My personal compilation of unique text bubbles, which are disturbingly constant through multiple creators:
Blue- indicates the character putting on a deeper, more masculine tone. Up to eleven in characters already masculine. God save us all when Kamina uses a blue bubble.
Red- indicates rage of a bloodlusting nature. If you can visualize the fourth wall, get the F out of Dodge the moment you see a red text bubble.
Yellow- usually refers to the narrator, so a character using such a bubble either is the narrator or is temporarily usurping them. Either way, plot armor is to be expected.
Purple- indicates insanity of the worst kind. A purple speech bubble is essentially code for “Welp, you’re screwed, hope you liked your life”. Reserved almost entirely for villains, but more . . . interesting heroic characters have dipped into the regal color.
Black- indicates one of two things: 1) cold, tranquil rage [be afraid] 2) chain – smoker throat cancer. Or both.
Technicolor- “good” insanity, as well as characters the story shows to be inherently good. Loaded with Mary Sue.
Pink- in love/lust. Not necessarily natural.
Re-reading it, it looks more like Black#1) cold, tranquil rage, definitely something along the lines of “obey me now or suffer a death few can fathom…”
Yelling, with intensity and a bit of growl in their voice. You will be compelled to obey that voice, unless your level of outrage meets or exceeds that of the one using that voice.
Pain, no pain. Yeah, I guess that is a big difference. Technically she’s not from there, she’s only dropping by till something more long term comes about hopefully. Does that count?
I disagree. Ruth has been known to show kindness in times of real distress. She didn’t bite Dorothy when she asked for help with Danny, and she did try to comfort Amber when she fought with Blain (okay, it didn’t work, but that’s because Amber escaped and not for lack of Ruth’s trying). She’d probably kick Becky out, but not before she found somewhere for her to stay.
Ruth has showed kindness in times of real distress to people who she is required by her job terms to show kindness to in times of real distress.
I don’t think Ruth is heartless, but I think if it’s between risking her job housing somebody she doesn’t care about vs kicking Becky out prematurely, I wouldn’t put my money on the former.
“I don’t think Ruth is heartless, but I think if it’s between risking her job housing somebody she doesn’t care about vs kicking Becky out prematurely, I wouldn’t put my money on the former.”
She risks her job every time she assaults a student, which she usually does for no reason. If she thinks she’s right she’ll do whatever the hell she wants. The question is, what will she think is right in Becky’s case?
There might be some tough love in order though. The reality is, Becky can’t stay where she is, she’s in limbo, and needs to find a real place to live, and Ruth is harsh enough to provide that push.
What bugs me about this is that they haven’t been to see Leslie yet, she’s an obvious resource of knowledge about ways to help emancipate Becky.
Legal emancipation, sure, but she doesn’t have any means of self-sufficiency. She doesn’t have a place to stay, or a mode of income. She needs a job and a roof over her head that isn’t her friend’s college dorm. And if an in-story week from now, she still hasn’t sought out any of these things, there might be cause for concern about her behavior.
Seriously now. Of all the complaints about Becky, not immediately having a plan the day after she became a runaway is right up there on the ridiculous meter. Moreso than “Becky was wrong to get a haircut using the 20$ she got.”
Oh, no question about it. Ruth is an inexcusable tyrant. And Billie is an irresponsible drunk in a death spiral of denial and excuse. Their relationship is going to end in tears; it’s going to be bad.
I wish that there were some hope for them as people; there isn’t. But…at least they’re *trying*. Doesn’t that count for something? (No)
I think there is still hope for them *as people*. What there isn’t any hope for is their relationship and Ruth’s job. But they might be able to survive this, especially if they get help. My current hope is that Ruth’s accelerating downward spiral will shock Billie into getting help for the both of them, probably revealing their relationship in the process. Not exactly a bright outlook, but it’s better than double-suicide.
And there is some evidence to suggest it’ll happen; Billie almost did it when she nearly left Ruth to be found by the firemen. It would’ve cost Ruth her job, but she’d have likely gotten the help she needed.
On the latter point, I wouldn’t be so sure. Being found half-naked by firemen didn’t exactly lead to Billie finding help, after all.
Overall, I think there’s three outcomes for each of them. Either get help before you hit rock bottom, get help after hitting rock bottom, or keep drinking until dead.
This is really just a case of stuff that should have been uncovered when she applied to be an RA. Depressed, boozing, and likes to take out her troubles on others? That should have been screened for.
…Come to think of it, she’s never threatened them over reporting her. She’s clearly very good about hiding her issues (I don’t doubt for a second that she fooled the background checks, rather than them not being very thorough).
Does… she want to be found out, at some level? Now I just think the abuse of power is her broken way of seeking out help.
I think that is very likely – unless she doesn’t kid when she says that she actually has the blessing of the higher-ups for her tyrannic reign of the Clark Wing.
An RA speaking here. Assuming her application process was similar to mine (probably as I go to a large public university), there are no “background checks” beyond checking for a criminal record and making sure there are no marks against your academic record. The hard part would be walking the walk and talking the talk during the application process which emphasizes finding applicants who will help residents and work well in a team.
