BILLIE TURN AROUND. OTHER WAY. NO, DAMN IT. GOD DAMN IT BILLIE OTHER WAY. FUCK. ASS. GO, LIPS, KISS THAT FRECKLED BEAUTY.
You know you want to!
*Breaks down in ship-disappointment tears*
DAMN YOU WILLIS!
Not only that. Some people were throwing around the idea that Ruth was lashing out because Billie might be the first/only woman she’s had feelings for. While I don’t think that’s the case with Ruth, I think it might be true for Billie. I’m not sure why I think that, but somehow that idea rings true to me.
That’s what I read this as too, which is why I’m still hopeful about the ship. Billie needs to come to terms with being bi, and they both need to have a long talk about their feelings for each other, but there’s something there.
The drunkeness has something to do with it though. I can kinda see Billy playing off any bicuriosity as “Psh I’m just into making out with girls because guys think it’s hot and I’m drunk and it’ll get me mad attention”. Like, I honestly believe that if she is bisexual, she doesn’t think she is and she has excuses for anything she does.
honestly I think its more Billy sees as Ruth finding a new way to screw with her head especially since she was just confronting her about what they were to each other
You’re assuming she hasn’t already. She already claimed prefer having sex with walky’s sister rather than him. It’s likely she knows she’s into chicks, she just doesn’t get how she can be into this one.
I drove on my cycle car
With girlfriend RUTH in back of me.
I took a bump at 95
And drove on RUTHLESSLY….
Recited during a 1963 episode of Steve Allen’s syndicated
TV show while performing “music” on a pair of bicycles with
his guest, a 23-year-old composer named Frank Zappa!
I’ve been reading too much manga recently. I kept expecting something like Billie shouting out “YOU NEED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS!” or “BAKA ECCHI!” or “YOU’RE THE WORST!” or even the obvious lie “YOU STOLE MY PRECIOUS FIRST KISS!”
And then Ruth would try to chase her, trip, accidentally rip off most of Billie’s clothes, and fall face-first into Billie’s crotch. And then Joyce would come around the corner and see them, and Ruth would say “This is a complete misunderstanding! This is not what it looks like!”
Seriously guys. Think about it. If she accepts it, it’ll be a couple that happens. Shallow. Blah. BUT. If she denies it right now, that’s drama that happens and a budding relationship.
There has been sufficient interaction and foreshadowing to lead to this threshold. It’s good enough. But apparently DW disagrees and has decided to give the load an extra spin cycle or two.
It’s the best thing story-wise and it fits character-wise, but I’m not sure it’s the best thing that could happen, except that the characters will get more mileage this way.
(And if you see through it, doesn’t that mean it’s shallow, to some extent? I dunno. …Wait, does drama mean a budding relationship? So isn’t the rejection now just seen as a lead-up to the inevitable get-together, which means Willis won’t have them hook up?)
I think the this is good. It makes sense and notice, Billie was kissing her back first and then she just pushed her away. And told her to back off. She didn’t hurt Ruth or even threaten to call authorities. It was a hurt and angry and shocked reaction(perfectly reasonable) But not a violent reaction. She didn’t even mention the fact that Ruth was a girl kissing her. So this might still be able to go somewhere without all the unhealthy tension of Ruth basically forcing herself on Billie in a shared moment of weakness.
Definitely this; I was very relieved to see this comic happening, because Friday’s comic left me deeply uncomfortable. I don’t know where their relationship is going to go from here, but it would be BAAAAAD if Billie didn’t seem to have any power to stand up to Ruth. I’m okay with questionable and drama-y things happening in relationships, just so long as neither character seems to be intimidated or forced into being with someone a certain way.
I think this is temporary… Billie got pretty into it and then freaked herself out. Hopefully this’ll still happen, just… Y’know… After they’ve talked about it.
Yeah, I don’t really want to be kissed by someone who’s been horrible to me, either. That doesn’t actually fix the horribleness — it just makes it creepier.
Thaaaaank you! I mean seriously, going with this at this oint would basically be like saying “hey, I’ve always wanted to be in an abusive relationship”
(Seriously, I’m in total agreement with you. And if you have any trouble seeing how incredibly out of line Ruth is here, re-read the scene with a guy in her place.)
So damn familiar (from the POV of the one first tormented then sought). I knew this was the only thing that could realistically happen. Which is, kind of, why I was hoping that it wouldn’t.
To be honest… I can’t blame Billie right here! That kiss came out of nowhere and from someone who has been verbally, emotionally, and physically abusive! She has every right to be like “NO GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME YOU TSUNDERE PSYCHO”. I know I’m going to end up feeling bad for Ruth later down the line (this comic is really good at making me have the feelings) but I don’t know why any one thought Billie would just reciprocate the love. Hell, look back a few comics to when Ruth pins her against the wall! That would’ve been scary, not romantic!
I think it’s because Billie’s shown a sort of…apprehensive consideration for her in the past. Like she’s worried about her, but also scared of her.
Of course, even if you want to help, being pressured into a relationship by someone you’re afraid of Is Terrible. So yeah — all o’ this.
I have to agree emphatically myself. People want a relationship between these two more because it makes them happy rather than if it make sense. I just cant forgive cruelty no matter how much the person is attracted to me or I to them. Im not into any kind of rough relationship or affection so that probably influences my views as well.
Yyyyeah, I think people cut Ruth a LOT of slack because she’s a woman and/or because people like lesbians. I think the reaction to these last two strips would be fairly different if Ruth had been a guy.
Or maybe not, if the success of Twilight and Fifty Shades is any indication.
Even though I ship it, I’m happy this happened. Don’t want to see Ruth turn into more of an abuser, don’t want to see Billie coerced into a bad situation.
Yeah, I actually ship it and last friday was still uncomfortable. I’m glad it’s playing out this way, even if they never do end up together. Tsundere is not actually a good indicator of how a relationship will go.
I ship this, but not gonna lie, I’m glad that this was the outcome.
I mean, let’s be real. Ruth has basically done nothing but treat Billie like shit, bordering on abuse, and certainly in bully territory. Billie has every right to reject her and avoid such an unhealthy relationship.
Wow. I think you are giving Ruth wayyyyyy too much credit. She has been absolutely ruthless and abusive. She only ‘softened’ due to blackmail & getting punched in the face, and that only lowered her aggression to total jerk-ass.
Looking back, I’d like this ship to work out down the road if they work at it. But I think it would take a LOOOOOOT of work. There is just a lot wrong going on in Ruth’s head.
Billie’s not a saint, but it’s mostly just a pride/imaturity issue for her.
…I don’t see how raising a hand and closing her eyes counts as Billie getting “into it.” It makes more sense to me as she’s getting ready to push Ruth away (which is exactly what she does). She was just assaulted and moments before, was begging for something consistent. What Ruth did WASN’T.
It was really disappointing to see commentators squeal as their ship was “fulfilled.” (Though, I will admit I did not see all the comments.) How is slamming a woman up against a wall and forcibly kissing her okay, healthy or attractive?
I would like to think in the long run that Billie and Ruth might be friends. But I really dislike Ruth as she is right now – she’s inappropriate and she’s a bully.
I had a point somewhere but I’m tired and I’ve lost it. IDK where Willis is going with this but I can only hope it’s not where the commentators want it. Both characters deserve more than that I think.
She pushed Ruth away with her left hand, when her right hand was closer. Maybe Willis did it because camera angle, maybe not. All I know is that both characters eyes are exactly the same: closed, and turned up in the universal happy eyes, affected only by the brows, and Billi’s are neutral as fuck.
As for the comments, dude, relax. People are cheering because Billie and Ruth had a relationship previously. They also cheer because plot.
Think about it.
Willis is a master at giving us tears with some reward. If the reward at the end of this little plot bunny is Ruth and Billie being in a relationship, that’s a long, hard, awesome road of character development, awkward situations and weird ass discussions. It makes me giggle just thinking about it.
Try reading the other comments. A lot of people are looking at this from an objective stand point, even if they support it (the relationship).
Oh thank god that happened. Words can’t express how much I DO NOT WANT this couple. Ruth has been being nothing but a nasty, mean-spirited bully to Billie pretty much since they met. She’s a horrible person in this ‘verse.
All the people shipping RuthxBillie really confuse me. It’s probably the least healthy relationship possible in this comic, excepting maybe Joyce and her attempted rapist.
People can like something and still acknowledge the problems with it. Ruth’s behavior is traditional tsundere, which is appealing for a number of reasons(passionate sex, the inverse of love isn’t hate it’s apathy, etc). As long as the work goes less Twilight and more Mike/Amber, it’ll be fine. And that seems to be Willis’ plan, so I have high hopes for the plot.
