Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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June 22, 2026

Mutually

by David M Willis on June 11, 2012 at 12:01 am
  • 04 - Time Keeps on Slippin'
└ Tags: jennifer, ruth

Discussion (130) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Jen Aside
    Jen Aside
    June 11, 2012 at 12:02 am | #

    Whoops?

    • NCP19
      NCP19
      June 11, 2012 at 12:03 am | #

      http://www.sadtrombone.com/ (sorry, but I had to)

  2. Mkvenner
    Mkvenner
    June 11, 2012 at 12:02 am | #

    No, emotional bombshell was a dud and misfired.

  3. NCP19
    NCP19
    June 11, 2012 at 12:03 am | #

    But…the only way to win is not to play!

    • Kernanator
      Kernanator
      June 11, 2012 at 1:21 am | #

      Billie would much prefer a game of Tic-Tac-Toe to what she’s experiencing now.

      • Plasma Mongoose
        Plasma Mongoose
        June 11, 2012 at 1:31 am | #

        The best way to win Tic-tac-Toe is to be the first player and hope the other guy screws up.

        • gangler
          gangler
          June 11, 2012 at 7:30 am | #

          That would’ve been a fun twist. The boy screws up and the computer learns that the only way to win is through a pre-emptive strike.

          • Mute
            Mute
            June 11, 2012 at 9:08 am | #

            Like this, perhaps? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCOapq3uYY

            • Plasma Mongoose
              Plasma Mongoose
              June 11, 2012 at 3:47 pm | #

              Exactly like that, what they need to do to settle matters now is to have a showdown via the Ultimate Staring Contest.

  4. Wonder Wig
    Wonder Wig
    June 11, 2012 at 12:03 am | #

    Too bad Billie didn’t find more skeletons while in that closet.

    • Plasma Mongoose
      Plasma Mongoose
      June 11, 2012 at 12:28 am | #

      If she did, she wouldn’t feel as boned as she does right now.

    • fellixe
      fellixe
      June 11, 2012 at 12:30 am | #

      Well played!

  5. addude
    addude
    June 11, 2012 at 12:03 am | #

    Point set match. Game Ruth. If she’s lying extra points for cunning.

    • NCP19
      NCP19
      June 11, 2012 at 12:04 am | #

      “Oh, and now we play the game of who had the worse dad?”
      “My dad’s dead.”
      “Classic!”
      “No, he’s seriously dead.”
      “Hilarious!”
      “He died of a heart attack last year.”
      “…I’m sorry for your loss.”

      • Joe H
        Joe H
        June 11, 2012 at 12:17 am | #

        I’ve done that once. It made work incredibly awkward for the rest of the night.

        • addude
          addude
          June 11, 2012 at 12:53 am | #

          A guys walked up to me and played a sound bite of a woman moaning and he said that my mom with him last night. Complete jerk never saw him before he was just being a jerk. Straight faced I said my mom died two months ago and he and he’s friends jaws dropped. I walked away selling it like a boss. My mom is okay. That’s how you do it.

          • StClair
            StClair
            June 11, 2012 at 2:21 am | #

            I buried my mother’s ashes today.
            Do I win?

          • madd
            madd
            June 11, 2012 at 10:29 am | #

            Selling it would have involved punching the guy in the face and yelling “My mom is dead, asshole!”

            • Osaru Sensei
              Osaru Sensei
              June 11, 2012 at 12:16 pm | #

              MY PARENTS ARE DEEAAAAAAD!!!

              I’m a horrible, horrible person. 😐

  6. David Herbert
    David Herbert
    June 11, 2012 at 12:03 am | #

    And now they’re gonna get drunk together and bond. And people will write slash fics about it.

    • Splash*Boogie
      Splash*Boogie
      June 11, 2012 at 12:15 am | #

      Mmmm Ruth/Billie? I can dig it!

    • Plasma Mongoose
      Plasma Mongoose
      June 11, 2012 at 12:22 am | #

      …and it will be called Blackmail Shipping.

  7. iSaidCandleja-
    iSaidCandleja-
    June 11, 2012 at 12:04 am | #

    Don’t believe it Billie, that’s the oldest trick in the book! Just don’t blame me when you call her bluff.

    • Rex Hondo
      Rex Hondo
      June 11, 2012 at 12:05 am | #

      What, you think Ruth is pulling a Wheaton’s Nana Gambit?

  8. Bunk
    Bunk
    June 11, 2012 at 12:04 am | #

    Should have kept your mouth shut Billie. Don’t mess with Ruth’s Lady Balls.