At my university that would be a year long endeavor starting in the Fall semester and continuing into Spring but I would assume that it is possible, even that someone managed it at least once. Probably not someone as bad as Ruth but people make mistakes.
As Bagge said, apparently the school respects that she keeps students in line, on task, and out of trouble, far more than they’re troubled by her approach to accomplishing it.
Assuming there’s some backstory there- such as, ‘the dorm USED to be a troubled mess’, then you can imagine that assertion is accurate, in a Great Teacher Onizuka sort of way [“Okay, SURE you knocked down a wall, but it was beneficial, so you can get away with it. In fact, go knock down some more walls.”].
She works in a cigarete factory and only likes a guy until he starts liking her. Er, not it? Is she somewhere in the world and we have to find her? No? Ok, I’m too old to get it and too stuborn to look it up.
Glad I’m not the only one who noticed the matching colors. At least it’s not a matching Maple Leafs shirt; that would be obvious enough that even Joyce might pick up on it.
Carla’s hair shade looks less natural than the others. Cherry-red isn’t a hair color that exists in nature. Also she doesn’t wield the freckles like the others do, and she’s got motive, since her hair is the same color as her favorite cartoon character. After all, why would she want to keep her lame natural hair color like most humans when she could have Ultra Car colored hair?
Carla’s hair is kinda deep red, like Knockout’s paintjob. I don’t think many Humans have that colour naturally either. I’d say after market upgrade too…
And being proven not bi is impossible unless tested against all possible pairings. Therefore, as the burden of proof falls upon the defendant in internet court, the jury summarily rules in favor of bi.
Dorm-based walks of shame barely count. I mean, people walk around half naked in dorms all the time (at least they did in mine) so it’s hard to tell “walk of shame” from “don’t have class until 3 PM”
“Red head’s” that should be the title of this page, anyway Becky knows how to play it cool not to mention she’s like” what’s it to you, none of you business. “
Because Billie is wearing Ruth’s jersey, which barely covers Billie’s ass, and getting some very clear interest from another girl, and Ruth is having insecure feelings she’s choosing to take out in a kind of unhealthy way.
Because Ruth yelling at Billie for no good reason is a lot less suspicious than Billie standing around in the hallway wearing nothing but Ruth’s shirt.
I’m gonna disagree with most of the above. Ruth seems to be pretty angry this time. And unlike previous cases of mock hatred, this was completely unplanned, not to mention unexpected on Billie’s part.
I think i’m gonna have to go with Rycan on this one, looks to me like Ruth’s pretty pissed off Billie grabbed 1 of her tops then just went parading it down the hall. like a few have said, it might be used as proof they’re doing more than just yelling at each other…
Aw Becky, you’re adorable when you try to flirt. Come on, Billie. You have whined for weeks that you want to be popular and now you have your own tag-along lesbian. Don’t complain.
Are you going to be jealous on Becky now, Ruth? I think she will find that flattering.
Billie shows how to wear your team’s colors with pride.
Also funny in an “Oh God, why are there nails in my ears?!” kinda way, his late-90’s white guy rapping attempts (Resurrection Rap and Who’s in the House), and the one where he’s a demon-hunting cowboy (Satan, Bite the Dust).
…So yeah, you can probably tell I was raised in one of Those Households.
Ehhhhhhhh. Kind of. I’m far more forgiving of those who are visibly struggling to find a better way to be. Which thankfully applies to a lot of the assholes around here. Still not yet a fan of Malaya or Mary, though.
Well, Mary to our knowledge hasn’t been through anything, asshole is just her factory preset. Ditto with Malaya, whereas we’ve seen both Ruth and Becky take some real blows, and I really think we’ve only seen the tip of Ruth’s misery iceberg.
I still think it is premature to call Malaya an asshole. She’s a bit obnoxious (like everyone else in her social circle) and Sal doesn’t like her (and that’s partly because of jealousy), but she has not displayed the same grating egoism as in the Shortpacked universe.
No, but since the Leafs are one of the “Original Six” even people who don’t follow hockey probably know about them. Now, take some of the expansion teams — I doubt anybody who doesn’t live near the Scioto River (or isn’t a total hockey geek) even knows about the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Simple explanation also:
Ruth may just be rescuing Billie from an awkward situation as it appears that Billie doesn’t have the sense to shut up and walk away.
Becky’s an idiot, but at least she has a point, like as in who are you anyway?
Ruth’s answer is typical Ruth.
Wonder if Becky knows she’s not joking.
We don’t know Ruth was coming from her room, I’m guessing she rises earlier than Billie, and may have had shit to do, and just now be returning to her room.
There is a convention in [Anglophone] sequential art (established by Charles M. Schultz, I understand) in which movement to the left and to the right have particular meanings. The past and prior situations are to the left, the future and developments are to the right, so facing to the right can indicate anticipation or orientation to new developments, movement to the right can indicate progress and overcoming obstacles, while facing to the left can indicate concern with the past and opposition to [another’s] progress, movement to the left can indicate defeat or retreat.
