He can’t have much time left right? Like he looked plus 80 and walks with a cane. One bad fall without the life alert and he’s done right? My uncle almost died last year from falling in the hallway. It can’t be that hard.
You know maybe this is unfair of me. Reading the alt text, maybe it was all the Clint in the room that left me with a bad impression of Chloe. Maybe she deserves another chance? Deserves some…..trust?
It is a shame that Chloe was so easily swayed by Clint, but from her POV she doesn’t know that he’s abusive. She did seem genuinely worried for Ruth’s sake and probably felt bad at the idea of firing her, so when her grandfather came to smooth things over, and with the proposed idea of just moving Jennifer elsewhere to get rid of the power dynamic, Chloe’s just thinking “wow, what a simple, convenient, and happy ending!!! My job has been made easier, yeehaw”.
plus it’s been said many times about how abusers can often be incredibly charismatic and convincing. doubly so if you’ve never experienced abuse yourself, the “tells” and give-aways might pass you by. i could easily see myself doing just that. normal social cues are hard enough… if chloe had a good childhood, she wouldn’t be able to catch on to what was happening.
It’s a lot like how Lucy missed Walky’s cues about not letting his mom in on his web comic because from Lucy’s perspective, why WOULDN’T his mom be curious and interested in her son’s passions? But Linda, of course, has certain ideas and expectations for her son that don’t include making a webcomic. Because Lucy seems to be a very sheltered and optimistic young woman, she didn’t realize until it was too late that Linda’s a shitty person.
I remember almost melting down at all the people who couldn’t recognize, for instance, that Ethan’s mom was flagrantly abusive, and unwittingly treating her like a sympathetic person who might really care. People who haven’t been affected by this kind of thing, are really just that blind to the signs. You don’t learn to spot abusers until you spend enough time being abused by them, and then you need to escape that situation, and even then, it still takes you time and distance to finally recognize what all the red flags were.
It’s easy to get mad about people being blind to it, when you’ve experienced it; but, we all were blind to it, once. Blindness to that, is our natural state. It’s a desirable state. We’d all be better, if nobody had to know better; but, we get taught.
Chloe definitely missed a lot of signs about Clint, but it’s also worth remembering that she didn’t make the decision, only passed it on to Ruth. Clint went over her head to protect his investment.
And yeah, under normal circumstances, her trying to help Ruth keep her job would have been a good thing – as opposed to firing someone because of their depression.
One time I had to leave work early because I got really sick (didn’t realize til later but it was my first bout with COVID and it hit HARD. Had a lingering fever of 104 later that night, fever dreams, lost my sense of smell, fatigue, the woiks) and I had a sobbing breakdown about it because I felt so guilty. …I also had a fever and wasn’t thinking clearly but I appreciate that my superiors and coworkers were all like “you need to look after you, fuck the job”.
i wonder how much she usually works unless it’s like an hour before and after class time or so bc i assuem she’d go to her own classes versus spending all day in the front desk unless it’s also weekends only
Massively grateful for both of my last two bosses, who each would cut me off mid-explanation with an “I don’t need an explanation, your PTO is yours, including how you use it, see you on Friday”
Wanted to take a day for, y’know, sanity, ended up getting a COVID booster the day before to justify it. To be fair, at least it meant I got my booster shot taken care of.
Not necessarily. The protest was planned as an encampment. They were going to stay for a long time.
It wasn’t just a march or an afternoon demonstration.
i mean if she dealt with ruth’s bs, i don’t think she’d care too much about asma going to a protest versus scolding her instead of saying “take more time off”
Ahhh, the feeling of perpetual obligation which makes one feel guilty for ever doing anything that’s not directly tied to one’s responsibilities, I am… intimately familiar
Then she would have “read” the newspaper, or at least “saw it in the newspaper”. “Saw the newspapers” means Chloe passively saw multiple newspapers, like on like a stand or discarded at a train station or something.
Maybe the newspaper’s web site used a different headline photo (or changed it after Raidah complained) and that’s what Chloe saw, but it’s just a really weird thing to have in a throwaway line like that.
Your life will improve once you accept the hard fact Daisy is running the most popular news outlet in Bloomington if not the entirety of Indiana. Everyone reads the paper.
Are we really believing Joyce and Dorothy have the pull to get Sal to go bowling with them? A day after breaking her twin brother’s heart and the best friend of her boyfriend? That’s gonna be a hard sell.
Technically, all that was requested of Dorothy was ‘your one friend’, ‘little taller then you, with the the hair’, ‘wears a leather jacket and boots’.
