Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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more like being made womanifest, am i right
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May 12, 2026

Ibuprofen

by David M Willis on December 22, 2024 at 12:01 am
  • 02 – The One Where Jocelyne Returns
└ Tags: dorothy, jocelyne, joyce, walky

Discussion (157) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    December 22, 2024 at 12:01 am | #

    which ones are Jordan covering, I wonder

    • Ana Chronistic
      Ana Chronistic
      December 22, 2024 at 12:01 am | #

      what if they’re made sausage-fest

    • Alongcameaspider
      Alongcameaspider
      December 22, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

      I’m betting he draws porn

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        December 22, 2024 at 12:11 am | #

        I bet he did something even crazier and is romantically linked to a minority that possibly practices a different religion. Or maybe he’s gay, has dyed hair, or got a tattoo. We can mix and match.

        • APW
          APW
          December 22, 2024 at 2:05 am | #

          Gay might fit into “romantically linked to a minority”, just saying

          • Azrael
            Azrael
            December 22, 2024 at 5:26 pm | #

            Well, Joyce is kinda doing the “romantically linked with a minority” thing already, and worse for a fungelical, he’s JEWISH! Space lasers! SPACE LASERS!

            • Felian
              Felian
              December 26, 2024 at 7:32 pm | #

              Is the Jewish bit really worse? i’m not even sure. The fundies i grew up with had a creepy fetish for judaism. It basically sums up as: “Wow, you’re God’s chosen people, yet we look down on you because WE understood that Jesus is the messiah and YOU didn’t. But you are so inspirational, Israel is so fascinating (This is where the bible stories happened!!!), let us steal some of your customs and pretend they were ours anyway!”
              I didn’t realize how cringe that was until i left the church…

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      December 22, 2024 at 12:09 am | #

      Jordan’s probably an animorph.

      • Meagan
        Meagan
        December 22, 2024 at 12:37 am | #

        Thanks for the actual lol.

      • Ana Chronistic
        Ana Chronistic
        December 22, 2024 at 1:52 am | #

        oh, so Carol’s a Yeerk Controller?

        • Taffy
          Taffy
          December 22, 2024 at 3:22 am | #

          Don’t Yeerks need functional brains to control?

          • Shade
            Shade
            December 22, 2024 at 7:09 pm | #

            I mean maybe she’s eaten instant Maple and Ginger oatmeal.

          • Ana Chronistic
            Ana Chronistic
            December 22, 2024 at 10:18 pm | #

            I thought they just needed a live body

            • Shade
              Shade
              December 23, 2024 at 12:09 am | #

              They do need an intact live brain to like spread themselves over. But they don’t need to be sapient since in one story they were infesting horses to sneak onto a base. They just seem to prefer it. So yeah, mostly.

              There are a couple things we do know the host body needs to meet. A warm internal temperature, a central nervous system (there was an alien species they couldn’t use as a host because they had a distributed one) and to be of a certain size (Visser 3 registered disappointment that cats were too small) whether that’s body size or brain size is never clarified.

    • Davus
      Davus
      December 22, 2024 at 12:10 am | #

      I’m betting he’s gay.
      That or his parents were overbearing and/or assholes and he cut them off.

      • Throwatron
        Throwatron
        December 22, 2024 at 2:18 am | #

        I honestly think that would be the coolest outcome, now that you’ve mentioned it. He didn’t cut them out because of anything about him that they specifically disapproved of; he just, like, realized independently that they were wack, without needing an inciting incident. It probably isn’t that, but given how those things usually happen in this strip, that would honestly be a different sort of gut punch out of nowhere.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        December 22, 2024 at 8:03 am | #

        Sounds like “correct him by being overbearing” is exactly what they did, which led to him going low- or no-contact.

