Billie is actually giving a thoughtful response to all the things Ruth is saying, but she’s speaking directly into the pillow so it just sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher.
Why do I have the feeling that non of the ships in DoA is going to survive until the last episode when Willis does an epilogue showing what each did with their lives? I mean, the ships in DoA are close as volatile as the ships in Homestuck.
The only one I can see lasting is Becky and Dina. Walky has lots more growing up before he’ll be able to make a relationship work. In the end Billie and Ruth probably aren’t healthy for each other.
I think they have the potential to become a healthy, happy, long-term couple. Especially with Ruth starting on antidepressants and therapy and Billie going sober. They have come a long way from being a love-hate suicide pact couple in only a few months. Will they get married and grow old together? Who knows (Willis does). But they have made a lasting impact on each other.
There’s a couple ships I can see happening that aren’t actually things yet but could work out long-term (Joyce/Joe, Danny/Sal or Danny/Ethan depending,) and ones that were canon, broke up, but I wouldn’t count out entirely if the right combo of character development and not falling into old bad habits occurs (Walky/Dorothy and Amber-AG/Danny).
Ruth/Billie feels like one to me where it may not last forever, but hopefully the way it’s motivating them both to try and work on their mental health now makes it a net positive even if it runs its course.
I can definitely see Dina/Becky lasting through college, though that may also be wishful thinking and/or an inability to really see them with other people on my part. Initial reboundyness on Becky’s part aside, she clearly adores Dina and they go together well.
Grace/Sierra/Mandy is definitely also a thing I can see lasting. (No, I’m not just saying this because of their Walkyverse counterparts, why do you ask?… Of course I’m just saying this we never see Grace or Mandy and rarer still see them with Sierra.)
I fully believe Peter and Mary get Rush Evangelical Married so they can have guilt-free sex, then the hormones wear off and they’re left with either a nasty divorce or years of quiet, simmering resentment. So basically the Walkyverse but without the ‘pregnancy as punishment’ subtext. (Which is specifically why I’m not suggesting they have premarital sex/‘Well, ACTUALLY, it wasn’t penetrative PIV so I’m still a virgin!’ shit and a pregnancy scare – the ground’s been covered and it would feel too close to the punishment subtext that was very much present in Roomies’ handling of things.) That’s technically an endgame ship but like, in only the loosest and least pleasant sense of the term. (Barring an EXTREME change of heart on Mary’s part, I’m pretty sure her future looks like that regardless, it’s just a matter of what shitty evangelical dude she picks. Peter’s just enough of a character outside Mary to imply that he is actually like this as well.)
If this goes all the way to graduation at the rate we are moving through just the first semester that will happen roughly a week after the Heat Death of the Universe
I am curious as to how this will handle their summer breaks. We should prep for massive cast expansion, as almost everyone goes back to their home towns. We are gonna see parents, siblings, high school friends who either didn’t go to college or went somewhere else, summer job co-workers…
Of course we haven’t even gotten to Thanksgiving break yet so that is a loooong way off
Our best hope is the Singularity, so that Willis gets uploaded into a cyberspace body and overclocks his time rate and can do hundreds of strips per day.
(Of course by then, we will also be uploaded and have accelerated time sense, so a day will feel like a decade, so …)
When we were young the future was so bright (Woah)
The old neighbourhood was so alive (Woah)
And every kid on the whole damn street (Woah)
Was gonna make it big and not be beat
Now the neighbourhood’s cracked and torn (Woah)
The kids are grown up but their lives are worn (Woah)
How can one little street
Swallow so many lives?
Chances thrown, nothing’s free
Longing for what used to be
Still it’s hard, hard to see
Fragile lives, shattered dreams
well i mean in 5 billion years the sun in its death throes will probably have expanded far enough to engulf the Earth, at which point DoA will probably still be halfway through senior year…
I hope Billie eventually reaches a point where she is stable and can appreciate how much Ruth cares. In some ways Billie reminds me of a friend of my own so I do wish the best for her as a result, even if she isn’t putting for an effort.
She does appreciate it though. That’s why she tried to push her away.
