I don’t see the problem… Billy will vaporize them, except for the femurs. Those will be Ruth’s new discipline tool. “I will take your femurs” is more effective if she HAS a femur on hand.
Actually, it might be. Ruth is still adjusting to being… well-adjusted. She still probably has that little voice inside her saying “I don’t deserve nice things.” The fact that Billy is busting her chops might be a very comforting thing for Ruth. First, it means that nothing has changed. Billy is still treating her the same way and not like a china doll. That is something that is a big deal for people struggling to address their own vulnerability. Second, the fact that it isn’t some fairy-tail-happily-ever-after scenario might be comforting in that it is realistic and not a dream that will shatter if she backslides a bit.
For clarity, what I am seeing is: Vulnerability in panel 3, Annoyance in panel 4, and “I don’t know why I put up with this” in panel 5. And the last one is key. Ruth needs to be challenged. This relationship can’t come easily because Ruth wouldn’t trust it. Billy is dragging Ruth out of her insecurity by being exactly something that Ruth can accept at the moment: annoying, but just enough to keep Ruth from questioning it. Notice that Ruth isn’t brushing Billy off in the last panel.
I’m gonna stay optimistic that this is what Ruth needs right now.
I also think it’s valuable that Ruth looks fakey put off, not genuinely upset. I think it IS really good for her to know that even at her lowest Billie wont treat her differently.
And the manicure! Don’t forget the manicures~ ha, but for real I thought of this too when I looked at older strips and saw Ruth saying they’d never be out holding hands and stuff. I’m happy for them! …I hope it stays happy for them.
Now Billie might actually get the manicures. I’m happy for them, but I’m also kinda worried because this is going so well and I keep expecting Willis to torpedo this ship just to torment us.
I wonder what that’s all about. Like, she’s been into guys and women, and that much she seemed totally fine with, but I guess there’s been some baggage there. Maybe it’s something else entirely to have sexual feelings than publicly romantic.
Kinda seems like maybe Ruth also having trepidation might have been comforting to her or let her feel less alone in her reluctance?
I think the main thing is that Billie sees herself as essentially “normal” (or, in her own words, “not different”). So far she’s been operating under the assumption that she’s a “normal” person, and since she’s into both guys and girls, all normal people must be at least a little into both guys and girls at some point. But now, thanks to Becky, she’s realizing that her interest in girls is getting her marked as “different”/”not normal” by other people, which poses a problem for her own sense of self that she’ll have to reconcile eventually.
At least for now, once those other people are out of the picture, those concerns seem to recede into the background.
Even if you don’t think negatively of anyone for being a part of a particular group, it still takes some mental adjustment to reconcile the idea that *you* might *belong* to a group that you’ve seen as ‘other’ (even if that’s just ‘different’ other, not ‘ugh’ other) for so long.
I mean, picture realizing tomorrow that your orientation is not what you’ve basically assumed it is for years. Disconcerting, no?
Labels are important. If someone doesn’t identify with them that’s fine but the existence of them is important. It gives us a sense of belonging, of understanding something about ourselves.
Look at Billie. She’s not had decent exposure to bisexuality so she’s now having to work through the idea that she’s not “normal” (her word). If the label had been one she had been exposed to, she would be much less likely to feel that way now.
Similarly, finding that there was a label to describe my sexuality (which was always just confusing and complicated to me) was a huge relief. A feeling of not being alone. All of a sudden my sexuality WAS normal, and okay, because it was something with a name and other people like it! I suddenly understood myself and accepted myself so much more than before.
So yeah. Labels shouldn’t be forced on anyone but they matter. They’re important.
Well put. You can suck half the fear out of the unknown, just by having a name for the thing.
James: Mom? I’m scared!
Mom: what are you scared of dear?
James: (pointing to huge hideous tentacle-headed monster behind Mom). That!
Mom: Oh, James, that’s just Cthulu. No need to be scared. … And it is not polite to point!
Once you get older, labels really don’t become as important- but that’s because, by that point, you’ve typically fleshed out your sense of self-identity.
As you’re still developing it, even if you aren’t going after a sense of “belonging”, labels are still useful for helping you make sense of things, or to connect to others. Labels are mostly a way of introducing new concepts that you can work off of, or ways to easily tell people a fact about yourself, without having to over-elaborate it; ie, “No, I can’t eat that- I’m a vegetarian.”
In Billie’s case, it seems her conflict is less with her sense of self-identity (as per the expected norm for queer identity conflicts) and more with her sense of being able to communicate her identity to others. Which generally is a better arrangement to work off of- though Billie, being a bit more socially-minded than many, may find it harder to reconcile the fact that parts of society look negatively toward her relationship; Of course, she’s been tearing down that socially-fixated part of herself steadily for a while now, so I can’t imagine she’ll find this too big of a hurdle to jump.
