A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Ghost Junk Sickness
Studio CARTRIDGE, Laura Lee
Two hunters try to survive and end up being pushed to pursue a deadly bounty dubbed "The Ghost".
Little Red & Wolf
Aoi Maneki
Delve into the daily lives of two famous fairytale characters, and their adventures in this big weird world we all live in.
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Novae
KaiJu
A historical romance with a touch magic and a dash of astronomy. It chronicles the romantic adventures of Sulvain, a sweet tempered necromancer and Raziol, a passionate 17th century astronomer.
No Need for Bushido
Suburban Samurai, J W Kovell
The flash of a blade, the clash of steel! A runaway princess and her samurai companion navigate a fractured country on the brink of war.
Demon Street
Aliza Layne
Two kids explore a world full of monsters and magic trying to find their way home again. But when home has been stolen from you, where do you go to get it back?
Awkward Zombie
Katie Tiedrich
Gags and goofs about videogames and the things that happen in them.
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
Never Satisfied
Taylor Robin
Lucy Marlowe, a magician's apprentice, competes against other apprentices for an important, magical, Goverment Job.
The Mash
L.F. Garcia, Danigami
In a world shrouded in mystery and threatened by great evil,a young mummy prince will use his new life to unite with other monster children to save it.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Stand Still, Stay Silent
Minna Sundberg
A few generations after the end of the world, a small, poorly financed research crew is sent out to rediscover whatever is left of the forbidden old world in the south.
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
Ozzie the Vampire
Eric Lide
Ozzie and her best friend Kimmy are your average everyday normal art students – except one is an immortal vampire with superpowers and the other possesses a magic talking grimoire. Also they have to save their town from a demonic invasion.
Monster Pulse
Magnolia Porter Siddell
Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
The Sanity Circus
Windy
Magic, monsters and mysteries await in the odd city of Sanity. It's up to Attley and a colorful group of characters to find out just what is going on.
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
MASKLESS
kickingshoes
In a world where people can wield the magic of elemental Masks, all Ashe wants to do is help. Maskless and useless, with dreams of fire and smoke on the back of his tongue, he finds himself on a strange, dangerous path to uncovering the secrets of these incredible objects, and the source of the monsters plaguing his home.
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
The Din
Karin (Karrey)
The Din changed the world, mankind & its technology. Gregg Emilio dreams of flying in a sky that hasn't carried airplanes in a century.
Manly Guys Doing Manly Things
Kelly Turnbull
A weekly comic celebrating the finer things in life. Like manly men, lumberjacks, and time traveling special ops agents.
Starhammer
J.N. Monk, Harry Bogosian
A teen girl inherits a powerful alien artifact and proceeds to make a series of increasingly poor decisions
Elephant Town
Danielle Corsetto
The long, slow tale of Kris, Paul, Berto and Mirando, four people who live in the same creaky old house, but don't know each other. New chapter updates every 2 months.
Demon's Mirror
Harry Bogosian
Based loosely off of "The Snow Queen", a story by Hans Christian Andersen, we see things take a different turn as the demons become central characters, and the side characters stick around. Yup, that's the only differences. Enjoy!
Peritale
Mari Costa
A fairy godmother with no magic tries her best to successfully fulfill a Fairytale and win the respect of her peers.
The Glass Scientists
Sage (S.H.) Cotugno
A gaslamp fantasy comic about the life and times of a ragtag group of mad scientists and their enigmatic leader, Dr. Henry Jekyll.
Parisa
Ellen K
Two friends, Nolan and Gwen, take it upon themselves to escort the amnesiac spirit Lelief across the world of Parisa.
Sister Claire
Yamino
In the troubled aftermath of a great war between Witches and her fellow Nuns, novice Sister Claire just wants a purpose.
Awaken
Koti Saavedra/Flipfloppery
Superpowers, monsters and conspiracies. Piras, the spoiled Dameschi heir, fights to recover his identity after becoming a terrorist!
Go Get a Roomie
Clover
Experience the queer journey of an upbeat hippie and the friendships she makes along the way! A tale of self-discovery and love of many forms.
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Between Failures
Jackie Wohlenhaus
The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan
Troubled by gangster rodents, lovesick vampire stalkers, or confused ninja assassins? Don't panic! Sam and Fuzzy are here to help. (For a reasonable fee.)
Laws and Sausages
Zach Weinersmith
Your cartoon guide to the American governement!
