Discussion (233) ¬
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 10d
LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Al Ewing Writes Comics @al-ewing.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Gwen @finalgwen.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Michael P. Breen @mpbreen21.bsky.social ⋅ 3d
Katie C @spiffykt.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
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(Jim Lee Era)
“Nope, gonna blame it all on Al Caholic”
Maybe it wasn’t alcohol. Maybe Ruth just got really salty when Jennifer stole her haircut!
“Catholic” is a weird surname, Al.
I mean, people are named Jesus (which always struck me as supremely aggrandizing)
It is a common name in Spanish.
I was quite shocked when I learnt that Gravity Falls’ Soos is named Jesus.
Isn’t it actually Zeus?
Naah his full name is Jesus “Soos” Alzamirano Ramírez
Props to Alex Hirsch for wholesome Hispanic representation. ^_^ Soos is loyal, sweet, takes care of watches out for the Pine Twins whenever things get hairy, and ends the series with a healthy, stable relationship.
Yup Soos is the Best Boy and he must be protected.
I mean, no more so really that the ones named Mary.
(or Noah, or Sarah, or Michael, or etc)
I know in some traditions Mary could be close to the equivalent of Jesus, but even there it’s still a small side altar to Mary, and Jesus is front and center on the gigantic cross. The other names *definitely* don’t have the same weight.
Would you feel the same way about people called Joshua? It’s the same name. ‘Jesus’ is simply what it looks like in Anglicised Latin – it’s more likely that his contemporaries called him Yeshu.
Mind you, it’s also quite an aggrandising name in Hebrew or Aramaic, given that in those languages it means “God will save us”.
Lot of old names tend to invoke the name of a deity, I’ve found. My own name means “God/El (it’s an old enough name that it uses the “El” name/title instead of “Yahweh” – as in Yeshua) is my Judge”.
Heck, there’s even a general term for invoking a deity’s name in one’s own: “Theophoric name”
Huh. I guess parents have always had unreasonable expectations for their children. “No pressure or anything but I named you after a deity.”
Yeah, I’ve always found the idea of theophoric names to be a little funny when viewed from that standpoint.
Name etymologies can be fun!
(And while on the topic of theophoric names: did you know that Dorothy, Jonathan, and Godiva – among others – all mean the same thing [“God’s gift”] in different languages? Dorothea is Greek, Yehonatan is Hebrew, and Godgifu is Old English. That’s my Name Trivia of the Day!)
so do Theodore (greek) and Matthew (hebrew). I mean, those sound like reasonable names for faithful parents to give their offspring, it’s not so much “we named you after a god” as “we’re super glad you were born” which is a nice sentiment =)
True, true. I never said “funny” was bad, mind, especially given that (even if I no longer consider myself particularly religious) I’m still fine with my own name’s theophoric history.
Though at the other end of the scale in counterpoint to the “lite-theophoric” names which simply express gratitude like the above, you also have names like Hermione, Martin, and Dennis, which are modified and Anglicized versions of actual deific names Hermes, Mars, and Dionysus respectively – and that’s not even getting into how, say, Thor is still a pretty common Scandinavian name. 
oh yah there definitely are shades of weirdness to naming your child in reference to some god ^^
One name i find especially fascinating, though not actually theophoric, is the Spanish female name Dolores. It’s like, “heyyyy welcome to this world cute little baby, you’re so gonna suffer”
which i guess is fair enough.
And then you get names like If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned.
“Jesus”, as a name, originates from the Greek transliteration (via an intermediary or two) for a name of Hebrew origin – Joshua/Yeshua, by no means an unheard-of name. Its Arabic counterpart, Isa, isn’t an uncommon name to my understanding either.
Yeah, but Jesus is actually called “Jesús” in Spanish, and “Isa” in Arabic (although of course he’s “only” a prophet to most Arabic-speakers); Jesus is only ever called “Joshua” (or even “Yeshua”) in English to make a point.
My point is that theophoric names are nothing new, unique to Christianity, or even to still-living religions (*cough*Nebuchadrezzar – “Nabu, protect my firstborn”).
oh god that was a scary sounding cough, you should get tested probably =P
Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (Christóforos), which means “Christ” “bearer”
All you have to look at is how many Thors were running around among Vikings…
Wouldn’t that mean that Jesus Christ was actually named after the old testament Joshua?
Could be, though – like was mentioned – it was by no means a particularly uncommon name even back in the day.
I mean, Jesus (or Yeshua) was a pretty normal name back in the day – and last I checked, there’s nothing in Christianity forbidding people from having that or a similar name.