The problem isn’t that she doesn’t appreciate Ruth, the problem is that she can’t imagine deserving it. And she hasn’t really gotten the notion that it doesn’t really matter what someone deserves.
Yeah, Billie’s been masking depression well enough and the spotlight’s been on other things long enough we kind of forget that she IS clearly and significantly depressed, but then you get moments like earlier.
Let it go. Seriously.
At this point, it’s quite obvious (at least to me) that Willis will tell us when he wants to, and not a day before.
Best to not talk or even think about it until then.
If you’re only looking at it in terms of influencing the immediate future of the comic, every comment is pointless (Eat Arby’s). Because we know that the next 67 comics are already completed.
Like, whether people don’t understand how this works, or are aware and just like to hear themselves talk, either way it adds nothing of value to the discussion.
Adds many things. Thoughtful speculation. Occasional humor. The drama of lurking horror. A way to honor the jerk and keep his memory alive if he should happen to actually be dead. Mike is like an onion with many layers and obscure motives and is a gift that keeps on giving. Without Mike, Amber and Ethan are incomplete. Without Mike, Joe and Joyce’s date goes in a more toxic direction and they don’t wind up with their current relationship. Without Mike, your mother would have a more boring life and many fewer or many more nickles (it’s never been clear which).
When I come across a conversation thread in the comments that I find less interesting, I usually skip over it rather than commanding people not to talk about it. But that’s me. You do you.
I like how I was Ruth’s age when I went through my first gay love that started off as the first time I was ever happy in my life and slowly deteriorated into an unhealthy toxic mess.
Then you’re in your late 20s and its just two gay women wanting to be in love but one or the other panics and backs out hard before it even goes anywhere out of fear of those toxic codependent memories, and heartache that still ain’t dead.
Poor Danny will not be reassured to know that the gayngst and the bangst don’t necessarily end at college graduation. (Sorry about your angst, GutterChick. It sounds rough. 🙁
I think who you date can reflect part of who you are which can be a positive, a negative, or both. In this case, it is both. Billie truly deeply cares about Ruth and Ruth brings out all of Billie’s best traits. She wants to be there for Ruth as she gets better and Ruth brings out honesty in Billie that she doesn’t offer to Sal, Walky, or anyone else.
But they are also similar in unhealthy ways. Understanding Ruth’s problems gives you insight into Billie’s problems.
So in some ways, I would say yes, in others I would say no as Ruth obviously isn’t a one to one reflection of Billie and you can’t learn everything about someone through a second person. But it can be easier to get them to learn it that way.
Check out Symphonic Metal. You get all the cool lyrics of heavy metal, with singers that have actual trained voices and sound good. Until she left the group, the lead of Nightwish was an operatically trained soprano and you could tell.
Yeah, I’m not quite sure how to answer the question. I mean, sure I do, but I’m not sure I want to actually see the damage that Amber did. The damage Dorothy did AFAIK was through her reporting and I’m up for that.
I’ll be glad when we know about Mike’s fate, so DYW goes back to posting previews on Tumblr. Makes me think we are about to get a bunch of comics to explain just what happened.
Oh. And I love this strip’s composition. Ruth going elsewhere to think (no border or background and slightly out of line) and then coming back to finish her thought. Echoes the place Joyce went recently, but Ruth kept Billie with her.
Ruth didn’t steal it from Alice, that’s actually Billie’s (unless that was mentioned in a Patreon comic). She stole an IU jersey from a university cheerleader who posted racial slurs on Facebook, and gave that to Billie.
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even Billie’s ponytail is tense
Past, present, or future?
Subjunctive
Moody ponytail!
Ponytails of Future Passed?
Perfect!
Which aspect of her ponytail are you discoursing upon?
Future Perfect Tense.
That was abandoned when it was discovered not to be.
Didn’t Moody Ponytail open for Poorly Repressed Teenage Lust last week?
Will-on haven ponytail?
Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Ablative, Vocative, or Locative?
I have no idea what all that is – its Greek to me…. or maybe Latin?
It’s latin, but those are declensions, not tenses – they apply to nouns, not verbs.