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
Heroes of Thantopolis
Izzy Strontium Hall
A living boy fights to save the City of the Dead.
Devil's Candy
Rem, Bikkuri
A lush fantasy about boy genius Kazu Decker, the girl he constructed for his 9th grade science project, and the world of devils and monsters they live in.
Anarchy Dreamers
Emily Ree
Sparkly undead kids fight society's worst Nightmares in this pastel-punk urban fantasy coming-of-age!
The Hunter of Insania
Aoi Maneki
Wiol Alkko sells fake magical objects to those desperate for cures. When he tries to scam a real witch, she curses him: within a year, Wiol must learn and respect magic, or succumb to corruption of body and mind.
Jailbird
Charlie Davis
An all-ages comic about a recently escaped prisoner's struggle to understand the outside world, and vice-versa. Also, a magic cape!
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
Tove
Severin
The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
Witchy
Ariel Slamet Ries
In the witch kingdom Hyalin, the strength of your magic is determined by the length of your hair.
Girl Genius
Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
Helvetica
J.N. Wiedle
This story follows Helvetica's quest to uncover who he was in life, his existential crises, and his struggle to to make death worth living.
Sufficiently Remarkable
Maki Naro
Two young women living in Brooklyn discover that you're always coming of age.
BOOKMARK Click "Tag Page" to bookmark a page. When you return to the site, click "Goto Tag" to continue where you left off.
BUFFER WATCH
Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:
I like cats because it works both ways. Sometimes my cats randomly attack and scare the shit out of me. Sometimes I stomp at them when they’re on the tile so I can watch them scramble and try an get traction. We love each other very much.
I actually a little amazed that Billie can outrun Ruth; didn’t she put on a bunch of weight after graduating high school? Whereas Ruth is fully capable of de-femur-ing a college student at will…! xD
It’s a real campus. We should fuck with them someday by getting together and requesting a tour. Then we all go nuts and take hundreds of pictures when we spot something from the comic.
“This is where Amber stabbed a motherfucker! There’s Garbage Roof! OH MY GOD, BLOWJOB CAT!!!”
I’m currently assuming that if anyone who lives in Bloomington (never mind actually goes to IU) read the comic, questions like yours would probably be answered quickly and authoritatively.
I’ve long posited that there is someone at IU whose only job is to read DoA and then enact changes designed specifically to thwart Willis’s location models.
The Landes Dining Room in Read, the original source for most earlier dining hall scenes, is long gone. But there apparently is a new-ish food court built to replace it, still in Read but in a different location. I say “apparently” because online, all of the IU dining locations seem to exist in a Schroedinger’s state. Open, closed, moved, re-opened? At this point, I’m not sure I trust the official IU:RPS site for any of this.
But I’m willing to assume, for the moment, that Read Hall has some sort of food court. (The architect for the Read Hall renovation says that El Bistro was “relocated to a more central location,” but doesn’t say if that location was still in Read Hall. Also, the non-IU:RPS references to El Bistro are mostly from Foursquare, which considers El Bistro to be closed.)
There’s a food court-ish area in the middle of Read Hall, yeah. It’s up the stairs from the center of the main lobby, and at the end of the hallway from that big windowed area Ethan sits at sometimes. I haven’t drawn it up close yet because 1) it’s a complicated place to draw a background set of, and 2) it’s an awkward public place to take photos, when it’s not gated off because it’s closed.
In 2015, the center establishment in the food court was called Bistro Deli. But as of 2017, it’s something called…. Erbert Gerbert’s…? Look, I don’t know.
From the official IU:RPS page, Erbert and Gerbert’s. “Sandwich shop dedicated to serving more flavorful sandwiches and soups.” If one prefers less flavorful sandwiches and soups, look elsewhere.
It’s a Wisconsin-based chain. They are currently promoting a Mac & Cheese BBQ Brisket sandwich.
I am assuming that the fact that this sandwich contains a layer of brisket ON TOP of a layer of Mac & Cheese means that this sandwich would never be one that Joyce could eat, never mind the Citrus Chipotle BBQ sauce.
They say love and hate are more closely intertwined than people are aware of, but I think that is slightly off. I think love and sass are more closely intertwined than people are aware of and this relationship is just one example of it.
