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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
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last panel Jennifer face is just PURE GOLD XD LMAO
It’s pure something.
I’m not sure I want it for MY gravatar, but I’m sure I want it for SOMEONE’S gravatar.
glasses aside it’s very relatable, i’d always be worried about rolling over and crushing my glasses if i slepti n them
Also how did that happen? Her glasses were neatly on the bed a few strips ago
Who leaves their glasses on the mattress when they sleep? That’s just rolling over and crushing them with extra steps!
Where else would I leave them? Besides, I don’t crush the computer, why would I crush the glasses?
This will make a fine addition to my collection
(of avatars)
Still no change in her tag. Still Jennifer for now, but I think the clock is ticking.
I have been wrong before, but I don’t really expect it.
If it was strictly a matter of in-story dynamics, I’d say you have a strong case. But it fulfills a real-world function as well. The characters are providing a good set of role models, a low key teaching by example of the basic decency of calling someone by the name they want to use. You wouldn’t think that something that was basic good maners would need encouraging, but apparently it does. I don’t anticipate that Willis will give that up lightly.
Willis wouldn’t be giving it up, though, if Jennifer went back to wanting to be called Billie.
It kind of would though. It wouldn’t be the opposite example, but the example wouldn’t still be there.
Or maybe it would, since we’d have to go through another cycle of characters being reminded she wants to be called Billie now?
Only for new readers who both pay close attention to the tags and read the comments, honestly?
Like yes, the tag changing was huge when it happened, but the change itself has never been preserved: new readers don’t see the tag change for them when they get to that strip, so they’d have to read the comment section to even know it had happened; that she hadn’t always been tagged as Jennifer, for whatever reason.
The text of the comic will still enforce the respect for her name as much as it did originally, but that’ll still be true even if the tag changes back…
Plot twist: she asks to be called “Jenny” from now on.
Feel like she can do better than that. Maybe she’ll start going by Ferbill.
Billie Jen.
/nods sagely
We’re just going to run through Jen, Jenny and Yunru in the course of her attempted reinventions
I wasn’t thinking of the tag specifically and I don’t think clif was either. That would just be a meta confirmation of Jennifer’s intent.
Clif might have been, since he was replying to a comment specifically about the tags.
As for your point– I guess the example wouldn’t still be ongoing, if that’s what you mean. But it also wouldn’t be if everyone gets used to her name, so I feel like either way, it has an expiration for ongoing relevance.
It could be interpreted as a negative message (someone changed their name? just wait and they’ll change it back), but you’d really have to divorce it from a lot of the content of the story, and at that point you can do it with anything. (“A tomboyish nickname like ‘Billie’ is childish and will be dropped as someone grows up.”)
Also i think people are forgetting that “Billie” isn’t actually her original name. It is out of universe as that’s the name we first see her using both here and in Rookies! but in-universe she’s gone Jennifer Billie Jennifer. And both name changes we’re kinda forced on her.
I definitely assumed we were all talking about the tag because it didn’t otherwise make sense to me that anything about her name change being respected could be lost. Plus, yeah, the TL was about the tag.
I think it’s complicated by the rename not being a straightforwardly positive thing. Billie and Jennifer are names that have thematic weight, and I think it’d be very easy to read her going back to Billie as a good thing
+1
Exactly this.
This cutaway is diabolical, Willis, but I’m not one to complain about more disaster sapphics.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/musical-horizons/#comment-1870970
The “alt text” on Patreon for ONE of these comics is in fact “oops all sapphics”, I think maybe the first cutaway to Ruth and Jennifer but I don’t remember for sure.
(I don’t think this is violating any rules, I thiiiiink the description line on the posts is publicly visible?! orz I hope it is.)
So demure. Much smexy. Very Billie.
I love when a strip makes me want so much popcorn prepped.
“Great comedy can’t just be funny faces, there has to be more.” – I don’t know, someone who doesn’t know comedy
You know the other three are thinking “Bless Billie’s wardrobe.” in panel six.
Y’know, I hadn’t noticed at first, but gotdamn. She really kinda breasted boobily to the door, huh.
So who is shipping Ruth and Alice?
I’m always in favour of resolving a love triangle* with a Mako solution
Is that when one of the parties involved gets eaten by a shark?
(Freshwater sharks can swim up the Ohio River into Indiana.)
No, it involves a freaky fish guy who plays Duel Monsters.
Dual Monsters and a freaky fish guy might be a plausible love triangle.
No, because Makos are a suboptimal shark for that. You’re probably going to want a Bull Shark for that job
A better name for what I’m talking about would probably be a Korrasami solution, but I think it’s fun to dunk on Mako.
Oh, right, that Mako. I forgot his name.
