Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

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June 1, 2026

Bones

by David M Willis on February 5, 2019 at 12:01 am
  • 02 - But the Sun Still Shines
└ Tags: jennifer, ruth

Discussion (213) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    February 5, 2019 at 12:03 am | #

    “Trying is hard! Let’s go get smashed”

    “uh, we’ve been through this, and it kinda sucked, remember?”

    “Remembering is hard! Let’s go get smashed”

    “…”

    • Clif
      Clif
      February 5, 2019 at 12:53 am | #

      So what are you drinking for Valentine’s day?

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        February 5, 2019 at 2:03 am | #

        “Yes.”

        -Billie, probably

  2. AnvilPro
    AnvilPro
    February 5, 2019 at 12:03 am | #

    Hell yeah Ruth!

    • AutobotDen
      AutobotDen
      February 5, 2019 at 12:04 am | #

      Agreed! but my gut tells me Billie will react poorly.

      • Doctor_Who
        Doctor_Who
        February 5, 2019 at 12:09 am | #

        My gut tells me that now is the perfect time for Lucy to jump out of that bush with a tray of Jello shots.

        • Clif
          Clif
          February 5, 2019 at 1:05 am | #

          I like your gut. But I wouldn’t want to live there.

          • butts
            butts
            February 5, 2019 at 1:44 am | #

            ’tis a silly place

            • Needfuldoer
              Needfuldoer
              February 5, 2019 at 1:58 am | #

              It’s only a model.

              • Tualha
                Tualha
                February 5, 2019 at 2:44 am | #

                Shh!

                (Someone had to do it.)

                • Roborat
                  Roborat
                  February 7, 2019 at 5:41 pm | #

                  Well, if you hadn’t, I would have.

    • foamy
      foamy
      February 5, 2019 at 12:08 am | #

      Preach, sister.

    • keithcurtis
      keithcurtis
      February 5, 2019 at 7:55 pm | #

      Yeah, it’s about time. Go, Ruth.

  3. shadowcell
    shadowcell
    February 5, 2019 at 12:04 am | #

    Dumbing of Age Book 9: We Can Just Keep Letting Alcohol Do All the Heavy Lifting

    • Clif
      Clif
      February 5, 2019 at 1:08 am | #

      DOA9: Well, Whatever, You Get the Idea

      • Keulen
        Keulen
        February 5, 2019 at 3:27 am | #

        DoA Book 9: I Worry, Every Other Day

        • Dean
          Dean
          February 5, 2019 at 3:50 am | #

          DoA9: You Have To Keep Trying Every Day, Forever.

        • HeySo
          HeySo
          February 5, 2019 at 10:33 am | #

          @Keulen Now put it to song. 😛

          • Enkrod
            Enkrod
            February 5, 2019 at 2:18 pm | #

            How was I able to live without that?

  4. William Leonard Reese Jr.
    William Leonard Reese Jr.
    February 5, 2019 at 12:04 am | #

    . . . This is actually a pretty decent argument to have. Especially since Ruth has been keeping clean vs Billie who has been cheating their deal. . If I am remembering what happened right at the least. It’s been a while.

    • Cephalo the Pod
      Cephalo the Pod
      February 5, 2019 at 12:05 am | #

      I’m lretty sure they never renewed the deal after Billie broke it.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      February 5, 2019 at 12:06 am | #

      I don’t think Billie’s ever tried to quit this entire comic.

    • Sam
      Sam
      February 5, 2019 at 12:08 am | #

      Their original deal was they would both stop. Then it became a self-destructive pact where they both overindulged and were secretly together. Now Ruth is trying to recover while Billie refuses to acknowledge she has a problem but in doing so is continuously insensitive to Ruth not wanting to drink.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      February 5, 2019 at 8:07 am | #

      Yup. This has needed to happen for awhile. It’s going to be nasty and it might end their relationship, but it’s been the elephant in the room since Ruth got help.
      They can’t go on like this. Something needs to change.

      I hope they find a way through it.

  5. Nono
    Nono
    February 5, 2019 at 12:04 am | #

    Oh hey, here’s the start of the impending Valentine’s Day crash.

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      February 5, 2019 at 12:05 am | #

      It is not a sexy fight!

      • Chris Phoenix
        Chris Phoenix
        February 5, 2019 at 2:03 am | #

        Yet.

    • Schol-R-LEA
      Schol-R-LEA
      February 5, 2019 at 1:40 pm | #

      Hopefully not the sort of crash that Ruth had in Roomies…

  6. Cephalo the Pod
    Cephalo the Pod
    February 5, 2019 at 12:04 am | #

    Nine.

    • Schpoonman
      Schpoonman
      February 5, 2019 at 12:55 am | #

      Oh I like you.

  7. Cheshrin
    Cheshrin
    February 5, 2019 at 12:04 am | #

    Billie: “We’ve been through too much, our relationship is too strong to break!”

    Billie’s alcoholism, navigating her foot directly towards her mouth at lightship speeds: “Hold your beer.”

    • Plasma Mongoose
      Plasma Mongoose
      February 5, 2019 at 12:30 am | #

      Billie will hold your beer just long enough to drink it.

    • Alanari
      Alanari
      February 5, 2019 at 5:26 am | #

      I’ve had a partner one with whom I’ve been though a lot together. It was a horrible relationship. It was a relief when it ended. We were focused on the outer problems, so we didn’t notice our inner problems until we had a moment to breathe-and to realise that we actually were a horrible couple. Our personalities don’t mix very well. We’re still friends. But having endured a lot together doesn’t automatically mean a relationship works in the everyday life.

    • Diner Kinetic
      Diner Kinetic
      February 5, 2019 at 10:17 am | #

      Hahahahahaha glorious

      • Diner Kinetic
        Diner Kinetic
        February 5, 2019 at 10:18 am | #

        I mean to the awesome joke, not the serious life drama. I’m glad you worked that stuff out tho!

  8. m-m
    m-m
    February 5, 2019 at 12:04 am | #

    Nice going, Ruth!!

    • Tilt
      Tilt
      February 5, 2019 at 12:14 am | #

      Ruth? The recovering alcoholic whose parents were killed by a drunk driver and holds deep feelings of resentment for her alcoholism, which fuels her extreme depressive swings, but continues to be pressured by her alcoholic girlfriend into drinking? It’s her fault?

      • BBCC
        BBCC
        February 5, 2019 at 12:15 am | #

        I believe that was meant as an encouraging ‘nice going’ rather than a sarcastic one.

      • C.T Phipps
        C.T Phipps
        February 5, 2019 at 2:01 am | #

        Were Billie *NOT* an alcoholic with severe issues needing treatment, putting the pressure of recovery on a new relationship would be a serious issue. You can’t build a serious new relationship and recover, IMHO. There’s too much pressure and guilt as well as anger through it [family of alcoholics, FYI].