I know the name is fairly common everyone. I just think it’s weird to name your kid after the central figure of your religion and the son of god, thereby kind of implying that you are god. But I’m on the outside looking in so this is just “thing I find weird” #8,476.
“Please, God is my dad, just call me Josh.”
I mean, by that logic anyone called Muhammad is trying to imply they’re the Prophet.
Being named after somebody important to you (or your religion) is generally meant as a sign of respect.
Or, in English, “Joshua”.
At least it’s not a Puritan bible verse
Ooh, like the timeless classic:
“Thou shalt not commit adulterina”
Oh 1600’s puritans. You crazy!
https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/from-the-biblical-to-the-bizarre-puritan-names/
Or Nicholas If-Jesus-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barbon”. Known as Damned Barbon to his friends.
what the hell, what a bunch of weirdos!! My absolute favourites, like unironically, have to be “Notwithstanding Griswold” and “Maybe Barnes”! Awesome first names.
Also gotta appreciate this minister Adams guy who says, “[I]t is a petulant absurdity to give [children] ridiculous names the very rehearsing whereof causeth laughter.”
Solid take, bro
Don’t forget Humiliation Scratcher.
For the parents perhaps, but baby Jesus has little say in it when the paperwork was filled in.
Also, the pervy purple pederast from “The Big Lebowski” was a hey-Zoos.
Aggrandizing? A name with just five letters? What about Rhoshandiatellyneshiaunneveshenk then?
What I find infuriating is the groen-ass adults unironically named Baby or Infant
What kind of a complex are you giving these folks
Thanks phone
Grown-ass
NO don’t save that typo in your dictionary you shit device
Jesus is just the latinized form of the hebrew Jeshua which became Joshua in most of the anglosphere. So there’s even more people named Jesus out there
for some reason, “Weird Al Catholic” doesn’t sound okay.
“Al? Well let me introduce you to Al Kaseltzer”
I’ve heard it pronounced “A AA A A Al Cahol”. Ik.
Meh. I’ve decided I don’t actually care about this anymore. I just don’t trust Asher. Ruth and Jennifer can do whatever they want.
NGL I’m kinda with you. It’s not that I don’t care what happens to them as individuals, but it is no longer pressing whether or not they are together. (Still curious as to what happened though.) I just hope that regardless of which route this takes, they end up in healthier relationships. And ya know. NOT with Asher.
I still care. I want them together. Their story is the best.
I was so inspired and hopeful for them. Ruth hit bottom, fell in love, and was motivated to invest in herself and getting better. I had such hopes that (then Billie) Jennifer would join suit. Ha!
I had hoped that at least seeing Ruth improve would start Jennifer down (up) that path,…. Ha! Still, I hope they get together in a health way.
Which Jennifer did. In their last arc, which everyone seems to overlook.
She’d quit drinking, went through withdrawal and started therapy. And the indications are that she’s at least stayed sober, though we don’t know how long she stayed in therapy.
I’m glad they broke up, just hope they get over the drama soon so their stories can be about other things.
Speaking of Asher…
Any idea whether Asher was aware about how his “favor” for Blaine resulted in the kidnapping? Do any of the regular cast (Joyce, Sal, Amber) know that he was involved?
It would be an interesting story arc to see Asher’s role in the kidnappings revealed to the regular cast, with Jennifer having to make a choice… stick with a scumbag boyfriend, or break off with him once she knows her boyfriend played a part in harming so many of her friends.
We don’t know much about it. How much Asher knew ahead of time. As far as we know, no one else knows about his involvement.
Just Blaine and Blaine’s dead.
As far as the actual comic depicts, Blaine didn’t tell him and Asher did so under threat of having his theft outed.
It’s possible that once the extent of Blaine’s crimes were revealed he organized the hit, because it went far, far deeper than he was expecting.
Yeah, Asher only even cooperated with the blackmail, from what we know, because Blaine told him nobody was going to be hurt.
Asher: “Well that was a fucking lie.”
I find this argument and any defense on Asher really flimsy. Blaine blatantly said he was looking to get revenge on Amazi-girl.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-9-comic/04-vote-for-robin/money-2/
Even if Asher took that as the truth from a guy that was blackmailing him (which would make him an idiot) that’s still throwing AG under the bus. He knew Blaine was up to some shit even if he didn’t know the details. He just cared more about saving his own skin.
I don’t think Asher is a villain *at least not in the traditional sense* but he is a bad dude who should not be trusted.
