Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

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a little too genre-savvy there, walky
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May 8, 2026

High-stakes

by David M Willis on October 5, 2020 at 12:01 am
  • 01 - This Bright Millennium
└ Tags: booster, ruth, walky

Discussion (159) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    October 5, 2020 at 12:05 am | #

    “I’m not actually invested in finding out, nor do I really need to be”

  2. woobie
    woobie
    October 5, 2020 at 12:09 am | #

    I’m pretty sure she won’t kill a fellow student….

    • Cholma
      Cholma
      October 5, 2020 at 12:14 am | #

      But there’s no guarantee of that; it’s what keeps the audience coming back for more!

      • Doctor_Who
        Doctor_Who
        October 5, 2020 at 12:20 am | #

        Yeah, gotta keep ’em in suspense.

        • Merbrat
          Merbrat
          October 5, 2020 at 1:36 am | #

          …or, in traction.

    • StClair
      StClair
      October 5, 2020 at 12:22 am | #

      You can live without femurs, right?

      • King Daniel
        King Daniel
        October 5, 2020 at 12:40 am | #

        According to Joyce, we need our femurs to live.

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      October 5, 2020 at 3:05 am | #

      She’s murdered almost nobody!

      • Deanatay
        Deanatay
        October 5, 2020 at 8:22 am | #

        THIS year. It’s not even a month in.

  3. tim gueguen
    tim gueguen
    October 5, 2020 at 12:10 am | #

    Booster will probably be disappointed, because they were hoping for an excuse to demonstrate their Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills.

    • Delicious Taffy
      Delicious Taffy
      October 5, 2020 at 12:25 am | #

      Characterising Booster as a violent person, are we? I don’t think they’ll be busting out the Grammaton Gun Kata any time soon.

      • Paradoxius
        Paradoxius
        October 5, 2020 at 12:59 am | #

        To the contrary, as a true master, Booster knows that the most powerful technique in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is not to fight.

        The second most powerful technique is the locoplata variant foot hold.

        • Sporky
          Sporky
          October 5, 2020 at 3:52 am | #

          Your icon is very fitting here

          • AbelUndercity
            AbelUndercity
            October 5, 2020 at 7:43 am | #

            Indeed. I could hear Uncle Iroh loud and clear.

            Suddenly I have a craving for tea. Anyone need anything while I’m up?

            • Deanatay
              Deanatay
              October 5, 2020 at 8:23 am | #

              Could you get me some tea? That’d be wonderful.

    • Michael Lanting
      Michael Lanting
      October 5, 2020 at 5:53 am | #

      Question: Why do people call Booster “they”? Did I miss a comic where it is said that’s Booster’s preferred pronoun or are people just assuming?

      • Agemegos
        Agemegos
        October 5, 2020 at 5:59 am | #

        Willis does so in Booster’s entry linked from the cast page. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020castbooster/

        Also, I think something was said on Patreon.

        • Michael Lanting
          Michael Lanting
          October 5, 2020 at 4:48 pm | #

          Ah, I didn’t check the cast page. Thanks.

      • Clell
        Clell
        October 5, 2020 at 8:36 am | #

        Yeah, I noticed that too.

        Could someone explain to this old guy why plural pronouns would be used to identify an individual? I understand that the language changes over time, but this seems an odd variant to me… us?

        Ohh, is this a modern version of the Royal ‘we’?

        • Spencer
          Spencer
          October 5, 2020 at 8:38 am | #

          Plural pronouns are an indicator that someone doesn’t identify along binary gender identities like being exclusively male or female.

        • Reltzik
          Reltzik
          October 5, 2020 at 9:08 am | #

          It’s a singular they.

        • ensiform
          ensiform
          October 5, 2020 at 12:17 pm | #

          This is a very odd thing to be completely in the dark about for someone who is able to use a computer and reads this particular strip. Really? You’ve never heard anything about the genderless pronoun issue? It’s been a discussion in American culture for decades, and is quite big on the internet.

          • Regalli
            Regalli
            October 5, 2020 at 12:25 pm | #

            Yeah, heavy queer fanbase comic, here!

