Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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June 14, 2026

Dad says

by David M Willis on December 16, 2019 at 12:01 am
  • 02 - To Remind You of My Love
└ Tags: becky, joyce, ross

Discussion (89) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    December 16, 2019 at 12:01 am | #

    “what if we go on one that just goes sideways-side”

    • auroki
      auroki
      December 16, 2019 at 12:15 am | #

      I’d much rather deal with constant upside down then always sideways ones. Personal experience has taught me as such

      • Proxiehunter
        Proxiehunter
        December 16, 2019 at 12:18 am | #

        If the ride goes Upside Down you have to worry about Demigorgons and Mindflayers.

        • auroki
          auroki
          December 16, 2019 at 12:21 am | #

          Also true. As a fighter class most of the time mind and int saves typically don’t fare well for me

          • He Who Abides
            He Who Abides
            December 16, 2019 at 4:59 am | #

            Take Iron Will, then. It helps.

            • auroki
              auroki
              December 16, 2019 at 12:11 pm | #

              Yeah but I play a Goliath. Ya can only do so much to augment those penalties. Now a warforge on the other hand…

        • Illithid
          Illithid
          December 16, 2019 at 1:54 am | #

          Upside down, right side up, whatever. Have a (Mind) Blast. 😁

          • Sunny
            Sunny
            December 16, 2019 at 8:50 am | #

            Left leg in. Left leg out. In. Out. In. Out. Shake it all about.

  2. John
    John
    December 16, 2019 at 12:02 am | #

    Don’t feel too special, Joyce. It’s an ensemble cast.

  3. Juanoku
    Juanoku
    December 16, 2019 at 12:03 am | #

    I feel u Joyce

  4. AntJ
    AntJ
    December 16, 2019 at 12:04 am | #

    turns out Becky needed Joyce just as badly growing up http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/sarcasm/

    • Nono
      Nono
      December 16, 2019 at 12:08 am | #

      Rereading that strip, the weird thing is how Joyce said that Becky’s parents don’t let her own a cellphone.

      Parents, plural. Owns, present tense.

      I mean, it could just be a retcon, like how Leslie aged downwards over the course of the strip.

      • Icalasari
        Icalasari
        December 16, 2019 at 12:16 am | #

        Could be that Joyce told a white lie there to not out Becky? Iunno, it is odd

      • auroki
        auroki
        December 16, 2019 at 12:19 am | #

        Well Joyce could’ve been referring to it being a decision of both of Becky’s parents deciding not to give her a phone. Or it could be she didn’t wish to divulge that Becky was a single parent child. I have a couple of friends in a similar position and they typically rather not have to answer why one of their parents isn’t in the picture for their own reasons.

      • Agemegos
        Agemegos
        December 16, 2019 at 12:30 am | #

        Also here: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/01-move-in-day/socialized/

        “Parents” (plural) and “are making” (present participle).

        • Eve
          Eve
          December 16, 2019 at 1:40 am | #

          It could be that her mother helped make that decision before dying.

          • Needfuldoer
            Needfuldoer
            December 16, 2019 at 2:30 am | #

            More than likely just went along with it…

            • Agemegos
              Agemegos
              December 16, 2019 at 7:12 am | #

              Yeah. I suppose “Becky’s parents command…” always meant “Becky’s dad commands…” long before her mother suicided.

        • SeaBrightener
          SeaBrightener
          December 16, 2019 at 5:46 pm | #

          There’s a patreon strip that confirms her mother wanted her to go to Anderson (September 2016)

      • AceZer0
        AceZer0
        December 16, 2019 at 1:12 am | #

        It’s also likely that Joyce’s own experience of having two parents just shapes what she says. I find that I’ve made that exact same mistake, saying “parents’ because I was raised with 2 parents and it was the norm for basically everyone I knew growing up. It’s a hard habit to break.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          December 16, 2019 at 7:37 am | #

          It’s also likely habit from Becky having two parents most of her life. All those decisions were likely mutual (or as mutual as anything in that house was.)

          Was it ever established exactly when Bonnie died? My impression was that it was pretty recent.

          • Schpoonman
            Schpoonman
            December 16, 2019 at 8:13 am | #

            She passed last year, during their Senior year.

      • Tan
        Tan
        December 16, 2019 at 1:30 am | #

        It could easily just be an artifact of the way Joyce thinks. ‘Parents’ are a singular unassailable entity responsible for decision-making regarding their children’s freedoms. Recall the shock when Joyce saw Hank lie to Carol. So especially if she doesn’t like to think about Becky’s mom’s death (because who would?), I can definitely see her just saying ‘Becky’s parents’ without even clicking that she’s saying anything inaccurate.

