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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 8d
Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social ⋅ 17hDavid M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 8d
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 8d
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social ⋅ 21d
Gwen Snyder is uncivil @gwensnyder.bsky.social ⋅ 3d
Ash Parrish @adashtra.bsky.social ⋅ 3d
Katie @katiestp.bsky.social ⋅ 3d
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(he/him)
YA THINK? XD
”Starting to suspect” ˆ.ˆ
The astute and inescapably perceptive eye of the finest journalist on the campus
*Billifer closely watches them for another 10 minutes to ascertain how serious this might be.
Don’t do it Jen. Believe it or not you dodged a bullet. A untrustworthy bullet.
Jennifer clearly didn’t take Raidah ordering her to fix her relationship seriously.
I still honestly don’t think she cares that much. Even this comic doesn’t seem to convey much of an emotional reaction at the idea getting back together or even seeing Asher makeout with someone else. I just don’t think Jen was that into him. She’d rather fuck him than talk to him.
I’m mostly of the opinion that Jennifer isn’t actually into men at all except as sources of easy toxic drama and sex. I think she’s comphetting a little close to the sun to avoid the truth. The difference in her relationships we’ve seen with women vs the relationship we’ve seen with a man is ~suspicious~ to me.
I’m honestly of the same opinion. Everything with Asher feels so performative. Even this strip is more of a performance of ‘I suppose I oughta be getting back together with him’ rather than actually feeling it. Meanwhile as soon as she lays eyes on Alice again she wants to get close to her again. Before Ruth, she certainly tried hitting on men, but it was usually either to get something out of them (drinks) or because she wanted easy sex.
Seems a viable theory, that. Adds some flavor to her “I’m an alpaca pitch problem solver” identity.
The only reason to think otherwise is alternate Jennifers really are into Danny. This one does seem to be lesbian romantic but it’s only a sample size of three.
imo Danny is an egg. it makes too much sense and it would explain the Jennifer into Danny thing
What on earth is the Danny as an egg fan theory based on? Is it something more than projection and wishful thinking? I’ve not seen any support in the actual comic for this.
Danny does get called a good egg a lot, but if there’s more to it than that I don’t see it
I do not see Danny being an egg. Not every spotty twink is an egg! Sometimes they’re just spotty twinks!
I can see it. I can also not see it. Danny could very easily be an egg in the same way that almost anyone could be an egg. (See also: Carla’s joke about Walky transitioning, which I thought was very funny and harmless, but half the comments section seemed to think was a grave offense against God.)
Thank you for saying that, there’s no way I’m the only one thinking that thank you for confirming I’m not the only one.
I’m so used to thinking of Danny as a “good egg”, it took me a minute to figure out what people were talking about.
So many people commenting about Jennifer’s orientation, when it’s as plain as the nose on (somebody’s) face: she’s a homoromantic bisexual, she likes men, but she LOVES women
Personally for me, I see Jennifer as still being bisexual, but perhaps with a lean towards women? Maybe I just say this as a biromantic with a lean towards women myself, but that’s how I view it. At least as far as we see in DOA, Jennifer sees men as an easy lay, and is clearly sexually attracted to them, but has a lot more romantic stuff going on for her with women. Like I said, doesn’t negate her being bi! Just… perhaps she has a lean towards women.
For me, I just haven’t seen anything I’d rate as genuine attraction to, or interest in, men. I’m not saying I’m definitely right, and I’m just as guilty of seeing this through the lens of my own experience as you are, so until it’s given any kind of definite answer I’m happy with my headcannon and I appreciate you sharing yours! It’s also very good.
Billy / Jennifer is sexually into men, but a lot of her world view seems to be based on stereotypes and quick lumping of people into categories. I think she may see guys as rather one dimensional caricatures, ultimately rather simple and uninteresting.
Women, especially hot women, are actual people and hence much more complex and interesting.
