Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
RSS
‹
›
  • Home
  • About/Read before posting
  • Archive↓
    • by calendar
  • Cast
  • Store↓
    • Main Store (books and stuff)
    • T-shirts
  • Patreon↓
    • Patreon (regular)
    • Patreon (NSFW)
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
it's like poetry, it rhymes
First Previous Random 178Comments Share Next Latest
Reddit Digg Facebook MySpace Delicious Stumbleupon Buzz Up! Mixx Technorati Google Bookmarks Yahoo Bookmarks Yahoo MyWeb Windows Live Propeller FriendFeed Newsvine Xanga LinkedIn Blinklist Twitter
Discover more Hiveworks comics
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Blindsprings
Kadi Fedoruk
Tamaura, wrested into a world 300 years in the future, must find a way to save the magic fading from her country.
Countdown to Countdown
Velinxi
Iris Black is a self-proclaimed inventor with the curious ability to bring his drawings to life, and yearns to find a space where he can use his powers freely.
Slightly Damned
Chu
Rhea Snaketail returns from the dead, befriending a Demon who falls in love with an Angel. The afterlife ain't what it used to be!
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
The Otherknown
Lorian Merriman
Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
Beeserker
TJ Cordes
This comic is about a robot powered by bees, but it's also about the kind of people who think filling a robot with bees is a good idea, and why they're wrong.
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
Mac Hall
Matt Boyd
The legendary early-aughts webcomic that inspired a wave of webcomic creators.
2 Slices
RJ Morel
After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
Fantomestein
Beka Duke
Desperate for companionship, Frankenstein's Monster pretends to be the Opera Ghost. A grave mistake.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Namesake
Isa, Meg
There's ghosts at your heels and fairy tale worlds ahead. What do you do? Jump down the rabbit hole!
BOOKMARK
Click "Tag Page" to bookmark a page. When you return to the site, click "Goto Tag" to continue where you left off.
Goto TagClear Tag


BUFFER WATCH Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:

May 12, 2026

Free moment

by David M Willis on March 30, 2024 at 12:01 am
  • 03 – Trystin' in the Wind
└ Tags: dorothy, joyce

Discussion (178) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. IntangibleMatter
    IntangibleMatter
    March 30, 2024 at 12:01 am | #

    This… may be one of the best storylines yet.

    Joyce you’ve changed over the years.

    I love it.

    • Max
      Max
      March 30, 2024 at 1:39 am | #

      Months. This is like one of the weird movies: “For us it has been years, but it’s only been a few months for them.”

      • ValdVin
        ValdVin
        March 30, 2024 at 5:57 am | #

        Willis is closer to my nephew’s age than mine. I hope to live long enough for Valentine’s Day to get into this comic.

        • Decidedly Orthogonal
          Decidedly Orthogonal
          March 30, 2024 at 1:32 pm | #

          As someone who sees you around on various forums, I too hope you live so long, and longer, in comfort and surrounded by love. ✊❤🖖

  2. Adj
    Adj
    March 30, 2024 at 12:01 am | #

    What the fudge?

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      March 30, 2024 at 12:14 am | #

      she’s gotta mean something else, right?

      • Mr. Random
        Mr. Random
        March 30, 2024 at 12:37 am | #

        Nnnnooooope.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      March 30, 2024 at 4:05 am | #

      What the pfargtl?

      • Se7en2
        Se7en2
        March 30, 2024 at 6:28 pm | #

        What the flan?!?!?!

  3. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    March 30, 2024 at 12:02 am | #

    Next comic: Steve eating cerealJoyce and Dotty falling in a slosh of melting snow

    • TheKelliestKelly
      TheKelliestKelly
      March 30, 2024 at 12:39 am | #

      Nah, next comic is Riley eating cereal

    • Weatherheight
      Weatherheight
      March 30, 2024 at 2:59 am | #

      Going to the 7-11, buying the contents of a slurpee machine, and theving a “slushee fight” outside in the snow.

      Admittedly, this would probably be a better idea in May, but seize the moment!

  4. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    March 30, 2024 at 12:02 am | #

    What are the odds she just means they’re going out for snow cones or something?

  5. Schpoonman
    Schpoonman
    March 30, 2024 at 12:03 am | #

    Book title! BOOK TITLE!

    • Ryan
      Ryan
      March 30, 2024 at 1:30 am | #

      Dumbing of Age 14: Cough Cough Cough

      • clif
        clif
        March 30, 2024 at 4:37 am | #

        It’s a natural.