Insert anti vegan joke here. Then shove that joke into your meat supply. I’m not sure what it’s going to do there, but it won’t be doing anything to vegans there of all places…
It’s not the label Billie needs, it’s the concept.
The label can help make the concept real. It’s not necessary, but it can help.
That’s not the only thing labels can be good for – they can also help people identify a community that they’re part of. They may even make the difference between feeling alone (unique in a bad way) and part of a group that is identifiable and comprehensible.
Of course labels can also divide, pigeonhole, and constrain thinking. As, for example, Billie has labels (concepts) for gay and straight, and thinks you have to be one or the other.
Just as there are more than two labels, there are also more than three – gay, straight, bi, omni, pan, ace, demi, etc., etc. So just learning the label “bisexual” won’t make Billie an expert in human sexuality. But when it comes to labels/alternatives, three is a very different number than two – two leads to binary thinking, while three is halfway to “many.”
So, both in general and in Billie’s case, the label of “bi” can help to reverse the conceptual limitations that arise from only knowing the labels “gay” and “straight.”
I don’t think it’s quite that straightforward. Knowing the label or the concept won’t make Billie happy applying it to herself, because Billie needs to be normal and bisexual isn’t any more normal in her mind than lesbian or queer.
The conflict goes deeper and ties to her need for popularity and status.
Billie seems to believe that ‘normal girls’, like her, occasionally ‘get curious’ about women, but that doesn’t make them ‘gay’. And that worries me. It suggests that Billie thinks she’s just ‘in a phase’ right now, so she can have fun and enjoy herself, but has no hope of this being a permanent thing.
I don’t think she thinks its a phase, just that she has so much invested in being “normal” (and popular, etc) that whatever she is has to be normal, thus everyone must like girls.
She wants the whole thing with Ruth – scrapbook and manicures and happily ever after.
She just isn’t willing to accept a label that puts her outside of that normal.
Cyrus Kzar: There is a cavern near hear that leads to a hole big enough to allow humans into the aqueduct. You’ll need this though.
Cyrus Kzar hands Dorothy a blue glass ball.
Joyce: What is it?
Cyrus Kzar: As long as you have this on you, a bubble of water will surround you. Here I have one for everybody. You’ll need them to get through the water.
Dorothy: Is there anything we can do to repay you?
Cyrus Kzar: There is one thing, my daughter acts as a court mage for the king that lives on the other side of the wall beyond the mountains. I haven’t been able to see her in years, but please take this letter to her for me.
Dorothy: I will fulfill your request!
After that they set out, and after walking for a few minutes, our heroes came across a dark cavern.
Danny: Looks like this is it!
Joyce: I’m scared.
Dorothy: Don’t be…that’s my job.
Walky: I’m not scared!
Dorothy: Yes, you are.
Walky: Yes, I am.
And so they stepped into the cavern and dropped into the dark water. Joyce first held her breath before realizing that she could breathe perfectly fine. She was sinking towards the bottom, and she landed on soft sand. Billie landed beside her and said something, but no one could hear her. So they marched on, protected by their bubbles until they came across a hole just large enough to let a typical human through.
Joyce saw him first, massive, and wriggling. Its tentacles flailed around in the water as it searched the space for morsels of food. It had a single giant eyeball in the middle of its face, but its body was unmistakably that of an octopus. It shined a bright red, and she spied where its tentacle had been removed at the tip the night before.
Billie: (mouthing) holy shit.
Dorothy placed her finger over her mouth. Slowly and carefully they crept forwards, and slowly but surely the monster’s eye turned towards them.
A tentacle shoots out like a cannon and tried to grab Billie, who leaped out of the way just in time.
Billie: Not this time bongo!
Billie pulled out her hammer and slammed it into the tentacle before it could retract. Causing it to shrink away in pain. The next tentacle went for Walky, who pulled out his rapier and managed to slice its tip.
Dorothy pulled out her book and searched for a spell which could be useful. She knew enough to have a rough idea of what they did, but she figured a fireball wouldn’t be of very much use underwater, and electricity might be a bad idea. Ultimately, she chose the very last spell at her disposal, Aurum Clipium and found her body covered in a golden armor, that felt like cloth but was hard as steel. It shone radiantly.
Danny ran over to Dorothy and merged their bubbles.
Danny: Here take this.
Dorothy: Your knife?
Danny: Yeah, I can just use the summon again.
Dorothy: Then do it you idiot!
Everyone else was doing their best to fight against the tentacles, slashing away and smashing at them.
Danny strummed once on his instrument, only to hear a voice that told him Luna’s avatar could only be summoned where the moon can see them.
Danny: shit.
Danny was slammed backwards by a tentacle.
Everyone: Danny!
Dorothy quickly slices at the other tentacle with her knife.
Joyce motions everyone towards her. There bubbles merge together.
Joyce: This is getting us nowhere, we need a plan.