I mean, when we’re talking being blackmailed vis-à-vis stealing money from the Mob, “saving your own skin” can be very literal. Mafia types discovering that someone has stolen money from them, often-ly speaking, can have slightly, uh, fatal consequences.
When somebody blackmails somebody into something, I place the blame for the consequences squarely on the blackmailer.
Sweet, I got my favorite character on the first try.
Aw, c’mon… everyone knows vitriolic sarcasm equals True Love!
I know. Right? These two are made for each other.
With these two, it kinda does.
I need to know what happened between them during the timeskip. Clearly something went down but until Willis shows us I’m blaming it all on Malaya.
…. what if Rachel had something to do with it? Maybe that’s why Ruth brought Billie up at the hall meeting.
Hmm, a plausible theory. I’m sticking with my blame Malaya strategy but it is possible.
Blaming Malaya is always a safe bet
This isn’t aimed at you specifically — I’ve seen multiple people do this — but she goes by Jennifer now, and we should be calling her that. I know she’s just a fictional character and we’ve all known her as Billie for a really, really long time now, but she goes by a new name and it’s important to respect that.
Honestly just a small thing that’s been bothering me a lot, as someone who has changed her name before.
Which is why commenters should call Dorothy by her name and not by a nickname imposed on her by another character who is using it to try to misaffect her, yes?
Ah, but Becky’s the one who came up with that nickname. That makes it totally appropriate /s
I think it’s as simple as “Jennifer doesn’t want to be called by her childhood nickname anymore and we should respect that.” Becky calls her ‘Dotty’ because Becky likes coming up with nicknames (and this would be true regardless of her malice towards Dorothy) and Dorothy hasn’t really said “okay but please call me by full name instead” like I did when I was a kid where it bugged me getting called “Spence.” It’s just one extra syllable, it’s not that hard!
Dorothy actually has asked to be called by her full name…
Then that’s a problem.
or not? Hrm.
Citation needed, sorry. I just went through the first four pages of results of Dorothy and Becky in strips together, and she never reacts to Dotty. This gives the impression she doesn’t object to the nickname.
I remember Willis at one point actually put in a comments filter to correct any non-full-name typings of Dorothy’s name, maybe that’s what Seregiel’s thinking of?
If Dorothy actively doesn’t want to be called Dotty, then no, we shouldn’t call her that. I don’t remember whether she’s expressed feelings one way or another on that topic.
@Jenn: guilty. i have gone through a name switch too, and i do appreciate when people are considerate of that choice =)
As someone who stopped using her nickname for a year, then went back, and thrn started using her middle name, and made the name change stick the second time around, but who still has childhood friends who call her by the nickname… I think it is not a big deal if the comments section uses the name they’ve known this character by for ten years instead of the one she just picked over winter break.
eh, name changes are a bigger deal for some people than others. Good for you if it doesn’t make much of a difference to you, but for some it does. It mattered to me quite a bit at some point, and i know i felt more relaxed in spaces where people seemed to care, as opposed to not paying much attention to it.
Quick note: Jennifer didn’t ‘just pick the name over winter break.’ Her name has been Jennifer for her entire life.
This is incorrect. Her real name is Billie Jenniferingsworth.
I guess what I really should have emphasized in my comment (but didn’t even mention at all) is that she doesn’t want to be called her old name and explicitly asks people not to be called by it.. I’ve actually gone through a few name changes (A to B to A to B to C), and the first few were less important to me (I was fine being called either A or B), the last one was very important to me, and it would upset me to be called by my former names now.
How I’m envisioning this:
Jennifer: Nothing you say can undermine my love for her! We’ll always be together!
Rachel: Bruh she threw you into a chair the first day you met
Jennifer: *surprised pikachu face*
My theory is Willis doesn’t know yet, and he’s waiting for theorists in the comments to give him ideas.
Ah, Willis is months ahead of us. He’s already written it.
That depends on whether the reveal is scheduled for before *checks Willis’ Buffer Watch* 12 June, 2021. I can see them stringing it out beyond that point for us, regardless of whether or not they get ideas from the comment section.
The buffer is a lie! Those preview panels are the only things drawn ahead of time!
Wake up sheeple! *gets dragged away by secret service members in sweater vests*
My theory is that it involves Sayid and Sayid becomes one of the main characters and somehow it involves dating Danny.
They can talk about how tattoos and playing music are hot.
Both of you combined with external factors, I assume
The healing process has begun
no ukulele was involved this time, thankfully
They absolutely shouldn’t get back together, and yet I still really want them to
Mood.