        But Billie IS someone who needs off the sauce herself so it’s a bit like saying, “Well if Joyce wasn’t a fundamentalist evangelical as well as the Ding Dong Whiteboard Bandit…”

        • Meagan
          Meagan
          February 5, 2019 at 4:07 am | #

          I cannot follow your comment. What?

          • C.T Phipps
            C.T Phipps
            February 5, 2019 at 5:51 am | #

            I said Ruth’s insistence on Billie conforming to her needs would be really shitty if not for the fact Billie needs help with the exact same problem.

            • Emily
              Emily
              February 5, 2019 at 7:16 am | #

              Insisting that your partner not constantly try to undermine your sobriety is hardly an unfair expectation. Like this not be an unreasonable thing to ask of Billie even if she weren’t an alcoholic herself because it’s a shitty thing to do to your partner regardless.

            • Jo
              Jo
              February 5, 2019 at 8:07 am | #

              when someone is trying to get sober, the right thing to do is to support them through that. the shitty thing to do is to try to get then back onto the habit they are trying to heal from… Billy is being a shitty partner by insisting that Ruth gets drunk

            • Sam
              Sam
              February 5, 2019 at 8:34 am | #

              It absolutely would not be. Asking your partner to be RESPECTFUL of your needs and to stop undermining your recovery is not a heavy burden to put on them regardless of whether they have the same problem or not.

              • C.T Phipps
                C.T Phipps
                February 5, 2019 at 10:10 am | #

                Coming from a family of alcoholics, if one of your partners is a social drinker and it is one of their hobbies, it’s a pretty huge change to impose and will destroy the relationship.

                Solution: You need to stop having that person in your life.

                • thejeff
                  thejeff
                  February 5, 2019 at 10:43 am | #

                  That person can also go out and have social drinks with other friends and without you, not keep booze at home and just generally not throw temptation directly at the alcoholic.

                • the final pam
                  the final pam
                  February 5, 2019 at 12:37 pm | #

                  The social drinker can still drink?? No one’s saying they need to stop drinking. What they need to do is stop offering drinks to the person saying “I don’t want to drink alcohol.”

                  This isn’t a riddle, this isn’t something that has multiple layers or anything. If someone says “I don’t want to drink alcohol” regardless of if they’re a recovering alcoholic or just someone that wants to remain sober, you don’t offer them alcohol or try to get them to drink. That’s it.

                  Ruth isn’t even asking Billie to stop drinking. She’s telling Billie to stop offering her alcohol. She is setting a boundary. This is no different from, say, Joyce telling Billie she doesn’t want to drink. She’s not making Billie conform to her needs, she’s just asking for a little bit of respect.

                • geno
                  geno
                  February 5, 2019 at 6:36 pm | #

                  What you want would only work if Billie wasn’t an asshole. She’s a jerk who won’t want to change until she has no choice. You people keep insisting that it’s all going to be okay, but Billie has made zero effort to change. If Ruth wants to be okay she needs to dump Billie

                • thejeff
                  thejeff
                  February 5, 2019 at 9:04 pm | #

                  Well, I guess it’s good we’ve come so far from “Ruth is an abusive monster and Billie her victim” that we’re now able to paint Billie as the monster who doesn’t deserve Ruth.

                • Emily
                  Emily
                  February 5, 2019 at 9:15 pm | #

                  Ruth has actually made an effort to change and atone for her actions. Billie is not only actively working to regress any positive character development she’s experienced she’s also either intentionally trying to sabotage Ruth’s sobriety because Ruth recovering makes her feel less needed or she’s doing it unintentionally because she’s too self-absorbed to recognize how dangerous alcohol is to Ruth. Billie has kinda sucked a whole lot vis a vis her relationship with Ruth and it’s not unfair demonizing to think that Ruth deserves better than a girlfriend who disavows any meaningful relationship with her and undermines her sobriety even though she literally nearly drank herself to death.

                • thejeff
                  thejeff
                  February 5, 2019 at 10:27 pm | #

                  Not saying Billie’s perfect or anything, just observing how it seems to be one extreme or the other. Billie’s certainly screwing up right now.
                  Ruth hit bottom before she started to her her shit together. Billie hasn’t done that yet.

            • Charlotte
              Charlotte
              February 6, 2019 at 12:25 pm | #

              Again, insisting that your partner not constantly bug you to drink alcohol is not an unreasonable request in any relationship.

  9. Osopescado
    Osopescado
    February 5, 2019 at 12:04 am | #

    “But you’re so cute with those little bubbles drawn around your face!”

  10. BBCC
    BBCC
    February 5, 2019 at 12:05 am | #

    This is gonna be rough but it needs to happen.

    And yeah, that was the exact wrong thing to say. I suspect that any shippers here are gonna need a hug so I am leaving this basket of them here.

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      February 5, 2019 at 12:10 am | #

      You mean a basket of hugs, right? Because if I end up with another basket of shippers on my doorstep, I’m gonna develop a drinking problem of my own.

      • BBCC
        BBCC
        February 5, 2019 at 12:13 am | #

        I mean a basket of hugs yes.

    • Ninjabuttocks
      Ninjabuttocks
      February 5, 2019 at 5:06 am | #

      Thanks, I’m really worried about what’s gonna happen.

    • Emily
      Emily
      February 5, 2019 at 7:17 am | #

      I ship Ruth with recovery more than I do with Billie so if Billie is going to continue to be a stubborn roadblock to that recovery she gotta go.

      • Red Comet
        Red Comet
        February 5, 2019 at 10:01 am | #

        Yep. Billie is probably not good for Ruth’s recovery so if things don’t change I hope the relationship ends and Ruth stays strong. Her life > college girlfriend.

        But I’m rooting for Billie to come through even though I think it might take some unrealisticly fast character growth to make that happen.

        • Schpoonman
          Schpoonman
          February 5, 2019 at 12:47 pm | #

          I’m only worried that Ruth realizing how bad Billie is for her will cause her to regress, given the loss of “support”.

          Fun story: About five years ago I started taking anti-depressants. After about two weeks I really started to feel their effect, I was really looking up. Then I got stood up on a date. Turns out meds can also operate on momentum and they stopped doing shit after that.

          I want Ruth and Billie broken up. Billie just sucks as a person; I’ve dealt with enough people who “cared” but treated me like shit regardless to know that big vague intentions don’t mean a fucking thing if every moment-to-moment interaction with someone is still damaging.

  11. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    February 5, 2019 at 12:05 am | #

    *plays “Broken Wings” on the hacked P.A. speaker*

    • ValdVin
      ValdVin
      February 5, 2019 at 12:53 pm | #

      Can’t we rig up a pair of country songs, a drinking one for Billie and a “I’m sorry and I’m on the wagon” ballad for Ruth?

