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The Dumbing of Age Book 10 Kickstarter continues! We’re at $52K, still poking along towards $55K, when we unlock the next character magnet: CONQUEST!
13 days to go!
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I’ll have what she’s having!
I think we all will
> strip title “Falls”?
More like “feels”, am I right? xD
Or is it implying that Dorothy is “falling” for Walky again?
*Just remembered that Americans refer to autumn as “fall”, d’oh* xD
Quick, someone give her a transformer to throw at his head.
Now I’m imagining Dorothy climbing up a utility pole, ripping off a transformer, and dropping it on Walky’s head.
Maybe in another universe…
You know how there are some songs that become the defining soundtrack for a certain mood? Like, you’ve never seen an awesome car without “Oh Yeah” by Yello playing in the theater of your brain.
Doesn’t matter that the song came out many years before she was born, Dorothy is hearing “Careless Whisper” right now.
Dammit, just when I’d finally gotten it out of my head!
I like it when somebody else does my job for me. 🙂
Of course, there’s one song that’s just ever so slightly sexier.
😂and here I was expecting some barry white or Ronnie Isley
Damn it I can’t believe I fell for that.
tbf it is a very sexy song.
actually it is tho!
Presumably it’s only when they do your job /well/ for you.
And well played Rassilon, expected, but well played.
That or kiss from a rose from me (blame overly sarcastic for that)
Yesss, another OSP fan!
We are many. Still really fun finding ourselves out in the wild though!
OSP always chooses the best music to sample.
I was just about to say, OSP was what made me aware of the existence of Careless Whisper to begin with
I’ve been looking for the name of that soundbite for goddamn forever! Also, where was it in OSP? Where did OSP mention Kiss from a Rose? I don’t remember either of them and I watch OSP quite frequently.
Not sure about Kiss from a Rose off the top of my head (edit: looked it up, apparently it’s from Batman Forever, its chorus I recognize as the other song Red uses bites from in these contexts), but Red uses the Careless Whisper intro in a lot of “romantic/sexy vibes”-type scenes – the earliest video I can recall with it is her one on the Iliad, where it gets used for Patroclus and Achilles.
Kiss from a Rose gets used a lot as the music when romance is mentioned.
OSP uses Kiss From A Rose, mostly an instrumental cover of it actually, like a ton in the Aphrodite video, I remember that.
(And Willis just linked Careless Whisper on his twitter. Toldja, that song is UNIVERSAL for situations like this.)
I was getting more of a Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On vibe. But yeah….Careless Whisper works, too.
[Kenny G intensifies]
Duh-roh. Dorothy’s plans just took another wrench in the works.
That’s some good saxophone.
Am I the only who reads Careless WHisper as a relationship that ends because of cheating? It’s one of the least romantic songs that ever passed my ears.
well, there’s Careless Whisper the actual song, and there’s Careless Whisper the memed saxophone sample
Like most songs, it sounds better if you ignore what the lyrics mean.
OH NO THE EX IS HOT.
Real question here. She already thought he was hot right? So has his sudden new hotness really changed anything for Dorothy? She was willing to throw pity sex at him fresh off their breakup and never once stopped being thirsty for the Walkman.
This is an EXTREME thirst.
One might even say… a POWER thirst.
OK, fine. “EVEN HOTTER.”
Imagine your favorite food right? But like prepared by a gourmet chef who found out how to make what you already tasted good WAY better in a way you didn’t even think was possible.
That might be why her brain’s melting now, Walky was already hot to her now he’s practically begun gone stellar. The next strip’s just going to be her bursting into flames and being reduced to ash; followed by Becky screaming about the rapture and joyce having an existential crisis.
She just noticed Walky got even more hot.
Meh. My ex (well, one of them) is still physically attractive, but it really
isn’t hardis quite easy to remember why they became an ex. (10+ years of negativity and isolation will do that to you)Of course Dorothy has RAMPAGING TEEN HORMONES to deal with, so good luck with that.
Also, Dorothy doesn’t have negative memories attached to Walky to deal with. Just that she was overscheduled.
i see nothing but ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) in walky’s face
Me thinks some sex with the ex is in Walky’s future! Good for him! It’s what he deserves.
I’d prefer it be his other “ex” to be honest.
