Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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BUFFER WATCH Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:

June 14, 2026

Sustainable

by David M Willis on May 10, 2023 at 12:01 am
  • 03 – Joementum
└ Tags: dorothy, ruth

Discussion (107) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    May 10, 2023 at 12:02 am | #

    Dotty: down in one

    …

    srsly, naps are fantastic, take endless naps

    • Kyoulkoa
      Kyoulkoa
      May 10, 2023 at 12:05 am | #

      All the naps

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      May 10, 2023 at 12:07 am | #

      As someone with severe narcolepsy, I can confirm that naps are the best. I love them so much I sleep most of the day. 😛

      I don’t get anything done, and it makes me worthless as a person, but at least I have naps on my side.

      • Kaiyalai
        Kaiyalai
        May 11, 2023 at 9:08 am | #

        Absolutely does not make you worthless as a person, as evinced by the value you bring to this very comment section.

    • TulipKitten
      TulipKitten
      May 10, 2023 at 12:07 am | #

      “Endless naps”

      Isn’t that… a coma?

    • Alex Boston
      Alex Boston
      May 10, 2023 at 12:09 am | #

      5 out of 5 cats agree; naps are where it’s at.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      May 10, 2023 at 2:14 am | #

      Naps are fantastic, until you sit down to have one after work and next thing you know your alarm clock’s going off because it’s time to get up and go to work again.

      • Clif
        Clif
        May 10, 2023 at 2:31 am | #

        Done that.

        But not in a very long time.

        • Psychie
          Psychie
          May 10, 2023 at 6:05 pm | #

          I had a spec on my screen that lined up perfectly with the “n” in “not” on your comment that made it look like “riot” instead and while more confusing, it made the sentence a lot more fun.

      • Psychie
        Psychie
        May 10, 2023 at 6:07 pm | #

        I actually don’t like naps, they are always too short to be actually restful in my experience, I either wake up several hours later and it wrecks my sleep schedule or I set an alarm and when I wake up I feel even more exhausted than I did before I took my nap because my body isn’t ready to be awake yet.

        • MsMollieMac
          MsMollieMac
          May 10, 2023 at 8:50 pm | #

          hard agree. I’d rather spend an hour half-laying on the couch playing on my 3DS and feel recharged afterward than 3 hours unconscious and feel the same or worse.

          /hj naps are praxis, fight the captialist mode of production with sleep and downtime

    • Sombrero
      Sombrero
      May 10, 2023 at 3:46 am | #

      Siesta!!

  2. NGPZ
    NGPZ
    May 10, 2023 at 12:03 am | #

    Sweet dreams, Dorothy. 😴

    *plays “Acceptance” by Ridiculon on Ruth’s Phone*

    • True Survivor
      True Survivor
      May 10, 2023 at 12:09 am | #

      That was a very creepy song given the title. Is that from the “Binding of Isaac?”

      • NGPZ
        NGPZ
        May 10, 2023 at 12:12 am | #

        Why yes it is! I thought it would be fitting given it sounds like the world’s most cold-comforting lullaby.

        • True Survivor
          True Survivor
          May 10, 2023 at 7:26 pm | #

          That’s smart thinking. Or should I say Keen?

          • NGPZ
            NGPZ
            May 10, 2023 at 7:36 pm | #

            If that is a pun or reference, I do not know. But thanks! 🙂

  3. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    May 10, 2023 at 12:03 am | #

    Gonna assume that we’re seeing her first swig in panel 1, and her tolerance for alcohol is about on par with Walky’s.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      May 10, 2023 at 12:06 am | #

      She seems to have better tolerance than Walky, if I recall the last time she got drunk. Not exactly a high bar to clear though

      • cbwroses
        cbwroses
        May 10, 2023 at 12:11 am | #

        When did she get drunk before?
        I’m drawing a blank.

        • Kyrik Michalowski
          Kyrik Michalowski
          May 10, 2023 at 12:14 am | #

          The party where Joyce was planning to watch Frozen with everyone, because it was a banned movie in their religious upbringing. Amber also got mad at Danny for drinking, and Ethan tried to intervene.

        • drs
          drs
          May 10, 2023 at 12:15 am | #

          Joyce’s party, the one where Becky and Dina met and joined up. Billie was free with her booze.