So don’t get too wrapped up in the spatial orientation of characters in strip-art stories: the drawings may indicate time and accomplishment with direction.
They are named after the maple leaf, the one on the flag. “S” on the end of the team name because there’s more than one player; but the “Leaf” component is singular rather than plural because they’re referring to a singular leaf, not just leaves from maple trees in general. 🙂
In the 5th panel, i wonder if Ruth’s expression is of intense guilt over what she had to say to Billie, or just when that question about Becky popped up in her head.
I wouldn’t say so, that Tweet feed box had an in-progress pic of Becky & Joyce few days ago that was being done for further along the bufferwatch. something tells me she’s gonna be around for a while…
Ruth: Hey butthead, why don’t you make like a hockey team and get out of here.
Becky: You mean “leave”?
Billie: She means “leaf” which still doesn’t make sense.
Becky: Oh hey! Maybe its make like a hockey team and “score”? hehehe.
Ruth: ……
Everytime I see Ruth do one of her idle threats I’m flabbergasted that everyone takes it.
I knew this one guy and he had an incredibly low tolerance to threats, nice helpful guy most of the time but threaten him, even in jest, and he would explode. It seems incredibly wierd that someone could go around threatening to hurt people and never get any comeuppance for it.
I do find it kind of strange that everybody goes along with Ruth’s attitude so easily (unless they’re rolling their eyes and deciding it just isn’t worth the effort). I’d like to see Ruth actually try to break somebody’s femurs. Try explaining that to your employers and the police.
Just FYI, this page tried to download something to my computer. Based on past behavior, I bet it was one of your ads. Don’t know which, tho, so just keep an eye out I guess.
Final made it to the last page! Well not last, more like latest. Extreme binge-reading aside, I wish this comic had some trans folk or androgeny in it. Damn hope I spelled that right. Either way both groups are underrepresented in culture, and I’d like to see a few trans guys like me in this, just my two cents 🙂
Joyce’s sister is a trans lady, and I bet she’ll come back. And so is Carla (aka Ultra-Car from Shortpacked!) I am also sure that there are trans men characters who just haven’t told you that personal part of their history yet.
It’s androgyny. Andro=man, gyn=woman. Like gynecologist, or misogyny.
Are there really that many redheads in… any part of America? As a third worlder I never understood why every single girl next door in comics had red hair when I only ever saw one natural redhead in my whole life and it was a guy from freshman year.
This post is probably very racist but honestly I got to know.
Wikipedia says about 2-6% of the us population has red hair so like 6 to 8 million people.
As far as the trope goes, It’s definitely a thing in media. I think its an easy way to visually distinguish a heroine or love interest, prescisely because it is uncommon. I don’t think Willis has that in mind though since his characters are developed enough that they don’t have to exist solely in relationship to each other. DOA has… Four red heads if I recall right? ruth, becky, carla and… Grace? Teriary lesbian whose name I forget? Idk, but its possible Carla dyes hers since it’s pretty fire engine like a certain totally rad cartoon car she likes. So there’s not even that many in the strip.
Hair color is an easy way to make characters visually distinct, so you’ll frequently end up with “the blonde one”, “the brunette one”, “the black-haired one”, “the redheaded one” (and in anime, “the blue-haired one”, “the pink-haired one”)… instead of the more realistic “the brunette”, “the slightly darker brunette”, “the slightly lighter brunette”, “the brunette with the auburn dye-job”…
Blondes are not as common in real life as they are in fiction, either.
DoA has three different Walkyverse casts merged together, so it’s got three casts worth of “the redheaded one”.
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BIG DIFFERENCE
I wonder the equivalent to black-speech-bubble speech would be to hear…
Did you ever see the Christian Bale Batman movies?
Ah. Sounds like that. Ruth’s the RA they deserve, not the RA they need.
In that scene where Commissioner Gordon and Batman were talking inside the bank vault, I kept expecting Gordon to offer Batman a throat lozenge.
Ahhh, but Amazigirl already established that to be white on blue. I think the white on black just sounds like a serial killer on the hunt.
Special text bubbles?
I’m glad you asked.
My personal compilation of unique text bubbles, which are disturbingly constant through multiple creators:
Blue- indicates the character putting on a deeper, more masculine tone. Up to eleven in characters already masculine. God save us all when Kamina uses a blue bubble.
Red- indicates rage of a bloodlusting nature. If you can visualize the fourth wall, get the F out of Dodge the moment you see a red text bubble.
Yellow- usually refers to the narrator, so a character using such a bubble either is the narrator or is temporarily usurping them. Either way, plot armor is to be expected.
Purple- indicates insanity of the worst kind. A purple speech bubble is essentially code for “Welp, you’re screwed, hope you liked your life”. Reserved almost entirely for villains, but more . . . interesting heroic characters have dipped into the regal color.
Black- indicates one of two things: 1) cold, tranquil rage [be afraid] 2) chain – smoker throat cancer. Or both.