True, but I don’t remember seeing any actual healthy love between these two. As far as I remember, they either seem to snap to each other, or fall into self-destructive depression together…
A fair point. I want Ruth and Billie to have a good relationship, because I think they seem good together but they don’t actually have much healthy interaction. I’m sure there is at least a couple of things that could be pointed to as normal or healthy between them but I can’t think of any.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s better than before, but Billie’s hiding her dorm and her relationship with her floor mates from Ruth (because she’s been treating Ruth like a conquest with them) and she hasn’t been going to therapy.
Meh, therapy doesn’t work for everyone. And I don’t read it as Billie hiding her dorm from Ruth so much as her trying to escape it, which is when she ends up spending time back with Ruth, so there’s natural separation there.
While that’s true, Billie seemingly hasn’t gone since Ruth was hospitalized and they made her go. And I’d argue that you’d need to try first before you can just say that it doesn’t work. Billie clearly has depression and suicidal and self-destructive tendencies, just like Ruth, but she is neither receiving medication or treatment for it, which is not going to help her in the long run.
Billie hasn’t even gone so she can’t say it ‘doesn’t work for her’ and you can’t decide ‘therapy doesn’t work’ when you refuse to open yourself up to the possibility of it working either. You have to genuinely be willing to accept advice and being corrected for it to work.
Yeah, she’s in denial about her problems. She’s an alcoholic who’s making no effort to stop drinking. She’s depressed herself, though differently than Ruth. She needs help of some kind and she’s not getting it.
None of which means that separation from Ruth would be good for her.
I think Billie moving to another dorm is giving them both that separation they need. And I don’t think Billy is hiding anything from ruth. I think what she is trying to do cultivate a reputation and she was trying to avoid exactly ehat happened with Carla and her cute roommate people finding out she wasn’t popular and wasn’t cool
I think she’s more hiding Ruth from her other dorm, which is unhealthy enough for the relationship.
But that also suggests she’s hiding her reputation in the other dorm from Ruth – particularly the parts of it based on her “seducing her RA”.
This day in-universe is, like, the healthiest, happiest these guys’ relationship has ever felt and I love it and I’m all fueled by new year optimism and I hope that they have turned a corner <3
I know right I am rooting for them. Nut i think as Ruth gets a bit healthier she will get more annoyed with Billy’s narcicism i really hope it works abd Billy continues to improve as well
Same! I don’t think I’ve seen Billie smile this much, ever. She’s an alcoholic and that is a problem obviously, but I feel like maybe she could get to a place where she wants to get help for that? And Ruth has been on medication for what, two days? Give it time, she’ll get better too.
No im not upset with Ruth at all shes adjusting and making a lot of progress. Just as she continues improving she may get more annoyed or notice bullies Narcissistic tendencies like it seems her roommate is.
And we have actually seen Billy improve as well. She hasnt been drinking as much and seems to be channeling into making a goodninpression and being doted on by her new popularity
I’ve never seen Billie as an alcoholic myself. She seems more of a (mostly) functional alcohol abuser to me. She uses alcohol for it’s effects rather than needing it to feed an addiction. She doesn’t seem to have been drinking since their hospitalisation, but is showing no signs of withdrawal at all. I think her drinking is a symptom of her issues, rather than the cause of them and if she deals with the real cause of her issues, the need to drink herself senseless will likewise fade. Or maybe I’m barking down the wrong track entirely. Time (and Willis) will tell, they always do.
I’m with Clif. There’s no sign that she’s ever stopped drinking, which is why we’ve never seen signs of withdrawal.
We know she was drinking with Dorothy while Ruth was in the hospital and we saw her trying to drink at Galasso’s when Jason recognized her.
In Just Hangin’ Out With My Family, when Ruth tells Howie he’s too young for Game of Thrones, Billie asks her if she should be saying that since both Billie and Ruth were teenage alcoholics. Ruth tells her to shut up.
I am so happy to see these two actually becoming healthier and spending time together I. A more stable way. Billie your snark is endearing but can you really outrun your annoyed girlfriend
I normally would slap Billie for being a jerk, but I applaud her for mocking conspiracy theories and anorexia. Eating is important, and conspiracy theories most of the times are based on antisemitism. Also, I love eating delicious food.
There’s an alien juggalo called Gamzee, and he types in alternating caps. He’s batshit flippin’ bonkers, and he takes naps on a big pile of bicycle horns.
While this strip is kinda sweet in its own way, I can’t help but think that replacing a suicidal person’s depression with rage/anger is NOT a healthy solution. :/ In real life, that’s how you get suicide bombers or people who go on mass shooting sprees before offing themselves.