        “All I’m saying is, we squeeze too hard, and we create another Jordan situation.”
        -Hank

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/squeezing-2/

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      December 22, 2024 at 1:11 am | #

      could be porn, could be queerness, could be tattoos, could be support of Bulmeria, could be advocate for science-based sex-ed

      for all we know he could be a pastor who made the “mistake” of encouraging church-goers to give to community instead of just church

      there’s a reason why you see as much open contempt as you do towards the religious right

      if there’s anything they’re consistently good at, it’s making enemies 👀

    • Heather
      Heather
      December 22, 2024 at 2:03 am | #

      Catholic Priest.

      • Heather
        Heather
        December 22, 2024 at 2:06 am | #

        Though seriously I do ponder over the idea he’s still religious just “the wrong kind” (be it even as mundane as a different flavour of Christianity or something else!)

    • Armepos
      Armepos
      December 22, 2024 at 9:27 am | #

      Joyce’s dad said they moved a lot because they had political differences with each temple they went to, hinting at even more crazies than them. Maybe Jordan pulled a Percy Weasly and is like an ultra-mega-fundie.

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      December 22, 2024 at 10:54 am | #

      Married a Bolshevik and got sent to Siberia.

      • NGPZ
        NGPZ
        December 22, 2024 at 3:41 pm | #

        I’m ready with vodka, a thick Slavic accent and desire to crush US capitalism!

        >:D

    • CianM1301
      CianM1301
      December 22, 2024 at 2:26 pm | #

      My bet’s on furry.
      Also, accidentally reported the comment, mb.

      • Ana Chronistic
        Ana Chronistic
        December 22, 2024 at 6:45 pm | #

        Hank seemed okay with that

        (not the reporting the comment, that’s negligible)

  2. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    December 22, 2024 at 12:03 am | #

    hahahahhahahahahahaha

    • darkoneko
      darkoneko
      December 22, 2024 at 12:03 am | #

      Well, Carol’s fears, mostly.

      • EmperorGreed
        EmperorGreed
        December 22, 2024 at 12:24 am | #

        Nah, Hank’s fears too. He was deep in the same culty branch of Christianity as Carol, and the rest of the family for that matter.

        The real difference is that when faced with those fears, Hank realized he feared his kids being in danger, unloved and unhappy more than them practicing these “heathen” ways, and more than being wrong. Carol… didn’t.

        • Bryy
          Bryy
          December 22, 2024 at 1:43 am | #

          Carol didn’t even think she was wrong.

          • Throwatron
            Throwatron
            December 22, 2024 at 2:20 am | #

            “Didn’t even think she is wrong” is almost a full, one-sentence summary of every mom in this comic. There are, like, probably less than 5 good ones.

            • Taffy
              Taffy
              December 22, 2024 at 3:32 am | #

              There are exactly 7. Amber, Dina, Dorothy, Mike, Sierra, The Casey, and Bold Marzespo all have good moms.

      • NGPZ
        NGPZ
        December 22, 2024 at 12:27 am | #

        The fears of all reactionary fundamentalists, really.

        Unholy unholy unholy is the Parasite of Hosts.

        WE shall drain their White Gods of ALL their glory.

        WE never give up on our struggle no matter what.

        WE are the sum of all their fears.

        WE are their ultimate, undying NIGHTMARE.

        For WE need not be as gods, to turn the world inside out. 👁️

  3. mindbleach
    mindbleach
    December 22, 2024 at 12:03 am | #

    “All Our Parents’ Fears Are Being Made Manifest” is a peak book title.

    • TheStranger
      TheStranger
      December 22, 2024 at 12:31 am | #

      1) sorry for reporting. Fat thumbs.

      2) that NEEDS to be the book title.

    • Armadillo
      Armadillo
      December 22, 2024 at 12:32 am | #

      This may in fact be the best book title comment I’ve ever seen.

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      December 22, 2024 at 12:33 am | #

      BookTitle.upvote ++

      ^^ <3

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      December 22, 2024 at 12:48 am | #

      Yes if this commenting system had upvotes, that would get all the thumbs.