Technicolor- “good” insanity, as well as characters the story shows to be inherently good. Loaded with Mary Sue.
Pink- in love/lust. Not necessarily natural.
Yellow text bubbles? I know where they’re from…
“MAY THE LITTLE YELLOW BOXES BE WITH YOU!!!”
Damn it Deadpool, get out of my post… -_-
Stripper Deadpool FTL
LOL yeah, daniel the Human was there for that too… XD
Re-reading it, it looks more like Black#1) cold, tranquil rage, definitely something along the lines of “obey me now or suffer a death few can fathom…”
Nicely compiled.
Danke.
Bane, I was thinking.
Yelling, with intensity and a bit of growl in their voice. You will be compelled to obey that voice, unless your level of outrage meets or exceeds that of the one using that voice.
I’d imagine, this: https://youtu.be/XfdiXBA7f6U?t=76
So Ruth sounds like a befuddled scientist thinking about marshmallows? That’s not so bad.
Black Speech from Mordor …
Pain, no pain. Yeah, I guess that is a big difference. Technically she’s not from there, she’s only dropping by till something more long term comes about hopefully. Does that count?
Becky. You might have a problem.
I doubt it. Probably Ruth’ll go all bark no bite as soon as she hears Becky’s tale of woe.
Not really. That only worked for Billie. Unless she’s looking to build a harem or something, that’s not gonna work twice.
NEWS :
RA Fired, made her whole floor a harem ! lol.
Sounds like a Slipshine request to me. 😉
I disagree. Ruth has been known to show kindness in times of real distress. She didn’t bite Dorothy when she asked for help with Danny, and she did try to comfort Amber when she fought with Blain (okay, it didn’t work, but that’s because Amber escaped and not for lack of Ruth’s trying). She’d probably kick Becky out, but not before she found somewhere for her to stay.
Ruth has showed kindness in times of real distress to people who she is required by her job terms to show kindness to in times of real distress.
I don’t think Ruth is heartless, but I think if it’s between risking her job housing somebody she doesn’t care about vs kicking Becky out prematurely, I wouldn’t put my money on the former.
“I don’t think Ruth is heartless, but I think if it’s between risking her job housing somebody she doesn’t care about vs kicking Becky out prematurely, I wouldn’t put my money on the former.”
She risks her job every time she assaults a student, which she usually does for no reason. If she thinks she’s right she’ll do whatever the hell she wants. The question is, what will she think is right in Becky’s case?
There might be some tough love in order though. The reality is, Becky can’t stay where she is, she’s in limbo, and needs to find a real place to live, and Ruth is harsh enough to provide that push.
What bugs me about this is that they haven’t been to see Leslie yet, she’s an obvious resource of knowledge about ways to help emancipate Becky.
Surely Becky doesn’t need emancipation? They’re in college, they’re adults.
Legal emancipation, sure, but she doesn’t have any means of self-sufficiency. She doesn’t have a place to stay, or a mode of income. She needs a job and a roof over her head that isn’t her friend’s college dorm. And if an in-story week from now, she still hasn’t sought out any of these things, there might be cause for concern about her behavior.
It’s been a day. ONE DAY. Christ, people.
Seriously now. Of all the complaints about Becky, not immediately having a plan the day after she became a runaway is right up there on the ridiculous meter. Moreso than “Becky was wrong to get a haircut using the 20$ she got.”
Which Carman tour’s that shirt from?
Right. I kind of forgot Ruth was a terrible person for a bit.
Ruth isn’t terrible person, she’s an angry person, and that sometimes leads to her doing terrible things.
Seriously it’s only a perk that she gets to enjoy it.
She’s also covering. She is trying to keep the sexy lesbian suicide pact secret.
Mostly for her own benefit.
Like abusing the students under her care, let alone the constant torment she heaped onto Billie.
I mean, I don’t want to come off as unsympathetic to her issues, but the way she’s abused her power as an RA is pretty despicable.
Oh, no question about it. Ruth is an inexcusable tyrant. And Billie is an irresponsible drunk in a death spiral of denial and excuse. Their relationship is going to end in tears; it’s going to be bad.
I wish that there were some hope for them as people; there isn’t. But…at least they’re *trying*. Doesn’t that count for something? (No)
I think there is still hope for them *as people*. What there isn’t any hope for is their relationship and Ruth’s job. But they might be able to survive this, especially if they get help. My current hope is that Ruth’s accelerating downward spiral will shock Billie into getting help for the both of them, probably revealing their relationship in the process. Not exactly a bright outlook, but it’s better than double-suicide.
And there is some evidence to suggest it’ll happen; Billie almost did it when she nearly left Ruth to be found by the firemen. It would’ve cost Ruth her job, but she’d have likely gotten the help she needed.
On the latter point, I wouldn’t be so sure. Being found half-naked by firemen didn’t exactly lead to Billie finding help, after all.
Overall, I think there’s three outcomes for each of them. Either get help before you hit rock bottom, get help after hitting rock bottom, or keep drinking until dead.