    • Plasma Mongoose
      Plasma Mongoose
      June 11, 2012 at 12:05 am | #

      You just said a mouthful. 😀

    • Cheredarenee
      Cheredarenee
      June 11, 2012 at 3:26 am | #

      we call them ovaries, thanx

      • Andiemus
        Andiemus
        June 11, 2012 at 4:20 am | #

        Obviously Billie doesn’t.

  9. Rex Hondo
    Rex Hondo
    June 11, 2012 at 12:04 am | #

    Man, Billie. First Amazi-Girl, and now this. For a journalism student, you’re really rotten about actually doing any research.

    • Charles RB
      Charles RB
      June 11, 2012 at 11:26 am | #

      That’s true – does she actually care about the course? (Or would that interfere with valuable WAAAAA I WAS A CHEERLEADER time?)

    • AndrewFoose
      AndrewFoose
      June 11, 2012 at 9:09 pm | #

      Of course. Why should she waste her time on things that aren’t her?

  10. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    June 11, 2012 at 12:04 am | #

    “Lady balls”? See, that doesn’t strike me as something an actual lady would say. It’s more like something I would say and then regret severely.

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      June 11, 2012 at 12:07 am | #

      Are you implying that Billie is an actual Lady?

      • Krashthemystro
        Krashthemystro
        June 11, 2012 at 12:16 am | #

        no she’s a cheer leader

        • Wack'd
          Wack'd
          June 11, 2012 at 2:02 am | #

          “But”, not “no”.

      • Ancestral Hamster
        Ancestral Hamster
        June 11, 2012 at 2:18 am | #

        To paraphrase, “That was no lady, that was Billie!”

    • WhiteEyedCat
      WhiteEyedCat
      June 11, 2012 at 12:23 am | #

      As a lady (I’ve got a card and everything) I can assure you that the term “Lady balls” is quite often tossed around, and considered complimentary…for some people.

    • kyface
      kyface
      June 11, 2012 at 7:39 am | #

      female here — would just say balls (no “lady” with it) whether or not the owner has them

      • kyface
        kyface
        June 11, 2012 at 7:40 am | #

        “alleged owner” …. derp

  11. Krashthemystro
    Krashthemystro
    June 11, 2012 at 12:04 am | #

    well fuck.

  12. Plasma Mongoose
    Plasma Mongoose
    June 11, 2012 at 12:05 am | #

    Her step-father then?

  13. Yotomoe
    Yotomoe
    June 11, 2012 at 12:05 am | #

    when you assume you make an ass out of Uma Thurman.

    • Plasma Mongoose
      Plasma Mongoose
      June 11, 2012 at 12:24 am | #

      Which is a lot harder than making a horse out of Sarah Jessica Parker.

      • Hiredg00n
        Hiredg00n
        June 11, 2012 at 12:26 am | #

        or a Platypus out of Pauly Perrette

        • Kernanator
          Kernanator
          June 11, 2012 at 1:32 am | #

          Or a dick out of Mel Gibson.

          • pan_dim_onium
            pan_dim_onium
            June 11, 2012 at 3:57 am | #

            C-C-C-Combo Breaker!!!

            Sorry, always wanted to do that.

            • Plasma Mongoose
              Plasma Mongoose
              June 11, 2012 at 3:51 pm | #

              Do you feel better now for doing so?

  14. Sensedog
    Sensedog
    June 11, 2012 at 12:05 am | #

    Oddly, these two could end up as friends. Hey, stranger things have happened.

  15. Khantalas
    Khantalas
    June 11, 2012 at 12:05 am | #

    Well, well, well. What *is* Ruth’s big secret, then?

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      June 11, 2012 at 12:07 am | #

      She’s Mike in drag.

    • Rognik
      Rognik
      June 11, 2012 at 12:11 am | #

      An Electra complex?

    • Plasma Mongoose
      Plasma Mongoose
      June 11, 2012 at 12:30 am | #

      That she’s Amazi-Girl’s arch-nemesis.

    • Gundi
      Gundi
      June 11, 2012 at 12:50 am | #

      I’m guessing Ruth has a couple of ’em. Most people do.

      • Plasma Mongoose
        Plasma Mongoose
        June 11, 2012 at 1:33 am | #

        I keep mine in a deep hole in the middle of the bush, like all smart killers. 😛

    • Wack'd
      Wack'd
      June 11, 2012 at 2:00 am | #

      The Shadow knows.

    • BOB
      BOB
      June 11, 2012 at 7:14 am | #

      Her father is dead and the “sir” in her life, whether stepfather or guardian, is abusive and controlling. Thus driving her to drink.