And since Dorothy and Joyce are actually in the process of shopping for a leather jacket right now, if they buy some boots too they could practically palm off ANY of their taller freinds!
my guess is that it’s like a sticker that you never place because you cannot commit to the *perfect* spot to place it. she fully intends to stock those shelves, but she’s waiting for the PERFECT things to put on them… and just hasn’t gotten around to actually doing that XD
My office has 3 large bays of shelving in it, that are built in and can’t be moved. I do not have enough knick-knacks and (work-related) books to fill them all!
I couldn’t find the best place to say this, but…Asma is a bit of a Dorothy foil, which is funny, because Alice is a bit of a Joyce foil. That’s really cute. I hope nobody is mad that I pointed that out.
Puddinghead is Management. She’s absolutely planning on getting Asma arrested, fired, or deported….or arrested, fired, and deported. There’s no way the fact she’s been identified at the protest and it doesn’t come back to bite her bad.
It’s possible that Chloe also feels similarly, and doesn’t want anything bad to happen to Asma. Or perhaps she doesn’t agree, but realizes that people have the right to protest, and disagree with the school without being punished for it.
I know it’s easy to assume everyone’s an asshole, but try giving Chloe the benefit of the doubt for now.
True but I don’t think Willis is going to go there. A big part of the comic is learning authority is just evil. Especially since Puddinghead already sold Ruth to her guardian despite knowing she was suicidal.
I think you’re selling Willis short if you think it that theme is completely one-note with no nuance.
Chloe’s already decently established and it seems like her issue isn’t that she’s an active villain. She’s nice, she wants to help, but she misses that Ruth is in a depressive spiral, and she misses every red flag about Clint, she seems generally unobservant and non-confrontational in ways that keep her from helping the person she’s meant to help.
I don’t think she missed those red flags, I think she consciously chose to ignore them because:
1. She knew Ruth was hospitalized for depression
2. She knew that she was a danger to herself
3. She was being replaced by Ruth’s request
4. She chose to ignore this all when a big donor came by.
I do not look at that sequence and see any comprehension from Chloe that Ruth doesn’t want this, is terrified of her grandfather, and that her not being fired might not be good for her.
What, you didn’t realize that all of the characters in the strip are able to lean through the fourth wall to read the strips that they aren’t in, and thus able to be aware of all the details they never had a chance to encounter personally?
C.T. Phipps, here’s the thing–it’s possible to be suicidally depressed even if you come from a good home, with no immediate explanation for it. So, “This person is suicidal” =/= “This person comes from an abusive home.” In front of Chloe, Clint was charming, affable and seemingly supportive of Ruth. Sure, there’s all sorts of subtext going on in that scene, but we only see it because of what else we know about her and Clint.
And honestly, Ruth’s protestations during that scene? Yeah, they sound like someone in a depressive spiral trying to justify why they should just give up.
I’m aware of the symptoms of that as family suffer depression. You’re giving a lot of credulity to Puddinghead acting in good faith, though, without what I believe to be good reason that she’s doing so. Yes, she could have missed all of the signs and was just trying to help Ruth.
Or she could just be corrupt like the rest of the university staff.
What university staff is corrupt? We literally have no seen any of them. The closest thing was Penny sleeping with students snd she got fired for it. I think you just creating evidence in your head to fit your desired conclusion.
It is heavily implied if not outright stated that Clint pulled strings somehow to keep Ruth in her position – not bribing Chloe, since it wasn’t her decision, but somewhere higher up.
1. The university is invested heavily in military contractors involved in a genocide. Also banning the protest by having the law changed and sending in cops (albeit this happened in RL)
2. Puddinghead kept Ruth in place despite her sleeping with a fellow student and medical unfitness because of Clint’s influence. The abuse of power protection is the worst part.
3. Setting up Jason to be able to defend himself by “you can prove you didn’t sleep with a student by bringing said student to a hearing about it.” Which is a Catch-22.
4. The fact there was a murderous stalker on campus and Amber had to defend herself against self-defense charges against him.
5. It’s hosting of Right Wing Robin Desanto rallies.
Yeah half of these are literally not corruption in any way. They are just kinda shitty things that happened because of the legal system and how investment works.
As others said, Chloe seemed to miss all the signs. Clint did a masterful job of setting her up to ignore them.
But more importantly, Chloe didn’t make the decision. Clint went over her head. She was just the low level manager passing on the news.
My question is what do you mean that Chloe ‘sold Ruth to her guardian’? Because Clint showed up in her office? We’re never told how Clint is informed what happened to Ruth, but it’s likely that Chloe had to contact Ruth’s guardian to inform him about Ruth being hospitalized. It’s a shame that he’s her legal guardian, but them’s the facts and Chloe was legally required to inform him what happened with Ruth. If Ruth talked to Chloe and informed her that her grandfather is abusive and she’s only tolerating him for as long as she has to, perhaps it’d be different but otherwise… Chloe doesn’t know Clint’s a piece of shit. At least judge her on the basis of her being ignorant, saying she ‘sold’ Ruth to Clint makes it sound way more malicious and intentional than what actually happened.