  12. MatthewTheLucky
    MatthewTheLucky
    February 5, 2019 at 12:06 am | #

    Oh, right, Valentines.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      February 5, 2019 at 12:06 am | #

      Looks like Willis is getting a head’s start.

      NOBODY ASKED FOR THAT, WILLIS.

      • JBento
        JBento
        February 5, 2019 at 7:27 am | #

        I feel called out.

    • ValdVin
      ValdVin
      February 5, 2019 at 12:51 pm | #

      I love New Danny, but it’s not the right avatar for your spot-on comment. There must be a grumpy Sarah here somewhere.

  13. lilyliv
    lilyliv
    February 5, 2019 at 12:06 am | #

    I’m proud of Ruth. I find it really hard to break bad habits, and *I* mostly just struggle with not biting my nails. This is a way bigger deal and I’m proud of her for starting this argument because it needs to be had.

    • lilyliv
      lilyliv
      February 5, 2019 at 12:07 am | #

      Well, a *conversation* needs to be had, but it might need to be an argument to get Billie to realize how serious it is, so…

  14. Doopyboop
    Doopyboop
    February 5, 2019 at 12:08 am | #

    This is a long time coming, unfortunately. Ruth and Billie both have their points, in that relationships do take work every day. And that they’ve been through hell and high water and so they can continue to sail forward. But just going through some deep shit together doesn’t mean they don’t have to do any work.

    And Billie’s been avoiding needing to work. She’s been avoiding the psychologist, avoiding kicking her alcoholism, and avoiding letting her new dorm people realize she loves Ruth. And seeing how just that morning she tried to get Ruth to go drinking along with complaining about her not wanting to go out… Billie, babe, if you want this to work, you really have to start putting in the work.

    • Sam
      Sam
      February 5, 2019 at 12:13 am | #

      Billie puts in work for Ruth’s wellbeing in some aspects (reminding Ruth to take medication, comforting her that she won’t be forgotten, will fight anyone who upsets her) but does not in other major aspects (refuses to work on herself, insensitive to Ruth’s attempt to recover from alcoholism in part due to refusal to acknowledge it is a problem for herself).

      • Doopyboop
        Doopyboop
        February 5, 2019 at 12:18 am | #

        Those are all amazing things to put in work for as well! I’d say it’s why the two have lasted up to this point. Billie does love Ruth, and she’s willing to battle Ruth’s demons as well as the dorm people, but it’s like that old adage. Sometimes your biggest enemy is yourself and Billie’s all too aware of that since she sees herself as poison.

        • Sam
          Sam
          February 5, 2019 at 12:32 am | #

          I agree. Her biggest enemy in relationships is herself; her ego, her unwillingness to try to change, her unwillingness to accept something is wrong. She is simultaneously aware of it, and not, because she rejects and denies it where possible to maintain her ego.

          Their relationship isn’t fragile to outside influences but is more fragile to internal ones.

          • C.T Phipps
            C.T Phipps
            February 5, 2019 at 1:58 am | #

            Billie has a lot of pressure on her and it’s unfair to throw this entirely on her. Ironically, for all of the **** we give Forest Quad, it’s probably very emotionally healthy for her because it encourages her not to fall into self-hatred and loathing.

            What helps Ruth’s recovery may not help Billie’s and their relationship may be too much pressure for both.

            • Doopyboop
              Doopyboop
              February 5, 2019 at 3:02 am | #

              Denial isn’t emotionally healthy. Reinforcing the idea that her girlfriend is NOT her girlfriend and instead was some big to dominate an authority figure isn’t emotionally healthy. Having her asshole continuously licked to the point that someone like Lucy (who’s biggest crime is being a little annoying/overbearing at times) is being tossed to the wayside by said ass-lickers, is not emotionally healthy. It reeks of enabling. It is in fact one of the least healthy things in this comic. Were they actual friends of Billie that’d be one thing, but they aren’t. Their shiny view of Billie was threatening to crumble just because they learned she wears glasses. That isn’t emotionally healthy.

              I guess they do help keep her from falling into self-hatred but you have to understand that it isn’t…in a healthy way. It’s like sticking your fingers in your ears and going “LALALALA ACTUALLY I’M THE BEST AT EVERYTHING I DO” without confronting the toxic aspects of Billie’s life. She shouldn’t feel like shit for being a flawed human being, no. She isn’t a drama hurricane and I felt for her when Alice came in and wrecked her self-esteem. But Forest Quad is bad for her.

              Depending on what happens in the next few strips, you may be right on the money on your last point. Ruth’s recovery involves moving forward. Billie’s is living in the past. At some point, they’re gonna butt heads and they’ll have to make a decision.

            • Sam
              Sam
              February 5, 2019 at 8:29 am | #

              It is not emotionally healthy to pretend your problems do not exist. Enabling someone’s worst habits is not helping them or emotionally healthy for them. Billie doesn’t hate herself any less at the end of the day because of it – she just doesn’t acknowledge it is something that exists which isn’t the same as being in a place where you don’t hate yourself.

              I can also absolutely put it all on Billie because the source of the pressure is… herself! She’s the one setting these standards for herself! Ruth literally did not create or encourage any of it and all their current possible drama bombs, stem from Billie’s behaviour to maintain her ego and impress some random people in a dorm hall. Because Ruth has actually been trying to do better, to get better and from what we have seen, hasn’t really been hiding anything from Billie.

              And while it is true that what helps one person’s recovery may not help another’s, the problem is that Billie is being insensitive to Ruth recovering and doesn’t even acknowledge that she should be trying to recover. You can’t say your ‘recovery’ is being hindered, when you aren’t even trying and are just insensitively stomping on someone else’s.

  15. Bathymetheus
    Bathymetheus
    February 5, 2019 at 12:09 am | #

    In panel four, the Maple Leafs shirt is particularly apposite.

    Maple Leaves?

    • Marsh Maryrose
      Marsh Maryrose
      February 5, 2019 at 12:22 am | #

      As in, “Time to make like a maple and leave?”

      • ValdVin
        ValdVin
        February 5, 2019 at 12:50 pm | #

        What, is it the first round of the playoffs already?

    • ǝ snow ʍousɐ
      ǝ snow ʍousɐ
      February 5, 2019 at 11:03 am | #

      Pretty sure it’s Leafs.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        February 5, 2019 at 2:28 pm | #

        Yeah, sports team plurals can be relied on to be wrong.

      • Bathymetheus
        Bathymetheus
        February 5, 2019 at 11:18 pm | #

        Initially I was just pointing out the irony of Ruth’s unironic comment about long term loyalty while wearing a Leafs shirt.

