Well, Ruth kinda only ever really matters in her relationship with Billie, and that’s where almost the entirety of her panel time comes from.
But, yeah, I’m all for some more antagonistic bromance with her and Walky. Maybe some time away from Ruth will allow her to sort of try and become more confident again.
At my college, the Resident Assistants weren’t forbidden relationships with students. Only the PROFESSORS were…but it still happened. One of my friends had a relationship with the Speech professor, and it wouldn’t have resulted in any sanctions if they hadn’t both been guys.
But one of the dorms for women only was pretty much accepted as the lesbian dorm. I didn’t live there because I wasn’t out yet, but if I was out, I would have. And the RA was really cute. I think the whole “Ruth can’t get caught licky-style with a student” is a bit overblown, since pretty much all the RAs I’ve ever known did it and nothing ever happened to them. I think it’s just Ruth not accepting herself more than being afraid of being caught.
I think it varies school by school, I went to CSU and RA’s there could definitely be relieved of their position for being in a relationship with a dorm resident even if it wasn’t one on their floor. I know a couple people who were RA’s in other schools where this was also the case.
To be fair, one can’t lie if one is never asked. Ruth had no clue about Becky. Billie omitting to mention the info that was never asked for is not a lie, it’s just not talking about it. And when she was asked she DID cough up info.
That’s not really a lie. Billie was under no obligation to betray the trust of a friend for a vague assumption that her broken gf needed to know the information (especially when her reaction to finding out the whole story was to hand it right back to Billie and tell her to handle it without telling her for the plausible deniability).
EVEN if you decide what Billie did was lying, she did it to give shelter to a homeless teenager.
Legal arguments are one thing, but there’s no doubt in my mind she did the morally correct thing.
Ruth and Billie’s real problem is that neither trusts the other.
Ruth is deliberately being an asshole to push away Billie and is hoping this will finally be so brutally callous and intermixed with necessity that it will cause Billie to give up on her finally allowing her to kill herself. An end she wants all the more for having the job she is increasingly unable to fulfill threatened, being thwarted in a rare attempt to help another, plus absorbing a massive amount of bullshittery and homophobia, the latter for the first time in her life.
Basically, she’s been trying to push away Billie for awhile. I think here she’s believing that it will actually stick.
That’s a pretty charitable interpretation, though. It might be a bit simpler and she could just actually feel a bit abandoned here. Lets not forget that Ruth isn’t exactly a stable person and it’s entirely possible that a part of her sees this whole separation as calling Billie’s “together to the end”-bluff.
Yes, Ruth is the one doing the pushing away, but part of her probably (irrationally) feels a bit hurt that Billie is finally, albeit reluctantly, going along with it.
Oh I agree that her depression is probably fucking with her perceptions of events like these like crazy. It’s really really hard to keep a level head and accurate emotional record of events when you’re being hit by all sides and your depression is looking for any reason to believe that everyone hates you and you’re a burden to everyone who’s ever loved you.
Which is one reason among a billion why the girl needs anti-depressants like yesterday.
I prefer to be charitable, and suppose Ruth can’t imagine someone not being as pessimistic as she herself is while down. I know some days, some days I feel humanity is clinging to a tiny speck in the universe, and is too stupid to figure out how to fix things even the few who try, not that that’s many, and that makes me feel a little better. (hahaha I don’t have to be down on me everyone is losers) The thought really upsets people who aren’t in a particular frame of mind.
By all accounts this should be over, Billie’s lied to Ruth way too many times at this point, and I think keeping Becky a secret hurt more than she lets on. Not because Billie kept someone crashing on campus for free a secret, but because she thinks Billie doesn’t think she’d be willing to help.
But like I’ve been saying, these two aren’t exactly healthy for each other, and being away is the best thing at this point.
Seriously. I’m just hoping that this mess being over doesn’t mean either of them will actually go through with the suicide that they love to mention all the time. Although maybe once they don’t have each other to feed off of, they’ll actually get some fuckin’ help.
Damn Ruth. I’m kinda getting flashbacks to Twilight New Moon, but at least Ruth is asking/suggesting rather than breaking into Billie’s room and forcibly removing their pictures without permission.
Ruth pushed Billie into leaving, this is not Billie’s idea.
And I doubt if these two are over. Not entirely.
Unless Billie does walk away on her own now.
Yeah, Billie has rejected every other attempt by Ruth to push her away, so I can see her partially sabotaging the separation plan out of pure anger at Ruth for the what? Third? Fourth? Fifth time today pulling this “you don’t actually care about me, I push you away” move?
Ooh, what if she intentionally reveals what Ruth’s been doing to management?
It’s got a certain logic to it: She removes both Mary’s power over Ruth and the need for them to split up. With the added bonus of infuriating Ruth, which is basically how these two flirt anyway.
I dunno, that would really fuck over Ruth in some major major ways that would be very permanent as she would lose her RA job and forced to move off campus and might be suspended for a time.
Honestly, Ruth is playing with fire a bit with her “make her mad and try to break up with her” gambit as an angry ex Billie could have enough pent up “what an unrepentant awful person” feelings to do something that awful to Ruth out of her feelings of betrayal and hurt.
Hrm, you may have a point there. I don’t know what the penalties for an RA mismanaging their floor are; I’m just assuming she would lose the job and have to switch dorms/rooms. Suspending someone for doing their job badly seems draconian.
It’s possible she’s relying on the pay the RA gig provides, though, which could be bad.
And then there’s the question of what her grandfather would think. We don’t know a lot about him, just that the one phone conversation we’ve seen triggered a drinking binge. I’ve gotten the impression he’s strict and probably abusive. I doubt this would go over well.
To be fair, it may have been somewhat different because it may have occurred at a time of her life when she wasn’t so depressed that the only emotion she could access was anger. So, it may have actually been somewhat healthy and normative. It’s just Billie is seeing Ruth at her absolute worst and Ruth is not able to show her better traits (and is straight up abusive a lot of the time) or even always be a halfway considerate partner.
Sorry, shippers, but it had to happen sooner or later.
It isn’t that I’m not choking up as a result of a girl-girl relationship coming undone (after all, I’m 100% for Becky/Dina!), but when you have two sides who are blatant cycles of self-destruction, it never encourages any growth or development for either side. Both Ruth and Billie need to focus on healing themselves first, rather than get too deeply involved while constantly fending off suspicions and oversight laws.
Why is Billie x Walky forbidden, if you don’t mind me asking? I mean, it’s that relationship in the story that’s just meant to get teased, but why would it be so bad if it happened, other than the fact that it would mean Dorothy must have broken up with him (or the other way around).
The fact is that, being not related, the only thing that would keep them apart is people who are completely disgusted by even suggestions to incest, because clearly they won’t have the heightened risk of genetic problems in their child that is the only actual reason to avoid incest, besides the things religion tells us.
Honestly, bringing sex into the fraternal relationship itself squicks me out waaaaaaaay more than the genetics, especially since Billie thinks of herself as the big sister/protector. It’s a fragile dynamic to fuck with.
Okay, so I get that Ruth’s dealing with a lot of shit including some serious depression (Which has a tendency to make things look their absolute worst) but seriously? Blaming someone else for the break-up you initiated is what we in the business like to call a Dick Move.
Well, I mean, Billie has been lying to her from Day 1. And Billie’s most recent excuse was that it wasn’t technically a lie. Ruth’s got a really good point when you take that into account.
Not really. Ruth didn’t say, “You lied to me, and that makes me not want to be with you.” She said that Billie was abandoning her, even though Ruth is the one instigating the break up to cover her tracks. It may be paranoia, spite, or both, but I wouldn’t call it justified.
That being said they’re a terrible couple. Here’s hoping Ruth can cope with Billie’s sudden absence.
What does lying to protect Becky from getting kicked out onto the streets have to do with Ruth going “you’re abandoning me even though I explicitly told you we need to end this relationship”?