Like, it is actually a pretty bad situation if someone is involuntarily admitted to the psych ward and their family isn’t informed in SOME way. It’s just a shame in situations like Ruth where the family to be informed is filled with abusive dicks.
Clint is not Ruth’s legal guardian. Ruth is 20?, maybe 21. She doesn’t have a legal guardian.
Clint probably is Ruth’s emergency contact – most likely because Clint filled out those papers for her.
There’s no indication anywhere that Ruth isn’t an American citizen? She’s said that Howie was too young when they left Canada to miss it, for goodness sake.
Also we USED to have a good relationship with Canada and it wouldn’t have really caused issues if she was just on a student visa back before Trump.
since you keep bringing this up every single time, like, no, chloe is not going to get asma arrested or deported, jesus christ
chloe at no point was ever meant to be a villain, and i’m not sure what’s convinced you of this so strongly that you gotta write missives about terrible things happening to asma ‘cuzza it
I think the best subversion of expectations here would just be for her to have a nice night out (after the obvious initial hilarity of the mistaken identity). The comic deserves some light that doesn’t feel like it’s the glint from the Sword of Damocles.
I mean people will see it that wherever 9r not it’s true, might as well lean into it. Remenber the drink night where everyone expected everything to go horribly wrong and it was just a nice fun night out.
Asma is so CUTE. I’m trying to prepare myself for that bowling will probably be, at best, disappointing and awkward for her, when it’s easiest to want to see her have a good day.
My guess on how it goes totally wrong is Joyce and Dorothy forget about this or get hung up due to being investigated for being at the protest (considering how on point with meet ups Dorothy has been, I’m betting the latter), leading to Asma being crushed
We know how it’s going wrong. Asma is expecting to meet Alice, but J&D are going to try to bring Sal (if she’ll come along with them). The only question is how much worse they’re going to make it. (And they will – even if you like them, as I do, they’re freshmen in college, with all the worldly experience that implies. They’ll do something to mess things up more.)
They might bring Carla. Sal is actually kind of a weird pick, I feel like they’re probably not on good terms right now? considering Dorothy just cheated on her brother.
Even 8 years ago, Robin has to be way behind the times talking about NEW box set DVD releases, right?? That feels like it’s been dead longer than that.
Not at all! I believe Robin is referencing the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Series, 20th Anniversary Edition, which was released as a DVD boxed set on September 17th, 2017. The comic is dated May 18, 2017, so I’m assuming Willis added the reference after the upcoming release was announced.
Some other milestones: Netflix stopped mailing DVDs in 2023. Redbox went out of business in 2024. DVD boxed sets are still being released in the year of our lord 2025.
To expand a bit, Buffy the Vampire Slayer had three sets of DVD releases. All seven seasons were released on DVD from 2000 to 2004. In 2010 they re-released it as a boxed set. In 2017 they released two boxed sets: The Anniversary Edition and the 20th Anniversary Edition. The difference between the two is that 20th has more features and is more expensive. Robin is saying that Leslie has the original releases from the early 2000s, and that the newer releases have different featurettes.
Physical media is still the best option. Licensing spats between studios and platforms can’t take a disc off your shelf!
(Though I wish there was a full Blu-Ray box set of The Venture Bros, not just DVD. The out-of-print season 6 and 7 sets are wildly overpriced on the used market…)
Asma! Yay! I am eager for her to reach the bowling alley and find the wrong hot biker chick. It would be even funnier if Alice randomly shows up with Billie hanging off her arm.
The urge to be at work is strong in many cultures, especially if you are ex-military. After I left the service, I wound up leaning out of my car to throw up* before going to my civilian job as scheduled. After 2 hours my supervisor looked at my face and said “You are sick. Go home.”
It was stupid – after my head cleared I realized I’d endangered others by delivering them germs and driving while wretched. Never again.
Was there ever an explanation of the bolt cutters strip and her growing look of distress? https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/04-the-only-exception/asma/
Seriously, because at first it just looked like she had a practical view of what may be needed in a protest, but they had so much ‘screen time’ afterward that they seem to have meaning.
I always took that strip, especially the last two panels, to be the events of the day setting in on Asma. Like in the moment, she could remain stone faced and get through it but now that the danger is behind her, she’s thinking “oh god, there was a sniper there. The cops got pretty violent fast. That could have gone terribly for me.”