The actual ship is probably sunk, of course, but I can live with that. I’ve had ships take much worse damage than this*.
I was more okay with it up until this most recent development. It’s very disturbing to me how many people were so happy to see it happen, given what was unfolding in front of us.
Except “maybe” Joyce and rapist? Their relationship may be problematic in pretty much every way, but to even think in comparing it to a rape is so completely absurd I don’t even know what to say.
Come on! Ruth is a jerk, not a rapist. As unhealthy as her relationship with Billie may be it is still not even remotely close to attempted rape.
She slammed Billie against a wall and kissed her without her consent. That’s sexual assault. So, no, maybe not as bad as Joyce’s would-be rapist, but pretty damn bad, thank you.
Yeah, I expected this to be the case. Billie may not be opposed to making out with girls (judging from when she tried to kiss Sal when completely wasted), but she’s not the type to just lie back and accept a kiss from someone who’s been so abusive to her at times. My gut tells me that there will be more to this in future strips, so I don’t think this ship has sunk yet.
It’d be a little gross if they got together after this, wouldn’t it? Although Billie seems less surprised than I’d expect. I expect she’ll need someone to talk to about this, and I’m wondering who… frighteningly, the most obvious choice seems Sal.
It looks like it. You can’t actually see the tongue, but if you go back to the previous comic, you can tell that their faces are considerably closer here.
I can’t believe I’m speculating on the intent and thoroughness of fictional characters’ kisses. I need to get out more.
I am amused that the technical accuracy of the throwaway gag was questioned, but no one has disputed my assertion that 48% of the readership are terrible people.
I don’t think that 48% are terrible. In some ways, I’d like to see them reconcile, connect at some point down the road, seem to make it work for a while, but ultimately fail due to the underlying issues and problems that were there all along but that they were avoiding in an attempt to force things to work.
Is this healthy behavior, or how I’d like to see real people in a relationship behave? Hell, no! But it makes for a better (and probably more believable) dramatic story arc. These two characters both have serious issues. I can totally see them being attracted to each other for bad reasons and despite probably knowing that it’s a mistake. That’s why I’m proud to be part of the 48%.
It’s the 42% who responded “Unquestionably awesome” that have me worried…
Something interesting I noticed. First panel, Billie seemed rather into it, so we know that she doesn’t mind going that way. I guess the reason for her breaking off and going “No” has more to do with, well, every past interaction she’s had with Ruth thus far. I’m rather curious where their character arcs go from here. Heck, I don’t even care if they do end up together, I just want to see how this experience affects them.
Yeah, Ruth needs to work out her issues before this ship can not be creepy. Definitely looking forward to the character development that will follow, though.
Actually. I get why people don’t ship this. There is however a very real reason people do. Yes Ruth is Horrible. Hoever notice in the last few pages she was being quite nice and even social. Talking to the students under her charge.
I think the reason she is such a jerk to Billy is because of her attraction to her. It is a very unhealthy way to react and leads to abusive relationships. But I think the reason Ruth is behaving like this is because hse is angry she can’t express the way she feel. So she just fall back into immature rage because she’s angry at herself. I think we’ll see a dramatic change now that the tension is finally broken. Oh i don;t expect Billie to be all
“Oh i get it you were being a dick to me because you liked me and are too stupid and pshycopathic to just you know say HEY I LIKE YOUR FACE!! I want to kiss it.” I expect Billie to be angry and rightfully so Ruth has been abusive and incredibly hard to deal with because of her flip flopping between nice and hateful. But with the tension broken Maybe Ruth can actually apologize for all the hell she gave Billie and this will give Billie the room to maybe forgive her and realize. Oh you’re face isn’t that bad now that you seem like you aren’t torn between murdering me on sight and sort of trying to tolerate me we can have an actual conversation.
As to the first Panel. There is a distinct lack of tension perhaps it’s the hand. combined with the closed eyes. It looks like her hand is holding Ruth’s chin loosely. And her shoulders aren’t leaning away into the wall like someone trying to escape.( In this position she could push further back with her body into the wall.) and if she was enraged or angry at first I’d expect her eyes to be wide open and more force in the hand. And notice the pause when she says no. She doesn’t scream it at first. She might not have wanted the kidd (It was surprised and forced) But she isn’t fighting it in the last panel we saw or the first one. But that could just be from shock though if she was truly truly enraged by it I’d expect her to do that almost gently push Ruth away and then yell at her. (But I digress) Willis is the only one who really knows)
Initial impression is that I’m relieved. Good for Billie for sticking up for herself.
Second impression is that Billie’s had a really rough day. I hope she doesn’t hit the bottle too hard. She needs a friend.
Thirdly, Ruth’s hand on Billie’s shoulder tells me that this wasn’t spontaneous and can’t be blamed on “the heat of the moment.” Ruth’s got some feelings locked away.
Oh! Another observation! In panel one, Billie’s has her right hand on Ruth’s face, but in panel two, she pushes Ruth away with her left. That means her right hand in panel one is caress-y.
Go Billie! I would have been concerned had she NOT done this. I mean seriously. she had JUST told Ruth she needed STABILITY, and Ruth makes matters LESS stable. How is Billie supposed to take that? If Ruth actually cared like that she wouldn’t have done the last thing Billie had just said was bad. As far as I am concerned, that was a selfish kiss and was done to Billie and not with her. Go Billie for ending it.
I hate to say it, but I agree with some of the comments.
While I want this ship to sail, I didn’t want it to start off with Ruth being an alpha female and claiming Billie as her own in a forceful kind of way.
Being a victim myself, this can be very traumatising, and can do a lot of damage to a person. Perhaps this is what Ruth may have had in mind, but that look in the last panel says different.
Normally, I’d be on top of this, writing a small porn drabble, but not this. I want this, but not this way.
Run Billie Run. If running because you shocked yourself with your possible feelings for that kiss, or running because you know that how Ruth has been treating you in the past is not going to change just with a kiss; donsn’t matter. Get the Hell away from her.
If you’ve never been party to the surprise pin and kiss, you don’t know what a hot kiss is, but it needs establish to work. There needs to be some serious sexual tension first. And hover a moment to whisper your intentions before making contact with lips.
Right, so, here’s what I think:
How many tears did Willis shed drawing this strip?
Answer: None. He laughed maniacally.
As for this strip, I think this is wonderful news. Billie totally looked into the kiss the first panel, but her reaction is also believable, considering how Ruth and Billie have interacted.
Now, why might Ruth be attracted to Billie? Simple, Billie stands up for herself and gets stuff she needs to get done, done.
Then there’s that whole “playground romance” theory that’s being tossed around, in which Ruth is showing affection, well, ruthlessly (pun intended. Pun so very, very intended).
Billie might have had girl on girl experiences before (see: bone city strip, and drunk with sal in room strip).
All in all, I love this, and hate this at the same time.
DAMN YOU WILLIS!
-Skull025
I’m not sure this ship has exactly sunk. Lets be real people, this is a Willis comic we’re talking about. There are several ways this could go and still make a great storyline/substory. Ship sunk, ship thrown off course but making its way back, ship still on track with Billie needing to come to terms with her own feelings, ship still on track once Ruth realizes that the playground “I’m an asshole to you because I have a crush on you” thing doesn’t work… or any combination thereof.
That being said, I’m glad this happened. IF Ruth and Billie were to get together, the way Ruth treats Billie now shouldn’t be able to fly, and I don’t think Billie would stand for it anyway.
I have a number of theories about where this is going and they end up with five different pairings. But I’ll just go back to my default setting and sneak back on board the Billie/Sal ship for now.
Also, because I like to analyse the small details of these comics, notice that Billie pushes on Ruth’s left shoulder, then storms off to Ruth’s right, the direction in which Ruth has also turned. This suggests that either it was a particularly violent shove to Ruth’s face, with the shoulder used primarily for steadying, or, more likely (considering the semi-retained hand positioning), Ruth moved aside voluntarily.
(This is an observation on mechanics, not a judgement on the actions of either character.)
Also, voluntarily only to the extent that is voluntary to stop kissing someone when it becomes clear that they do not want you to continue kissing them. So in terms of Ruth’s motivations, all it could really say is that she would prefer not to be particularly open about sexually assaulting someone in public, which usually goes without saying.
LoLing at EVERYONE who was all down with that kiss on Friday – HUGE PROPS to David for putting this out there the way it SHOULD be. pro-tip: everyone who was all down for that kiss on Friday would have been FURIOUS is Ruth was a guy. A guy shoves a girl against a wall and then kisses her – how do you think that’d go over, drawn from David’s hand? I found it interesting how we were all for it on Friday when the abuser was a female……………………….but in reality what Ruth committed on was sexual assualt, plain and simple. GotDAMNIT I’m such a buzzkill LoLz
no the flip side, Billie is kinda being a jerk too. She knew precisely what sorta person Ruth was like, DELIBERATELY provoked this confrontation with the implicit demand of asking Ruth to show her what she wanted……………….and then storms off with a FUCK UP when Ruth finally drops her walls? Just throwing that out there as a flip-side. Mr Willis, you are a VERY AWESOME storyteller 😉
Well, from Billie’s perspective, this is the absolute opposite of what she asked for: consistency.