Which is backwards for “doom”! Coincidence???
It’s not impossible. I really don’t like the implication that a lot characters make about people not being capable of change. Particularly when Ruth is involved. I think they’re both in a healthier head space and down the line if they keep improving it’s not a stretch to say getting back together wouldn’t be a healthy relationship for both of them. The idea that they’re just a terrible couple because it didn’t work the first time is kind of insulting.
Oh yeah, they totally COULD get back together someday and not be a horrible trash fire. Just not w/o some time and space apart, which is like forever in our time
The issue I think is that they have a lot of baggage tied up with one another that a relationship would bring back up. I could see them having a healthy, if sometimes uncomfortable friendship but I don’t think opening yourself up to intimacy with someone you have that much bad history with isn’t usually a good idea.
Dina!
… and it wouldn’t even be the first time Willis wrote a wlw couple being together in a shitty headspace and breaking up and then coming back together later under better circumstances and making it work.
hm
We do!
Yep.
I know and I hate it
Well, this was almost sweet. Par for the course with these two.
Why does Billie look like a discount Harry Potter cosplayer?
Because it’s really Jennifer who is disguised Mike.
Ruth’s smile is really sweet though
Agreed. Any time Ruth is genuinely smiling out of happiness rather than femur threats, it reminds me of Peanuts. Which is always a good thing.
Yup, it was.
And then, like all such moments in this comic, it passed. :/
Because Jennifer just has to get that dig in. Defense via offense!
*plays “Hello It’s Me” on the hacked Muzak*
*reads comment*
<__>
Bah, HTML getting in the way of my suspicious eyes.
The short of it is I had “Hello” by Evanescence playing when I read this comment.
You were thinking Rundgren, and you didn’t go with “Can We Still Be Friends”?
I’ll add “Telephone Line” by ELO to the record changer.
(Muzak doesn’t use a record changer, does it? Ehh…)
The Seeburg 1000 system sure did!
I think the Wurl-O-Matic jukebox mechanism is a lot more interesting to watch in action, though.
oh woah is there any topic niche enough that there won’t be at least one commenter here who’s an über-nerd about it?!
interesting video, btw =)
Yeah, Mat (Techmoan) and Alec (Technology Connections) make quality videos. Both highly recommended if you like videos about random old AV equipment and the inner workings of everyday objects (respectively).
At this point I feel like Ruth deserves better.
I agree, definitely
But does Ruth think that? Or does she feel unworthy of Jennifer?
Yeah but SHE did A THING therefore everything is her fault forever and she is an unperson.
– Jennifer, probably
I hate Jennifer but to be fair, it’s not cool to tell someone who you dumped that you miss them. Ive done it myself so I know it comes from a place of caring but it comes off as a slap in the face
That’s a really good point. We don’t know who dumped who (I think that hasn’t been shown yet?) but regardless of who did it, the “I’ve missed you” is a little misplaced
Oh I’m dumb, reading more comments it seems that Jennifer’s words indicate Ruth was the one that broke up with her @_@ That went over my head
that’s been implied by Jennifer and Ruth didn’t defend herself.
Still, i’m sure there are layers to this story.
Dunno, maybe it’s how Ruth is responding here, but i can see this “who dumped who” narrative sticking less because it’s factual than because it satisfies both Jennifer’s aloofness as well as Ruth’s self-deprecation.
It is possible that Ruth is being the mature one and just trying her best to avoid escalating situations. They broke up, they already discussed the issues they had, if Jennifer still feels the need toblame her, so be it, Ruth won’t change her mind.
Deep down, Ruth blames herself BUT she also screamed “I didn’t lose Billie” to Mike 2.0. She knows Jennifer had her share of blame.
ehn, at this point there’s any number of ways to read that reaction.
e.g., per RassilonTDavros’s theory a bit lower, she got mad because she feels she didn’t so much lose Jennifer as deliberately let her go for Jennifer’s own good.
Either broke up with her or did something bad enough that Jennifer broke up with her for good reasons. Or is just accepting the blame because she’s the bigger person/always blames herself – as she hints here.
At this point, we really don’t have enough to go on. Who we blame is likely based more on our biases for one character over the other than anything els.
And now they’re talking about all the stuff that went on between them.
I mean.
At least it’s healthier?
Without context, Billie’s writing is pointing to her either having joined a cult or Ruth having traumatized her so thoroughly it destroyed her original personality.
Or Billie just having a massive stick up her ass.
Either way, I’d like face-Billie back. Heel Jennifer is no fun at all.