I think the extra days she took off were either because the protest was meant to last longer before the cops broke it up, or to give herself some wiggle room in case she was arrested for protesting. Some jobs/bosses won’t care why you were arrested, as far as they could be concerned “you were scheduled to work, you didn’t show up, you’re fired.”
Panel 4 Asma is looking at the words that are appearing in the speech bubble below her and apparantly would like to have a word with Willis about their contents.
I’m not subbed to the Patreon anymore for now (i just hate having standing subscriptions, anxiety) but I’ve gotten into a habit of checking anyway and getting an idea for what’s coming from the blurred out panels. It feels better setting expectations early
i love her so much, agonising that she’s not going to get to hang out with her crush but must instead hang out with the two whitest girls she knows and the coolest girl in the world who is also unattainable bc she’s dating a dork
I’m fine with more Asma. Diversity interesting and good. And being new and unknown, of course she is interesting. But I don’t understand the excitement. She is just an ordinary normal flawed person, just like everyone else.
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Asma!
Asma?
¡¿Asma?!
Asma;
Asma
re:alt-text
Everything looks better with an absence of Clint.
oh. HIM 😐 https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/disgrace/
ohhhhh, it’s NOT a Stardew Valley joke, ok, I’m back on track, carry on.
Right – I forgot ‘Sir’ had an actual name.
Not so! https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/wretched/ The appearance of Billifer’s fist is greatly improved by the presence of Clint.
For those who want to compare, see this and the two strips following:
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/solved/
Asma.
Asma;
He can’t have much time left right? Like he looked plus 80 and walks with a cane. One bad fall without the life alert and he’s done right? My uncle almost died last year from falling in the hallway. It can’t be that hard.
Hmmm. Very weird that I replied to this instead of darkoneko. Just pretend that reply was actually just “Asma.”
Don’t trust replies.
Or don’t trust Asma.
idk, the text is suggesting i should trust asma
Don’t trust text. Especially this text.
Yay More Asma!!!! ^-^ <3
Those are some bare shelves. I wouldn’t have noticed if the hover text about how the room looks without Clint hadn’t clued me in
They were bare last time we saw this room as well.
Not sure why Chloe keeps them if she’s not going to put anything on them.
Chloe collects good decisions made by her residents.
Y’know if she left them around for the residents to see maybe they’d make some…
Oh, she does. There just haven’t been any yet.
She’s an advocate of feng shui.
EXTREEEM feng shui.
Chloes are supposed to have books.
It’s an office, not a home. Not everyone is in a rush to decorate. If your work doesn’t necessarily need books, those shelves could remain bare.
He took the books with him?
Dastardly!
lol this rules. Can we please stay on Asma for a while longer
something something wanna go bowling something something
BOWLING!
BOWLING!
BOWLING!
Keep them doggies rollin’
Rawhide!
Don’t trust pudding heads. I actually don’t like this lady. 😤
Chloe kind of sucks yeah
You know maybe this is unfair of me. Reading the alt text, maybe it was all the Clint in the room that left me with a bad impression of Chloe. Maybe she deserves another chance? Deserves some…..trust?
It is a shame that Chloe was so easily swayed by Clint, but from her POV she doesn’t know that he’s abusive. She did seem genuinely worried for Ruth’s sake and probably felt bad at the idea of firing her, so when her grandfather came to smooth things over, and with the proposed idea of just moving Jennifer elsewhere to get rid of the power dynamic, Chloe’s just thinking “wow, what a simple, convenient, and happy ending!!! My job has been made easier, yeehaw”.
plus it’s been said many times about how abusers can often be incredibly charismatic and convincing. doubly so if you’ve never experienced abuse yourself, the “tells” and give-aways might pass you by. i could easily see myself doing just that. normal social cues are hard enough… if chloe had a good childhood, she wouldn’t be able to catch on to what was happening.
It’s a lot like how Lucy missed Walky’s cues about not letting his mom in on his web comic because from Lucy’s perspective, why WOULDN’T his mom be curious and interested in her son’s passions? But Linda, of course, has certain ideas and expectations for her son that don’t include making a webcomic. Because Lucy seems to be a very sheltered and optimistic young woman, she didn’t realize until it was too late that Linda’s a shitty person.
I remember almost melting down at all the people who couldn’t recognize, for instance, that Ethan’s mom was flagrantly abusive, and unwittingly treating her like a sympathetic person who might really care. People who haven’t been affected by this kind of thing, are really just that blind to the signs. You don’t learn to spot abusers until you spend enough time being abused by them, and then you need to escape that situation, and even then, it still takes you time and distance to finally recognize what all the red flags were.