          • HueSatLight
            HueSatLight
            May 10, 2023 at 12:39 am | #

            If Jennifer only had one typically sized flask, then Walky, Dorothy, Ethan, Danny, and Jennifer each had about a shot each (I expect Jennifer pre-partied).
            I expect that day, and the time she drank with Jennifer (forshadowwing) she’d at least eaten beforehand.
            I don’t think she’s eaten all day.

        • Doopyboop
          Doopyboop
          May 10, 2023 at 12:15 am | #

          Two times. First at Joyce’s party https://www.dumbingofage.com/comics/2015-06-19-confidentially.png (the next strip after this one also has Dorothy mentioning trying wine when she was in Paris with her parents)

          Then with Billie https://www.dumbingofage.com/comics/2017-01-07-special.png

          • cbwroses
            cbwroses
            May 10, 2023 at 12:19 am | #

            Cool, thanks.
            I only remembered Walky drinking.
            And I’m still drawing a blank on the second one despite seeing it.

          • DailyBrad
            DailyBrad
            May 10, 2023 at 12:25 am | #

            I had remembered the Joyce party but not this, heh.

            I do kind of wonder if, of all people, it’s Billie/Jennifer who Dorothy ends up commiserating with next, despite their last encounter. Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      May 10, 2023 at 12:09 am | #

      I’m guessing that was her second or third of those little bottles, so not quite as bad as Walky. However, she is still a lightweight, which is actually a good thing in my opinion. It is far cheaper to be a lightweight if you are planning to get drunk.

      • cbwroses
        cbwroses
        May 10, 2023 at 12:17 am | #

        Going by Ruth’s “There. Have your little victimless rebellion,” it seems like the first bottle.
        Otherwise, it’s a little weird to have Ruth sit there in silence and suddenly say that after two or three bottles.
        The “There” part implies Dorothy’s goal was achieved, and said goal should either be to drink or to be drunk.
        If the state of being drunk is represented by the bubbles, then that means Dorothy hasn’t reached it when Ruth starts talking.
        But the goal of having a drink has been reached.
        Of course, it could be that Ruth simply calculated the number of bottles it would take for Dorothy to be drunk, just like she calculated she would immediately fall out.

        • Kyrik Michalowski
          Kyrik Michalowski
          May 10, 2023 at 12:24 am | #

          Ruth did seem awfully sure about how things were going to go. Guess that is the power of the RA brain and instincts.

          • Needfuldoer
            Needfuldoer
            May 10, 2023 at 2:20 am | #

            Ruth’s a recovering alcoholic. She’d definitely have an estimate of how much hard stuff someone Dorothy’s size who doesn’t drink regularly can tolerate at once.

  4. Pocky
    Pocky
    May 10, 2023 at 12:05 am | #

    Hopefully she’s a Lightweight in more ways than one lol

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      May 10, 2023 at 12:26 am | #

      Luckily, Dorothy’s probably not very heavy, she’s a jogger and seems like one of the slimmer castmembers.

  5. Kyrik Michalowski
    Kyrik Michalowski
    May 10, 2023 at 12:05 am | #

    Ruth is very sweet, even if she tries to be a femur breaker most of the time.

  6. Joe Moose
    Joe Moose
    May 10, 2023 at 12:05 am | #

    Well then…

    • Clif
      Clif
      May 10, 2023 at 2:36 am | #

      Yeah, end of storyline seems a little abrupt this time.

  7. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    May 10, 2023 at 12:06 am | #

    *plays “Airborne: Three Moods” from the Airport 1975 soundtrack on the hacked Muzak*

    • Roborat
      Roborat
      May 10, 2023 at 2:52 pm | #

      You confused me with this one. I thought that this didn’t sound like the kind of music an Australian heavy metal band would play.

  8. True Survivor
    True Survivor
    May 10, 2023 at 12:07 am | #

    I like that the drunk characters in this comic get the 1940s cartoons style bubbles around their heads.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      May 10, 2023 at 12:08 am | #

      The boozles are great

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      May 10, 2023 at 12:13 am | #

      It is clearly the best way to show being drunk. After all, comics don’t have the benefit of sound, and movement to demonstrate the “drunk voice,” and “drunken gait.”

    • Spacey
      Spacey
      May 10, 2023 at 6:46 am | #

      Jeph also does it in Questionable Content.

  9. Jamie
    Jamie
    May 10, 2023 at 12:07 am | #

    That’s an experience I could have used in college. =/

    • Clif
      Clif
      May 10, 2023 at 2:37 am | #

      Falling asleep drunk in your RA’s room?