  6. NGPZ
    NGPZ
    March 30, 2024 at 12:03 am | #

    Sloshed? What is this earthling lingo? 😮

    • anon
      anon
      March 30, 2024 at 12:26 am | #

      https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sloshed it’s actually in the dictionary rather than slang but idk what would be common these days XD; Since ‘getting smashed’ could also be drunk but some ppl use it as a metaphor for sex too XD;

      • NGPZ
        NGPZ
        March 30, 2024 at 12:40 am | #

        Joyce pullin out all the stops now huh? And she gonna help her friend! This should be fun >:D

        *plays “Apocalypshit” by Molotov on hacked muzak*

      • wwwhhattt
        wwwhhattt
        March 30, 2024 at 1:29 am | #

        I don’t think there are any english phrases that aren’t used as a metaphor for sex

        • Meagan
          Meagan
          March 30, 2024 at 2:10 am | #

          Are you hitting on… Someone? 🤨

          • anon
            anon
            March 30, 2024 at 5:36 pm | #

            LOL i always thought ‘hitting on’ versus ‘flirting’ was a bit rough/violent for the meaning (tho eng isn’t my first language) unless it’s some kinda conspiracy for like “being hit in a relationship is ‘normal'” or so XP [i mean it’s def not but i can imagine it being someone’s excuse]

            • Taffy
              Taffy
              March 30, 2024 at 8:19 pm | #

              What?

        • Nathan
          Nathan
          March 30, 2024 at 9:55 am | #

          Ah yeah, let’s use that phrase as a metaphor all night baby

      • morleuca
        morleuca
        March 30, 2024 at 3:55 am | #

        I wonder if sloshed is somehow now a contronym

      • Amós Batista
        Amós Batista
        March 30, 2024 at 10:19 am | #

        All meanings here are CORRECT!

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      March 30, 2024 at 12:54 am | #

      drunk, like booze sloshing around the bottom of a jug.

      Or maybe it’s a joke, and Joyce means getting Sloshies at the Village Pantry.

      • NGPZ
        NGPZ
        March 30, 2024 at 12:57 am | #

        Wait is that what slurpies are called in the IU Village Pantry for reals?

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          March 30, 2024 at 4:07 am | #

          Well they can’t call them Slurpees, that’s a 7-Eleven trademark.

          Squishee is also off-limits, that’s Kwik-E-Mart.

        • HueSatLight
          HueSatLight
          March 30, 2024 at 10:33 am | #

          I don’t know, no website. I didn’t check for the other convenience store chains the corporation owns, I expect the slushy machines end up with the same display though.

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      March 30, 2024 at 12:53 pm | #

      new guess: they’re going to a boxing ring and sparring, to slosh can also mean to punch.

    • GLaDOS
      GLaDOS
      March 30, 2024 at 1:10 pm | #

      They’re going to have clowns throw buckets of whitewash over them?

  7. Jo_cubstar
    Jo_cubstar
    March 30, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

    Hahah yes Joyce!

    • Puppeteer Nessus
      Puppeteer Nessus
      March 30, 2024 at 12:57 am | #

      Joyce comes through! With sloshing fudge!

  8. Taigan
    Taigan
    March 30, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

    Are they stopping by Joyce’s room for her coat, or is she planning on sharing Dorothy’s?

  9. Some1
    Some1
    March 30, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

    It’s moments like these when I wonder where the autobiographical parts of the comic begin and end.

    • lightsabermario
      lightsabermario
      March 30, 2024 at 3:26 am | #

      Your mistake is thinking there are parts of this comic that are not autobiographical.

  10. Esha
    Esha
    March 30, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    We’re gonna get a repeat of the Becky Visit, aren’t we?

  11. Grimey
    Grimey
    March 30, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    Joyce’s expression never changing is the best. She’s just a silly little guy.

    • Ray
      Ray
      March 30, 2024 at 12:09 am | #

      Yeah!

    • Kim
      Kim
      March 30, 2024 at 4:11 am | #

      100!

  12. Ray
    Ray
    March 30, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    I should be saying “stop girl stop” or “yellow light that a little girl, maybe a beer and quietly talking would be better”, but my sense of shenanigans audienceship is saying “GO GIRL GO”

  13. BBCC
    BBCC
    March 30, 2024 at 12:07 am | #

    Fuck yeah, fudging sloshed!

  14. Some1
    Some1
    March 30, 2024 at 12:07 am | #

    Okay very random question, but would Joyce have been allowed to read The Divine Comedy growing up?

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      March 30, 2024 at 12:22 am | #

      Probably not, because of Purgatory at the minimum.

    • 3oranges
      3oranges
      March 30, 2024 at 12:33 am | #

      It’s super Catholic…

      • thakoru
        thakoru
        March 30, 2024 at 12:56 am | #

        Speaking as a former Catholic, it’s honestly shocking, how much of Catholic theology, in practice, seems to come from The Divine Comedy, given that it is not and has never been official canon.

        • JR
          JR
          March 30, 2024 at 12:59 am | #

          Never underestimate a committed fanfic.

        • Some1
          Some1
          March 30, 2024 at 1:02 am | #

          Saints are comfort characters for religious people, change my mind.

        • not someone else
          not someone else
          March 30, 2024 at 1:22 am | #

          Yeah. To me, even more shocking is how much modern Protestant theology seems to be based on The Omen.

          • Decidedly Orthogonal
            Decidedly Orthogonal
            March 30, 2024 at 1:36 pm | #

            So disappointing they don’t go for cool shit, like Evil Dead or 28 days later.