Though I’m definitely not opposed to boooooth100% same
Both is good. Add Lucy to the mix and we’ve got a
logistical nightmarereal good weekend.I think Amber/Lucy/Dorothy is my official Walky harem. No he doesn’t deserve it. Yes I want to see him getting manhandled by thicc girls in glasses.
Does anyone with a harem really ever deserve it? Sometimes life is less about what we deserve and more about what we’re gonna do with all these thicc glasses-wearing ladies.
I didn’t know I needed to see this particular harem of thicc girls in glasses until now.
Book 11: “Getting Manhandled by Thicc Girls in Glasses”
How is Willis gonna work that into the dialogue as a stand-alone sentence?
Joe: Hey, I have unfulfilled fantasies.
Dan: Like what?
Joe: Getting Manhandled by a Harem of Thicc Girls in Glasses.
Dan: Why the capitalization?
Joe: Thought it would make a good book title.
this is already canon it just happened offscreen
are you seriously calling Dorothy and Lucy thicc though?!
also while i’m out here killing buzzes and probably making a fool of myself, joking about harems is ok??? i don’t know anything about anime, so i’m sure this is a conversation that’s been had a billion times, but i’ve only ever seen the word used as a leering orientalist cliche
At this point harem anime has overwritten my previous stereotypes of “harem” to the point where I don’t even associate them. And that is basically the genre name of the trope so…yeah.
i mean, to reiterate i really am illiterate about anime and i’m white, so i don’t have skin in the game i guess! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
1 thicc and two sticc girls in glasses then. The important part is that whatever body-type they are it’s spelled with two Cs and not a K.
that is pretty important, honestly
Chop chop, Lucy.
Wait.. now we’re getting into snuff and maybe vore?
Its the santa anna wiiiiiiinds
Blows gently across my miiiind
oh no i can see it now
you might say “don’t do it wind”
leave these poor people alooone
but i’m a prankster (pranksteeer)
tee hee hee heeeee
i just wanna see what will happen
Willis is the Santa Ana Winds
we all knew this was happening
Yes, we did. Does it reduce our popcorn consumption? No, it does not.
*popcorn consumption intensifies*
OKAY OKAY I SEE IT NOW
“‘Santa Ana Winds’ from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend starts playing”
Oh no, now Dorothy needs ear-glasses
I do not recommend pouring shots into your ears
Or listening to Tumbler.
If ear-glasses are hearing aids, does that make eyeglasses seeing aids?
If a motorcycle is a “steel horse”, does that make a horse a flesh motorcycle?
I’m going to go with yes to all of the above. The flesh motorcycle is probably just never used due to its canny ability to sound like an innuendo, though.
I’ve seen the term “wire donkey” used to refer to bicycles being employed as beasts of burden — the ‘wire’ apparently being in reference to the thin spokes in the wheels.
Glasses are already ear-glasses, a lot of people can’t hear without their glasses on (visual cues they can now see with their glasses on likely make up for their poor hearing, the McGurk Effect shows what you hear can be altered by what you see).
I don’t say this often, well at all but listen to Jennifer, Lucy
Only reason I’m not recommending using a hose on Dorothy is because of the freezing temperatures they’re in right now.
DOROTHY NO.
DOROTHY YES.
DOROTHY MAYBE.
DOROTHY SCHRODINGER
SCHRODINGER’S DOROTHY
DOROTHY’S CAT
CAT DOROTHY
SURRENDER DOROTHY
DOROTHY SMASH!
DOROTHY GO!!!
DOROTHIES ASSEMBLE!
DOROTHY, BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED!!!
DOROTHY YES.
DOROTHY NO
If you listen to the wind carefully, you’ll hear Careless Whisper
This is literally the first time Walkie has looked anything more than normal
Omg how did he get hot?
Willis drew him differently.
Nah, it can’t be that simple.
I think it’s the jacket keeping him warm.
That’s how he stays hot, the question was how did he get like that in the first place
I’m not 100% sure about it, but I think the campus has centralized heating.
It was probably the centralized heating that finally dried out the wet head look he got from the underwater Martian Embassy.
He’s not hot, he’s just drawn that way.
My guess? Booster convinced him to try a touch of makeup, nothing too obtrusive.