Oh…wait, I’m slow, that last line is indicating Ruth dumped Billie, yes?
Maybe. Could also be that Ruth did something that caused her to end it, or gave Jennifer an ultimatum or something like that
I was looking through last storyline for shits and giggles, and the hovertext when Becky asks Ruth about her new meds says ‘uh oh what went wrong with integrivact’ or something like that. That…concerns me.
Looks like “truck impaction” listed in a prior hovertext could possibly not have been the only potential symptom/side-effect?
Act with Integrivact, no regrets. http://www.itswalky.com/comic/am-gonna-kill-you-all-dont-me/
But that’s Segway impaction, a totally different symptom!
Let’s take a minute to remember that Billie/Jennifer’s reaction to a breakup (according to what she taught Walky and how she acted during her and Ruth’s brief time apart) is to go full alpha bongo, Power walking past them, making them jealous and basically just burn all bridges.
Yeah Ruth dumped her, most of the other times I think it was Ruth trying to get Billie to leave on her own but I think Ruth just straight up broke it off.
Sure is going to be interesting if the breakup turns out to have been entirely or primarily Jennifer’s fault, considering how hell-bent she is on reminding Ruth it’s hers.
TBH that’s my expectation at this point.
My assumption is that Billie/Jennifer didn’t necessarily take her therapy seriously (e.g. continued drinking, etc.) and Ruth thought it was problematic for her. (We saw a strip with the 2 fighting over that a while ago, pre-skip).
So, in that situation, Jennifer was the root cause, but she would unlikely accept blame because Ruth was the one who actually took action.
Yes, we saw strips of them fighting over that – before Jennifer committed to quitting drinking and started going to therapy. They had a whole arc about that.
It’s possible she relapsed again, but the fights they had beforehand aren’t evidence for it. It’s also possible Ruth fell of the wagon herself. Or that the troubles with her medication led her to do something awful.
I already strongly suspect that their breakup was Jennifer’s fault much more than Ruth’s.
Yup. I suspect she crossed an unforgivable line and is dodging responsibility for her actions by blaming Ruth for breaking off the relationship ‘on paper’.
That would absolutely fall within established patterns. It’s possible Willis is intentionally misleading us to an impression, but it definitely feels like this is the most likely scenario.
I’d say the evidence we’ve seen so far since the timeskip points at Ruth having done something, but it’s mostly circumstantial and could easily be misdirection.
The “I’ve missed you” is probably not helping her case, but I appreciate Ruth immediately calling Jennifer by her preferred name the first time she corrects her, especially since a number of other characters haven’t done so. She seems to genuinely care about Jennifer’s well-being, although I’m guessing that’s sadly probably the reason she broke up with her in the first place.
Also getting a genuine non-performative-autocrat Ruth smile is always nice.
So far it’s only been Becky and Walky, right? Becky’s rude and Walky’s… also rude, but he’s also got ‘childhood friend’ status.
Becky, Walky, and a whooole bunch of commenters.
Dunno about you but i keep using Billie because she isn’t actually showing signs of growing and changing, she is just doing the same thing she used to do, cut off all her friends and act like she is superior. Antagonizing her Ex as a way to show she is “beyond” her, like she taught wally to do.
She wants to be called Jennifer? Show us she earned it.
(I should not that this is something I reserve for fictional characters)
That’s… kinda gross, in my opinion. Like deadnaming someone because ‘they haven’t earned the new name’.
Or ‘outing someone because they haven’t earned the right to not be outed’.
There’s basic human decency.
You don’t need to “earn” a new name. That’s a really shitty way of viewing things.
In Walky’s case, I think it’s also a connection between them he doesn’t want to let go. It’s not a coincidence they both went by short forms of their last names.
As for Becky, she may well be rude, but she also hasn’t been corrected. As far as we know, she has no reason to know Jennifer isn’t using Billie anymore. She wasn’t in the group when Jennifer corrected Walky and she didn’t say anything about it this scene until now.
RassilonTDavros:
“She seems to genuinely care about Jennifer’s well-being, although I’m guessing that’s sadly probably the reason she broke up with her in the first place.”
ooh, that sounds super Willis-y. love it
She also seemed thrown off by Ruth not antagonistically confronting her. (Probably because that’s what she would have done. See the opening salvo she fired off a few days ago.)
Hey, hey, hey. No bonding after all the work Becky went through.
Your icon is amazing for this comment
It’s usually a really good or a really bad fit.