            • Taffy
              Taffy
              March 30, 2024 at 2:56 pm | #

              They’re not technically supposed to accept works that involve Christopher Eccleston, for obvious reasons.

        • Bittersweet
          Bittersweet
          March 30, 2024 at 7:17 am | #

          It’s the Bible’s expansion pack!

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          March 30, 2024 at 9:42 am | #

          Not just that it’s not canon, but also that Catholic theology had been around for a thousand years before Dante.

          Partly it just made use of and elaborated on ideas that were already common, but it’s influence did go well beyond that.

  15. CrazyJ
    CrazyJ
    March 30, 2024 at 12:08 am | #

    What’s Joyce’s plan for getting alcohol when they are both underage?

    • BarerMender
      BarerMender
      March 30, 2024 at 12:14 am | #

      Oh, you sweet summer child.

      • Reltzik
        Reltzik
        March 30, 2024 at 12:19 am | #

        …. I could interpret that question as being “so many potential plans, but Joyce is going to choose a disastrous one isn’t she, what’s it’s going to be?”

      • PedanticJerkass
        PedanticJerkass
        March 30, 2024 at 1:24 am | #

        I think the point is what is, specifically, Joyce’s plan for obtaining alcohol. It’s not like Joyce is the type of person who has a fake ID or knows how to acquire a fake ID or is probably aware that fake IDs are even things that exist in the pursuit of illicit alcohol.

        At least as far as we are aware, anyway. I suppose it’s fully possible that Joyce has made some criminal underworld contacts, entirely off panel, in the same way that Carla and Charlie became girlfriends, entirely off panel.

        Or… she could just ask Joe or Ruth or somebody for help, as already suggested. But I prefer to believe, until explicitly proven otherwise, that Joyce has, entirely off panel, secretly made some unsavory ties to the types of people who can provide her with fake IDs. (Maybe not Jennifer.)

        • Miri
          Miri
          March 30, 2024 at 5:57 am | #

          Before she got roofied, she found herself Queen of the Drunk People at that party. It’s plausible that she’s had friendly overtures from people who remembered her being awesome, vaguely remembered things going south for her being the reason the party wrapped up, and wanting to check in the genuinely kind, happy person they met was OK and connecting off-screen? Then when all the “not-Ryan: serial date-rapist” thing came out with her at the centre, that blossomed into some off-screen friendships with people with street-savvy…

          • furubatsu
            furubatsu
            March 30, 2024 at 1:27 pm | #

            The fact thar Joyce is a very friendly girl who’ll even befriend your family on Facebook, I wouldnt be surprised if she did have a bigger social circle outside of what we’ve seen. God, Jennifer would be sick with rage if Joyce Brown was more popular (Well liked) than her.

        • Daibhid C
          Daibhid C
          March 30, 2024 at 6:30 am | #

          Maybe she’s heard that the barman at Gallasso’s is an absolute pushover who hates any form of confrontation, but not that he isn’t there any more.

          • Daibhid C
            Daibhid C
            March 30, 2024 at 6:32 am | #

            (Or is he? I don’t imagine being a TA pays well, given how much we in the Anglosphere value actual educators, never mind their gofers. Maybe he kept that job as well.)

    • Nono
      Nono
      March 30, 2024 at 12:24 am | #

      …She’s dating Joe.

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      March 30, 2024 at 12:42 am | #

      Ruth, Jennifer, Carla, Sal, Malaya, breaking into Robin’s house (she probably still has a key). Ruthless’s Not-Jennifer (Mr. T.A.)

      but I’m leaning towards malapropism. Joyce seems unlikely to have drank before, and I doubt that’s what she’d think to do with someone as blue as she’s just realized Dorothy is.

    • Kim
      Kim
      March 30, 2024 at 4:25 am | #

      This was a very useful comment for me ^_^
      Since I’d totally forgotten that 18year olds are under age in america. Pretty wild!

      • Kim
        Kim
        March 30, 2024 at 4:26 am | #

        D’oh. In *The US, I mean.

      • Azhrei Vep
        Azhrei Vep
        March 30, 2024 at 5:39 am | #

        Only when it comes to drinking! If they want to huff cancer sticks, look at naked people, or kill people for Freedom!, they’re totally adults.

        Drinking gross rotten grape juice and whatever rotten nonsense beer is made of? No no, too young for that. Gotta wait three more years.

        … To do it legally anyway.

        • Kim
          Kim
          March 30, 2024 at 6:13 am | #

          That’s weird!

        • Bittersweet
          Bittersweet
          March 30, 2024 at 7:22 am | #

          Where I live in the US, smoking is now illegal until 21 too.

          Tbh, idk what everyone’s obsession with wanting the drinking age lowered is. Like, I feel like letting teenagers get trashed and incoherent is not actually a flex. None of the exchange students I’ve met in my life seemed any more responsible or better at handling their liquor than any other kid I knew (in fact, they usually were way worse. They committed like serious property damage that resulted in our uni having to fill in our pool.)

          But I know that “Hey, maybe the high drinking age is a good thing” is a spicy flaming hot take.

