Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

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July 9, 2026

Worry

by David M Willis on October 12, 2010 at 12:01 am
  • 01 - Move-In Day
└ Tags: danny, dorothy

Discussion (43) ¬

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  1. MrGBH
    MrGBH
    October 12, 2010 at 12:03 am | #

    Something tells me that after this arc, Dorothy won’t be the only one worried about Danny.

  2. David Herbert
    David Herbert
    October 12, 2010 at 12:03 am | #

    I think it’d be better for national security if the President’s husband helped keep the computers secure. Because he knows he won’t get any if he screws up.

  3. Trae Dorn
    Trae Dorn
    October 12, 2010 at 12:06 am | #

    Oh Danny… sigh

    Now KICK THE DAMNED PUPPY ALREADY! 😛

  4. beeftony
    beeftony
    October 12, 2010 at 12:15 am | #

    I was initially on the fence about whether or not Dorothy should dump Danny harder than a sack of rabid weasels, but now I’m tempted to cross dimensions in order to do it myself. I started to worry about him around the time I realized he reminded me a little too much of the way Joyce acted in Roomies! and this only has me more concerned. He needs a wake-up call, and hard.

    Maybe it’s the mullet or the fact that his name is Danny, but for some reason or another I can’t help being reminded of Karate Kid 2 where one of the first things that happens is the main character gets dumped by his girlfriend. I haven’t seen it in a while so I can’t remember if the circumstances are exactly the same but I remember thinking at the time that the break-up was little more than an excuse to move the action to Okinawa. Now I’m actively rooting for Dorothy because Danny seriously needs a swift kick in the balls. It’s like he doesn’t even realize the fact that he’s rented out a bulldozer with which to excavate his own grave.

    Take him down, Dorothy. Push him to the bottom and give him a good hard dose of reality. Otherwise I’m going to figure out a way to go in there and choke him to death myself.

  5. Andrew
    Andrew
    October 12, 2010 at 12:35 am | #

    I saw this once with a roommate of mine…. It didn’t go well.

  6. TheAlucinaut
    TheAlucinaut
    October 12, 2010 at 12:35 am | #

    Yeah, this went pretty quickly from

    “Oh god poor Danny you silly romantic bastard on nooo”

    to

    “Ye gods, this boy is…not well, please throw him into the pool & make him learn to swim, & go live your life.”

    But it’s still Danny, so it’s hard to admit. ~sigh sigh~

  7. Wackd
    Wackd
    October 12, 2010 at 12:37 am | #

    At first I thought that Danny was Joyce in this. But now, based on that last line, I’m thinking Danny is Joyce crossed with Joe…..

    Excuse me, my brain is melting.

  8. Dran
    Dran
    October 12, 2010 at 12:58 am | #

    I guess he doesn’t know much about what you have to learn in computer science.

    ..All the ‘oh geez he needs to learn REALITY’ comments are freaking me out a bit. Sort of reminds me of arguments based on the starving children in other countries or whatever. Danny is perfectly familiar with the reality he’s in and you are just arguing he should be thrust into a harsher one! Less-harsh realities are objectively better though. It would be nice if relationships tended to work out and last happy lifetimes on average.

    • Trae Dorn
      Trae Dorn
      October 12, 2010 at 8:02 am | #

      He’s completely oblivious to the fact that his girlfriend is miserable. If you don’t think he needs a wakeup call for that ALONE… well, I see codependency in your future.

      • icecestroleijon
        icecestroleijon
        July 19, 2013 at 8:35 am | #

        Miserable? No.

        A little selfish and held back from true potential and what she wants for the future?
        Yes.

        At least she has the decency to have some remorse or fear about saying it, but honestly: The worst way to solve a problem is by saying goodbye. It will just come back years later to screw you.

  9. Laurel
    Laurel
    October 12, 2010 at 1:05 am | #

    Young people have naive views of their futures, especially in terms of relationships. This is acceptable.

    Cubical heads and mullets, however, are completely unacceptable no matter what universe one is located within.

    • Trae Dorn
      Trae Dorn
      October 12, 2010 at 8:03 am | #

      The South? 😛

      • LordChaos
        LordChaos
        November 15, 2013 at 6:46 pm | #

        The south is not a universe. No matter how much we want to boot it out of ours.

  10. Tetsukalian
    Tetsukalian
    October 12, 2010 at 1:20 am | #

    I just got up to date after starting from the beginning of Shortpacked! and have started reading this one. I really like it so far. I think David Willis writes my favorite webcomics, and that’s saying something, considering ohmygods used to be my favorite. Can’t wait to get completely caught up on the Walkyverse.

  11. Aeron
    Aeron
    October 12, 2010 at 2:41 am | #

    Hahaha, she’s having to fight herself to go through with it.

    Honestly, girl, is he really that bad for being so positive?

  12. Undrave
    Undrave
    October 12, 2010 at 3:53 am | #

    Good god… no matter what Dorothy decide this won’t end well… better to hurt him now than later.

  13. Cha
    Cha
    October 12, 2010 at 3:56 am | #

    Way to miss the point Danny. I am feeling very sorry for you right now, but you are kinda deserving it because this just borders on a little creepy.

  14. Shift
    Shift
    October 12, 2010 at 4:24 am | #

    Danny would almost be cute if he wasn’t so oblivious and sad. I mean, I know that your first love is always the one you romanticize the most, because it seems so big and you give so much of yourself into it. But honestly… Danny, get a clue and some dignity.

  15. Matt
    Matt
    October 12, 2010 at 5:15 am | #

    The last two panels of this comic are essentially what every CS major believes, in their heart of hearts, to be true.