Personally, I was against the kiss on friday, for so many reasons, but mostly because it feels like one more way of messing with Billie.
No, you’re right. Ruth was terrible to Billie so far (except for the beer and hokey part, but that wasn’t terribly friendly either) and it appears she’s been singling her out in her bullying. And now she’s holding her up against a wall and kissing? Not cool man, not cool.
Ruth has been too inconsistant, confusing and abusive for Billie to want this, especially in such a vurnerable state.
I think Joyce and her are going to have a supportive, and potentially cry-y moment now.
If Billie had accepted, Ruth would have had someone to rely on, but obviously she wouldn’t have been fixed immediately. She’d probably still snap occassionally, just relying on Billie to be able to handle it. Billie would have been pressured into a relationship, and if Ruth didn’t find a way to show her feelings in a healthy manner, they’d probably shift between yelling and confrontation and moments of nervous gloom.
If Billie hadn’t, then Ruth would have expressed her emotions in a very raw, desperate way, and find herself rejected and alone. She might relapse into intimidation tactics, she might think through her actions, she might be so frustrated she can’t think, but either way she’s shown herself vulnerable and she’s never done that yet — not with someone else. It’s entirely possible she’ll use more blackmail, more violence, more intimidation, to try and keep Billie from saying this to anyone. (If so, I don’t think she’ll manage — right now, Billie’s got nothing but contempt for her.) Maybe Billie will have her story now, in which case she’d probably break Ruth completely (showing that she’s got feelings other than hardassery, showing her sexuality — which she might still be uncertain about).
Either way, it would have been bad for someone. It would never have been unproblematic — now, it’s just more problems sooner with no obvious conclusion.
We have stumbled into one leg of the Trousers of Time — now, let us see the shape of the foot…
All the requests for continuing a ship are kinda scary.
Ruth hits Billie. She’s a mean, terrible person, and an alcoholic. Billie is a barely functional, alcoholic, emotional wreck. Furthermore, vintage Walkyverse Ruth was so emotionally wrecked she died, and it’s strongly implied that this continuity’s Ruth is the same way, but also a physically violent savage.
Let’s say they get together and they fix each others’ problems. Great, so now they’re codependent. These people need help, not a relationship. The best thing Billie could have done was push Ruth away. Their shit is fucked up, yo.
So, uh, I’m probably sharing an unpopular opinion, but I think it’s a GOOD thing that Billie isn’t going for the girl who practically beat her up in their first introduction to each other. She’s had to deal with ridiculous abuses and fear of violence from Ruth. I would be seriously pissed off at the cartoonist if he made her be totally ok with this development.
not an unpopular opinion at all, my friend. Not all of us are into supporting something that kinda looks like the makings of an abusive relationship, yknow?
Yeah. For us readers it looks like comical events (Ruth’s harsh treatment toward Billie). But try to put our position in Billie’s place. I mean do we really okay if someone who treat us with violence over and over again tried to sex us? I don’t think many will enjoy it.
1- Willis gets more crap from fans about ‘realism’ and ‘how things would work out if they were god of comics’ than any other comic I read.
2- SO often when someone is working through personal difficulties in the comic it is talked about as if they need to be sequestered from society and undergo an inspirational training montage. We all have baggage that we make others deal with while we try to balance growth and daily responsabilities.
Right now billie needs space, so she takes space. Another person or another time might have a secure enough sense of self to engauge and help Ruth out and thats not weird or wrong or extreme and rare, its just not what happened in Willis’ comic.
“No, Billie! You run back to her! You run back to the girl who physically, then sexually assaulted you!”
Guys, if this were a hetero meet-up and Ruth was some dude we’d met the day before, we’d be cheering for her to get cut like a prison snitch. The fact that I can remember Ruth’s name doesn’t make me more sympathetic when she’s rejected by someone she just attacked.
I hate to see Ruth get crushed after opening herself up and taking a risk like that, but she only has herself to blame for it.
I feel like Ruth has a “can’t express her feelings well” tsundere-esque issue going on here, but when you think about it, her entire relationship with Billie so far has been about asserting dominance and power.
Ruth stole Billie’s property and defaced it to make Billie do what she wanted, all without even attempting to listen or accomodate for Billie’s irregular roommate situation. She’s been a huge jerk and bully, from Billie’s point of view.
Why would Billie want any sort of intimate relationship with a person like that? Why would Billie want to get smooched by someone who has done nothing but rub power and authority into her face like Ruth has?
What happens if they start dating? How far would Ruth go to throw authority or insults or debasement around to get what she wants?
Agreed. Ruth is no longer acting like a tsundere and she already step out if bound so many time. Even Tsundere know how to limit themselves. Ruth is more like a bully here.
For short term relationship it will work. But in the long term? not a chance.
All these things to be discussed and nobody mentioned that Ruth is the RA? That shit ain’t kosher, it’s pretty much the first thing they tell you in training.
I don’t think many of us have been RA’s or even know that much about it. Many of us who read it never dormed (is that even a word?) or even went to college. I didn’t.
Besides, I think her beating on students, threatening them, and snowing blatant favoritism are all way bigger then falling in love with one of them. Not every college is the same. They may be very hands off, or/and just not give a shit.
That one’s really not that big of a deal at most schools. My sister is an RA (and was last year,) and started dating a resident of hers who lived across the hall sometime during first semester. She was required to notify the head of whoever’s in charge of RAs, but there was no sort of trouble, or restrictions put on their relationship.
Considering where the conjunction lies, both obvious refers to “this comment” and “my gravatar”. That’s quite a bit of self-love there, and not the good kind.
They are just lucky that their glasses didn’t get hooked together so that they would be stuck face-to-face for the rest of the day until they could find an opthamologist to properly separate them.
People expecting “slap slap kiss” relationship. But tbh there’s a line between acting like a tsundere and plain rude. Even tsunderes know how to limit their action.
Ruth is rude, even tsundere characters still know how to treat someone. IRL treating someone rudely with borderline physical injury and bullying to expect love in return is very very rarely work. Unless that guy/girl is a masochist.
WHY do you people keep thinking this is some wonderful development. Sexual assualt is EXACTLY what this is. And Billie is now going to be wondering if she should report it because what if they don’t believe her? What if Ruth finds out and retaliates? She knows Ruth can and will enter her room whenever she pleases. What’s to prevent Ruth from getting Billie alone in her room and outright raping her? Or are you among the people that think “catfighting” is “so hot” or that girls can’t rape other girls cause they don’t have a penis?
Don’t look at it in such a pessimistic way. If Ruth goes bad, I absolutely will not condone that. However. . .
What I see here is an opportunity for both characters to grow, for better or worse. What I see is development, a new plot that invites drama and craziness, much more so than, say, Sal and Jason. I mean, come on, two alcoholics, one with feelings, one with potential feelings and a confused history? That’s a recipe for AWESOME (awesome here being a lot of in-comic events that make me cry, laugh and get mad. I read this shit for the emotional stuff, like this strip, and jokes, like Walky and Dorothy).
Besides, Ruth won’t rape Billie. Sheesh. Ruth is a key character, and I don’t think Willis would throw her off the bridge like that. She may be abusive, but remember, she’s an RA for a reason, and she’s much nicer to other people, not just a general bongo.
Rapists also tend to try and be in positions of trust. Before you say anything, being an RA does not give Ruth automatic trust from the other dorm peeps. At least, not on the level a rapist would need to get that close to someone. See Joyce’s experience for in-comic evidence, or hell, ask me or a bunch of other people on the internet about rapists. I’ve got some personal experience I’d be happy to share.
I don’t believe these commentors are condoning rape or Ruth’s actions. I most certainly am not. I don’t think Ruth did the right thing, no matter how excited I am in the other comments. That’s being excited because lesbians. On a different level, what I am excited about is the implications, and the possible story stemming from this event. The AWESOME, if you will.
So because people are excited about this development, it doesn’t mean they like rapists or think girls can’t rape girls.
As for Billie reporting Ruth, if she does do that, I don’t think Ruth will retaliate angrily. I think she’ll be ashamed.
Anyways, yeah, enjoy that textwall. And quit assuming shit and looking at it from one perspective. This IS wonderful development, if not for the characters then for the plot. Sheesh, enjoy the damn comic already.
