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:

July 1, 2026

My eyes only

by David M Willis on May 31, 2025 at 12:01 am
  • 04 – The Only Exception
└ Tags: alice, jennifer, lucy

Discussion (243) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. TheKelliestKelly
    TheKelliestKelly
    May 31, 2025 at 12:03 am | #

    Billie once again bringing people down to her level

    • Clif
      Clif
      May 31, 2025 at 12:49 am | #

      Cheer Leader. Problem Solver.

      • eh, whatever
        eh, whatever
        May 31, 2025 at 7:58 am | #

        Head cheerleader, problem solver. Rhythm!

  2. Megan
    Megan
    May 31, 2025 at 12:04 am | #

    wow alice has a KILLER jawline

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      May 31, 2025 at 12:08 am | #

      Like I was saying, Alice has a better face and a better body than Billifer.

      • Megan
        Megan
        May 31, 2025 at 12:11 am | #

        That’s great

        • flumfula
          flumfula
          May 31, 2025 at 5:17 am | #

          it starts with an earth. quake

          • Disastroid
            Disastroid
            May 31, 2025 at 5:59 am | #

            Birds and snakes

            • Poppakat
              Poppakat
              May 31, 2025 at 8:54 am | #

              And aeroplanes

              • Shadowsnail
                Shadowsnail
                May 31, 2025 at 11:46 am | #

                Okay, but is Lenny Bruce afraid?

                • Michelle J Caboose
                  Michelle J Caboose
                  May 31, 2025 at 7:48 pm | #

                  Lenny Bruce is NOT afraid.

      • Nono
        Nono
        May 31, 2025 at 12:16 am | #

        Really weird to have to praise someone by directly comparing them to someone else (making them sound worse).

        • Shakes
          Shakes
          May 31, 2025 at 7:37 am | #

          Feels very common on the internet these days.
          For something to be “good” something “bad” has to be mentioned as a comparison.

          • Steamweed
            Steamweed
            May 31, 2025 at 10:33 pm | #

            Humans have been comparing each other to each other since before humans were humans.

      • Queen Anthai
        Queen Anthai
        May 31, 2025 at 12:29 am | #

        O…kay?

      • Drew Hargrave
        Drew Hargrave
        May 31, 2025 at 12:34 am | #

        That’s weird. You’re being a creep.

        • Clif
          Clif
          May 31, 2025 at 12:51 am | #

          I’m not. I’m perfectly normal. Just like Bil, um, Jennifer.

          • DailyBrad
            DailyBrad
            May 31, 2025 at 12:54 am | #

            I think they were directing that at Opus.

        • Decidedly Orthogonal
          Decidedly Orthogonal
          May 31, 2025 at 6:25 am | #

          They commented on artwork. You’re insulting a real person.

          • TheKelliestKelly
            TheKelliestKelly
            May 31, 2025 at 1:02 pm | #

            Oh, get the hell out of here. Their comment was inappropriate and sexist. They’re very welcome to prefer Alice’s design to Billie’s, but it’s still fairly realistic art of young human women. It’s offputting to say this about real women and it’s off putting to say about cartoon women. If you offer “praise” to one person or design by insulting or negatively comparing to another, it’s not real praise. It is a weird and creepy thing to do.

            • Marianne
              Marianne
              May 31, 2025 at 1:06 pm | #

              Everyone in this entire thread is wrong, and has terminal ligma, myself included

              • Crow
                Crow
                May 31, 2025 at 1:37 pm | #

                What’s ligma?

                • TheKelliestKelly
                  TheKelliestKelly
                  June 1, 2025 at 12:10 am | #

                  Ligma downstairs fancy place!!!1!

                • Amós Batista
                  Amós Batista
                  June 2, 2025 at 6:56 pm | #

                  ahahaha

      • Thag Simmons
        Thag Simmons
        May 31, 2025 at 12:34 am | #

        we have such normal comments on this website

        • Clif
          Clif
          May 31, 2025 at 12:51 am | #

          Where? I must have missed it.

          • Nymph
            Nymph
            May 31, 2025 at 3:27 pm | #

            Normal Comment.