This is really just a case of stuff that should have been uncovered when she applied to be an RA. Depressed, boozing, and likes to take out her troubles on others? That should have been screened for.
…Come to think of it, she’s never threatened them over reporting her. She’s clearly very good about hiding her issues (I don’t doubt for a second that she fooled the background checks, rather than them not being very thorough).
Does… she want to be found out, at some level? Now I just think the abuse of power is her broken way of seeking out help.
I think that is very likely – unless she doesn’t kid when she says that she actually has the blessing of the higher-ups for her tyrannic reign of the Clark Wing.
An RA speaking here. Assuming her application process was similar to mine (probably as I go to a large public university), there are no “background checks” beyond checking for a criminal record and making sure there are no marks against your academic record. The hard part would be walking the walk and talking the talk during the application process which emphasizes finding applicants who will help residents and work well in a team.
At my university that would be a year long endeavor starting in the Fall semester and continuing into Spring but I would assume that it is possible, even that someone managed it at least once. Probably not someone as bad as Ruth but people make mistakes.
As Bagge said, apparently the school respects that she keeps students in line, on task, and out of trouble, far more than they’re troubled by her approach to accomplishing it.
Assuming there’s some backstory there- such as, ‘the dorm USED to be a troubled mess’, then you can imagine that assertion is accurate, in a Great Teacher Onizuka sort of way [“Okay, SURE you knocked down a wall, but it was beneficial, so you can get away with it. In fact, go knock down some more walls.”].
Potato, abuse of power.
There are no terrible people. Only people who do terrible things.
Billie is really working that jersey.
…and so she will have to work OFF that jersey. ^_^
Does that jersey have that many calories?
Only if it was Walky’s (sauce stains count as calories after all).
Might still anyway, doesn’t alcohol count towards calories. If it soaked any up…
Not only will she hurt you, you have to call her Queen while she does so. 😀
-obligatory comment with only the word ‘kinky’ in it-
Also a Lina Inverse reference!
Pretends she knows what Lina Inverse is.
DRAGON SLAVE!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Inverse
You kids with your Death Notes and your Wolf Rains.
Wasn’t Death Note and Wolf’s Rain a thing like over five years ago?
Oh god I’m old. ;_;
… I thought that was Aeka in Tenchi Muyo! (technically the goofy, non-OVA material)
Looked it up – yeah, you’re right. Huh.
I forgot about Aeka, that sort of thing is really right up her alley.
Had to look up who Carman is. Disappointed it’s not a car themed superhero, or Becky and Carla might have found some common ground.
She works in a cigarete factory and only likes a guy until he starts liking her. Er, not it? Is she somewhere in the world and we have to find her? No? Ok, I’m too old to get it and too stuborn to look it up.
Carman, who is a he, is a long running Christian music artist.
…and here I thought this was a reference to the ballet by Matthew Bourne.
All I could think of was that Karmann Ghia plates say “Lost in space”.
I realized that about five minutes after I shut down. I was even at one of his concerts in the 80’s. Must not have made a big impact on me.
Bad enough Billie is wearing that shirt. Now Ruth’s wearing a matching one? Even Becky might notice.
Glad I’m not the only one who noticed the matching colors. At least it’s not a matching Maple Leafs shirt; that would be obvious enough that even Joyce might pick up on it.
Good, now when Ruth piece’s things together and finds out about Becky she can’t kick her out because Becky knows her secret too.
So, Becky runs into Ruth. I’ve been wondering what’s going to happen when they meet.
Well, seems you won’t have to wait much longer, it has begun…
I love how friendly Becky is in this.
“Oh, is that a team you like?”
Agreed. Not quite a secret girlfriend high five, but I’ll take it.
I think it’s more: “I like how it accentuates your lack of pants.”
I think Becky is less interested in Billie’s giblets and more interested in a friend that knows about kissing-girls-stuff.
duh, should have said “caboodle”. Missed opportunity.
“Cos if your’re a Leafs fan, that might be a dealbreaker. MIGHT.”
YES. MORE REDHEADS. SET THE WORLD AFLAME
I just realized they all have different shades of red too.
Pretty sure one of them dyes their hair.
Wait seriously which one? And what makes you think that?
Carla’s hair shade looks less natural than the others. Cherry-red isn’t a hair color that exists in nature. Also she doesn’t wield the freckles like the others do, and she’s got motive, since her hair is the same color as her favorite cartoon character. After all, why would she want to keep her lame natural hair color like most humans when she could have Ultra Car colored hair?
Carla’s hair is kinda deep red, like Knockout’s paintjob. I don’t think many Humans have that colour naturally either. I’d say after market upgrade too…
I think Billie is ok with being surrounded by all the redheads.
I know I would be.
Of course she is ^^
If too much diversity means Soggies May Rule, what would happen in the event of too much redhead?
There is no such thing as too much redhead.
^
More redhead just means you’re winning the game.
‘Too much readhead’ is like saying ‘too much Becky’. Who is a redhead. Which simply emphasizes my point.
