While Jerk Jerques is on vacation, I’ve plastered my own work all over his dumb indie rock website. Go check it out.
He also has a Kickstarter, if you’re some chump who likes music or whatever.
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While Jerk Jerques is on vacation, I’ve plastered my own work all over his dumb indie rock website. Go check it out.
He also has a Kickstarter, if you’re some chump who likes music or whatever.
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Blaine is a Mutant!
Blaine is Mini-Gamera!
Impossible! Gamera is friend to children, and Blaine certainly is not!
Blaine is neither really neat, nor is he made of turtle meat.
I took care of my 6th grade class pets, which happened to be two cute little turtles. I don’t really have a point with that, I just want to point out that turtles are adorable.
Blaine is the leader of the DoA brotherhood of evil.
Blaine is a Las Vegas magician!
Blaine is secretly a T. rex.
A big lumbering monstrosity with a tiny brain? That’s supposed to be a secret?
Blaine is not so secretly about to get his ass kicked.
Blaine is a Pokémon!
Blaine used Outrage!
It wasn’t very effective…
Blaine used Frustration!
Ruth used Femur Rip!
It’s super effective!
BLAINE is paralyzed! It can’t move!
Blaine is history!!
Waitin’ for the Cinnabar to fly…
Blaine is a douche who’s about to lose teeth…you have to admit, that’s still awesome despite my lack of creativity.
Well, not like he’s nearly awesome enough to be a mutant, a mini-kaiju, a dinosaur, or a magician, so…
Isn’t mini-kaiju a bit of an oxymoron? Seeing as kaiju means “giant monster” or something like that.
Actually, I believe it means “strange monster”
“Kaiju” means “strange creature.” “Daikaiju” means “giant monster.” I love Pacific Rim, but damn did they drop the ball on that one.
Nah, he can’t be a douche. Douches actually have some business being near a vagina.
They totally don’t, though. Any OB-GYN who’s worth anything will tell you not to use those things.
Now THAT’S interesting. Is there a way to learn more that won’t make me or my browser history look any creepier?
You know what they say: “In for a penny, in for a dime.”
I thought it was “in a for a penny, in for a Pound”?
In for a nickle, in for Mike to pound your mom
Mike is in for a nickel, ifyouknowwhatimean.
in for a nickel, mom for a pounding
http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/douching.cfm – a short goverment fact sheet.
http://m.epirev.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/2/109.full – a free journal article which summarises the evidence.
I think the article is pretty accessable but as an ex-microbiologist and a current junior doctor it’s difficult for me to judge. But yeah, I would say that washing the flaps with soapy water is potentially pushing it too. Water and making sure you wash between the creases is usually fine.
If I may be so bold, why did you switch from microbiology?
Actual books will do nicely! And if you don’t want to go that far, try websites on general conditions for trying to conceive, which will include optimal vaginal conditions. Basically, a vagina is supposed to have a certain pH and certain microorganisms in it, and douches disturb those conditions. At the very least it leads to yeast infections.
Vaginas have a pretty delicate balance of opposed forces going on and you do not benefit from fucking around with. It is always best to go with a “if it ain”t broke don’t fix it” policy when it comes to vagina maintenance.
Really? I benefit considerably from fucking around with vaginas; well, vagina, more accurately. It is great fun, and my wife seems to enjoy it also.
Anyone who thinks that it’s actually “self-cleaning” has no business being a doctor. You still need to submerge/spray it with water…which bathing can take care of. So I guess they are useless devices after all.
My guess is he’s about to lose balls. See that knee in the last panel?
Blaine is a pathetic abusive egotistical piece of shit, that’s all.
Blane is a Super-Mutant!
Now all he needs is a stop-sign pulled up outta concrete!
RUTH IS JUSTICE! FISTICUFFS ACTION!
Soon to be followed by “Blane in handcuffs and on his way to prison” action.
Blaine, man of Prison Action!
He’ll get a lot of action in prison.
Giggity giggity, all right!
When it gets out to his fellow inmates that he abused his daughter, the only thing that will get stuck in him is a shiv.
I know that it’s more pedophiles that get that treatment in prison, but Blaine’s attitude will probably get him as hated, or he’ll say something that unintentionally implies that he sexually abused Amber, and he’ll get shanked anyway.
Maybe they’ll have problems with handcuffs when Ruth TEARS OFF HIS ARMS AND BEATS HIM TO DEATH WITH THEM.
man, this comic makes me bloodthirsty.
You needn’t worry. You’re not alone in that respect. We are united in our despisal and disgust of this filth that pretends to be a father and a human being.
I imagine the first panel of the next comic to be a close up of the Canadian flag with a pair of bloody femurs crossed under the maple leaf.
The second panel will be Ruth, Billie, and Amber in post-coital bliss.
I’m liking where your head’s at!
ROAR!
FIGHT
TEST YOUR MIGHT
NO TIME FOR FLIGHT!
DO WHAT’S RIGHT
BY THE LIGHT OF THE NIGHT, IT’LL ALL SEEM ALRIGHT
MEOWTH! THAT’S RIGHT!
TEAM ROCKET BLAST OFF AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT!
SURRENDER NOW OR PREPARE TO FIGHT!
When Ruth rips them out, his femurs will be white!
Up all night! Wicked Tight!
BEWARE MY POWER, GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!
…actually, Ruth as a Green Lantern would be pretty awesome. Yotomoe?
But what color would choose her?
til the end/ Cause your life will depend/ on the strength that you have inside you.
THIS IS TRUE LOVE WE’RE MAKING.
THIS IS TUNA WITH BACON
And tomorrow, the strip will cut to Mike in another pseudo-cliffhanger, just to piss everybody off.
It’ll just be a comic of Joe eating McNuggets.
Nah. If it cuts to Joe, then he probably meet his father soon, and, thus, with Amber’s Mom. That would advance one of the mutiple ongoing conflicts in SOME way.
We can’t have that, can we? We need to torture the reader more.
“I owe Walky an apology…these aren’t that bad”
(I tried Mcnuggets recently…
ew…Sorry Walky but…ew…)
http://squallloir.tumblr.com/post/57708959190
Fifty McNuggets!
I chuckled more than I think I should have.
Brings a tear to my eye (and a gurgling to my intestines).
Well, if Dave did that he’d sort of be ripping off of Jeph Jacques’ bit with one of his characters from a few months ago, and he already got in trouble for that once :3
Just kidding. It WOULD be dangerously similar to the Steve eats cereal comic Jeph did but it would still be pretty entertaining, if not extremely infuriating.
I’d be okay with that, actually. just eating, last panel “huh
Maybe these are worth getting excited about.”
I hope not; following a different subplot every day was starting to give me mental whiplash
The cutaway tomorrow will be to the squirrels on Squirrel Island.
One shall stand…
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
*Grunkle Stan, visiting Mabel with Dipper, watches from the sidelines*
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!
SHITS GOING DOWN NOW!
Problem is, who’s gonna move him when he does go down?
The janitor, obviously. It’s his job to take out the trash, after all.
+1
Or at least whats left of it…
ohh god there’s going to be so much blood and none of it ruth’s
Some of it could be. I mean, she could end up tearing some skin off her knuckles if her fist collides with his teeth…
That would also spill his teeth all over the floor, of course.
You can tear the skin on your knuckles even without hitting the teeth. If you punch someone in the face with a decent amount of force, your knuckles are probably going to bleed.
I thought so, but wasn’t sure, so I hedged my bets with the comment.
Which is why you need to practice by punching trees. Preferably trees from Malchior 7.
The former head cheerleader has proven herself adept at disposing of things down the trash chute. I’m just saying…
I’m glad Ruth is fighting instead of Amber. A fight between Amber and her dad would have been downright ugly.
Yeah, Ruth will just remove his femurs and beat him with them.
There is nothing more beautiful than a good, solid femur-beating.
An extra helping of skull-cracking would not go amiss in Blaine’s case, me thinks.
Please beat the snot out that jerk.
Literally. Use Blaine’s bodily fluids as watercolors is a glorious painting of the depravitiesof man.
That’s gross.
Yeah, it kinda is.
It’s also probly derivative of something someone else has done. Modern art seems to be like that sometimes.
Kinda.
ROUND 2….FIGHT!
OH MY GOD THIS STORYLINE JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER.
Indeed!!!
MORTAL KOMBAAAAAAT
dundundundunDUNdundundun dundundundunDUNdundundun
DUN DUN DUN DUN DUNDUN!
Kano! Liu Kang! Raiden! Johnny Cage! Scorpion! Sub Zero! Sonya!
…Ruth!
FLAWLESS VICTORY
FATALITY
FROSTYYYYY
Yet, what I heard was the New Chapter sound from the original Ninja Gaidan.
TEST YOUR MIGHT.