      • secret
        secret
        June 11, 2012 at 7:47 am | #

        it’s totes her Dominant.

        • Andiemus
          Andiemus
          June 11, 2012 at 1:03 pm | #

          There is no way in he’ll that Ruth is a sub.

        • Andiemus
          Andiemus
          June 11, 2012 at 1:03 pm | #

          There is no way in hell that Ruth is a sub.

          • Khantalas
            Khantalas
            June 11, 2012 at 1:26 pm | #

            You’de be surprised. Not to be profiling or whatever, but people highly aggressive and dominant outside the bedroom have a strange tendency to be subs inside the bedroom.

            • Giovanni
              Giovanni
              June 11, 2012 at 4:57 pm | #

              I second this – it was the first thing I thought when rereading her phone conversation.

  16. Wack'd
    Wack'd
    June 11, 2012 at 12:06 am | #

    Ruth, you have no right to call anyone an asshole. Ever.

    I mean it. EVER.

    Unless Billie personally killed your father. (In which case she should prepare to die. And so forth.)

    • Plasma Mongoose
      Plasma Mongoose
      June 11, 2012 at 12:09 am | #

      It’s her right as an American citizen to call someone an asshole, it’s written in the Bill of Rights IIRC.

      • Yotomoe
        Yotomoe
        June 11, 2012 at 12:13 am | #

        She could also call her an african snowball princess. I dunno why…but she could. god bless america.

      • Alex Stritar
        Alex Stritar
        June 11, 2012 at 12:16 am | #

        *Looks through Bill of Rights*

        Huh, what do you know, it is. Also, according to the Constitution, the Vice Presedent’s jobs are being the tie braking vote in the senate and protector of the Space-Time Continuum. Are we sure our founding fathers weren’t drunk when they were making these documents that created the foundation of our country?

        • Plasma Mongoose
          Plasma Mongoose
          June 11, 2012 at 12:19 am | #

          Bring drunk was normal cack then, maybe they were high at the time.

          • Yotomoe
            Yotomoe
            June 11, 2012 at 12:21 am | #

            Abraham Lincoln was far too busy fighting vampires to pay attention to what he was signing.

            • Plasma Mongoose
              Plasma Mongoose
              June 11, 2012 at 12:26 am | #

              Abe was alive when they wrote the Bill of Rights?

              • Yotomoe
                Yotomoe
                June 11, 2012 at 12:28 am | #

                Abraham Lincoln has always been. He died for our sins and rose 3 days later.

                • Gundi
                  Gundi
                  June 11, 2012 at 12:51 am | #

                  No, see, Abraham Lincoln was the 22nd Doctor. And also will be. Time is complicated.

                • Aizat
                  Aizat
                  June 11, 2012 at 2:01 am | #

                  And then he became a vampire hunter and fought alongside the Belmont family.

          • Andiemus
            Andiemus
            June 11, 2012 at 4:22 am | #

            I don’t think Sam Adams spent 15 minutes sober between his 14th birthday and his death.

        • Rex Hondo
          Rex Hondo
          June 11, 2012 at 12:29 am | #

          No, but I’m pretty sure that saw Gary Seven in one of those paintings of the Continental Congress.

          • Plasma Mongoose
            Plasma Mongoose
            June 11, 2012 at 12:45 am | #

            OOOOL Obscure ST:TOS reference.

            • Ancestral Hamster
              Ancestral Hamster
              June 11, 2012 at 2:20 am | #

              Yeah, dayuuum.

            • Rex Hondo
              Rex Hondo
              June 11, 2012 at 3:34 am | #

              Not that obscure. I mean, Assignment: Earth. Back-in-the-day Teri Garr? Mrowww.

              Or maybe I’m just old…

              • Plasma Mongoose
                Plasma Mongoose
                June 11, 2012 at 6:21 am | #

                Obscure by modern standards.

                • Rex Hondo
                  Rex Hondo
                  June 11, 2012 at 11:29 pm | #

                  Not helping on the “feeling old” front, there, Mongoose. 😛

      • Splash*Boogie
        Splash*Boogie
        June 11, 2012 at 12:25 am | #

        Article II, Section 3
        Fuck you Hamilton. You’re an asshole and will never be president.

        -Thomas Jefferson

        • Yotomoe
          Yotomoe
          June 11, 2012 at 12:26 am | #

          Article VI, section 4
          I get to write my name first guys. I promise I’ll leave space

          -John Hancock

  17. Kernanator
    Kernanator
    June 11, 2012 at 12:10 am | #

    This… could have gone better.

    • Plasma Mongoose
      Plasma Mongoose
      June 11, 2012 at 12:20 am | #

      It is likely going to get worse, I seen this trope in action too many times to believe otherwise.