      • missilentmurmur
        missilentmurmur
        December 16, 2019 at 1:30 am | #

        ‘Parents’ is an institution, an abstract thing, not a specific person

  5. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    December 16, 2019 at 12:06 am | #

    *plays The Pretenders’ “Brass In Pocket” on the P.A. speakers*

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      December 16, 2019 at 12:35 am | #

      “I’m upside down, my head is turning around” – Allan Sherman

    • DaveM
      DaveM
      December 16, 2019 at 1:33 am | #

      I suppose “Dead Or Alive – You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” would be too obvious a choice for the next tune?

    • brionl
      brionl
      December 16, 2019 at 11:16 am | #

      Well, let’s ask Miss Ross what she thinks

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ehMxQdCtQ

  6. AntJ
    AntJ
    December 16, 2019 at 12:08 am | #

    “let’s do a thing I hate to make you feel better” has been one of Joyce’s go-to strategies all along, hasn’t it http://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/grownup/

    • Shane Wegner
      Shane Wegner
      December 16, 2019 at 12:50 am | #

      Then again, she hates kind of a lot of things.

      • Agemegos
        Agemegos
        December 16, 2019 at 1:39 am | #

        Meat seethed in milk, shellfish, creeping things that creep upon the earth….

        • Delicious Taffy
          Delicious Taffy
          December 16, 2019 at 7:59 am | #

          Why do people have to phrase things in the most bizarre ways possible?

          • hof1991
            hof1991
            December 16, 2019 at 9:35 am | #

            I blame King James for weird Bible references. But people spoke weird then.

          • Agemegos
            Agemegos
            December 16, 2019 at 5:24 pm | #

            The text of the KJV was pretty much normal for the time: a little bit old-fashioned and formal, but basically normal. English has just changed a bit in the four hundred years since it was written.

        • Delavan
          Delavan
          December 16, 2019 at 12:28 pm | #

          Technically it’s the “kid boiled in its mother’s milk” which opens up a whole range of interesting debates about the intent of the passages… and believe me, this is such a common thing to discuss at temple, lol…

          • StClair
            StClair
            December 16, 2019 at 4:48 pm | #

            Version I’ve heard a lot lately is that this is a case of “all these specific dishes are favorite foods of those Other People, who we hate, and so all of their stuff is unclean, don’t you dare be like them.”

            Which is a bit different from my personal previous take, which was a food safety manual from before a working knowledge of germ theory: “We live in a desert without refrigeration, so all of this stuff will probably be spoiled before it even hits your table, don’t eat it unless you want to be sick unto death.”

            • Agemegos
              Agemegos
              December 16, 2019 at 5:10 pm | #

              A lot of the less well-known rules don’t make any sense as food safety precautions (e.g. the ban on eating blood), and a lot of obvious food safety precautions aren’t imposed (e.g. cook meat well-done). What’s more, the rules for decontaminating things that have touched unclean things (e.g. brush with hissop, leave until sunset) are hygienic nonsense.

          • Agemegos
            Agemegos
            December 16, 2019 at 5:18 pm | #

            Exodus 23:19 and Deuteronomy 14:21. My King James Version has “Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.”

            • Agemegos
              Agemegos
              December 16, 2019 at 5:43 pm | #

              I think it’s on the basis of those verses that icecream and cheese made with rennet are not kosher.

              • huttj509
                huttj509
                December 16, 2019 at 7:48 pm | #

                Not quite. The ruling was made that for cheese to be Kosher it needed to be made under Rabbinic supervision, to ensure the rennet enzyme added to make the cheese was kosher (not obtained from calves improperly slaughtered, for example). This ruling has made things…complicated…for those who follow the letter rather than just the spirit. Like, artificial enzymes derived from bacteria. Kosher? Did a Rabbi observe the cheese being made? Then no.

                As with anything related to modern Judaism and interpretations, there is much discussion and disagreement.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      December 16, 2019 at 7:40 am | #

      Though that was more of a “Let’s do a thing I hate to make myself look more normal and grown up” than to make Jacob feel better.

      • Diane
        Diane
        December 16, 2019 at 6:26 pm | #

        Agreed. I consider this comic more of a better example of “Let’s do a thing I hate to make Becky feel better”.
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/sushi/

  7. Kyrik Michalowski
    Kyrik Michalowski
    December 16, 2019 at 12:09 am | #

    Come on Joyce, just hold Becky’s hand on the ride and you’ll be fine. And in the mean time you’ll continue to fuel the strange feelings that young Becky is having, presumably. Did Becky ever actually say when she started to realize she was gay?