RA OF THE YEAR AWARD
Heck yeah!! Easy to talk to about problems: D-. Respecting personal property: F. But defending the safety of her residents: A+++
Her main problem was with Billy, she never messed with other peoples things unless they gave her reason. But yeah, I wish Ruth was my RA.
Jaffa KREE!
(Oh, you means RA as in R.A. Never mind.)
Send them through the Chappa’ai!
My money’s on Ruth. <3
How much money? $20? I mean, he outweighs her, but I think he might be hampered by all the other adults around right now. Plus, she’s deceptively awesome at fighting.
Can I get a bet against?
*NB: Only currencies accepted are Monopoly money and Simoleons.
50 quatloos on the human female!
+1
I have a $50 on her. ‘Cause we’ve seen her throw Billie so it certainly seems she has had some sort of training. ^^
I began to misread your comment as “I have $50 on her ’cause we’ve seen her naked”
lolwhat? That, good Sir, sounds like a pretty serious case of wishful thinking.
There is no chance for Blaine. He has no victory condition.
Fact 1: He is openly assaulting a girl in front of several witnesses for attempting to eject him from a building he has no right to be in, and she has every right to do so as it is her job.
Fact 2: This girl is RUTH, and she has backup.
Best case scenario for Blaine is she lets him go with minor injuries, and decides a police report would be too much hassle.
Worst case is he is ladled into a prison cell.
The real question is how he’s avoided Jail for so long. If he explodes over something small like this he’s probably exploded before.
I’m going to guess he’s not generally this short-tempered. But he has, in the last few minutes, had his daughter stand up to him when he expected a pleasant afternoon of abuse, had the same daughter deck him, had that daughter also tell him to kiss her ass before running away, had random strangers prevent him from catching and “disciplining” his daughter, had a random girl stand up to him, and had that same random girl threaten to toss him out on his ass because he’s not allowed when his twisted logic claims he should be. In other words, the last few minutes have probly been the absolute worst he’s had in a very long time, with his temper fraying more with every thing that happens. I can understand why he’d flip out like this.
Pretty much this.
I think Blaine has never had someone stand up to him before, probably because he tries to victimize only people that he thinks are weaker than he is. Amber standing up to him has thrown him off his game.
Yes, bullying people who fight back is not a long run success strategy. Trying to bully people you have no emotional handle on is an even quicker way to get curb-stomped
Worst case for Blaine gives me warm fuzzies. =D
My guess is he causes Ruth some mild injury, and Sierra’s dad will be able to restrain him again. And right about that time is when Mrs. O’Malley walks in and gets one good slap across Blaine’s face as campus police take him away.
Hell yeah! Now Blaine is undeniably guilty in the eyes of the law. Ruth may have been slightly rude, but she’s doing her job. So he is committing Assault and Battery to stop her. He can’t claim self-defense since she did not threaten him with lethal force, or even struck him.
50 simoleans that Ruth wins.
Actually, make that a nickel.
You’re wagering your mom? Cold, man.
You have no idea how excited I am for this fight. This fight that may be broken up by tomorrow.
Maybe Sierra’s dad will judo throw him or something!
He is not allowed to be there.
Called it.
I thought we all assumed that he wasn’t.
I thought he had declared the dorm as his property, granted to him by a charter granted by Galasso.
No, a charter from Galasso, The Supreme Purveyor of Pizza, would have some legitimacy.
Or Ruth is bluffing, which is what I’d do there. Get him out of the building on whatever grounds you can, and deal with the consequences later.
I would say it isn’t a bluff. In my college we are supposed to register everyone coming into the buildings. I mean we don’t, be we are supposed to.
Fun fact! If you’re on the “not-allowed” list for parents at my university, we just straight up call the cops. If he’s on the list, he can get charged for trespassing, and amber attacking him would get ignored – he’s trespassing and it’s pretty much assumed it was self defense (assuming their reactions to dangerous people in dorms are the same as mine). Will also probably get charged with assault for attacking Ruth, an RA.
Source: I was a Front Desk Assistant at my college, we had an abusive father try to get in! I was told “just call the cops, and then call [RA] with the code word so she knows to go to the person’s room and warn her if he gets past you”.
In ten years I’ll remember where I was when the most epic beat-down in the history of the world occurred – at my computer desk as always.
But at least this time, you have front-row seats!
Blaine uses ROAR
It has no effect.
Ruth used Glare. Blaine may not be able to move.
Ruth is tightning her Focus. (Focus punch)
It’s a critical hit. Blaine flinches. Blaine watches in terror as Ruth removes his Femurs and uses Bone rush. Blaine wets himself.
At least that’s what I hope will happen.
Blaine uses Splash! But nothing happens
Blaine shits himself and dies! It’s highly effective!
Sierra’s mom with a surprise nut shot. To Blaine.
It actually looks like Ruth might be the one taking that shot. That looks like her leg at the bottom of panel 5. ^^
Doubtful. The way it’s colored and outlined kinda implies it’s in the background.
Yeah, I think you’re right. I went back and checked and she’s wearing shorts. So what do you think that is, then?
Either Sierra’s mom or Sierra herself.
I believe that is Reno’s arm and leg. He was holding Blaine back in the previous panels.
Correct.
No. Incorrect. He grew a third arm.
I actually think it was her dad, he was the one holding him back.
So will we get Ruth ripping out Blaine’s femurs with a script across the panel saying “FATALITY!”?
Also, is the “approved family member” thing an actual thing for college visitations? Because I know it’s not at my school.
Not at my school, and I was an RA. It’s possible that its different at IU, but it’s also possible Ruth was goading him.
Actually, on second thought, it’s quite possible that we did have such a list but that only the higher ups (mom-student staff) knew about it. They did tell us some stuff on a need to know basis.
Non* student. (Though I would trust mom-students with this info, they’d probably be very protective.)
We didn’t even have people allowed into the resident areas (beyond the lobbies, anyway) without the student physically taking them in there at UNM.
It certainly exists for elementary programs. Around here, a guardian has to show ID and be on the list, or else they are Not Allowed to pick up the student. (Completely necessary for domestic violence cases and estranged parents trying to break custody arrangements.)
In one instance, teachers all got a picture of a known perpetrator who’d threatened the school. If he’d have shown up, he would’ve been considered a kidnapper, they’d have gotten the kids to safety and called cops.
Anyway, does anyone know if this is a thing in colleges, too? Blaine seems like this is the perfect situation for such a list to exist.
We had posters of people who were trespassed from campus, but in most instances they had assaulted students or were dangerous exes. None that I can recall were old enough to be family. All had already committed a crime or offense on campus, as I understand it.
Blaine is not a resident of the dorm–not that residents can do anything they want in a dorm — and EVEN if he’s on a list of pre-approved visitors — and how likely is that? — he doesn’t have the right to stay there if his visitee wants him out AND he has arguably violated several OTHER laws already, even if not major ones … yet. I don’t know why Ruth needs any list (perhaps to establish that he was trespassing when he entered the dorm?), because plenty of grounds already exist for IUPD to haul him out, perhaps arrest him–IF this were the ‘ real’ world. But it’s not, it’s the Dumbyverse, and how things unfold, including the laws of physics, are up to Willis (and so far the ride has been a good one).
I guess it may be to follow the rules and thereby prevent problems later or maybe just to get Billie out of there, as Ruth might want to keep her safe?
Geez Blaine, you’re pulling one of Dina’s moves here.
It took me entirely to long to realize you meant the roaring. I actually scrolled up to see if maybe Blaine was behind a door or something.
Ruth never needs a reason to give someone a thrashing, but Blaine does deserve it, so that makes it so much sweeter
It’s a full-grown abusive man versus a recover alcoholic lesbian(?) Canadian.
Obviously that douche will have his ass handed to him in less time than it takes for a hobo to shank you for crack money.
Ruth seemed to be bi in the Walkyverse. Probably the same here.
I think she’s bi/pan here… she mentioned something to Howard a few atrips back about not seeing why the plumbing a person has is so important.
**strips
An alcoholic who is moody from withdrawals
If only this was in video form…Cause that would be great with popcorn 😀
Well, Willis did get his degree in animation…
Get my hopes up. Please.
It’ll earn him another sock in the mouth, that’s what.
Can we just cut to the end? I want to see Ruth’s Fatality.
No! I want to see every glorious second of the beatdown!
Notice how, during this security incident, Ruth puts aside her “gotta keep up appearances by being mean to Billie in public” policy and simply gives Billie instructions for what needs to be done.
I like that.
Ruth didn’t get RA authority for nothing!
Yes. Good priorities.
Ruth is annoyed because she was making out with Billie and they interrupted her.
I like that Ruth feels she can call on Billie for backup, and that Billie backs her up without question.
And Billie, while you’re there, grab my hockey stick.