To be perfectly honest, I would have been disappointed with just about any other reaction. Frankly, I’d like to see a harassment complaint filed, but Billie doesn’t seem like the type to go there.
Also, how the blue blazes did I end up back here? Oh yeah, looking to see exactly when Ruth’s eyes went from black dots to green circles.
Strangely I’ve now noticed that the greater majority of the cast are still black-dotters. Does this mean they’re all going to go through some kind of character development epiphany and gain “real” eyes one by one, like super saiyans or something?
(SSJ2 is, presumably, the acquisition of pupils within the irises)
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DAMN IT BILLIE GO GET THAT FRECKLED ASS
Dat ass.
Did you intentionally have that gravatar just for that comment?
He’s had it for quite a while now, HE’S KNOWN THAT THIS DAY WAS COMING AND DIDN’T TELL US.
Damn skippy.
BILLIE TURN AROUND. OTHER WAY. NO, DAMN IT. GOD DAMN IT BILLIE OTHER WAY. FUCK. ASS. GO, LIPS, KISS THAT FRECKLED BEAUTY.
You know you want to!
*Breaks down in ship-disappointment tears*
DAMN YOU WILLIS!
Why Based God why???
That look on Ruth’s face…. *tear*
SCISSOR SISTERS! We Want Dem!
Poor Ruth, even if I totally understand Billie’s reaction.
And yet, she started off kissing back in panel 1 before “hey, this is RUTH” kicked in…
When you haven’t gotten action in so long that you forget Ruth is Ruth.
Not only that. Some people were throwing around the idea that Ruth was lashing out because Billie might be the first/only woman she’s had feelings for. While I don’t think that’s the case with Ruth, I think it might be true for Billie. I’m not sure why I think that, but somehow that idea rings true to me.
That’s what I read this as too, which is why I’m still hopeful about the ship. Billie needs to come to terms with being bi, and they both need to have a long talk about their feelings for each other, but there’s something there.
Billie totally tried to kiss Sal while drunk(just not very effectively).
Oops, forgot about this. So the problem is merely that Ruth has been a bongo to her.
The drunkeness has something to do with it though. I can kinda see Billy playing off any bicuriosity as “Psh I’m just into making out with girls because guys think it’s hot and I’m drunk and it’ll get me mad attention”. Like, I honestly believe that if she is bisexual, she doesn’t think she is and she has excuses for anything she does.
honestly I think its more Billy sees as Ruth finding a new way to screw with her head especially since she was just confronting her about what they were to each other
she was practically begging Ruth for some stability and then throws her a curve ball
You’re assuming she hasn’t already. She already claimed prefer having sex with walky’s sister rather than him. It’s likely she knows she’s into chicks, she just doesn’t get how she can be into this one.
I guess this means she’ll be Ruth-less?
YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
CSI: INDIANNA
*laughing* You win both win all the interwebs <3 <3 <3
I SEE WHAT YA DID THAR
A poem:
I drove on my cycle car
With girlfriend RUTH in back of me.
I took a bump at 95
And drove on RUTHLESSLY….
Recited during a 1963 episode of Steve Allen’s syndicated
TV show while performing “music” on a pair of bicycles with
his guest, a 23-year-old composer named Frank Zappa!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Don’t cry. This ship is not sunk yet. Not that in panel 1, Billie had completely relaxed into it.
It’s just that Willis won’t give us nice things unless we sweat blood for them first, and our perspiration hasn’t even started to properly pinken yet.
Billie’s just saying “You don’t get to go from ‘complete @$$hole’ straight to this!”
I’ve been reading too much manga recently. I kept expecting something like Billie shouting out “YOU NEED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS!” or “BAKA ECCHI!” or “YOU’RE THE WORST!” or even the obvious lie “YOU STOLE MY PRECIOUS FIRST KISS!”
And then Ruth would try to chase her, trip, accidentally rip off most of Billie’s clothes, and fall face-first into Billie’s crotch. And then Joyce would come around the corner and see them, and Ruth would say “This is a complete misunderstanding! This is not what it looks like!”
Congratulations. Dumbing of Age is now every cliche harem series ever. I hope you’re happy.
Because me making it every cliche shojo romantic comedy ever a few days ago is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. And works all too well with this development…
…What have I been DOING with my life?
She’s just very conflicted inside.
She asked for LESS confusing, not MORE.
Give her some time to sort herself out…
Asked for less ick-confusing, got Lessick confusing.
Ummm, apparently reading far too much Manga.
Gravatar is oddly fitting.
…Enjoying it?
I burst out laughing. The last one is very shoujo, the second last one just makes me think that Ruth would have to be channelling Britta.
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking to. that just adds more confusion. Bills has to think about it on the calm… if that happens…
Well, my day is ruined
Well, it was fun while it lasted.
WELLLL…. Now if they were to get together, it would happen in a healthier way.
But I want them to hate-fuck … consensually of course, but I want them to break things while doing it
I thought hate fucks are stir of the moment.
That’s spur of the moment. Stir of the moment requires sticks. You’ve got to be a boy to have the right kind of stick.
I used to think hate-fucks were an awesome concept, then I read Penny & Aggie. Now I approach the concept with a measure of well-earned caution.
i say to anyone who ever thinks hate-fucks are at all good ‘you’ve never had a proper one, then.’
if you don’t walk away with jammed joints, a black eye, etc, you didn’t have a proper hate-fuck, you had disgruntled sex.
Hate-fucks can be awesome. They can also end in bloodshed and scars…
Are these two ideas mutually exclusive?
Perfect avatar.
Ruth looks hurt… WHAT?
Maybe she wanted to alleviate Billie’s pain and Billie just brush her off?
I MUST HEAL YOU. WITH MY MOUTH.
I wasn’t aware that the Dumbiverse abided by Dreamland Logic.
Kirby reference. I approve.
She’s not invulnerable! Quick, tell the girls! Bottle up “Billie doesn’t want to be with you” and store it for use later!
That would sell like hotcakes.
Or bottle her up….
What’s the phrase for blue balls for women?
Blue vag?
I think ‘ovaries’ should be in there somewhere.
…cold clit.
Thaaat’s it!
It’s so cold that it has 20 different words for snow?
I don’t even… What? Dictionaries are usually pretty warm, of course, I usually set them ablaze.
Blue ovaries then?
Ain’t that the band that made Don’ Fear the Reappear?
Game Ovaries?
Brilliant. xD
I’ll like that for a dollar.
Pretty sure the term’s “blue walls”. Or so I’ve heard.
Blue Waffle?
NO. >:(
If a lesbian cock blocks another lesbian, is that considered a beaver dam?
I’m gonna go with “Has no idea how to show affection”.
Ruth’s face! My HEART. HELP.
Yeah. No matter who you are, rejection hurts.
Wait, no one was looking? And I kinda understand why Billie doesn’t want a kiss from Ruth.
Huh, well then.
:[
tha’s righ girl. She wa no good fo’ you anyway. mm mm.
All of this.
100%. Helluva bad way to start a relationship, unequal power, bullying and abusive tendencies, this ship needs to sink faster than the Titanic.
My heart… Is now broken :'(
We would always have last Friday….and the fanfics.
And The extra pages of Roomies!
YES. THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN.
Seriously guys. Think about it. If she accepts it, it’ll be a couple that happens. Shallow. Blah. BUT. If she denies it right now, that’s drama that happens and a budding relationship.
The kiss is the seed. The stem is the rejection.
The flower is lies. The fruit? Death.
The fertilizer? Good intentions.
The water? Delicious shipper tears.
The dog pissing on it? That’s Mike.
Sweet, sweet shipper tears…
You are crazy, all of you.
…
Never stop.
“A couple that happens”? Pshaw.
There has been sufficient interaction and foreshadowing to lead to this threshold. It’s good enough. But apparently DW disagrees and has decided to give the load an extra spin cycle or two.
He’s such a plot-tease.
Ahhhh, schadenfreude. 🙂
It’s the best thing story-wise and it fits character-wise, but I’m not sure it’s the best thing that could happen, except that the characters will get more mileage this way.
(And if you see through it, doesn’t that mean it’s shallow, to some extent? I dunno. …Wait, does drama mean a budding relationship? So isn’t the rejection now just seen as a lead-up to the inevitable get-together, which means Willis won’t have them hook up?)
Scratch this, I changed my mind upon remembering the huge load of pressure that was put on Billie in that moment.
Hope you enjoyed the weekend, shippers. Back to drama land where the thing you want doesn’t happen!
Billie looks so into it in panel 1. But I guess I can see how it would take a while for your feelings kick into action.
Saw this coming. Still broke my shipper heart.
Don’t worry, there’s always the fanfics.