            • Steamweed
              Steamweed
              May 31, 2025 at 10:34 pm | #

              Abby Normal comment!

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        May 31, 2025 at 12:55 am | #

        Saying odd things like this won’t solve world hunger.

      • Decidedly Orthogonal
        Decidedly Orthogonal
        May 31, 2025 at 6:24 am | #

        Don’t mind the peanut gallery. Human beings are still allowed to consider each other’s appearances, and you’ve long since made it clear that you consider people’s character and intellect.

    • Amós Batista
      Amós Batista
      May 31, 2025 at 12:10 am | #

      Oh, my. Suddenly I’m in love 💕

    • anon
      anon
      May 31, 2025 at 2:07 am | #

      good to have variety tho i imagine it does add to the smugness versus her having softer/generic features

    • Purple Floof
      Purple Floof
      May 31, 2025 at 2:52 am | #

      You could open a can of whoopass with that jawline

  3. Doopyboop
    Doopyboop
    May 31, 2025 at 12:04 am | #

    Alice the woman that you are, Billie please don’t fumble this time.

    • Nadamás
      Nadamás
      May 31, 2025 at 12:14 am | #

      But fumbling bad bongoes is bassically her especialty!

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      May 31, 2025 at 12:49 am | #

      Well, Alice has got a spot on the cast page now so I think she’ll be sticking around

      • Aquila
        Aquila
        May 31, 2025 at 1:16 am | #

        Not to rain on your parade, or anything, but when was the last time anyone saw Roz? (except on the cast page)

        • DailyBrad
          DailyBrad
          May 31, 2025 at 1:21 am | #

          During the birth control pills saga, I think, so more recently (relatively speaking) than one might expect. That is to say, I feel like Alice has a better chance of laying some roots than becoming like an Other Rachel.

        • Thag Simmons
          Thag Simmons
          May 31, 2025 at 2:11 am | #

          She’s around, even if she’s not as prominent as she used to be. Malaya and Mike have even less appearances recently, but all three had their time as front and center members of the ensemble.

          • anon
            anon
            May 31, 2025 at 2:14 am | #

            it is a pretty large cast to rotate, i remember roz appearing more recently than leslie and a lot would say shes an important adult chara aside from the parents, and that one Dr brown lookalike prof that’s mostly used as comedy relief

            • Shadowsnail
              Shadowsnail
              May 31, 2025 at 11:53 am | #

              I know you mean “character”. However:
              AI Overview
              The Greek word “chara” (Χαρά) primarily means joy, gladness, or delight.

              • Thag Simmons
                Thag Simmons
                May 31, 2025 at 3:20 pm | #

                So you understood their meaning entirely but still decided to pedantically bring up an unrelated word from another language for no reason.

                • Nymph
                  Nymph
                  May 31, 2025 at 3:29 pm | #

                  I mean, they didn’t imply anon was incorrect. I think this was more of a “fun fact” than anything else.

        • Astariel
          Astariel
          May 31, 2025 at 2:28 pm | #

          Both Joyce and Joe consulted her about sex not so long ago.

        • John Campbell
          John Campbell
          May 31, 2025 at 10:42 pm | #

          Yesterday, when Joyce and Dorothy were eye-fucking in her sister’s class.

  4. Wraithy2773
    Wraithy2773
    May 31, 2025 at 12:04 am | #

    ……..this is going far, far too nice and too sweet.

    I’m waiting for the shoe.

    • Dread Pirate Robin
      Dread Pirate Robin
      May 31, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

      Too early for the shoe. They’ll make us think they could be happy for the rest of their lives for a brief moment before yanking out the carpet, it’s the Willis way.

      • DailyBrad
        DailyBrad
        May 31, 2025 at 1:14 am | #

        Yeah, it’s too early for a hard collapse or something, not when it was kind of a trek to even get to where Alice would give her another chance. Willis is better at pacing than to immediately spike the football on us.

    • Thallone
      Thallone
      May 31, 2025 at 12:20 am | #

      OMG, reported trying to click reply – needs a are you sure there.