  16. Rachel
    Rachel
    October 12, 2010 at 7:44 am | #

    This is pretty much the same Danny. We just had Joyce as a contrast and a huge focus on the aliens after a while. He’ll get smarter. He did last time! 🙂

  17. ziggy78eog
    ziggy78eog
    October 12, 2010 at 9:12 am | #

    I do not remember Danny being this clingy.

    • Joebo
      Joebo
      October 12, 2010 at 9:29 am | #

      Think Sal

    • maggiemarmalade
      maggiemarmalade
      October 12, 2010 at 10:48 am | #

      The love-interest in question happened to be in a different location, so it wasn’t as obvious. Hopefully this will all be over soon. Like ripping off a band-aid in two or three strips.

    • Zem
      Zem
      October 13, 2010 at 1:20 pm | #

      Clearly he’s channeling Joyce from the other continuity.

  18. arjay2813
    arjay2813
    October 12, 2010 at 9:16 am | #

    he needs to be dumped. hard, for his own good

    • Joebo
      Joebo
      October 30, 2010 at 1:23 am | #

      The current status of your avatar being Sal makes this comment odd. And funny.

  19. Stephen
    Stephen
    October 12, 2010 at 12:07 pm | #

    Damn it, Danny’s Soul! Snap! SNAP ALREADY!

  20. Scully
    Scully
    October 12, 2010 at 1:02 pm | #

    snaaaaaaaaaaaap

    • Scully
      Scully
      October 12, 2010 at 1:03 pm | #

      why am I Tony now? I was mike! I just went down one step in bastard and one up in crazy!

    • agentksilver
      agentksilver
      October 12, 2010 at 1:28 pm | #

      faaaaaaaace

  21. Kamino Neko
    Kamino Neko
    October 12, 2010 at 1:23 pm | #

    Dude, I thought I was bad in my first relationship…I was a bit blindsided by the breakup, but at least I saw where it was going when she started…

  22. kommunaut
    kommunaut
    October 12, 2010 at 3:44 pm | #

    I’m not sure if Danny’s clingy-ness is the real reason she wants to break up with him. In the Walkyverse, Walky (in highschool) tried to impress her by working hard and getting good grades, but she wouldn’t go out with him because he pushed himself for her, not himself. I think it’s kinda the same with Danny, she doesn’t like that he’s following her instead of trying to do/be what’s best for him.

  23. Heather
    Heather
    October 12, 2010 at 6:30 pm | #

    He’s what 18? I think he can be afforded some navitiy. Especially, if say this has been his only long term relationship. Plus you usually see it (in fiction) usually the GIRL in a het relationship being more out of sorts and thinking they’ll be in ‘TRU LOVE FOREVAAAA’ despite the guy thinking differently. I quite like that we see the guy here instead making that mistake.

    Eh, most relationships do disintegrate in the first year of university. Of course there’s usually a long distance issue or something.

    Kind of sad this doesn’t last the first WEEK though.

    In the end Dorothy has also made a mistake. She should have talked to Danny about this before college. Seems like she’s been thinking this for a while to me.

  24. Jonathan Russell
    Jonathan Russell
    October 12, 2010 at 9:55 pm | #

    Looks like someone is going….. Over the edge.
    YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

  25. Adius
    Adius
    October 12, 2010 at 11:33 pm | #

    This isn’t even remotely fair. He didn’t REALLY want to say something that stupid, he was FORCED to because it was the last panel and there had to be a punchline! Think about it, is that last line really in character?

    This kind of thing really does irk me in shows like Everybody Loves Raymond, where the writers constantly make the characters meaner than they would otherwise be just so they can get out a really good zinger and queue the laughtrack. After a while the characters all just seem really stupid and hateful and its quite hard to like any of them. Fortunately Willis is way, way less bad about it.

    • David
      David M Willis
      October 12, 2010 at 11:44 pm | #

      I think the last panel is absolutely in character… for this iteration of Danny. The last Danny was written by an 18-year-old virgin. I’m not nearly as scared of the horizontal hoedown, and neither are the characters who reeeaaallly shouldn’t be either.

      This Danny and this Dorothy… they’ve done it. (This isn’t going to be a super shocking reveal later, so I feel pretty okay stating so here.) This isn’t the Danny who wincingly avoided Sal’s sexual advances in the fountain. This is a Brave New Danny who’s had Prom Sex.

      • Adius
        Adius
        October 12, 2010 at 11:51 pm | #

        Eww but now he’s like, the kind of creepy dude who thinks he’s nice but has entitlement issues in dealing with the opposite sex and bleeeeaugh *projects shamelessly*

  26. Katosen
    Katosen
    October 13, 2010 at 1:45 am | #

    *blink* *blink*

    I need to look at myself and go through a change the easy way before I get hit with the dump-hammer like Danny is about to get.

  27. Sher
    Sher
    October 15, 2010 at 7:13 pm | #

    I think it’s possible that she could go for it… at least she should. (:

  28. Tahiri
    Tahiri
    October 17, 2010 at 8:06 am | #

    Can I just say I really missed Danny? I’ve loved reading Shortpacked and It’s Walky, but I started with Roomies. This just brings back wonderful past memories. I know it will be different this time around, but I bet the characters will still be true to who they are. Danny, I’m so glad to have you back!

    P.S. Dina’s great but the rest of the girls can suck it lol

  29. XERO
    XERO
    October 21, 2010 at 1:18 am | #

    meh girl i was into hooked up with my roomate who then dumped her for another girl so i was SOL as far as getting w her (not that i had a shot before that)

  30. Plasma Mongoose
    Plasma Mongoose
    February 25, 2011 at 10:52 pm | #

    Danny will make someone a great Stepford Wife err Husband one of these days.

  31. Icalasari
    Icalasari
    August 6, 2011 at 8:57 pm | #

    …Ok, Danny is seeming a little creepier in this continuity…

CHOOSE A SIDE, NO COWARDS

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