It’s easy to get mad about people being blind to it, when you’ve experienced it; but, we all were blind to it, once. Blindness to that, is our natural state. It’s a desirable state. We’d all be better, if nobody had to know better; but, we get taught.
Chloe definitely missed a lot of signs about Clint, but it’s also worth remembering that she didn’t make the decision, only passed it on to Ruth. Clint went over her head to protect his investment.
And yeah, under normal circumstances, her trying to help Ruth keep her job would have been a good thing – as opposed to firing someone because of their depression.
I don’t hate her. She clearly means well, she seems to be a decent boss, she’s just kind of inattentive and oblivious to red flags.
But maybe I’m biased. Maybe I don’t want that to be damning.
off topic but i love the vladia grav
She does seem like the kind of person I wouldn’t like IRL.
Not because I think she’s malicious, but because I think she’s clueless.
Oh man. The whole need to over-explain and over-justify taking time off is… uncomfortably relatable
One time I had to leave work early because I got really sick (didn’t realize til later but it was my first bout with COVID and it hit HARD. Had a lingering fever of 104 later that night, fever dreams, lost my sense of smell, fatigue, the woiks) and I had a sobbing breakdown about it because I felt so guilty. …I also had a fever and wasn’t thinking clearly but I appreciate that my superiors and coworkers were all like “you need to look after you, fuck the job”.
i wonder how much she usually works unless it’s like an hour before and after class time or so bc i assuem she’d go to her own classes versus spending all day in the front desk unless it’s also weekends only
Well we never see anyone else working that desk (except for the one time we knew asma asked off for the protest)
Massively grateful for both of my last two bosses, who each would cut me off mid-explanation with an “I don’t need an explanation, your PTO is yours, including how you use it, see you on Friday”
Wanted to take a day for, y’know, sanity, ended up getting a COVID booster the day before to justify it. To be fair, at least it meant I got my booster shot taken care of.
I don’t know what the work culture is like in other countries, but here in America we really need to prioritize taking time off and resting more.
HELL YEAH ASMA IS BACK
….. She was expecting to get arrested at that protest, huh.
Not necessarily. The protest was planned as an encampment. They were going to stay for a long time.
It wasn’t just a march or an afternoon demonstration.
BE FRIVOLOUS AND DORKY, ASMA! BE FREE!!!
Oh no, her boss saw Asma in protest.
I’m worried for her
i mean if she dealt with ruth’s bs, i don’t think she’d care too much about asma going to a protest versus scolding her instead of saying “take more time off”
She doesn’t seem like she’s going to kick up a fuss, and it’s probably more putting two and two together than having specifically a photo of Asma
So the pudding hasn’t changed in months?
Chloe just has natural pudding head?
I was wondering about her roots too…
She re-colored it right after the last time we saw her, and her roots have just now grown out to where they were there again.
I just like saying pudding.
well then, live your truth and continue saying it to your heat’s content, comrade 😀
I love how you’re just pudding that out there
Chloe maintains a daily regiment of hair bleaching to keep that perfect pudding colour split
Maybe she just likes having visible roots. I like visible roots. She kinda reminds me of that really bad hair gabbie Hanna had a few years back tho
Aww Asma’s so sweet. Her recent presence has been great. Rooting for her
Ahhh, the feeling of perpetual obligation which makes one feel guilty for ever doing anything that’s not directly tied to one’s responsibilities, I am… intimately familiar
Chloe, what the fuck do you mean “I saw the newspapers”? The only newspaper in school covered Joyrothy instead, we had a whole storyline about it!
Are you implying you read about the student protest in some other newspapers? Why is everyone still reading newspapers in the first place?
She doesn’t have to have seen Asma in a photo. If she knew hat was going and she knows what happened, that’s really all she needs for that response.
Why would she assume Asma would be at the protest? What does Asma have to do with the protest above anyone else she knows?
Right here, in this comic, we see that:
Asma asked for the weekend off.
Asma unnecessarily over explains what she wants the time for when asking for time off.
She was publicly protesting. It’s not like it was a secret, even if she was also unsurprised that it turned hostile. She may well have told her.
Better said than I would have. Asma doesn’t have to be exposed for someone who works closely with her to glean what her plans were.
She might have gone past the headline to read the article later in the paper.
Then she would have “read” the newspaper, or at least “saw it in the newspaper”. “Saw the newspapers” means Chloe passively saw multiple newspapers, like on like a stand or discarded at a train station or something.
Maybe the newspaper’s web site used a different headline photo (or changed it after Raidah complained) and that’s what Chloe saw, but it’s just a really weird thing to have in a throwaway line like that.
Your life will improve once you accept the hard fact Daisy is running the most popular news outlet in Bloomington if not the entirety of Indiana. Everyone reads the paper.