Like, if she wants to get angry about that then sure, but it has nothing to do with what’s happening here.
I laughed, but honestly, I understand the thought process; nothing else has worked, so insulting her loyalty/integrity is the only way to get her to leave. Cruel to be kind.
Aaaand sympathy for ruth is evaporating at a rapid rate.
Poor Billie though, as much as i hate her snotty attitude towards ‘nerds’, she really DOES want to help. Having that thrown back in her face has to hurt.
Me 2 minutes ago: Well, let’s check out DoA for the first time in a year! I hope nothing too bad’s happened in the meanwhile.
Me now: GOD FUCKING DAMN IT WILLIS
That’s a good attachment, especially if she knows that your statistical chance of attempting/completing suicide jumps if your sibling (or other super-close person) has completed suicide. I mean, if Ruth completes suicide, Howard will be much more likely to attempt, sometime during his life, than he would’ve been otherwise. (I don’t remember by how much, but I remember that it’s a lot.)
Yup, that’s a tricky one to get around, if one’s caring for one’s family is sincere and not just “they’ll be better off without me.”
Sometimes anchors like that are the only thing holding someone back.
I think people who believe others would be better off are sincere, they’re just very incorrect. But yes to the anchors. I like anchors. You only really need one, it gives you time to create more.
Your brain when depressed is very very good at convincing yourself that things that are patently untrue like no one would miss you or that you’re a burden to everyone in your life or that everyone in your life would be better off if you were dead are the most true things in the world.
It can make those things feel even more true than the loved one telling you that they’d miss you or be devastated if you went through with it or that they’d find a way to invent necromancy just to scream at you for doing that to them (my personal favorite from my it’s complicated back when we were both on the raggedy edge).
It can make the anchors sometimes very hard to imbed in a way your depression can’t crumble away.
It’s 2am but I don’t like making a statement like that without a source, so have a depressing study. (It looks solid at first glance: various correlations between siblings-of-suicides and unhappy outcomes, cancelling for several major environmental factors.)
I mean, I think all he said was that nobody’s going to die just because they died in the previous universe.
But yeah, I think killing Ruth off would be a weird choice, narratively speaking. We lose all of her character development and just turn her into a tool for Billie’s own development.
Probably Billie, in a very screwed up, unproductive manner. Ruth is pretty actively self-destructive. If i had to guess, she sees this as the least painful way to shove Billie away (HOPEFULLY so she can take down mary, but that may be wishful thinking on my part).
Ruth might be doing it because she thinks it’s best fro Billie. She might be concerned that their relationship will bring them both down, and Ruth doesn’t want to take Billie with her when she drowns.
You know of all the times I had to break up with a girl I don’t think a door key ever figured in the relationship or the break up. Car key once, but no door keys.
God honestly, Ruth and Billie are so destructive. Individually and together. I love them dearly, but they are making terrible life choices and are at the same time SO not good for each other and also the only good thing for each other. Y’know? I really am totally rooting for them, in the long trun, but they have to fix themselves first, both individually, before they can fix each other. Or even really be with each other. Or be human beings in this world.
Not that ‘fixed’ is ever an achievable state with things like depression and addiction (it’s always a work in progress, like, I am forever working through my depression, I would never claim to be ‘fixed’ or ‘healed’), but I couldn’t really think of a better word. They are standing on the edge of the abyss and I don’t think they’re realizing it. I don’t often yell ‘ get some fucking help’ at fictional characters, but with these two I do. All the time.
They’re a MESS. I love them but they’re a goddamn mess.
Completely the other way around, for me. Or, I guess, maybe short term okay, medium term doomed, long term (after they get their shit sorted out) back together again.
Yeah, basically this. I am invested in both these girls and their mental health and whether they end up together or not (though I hope they do), I just want them to get better.
So, yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing Ruth’s explanation for this one. I get that they’ve both hurt each other, but how is Billie “abandoning” her?
Also, I know a lot of people think that this breakup will be good for them, but I’m worried about Ruth. It seems to me like she doesn’t have ANYONE apart from Billie.
She isn’t, and Ruth knows it. She’s just being a dick to justify pushing Billie away.
Break up won’t be good for them, not sure if this is a break up tbh, but I don’t think they can get any worse than where they are now, because Ruth is never actually going to kill herself in-comic.
Because she promised to never leave no matter what and now she’s letting Ruth push her away, which is breaking that promise and betraying Ruth.
Which doesn’t make any sense of course, but it’s coming out of Ruth’s depression and other issues, so that’s only to be expected.
And now that Billie’s abandoned her, like she was always going to do anyway, because everyone always does, she can get back to the original plan of drinking herself to death.
Never before have I so wanted to enter into a comic. I want to tell Ruth and Billie and Carla and Joyce and Becky and Amber and Ethan and Danny…wow, that it will be alright, I want to ask Mary why she hates so much, ask what’s she afraid of?
“The true basis of hate, is merely fear”-Someone (me I just made that quote up)
@Everyone saying “this ship is over”
Really? Ruth says something shitty and Billie throws something? If that was enough to end this ship, we wouldn’t be here.
This might be a turning point. Hell, it might be a GOOD turning point. But this isn’t the end – not by a long shot.
Okay really, why don’t they just swap rooms with someone on a different floor so they can start dating? Or another dorm? There is even a system in place to do this. It’s right there in their A-to-Z guide. It took me less than two minutes to find.
What’s this about the ship being over? Not only will they get back together, but Mary will see them, and actually be smart enough to take a picture this time.
Because she has to be come a threat again, or else this whole thing was a waste of time.
(I mean, the only reason I can tolerate Mary’s transphobia is that she’s got to get her comeuppance. And Ruth (and possibly Carla) pretty much have to be the ones to give it to her.
While I’m sure the Becky thing will be a problem, too, foiling that is not quite the poetic justice–since Becky was never really Ruth’s fault.
I think it’d interesting if Ruth and Billie separated would actually be good for each other. Then again, I’m hoping Ruth gets some treatment for her condition rather than suicide and we find out some of her actions aren’t motivated by depression but simple malice.
I don’t think that Ruth is motivated by malice. It’s been implied that her grandfather was abusive, and I think that that experience gave her a flawed understanding of how authority figures are supposed to behave. She was taught that “rule through fear” is the only way to get results.
Ruth is tricky to understand… she agrees to whatever their scheme is, then portrays it as if it some design of Billie’s to go their separate ways (this strip) but I suppose it’ll become more clear as the story goes on
Ruth needs some serious help. Billie has really tried for her, she’s literally given up all her time, energy, even her own room – where she could just run away from Ruth’s problems if she needed, but instead she took all of that on because she care’s for Ruth a lot and wants to help.
So this really is a massive Dick Move – to say that “well we should actually break up for realz, but yeah well you ARE essentially abandoning me” is ridiculously selfish and dickish. I don’t really care if Ruth said this to try and get Billie to hate her and break up the relationship even more, it wasn’t needed and its more than likely just going to make Billie try even harder to make it work after she’s had her cry about it.
Urrrrr. These two are so ridiculously self-destructive and I just want to see them get betterrrrr. I think Billie would do a lot a LOT better if she cut herself out of Ruth’s life, but Ruth would just go on another downward spiral and end up making things worse for herself. So Billie’s obviously going to have to stick around, even though I would rather that she didn’t and got her own life back on track.
Technically she gave up her room for Becky, not for Ruth. Billie was sleeping in Ruth’s room by choice–the arrangement made all those sexy times much more convenient–but Billie gave up the chance to use her room as an escape, like you described, so that Becky would have a place to sleep. Her doing that didn’t help Ruth at all, and her lying about it is a part of why Ruth is angry at her now.
Holy shit, Ruth has fast reaction time! She managed to ask if the key was supposed to hit her in the face while the key was flying in front of her face!