That’s quite a slippery slope you’re on. Ruth is not genuinely angry or full of rage, and her depression hasn’t gone away because of it. There’s a huge fucking leap from Billie lightly mocking her this one time and the steps it takes for someone to become a mass shooter.
This one time, yes. What I’m saying is that this should not be a repeated pattern. It’s very easy for the depressed/ostracized person in their vulnerable state of mind to think that the teasing is instead mockery. Very often when people are in pain, the first thing they look for is somebody to blame. This is how jihadists and other terrorist groups tend to do their recruiting; they approach desperate people who think there is no way out and convince them that everything that is wrong in their life is because of X, and that X must be destroyed, at the cost of one’s own life if necessary. Of course Ruth herself, in her current position, is in no danger of being recruited, but you can probably see how someone who is lost, hurting and alone can be easily self-radicalized by just associating with the wrong people or reading the wrong literature online. The last thing they need is people in real life inadvertently reinforcing that warped world view.
Slightly off topic, but is it just me, or has Billie gained a lot of weight since the start of the comic? Considering it’s only been around 1 month in DoA time, she must have a serious eating disorder to go from this to where she is now.
I think it’s just the art evolved. Joyce looks like she’s also gained some curves, with bigger hips and breasts at point. Ruth, on the other hand, looks like she’s lost weight, because she’s taller and has a thinner head shape now.
Willis commented before that Amber’s always been rounder in his mind but it’s only the past few years he’s been able to render it as specifically. Same is probably true with Billie and Marcie, and, on the other side, Dorothy and Ruth both seem skinnier lately, but we know Dorothy’d previously been described as ‘bony’.
Speaking of Billie and Ruth, do you guys understand what are the reasons for their problems? I honestly can’t say why Billie is depressed and suicidal…
Oddly enough, people don’t need reasons to have depression. Sometimes it’s just a thing that happens, likewise with thoughts of suicide.
Billie is depressed because she has a mental illness. That’s the reason.
Now, it’s possible that her depression/alcoholism/suicidal thoughts are related to a thing or several things you can point to, like crappy parents (smart money in this comic is on crappy parents, always), but they don’t have to be. People don’t need a reason to be sick.
Honestly, my theory is that Ruth has depression and uses alcohol to self-medicate, while Billie is mostly an alcoholic, with the depression being secondary.
Ruth has been able to quit alcohol several times, only relapsing when circumstances changed (when she and Billie got together in their sexy lesbian suicide pact). Billie has never tried, as far as we know. Billie’s depression at the very least doesn’t seem as overwhelming and constant as Ruth’s.
It’s possible that Ruth’s depression is just chemical, but given that she’s an orphan with an abusive guardian/grandfather, it’s very likely that the roots of it lie in that.
Billie’s homelife was more one of emotional neglect – her parents were largely absent. She likely ran pretty wild in her high school years and the binge drinking turned straight into an addiction. Which both feeds and helps her cope with her self-loathing.
That’s certainly possible. I was responding mostly to the implication that people can’t be depressed/suicidal without a “reason”. It’s just not like that, and even if there is an outside reason it may not be one that’s easy to pin down or explain.
I don’t think it answers your specific question, but you would probably be interested in the book Gulp, by Mary Roach, a fun and entertaining read.
Anyway, according to this Vox article of surprising facts about feces, apart from water, poop is mostly bacteria, with some indigestible plant fiber and a smattering of sloughed-off intestinal cells.
In other words, pretty much everything you eat that isn’t cellulose gets absorbed into the body, assuming no acute or chronic problems with your digestive tract.
Loading ...
if you love something, taunt the shit out of it
Well, that is the basis of my relationship with my cat…
now, now. The cat is just bored, it’s only taunting you to get you to play with it.
Pretty sure Chris is the one doing the taunting…
I like cats because it works both ways. Sometimes my cats randomly attack and scare the shit out of me. Sometimes I stomp at them when they’re on the tile so I can watch them scramble and try an get traction. We love each other very much.
There have been worse relationships.
I’m talking about Billie and Ruth, of course. You and your cats sound hopelessly co-dependent.
…mine too. I guess it explains why she always hisses and swipes at me
I’m sure this strategy will in no way backfire and these twos’ terrible relationship will be secure, forever.
I will have your femurs!11!!!!