        Then I added in the bit about the correct syntax because I was taught at an early age that getting such things wrong was a sign of inferior intellect (or breeding – these two were conflated pretty much). I did not intend it to be taken seriously. Officially it’s “Leafs” – it’s right there on the official merchandise shirt – and whether that’s “wrong” depends on one’s subjective view of the immutability (or not) of grammatical rules.

        As an adult, I am rather more relaxed about such things than my teachers would be comfortable with. And Hey! I just ended a sentence with a preposition. Now to lovingly split an infinitive . . .

  16. not someone else
    not someone else
    February 5, 2019 at 12:14 am | #

    And here is where Ruth realizes she’s significantly more mature than Billie despite- or because of?- being in a worse mental place and we wind up having heart-ripping flashes between them, Walky and anyone he winds up interacting with, and possibly Joe and Joyce, huh.

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      February 5, 2019 at 12:19 am | #

      She’s got a couple of years on her, I think, and some more pressing responsibilities in her little brother and her position. I don’t know that Billie really has anyone to let down in her mind if she bottoms out. Billie needs to have a moment of clarity on the substance abuse. (She kinda had one on some of her personality stuff, but even that’s a work in progress)

      • BBCC
        BBCC
        February 5, 2019 at 12:23 am | #

        Yeah, Ruth is 20 to Billie’s 18.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        February 5, 2019 at 1:54 am | #

        Forest Quad let Billie relapse into her old habits and bury her problems under a layer of unwarranted praise.

        • C.T Phipps
          C.T Phipps
          February 5, 2019 at 1:56 am | #

          Billie being a party girl isn’t, by itself, a bad thing. But sadly her massive amount of self-loathing and lack of self-control means it takes her to a very dark place.

          Places where her relationship with Ruth hurts.

          Honestly, Forest Quad may be a place where she can get recovery because Billie drinks to not hate herself while she doesn’t hate herself with her fawning admirers.

          • Needfuldoer
            Needfuldoer
            February 5, 2019 at 2:09 am | #

            And that’s why being a party girl is a bad thing for her individually. It lets her ignore the very real problems impacting her life, consequences be damned.

          • thejeff
            thejeff
            February 5, 2019 at 7:54 am | #

            Billie is not a “party girl”*. She’s an alcoholic.

            Or at least, she’s not just a party girl. I mean, she does occasionally go to parties.

            But mostly, that’s not where she does her drinking. She drinks alone in her room in the dark. She goes to the bar in the morning instead of class. She suggests drinking to her recovering alcoholic girlfriend.
            As far as I know there’s no indication she’s drinking any less now that she’s in Forest Quad. You might think their fawning would help with her self-loathing, but as much as she enjoys it, I’m not sure there’s any effect. Might even make it worse, if she’s feeling guilt over lying about Ruth to get the rush of admiration.

            • Emily
              Emily
              February 5, 2019 at 7:57 am | #

              If anything putting Billie on this pedestal and forcing her to conform to this bizarro ideal of her they have in order for her to keep their positive regard is just going to do more damage because it’s not actually her they idolize it’s some imagined version of her who doesn’t wear glasses and is too cool to love her girlfriend and she’s fully aware of this.

          • Sam
            Sam
            February 5, 2019 at 8:43 am | #

            Forest Quad is not encouraging her to recover remotely. It is just giving her more reasons to feel guilt, shame and like she has to maintain an image or she’s not good enough. Having admiring fans lets her ignore her problem, it doesn’t actually fix it and they could disappear at literally any moment when they get fixated on someone or something else. She can’t rely on unwarranted praise to enable her to pretend nothing is wrong forever.

            • thejeff
              thejeff
              February 5, 2019 at 10:47 am | #

              And they encourage her to behavior that’s just going to build more guilt. Her denial of Ruth has to be eating at her inside.

  17. Luxshine
    Luxshine
    February 5, 2019 at 12:15 am | #

    YES! I am SO proud of Ruth for this. And if Billie doesn’t get it, her loss. Ruth deserves better than a girlfriend who wants to make her engage in destructive habits.

    • newllend(henryvolt)
      newllend(henryvolt)
      February 5, 2019 at 4:29 am | #

      Ok alcoholic Jokes Aside Ruth’s got a point, you would think both of them would be on the same page here to ease up on the drinking after it nearly killed Ruth twice and in a since almost killed Billie with that car accident, not to mention Billie’s alcoholism has cost her a few friends and that precious cheerleader status of hers.

      Billy has to stop at one point ask herself when enough is enough, because Ruth sure as hell has realised it.

  18. Piotr W
    Piotr W
    February 5, 2019 at 12:18 am | #

    Yay Ruth!

  19. Kern Wallace
    Kern Wallace
    February 5, 2019 at 12:18 am | #

    Valentine’s is coming early this year.

    • Chris Phoenix
      Chris Phoenix
      February 5, 2019 at 3:45 am | #

      No, it’s not Valentine’s yet. DamnYouWillis is crueler than that.

      They’ll fight for several days, then make up around Feb. 9 or 10, then go to movie night.

      During movie night, on February 14th, Billie will gulp a Jello shot in front of Ruth.

      And Ruth will say, “It’s over,” and mean it.

      • Emily
        Emily
        February 5, 2019 at 7:54 am | #

        Or Ruth will find out how Billie has been demeaning her to her dorm mates.

  20. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    February 5, 2019 at 12:20 am | #

    I’m glad. I like Billie, I do, but Billie’s right to confront her and not just let it slide. It’s the only way this will get any better.

  21. mrnoidea
    mrnoidea
    February 5, 2019 at 12:20 am | #

    You don’t have to struggle every day, but like any chore required for clean, healthy living, you got to put in the effort sometime.

    • ego
      ego
      February 5, 2019 at 3:34 pm | #

      well, if *wanting* clean, healthy living doesn’t come naturally, the effort level may be a bit higher.

  22. Bagge
    Bagge
    February 5, 2019 at 12:23 am | #

    Ouch! Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, OUCH! Those are the heavy guns.

    This is exactly what Billie has been afraid of since Ruth left the hospital. Ruth is doing better. She’s starting to see a future, however vaguely shaped. Billie however is just as crap as ever (in her own mind). Now Ruth will move on and leave her behind…

    • chris73
      chris73
      February 5, 2019 at 12:27 am | #

      For Ruth’s sake I hope she does

      • C.T Phipps
        C.T Phipps
        February 5, 2019 at 2:07 am | #

        Honestly, Billie is in a better place than she was in Ruth’s dorm. Her sycopants really do help her feel better about herself. You know, not suicidal.

        Both of them are better off and that’s causing their problem.

        • chris73
          chris73
          February 5, 2019 at 2:32 am | #

          Excapt that Billie is living in a…I don’t know, alternative universe or dream world or something and eventually it’ll all come crashing down whereas Ruth is trying get better, is trying to face reality

          • Bagge
            Bagge
            February 5, 2019 at 3:48 am | #

            Thing is, Billie sees their entire relationship as that dream world, and she fully believes it will come crashing down.