    • DJTsurugi
      DJTsurugi
      December 22, 2024 at 1:45 am | #

      100% down for a book title here! ~<3

    • Leorale
      Leorale
      December 22, 2024 at 2:27 am | #

      Came here to make sure somebody said this, and was not disappointed.

    • Kimi
      Kimi
      December 22, 2024 at 7:07 am | #

      It needs to be a series title. There are several different genres of parental fears. Some might be a bit more rational than others, like fear of getting caught up in gun violence in the USA or fear of your children having a hard time with life. Even those two examples can easily go to the extreme and have the parents’ reactions cause more issues than help, ie: overprotectiveness or pushing so hard for your young child to achieve things that they burn out.
      Of course, you could also write it as not a self help book for parents and instead have it for the kids of those parents.

    • Michael Steamweed
      Michael Steamweed
      December 22, 2024 at 8:42 am | #

      An excellent title for the eventual Omnibus.
      Dumbing of Age: All Our Parents’ Fears Are Being Made Manifest
      The Complete Collection
      All 782 volumes

  4. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    December 22, 2024 at 12:03 am | #

    2 out of 3 fears down. Still waiting on the third.

    • Sirksome
      Sirksome
      December 22, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

      Actually there’s probably way more than 3.

      • Ray Radlein
        Ray Radlein
        December 22, 2024 at 12:43 am | #

        Clowns.

        Maybe that’s what Jordan is doing

        • Alan
          Alan
          December 22, 2024 at 3:12 am | #

          Jordan went to Pinfall City and Joined the Clown Corps. He fights crime.

          He’s actually friends with Amazi-Girl on MaskBook, the superhero social network.

          • Ana Chronistic
            Ana Chronistic
            December 22, 2024 at 6:31 pm | #

            Oh, come on, Masktodon is RIGHT THERE

    • FinalGwen
      FinalGwen
      December 22, 2024 at 6:51 am | #

      As Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf once said, two out of three ain’t bad.

  5. BBCC
    BBCC
    December 22, 2024 at 12:03 am | #

    It’s what they deserve.

    • True Survivor
      True Survivor
      December 22, 2024 at 12:30 am | #

      Hank may not have been the best father, but he always had a good heart, and he seems to be really trying. Plus, I don’t think we want all of their fears manifesting, as that presumably involves one of their children dying and like air-breathing sharks with cockroach legs or something.

      • TCS
        TCS
        December 22, 2024 at 4:39 am | #

        didn’t think i was gonna unlock a new fear today, but here we are

        • Kimi
          Kimi
          December 22, 2024 at 7:09 am | #

          I think the last time I heard that statement, it was related to a human-centipede like mannequin.

      • Michael Steamweed
        Michael Steamweed
        December 22, 2024 at 8:44 am | #

        Sounds like a thing for the Oglaf comic.

      • Meeks
        Meeks
        December 22, 2024 at 4:55 pm | #

        Gyo reference spotted. God I hated reading that book haha – the only Junji Ito story to ever give me nightmares

        • True Survivor
          True Survivor
          December 22, 2024 at 10:18 pm | #

          I actually had no idea Gyo even existed. I looked it up to write this reply just now, and I really really wish I had not done that.

  6. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    December 22, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

    Burber Derber is fine, but doesn’t their campus have an Applebapples or a Wendings?

    • Pinkie
      Pinkie
      December 22, 2024 at 12:14 am | #

      Probably the taco place Johnny Cash sings about in Ring of Fire

    • purblebirb
      purblebirb
      December 22, 2024 at 12:47 am | #

      I assume its named for 9 Chickweed Lane?

      • Michael Steamweed
        Michael Steamweed
        December 22, 2024 at 8:46 am | #

        I thought you were just making that up, but then I looked again. Yeah, that is the 9CL family name.

    • CianM1301
      CianM1301
      December 22, 2024 at 2:16 am | #

      They should at least have a Sbubby. How else would they Eef Freef?