I actually a little amazed that Billie can outrun Ruth; didn’t she put on a bunch of weight after graduating high school? Whereas Ruth is fully capable of de-femur-ing a college student at will…! xD
Well, that’s one way to make Ruth go to the toilet, I suppose. but I wouldn’t have expected either of them to be into scat play.
If it’s true love, it can endure the taunting.
*In a bathroom stall*
Ruth, angry: “I don’t have time for this shirt!”
True love.
No speed lines means no love?
Or, as they say in the English department, sun-deer.
Tsun dere ?
Son, Dear?
Thundercats, Go!
Sunder Ray.
So they live up in the north-east then, in Tsundereland?
Ha’way, why aye man! xD
Ah love, it comes in so many forms. The question here is, what is Ruth going to do with Billie when she catches her?
DOA(whatever number this is): How Billie Lost Her Femurs
Someone remind me, is their dining hall attached to their dorm building?
Billie’s tAlEnTs never cease to impress
oops this wasn’t supposed to be a reply >.<
Someday we’re going to make Willis assemble a virtual map of the campus et environs.
It’s a real campus. We should fuck with them someday by getting together and requesting a tour. Then we all go nuts and take hundreds of pictures when we spot something from the comic.
“This is where Amber stabbed a motherfucker! There’s Garbage Roof! OH MY GOD, BLOWJOB CAT!!!”
THIS
I’ve always been curious how many people who actually go to IU read this comic. I wonder if it ever pops up on, like, campus meme pages.
I’m currently assuming that if anyone who lives in Bloomington (never mind actually goes to IU) read the comic, questions like yours would probably be answered quickly and authoritatively.
Not everyone who reads the comic necessarily reads the comments regularly, though.
Not super-recently, but I’ve seen comments in here before by people who attend/have attended IU, for what it’s worth.
Blowjob Cat, technically, is not on campus.
Here’s a start.
Yes, they have A dining hall in their dorm (though I don’t think it’s the same one in which Billie ran into her old flame that one time).
But I thought that that area with the tables and chairs that they’re walking TOWARD was their dining hall. So now I’m a bit confused.
It was, in 2010.
These days it’s just a study area that looks like a dining hall.
So Billie’s carrying food there from one of the other places within the building that sells food.
because that’s how we deal with sliding timescales
I see, gotcha
I’ve long posited that there is someone at IU whose only job is to read DoA and then enact changes designed specifically to thwart Willis’s location models.
The Landes Dining Room in Read, the original source for most earlier dining hall scenes, is long gone. But there apparently is a new-ish food court built to replace it, still in Read but in a different location. I say “apparently” because online, all of the IU dining locations seem to exist in a Schroedinger’s state. Open, closed, moved, re-opened? At this point, I’m not sure I trust the official IU:RPS site for any of this.
But I’m willing to assume, for the moment, that Read Hall has some sort of food court. (The architect for the Read Hall renovation says that El Bistro was “relocated to a more central location,” but doesn’t say if that location was still in Read Hall. Also, the non-IU:RPS references to El Bistro are mostly from Foursquare, which considers El Bistro to be closed.)
There’s a food court-ish area in the middle of Read Hall, yeah. It’s up the stairs from the center of the main lobby, and at the end of the hallway from that big windowed area Ethan sits at sometimes. I haven’t drawn it up close yet because 1) it’s a complicated place to draw a background set of, and 2) it’s an awkward public place to take photos, when it’s not gated off because it’s closed.
*sorts through photos*
In 2015, the center establishment in the food court was called Bistro Deli. But as of 2017, it’s something called…. Erbert Gerbert’s…? Look, I don’t know.
From the official IU:RPS page, Erbert and Gerbert’s. “Sandwich shop dedicated to serving more flavorful sandwiches and soups.” If one prefers less flavorful sandwiches and soups, look elsewhere.
It’s a Wisconsin-based chain. They are currently promoting a Mac & Cheese BBQ Brisket sandwich.
I am assuming that the fact that this sandwich contains a layer of brisket ON TOP of a layer of Mac & Cheese means that this sandwich would never be one that Joyce could eat, never mind the Citrus Chipotle BBQ sauce.
Last time I tried, mac&cheese was all that flavorful. I can’t see sandwiches around that improving it much?
Wasn’t
(Why can’t this damn keyboard intuit which language I’m writing in and what I mean to say?)
Well it depends on what cheese you use. A really sharp whatever will remain really sharp when melted around a bunch of macaroni, after all.
Mac and cheese on pizza or sandwiches is a thing in Wisconsin. Low rent foodie kinda thing.