      That said, I expect the shoe to actually look more like a cast, based on that last panel.

      • Thag Simmons
        Thag Simmons
        May 31, 2025 at 12:39 am | #

        the report threshold is high enough that an accidental report isn’t going to be particularly impactful, don’t worry about it

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          May 31, 2025 at 4:15 am | #

          What about second breakfast five accidental reports?

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        May 31, 2025 at 2:57 pm | #

        I report every comment I read. It’s a good way to mark them so I don’t get confused later.

        • Clif
          Clif
          June 1, 2025 at 1:23 am | #

          That’s a good idea. We should all do that.

    • Justnobodyfqwl
      Justnobodyfqwl
      May 31, 2025 at 12:25 am | #

      I think the “other shoe” here is that Ruth pushed Alice and Billie together and is going to be miserable seeing them be happy together. There’s some narrative parallels here in DOA characters doing that to each other.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      May 31, 2025 at 12:54 am | #

      Where’s the first shoe?

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        May 31, 2025 at 5:23 pm | #

        I think that’s the one Dorothy kicked down the hallway at the beginning of the comic.

    • anon
      anon
      May 31, 2025 at 2:04 am | #

      her describing lucy as sweet makes me wonder if she has an unpleasant roommate or so herself or just surprised that billiefer has such a ‘nice’ rommate

    • Crow
      Crow
      May 31, 2025 at 6:06 am | #

      Alice gets mad at Jennifer for tackling her like a WWE fighter, something that was normal for Jennifer to do to Ruth but doesn’t play well with other people

  5. Dread Pirate Robin
    Dread Pirate Robin
    May 31, 2025 at 12:04 am | #

    Hm. I don’t know if that bodes well for a budding romance when you’re tripping over what your ex is thinking about you.

    • Laura
      Laura
      May 31, 2025 at 12:49 am | #

      Tripping and tumbling!

    • Shade
      Shade
      May 31, 2025 at 4:25 am | #

      Just looks like they’re goofing around.

  6. butts
    butts
    May 31, 2025 at 12:05 am | #

    Wow, they seem to be getting along well! Maybe Billie will be able to maintain this relationship in a normal and healthy haha can you imagine

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      May 31, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

      Hey, you never know, maybe she’s done enough time in the torment nexus to earn a few books worth of peace

      • Opus the Poet
        Opus the Poet
        May 31, 2025 at 12:10 am | #

        Billifer is going to hanky Alice’s panky?

        • Clif
          Clif
          May 31, 2025 at 12:54 am | #

          But only once, and it may have already happened.

          • eh, whatever
            eh, whatever
            May 31, 2025 at 8:13 am | #

            “only, like, once”…

            • Steamweed
              Steamweed
              May 31, 2025 at 10:36 pm | #

              You’re allowed.

        • Shadowsnail
          Shadowsnail
          May 31, 2025 at 12:01 pm | #

          Plays “Hanky Panky” by Madonna on the hacked Muzak.

    • anon
      anon
      May 31, 2025 at 2:07 am | #

      i mean ,we did also circle back around to joe/joyce legitimately dating despite her hating him after their ‘first’ date so y’never know

  7. Ty34er
    Ty34er
    May 31, 2025 at 12:05 am | #

    There’s some lesbian shenanigans that’s going to happen, isn’t there

    • Leorale
      Leorale
      May 31, 2025 at 12:44 am | #

      Billie is bi! We don’t know about Alice.
      But shenanigans, yes, for sure.

      • anon
        anon
        May 31, 2025 at 2:05 am | #

        well there was that one dramatic strip was like “i LOVED you billie” so i assume there was some feelings even if they never like made out

        or just ‘made out once while drunk’ XP

        • Li
          Li
          May 31, 2025 at 2:56 am | #

          Leorale means we don’t know how Alice identifies, so they could (for example) be bisexual shenanigans rather than lesbian shenanigans.

          • Risky
            Risky
            May 31, 2025 at 3:55 am | #

            It’s a big island, it can encompass bisexuals.