Dumbing of Age takes place in modern-day 1994, after all. Newspapers are Big Important.
All she needs to know is that Asma was at the protest and that shit went down at the protest.
heck yeah bowling!
She’s gonna be so disappointed when Sal shows up instead of Alice….
Are we really believing Joyce and Dorothy have the pull to get Sal to go bowling with them? A day after breaking her twin brother’s heart and the best friend of her boyfriend? That’s gonna be a hard sell.
Would be very funny if they failed to get Sal onboard and pulled in Alice as a last minute substitution
Technically, all that was requested of Dorothy was ‘your one friend’, ‘little taller then you, with the the hair’, ‘wears a leather jacket and boots’.
And since Dorothy and Joyce are actually in the process of shopping for a leather jacket right now, if they buy some boots too they could practically palm off ANY of their taller freinds!
girl you got the time off already, no need to explain how cute it’s gonna be lmaooo
Like why does anyone have four empty shelves in their office? Somebody send her some transformers!
I know, those empty shelves are weird!
my guess is that it’s like a sticker that you never place because you cannot commit to the *perfect* spot to place it. she fully intends to stock those shelves, but she’s waiting for the PERFECT things to put on them… and just hasn’t gotten around to actually doing that XD
My office has 3 large bays of shelving in it, that are built in and can’t be moved. I do not have enough knick-knacks and (work-related) books to fill them all!
Apologizing for doing something frivolous and dorky?
Isn’t that’s Dorothy’s job?
I couldn’t find the best place to say this, but…Asma is a bit of a Dorothy foil, which is funny, because Alice is a bit of a Joyce foil. That’s really cute. I hope nobody is mad that I pointed that out.
Puddinghead is Management. She’s absolutely planning on getting Asma arrested, fired, or deported….or arrested, fired, and deported. There’s no way the fact she’s been identified at the protest and it doesn’t come back to bite her bad.
It’s possible that Chloe also feels similarly, and doesn’t want anything bad to happen to Asma. Or perhaps she doesn’t agree, but realizes that people have the right to protest, and disagree with the school without being punished for it.
I know it’s easy to assume everyone’s an asshole, but try giving Chloe the benefit of the doubt for now.
True but I don’t think Willis is going to go there. A big part of the comic is learning authority is just evil. Especially since Puddinghead already sold Ruth to her guardian despite knowing she was suicidal.
I think you’re selling Willis short if you think it that theme is completely one-note with no nuance.
Chloe’s already decently established and it seems like her issue isn’t that she’s an active villain. She’s nice, she wants to help, but she misses that Ruth is in a depressive spiral, and she misses every red flag about Clint, she seems generally unobservant and non-confrontational in ways that keep her from helping the person she’s meant to help.
I don’t think she missed those red flags, I think she consciously chose to ignore them because:
1. She knew Ruth was hospitalized for depression
2. She knew that she was a danger to herself
3. She was being replaced by Ruth’s request
4. She chose to ignore this all when a big donor came by.
I do not look at that sequence and see any comprehension from Chloe that Ruth doesn’t want this, is terrified of her grandfather, and that her not being fired might not be good for her.
What, you didn’t realize that all of the characters in the strip are able to lean through the fourth wall to read the strips that they aren’t in, and thus able to be aware of all the details they never had a chance to encounter personally?
C.T. Phipps, here’s the thing–it’s possible to be suicidally depressed even if you come from a good home, with no immediate explanation for it. So, “This person is suicidal” =/= “This person comes from an abusive home.” In front of Chloe, Clint was charming, affable and seemingly supportive of Ruth. Sure, there’s all sorts of subtext going on in that scene, but we only see it because of what else we know about her and Clint.
And honestly, Ruth’s protestations during that scene? Yeah, they sound like someone in a depressive spiral trying to justify why they should just give up.
I’m aware of the symptoms of that as family suffer depression. You’re giving a lot of credulity to Puddinghead acting in good faith, though, without what I believe to be good reason that she’s doing so. Yes, she could have missed all of the signs and was just trying to help Ruth.
Or she could just be corrupt like the rest of the university staff.
What university staff is corrupt? We literally have no seen any of them. The closest thing was Penny sleeping with students snd she got fired for it. I think you just creating evidence in your head to fit your desired conclusion.
It is heavily implied if not outright stated that Clint pulled strings somehow to keep Ruth in her position – not bribing Chloe, since it wasn’t her decision, but somewhere higher up.
Let’s see:
1. The university is invested heavily in military contractors involved in a genocide. Also banning the protest by having the law changed and sending in cops (albeit this happened in RL)
2. Puddinghead kept Ruth in place despite her sleeping with a fellow student and medical unfitness because of Clint’s influence. The abuse of power protection is the worst part.