Daaaaang! Ruthless is ready for battle in the most awesome way possible! I bet the arm poking in there is going to break them up before anything really cool happens, though.
I think the arm is him breaking away from Reno
Poor Reno.
Oh! That’s possible. I’d also assumed the arm was reaching forwards to break up the fight. But having Blaine break free works just as well or better.
Indeed. Willis confirmed it above, but you can see Sierra’s dad’s hand holding Blaine back in 1 and 4 before he breaks free in 5.
Ooh the secret message here is that Ruth is being BFFs in public with Billie…
Ah shit. There’s clearly a fucking reason he’s not allowed in there, the guy is full blown psychotic. I mean sure, he was a grade A asshole in all his previous strips. But this just shows that he’s got a few screws loose. If that’s ALL it takes to get him to take a swing at a stranger, I’m surprised he hasn’t been jailed yet.
He just wants to punch people. Is that so wrong? (the answer is yes)
Well the answer is actually “almost always yes. Unless the person you punch is Blaine. Then punch away.”
Well it depends on when you are punching Blaine. You can’t just punch people without just cause, no matter how awful they are.
Even though we’d really, really like to.
Because if you can punch whoever you want then everyone can punch whoever they want. And now everyone is Blaine.
Blaines everywhere noooo
You’d be surprised. I’ve had a psycho threaten to kill me with witnesses around just because I asked him to stop making loud, inappropriate statements in public. All the police could do was take down an incident report, even after he threatened me again a month later, the next time he happened to be at the same coffee shop, with no provocation aside from me previously calling out his bullshit.
Somehow that freak never had an arrest record that I could find.
OH SHIT.
I’m scared and confused, Dave is giving us exactly what we want…
…What horrible monstrosity is he about to unleash upon us?
Why am I never able to trust good things?
-Bem
Well, he’s created a situation where Faz, Howard and Danny might all end up interacting.
“Wanna watch game of thrones?”
“Faz hears there are many boobs in that program”
“And my name is Danny.”
I grinned.
http://sadpanda.us/images/1803678-L8O225D.png
<3 <3 <3
Speaking of which, did they just leave Faz back there offering Dina’s family a Fail demonstration?
And I guess they left Howard behind too.
Howard is behind Ruth in panel 2, so … technically … yes …
OK, does he not know any better… Never, and I mean NEVER mess with a woman that loves hockey. They know how to fight.
Femurs! Femurs! Femurs!
On a side note I’m curious to see whose hand that is in the middle of the last panel and if the mysterious person will break up the fight.
I think it’s Reno
Willis has confirmed above that yes, it is Reno.
Blaine’s just breaking free of his grip.
Whether or not that “approved visitors” list is real (which I suspect it is), or if it’s just a gambit on Ruth’s part, him attacking an RA in the dorm hallway with witnesses is more than enough for her to have him thrown out by campus security and probably banned from the school grounds.
Legal action would probably be taken against him by the school as well.
Wait… nononono… narratively speaking. This isn’t going to end well. Oh, crap. 🙁
I thiiiink I know who owns that third hand.
maybespoilermaybespoiler
If you drive your daughter so far over the edge that she starts putting on a disguise and beating up criminals… what happens when you piss her off?
No way that she could change outfits that quickly and then get behind him.
Sal?
It’s Batman! Ruth is both in front and behind Blaine! She’s gonna tagteam him!
Nope. Willis has confirmed that’s just Blaine breaking free of Reno’s grip.
Blaine is leaving himself wide open there, so my pretend Internet money is on Ruth.
As for this third hand stuff, I’m pretty sure it’s just Sierra’s dad.
Yeah, Blaine’s fighting technique based on this strip seems to be mostly biting, and considering how far away his hands are as he leans in he probably studied by bobbing for apples.
Groin Kick! 100,000 EXP + 30g
First Ruth needs to roll for attack and if she hits, roll 2d4 damage.
Only 2d4? I’m pretty sure that would be 3d10 with a crit happening at a 17 or above on her attack roll.
I’m pretty sure DOA’s GM is running it using only the core books, since we know he isn’t using any of the SEMME splatbooks, which contain all of the game-breaking superpowers.
Ruth’s got a natural weapon bonus on her fists, though. Some sort of brawler class.
I think that just means she can choose to do lethal damage with unarmed strikes as opposed to stun damage.
(As a side note, good god I’m glad I met my wife at a D&D game.)
KICK HIS ASS.
Holy shit, new theory. Blaine is actually Dina’s biological father. Seriously, just look at the last panel. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s pulling his best rawr there.
Blaine is one of the few dinosaurs left besides Dina’s family. when they were assigning rooms they saw that Amber was half dinosaur and paired her with Dina in hopes they’d get along.
I said it yesterday and i’ll say it again….ruth is a hockey fan…she’ll kick his abusive douchenozzle ass
Godspeed, Ruthless. Teach this sack of shit some manners.
Great fighting stance Blaine! Face presented front and center unguarded and fists unclenched.
This would only work if he was winding up for a wicked headbutt.
He likes hitting people that “quit” when he “touch[es] [them] once.”
That does not imply that he actually has fighting skill.
He’s relatively tall. Along with what Pat said, that implies that he’s always gotten by on intimidation alone.
His better weight and reach means he could easily beat Ruth assuming equal skill.
Evidence suggests that their skill level is not equal. Also she’s prepared for his attack and he’s lunging carelessly. Also there are like a whole bunch of other people around, all of whom will be on Ruth’s side.
I’m not a violent man by nature. I would almost never wish physical harm to come to anyone.
But that doesn’t apply to fictional characters. Ruth, please reduce Blaine to a sobbing mess on the floor, begging for mercy in a voice several octaves higher than usual.
Wow! What a mega-asshole! Sad that those types really do exist and aren’t just in comic strips.
Dave,
This badassery rocks. Thank you.
Said it with a fittingbavatar to bootb;)
I want Ruth to break him
I want her to break him too, and I don’t even like her.
Like a Kit Kat Bar.
“Let’s not stand on ceremony here… Mr. Blaine.”
(Yeah, not his last name, but O’Malley doesn’t rhyme.)
Is it clobberin’ time? I think it’s clobberin’ time.
*Gets out Team Ruthless Swag*
IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME!!!
MORTAL KOMBAT!!!
Take your bets?
Someone who’s been shown to be able to defend herself against active, athletic assailants versus someone who implicitly goes after people who don’t fight back?
I know where my money is.
I bet everything on Silver Dasher.
I bet $9001 simoleons that Mike wins. Using some nickels and the mothers of the combatants. He squicks everyone out so much that they all die from sheer disgust.
I’m skipping the comments and guessing that… Three people will act all “Oh, why doesn’t Ruth just try -walking away-?” superior and bemoaning the fact that poor Blain’s getting punched again.
Also:
FEMERS!
FACE!
FEEEEEMERS!
FAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!
FEMERS TO THE FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!
Actually, zero! Yay!
Now I feel like a dick for being all cynical and shit…
The strips been up for half an hour, the people you refer to take at least an hour to start acting morally superior.
Ruth is standing between him and his target, and he’s actually attacking her. I’m not sure how anybody could interpret that as a “Walk away” situation. Run away, maybe, but I wouldn’t recommend that either.
Well, you were spot on with the femurs.
Is… Is he really leading with his face? (I know. Faaaaace.) At an opponent who is waiting for you to make a move?
Ruth’s about to punch him in the face so hard he’s going to shit out his own head.
“Is… Is he really leading with his face? (I know. Faaaaace.) At an opponent who is waiting for you to make a move?
Ruth’s about to punch him in the face so hard he’s going to shit out his own head.”
Well, clearly he figures he should use his face as a bludgeoning weapon since the inside of his skull is apparently filled up with freaking rocks in light of lacking anything more useful to occupy the space.
At the risk of defending him, I’m not sure how he was to know that she was waiting for him to make a move.
Or even if he knew that she predicted it, how he could have known that she’s capable of standing up to him on those terms. He’s used to attacking people that don’t fight back.
I would think that “Well if you’re so proud of it I can make you more,” should have been a clue. But then, I suppose that’s one of the many differences between Blaine and me. I usually think.
She threatened him, but then she tried to talk instead of fight.
She was trying to get him to back down instead of actually fighting. To get him to leave by using her authority.
Maybe she did want a fight, and she was certainly prepared for one, but she was at least somewhat trying to avoid one by being intimidating. Perhaps he noticed, and thinks he’s calling her bluff.
(Also I forgot about that.)
I’m more referring to the fact that she has identified herself as an authority of the campus, there are multiple witnesses around, they all know who he is, and his next move is to physically attack her. A criminal genius this man is not.