It’d explain how sudden the change was.
But he’s still Walky.
Yes, but he’s hot now. My stovetop is still a stove top whether it burns me when I touch it or not.
this is another bump in the road to our Dorothy-Joyce dreams but we’ve faced tougher obstacles before!
Like her being self-identified as a Kinsey 0 with no reason to think that’s an inaccurate assessment?
And that she’s going to Yale! Dorothy is straight and there’s a time limit! I do wish y’all many happy fanfics, but I don’t see Joyrothy really going further in canon
I just realized that since Dorothy’s now been accepted into Yale or whatever there’s actually nothing stopping them from getting back together. Her deciding to focus on work toward that admittance was the only reason they even broke up in the first place. Just food for thought.
Go for it Dorothy.
Crush Lucy’s heart.
And maybe Joyce’s.
And Amber’s. Though she has ghost Mike to fall back on.
I mean she is planning on going to Yale, so…..
Doesn’t mean they can’t bang in the meantime. Their relationship was originally meant to be pretty casual anyway before they both caught feelings.
And no way would that happen again.
AH HAHAHAHAHA
lol I THINK I’M BOUT TA (go home and masturbate probably)
Just remember to follow the DoA banner’s instructions and socially-isolate responsibly
LMAO RIP
In which Dorothy is H O R N Y
At first read I was focusing on the gibberish in Walky’s speech bubble instead of the precise way the faces were drawn and all I could think was “is the Joyce-admits-she-needs-glasses storyline going to get a Dorothy-admits-she-needs-hearing-aids sequel?”
Nah. it’s a Dorothy-admits-she-needs-DICK storyline.
Walky’s become a man, and therefore his voice sounds like a muted trombone a la Peanuts.
I want to reply here, but I can’t think what to say. Nothing can improve on this joke. It is excellent
I GET IT NOW!
Ah hell that doesn’t scan properly.
I remember the day I became an adult, and was given my trombone and my plunger…
I believe someone called this,.
Who could it be?
Well it wasn’t me
Technically, severL people did. The first was way back at https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/04-hompk/yappin/#comment-1536474
I mean, I thought I had, but apparently I didn’t. And rather unfairly, there are no extra credits for thinking it.
i mean, you responded to the comment that (sort of) called it. that should count for something. 1 chocolate internet or something
…I mean, I think it kind of went without saying.
Dorothy wants the D…..avid.
She wants the D – avidly.
This really is taking a weird horny direction lately www
That’s the only kinda direction I care about!
heh 😀
well, it is college. Though I think Lucy could do a lot better than Walky on an emotionally stable and supportive boyfriend standpoint, but the comic isn’t called ‘Smarting of Age’. All she may want right now is a meaningful overnight relationship and if so that’s totally OK.
9 Chickread
LaneHallDon’t be mean.
“And that’s how Dorothy became President…of Bangin'”
“Walky started getting really good grades, and by grades i mean sexy times”
Are we done with “Walky is hot” thing yet? DX
This is only the beginning.
He hasn’t even BEGUN to hot.
*Walky is instantly vaporised by an enormous yellow woman*
I don’t get this reference and I don’t know if want to
I suspect it’s Steven Universe
Oh. Oh yeah that would make sense
Either that or Strit og Stumme, but I sincerely doubt even one other regular has seen the latter.
Deadass read this as “ Begun to thot” and now I’m sad.
same; except my headcannon is that Yoto actually did write “thot” and it’s my second, more careful reading that is erroneous.
Walky can begin to do two things.
Not until the day is over I presume.
So maybe in a month or two is what you’re saying.
waiting for also the reactions of both Amber and Danny…. eyes emoji
I don’t ship him with Danny (do with Amber!) but am curious to how they’d both react
Amber: oooh- wait no I’m still crossed with him…but still, oooh~
is it the winds or the lust wolves howling? 😉
The cragged shame pits are never far
Any flat surface can be a cragged shame pit if you’re sufficiently shameless.
very good comment
Dorothy no.
*spray bottles*
Dorothy yes!
*surreptitiously drains spray bottle prior to use*
Dorothy, no.
*refills spray bottle with ice water*
You’re either perfect or you’re not Dorothy!