3. Setting up Jason to be able to defend himself by “you can prove you didn’t sleep with a student by bringing said student to a hearing about it.” Which is a Catch-22.
4. The fact there was a murderous stalker on campus and Amber had to defend herself against self-defense charges against him.
5. It’s hosting of Right Wing Robin Desanto rallies.
Yeah half of these are literally not corruption in any way. They are just kinda shitty things that happened because of the legal system and how investment works.
Like i said you just creating evidence to fit in your pre established conclusion.
As others said, Chloe seemed to miss all the signs. Clint did a masterful job of setting her up to ignore them.
But more importantly, Chloe didn’t make the decision. Clint went over her head. She was just the low level manager passing on the news.
Wow, I have my criticism of Willis’ writing, but even I don’t think they’ve ever written anything that trite.
My question is what do you mean that Chloe ‘sold Ruth to her guardian’? Because Clint showed up in her office? We’re never told how Clint is informed what happened to Ruth, but it’s likely that Chloe had to contact Ruth’s guardian to inform him about Ruth being hospitalized. It’s a shame that he’s her legal guardian, but them’s the facts and Chloe was legally required to inform him what happened with Ruth. If Ruth talked to Chloe and informed her that her grandfather is abusive and she’s only tolerating him for as long as she has to, perhaps it’d be different but otherwise… Chloe doesn’t know Clint’s a piece of shit. At least judge her on the basis of her being ignorant, saying she ‘sold’ Ruth to Clint makes it sound way more malicious and intentional than what actually happened.
Like, it is actually a pretty bad situation if someone is involuntarily admitted to the psych ward and their family isn’t informed in SOME way. It’s just a shame in situations like Ruth where the family to be informed is filled with abusive dicks.
Clint is not Ruth’s legal guardian. Ruth is 20?, maybe 21. She doesn’t have a legal guardian.
Clint probably is Ruth’s emergency contact – most likely because Clint filled out those papers for her.
She’s probably listed on his health insurance, too (though I’m not sure what complications arise there from them being Canadian).
There’s no indication anywhere that Ruth isn’t an American citizen? She’s said that Howie was too young when they left Canada to miss it, for goodness sake.
Also we USED to have a good relationship with Canada and it wouldn’t have really caused issues if she was just on a student visa back before Trump.
Why would she do that? Asma is clearly one of her best employees, and she doesn’t seem to have bought in to the whole christofascist death cult.
Also, why wouldn’t she just do it now, if she was going to do that?
since you keep bringing this up every single time, like, no, chloe is not going to get asma arrested or deported, jesus christ
chloe at no point was ever meant to be a villain, and i’m not sure what’s convinced you of this so strongly that you gotta write missives about terrible things happening to asma ‘cuzza it
I think the best subversion of expectations here would just be for her to have a nice night out (after the obvious initial hilarity of the mistaken identity). The comic deserves some light that doesn’t feel like it’s the glint from the Sword of Damocles.
I mean people will see it that wherever 9r not it’s true, might as well lean into it. Remenber the drink night where everyone expected everything to go horribly wrong and it was just a nice fun night out.
Asma is so CUTE. I’m trying to prepare myself for that bowling will probably be, at best, disappointing and awkward for her, when it’s easiest to want to see her have a good day.
My guess on how it goes totally wrong is Joyce and Dorothy forget about this or get hung up due to being investigated for being at the protest (considering how on point with meet ups Dorothy has been, I’m betting the latter), leading to Asma being crushed
Then again, I may just be paranoid
We know how it’s going wrong. Asma is expecting to meet Alice, but J&D are going to try to bring Sal (if she’ll come along with them). The only question is how much worse they’re going to make it. (And they will – even if you like them, as I do, they’re freshmen in college, with all the worldly experience that implies. They’ll do something to mess things up more.)
They might bring Carla. Sal is actually kind of a weird pick, I feel like they’re probably not on good terms right now? considering Dorothy just cheated on her brother.
I started clicking through old comics thanks to darkoneko and I came across https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/bullhonkey/
Even 8 years ago, Robin has to be way behind the times talking about NEW box set DVD releases, right?? That feels like it’s been dead longer than that.
Not at all! I believe Robin is referencing the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Series, 20th Anniversary Edition, which was released as a DVD boxed set on September 17th, 2017. The comic is dated May 18, 2017, so I’m assuming Willis added the reference after the upcoming release was announced.
Some other milestones: Netflix stopped mailing DVDs in 2023. Redbox went out of business in 2024. DVD boxed sets are still being released in the year of our lord 2025.