      • Kernanator
        Kernanator
        June 11, 2012 at 1:05 am | #

        Of course! After all, Billie hasn’t finished digging her own grave yet.

        • Plasma Mongoose
          Plasma Mongoose
          June 11, 2012 at 2:00 am | #

          If you give someone a shovel, they will bury YOU with it, that’s what my grandpappy used to always say.

          • pan_dim_onium
            pan_dim_onium
            June 11, 2012 at 4:00 am | #

            I’d say something about your grandpappy, but I fear the ironic rebuttle of his recent death

            • Plasma Mongoose
              Plasma Mongoose
              June 11, 2012 at 5:53 am | #

              Recent? He died decades ago.

  18. WhiteEyedCat
    WhiteEyedCat
    June 11, 2012 at 12:16 am | #

    Oh Billy, never tell people that you’ve been hiding in their closet. They start checking and then you have to find a new spot.

    • Khantalas
      Khantalas
      June 11, 2012 at 12:31 am | #

      Speaking from experience there, sir?

      • WhiteEyedCat
        WhiteEyedCat
        June 11, 2012 at 4:18 am | #

        Of course not, I am certainly not typing this from underneath your bed. That is a ridiculous accusation.

        • Khantalas
          Khantalas
          June 11, 2012 at 1:24 pm | #

          …my bed is welded into the floor. There are no breathing holes. How are you still alive?

          • WhiteEyedCat
            WhiteEyedCat
            June 11, 2012 at 8:23 pm | #

            I’m secretly Leslie’s gooey pink cat, I need nothing so mortal as oxygen.

    • Jackson
      Jackson
      June 11, 2012 at 3:11 pm | #

      Billie is not really good at maintaining an advantage.

  19. Uniqueantique
    Uniqueantique
    June 11, 2012 at 12:17 am | #

    Humm..and the games afoot. Interesting. As an investigative reporter, Billie makes a good tightrope walker. If Ruth is lying…then who was on the phone….curiouser and curiouser.
    I can see them as friends, they are both crazy as shit house rats and just as self absorbed.

  20. Brasca1
    Brasca1
    June 11, 2012 at 12:28 am | #

    Maybe not her Dad, but whoever it was they have enough hold over Ruth to compell her to drink and now that Billie knows it’s not Ruth’s father she can narrow down the choices further.

    That is if Ruth is telling the truth and if so I wonder how he died.

    • Riku
      Riku
      June 11, 2012 at 12:43 am | #

      It could be her brother? He might be much different in this universe.

      • Aydr
        Aydr
        June 11, 2012 at 1:15 am | #

        Nah, not the brother we know at least. Nobody’s been THAT different in this series so far, and not only that but Howard’s her younger brother- not a chance she’d be calling him ‘sir’, no matter what.

  21. Ridureyu
    Ridureyu
    June 11, 2012 at 12:41 am | #

    Lost a parent way too recently to be able to take this comic.

  22. Kernanator
    Kernanator
    June 11, 2012 at 1:06 am | #

    No punchline to see here folks. Move along.

    • Splash*Boogie
      Splash*Boogie
      June 11, 2012 at 1:23 am | #

      I’m just waiting for the punch.

  23. Janette
    Janette
    June 11, 2012 at 1:11 am | #

    Cue Batman: “My parents are dead!” reference.

    • Kernanator
      Kernanator
      June 11, 2012 at 1:17 am | #

      Wait.

      Does that mean…?

      HOLY COW GUYS, RUTH IS AMAZI GIRL!

      • Plasma Mongoose
        Plasma Mongoose
        June 11, 2012 at 1:59 am | #

        Then who on Earth is Sal supposed to be?

        • ryan
          ryan
          June 11, 2012 at 8:53 am | #

          it depends which earth you’re talking about

      • Rex Hondo
        Rex Hondo
        June 11, 2012 at 2:19 am | #

        Nah, Ruth is too axe crazy. If anything, she’s the Prometheus, or maybe the Hush to Amazi-Girl’s Batman.

  24. Aydr
    Aydr
    June 11, 2012 at 1:14 am | #

    With these two, everything is spiked.

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      June 11, 2012 at 9:10 am | #

      Billie spikes her beer with beer.

  25. Aizat
    Aizat
    June 11, 2012 at 1:58 am | #

    Remember my theory way back then the guy on the phone was Ruth’s father? No? Good!

