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July 9, 2026

Fresh start

by David M Willis on March 11, 2020 at 12:01 am
  • 02 - To Remind You of My Love
└ Tags: ruth, spencer

Discussion (106) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    March 11, 2020 at 12:04 am | #

    “or MY own femurs, even”

    • shadowcell
      shadowcell
      March 11, 2020 at 12:05 am | #

      hey random person sitting next to that plant, i need to borrow your femurs and probably not give them back

      • clif
        clif
        March 11, 2020 at 1:05 am | #

        If you look closely you’ll see that it’s not a person, but some sort of alien with it’s hands caught in a trap. Probably Mike’s doing. Expand the image if you don’t believe me.

    • Walky_Talky
      Walky_Talky
      March 11, 2020 at 12:19 am | #

      Ruth’s FOMO for a femur fight is funny for me.

    • RANdom
      RANdom
      March 11, 2020 at 12:57 am | #

      Alright then, time for an alt-text based filk!

      Tune: “The Threat Is Real”, Megadeth

      Once she had chronic depression, now she doesn’t anymore,
      The resident assistant of a whole girls’ dormitory floor.
      A small threat in another place incurred her coworker’s spite.
      The old her wants to beat them to death – but she knows that that isn’t right!

      A sudden urge, for femur death!
      A ruthless wrath, the need is real!

      (Seriously, though, you should probably listen to the song.)

  2. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    March 11, 2020 at 12:04 am | #

    Yes, but threatening them was very therapeutic.

  3. BBCC
    BBCC
    March 11, 2020 at 12:05 am | #

    Oh, right, consequences. Fun!

    For me to read, anyways, not so much for Ruth.

    • Ob
      Ob
      March 11, 2020 at 2:46 am | #

      Why should Ruth care anyways? She just had a bit of fun. And she already knows that she won’t get into trouble for such a small thing. Oh no! I just lost -5 relationship points with Spencer! *plays world’s smallest violin*

      • Fred
        Fred
        March 11, 2020 at 5:51 am | #

        Because Chidi says ethical behavior should be based on principles, not fear of consequences? Ruth should treat Spenser the way Ruth would want to be treated? If Spencer came to Ruth’s floor, bullying Sarah, Mandy, Joyce, and the rest would be wrong?
        I’m not saying Ruth committed any Great Mistakes here, but she should care, if she doesn’t want to grow up to be a typical DOA adult.

        • CrimsonStorm
          CrimsonStorm
          March 11, 2020 at 10:00 am | #

          Now I just want a What Would Chidi Do bracelet or sticker or something

          • kdmw
            kdmw
            March 11, 2020 at 12:57 pm | #

            The answer is always be paralyzed with indecision.

            • TemperaryObsessor
              TemperaryObsessor
              March 11, 2020 at 6:43 pm | #

              Not always give it a few Beremy

  4. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    March 11, 2020 at 12:06 am | #

    *looks for a good drum solo in the record collection*

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      March 11, 2020 at 12:11 am | #

      Wipeout played with femurs?

    • RANdom
      RANdom
      March 11, 2020 at 12:30 am | #

      Der Trommler or O Baterista by Rush. Those are superb drum solos!

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        March 11, 2020 at 2:13 am | #

        You could pick just about anything by Rush.

        RIP Neil Peart

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      March 11, 2020 at 12:46 am | #

      How about “Dem Bones” on xylophone?

    • RANdom
      RANdom
      March 11, 2020 at 1:00 am | #

      Or “Them Bones”, by Alice In Chains.
      Weird Al’s “Bedrock Anthem” counts, too; the music video has the drummer using bones as drumsticks.

    • Liquid Len
      Liquid Len
      March 11, 2020 at 8:16 am | #

      Drum duet between Chester Thompson and Phil Collins

  5. Laladoria
    Laladoria
    March 11, 2020 at 12:06 am | #

    “Yes, but see, this time I did it for love! It’s different!”

  6. PHNX
    PHNX
    March 11, 2020 at 12:08 am | #

    Doo Eet!!

  7. Bladeglory
    Bladeglory
    March 11, 2020 at 12:09 am | #

    “Turns out I have a reputation. Who am I to deny my fans?”

  8. Suet
    Suet
    March 11, 2020 at 12:09 am | #

    Repression central, beside seeing that today’s been all over the place

  9. Chaucer59
    Chaucer59
    March 11, 2020 at 12:12 am | #

    That’s right. I threatened them. I didn’t break even one of them. The old me would have maimed at least half.