  7. Queen Anthai
    Queen Anthai
    December 22, 2024 at 12:14 am | #

    I really love how you draw Jocelyne’s “dry wit” face.

    • ian livs
      ian livs
      December 22, 2024 at 12:16 am | #

      Seconded. She’s a treasure

  8. Ash
    Ash
    December 22, 2024 at 12:24 am | #

    I love this strip so much. Aces.

    • Michael Steamweed
      Michael Steamweed
      December 22, 2024 at 8:46 am | #

      They might have an ace or two, but I think most of them are definitely sexual.

  9. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    December 22, 2024 at 12:30 am | #

    Well, all their kids are still alive, so probably not.

    … wait, do we know that they’re all still alive?

    • Bryy
      Bryy
      December 22, 2024 at 1:44 am | #

      Pretty sure Jordan is alive.

  10. Dara
    Dara
    December 22, 2024 at 12:38 am | #

    burber derber has strong eef freef energies

    what even is it

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      December 22, 2024 at 9:33 am | #

      Agree, want to try their food, even though I strongly suspect Willis just pulled the name out of his ass.

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      December 22, 2024 at 9:37 am | #

      Although, ‘Berber’ is the name of a group of North African tribes, so maybe it’s North African food?

  11. IntangibleMatter
    IntangibleMatter
    December 22, 2024 at 12:41 am | #

    These kids are going for 100% disownership by their mother and I am here for it!

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      December 22, 2024 at 12:52 am | #

      +1!

      • Bryy
        Bryy
        December 22, 2024 at 3:41 am | #

        It’ll be interesting if we ever see Carol again. I can maybe see us seeing her once more.

    • Daibhid C
      Daibhid C
      December 22, 2024 at 6:26 am | #

      I’ve not heard the word “disownership” before. It’s a good word. Like “disownment”, but with the added sense that she’s relinquishing “ownership” of them, because she totally thought she had that.

  12. Opus the Poet
    Opus the Poet
    December 22, 2024 at 12:55 am | #

    This all their parents’ fears made womanifest. Which is even worse than manifest, because of woman’s sinful state of tempting Adam into sin.

    • Leorale
      Leorale
      December 22, 2024 at 2:24 am | #

      It’s always bothered me that Christians are mad at Eve for sharing.

      Like, God says, you eat this fruit and you’ll die. (Technically true, since they’ll get banished from Eden for doing it, but not a direct immediate result.)
      The snake says, “look, I’m eating the fruit, and I’m alive.”
      And Eve tests it on herself! She tries the fruit, and she doesn’t die. It’s tasty times.
      And then Eve is like, “woah, cool, I gotta share this” and shares some tasty non-death fruit with Adam.

      And for this we’re supposed to be mad at her forever! She’s just a very responsible scientist.

      /cheeky reimagining

      • NGPZ
        NGPZ
        December 22, 2024 at 2:53 am | #

        heck like why did God not think to lock up anything which could potentially poison his newborn human children, just sayin that ain’t really responsible for a Heavenly Father XD

        • jflb96
          jflb96
          December 22, 2024 at 5:25 am | #

          Why didn’t Pandora and Epimetheus seal and bury the pyx? Why didn’t the Jedi teach Anakin about Force healing? Why didn’t the Emperor explain his actions to his sons better while he still had twenty-one of them?

          It’s a prequel. You can’t have a prequel not end where the real story began.

          • NGPZ
            NGPZ
            December 22, 2024 at 5:39 am | #

            A lot of the Bible honestly seems like embryonic stage Star Wars where early on George Lucas had some *terrible* ideas, so yeah that tracks XD

            • HueSatLight
              HueSatLight
              December 22, 2024 at 11:11 am | #

              Going mythology nerd for a second, it’s like someone took a pretty decent* and rewrote it as fanfiction, jamming it into their incompatible worldview. Like the Jedi are Christians mostly concerned about converting all the sinners to space-Christianity.

