Dumbing of Age Book Eleven

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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September 20, 2023

Authority

by David M Willis on January 4, 2012 at 12:01 am
  • 01 - Pajama Jeans

└ Tags: jennifer, ruth, sal, walky

Discussion (117) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. NCP19
    NCP19
    January 4, 2012 at 12:04 am | #

    I’m getting a really strong Hulk vibe here.

  2. Dahlia
    Dahlia
    January 4, 2012 at 12:04 am | #

    O_O Way to take the high road, Sal!!!

    v.v ‘Kay the whole Ruth thing is depressing so I’m not gonna mention it.

    • fellixe
      fellixe
      January 4, 2012 at 10:25 am | #

      I don’t think Sal was choosing the high road so much as the ‘don’t kill people’ road.

      • Dahlia
        Dahlia
        January 4, 2012 at 3:27 pm | #

        ^ ^;;; agree’d…

        • Mischka
          Mischka
          August 24, 2013 at 11:03 pm | #

          I liked Ruth better in the original buuuuuuuut its making me less emotionally attached for…whats to come (maybe?).

  3. Plasma Mongoose
    Plasma Mongoose
    January 4, 2012 at 12:05 am | #

    Totally worth it!

    • Kernanator
      Kernanator
      January 4, 2012 at 12:28 am | #

      What’s that? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY FIST HITTING SHINJI MATOU’S RUTH LESSICK’S FACE IN MY IMAGINATION.

      • Aizat
        Aizat
        January 4, 2012 at 12:31 am | #

        WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF CAPTAIN BRIGHT’S HAND HITTING RUTH’S FACE IN MY IMAGINATION.

        • Kernanator
          Kernanator
          January 4, 2012 at 12:40 am | #

          WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF BATMAN’S FIST HITTING RUTH’S EYE IN MY IMAGINATION.

          • Aizat
            Aizat
            January 4, 2012 at 12:50 am | #

            WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MAZINGER’S ROCKET PUNCH HITTING RUTH’S FACE IN MY IMAGINATION.

            • Commander Clash
              Commander Clash
              January 4, 2012 at 1:02 am | #

              WHAT’S THAT? SORRY I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER HOW AWESOME SAL IS BEING BY NOT MAKING RUTH INTO A BLOODY RED SMEAR.

              • Kernanator
                Kernanator
                January 4, 2012 at 2:18 am | #

                WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF A GIGA DRILL BREAKER BEING JAMMED INTO RUTH’S FACE IN MY IMAGINATION.

                • Anne Onymous
                  Anne Onymous
                  January 4, 2012 at 2:43 am | #

                  WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU…oh wait, I can.

                • Kannyn
                  Kannyn
                  January 4, 2012 at 3:28 am | #

                  WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU BECAUSE THE WORDS ARE TYPED ON A SCREEN.

                • Aizat
                  Aizat
                  January 4, 2012 at 5:35 am | #

                  WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF GETTER EMPEROR’S GETTER BEAM BEING BLASTED AT RUTH IN MY IMAGINATION

                • MikesMom
                  MikesMom
                  January 4, 2012 at 6:35 am | #

                  K-k-k-k-k-ombobreaker!

                • AckAckAck(Now with sugar powered speedster!)
                  AckAckAck(Now with sugar powered speedster!)
                  January 4, 2012 at 7:35 am | #

                  WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU! I ALREADY RUNNING OUT OF COTTON BUDS SINCE LAST MONTH!

                  Now my inner ears are kinda sticky…..

      • TheBenenator
        TheBenenator
        January 4, 2012 at 10:59 pm | #

        WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER ALL THE NICKELS AS I JOE YOUR MOM BETWEEN HER FEMURS

    • Zoey
      Zoey
      January 4, 2012 at 6:58 am | #

      WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF SALS POWER LEVEL BEING OVER NINE THOUSAND!

      • Fluffy776
        Fluffy776
        January 4, 2012 at 10:04 pm | #

        What 9000?!

        • saturnwonder
          saturnwonder
          January 4, 2012 at 11:08 pm | #

          HAHAHAHAHA

          *giggles*

  4. Rognik
    Rognik
    January 4, 2012 at 12:06 am | #

    No no no NO! It would be SO worth it! Oh, why did you have to wuss out now?

    • alex
      alex
      January 4, 2012 at 1:22 am | #

      because the mess would be a bongo.

      • Chris Ashtear
        Chris Ashtear
        January 4, 2012 at 1:30 am | #

        it already is a bongo, though…

        • alex
          alex
          January 4, 2012 at 4:12 am | #

          touche.

