I didn’t even notice that until you pointed it out.
Maybe she didn’t either, since her first thought was hide Billie, not
“You can’t come in, I don’t have pants on!”
Juding by the September 10th strip, and by those two red dots that look more like freckles than knickers in the first panel, I would say you were correct.
Billie butt is always a welcome surprise. That said, it’d be such a Billie move at this point to climb out without putting her pants on first. “It never occurred to me!”
Would it because of fraternization with a fellow student or fraternization with a fellow student of the same sex? Remember, the people who run an institution like IU would likely insist on at least maintaining a facade of decorum and propriety for the record, even if they knew off-the-record that it was still a sham.
This is the same situation as Sal/Jason. You can’t be in a position of authority over the person you are dating. Thats, like, basic working class jobs 101. Especially in college. Otherwise the whole student/teacher separation starts to look more like a H Dating Sim…
In fairness though, all they should have to do is sign an agreement where Ruth says she won’t let her relationship (Or an ending of it) influence how she mitigates arguments involving Billie, or let her get away with anything she wouldn’t let other students get away with.
Sorry, Ruth, that roommate agreement that you insisted Billie get signed strictly forbids her as well as her roommate from using the window as an egress.
I’m honestly not sure how to feel about Billie’s optimism here. Yes, she’s ignoring or minimizing some massive issues, but the thing is, Billie’s life is FULL of massive issues and pushing some of them to the periphery of her consciousness might be necessary for her survival at this point. She has been in such low places that feeling good about a probably-doomed relationship actually seems like a huge step up.
Best case scenario, the overall good feelings will last long enough that she starts to feel better about other things. Worst case, I guess, is that Ruth’s embarrassment about this tryst and her “irresponsibility” as an RA has them back at each other’s throats in about three more installments.
This strip just makes me go “Ahahahaha!” Especially the look on Billie’s face in the last panel. But then I still want everything to be alright for them in the next strip.
Hm.. If Ruth quits her position as RA she could date Billie. RA work stresses her out anyway. And it’s not like she’s getting paid for this. If she gets college credits for this she could try figuring out some alternative activity for that. Really she needn’t stress out so much.
That sort of reminds me of a time at a huge camping trip we were on, I wandered down to the local group hangout where I run into a friend who asks me if I’ve seen her daughter. I reply, “Yeah, she’s asleep in our tent,” (a group of us were camping together) and she burst into tears, startling me considerably.
See, what happened from my side is that the pre-teen, alarmed at the rumour of mundanes sneaking into the periphery of the camp and causing trouble, and not wanting to be alone in her Mum’s encampment, came over next door to ours (which was much larger, walled, well-lit, and guarded) and asked if she could crash out with us until her Mum came back, so of course I said sure and eventually wandered down to where I ran into her Mum.
Her Mum, however, didn’t realize this; she just came back to check on her and found her gone, and had spent the intervening time going crazy trying to find her daughter in a camp of around a thousand people, with creeks surrounding it. She figured her daughter had been abducted or was drowned.
I still don’t know why she didn’t check with us first, I mean we were literally the next tent over, but yeah. She was pretty freaked out.
So since Walky just said WHY they were looking for her, it’d be pretty simple for Ruth to just say “Billie? Oh yeah, don’t worry. She’s safe here; we were up all night talking about stuff. She’s just using the can but when she’s done I’ll have her text you.”
Mind you, if they realize she isn’t wearing pants, questions might be raised, although if Ruth could always claim they caught her taking advantage of Billie being in the can to get some fresh undies on, or something.
“Thanks, everybody, sorry I scared you! Ruth and I had a good cry, drank more than we should’ve, slept in. You guys are awesome friends. See you in class!”
It would be a really, really bad idea to admit that they were drinking in the dorms, especially since Ruth is the RA.
But yes, something along those lines. “I was having an emotional conversation with Ruth and ended up falling asleep here. Yeah, I thought she was a real hardass too, but I feel a lot better now. Maybe I’ll start hanging out with her some.” It would be inappropriate for an RA to date their residents, and questionable to be extremely close friends, but it’s totally unnecessary to pretend they’re not even on speaking terms.
In this case, because alcohol’s not allowed on campus and she’d be drinking in the presence of a minor with a known alcohol problem (and Walky and Joyce both know that), and depending on Ruth’s age she might not be legal either.