              *at least internally consistent. “Adapa and the South Wind” aka “Adapa and the Food of Life”

        • Daibhid C
          Daibhid C
          December 22, 2024 at 6:32 am | #

          “Your God person puts an apple tree in the middle of a garden and says, do what you like, guys, oh, but don’t eat the apple. Surprise surprise, they eat it and he leaps out from behind a bush shouting ‘Gotcha’. It wouldn’t have made any difference if they hadn’t eaten it.”
          “Why not?”
          “Because if you’re dealing with somebody who has the sort of mentality which likes leaving hats on the pavement with bricks under them you know perfectly well they won’t give up. They’ll get you in the end.”
          —The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Douglas Adams

          • Daibhid C
            Daibhid C
            December 22, 2024 at 6:34 am | #

            Or alternatively:
            It was God who made the serpent,
            And the woman and the man,
            And there wouldn’t be an apple,
            If it wasn’t in the plan.
            –“It Was On a Friday Morning”, Andrew Pratt

            • Needfuldoer
              Needfuldoer
              December 22, 2024 at 8:30 am | #

              “What does God need with a starship?”

              – James T. Kirk

        • Mark
          Mark
          December 22, 2024 at 9:09 am | #

          I like to think it was a test, and humankind passed. He wanted free moral agents, not robots or puppets, and He got them.

      • Icalasari
        Icalasari
        December 22, 2024 at 2:57 am | #

        Heck, double checking and Adam was apparently right there. So he knew the whole deal and where the fruit was from anyways. So what, he gets off scott free?

        • Mark
          Mark
          December 22, 2024 at 9:11 am | #

          I’ve heard it said that this is a love story. That Adam recognized the fruit, believed what God had told them, and took it because he didn’t want to be parted from Eve no matter what.

      • Amelie Wikström
        Amelie Wikström
        December 22, 2024 at 3:51 am | #

        On the list of things that don’t make sense about the tree of knowledge story, the “therefore all women are evil” moral is like, fourth from the top. But maybe putting it directly after the “therefore all humans are born evil” makes it extra clunky

      • jflb96
        jflb96
        December 22, 2024 at 5:20 am | #

        They were already going to die in Eden, or there wouldn’t have been any point to the Tree of Life. Getting kicked out just made the intervening bit less pleasant.

      • Michael Steamweed
        Michael Steamweed
        December 22, 2024 at 8:48 am | #

        A bad scientist. She didn’t publish.

        (unless we count genesis itself, which is not anywhere near a proper journal format.)

  13. Chaucer59
    Chaucer59
    December 22, 2024 at 12:58 am | #

    Good to see Jocelyn getting all the choice lines.

  14. DashWallkick
    DashWallkick
    December 22, 2024 at 1:30 am | #

    Jocelyn’s older sibling aura was the funniest part of her appearances and it’s held up when she returns.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      December 22, 2024 at 8:09 am | #

      She’s still the older sibling, so that tracks.

      • DashWallkick
        DashWallkick
        December 22, 2024 at 11:39 am | #

        Transitioning is big! I could easily see it changing the dynamic, shuffling the deck a bit and making Joyce struggle with seeing her as her sister because of how long the older “brother” relationship became normalized. I’d have loved to see that version of this comic but gosh Joycelyn is fun to watch tease.

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          December 22, 2024 at 1:05 pm | #

          I liked the bit where she leaned on Joyce to hold her up, just like she did last time she visited. Like I said in the comments then, it’s like her way of saying “yeah this part’s different but I’m still me”.

  15. Veronica
    Veronica
    December 22, 2024 at 1:37 am | #

    The magic of soundless comics means Jocelyne has already mastered voice masking I guess.

    • Throwatron
      Throwatron
      December 22, 2024 at 2:22 am | #

      I’m kind of assuming she hasn’t? If anything, her writing is most likely closer to her “true voice,” if I know writers at all.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      December 22, 2024 at 9:09 am | #

      She’s probably been practicing for at least as long as she’s been on HRT.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        December 22, 2024 at 1:11 pm | #

        Probably quite a bit longer.