  5. Thor
    Thor
    January 4, 2012 at 12:06 am | #

    At least she didn’t get elbowed in the tit. I know women who would disembowel you if you did that to them.

    • saturnwonder
      saturnwonder
      January 4, 2012 at 11:10 pm | #

      I being one of them. It hurts like a mo’fo, and if my friend wasn’t there the jerk would of had a size 11 shoe in his back hole.

  6. jaredstar
    jaredstar
    January 4, 2012 at 12:06 am | #

    And thus Ruth was spared the fate of her main universe counterpart… for a time anyways maybe a time and a half.

  7. dchorror
    dchorror
    January 4, 2012 at 12:06 am | #

    That is the best why to rile somebody up.

  8. Wonder Wig
    Wonder Wig
    January 4, 2012 at 12:09 am | #

    Looks like brother and sister both have a thing for paying-attention-to and then rapidly-ignoring freckled glasses girls.

    • Mr. Morningstar
      Mr. Morningstar
      January 4, 2012 at 10:50 am | #

      Ha.

  9. Aizat
    Aizat
    January 4, 2012 at 12:10 am | #

    Well, that was expected.

  10. Joraiem
    Joraiem
    January 4, 2012 at 12:12 am | #

    We’re reaching pretty high on the badassitude meter, but we need something to push it over the edge…

    Is there a window to jump out of?

    • NF
      NF
      January 4, 2012 at 12:23 am | #

      Ruth chases Sal while ranting about the roommate agreement, and follows Sal into her room, only to find Sal not in the room and the window open. A piece of paper blows into Ruth’s hand, and she looks at it to see that she is holding the signed agreement.

      A motorcycle can be heard starting up and going off into the distance.

      • Kernanator
        Kernanator
        January 4, 2012 at 12:28 am | #

        Cue skyward scream:

        “SAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

  11. Aizat
    Aizat
    January 4, 2012 at 12:13 am | #

    My guess, Ruth will try to attack Sal from behind but Sal just do the patented Bat Punch also known as the Offhand Backhand.

  12. Henry
    Henry
    January 4, 2012 at 12:21 am | #

    Aww. Ruth just wants Sal to respect her authoritah. Can’t they just get along?!

    • Zababcd
      Zababcd
      January 4, 2012 at 1:49 am | #

      To build authority around fear is to invite rebellion.

      • DagonXIII
        DagonXIII
        January 4, 2012 at 9:35 am | #

        Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved. – Machiavelli

        • Seraph
          Seraph
          January 4, 2012 at 10:07 am | #

          Nevertheless an RA ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if she does not win love, she avoids hatred.

          • Seraph
            Seraph
            January 4, 2012 at 10:08 am | #

            Machiavelli, next sentence.

            • fellixe
              fellixe
              January 4, 2012 at 10:51 am | #

              I will believe you because you speak with Leslie’s authority.

        • Twibbit
          Twibbit
          January 4, 2012 at 12:27 pm | #

          people seem to forget Machiavelli wrote that book as satire

          • Seraph
            Seraph
            January 4, 2012 at 12:51 pm | #

            Oh, I remember, but my point was that even by the standards of Machiavelli’s parody of a tyrant, Ruth is fucking up.

  13. Nexev
    Nexev
    January 4, 2012 at 12:22 am | #

    I think the best part about this is that Billie and Sal with bond as roomates against the fucking system.

  14. Kernanator
    Kernanator
    January 4, 2012 at 12:23 am | #

    Sibling Psychic Bond Time~!

  15. Janos
    Janos
    January 4, 2012 at 12:31 am | #

    -adds a second charge of assault to Ruth’s list of reasons why this woman should be behind bars-

    • begbert2
      begbert2
      January 5, 2012 at 2:51 pm | #

      Technically that was battery.

  16. OhHayMike
    OhHayMike
    January 4, 2012 at 12:35 am | #

    Willis, I beg of you… please, PLEASE let Sal beat the snot out of Ruth.

    • turkishproverb
      turkishproverb
      January 4, 2012 at 2:46 am | #

      Indeed. Just remember: Touch your throat. That tube you feel is your trachea. Think of it as your handle. That thing your thumb is on is your carotid artery. Think of it as your button. I want you to grab the handle, push the button.

      • Icalasari
        Icalasari
        January 4, 2012 at 2:41 pm | #

        …That avatar is way too perfect

  17. Mkvenner
    Mkvenner
    January 4, 2012 at 12:37 am | #

    *sad* Awwwww. 🙁
    and why do I feel suddenly reliaved?

  18. Ridureyu
    Ridureyu
    January 4, 2012 at 12:43 am | #

    Yeah… Ruth is pretty clearly trying to goad Sal into getting herself expelled by fighting.