The thing that really gets me is they named him after the Mako, Iroh’s late voice actor, which is a sweet gesture that sours badly when the character turned out like that.
To be fair to Mako, in the comics even he is like “yeah you guys are way better off together than with me”
Bull sharks have been found north of the Ohio:
The furthest inland a bull shark has ever been seen in North America is Alton, Ill. Alton sits along the Mississippi River about 15 miles north of St. Louis, and 1,000 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
I can totally buy that sharks can swim up the Ohio River into Indiana. What I’m totally unclear on is why they would want to.
Maybe it was curious? Maybe it was an intrepid explorer? Maybe it got lost?
I bet Sharks could do real well in the Great Lakes, or at least could have prior to the advent of industrial fishing.
I read that as Alton 3 or Alton the 3rd. Cool shark fact!
You are an absolute sadist, and I am here for it.
Does anyone actually care about Jason in this relationship? Don’t confuse that as me caring about Jason in this relationship. I’m just curious. Cause everyone just seems to tacitly agree he’s a non factor.
I do, I’ll take him off of Ruth’s hands if she doesn’t want him.
Sometimes I entertain the idea of Jason mattering. Like he might bring something to a polycule, something stabilizing for Ruth that she wouldn’t get from Jennifer or Alice (if Jennifer were still involved). But I don’t like him for I don’t need a reason reasons.
I do. He is a person and deserves basic dignity. Not necessarily to stay with Ruth but to be broken up with before she gets in a new/old relationship. And to know what kind of relationship he is in. Does he know Ruth would cast him off for Jennifer? Is he OK with that? This matters to me.
And I’ve seen too much toxic attitudes of disposability toward men and male/female relationships in the context of glorifying f/f relationships. It’s kind of a form of biphobia slash just not affording everyone basic human dignity.
I definitely think it can dip into that.
Like, I don’t think it always is, obviously, based on my own reply, but I wanna acknowledge that you have a point with at least some shippers’ attitudes. I want to hope it’s mostly teenagers and they’ll grow out of it, though.
Ruth’s been pretty upfront with Jason on where he stands with her, and even said it was up to him if they were still a couple after she admitted that kissing Jennifer was on the table. His response to which was in the affirmative: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2022/comic/book-13/02-turning-saints-into-the-sea/gettingstarted/
I’m not saying it’s the healthiest dynamic, but no one’s being misled anyway
I fully agree with this in principle, but it’s Jason. Getting dumped on is basically his role in the comic. It’s kind of like worrying about Donald Duck’s right to be treated with respect and granted basic dignity.
Donald Duck does deserve respect and basic dignity. It’s funny when he doesn’t get ’em, but he still deserves them.
How dare you, comparing Donald Duck to the likes of Jason.
I’d agree with you if it were literally any other dude. And I like Jason. But lets be real he’s more of a pet than anything else.
I like having him around, although I don’t really like him as a person.
I think he’s a perceptive guy, he’s probably recognized that this isn’t exactly a stable long-term relationship and that Ruth is still badly in love with her ex.
I’m… I don’t know. Still waiting to be impressed wrt Jason as a character.
It’s definitely not because he’s in the way of Ruth/Jennifer (I mean, even if that had been a reason once upon a time, he literally isn’t), though. It’s just that he hasn’t clicked yet for me as a character.
(Also I do care about Walky’s feelings, and caring about them is part of why I currently hope he and Dorothy break up; I also care about Joe’s feelings, even though I will die on the hill of “no one is actually obligated to care about the hypotenuse in a love triangle, these are fictional characters, it’s fine to actively look forward to metaphorically drinking Joe’s tears”. I think fandom would be a much, much happier place if people more commonly dealt with ‘obstacles’ to their ships with indifference instead of by vilifying them and anyone who likes the ‘competing’ ship.)
((There’s no such thing as a competing ship. There are incompatible multi ship configurations, but unless you’re watching a reality TV competition, there’s no actual competition: just the ship(s) the author is interested in someday making canon, and the ones they’re not.))
Not really.
I’m kind of waiting for him to show up here, too.
I’m kind of tempted to say “Yes, I care about Jason, and that’s why if he gets out of the relationship that started with him being nonconsensually handcuffed to a door, I’m all for it.” But honestly, I don’t care about Jason that much.
Ruth’s definitely not treating him well, but he seems to be aware of the situation.
Part of the reason the commentariat doesn’t seem really invested in him is that it’s so obvious Ruth isn’t. Despite them being together, the main romantic tension and character development is still focused on Ruth and Jennifer.
Alice, with even less panel time, comes closer to being the third in a triangle here.