          • Reltzik
            Reltzik
            October 5, 2020 at 2:18 pm | #

            Eh, everyone learns sometime.

          • Agemegos
            Agemegos
            October 5, 2020 at 3:35 pm | #

            One of today’s ten thousand

            https://xkcd.com/1053/

          • Delicious Taffy
            Delicious Taffy
            October 5, 2020 at 3:43 pm | #

            We should remember that not everyone happens to learn all the same things we do, and the things they do learn might take a different amount of time than they took us. I forget what the term for that concept is, though.

          • Kamino Neko
            Kamino Neko
            October 5, 2020 at 8:40 pm | #

            Singular they has a longer pedigree than singular you. (And has always been for when the other three options were inappropriate, rather than starting as a sign of respect.)

          • Clell
            Clell
            October 6, 2020 at 9:23 am | #

            Certainly I’ve heard of people using gender neutral pronouns, usually as part of a mockingly negative joke. I recall something about new pronouns starting with ‘x’. Despite using a computer (for quite literally decades) and following a humorous webcomic, I am not clear on the topic. This is why I asked for an explanation of the idea behind it. Perhaps this is unusual, but I was interested in learning new things.

            As I said, I’m old, and even when I wasn’t I didn’t really care about popular culture and rarely followed, or was even aware of, trends.

            I really don’t care who other adults find attractive, or who they exchange bodily fluids with.

            I apologize to anyone I offended with the question, even though I find myself wondering why asking an honest question would offend.

        • marcus erronius
          marcus erronius
          October 5, 2020 at 9:53 pm | #

          Others answered the question pretty well, but I felt I should mention something else; complaining about “singular they” may cause people to assume things about you. The majority of pushback against it comes from people who are are anti-trans or anti-queer, not just protective of the english language. So it’s good to ask questions on that subject with care, to avoid people assuming you’re just another jerk 🙂

  4. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    October 5, 2020 at 12:10 am | #

    I’m sorry but is Walky trying to give Booster the worst impression of people possible?

    • EAG46
      EAG46
      October 5, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

      Maybe in Walky’s world view [such as it is] he was being accurate. Booster will have to find out for themself what their dormmates are really like.

    • C.T Phipps
      C.T Phipps
      October 5, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

      What’s funny is that Walky hasn’t mentioned any of the genuinely horrifying things of the past year.

      If Booster stays after hearing Joyce and Becky’s backstory, they’re here for a life or death struggle.

    • Lingo
      Lingo
      October 5, 2020 at 1:33 am | #

      He basically did the same with Jason.

      • Lingo
        Lingo
        October 5, 2020 at 1:50 am | #

        This in fact seems like a deliberate echo of this strip.

        • Captain Oblivious
          Captain Oblivious
          October 5, 2020 at 8:38 am | #

          Ah yes, the old
          “Sadness will always triumph because love is dumb.”

        • Regalli
          Regalli
          October 5, 2020 at 12:11 pm | #

          Yeah, no, this is Walky TRYING.

          I’m sorry. This is the best he could do.

  5. C.T Phipps
    C.T Phipps
    October 5, 2020 at 12:12 am | #

    It depends, is Mary still possessed of her femurs?

    Has Ryan never been seen again?

    I’m entirely comfortable for Ruth having become a Dexter-like serial killer to replace Amazi-Girl.

    • abysswatcher1993
      abysswatcher1993
      October 5, 2020 at 12:16 am | #

      Integrivact didn’t help and she tackled Carol.

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      October 5, 2020 at 12:16 pm | #

      Ryan may or may not still be in the hospital. If he is out, I suspect his parents who cared enough to sue also care enough not to send him back to the school where he got stabbed (oh and also accused of serial drugging and sexually assaulting women, but you know how those bongoes lie.)*

      * I am, at best, 50% on Ryan’s parents believing the women and him facing consequences there. Since he is DEFINITELY off the board, we’ll never know.

  6. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    October 5, 2020 at 12:12 am | #

    “You will make the most exquisite corpse!”–The Girl Who Was Death on The Prisoner

  7. Chris
    Chris
    October 5, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

    So tomorrow we should get another silhouette filled in.