Erbert and Gerbert’s is officially the best name for a bistro.
Dumbing of Age Book 9: It’s Just Going to Become Poop, and Then You Have to Poop It
Dumbing of Age Book 9: It’s All Just A Conspiracy By Big Food, Huh
Dumbing of age book 9: MuSt Be NiCe HaViNg A pUrPoSe
I’m going to stick with with my reply to Kyrik above: DOA9: How Billie Lost Her Femurs.
“Most men are of naught more use in their lives but as machines for turning food into shit.” – Piotr Vorkosigan, attributing it to Leonardo da Vinci.
Would Vorkosigan lie?
Nothing else is a Vorkosigan.
it’s a conspiracy by Big Poop
Exercize is where you make it happen.
It’s cute now that the power dynamic has been removed.
I think the power dynamic was established the first time Ruth tossed her around.
… you know, I honestly don’t understand how this relationship works. These two seem to spend their time snickering at each other. Huh?
Some people really like casual banter.
They say love and hate are more closely intertwined than people are aware of, but I think that is slightly off. I think love and sass are more closely intertwined than people are aware of and this relationship is just one example of it.
True, but I don’t remember seeing any actual healthy love between these two. As far as I remember, they either seem to snap to each other, or fall into self-destructive depression together…
A fair point. I want Ruth and Billie to have a good relationship, because I think they seem good together but they don’t actually have much healthy interaction. I’m sure there is at least a couple of things that could be pointed to as normal or healthy between them but I can’t think of any.
They do take care of each other as well as they can, but yeah, these two need, at minimum, some time apart imo, much as I love them.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s better than before, but Billie’s hiding her dorm and her relationship with her floor mates from Ruth (because she’s been treating Ruth like a conquest with them) and she hasn’t been going to therapy.
Meh, therapy doesn’t work for everyone. And I don’t read it as Billie hiding her dorm from Ruth so much as her trying to escape it, which is when she ends up spending time back with Ruth, so there’s natural separation there.
While that’s true, Billie seemingly hasn’t gone since Ruth was hospitalized and they made her go. And I’d argue that you’d need to try first before you can just say that it doesn’t work. Billie clearly has depression and suicidal and self-destructive tendencies, just like Ruth, but she is neither receiving medication or treatment for it, which is not going to help her in the long run.
Billie hasn’t even gone so she can’t say it ‘doesn’t work for her’ and you can’t decide ‘therapy doesn’t work’ when you refuse to open yourself up to the possibility of it working either. You have to genuinely be willing to accept advice and being corrected for it to work.
Yeah, she’s in denial about her problems. She’s an alcoholic who’s making no effort to stop drinking. She’s depressed herself, though differently than Ruth. She needs help of some kind and she’s not getting it.
None of which means that separation from Ruth would be good for her.
I think Billie moving to another dorm is giving them both that separation they need. And I don’t think Billy is hiding anything from ruth. I think what she is trying to do cultivate a reputation and she was trying to avoid exactly ehat happened with Carla and her cute roommate people finding out she wasn’t popular and wasn’t cool
I think she’s more hiding Ruth from her other dorm, which is unhealthy enough for the relationship.
But that also suggests she’s hiding her reputation in the other dorm from Ruth – particularly the parts of it based on her “seducing her RA”.
She’s saving it to taunt her with.
>but they don’t actually have much healthy interaction
pray tell, what is a “healthy interaction”
if they are cool with it, it’s “healthy” there are no rules in love, everything works as it should until it doesn’t
People can and are okay with all sorts of things that are unhealthy for them. See: These two’s suicide pact.
Those who love you will put up with you.
“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.”
Food good, Ruth! Food so good! Well. Maybe not college cafeteria food.
Food is good as long as it isn’t made by cafeterias.
Food is fuel. You need fuel.
The rest is exhaust.
That’s adorable.
If you don’t sass the ever-loving shit out of each other*, is it really twue wuv?
*Pun not intended.
This day in-universe is, like, the healthiest, happiest these guys’ relationship has ever felt and I love it and I’m all fueled by new year optimism and I hope that they have turned a corner <3
I wish you could embed images here, but alas.
I’m gonna tell him.
I know, I know. I probably just jinxed it. I accept my role as the Olaf of the comments section.