Was going to say. That’s half a cannister of mousse at least.
Billie is actually giving a thoughtful response to all the things Ruth is saying, but she’s speaking directly into the pillow so it just sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher.
Dumbing of Age Book 10: YOU’RE a Volcano of Self-Loathing and Self-Recrimination
Why do I have the feeling that non of the ships in DoA is going to survive until the last episode when Willis does an epilogue showing what each did with their lives? I mean, the ships in DoA are close as volatile as the ships in Homestuck.
The only one I can see lasting is Becky and Dina. Walky has lots more growing up before he’ll be able to make a relationship work. In the end Billie and Ruth probably aren’t healthy for each other.
What about the most stable ship, EthanxStarscream?
I think they have the potential to become a healthy, happy, long-term couple. Especially with Ruth starting on antidepressants and therapy and Billie going sober. They have come a long way from being a love-hate suicide pact couple in only a few months. Will they get married and grow old together? Who knows (Willis does). But they have made a lasting impact on each other.
Yes! Billie/Ruth is THE ship of this strip. If and when it ends, the strip will end (or transform into something entirely different).
There’s a couple ships I can see happening that aren’t actually things yet but could work out long-term (Joyce/Joe, Danny/Sal or Danny/Ethan depending,) and ones that were canon, broke up, but I wouldn’t count out entirely if the right combo of character development and not falling into old bad habits occurs (Walky/Dorothy and Amber-AG/Danny).
Ruth/Billie feels like one to me where it may not last forever, but hopefully the way it’s motivating them both to try and work on their mental health now makes it a net positive even if it runs its course.
I can definitely see Dina/Becky lasting through college, though that may also be wishful thinking and/or an inability to really see them with other people on my part. Initial reboundyness on Becky’s part aside, she clearly adores Dina and they go together well.
Grace/Sierra/Mandy is definitely also a thing I can see lasting. (No, I’m not just saying this because of their Walkyverse counterparts, why do you ask?… Of course I’m just saying this we never see Grace or Mandy and rarer still see them with Sierra.)
I fully believe Peter and Mary get Rush Evangelical Married so they can have guilt-free sex, then the hormones wear off and they’re left with either a nasty divorce or years of quiet, simmering resentment. So basically the Walkyverse but without the ‘pregnancy as punishment’ subtext. (Which is specifically why I’m not suggesting they have premarital sex/‘Well, ACTUALLY, it wasn’t penetrative PIV so I’m still a virgin!’ shit and a pregnancy scare – the ground’s been covered and it would feel too close to the punishment subtext that was very much present in Roomies’ handling of things.) That’s technically an endgame ship but like, in only the loosest and least pleasant sense of the term. (Barring an EXTREME change of heart on Mary’s part, I’m pretty sure her future looks like that regardless, it’s just a matter of what shitty evangelical dude she picks. Peter’s just enough of a character outside Mary to imply that he is actually like this as well.)
Willis does an epilogue showing what each did with their lives? That would be cool and should buy us another ten years of comics.
Wait, what do you mean by this “last episode” thing? This comic shall last forever! (Otherwise, where would I get my daily dose of dumbing?)
If this goes all the way to graduation at the rate we are moving through just the first semester that will happen roughly a week after the Heat Death of the Universe
I am curious as to how this will handle their summer breaks. We should prep for massive cast expansion, as almost everyone goes back to their home towns. We are gonna see parents, siblings, high school friends who either didn’t go to college or went somewhere else, summer job co-workers…
Of course we haven’t even gotten to Thanksgiving break yet so that is a loooong way off
Our best hope is the Singularity, so that Willis gets uploaded into a cyberspace body and overclocks his time rate and can do hundreds of strips per day.
(Of course by then, we will also be uploaded and have accelerated time sense, so a day will feel like a decade, so …)
REAL dumbing?
I recommend Conservative AM Talk Radio.
When we were young the future was so bright (Woah)
The old neighbourhood was so alive (Woah)
And every kid on the whole damn street (Woah)
Was gonna make it big and not be beat
Now the neighbourhood’s cracked and torn (Woah)
The kids are grown up but their lives are worn (Woah)
How can one little street
Swallow so many lives?