            She sees no future for them, only a continued state of denial.

            …which kinda worked as a foundation for a relationship when Ruth thought the same. Now, no so much

            • C.T Phipps
              C.T Phipps
              February 5, 2019 at 5:52 am | #

              Yes, Billie dated Ruth with no expectations.

              Now there are expectations.

              • Emily
                Emily
                February 5, 2019 at 9:29 am | #

                If you expect to live a life free of expectations you should live alone in the wilderness because there are always expectations in any human relationship.

                • C.T Phipps
                  C.T Phipps
                  February 5, 2019 at 10:12 am | #

                  If you have a relationship where your partner expects you to change, you have a shitty relationship.

                • David M Willis
                  David M Willis
                  February 5, 2019 at 10:28 am | #

                  i feel like this platitude exists mostly to justify shitty behavior

                • Emily
                  Emily
                  February 5, 2019 at 10:20 am | #

                  Sure but sometimes it’s shitty because you’re the problem and need to change not because they want you to change. The recovering alcoholic asking her girlfriend to stop undermining her sobriety is not the problem. You should absolutely change behaviours that are harmful to your partner. Hell, you should change behaviours that are harmful to people in general let alone the person you claim to actually care about.

                • thejeff
                  thejeff
                  February 5, 2019 at 10:59 am | #

                  There’s truth in it in many cases. It’s crappy to view a partner as a “fixer-upper”, who you’ll mold to meet what you’re actually looking for.

                  But in this kind of case? Hell yeah.

  23. tirachokko
    tirachokko
    February 5, 2019 at 12:30 am | #

    OuR bOnD iSn’T tHaT fRaGiLe
    yes, the codependency doesn’t grow more alarming with every relapse Billie.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      February 5, 2019 at 12:33 am | #

      Billie hasn’t relapsed.

      She’s never quit in the first place.

      • tirachokko
        tirachokko
        February 5, 2019 at 9:27 am | #

        attempts at getting Ruth to relapse really

        • BBCC
          BBCC
          February 5, 2019 at 2:41 pm | #

          Yup.

  24. Plasma Mongoose
    Plasma Mongoose
    February 5, 2019 at 12:32 am | #

    If Billie keeps falling off the wagon, sooner or later, she will find herself in a paddywagon.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      February 5, 2019 at 12:35 am | #

      Can’t fall off a wagon if you never got on it.

      • RicardtheDragoon
        RicardtheDragoon
        February 5, 2019 at 12:49 am | #

        Does it still count if she was too drunk to get on the wagon without the wagon “moving away from her”?
        Pick your antecedent for “it”.
        A) Falling off the wagon
        B) Getting on the wagon

        • Clif
          Clif
          February 5, 2019 at 1:02 am | #

          Either way.

  25. jmsr7
    jmsr7
    February 5, 2019 at 12:36 am | #

    I honestly don’t think that Billie was trying to get Ruth to start drinking again here, it seems more like she was trying to be dismissive and change the topic.

    But she’s in denial about her drinking problem and Ruth has had enough of her trying to avoid it. Possibly. We’ll see which direction this goes since it’s starting with “you’re trying to drag me down.”

    • Schpoonman
      Schpoonman
      February 5, 2019 at 12:58 am | #

      I think this is the third time today that Billie has suggested alcohol to Ruth.

      • TheKelliestKelly
        TheKelliestKelly
        February 5, 2019 at 1:14 am | #

        The first time Billie suggested alcohol was in this comic http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-9-comic/02-but-the-sun-still-shines/waffles-2/ Ruth rejected the suggestion and they then started talking about her meds for the last three panels.

        In the next comic, Billie says that Ruth need the party and she, Billie, is fortunately a party girl. The obvious implication here is that Ruth should go drink with her. I’m not sure if that comic counts as a second attempt but, yeah. This certainly isn’t the first time Billie has brought up alcohol today.

    • C.T Phipps
      C.T Phipps
      February 5, 2019 at 1:54 am | #

      I think it’s more, simply, that Billie doesn’t intend to stop drinking and is surprised that Ruth does.

      • Alanari
        Alanari
        February 5, 2019 at 3:56 am | #

        Or subconsciously wants her to drink. So that either she feels better about her own drinking or things become more the way they were, with Ruth being more dependent on her.

    • Sam
      Sam
      February 5, 2019 at 8:50 am | #

      She likely wasn’t trying to actually get her to, I honestly think she was just being insensitive to the fact Ruth is trying to stop because she refuses to acknowledge it is a problem for herself. But this isn’t the first time she has been insensitive today so it would start to get grating.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        February 5, 2019 at 10:48 am | #

        And worse: tempting.

        But yeah, I agree. I don’t think Billie is actively trying to drag Ruth down, she just doesn’t understand.

  26. JediMB
    JediMB
    February 5, 2019 at 12:38 am | #

    Fix your shit, Billie! I didn’t get invested in this relationship so you could wreck it! (I shout at a fictional character that was drawn months in advance.)

  27. AntJ
    AntJ
    February 5, 2019 at 12:49 am | #

    I was afraid the fight would be over Billie’s popularity at Foster, but now it’s this and I’m so happy

  28. newllend(henryvolt)
    newllend(henryvolt)
    February 5, 2019 at 12:54 am | #

    Like seriously Billie if you don’t cut this enabling shit out your going to end up putting Ruth in a position she doesn’t want to be in where she has you on the chopping block. You don’t want that and she doesn’t want that so make an effort.

  29. Cody C.
    Cody C.
    February 5, 2019 at 12:58 am | #

    Being someone who has had to struggle with alcoholism, especially due to growing up with an alcoholic as a parent, I definitely empathize with Ruth in that final panel. Sometimes it gets frustrating when people who should be thinking about your well-being try to get you to partake in a habit that has already proved to be incredibly dangerous to you, frustrating enough that you just have to be blunt about it and snap at them.

    • Sam
      Sam
      February 5, 2019 at 8:53 am | #

      I’m glad that you are (hopefully) in a better place in life now.

      • Cody C.
        Cody C.
        February 6, 2019 at 12:08 am | #

        I think I’m getting there. Like most stuff like this, it’s always a struggle, but some medical issues do make the struggle a bit easier (nothing serious, just makes it a lot harder to drink).

  30. Azu
    Azu
    February 5, 2019 at 1:00 am | #

    Is that really a myth? I’d heard it gone through in what felt like an at least somewhat scientific way, something about creating micro fractures when punching hard stuff so they stitch back together in a denser form that allows you to punch harder stuff?

    • Azu
      Azu
      February 5, 2019 at 1:00 am | #

      good gravatar

    • David M Willis
      David M Willis
      February 5, 2019 at 1:38 am | #

      They’re stronger at first, but eventually they’re no stronger than any of your other bones.