    • Nono
      Nono
      December 16, 2019 at 12:16 am | #

      Forever, probably. It just took being away from Joyce at college to figure it out.

    • BarerMender
      BarerMender
      December 16, 2019 at 12:18 am | #

      I don’t think so. She realized she wanted to kiss Joyce after being apart for a few weeks, but she never said when she came out to herself.

  8. Icalasari
    Icalasari
    December 16, 2019 at 12:15 am | #

    I love that self aware alt text

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      December 16, 2019 at 1:06 am | #

      Yes, I’m the protagonist of something and I would like to request a new writer. The one writing a harem hentai was nice, could I have that one back, please?

      • insomniac
        insomniac
        December 16, 2019 at 1:10 am | #

        Look, you don’t want to go down this road.

        At some point the hacks writing the storylines here got into some sort of self-parodic political farce, and it’s been getting weirder by the day.

        • HeySo
          HeySo
          December 16, 2019 at 10:03 am | #

          Quite the context-appropriate avatar.

      • abysswatcher1993
        abysswatcher1993
        December 16, 2019 at 2:25 am | #

        Harem hentai protagonists are jerks. No sane woman would agree to an arrangement where only a single man gets all the sexual and romantic attention. Unless it’s a polyamory relationship, things aren’t going to work.

        • HeySo
          HeySo
          December 16, 2019 at 10:08 am | #

          Depends on how strong the social indoctrination is. It’s why multiple wives was such a consistent thing in many countries, including ancient China. Of course, the actual catalyst for such social practices often derived not just from patriarchal self-indulgence, but also because men were killed off reliably in wars, causing a rather imbalanced population by sex, making having multiple female partners per male partner suitable in many aspects.

          That said, most social circumstances related to such practices were extraordinarly toxic and inhumane [ie, treating women as property] and it’s extraordinarly rare to find a harem manga that isn’t as pathetically self-indulgent at the expense of dignity, completely non-self-aware, and written with all the skill one’d expect of a middle schooler.

          So yeah- harems can be justified, especially for works set in historical settings appropriate theme. Anything that deserves the label of “a harem manga”, however, is most likely objectively garbage. 😛

          • HeySo
            HeySo
            December 16, 2019 at 10:08 am | #

            *settings appropriate to the theme

    • Marsh Maryrose
      Marsh Maryrose
      December 16, 2019 at 1:09 am | #

      Counter point, from Welcome to Night Vale:

      Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you.

      • abysswatcher1993
        abysswatcher1993
        December 16, 2019 at 2:23 am | #

        Also, the message is mostly for the one communicating it, not for the receiver; and there’s a Mara Wilson secretly living in your house.

  9. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    December 16, 2019 at 12:16 am | #

    Their friendship is very sweet.

  10. Hark a lizard awaits ye
    Hark a lizard awaits ye
    December 16, 2019 at 12:20 am | #

    Boy oh boy, I sure cant wait for the strip following these memories where Becky’s happiness is ruined by toedad again. Hopefully Willis just has Blaine and Toedad shoot each other at the same time so we never have to see them after this.

    • Emperor Norton II
      Emperor Norton II
      December 16, 2019 at 4:28 am | #

      Before that happens, though, I’m sure we’ll get at least one strip where Becky and Dina wakes up cuddled together.

  11. Kravis
    Kravis
    December 16, 2019 at 12:25 am | #

    Yes, Joyce.
    You’re very “special”.
    Just like alll the other people around you…

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      December 16, 2019 at 1:08 am | #

      You Can Be Special Too
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5-lEzkYC3g

      • Kravis
        Kravis
        December 17, 2019 at 11:19 am | #

        No, thanks. I’m fine as I am, douche.

        No need for that terrible video.

    • TemperaryObsessor
      TemperaryObsessor
      December 16, 2019 at 11:45 am | #

      Your unique, that doesn’t make you special.

      • Kravis
        Kravis
        December 17, 2019 at 11:20 am | #

        *You’re.

  12. DarkoNeko
    DarkoNeko
    December 16, 2019 at 12:37 am | #

    The problem is, we are mostly seeing this flashback where they’re very close because they’re drifting apart 😐

    • Delicious Taffy
      Delicious Taffy
      December 16, 2019 at 12:46 am | #

      Which one is gonna get an extended Queen reference about it, though?

    • Shane Wegner
      Shane Wegner
      December 16, 2019 at 4:22 am | #

      Hmm, interesting observation. Becky was saying “Hey Joyce you’re being negative now I need you positive”. Maybe this is Joyce’s flashback and she’s feeling like she could use her own Joyce picker upper.