My heart is made of iron. and mostly blood. Mostly blood with iron in it.
My heart doesn’t feel anything ever since THAT happened.
My blood is iron, but my heart is glass
My heart is iron but my bones are glass.
My Bones are glass but my skin is paper.
My skin is paper but my heart is rock. And I’m terrified to find out what happens if I get anywhere near a scissors.
Experience tells me that Your skin should have collapsed in on your heart killing you instantly, scissors be damned.
My heart is rock, but my hands are scissors.
Does that make you a lesbian when you masturbate? 😛
It hurts
Don’t worry guys, she didn’t want Joyce or Walky as friends but realised they were what she had. She’ll turn around in a few chapters.
Yea, this was the only reaction that made any sense to me. Unfortunately.
BAM! HELL YES!
Great, now Ruth can right her up for using foul language and disturbing the peace. Just as planned.
Typos ahoy! Misspellings off the starboard bow!
And then Billie can report her for sexual abuse.
This is double plus ungood for Ruth, and it’s really all her fault.
Then hate-fucks? There have to be some somewhere!
I think I’m immune to this…because I saw Robin and Leslie when they broke up. Since then, Nothing Willis can do will ever affect me the same.
Look, … no, other side! (crosses fingers)
Noooooo. 38
Sorry shippers, but if you honestly thought it would take one kiss for them to get together, you really are delusional.
Ruth has been giving Billie all of the shit. I don’t blame her at all for telling her to fuck off.
I think the this is good. It makes sense and notice, Billie was kissing her back first and then she just pushed her away. And told her to back off. She didn’t hurt Ruth or even threaten to call authorities. It was a hurt and angry and shocked reaction(perfectly reasonable) But not a violent reaction. She didn’t even mention the fact that Ruth was a girl kissing her. So this might still be able to go somewhere without all the unhealthy tension of Ruth basically forcing herself on Billie in a shared moment of weakness.
You wrote my comment, but better and longer, between when I hit “comment” and when I posted. You’re a wizard, aren’t you?
Yer a wizzerd, Harry.
Basically my feelings too.
Definitely this; I was very relieved to see this comic happening, because Friday’s comic left me deeply uncomfortable. I don’t know where their relationship is going to go from here, but it would be BAAAAAD if Billie didn’t seem to have any power to stand up to Ruth. I’m okay with questionable and drama-y things happening in relationships, just so long as neither character seems to be intimidated or forced into being with someone a certain way.
I think this is temporary… Billie got pretty into it and then freaked herself out. Hopefully this’ll still happen, just… Y’know… After they’ve talked about it.
Yeah, I don’t really want to be kissed by someone who’s been horrible to me, either. That doesn’t actually fix the horribleness — it just makes it creepier.
Thaaaaank you! I mean seriously, going with this at this oint would basically be like saying “hey, I’ve always wanted to be in an abusive relationship”
But it’s two girls, so it’s HOT creepy!
(Seriously, I’m in total agreement with you. And if you have any trouble seeing how incredibly out of line Ruth is here, re-read the scene with a guy in her place.)
So damn familiar (from the POV of the one first tormented then sought). I knew this was the only thing that could realistically happen. Which is, kind of, why I was hoping that it wouldn’t.
To be honest… I can’t blame Billie right here! That kiss came out of nowhere and from someone who has been verbally, emotionally, and physically abusive! She has every right to be like “NO GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME YOU TSUNDERE PSYCHO”. I know I’m going to end up feeling bad for Ruth later down the line (this comic is really good at making me have the feelings) but I don’t know why any one thought Billie would just reciprocate the love. Hell, look back a few comics to when Ruth pins her against the wall! That would’ve been scary, not romantic!
I think it’s because Billie’s shown a sort of…apprehensive consideration for her in the past. Like she’s worried about her, but also scared of her.
Of course, even if you want to help, being pressured into a relationship by someone you’re afraid of Is Terrible. So yeah — all o’ this.
I have to agree emphatically myself. People want a relationship between these two more because it makes them happy rather than if it make sense. I just cant forgive cruelty no matter how much the person is attracted to me or I to them. Im not into any kind of rough relationship or affection so that probably influences my views as well.
Yyyyeah, I think people cut Ruth a LOT of slack because she’s a woman and/or because people like lesbians. I think the reaction to these last two strips would be fairly different if Ruth had been a guy.
Or maybe not, if the success of Twilight and Fifty Shades is any indication.
And Billie is only going to be madder when she find out her roommate got some and she didn’t
Even though I ship it, I’m happy this happened. Don’t want to see Ruth turn into more of an abuser, don’t want to see Billie coerced into a bad situation.
Heh. Ruth is legitimately confused the person she blackmailed, stole from and verbally abused isn’t into her.
Yeah, I actually ship it and last friday was still uncomfortable. I’m glad it’s playing out this way, even if they never do end up together. Tsundere is not actually a good indicator of how a relationship will go.
I got one word for this: Denied!
No Stairway?
*may I help you riff*
wayne’s world FTW!
I’m still living in that first panel. HEADCANON YO
I’m still living in 2007.
i saw it coming but STILL, COME ON. /sobs
What?! But Ruth almost got her own lesbian! And that would be neato!
Welp that happened. Now lets just throw that onto the stack of mess that is Billies current state of affairs.
I ship this, but not gonna lie, I’m glad that this was the outcome.
I mean, let’s be real. Ruth has basically done nothing but treat Billie like shit, bordering on abuse, and certainly in bully territory. Billie has every right to reject her and avoid such an unhealthy relationship.
THIS.
Wow. I think you are giving Ruth wayyyyyy too much credit. She has been absolutely ruthless and abusive. She only ‘softened’ due to blackmail & getting punched in the face, and that only lowered her aggression to total jerk-ass.
F*ck Ruth.
I can totally understand this opinion. Maybe I was being too soft on her, I dunno.
Also, heh. Ruthless.
“Ruthless”
heh, heh. Acidental pun, but fun.
Looking back, I’d like this ship to work out down the road if they work at it. But I think it would take a LOOOOOOT of work. There is just a lot wrong going on in Ruth’s head.
Billie’s not a saint, but it’s mostly just a pride/imaturity issue for her.
we have been denied action in both universes…..
Say it with me…….
DAMN YOU, WILLIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Or in Japanese: ONORE WILLIS!!!!!!
Verdammt noch mal, Herr Willis!
( hey my rossta stone is paying off!)
…I don’t see how raising a hand and closing her eyes counts as Billie getting “into it.” It makes more sense to me as she’s getting ready to push Ruth away (which is exactly what she does). She was just assaulted and moments before, was begging for something consistent. What Ruth did WASN’T.
It was really disappointing to see commentators squeal as their ship was “fulfilled.” (Though, I will admit I did not see all the comments.) How is slamming a woman up against a wall and forcibly kissing her okay, healthy or attractive?
I would like to think in the long run that Billie and Ruth might be friends. But I really dislike Ruth as she is right now – she’s inappropriate and she’s a bully.
I had a point somewhere but I’m tired and I’ve lost it. IDK where Willis is going with this but I can only hope it’s not where the commentators want it. Both characters deserve more than that I think.
She pushed Ruth away with her left hand, when her right hand was closer. Maybe Willis did it because camera angle, maybe not. All I know is that both characters eyes are exactly the same: closed, and turned up in the universal happy eyes, affected only by the brows, and Billi’s are neutral as fuck.
As for the comments, dude, relax. People are cheering because Billie and Ruth had a relationship previously. They also cheer because plot.
Think about it.
Willis is a master at giving us tears with some reward. If the reward at the end of this little plot bunny is Ruth and Billie being in a relationship, that’s a long, hard, awesome road of character development, awkward situations and weird ass discussions. It makes me giggle just thinking about it.
Try reading the other comments. A lot of people are looking at this from an objective stand point, even if they support it (the relationship).
MY SHIP HAS SUNK, I HATE YOU
Oh thank god that happened. Words can’t express how much I DO NOT WANT this couple. Ruth has been being nothing but a nasty, mean-spirited bully to Billie pretty much since they met. She’s a horrible person in this ‘verse.
All the people shipping RuthxBillie really confuse me. It’s probably the least healthy relationship possible in this comic, excepting maybe Joyce and her attempted rapist.
People can like something and still acknowledge the problems with it. Ruth’s behavior is traditional tsundere, which is appealing for a number of reasons(passionate sex, the inverse of love isn’t hate it’s apathy, etc). As long as the work goes less Twilight and more Mike/Amber, it’ll be fine. And that seems to be Willis’ plan, so I have high hopes for the plot.
The actual ship is probably sunk, of course, but I can live with that. I’ve had ships take much worse damage than this*.