*coda of the song played over a loudspeaker in the distance* If you’re blue and you don’t know where to go to
Why don’t you go where fashion sits…
Puttin’ On The Ritz…Puttin’ On The Ritz…
Aha, but Finland has historically had its own pantheon (off the top of my head, the only one I can name is the fire-deity Ukko, but I know there’s others – there’s also the Finnish afterlife of Tuonela, which is essentially a frozen lake beneath which souls are laid to eternal rest), separate from the Norse/Germanic pantheon! A FLAW HAS BEEN UNCOVERED IN YOUR LOGIC!
(and a quick googling shows why for my memory’s sake I probably shouldn’t be doing this at 2 AM, since I’m not seeing much that specifically associates Ukko with fire, as such…our resident Finn a few comments below would probably be more of an expert on that than me :P)
clearly you don’t have the correct editions of Demigods and Deities. Vanamoinen and his mother spring to mind immediately, but the others I’d have to look up just for the spelling.
–Dave, also loves Finland’s anthropomorphization in SatW
Most of my familiarity with Finnish mythology comes from Stand Still, Stay Silent and A Redtail’s Dream, both of which draw large amounts of influence from Nordic and Finnish mythologies; several of the protagonists and secondary characters are Finnish, and the author herself is Fenno-Swedish.
Now that I’m a bit more awake, I see I was mentally confusing Ukko (the chief Finnish deity) with Kokko (a mythological Finnish fire-bird).
Other figures I was thinking of yesterday but had to look up their names now as I couldn’t remember them entirely include folks like the moon-goddess Kuutar and the water-goddess Vellamo, as well as ones like Tuoni (of the aforementioned Tuonela).
Thor is the source of the word Thursday
Thursday is the fifth day of the week
A fifth is a measure of alcohol
Alcohol gets you intoxicated
Ruth is intoxicated
Ruth is with Billie
Billie is intoxicating
Billie is alcohol
False. MENSA tests for intelligence, not for wisdom.
Intelligence is your ability to deduce, calculate, interpret new data, incorporate new data, commit to obtaining new data, the degree of data you have already obtained, etc.
Wisdom is your ability to use data in effective ways, and is primarily developed by life experience alone.
In simpler terms, MENSA can test if you’re capable of building a nuclear bomb, but not if you’ll use that bomb wisely.
It’s fun to see how phonetics of the language works with borrowed stuff. For example, “lesbian” turns into “lesbiyanka” in Russian. “Lesbolainen” sounds very pretty!
Ruth’s nervous as all hell, and is putting up her brash, grumpy “I don’t care” front to cover it. (At least, that’s how I’ve read it so far, since Billie arrived at her room a couple strips ago.)
I want to plead, cajole, use reverse psychology… but the upload buffer takes no prisoners.
This is so pretty, though. A little bit ominous, but pretty. I’ve always liked these two, and especially in this incarnation. Separately, they’re broken and nasty: together, they’re at peace and their good sides start to show.
So, half my brain is squeeing at the cuteness of the last few days.
(Especially Billie’s eyeroll yesterday. When someone does the “You’re doing something silly, but I’m just happy to be with you” type of eye-rolling, it’s just the cutest.)
The other half is now dreading how much this is going to crash and burn because Willis is a manifestation of the universe, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the universe personally hates each and every one of us.
Wait… BUT WHAT IF HER GRANDPA COMES NOW?
Date ruined, alright, but that … thing … is a bridge they must cross eventually anyway, so it won’t count as too evil from Willis’ side.
Ruth, just a footnote here: That’s called ‘teasing’ and it can be good natured. 😉 I do think that it’s sweet that Ruth has been able to admit that she was attracted to Billie from fairly early on. Even that is a huge step for her, given how vulnerable she is, emotionally speaking.
I think it is more likely that they are going to run into several other couples at the restaurant that make them how relatively healthy and sane their relationship is. I’m thinking Ethan and Mike (formally) and Danny and Sal (“We’re just picking up some eats, honest!”).
Ok I can sense that this is all very sweet somehow, but I’m also very confused by 4th panel Billie’s statement?? Why hasn’t it been proved yet? Is she making a joke? A joke that I don’t understand??
As I understand it, she’s saying that they still need to prove that antagonizing Billie isn’t the only way to be next to her. Thus, she’s daring Ruth to just, be nice instead. If she gives in to her urge to be mean, she fails the challenge that’s being presented. And we all know Ruth can’t back down from a challenge from Billie. That’s why she’s pouting in the last panel while Billie takes the opportunity to get cozy, knowing Ruth can’t snark about the affection without “losing.”
Hmmm, I thought there were some times when Ruth was being nice to Billie, like when she gave Billie flowers just now, and whenever she says or does something honest and heartfelt (eg. handholding in the back of a dark party room). It’s quite rare compared to the antagonizing, but it happens sometimes, so I got confused. Maybe I took it too literally.
Woke up early on a Sunday – not an ingredient for a good morning. Then I saw this,and especially the look on Billie’s face in the last panel. Heart grows 3 sizes.