Chances thrown, nothing’s free
Longing for what used to be
Still it’s hard, hard to see
Fragile lives, shattered dreams
God, I both love and am depressed by that song.
well i mean in 5 billion years the sun in its death throes will probably have expanded far enough to engulf the Earth, at which point DoA will probably still be halfway through senior year…
*plays The Monkees’ “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” on the hacked Muzak*
You put a lot of thought into this.
I hope Billie eventually reaches a point where she is stable and can appreciate how much Ruth cares. In some ways Billie reminds me of a friend of my own so I do wish the best for her as a result, even if she isn’t putting for an effort.
She does appreciate it though. That’s why she tried to push her away.
The problem isn’t that she doesn’t appreciate Ruth, the problem is that she can’t imagine deserving it. And she hasn’t really gotten the notion that it doesn’t really matter what someone deserves.
Yeah, Billie’s been masking depression well enough and the spotlight’s been on other things long enough we kind of forget that she IS clearly and significantly depressed, but then you get moments like earlier.
I feel like we’re… going in a healthy direction, just, we’re taking one hell of a bumpy ride there.
I mean, it can be nice AND self-loathing self-recrimination. Billie can mean it AND use it to hurt herself. She’s a creative girl, that Billie.
Cheerleader. Problem solved.
… Solver.
I mean, both work really.
Problem Solver? Problem Solved.
Poor Ruth! Good luck to both of them.
Oh these two. It’s always a little of both ain’t it?
… It’s good to share core values? Makes for a solid foundation?
But ouch.
I realize in DOA time, it’s still the next day (I think), but in real time it’s 49 days since we saw Mike plunge headlong from the stairway.
Let it go. Seriously.
At this point, it’s quite obvious (at least to me) that Willis will tell us when he wants to, and not a day before.
Best to not talk or even think about it until then.
Time flies when your having fun.
Willis will tell us when he wants to, and not a day before.
And so we should bring it up every chance we get because that’s the kind of people we are.
Really? I find it pointless and tiresome.
If you’re only looking at it in terms of influencing the immediate future of the comic, every comment is pointless (Eat Arby’s). Because we know that the next 67 comics are already completed.
It also fills up the comment threads with a lot of (IMO) “sound and fury, signifying nothing”.
Like, whether people don’t understand how this works, or are aware and just like to hear themselves talk, either way it adds nothing of value to the discussion.
Adds many things. Thoughtful speculation. Occasional humor. The drama of lurking horror. A way to honor the jerk and keep his memory alive if he should happen to actually be dead. Mike is like an onion with many layers and obscure motives and is a gift that keeps on giving. Without Mike, Amber and Ethan are incomplete. Without Mike, Joe and Joyce’s date goes in a more toxic direction and they don’t wind up with their current relationship. Without Mike, your mother would have a more boring life and many fewer or many more nickles (it’s never been clear which).
When I come across a conversation thread in the comments that I find less interesting, I usually skip over it rather than commanding people not to talk about it. But that’s me. You do you.
Or we can talk about shotguns.
Rifles.
Phones
Ponies.
Limousines.
Sharp Cellphones.
I was like “nah that can’t be right” but it sure is. Feels like winter is passing so fast this year, I see this as a win
The panel 3 *oh shit I’m describing myself* moment is pretty perfect here.
Toedad and Blaine could start dating and it would be less toxic than this.
Depends on who they’re dating. If Toedad and Blaine were dating Mary then it could get pretty toxic.
Blaine, dressed as a superhero/vilain, crying in front of toedad, nailed to the cross…no wait, that was sonic.
(Also nope nope nope)
It sounds like Sonic may have been a great deal more interesting than I assumed.
Mary’s toxic enough on her own. Filthy sociopathic sadist, probably knew where each “missing” cat was buried when she was a kid.
Ruth has pants!
Willis is in the picture but he’s mostly hidden by Ruth’s hair.