I know right I am rooting for them. Nut i think as Ruth gets a bit healthier she will get more annoyed with Billy’s narcicism i really hope it works abd Billy continues to improve as well
Same! I don’t think I’ve seen Billie smile this much, ever. She’s an alcoholic and that is a problem obviously, but I feel like maybe she could get to a place where she wants to get help for that? And Ruth has been on medication for what, two days? Give it time, she’ll get better too.
I AM NOTHING IF NOT A HOPELESS OPTIMIST xD
No im not upset with Ruth at all shes adjusting and making a lot of progress. Just as she continues improving she may get more annoyed or notice bullies Narcissistic tendencies like it seems her roommate is.
And we have actually seen Billy improve as well. She hasnt been drinking as much and seems to be channeling into making a goodninpression and being doted on by her new popularity
I’ve never seen Billie as an alcoholic myself. She seems more of a (mostly) functional alcohol abuser to me. She uses alcohol for it’s effects rather than needing it to feed an addiction. She doesn’t seem to have been drinking since their hospitalisation, but is showing no signs of withdrawal at all. I think her drinking is a symptom of her issues, rather than the cause of them and if she deals with the real cause of her issues, the need to drink herself senseless will likewise fade. Or maybe I’m barking down the wrong track entirely. Time (and Willis) will tell, they always do.
I’m not saying your wrong, but what makes you believe that Billie hasn’t been drinking since their hospitalization.
I’m with Clif. There’s no sign that she’s ever stopped drinking, which is why we’ve never seen signs of withdrawal.
We know she was drinking with Dorothy while Ruth was in the hospital and we saw her trying to drink at Galasso’s when Jason recognized her.
In Just Hangin’ Out With My Family, when Ruth tells Howie he’s too young for Game of Thrones, Billie asks her if she should be saying that since both Billie and Ruth were teenage alcoholics. Ruth tells her to shut up.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/escape-2/
I am so happy to see these two actually becoming healthier and spending time together I. A more stable way. Billie your snark is endearing but can you really outrun your annoyed girlfriend
Why would she want to? I’m pretty sure this counts as foreplay for these two.
Yeah, they’re definitely gonna fuck in a closet. :/
True …. That probably true
Off-topic, I want to direct Dina to today’s Google doodle.
For those not in the US, here is the Dino Doodle. The art is by a second-grader who wants to be a paleontologist.
Is that a pachycephalasaourus in the egg?
Can it breathe fire?
Yo’ure gonna need more food to counter all the energy you’re spending trying to catch Wile E. Coyote over there
A tiny little piece of my childhood died once I read that a coyote is faster than a roadrunner.
Did you read it in an Acme publication?
I love these two. Seriously though, what’s the point in dating if you can’t do a little (harmless) teasing.
[Hanna Barbera running noise]
The one that sounds like a bunch of wooden balls tumbling?
I always thought that was the bongos. Actual bongos, not autocorrect.
In the last panel they’re just running past the same 25 feet of background over and over again in an endless loop.
I normally would slap Billie for being a jerk, but I applaud her for mocking conspiracy theories and anorexia. Eating is important, and conspiracy theories most of the times are based on antisemitism. Also, I love eating delicious food.
Wow! Leafs scores tonight.
The only Leafs that can score aren’t the actual players.
I mean, this might fall under certain definitions of being a player…
mocking spongebob meme? in this comic?
it’s more likely than you’d think
I just imagined Ruth in the role of Buzz here. With Billie as Woody, obviously.
Billie has started to speak Gamzee-style. I’m a little afraid now.
I don’t get it, so I’m gonna guess it’s Homestuck related.
There’s an alien juggalo called Gamzee, and he types in alternating caps. He’s batshit flippin’ bonkers, and he takes naps on a big pile of bicycle horns.
I briefly thought Karkat had rescued him with the pap-shoosh, but then… *sad*
That’s one way to burn calories.
This is the most “comic strip” comic of Dumbing of Age ever and I kinda love it for that.
ILU, Billie. <3
That last panel is giving me serious Calvin and Hobbes vibes.
Second panel
(Sneaks up and puts ‘Yakety Sax’ on the hacked Muzak)
What? It’s a comedic chase scene. It’s traditional!
While this strip is kinda sweet in its own way, I can’t help but think that replacing a suicidal person’s depression with rage/anger is NOT a healthy solution. :/ In real life, that’s how you get suicide bombers or people who go on mass shooting sprees before offing themselves.
Behind every suicide bomber or mass shooting, there’s a Billie?