Oh definitely. On a tactical genius scale from zero to Thrawn, he ranks somewhere around the fuzzy squash I threw out last week. The last girl to mouth off to him, less than a minute ago, decked him. It just doesn’t seem to occur to him that this one might as well, even though she just openly threatened to.
Besides, even if he thinks she’s bluffing, the only reason to lead with the face is if Amber hit him hard enough that he actually thinks he’s either a shark or the aforementioned T-Rex.
“On a tactical genius scale from zero to Thrawn”
I don’t know if you just came up with that or not – but I actually clap-laughed when I read that. Best scale of anything I think I’ve ever heard.
/golfclap
Ditto.
How can this not end in jail time for Blaine?
It cannot.
Well, if he dies, then it won’t end in jail time for him. Otherwise, Yotomoe is correct.
If he dies, they’ll revive him and put him in jail.and he’ll be alive, and dead, and rotting, and locked up.
The only thing worse than Blaine is Zombie Blaine.
Nah, at least Zombie Blaine wouldn’t be able to talk.
And Flaming Voodoo Blaine.
Blaine of Borg, speaker for the Collective.
Sooo…he’ll be like Schrodinger’s Cat?
Only in prison.
They’ll open the box in five to ten.
Depends on the cops that come to arrest him. Get the wrong cop, and his argument could be treated as one that has merit. Those cops are rare, and getting rarer, but they exist.
Luckily, the situation doesn’t really allow him to get away with it like he no doubt usually does when the cops get involved (the victims changing their mind). Too many witnesses, and neither Ruth nor Amber is either all Stockholm-y or cowed by him.
This is taking place in a collage dorm. If nothing else, the school will press charges. Any college that gives the slightest impression that it allows its students to be assaulted is asking for lawsuits.
He entered a dorm room of a female student without her permission, knowledge, or presents. And waited there for her to show up. Before witnesses, he rummaged through her personal effects, made statements of “ownership” over her and her things, was verbally abusive, physically threatening, and made reference to physical violence in the past. He positioned himself such that the target of his aggression could not leave. When asked to leave, he escalated the threat is such a way that said target could reasonably fear for her safety. She then took an action of self defense that gave her the opportunity to leave, and did so. He followed her, once again before witnesses, spouting further abuse and threats. When confronted by a person of authority, who identified herself as such, and who questioned his authorization to be in this place, he attacked this individual as well.
No, he has gone well beyond the “talk your way out of it” phase. And, if the school has it’s own police, it may count as a municipality, and have it’s own laws. Laws that specifically deal with this kind of incident.
Seriously, he really isn’t, not if the cops who show up break in his favour.
He argues that as Amber’s father, and the one paying for her college, he has every right to be there. The cop agrees. The list comes up, the cop agrees to escort him off the premises, but nothing else as the lax enforcement of the list on the college’s part argues against its seriousness.
He argues that Amber and Ruth both provoked him. The cop agrees. Everyone else points out that he was belligerent before ever encountering Ruth, he points out that Amber threw the first punch, the cop refuses to believe he threatened her (or else agrees that she brought it on herself).
Amber and Ruth insist he be charged, the cop ‘forgets’ that little detail, until it’s brought up again, then fails to follow up, until he ‘forgets’ again, until the next time.
It’s not likely, since this sort of bullshit is taken more seriously than it used to be, but those cops still exist.
Fortunately for Amber and Ruth, this is taking place in Bloomington, which makes it more likely for a decent cop to be the one to show up. Sadly for women and girls in the rest of the state, the type of cop that would take Blaine’s side are much more prevalent in rural and small-town Indiana.
Expensive lawyers and lots of money?
You done fucked up, Blaine, you done fucked up. Even if Ruth doesn’t kick your ass you’re still surrounded by people who were already not happy with you.
Go Ruth! And the way you draw Claire is adorable~
Concur on both!
Go Ruth! Vent your Billie and brother-related troubles upon deserving targets!
Hmm, maybe Ruthless will be Amazi-girl’s antihero ally instead of arch-nemesis….
Shit is about to go down. Some more.
I swear I’ve seen like 4 mortal kombat jokes and like 1,000 femur jokes. Now femurs aren’t funny anymore. THANKS, GUYS.
Not to worry! Today’s Roomies mentions a coccyx! Coccyxs are always funny!
What about spleens? “Spleen” is just an inherently funny word, right?
Though not as funny as frenulum.
Nope. No more heroes 1. you will eventually get tired of it.
Especially if you have them in three different colors.
I kind of want to see mr Snow lay him the feck out. still waters and all that
I can’t describe how I feel about this. I’m by no means a good willed person but…I can’t help feeling uncomfortable amidst a bunch of people wanting someone to get hurt. It’s wierd but it puts a bad taste in my mouth, even though I know he’s the bad guy. I feel…gross.
He’s not a real person and that matters a lot, imo. It’s kinda cathartic to wish ill upon a fictional evil person who is representative of real evil people. I can’t speak for everyone, of course, but if this was really happening I would be scared for Ruth rather than rooting for her to lay Blaine out.
Same here. It’s cool to hate on fictional villains. That’s what they’re for.
I’m pretty fine with hating him. I still feel uneasy though. I get MAD uncomfortable when large groups of people outspokenly wish violence upon a person, fictional or not. I’m just too much of a bleeding heart, I guess.
Aw, that’s cool. Faceless mob violence is awful. I certainly can’t blame a fellow for disliking it, even when it’s the pretend kind.
This is not mob violence. In the comic, it’s a group of adults trying to deal with a crazy violent person. In the comments, it’s an audience.
What’s the alternative wish in this situation? He is attacking Ruth. Either he is going to get hurt or she is. And wishing for it to be her is, as you noted below, pretty horrible.
Yotomoe, I’m almost completely a pacifist, but when someone’s an abuser the way Blaine is, that just crosses a line to the point where physical violence is 100% acceptable to me.
He BEAT a woman, he possibly beat Amber as well! That’s pure scum!
Maybe I’m biased because I was raised by an abusive sociopath similar to Blaine, but all the therapists I’ve seen agree that there is NOTHING that excuses what people like Blaine and my father have done.
The stuff they do is 100% inexcusable, unacceptable, and unforgivable.
It can and often does do as much psychological damage as rape, and that’s if rape or other sexual abuse isn’t already part of their crime.
Blaine is absolute scum, and he deserves whatever harm he brings upon himself.
You’re misunderstanding. I understand Blaine is wrong, and I understand he deserves punishment. I’m uneasy at the eagerness people feel for him to feel aforementioned punishment by a large group of people. I was never around abusive parents, thank god, so I don’t have a personal vendetta against him like you may. I know he should probably get punched in the face. But I still feel sick. I can’t explain it Plaid. I just feel uneasy.
I understand.
He deserves to be hurt. The situation calls for someone to try to hurt him. It makes sense to want Ruth to be victorious.
But wanting him to suffer isn’t quite the same.
Well, I want the injury to stick around long enough to cause him to think twice about trying to fuck with Amber or her mom in the future.
I’m not some sadist. He probably caused some injuries to Amber’s mom in the past, and I want him to get a taste of his own medicine before he rots in a cell.
I’ve got an underbite from my jawbone being knocked out of place by a punch my dad when I was a kid. Even just “one hit” can do real damage.
Blaine deserves to feel that pain.
And no, sadly I cannot bring up charges against him for that injury because by the time I uncovered the repressed memory of that incident, the statute of limitations had passed. Unfortunately the indictment must be filed within six years of the incident, and it was repressed for about eleven.
There is such a thing in fiction as Divine Retribution. Sadly it seems to be lacking in the Real World.
Yotomoe, the simple fact that you feel that way, already makes you a much better person than many in the world. Be proud of that fact.
^ This.
If everyone felt uncomfortable about violence of any kind, the world would be a better place.
yeah. this is a Rough Storyline, it is not supposed to just be “aw fuck yeah boooo blaine” it is a “holy shit, real people have REALLY BIG PROBLEMS sometimes, and this is how shit goes down when your fucked-up protectors are actually abusive psychopaths”
lots of bad words in this post! sorry kids
@Shade, bravo. Nailed it.
Yoto. You feel uneasy due to the unstoppable force of Mob violence, don’t you. Mob violence is scary, and typically leads to more violence after the initial act is completed. A striking Union descending upon a police officer is about the same as the people who hate abusers calling for Blaine’s execution. Once he’s dead, who do we point our anger at? The other police officers? Once we do that, we’ll be worse than the people we hate. Mob mentality is a scary thing.
Its reasonable not want people to be hurt and to be uncomfortable with people calling for others to be injured, even when there fictional. The reason I think everyone one is wishing for violence upon Blaine (including myself) is because he represents abuse in multiple forms, and because this is fiction the natural reaction is seems to want to see this rejected in the most absolute way possible and there are no “real” consequences, i.e. a real person going to jail or dying. I think if this actually happened most of us would be happy with Blaine just getting arrested or a least getting kicked out of the building. That’s just my opinion though.