    • Undrave
      Undrave
      October 5, 2020 at 1:55 am | #

      I hope it’s not Mary…

  8. Bagge
    Bagge
    October 5, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

    Heh, I love how she has expanded the threats of violence to hangarounds

    • C.T Phipps
      C.T Phipps
      October 5, 2020 at 12:14 am | #

      “I will rip out your femurs.”

      “Oh, that Ruth!”

      *cue laugh track*

    • Spencer
      Spencer
      October 5, 2020 at 6:16 am | #

      I’m wondering why she’s back to being Ruthless after all this time. A lot of her “grr femurs” stuff as time went on was performative if it even happened at all.

      • Fay
        Fay
        October 5, 2020 at 7:49 am | #

        She seems to be doing it in a rather tongue-in-cheek way, or at least more cheerfully than before. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s just doing it to keep up appearances/have some feeling of normalcy.

        • Spencer
          Spencer
          October 5, 2020 at 8:29 am | #

          That she goes from Angry Ruthless to “oh I’m doing okay, I changed my meds” in casual conservation with Becky at the drop of a hat does suggest to me that it’s probably a front she’s putting up in lieu of legitimately still trying to terrorize her dorm like she did.

  9. Alex Boston
    Alex Boston
    October 5, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

    Walky might become some sort of genre-savvy idiot savante.

    • Undrave
      Undrave
      October 5, 2020 at 1:56 am | #

      He’ll slowly reduce the cast by willingly keeping them off panel until it’s just him hunting spiders all the time.

    • Captain Oblivious
      Captain Oblivious
      October 5, 2020 at 8:40 am | #

      An “idiot-genre-savante” if you will.

  10. BBCC
    BBCC
    October 5, 2020 at 12:14 am | #

    That is certainly a thing you can assume.

  11. abysswatcher1993
    abysswatcher1993
    October 5, 2020 at 12:15 am | #

    Walky, stop breaking the fourth wall! Deadpool and Axel have smashed that thing and Hussie shits on it.

    • Delicious Taffy
      Delicious Taffy
      October 5, 2020 at 12:28 am | #

      Lea never broke the fourth wall. At most, he’s leaned on it a bit.

      • Regalli
        Regalli
        October 5, 2020 at 12:18 pm | #

        There was DEFINITELY some leaning in the ‘You can’t axe Axel!’ scene, but Xemnas mocking his keyblade started it. (Frankly I think it started – beyond the clear joke at the audience that was II.9 – around Toy Story world. Woody roasts a Nort and the Versus XIII stuff with Yozora.)

        • Delicious Taffy
          Delicious Taffy
          October 5, 2020 at 3:38 pm | #

          Dang, but Woody is just fantastic in that game. He doesn’t give half a damn about Xehanort or his ridiculous scheme, and he’s not afraid to say so.

          • Emperor Norton II
            Emperor Norton II
            October 5, 2020 at 9:07 pm | #

            I see you’re talking about the KH game that, like Highlander 2, does not actually exist.

            (I was very, very, -very- disappointed with KH3)

  12. Dara
    Dara
    October 5, 2020 at 12:17 am | #

    She showed up this semester with brand spankin’ new femurs and Walky says she’s keeping them guessing? C’mon, son, keep up. xD

    • Undrave
      Undrave
      October 5, 2020 at 1:57 am | #

      I hope they’re Carol’s.

  13. Tyler Schommer
    Tyler Schommer
    October 5, 2020 at 12:20 am | #

    Anyone remember who the men’s RA is?

    • Marsh Maryrose
      Marsh Maryrose
      October 5, 2020 at 12:39 am | #

      Whoever it is has less screen time than Bloodrose

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      October 5, 2020 at 1:09 am | #

      Ethan described him as someone who watches Star Trek

      • Undrave
        Undrave
        October 5, 2020 at 1:58 am | #

        Next thing you know, the door will be making the same noise that they do on Star Trek…

        • Rainhat
          Rainhat
          October 5, 2020 at 3:07 am | #

          Really? Psssht. 🙂

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          October 5, 2020 at 6:30 am | #

          “Make it so”, he says to the electronics engineering major rigging up the sound board and magnetic security system sensors.