That’s quite a slippery slope you’re on. Ruth is not genuinely angry or full of rage, and her depression hasn’t gone away because of it. There’s a huge fucking leap from Billie lightly mocking her this one time and the steps it takes for someone to become a mass shooter.
This one time, yes. What I’m saying is that this should not be a repeated pattern. It’s very easy for the depressed/ostracized person in their vulnerable state of mind to think that the teasing is instead mockery. Very often when people are in pain, the first thing they look for is somebody to blame. This is how jihadists and other terrorist groups tend to do their recruiting; they approach desperate people who think there is no way out and convince them that everything that is wrong in their life is because of X, and that X must be destroyed, at the cost of one’s own life if necessary. Of course Ruth herself, in her current position, is in no danger of being recruited, but you can probably see how someone who is lost, hurting and alone can be easily self-radicalized by just associating with the wrong people or reading the wrong literature online. The last thing they need is people in real life inadvertently reinforcing that warped world view.
That’s how approximately 81% of childhood fights with my siblings started.
Slightly off topic, but is it just me, or has Billie gained a lot of weight since the start of the comic? Considering it’s only been around 1 month in DoA time, she must have a serious eating disorder to go from this to where she is now.
They were calling it the “Freshman 10” when I started. By the time I graduated, they were calling it the “Freshman 15.”
Nah, the art’s just evolved and so now she’s closer to how she looks in Willis’ mind’s eye. Same with Amber.
I think it’s just the art evolved. Joyce looks like she’s also gained some curves, with bigger hips and breasts at point. Ruth, on the other hand, looks like she’s lost weight, because she’s taller and has a thinner head shape now.
Willis commented before that Amber’s always been rounder in his mind but it’s only the past few years he’s been able to render it as specifically. Same is probably true with Billie and Marcie, and, on the other side, Dorothy and Ruth both seem skinnier lately, but we know Dorothy’d previously been described as ‘bony’.
Having femurs is nice too.
Speaking of Billie and Ruth, do you guys understand what are the reasons for their problems? I honestly can’t say why Billie is depressed and suicidal…
Oddly enough, people don’t need reasons to have depression. Sometimes it’s just a thing that happens, likewise with thoughts of suicide.
Billie is depressed because she has a mental illness. That’s the reason.
Now, it’s possible that her depression/alcoholism/suicidal thoughts are related to a thing or several things you can point to, like crappy parents (smart money in this comic is on crappy parents, always), but they don’t have to be. People don’t need a reason to be sick.
Honestly, my theory is that Ruth has depression and uses alcohol to self-medicate, while Billie is mostly an alcoholic, with the depression being secondary.
Ruth has been able to quit alcohol several times, only relapsing when circumstances changed (when she and Billie got together in their sexy lesbian suicide pact). Billie has never tried, as far as we know. Billie’s depression at the very least doesn’t seem as overwhelming and constant as Ruth’s.
It’s possible that Ruth’s depression is just chemical, but given that she’s an orphan with an abusive guardian/grandfather, it’s very likely that the roots of it lie in that.
Billie’s homelife was more one of emotional neglect – her parents were largely absent. She likely ran pretty wild in her high school years and the binge drinking turned straight into an addiction. Which both feeds and helps her cope with her self-loathing.
That’s certainly possible. I was responding mostly to the implication that people can’t be depressed/suicidal without a “reason”. It’s just not like that, and even if there is an outside reason it may not be one that’s easy to pin down or explain.
I actually am interested to know how much of the food we eat becomes poop and how much gets incorporated into our bodies now.
I think it depends on what you’re eating…?
Every individual metabolism is different. A lot more than you’d think.
I don’t think it answers your specific question, but you would probably be interested in the book Gulp, by Mary Roach, a fun and entertaining read.
Anyway, according to this Vox article of surprising facts about feces, apart from water, poop is mostly bacteria, with some indigestible plant fiber and a smattering of sloughed-off intestinal cells.
In other words, pretty much everything you eat that isn’t cellulose gets absorbed into the body, assuming no acute or chronic problems with your digestive tract.
It’s because of those bacteria that you fart. On the other hand, you don’t have to poop quite so much.
That’s Dumbing of Age, read the comic for the lols, read the forum to learn interesting facts about bodily functions.
that last panel gives me a real “Early-Peanuts Charlie Brown being a little smartass” vibe
awww
definitely a fave comic lolol
Uh oh…I’m worried about Ruth now.
ED red flag?