*Ask me about Young Justice**
**Please don’t
I was more okay with it up until this most recent development. It’s very disturbing to me how many people were so happy to see it happen, given what was unfolding in front of us.
Except “maybe” Joyce and rapist? Their relationship may be problematic in pretty much every way, but to even think in comparing it to a rape is so completely absurd I don’t even know what to say.
Come on! Ruth is a jerk, not a rapist. As unhealthy as her relationship with Billie may be it is still not even remotely close to attempted rape.
She slammed Billie against a wall and kissed her without her consent. That’s sexual assault. So, no, maybe not as bad as Joyce’s would-be rapist, but pretty damn bad, thank you.
(Also: hyperbole. Learn to recognize it.)
YES GOOD OK i was worried about this
fitting gravatar is fitting.
Yeah, I expected this to be the case. Billie may not be opposed to making out with girls (judging from when she tried to kiss Sal when completely wasted), but she’s not the type to just lie back and accept a kiss from someone who’s been so abusive to her at times. My gut tells me that there will be more to this in future strips, so I don’t think this ship has sunk yet.
It’d be a little gross if they got together after this, wouldn’t it? Although Billie seems less surprised than I’d expect. I expect she’ll need someone to talk to about this, and I’m wondering who… frighteningly, the most obvious choice seems Sal.
If you voted “Amazingly wrong but SHUT UP I’M ENJOYING THIS ANYWAY”, you’re a terrible person and you know it.
(Am a terrible person.)
Billie’s totally into it; she’s just giving Ruth a taste of her own mixed-signals medicine.
…and her tongue.
You saw tongue?
It looks like it. You can’t actually see the tongue, but if you go back to the previous comic, you can tell that their faces are considerably closer here.
I can’t believe I’m speculating on the intent and thoroughness of fictional characters’ kisses. I need to get out more.
Panel one seemed to suggest an airtight seal.
Since this is not manga, we don’t have a bridge of saliva to let us know if they were interpenetrating each other’s oral cavities.
In any event, these are modern kids raised on the Internet, so we should assume tongue action unless specifically told otherwise.
I didn’t know that was a thing in manga. Clearly I have been reading the wrong ones.
I am amused that the technical accuracy of the throwaway gag was questioned, but no one has disputed my assertion that 48% of the readership are terrible people.
But that is because everyone assumes they are part of the 52%.
I don’t think that 48% are terrible. In some ways, I’d like to see them reconcile, connect at some point down the road, seem to make it work for a while, but ultimately fail due to the underlying issues and problems that were there all along but that they were avoiding in an attempt to force things to work.
Is this healthy behavior, or how I’d like to see real people in a relationship behave? Hell, no! But it makes for a better (and probably more believable) dramatic story arc. These two characters both have serious issues. I can totally see them being attracted to each other for bad reasons and despite probably knowing that it’s a mistake. That’s why I’m proud to be part of the 48%.
It’s the 42% who responded “Unquestionably awesome” that have me worried…
Something interesting I noticed. First panel, Billie seemed rather into it, so we know that she doesn’t mind going that way. I guess the reason for her breaking off and going “No” has more to do with, well, every past interaction she’s had with Ruth thus far. I’m rather curious where their character arcs go from here. Heck, I don’t even care if they do end up together, I just want to see how this experience affects them.
I considered that but I think that Billie is just not very open to the possibility she might not be as straight as she thought she was.
Or she just realized that she didn’t get dinner and a movie first.
Beer+Volleyball = Close enough.
BAD touch, Ruth!
dat gravatar
dude, I had a dream that Sal came in a broke them up. Your gravatar is just too perfect.
Angry Sal is always appropriate
The Willis giveth and the Willis taketh away.
Yeah, Ruth needs to work out her issues before this ship can not be creepy. Definitely looking forward to the character development that will follow, though.
Actually. I get why people don’t ship this. There is however a very real reason people do. Yes Ruth is Horrible. Hoever notice in the last few pages she was being quite nice and even social. Talking to the students under her charge.
I think the reason she is such a jerk to Billy is because of her attraction to her. It is a very unhealthy way to react and leads to abusive relationships. But I think the reason Ruth is behaving like this is because hse is angry she can’t express the way she feel. So she just fall back into immature rage because she’s angry at herself. I think we’ll see a dramatic change now that the tension is finally broken. Oh i don;t expect Billie to be all
“Oh i get it you were being a dick to me because you liked me and are too stupid and pshycopathic to just you know say HEY I LIKE YOUR FACE!! I want to kiss it.” I expect Billie to be angry and rightfully so Ruth has been abusive and incredibly hard to deal with because of her flip flopping between nice and hateful. But with the tension broken Maybe Ruth can actually apologize for all the hell she gave Billie and this will give Billie the room to maybe forgive her and realize. Oh you’re face isn’t that bad now that you seem like you aren’t torn between murdering me on sight and sort of trying to tolerate me we can have an actual conversation.
As to the first Panel. There is a distinct lack of tension perhaps it’s the hand. combined with the closed eyes. It looks like her hand is holding Ruth’s chin loosely. And her shoulders aren’t leaning away into the wall like someone trying to escape.( In this position she could push further back with her body into the wall.) and if she was enraged or angry at first I’d expect her eyes to be wide open and more force in the hand. And notice the pause when she says no. She doesn’t scream it at first. She might not have wanted the kidd (It was surprised and forced) But she isn’t fighting it in the last panel we saw or the first one. But that could just be from shock though if she was truly truly enraged by it I’d expect her to do that almost gently push Ruth away and then yell at her. (But I digress) Willis is the only one who really knows)
That’s right, Billie: You don’t do it Licky-Style until you start getting some respect.
Looks like Billie has one more thing to be insecure about now.
Ruth actually looks hurt.
Initial impression is that I’m relieved. Good for Billie for sticking up for herself.
Second impression is that Billie’s had a really rough day. I hope she doesn’t hit the bottle too hard. She needs a friend.
Thirdly, Ruth’s hand on Billie’s shoulder tells me that this wasn’t spontaneous and can’t be blamed on “the heat of the moment.” Ruth’s got some feelings locked away.
Oh! Another observation! In panel one, Billie’s has her right hand on Ruth’s face, but in panel two, she pushes Ruth away with her left. That means her right hand in panel one is caress-y.
So how long did this kiss last?
Less than 12 parsecs.
I don’t know whether to laugh or invent a machine so I can punch you through the internet.
So Ruth was taking a Kessel Run up at Billie?
Is that what you kids call it these days?
And imperious actions caused the ship to dump the cargo.
I feel so old for knowing the reference.
That’s like feeling old because you know that Soylent Green is people, or that Rosebud was a sled, or that Snape killed Keiser Soze.
It’s an indelible part of popular culture. Don’t sweat it.
A SLED? I have NEVER seen Ron Jeremy call it a “sled” just before “destroying” a rosebud!!
Porn stars can TALK?!
Go Billie! I would have been concerned had she NOT done this. I mean seriously. she had JUST told Ruth she needed STABILITY, and Ruth makes matters LESS stable. How is Billie supposed to take that? If Ruth actually cared like that she wouldn’t have done the last thing Billie had just said was bad. As far as I am concerned, that was a selfish kiss and was done to Billie and not with her. Go Billie for ending it.
So… how long until Billie goes to see Walky?
I hate to say it, but I agree with some of the comments.
While I want this ship to sail, I didn’t want it to start off with Ruth being an alpha female and claiming Billie as her own in a forceful kind of way.
Being a victim myself, this can be very traumatising, and can do a lot of damage to a person. Perhaps this is what Ruth may have had in mind, but that look in the last panel says different.
Normally, I’d be on top of this, writing a small porn drabble, but not this. I want this, but not this way.
So Billie should have head-butted her in return, and then stuck her hand up Ruth’s shirt?
That’s hot.
Billie’s boobies spoke, and they were wise.
Yeah! Go Billie!
My loins are so confused.
Damn You Willis will take months to resolve this one incident.
Run Billie Run. If running because you shocked yourself with your possible feelings for that kiss, or running because you know that how Ruth has been treating you in the past is not going to change just with a kiss; donsn’t matter. Get the Hell away from her.
DAMMIT, BILLIE, THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE ANYTHING NICE
Willis! You sunk our battle-ship.
(Insert ‘grumpy cat’ pic here.)
Good.
The game ain’t over until you sink that damned patrol ship.
This ‘ship isn’t sailing quite yet, is it.
Who actually thought it would be that easy? Of course Billie was almost alays certain to storm off. But I’m sure she’ll be back later.
I have faith in the infinite power of lesbian licky time.
We can’t have both universes being happy, can we?
The sad thing is that wishful thinking aside, I kinda saw this reaction coming.