My only experiences with dorm life were of the “The Man says we shouldn’t drink ’til we puke, smash the furniture, or take PCP, so bring it ONNN” variety, so I’ll take your word for it.
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WORST TRICK-OR-TREATERS EVAR
Doe what Billie and Ruth did earlier count as a trick or a treat? 😀
Depending on what they did one or both had something good to eat.
And some booze to wash it down.
A trick is what your mom did for Mike for a nickel. Billie and Ruth were a treat.
like
Mike IS the trick.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trick&defid=576298
As with Walky’s painting of a butt taco…..it is neither, and both.
No, it was more like trick or teat.
That’s awful. Bravo.
lick a teat moar like
Caught with their pants down!
And bottles up.
It’s just a no pants candy party for adults.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEWlecIF408&list=UUVtt6C8Qu_ia7g2l80sY2kQ
Is Ruth not wearing any underwear?
I didn’t even notice that until you pointed it out.
Maybe she didn’t either, since her first thought was hide Billie, not
“You can’t come in, I don’t have pants on!”
She’ll run into Sal on the way down, naturally.
Or Amazi-girl.
Why not both?
Obviously both, because Sal IS Amazi-girl
She will also run into the Ding Dong Bandit, Mike, and someone’s mother.
But that’s Sal’s MO not mine!
You live with Sal for a month and don’t try it at least once, you’re wasting your life.
Sal maybe a windows sort of gal but Billie is strictly a mac user. 😛
Big Macs are better than eunuchs
Last night they were both lie-next to each other.
That is stretching a pun past the breaking point
Billie has certain assets (upper and lower) that make Window travel difficult…
Hey! Billie’s a Cheerleader. She can leap about like a lemur.
I initially read that as femur.
Her leaping ability is hindered if she can’t fit through a window.
I think the window is slowly becoming the preferred means of exit and entry. Sal, Amazi-girl, now Billie
This will only reinforce Sal’s belief that Billie is Amazi-girl.
Wait, that’s not right. This will only reinforce Amazi-girl’s belief that Bille…no, that Sal is…um…
Crap. Who believes who is whom, again?
Truth being spoken.
I’m honestly surprised that comic title hasn’t been used on a DoA strip before
I’m surprised it’s not the title of the comic in general.
It’ll be the subtitle of the second version of the comic, like with Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.
‘Dumbing of Age: Fuckup’
Dumbing of Age Sophomore Year: Fuckup
So why not just come right out and say hey we’re a pair….oh yeah….not so good for the RA with a student and booze in her room.
Think we would have a repeat reaction of this http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/04-the-bechdel-test/hics/
I binge-read the earlier strips after discovering this last winter. I need to go back and re-read them.
I’m cool with my Sarah default but sorely tempted to make an avatar out of Joyce’s hiccup face.
“Hey, we noticed you had this weird stalkerish thing going on with Billie, we figured you’d know where she is.”
She’s the RA, isn’t it her job for that kinda stuff?
… Never make a promise like that, Billie…things like this are bound to happen.
That would take to much time its like traffic on those window sills.
There are passing lanes on the ledges so that people don’t run into one another.
Problem is, Ethan keeps trying to pass, too.
Excuse me, do I look like Sal?
Well, Walky does.
But not nearly as badass.
aaaand cue up Yakety Sax.
“Don’t you get it, Ruth? Alone, we’re two dysfunctional alcoholics, but together? We’re one functional alcoholic.”
You, sir, win the prize.
Okay, see, nothing ominous. Just shenanigans.
Nothing ominous. Yet.
Nothing ominous except your avatar at least.
(She just punched you)
I’m still waiting for Willis to kill Squirrel…
Well you can always say “I’m not leaving…….Even if Walky, Dorothy, and Joyce are right outside.”
Oh wait I forgot does Ruth not have pants on right now?
From the looks of things, she may not even have underpants on.
Pants are for squares.
Kilts are where it’s at.
Or nudity, if local laws permit, but they usually don’t if you expect to go out in public.
Juding by the September 10th strip, and by those two red dots that look more like freckles than knickers in the first panel, I would say you were correct.
Billie butt is always a welcome surprise. That said, it’d be such a Billie move at this point to climb out without putting her pants on first. “It never occurred to me!”
Not enough Billie butt to satisfy my delinquent tastes.
Would have to be “Billie Butt: the Comic”
Now that I think about it, why isn’t this a thing already?
Cuz noone will ever pay me to make it.