    • brasca1
      brasca1
      January 4, 2012 at 1:20 am | #

      I’m not sure if that’s enough to get expelled especially at a state university. She’d definitely get kicked out of the dormitories, but there’s plenty of housing and it’s probably cheaper too.

  19. Chase
    Chase
    January 4, 2012 at 12:49 am | #

    Even though she’s totally trying to bait Sal, I really really really wanna see her kick Ruth’s deserving ass.

  20. Eve
    Eve
    January 4, 2012 at 12:50 am | #

    Punch her sal!

  21. Uniqueantique
    Uniqueantique
    January 4, 2012 at 12:56 am | #

    …Sal would not kick her ass, she would kill her..and that I think, is why she backed off.

    • Viktoria
      Viktoria
      January 4, 2012 at 1:54 am | #

      This. Look at how Sal was holding Ruth. She could easily have turned that into a broken neck. And Walky’s response wasn’t just “You’ll get expelled”, he is honestly frightened. Sal has hospitalized or killed someone before, he knows it, and she only got into college because the records were sealed.

      • Kernanator
        Kernanator
        January 4, 2012 at 2:04 am | #

        This Sal is hardcore.

        • Seraph
          Seraph
          January 4, 2012 at 10:10 am | #

          What, the original Sal attempting to destroy the world with an alien superweapon wasn’t hardcore enough?

          • Aizat
            Aizat
            January 4, 2012 at 11:11 am | #

            Hardcore is subjective. What’s hardcore to one person may not be for another.

            • Kernanator
              Kernanator
              January 4, 2012 at 9:05 pm | #

              Besides, I meant by the standards of this universe, not by the standards of other Sals.

      • Seraph
        Seraph
        January 4, 2012 at 10:14 am | #

        Billie is honestly frightened, too. Even as one who’s attacked Ruth herself, she’s shocked that someone actually hit Sal, and afraid of what’s about to happen as a result.

        Ruth does not know what she’s messing with, and I suspect she’s not going to stop as a result.

  22. Blob Marley
    Blob Marley
    January 4, 2012 at 12:58 am | #

    Get back to Dotty being adorable!

  23. Aizat
    Aizat
    January 4, 2012 at 1:02 am | #

    Sal’s done far worse than punching Ruth. She’ll hurt her. And she wish to go on hurting her.

    • L
      L
      January 4, 2012 at 2:30 am | #

      She shall leave her as she left her. Alone. In the dormrooms for all eternity, in the center of the university annex. Buried aliiive…

      • mechaqua
        mechaqua
        January 4, 2012 at 3:00 am | #

        KAHNNN….. I mean RUTHHHHH!!

  24. lawzlo
    lawzlo
    January 4, 2012 at 1:15 am | #

    Is it just me, or is Sal levitating Ruth with her force powers in the last panel?

    • MrNobodyReally
      MrNobodyReally
      January 4, 2012 at 1:16 am | #

      Force push ftw!

    • iSaidCandleja-
      iSaidCandleja-
      January 4, 2012 at 1:19 am | #

      I sense a force choke is also involved, based on Ruth’s expresion.

    • Zanosuke_Kurosaki
      Zanosuke_Kurosaki
      January 4, 2012 at 4:44 am | #

      Just you, but tossing her backwards with one hand is pretty badass – and says Ruth needs to watch out, because Sal works out a LOT more than she does…

      • fellixe
        fellixe
        January 4, 2012 at 11:12 am | #

        Well, yeah! Sal can throw a rope hard enough to drag herself across a lake on skis without a boat. Ruth has a lot of catching up to do.

  25. MrNobodyReally
    MrNobodyReally
    January 4, 2012 at 1:15 am | #

    Jesus… Sal was about to DESTROY her…

  26. Rikushadow5
    Rikushadow5
    January 4, 2012 at 1:17 am | #

    No Dark Side Sal today, kids.

    Back to your lives.

  27. b
    b
    January 4, 2012 at 2:39 am | #

    I have never seen any physical fights between RA’s and students at my school. Is this something that happens in other schools or only drama filled fictional schools?

    • Viktoria
      Viktoria
      January 4, 2012 at 3:17 am | #

      An actual RA that behaved like Ruth would be fired from any competent institution. Now, if she has political cover, like a popular football coach likes her or something, then something like this is possible.
      Even in that case, all it takes is her pushing one kid too far. If you make someone think their life can’t get any worse, then they might try anything to escape. Ruth’s behavior here is a good way to end up hospitalized or dead.