There are some issues with the site. For a long time now (months) I’ve had intermittent “a script on this page is jacked up. Halt/ignore/debug?” pop-ups.
Regardless of which option I select, it just repeats itself in about 5 minutes.
And along with that error my Adobe Flash Player memory usage skyrockets, sometimes resulting in a browser crash. I can kill the Adobe process and that sometimes fixes the problem, but more often than not it just re-gobbles memory again. After a while, say 30+ minutes, it seems to calm down, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying and also doesn’t prevent the error pop-ups or browser crashes.
Firefox 44.0.2, but I’m certain this has happened on at least the past 2 versions as well, so it’s not a new issue for this version of FF at least.
Happens to me also, and I’m also using Firefox. Can’t speak of the Flash issue, but the “script has stopped running etc” message shows up far more often than I’d care to see it.
I’m inclined to blame it on unnecessary coding in some of the display ads around the main body of the page.
Yeah, I’ve been having this issue too lately. Staying on this page for any significant amount of time crashes Firefox, and I’m pretty sure it’s the video advertisement on the page that’s doing it.
I haven’t had that Flash problem here, but I have elsewhere and had to turn off Flash entirely (I only turn it on when I have a specific need for it). That seems to have completely fixed the problem for now.
It’s not an application/plugin issue, it’s a content issue. The actual ad that the page is trying to load has badly-written spyware, hijackware or some other unpleasant surprise included in its code. Unfortunately (for the scammers) it doesn’t work properly but instead just crashes Flash Player or the browser. Inconvenient but better than the alternative if it worked properly.
And Flash is enough of a problem that you should have it set to only activate when clicked. If necessary, use an addon like Flashblock. Unlike adblock, there’s no reason to worry that you might deprive anyone of money.
As for the other problem, Willis would probably need you to isolate exactly which script is causing the problem, so he can report it to his ad provider, which should pull the ad until they get it fixed. (Assuming you’re browser hasn’t been hijacked by malware and is forcing the page to display another ad that DofA isn’t using)
Until then, I’d recommend getting YesScript, and disabling that script from running. Or, yes, Adblock. You can disable it on DofA but then enable it on any page that gives you that warning and then reload the page.
Are universities in the USA actually allowed to check their students’ personal belongings to that degree? I mean, I can understand periodically checking the rooms to make sure the furniture and stuff are still intact, or doing some kind of search if there’s good reason to believe drugs are being consumed.
But checking a student’s personal phone or computer for its contents? What the fuck?
If there was an accusation of sexual harassment of a student by a university employee, it’s likely they could.
Not just random checks, but in the course of an investigation. Probably depending on whether the investigation stays on an administrative level or moves to a legal one.
Regardless of whether they actually could or not, it’s something the kids would worry about.
If your cell phone is locked, even the cops can’t require you unlock it(though that may change soon). It’s a public university, the 5th amendment presumably would apply. Also, if Mary accuses Ruth but Billie and the entire floor deny it, I don’t see the investigation lasting too much longer.
True, cops can’t. But a university can make it part of the requirements for attending that you will let them investigate. You won’t get in legal trouble, but you could get kicked out of college.
Only recently have we started pushing the idea that public colleges should be restricted in the same way as police.
A friend of mine in college lost her summer housing for 3 days because admin found a dildo in her room and charged her with violating the “student covenant” agreement we all had to sign. No need to write in a Dildo Clause when a blanket “inappropriate sexuality” rule covered all that and more.
She had literally nowhere to go and had to crash in someone else’s room, an offense that would have gotten her suspended for longer had it been discovered.
Like thejeff said, I’d think they’d only investigate a student’s phone if sexual harassment were involved. Other options may be if naked pictures of Ruth and/or Billie circled the campus and evidence lead to Billie’s phone being the culprit. In hindsight, that picture that Billie took with Ruth passed out with alcohol could be very incriminating and would likely be a reason to search Billie’s phone if Mary pushed the alcohol angle. Ruth’s technically still underage at 20.
I suppose that would depend on what her terms of employment were. They can’t make her, but depending on what she signed, they might be able to fire her for little reason if they reeeeeeally wanted to.
That’s not a fair statement to make, seeing as Ruth is the one who wants to end it, albeit for a good reason. This isn’t something Billie wants at all, and insinuating that makes Ruth a huge jerk.
But here’s something to think about: How much of Billie’s life is left for her to go back to? Ruth has been such a significant person to her that I’m sure Billie’s neglected a lot of her friendships and studies so she can be there for Ruth.
Honestly, I’m getting a bit exhausted with this whole relationship, drama and all. I hope this ends soon; I’d like to see other characters get a larger spotlight, like Carla or Dina/Becky’s relationship, or even background characters like Sierra and Agatha.
Ruth’s just trying to make it easier for Billie. A break up is way easier for you if you’re mad at the person and dislike them than if you still desperately want to be with them.
She’s pulling the Twilight Gambit. The next step is to wait for Billie to finally start making healthier relationships and dragging herself out of her depression. Then Ruth has to try to kill herself because of a stupid misunderstanding, forcing Billie to come running back to her, causing Ruth and Billie to get back together despite their totally square family and friends being worried about them, because “THEY JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND OUR LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!!!!!!!”
And then they’ll make it look like there’s about to be a big stand-off between The Good Guys and Mary, only to have the whole crisis averted at the last second by Sierra running in with news of some rule that means Mary can’t do anything to them.
When outright demanding that somone abandons you doesn’t work, infuriating them to the point they leave is a solid Plan B. Queue the Gaslight Anthem: “Everybody leaves so why, why wouldn’t you?”
Yeah, having someone you care about relentlessly insist you don’t gets very demoralizing very quickly especially after they start resorting to straight up abuse to try and force you to leave and prove how unlovable they are. Oh, and calling them out on it is exactly the same as saying you don’t love them.
Yup. And after a certain point of them hurting you so you’ll leave it starts becoming a thing you actually have to think about just because you’re tired of being hit.
To be sure! Yeah, I’m not AT ALL defending what Ruth is doing, but I understand why she’s doing it. I’m not proud of it, but I ghosted on a lot of people to “protect them.” I…don’t recommend it.
As much as it hurts me, it still makes perfect sense. Ruth definitely has some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder, and Billie is something she cannot control. So even with all her loneliness and depression, she’s rather alone and in control. Furthermore, she likes to suffer. That who she is. She’s not used to happiness and she’s not used to allow herself to be happy.
Want proof? Why would she prefer her RA job over a relationship, when earlier she said that the loneliness is wearing her down?
It’s sad, but she is indeed poison, and her only hope is therapy.
As someone with OCD, I don’t think you understand what this is. It has absolutely nothing to do with needing control. OCD is an anxiety disorder. You get worried about thing X, so you’re compelled to do Y, even though you know it won’t actually fix X. There is nothing to what Ruth is doing that is not consistent with depression.
And you guys seem to not understand how bad it would be if Ruth loses her job. She would become effectively homeless and unemployed. She can’t move back in with her abusive grandparents.
So she becomes Becky, but without the relentless optimism that keeps her afloat. And the depression means she will not be able to go get another job. Hell, the RA job is a pretty cushy job once you have it–especially if you can convince everyone not to come to you with their problems.
Plus, frankly, putting others in front of your own happiness is a good thing, and I hate seeing it pushed a bad one.
Thank you. I have OCD, and I’m not going out abusing people. As a matter of fact, sometimes I’m too much of a pushover because I get worried I might accidentally be emotionally abusive. Ruth has problems, but they seem to be more about depression and alcoholism and whatnot, not OCD.
You just tempted fate, now the Willis is so totally going to do that, I hope you are happy. (Note that I mean this as a joke, although if Willis does this we now have a scapegoat)
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god DAMN it ruth
whats even the point of guilt tripping the person you are breaking up with, for real
man i hope this results in more of billie on her own. shes been joined at the hip with ruth for a while now. she has her own life to care about
It got her to give the key back. In a sense.