          • Agemegos
            Agemegos
            October 5, 2020 at 3:26 pm | #

            Better to say that to a repairer of sewing machines.

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      October 5, 2020 at 3:09 am | #

      I don’t think we’ve actually seen them yet.

    • John
      John
      October 5, 2020 at 8:25 pm | #

      I’m pretty sure he’s the Trekkie RA from Roomies!, but we’ve never actually seen him.

  14. JetstreamGW
    JetstreamGW
    October 5, 2020 at 12:27 am | #

    Wait. I just realized.

    Booster looks like the Batman Amber drew in Shortpacked! demonstrating what kind of men she’d actually be in to.

    • CorporateDronesDontHaveMissiles
      CorporateDronesDontHaveMissiles
      October 5, 2020 at 12:31 am | #

      Oh well done.

    • Marsh Maryrose
      Marsh Maryrose
      October 5, 2020 at 12:40 am | #

      Kissable lips and all. I noticed it right away

      • a/snow/mous/e
        a/snow/mous/e
        October 5, 2020 at 2:10 am | #

        Wow, nice job!

        • clif
          clif
          October 5, 2020 at 3:30 am | #

          Way to telegraph the plot for the new season.

          • Marsh Maryrose
            Marsh Maryrose
            October 5, 2020 at 2:00 pm | #

            Booster is the real Amazi-Person!

            • Sombrero
              Sombrero
              October 5, 2020 at 5:11 pm | #

              Booster is the Power Booster Rod! Er… no.

    • Zor
      Zor
      October 5, 2020 at 12:45 am | #

      …Oh SHIT how did I miss that

    • a/snow/mous/e
      a/snow/mous/e
      October 5, 2020 at 2:12 am | #

      Oh man, they totally do!
      https://www.shortpacked.com/comic/false-equivalence

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      October 5, 2020 at 6:57 am | #

      My first thought was “Mike’s player 2 pallet swap but with hair that only exists in three dimensions”. They both have a similar build and head shape.

    • Dara
      Dara
      October 5, 2020 at 6:32 pm | #

      …oh my gods.

      [galaxybrain.jpg]

  15. synnerman
    synnerman
    October 5, 2020 at 12:31 am | #

    Walky is poking at the 4th wall some. I had shades of SEMME there for a moment.

  16. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    October 5, 2020 at 12:41 am | #

    It doesn’t take much for me to dislike Walky. It doesn’t take anything actually, but I do feel a need to point out that “She’s actually much cheerier than she used to be” line.

    Like….does Walky know about Ruth’s depression? Cause that’s borderline inappropriate to snark about if he does. I feel like he doesn’t but also that news did go really public so it’s up in the air for me. You’re playing a dangerous game Walky. Maybe.

    • Lingo
      Lingo
      October 5, 2020 at 1:46 am | #

      He absolutely knows, but as you can see, that’s sort of his way of dealing with heavy subjects … like Mike’s death.

      • Lingo
        Lingo
        October 5, 2020 at 1:47 am | #

        See especially the strip before that one.

    • Rainhat
      Rainhat
      October 5, 2020 at 3:11 am | #

      He did know, but with a combination of A Lot Going On Lately and being kinda self absorbed…voila.

      Either that or he’s choosing to have gallows humor about other people’s stuff, which isn’t cool unless they’re in on it.

    • Sporky
      Sporky
      October 5, 2020 at 3:47 am | #

      See, I don’t find that nearly as inappropriate as “She’s a little too hands-on, if you get my drift.” I honestly didn’t read it as snarky at all, he seems pretty sincere about it to me.

    • Varangian
      Varangian
      October 5, 2020 at 4:01 am | #

      Today I learned that accurately stating that someone is, as evidenced by their behavior compared to when you first met them, more cheerful, is actually outing(??) their mental illness (which they were cracking wise about in public like five strips ago???) and also making light of their depression

      The *wonders* of reading into minutiae

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        October 5, 2020 at 6:39 am | #

        That’s kind of what we do here actually. The nature of having 24 hours for thousands of people to overanalyze a strip that’s just a brief moment in a conversation.