I mean jennifer seemed to have an active interest in sex with Danny and Asher. Just no actual interest in them as people.
Gonna throw in my own speculation that she might be demiromantic (bisexual). Thinking of how there were some strong feelings before her and Ruth got romantic, and I don’t know about Alice, but they were best friends. I think she could be into guys, but she’ll start dating them without that sense of romance because that’s what’s standard to her, and then it may or may not develop.
Bisexual, but homoromantic? Is that a thing? It’s long been kind of a suspicion of mine. Before Asher all her talk about interest in men seemed to be focused on the sex, while she built more intimate relationships with women.
But more likely it’s closer to what we see on the surface. She was attracted to Asher for his bad boy image and as they got closer and she saw beneath it, she lost interest.
Homoromantic bisexual is totally a thing, and it’s what I would go to if it weren’t for her relationship with Danny in another ‘verse– which I haven’t read, but since orientations are consistent across the strips, would still apply. Though as the author, I think Willis reserves the right to change the “consistent across the strips” rule if they so choose.
You might be onto something there. I wanted to make the argument we just haven’t seen her with the right guy, but I do think Asher was a good boyfriend. He did invest and care about her enough to even try and present himself the way she wanted. She just had no investment back. Maybe you could argue some of that is just from coming off the drama expectations of the Ruth relationship but maybe she just can’t really get attached to dudes.
Or she’s just not into good relationships. She craves the mess and the drama.
Ding ding ding! We have a winner!
Some people just aren’t happy unless they’re miserable.
I mean we’ve got a sample-size of like three relationships total, and Asher was pretty clearly a rebound
Raidah just needs and excuse to get around trying to get Asher back in her scheme but fears being blown off, thus causing the reality of her actual esteem to set in. Put this on Jennifer, and apparently everything balances. That’ll also teach that know-it-all Jennifer about being right over how they could just wait and Sarah’ll sabotage herself!
I’m honestly starting to wonder if the other shoe is ever actually going to drop with Asher. Everyone harps about him being untrustworthy, but he’s yet to do anything particularly villainous. The kidnapping nonsense, sure, but his arm was twisted to do that and he cleaned up his mess afterwards. He’s otherwise been just a hapless bi guy.
I hope I’m wrong about him, though. It would be lovely to have some actual multidimensional antagonists in the game again. I remember when I thought Mary could be that, but she’s just gotten flanderized into oblivion. Alas.
He may have hired Paul to become the Incelerator.
Specifically to test the Amber is Amazigirl theory.
A lot of what’s going on with Asher is unknown. He could be pretty menacing if he got Paul to draw AG out so he could finish “cleaning up his mess”. If he directed Mike’s death to “clean up his mess”. Even if he indirectly got Mike killed by cops cleaning up their mess because Asher had them clean up his mess. “Cleaning up” is the euphemism you used for murder. And if “his mess” is him stealing from the mob, then murdering someone, even another criminal, to cover up his reckless theft, is villainous.
On the other hand, if “his mess” was Blaine blackmailing him over being bi, and he’s trying to get ahold of AG to warn her, that’s less villainous. It would still be his murdering Blaine that put other people in danger though.
baby steps!
Wow she is depressed, she’s not even excited enough to go stare at them to fuel bisexual dreams.
That would imply that bisexuality is real (obv it is, but she’s pretending otherwise, last I checked)
Shit, did we lose our invisibility? I haven’t paid for clothing in years.
We weren’t sure how to tell you. Felt kinda awkward.
I think she’s forgotten she used to love writing smut about all the guys she knows. The Raidah “normalization” program is very effective.
Wasn’t that Amber?
Oh no, I was thinking of Amber. Time for more sleep.
I thought her smut was all very specifically about Kit Fisto, although who he was paired with might not have been stated (possibly her OC gray Jedi she cosplayed as for Halloween?)
No, Jennifer’s smut was all about her revealing various people to be Amazigirl and then they have secret identity-sex
Clearly this means now that Billifer must seduce the truth out of Sal.
