(And please, please don’t have given us this happy moment because the next time we see them a sixteen ton weight falls from the sky, crushing one or both of them to a pulp. Don’t make me say, “Damn you, Willis!” ‘Cause I will say it! I will!)
Incidentally, a bit belated, I suppose, but I hope you had a happy anniversary. May there be a plethora more to come!
Amen.
This is the most poignantly tragic beauty I’ve ever seen. Bless you, Mr. Willis!
For the moment, there is a waff inside me. I wonder how long that’ll last.
Y’know, this comic actually gives me hope for these two fictional characters. The ability to forgive isn’t a thing everyone has.
You’re all missing the really important detail about this strip.
The really important detail is: WHERE CAN I BUY THAT LAMP?
I need that lamp! Because of reasons!
Perhaps something here may suit your needs?
Okay now I feel like these two have a chance, which is nice. But Joyce is probably going to do something awful when she (inevitably) sees them together, which is awful.
This feeling is known as being ‘Willised’.
Even after the horribleness that got them to this point, Ruth demonstrates some amazing maturity. This is still going to end poorly. This short, sweet moment will likely make that horrible end that much worse.
Where can one find these mysterious chapter names you speak of?
Click on the archives tab just under the comic. The archives are separated by chapter. The first two of book 5 are already named. (I assume they get official names when Willis uploads the first strip in each new chapter.)
I feel like these two kind of have an Amber/Mike (from Shortpacked!) thing going, except not quite as violent.
While we have a relatively positive comic let me see who else I can be as my avatar.
Joyce. Hmm, interesting, but I wonder how I’ll use that.
?????
Yes, you can, Jen Aside. You can also use different e-mail addys to get different avatars as long as they are valid addys. Gmail lets me use myname@gmail.com for a base addy and then use myname.1, myname.2, myname.3 etc to send some mail directly to spam if a bot manages to bet hold of the e-mail addys of various sites.
In fact, the email I use here is distinct from all other emails (‘Why is this site unlike all other sites?”) just so that I could block spam if someone broke in here.
Um, that’s Dorothy, dude.
test.
>><<
How magnanimous of you, Ruth, for forgiving the person you abused
This has the potential to be a beautiful relationship
The one thing they have in common? What about Breakfast at Tiffany’s?
I’m still fairly certain she is contemplating suicide.
And everything goes to hell in 3…2…1…
Aww… This TRULY was the strip we’ve all been waiting for. ^_^
And OF COURSE Ruth keeps a diary. I can’t explain it, but it seems very much in character.
I hope Ruth remembers to say all this when Billie is awake.
<3