          • Li
            Li
            March 30, 2024 at 9:50 am | #

            I mean, mostly the issue is whether we respect someone’s bodily autonomy or not, and it is definitely a slippery slope. The more precedent that someone isn’t “responsible” enough to make choices about their own body until they’re 21, the easier it is to argue that really, we should raise the voting age, and really, it should be 25 instead of 21 due to that long debunked but somehow extremely persistent notion that the brain doesn’t finish developing until you’re 25.

            And hey, if they’re not mature enough to drink and smoke until they’re 21 (or 25), gosh, why are we letting them choose to have sex, even with an age appropriate peer? Why are we letting them buy condoms or get abortions without parental consent? Jeez! We definitely shouldn’t be letting them go on puberty blockers!!

            Like. These are very real arguments that have been made, and recently.

            So. While I’m not saying this is what everyone is thinking about when they say a lower drinking age is better or at least fine, I am definitely saying it’s an often unstated part of the argument you’re seeing.

  16. Steelbright
    Steelbright
    March 30, 2024 at 12:10 am | #

    Yeah i somehow doubt this means drinking! Maybe getting sloshed in fridge is some kind of “wholesome” church game where you uh…. Trip to dump buckets of hot fudge on something? Maybe each other? A greased pig? Wait no this is getting sketchier and sketchier

    • Steelbright
      Steelbright
      March 30, 2024 at 12:10 am | #

      Haha typo but it kinda makes it better. *Sloshed in fudge

      • Coatl
        Coatl
        March 30, 2024 at 12:15 am | #

        Yes, in fact I was also surprised by that response from Joyce, but maybe it means something else… unless she really wants to damage her liver for the first time.

  17. Marvelman
    Marvelman
    March 30, 2024 at 12:10 am | #

    I’ll believe it when I see it.

    • anon
      anon
      March 30, 2024 at 12:33 am | #

      joyce drunk would be quite the sight lol. i’d assume they’d get drunk /together/ as opposed to get dorothy to loosen up and end up admitting/talking about yale (which would be a sleazy manipulative tactic), which is prolly a convo to have sober

      • Kim
        Kim
        March 30, 2024 at 4:21 am | #

        Feels to me like the alcohol may cause Dotty to act on her repressed feelings for Joyce! Make-out time! ^_^

        • anonymsly
          anonymsly
          March 30, 2024 at 7:36 am | #

          I hope not, assuming such feelings exist which I do not buy – Dorothy doesn’t need to throw herself at someone in a committed relationship and be thus rejected a second time. I don’t think that would help her mental state in the least.

          • anon
            anon
            March 30, 2024 at 5:37 pm | #

            “oh no i cheated on joe, quick, you gotta make out with her too so it evens out” XD

            I think it’d be a bit much but it would be pretty amusing if joyce’s first time ended up being a threesome

  18. Alongcameaspider
    Alongcameaspider
    March 30, 2024 at 12:13 am | #

    I’m not sure what option for this is funnier, Joyce somehow being able to obtain alcohol or Joyce having no idea that “getting sloshed” is another term for getting drunk

    • Coatl
      Coatl
      March 30, 2024 at 12:19 am | #

      Assuming she really knows the meaning of that word.

      I think she trusts Dorothy to stop her from doing something extremely stupid, which is why I call her, but I remember yesterday’s strip and I think she would take a risk with alcohol for “more confidence.”

      • anon
        anon
        March 30, 2024 at 12:32 am | #

        i think she would know at this point and using it to troll dorothy but i feel liek jen or someone used the term ‘sloshed’ in front of at least one of them once

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      March 30, 2024 at 4:02 am | #

      She just has to ask Carla! Or Ruth! Or Jennifer!

      Or maybe silver-Sharpie a few hair strands and start ranting about how Millennials aren’t buying real estate.

  19. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    March 30, 2024 at 12:15 am | #

    REVENGE!

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      March 30, 2024 at 12:20 am | #

      Nice callback ^^

    • Coatl
      Coatl
      March 30, 2024 at 12:21 am | #

      Damn, I had forgotten

      • StClair
        StClair
        March 30, 2024 at 1:01 am | #

        Me too. Nice.

    • Mturtle7
      Mturtle7
      March 30, 2024 at 11:39 am | #

      Oh wow, good memory! I’m so glad I get to see this for the callback it is, now.

  20. Erich
    Erich
    March 30, 2024 at 12:15 am | #

    Love how well this mirrors when Dorothy taught Joyce how to rub one out.

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      March 30, 2024 at 12:26 am | #

      unless sloshed means writing a book, not quite a mirror.

      • Li
        Li
        March 30, 2024 at 9:57 am | #

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-13/02-turning-saints-into-the-sea/gopee/

        I think the technical sequence of events is mirror enough heh

  21. Koms
    Koms
    March 30, 2024 at 12:20 am | #

    Oh come on, they’re just going to get some fudge and … um slosh

  22. Zor
    Zor
    March 30, 2024 at 12:21 am | #

    Tomorrow we learn “SLOSH” is the in-universe equivalent of SMOSH and Joyce intends on cheering Dorothy up by binging Chosen skits.