That’s our Becky – all or nothing
yeah, rude
Ruth’s expression of “I’m trying here, don’t make me want to smack you” in panel four is something I can empathize with the more I look at it.
i guess you meant panel 3? or 5? or 7? or jennifer?
Not really. There are no coincidences, just hidden clues leading to your ultimate mood.
and this makes even less sense here than it did in its intended location.
So you’re saying, it’s not a coincidence that you posted here?
Alas, it was my doom.
Well, Jennifer is still acting in character – hurting people because she defensive about her own problems and anyone knowing about them. It’s a pity because she has shown that she’s capable of good actions and good thoughts but she’s just so messed up and over-reacting by trying to run away from everything and everyone associated with the ‘Billie’ persona.
Now, I’m hoping that Ruth does go on that date with Booster, she has a great time and never looks back to that nasty addiction-enabling dalliance.
Yeah, it’s a rule in fiction that after bad break-up with a girl a bisexual female ALWAYS needs to get to be shown in an after happy relationship with a guy to show that girl x girl one can’t work for bisexual people, like Jen is trying so hard to prove and show it was just a mistaken phase. Classy.
Booster is they/them – I don’t think the “happy relationship with a guy” trope fully applies here.
….Is it? Pretty much all the fiction that has bi characters I follow goes with “doomed straight relationship, bisexual character goes with a same-gender one, instant perfect eternal happiness.”
I also sorta hope Ruth does go out with Booster, just because I wanna see how she and they interact in that specific setting.
Go Team Rooster! What’s the worst that could happen?
#cursedwords
I mean, Ruth specifically told Booster to ask her out on her 21st birthday because she wasn’t ready to date sober. Which, eeeek.
That was also at the end of a meeting where she got beat up pretty good, so…
Oh, it would almost definitely be a trash fire, but I already take that for granted. Booster is a neat contrast to Jensen, because they’re interested in things and have a hobby, which immediately singles them out as a creepy pretentious weirdo (or so you’d think, based on audience reactions). It’s a totally different dynamic and I’m curious about it.
Yeah, that line scared me.
OTOH, Ruth’s never had any trouble getting booze before she turned 21, so it might just have been a black joke about not being ready to date at all.
Continue to ghost the group, Jennifer! Leave them behind in the dust!
It’s not like they’re just going to push harder the more she ignores them, or anything.
I wonder what exactly happened during the timeskip to end their relationship.
Jennifer Billingsworth, Scintillating Conversationalist
copperplate gothic
omg, it even has a watermark
that subtle off-white coloring
the tasteful thickness of it
It’s even embossed!
Deckle edged!
I saw an edit of that scene where the business cards were replaced with Pokémon cards. It was good.
I really hope we see a flashback to how they broke up sometime soon. Somehow I doubt it’s all or even mostly Ruth’s fault.
Same. Jennifer is coming across salty to me, which makes sense if Ruth broke up with her for a reason she was unwilling to accept while she still wanted to be with Ruth (and might still want to, but she must follow her own high school cheerleader rules and be an ass, insist she is doing much better, and all that).
Especially since she’s emphasizing that she moved on but claiming Ruth didn’t, emphasizing the boyfriend, it really feels like she’s trying to “win” the breakup. And since Ruth isn’t engaging in the same behaviors, I’m especially suspicious of Jennifer. It reads to me like Jennifer has learned how to talk about healthy relationships and behaviors from therapy, but Ruth has more indications of actually benefiting from it.
Agreed, I made a whole comment trying to say this, but I think you said it better.
I think Ruth has moved on, and just wants Jennifer to be happy. Jennifer is the one who is all ‘tsun’. I’m sure it will all shake out in time though. Not them getting back together, but the details of why they split.
whoa Jennifer, so COLD eesh
Taken at face value, I’m with Jennifer here. My big ex broke up with me, then had the audacity to try and tell me he missed me when we ran into each other at a party a few months later. You had your chance, buddy.
Sure, but we know there’s story that we don’t have, and I think we don’t have it for a reason. If all of that story that has yet to be revealed completely validates Jennifer’s behavior, I’m honestly going to be a little disappointed in Willis’ storytelling in this sector.
Yes, Jennifer is totally a new person. This is definitely not out of her high school cheerleader handbook of don’t let your ex see you hurt (because they’ll use that to hurt you or something, instead of having sympathy), continue to do things (specifically to spite them rather than for good reasons) and be a friend to yourself not them (and because you are an alpha bongo, that means, be a complete ass to them as much as you want until you are over them and then you can maybe be friends) like she advised Walky previously.