As a survivor of multiple forms of abuse (emotional, psychological, sexual, and in at least one instance, physical), I’d want him to at least suffer a broken bone or two as well in real life.
And keep in mind, that I’m generally a pacifist.
I’m anti-war, anti-gun, will do whatever I can to avoid getting into a fight, etc.
Intentional abusers are a special kind of evil, though. Up there intermingling with rapists and murderers.
I wouldn’t want to see Blaine die in real life, but I would still want to see him suffer.
I wasn’t ever abused myself, but for the last 15 years I’ve been in love with someone who was BADLY abused as a child. Having seen what it’s done to her, there is probably nothing that could be done to Blaine that is so horrible that I would not enthusiastically support it.
Gotta agree with Yotomoe on this.
Seeing an awful lot of folks gleefully wishing various horrific forms of pain and violence on someone, even a fictional character, is unnerving.
I feel the same way, but after reading some solid points of the cathartic angle it made more sense to me. Regardless, It’s a testament to the quality of the comic that we can perceive these characters as “real’ and have empathy for them. especially this particular one.
I’m not a pacifist, I’m okay with violence in self-defense or to protect others, I’ve done both. And I’ve enjoyed the catharsis of entertainments in which bad guys get theirs (yippee kayea…). AND it looks like Willis has set things up so that Ruth needs to use violence to stop Blaine, justifiably. But it seems thate many readers are looking forward to seeing Blaine punished for the evil he’s done, not just stopped because he’s a present/continuing danger–though the two can overlap in reality and entertainment. And it’s good to doubt and question and be uncomfortable about violence and people calling for it, including in an entertainment. Heck, one of the best things I’ve seen recently is the discussion about the Superman movie which Willis wrote for Amber and Mike over in Shortpacked.
http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=1880
I’m by no means nonviolent. If you look up comments I’ve made I make all sorts of violent comments. I just have a threshold. I can’t take a certaint amount of hatred and violence in one sitting.
At the risk of sounding glib…
Welcome to the internet.
People have wantonly over-indulged in projecting violence of many kinds onto others (fictional or otherwise) because unfortunately it’s the culture of anonymity that the internet has fostered.
If I could change one thing about “The Net™” it’s that people can hide behind an avatar and a keyboard and be absolute scumbags to the real people on the other side of the screen with little or no personal repercussion to themselves.
I guess the issue I had is that I’m not a stranger to the Internet Hate Machine, it’s just that this level of nearly euphoric revelry in hatred is something that seems to be very out of character for this community.
Hell, it’s irritating and disheartening enough that I’m on the fence about rooting for Blaine right now. :/
Am I the only one who wants to wait a few days, then watch the fun unroll in one sitting with a bag of popcorn?
Tried. Couldn’t wait then, gotta know now!
Yeah “someone stop my daughter before she gets away” stops being an acceptable sentence by the time said daughter reaches eight years old. After that anyone is going to assume a child likely has a decent reason for running away.
That aside, way to go Ruth! Going for the sensible option that leaves Blaine with no foot to stand on later. If she gets violent right away he could spin it to assault (unlikely with the witnesses and circumstances but still) but if campus security drags him off or if he attacks her that’s that.
Hell, depending on other factors, they might clearly have a decent reason even younger than that!
Also, she’s a grown woman, Blaine’s got a split lip and she was pissed enough to air her family history in public… Yeah, they’re really gonna try stopping her, genius.
Hmmm… If Ruth wins, I can only imagine the power she wields, defeating a man with an estimated 45 combined years of serious abuse of his family in two universes…
If Blaine wins, then clearly I should be thinking of a hate fic.
ONLY if Blaine wins?
Abuse isn’t fighting skill.
We know Ruth has some of that. We also know that Blaine doesn’t expect people to hit him–only he does that.
I’m not saying that Ruth winning the fight is the only possible outcome, just that it certainly is a possible one. Especially since it’s not exactly a one-on-one duel.
What Pat said. Blaine might be a proper fighter, but the typical thing for an abuser is to pick on people who can’t/won’t fight back.
I love the rivalry between Jeph and David. I read Questionable Content first, and found Dumbing of Age (and then Shortpacked) from there. For a while I was wondering why this site isn’t called David Willis is a Jerkface.
The local parlance is DYW, short for DAMN YOU, WILLIS!
It is a gloriously wonderful and entertaining rivalry! May it continue for years and years!
These past couple of strips remind me of Sunset Tree by the Mountain Goats. Great album.
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN UP THE WOLVES
This is the part where Sarah comes out from nowhere and knocks the brute out with a baseball bat, Ruth punches him in the kidney, and then Dina eats his face. Too much catharsis. Honestly it’ll still be good if he just gets locked up and and restraining order’d. I feel bad for Amber.
The big question now is, can that disembodied hand sneak in a cop a feel on Ruth before the bodies clash together?
If this was Dumbing of Age manga it could!
I think I’d like to avoid the mangas you read. =/
The less said about “Dumbing of Age: Kiss Players,” the better…
That one has all my favorite characters from “It’s Warukii-chan: Bang-Bang Ice Cream Onii-san H and Shorutupakadu: Ninja Riku Adventure Baka Kawaii.
You’re the guy who keeps replacing all the “disturbing” and “sick” with “awesome” and “romantic” on the wiki! I guess there really are a few in every fandom.
I thought it was going for Blaine.
I don’t want Ruth to get a good punch in, however I do want Blaine to get a good punch in so that he can get arrested for assault.
Pretty sure there is such a thing as attempted assault, so he’s already screwed far as the police are concerned.
Also, potentially trespassing, definitely threats, and from the point of view of the witnesses in the hall, Amber had to act in self-defense against him.
I doubt Dina’s family would entirely disagree with that last one as well.
That’s kind of a horrible thing to want.
yeah 🙁
I want Ruth to dodge Blaine’s punch, letting him make the first move makes more sense, then in the follw through she can grab his arm and pin him against the wall while they wait for campus security. That’s all she needs to do, anything else is really just gratuitous violence.
Although there is a certain arm lock she could put him in where the more he struggles the more likely it is to break his arm. That would be his own fault.
Technically the actual hitting would be battery (as in assualt and battery). At this point I think he’s probably already cleared the threshold for assault.
Of course, my source for this is the internets, so someone correct me if I’m utterly wrong.
It all depends on the state laws. Just glanced at Indiana state law and they don’t have a simple assault law (just an “intimidation” law which Blaine has already violated in that last panel) and a battery law. Simple battery (i.e., just touching Ruth with no injury) is a class B misdemeanor under Indiana law, usually punished with a fine and at most a few days in jail, but Ruth being a RA would presumably qualify her as an employee of the university who is in the course of her duties, and if he smacks her and bloodies her, that’s a class D felony — as in, he’s going to spend a couple of years in prison. Hopefully someone is calling the campus police right about now…
Just glanced at the Indiana law, and just the last panel is a class D felony under the Indiana intimidation statute (threatening via word or action the safety of a school employee). Yeah, time to get the campus police involved…
It’s interesting because he could already go to jail for assault. He’s assaulted plenty of people already. But if he gets a punch in, Battery can be added to the charge.
A fight about to break out? This looks like a job for Amazi-Girl!
RUTH will totally win! And the GENETIC DONOR can go merrily on his way in a HANDBASKET!
GET ‘IM RUTH
GET ‘IM SO HARD
USE HIS OWN FEMURS AGAINST HIM
Now remember, Ruth, that patented “throw him over your head” move will get him CLOSER to his objective. You want the “bury your fist in his spleen by way of his mouth” move. It’s a bit messier, but oh, oh so very much more satisfying.
I just love the fact that somehow, all my favorite web comic artists are friends and do guest strips for each other, and do con-updates that involve each other… I really need to go to a con one day and meet all of them.
I have been lucky enough to meet Jeph and Mr. Willis, among many others, and they are nice, friendly people. Jeph even patiently answered my questions about digital drawing and posting webcomics.
Other than the two of them, I’m a big fan of Randy of SP, Kel of Sorcery 101, and Spike of Templar, AZ. And all of them mention each other all the time… I need to get a passport so I can get into the states. And I’m west coast and most of the cons are east coast… It would be an expensive trip.
Ruth needs to take him down but then say something cool.
Like “Eventually all parents have to deal with their kids beating them in some activity. I’m just going to beat you.”
No, she just needs to knock him out and walk away, all quiet and badass-like as he explodes in the background or something.
When he explodes, she will not turn to look at the explosion over her shoulder. She’ll just keep walking. BAKOOOM.