To expand a bit, Buffy the Vampire Slayer had three sets of DVD releases. All seven seasons were released on DVD from 2000 to 2004. In 2010 they re-released it as a boxed set. In 2017 they released two boxed sets: The Anniversary Edition and the 20th Anniversary Edition. The difference between the two is that 20th has more features and is more expensive. Robin is saying that Leslie has the original releases from the early 2000s, and that the newer releases have different featurettes.
Physical media is still the best option. Licensing spats between studios and platforms can’t take a disc off your shelf!
(Though I wish there was a full Blu-Ray box set of The Venture Bros, not just DVD. The out-of-print season 6 and 7 sets are wildly overpriced on the used market…)
…oh, it’s like Hot Fuzz! she doesn’t know how to switch off
I am fed up with a bunch of these characters, but I genuinely like Asma. More Asma, please.
We haven’t had enough time with Asma to get fed up with her yet! Don’t worry, she’ll be just like all the rest eventually!
oh no… i was not prepared for Asma to be this cute
Asma! Yay! I am eager for her to reach the bowling alley and find the wrong hot biker chick. It would be even funnier if Alice randomly shows up with Billie hanging off her arm.
Ew, Chloe.
Can you blame her for eating your gravitar? IU’s becoming more and more of a food desert with the sliding time scale each year!
Okay, I’ve not been exposed to Asma in a real way for very long but this is a very strong first impression.
The urge to be at work is strong in many cultures, especially if you are ex-military. After I left the service, I wound up leaning out of my car to throw up* before going to my civilian job as scheduled. After 2 hours my supervisor looked at my face and said “You are sick. Go home.”
It was stupid – after my head cleared I realized I’d endangered others by delivering them germs and driving while wretched. Never again.
*onto grass, mind you. Not a barbarian.
How are Asma and Dorothy not best friends? They clearly have similar work ethics. They’re both gay. I’m not sure I can tell them apart.
Hint: Dorothy wears glasses.
Dorothy has not made a particularly good first impression to Asma. She has a lot of caucasity to overcome.
Asma is so cute…
I’m guessing Asma isn’t used to asking for time off. And as an American, this feels very relatable. We don’t prioritize resting nearly enough.
Oh no, she is a workaholic XD
holy shit it’s chloe.
Was there ever an explanation of the bolt cutters strip and her growing look of distress?
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/04-the-only-exception/asma/
Seriously, because at first it just looked like she had a practical view of what may be needed in a protest, but they had so much ‘screen time’ afterward that they seem to have meaning.
I always took that strip, especially the last two panels, to be the events of the day setting in on Asma. Like in the moment, she could remain stone faced and get through it but now that the danger is behind her, she’s thinking “oh god, there was a sniper there. The cops got pretty violent fast. That could have gone terribly for me.”
Yes, it could be no more than that. I was reminded of that because Asma seemed to have the weekend more planned out than for what actually happened.
I think the extra days she took off were either because the protest was meant to last longer before the cops broke it up, or to give herself some wiggle room in case she was arrested for protesting. Some jobs/bosses won’t care why you were arrested, as far as they could be concerned “you were scheduled to work, you didn’t show up, you’re fired.”
That’s the adrenaline wearing off and being hit with the weight of everything that just happened.
Thank god Asma wants to do the Joyce/Dorothy thing by being dorky and frivolous for once.
Wouldn’t Chloe’s roots have grown out by now?
I mean sandy blonde hair is also a thing that exists. – Said guy with sandy blonde hair.
Front desk lady is now “disciplined” lady.
Absolutely a sideways promotion.
I can relate to Asma; I’m not one to take time off from work all that often.
Panel 4 Asma is looking at the words that are appearing in the speech bubble below her and apparantly would like to have a word with Willis about their contents.
Can’t blame her – I would also be embarrassed to admit to my manager that I need time off for bowling 😛
Asma’s like “Look, I spent hours crafting this request for time off and I’m going to give it, dammit”
Calling it: Puddinghead is the next arc villain.
The Dean too.
Best way to make the protest have consequences and be a part of the story.
I’m not subbed to the Patreon anymore for now (i just hate having standing subscriptions, anxiety) but I’ve gotten into a habit of checking anyway and getting an idea for what’s coming from the blurred out panels. It feels better setting expectations early
learn to take “yes” for an answer, everyone!
i love her so much, agonising that she’s not going to get to hang out with her crush but must instead hang out with the two whitest girls she knows and the coolest girl in the world who is also unattainable bc she’s dating a dork
PUDDING PUDDING PUDDING
How about pudding while bowling?
I’m fine with more Asma. Diversity interesting and good. And being new and unknown, of course she is interesting. But I don’t understand the excitement. She is just an ordinary normal flawed person, just like everyone else.
I love Asma