It’s a Khorne thing.
Bloodnuts for the Bloodnut god?
I was going to point out that between these three and Mandy, apparently the DoAVerse has no heterosexual redheads, but then I remembered Penny.
So the moral is Penny ruins everything.
Not necessarily all we know is she’s not a lesbian. She could be bi. This is a friggin internet fandom everyone is bi until proven otherwise!
And being proven not bi is impossible unless tested against all possible pairings. Therefore, as the burden of proof falls upon the defendant in internet court, the jury summarily rules in favor of bi.
And that’s before we start adding Faz’s weird Kinscey Scale logic: http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=204
Billie & The Redheads. Should be a band name, someone get on that.
Nah, it ought to be “Gingers and the Drunk”
Ginger Ale? Maybe? Eh….not feeling it tbh
Huh. Walk of shame cut short. (Any walk where you’re wearing a Leafs jersey is a walk of shame.)
And there are *two* Leafs jerseys in the hall in Clark.
I guess that’s more than are in the Hall of Fame.
(statlerandwaldorf.gif)
Dorm-based walks of shame barely count. I mean, people walk around half naked in dorms all the time (at least they did in mine) so it’s hard to tell “walk of shame” from “don’t have class until 3 PM”
When Billie wears it, it’s a walk of shame (you feel shame for her).
When Ruth wears it, it’s a walk of terror (you feel terror for her).
oh shit.
*plays Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” on the Muzak*
“Red head’s” that should be the title of this page, anyway Becky knows how to play it cool not to mention she’s like” what’s it to you, none of you business. “
Why did Ruth yell like that? Is there a law against two people talking in the hallway? I’m confused.
My guess would be that she’s overcompensating to hide the fact that their relationship has…changed.
Yeah, when’s the last time they put on a show of being hostile to each other in public? At least two days.
Overcompensating AND needing Billie to not be visible in clothing that’s conspicuously not hers.
Because Billie’s wearing what’s pretty obviously Ruth’s shirt and she doesnt want anyone to notice
Well, we know that Billie’s be stealing Ruth’s stuff, and that Ruth told her to stop: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/expelled/
Guess this jersey is something Billie stole
Well there is a Mary skulking about.
Because Billie is wearing Ruth’s jersey, which barely covers Billie’s ass, and getting some very clear interest from another girl, and Ruth is having insecure feelings she’s choosing to take out in a kind of unhealthy way.
Because Ruth yelling at Billie for no good reason is a lot less suspicious than Billie standing around in the hallway wearing nothing but Ruth’s shirt.
Have you MET Ruth? 😛
*Which is to say, it’d be more suspicious if she didn’t yell 😛
Because this has proven to be the most effective way to maintain their cover story and/or turn each other on?
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/lead-2/
I’m gonna disagree with most of the above. Ruth seems to be pretty angry this time. And unlike previous cases of mock hatred, this was completely unplanned, not to mention unexpected on Billie’s part.
And Billie slipped on the way she responded to that, too.
I think i’m gonna have to go with Rycan on this one, looks to me like Ruth’s pretty pissed off Billie grabbed 1 of her tops then just went parading it down the hall. like a few have said, it might be used as proof they’re doing more than just yelling at each other…
Aw Becky, you’re adorable when you try to flirt. Come on, Billie. You have whined for weeks that you want to be popular and now you have your own tag-along lesbian. Don’t complain.
Are you going to be jealous on Becky now, Ruth? I think she will find that flattering.
Billie shows how to wear your team’s colors with pride.
tag-along lesbian might be the funniest thing I’ve read this month
I am now picturing Becky selling girl scout cookies. Daisy walks by and orders like a gajillion boxes. Fade to slipshine.
Fortunately for this scenario, the girl scouts have a more reasonable stance on sexuality then their male counterparts.
One of these days I’m going to learn how to draw so I can make fanart of scenarios like that.
Porn featuring people acting as Girl Scouts selling cookies is kinda messed up. Usually, the girl selling you cookies is in elementary school.
I had not fully thought this through, and rationally I know you’re right, but for some reason this still makes me sad.
FWIW, in my head any allusions to girl scouts were long gone by the time the actual sexytimes started.
That’s not quite right.
Only very rarely do girl scouts sell cookies unsupervised, either by an older scout, or more commonly, parents.
So the ‘sexytimes’ may refer to a MILF-type encounter.
You are right and I’m sorry.
It comes with cultural dissonance – when I picture a scout of any gender I see someone about the age of the cast.
Well, to be fair, I’m pretty sure most people buy their Girl Guide cookies from Girl Guides’ parents at the office, so…
It’s especially messed up if the girl scout is played by Tim Curry.
And yet, so much better.
Yes, but is it a tag-along-lesbian-NINJA?
http://www.sandraontherocks.com/strips-sotr/lesbian_ninja
Team Billie&Ruth for hottest team couple in the comic?
That’s not fair- Ruth’d make any couple she’s in the hottest.