    • Aidenn
      Aidenn
      January 4, 2012 at 7:19 pm | #

      An RA in my dorm was killed when he discovered a student was dealing cocaine out of his room. For this reason RAs no longer enforce drug rules, they are just required to call the cops.

  28. mechaqua
    mechaqua
    January 4, 2012 at 2:59 am | #

    Well that was….. anti climatic, I expected as much though, still i think this epic brawl will take place at some point in the future.

    Oh and Billie you should be running….

  29. Corsair114
    Corsair114
    January 4, 2012 at 3:12 am | #

    And so DoA dodges the *explicit* violence label.

    Though, I’ve gotta be honest, it would be cool to see if Sal really could pull the nervous system out of a person in one piece.

    ….

    $3.50 says she can.

    • Kernanator
      Kernanator
      January 4, 2012 at 3:27 am | #

      She will then strangle Ruth with her own nervous system.

    • ryan
      ryan
      January 4, 2012 at 8:41 am | #

      i’ll take that bet.

  30. Bekah
    Bekah
    January 4, 2012 at 3:19 am | #

    Wait’ll you see her bankai

    • Kernanator
      Kernanator
      January 4, 2012 at 3:26 am | #

      It’s Chuck Norris. They’re married.

    • Zanosuke_Kurosaki
      Zanosuke_Kurosaki
      January 4, 2012 at 4:45 am | #

      Hell, wait’ll you see her shikai, she hasn’t even released yet. =D

    • Aizat
      Aizat
      January 4, 2012 at 5:30 am | #

      Little known fact: Sal is secretly a Saiyan.

      • ADHadh
        ADHadh
        January 4, 2012 at 9:58 am | #

        Secretly?

        • Aizat
          Aizat
          January 4, 2012 at 11:08 am | #

          Yes.

  31. Valkeer1
    Valkeer1
    January 4, 2012 at 3:46 am | #

    Walky may have just prevented one of the single most bloody event in the history of everything…

    • Mr. Morningstar
      Mr. Morningstar
      January 4, 2012 at 10:46 am | #

      It would have ben the most violent, and sexiest cat fights in existence.

      • TheBenenator
        TheBenenator
        January 4, 2012 at 11:04 pm | #

        Cat fights =/= sexy.

  32. Terah
    Terah
    January 4, 2012 at 4:09 am | #

    I think Sal just gave Ruth the ultimate insult.

    ‘Not worth it.’

    As in Ruth is worthless of the energy it would take to beat her face in.

  33. dmbgrunt
    dmbgrunt
    January 4, 2012 at 4:20 am | #

    Something is going to snap soon-it has to. I wonder if Ruth’s faculty advisor’s noticed any signs of mental illness, ’cause she’s showing LOTS of them-and the illness she’s got on display is the kind that lands people in jail, or mental hospitals-and not the nice ones with the funky funny doctors, but the ones where they warehouse you and keep you baked/stoned at all times when not restrained.
    Sal’s got a sealed juvie record, technically still a minor-Ruth isn’t.

  34. Kelvin
    Kelvin
    January 4, 2012 at 6:38 am | #

    Sal should have beat the crap outta her. She deserved it. 😛

  35. AJBulldis
    AJBulldis
    January 4, 2012 at 7:23 am | #

    I kind of hate Ruth in this continuity. Unlike the previous one where her death was sad, I’d be very happy if she died/vanished. I mean I guess she provides conflict which is important from a literary perspective, but bullies piss me off and no amount of comics from Ruth’s perspective will make her sympathetic to me. Once you decide to take your own self-loathing out on everyone else you lose the chance for sympathy.

    • DagonXIII
      DagonXIII
      January 4, 2012 at 9:51 am | #

      But that was Ruth’s character in Roomies as well. She was sympathetic only because she was trying to be better than her bongoiness. A year before Roomies and she would have been about the same as this Ruth.

      • AJBulldis
        AJBulldis
        January 4, 2012 at 10:41 am | #

        I guess, but it seemed a lot more tolerable and sympathetic in Roomies. Maybe she just seems worse now because of the authority she has now.

  36. Gundi
    Gundi
    January 4, 2012 at 9:30 am | #

    See, I like this. When someone is a jerk, the best thing to do is not to punch them in the face. The best thing to do is to just walk away. “Don’t feed the troll” usually applies to real life too.

    Speaking of which, something I’m wondering is… Why is Ruth such a jerk? I mean, being an RA isn’t easy, sure, but Ruth crossed the line awhile ago. Of course, Billie has been escalating matters too, but mainly only in reaction to Ruth’s bullying.

    • insomniac
      insomniac
      January 4, 2012 at 2:23 pm | #

      What we’ve seen suggests that she has an (at least) emotionally abusive father, depressive episodes, and a drinking problem.