*Billie and Ruth are sitting together at a restaurant. Two guys sitting at a nearby table look over*
Guy1: *sng* Hey look, those two girls are on a DATE together! *snkk*
*Ruth scowls, makes to get up. Billie puts her hand on Ruth’s arm*
Billie: C’mon, Ruth, stay here with me.
Ruth: Grr… fine.
Guy2: Look at ’em… such a coupl’a dykes…
Ruth: GRRRR…
Billie: *squeezes Ruth’s arm* We’re having such a good night, babe, don’t ruin it!
Guy1: Look, and they’re LEAFS fans! Haha!
*Billie takes hand off Ruth’s arm*
Billie: OK, get ’em.
“And where were you twenty years ago? Ten years ago? Where were you when I was new? When I was one of those innocent young maidens you always come to? How dare you! How dare you come to me now, when I am this!“
The yellow SUV looks like a second generation Ford Escape to me, judging by the size, shape of the taillights, and the angle of the C-pillar. The handle under the license plate is there, too. Looks like it had running boards added.
The blue SUV is more abstract, and its lack of reverse lights doesn’t help much. I’m guessing somewhat older Tahoe?
So, hey. Never did a comment before, ever. But you see, I just needed to say the smile on Billie’s face in the last panel makes up for all the struggling these two have been through.
As many people pointed out before Willis tends to fuck up everything at some point to make our hearts hurt, but then he has these really warm, soft and sweet ways of making things up.
That expression of pure calm its a “before and after” point. Think about Billie. She’s brave, confident, and somewhat cold. There has been other panels in which you could see her being nicer, softer, warmer (many of them, thanks to Ruth, indeed). But in my humble opinion, this one is the best, the purest. It makes you literally feel nice, feel happy, feel warm. This is art.
Im probably overreacting, but just wanted to express myself. This comic tends to make you act that way (heh). Anyway, congratulations Willis. You did it again.
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omg yay
Vocal Homophobe in 3…2….1….
Oh no
I don’t see the problem… Billy will vaporize them, except for the femurs. Those will be Ruth’s new discipline tool. “I will take your femurs” is more effective if she HAS a femur on hand.
eeehehehehehehe this so cute
Love it!!!! All the hearts . . .
**Squees at the cuteness**
**does the Walis and Gromit fist giggle of excitement**
**Does the little Wallace forearm quiver**
also heeing and squeeing.
I hate how “mega ultra fan girl” I have been for this, but I just can’t help it.
I have been moved to tears by almost every strip in this arc.
P’raps not the right thing to say there, Billie.
Actually, it might be. Ruth is still adjusting to being… well-adjusted. She still probably has that little voice inside her saying “I don’t deserve nice things.” The fact that Billy is busting her chops might be a very comforting thing for Ruth. First, it means that nothing has changed. Billy is still treating her the same way and not like a china doll. That is something that is a big deal for people struggling to address their own vulnerability. Second, the fact that it isn’t some fairy-tail-happily-ever-after scenario might be comforting in that it is realistic and not a dream that will shatter if she backslides a bit.
For clarity, what I am seeing is: Vulnerability in panel 3, Annoyance in panel 4, and “I don’t know why I put up with this” in panel 5. And the last one is key. Ruth needs to be challenged. This relationship can’t come easily because Ruth wouldn’t trust it. Billy is dragging Ruth out of her insecurity by being exactly something that Ruth can accept at the moment: annoying, but just enough to keep Ruth from questioning it. Notice that Ruth isn’t brushing Billy off in the last panel.
I’m gonna stay optimistic that this is what Ruth needs right now.
I also think it’s valuable that Ruth looks fakey put off, not genuinely upset. I think it IS really good for her to know that even at her lowest Billie wont treat her differently.
I am going to get diabetes from how sweet this is.
It’s pronounced ‘di-beetus’.
Stop saying it, you will summon the ghost of Wilfred Brimley.
And the manicure! Don’t forget the manicures~ ha, but for real I thought of this too when I looked at older strips and saw Ruth saying they’d never be out holding hands and stuff. I’m happy for them! …I hope it stays happy for them.
Now Billie might actually get the manicures. I’m happy for them, but I’m also kinda worried because this is going so well and I keep expecting Willis to torpedo this ship just to torment us.
The better things are going, the worse they are about to go.
We could call it the Willis Principle.
Billie, it is almost Valentine’s Day and you live in Dumbing of Age YOU STOP TEMPTING FATE RIGHT NOW YOUNG LADY.
I’m having anxiety just thinking about it.
Billie 30 minutes ago: well im not GAY
Billie now:
I wonder what that’s all about. Like, she’s been into guys and women, and that much she seemed totally fine with, but I guess there’s been some baggage there. Maybe it’s something else entirely to have sexual feelings than publicly romantic.
Kinda seems like maybe Ruth also having trepidation might have been comforting to her or let her feel less alone in her reluctance?