She’s on her, what, third or fourth “new person”? Each suspiciously like the last, without flaw?
Oh man, that “You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore” hits me so good. Willis, you’ve got such a way of giving characters unlikeable characteristics, then turning right around and making me relate to them.
Aww, I do kind of miss them together. Hopefully if they have time away from each other they can sort through their actual personal issues and get back together in a more stable way. But this is DOA so it’s just as likely they will crash and burn…
Is it just me or is Jennifer wearing her glasses further down her nose now that she no longer wants to be known as Billie? I’d check the archives but I suspect the powerful wave of narrative causality that retconned all of her character tags affected the artwork too.
Anyone else thinking of this strip with Jennifer’s antagonism? https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/04-of-mike-and-men/stanning/ (I didn’t check the comments yet so apologies if someone beat me to this!)
i don’t think it’s been mentioned! she does seem to practice what she preaches!
I don’t think Ruth did dump Jennifer, I think paired with comments between them from previous comics, Ruth did something Jennifer found in violation of the terms of their relationship and left her. It could be anything from cheating to relapsing on the alcohol to calling the police on Jennifer for relapsing and being underage in possession of alcohol, to one of the deciding to go off meds and/or therapy and the other flipping out over it, to attempted suicide…
It’s also really possible Ruth considered herself a liability to Jennifer and dumped her because she felt she was holding her back and that they couldn’t put the darker times of their relationship behind them, or just felt Jennifer was bored with how mundane and uninteresting their relationship (and therefore Ruth) was now that they didn’t have self destructive binges and suicide pacts keeping them going. We saw a lot of this in Ruth’s mindset before the jump, that her life was getting back on track and that it didn’t feel as interesting or enticing to Jennifer now that they were both sober and getting help, and was causing her some insecurity she was struggling to do anything with but bury.
so, as I walked through those scenarios I’m kinda on the fence 50/50 either one could have dumped the other, given Jennifer’s hurt, if she’s the one who dumped Ruth it would have been because Ruth betrayed her trust and her understanding of their relationship on some key level. Ruth’s reasons for dumping largely stem from feeling unworthy of Jennifer.
Given Jennifer’s somewhat homophobic comments, there could be a sinister element here that Jennifer now believes Ruth blackmailed her, took advantage of her, groomed her then forced her into a “gay relationship”, really hoping it isn’t that.
Well arguably Ruth did take advantage of and groom Jennifer, she certainly physically, emotionally and sexually harassed her
I don’t think I’d call anything in there grooming. Certainly harassment early on, but that’s not always the same as grooming.
“Grooming” implies a level of premeditation that I really wouldn’t apply to Ruth, since it was a constant stream of self-destructive spur of the moment behaviour.
It is technically taking advantage but it’s not like Ruth was a teacher, she’s an RA.
No just premeditation, but a particular way of building emotional connection to prepare for sex, which Ruth’s harassment didn’t do. If anything the harassment was more likely to drive her away than anything.
Jennifer seems really angry at Ruth. I wonder what as she do for deserve this. Something very stupid I guest.
I suspect that Ruth gave an ultimatum to Billie to dry out and attend therapy or they break up. Billie walked rather than have anyone else dictate her life. Ironically, she actually did quit the bottle and start attending therapy (which basically is what led to the “I am Jennifer” self-reboot) but she still resents Ruth for making conditions for the continuance of their relationship.
So much THIS. This is what I have read (into it). That Jennifer is unwilling to give up the bottle and “I wanna die,” behavior,… or maybe I almost killed someone, “I don’t deserve to live,” behavior.
She said she stopped drinking and was attending therapy around the conclusion of Book 10, but that and $3.50 will get you a cup of coffee so who knows.
I’m sure the truth looks something like your scenario though. Ruth sets boundary or expectation as a condition of continuing their relationship, Billiefer oversteps said boundary, Ruth breaks relationship off, Billiefer goes full Shocked Pikachu and harbors resentment for being held accountable for her own actions.
Yeah, she was lying and faking the withdrawal symptoms. Come on. Even the therapy came up casually when she used a bit of therapy lingo to Ruth.
It’s quite possible she fell of the wagon after that, but the intent of that arc is clear. And frankly, there’s no evidence she did start drinking again.
We’re talking about a character who constantly lies all the time and falls back into old habits.
It’s fiction and there was a timeskip so I get it, we didn’t see it happening so we’ve got a disconnect and it may be too easy an answer to latch onto, but constantly relapsing into her problems has been a thing for Jennifer since day one.