        Was Danny’s “Your real mom” comment just innocuous clarification of which mom was on the phone or a shot at Stacy being Joe’s step mom and not a real parental figure to him?

        When Becky said “I’ve never been under the top” was that just her way of saying she’s got a big personality or an innuendo implying that she’s a bottom in her sexual relationships?

        Is it all just innocent dialogue showing off character conversational quirks? Who knows???? I don’t know why Walky should get a free pass on it.

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          October 5, 2020 at 6:51 am | #

          I think Danny’s comment was just him not thinking through what he says before he said it, like he always does. Poor kid’s got a chronic case of foot-in-mouth.

        • Varangian
          Varangian
          October 5, 2020 at 7:01 am | #

          I belong to a radical, some would even say heretical, creed that finds that shit to be absolutely obnoxious no matter what character it’s applied to.

          Though I guess if one MUST, equal opportunity minutiae obsession is the way to go

          In that spirit:

          -Is Ruth’s comment that she’ll drag in Walky’s corpse an indication that she’s actively regressed to bullying and violence and she’s secretly blackmailed Rachel so all opposition to her is silenced??? You can’t PROVE it isn’t
          -Booster has clearly agreed to this tour in order to drop a dime on all of Walky’s acquaintances to Linda, who secretly employs him and is going to expel everyone in Reed Hall through magical helicopter parent powers. Booster is clearly amoral and loves rolling in Linda cash, hence his FLIPPANT DISMISSAL of Ruth’s SINISTER THREATS

          • Varangian
            Varangian
            October 5, 2020 at 7:05 am | #

            *secretly employs them/their flippant dismissal, mea culpa.

        • Captain Oblivious
          Captain Oblivious
          October 5, 2020 at 8:50 am | #

          Thank you Sirksome for demonstrating some self awareness of the absurdity of the level of judgement and analysis the characters are subject to. I wonder if most of the commenters have that? I don’t.

          S ince we only tend to see Willis respond in the first hour or so, I kinda wonder if he avoids the chat beyond that so he doesn’t get influenced by the over-analysis. Or if he has a mallards ability to just let it run off.

        • Sombrero
          Sombrero
          October 5, 2020 at 5:22 pm | #

          Maybe because thinking Walky is anything but fully literal in what he says could easily break your suspension of disbelief.

    • CJ
      CJ
      October 5, 2020 at 4:22 am | #

      We could take into account that he might be angry at Ruth for either being Billies girlfriend or breaking up with her.
      But yes, basically he again comes across as a mindless asshole which no consideration. If this were my roommate, I’d already apply for a switch.

      • Spencer
        Spencer
        October 5, 2020 at 6:26 am | #

        He wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of them dating at all, it seems.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          October 5, 2020 at 10:40 am | #

          For pretty decent reasons. Ones similar to every one here calling it out as a toxic relationship, but without all the information we have that shows it in a better light.

          • Spencer
            Spencer
            October 5, 2020 at 10:50 am | #

            I wasn’t around when it came out, but that strip where Walky says he wanted Ruth to be better for Billie than she is and when Ruth says she can be better all he can muster is “neat”, that was probably the most brutal strip in the whole series and it came from friggin’ Walky.

            I adored it. I’ve really changed my tune on Ruth over the years but I’m still consistently all for DoA continuing with holding its protagonists accountable for their actions.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      October 5, 2020 at 6:47 am | #

      Ruth threatens murder, but it’s Walky’s comment about her being cheerier that’s the problem here?

      • Spencer
        Spencer
        October 5, 2020 at 6:52 am | #

        I think we’re too used to Ruthless. It’s not funny when she threatens to murder people otherwise a lot of agitated Gamers would be successful as comedians.

        I want to know what’s going on with Ruth that she’s back to being Ruthless or at least acting as such as a front. Makes me wonder if Billie’s similarly backslid into being the Alpha Bongo of her dorm.

        • Captain Oblivious
          Captain Oblivious
          October 5, 2020 at 9:04 am | #

          “It’s not funny when she threatens to murder people”?

          And clearly you haven’t been following the agitated gamer comedy circuit.