  10. DarkoNeko
    DarkoNeko
    May 10, 2023 at 12:08 am | #

    Cutting and transporting in parts is always an option

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      May 10, 2023 at 12:10 am | #

      I think someone would notice if she did that. Clearly humans need to be cyborgs so we can be disassembled, carried to a destination, and then reassembled. I see no flaws in this plan whatsoever.

      • morleuca
        morleuca
        May 10, 2023 at 5:13 am | #

        Hot swappable body parts is a heady fantasy indeed.

    • Sombrero
      Sombrero
      May 10, 2023 at 3:48 am | #

      Difficult to reassemble if you keep the femurs.

  11. jeffepp
    jeffepp
    May 10, 2023 at 12:09 am | #

    Dotty is clearly a half-ass human.

  12. RassilonTDavros
    RassilonTDavros
    May 10, 2023 at 12:11 am | #

    The End of Drunk Dorothy?????

  13. Hazel
    Hazel
    May 10, 2023 at 12:12 am | #

    Poor Dorothy. She still thinks she crashed and burned, even though she barely stumbled and singed. I wonder where these absurd expectations came from.

  14. Suet
    Suet
    May 10, 2023 at 12:12 am | #

    Hey now, Dotty isn’t wholly ass. It just depends on what she’ll do after the next few simulated days.

    Sweet dreams, Toronto Maple Leafs. Your Joementum is coming to an end also. hums Emperor’s New Clothes by Panic at the Disco on the way out

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      May 10, 2023 at 12:18 am | #

      I think she is referring to Dorothy’s eight, not her characteristics. Though I could be wrong, or you could be making a joke. I’m not sure.

      • Kyrik Michalowski
        Kyrik Michalowski
        May 10, 2023 at 12:33 am | #

        Weight* not eight.

      • Suet
        Suet
        May 10, 2023 at 12:36 am | #

        I could be prone to reading some things they say like Mitch Hedberg– which is weird, cause I still don’t have his vocal impression down flat.

        At least she’s much easier to be carried

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      May 10, 2023 at 1:22 am | #

      Biggest team in Canada for our national sport and it’s an achievement when they make the playoffs. Fucking embarrassing

      • Roborat
        Roborat
        May 10, 2023 at 2:55 pm | #

        Biggest team? People living outside Toronto might disagree with that assessment. I do find their tendency to crash and burn in the first round to be amusing.

  15. BBCC
    BBCC
    May 10, 2023 at 12:20 am | #

    I’m hoping she feels better soon and this is as bad as her spiral gets.

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      May 10, 2023 at 12:26 am | #

      I don’t think one night of drunkenness is enough for her to feel better, but fingers crossed that it is done after this.

  16. HueSatLight
    HueSatLight
    May 10, 2023 at 12:24 am | #

    During the fall semester, when Dorothy was talking about her heavy course load, I wondered exactly how many classes she was taking. I probably missed some, but I found sixish shown or implied, and I would not be surprised if Willis wasn’t keeping track 100% of the time and periodically named a new class she was in and a thorough reading turned up a dozen.

    Anyways, she’s right in panel two. Crashing+burning isn’t her only option, though. I mean a little bit would be ok, she should drop a class or two, because I’m guessing she’s enrolled in the maximum number of credit hours again. And stop being a self-appointed mentor, especially when she’s not been asked and especially especially when she’s been asked not to.
    If it takes making some new friends, to practice being the new her without expectations, she can have two sets of friends. Even though one of them shares a half-bath with Walky.

  17. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    May 10, 2023 at 12:38 am | #

    I do hope she figures things out, but at least voicing some of her problems is a good step.

    I still figure Walky is unlikely to hold things against her for the conversation, but that she’s likely going to avoid him for a bit out of embarrassment, so I wonder who she’ll hang around. Joyce and Joe, perhaps, though she might feel like she’s cramping their style, or it might reinforce to her how lonely she is.

  18. Devin
    Devin
    May 10, 2023 at 12:40 am | #

    Compromise Ruth, take her femurs first.

    • Clif
      Clif
      May 10, 2023 at 2:41 am | #

      Have an Internet. We’ve got plenty.