As someone with long hair, I’d like to point out that are two kinds of wind: the one which blows your hair in just the right way to look cool and/ or sexy; or the jerk one that blows your hair all over your face and makes you look like a doofus.
Southern Illinois is absolutely devoid of that first type of wind, for the record.
Spittin FACTS
In Iowa, we just call the latter kind wind. We too, are sexy windless.
Well, it seems somebody is about to have a little case of the “Relapses”…
I’m not sure if Dorothy is attracted to Walky’s new look or if she’s about to start laughing!
uh oh
Lady boner alert!
the euphoria is in her pants.
wait so Walky is just attractive now. I thought something more sinister was afoot that had people looking at him funny cuz they knew and he didn’t….
We’re getting some “Handsome Squidward” vibes here.
Sploosh!
Hompk!
If this were animated, we’d hear Walky’s dialogue get muddled and unintelligible and Careless Whisper fades into dominance, as the camera dolly-zooms in on both Walky and Dorothy. The shot alternates back and forth between them as the background loses focus and develops a soft white vignette.
Then we crash back to normal when somebody else tries to get Dorothy’s attention but she stays zoned out for a beat.
Dumbing of Age Book 11:
(that did not work precisely, but it was meant to suggest Walky’s dialogue as the book title)
It could also work as suggesting Dorothy’s thirsty face in the last panel.
Worst possible book title: Dumbing of Age Book 11: There’ll Be More Falls Probably
Only surpassed by: Dumbing of Age Book 11: I Dunno.
and “Dumbing of Age Book 11: I–” is just confusing
I don’t think you have understood why it is the worst possible book title.
Remember one of the major events that happened near the end of book 10.
… i mean, it would be a pretty grim title. not necessarily a bad one, mind
HOMPK!
hompk! hompk! hompkjhgfsd
Insert bonk, go to horny jail meme
“YES! HA HA HA… YES!”
—Sickos*
(*: I am a sicko)
SICKOS UNITE!
…oh that’s called a fandom? okay
So, I’m thinking that this is mating season in Indiana?
David Attenborough voiceover:
It’s a chilly morning in the Northeast of the United States. Most animals have either migrated away or gone to sleep for the winter. One curious population of great apes, however, does not appear to care about the blistering temperatures! They have developed some of the most sophisticated technologies of the animal kingdom to cope with the cold. Uniquely among mammals, they have also evolved to mate all year round. This phenomenon is not yet well understood, but we think it may be due to their extremely complex social structures. This incredible footage captures the mating rituals of a group of their young.
Kudos.
oh god, the Axe effect XD
Since the alt text mentioned winds, I’m getting a very Santa Ana winds Rebecca finding Nathaniel hot kind of vibe here… Who also seen crazy ex-girlfriend?
Who also = who else has*
lots of people in this comment section apparently, ctrl-F “winds” =)
=) =) =)
Yes, YES, YEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!! Dorothy go wild!!! Follow your instinct! It’s time for her to do crazy things! Will Lucky stay to watch or she will fight? GO MAD AND FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!!!
*insert ‘Star Trek’ Kirk vs. Spock fight music here*
You better stake your claim FAST, Lucy, because a new challenger has appeared! 😉
I was just thinking that Dorothy showing interest again might get Lucy to make a move. Assuming she can figure out how.
Tomorrow will be Lucy seeing Dorothy’s face, panicking for the next 2-3 panels. Then, still panicking, she pulls Walky in for a kiss.
Then later on, Walky is talking to someone and says “Also, Lucy kissed me out of nowhere. I wonder what that was about.”
I’m guessing there might be some staking… my first instinct is to say Dorothy is more likely to stake Lucy, but then again Lucy is the quiet, polite sort and those are always way more dangerous than they seem at first.
Dorothy, you had that and gave up on it, it’s Lucy’s turn now, subject to Walky’s agreeing with the idea.
you seem to forget the adage.
all’s fair in love and college.
Lucy, don’t say that! I believe in you!
…oh well, as Lucy, you see, I’m sure I still wouldn’t agree with Opus’s sentiment.
…I might notice Dorothy’s interest and suddenly find the courage to make my move though?
Dorothy broke up with Walky and got into Yale by the start of the next semester so imagine what she can achieve with a roundtrip.