    • Zor
      Zor
      March 30, 2024 at 12:23 am | #

      Ya know, the Walky Gravatar is very tonally appropriate for this comment. Well done, Dumbing of Age.com algorithm.

      • NGPZ
        NGPZ
        March 30, 2024 at 12:29 am | #

        I’m pretty sure all Gravatar-integrated wordpress sites use the same algorithm for shuffling them.

    • Azhrei Vep
      Azhrei Vep
      March 30, 2024 at 5:41 am | #

      I have no idea what a Smosh is, but I have a feeling this is one of those surprising moments when Joyce actually means exactly what it looks like she means.

      • NGPZ
        NGPZ
        March 30, 2024 at 7:07 pm | #

        Or maybe Willis is pulling a bait and switch, and the real drama will come out of nowhere.

  23. anon
    anon
    March 30, 2024 at 12:23 am | #

    ah, paralells. tho usually a drink would come before a laundry room time lol

  24. RassilonTDavros
    RassilonTDavros
    March 30, 2024 at 12:23 am | #

    (cw: linked strip contains ryan)

    All hail Joyce Brown, Queen of the Drunks!

  25. shrub
    shrub
    March 30, 2024 at 12:26 am | #

    I’m assuming my definition of getting sloshed might be slightly different to Joyce’s but on the very off chance it isn’t then I’d suggest Joe comes along as well as chaperone

    • Azhrei Vep
      Azhrei Vep
      March 30, 2024 at 5:42 am | #

      They probably should have someone to look after them, but I don’t think Dorothy would respond too well if it was Joe. She probably needs a little more time to process that bit of empathy she had for him last time they were in a panel together.

      • shrub
        shrub
        March 30, 2024 at 6:10 pm | #

        A sober 6ft plus built guy makes for a pretty decent chaperone

        • Azhrei Vep
          Azhrei Vep
          March 31, 2024 at 6:20 am | #

          Sure. If you trust him. In precisely the way that Dorothy doesn’t.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        March 30, 2024 at 6:36 pm | #

        Also Joyce would probably be distracted from whatever plans she has for Dorothy.

  26. Endplanets
    Endplanets
    March 30, 2024 at 12:28 am | #

    The anti-terminator over here.
    You need your clothes, your boots, and Sal’s motorcycle.

  27. TulipKitten
    TulipKitten
    March 30, 2024 at 12:29 am | #

    I don’t think Joyce is making Dorothy drink, and it’s just a very poor choice of words on her part. If you remember, Joyce has trauma surrounding alcohol and specifically did not want it around her at her dorm party.

    • JR
      JR
      March 30, 2024 at 2:01 am | #

      I don’t think Willis does cliffhangers like that. Any time Joyce has had a slang term wrong, the misunderstanding has been clear within the strip in which it appears. She hasn’t, to my recollection, used a term that clearly means one thing and then the next day clarified that she meant something else. I’m certain she means drinking.

      I hope we get to see Dorothy try to talk her down because she thinks it’s out of character, only for Joyce to remind her of the laundry machines and be like “nope, it’s my turn to surprise you by introducing a new experience to our friendship, and I’m ready for this.” She’s been kidnapped, almost murdered, her parents are now divorced, and her mom is a monster. There’s no one left to disapprove, and she started the semester by swearing to Becky that they’d find out what a keg-stand is.

      (And no, I don’t think she has trauma around alcohol; Becky kinda just assumed she did, and Joyce was more upset that Becky brought up the assault. She didn’t hold a grudge against anyone for drinking at her dorm party; I don’t think she ever mentioned it again.)

      • Li
        Li
        March 30, 2024 at 10:10 am | #

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/buzzed/

        Link for context. I agree, I don’t think Joyce was especially upset by the alcohol. She was more distressed by it being passed around behind her back and worried they’d all get in trouble for breaking a rule, which in turn would have risked Becky being found out, since at the time she was very much breaking the rules by staying too long as Joyce’s “guest”.

        (Also I imagine if Ruth hadn’t shown up, Joyce would also have wound up with slightly hurt feelings as she slowly realized that what she’d thought was a successful party was actually SO unsuccessful that some of her friends were drinking to get through the night.) (But I don’t think Joyce did fully process that, and I think mostly what she remembers is that drunk!Dorothy seemed more relaxed and happy, which she now seeks to recreate.)

  28. Yotomoe
    Yotomoe
    March 30, 2024 at 12:31 am | #

    Ah yes, a Chocolate Ale.

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      March 30, 2024 at 12:33 am | #

      “Here we only have one rule —
      never ever let it cool!!!!”

      • CianM1301
        CianM1301
        March 30, 2024 at 2:51 pm | #

        YEAH, WE GOT IT

    • Schpoonman
      Schpoonman
      March 30, 2024 at 12:36 am | #

      I have it on good authority that it’s very good if you like beer.