Billie and Ruth have now used up their one hour of allotted happiness, may the angst recommence!
Well it is national coming out day, they might as well take advantage of it.
goddammit, I missed it
I should’ve drawn something special for it >:
oh, this is gonna be fun…
Probably a stupid question, but why are Ruth ‘n Billie trying ta hide this? Not exactly an uncommon thing for two people to hook up in a college dorm.
Cuz Jobs.
Should probably mention I did not choose to room in a dorm in college.
Ruth’s position as RA would be jeopardized by sexual relations with a resident of the dorm, I’m guessing.
Would it because of fraternization with a fellow student or fraternization with a fellow student of the same sex? Remember, the people who run an institution like IU would likely insist on at least maintaining a facade of decorum and propriety for the record, even if they knew off-the-record that it was still a sham.
This is the same situation as Sal/Jason. You can’t be in a position of authority over the person you are dating. Thats, like, basic working class jobs 101. Especially in college. Otherwise the whole student/teacher separation starts to look more like a H Dating Sim…
In fairness though, all they should have to do is sign an agreement where Ruth says she won’t let her relationship (Or an ending of it) influence how she mitigates arguments involving Billie, or let her get away with anything she wouldn’t let other students get away with.
Why would you want people to lie like that. If you’re going to make people sign something, it should at least be plausible.
You know what this strip needs? Danny.
DON’T YOU EVER SAY THAT. DON’T YOU EVER SAY THAT.
IT’S RUINED EVERYONE GO HOME NOW
Ruth and Billie have already had more than enough Danny for two lifetimes.
Not to mention Dorothy’s heaping helping of Danny.
Nothing like post-coital bliss to completely override Billie’s anything-resembling-logic. Oddly (or not oddly), Ruthless seems a bit bliss-less.
BILLIE: “I’ll just hide in the closet. I’ve done … I mean, I’m sure there’s room.”
Hmm…Was Billie really closeted? Like I know she didn’t go out of her way to bring it up but it’s not like she ever denied it.
I think DSL was referring to the time Billie literally hid in Ruth’s closet, back in this comic
That wasn’t a euphemism. Billie really has hid in Ruth’s closet before.
Drat. Hoisted by my own Petard.
Wait, is that a euphemism or not?
Sorry, Ruth, that roommate agreement that you insisted Billie get signed strictly forbids her as well as her roommate from using the window as an egress.
I’m pretty sure it was only for THEIR window, not Ruth’s
I’m honestly not sure how to feel about Billie’s optimism here. Yes, she’s ignoring or minimizing some massive issues, but the thing is, Billie’s life is FULL of massive issues and pushing some of them to the periphery of her consciousness might be necessary for her survival at this point. She has been in such low places that feeling good about a probably-doomed relationship actually seems like a huge step up.
Best case scenario, the overall good feelings will last long enough that she starts to feel better about other things. Worst case, I guess, is that Ruth’s embarrassment about this tryst and her “irresponsibility” as an RA has them back at each other’s throats in about three more installments.
This strip just makes me go “Ahahahaha!” Especially the look on Billie’s face in the last panel. But then I still want everything to be alright for them in the next strip.
Oh sure, since this is a Willis strip everything is going to be FINE.
Look, their current problem is shenanigans-and-inconveniences level, not soul-crushing-pain-and-despair. Frankly, I’ll take it.
Hm.. If Ruth quits her position as RA she could date Billie. RA work stresses her out anyway. And it’s not like she’s getting paid for this. If she gets college credits for this she could try figuring out some alternative activity for that. Really she needn’t stress out so much.
Somehow, I don’t think Ruth’s only issue with the relationship is her job.
I don’t know about Ruth’s school, but our RAs got pay PLUS room and board. Depending on her financial situation, that might be tough to give up.
Oh in that case, she might get into trouble if word of Billie and her got out.
If Billie jumps out of the window, and no one is there to see, does her landing make a sound?
Panel 2: the face of bliss
This isn’t really a problem is it?
You just tell them Billie came to talk to you… Problem solved? you are an RA… just wanna hide all the beer and such.
Heck you could just tell them at the door she’s there talking to you and she’ll catch up. Their in private talks right now…
I mean use that RA status!
I mean, they’d probably both want to put some pants on first, but yeah.
Pants are the problem.
Pants are the solution.
The common sense approach just won’t work. The universe demands that Amazigirl be appealed to, to find and resque Sal’s room-mate.