  26. Flimsyfishy
    Flimsyfishy
    June 11, 2012 at 4:17 am | #

    And boom goes the dynamite…

    • Plasma Mongoose
      Plasma Mongoose
      June 11, 2012 at 3:54 pm | #

      The sound effect you were looking for was *fizzle*

  27. FAKE
    FAKE
    June 11, 2012 at 5:41 am | #

    THEN WHO WAS PHONE?

  28. phlebas
    phlebas
    June 11, 2012 at 6:26 am | #

    It’s still possible that was her dad on the phone. It’s possible that was the last time they spoke. That would warrant some serious drinking.

  29. Steverino
    Steverino
    June 11, 2012 at 9:03 am | #

    “vise”

  30. Nav
    Nav
    June 11, 2012 at 9:10 am | #

    …Really, nobody has come up with the possibility that her dad was in the service and was just KIA. The “Sir” in question being a Company Chaplain or Commanding Officer?

    • narmenduke
      narmenduke
      June 11, 2012 at 3:58 pm | #

      Unless Ruth herself is in the military, she wouldn’t be obligated to call the chaplain or CO “sir” (although she might just choose to do so out of respect, I suppose). And I don’t see why either of these figures would be chewing her out to the point of making her cry.

  31. Charles RB
    Charles RB
    June 11, 2012 at 11:28 am | #

    ….oh dear.

  32. Fata Morgana
    Fata Morgana
    June 11, 2012 at 1:18 pm | #

    So, I don’t like Billie or Ruth. I dislike them by a lot, in fact. Is this the expected reaction?

  33. artemi71
    artemi71
    June 11, 2012 at 2:02 pm | #

    …Yep.

    I’m officially done with Billie.

    • Historyman68
      Historyman68
      June 11, 2012 at 3:40 pm | #

      to make it official, you’ll have to fill out form 22B, and sign… here… here… annnnnnd initial here.

      Thank you!

  34. Hitoshi
    Hitoshi
    June 11, 2012 at 3:39 pm | #

    haha, how awkward.

  35. Jererry
    Jererry
    June 11, 2012 at 5:01 pm | #

    And Billie continues to hold the Championship Belt for “Worst Person in DOA Universe.” I bet her Dad is proud.

  36. Gargamel
    Gargamel
    June 11, 2012 at 5:28 pm | #

    See: Ruth versus Billie!
    Which clinically overgrown super ego will win?

  37. Lis
    Lis
    June 11, 2012 at 5:36 pm | #

    Billie is in a slightly tighter spot I think (though I’m not sure all that Ruth would have to admit to give up her info) in order to give the information she would have to, as she has right now, admit to breaking into her RA’s room and hiding in her closet for hours, knowing Billie she would probably spill that she stole the liquor as well just because she bumbles like that.

  38. G.G.
    G.G.
    June 11, 2012 at 6:22 pm | #

    wait wait wait. Then what was the “Yes, I am sorry to disappoint, sir all about. 0_o

  39. Keulan
    Keulan
    June 11, 2012 at 7:41 pm | #

    This is Ruth we’re talking about. She could be lying to screw with Billie even more.

    • AndrewFoose
      AndrewFoose
      June 11, 2012 at 9:24 pm | #

      I approve this theory.

  40. Brady Kj
    Brady Kj
    June 11, 2012 at 7:48 pm | #

    Why did Billie assume Ruth has issues with her father? In what universe has anyone ever called their father “sir”? Sounds like she was insulted by her boss or a near stranger. Probably her boss.

    • joequincy
      joequincy
      June 11, 2012 at 11:12 pm | #

      Methinks you had a normal father. I don’t claim not to have, but at least one of my friends calls their father “sir”… and so do I, because YOU DO NOT F*** with that man, and that’s what he demands.

      Unfortunately, some people just have controlling parents. :/
      If they’re lucky, they can survive it without any deep emotional troubles showing up.

  41. LiC
    LiC
    June 11, 2012 at 8:46 pm | #

    Yeah, Billie didn’t think this through. The booze thing, can of course be used against Ruth, because that’s against the school rules.

    The attempt at using Ruth’s emotional issues against her however… yeah, that’s not going to scare Ruth off. After all, what would that information do against Ruth? Most likely it would get her sympathy from other people or provoke her to become even more aggressive. It would basically be poking an already psychotic and blood thirst bear with a stick, and then teaching that bear to use a rifle and standing before a big bulls-eye.

  42. KKoro
    KKoro
    June 14, 2012 at 7:16 pm | #

    The “Latest” button is only going forward a few on the last few pages.

  43. BrokenEye, True False Prophet
    BrokenEye, True False Prophet
    September 18, 2015 at 8:49 pm | #

    So Ruth is Amazi-Girl…

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