If you’ve never been party to the surprise pin and kiss, you don’t know what a hot kiss is, but it needs establish to work. There needs to be some serious sexual tension first. And hover a moment to whisper your intentions before making contact with lips.
Ruth, Billie and Jason were my favourite characters back in Roomies/IW. (Okay, Joyce too.) I love this chapter so much.
Speaking of Roomies, I wonder if we’re going to meet Howard in DoA.
Right, so, here’s what I think:
How many tears did Willis shed drawing this strip?
Answer: None. He laughed maniacally.
As for this strip, I think this is wonderful news. Billie totally looked into the kiss the first panel, but her reaction is also believable, considering how Ruth and Billie have interacted.
Now, why might Ruth be attracted to Billie? Simple, Billie stands up for herself and gets stuff she needs to get done, done.
Then there’s that whole “playground romance” theory that’s being tossed around, in which Ruth is showing affection, well, ruthlessly (pun intended. Pun so very, very intended).
Billie might have had girl on girl experiences before (see: bone city strip, and drunk with sal in room strip).
All in all, I love this, and hate this at the same time.
DAMN YOU WILLIS!
-Skull025
I’m not sure this ship has exactly sunk. Lets be real people, this is a Willis comic we’re talking about. There are several ways this could go and still make a great storyline/substory. Ship sunk, ship thrown off course but making its way back, ship still on track with Billie needing to come to terms with her own feelings, ship still on track once Ruth realizes that the playground “I’m an asshole to you because I have a crush on you” thing doesn’t work… or any combination thereof.
That being said, I’m glad this happened. IF Ruth and Billie were to get together, the way Ruth treats Billie now shouldn’t be able to fly, and I don’t think Billie would stand for it anyway.
OOOOOOHHHHHHHH
This saddens me greatly 🙁
I have a number of theories about where this is going and they end up with five different pairings. But I’ll just go back to my default setting and sneak back on board the Billie/Sal ship for now.
Also, because I like to analyse the small details of these comics, notice that Billie pushes on Ruth’s left shoulder, then storms off to Ruth’s right, the direction in which Ruth has also turned. This suggests that either it was a particularly violent shove to Ruth’s face, with the shoulder used primarily for steadying, or, more likely (considering the semi-retained hand positioning), Ruth moved aside voluntarily.
(This is an observation on mechanics, not a judgement on the actions of either character.)
Also, voluntarily only to the extent that is voluntary to stop kissing someone when it becomes clear that they do not want you to continue kissing them. So in terms of Ruth’s motivations, all it could really say is that she would prefer not to be particularly open about sexually assaulting someone in public, which usually goes without saying.
For old time’s sake: DAMN YOU WILLIS!
well she certainly kissed her back. So I guess there is some hope for this to work.
GOOD. BILLIE LIKES LE K@WK, TYVM.
In fact, you can always count on 3 things around here, no matter which dimension, universe, or alternate timeline.
Ethan is always fabulously, awkwardly gay,
Billie loves le k@wk,
and Mike banged your mom.
LoLing at EVERYONE who was all down with that kiss on Friday – HUGE PROPS to David for putting this out there the way it SHOULD be. pro-tip: everyone who was all down for that kiss on Friday would have been FURIOUS is Ruth was a guy. A guy shoves a girl against a wall and then kisses her – how do you think that’d go over, drawn from David’s hand? I found it interesting how we were all for it on Friday when the abuser was a female……………………….but in reality what Ruth committed on was sexual assualt, plain and simple. GotDAMNIT I’m such a buzzkill LoLz
ok, sexual assault may be too strong – (i dunno….discuss if you want) but y;all know what I mean…………..
no the flip side, Billie is kinda being a jerk too. She knew precisely what sorta person Ruth was like, DELIBERATELY provoked this confrontation with the implicit demand of asking Ruth to show her what she wanted……………….and then storms off with a FUCK UP when Ruth finally drops her walls? Just throwing that out there as a flip-side. Mr Willis, you are a VERY AWESOME storyteller 😉
Well, from Billie’s perspective, this is the absolute opposite of what she asked for: consistency.
Personally, I was against the kiss on friday, for so many reasons, but mostly because it feels like one more way of messing with Billie.
No, you’re right. Ruth was terrible to Billie so far (except for the beer and hokey part, but that wasn’t terribly friendly either) and it appears she’s been singling her out in her bullying. And now she’s holding her up against a wall and kissing? Not cool man, not cool.
Ruth has been too inconsistant, confusing and abusive for Billie to want this, especially in such a vurnerable state.
I think Joyce and her are going to have a supportive, and potentially cry-y moment now.
Don’t go, Billie! If you leave, you’re never gonna hear Ruth’s answer to your question! D=
Guh, thank god.
If Billie had accepted, Ruth would have had someone to rely on, but obviously she wouldn’t have been fixed immediately. She’d probably still snap occassionally, just relying on Billie to be able to handle it. Billie would have been pressured into a relationship, and if Ruth didn’t find a way to show her feelings in a healthy manner, they’d probably shift between yelling and confrontation and moments of nervous gloom.
If Billie hadn’t, then Ruth would have expressed her emotions in a very raw, desperate way, and find herself rejected and alone. She might relapse into intimidation tactics, she might think through her actions, she might be so frustrated she can’t think, but either way she’s shown herself vulnerable and she’s never done that yet — not with someone else. It’s entirely possible she’ll use more blackmail, more violence, more intimidation, to try and keep Billie from saying this to anyone. (If so, I don’t think she’ll manage — right now, Billie’s got nothing but contempt for her.) Maybe Billie will have her story now, in which case she’d probably break Ruth completely (showing that she’s got feelings other than hardassery, showing her sexuality — which she might still be uncertain about).
Either way, it would have been bad for someone. It would never have been unproblematic — now, it’s just more problems sooner with no obvious conclusion.
We have stumbled into one leg of the Trousers of Time — now, let us see the shape of the foot…
(Sorry about the weird grammar in the second paragraph. Would have, did have, happened, might’ve…)
“Whether the stone hits the pitcher, or the pitcher hits the stone, it’s going to be bad for the pitcher.” – Sancho Panza, “Man of La Mancha”
You christen a ship with a champagne bottle, not a Molotov cocktail.
Well, in any case, it will be interesting to see how this develops.
not every one is ready for anger fuelled makeouts and hate babies.
Atta girl, Billie.
All the requests for continuing a ship are kinda scary.
Ruth hits Billie. She’s a mean, terrible person, and an alcoholic. Billie is a barely functional, alcoholic, emotional wreck. Furthermore, vintage Walkyverse Ruth was so emotionally wrecked she died, and it’s strongly implied that this continuity’s Ruth is the same way, but also a physically violent savage.
Let’s say they get together and they fix each others’ problems. Great, so now they’re codependent. These people need help, not a relationship. The best thing Billie could have done was push Ruth away. Their shit is fucked up, yo.
Naw, Ruth was always a physically violent savage: http://www.itswalky.com/d/19990211.html
What the strip doesn’t tell you is that there’s a good thirty seconds in-between panels one and two.
And then, there’s what happened in Original Life . . .
Feburary ships are full of dips. Now we must wait for friday.
Let’s face it. There was noy one way that was gonna go.
Gosh darn it, They were going SO well too…
DENIED! You… you… Will………. pay for th… is.
I knew something like that was gonna happen. lol
Then why’d you kiss her?
Lol, because of your gravatar, lol. Lol. It gets funny way I say “lol”, right?
Well damn, there go my ships.
I’m sure something interesting will come of it though. They don’t look quite finished.
I’m now thinking that I’ve missed some pretty major subtext in Roomies… particularly the way Ruth died.
hmm. Could you give some examples?
Ruth’s face in the last panel. 🙁
YES!
omg hawt lesbian ANGST!
So…I’ve been away for a week and came back to today’s comic. Bwuh?
Good for you Billie! First you must resolve differences through talking and mutual respect, THEN makeouts.
So, uh, I’m probably sharing an unpopular opinion, but I think it’s a GOOD thing that Billie isn’t going for the girl who practically beat her up in their first introduction to each other. She’s had to deal with ridiculous abuses and fear of violence from Ruth. I would be seriously pissed off at the cartoonist if he made her be totally ok with this development.
not an unpopular opinion at all, my friend. Not all of us are into supporting something that kinda looks like the makings of an abusive relationship, yknow?
Well put.
Yeah. For us readers it looks like comical events (Ruth’s harsh treatment toward Billie). But try to put our position in Billie’s place. I mean do we really okay if someone who treat us with violence over and over again tried to sex us? I don’t think many will enjoy it.
Agreed.
Cheer up, everybody! She’s probably saving herself for Sal!
Two obersvations;
1- Willis gets more crap from fans about ‘realism’ and ‘how things would work out if they were god of comics’ than any other comic I read.