Well, Ruth kinda only ever really matters in her relationship with Billie, and that’s where almost the entirety of her panel time comes from.
But, yeah, I’m all for some more antagonistic bromance with her and Walky. Maybe some time away from Ruth will allow her to sort of try and become more confident again.
Because Billie went behind her back and lied to her about Becky. People seem to be forgetting this point. Billie is not completely innocent here.
she was under no obligation to tell ruth, especially when she had no idea how ruth wouldve reacted.
also thats got practically nothing to do with why theyre breaking up
Some call it “lying”. Others call it “helping Ruth maintain her plausible deniability”.
Have you ever considered running for public office?
Public office is pretty much where Ruth is.
If it’s a government owned university, technically it is.
At my college, the Resident Assistants weren’t forbidden relationships with students. Only the PROFESSORS were…but it still happened. One of my friends had a relationship with the Speech professor, and it wouldn’t have resulted in any sanctions if they hadn’t both been guys.
But one of the dorms for women only was pretty much accepted as the lesbian dorm. I didn’t live there because I wasn’t out yet, but if I was out, I would have. And the RA was really cute. I think the whole “Ruth can’t get caught licky-style with a student” is a bit overblown, since pretty much all the RAs I’ve ever known did it and nothing ever happened to them. I think it’s just Ruth not accepting herself more than being afraid of being caught.
I think it varies school by school, I went to CSU and RA’s there could definitely be relieved of their position for being in a relationship with a dorm resident even if it wasn’t one on their floor. I know a couple people who were RA’s in other schools where this was also the case.
To be fair, one can’t lie if one is never asked. Ruth had no clue about Becky. Billie omitting to mention the info that was never asked for is not a lie, it’s just not talking about it. And when she was asked she DID cough up info.
That’s not really a lie. Billie was under no obligation to betray the trust of a friend for a vague assumption that her broken gf needed to know the information (especially when her reaction to finding out the whole story was to hand it right back to Billie and tell her to handle it without telling her for the plausible deniability).
EVEN if you decide what Billie did was lying, she did it to give shelter to a homeless teenager.
Legal arguments are one thing, but there’s no doubt in my mind she did the morally correct thing.
Ruth and Billie’s real problem is that neither trusts the other.
It was not her truth to tell.
As Ruth sees it, she has failed. Now she’s punishing herself by hurting Billie.
This is all a master plan to enrage Billie to the point where she kills Mary; it’s the only logical course of action.
Ruth is deliberately being an asshole to push away Billie and is hoping this will finally be so brutally callous and intermixed with necessity that it will cause Billie to give up on her finally allowing her to kill herself. An end she wants all the more for having the job she is increasingly unable to fulfill threatened, being thwarted in a rare attempt to help another, plus absorbing a massive amount of bullshittery and homophobia, the latter for the first time in her life.
Basically, she’s been trying to push away Billie for awhile. I think here she’s believing that it will actually stick.
That’s a pretty charitable interpretation, though. It might be a bit simpler and she could just actually feel a bit abandoned here. Lets not forget that Ruth isn’t exactly a stable person and it’s entirely possible that a part of her sees this whole separation as calling Billie’s “together to the end”-bluff.
Yes, Ruth is the one doing the pushing away, but part of her probably (irrationally) feels a bit hurt that Billie is finally, albeit reluctantly, going along with it.
Oh I agree that her depression is probably fucking with her perceptions of events like these like crazy. It’s really really hard to keep a level head and accurate emotional record of events when you’re being hit by all sides and your depression is looking for any reason to believe that everyone hates you and you’re a burden to everyone who’s ever loved you.
Which is one reason among a billion why the girl needs anti-depressants like yesterday.
Accurate description of depression is accurate. T_T
Ah, the joys of a loving relationship.
Where people get angry at each other and can result in physical harm.
No worry, even in daylight I don’t aim any better than that.
It’s always darkest before the dawn.
GODDAMMIT RUTH STOP MAKING EVERYTHING APOCALYPTIC IT IS NOT
I’m trying to make Billie’s face in the fifth panel, but my face keeps cramping.
Former cheerleader, remember?
It demands a certain amount of hamminess.
And rage. Daniel the Human had that face when I knocked down that wall of his house…
…We got it rebuilt…
…I think I still got a few dents…
You’re doing it wrong. First you got to have the rage and then the face follows naturally.
What? How did that comment get up here? Now I’ve got to go make it again in the right place.
Really, we just need to get Ruth some lovely brain drugs. Things would be so much less horrifying.
What kind of drugs come from lovely brains? We need to know. For Science.
Has she tried pressing crtl alt del?
Ruth is incapable of not being incredibly melodramatic at all times.
“STOP RUINING MY DRAMATIC RAGE WITH YOUR FALSE INDIFFERENCE!”
I prefer to be charitable, and suppose Ruth can’t imagine someone not being as pessimistic as she herself is while down. I know some days, some days I feel humanity is clinging to a tiny speck in the universe, and is too stupid to figure out how to fix things even the few who try, not that that’s many, and that makes me feel a little better. (hahaha I don’t have to be down on me everyone is losers) The thought really upsets people who aren’t in a particular frame of mind.
Ruth, why.
Well, it worked.
Ruth, wants to brood, alone in the dark.
But noooooo…..
She’s gonna go and rock out to that Batman metal song from the Lego Movie.
Batmetal? Am I gonna have to watch that movie now?
Darkness!
No parents!
Super rich!
Kinda makes it better!
This song? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulbz3YZ6_fg
Well, that’s one minute and thirty-nine seconds I’ll never get back.
But then there are many one minute and thirty-nine seconds that you’ll never get back. At least that one was mildly amusing.
“Hey, there ain’t enough place here for the two of us! Find your own.”
Ruth.
It isn’t love if it doesn’t hurt. So she has to make it hurt.
Ruth inspires conflicting feelings in me, most of which involve a comically oversized mallet.
I hear prosthetic femurs aren’t far off.
But they just aren’t as flexible as real femurs.
So much for Ruth not letting Mary win.
At least these two finally ended it.
She has to destroy the relationship in order to save it.
I’m not sure that’s what happening here.
By all accounts this should be over, Billie’s lied to Ruth way too many times at this point, and I think keeping Becky a secret hurt more than she lets on. Not because Billie kept someone crashing on campus for free a secret, but because she thinks Billie doesn’t think she’d be willing to help.
But like I’ve been saying, these two aren’t exactly healthy for each other, and being away is the best thing at this point.
Sweet summer child your naivety is refreshing. Winter is coming.
More importantly, now that the relationship is over, she can finally get on with destroying herself. Without that “holding her back.”
Oh, it’s not over.
No she has to destroy it so she can continue to sacrifice herself on the altar of her own misery without Billie getting in the way.
*plays Elton John & Kiki Dee’s “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” on the hacked Muzak*
“Oh honey, when you knocked on my door
I threw the key at your goddamn face”
Ruth: Forces someone away, and then says “you’re the one abandoning me!”
Couldn’t have said it better than myself, thank you.
Guilt always makes it sweeter.
Seriously. I’m just hoping that this mess being over doesn’t mean either of them will actually go through with the suicide that they love to mention all the time. Although maybe once they don’t have each other to feed off of, they’ll actually get some fuckin’ help.
Willis has said that he’s not including character death. Which is good, because the mourning period would last about a decade.
“no one will die” doesn’t rule out an attempt.
Especially when there’s already been one attempt on panel so far with Ruth trying to drink herself into a coma.
Even the drama from that would last for fucking ever. It’d be an interminable hell.
Technically, I think we’re still in the drama from the first attempt.
Classic Ruth.