Wait, Amazi-Girl is Kit Fisto? That wasn’t on the poll!
An oversight, I’m sure.
Nah, he’s just playing hard to get, Jennifer!
Why does she always have to be so… Jennifer?
That’s So Jennifer will be back after these messages.
At least she’s not Billie.
So, progress!
Jennifer still seems pretty Billie, gotta say
I’m trying to work out if Billieing it up and Jenning it up would refer to two distinct behaviours or just be different ways of saying the same thing.
Billieing is the alcoholic version, Jenning requires substituting in delusion and denial to get to a similar end result
Yeah, that checks out
I’m still not sure I buy that Jennifer is the superior mode. Prior to Halloween, Billie had shown a capacity for change. There was still a lot of dysfunction, of course, but change is a slow process. And she cared about the people around her enough to tap into her deep knowledge of horrible things to help Joyce, among other instances.
Jennifer, OTOH, has largely refused any evidence at all that her current conduct is in some way harmful or toxic, even to herself.
She is inescapably her. (No matter how hard she tries to escape it.)
No matter where you go, there you are.
Billie, you didn’t realize you had an ASSIGNMENT from Radaih. You failed her, MISERABLY!
Seduce Asher back!
But given Billie absolutely gave zero shits about Asher dumping her for Ethan, I’m of the mind he meant nothing to her for the entirety of their relationship. Her treatment of Asher wasn’t just to create some fun drama.
She stopped feeling interested in him after he successfully quit smoking because of how much it changed his personality. It’s not either of their faults they broke up, these things just happen sometimes.
So on one hand, ugh, sloppy kissy PDAs.
On the other hand, Ethan/Asher sounds hot.
If the people involved in the sloppy kissy PDA are hot enough it’s basically a public service.
HUGE IF TRUE
it’s true, they’re both pretty huge right now
Alright, new plan, get back together with Ruth and try to use that relationship to convince Alice that you are normal and fine.
Another reason that Jennifer never cared about Asher is she never intended to even talk to him again after all of this.
At least ask Ruth if she really meant it.
I mean, I don’t think getting back with Ruth would be the stumbling block for this plan
She’s just got great intuition.
The greatest intuition!
The greatliest intuition! So great. People ask me with tears in their eyes “Jennifer how do you have such great intuition?” I don’t know, it’s just a gift.
Methinks you’re disservicing Billifer with that comparison! :O
The best Jennifer comic and it’s not even close.
this reality check will be painful
Jennifer’s reality check bounced
Next thing you know she is going to start suspecting that Sal is not Amazi-girl.
It probably would need to be as on the nose as seeing her ex kiss his new boyfriend for at least 4 panels of time
So she’d need to see Sal making out with Amazi-Girl?
less necessary because she only needs to be convinced that they’re different people, although it probably wouldn’t hurt
Danny is Amazi-Girl confirmed
Omigods why did I never see it?!? :O
Thats some of the best detective work Jennifer’s ever done.
Sad but true
No Jennifer, the Asher ship has sailed focus on taking care of yourself.
She should make Asher jealous by kissing Walky. Jealous of whom you might ask.
1. ew 2. there is no way to make Asher jealous other than somehow stealing Ethan which is 99% impossible
She could dress up as Batman? That might work.
She should walk up and call them both cockfuckers, just to see what happens.
First reaction I’d have to that is that there is a reason people say “Cocksucker” instead.
Right, and that’s why “cockfucker” is funnier. It disarms the initial offense with mild confusion. Did she mean to say it that way? Is she making a specific accusation? It’s ambiguous.
I had to go back to the archive to check if Billie was even aware that she was no longer in a relationship with Asher, because last time we checked in with her, she seemed to think that she had pushed him away (correct) but that he was gonna fix his attitude and come back to her any second (incorrect)
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-14/03-trystin-in-the-wind/material/
How did you manage to find a comic from before today?