Walky is more attractive sometimes when you can’t hear the words he saying, isn’t he?
And is this the first time Willis has dropped the lip bite with two lines on it? (What trope is that anyway?)
Did we miss the part where Walky got bitten by a radioactive male model?
No, you missed the part where Amber figured out how to hack reality and decided to change more than Walky’s grades.
It really wasn’t that hard after she figured out the contractor took shortcuts.
Speaking of Amber, I wonder if she’ll react differently to Walky now? Time will tell.
She found out that Willis just uses the same password for everything; it was child’s play from there.
not shortcuts, instructions.
Some puzzles are built to open.
That’s why she’s been acting so distant lately. She hasn’t optimized him yet. Looking at him just reminds her there’s still some work left to be done. No wonder his lips have been getting more kissable.
Oh hey Asher
Anyone else wondering if the next strip will mention what Walky was talking about?
I think that the point is that he’s pretty and no-one should pay any attention to the obvious nonsense dribbling from his mouth. In essence, Dorothy now knows how Lucy sees him.
I bet he is using mikes cologne with human pheremones or something.
or a preplanned post hypnotic suggestion By MIke as a prank
A friend of mine who grew up in Iran and never could afford any form of corrective eyewear got glasses for the first time after we met in college, and I remember the first words she said upon going outside in her new glasses were, “You can see the leaves on the trees! Everyone else could always see the individual leaves?!”
She’d never before seen leaves on trees except as a general mass of color.
As an Iranian, jumping in to say that eye care is not that hard to access in Iran and most of my extended family wears glasses or contacts (they also are not middle class since the sanctions crippled the economy–but hasn’t affected the rich guys who run the country btw). Just because the folks on the internet don’t have an Iranian friend who can relieve them of any misconceptions.
My mother would have never told me about all the poor starving children in China who would be grateful for the chance to eat my broccoli if it wasn’t so.
She just never liked my suggestion to send it to them.
People actually say that? I guess I wouldn’t hear it where I live (the West Coast), since there are a lot of Chinese Americans here.
I remember in high school said “Everyone talks to us about the starving kids in Africa who can’t eat but like…There’s starving kids in America who can’t eat either!” Turns out you don’t have to cross the ocean to find starving children.
Sometimes, you don’t even have to cross the street.
Lucy had best get past her shyness right quick, because the ex has just noticed the hotness. Although, “Walky gets a Harem”, is becoming more, and more, plausible, everyday.
Yes, from a dozen yards away, Walky has an undeniable visual appeal that I can see Dorothy going for a second time.
Get within three feet of him though, and the goofiness and taco f*rts will ground anyone back in reality.
I don’t know. Dorothy’s aware of all that and seemed quite happy with him the first time around. They broke up for her own time management reasons.
Seems like a lot of people here have picked up on Joyce’s “Walky isn’t good enough for her” idea, when Dorothy’s never shown the slightest hint of feeling that way.
Her parents told her, specifically, that they got together for funsies, and they are still married and it is now two decades-plus later.
I don’t know if there’s any drama in the Keener household, but as an adolescent or undergrad that’s the kind of thing which does register, perhaps positively.
Oh shit Lucy lock it down now, LOCK IT DOWN
And Dorothy just got a lady boner.
could somebody elucidate what OSP is in the above comments? Google says Old School Players
probably Overly Sarcastic Productions, they’re a youtube channel doing summarizations of history, mythology, and classical literature mostly
Oh goodie. I needed another time sink.
gotohornyjail.jpeg
Bonk.
I’m not sure I understand this whole ‘Attractive Walkie’ plot.
I mean even if he was suddenly overnight pretty because his hair (evidently) achieved perfect tosselling, he’s still a goober.
Remember the strip title: ‘Dumbing of Age’. Willis makes it his mission to remind us how young adult ‘thinking’ and hormones makes idiots of even the smartest people.
Bingo. Whenever I get frustrated with a character (that isn’t an evil parent), I just remind myself of this.
That’s why it’s funny! Presumably he still kind of smells like old laundry and chicken nuggies.