Yeah, that was… confusing to me. I guess saying things that don’t really make sense doesn’t matter if you’re trying to create discord anyway.
Emotional abuse is rarely rational.
Damn Ruth. I’m kinda getting flashbacks to Twilight New Moon, but at least Ruth is asking/suggesting rather than breaking into Billie’s room and forcibly removing their pictures without permission.
Ruth pushed Billie into leaving, this is not Billie’s idea.
And I doubt if these two are over. Not entirely.
Unless Billie does walk away on her own now.
Yeah, Billie has rejected every other attempt by Ruth to push her away, so I can see her partially sabotaging the separation plan out of pure anger at Ruth for the what? Third? Fourth? Fifth time today pulling this “you don’t actually care about me, I push you away” move?
Ooh, what if she intentionally reveals what Ruth’s been doing to management?
It’s got a certain logic to it: She removes both Mary’s power over Ruth and the need for them to split up. With the added bonus of infuriating Ruth, which is basically how these two flirt anyway.
I dunno, that would really fuck over Ruth in some major major ways that would be very permanent as she would lose her RA job and forced to move off campus and might be suspended for a time.
Honestly, Ruth is playing with fire a bit with her “make her mad and try to break up with her” gambit as an angry ex Billie could have enough pent up “what an unrepentant awful person” feelings to do something that awful to Ruth out of her feelings of betrayal and hurt.
Hrm, you may have a point there. I don’t know what the penalties for an RA mismanaging their floor are; I’m just assuming she would lose the job and have to switch dorms/rooms. Suspending someone for doing their job badly seems draconian.
It’s possible she’s relying on the pay the RA gig provides, though, which could be bad.
Not so much the pay as the free room & board.
And then there’s the question of what her grandfather would think. We don’t know a lot about him, just that the one phone conversation we’ve seen triggered a drinking binge. I’ve gotten the impression he’s strict and probably abusive. I doubt this would go over well.
I wonder what Ruth’s other romantic relationships were like, assuming she’s ever had any.
She’s said before she had a boyfriend when she was living in Canada. But that was presumably some time ago.
His name is Vancouver and he lives in Alberta.
He cooks like my mother and sucks like a hoover
And she can’t wait to eat his pussy again.
To be fair, it may have been somewhat different because it may have occurred at a time of her life when she wasn’t so depressed that the only emotion she could access was anger. So, it may have actually been somewhat healthy and normative. It’s just Billie is seeing Ruth at her absolute worst and Ruth is not able to show her better traits (and is straight up abusive a lot of the time) or even always be a halfway considerate partner.
Sorry, shippers, but it had to happen sooner or later.
It isn’t that I’m not choking up as a result of a girl-girl relationship coming undone (after all, I’m 100% for Becky/Dina!), but when you have two sides who are blatant cycles of self-destruction, it never encourages any growth or development for either side. Both Ruth and Billie need to focus on healing themselves first, rather than get too deeply involved while constantly fending off suspicions and oversight laws.
I think most people are missing the important detail.
Who do we ship them with now?
Ruth x Dorothy
Billie x Walky
Nooooooooooooooooooo.
If anybody has the sheer amount of stamina necessary to put up with Ruth’s shit, it’s Dorothy.
billie x walky is FORBIDDEN
someone mentioned a while ago the idea of billie x dina and while it would be really unlikely i think it would be pretty damn cute
as for ruth theres probably better kinds of therapy than dating
Why is Billie x Walky forbidden, if you don’t mind me asking? I mean, it’s that relationship in the story that’s just meant to get teased, but why would it be so bad if it happened, other than the fact that it would mean Dorothy must have broken up with him (or the other way around).
they spent most of their childhood together and see each other as siblings. walky even straight up called her his sister once.
To that, I respond, “So?” :p
The fact is that, being not related, the only thing that would keep them apart is people who are completely disgusted by even suggestions to incest, because clearly they won’t have the heightened risk of genetic problems in their child that is the only actual reason to avoid incest, besides the things religion tells us.
Well, there is the fact that they are of the disgusted type, so that is the only relevant factor that should be stopping them.
the fact that theyd never want to is all that matters to me
i dont really have a problem with incest ships in general though
Honestly, bringing sex into the fraternal relationship itself squicks me out waaaaaaaay more than the genetics, especially since Billie thinks of herself as the big sister/protector. It’s a fragile dynamic to fuck with.
Ruth x Truck
Ruth x Integrity?
Ruth x Lack of Regrets?
Dina X Doing her best?
Dina x the other parts of her across the room.
I’ll ship them both with a damn therapist!
How unethical.
Only if they’re clients.
Next on Slipshine
Ruth: We need to end this!
Also Ruth: You’re kind of abandoning me.
Okay, so I get that Ruth’s dealing with a lot of shit including some serious depression (Which has a tendency to make things look their absolute worst) but seriously? Blaming someone else for the break-up you initiated is what we in the business like to call a Dick Move.
Well, I mean, Billie has been lying to her from Day 1. And Billie’s most recent excuse was that it wasn’t technically a lie. Ruth’s got a really good point when you take that into account.
Not really. Ruth didn’t say, “You lied to me, and that makes me not want to be with you.” She said that Billie was abandoning her, even though Ruth is the one instigating the break up to cover her tracks. It may be paranoia, spite, or both, but I wouldn’t call it justified.
That being said they’re a terrible couple. Here’s hoping Ruth can cope with Billie’s sudden absence.
What does lying to protect Becky from getting kicked out onto the streets have to do with Ruth going “you’re abandoning me even though I explicitly told you we need to end this relationship”?
Like, if she wants to get angry about that then sure, but it has nothing to do with what’s happening here.
Ruth isn’t angry. She’s goading Billie into anger. Because that’s what their relationship is partially based on and angry Billie is hot.
I laughed, but honestly, I understand the thought process; nothing else has worked, so insulting her loyalty/integrity is the only way to get her to leave. Cruel to be kind.
Yeah, definitely a Dick Move. Or… Bigger.
No, I don’t mean “Big-Dick Move” or “More-Inches Move”
I’m talking about the move being bigger, not the… You know what, never mind. That IS what I mean. This is a Big Fat Twelve-Inch Move.
Aw man, Ruth’s emotions are all sorts of messed up, aren’t they?
I mean we’ve know this, but damn. Hopefully Billie can keep her on track.
I think you’re forcing Billie to abandon you, Ruth. No blame gaming.
Aaaand sympathy for ruth is evaporating at a rapid rate.
Poor Billie though, as much as i hate her snotty attitude towards ‘nerds’, she really DOES want to help. Having that thrown back in her face has to hurt.
As a fully qualified nerd, I really can’t hold Billie’s attitude against her. Tsundere’s gotta tsun.
Could have been worse — Ruth could have said “you throw like a girl”.
“You throw like a non-cheerleader.”
Hey now. Them’s fightin’ words.
You throw like a nerd.
Drat! A key shaped mark on Ruth’s face would’ve been all the evidence Mary needed!
She still has the “I’m sleeping with Billie” birthmark on her ass.
That was always there.
That is what a birthmark is, after all.
Me 2 minutes ago: Well, let’s check out DoA for the first time in a year! I hope nothing too bad’s happened in the meanwhile.
Me now: GOD FUCKING DAMN IT WILLIS
Welcome back to the madness…
You did miss some fun. My current Gravatar is 1 of the best parts…
That’ll teach you.
It’ll be interesting to see who Ruth is protecting, herself, or Billie.
Really, I think she’s just trying to push Billie away again so she can end it all.
Mary’s just a convenient reason to push Billie way that doesn’t immediately seem like an excuse.
Agreed.