    • anon
      anon
      March 30, 2024 at 5:38 pm | #

      i like chocolate but even adding it to beer idk would improve it. tho i have had a chocolate coffee ‘liquer’ cocktail downtwon i remmberl iking

  29. Icalasari
    Icalasari
    March 30, 2024 at 12:34 am | #

    I’m sorry, what?

  30. Mr. Random
    Mr. Random
    March 30, 2024 at 12:36 am | #

    It’s been an interesting 7 months for these 2.

    • Bryy
      Bryy
      March 30, 2024 at 3:31 am | #

      It’s been an incredibly traumatic seven months.

      Hell, just one week was the shooting and the kidnapping and the death.

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      March 30, 2024 at 12:58 pm | #

      Packed into 5 months.

  31. TheKelliestKelly
    TheKelliestKelly
    March 30, 2024 at 12:38 am | #

    Hey, whatever happened to the F-bomb list? Is that still being maintained? I forget who made it

    • Dana
      Dana
      March 30, 2024 at 1:06 am | #

      http://www.ci-n.com/~jcampbel/doafbombcount.php

      • TheKelliestKelly
        TheKelliestKelly
        April 1, 2024 at 3:41 am | #

        Yay! Thank you, Dana

    • John Campbell
      John Campbell
      March 30, 2024 at 2:55 am | #

      “Fudgin'” doesn’t count.

      • TheKelliestKelly
        TheKelliestKelly
        April 1, 2024 at 3:49 am | #

        Oh yes, of course. I was thinking about it because I thought Joyce had already said fuck before this strip. Someone (not here on the DOA website) pointed out that I was mistaken which reminded me of the list’s existence. Then I wanted to see it again once I remembered it

  32. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    March 30, 2024 at 12:39 am | #

    *eyes panel 1* … wait, did Dorothy drop all her classes or something?

    • Mturtle7
      Mturtle7
      March 30, 2024 at 11:43 am | #

      I think she has not so much dropped all her classes, as she has just stopped GOING to all her classes for the past few days or so. That’s something people can do, in college! And even recover from, sometimes!

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        March 30, 2024 at 1:29 pm | #

        Or she’s still going, just not putting in the full effort studying that she’s used to.

        We did just see her in Robin’s class – though I suppose she could have just been skipping the ones that didn’t have friends who would notice in them.

  33. DashWallkick
    DashWallkick
    March 30, 2024 at 1:06 am | #

    Mirroring “I’m going to teach you to masturbate” is some fantastic comedy so ‘sloshed’ is almost certainly something innocent and sweet that Joyce thinks will help.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      March 30, 2024 at 3:59 am | #

      She wants to talk about their problems over frozen lemonade.

      • DashWallkick
        DashWallkick
        March 30, 2024 at 11:04 am | #

        “We’re going to build a hecking snowman together!” “Joyce I am existentially depressed and without meaning, but okay — I got a carrot from the communal kitchen and downloaded blueprints on my phone.”

  34. staszu13
    staszu13
    March 30, 2024 at 1:19 am | #

    We’re Getting Fudgin’ Sloshed!
    The next volume of Dumbing of Age

  35. Anon A Mouse
    Anon A Mouse
    March 30, 2024 at 2:02 am | #

    Look, I understand that Joyce is the writer understanding their role within a number or already established identities that I ALSO undertand but also understand. Having them all pile up at once is strssful. I don’t want to hassle you as an artist but can only acknowledge as a frorm of agony.

  36. Taffy
    Taffy
    March 30, 2024 at 2:20 am | #

    Chocolate Wasted™

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      March 30, 2024 at 2:34 am | #

      ~ W A S T E D ~

      XD

  37. M!a
    M!a
    March 30, 2024 at 2:34 am | #

    shit Shit SHIT… Drunkenness. And with Joyce a first-timer… PLEASE let this not be one of those things that Billifer has to swoop in and “solve”… by making everything ten times worse because she has to be the Alpha Trashfire.

    • Bryy
      Bryy
      March 30, 2024 at 3:32 am | #

      Let’s not summon her.

      She’s the worst.

    • anonymsly
      anonymsly
      March 30, 2024 at 7:43 am | #

      Honestly, I kind of want Sal along. She’d be a good chaperone (experience with alcohol, knows her personal limit is low), and I think she’d have an interesting (helpful even) take on Dorothy’s current identity issues. And if she didn’t she’d know to keep her mouth shut.

    • Mturtle7
      Mturtle7
      March 30, 2024 at 11:45 am | #

      Joyce will actually deliberately invite Jennifer along, on the grounds that Dorothy is a huge mess right now and Jennifer knows ALL ABOUT being a huge mess while drunk. Jennifer will not be terribly happy about this assessment of her, but will reluctantly acknowledge it’s accuracy.

      • Schpoonman
        Schpoonman
        March 30, 2024 at 3:33 pm | #

        “I want Billie.”