Knock him right the fuck out, Ruth.
http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=1792
As a Ruth/Billie shipper, I hope and pray that what Ruthless does in the next panel has an impact on Billie akin to the last panel.
And apparently I’m not the only guy to think of that scene. Damn you Linkara! (love the show, by the way).
When I reread that Shortpacked! strip, my first reaction was that Rachel is the spawn of Ruth and Billie, at least through shallow “combine hair color and facial feature” comic rules.
She kicks ass and turn men and women into lesbians through sheer awesome of course she’s their kid.
Ruth is so brave. I already liked her, but now I am in love with her. And kudos to Amber for sticking up to her dad. I wish I could say I would do the same.
Oh wow, this comic hasn’t even been up an hour and it’s already about to break 200 comments!
Correction: has broken
I was thinking that if I came by this evening instead of waiting until I was at work tomorrow, I might have a more reasonable number of comments to read. Boy was I mistaken.
I think we’ve just been given a clue about who called Ruth on the phone.
Ruth’s parents have been dead for years, as has been confirmed in the comics three times so far.
Much as I’m looking forward to seeing Ruth live up to her nickname, you know who I just realized I’d really like to see get involved here? The Siegals. Because I imagine that as the parents of someone Amber’s been friends (then more, then back again) with a long time they at least know enough to have some sort of “If you see Amber’s father anywhere near her, help her get away” warning, and that it would trump their issues with Ethan coming out after dating her, and it would be nice to see one of the bad sets of parents get some more rounding out.
But the Siegals hate Amber. They’ll probably shake their head and say, “Serves her right for making my son gay.”
I mean. That’s a pretty sadistic attitude to have toward a child, “your pyschopathically abusive father is deserved since my son is gay,” I would have to agree with Cass that Ethan’s folks would know about this and I would ALSO love to see them here!
Ethan’s mum might be like that, but I think his dad could still override that and be all ‘dude, not cool’. Only, y’know, more adult. Whatever feelings you might have about your son coming out after dating someone, wishing a psycho like Blaine on anyone is just wrong.
I would like to see Ethan knock Blaine out (again). I’ve been thinking that since Blaine showed up. Then again, it probably won’t fit in this story line.
Mike’s parents would also have that code. And unlike mrs. Siegal, might actually enforce it.
So I guess Ruthless is about to
*Puts on Sunglasses*
Make him Toothless
YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHhhhh I’m sorry I couldnt resist
Normally, I’d say that was a horrible joke, but… eh. I’ll make an exception. This is BLAINE that’s about to get his ass handed to him, after all.
And his teeth.
Blaine’s a rage-aholic. I don’t think he realizes what he’s doing. Just look at the crazy eyes he’s sportin in panel 1!
Punch his lights out Ruth!
Okay, NOW I’ve never been so lesbian in all my life.
I know! I saw this and went, “Yep. I am so hot for Ruthless right now.”
This strip totally made me lesbian for Ruth, and I’m a guy.
Ladies and gentlemen, the one you’ve all been waiting for! The fight of the century! In the right corner, wearing the blue hoody and the expression suggesting she is completely out of fucks to give, Ruth “Ruthless” Lessick!!! In the left corner, wearing the crazed expression and the fat lip, Blaine “Dickweed” O’Malley!!! LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLEEEEEE!!!
Please say he gets punched into Joyce’s parents and they all end up in hospital after falling out a window and breaking many, many bones, including the femurs
And Faz makes a valiant effort to stop the fall and ends up being pulled out the window with them.
Faz would just look at what happened then offer Joyce “sympathy sex”.
I dunno. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, but doesn’t say anything about broken femurs. If we’re going to be dogmatic about it, I’m going to have to say that femurs stay intact in Hell.
It is fuzzy on the subject of kneecaps.
+1 for Firefly reference
Oh shit.
“This is the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny!”
He’s gonna get it… in the FAAAAAAAACEEEEE!
Blaine, Blaine, Blaine, you are not only insane but dumber that a box car full of rocks! You don’t lunge at the RA and attempt to strangle her. It’s called assault.
I don’t care if she beats the shit out of him as much as I would like to see him hauled off for assault, battery, and trespassing.
He thinks he can do whatever he wants because he can do whatever he wants.
I hope she rips out his eyeballs.
Let’s hope that she beats him with his own bloody femurs.
I really wanna see Ruth kick his ass. I love Ruth best when she’s fiery.
I want to belieeeeve you saved that as your gravatar rather than it just being random 🙂
I don’t comment enough usually to save it to an avatar so it’s totally random. It is rather convenient that it ended up as fiery Ruth anyway though!
I’ve never had to experience anything like this, but for some reason it still hits me inside as if I had. I don’t know, maybe it’s a primal thing or something, but in the words of the great Detective Marcus Burnett, “This shit just got real”.
Props not only for Ruth defending Amber, but shes ALSO defending Billie by trying to get her away from the situation that Ruth expected. She knew that telling Billie to get the papers would likely set off the jerkface. She sent Billie out of the situation where she wasnt going to get hurt. Ruth…your secretly a sweetheart, we know.
Yes, I thought exactly the same regarding Ruth and Billie! 🙂
Okay, this will undoubtedly be lost way down here at the bottom, but I have to try.
On the new Shortpacked! website, how on earth do I view/post comments? I have never been able to figure out Disqus (and I’m not used to not figuring things out!). Could it be incompatible with Chrome? I click on view/post comments, and it changes the page to one that states comments are provided by Disqus, but I still don’t see any comments or any way to post comments or sign up for Disqus (even on their website).
Help me! I am unreasonably mystified!
Okay, for what it’s worth, I found a way to register an account (at disqus. com/login), only to find I already had an account under my email (and my password worked). But even now logged into Disqus, I see no change on the Shortpacked! page; same problem with seeing no comments or ways to post.
click on the line that say how many comment have been made.
Say goodbye to your femurs.
And as everyone knows, he needs those to live.
Turn him into a human pretsel, Ruth!
Blaie is going to need EMS fix his upcoming broken jaw and the cops to protect him from Ruth!
Blaine just signed his own death warrant.
Anyone else notice that Ruth apparently fights like a hockey player? Right hand up for blocking punches, left hand ready to throw them. If she doesn’t pull Blaine’s shirt over his head at some point, I’m going to be highly disappointed.
It’s better than Blaine’s stance, anyway; dude seems to think he’s Godzilla.
“And that’s why we don’t have Freshman Family Weekend anymore.”
Seriously though, I hope Ruth will be okay. As much as I detest Blaine, I’m not about to write him off as an easy win for her simply because he’s used to hitting women who don’t hit back.
Seriously +1 on the “And that’s why…” Would someone tell me how to do the thumbs up smiley, please?
ALL MY MONIES ON RUTH
My money is on Dina swooping in and biting his leg off.
HA! Ninja’d Willis in his own comic.
Now for the innocent bystander: why was Billie in the same room as Ruth and Howie? Or alternatively: why does Billie have a key to Ruth’s room?
David, having uploaded two months in advance, will already have decided whether someone notices. Unless he has uploaded a two-month cliffhanger.
At any rate, this is a win either way: Amber can just say “Uh, take him off the list, no idea how he got on there.”. The difference is one in trespassing charges (well, unlikely in a public building).
Didn’t we see Ruth give her a key a few weeks back, so Billie could check up on her without pulling the fire alarm next time?
Yes we did.
We also saw Ruth tell Billie about being orphaned, and referring to her parents’ deaths with Howard just a handful of strips ago.
dorms are totally non-public buildings. security is typically fairly tight in an ordinary college dormitory.
Billie, Ruth and Howard were on their way back from not-sitting-together lunch, Ruth gets called up for an urgent disturbance, the other two come along with her.
301 comments…. I need to make a YouTube joke here. Bah, epic fight trumps that.
My bet: Howard yells “Game of Thrones!” and beats him down.
Ruth is SO going to kick Blaine’s ass!
…and FAAAAAAAAAAACE
She’ll kick Blaine’s ass so hard it ends up in his face.
God bless you Willis. So long as Ruthless wins.
Ruth, punch him in the mouth so hard that he spends the next week shitting his teeth.
My thoughts on the last panel: “Tasogare ni hi wo ugatsu guren no yumiya!”
…It has a way of getting stuck in your head. >_>
Dovie’andi se tovya sagain!
You have won my love forever.
Omae wa shin de iru.
loved your strip on jerk jacques thing! It made me happy. cuz i love the both of your bodies of work.
also, i’m looking forward to the police escorting him away when he assaults (and gets smacked around by) Ruth and for being in there when he is certainly not allowed.
There’s a really cool organization called Model Mugging. Women learn how to fight in self-defense by practicing full-force full-contact moves on a heavily padded martial artist.
It works. One woman’s boyfriend got ego-hurt that she was taking a Model Mugging class, so he put on a mask, hid in the bushes, and jumped out at her. She put him in the hospital.