Maybe they have access to like an inverse Patreon where you get review strips instead of preview strips? (See yesterday’s comic today!)
https://www.dumbingofage.com/slipaway/
The “Jennifer doesn’t know she’s broken up with Asher” theory continues to baffle me.
The next strip is actually more informative.
She does not seem to be too broken up about being broken up.
I’m assuming I’m the first person in history to do that wordplay.
Some of us think Jennifer knows she’s broken up with Asher but Raidah told us to change our minds and force Jennifer to get him back.
She still can’t see that Raidah’s just using her… Or at least she’s not willing to admit it.
You mean the strip where she literally says she hasn’t let Asher “slip away”, he’ll be right there whenever she wants him?
Yeah, Raidah told her.
Okay, so she does know now kinda it seems.
JENNIFER BILLINGSWORTH, GAY LOVE SLEUTH
(With ‘gay’ modifying ‘love’, not ‘sleuth’)
gay-love sleuth, then
I know a lot of people, often for understandable reasons, were critical of her for pushing Asher away, but
A. She really does not seem torn up about this, in part since she’s maybe enjoying the show a bit.
B. I just think you’re allowed to have a relationship peter out, especially one that was likely initially a rebound, anyway. They aren’t each other’s soulmate or anything. That’s allowed.
Tgat is allowed yes, but she still acted like a complete asshole to him for no reason other the her own insecurities and flawed views on relationships.
Exactly. I was saying she should dump Asher before it was cool, and when she did, I was just “but I kind of meant without being a jerk about it”.
I still wonder how much Asher was intentionally trying to gas up Walky, like I wonder if we’re going to revisit that, though it’s possible Raidah’s given up on trying to pull him in. I also don’t really know if Jennifer was put off on the love-bombing of her closest friend, or if she was more just annoyed he was being showered with praise.
But yeah, she obviously could have been way nicer to him about it, but I mean, safe to say he got over it real quick, so it’s harder for me to hold a grudge, I guess, when he’s tongue-deep in Ethan and excelling.
Her one true love is drama.
Well; there’s always Ruth
She, uh. . . she didn’t seemed opposed to getting back together lol
I think the most Drama Hurricane of all Billie’s relationships is the exact opposite of what Jennifer wants right now if her goal is “convince Alice I am normal and fine”
Well, we’ve established a baseline for Jennifer’s cluelessness.
….maybe. Let’s have Amazi-girl unmask into Amber in front of her and see if that sinks in.
“Dammit, Amber, did Sal give you permission to cosplay as her?”
“(Psst, Sal. If you want help settling this intellectual property dispute, I know somebody who’s gonna be a lawyer someday and I can hook you up.)”
May be you should, again, drive the extra mile (across the state border, if necessary) for a friend? Hmm. Two problems with that plan. 1) She first needs to figure out, who the friend could be. 2) Don’t know if she lost her license due to DUI? For how long would will your driver’s license need to “dry out” in Indiana? Anyone?
You know, Jennifer, you have other relationships to manage outside of the romantic train wrecks.
Took her a bit
… Jennifer’s growing as a person. She’s much more perceptive than she used to be.
That bar is not very hard to clear.
Yet by clearing it she’s still exceeding expectations.
“And that Becky kid? I’m starting to think she’s not entirely straight…”
Maybe. It’s pretty subtle. But Jennifer has great intuition.
Billie’s a bit slow on the uptake of things recently.
… recently?
Yeah, until recently she was a bit stopped on the uptake.
Bravo.
I think that is a distinct possibility, Jennifer.
There are, in fact, no takebacks here, Jennifer.
Man, that depression is REALLY hittin’ her no- ohgoddamnit I just noticed she’s wearing that High School Jacket again.
She put it on after seeing Alice.
Apropos of nothing, I need to report that the little icon I click on to get here is labelled
dumbingo
fage
And the last horse crosses the line
Haha, perfect.