  19. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    May 10, 2023 at 12:46 am | #

    The 2nd pannel hits hard.
    Dorothy’s feeling like she’s giving up. She knows there’s no more way to be the same Dorothy.

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      May 10, 2023 at 12:50 am | #

      Dorothy is a caterpillar.
      College is her cocoon.
      She may soon undergo,
      a beautiful metamorphosis.

      • Rotunda
        Rotunda
        May 10, 2023 at 2:01 am | #

        Unless, of course, she’s a silkworm, in which case she’ll be killed by boiling before she can digest the cocoon, which will be patiently spooled onto sticks to be made into silk bowties for Jason.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        May 10, 2023 at 2:11 am | #

        Burma-Shave

        • Clif
          Clif
          May 10, 2023 at 2:45 am | #

          I miss those signs.

      • HueSatLight
        HueSatLight
        May 10, 2023 at 8:33 am | #

        one sec, searching: what happens inside a cocoon

        • pope suburban
          pope suburban
          May 10, 2023 at 5:37 pm | #

          Evidently, they turn into goo, which then re-forms into a butterfly. Which still remembers stuff from being a caterpillar. So…sentient goo. Goo with recollection. And then butterfly.

  20. JA
    JA
    May 10, 2023 at 1:01 am | #

    Whole ass-human.

  21. Steelbright
    Steelbright
    May 10, 2023 at 1:45 am | #

    Dark Dorothy and Wholesome Ruth. Makes for a kind of sweet moment.

  22. AGV
    AGV
    May 10, 2023 at 2:25 am | #

    Thankfully, Dorothy doesn’t have a body that can keep up with her self destructive behavior

    • Clif
      Clif
      May 10, 2023 at 2:48 am | #

      Everything takes practice.

      Jennifer didn’t get to be Billie in a day.

      • NGPZ
        NGPZ
        May 10, 2023 at 2:53 am | #

        Perfect avatar for that comment! XD

  23. Mindset
    Mindset
    May 10, 2023 at 2:51 am | #

    All natural and technological processes proceed in such a way that the availability of the remaining energy decreases
    In all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves an isolated system, the entropy of that system increases
    Energy continuously flows from being concentrated, to becoming dispersed, spread out, wasted and useless
    New energy cannot be created and high grade energy is being destroyed. An economy based on endless growth is
    UNSUSTAINABLE

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      May 10, 2023 at 3:31 am | #

      But number HAS TO go up forever!

      /s

    • eh, whatever
      eh, whatever
      May 10, 2023 at 4:30 am | #

      Well, on that argument, an economy based on endless growth is easily sustainable here on Earth till the sun goes out. 😐 Energy does enter and leave this system. In huge amounts, constantly.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        May 10, 2023 at 6:00 pm | #

        Sunshine doesn’t pay the rent.

        • Devin
          Devin
          May 12, 2023 at 1:40 am | #

          I feel like the problem in this scenario is the fact that housing is not considered to be a human right.

  24. Lamppost
    Lamppost
    May 10, 2023 at 3:30 am | #

    Maybe it is because English isn’t my first language, but I’m having trouble understanding what Ruth means in the final panel?

    • Sombrero
      Sombrero
      May 10, 2023 at 3:53 am | #

      Ruth guessed correctly that it was not much harm in letting Dorothy get to the alcohol because she would be knocked down by it very quickly, but now she regrets that she will have to carry Dorothy all the way to her own room.

      • Lamppost
        Lamppost
        May 10, 2023 at 5:04 am | #

        Thanks! 🙂

  25. CianM1301
    CianM1301
    May 10, 2023 at 4:19 am | #

    Yeesh, Dorothy’s a featherweight.

  26. Yeet
    Yeet
    May 10, 2023 at 5:54 am | #

    at least she didn’t vomit
    hopefully she’s mostly exhausted and not, like, somehow absolutely langered already

  27. Circeus
    Circeus
    May 10, 2023 at 6:21 am | #

    She says that like she’d rather haul bits and pieces of a human instead.

  28. bagge
    bagge
    May 10, 2023 at 6:47 am | #

    Oh Dorothy <3

  29. vulcanodon
    vulcanodon
    May 10, 2023 at 9:46 am | #

    Can relate to moving a whole-ass human. I went to a private Christian college, and most of us did OK. But we had to clean up the pastors’ kids and put them to bed. They’d never made a decision about anything in their lives and even our college was too much freedom for them.