If there are any women reading this who want to learn effective physical self-defense, check it out. I knew a woman taking it, went to her graduation, and was impressed by what I saw.
That boyfriend sounds like he’s training for the Darwin Award. (-_- )
Good thing for him she wasn’t also taking self defense classses at the shooting range. Seriously, there are like 200 million handguns in America; don’t sneak up on people.
Blaine used intimidate – no effect
Ruth used crotch kick – super effective
But Intimidate’s an Ability!
Fortunately, Ruth’s negates any loss of attack.
Whatever he’s doing right now, I’m pretty sure it’s a way to get taken off the list.
hahaha. yeah, for real.
Yeah, this won’t end well for Blaine…
Allow me to join the chorus of voices that sing of victory for Ruth against the awful piece of shit known as Blaine.
When I first saw him a phew pages back I thought he was just a another dick father,but now I know he’s just a bongo with anger issues
MORTAL KOMBAT!
FINISH HIM!
Awesome! 😀
Love you Willis!
This will be better then Brock vs Punk at SummerSlam
It’s really nice that, with everyone on the comic that started this rooting for Joe and his dad or someone to come kick Blaine’s ass, Amber’s backup is another lady. I’m js.
With Ruth, Billie, Amber, and the other parents in the hallway all squaring off against him… I don’t think Blaine really stands a chance here. I’m going to enjoy witnessing his humiliating defeat. 😀
hooooly shit this dude is just a straight up psychopath.
…and it’s ON! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpuhWD4mjUY
damn damn damn. this dude is not only a colossal asswipe, but also a complete dipshit. after chasing after his daughter while yelling like a madman, he’s now attacking the r.a. of the dorm in front of the tenants?
I hope a fuckin bird shits on him on while he’s escorted out of the building in cuffs.
Where I’m from, a bird crapping on you is supposedly good luck ¬.¬ So yeah not gonna agree there.
A bird shitting on him is getting off easy. Drop a shit covered brick on his head.
Oh, he’s definitely going out in cuffs. I would be SHOCKED if this doesn’t end with him in prison.
GO RUTH GO!
Everyone’s predicting bad things for Blaine…uh, I’m worried about Ruth. Dude’s a foot taller than she is. This is gonna be a bit different than flipping Billie over her shoulder…
Maybe: Amber sucker-punched him and caught him by surprise; now he is starting the fight, and he could be a good fighter for all we know. But look at him charging head first like an animal: the bastard’s pretty obviously in Bloodthirsty Rage mode right now, and that’s definitely not the best way to engage a competent martial artist like Ruth. I sure hope he gets his bloody femurs handed to him. I mean, it’d be just like Willis to make everybody sympathize with Ruth only to have her killed or beaten to an inch of her life or something; but he did say that DoA would be more drama-free than other iterations of the ‘verse, so I’m keeping my hopes up. (And my fingers crossed)
Douchebag Dearest doesn’t appear to have considered that for a belligerent middle aged man there IS no victory condition for “attacking college girl in front of witnesses”. He’s either going to get his ass kicked in public by a Canadian twentysomething or get cell phone video’d beating up a kid (pretty sure it’s gonna be the first option, the recently un-drunk tend towards ragehate). Here’s hoping the cops forget to push his head down when they put him in the back seat.
From what I can tell Blaine has two emotional settings, generic fury and psychotic rage. Neither is particularly helpful in negotiating a complicated situation with skill and tact. Its damn fine for ensuring you get you’re ass kicked though.
Oh Ruth, you beautiful ginger authoritarian hardass.
And I’m suddenly attracted to her…..not that there’s anything wrong with that, right?
A very healthy reaction. Not safe exactly, but healthy.
*gasp* Blaine is a diclonius! :O Look at that third hand, it is a vector! :O
You know, I relish the idea of Douche-bag of the year getting crushed but I do hope its a little more even or interesting then him getting kneed in the crotch (hilarious as that would be). This kind of build up needs the kind of pay off only the most glorious of combat can provide. Then knee him in the crotch.
I’M BACK!
After seeing the last panel, this track immediately popped into my head:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO47qLnvyJQ
I can’t be the only one who had that, right? D:
It was as different track for me (see above) XD
Finish him!
I just heard that In Ruby’s voice. Win.
I had to look at the final panel for ages before I realised that the third hand was Reno’s.
Go Ruth! 😀
Dunno if someone’s mentioned this already, but… is it me or does Billie have that “what’s going on in my pants” look on her face?
Llllllllllet’s get ready to RUMBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEE!!!!
MOOOORTAAAAAL KOOOOOMBAAAAATTTT!!! *cue awesome fight theme*
Blaine attacks Ruth! Blaine gonna be chunky salsa!
Fuck him up, Ruth! Fuck him up!
Pictured above: The exact moment Blaine O’Malley decided assaulting his daughter’s RA while she was in the process of determining whether or not he was permitted to be on the dorm’s premises was a good idea.
Spoiler Alert: This was not, in fact, a good idea.
There will be nothing left of him.
Whelp that’s going to be two universes he’s dead in now.
Awesome.
I can see it now: the next strip will be Ruth calmly, rationally explaining why attacking the dorm’s RA is not a good solution to a problem, particularly when you’re angry. Everyone around her looks shocked and almost cowering.
The final panel is her with her foot poised on Blaine’s back, pinning him to the floor, him bloody and whimpering like the pathetic dog that he is, begging her not to hit him again.
Yes…good…
How the hell is this guy allowed to be in public with an attitude/temper like that and such a penchant for picking fights with anyone?
As soon as the cops are called, even if/when Ruth kicks his ass, he’s the only one going to jail because he’s bigger and is the one who attacked Ruth first.
What a dummy. o-O
You’ll be surprised. When they are getting their way people like Blaine can be remarkably gregarious and charming.
Absolutely. My abusive family members are constantly called “charming,” “so nice!”, “so polite!”, “considerate”, etc., by people who are not their family. Abusers often know how to put on a charm offensive to the outside world. The people they treat badly are the ones in their control.
This whole time, Ruth has definitely just been sitting there thinking “Just give me an excuse, asshole!”
Cue Amazi-girl!
The crazy in the first panel is horrifying and amusing.
New challenger…
So Ruth and Blaine decided to join the battle.
Go Ruth!!
I guess the whole dorm will eventually come to appreciate having been landed with the RA from hell. I guess she’ll be able to forego terror as the principal means for making her fledglings get in line after that.
the last few strips made amber shoot way up in my rankings for my favorite character but i almost forgot. I THINK RUTH WILL ALWAYS BE MY FAVORITEEEEEE.
With this level of poor impulse control concerning violence, I am amazed that Blaine is not currently behind bars. Seriously. Attacking a (low level but still) school official, with multiple witnesses around? Kinda… OBVIOUS. Normally I’d say this put Blaine out of the “cunning abusers who know how to hide their shit” into the “idiot abusers who don’t give a fuck and get caught easily” pile.
Yeah that’s the one thing that seemed a little unusual about him to me, is that he’s showing this side of him in public, where it seemed to me that most abusers keep it behind closed doors at home. Not to say his type doesn’t exist at all, I’m just not used to seeing it.
I think the only reason we are seeing this is that it is the first time someone has really stood up to him and he doesn’t know how to react. He has always been in control of others and now that is not true, his control over himself is lost.
Athedia nailed it. He’s a control freak, obsessive in his need to dominate those he thinks of as “his”. His reality and everyone else’s are coming into conflict, and he’s doing the thing that he’s always done to assert his reality over other people’s, he’s getting angry and violent.
Maybe, but he was acting like that in front of Dina’s parents before. I’m still getting the vibe that he doesn’t really care who sees him like that.
Not necessarily. When Amber came in, he was all (supervillain) smiles and attempting to be charming; Dina notes that her parents let him in out of an insistence of being hospitable, so he was probably acting normal at the time. He didn’t really start losing his temper until Amber stood up to him in front of everyone instead of meekly cowering before him when he started making comments about how the room and the things in it belonged to him. Her actually escalating things to the physical level is what finally caused him to snap here.
Also, for what it’s worth, in the Shortpacked! universe, at least one of Blaine’s (presumably) close friends was shocked and horrified at his funeral when Amber revealed what a horrible monster Blaine was in that universe behind closed doors.
There’s another body of work about violent people that might fit Blaine as well.
http://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/tchessay64.htm
I give it three, maybe four seconds before his ass-end is hanging out of a wall.
Now we just have to determine which end is the ass-end.
RUTHLESS! RUTHLESS! RUTHLESS!
Ruth has a fever
And the only cure
is punching Blaine in the face over and over
Ha, my dreams are coming true. Please let Ruth destroy this bastard. Hope Amazi-Girl doesn’t steal her glory.