I love you Jennifer You CANNOT be this bad about situational awareness if you want to stay as a reporter
Jennifer’s employers define themselves as an entertainment company.
And somewhere the rarely seen trips over a broom handle and down a flight of stairs.
Html href screw-up.
That was supposed to be :
“And somewhere the rarely seen Penny trips over a broom handle and down a flight of stairs.”
and here’s her tag https://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/penny/
Oh, it seemed forever stopped today
All the lonely hearts in Clark Wing
Caught a plane and flew away
And all the best women avoid you
All the handsome men are gay(ing it up)
You feel deprived
Finally. An epiphany.
Thank you, Alice.
:surprised pikachu.png:
With those keen observational skills, she should consider journalism.
Jennifer Billingsworth, Investigative Reporter
What I’m starting to suspect:
Billie is Back
Now alcohol-free.
Billie’s back, back again
Billie’s back, hide your friends
I’ve created a monster
‘Cause nobody wants to see Jennifer no more, they want Billie, I’m chopped liver
Well, if you want Billie, this is what I’ll give ya
A little bit of weed and munching a snickers
Some yuri that’ll jump-start my heart quicker
Than a shock when I get shocked at the hospital
By the doctor when I’m not cooperating
When I’m rockin’ the table while he’s operating (Hey)
You waited this long, now stop debating
‘Cause I’m back, I’m on the rag and ovulating
I know that you got a job, Ms. Lessick
But your husband’s heart problem’s complicating
So Ms. Daisy won’t let me be
Or let me be me, so let me see
They tried to shut me down on TV
But it feels so empty without me
So come on and dip, bum on your lips
Fuck that, come on with cheesenips and come with ritz
And get ready, ’cause this shit’s about to get heavy
I just settled all my lawsuits (Fuck you, Linda)
man I could have replaced bum with rum, woulda worked better
I very much enjoyed and appreciate this post, but for the record, ovulating happens when you’re not on the rag. It happens at the exact opposite end of the cycle, in fact. (Though that doesn’t mean you can’t get pregnant on your period) But carry on, I’m just passionate about accurate reproductive information
Idk those are the Eminem lyrics, I feel like that entire part of the verse doesn’t make a lot of sense even in the original. Thank you for sharing accurate information as context. After all, if it’s inaccurate it’s technically a more accurate representation of how inattentive and in her own head Jennifer can be.
Billifer isn’t too sure, so she continues watching Ashan/Ether kissing for another 10 minutes.
… Ya know, “Ether” has some bad connotations here. Or maybe good connotations. Whatever gets you going. I’m not here to kinkshame.
I feel bad for Asher here as Jennifer displays NONE of her drama for Ruth or Alice here for him. Clearly he was just a booty call and status symbol for her.
I’m starting to suspect that Jennifer is not the most observant person.
If Jennifer had been at the convenience store when adorable pint sized Sal tried to rob it, she would have blamed Dina before meeting her.
The toxic characters are unsurprisingly a lot less fun, even if they put the “Dumb” in “Dumbing of Age.”
Things Jennifer needs to do.
1. Kidnap Alice until she loves her again
2. Kill Asher
3. Convince Ethan to join her wacky hijinks
Billie please return to Ruth she needs you
(I need this) (they’re such a delight together)
Nah, Ruth can do better.
I have the weird idea that Asher may not just be bad but genuinely evil. We know he ratted out Sal for fun and had Blaine killed but I wouldn’t be surprised if he grabbed Billie’s flask and roofied it (for shits and giggles not SA) among other horrifying evils.
At prom? When would he have had the opportunity to do that and why?
Oh, hear me out, a high schooler got drunk on prom and the alcohol led to a car crash. Occam’s Razor, bud.
I’m starting to think some of her neurons were permanently replaced with ethanol
I’m kinda getting an ‘Archie comics’ vibe from the art here.
Anyone else?