      • Veronica
        Veronica
        December 22, 2024 at 5:22 pm | #

        Which is, what, a few months? (If I’m remembering the extremely confusing Comics Time going on here)

        And that assumes what she’s practising is….good

    • Dante
      Dante
      December 22, 2024 at 5:37 pm | #

      Voice training can be done before HRT and it would be a really neat way for her to express herself in the shitty situation she was in (even in secret.) No physical evidence like objects or changes in her appearance. Just waiting for moments when the rest of the family wasn’t around.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        December 22, 2024 at 11:05 pm | #

        Yeah. Which would be most of the time, since she had an apartment of her own. She could do voice training and even start to build up a wardrobe and things relatively safely.
        HRT would over time become too obvious to hide, once she started that step.

    • Akane
      Akane
      December 22, 2024 at 8:16 pm | #

      She could also do voice surgery as well.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        December 22, 2024 at 11:03 pm | #

        Probably not on the budget she describes.

    • Dana W
      Dana W
      December 24, 2024 at 1:08 am | #

      Been trying for 25 years its still a battle.

  16. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    December 22, 2024 at 1:43 am | #

    Why do I get the feeling Dorothy’s kinda digging Walky in the costume?

    • Throwatron
      Throwatron
      December 22, 2024 at 2:22 am | #

      Because you possess pattern recognition, and thus recognize that she is a huge nerd XD

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      December 22, 2024 at 3:31 am | #

      She’s even grabbing his titty in the first panel, I think.

    • Akane
      Akane
      December 22, 2024 at 8:18 pm | #

      I doubt it.

  17. DJTsurugi
    DJTsurugi
    December 22, 2024 at 1:46 am | #

    see Joyce, Dorothy has it right, do like her, learn from your future paramour. ~<3

    • Risky
      Risky
      December 22, 2024 at 3:05 am | #

      She may be seeing Joyce touching Dorothy and thinking that covers one of mom’s darkest fears.

  18. Acher4
    Acher4
    December 22, 2024 at 2:13 am | #

    Is Dorothy back?

    • Mark
      Mark
      December 22, 2024 at 9:14 am | #

      She’s right there.

      Okay, yes, I think she’s found a new purpose, at least for now.

      • Mark
        Mark
        December 22, 2024 at 9:18 am | #

        Good to see her looking happy again.

        • Acher4
          Acher4
          December 23, 2024 at 3:12 am | #

          “Good to see her looking happy again.”

          Same 🙂

  19. Throwatron
    Throwatron
    December 22, 2024 at 2:17 am | #

    i think we all could use a lil womanifestation in our world 🙂

  20. CianM1301
    CianM1301
    December 22, 2024 at 2:21 am | #

    I see Walky’s making no further attempts to hide his civilian identity now that he’s been thoroughly tummy-punched. Is this the end of Nightguy? Or will he just stick to having Nightguy only come out at night?

  21. Kas
    Kas
    December 22, 2024 at 3:05 am | #

    had the thought “i feel like the way willis is drawing expressions has really been popping off lately”, remembered The Buffer, and followed that up with the thought “oh shit so what does his art look like NOW-“

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      December 22, 2024 at 8:08 am | #

      Head on over to Tumblr and Bluesky to find out! The buffer may be almost a year ahead but he still posts preview panels and character models, all relatively spoiler-free.

  22. Taffy
    Taffy
    December 22, 2024 at 3:30 am | #

    Dorothy shouldn’t get to meet any more characters until she’s murdered one of the ones she already knows. It’s unrealistic for someone like her to know more than the exact amount of people she knew before this strip.

  23. Julie
    Julie
    December 22, 2024 at 3:55 am | #

    I know that the Incelerator is in another panel now, but I just wanted to point out that in Canada we have a historical precedent for attacks on women on a college campus by a self-styled incel vigilante, and that this arc might not be as funny and zany for some as it is for others.