Oh god, if *Billie* gave too few shits about her own safety for Alice’s liking, Ruth would be a whole other level.
I like the use of the Hrgh, the spelling is an accurate representation of the sound one makes when they awoken.
Damn she had herself a depression nap.
…mood
will this be a productive talk
Might actually be the best she’s looked all semester.
Well this could go either way.
as if there’s only two
Mmm.
You’re suggesting there might be three ways?
Potentially even four!
OMG OMG OMG
Joyce worked her magic, I adore her. Maybe Billie has a chance to at least have a good talk, and get some much needed peace.
sleeby
so sleeby
this may actually be good, maybe she’ll be too sleeby to detonate should that be the direction this tries to go!
Man, she really conked out on that bed, seems like.
Emotional crises can be exhausting.
I sleep best at home, too
And Of Course we switched away from the Joyce-Dorothy scene.
Are we surprised?
I somehow feel we shouldn’t be.
No, we should not be surprised. I’m-a just grouse about it anyway.
I think changing scenes is just. Confirmation that that offer from Joyce, and how Dorothy reacts to it, are super important.
I’m undercutting my own argument here, but I thought Ruth’s revelation that she would dump Jason and get back with Jennifer in a heartbeat, and of course how Jennifer reacted to it too, were kind of important. We changed scenes and here we are.
I feel like one of us may have misread the other, but I’m not sure which?
Anyway, agreed that Ruth telling Jennifer she’d drop Jason (which was also accompanied by a scene change) was also important.
(Maybe it sounded like I thought cutting away mid-scene was unprecedented? I didn’t! I just know it accompanies some big reveals
so this feels like confirmation that this is one of those.)
that means Dorothy is really going to help Joyce
Excellent gravatar, sir! I am glad someone has adopted it already.
Carla, I thought you said you were going to stop doing nice things.
Or maybe she can sense that this will go terribly and is helping with that
Carla never does nice things. She demonstrates her superiority by helping others out and then she ‘owns’ them.
Just ask her.
Nice or terrible, this seems to fall in line with Carla’s “rip that stupid band-aid off for you” approach.
Maybe she’ll get cookies.
Mmm. Cookies.
What ‘nice’ thing? The girl was clearly taking up valuable hallway-skating space. And, being a newcomer, she didn’t know her place in Carla’s Universe. So the quicker she got delivered to Ruth (who does know her place in Carla’s Universe), the quicker she is removed from the hallway-skating space, and thus Carla can get back to hallway-skating.
This is a small moment for her but I think this shows Carla’s a lot nicer than she gets credit for. She’s not a complete narcissist. Helping a stranger unprompted is pretty altruistic. Carla cares.
I’m just gonna…just gonna borrow that last face for a pfp…
I’m very proud of Carla for being helpful here.
This will be brief, as I doubt Alice is there to completely hash it all out, but it will be enough for Billifer to see that the door has been opened. This will prompt her to run to Joyce – to thank her, probably to apologize as well. She thanks Ruth and Alice, then heads across to Joyce’s room. She will arrive as Dotty and Joyce are having a very awkward conversation, but for different reasons.
Joyce and Dorothy are both trying to figure out just how literal and figurative Joyce’s request was. Dotty is trying to explain why she can’t help her, while trying to plausibly deny/hide that she really really wants to. Joyce genuinely trusts Dotty enough to ask this of her, and is a bit confused why Dotty is being so hesitant. Cue Billifer, arriving juuuuust in time to see the two of them. In a well-intentioned-but-poorly-thought-out moment of “I want to return the favor”, Billifer spills the beans on Dotty’s feelings.
A called shot! Will it pan out?!
I think Willis will slow the burn on Dorothy’s feelings for Joyce being revealed a little longer. I think, in my ideal version of this comic, Dorothy “helps her out” without telling her she’s seriously getting off on it. Then runs to the laundry room.
I love it when women are bad people.
Did she sleep with her glasses on? I try to avoid doing that because it usually results in smudges all over the lenses that are annoying to clean off.
Face first too
Do people not fall asleep reading anymore? I know that’s not what happened with Jennifer, but back before I needed a machine to help me sleep, I fell asleep in them all the time. You need a sturdy pair and cleaning your glasses is something you do in the morning like washing your face. But honestly, there’s not that much of a downside.
So many of these characters sleep with their glasses on! It really triggers me as a glasses wearer.
And what’s interesting is that in the last strip we saw her in, she didn’t have her glasses on. Did she put them on to go to sleep?
Maybe she put them on just now. Or attempted to, anyway.
In the first shot of her on the bed, we see where she has put the glasses.