That sort of reminds me of a time at a huge camping trip we were on, I wandered down to the local group hangout where I run into a friend who asks me if I’ve seen her daughter. I reply, “Yeah, she’s asleep in our tent,” (a group of us were camping together) and she burst into tears, startling me considerably.
See, what happened from my side is that the pre-teen, alarmed at the rumour of mundanes sneaking into the periphery of the camp and causing trouble, and not wanting to be alone in her Mum’s encampment, came over next door to ours (which was much larger, walled, well-lit, and guarded) and asked if she could crash out with us until her Mum came back, so of course I said sure and eventually wandered down to where I ran into her Mum.
Her Mum, however, didn’t realize this; she just came back to check on her and found her gone, and had spent the intervening time going crazy trying to find her daughter in a camp of around a thousand people, with creeks surrounding it. She figured her daughter had been abducted or was drowned.
I still don’t know why she didn’t check with us first, I mean we were literally the next tent over, but yeah. She was pretty freaked out.
So since Walky just said WHY they were looking for her, it’d be pretty simple for Ruth to just say “Billie? Oh yeah, don’t worry. She’s safe here; we were up all night talking about stuff. She’s just using the can but when she’s done I’ll have her text you.”
Mind you, if they realize she isn’t wearing pants, questions might be raised, although if Ruth could always claim they caught her taking advantage of Billie being in the can to get some fresh undies on, or something.
“She’s washing a stain out of her pants”
…but that would be clever and not at all characteristic of this comic
Yep.
::points soundlessly to title of webcomic::
Given that they know what Ruth is normally like, “Up all night talking about stuff” would probably jump out at them as OOC.
Yeah, I’m of the mind that Ruth is sort of an Ethan.
Are Joyce and Ruth the only ones whose eyes actually have color?
Mary, Jocelyne, Penny, and Conquest all have colored irises.
pretty much the entire Brown squadron, really
dang inter-sex, same-race families
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/takeafter/
Joyce, Jocelyn and Hank, yes. Carol, no. The kids have their father’s eyes.
i have litrealy read all of this comic since friday night. oh god. this is amazing
One of us…one of us…
but make sure you put some pants on first…
Does no one have screens on their windows nowadays?
“Out the window? You’re confusing me with my roommate….
You know, Amazi-Girl!”
Your regularly scheduled Dumbing of Age has been replaced by a door slamming Feydeau farce, apologies for any mirth this may cause you.
I’m getting a Shinji/Kowaru from these two.
Ruth probably could crush Billie in the palm of her hand, yes
Man, the times I got caught locked out of the dorm, in my chonies, at two, in the snow…
Well no wonder she is depressed, she is a Make Beleafs fan.
If she was a true fan, she’d have a little model of this on her dresser…..
http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/10/08/toronto-maple-leafs-zamboni-transforms-into-giant-deodorant-stick-jokes-ensue/
…. and yes, in Canada you *CAN* buy Zamboni models/toys/coin banks/etc. decorated for your favorite team. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched that Ruth would have one (or two)….
Billie, hon, you’re wearing big girl panties.
“Thanks, everybody, sorry I scared you! Ruth and I had a good cry, drank more than we should’ve, slept in. You guys are awesome friends. See you in class!”
*shut door*
It would be a really, really bad idea to admit that they were drinking in the dorms, especially since Ruth is the RA.
But yes, something along those lines. “I was having an emotional conversation with Ruth and ended up falling asleep here. Yeah, I thought she was a real hardass too, but I feel a lot better now. Maybe I’ll start hanging out with her some.” It would be inappropriate for an RA to date their residents, and questionable to be extremely close friends, but it’s totally unnecessary to pretend they’re not even on speaking terms.
Why would it be a bad idea for an RA to admit to drinking in the dorms?
In this case, because alcohol’s not allowed on campus and she’d be drinking in the presence of a minor with a known alcohol problem (and Walky and Joyce both know that), and depending on Ruth’s age she might not be legal either.
My only experiences with dorm life were of the “The Man says we shouldn’t drink ’til we puke, smash the furniture, or take PCP, so bring it ONNN” variety, so I’ll take your word for it.
Great perspective in the first panel!
Yea, Billie’s butt does look pretty impressive.
should have goth into the window crawling class of her roomate
What’s gothic about crawling through windows? Crawling through tombs, maybe.