I think the main thing is that Billie sees herself as essentially “normal” (or, in her own words, “not different”). So far she’s been operating under the assumption that she’s a “normal” person, and since she’s into both guys and girls, all normal people must be at least a little into both guys and girls at some point. But now, thanks to Becky, she’s realizing that her interest in girls is getting her marked as “different”/”not normal” by other people, which poses a problem for her own sense of self that she’ll have to reconcile eventually.
At least for now, once those other people are out of the picture, those concerns seem to recede into the background.
eloquently put.
Well she knows she likes boys, and also she likes girls, but she is not gay (I mean duh, she is a cheerleader) and there is no such thing as bi
Even if you don’t think negatively of anyone for being a part of a particular group, it still takes some mental adjustment to reconcile the idea that *you* might *belong* to a group that you’ve seen as ‘other’ (even if that’s just ‘different’ other, not ‘ugh’ other) for so long.
I mean, picture realizing tomorrow that your orientation is not what you’ve basically assumed it is for years. Disconcerting, no?
…or at least, I’m finding it so.
Well, she’s not WRONG.
Now someone please tell Billie bisexuality is real.
why worry so much about labels. Happiness is where you find it.
Labels are important. If someone doesn’t identify with them that’s fine but the existence of them is important. It gives us a sense of belonging, of understanding something about ourselves.
Look at Billie. She’s not had decent exposure to bisexuality so she’s now having to work through the idea that she’s not “normal” (her word). If the label had been one she had been exposed to, she would be much less likely to feel that way now.
Similarly, finding that there was a label to describe my sexuality (which was always just confusing and complicated to me) was a huge relief. A feeling of not being alone. All of a sudden my sexuality WAS normal, and okay, because it was something with a name and other people like it! I suddenly understood myself and accepted myself so much more than before.
So yeah. Labels shouldn’t be forced on anyone but they matter. They’re important.
Well put. You can suck half the fear out of the unknown, just by having a name for the thing.
James: Mom? I’m scared!
Mom: what are you scared of dear?
James: (pointing to huge hideous tentacle-headed monster behind Mom). That!
Mom: Oh, James, that’s just Cthulu. No need to be scared. … And it is not polite to point!
Once you get older, labels really don’t become as important- but that’s because, by that point, you’ve typically fleshed out your sense of self-identity.
As you’re still developing it, even if you aren’t going after a sense of “belonging”, labels are still useful for helping you make sense of things, or to connect to others. Labels are mostly a way of introducing new concepts that you can work off of, or ways to easily tell people a fact about yourself, without having to over-elaborate it; ie, “No, I can’t eat that- I’m a vegetarian.”
In Billie’s case, it seems her conflict is less with her sense of self-identity (as per the expected norm for queer identity conflicts) and more with her sense of being able to communicate her identity to others. Which generally is a better arrangement to work off of- though Billie, being a bit more socially-minded than many, may find it harder to reconcile the fact that parts of society look negatively toward her relationship; Of course, she’s been tearing down that socially-fixated part of herself steadily for a while now, so I can’t imagine she’ll find this too big of a hurdle to jump.
Labels also take some of the mouthful off. You could say “I don’t eat animal products” or you could say “I’m vegan”.
Insert anti vegan joke here. Then shove that joke into your meat supply. I’m not sure what it’s going to do there, but it won’t be doing anything to vegans there of all places…
It’s not the label Billie needs, it’s the concept.
The label can help make the concept real. It’s not necessary, but it can help.
That’s not the only thing labels can be good for – they can also help people identify a community that they’re part of. They may even make the difference between feeling alone (unique in a bad way) and part of a group that is identifiable and comprehensible.
Of course labels can also divide, pigeonhole, and constrain thinking. As, for example, Billie has labels (concepts) for gay and straight, and thinks you have to be one or the other.
Just as there are more than two labels, there are also more than three – gay, straight, bi, omni, pan, ace, demi, etc., etc. So just learning the label “bisexual” won’t make Billie an expert in human sexuality. But when it comes to labels/alternatives, three is a very different number than two – two leads to binary thinking, while three is halfway to “many.”
So, both in general and in Billie’s case, the label of “bi” can help to reverse the conceptual limitations that arise from only knowing the labels “gay” and “straight.”
I don’t think it’s quite that straightforward. Knowing the label or the concept won’t make Billie happy applying it to herself, because Billie needs to be normal and bisexual isn’t any more normal in her mind than lesbian or queer.
The conflict goes deeper and ties to her need for popularity and status.
Uh, looks to me like Billie is totally boying Ruth here. Well-trodden ground for her.
Billie seems to believe that ‘normal girls’, like her, occasionally ‘get curious’ about women, but that doesn’t make them ‘gay’. And that worries me. It suggests that Billie thinks she’s just ‘in a phase’ right now, so she can have fun and enjoy herself, but has no hope of this being a permanent thing.