More concerning than the number of fictional glasses-wearers who do it is the fact that Willis wears glasses. So…
Considering she wasn’t wearing glasses at all in the previous strips, I’m just guessing that this is her failed attempt to put them on immediately after waking.
Willis’s characters sleep in strange and unexplainable ways
Alice is very pleasant.
Now, personally, if I were trying to convince someone I was recovering from being the alcoholic drama hurricane, I would not want to answer the door looking like THAT.
Counterwise, Jennifer is kind of cute and vulnerable before she’s awake enough to be Jennifer.
XD She’s awful cute, yes, but still looks rather messed up.
so this is the third time in one day that alice has run into jennifer unexpectedly? what a weird day for her…
I think it’s just the two times, she probably did expect to run into Jennifer when she visited her dorm looking for her
but this is ruth’s dorm?
Ruth and Jennifer live in the same dormitory?
Jennifer lives in Forest, the same dorm but different floor as Alice.
Oh that’s a fucking embarrassing mistake on my part.
I’m wondering why Alice is here, at Ruth’s door. To talk to the R.A.?
“I’m concerned about the mental state of Jennifer Billingsworth.”
“Pft. Well, better late than never to get in that line.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry about it. She’s in my bed.”
“What?”
“Oh, no worries; we’re not together anymore.”
“What?”
I’m conflicted Ruth and Jennifer is one of my otps but I would like Jennifer to grow and get better.
Oh hai Jennifer who is about to disregard all of the emo talk.
lol
“The missile is very tired and needs to eepy”, but re-written for Billie. I don’t have sufficient levels of brain rot to do it myself, but you guys are smart, you get the idea.
Get a large language model to do it. I’m not familiar with the source material and those things probably are.
My feeling on LLMs is very much, “if you didn’t care about your idea enough to write it, why should I want to read it?”
Never mind that it’s often gibberish.
LLMs are just plagiarism machines. No one should use them for anything ever.
This too.
Also training them wastes so much electricity and water that they are offsetting the move to green energy and making people like Musk say we need more nuclear power plants.
Some cute kitty video of zooming and then sleeping, yeah?
Is this the first time Ruth has called her name?
Nah, she just knows that she goes by Jennifer now.
*jack_nicholson_slow_zoom.gif*
was unsure abt the boob lighting but checked and it holds up. sorry for doubting ur sphere fundamentals willis
“Oh, these?”
“I wear these when I don’t care what I look like!”
*chief kiss*
It really sells the angle, imho. You can tell Jennifer is slumped over in a way that makes her chin and chest hit the light first.
Oh Jennifer. You’re in for a surprise.
Since she was face down on the pillow it’ll be a while before she knows to panic as the tears will have blurred the hell out of her glasses.
The glasses were off, on the corner of the bed.
need the entire last panel to become my pfp, especially considering my hair style matches with Jennifer currently
*Panic in 3… 2… 1…*
But only after we cut to a third timeline.
HOORAY! Now let’s hope Ruth will be able to mediate between them and help her ex to start a new and healthy relationship with the person that seems to be the love of her life. Alice was really sweet in being worried about Jennifer.
Love of her life might be a little strong but certainly her high school sweetheart.
Honestly good on Carla for even taking Alice to the appropriate person.
She knows it’s the right thing to do when dealing with sapphics.
“She’s as beautiful as I remember.”
Carla: Uuugh! For real? Charlie is in another building.
Alice: No, her name is not Charlie.
Carla: Ok, well… As you supposed, I already have a girlfriend.
Ash takes one look at Jennifer and immediately assumes she’s been drinking again.
Alice, not Asher!
Alice’s nickname is Ash because she’s been burned once.
Love the quotation marks around “Billie” in Ruth’s dialogue.
Goddamm, Jennifer has never looked hotter.
I love the scrunkly
Billie: My name is Jennif- *sees Alice*-ERP!
Ruth: Here is ‘Jenniferp’, now in her native ‘cave troll’ habitat.
Alice: Isn’t this YOUR room?
Ruth: I stand by what I said.
i guess it’s good enough that she didn’t stab her eyes when trying to put her glasses back on
Let’s be real, you have yet to make a good impression on Alice. This will in no way hurt…
…your odds of making a good impression. It may yet hurt in other ways.
Sigh
Oh, Carla…!
Thank god. The comic is good again.
Was looking to see if Taffy said it before me but GOD Jen’s hot in that last panel
How am I supposed to be thirsty for a hot cup of Billie when there’s an Alice right there?
You just have to appreciate all of it, and I am parched.
Just thinking about Alice figuring out Ruth was who to look for and how she found how to find her. She probably had to talk to people.
could just have been joyce
…….why is this specifically the first time I found Jennifer kind of attractive?
So which is the missus and which is the ex in this scenario