      • C.T Phipps
        C.T Phipps
        February 5, 2019 at 1:53 am | #

        Poor Tai Lung did that for his Red Panda master! No wonder he’s pissed!

        • BBCC
          BBCC
          February 5, 2019 at 9:37 am | #

          Plus Tigress punched ironwood trees until her nerves finally died.

          I’m beginning to think Shi-Fu was a lacklustre parent.

          • JBento
            JBento
            February 5, 2019 at 10:33 am | #

            Linda’s totem animal!

            • BBCC
              BBCC
              February 5, 2019 at 11:18 am | #

              Hey, unlike Linda, Shi Fu TRIES to do better after both those failures blow up in his face.

    • Roborat
      Roborat
      February 7, 2019 at 5:49 pm | #

      It is muscles that heal stronger, not bones.

  31. Bobcat
    Bobcat
    February 5, 2019 at 1:06 am | #

    Billie, FFS.

  32. ktbear
    ktbear
    February 5, 2019 at 1:30 am | #

    I hate that I called this as being what the Valentine’s Day fight would be over. I just hope that it leads to a better place cause right now these guys are one of my two favorite couples and Amber and Walky aren’t doing well either.

  33. Samantha Johnson
    Samantha Johnson
    February 5, 2019 at 1:37 am | #

    Yay Ruth I’m so proud of you. I want you to continue to get better and Billie let this open your eyes

  34. Needfuldoer
    Needfuldoer
    February 5, 2019 at 1:48 am | #

    *Dramatically sets up folding chair to watch the ensuing fireworks*

    Valentine’s Day is in nine days, do we get to spend them all watching Billie get torn down a few pegs and hurl back some futile low blows at Ruth’s fragile mental state?

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      February 5, 2019 at 3:45 am | #

      *Eats popcorn in anticipation of the coming fireworks*

      I assume there might be a few strips of the stuff other characters are doing in between now and the 14th, but at this point I’m betting the Valentine’s Day strip will be Billie and Ruth fighting over Billie’s denial of her alcoholism.

  35. C.T Phipps
    C.T Phipps
    February 5, 2019 at 1:49 am | #

    I know that we’re supposed to feel more sympathy for Ruth here and coming from a family of alcoholics, believe me, I do. However, a part of me does feel for Billie here.

    You can’t just throw recovery into a relationship like this. Were Billie NOT someone who needed alcohol recovery, putting restrictions and changes on their relationship on her like this would be a very bad thing.

    It’s a lot of responsibility without the hazards of a new rocky relationship.

    I mean…life without mimosas? My wife would go insane.

    • Deadjolras
      Deadjolras
      February 5, 2019 at 2:01 am | #

      Do note that, in the last panel, Ruth is saying “stop trying to get ME to drink”, not “us”. I’m sure she would prefer it if Billie got sober, too, but in this specific fight, she’s not trying to restrict Billie’s life; she’s only asking Billie to stop trying to include Ruth in that particular, alcohol-fuelled aspect of it.

      • C.T Phipps
        C.T Phipps
        February 5, 2019 at 2:04 am | #

        Honestly, though, in a recovery period it’s the same thing. There’s also the fact that Billie doesn’t have the same “alcohol killed my parents and will kill me” thing Ruth does.

        It doesn’t have the same connotations and Ruth in a clear headspace hates it.

        • Emily
          Emily
          February 5, 2019 at 7:29 am | #

          Alcohol only didn’t kill Billie or someone else because of pure dumb luck. She totaled a car. Billie’s sobriety should quite frankly be court-mandated before she kills someone with her reckless disregard for the safety of others.

          • Liquid Len
            Liquid Len
            February 5, 2019 at 11:34 am | #

            Although technically, Billie’s sobriety is legally mandated already since she’s not 21. Though that obviously hasn’t stopped her…

          • Knayt
            Knayt
            February 5, 2019 at 1:25 pm | #

            Losing the licence pretty thoroughly deals with the risk of her killing someone. Taking multiple tons of fast moving heavy machinery out of the equation is like that.

            • ktbear
              ktbear
              February 6, 2019 at 12:35 am | #

              It may not have killed another person but it did kill her head cheerleader aspirations and seems to have cost her a good friendship too.

    • Uly
      Uly
      February 5, 2019 at 3:07 am | #

      Ruth isn’t making or asking Billie to stop drinking, though Billie needs to do that. She’s telling Billie to stop encouraging HER to drink – which is a perfectly reasonable boundary for anybody to set.

      • C.T Phipps
        C.T Phipps
        February 5, 2019 at 10:06 am | #

        I think it’s a doomed relationship unless Billie does decide to stop drinking.

    • Emily
      Emily
      February 5, 2019 at 7:27 am | #

      “Stop trying to get me to drink” is NOT a lot of responsibility it’s basic consideration for your partner’s well being and respect for their wishes which are mandatory parts of any functional relationships. It’s not “putting restrictions and changes on their relationship” it’s defending her boundaries like do you think people just get to treat their romantic partners however they damn well please otherwise it’s “restrictive”?

      • C.T Phipps
        C.T Phipps
        February 5, 2019 at 10:07 am | #

        A dry relationship is a very big boundry for some couples, non-alcoholic ones too.

        • Emily
          Emily
          February 5, 2019 at 10:12 am | #

          That’s not even what Ruth is asking for.

        • CJ
          CJ
          February 5, 2019 at 6:50 pm | #

          It will be interesting. I haven’t been dating in a while and for many years, I’ve only shown interest in people who just don’t drink any alcohol. Now I’m considering to be less strict about that, but it would still be ” don’t drink wine when you want to kiss or make out with me” (because the smell reminds me oft definitely unsexy things) and “if you are more than a little tipsy nothing happens”. I wonder how that will play out.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      February 5, 2019 at 8:04 am | #

      Yeah, that’s just not right.

      For an alcoholic in the early stages of recovery, there’s no “put that aside to focus on the relationship”. Ruth was drinking herself to death.

      • C.T Phipps
        C.T Phipps
        February 5, 2019 at 10:07 am | #

        Exactly. This is a big change in their relationship.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          February 5, 2019 at 10:38 am | #

          It is.
          But it’s unavoidable. You can’t have a relationship focused around drinking yourselves to death while one partner is trying to stop drinking.

          Even if Billie wasn’t an alcoholic, Ruth can’t be partnered with someone who’s going to keep pushing her back to drinking – intentionally or otherwise. Maybe it’s unfair to try to make Billie change, but it’s dangerous for Ruth not to.

    • Sam
      Sam
      February 5, 2019 at 9:05 am | #

      YOU ARE ALLOWED TO SET BOUNDARIES IN A RELATIONSHIP AND THESE ARE ALLOWED TO CHANGE AND MOVE OVER TIME. This isn’t throwing up random restrictions and changes, this is enforcing one single boundary.