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        October 5, 2020 at 7:56 am | #

        For me specifically, yeah. I think that’s common knowledge by now though. In general Walky’s comments this morning have had a slight edge to them. Probably in a bad mood from the break and his roommate being dead. That’s not really an excuse though.

        Ruth’s murder threat is also problematic and Walky didn’t explain to Booster that she never follows through on them which is something Ruth has even stated more than once.

        Honestly this is just kind of a jaded tour from his perspective in general.

  17. Kravis
    Kravis
    October 5, 2020 at 12:45 am | #

    If Ruthless kills Walky and drags his corpse to a meeting he’s not even supposed to be in, he’ll be…

    The Walkyng Dead.

    Don’t worry, I’ll see myself out.

    • Agemegos
      Agemegos
      October 5, 2020 at 1:06 am | #

      Not fast enough.

      • Kravis
        Kravis
        October 6, 2020 at 12:40 am | #

        No, at the appropriate speed, actually, Agemengo.

        But if you insist, not only have I came back, as I’ll stay.

    • Lingo
      Lingo
      October 5, 2020 at 1:48 am | #

      Better run … the zombie swans will get you.

      • fire_daws
        fire_daws
        October 5, 2020 at 9:22 am | #

        Is…is that an intentional typo? I’m just imagining a bird breaking my arm and then pecking my brains out.

        • Agemegos
          Agemegos
          October 5, 2020 at 3:21 pm | #

          I took it to be a reference to my gravatar.

    • Captain Oblivious
      Captain Oblivious
      October 5, 2020 at 9:06 am | #

      Naw, it’ll just like everyday,
      he’s shuffling, shuffling.

  18. DSL
    DSL
    October 5, 2020 at 2:19 am | #

    Are colleges really that micro into their students’ lives these days? Even not taking the Cursed Virus into account?
    I saw my RA maybe twice a semester, unless business could be conducted by sliding forms under doors, which it usually was. One year I lived right next door to the RA and if we traded two words, I don’t remember.
    Wound up spending very little time in my dorm rooms; the school paper was where I lived and spent time between classes.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      October 5, 2020 at 2:39 am | #

      Some are. Ruth seems to do floor meetings on the first days of semesters and then whenever her bosses tell her to (ex. prank fire alarm, school shooting).

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      October 5, 2020 at 3:14 am | #

      I rarely saw my RAs in my four years of college, mostly because I avoided the floor meetings and the RAs I had couldn’t really do anything to force us to attend them.

      • clif
        clif
        October 5, 2020 at 3:36 am | #

        Have you checked your tenure lately?

        • clif
          clif
          October 5, 2020 at 3:43 am | #

          How did femurs get automutilated to tenure?

          • DSL
            DSL
            October 5, 2020 at 5:07 am | #

            Ruthless lives in your autocorrect.

          • Sunny
            Sunny
            October 5, 2020 at 6:07 am | #

            They share a bunch of letters, and all the other letters are right next to each other. One typo can cause weirdness in those cases.

    • ahecht
      ahecht
      October 5, 2020 at 3:35 pm | #

      When I was in college 15 or so years ago I would see my RA fairly regularly. They always had the room closest to the bathroom and kept their door open when they were “on call” and not asleep (one of the 8 or so RAs in each building was always on call at any given time).

  19. Bicycle Bill
    Bicycle Bill
    October 5, 2020 at 2:33 am | #

    “Fine. I’ll drag in your corpse for fun.”

    Now THAT’S the Ruthless we all remember and love!!

    • AbelUndercity
      AbelUndercity
      October 5, 2020 at 7:47 am | #

      Nothing stokes the urge to kill (or at least de-femurize) quite like the holidays.

  20. BenRG
    BenRG
    October 5, 2020 at 3:03 am | #

    “Hands-on” meaning “Hands wrapped around our throats”. That’s our Ruthless!

    Seriously, though, Ruth has to be the one to tell Walky about the meeting. As he said, the men’s wing RA probably can’t be bothered! Booster will soon realise that threats of violence from her are a bizarre kind of friendship ritual. Most of the time. Unless she really doesn’t like you at all.

    • Shanunu
      Shanunu
      October 5, 2020 at 3:29 am | #

      I thought hands on meant she started dating someone she was in charge of. Seems the right amount of rudeness he could toss in in a couple words as he’s been doing.