  10. KaitouKidisBae
    KaitouKidisBae
    March 11, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

    How is it that I recognize that Ruth and Billie are absolutely horrible for each other and yet I still ship it super hard?

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      March 11, 2020 at 12:38 am | #

      You just described 99.9% of people who ship them.

      • clif
        clif
        March 11, 2020 at 1:18 am | #

        Willis is exploiting our weakness for sexy lesbian suicide pacts.

        • Geneseepaws
          Geneseepaws
          March 11, 2020 at 2:03 am | #

          Sexy lesbian emotional support pacts? Cause Ruth is making hella recovery, it seems. DYW!!
          Besides: once you can inspire So much fear in people, it’s hard to give that up. It is a heady drug.

          • Needfuldoer
            Needfuldoer
            March 11, 2020 at 2:14 am | #

            At least Billie’s trying now.

          • Geneseepaws
            Geneseepaws
            March 11, 2020 at 11:13 am | #

            She does seem to be putting in the effort. Looks like she’s teetering, and flailing ams, but still moving ahead. I have Hopes! Hopes Which DYW will crush, I’m sure. Because “dramatic tension,” … yeah, well, I had hopes.

            • KaitouKidisBae
              KaitouKidisBae
              March 12, 2020 at 12:52 am | #

              Is DYW short for Damn you Willis or something else?

  11. Rose by Any Other Name
    Rose by Any Other Name
    March 11, 2020 at 12:19 am | #

    Is it wrong that I find Ruth really hot when the’s threatening to beat people with their own femurs?

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      March 11, 2020 at 12:26 am | #

      Not wrong at all. Definitely leg-it.

      • clif
        clif
        March 11, 2020 at 1:19 am | #

        It’s completely wrong, but that just makes Ruth hotter.

    • Dean
      Dean
      March 11, 2020 at 2:13 am | #

      I am proud tibia fan of angry Ruth.

      • Bicycle Bill
        Bicycle Bill
        March 11, 2020 at 3:13 am | #

        Dean, I find your comment to be very humerus.

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      March 11, 2020 at 8:20 am | #

      “I have a femur, and the only cure is more carpus.”

  12. jeffepp
    jeffepp
    March 11, 2020 at 12:21 am | #

    “Newman”

  13. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    March 11, 2020 at 12:25 am | #

    I am surprised any of them tattled, but I mean, I can’t say I blame them.

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      March 11, 2020 at 12:36 am | #

      Tattled? They probably gushed.

    • Hazel
      Hazel
      March 11, 2020 at 12:36 am | #

      They probably said it casually.

    • clif
      clif
      March 11, 2020 at 1:21 am | #

      Spencer beat it out of them and they broke.

  14. StClair
    StClair
    March 11, 2020 at 12:28 am | #

    On the gripping hand, Spencer’s residents absolutely deserved and needed that exposure to reality.
    Though I suspect that, as long as their cultish behavior doesn’t make further trouble for her, Spencer does not care, not even a tiny bit.

  15. Agemegos
    Agemegos
    March 11, 2020 at 12:30 am | #

    Is anyone else missing the bottom part of the strip, so that Spencer’s mouth barely makes it into frames 2, 3, & 4?

    Or is it a brilliant artistic thing that I’m too un-hip to get?

    • woobie
      woobie
      March 11, 2020 at 12:32 am | #

      Just you.

      • Agemegos
        Agemegos
        March 11, 2020 at 2:02 am | #

        Okay then. It’s time to clear my browser cache and reload the page.

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      March 11, 2020 at 12:37 am | #

      You’ll be missing some dialog bubbles as well, then.

    • clif
      clif
      March 11, 2020 at 1:29 am | #

      The second lower half of the strip runs tomorrow.

  16. Cholma
    Cholma
    March 11, 2020 at 12:52 am | #

    As Spencer enters the elevator, the RA begins to hear a rising chant from a floor above: “Femurs! Femurs! FEMURS!”

    • clif
      clif
      March 11, 2020 at 12:59 am | #

      Femurs for the Femur God, On His Throne of Bones.

      • Geneseepaws
        Geneseepaws
        March 11, 2020 at 2:07 am | #

        One bone to rule them all, and in the darkness grind them?
        Oops, Wrong webcomic.

        • clif
          clif
          March 11, 2020 at 3:16 am | #

          That’s okay. We’re just waiting around to find out what happened to Mike anyway. But while I’m waiting I now get to wonder if the one bone line is a sexual innuendo. (If it wasn’t before, it is now.)

          • Geneseepaws
            Geneseepaws
            March 11, 2020 at 11:16 am | #

            Well, it wasn’t, but as the wise have mentioned, “It Is Now.”