I wonder where she learned to fight.
Perhaps we can have Ruth, Sal and Amzi-Girl can have a threeway… to see who’se the best fighter.
I also like how cool Ruth has handled it so far. All by the book. And it’s nice how Billie is basically assistant RA.
Well I’m gonna go against the mold.
For fighting my bet is neither. I’m sure Ruth has some kind of training, but the problem is Willis generally has bad things in store for her given enough time. I hope I’m wrong about that for this universe.
Blaine is a criminal in other universes, if he’s a criminal in this one then he’s dangerous. I just hope he DOES get his ass kicked and doesn’t injure Ruth.
No one has mentioned Ruth has taken the Fighting Irish stance
100 INTERNETS FOR YOU, SIR/MADAME.
For which I’m sure she will be reprimanded by her bosses. That is, after all, a rival school.
I actually hope he hits her, so he can go to jail and hopefully get banned from the campus.
As has been mentioned, he’s attacking her in front of witnesses – that’s enough to have him arrested, right there. Actually making contact adds nothing to that.
Actually:
I expect him to be Gang tackled after he “bounces off” Ruth.
And based on Canon,.. I fully expect him to bounce off.
I doubt he’ll last more than a couple panels before being a crumpled heap on the floor.
Your an expert on being a crumpled heap on the floor, aren’t you Starscream?
i like how those radiating lines in the last panel both convey a sense of action & dramatic pause
Prediction:
There is no such list. She sent Billie off to get her to safety. Perhaps there is something else under the lamp, like a “In case I’m arrested / hurt, open this” sorta letter.
There’s been foreshadowing that Blaine would end up in prison. Ruth died in the original universe.
Horrific prediction: These are both foreshadowing for the next few pages.
Ruth is in the midst of the DTs, and that really isn’t conductive to combat. A good smack and she could get hurt fairly badly, like losing her balance and hitting the wall or somesuch. Blaine is a violent monster, and Ruth just antagonized him into attacking despite being in front of several witnesses.
I’m probably wrong, and really just throwing it out there. All this “yay, a fight” thing is kinda… barbaric, and I could see it being turned on us pretty quickly.
Oh god. It would be just like Willis to whiplash us like that. Add in the juxtaposition of Amber having the guilt over her death instead of Danny, and this suddenly became a serious possibility.
wasn’t there a teaser from an upcoming strip posted on tumblr showing Ruth, Billie, and Howard in front of a football stadium?
If getting the papers was just a ploy to get Billie to safety, why not send Howard along too?
Howard isn’t the kind of person who would interject himself into a fight.
Now Billie, with her “But I’m a Cheerleader” mentality? … Maybe.
Plus, lets not forget that Ruth has feelings for Billie, whereas Howard is family. There’s a bit of a difference, emotionally, between the two connections.
there is a large crowd around on hand to break things up if they get out of hand
Do you see Blaine pulling a knife or a gun?
Then to kill her, he’d require a sustained beating or throttling, or a perfect one-in-a-million shot to the solar plexus or neck. The first isn’t going to happen in a crowd of people who’ve already gotten involved, the latter is so rare in real life as to be all-but disallowed in fiction due to the inherent ass-pull nature of it. There are situations where it could be used well, but since Blaine is not a sympathetic character, this isn’t one of them.
Actually. add ‘head’ to the locations a lucky shot could kill her, but the point remains the same – intentionally killing her will take longer than he’ll be allowed, and doing it accidentally is so vanishingly unlikely as to be out of place in this context…
Most dorms are made of cinderblocks. Smashing someone’s head against the wall could be lethal in a single blow.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there is such a list, especially for freshmen, a lot of whom are still under 18.
Here’s hoping Ruth knocks him so hard he he becomes nice through sheer brain damage.
Dina wins. Dinoality.
Does anyone else believe Ruth sent billie away to spare her from the sight of what will become of Ass Stain McNally?
Oops I meant Ass Stain O’Malley…though I kind of like the sound of the first one better.
And tomorrow Billie will jump into the fight, save Ruth, and they’ll be bonding, right? *cricket noises*
In other news, I’m glad this page isn’t redesigned the way Shortpacked! was (yet). I like the older design much better. And I don’t like having to wait for the comment section to load, only for it to crash my phone browser.
1,000 dollars on Ruth
I’ve seen that face in the first panel when I hightailed it out of home for the first time. That’s dead-on, and it’s stunning.
I mean, there’s drawing well, and then there’s *perfect* representation of a tiny man clawing for something getting away and all the impotent fury inherent.
Jesus Christ, Willis, you’re amazing.
Fuck yeah, for people DOING something instead of just pretending its not happening.
Hell yeah, Ruthless, Billie, and the whole camp at this point!
Well that escalated quickly.
Smart Ruth. Check to see if he’s allowed in there, keep him distracted from his target (because Ruth’s demonstrated she can handle assholes like this just fine, while she has no reason to believe Amber can), also having him attempt to assault the person whose job it is to keep Amber safe, and then presumably be ready to call the goddamn cops as soon as Billie comes back with a no. And it’s all happening with a bunch of witnesses.
BEAUTIFUL.
Or rather, she has no reason to believe Amber can last a full fight with assholes like this. One punch, yes, prolonged fight iffier.
Go Ruth!
Ruth break Blaine! (Hopefully)
Kick his shit in Ruth
Honestly, I feel dizzy having reached this point in the storyline. Family members ran out of our house instead of dealing with it when my dad (their son/brother) blew up at my mom or us kids. Neighbors ignored abuse taking place on our front lawn while they watched. The police made excuses.
That combined with my friends’ experiences has convinced me the usual state of affairs is be people ignoring abuse. People removed from the situation trying to stop it is as powerful for me as Amber standing up to her dad.
People have debated various reasons for not/wanting Blaine to get beaten up, but more than anything I want him to experience a moment of real fear that for once he’s not in control and things aren’t going to smooth out and go his way. This time someone is going to stop him, for real.
I mistook Ruth’s hoodie to be her Toronto Maple Leafs jersey; perhaps it’s a TMP hoodie instead. I think her wearing any kind of hockey apparel for this fight would just be so appropriate. 🙂
It is purposefully Maple Leafs-colored, yep!
As an aside, is it me or is the dialogue always kind of stilted when Blaine shows up?
He’s constantly confrontational. I don’t think there’s a time so far when he wasn’t confrontational one way or another. So everyone around him can only communicate with equal confrontation or risk being overpowered/ignored.
OK this would have made me so lesbians if I wasn’t already. I’m just at a loss as to whom I’m lesbians for as Ruth, Billie, and Amber have all demonstrated traits worth being lesbians over/
“I’m in lesbians with you”
mistake 1, running into ruth
mistake 2, yelling at ruth
mistake 3, angrily charging at ruth
Mistake 4, letting his daughter get away so that she can change into Amazigirl and continue beating the shite out of him as well.
…AND IN THIS CORNER, WEIGHING IN AT 120 POUNDS AND A KICKASS CANADIAN ATTITUDE, RUTH!
Let’s get ready to rummmmmmmmbbbbbbllllllleeeeee!!!! *grabs her popcorn and soda and takes her seat….*
Does anyone know what Dumbing of Age page has received the most comments? Seeing over 500 for this one is really quite stunning.
There was a 1000+ one a week or so ago
There have been a few in the last week around 500, but I believe the winner, with over 1000 comments, is Joyce defending Dorothy to her parents, who respond by comparing her to Hitler, followed at a respectful distance by passive-aggressive family “prayers”.
Thanks! I went back and looked through those comments for fun. I never thought before about what a valuable resource comment sections like these are for a writer. If I ever have need of finding conflicting perspectives presented passionately and (usually) briefly, this is the place to look.
Whoa! Fight, fight, fight! But I have a feeling one of the other parents will step in…..
And tomorrow’s strip will cut to another family, leaving us all in suspense.
(I hope not)
Just think, only a few months ago, this would happen on a Friday and we’d have to wait until Monday to find out what happens
Poor Blaine, nobody is respecting his deeply-held personal belief that women are property and any woman he has ever given money to physically belongs to him.
My God, I just can’t take this guy seriously. His flavor of pure evil sits fine with Willis’ other works, but when it feels like he’s being injected into a more serious light I get pretty heavy tonal whiplash.
I see nothing here that isn’t exhibited outside of women’s shelters daily, at least here in my southern Louisiana city.
HOLY SHIT SNACKS!!
… So. Kinda weird thing to say, but… I think that last panel is the absolute HOTTEST I’ve ever seen Ruth.
I deserve my name.
Ruth’s whole demeanor here is pure Dirty Harry and I love it.
“Go ahead. Make my day.”
Amber’s dad should be careful, all it takes is a swift kick between the legs…
Zombie fight!