By knee-capping any opponents in the contest before it starts :X
I’ll just leave this here…
“If you’re from my floor I get to punch you for a reason OTHER than ogling my girlfriend wearing my jersey.”
“I mean.. ogling my.. arch.. nemesis… just stand there a moment, now I’m going to punch you double.”
You know its Funny I’m looking at Billie and for some reason she remind me of a bottle of RC soda.
http://imgur.com/7iJ5Dlv
Product placement at its finest.
I was going to counter with a beer brand until I realized I am highly alcohol illiterate.
Molson Ice?
Labatt’s Blue.
Oh hey, Carman! That takes me back.
Want to see something hilarious? Youtube his “Dungeons and Dragons” video. Keep in mind that he’s completely serious.
Watched bits of the “Witch’s Letter” video. It’s like watching some weird Joe Piscopo sketch.
Also funny in an “Oh God, why are there nails in my ears?!” kinda way, his late-90’s white guy rapping attempts (Resurrection Rap and Who’s in the House), and the one where he’s a demon-hunting cowboy (Satan, Bite the Dust).
…So yeah, you can probably tell I was raised in one of Those Households.
That jersey is #1. The question I must ask, therefore, is that an Andrew Raycroft jersey? Because if it is, seriously, why bother?
Now if it’s a Bower or Broda jersey, that would be pretty awesome.
I love them jumping eyebrows.
And the cute smiles and the surprised expression!
I smell a love triangle that will sadly never be.
“She’s been kind of an asshole, but she’s been through a lot, so we let it go” applies to a LOT of characters hereabouts, doesn’t it?
Ehhhhhhhh. Kind of. I’m far more forgiving of those who are visibly struggling to find a better way to be. Which thankfully applies to a lot of the assholes around here. Still not yet a fan of Malaya or Mary, though.
Well, Mary to our knowledge hasn’t been through anything, asshole is just her factory preset. Ditto with Malaya, whereas we’ve seen both Ruth and Becky take some real blows, and I really think we’ve only seen the tip of Ruth’s misery iceberg.
I still think it is premature to call Malaya an asshole. She’s a bit obnoxious (like everyone else in her social circle) and Sal doesn’t like her (and that’s partly because of jealousy), but she has not displayed the same grating egoism as in the Shortpacked universe.
Malaya has been traumatised by years of being asked why she was named after a part of Southeast Asia.
She probably wonders why a part of Southeast Asia was named after her.
Is that a Leafs T-shirt?
Huh. Is hockey popular enough in Indiana, that three people from wildly different backgrounds would know who the Maple Leafs are?
Carla might be a sports geek.
No, but since the Leafs are one of the “Original Six” even people who don’t follow hockey probably know about them. Now, take some of the expansion teams — I doubt anybody who doesn’t live near the Scioto River (or isn’t a total hockey geek) even knows about the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Still trying to figure out how states like Florida, California, and Georgia ended up with hockey teams. Really, guys? Hockey?
You were all just looking for someplace cold to hang out, weren’t you?
Daniel the Human’s head of them, but mainly in that the apparently keep loosing. Me, I’m still learning there’s a lot to learn about this planet…
*dives back onto net…*
*Drifts back to webcomics…*
One does not simply walk onto Ruths Floor
One climbs in through the window pretty easily, though, if one’s Sal.
Or Amazi-Girl 🙂
And possibly Dina, she does just sorta pop up..
I just think that Dina suffers from exaggerated quantum indeterminacy. I think the condition is known as the Heisenberg Syndrome.
Simple explanation also:
Ruth may just be rescuing Billie from an awkward situation as it appears that Billie doesn’t have the sense to shut up and walk away.
Becky’s an idiot, but at least she has a point, like as in who are you anyway?
Ruth’s answer is typical Ruth.
Wonder if Becky knows she’s not joking.
Uh, Ruth arrived from the left ? But when Billie tried to get backto Ruth’s room ,wasn’t she going to the right ?
Viewing from opposite wall? Circular hallway? Or will I wake up tomorrow, and find that the panels have been flipped?
Time will tell~
We don’t know Ruth was coming from her room, I’m guessing she rises earlier than Billie, and may have had shit to do, and just now be returning to her room.
Oh, that’d explain why she could get out of the room without Ruthless pointing the shirt thing, now that I think about it.
There is a convention in [Anglophone] sequential art (established by Charles M. Schultz, I understand) in which movement to the left and to the right have particular meanings. The past and prior situations are to the left, the future and developments are to the right, so facing to the right can indicate anticipation or orientation to new developments, movement to the right can indicate progress and overcoming obstacles, while facing to the left can indicate concern with the past and opposition to [another’s] progress, movement to the left can indicate defeat or retreat.
So don’t get too wrapped up in the spatial orientation of characters in strip-art stories: the drawings may indicate time and accomplishment with direction.
Shouldn’t that be “Leaves”?
Nope~
Leaves for plants, Leafs for hockey.