      • Deanatay
        Deanatay
        March 11, 2020 at 8:22 am | #

        *ahem* HER throne.

        • clif
          clif
          March 11, 2020 at 10:26 am | #

          Correction accepted.

  17. DarkoNeko
    DarkoNeko
    March 11, 2020 at 12:59 am | #

    “stop fucking with my floor” — Spencer

    • Miri
      Miri
      March 11, 2020 at 6:39 am | #

      … With their own femurs? Kinky.

  18. Falcon
    Falcon
    March 11, 2020 at 1:04 am | #

    Spencer may be an ass, but she’s totally justified here in pushing back against another RA trying to run her floor.

    • clif
      clif
      March 11, 2020 at 1:32 am | #

      You can’t terrorize my peasants; that’s my job.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        March 11, 2020 at 2:18 am | #

        ‘So I can’t burninate them either, even a little bit?’

  19. Bagge
    Bagge
    March 11, 2020 at 1:41 am | #

    ra fight!!!

    • King Daniel
      King Daniel
      March 11, 2020 at 2:17 am | #

      Now what do you have against Ra?

      • clif
        clif
        March 11, 2020 at 2:42 am | #

        I hear for a sun god he ain’t too bright.

        • Miri
          Miri
          March 11, 2020 at 6:40 am | #

          Wait, we aren’t talking about radium? That’s probably good, it’s not something I’d want anybody to hold against me…

      • Deanatay
        Deanatay
        March 11, 2020 at 8:23 am | #

        But… he is the fun god…

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          March 11, 2020 at 10:41 am | #

          Ra! Ra! Ra!

        • Bagge
          Bagge
          March 11, 2020 at 11:01 am | #

          SUN god. Not FUN god. SUN.

  20. Geneseepaws
    Geneseepaws
    March 11, 2020 at 2:14 am | #

    Ruth wearing an old tee, with 97 on it.
    Her convo partner named Spencer.
    It is starting to sound like country western train wreck music;
    Wreck of the ‘97. (See Thomas Hart Bensons’ “Wreck of the ‘97.”)

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      March 11, 2020 at 9:00 am | #

      Well, that’s Billie’s shirt, she’s just borrowing it.

      … Actually yeah. Still applies.

  21. drs
    drs
    March 11, 2020 at 2:56 am | #

    “It wasn’t the entire floor! I left the one studying alone.”

  22. Ron again
    Ron again
    March 11, 2020 at 3:07 am | #

    Spencer, you’re not helping.

    • Shane
      Shane
      March 11, 2020 at 3:13 am | #

      She’s so sure she has perfect Soulvision and can see into not only peoples’ hearts, but entire potential as a human being though!

  23. Arianod
    Arianod
    March 11, 2020 at 3:27 am | #

    Old habits die hard.

  24. Keulen
    Keulen
    March 11, 2020 at 3:27 am | #

    Somehow I get the feeling Spencer and Ruth don’t like each other much.

  25. Joe Angel
    Joe Angel
    March 11, 2020 at 5:36 am | #

    “Oh? You’re approaching me?”
    “I can’t beat you with your own femurs if I don’t come closer”

    • Delicious Taffy
      Delicious Taffy
      March 11, 2020 at 6:56 am | #

      Is that a motherfuckin’ Persona 3 reference?

      • Diane
        Diane
        March 11, 2020 at 9:20 am | #

        Unsure if joking, but pretty sure it’s a JoJo.

        And now I have squeaky Dio in my head again.

  26. Delicious Taffy
    Delicious Taffy
    March 11, 2020 at 6:55 am | #

    Alright, which one of you bongos posted the QC link a while back? I finally got caught up on the whole thing, and I need to know who to thank.

    • Roborat
      Roborat
      March 11, 2020 at 3:36 pm | #

      I want to know how you didn’t know about QC already.

  27. JBento
    JBento
    March 11, 2020 at 7:48 am | #

    Turns out Ruth wasn’t an asshole because she had depression, she was just an asshole with depression. Who knew?

    Everyone. Everyone knew.

    • Geneseepaws
      Geneseepaws
      March 11, 2020 at 11:29 am | #

      I don’t believe Ruth Was an ass, but do believe she became a manipulative controlling ass power freak because she felt so powerless against her fate when first her parents die, then she was separated from her brother (whom she tries to protect), and is continually tortured and controlled by her super horrid massive monster, Sir Master-Grand-Dad-Sir. He who seems to be Voldemort’s brother.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      March 11, 2020 at 10:07 pm | #

      Or you know, a week or so in therapy and on meds doesn’t fix all your issues.