      Not mentioning alcohol every five seconds around a recovering alcoholic is not a lot of responsibility – it is basic consideration to their recovery. This is NOT harder on Billie than Ruth because it changes their dynamic. Relationships can’t function if they are inflexible to the needs and desires of each person changing over time.

      • C.T Phipps
        C.T Phipps
        February 5, 2019 at 10:08 am | #

        Yes and if those boundaries are too much then the relationship should end. Billie and Ruth are changing as people and this is a very early stage in relationship. Honestly, Billie and ruth both need to get their headspaces clear before they can pursue a relationship with anyone.

        I don’t say that because I ship Ruth/Carla either.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          February 5, 2019 at 10:40 am | #

          Maybe they do, but I think they still have a chance. I’m not really fond of the idea that people have to fix themselves in isolation before they’re capable of being in a romance. Nor, at the same time, of the idea that the romance will fix the problems.

          • Drunk Mike
            Drunk Mike
            February 5, 2019 at 12:20 pm | #

            Their relationship is based on the fact that they are codependent depressed alcoholics. Ending the relationship probably would help them fix themselves. Fixing themselves might also end the relationship since they don’t have anything else in common. I partly suspect Billie knows this and is trying to sabatage Ruth’s recovery so she’ll stay with her.

        • the final pam
          the final pam
          February 5, 2019 at 12:50 pm | #

          Something you should consider: Billie respects those same boundaries for other people. She does not offer alcohol to someone like Joyce, because she knows Joyce does not drink. She doesn’t try to pressure Joyce to drink, because she knows Joyce doesn’t want to. (She did fuck up bringing booze to Joyce’s party, but she still did not offer it to Joyce, knowing her position.)

          Billie also did not offer booze as much as she’s doing right now. They were able to have entire moments before they started drinking. But she keeps offering booze to Ruth today. It’s not unreasonable to ask that she please stop that, and it’s not that hard for Billie to stop doing that, considering that’s not even asking Billie to stop drinking- which we know she can and will do on her own later. Asking for boundaries in a relationship is completely healthy behavior, and I don’t at all see what is too much about “stop offering me alcohol” when Billie does that for other people.

    • Charlotte
      Charlotte
      February 5, 2019 at 11:12 am | #

      Yeah, I’m another person who thinks “Stop encouraging/nagging me to drink alcohol” is an entirely reasonable request in ANY relationship, regardless of whether anyone has drinking problems or not.
      If you can’t respect *my* preferences or choices, we can’t be in a relationship. Simple.
      I really don’t think Billie needs any sympathy here.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        February 5, 2019 at 2:27 pm | #

        Though I don’t think Billie would be hitting “nagging” level – if there weren’t alcohol problems.

  36. BenRG
    BenRG
    February 5, 2019 at 1:58 am | #

    And so we have Billie and Ruth’s first real and meaningful argument that is not in some way triggered by their self-loathing.

    • C.T Phipps
      C.T Phipps
      February 5, 2019 at 2:03 am | #

      Its ironically an argument triggered by both of them feeling better-ish.

      1. Ruth, obviously, is in one of the non-suicidal places of depression (the eye of the storm as my wife called it) and hoping her meds will help her when they kick in.

      2. Billie has Forest Quad reinforcing her incredibly fragile self-esteem and sense that she’s not garbage.

  37. nothri
    nothri
    February 5, 2019 at 2:22 am | #

    Willis, I’m going to start hating you forever now for making me understand how this likely impending breakup is important for Ruth’s well being.

    Three…two…one…

    HAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE.

    • King Daniel
      King Daniel
      February 5, 2019 at 2:57 am | #

      The correct phrase is “Damn you, Willis.” It’s his Twitter handle and everything.

  38. JessWitt
    JessWitt
    February 5, 2019 at 3:16 am | #

    Oh dear, bad choice of words Billie.

  39. TheKelliestKelly
    TheKelliestKelly
    February 5, 2019 at 3:19 am | #

    Aaaaand this is the strip that finally got me to become a patron. Well, and I was scrolling through Willis’s Twitter feed and say the bonus strip preview. It made me think “I have a regular paycheck now and it’s a dollar a month!”

  40. Rycan
    Rycan
    February 5, 2019 at 3:25 am | #

    And there’s your problem: one of them is actually tyring to address her problems, while the other is papering over her problems and pretending that’s fine.

    • BenRG
      BenRG
      February 5, 2019 at 6:14 am | #

      The interesting part will be whether Ruth is important enough to Billie that she’ll address her problems rather than risk losing her.

      • Schpoonman
        Schpoonman
        February 5, 2019 at 2:30 pm | #

        Fingers crossed~!

        …that Billie doubles down and gets dumped

  41. Mistergray
    Mistergray
    February 5, 2019 at 4:40 am | #

    I feel like they are gonna break up over this thus foreshadowing and making her we are to strong to break up ironic.

    • Jurti
      Jurti
      February 5, 2019 at 10:55 am | #

      I think so too. I wonder if it will be in the next few strips or something more dramatic?

  42. DarkoNeko
    DarkoNeko
    February 5, 2019 at 6:20 am | #

    Also works on people trying to push diabetics/no-salt diet to take “just a bite, you’ll see, it taste awesome”

    • BenRG
      BenRG
      February 5, 2019 at 6:54 am | #

      My grandmother is old enough to have difficulty processing the concept of a ‘big hearty meal’ being possibly unhealthy. Hers was a generation of wartime rationing and the like.

    • JBento
      JBento
      February 5, 2019 at 7:32 am | #

      Wait, people do this? That’s close to borderline assault.

    • Vulcanodon
      Vulcanodon
      February 5, 2019 at 7:36 am | #

      Also happens with food allergies.

  43. torrent29
    torrent29
    February 5, 2019 at 7:30 am | #

    Well that relationship just came to an end. I don’t see how this ends well.

  44. JBento
    JBento
    February 5, 2019 at 7:33 am | #

    Go Ruth!

  45. Vulcanodon
    Vulcanodon
    February 5, 2019 at 7:44 am | #

    Billie you are being very inconsiderate… to the person you love. That is not a good sign for the supposedly indestructible relationship.

    Also: Bone density does improve with use, because exercise helps fix calcium in the bones. It’s the reason archaeologists can make a pretty good guess what someone did for a living. So trying every day forever would strengthen… the bones… or a relationship or something?

    • Vulcanodon
      Vulcanodon
      February 5, 2019 at 7:45 am | #

      of. OF a relationship. Goddamn it. I need to strengthen my proofreading bones or something.