I think its actually a REALLY good bit of writing if Jennifer is able to stay on the wagon and keep herself clean by keeping away from her old friends. It contextualizes a lot of unfortunate things.
That’d be kind of funny in a “Getaway throws Rodimus off his own ship because he’s an asshole and a failure as a captain” way but probably untenable for a series where Jennifer would need to keep interacting with the cast.
Maybe, but normally when that’s the case, it’s the old friends who were driving the bad behavior, which doesn’t really seem to have been the case here.
Ruth at first, though Jennifer was drinking plenty before then and by the end Ruth was her impetus to stop.
We’d need to see something more about why the old friends were keeping her from stopping before I’d see it as good writing.
I’ve said repeatedly she could have relapses. As Ruth could have.
I’m only objecting to when people completely brush off the changes she did make towards the end of season 1.
Point to the sentence in any of my comments where I said she was faking her withdrawal symptoms. Jennifer’s old demons have always come back to haunt her. She may give them the cold shoulder, but they’re always there. I’m sure she put in the effort to dry out, but it’s well established that she’s prone to falling back into old habits easily so it’s entirely possible she had a relapse during the skip.
I said we only have her word to go by that she’s going to therapy, and given her unreliability as a narrator and her tendency to reframe events to paint her in a more positive light, I think it’s up in the air whether that was actually true.
There’s no definitive evidence of anything after her pep talk with Ruth near the end of Book 10. That was the last substantial bit of exposition we got from her before the Garbage Roof finale and time jump.
Maybe she fell off the wagon. Maybe she stopped going to therapy. Maybe she lied about either of those things. Maybe Ruth actually did instigate something that led to their relationship breaking. Anything could have happened, but we don’t know what yet. and all we can do is stay on Mr. Willis’s Wild Ride until it reveals more.
“She said she stopped drinking and was attending therapy around the conclusion of Book 10, but that and $3.50 will get you a cup of coffee so who knows.” That’s at the least very dismissive of the idea that she’d stopped drinking.
If you’d intended the final clause to only apply to the therapy, I guess you could be right, but it’s hard for me to read it that way.
It is absolutely possible she fell off the wagon during the timeskip. Or that Ruth did, for that matter. Alcoholics do that.
IMO, Jennifer has a much worse record of relapsing (or never actually stopping) than Ruth does. And of making claims about her progress that aren’t true.
Yeah, sorry, I should’ve clarified that better.
I mean we can’t necessarily take her at her word, because she’s an unreliable narrator. She’ll minimize her involvement and deflect blame until she talks herself into a corner.
I think her withdrawal symptoms were genuine, because she’ll at least try to change for a while. (And we saw no indication or hint that she was putting on a show for Ruth’s sake.)
Maybe she fell off the wagon during the skip, maybe not. Maybe Ruth did again, maybe not. We’ll find out.
I sincerely hope those two don’t get back together. Their relationship never did sit well with me.
I want to protect that smile
Is it me or Jennifer is drawn in a way to suggest that she’s on meds?
Her eyebrows are drawn thicker than they were pre-skip, and obviously her hair’s been cut, but other than that she looks basically the same as ever to me.
All comments about questionable behavior aside, I like Jennifer’s thicker eyebrows.
I guess I’m confused by Jennifer’s retort… someone can miss you and still be at fault for causing the drift. And does it have to be a fault? It can be the right choice, but still, have the emotional component missing. Just… nuance, Jennifer. I miss plenty of people in my life, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t better without them. I can know it was best for me (or best for them) but still look fondly on everything that made it worth it at the time, and hope they are doing good too.
It could be the right choice and nuanced. Or it could actually be Ruth’s fault. We don’t know. It’s hard to judge either of their reactions when we don’t know what they’re reacting to.
If your ex really did do something awful that drove you away, “I miss you” can ring pretty hollow. Or Jennifer can just be reading out of her breakup playbook – never let them see you hurt.
No I think I get what you are saying. Are you talking about her facial expression while she’s saying “I’m fine,” ? B/c real talk I’ve been thinking about her expression off and on all day.
I’m sure they both have their stuff to work out, but I continue to be impressed by how Jennifer is using the words of being “healthy” and/or “over it” but continuing to act a lot more immature. ya know, one of those cases where somebody is adopting a new framework to try to stuff their bad behaviors into as a way to make themselves feel better/make other people feel bad.
I mean, depending on what actually happened, she could just be righteously angry, but until I know what it is, seems like Ruth’s behavior is a lot better overall.