  38. Imogen
    Imogen
    March 30, 2024 at 2:36 am | #

    THE CHAOS THEORY IS COMING BACK FROM THE BRINK MY DUCKLETS

  39. JA
    JA
    March 30, 2024 at 3:15 am | #

    ‘Sloshed’ to Joyce means drinking five chocolate milks in one setting.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      March 30, 2024 at 3:56 am | #

      She heard someone mention “malt liquor” once, and Ovaltine is malted…

  40. Nicoleandmaggie
    Nicoleandmaggie
    March 30, 2024 at 4:49 am | #

    Disappointed. :(. Even karaoke was a better idea.

  41. Rowan
    Rowan
    March 30, 2024 at 5:01 am | #

    Yes, let’s go Joyce and Dorothy friend time!
    Alcohol was one of my first steps outside of the religious environment I grew up in. I don’t think it’s out of character for Joyce to want to try it with one of her best friends.

  42. Da Boy
    Da Boy
    March 30, 2024 at 5:36 am | #

    This is Joyce, she 99% means slushies…

  43. DarkoNeko
    DarkoNeko
    March 30, 2024 at 5:48 am | #

    What ?

  44. Daibhid C
    Daibhid C
    March 30, 2024 at 6:28 am | #

    Hmm. I’m one of those very rare non-judgemental teetotallers. I think of alcohol in moderation like I think of roillercoasters; it’s not what I’m into, but that’s just me. On the other hand, I would be quite concerned if someone I knew, or a fictional character I care about, was riding a rollercoaster without a safety bar.

    So, I’m reserving my opinion on this until I know if Joyce has a safety bar.

    • Bittersweet
      Bittersweet
      March 30, 2024 at 7:31 am | #

      I’m not a teetotaler (I drink way too much when I do drink, which thankfully isn’t often. I commit to the party if it shows up.) but I am a bit concerned with the readiness everyone is introducing and reintroducing alcohol in to fix the Dorothy situation.

      Like, I suffered severe depression and still have moderate episodes and burnout frequently. Drinking makes me feel a million times better because it literally removes my ability to feel sadness (except wine for some reason). This Is Not A Good Thing. That’s like, the first step of developing a problem.

      That being said, I don’t think Joyce is advocating “let’s get drunk to make you happy” and is instead advocating “let’s get drunk so you’ll tell me about what’s going on with you because you have the emotional vulnerability of a zebra mussel while sober.” I just kinda worry that this isn’t going to end the way she wants it to.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      March 30, 2024 at 9:24 am | #

      The closest I get is NA beer, and yeah I don’t care if people drink so long as people are responsible and know their limits.

  45. Imp
    Imp
    March 30, 2024 at 6:35 am | #

    Is it finally time for the Joyce x Dorothy to come true?

    • anonymsly
      anonymsly
      March 30, 2024 at 7:48 am | #

      Hope not! I don’t personally see the ship (close platonic relationships involving hugging and cuddling do exist) but mainly: Joyce is currently in a relationship with someone she cares about very deeply, and I don’t think she’s the kind of person to hurt Joe like that. She’s demonstrably willing to be a homewrecker, but i don’t think she’d take the wrecker to her own.

    • Li
      Li
      March 30, 2024 at 10:21 am | #

      Anyway,

      I DO think if they wind up getting very drunk together, we will EITHER get an unambiguous indication that yes, that’s what had Dorothy looking so mich like a storm cloud when she was watching Joyce and Joe enjoy the treadmill together, OR… Dorothy will finally come clean about Yale.

      (Or both? Could easily manage both.)

      (If nothing happens on the “feelings for Joyce” front, I’ll personally be packing it in and not expecting anything canon-wise. Though I’m already not expecting anything canon-wise, because I am so very very very accustomed to disappointment lol.)

      Also liking Joyce/Dorothy has nothing to do with liking <i or disliking Joe/Joyce and I have no obligation to think, much less feel guilty, about how Joe would feel if Joyce/Dorothy happened. It is so very much not part of the equation. It would be better for the long-term success of a Joyce/Dorothy relationship that Dorothy not make a Move TM while Joyce is happy with him, so I’ll be glad if it’s avoided in that sense, but also the fantastic dumpster fire that would happen if Dorothy drunk-kissed Joyce and Joyce drunk-kissed her back and liked it…

      Like come on, that would be hecka compelling fff.

    • Amós Batista
      Amós Batista
      March 30, 2024 at 4:58 pm | #

      YES YES YES

  46. Taffy
    Taffy
    March 30, 2024 at 7:28 am | #

    Unfortunately, the manufacturing, sale, and consumption of alcohol are all 400% illegal in the state of Indiana, so they’re gonna have to take quite a trip to get some.

    On the other hand, ROAD TRIIIIIP!

    • Stephen Nedland
      Stephen Nedland
      March 30, 2024 at 8:27 am | #

      You have forgotten, that before he was Robin’s T.A., Jason was tending bar, at Galasso’s, so it cannot be THAT illegal.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        March 30, 2024 at 2:51 pm | #

        I’ve forgotten nothing. I remember it so you don’t have to.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      March 30, 2024 at 9:19 am | #

      Nah, the ban-everything crowd wants to go back to the 1950s, not the 1920s. Their base would go ballistic if their precious beer got taken away, and deflecting blame to the other party won’t parry all of their ire.