I don’t think she thinks its a phase, just that she has so much invested in being “normal” (and popular, etc) that whatever she is has to be normal, thus everyone must like girls.
She wants the whole thing with Ruth – scrapbook and manicures and happily ever after.
She just isn’t willing to accept a label that puts her outside of that normal.
Billie is enjoying this too much (and hey, this is a date, so she should). 😛
Dungeons and Dumbing Part 10!
Dorothy: Is everyone ready to go?
Joyce: Yep!
Danny: Yes.
Billie: Sure.
Walky: Yeah.
Dorothy: Great! Where are we going?
Cyrus Kzar: There is a cavern near hear that leads to a hole big enough to allow humans into the aqueduct. You’ll need this though.
Cyrus Kzar hands Dorothy a blue glass ball.
Joyce: What is it?
Cyrus Kzar: As long as you have this on you, a bubble of water will surround you. Here I have one for everybody. You’ll need them to get through the water.
Dorothy: Is there anything we can do to repay you?
Cyrus Kzar: There is one thing, my daughter acts as a court mage for the king that lives on the other side of the wall beyond the mountains. I haven’t been able to see her in years, but please take this letter to her for me.
Dorothy: I will fulfill your request!
After that they set out, and after walking for a few minutes, our heroes came across a dark cavern.
Danny: Looks like this is it!
Joyce: I’m scared.
Dorothy: Don’t be…that’s my job.
Walky: I’m not scared!
Dorothy: Yes, you are.
Walky: Yes, I am.
And so they stepped into the cavern and dropped into the dark water. Joyce first held her breath before realizing that she could breathe perfectly fine. She was sinking towards the bottom, and she landed on soft sand. Billie landed beside her and said something, but no one could hear her. So they marched on, protected by their bubbles until they came across a hole just large enough to let a typical human through.
Joyce saw him first, massive, and wriggling. Its tentacles flailed around in the water as it searched the space for morsels of food. It had a single giant eyeball in the middle of its face, but its body was unmistakably that of an octopus. It shined a bright red, and she spied where its tentacle had been removed at the tip the night before.
Billie: (mouthing) holy shit.
Dorothy placed her finger over her mouth. Slowly and carefully they crept forwards, and slowly but surely the monster’s eye turned towards them.
A tentacle shoots out like a cannon and tried to grab Billie, who leaped out of the way just in time.
Billie: Not this time bongo!
Billie pulled out her hammer and slammed it into the tentacle before it could retract. Causing it to shrink away in pain. The next tentacle went for Walky, who pulled out his rapier and managed to slice its tip.
Dorothy pulled out her book and searched for a spell which could be useful. She knew enough to have a rough idea of what they did, but she figured a fireball wouldn’t be of very much use underwater, and electricity might be a bad idea. Ultimately, she chose the very last spell at her disposal, Aurum Clipium and found her body covered in a golden armor, that felt like cloth but was hard as steel. It shone radiantly.
Danny ran over to Dorothy and merged their bubbles.
Danny: Here take this.
Dorothy: Your knife?
Danny: Yeah, I can just use the summon again.
Dorothy: Then do it you idiot!
Everyone else was doing their best to fight against the tentacles, slashing away and smashing at them.
Danny strummed once on his instrument, only to hear a voice that told him Luna’s avatar could only be summoned where the moon can see them.
Danny: shit.
Danny was slammed backwards by a tentacle.
Everyone: Danny!
Dorothy quickly slices at the other tentacle with her knife.
Joyce motions everyone towards her. There bubbles merge together.
Joyce: This is getting us nowhere, we need a plan.
I assume you meant bubble of air?
Someoen’s being a tsundre~
Yeah, but which one?
Yes
Yup
She’s Ruth’s Disney princess and Ruth luuuuuuuuuurves heerrr ;-*
*coda of the song played over a loudspeaker in the distance*
If you’re blue and you don’t know where to go to
Why don’t you go where fashion sits…
Puttin’ On The Ritz…Puttin’ On The Ritz…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfoaWHsdTNU
Aber… liebe ist dabei
All seriousness, I wish either my German were better or that I could find a proper lyrics sheet for Bruhl’s cover version.
LOL so because Ruth thought she would never be able to do this kinda thing, she kept attacking Billie? You Humans are weird…
Maybe Daniel the Human could use some tips. And I’m getting death-stares, so better wrap this up…
Panel 5 Ruth: Me whenever a girlfriend’s teasing me.
You’re so adorable.
*grumble grumble*
If you antagonize her now, Ruth, she wins!
well she is not wrong…
Why do I think that something BAD is going to happen in this storyline? Pleeeease no no no
Unicorns….
Unicorns only appear to virgins.
Virgin is the most popular form of olive oil
Olives are connected to Athena.
Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom.
Wise people are in MENSA
MENSA was founded in 1946
1946 is also the year where World War II ended
World War II was fought by the Allies and the Axis Powers.
The axis is a fixed reference line for measuring coordinates.