    • Roborat
      Roborat
      May 10, 2023 at 2:59 pm | #

      I remember watching the religious kids explore their freedom when I lived in residence at university. It was entertaining to watch. The pastors’ daughters always seemed to go wild once out from under daddy’s thumb.

  30. Smooti
    Smooti
    May 10, 2023 at 9:51 am | #

    Yep, this is what happens when you think you’ve planned out your life at 18. I wish we stopped telling kids they’ve got to have a big grand plan to be successful. Or had such a narrow definition of what success is. Because I’ve found that the people with the self awareness to be flexible and figure themselves out in college did way better than the Dotties (like me).

    I hope Dorothy finds a new, more flexible goal, because her just completely burning out feels like it’d be punishing her for having dreams, which I know Willis has said ain’t the intention with her story here.

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      May 10, 2023 at 1:07 pm | #

      I think it’s likely she’ll end up with more flexible goals, a more forgivable attitude towards herself, and less of a drive to be team mentor. I don’t think her version of the dark night of the soul is going to be limited to just one day, though. Even with accelerated character growth so readers can see it, I think middle-Dorothy is going to be around for a while.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      May 10, 2023 at 2:56 pm | #

      Really hope she doesn’t give up on politics though, even if she shifts away from the naive, simplistic, “I’m going to be President” approach.

    • Mark
      Mark
      May 10, 2023 at 6:40 pm | #

      Teach the kids what real planners know: “the plan is nothing; the planning is everything.” You learn a lot about your options and your resources by formulating a serious plan.

  31. Adept
    Adept
    May 10, 2023 at 10:49 am | #

    How many was that, I wonder.

    • Mewzard
      Mewzard
      May 10, 2023 at 11:28 am | #

      Pretty sure it was one sample bottle. Her mental exhaustion probably tanked her already briefly seen low tolerance for alcohol (see the party where Billie spiked the drinks).

  32. Harmony
    Harmony
    May 10, 2023 at 11:20 am | #

    Listen, Dorothy, just because you likely won’t be able to do the job without committing war crimes doesn’t mean you still wouldn’t commit the least war crimes.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      May 10, 2023 at 11:45 am | #

      Improvement isn’t allowed. Only instant perfection.

  33. Joy
    Joy
    May 10, 2023 at 2:49 pm | #

    I wonder how this comic would look if the shadows were done in dark indigo and the lighting was in a very light pale gold

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      May 10, 2023 at 5:59 pm | #

      It’d probably look more indigo on the dark parks and a pale goldish color on the light parts.

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      May 10, 2023 at 6:26 pm | #

      Yeah I pondered about that too.

      Apparently Willis keeps his shading really simple. From Tumblr:

      “I put a 30% opacity layer between my layer for inks and flat colors and I use white for highlights and usually a dark red for shadow. (Sometimes I have to use black if I’m already shading something colored dark red, and sometimes I use a dark blue if I’m doing a “colder” scene.)”

      • David M Willis
        David M Willis
        May 10, 2023 at 8:52 pm | #

        For scenes like these, I put a dark blue over everything and essentially erase what I don’t want.

        • NGPZ
          NGPZ
          May 10, 2023 at 9:47 pm | #

          Simple yet elegant. 😮

  34. Dot
    Dot
    May 10, 2023 at 4:03 pm | #

    I think Dorothy should consider talking to her parents.

  35. ElderlyMarxist
    ElderlyMarxist
    May 10, 2023 at 4:55 pm | #

    just let her sleep in your bed and steal hers

  36. BOOSTER SHOT
    BOOSTER SHOT
    May 10, 2023 at 5:27 pm | #

    Love2drag

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      May 10, 2023 at 11:44 pm | #

      Wonder if dragging can be made to seem as fun as plumbing and eating mushrooms…

  37. RowenMorland
    RowenMorland
    May 10, 2023 at 6:18 pm | #

    Didn’t use it as an opportunity to get it off her chest and have a frank discussion about what to do next. then again maybe Ruth isn’t the best person for that anyway.

  38. Yakumo
    Yakumo
    May 10, 2023 at 6:31 pm | #

    *amused chuckle*

    Not that this straightens out Ruth’s life more or less, but it is amusing that Dorothy has forced her to be the Dorothy, and thus out Dorothy Dorothy in the do the right thing department. This specific moment (and Ruth has stepped up plenty of times, but this whole situation…)

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