      They’ll be sll for banning malt liquor though, for “some reason”.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        March 30, 2024 at 2:52 pm | #

        I assume “some reason” involves Jews, Black people, or Islam.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          March 30, 2024 at 6:34 pm | #

          In this case mostly black people I assume. Malt liquor was heavily advertised to “urban youth”, so it’s strongly associated with them.

    • Mturtle7
      Mturtle7
      March 30, 2024 at 11:46 am | #

      …Wait, what?

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      March 30, 2024 at 11:51 am | #

      They’ll have to go back to international waters, Monroe Ocean.

  47. Stephen Nedland
    Stephen Nedland
    March 30, 2024 at 8:20 am | #

    So, Joyce has come to the same conclusion that Ruth and Jennifer have, Dorothy needs to get tanked, or get laid. But, since neither will admit their feelings for each other, Joyce has opted for the former, rather than the later.

  48. raultsi
    raultsi
    March 30, 2024 at 8:57 am | #

    hot fudge on a snow cone? Sounds kinda messy to me

  49. Plaaaaaa
    Plaaaaaa
    March 30, 2024 at 9:19 am | #

    They’re about to get chocolate wasted

  50. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    March 30, 2024 at 9:22 am | #

    So, even Joyce I suggesting Dorothy what pretty much everyone else already suggested her… Absolutely awesome! Can’t wait to see what Joyce actually means and how this will end.

  51. C.T. Phipps
    C.T. Phipps
    March 30, 2024 at 9:23 am | #

    It’s funny how Joyce wanting to indulge in alcohol is something a lot of the fandom finds more shocking than any of the other adult behaviors she’s experimenting with.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      March 30, 2024 at 10:22 am | #

      Partly that she’s always been very obviously horny, just repressed, so that’s all a pretty next step. She’s never really shown interest in alcohol. There’s no build up.

    • Li
      Li
      March 30, 2024 at 10:25 am | #

      I genuinely think it’s folks misremembering earlier strips and thinking Joyce has trauma around alcohol. But as noted above, that was just Becky making assumptions. Joyce was upset by the surprise underage drinking at her party, but I think now she mostly just remembers that Dorothy seemed able to relax and happy under the influence, and wants to facilitate that.

    • Mturtle7
      Mturtle7
      March 30, 2024 at 11:51 am | #

      Personally, I look forward to seeing how long people can keep denying that Joyce is referring to alcohol. Based on some of the comments I’m seeing above, I’m pretty sure many will continue insisting that it’s all a hilarious misunderstanding up to and including the strip where Joyce explicitly clarifies “by ‘sloshed’, I mean drunk. With alcohol, that we will obtain illegally for the express purpose of getting drunk.”

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        March 30, 2024 at 1:26 pm | #

        “Look, just because they’re here drinking booze, getting sloshed, doesn’t mean that’s what Joyce meant. It’s just a coincidence.”

  52. thumb
    thumb
    March 30, 2024 at 11:02 am | #

    With actual fudge!

  53. Chubsius
    Chubsius
    March 30, 2024 at 11:46 am | #

    I hope Joyce brings Sarah along too. Two bird with one stone, and double the shenanigans. It’s girls night.

  54. Vulcanodon
    Vulcanodon
    March 30, 2024 at 12:01 pm | #

    “Alcohol… the cause of, and solution to all of life’s problems!”
    – Homer Simpson

  55. Kazuma Taichi
    Kazuma Taichi
    March 30, 2024 at 12:21 pm | #

    certainly didn’t expect the alcoholism path to come via Joyce

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      March 30, 2024 at 2:03 pm | #

      “Sooner or later, everyone meets their Homer…scrapbooking, high stakes poker, the Santa Fe lifestyle: just pick a dead-end and chill out til you die.”

      — Homer Simpson

  56. Pergola
    Pergola
    March 30, 2024 at 12:36 pm | #

    Joyce is dangerous when she gets that look. She’s about to put a stick in the spokes of the Universe.

  57. Yeet
    Yeet
    March 30, 2024 at 7:47 pm | #

    defintely not going to be any problems with this plan at all

  58. JessWitt
    JessWitt
    March 30, 2024 at 11:56 pm | #

    Mmmmm, fudgy slosh. *drool noises*

  59. BP
    BP
    March 31, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    I think the Dorothy’s problem is that she doesn’t know how to be directionless. She’s never experienced what it’s like before and so she feels incredibly lost. In fact, being directionless is part of being at college. You use college to find your real direction. That’s what she needs to figure out.

    • BP
      BP
      March 31, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

      I think that*

  60. R. Francis Smith
    R. Francis Smith
    April 1, 2024 at 5:03 pm | #

    My oldest daughter talks disturbingly like Joyce. Granted, maybe just around me.

Who should be the default doodle for Book 14?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive
CONVENTION APPEARANCES


May 3, 2025 - FCBD @ Laughing Ogre Comics in Columbus, Ohio

©2010-2025 Dumbing of Age | Powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS | Privacy Policy | Back to Top ↑