Yup.
no attachments, no one to stop you, and no reason to.
uh, there’s a 16 year old Game of Thrones fan that she’s fairly attached to…
That’s a good attachment, especially if she knows that your statistical chance of attempting/completing suicide jumps if your sibling (or other super-close person) has completed suicide. I mean, if Ruth completes suicide, Howard will be much more likely to attempt, sometime during his life, than he would’ve been otherwise. (I don’t remember by how much, but I remember that it’s a lot.)
Yup, that’s a tricky one to get around, if one’s caring for one’s family is sincere and not just “they’ll be better off without me.”
Sometimes anchors like that are the only thing holding someone back.
I think people who believe others would be better off are sincere, they’re just very incorrect. But yes to the anchors. I like anchors. You only really need one, it gives you time to create more.
Your brain when depressed is very very good at convincing yourself that things that are patently untrue like no one would miss you or that you’re a burden to everyone in your life or that everyone in your life would be better off if you were dead are the most true things in the world.
It can make those things feel even more true than the loved one telling you that they’d miss you or be devastated if you went through with it or that they’d find a way to invent necromancy just to scream at you for doing that to them (my personal favorite from my it’s complicated back when we were both on the raggedy edge).
It can make the anchors sometimes very hard to imbed in a way your depression can’t crumble away.
heck, sometimes the anchor(s) can become a focus of resentment, because they’re what’s “holding [you] back.”
no one ever said this was a rational thought process in any way.
Yeah, Cerberus and StClair, what you both said.
Depression brain is a royal asshole.
It’s 2am but I don’t like making a statement like that without a source, so have a depressing study. (It looks solid at first glance: various correlations between siblings-of-suicides and unhappy outcomes, cancelling for several major environmental factors.)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4302726/
Your sib killing themselves isn’t good for you, surprise.
If I remember correctly, Willis said that no one dies. He didn’t, however, say that no one would get really close to shuffling off the mortal coil.
If Ruth does attempt suicide, my bet is that it will be a suicide gesture and not a true attempt.
I mean, I think all he said was that nobody’s going to die just because they died in the previous universe.
But yeah, I think killing Ruth off would be a weird choice, narratively speaking. We lose all of her character development and just turn her into a tool for Billie’s own development.
Plus, it’d be all super sad and stuff.
Probably Billie, in a very screwed up, unproductive manner. Ruth is pretty actively self-destructive. If i had to guess, she sees this as the least painful way to shove Billie away (HOPEFULLY so she can take down mary, but that may be wishful thinking on my part).
Good luck finding the key in the dark amidst all those sticks.
Ruth might be doing it because she thinks it’s best fro Billie. She might be concerned that their relationship will bring them both down, and Ruth doesn’t want to take Billie with her when she drowns.
This is hitting so close to home for me
Your lover threw the key to your dorm at you in the dark?
You know of all the times I had to break up with a girl I don’t think a door key ever figured in the relationship or the break up. Car key once, but no door keys.
no, that key was supposed to cut your throat, Ruthless. Billie just forgot she was throwing a key and not a knife.
Back to Joyceland please
Careful what you wish for.
Though I realize how difficult it could be to live without your daily dose of Joyce’s mother.
I just enjoy Joyce’s current plot thread more. I’ve been down this Ruth’s Depression Road in my own life so it does nothing for me.
“Ruth’s Depression Road” is the name of my next emo band.
I’m liking where both are at the moment, but the Joyce one is definitely more interesting. We’re seeing new places and people, which is always fun.
Plus, we’re probably going to see Jocelyne at some point soon.
God honestly, Ruth and Billie are so destructive. Individually and together. I love them dearly, but they are making terrible life choices and are at the same time SO not good for each other and also the only good thing for each other. Y’know? I really am totally rooting for them, in the long trun, but they have to fix themselves first, both individually, before they can fix each other. Or even really be with each other. Or be human beings in this world.
Not that ‘fixed’ is ever an achievable state with things like depression and addiction (it’s always a work in progress, like, I am forever working through my depression, I would never claim to be ‘fixed’ or ‘healed’), but I couldn’t really think of a better word. They are standing on the edge of the abyss and I don’t think they’re realizing it. I don’t often yell ‘ get some fucking help’ at fictional characters, but with these two I do. All the time.
They’re a MESS. I love them but they’re a goddamn mess.
It’s kinda funny reading all that with a Mary Gravatar… :p
My eternal struggle lol. (but also I am really not bothered and too lazy to change it, so people are just gonna have to deal :p)
Sums it right up.
I’m rooting for them in the short run. In the long run they’re doomed.
Completely the other way around, for me. Or, I guess, maybe short term okay, medium term doomed, long term (after they get their shit sorted out) back together again.
I don’t mind whether they end up together, I just want them to kick butt in treatment someday and feel okay in themselves individually.
Yeah, basically this. I am invested in both these girls and their mental health and whether they end up together or not (though I hope they do), I just want them to get better.
For me at least, I want them to get better, but I’m not really comfortable with them being together, given how abusive Ruth was earlier in the comic.
Oh god, another reason to say fuck this.
We still on that stick topic? Because Billie… Kind of… A Little…
Well, twigs would be a better word.
So, yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing Ruth’s explanation for this one. I get that they’ve both hurt each other, but how is Billie “abandoning” her?
Also, I know a lot of people think that this breakup will be good for them, but I’m worried about Ruth. It seems to me like she doesn’t have ANYONE apart from Billie.
She isn’t, and Ruth knows it. She’s just being a dick to justify pushing Billie away.
Break up won’t be good for them, not sure if this is a break up tbh, but I don’t think they can get any worse than where they are now, because Ruth is never actually going to kill herself in-comic.
Because she promised to never leave no matter what and now she’s letting Ruth push her away, which is breaking that promise and betraying Ruth.
Which doesn’t make any sense of course, but it’s coming out of Ruth’s depression and other issues, so that’s only to be expected.
And now that Billie’s abandoned her, like she was always going to do anyway, because everyone always does, she can get back to the original plan of drinking herself to death.
Me: What the FUCK Ruth
*checks alt text*
O_o
…and cue the trcuk!
Paul was the Walrus. Mary was the truck. Carla was the pie.
She’s not just covering her tracks, she’s nuking them from orbit.
Never before have I so wanted to enter into a comic. I want to tell Ruth and Billie and Carla and Joyce and Becky and Amber and Ethan and Danny…wow, that it will be alright, I want to ask Mary why she hates so much, ask what’s she afraid of?
“The true basis of hate, is merely fear”-Someone (me I just made that quote up)
You want to enter a Willis comic? Man, you are brave.
I entered a willis comic once and then now I dab dab and dab dab dab dab.
Dab dab mighty, dab hail Dab. ::foams at the dab::
Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. – Yoda
And Mary suffering is something we can all get behind.
That Yoda Muppet was smart.
you’re not wrong
All the loose ends tied up, nice and tidy.
So that after she’s gone, it’ll be as if she never was.
Only a fleeting memory
fading into insignificance
leaving only the dull pain of lost regrets.
All this and a nickle.
a Canadian nickel, even.
@Everyone saying “this ship is over”
Really? Ruth says something shitty and Billie throws something? If that was enough to end this ship, we wouldn’t be here.
This might be a turning point. Hell, it might be a GOOD turning point. But this isn’t the end – not by a long shot.
Okay really, why don’t they just swap rooms with someone on a different floor so they can start dating? Or another dorm? There is even a system in place to do this. It’s right there in their A-to-Z guide. It took me less than two minutes to find.
Please meditate on the title of the comic.
Pushing away, pushing away… I give them the weekend until next hatefuck.
That long?
Well, given that we’re not seeing Sunday ’till autumn, that’s pushing it into… winter 2018? Long enough.
Ugh, these poor babies.
They are both forgetting that Billie taught herself how to pick a lock before Ruth gave her a key.
Not sure that either forgot. A key is specific evidence. A lockpick is non-specific and evidence of a completely different sort.
So, we can expect to see it sometime next year then?