    • Nono
      Nono
      December 22, 2024 at 4:13 am | #

      It hasn’t really felt funny to me either, Willis probably knows what he’s doing but if toning down political comics with Robin when Trump won was the right thing to do, misogynistic villains can have a timing issue as well.

      • Julie
        Julie
        December 22, 2024 at 4:27 am | #

        It was a double whammy for me when I realized this arc started less than 2 weeks after Dec. 6. I guess that’s probably not a well known date outside Canada? (And I know the comics are queued up months in advance.)

        (For anyone genuinely not in the know, google Dec. 6 Ecole Polytechnique; CW femicide, misogyny, mass shooting.)

        • Taffy
          Taffy
          December 22, 2024 at 1:26 pm | #

          This is the first I’m hearing of it, possibly because it happened in another country, fully four years before I was born. Not the kind of thing they taught at my schools.

          • Julie
            Julie
            December 22, 2024 at 3:06 pm | #

            For us it’s an annual memorial day for the fourteen victims, as well as a day of awareness for violence against women. My university cancelled classes for it each year. It was one of the worst tragedies Canada has ever experienced.

            • Taffy
              Taffy
              December 22, 2024 at 3:36 pm | #

              Pretty fucked up how my first thought was “Only fourteen?”, as if that’s not a lot of people for one guy to murder. 9/11 happening when I was in 2nd grade (about 8 years old) seems to have skewed perception to some degree.

              • Julie
                Julie
                December 22, 2024 at 8:56 pm | #

                He meant for it to be way more. But yeah, we’ve been through some pretty fucked up times this generation.

  24. Kyulen
    Kyulen
    December 22, 2024 at 4:18 am | #

    I hope sometime in a future we get to see Jordan, and find out what fears he’s made manifest for the Brown family parents.

    • Michael Steamweed
      Michael Steamweed
      December 22, 2024 at 9:00 am | #

      He draws web comics and porn on Patreon and Slipshine. The half-dozen comic lines are collectively called “The Caulkyverse” and feature a post-high school young general contractor handyman character nicknamed Caulky.

  25. Charles Phipps
    Charles Phipps
    December 22, 2024 at 5:03 am | #

    I think the Incelerator is an interesting character and would like to see more of them in the context that the guy trying to be a media influence and as wacky as the “heroes” is a good pitch for an antagonist. I find him a lot more interesting than Mary for example even if he’s less realistic and more dangerous as a kidnapper.

    • Michael Steamweed
      Michael Steamweed
      December 22, 2024 at 8:55 am | #

      Hell, it’s possible we might see a romantic pairing between Mary and incel-idiot.

      • Deanatay
        Deanatay
        December 22, 2024 at 9:21 am | #

        Now now, mustn’t misname people, it’s offensive.

        It’s pronounced “Incel-er-bater”.

        • Taffy
          Taffy
          December 22, 2024 at 3:37 pm | #

          His suit jacks him off.

      • Charles Phipps
        Charles Phipps
        December 22, 2024 at 10:45 pm | #

        I’d love to see Jocelyn redeem him with the power of her love.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          December 22, 2024 at 11:06 pm | #

          Ick.

  26. Needfuldoer
    Needfuldoer
    December 22, 2024 at 8:04 am | #

    “I didn’t know you had a sister.”

    “Neither did I until about two hours ago!”

  27. thumb
    thumb
    December 22, 2024 at 8:43 am | #

    wait until they find out about Joyce’s not-quite-platonic relationship with the atheist who taught her how to masturbate.

  28. Michael Steamweed
    Michael Steamweed
    December 22, 2024 at 8:54 am | #

    Joyce: Not only that, but Dorothy showed me how to jill off. And I’ve done pre-marital hanky (but not panky) with my Jewish boyfriend.

    Jocelyne: Yes, those are definitely on the parents-fears list.