    • Sam
      Sam
      February 5, 2019 at 9:12 am | #

      The point isn’t that there aren’t ways to improve bones just that breaking your bones doesn’t actually make them stronger when they heal. That is itself a myth.

      If you tried every day forever, that would give you strong relationship femurs and as we all know, you need femurs to live.

      • ValdVin
        ValdVin
        February 5, 2019 at 11:03 am | #

        Awareded +1 for relationship femurs.

        • Jess
          Jess
          February 5, 2019 at 11:23 pm | #

          I mean, if nothing else Ruth should be able to bolster the relationship with others’ bones??

          Though maybe I’m losing the metaphor a bit here. That’s possible too.

  46. Emily
    Emily
    February 5, 2019 at 7:59 am | #

    Next strip Billie probably gets incredibly defensive because that’s how Billie do when she’s in the wrong.

    • BenRG
      BenRG
      February 5, 2019 at 9:11 am | #

      Actually, I think this is the point where we find out that Billie doesn’t really believe that she is an alcoholic or a bisexual. Because she’s a head cheerleader and things like that don’t happen to her or to those she cares about. This being mostly because the girls of Forest Hall have once again reinflated her ego.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        February 5, 2019 at 10:53 am | #

        We know full well Billie doesn’t think she’s bisexual. Those don’t exist outside of porn anyway.

        I think you’re right about her still being in denial about being an alcoholic. I think she’s actually got a more serious problem with booze than Ruth does.

        Ruth’s real problem is depression that she’s self-medicating with alcohol, but she’s been willing and able to stop drinking and detox, given a bit of external motivation.
        Billie, I think, is alcoholic first and her other problems are secondary – though it’s likely all rooted in her parent’s neglect. At least her starting drinking in the first place.

    • JBento
      JBento
      February 5, 2019 at 9:11 am | #

      Even chance she withdraws to Forest Quad, so she can hear all the sycophants tell her how awesome she is and how she could never be in the wrong.

      • Emily
        Emily
        February 5, 2019 at 9:22 am | #

        There’s always the third option of “She gets super defensive and then withdraws to Forest Quad.”

        • JBento
          JBento
          February 5, 2019 at 10:32 am | #

          Of course, the “Why not both?” approach.

      • BenRG
        BenRG
        February 5, 2019 at 10:18 am | #

        If she does break up with Ruth it will be because she is assured by said sycophants that Ruth ‘isn’t worth it’.

        • Emily
          Emily
          February 5, 2019 at 10:26 am | #

          Which is ironic since Billie is the one who isn’t worth Ruth jeopardizing her sobriety.

  47. Deanatay
    Deanatay
    February 5, 2019 at 8:25 am | #

    “CAN YOU PLEASE STOP TRYING TO GET ME TO DRINK?”

    “But, I have to keep trying every day, forever!”

  48. Whaatt
    Whaatt
    February 5, 2019 at 9:34 am | #

    Billie: no idea what your talking about! Heh heh
    Me: woah, did not realize what Billie was up to, and that’s surprising considering her horrible intuition.

  49. Proto
    Proto
    February 5, 2019 at 10:02 am | #

    Confound that Billlie! She drives me to drink!

    • abysswatcher1993
      abysswatcher1993
      February 5, 2019 at 9:32 pm | #

      I hate Joyce! and I hate Walky! And I hate Dorothy! Oh, Sal’s motorcycle! I will steal it and no one will notice it!

  50. C.T Phipps
    C.T Phipps
    February 5, 2019 at 10:14 am | #

    I’m reminded of Billie’s plan to drink only half a bottle of liquor and then cut down, only for Ruth to point out she had the same plan so they just ended up drinking a whole one.

    You can’t halsies this sort of thing like drinking mimosas.

  51. PB
    PB
    February 5, 2019 at 11:11 am | #

    I hadn’t even noticed she was doing this until now. Dammit Billie.

  52. Yumi
    Yumi
    February 5, 2019 at 1:40 pm | #

    I’m not a recovering alcoholic, but I relate at least superficially to Ruth. I’ve chosen not to drink, and it’s incredibly frustrating when people don’t respect that. I’ve gotten it in the form of direct pressure from family (my dad trying to get me to “try a drink,” repeatedly, when I was still underage so that I would know what it’s like) and near strangers (the only time I’ve actually had a sip of alcohol because I was getting worried about how someone was going to react if I didn’t). And then indirectly from friends going like, “Really? You never drink? Not even a little? I make really good drinks.”

    Being in college, Ruth already has to deal with social pressure around drinking. She really doesn’t more of that from Billie.

    • Charlotte
      Charlotte
      February 5, 2019 at 1:48 pm | #

      Ugh, yeah. I don’t drink either — never have, just don’t like the taste of alcohol — and it can be annoying to have to justify oneself in so many social situations.
      Most of the people I am around accept it, though.

      In fact, in certain situations I have found that I fared better than some of my friends who just wanted to drink a little. Whereas people mostly left me alone after I said I was a non-drinker, my light-drinker friends would continuously be urged to just have a litte more alcohol, and just a little more.

      I think the way our society deals with alcohol is incredibly toxic at times.

      • Charlotte
        Charlotte
        February 5, 2019 at 1:51 pm | #

        Although I did once terribly offend a friend of mine (who knows I don’t drink) when I wouldn’t try his family’s self-distilled fruit brandy when everyone else had it.
        I still don’t understand to this day — he knows I *never* drink, and usually it’s OK to politely decline things you don’t want to have.

        • Yumi
          Yumi
          February 5, 2019 at 2:03 pm | #

          Yeah, he can get over himself. My brother has literally made award winning beers (he’s the Director of Brewing at some beer company), and he gets that not everyone is going to drink them. Like, when he’s shared a beer he’s made with the family, he knows who to offer a glass, who just wants a sip, and who doesn’t want any. Though we’d probably have more to talk about if I did drink. Oh well.

  53. chris73
    chris73
    February 5, 2019 at 1:55 pm | #

    I like how in the first and second panel Billies talking about the fragility of their relationship…I cant work out if Billie is really that oblivious or is just trying to overcompensate for what shes been saying at Firrst Quad

  54. Aviana
    Aviana
    February 5, 2019 at 3:57 pm | #

    This has been a long time coming. I like the composition of this comic with the two panels doing close ups on each of their faces – it gives a stronger impression of Ruth glaring at Billie.

  55. Iain
    Iain
    February 5, 2019 at 9:57 pm | #

    Drinking on antidepressants is usually bad.
    It was certainly the case for me

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      February 5, 2019 at 10:53 pm | #

      Yeah, medication + alcohol has a lot of potential for badness.

  56. Axel
    Axel
    February 5, 2019 at 10:24 pm | #

    I feel bad for Ruth re this in general, but especially with Billie responding to ‘it’ll take work’ with dismissal (regardless of the alcohol part, which obviously wasn’t great on its own)

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