Sorry, that was meant to be a reply to Bagge
What’s this about the ship being over? Not only will they get back together, but Mary will see them, and actually be smart enough to take a picture this time.
Because she has to be come a threat again, or else this whole thing was a waste of time.
(I mean, the only reason I can tolerate Mary’s transphobia is that she’s got to get her comeuppance. And Ruth (and possibly Carla) pretty much have to be the ones to give it to her.
While I’m sure the Becky thing will be a problem, too, foiling that is not quite the poetic justice–since Becky was never really Ruth’s fault.
I think it’d interesting if Ruth and Billie separated would actually be good for each other. Then again, I’m hoping Ruth gets some treatment for her condition rather than suicide and we find out some of her actions aren’t motivated by depression but simple malice.
I don’t think that Ruth is motivated by malice. It’s been implied that her grandfather was abusive, and I think that that experience gave her a flawed understanding of how authority figures are supposed to behave. She was taught that “rule through fear” is the only way to get results.
I am guessing Ruth doesn’t have a lot of experience being the breaker uper
Ruth is tricky to understand… she agrees to whatever their scheme is, then portrays it as if it some design of Billie’s to go their separate ways (this strip) but I suppose it’ll become more clear as the story goes on
The first thing I thought of when I saw the title of this comic was THIS!
Well that newspaper lesbian girl is free for the taking….
Make it happen Willis she too needs a bit of happiness.
Ugh, Ruth.
Ruth needs some serious help. Billie has really tried for her, she’s literally given up all her time, energy, even her own room – where she could just run away from Ruth’s problems if she needed, but instead she took all of that on because she care’s for Ruth a lot and wants to help.
So this really is a massive Dick Move – to say that “well we should actually break up for realz, but yeah well you ARE essentially abandoning me” is ridiculously selfish and dickish. I don’t really care if Ruth said this to try and get Billie to hate her and break up the relationship even more, it wasn’t needed and its more than likely just going to make Billie try even harder to make it work after she’s had her cry about it.
Urrrrr. These two are so ridiculously self-destructive and I just want to see them get betterrrrr. I think Billie would do a lot a LOT better if she cut herself out of Ruth’s life, but Ruth would just go on another downward spiral and end up making things worse for herself. So Billie’s obviously going to have to stick around, even though I would rather that she didn’t and got her own life back on track.
Reminds me of my ex-girlfriend.
Technically she gave up her room for Becky, not for Ruth. Billie was sleeping in Ruth’s room by choice–the arrangement made all those sexy times much more convenient–but Billie gave up the chance to use her room as an escape, like you described, so that Becky would have a place to sleep. Her doing that didn’t help Ruth at all, and her lying about it is a part of why Ruth is angry at her now.
I hope that tree shes learning on is the one she gets wrapped around this time.
Holy shit, Ruth has fast reaction time! She managed to ask if the key was supposed to hit her in the face while the key was flying in front of her face!
What time is it?
Webcomic time!! 😀
Maybe she just knew that’s what Billie would do after that little spiel of hers.
Eh, Billie is bi anyways, she can rebound and maybe get put in another uh… comic. Maybe. – 3-
There are some issues with the site. For a long time now (months) I’ve had intermittent “a script on this page is jacked up. Halt/ignore/debug?” pop-ups.
Regardless of which option I select, it just repeats itself in about 5 minutes.
And along with that error my Adobe Flash Player memory usage skyrockets, sometimes resulting in a browser crash. I can kill the Adobe process and that sometimes fixes the problem, but more often than not it just re-gobbles memory again. After a while, say 30+ minutes, it seems to calm down, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying and also doesn’t prevent the error pop-ups or browser crashes.
Firefox 44.0.2, but I’m certain this has happened on at least the past 2 versions as well, so it’s not a new issue for this version of FF at least.
Happens to me also, and I’m also using Firefox. Can’t speak of the Flash issue, but the “script has stopped running etc” message shows up far more often than I’d care to see it.
I’m inclined to blame it on unnecessary coding in some of the display ads around the main body of the page.
I agree it is most likely to be issues with one or more ads.
The below is a cut’n’paste from the debugger screen:
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f=[“webkit”,”moz”,”ms”,”o”];if(document.visibilityState){h=document.visibilityState!=”visible”}else{for(var e=0;e<f.length;e++){if(document[f[e]+"VisibilityState"]){h=document[f[e]+"VisibilityState"]!="visible";break}}}}b.active=(!h)?j.ACTIVE:j.INACTIVE;b.hasFocus=adaptvInfo.isInFocus()}return b},isInFocus:function(){if(document.hidden===true){return adaptvInfo.FOCUS_STATE.OUT_OF_FOCUS}var a=adaptvInfo.isInIframe();if(a===adaptvInfo.IFRAME_DATA.UNFRIENDLY_IFRAME){return adaptvInfo.FOCUS_STATE.UNKNOWN}if(window.top.document.hasFocus){return window.top.document.hasFocus()?adaptvInfo.FOCUS_STATE.IN_FOCUS:adaptvInfo.FOCUS_STATE.OUT_OF_FOCUS}return adaptvInfo.FOCUS_STATE.UNKNOWN}};window.adaptvBrowserDetect={init:function(){this.browser=this.searchString(this.dataBrowser)||"An unknown browser";this.version=this.searchVersion(navigator.userAgent)||this.searchVersion(navigator.appVersion)||"An unknown version";this.OS=this.searchString(this.dataOS)||"An unknown OS"},searchString:function(d){for(var a=0;a2){var c=[];for(var d=2;d<arguments.length;d++){c.push(arguments[d])}return function(){return a.apply(b,c)}}else{return function(){return a.call(b)}}};window.adaptvUtils={locateObjectNode:function(h,m){var b=document.getElementById(m);var d,c;if(b!==null){for(d=0;d<b.childNodes.length;d++){var l=b.childNodes[d];if(l.nodeName.toLowerCase()=="span"){for(c=0;c0){for(d=0;d0){for(d=0;d<g.length;d++){k=g[d].Movie;if(k===undefined||k===null){k=g[d].data}if(k===undefined||k===null){continue}if(this.getEndFileName(k.toLowerCase())==this.getEndFileName(h.toLowerCase())){f.push(g[d])}}}}if(f.length==1){return f[0]}return null},locateObjectContainer:function(c,a){var b=document.getElementById(a);if(c){return c.parentNode}else{return b}},getCompanionDivById:function(b,a,j){a=a||document;j=j||0;var h=a.getElementById(b);if(h){return h}var f=a.getElementsByTagName("iframe");if(f&&j<3){for(var c=0;c<f.length;c++){try{h=adaptvUtils.getCompanionDivById(b,f[c].contentDocument,j+1);if(h){return h}}catch(d){}}}var g=function(k,i,n){i=i||window;n=n||0;var m=i.document.getElementById(k);if(m){return m}if(i!==window.top&&n-1){var b=a.split(“/”);if(b.length>0){return b[b.length-1]}return null}else{return a}},playerDivs:{},getPlayerDiv:function(a){if(this.playerDivs.adaptv_ad_player_div){return this.playerDivs.adaptv_ad_player_div}a=a||””;var b=”adaptv_ad_player_div”+a;if(this.playerDivs[b]==null){this.playerDivs[b]=document.getElementById(b)}return this.playerDivs[b]},getPlayerDivs:function(){return this.playerDivs},isObjectAttribute:function(c,b,a){if(String(c.getAttribute(b)).toLowerCase()==String(a).toLowerCase()||(c.nodeName.toLowerCase()==”object”&&adaptvUtils.objectTagContainsParamValue(c,b,a))){return true}else{return false}},objectTagContainsParamValue:function(e,d,c){for(var b=0;b1){e=1}a.progress=e;var 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Yeah, I’ve been having this issue too lately. Staying on this page for any significant amount of time crashes Firefox, and I’m pretty sure it’s the video advertisement on the page that’s doing it.