Coordinates are used in maps.
Maps were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.
the 18th and 19th centuries involved the opium trade.
the opium trade was heavily involved England.
Canada used to be an English province.
Ruth is Canadian
Ruth was involved with the opium trade.
Yeah, but that was centuries ago.
centuries…
a century is a 100 years
a 100 years ago was 1918
1918 was the year the Finnish Civil War ended
Finland is a Nordic country
The Nordic countries used to worship the Norse gods.
The most popular Norse god is Thor.
Thor has a hammer
A hammer can be used as a weapon
A weapon is often times required for breaking peoples femurs
Ruth is Thor.
That was great. Can you do 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon?
Aha, but Finland has historically had its own pantheon (off the top of my head, the only one I can name is the fire-deity Ukko, but I know there’s others – there’s also the Finnish afterlife of Tuonela, which is essentially a frozen lake beneath which souls are laid to eternal rest), separate from the Norse/Germanic pantheon! A FLAW HAS BEEN UNCOVERED IN YOUR LOGIC!
(and a quick googling shows why for my memory’s sake I probably shouldn’t be doing this at 2 AM, since I’m not seeing much that specifically associates Ukko with fire, as such…our resident Finn a few comments below would probably be more of an expert on that than me :P)
clearly you don’t have the correct editions of Demigods and Deities. Vanamoinen and his mother spring to mind immediately, but the others I’d have to look up just for the spelling.
–Dave, also loves Finland’s anthropomorphization in SatW
Most of my familiarity with Finnish mythology comes from Stand Still, Stay Silent and A Redtail’s Dream, both of which draw large amounts of influence from Nordic and Finnish mythologies; several of the protagonists and secondary characters are Finnish, and the author herself is Fenno-Swedish.
Now that I’m a bit more awake, I see I was mentally confusing Ukko (the chief Finnish deity) with Kokko (a mythological Finnish fire-bird).
Other figures I was thinking of yesterday but had to look up their names now as I couldn’t remember them entirely include folks like the moon-goddess Kuutar and the water-goddess Vellamo, as well as ones like Tuoni (of the aforementioned Tuonela).
Thor is the source of the word Thursday
Thursday is the fifth day of the week
A fifth is a measure of alcohol
Alcohol gets you intoxicated
Ruth is intoxicated
Ruth is with Billie
Billie is intoxicating
Billie is alcohol
Yep, it’s a widely believed FACT
“Wise people are in MENSA”
False. MENSA tests for intelligence, not for wisdom.
Intelligence is your ability to deduce, calculate, interpret new data, incorporate new data, commit to obtaining new data, the degree of data you have already obtained, etc.
Wisdom is your ability to use data in effective ways, and is primarily developed by life experience alone.
In simpler terms, MENSA can test if you’re capable of building a nuclear bomb, but not if you’ll use that bomb wisely.
Umm, 1945 for WWII
here is kitty’s finnish word(s) of the day!
homoseksuaali (homosexual), lesbolainen (lesbian)
as you can see, theyre just loan words, basically the same but relevant
have a nice day!
It’s fun to see how phonetics of the language works with borrowed stuff. For example, “lesbian” turns into “lesbiyanka” in Russian. “Lesbolainen” sounds very pretty!
Fhejehsnskadhjw
HELP IT’S CUTE AND I AM CONCERNED
waiting for the other shoe to drop I’m imaging Willis is just like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSLlZh9yelk
This is extremely cute but Ruth doesn’t seem to actually be having a good time and it’s almost February
Ruth’s nervous as all hell, and is putting up her brash, grumpy “I don’t care” front to cover it. (At least, that’s how I’ve read it so far, since Billie arrived at her room a couple strips ago.)
Billie is the cutest Slytherin
I want to plead, cajole, use reverse psychology… but the upload buffer takes no prisoners.
This is so pretty, though. A little bit ominous, but pretty. I’ve always liked these two, and especially in this incarnation. Separately, they’re broken and nasty: together, they’re at peace and their good sides start to show.
Ruth, not smart. And bad idea.
But, if you realize that isn’t true, that’s what will give you a chance.
So smarten the fug up, and literally enjoy this. And then you can be a real couple.
In the same way that getting over MY internalized bullshit helped me realize that I was a girl.
Gosh, they’re so cute!
aawww those two
So, half my brain is squeeing at the cuteness of the last few days.
(Especially Billie’s eyeroll yesterday. When someone does the “You’re doing something silly, but I’m just happy to be with you” type of eye-rolling, it’s just the cutest.)
The other half is now dreading how much this is going to crash and burn because Willis is a manifestation of the universe, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the universe personally hates each and every one of us.
Wait… BUT WHAT IF HER GRANDPA COMES NOW?
Date ruined, alright, but that … thing … is a bridge they must cross eventually anyway, so it won’t count as too evil from Willis’ side.
Hmmmm…
….