They are named after the maple leaf, the one on the flag. “S” on the end of the team name because there’s more than one player; but the “Leaf” component is singular rather than plural because they’re referring to a singular leaf, not just leaves from maple trees in general. 🙂
In the 5th panel, i wonder if Ruth’s expression is of intense guilt over what she had to say to Billie, or just when that question about Becky popped up in her head.
Guilt that she had a Leafs jersey laying around for Billie to humiliate herself in, perhaps?
Regret that they have to hide their relationship?
Busted! Break her in 2, Ruth!
The beginning of the end For Becky?
I wouldn’t say so, that Tweet feed box had an in-progress pic of Becky & Joyce few days ago that was being done for further along the bufferwatch. something tells me she’s gonna be around for a while…
Maybe a bit of jealousy mixed in there.
Becky’s clumsy attempt at making friends reminds me of this Joyce moment.
Always fun to see Leafs fans. Especially considering it’s all about the Montreal Canadiens this year. 😉
Of course, once the Nordiques come back, all those other Canadian teams will become pointless. 🙂
LOL. Becky just “Hillary-ied” Ruth. LOL
I sense an ERB coming on.
When Gingers Clash!
Ruth: Hey butthead, why don’t you make like a hockey team and get out of here.
Becky: You mean “leave”?
Billie: She means “leaf” which still doesn’t make sense.
Becky: Oh hey! Maybe its make like a hockey team and “score”? hehehe.
Ruth: ……
Billie: Hey Ruthless, why don’t YOU make like a hockey team and beat the ever loving shit out of this wierdo?
Everytime I see Ruth do one of her idle threats I’m flabbergasted that everyone takes it.
I knew this one guy and he had an incredibly low tolerance to threats, nice helpful guy most of the time but threaten him, even in jest, and he would explode. It seems incredibly wierd that someone could go around threatening to hurt people and never get any comeuppance for it.
Let alone when they actually do follow through on occasion… >.>
I do find it kind of strange that everybody goes along with Ruth’s attitude so easily (unless they’re rolling their eyes and deciding it just isn’t worth the effort). I’d like to see Ruth actually try to break somebody’s femurs. Try explaining that to your employers and the police.
Some people can REALLY SELL IT in a way that might be difficult to get across in this format.
Just FYI, this page tried to download something to my computer. Based on past behavior, I bet it was one of your ads. Don’t know which, tho, so just keep an eye out I guess.
Final made it to the last page! Well not last, more like latest. Extreme binge-reading aside, I wish this comic had some trans folk or androgeny in it. Damn hope I spelled that right. Either way both groups are underrepresented in culture, and I’d like to see a few trans guys like me in this, just my two cents 🙂
Joyce’s sister is a trans lady, and I bet she’ll come back. And so is Carla (aka Ultra-Car from Shortpacked!) I am also sure that there are trans men characters who just haven’t told you that personal part of their history yet.
It’s androgyny. Andro=man, gyn=woman. Like gynecologist, or misogyny.
Miso-gyny means “soup woman”.
So let me get this straight. Male-to-female (like Bruce/Belinda Jenner) is trans-lady; female-to-male (like Chastity/Chaz Bono) is trans-man?
It actually has 2! Carla (who even appears on today’s comic) and Joyce’s sister!
There are at least two trans ladies in DoA. One of them is in this strip. Though, yes, no trans guys that I know of.
Are there really that many redheads in… any part of America? As a third worlder I never understood why every single girl next door in comics had red hair when I only ever saw one natural redhead in my whole life and it was a guy from freshman year.
This post is probably very racist but honestly I got to know.
Wikipedia says about 2-6% of the us population has red hair so like 6 to 8 million people.
As far as the trope goes, It’s definitely a thing in media. I think its an easy way to visually distinguish a heroine or love interest, prescisely because it is uncommon. I don’t think Willis has that in mind though since his characters are developed enough that they don’t have to exist solely in relationship to each other. DOA has… Four red heads if I recall right? ruth, becky, carla and… Grace? Teriary lesbian whose name I forget? Idk, but its possible Carla dyes hers since it’s pretty fire engine like a certain totally rad cartoon car she likes. So there’s not even that many in the strip.
You’re thinking of Mandy. Grace is her blonde girlfriend. And I believe they’re bi.
There’s also Jason’s officemate Penny, Ruth’s brother Howard, Dorothy’s mother Deborah, and Amber’s red-headed doppelgänger Rose.
Hair color is an easy way to make characters visually distinct, so you’ll frequently end up with “the blonde one”, “the brunette one”, “the black-haired one”, “the redheaded one” (and in anime, “the blue-haired one”, “the pink-haired one”)… instead of the more realistic “the brunette”, “the slightly darker brunette”, “the slightly lighter brunette”, “the brunette with the auburn dye-job”…
Blondes are not as common in real life as they are in fiction, either.
DoA has three different Walkyverse casts merged together, so it’s got three casts worth of “the redheaded one”.
Ugh 6 to 18 million people
So i was reading itswalky. I got to the car crash and read the bit about ruths character concept. I cried like a Joe 🙁