      • CJ
        CJ
        October 5, 2020 at 4:19 am | #

        yeah, I think that was also implied (though he could get away with saying she’s taking her job to serious and does a lot more than their RA, if asked).

  21. Heavensrun
    Heavensrun
    October 5, 2020 at 3:30 am | #

    Awwww…Ruthless thinks of Walky as part of her floor. That’s kinda sweet. ;p

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      October 5, 2020 at 6:48 am | #

      Sal’s never there, but Walky is at least some of the time. Close enough?

  22. Newllend(henryvolt)
    Newllend(henryvolt)
    October 5, 2020 at 3:32 am | #

    You spend half your time there Walky so you might as well be there when she sets the ground rules.

  23. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    October 5, 2020 at 3:35 am | #

    So, no Ethan or Jacob?

    • BenRG
      BenRG
      October 5, 2020 at 4:04 am | #

      When Joyce messed up with Jacob, his role in the story evidently ended. Apparently, Ethan is also no longer required after telling Danny off and making him realise that he’s not the nice guy everyone assumes after all.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      October 5, 2020 at 4:06 am | #

      Not in this storyline, it would seem. I doubt they’re gone for good.

      • Regalli
        Regalli
        October 5, 2020 at 12:23 pm | #

        Yeah, Jacob hasn’t really been seen since the Harrison visit because that night was the birthday party, and from there it was Evil Dads O’Clock. No space.

  24. clif
    clif
    October 5, 2020 at 3:40 am | #

    Mike’s spirit has possessed Jacob and he and Ethan have eloped.

    • Eldritchy
      Eldritchy
      October 5, 2020 at 8:30 am | #

      Hand-in-hand, skipping through the meadow?

  25. Sporky
    Sporky
    October 5, 2020 at 3:46 am | #

    You can tell she’s grown a lot because at the beginning of last year there’s no way anybody would be so casual toward her and there’s no way she’d put up with that if there were

  26. Varangian
    Varangian
    October 5, 2020 at 3:53 am | #

    You come at the Ruthless, you best not miss (unless you don’t need femurs)

  27. Lars
    Lars
    October 5, 2020 at 4:21 am | #

    Wait. No introduction of Ethen and Jacob? Ethen was kidnapped too, so the discription of ‘don’t end up in high-stakes adventures’ doesn’t count for him. What happened to those two?

    • eskimolos
      eskimolos
      October 5, 2020 at 4:29 am | #

      tbqh, I’m pretty sure he’s dropped out or at least taking an extended holiday because he lost one of his closest childhood friends, and went through a lot of trauma and sudden change that his school friends are entirely unequipped to support him through (danny & amber specifically).

      Still, only time and Willis will tell if my hunch is accurate.

      • dralou
        dralou
        October 5, 2020 at 5:28 am | #

        Also, Ethan has had to get back to the “openly gay” bandwagon, and because of that, his family (well, his mother) probably was awful to live with during the break.

        • BBCC
          BBCC
          October 5, 2020 at 2:28 pm | #

          Last we heard, he didn’t plan to mention that to his parents. That was the point of doing no strings attached hook ups and not getting a serious boyfriend.

    • Spencer
      Spencer
      October 5, 2020 at 6:25 am | #

      The last word on Ethan was that Amber needed to stop hovering around him turning his problems into fuel for her guilt, so he’s probably on a bus for a storyline or two.

    • Sam
      Sam
      October 5, 2020 at 6:33 am | #

      The guys are secondary characters, not main ones. They’ll probably show up at some point after the last three main ones are reintroduced.

    • Jhon
      Jhon
      October 5, 2020 at 11:59 am | #

      They got in the way of a femur harvesting ritual.

  28. Jake'm
    Jake'm
    October 5, 2020 at 4:24 am | #

    Walk is at least more willing to admit to his “not knowing anyone on the boys’ floor” thing, compared to when he was dragging the teaching assistant around. That might be more signs of personal growth!