2- SO often when someone is working through personal difficulties in the comic it is talked about as if they need to be sequestered from society and undergo an inspirational training montage. We all have baggage that we make others deal with while we try to balance growth and daily responsabilities.
Right now billie needs space, so she takes space. Another person or another time might have a secure enough sense of self to engauge and help Ruth out and thats not weird or wrong or extreme and rare, its just not what happened in Willis’ comic.
> KISS THE GIRL.
> TURN AROUND AND KISS THE GIRL.
> YOU KISS THAT GIRL THIS INSTANT.
HB please
Aight this is very, very lame.
I wish there was a “retarded fanfiction bullcrap” option on the poll. This just doesn’t really cut it.
…this is “retarded fanfiction bullcrap”?
“Retarded fanfiction bullcrap” would be for Billie to do anything else.
“Fanfiction” and “Amazingly wrong for super-obvious reasons” are basically synonyms.
Man that hallway sure cleared out pretty quickly.
ROFLMAO!!!!
“No, Billie! You run back to her! You run back to the girl who physically, then sexually assaulted you!”
Guys, if this were a hetero meet-up and Ruth was some dude we’d met the day before, we’d be cheering for her to get cut like a prison snitch. The fact that I can remember Ruth’s name doesn’t make me more sympathetic when she’s rejected by someone she just attacked.
Billie: “FUCK OFF!”
Ruth: “Well yeah, that was the general idea up until you ran away….”
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Good for her. Emotional abuse is still abuse.
+1
Pffft, look at that first panel. She only pushed her away because she was enjoying it. I’ll still be in my bunk.
Billie has no taste.
I gotta say Billie made a good call, here.
I hate to see Ruth get crushed after opening herself up and taking a risk like that, but she only has herself to blame for it.
I feel like Ruth has a “can’t express her feelings well” tsundere-esque issue going on here, but when you think about it, her entire relationship with Billie so far has been about asserting dominance and power.
Ruth stole Billie’s property and defaced it to make Billie do what she wanted, all without even attempting to listen or accomodate for Billie’s irregular roommate situation. She’s been a huge jerk and bully, from Billie’s point of view.
Why would Billie want any sort of intimate relationship with a person like that? Why would Billie want to get smooched by someone who has done nothing but rub power and authority into her face like Ruth has?
What happens if they start dating? How far would Ruth go to throw authority or insults or debasement around to get what she wants?
Agreed. Ruth is no longer acting like a tsundere and she already step out if bound so many time. Even Tsundere know how to limit themselves. Ruth is more like a bully here.
For short term relationship it will work. But in the long term? not a chance.
All these things to be discussed and nobody mentioned that Ruth is the RA? That shit ain’t kosher, it’s pretty much the first thing they tell you in training.
I don’t think many of us have been RA’s or even know that much about it. Many of us who read it never dormed (is that even a word?) or even went to college. I didn’t.
Besides, I think her beating on students, threatening them, and snowing blatant favoritism are all way bigger then falling in love with one of them. Not every college is the same. They may be very hands off, or/and just not give a shit.
That one’s really not that big of a deal at most schools. My sister is an RA (and was last year,) and started dating a resident of hers who lived across the hall sometime during first semester. She was required to notify the head of whoever’s in charge of RAs, but there was no sort of trouble, or restrictions put on their relationship.
I waited all weekend for THIS?! DAMN YOU WILLIS!!!
But seriously, this will probably be good for them in the long run. Now their relationship, if they start one, won’t be based on a hate-fuck.
THIS COMMENT IS NOT RELEVANT BUT MY GRAVATAR IS ME AS DRAWN BY WILLIS THAT MY GIRLFRIEND COMMISSIONED. I LOVE THEM BOTH.
Both? Wait, the Gravatar and your girlfriend, the Gravatar and Willis, or Willis and your girlfriend?
I will assume it’s the second until further comment.
Considering where the conjunction lies, both obvious refers to “this comment” and “my gravatar”. That’s quite a bit of self-love there, and not the good kind.
Willis and my girlfriend.
I MEAN ALL THE BOTHS.
Hooray! Glad you liked it!
I…I pretty much expected something like this…but…
Ow…my heart…just…ow.
c’mon billie, you know you liked it.
They are just lucky that their glasses didn’t get hooked together so that they would be stuck face-to-face for the rest of the day until they could find an opthamologist to properly separate them.
Dammit Billie. Why put holes into your own ship?
Man, Ruth looks sad, and knowing her background in the main Walkyverse, I feel bad for her.
Although I can understand Billie’s behavior here, considering how Ruth has treated her up to this point, I am still disappoint. DAMN YOU WILLIS!!
(I most definitely voted Amazingly wrong but SHUT UP I’M ENJOYING THIS ANYWAY)
I knew it.
People expecting “slap slap kiss” relationship. But tbh there’s a line between acting like a tsundere and plain rude. Even tsunderes know how to limit their action.
Ruth is rude, even tsundere characters still know how to treat someone. IRL treating someone rudely with borderline physical injury and bullying to expect love in return is very very rarely work. Unless that guy/girl is a masochist.
WHY do you people keep thinking this is some wonderful development. Sexual assualt is EXACTLY what this is. And Billie is now going to be wondering if she should report it because what if they don’t believe her? What if Ruth finds out and retaliates? She knows Ruth can and will enter her room whenever she pleases. What’s to prevent Ruth from getting Billie alone in her room and outright raping her? Or are you among the people that think “catfighting” is “so hot” or that girls can’t rape other girls cause they don’t have a penis?
My thought exactly. I was relieved that Willis went in this direction because of that.
(Though, I will admit, it’s weird hearing all of that from a Joe gravitar. 😛 )
Don’t look at it in such a pessimistic way. If Ruth goes bad, I absolutely will not condone that. However. . .
What I see here is an opportunity for both characters to grow, for better or worse. What I see is development, a new plot that invites drama and craziness, much more so than, say, Sal and Jason. I mean, come on, two alcoholics, one with feelings, one with potential feelings and a confused history? That’s a recipe for AWESOME (awesome here being a lot of in-comic events that make me cry, laugh and get mad. I read this shit for the emotional stuff, like this strip, and jokes, like Walky and Dorothy).
Besides, Ruth won’t rape Billie. Sheesh. Ruth is a key character, and I don’t think Willis would throw her off the bridge like that. She may be abusive, but remember, she’s an RA for a reason, and she’s much nicer to other people, not just a general bongo.
Rapists also tend to try and be in positions of trust. Before you say anything, being an RA does not give Ruth automatic trust from the other dorm peeps. At least, not on the level a rapist would need to get that close to someone. See Joyce’s experience for in-comic evidence, or hell, ask me or a bunch of other people on the internet about rapists. I’ve got some personal experience I’d be happy to share.
I don’t believe these commentors are condoning rape or Ruth’s actions. I most certainly am not. I don’t think Ruth did the right thing, no matter how excited I am in the other comments. That’s being excited because lesbians. On a different level, what I am excited about is the implications, and the possible story stemming from this event. The AWESOME, if you will.
So because people are excited about this development, it doesn’t mean they like rapists or think girls can’t rape girls.
As for Billie reporting Ruth, if she does do that, I don’t think Ruth will retaliate angrily. I think she’ll be ashamed.
Anyways, yeah, enjoy that textwall. And quit assuming shit and looking at it from one perspective. This IS wonderful development, if not for the characters then for the plot. Sheesh, enjoy the damn comic already.
To be perfectly honest, I would have been disappointed with just about any other reaction. Frankly, I’d like to see a harassment complaint filed, but Billie doesn’t seem like the type to go there.
wow. that makes me kind of sad. And I’m not even shipping for them!
Dam it David Wills you are like the master of suspense! waiting for the next dam strip!
God damn it billie! You are going to go bi-sexual if you know what’s good for you ;P!
Billie looked like she was ok with the kiss at first
Noooooooooo. T_T
It was too good to last. 🙁
Gentlemen.
Before, you had my interest.
Now, you have my attention.
http://ryuusei924.deviantart.com/art/What-are-you-to-me-375622093
fanartt
Yum, sexy sexy … er… sexual assault.
Hmm.
Probably the best move there, then, Billie.
Also, how the blue blazes did I end up back here? Oh yeah, looking to see exactly when Ruth’s eyes went from black dots to green circles.
Strangely I’ve now noticed that the greater majority of the cast are still black-dotters. Does this mean they’re all going to go through some kind of character development epiphany and gain “real” eyes one by one, like super saiyans or something?
(SSJ2 is, presumably, the acquisition of pupils within the irises)
Wait,did she kiss back for a split moment?
I’m getting a lesboner.
Go get that freckled booty!