Dunno why he doesn’t have a tag tho. 😛
I like how I was Ruth’s age when I went through my first gay love that started off as the first time I was ever happy in my life and slowly deteriorated into an unhealthy toxic mess.
Then you’re in your late 20s and its just two gay women wanting to be in love but one or the other panics and backs out hard before it even goes anywhere out of fear of those toxic codependent memories, and heartache that still ain’t dead.
What? No, I’m not feeling gay angst right now
Poor Danny will not be reassured to know that the gayngst and the bangst don’t necessarily end at college graduation. (Sorry about your angst, GutterChick. It sounds rough. 🙁
For anyone that missed it: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/bangst/
They are very self aware in their relationship
Calling it now. Billie is assigned writing Mike’s obituary and manages to make it about her.
After all, she went to introduce Ruth and made it about her. It’s kind of a pattern.
“You’re a volcano of self-loathing and self-recrimination.”
“I’m you.”
I thought the whole “you must know her before you know me” was like…. I dunno, does anyone really believe in that?
“For you see, she is my soul mirror who connects to the depths of my very being.”
“You’ve known her like 60, maybe 90 days at this point.”
51
I think who you date can reflect part of who you are which can be a positive, a negative, or both. In this case, it is both. Billie truly deeply cares about Ruth and Ruth brings out all of Billie’s best traits. She wants to be there for Ruth as she gets better and Ruth brings out honesty in Billie that she doesn’t offer to Sal, Walky, or anyone else.
But they are also similar in unhealthy ways. Understanding Ruth’s problems gives you insight into Billie’s problems.
So in some ways, I would say yes, in others I would say no as Ruth obviously isn’t a one to one reflection of Billie and you can’t learn everything about someone through a second person. But it can be easier to get them to learn it that way.
Volcano of Self-Loathing and Self-Recrimination sounds like a good band name.
It does.
But what kind of music would they play?
Heavy Metal for a bet. Well, maybe not. There would have to be a reference to a volcano god of self-loathing and nuclear recrimination.
((Love Heavy Metal lyrics, but can’t stand actually listening to it for more than about 15 seconds.))
Heavy metal has lyrics? How can you tell?
Check out Symphonic Metal. You get all the cool lyrics of heavy metal, with singers that have actual trained voices and sound good. Until she left the group, the lead of Nightwish was an operatically trained soprano and you could tell.
Thank you for the search term!
So….am I the only one who still wants to see how bad Dorothy messed up scar-face Ryan?
Dorothy never did anything to Ryan.
Yeah, I’m not quite sure how to answer the question. I mean, sure I do, but I’m not sure I want to actually see the damage that Amber did. The damage Dorothy did AFAIK was through her reporting and I’m up for that.
That is a fine consideration. BRAVA Ruth.
I like how Billie’s head in panel 3 almost seamlessly transitions into Billie’s posterior in panel 4.
She truly is a butthead
I’ll be glad when we know about Mike’s fate, so DYW goes back to posting previews on Tumblr. Makes me think we are about to get a bunch of comics to explain just what happened.
Oh. And I love this strip’s composition. Ruth going elsewhere to think (no border or background and slightly out of line) and then coming back to finish her thought. Echoes the place Joyce went recently, but Ruth kept Billie with her.
At this point he might as put it on Slipshine
objectively, it doesn’t matter where these ships go, b.c we’re watching character growth.
it’s also being shown so slowly that it’s a struggle to remain objective so uh if you’re struggling to not get attached to ships, there’s that
Hey, there’s the ‘Dragons’ jersey that Ruth stole from Alice. Nice reminder.
Ruth didn’t steal it from Alice, that’s actually Billie’s (unless that was mentioned in a Patreon comic). She stole an IU jersey from a university cheerleader who posted racial slurs on Facebook, and gave that to Billie.
Wasn’t Ruth giving Billie the letters back one at a time, because reasons? That didn’t go on very long.
Ruth stole her uniform, and took off a letter each day she didn’t turn in her roommate agreement. This was before confessions and suicide pact stuff.
you’re a vulcano of self-loathing and self-recrimination feels like a contender for book title