Yyeeeeaahh I’m really not into this. Walky grows his hair out a bit so now we’ve got like four strips in a row about women (and Asher) fawning over him and it’s just kinda indulgent. I really do like Walky’s new look but he’s still Walky, he’s going to be talking about his bowel movements eventually. I was never into it as a ship but the only romance Walky’s had so far that I liked was his brief one with Amber, where he said something of actual depth to her that her existing support group failed to ever act on: Amber’s allowed to feel miserable about herself sometimes without needing to be cheered out of it.
The only really interesting development out of this is the potential for Asher being queer himself and possibly using Billie as a beard, but who even knows if that was the intent or if it was just more Walky being a super special boy.
??? Why would Asher being into guys automatically make Billie a beard? Bi/pan/poly/etc. guys exist.
Well one I said possibly, two it’s an easy thing to theorize about considering we’re talking about someone who left his criminal empire and they’re not exactly the kind of people who are super open and accepting and burying one part of your sexuality to appear hetero to an outside audience is still kinda like having a beard even if you’re legitimately attracted to your current partner. Billie’s with Asher and we know she likes dudes too, and while she is denying that she’s ever been into women she’s not dating Asher for the explicit purpose of proving her non-existent sexuality, but *were* she I would go “yeah that’s a beard.”
We barely know anything about Asher to begin with.
You don’t think it does anything for Dorothy’s development? She’s always the cool, level-headed one making rational decisions for her career, unless Walky’s involved and then hormones mess her up. And then she decides to ignore her feelings for the sake of “career”. Because she’s not as rational as she either thinks or wants other people to think.
If Walky is hot now… Dorothy shouldn’t start pining, she should be taking victory laps saying, “Yeah, I hit that.”
What she wants to do is hit it again.
Imagine being in a cake shop and saying “hell yeah, I had cake before”
It’s not Walky, it’s a short version of Asher with a rounder face. Like a puppy, kinda kid like.
Nah, Dorothy, just nah.
Ok, now Willis is just drawing his face sexier. Stop it. I don’t want it. Maybe I do….
Honestly I want to see Joe falling for Walky next.
Becky’s really hung up on perceptions this season.
Did Walky get bitten by a radioactive Asher or something?
He wishes.
Okay, well now I see what everyone else is seeing but it’s still not a good idea Dorothy you still have a college acceptance letter to tell everyone about…
I choose to believe Walky will tell Dorothy she’s not cool enough to date him now.
I’m surprised the lust wolves weren’t tagged
I predict that Dorothy is going to have some serious conflict added to her already hiding the fact that she was accepting into Yale with this “sexy Walky” development. I also predict Walky is going to have a hair accident that forced him to get a haircut, those freeing the lust wolves from his trance. Probably bubble gum.
Ugh, Dotty thinks he’s hot? Where are the giant muscles? Where’s the tooth-grinding scowl? This doesn’t check out for me at all.
That’s just cuz she doesn’t know about his secret identity. He’s clark kent right now.
If Dorothy ties herself to him again knowing she’s leaving soon, there will be bad feelings for sure.
She could do SO, SOOOOOO much better with pretty much any other male on campus.
Seriously, he’s a fucking loser, a lazy man-child who doesn’t want to use his fucking brain for anything beyond Monkeylord or whatever the fuck it’s called.
What do these girls see in him? Do they like useless men, or do they just have such low self-esteem that they think he’s all they deserve?
In their defense, it’s college. I know I made a lot of dumb dating decisions in college and my 20s that I’d rather overlook. Sometimes being hot is all some people need. But it doesn’t last forever. Walky will need to grow up eventually. But he won’t for another…5-6 years, based on similar people I’ve known.
Are you jealous of a comic character? Is that why you have his gravitar?
Damn yo I’ve never seen someone pull “you’re just jealous” over a cartoon character.
Confidence.
Walky knows who he is and isn’t afraid of hiding it, he’s a geeky loser who’s only in college cause his parents told him too
I really don’t get it either, hes physically inferior, intellectually lazy and a coward (with questionable bathing habits)
Is it just me, or is Walky looking like Asher in the second-to-last panel?
8 strips later there’s a new slipshine where Dorothy is smoking Walky’s gloriously erect, lens-flared cock that is now somehow 50% larger.
Dorothy: “Well, so long as I’m staying…”