  29. Deanatay
    Deanatay
    December 22, 2024 at 9:02 am | #

    Not true, Jocelyne. Joyce doesn’t yet have an undercut or a nose ring.

    • FlamestAndLight
      FlamestAndLight
      December 22, 2024 at 9:07 am | #

      big emphasis on Yet (i wanna see it not just because I’m gay and require more undercut and nose-ring rep . . . okay actually yeah that’s the only reason)

    • Da Boy
      Da Boy
      December 22, 2024 at 9:56 am | #

      Someone’s gotta introduce her to metal music, Joyce would be stoked to wear all black with chains and metal studs

  30. staszu13
    staszu13
    December 22, 2024 at 9:57 am | #

    What is a Burber Derbert?

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      December 22, 2024 at 10:49 am | #

      Joke version of Erbert & Gerbert

    • Pergola
      Pergola
      December 22, 2024 at 11:02 am | #

      Burber Derbert? It’s kinda like a Henway.

  31. Adept
    Adept
    December 22, 2024 at 12:19 pm | #

    Is this the first time Joyce owns up to being an Atheist?

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      December 22, 2024 at 12:27 pm | #

      Yes. She’s definitely never mentioned it before.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      December 22, 2024 at 1:06 pm | #

      To someone in her family, yes I believe so.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        December 22, 2024 at 1:24 pm | #

        She told Carol during the argument over selling the house.

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          December 22, 2024 at 4:50 pm | #

          You’re right, she did!

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/memorized-2/

          It bounced right off though, because obviously Joyce was just lashing out. *eyeroll*

    • Ilucuthen
      Ilucuthen
      December 22, 2024 at 2:30 pm | #

      She tried to tell her mom when she visited, but I don’t think her mom was really interested in entertaining that idea.

  32. Barf Ninjason
    Barf Ninjason
    December 22, 2024 at 12:19 pm | #

    My own name is Josh and I have a brother named Jordan, and that makes Joyce’s family’s names feel a wee bit weird to me. She’s like the little insane sister I never had. Also, I get why Jocelyne would wanna go with a more feminine name, but I’ve always thought “Josh” would be a cool name for a girl. It’s a little odd but it doesn’t reek of masculinity like “Steve” or “Dave” would. Also also, Joyce and Dorothy being accidentally gay for each other like some kinda Three’s Company mix-up bit is my favorite subplot.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      December 22, 2024 at 12:36 pm | #

      Cool “guy” names for gals would definitely include Josh. I’ll add to the list Damon, Kyle, Howard, Buster, and Oliver

  33. wakeangel2001
    wakeangel2001
    December 22, 2024 at 12:48 pm | #

    Remember, if your parent’s fears are becoming manifest, but everyone is happy, it’s because your parents are bad people

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      December 22, 2024 at 5:16 pm | #

      Maybe. Definitely here.
      Parents aren’t always wrong though and teens can get themselves in a lot trouble while having a good time.

  34. HueSatLight
    HueSatLight
    December 22, 2024 at 1:11 pm | #

    I figured it out, Incelerator is Tony. They’re never seen together, he’s just significantly better at disguises than the main characters. Only Beef knows.

  35. Marrow
    Marrow
    December 22, 2024 at 3:15 pm | #

    AMEN, and AWOMAN

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      December 23, 2024 at 12:00 am | #

      lel

  36. HueSatLight
    HueSatLight
    December 22, 2024 at 11:56 pm | #

    All the Jordan talk, everyone’s forgotten John is possibly faking going on mission trips. Only four more days in January.

  37. Yakumo
    Yakumo
    December 23, 2024 at 6:24 pm | #

    I’m not going back to through the whole chapter, but I’m pretty sure Jocelyn has the best sum up in it.

  38. Felian
    Felian
    December 26, 2024 at 7:34 pm | #

    “it’s nice meeting you as Jocelyne” is a nice way to phrase it. It IS nice meeting people *again*, this time *for real*, after you’ve only met their carefully put-together facade! <3

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