…Nope, I still feel the universe (through Willis) hating me through that scenario.
they are so sweet???? I adore them????
Ruth, just a footnote here: That’s called ‘teasing’ and it can be good natured. 😉 I do think that it’s sweet that Ruth has been able to admit that she was attracted to Billie from fairly early on. Even that is a huge step for her, given how vulnerable she is, emotionally speaking.
Confident, beautiful Billy with flustered Ruth on her arm. Yup. THIS is college shaping up to expectations.
CUUUUUTE!
The levels of d’awww are off the charts. What’s going to happen to them? A truck? Is it a truck, you ungrateful universe?
I think it is more likely that they are going to run into several other couples at the restaurant that make them how relatively healthy and sane their relationship is. I’m thinking Ethan and Mike (formally) and Danny and Sal (“We’re just picking up some eats, honest!”).
o no the eyeballs what does it mean willis pls
Touche
Looks like they’re walking on Galasso’s street. This will be a fun date.
Their expressions, in parallel; eyebrows, eyes, mouths, working in tandem. it’s sooo good.
–Dave, then historical jesus walks by and smiles
Ok I can sense that this is all very sweet somehow, but I’m also very confused by 4th panel Billie’s statement?? Why hasn’t it been proved yet? Is she making a joke? A joke that I don’t understand??
As I understand it, she’s saying that they still need to prove that antagonizing Billie isn’t the only way to be next to her. Thus, she’s daring Ruth to just, be nice instead. If she gives in to her urge to be mean, she fails the challenge that’s being presented. And we all know Ruth can’t back down from a challenge from Billie. That’s why she’s pouting in the last panel while Billie takes the opportunity to get cozy, knowing Ruth can’t snark about the affection without “losing.”
Hmmm, I thought there were some times when Ruth was being nice to Billie, like when she gave Billie flowers just now, and whenever she says or does something honest and heartfelt (eg. handholding in the back of a dark party room). It’s quite rare compared to the antagonizing, but it happens sometimes, so I got confused. Maybe I took it too literally.
Which means it is sort of a joke! With teasing!
Yep! Big teasers, these two. 🙂
Thanks, I didn’t quite follow that myself. Your interpretation fits neatly. 🙂
Woke up early on a Sunday – not an ingredient for a good morning. Then I saw this,and especially the look on Billie’s face in the last panel. Heart grows 3 sizes.
Equilibrium restored.
(Mentally sending this message back in time to when Willis was drawing the next few weeks’ strips) Please let these two be happy…
Wait, what am I doing If I can send messages back in time I’m reading the stock report to myself
*Billie and Ruth are sitting together at a restaurant. Two guys sitting at a nearby table look over*
Guy1: *sng* Hey look, those two girls are on a DATE together! *snkk*
*Ruth scowls, makes to get up. Billie puts her hand on Ruth’s arm*
Billie: C’mon, Ruth, stay here with me.
Ruth: Grr… fine.
Guy2: Look at ’em… such a coupl’a dykes…
Ruth: GRRRR…
Billie: *squeezes Ruth’s arm* We’re having such a good night, babe, don’t ruin it!
Guy1: Look, and they’re LEAFS fans! Haha!
*Billie takes hand off Ruth’s arm*
Billie: OK, get ’em.
I personally don’t see what’s wrong with wishing for a unicorn.
Mine’s bound to arrive any day now.
“And where were you twenty years ago? Ten years ago? Where were you when I was new? When I was one of those innocent young maidens you always come to? How dare you! How dare you come to me now, when I am this!“
Unicorns walk among us….There’s one behind you right now.
No, only a dragon and a fox… My Charizard and Eevee plushies, specifically!
Time for another round of Guess That Car!
The yellow SUV looks like a second generation Ford Escape to me, judging by the size, shape of the taillights, and the angle of the C-pillar. The handle under the license plate is there, too. Looks like it had running boards added.
The blue SUV is more abstract, and its lack of reverse lights doesn’t help much. I’m guessing somewhat older Tahoe?
So, hey. Never did a comment before, ever. But you see, I just needed to say the smile on Billie’s face in the last panel makes up for all the struggling these two have been through.
As many people pointed out before Willis tends to fuck up everything at some point to make our hearts hurt, but then he has these really warm, soft and sweet ways of making things up.
That expression of pure calm its a “before and after” point. Think about Billie. She’s brave, confident, and somewhat cold. There has been other panels in which you could see her being nicer, softer, warmer (many of them, thanks to Ruth, indeed). But in my humble opinion, this one is the best, the purest. It makes you literally feel nice, feel happy, feel warm. This is art.
Im probably overreacting, but just wanted to express myself. This comic tends to make you act that way (heh). Anyway, congratulations Willis. You did it again.
How does Ruth have freckles if she never goes outside?
Canadians can feel sun through walls. It’s the only way they get vitamin D in the winter.
They like each other so much that it makes me want to CRY. I’m so glad. I hope they get. Fucking married.