  13. Bagge
    Bagge
    December 16, 2019 at 12:43 am | #

    D’awwww. Joyce trying to comfort Becky is a thing of beauty. Of course Becky sees right through it, but she still apreciates it.

  14. BBCC
    BBCC
    December 16, 2019 at 12:46 am | #

    Precious kids.

  15. drs
    drs
    December 16, 2019 at 1:16 am | #

    Becky’s last panel eye change is disturbing.

  16. anybodies
    anybodies
    December 16, 2019 at 1:18 am | #

    Hi Willis,
    I love the comic! The advertisements always cover the first panel though. Even when I close them, there’s a big rectangle blocking the first panel.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      December 16, 2019 at 1:32 am | #

      Hiveworks will take care of them if you report it.

  17. Tan
    Tan
    December 16, 2019 at 1:34 am | #

    So Becky’s mom just kinda peaced out after photos?

  18. abysswatcher1993
    abysswatcher1993
    December 16, 2019 at 2:18 am | #

    Handsome Joyce: “Everyone thinks they are the protagonist of their own story, including you, Becky the Company Woman.”
    Becky: “Get out of my head!”

    • Schpoonman
      Schpoonman
      December 16, 2019 at 4:05 pm | #

      TftBL?

      • abysswatcher1993
        abysswatcher1993
        December 16, 2019 at 5:12 pm | #

        Yes.

  19. Keulen
    Keulen
    December 16, 2019 at 2:49 am | #

    DoA Book 10: I Am Extremely Special

  20. Fart Captor
    Fart Captor
    December 16, 2019 at 5:28 am | #

    They’re the tiniest cutest little baaaaaaabies

  21. BenRG
    BenRG
    December 16, 2019 at 7:08 am | #

    Joyce has always been scared of that, hasn’t she? That’s she’s ‘weird’ or ‘abnormal’? I suspect that she’s had it put in her head that not being perfect is somehow a personal failing rather than a neurochemical accident beyond her ability to control.

  22. BenRG
    BenRG
    December 16, 2019 at 8:02 am | #

    Oh, and I think that Becky is right: Joyce will never be an entirely comfortable liar.

  23. Suet
    Suet
    December 16, 2019 at 9:00 am | #

    Unfortunately for Becky, Joyce never did pull off lyin’

    *daintily plays James Taylor’s Everyday on the hacked park PA*

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      December 16, 2019 at 9:14 am | #

      So we all thought…

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-9-comic/01-flyin-to-the-red/tattler/

      • Bagge
        Bagge
        December 16, 2019 at 9:15 am | #

        Turns out, she’s really good at it, given the right motivation

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/harrison/

        • BenRG
          BenRG
          December 16, 2019 at 9:24 am | #

          Well, she’s good at it with total strangers. Anyone who knows anything about Joyce and/or body language would interpret her expression in panel 5 there to mean: “I’m a filthy liar and I’m going to hell”.

          • Suet
            Suet
            December 16, 2019 at 11:41 am | #

            Guess the phrase, “The more you know someone, the less you expect from them” holds true, even to Joyce.

            Well… until I had to dig deeper to La Porte

      • BenRG
        BenRG
        December 16, 2019 at 9:24 am | #

        Misdirection, not lies. The difference is academic but it is there.

  24. hof1991
    hof1991
    December 16, 2019 at 9:43 am | #

    So back at the party, Becky wanted something but a voice in her head told her no. But she managed to ignore the voice.

    Joyce, who hates being upside down, is all kinds of upside down and dazed and confused. She’s losing her certainty and little has prepared her for the chaos that life throws at you.

  25. Schol-R-LEA
    Schol-R-LEA
    December 16, 2019 at 12:41 pm | #

    Exceptionalism is one hell of a drug.

  26. ValdVin
    ValdVin
    December 16, 2019 at 1:57 pm | #

    Now I’m thinking of the rides which don’t go upside-down but Joyce may regret taking anyway. The Rotor, the Pirate Ship, and the jet-things which rotate and give you enough G’s to get sideways come to mind.

  27. Diane
    Diane
    December 16, 2019 at 8:38 pm | #

    Proud of ya, Joyce, for getting over your fear. Just wish it didn’t take “I will do ANYTHING to make you happy, Becky” feelings to invoke the courage. No wonder Becky got confused.

  28. Axel
    Axel
    December 17, 2019 at 12:43 am | #

    I just remembered Joyce sleeps with a doll (that isn’t Elsa), and I can’t help but wonder/hope that maybe it’s from Becky

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