  28. JessWitt
    JessWitt
    March 11, 2020 at 8:08 am | #

    Yeah I figured Spencer would take umbrage with Ruth being Ruth in her territory.

    • Roborat
      Roborat
      March 11, 2020 at 3:37 pm | #

      Perhaps she didn’t make it clear it was her territory, maybe she should pee on the wall beside the elevator.

  29. C.T Phipps
    C.T Phipps
    March 11, 2020 at 8:11 am | #

    I am pleased that Ruth is still a femur stealer with or without depression.

    🙂

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      March 11, 2020 at 8:27 am | #

      Once you turn to the femur side, forever will it dominate your destiny.

  30. BenRG
    BenRG
    March 11, 2020 at 8:15 am | #

    I don’t think that Ruth threatened anyone, Spencer. She just picked them up, Fireman Carried them to the common room and made it entirely clear that she didn’t expect them to leave without her say so.

    • JBento
      JBento
      March 11, 2020 at 9:19 am | #

      So, literal kidnapping them?

      • BenRG
        BenRG
        March 11, 2020 at 9:32 am | #

        That’s such a judgemental word to use. Let’s use “temporary extralegal involuntary enforced relocation and containment” instead! It looks so much better on the paperwork! XD

      • thumb
        thumb
        March 11, 2020 at 2:27 pm | #

        That’s ridiculous. None of them were kids.

        • Reaver
          Reaver
          March 11, 2020 at 7:16 pm | #

          And I thought college students like naps?

    • Me et al.
      Me et al.
      March 11, 2020 at 4:22 pm | #

      She made her opinion known, but it was unenforcable, so any could have left at their pleasure. They were restrained initially by force, but after only by projection of authority.

      • BBCC
        BBCC
        March 11, 2020 at 9:08 pm | #

        I mean, she DID forcibly carry them in there and then stand in the doorway so they couldn’t leave.

  31. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    March 11, 2020 at 9:51 am | #

    Go Spencer! She has to respect you!

  32. Johnny
    Johnny
    March 11, 2020 at 12:58 pm | #

    Oh! This is the big rule Willis broke! Thought bubbles! Mike is confirmed alive, everyone!

    • King Daniel
      King Daniel
      March 11, 2020 at 2:31 pm | #

      We’ve had thought bubbles before, at least as far back as Walking With Dina five years ago: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/04-walking-with-dina/walkingwithdina/

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        March 11, 2020 at 10:08 pm | #

        That was also mentioned as a special exception, so this is still rule breaking.

  33. Sombrero
    Sombrero
    March 11, 2020 at 1:05 pm | #

    I am once again asking when we’re gonna learn what happened to Mike’s femurs.

  34. a/snow/mous/e
    a/snow/mous/e
    March 11, 2020 at 4:15 pm | #

    Look, sometimes there are lapses NOBODY’S PERFECT

    • a/snow/mous/e
      a/snow/mous/e
      March 11, 2020 at 4:18 pm | #

      I mean Amber just utilized her anxiety over her subconscious knowledge of her friend Mike’s possible death to get banged

  35. Me et al.
    Me et al.
    March 11, 2020 at 4:19 pm | #

    Big shout out thank you to those who shared the “Machete” pattern of the StarsWars saga.

    I was unfamilar with it and doing further research on it introduced me to a new writer, so thank you!

  36. SpaceshipPilot
    SpaceshipPilot
    March 11, 2020 at 4:59 pm | #

    As with Beverly, I wonder if Spencer is her first name or her last name. Spencer isn’t usually a woman’s name, but it’s not impossible…

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      March 11, 2020 at 5:11 pm | #

      Her first name is Carly, but since DoA already has a Carla, she goes by her surname here.

      https://walkypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Carly_Spencer

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      March 11, 2020 at 5:34 pm | #

      I know one female Spencer and two male Spencers. Mind, my experience is far from universal, but Spencer is picking up as a female name.

  37. jeffepp
    jeffepp
    March 11, 2020 at 6:52 pm | #

    Spencer’s first name is never mentioned to the reader. Her age remains about 21, no matter how much time passes, or what decade a book may be set in.

    Her best is named Dove, a mercenary Resident Advisor, who’s African-American. Both are former professional kickboxers, who once fought a match. When asked, both claim to have won.

    Spencer is in a relationship with a boy named “Sew” Silverman, due to his family tailoring business, but is getting a psychology degree.

  38. Raptorofwar
    Raptorofwar
    March 11, 2020 at 7:30 pm | #

    i get that feeling of being stuck no matter how much you try to change.

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