  29. DarkoNeko
    DarkoNeko
    October 5, 2020 at 4:56 am | #

    Booster seems oddly happy at the prospect

  30. Needfuldoer
    Needfuldoer
    October 5, 2020 at 6:46 am | #

    I wouldn’t object if the character introductions in Book 11 are just Walky giving us (the readers) a brief meet-and-greet tour like this.

  31. Zaxares
    Zaxares
    October 5, 2020 at 7:08 am | #

    In real life, if I was introduced to a person of authority and warned that they were rather “hands on”, I’d actually be rather alarmed. :/ Especially given the recent #MeToo movement and the downfall of people like Harvey Weinstein.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      October 5, 2020 at 10:42 am | #

      And then if you got the outside perspective on Ruth and Billie’s relationship, you’d be even more alarmed. Ruth abused her, they fought a lot and are having sex. Along with depression and alcohol abuse.

      We know there’s more to it than that, but damn does it look bad.

  32. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    October 5, 2020 at 8:02 am | #

    Booster seems positively impressed.

  33. Genie
    Genie
    October 5, 2020 at 9:27 am | #

    I find Booster’s lips to be so jarring. Reminds me of a former coworker who had blonde hair, blue eyes, pale pinkish-white skin, and wore really dark red matte lipstick – the colour combination just didn’t work. It might have, if she’d also done dramatic makeup otherwise, but no, it was just the lips. Same sort of thing with Booster…the colouring just doesn’t work for me.

    • He Who Abides
      He Who Abides
      October 5, 2020 at 5:47 pm | #

      Maybe they moonlight as a stripper? Most of the ladies where I work do that, if only because the lighting washes out less bold colors.

      • Genie
        Genie
        October 6, 2020 at 9:15 am | #

        Oooh, that coworker would’ve been really offended by the suggestion – she was a very white-collar, slightly judgey person, in an office environment. Makes me laugh. No, I think it was just poor colour choices and possibly lack of self-awareness.

  34. hof1991
    hof1991
    October 5, 2020 at 10:21 am | #

    I see this as a callback to
    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/laundry/
    Walky / Joyce taking their queer friend around and being snarky and a bit clueless.

    • David M Willis
      David M Willis
      October 5, 2020 at 12:13 pm | #

      goddamn they’re short

      • C.T Phipps
        C.T Phipps
        October 5, 2020 at 1:13 pm | #

        Could be the fact they’re from the Mushroom kingdom. Have you checked?

  35. JMP
    JMP
    October 5, 2020 at 10:26 am | #

    ..who IS Walky’s RA?

    • Chronos
      Chronos
      October 6, 2020 at 12:46 am | #

      I’ve been wondering that, too.

  36. Arianod
    Arianod
    October 5, 2020 at 12:08 pm | #

    FAAFO, Booster.

  37. Devin
    Devin
    October 5, 2020 at 1:24 pm | #

    Walky got genre-savvy for Christmas.

  38. Spencer
    Spencer
    October 5, 2020 at 1:27 pm | #

    Aw man

    I thought that new preview art was Sayid

  39. thumb
    thumb
    October 5, 2020 at 1:32 pm | #

    Can you imagine those introductions:
    “These are Students A through F. Over there is Boy A In Conversation. That’s Boy B In Conversation. And this is Girl Being Introduced.”
    He made the right choice.

  40. BarerMender
    BarerMender
    October 5, 2020 at 6:00 pm | #

    Doesn’t anyone in this strip tuck in his shirt?

    • Demoted Oblivious
      Demoted Oblivious
      October 5, 2020 at 8:27 pm | #

      Walky used to have a girlfriend that dressed him (his mom commented on it), but she split with him. Most of the other male cast generally handle dressing themselves with varying (danny) degrees of success.

    • Emperor Norton II
      Emperor Norton II
      October 5, 2020 at 9:22 pm | #

      I could imagine Booster doing the French tuck because they like Tan.

      I can also imagine DamnYouWillis trying to draw a French tuck once or twice and then be all “Meh, fuck this shit.”

      On a side note, I don’t French tuck. Tried it once or twice, just won’t look good on me.

    • Brighter Side
      Brighter Side
      October 7, 2020 at 2:29 pm | #

      No. They’re college kids, not middle-aged men.

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