  37. Darksen
    Darksen
    January 4, 2012 at 9:43 am | #

    Buzz kill, but *sigh* she’s right bravo Sal. (I guess.)

  38. ADHadh
    ADHadh
    January 4, 2012 at 10:00 am | #

    You know, I’m really not a fan of violent, smoking, motorcycle riding delinquents. And yet Sal is mai waifu.

    My confusion persists.

    • AJBulldis
      AJBulldis
      January 4, 2012 at 10:39 am | #

      I’m just the opposite. I’d be totally down with a violent, smoking, motorcycle riding delinquent, but I can’t really see Sal as anything but a bro. A fem bro, sure, but still a bro.

  39. Zem
    Zem
    January 4, 2012 at 1:51 pm | #

    Great jackets. The jackets should fight.

  40. numaron
    numaron
    January 4, 2012 at 2:27 pm | #

    Ruth doesn’t realize how close to death she came.

  41. Terah
    Terah
    January 4, 2012 at 2:29 pm | #

    Well, we saw earlier that whoever she was on the phone with, I’m going to assume her father, though I could be wrong knowing Willis, and that he was someone she wanted to be proud of her. But judging from her conversation with him that doesn’t happen very often. It seems she CAN’T make him proud, no matter what she does.

    So, being a bongo as an RA means she gets her job done. You’re afraid to cross her and you do what she says. Thus, she keeps them in line, and does a job worthy of praise. It seems that she may believe that if she can’t get praise from her father, she’ll get it wherever she can, and damn whoever tries to stand in her way.

    But this is Willis, so I may be wrong.

    • Zanosuke_Kurosaki
      Zanosuke_Kurosaki
      January 5, 2012 at 3:39 am | #

      If this direction you’re going with it is the one that’s happening – Ruth is proving herself kind of dumb, then. =\

  42. fellixe
    fellixe
    January 4, 2012 at 6:55 pm | #

    I think this all comes down to the mirrored sunglasses (YEEEEEEAAAAAHH!) Ruth wants people to “respec’ her A-thoritay” and knows that the mirrord sunglasses (YEEEEEEAAAAAHH!) are the key. But she thinks Billie has them. She doesn’t know that somehow Sal awesomed them away for her before she threw herself acros the lake on waterskis.

  43. Keulan
    Keulan
    January 4, 2012 at 8:04 pm | #

    Ruth just narrowly escaped her death.

  44. Katana
    Katana
    January 4, 2012 at 8:34 pm | #

    Until I watched MLP:FiM, I could not place a good Southern voice for Sal. Now, it just fits perfectly.

  45. saturnwonder
    saturnwonder
    January 4, 2012 at 11:04 pm | #

    I was hoping for a female smack down, but my hopes were shattered 🙁

    And Sal listened to Walky!! :-O

  46. TheBenenator
    TheBenenator
    January 4, 2012 at 11:08 pm | #

    Fun fact: In the last panel, Walky is watching Ruth fall so he can toe-kick her in the back of the head on her way down.

    — my headcanon

  47. Shifty
    Shifty
    January 5, 2012 at 4:49 am | #

    And in the real world, that would be grounds for Ruth to be fired. She grabbed a student against their will while making a threat, and then when another student attempt to restrained her to help the offended student, she hit them. Ruth has broken so many RA rules.

    But I’m impressed by Sal’s restraint. After all, she’s really the kind of character who you get the feeling doesn’t have much to lose in her mind.

  48. Michelle J Caboose
    Michelle J Caboose
    January 5, 2012 at 6:35 am | #

    “Well, with some people, the nicest thing they can do for you is to not kill you that day.”

  49. Kernanator
    Kernanator
    January 6, 2012 at 7:12 pm | #

    B-But Sal! Throwing! Ruth! Window!

  50. Fauxlosopher
    Fauxlosopher
    January 9, 2012 at 1:34 am | #

    Ruth wouldn’t stand a chance. Maybe against a high school prom queen like Billy, but Sal?

    Hell no. Ruth’d get floored in seconds. Sal would have no problem beating her with a door.

  51. ProjectXa3
    ProjectXa3
    February 15, 2012 at 4:09 pm | #

    Y’know, I’m not the “badass” type like Sal, and I’d *probably* be floored by that elbow Ruth threw, but damn if I wouldn’t have the same anger response in that situation.

  52. newllend
    newllend
    August 14, 2013 at 2:29 am | #

    Wow, that was like fucking TIGER VS DRAGON

  53. Bilfred
    Bilfred
    October 2, 2013 at 12:55 am | #

    wow.
    http://www.dumbingofage.com/author redirects here.

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