I haven’t had that Flash problem here, but I have elsewhere and had to turn off Flash entirely (I only turn it on when I have a specific need for it). That seems to have completely fixed the problem for now.
It’s not an application/plugin issue, it’s a content issue. The actual ad that the page is trying to load has badly-written spyware, hijackware or some other unpleasant surprise included in its code. Unfortunately (for the scammers) it doesn’t work properly but instead just crashes Flash Player or the browser. Inconvenient but better than the alternative if it worked properly.
It need not be malicious, just badly written.
And Flash is enough of a problem that you should have it set to only activate when clicked. If necessary, use an addon like Flashblock. Unlike adblock, there’s no reason to worry that you might deprive anyone of money.
As for the other problem, Willis would probably need you to isolate exactly which script is causing the problem, so he can report it to his ad provider, which should pull the ad until they get it fixed. (Assuming you’re browser hasn’t been hijacked by malware and is forcing the page to display another ad that DofA isn’t using)
Until then, I’d recommend getting YesScript, and disabling that script from running. Or, yes, Adblock. You can disable it on DofA but then enable it on any page that gives you that warning and then reload the page.
Are universities in the USA actually allowed to check their students’ personal belongings to that degree? I mean, I can understand periodically checking the rooms to make sure the furniture and stuff are still intact, or doing some kind of search if there’s good reason to believe drugs are being consumed.
But checking a student’s personal phone or computer for its contents? What the fuck?
If there was an accusation of sexual harassment of a student by a university employee, it’s likely they could.
Not just random checks, but in the course of an investigation. Probably depending on whether the investigation stays on an administrative level or moves to a legal one.
Regardless of whether they actually could or not, it’s something the kids would worry about.
If your cell phone is locked, even the cops can’t require you unlock it(though that may change soon). It’s a public university, the 5th amendment presumably would apply. Also, if Mary accuses Ruth but Billie and the entire floor deny it, I don’t see the investigation lasting too much longer.
True, cops can’t. But a university can make it part of the requirements for attending that you will let them investigate. You won’t get in legal trouble, but you could get kicked out of college.
Only recently have we started pushing the idea that public colleges should be restricted in the same way as police.
A friend of mine in college lost her summer housing for 3 days because admin found a dildo in her room and charged her with violating the “student covenant” agreement we all had to sign. No need to write in a Dildo Clause when a blanket “inappropriate sexuality” rule covered all that and more.
She had literally nowhere to go and had to crash in someone else’s room, an offense that would have gotten her suspended for longer had it been discovered.
#TrueChristianCollegeStories
Like thejeff said, I’d think they’d only investigate a student’s phone if sexual harassment were involved. Other options may be if naked pictures of Ruth and/or Billie circled the campus and evidence lead to Billie’s phone being the culprit. In hindsight, that picture that Billie took with Ruth passed out with alcohol could be very incriminating and would likely be a reason to search Billie’s phone if Mary pushed the alcohol angle. Ruth’s technically still underage at 20.
I suppose that would depend on what her terms of employment were. They can’t make her, but depending on what she signed, they might be able to fire her for little reason if they reeeeeeally wanted to.
That’s not a fair statement to make, seeing as Ruth is the one who wants to end it, albeit for a good reason. This isn’t something Billie wants at all, and insinuating that makes Ruth a huge jerk.
But here’s something to think about: How much of Billie’s life is left for her to go back to? Ruth has been such a significant person to her that I’m sure Billie’s neglected a lot of her friendships and studies so she can be there for Ruth.
Honestly, I’m getting a bit exhausted with this whole relationship, drama and all. I hope this ends soon; I’d like to see other characters get a larger spotlight, like Carla or Dina/Becky’s relationship, or even background characters like Sierra and Agatha.
Oh fuck right the hell of Ruth.
What do you think Billie’s been doing?
I saw that typo immediately after I hit post and I knew this was coming.
Excuses excuses, Billie. I thought you were a cheerleader!
Ruth’s just trying to make it easier for Billie. A break up is way easier for you if you’re mad at the person and dislike them than if you still desperately want to be with them.
She’s pulling the Twilight Gambit. The next step is to wait for Billie to finally start making healthier relationships and dragging herself out of her depression. Then Ruth has to try to kill herself because of a stupid misunderstanding, forcing Billie to come running back to her, causing Ruth and Billie to get back together despite their totally square family and friends being worried about them, because “THEY JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND OUR LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!!!!!!!”
And then they’ll make it look like there’s about to be a big stand-off between The Good Guys and Mary, only to have the whole crisis averted at the last second by Sierra running in with news of some rule that means Mary can’t do anything to them.
So the previous strip with that poster on the wall was foreshadowing! Well played, Willis.
I am hurting so you too must hurt
When outright demanding that somone abandons you doesn’t work, infuriating them to the point they leave is a solid Plan B. Queue the Gaslight Anthem: “Everybody leaves so why, why wouldn’t you?”
Yeah, having someone you care about relentlessly insist you don’t gets very demoralizing very quickly especially after they start resorting to straight up abuse to try and force you to leave and prove how unlovable they are. Oh, and calling them out on it is exactly the same as saying you don’t love them.
Yup. And after a certain point of them hurting you so you’ll leave it starts becoming a thing you actually have to think about just because you’re tired of being hit.
To be sure! Yeah, I’m not AT ALL defending what Ruth is doing, but I understand why she’s doing it. I’m not proud of it, but I ghosted on a lot of people to “protect them.” I…don’t recommend it.
“Was that supposed to hit me in the FAAAAAAAACEEEEEE”
Ruth will have the Mary situation resolved in a couple days and they can see about getting back together. So sometime in 2018.
As much as it hurts me, it still makes perfect sense. Ruth definitely has some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder, and Billie is something she cannot control. So even with all her loneliness and depression, she’s rather alone and in control. Furthermore, she likes to suffer. That who she is. She’s not used to happiness and she’s not used to allow herself to be happy.
Want proof? Why would she prefer her RA job over a relationship, when earlier she said that the loneliness is wearing her down?
It’s sad, but she is indeed poison, and her only hope is therapy.
As someone with OCD, I don’t think you understand what this is. It has absolutely nothing to do with needing control. OCD is an anxiety disorder. You get worried about thing X, so you’re compelled to do Y, even though you know it won’t actually fix X. There is nothing to what Ruth is doing that is not consistent with depression.
And you guys seem to not understand how bad it would be if Ruth loses her job. She would become effectively homeless and unemployed. She can’t move back in with her abusive grandparents.
So she becomes Becky, but without the relentless optimism that keeps her afloat. And the depression means she will not be able to go get another job. Hell, the RA job is a pretty cushy job once you have it–especially if you can convince everyone not to come to you with their problems.
Plus, frankly, putting others in front of your own happiness is a good thing, and I hate seeing it pushed a bad one.
Thank you. I have OCD, and I’m not going out abusing people. As a matter of fact, sometimes I’m too much of a pushover because I get worried I might accidentally be emotionally abusive. Ruth has problems, but they seem to be more about depression and alcoholism and whatnot, not OCD.
I remember when these two drama hurricanes always got hundreds of comments per day fight.
Maybe the fandom is getting immune to minor lesbian drama.
( I hope they make out in the next scene. Then cry. Or maybe reverse.
It is odd, but a welcome reprieve.
As dark as your soul.
Also, faaaace
Get ready for 2 strips of them looking for the key.
As long we don’t delete system32, we’re golden.
Mary could only be more evil if she married Ross to become Becky’s stepmom.
You just tempted fate, now the Willis is so totally going to do that, I hope you are happy. (Note that I mean this as a joke, although if Willis does this we now have a scapegoat)
*Billie throws key* Go get it, Boss.
*Ruth dives after key* You delete me!
… Okay, I’m leaving now. .___.;