          • Random832
            Random832
            May 31, 2025 at 6:51 am | #

            Every time I see someone say this stuff I do a double take because a few years ago I only ever saw the “we must draw clear lines around all contexts for use of the term ‘lesbian’ to strictly keep bisexuals out” discourse from people who were biphobic, not people trying to be inclusive.

            I know it’s probably not how you mean it but it still bothers me.

            • Li
              Li
              May 31, 2025 at 5:41 pm | #

              I didn’t mean it either way — I was trying to help clarify Leorale’s point, not stating my own opinions on the matter. (I also think Leorale was trying to make a joke, not start discourse.)

              Honestly, I’ve gone back and forth on whether it felt like bi erasure to call Ruth and Jennifer lesbians or not, even causally (“lesbian relationship”, “lesbian pact”, etc).

              At this point, I’m just like. Call real, individual people what they want to be called, but recognize that there have never been clear dividing lines here: on both the individual level and the historical-societal level, we’ve always been a big undifferentiated bowl of “weird” soup. We have to learn to share and learn to make peace with there not always being a super clear division between, for example, “cis lesbian” and “straight trans man”.

              It’s all well and good to want to sort out one’s own identity into precise labels with no overlap, but you have to at least leave the door open for someone else whose only gender or sexuality label is butch, or queer.

              We have to stop eating our own. Especially right now, heh.

              • Meagan
                Meagan
                June 1, 2025 at 12:00 am | #

                Amen

          • thejeff
            thejeff
            May 31, 2025 at 8:41 am | #

            Well, if we’re going by how they identify, Jennifer is straight. (This is bullshit of course, but it’s how she identifies.)

            Evidence suggests Alice is bi too, but as you say, we don’t know how she identifies.

            • Sirksome
              Sirksome
              May 31, 2025 at 12:18 pm | #

              Jennifer only identifies as straight when she’s not actively kissing a girl. She dated Ruth openly for months after all the drama, never once stating this was a phase until after they broke up. Her biphobia is one of convenience not conviction.

              • thejeff
                thejeff
                May 31, 2025 at 1:32 pm | #

                Even when she was with Ruth, she rarely said anything that contradicted her “I’m straight, but I like girls sometimes, like everyone does” stance. There was a bit near the end – when they were actually going out on a date like a couple that she seemed to have a bit of a revelation.

                I’m still not entirely sure what she meant with the “phase” comment. Bisexuality? Ruth in particular? Is it “like everyone does” when she’s in the middle of it and “a phase” afterwards?

                • Sirksome
                  Sirksome
                  May 31, 2025 at 3:27 pm | #

                  I think Jen’s biphobia is a defense mechanism. Dating Ruth wasn’t real if it’s a phase, which means she was fine and Ruth didn’t hurt her. All part of the narrative Jen built for herself to cope. I never really bought Jennifer as biphobic before because she’s totally fine with everyone else’s homosexuality just not her own when the relationship falls apart. But lately she’s been feeding Joyce ideas that might be problematic even if entertaining. So I can’t fault people crying biphobia if those ideas she’s spouting had upset them.

                • Li
                  Li
                  May 31, 2025 at 5:30 pm | #

                  She was going to introduce Ruth to her parents. She was definitely planning on coming out when she did that. It makes the way things ended on Halloween that little bit more heartbreaking, and Jennifer’s back-slide into claiming to be “straight most of the time” (what she said most recently about her identity to Ruth wrt Dorothy) is really sad.

                • thejeff
                  thejeff
                  May 31, 2025 at 6:17 pm | #

                  If it’s a defense mechanism (and I agree it is) it long predates Ruth. It’s tied up in her self-image and wanting to be “normal”.
                  The closest she’s ever come to denying her interest in girls was the “phase” comment and that’s ambiguous, imo. She’s never really been closeted. Never shown any concern about anyone knowing she’s into girls. It’s only the label she’s objected to. The identity.
                  I do think she was coming to some kind of understanding before the timeskip, but that was about accepting what her attraction to women meant in terms of identity, not about it existing. No Jennifer, straight women aren’t actually attracted to women sometimes. That’s you.

                • Li
                  Li
                  May 31, 2025 at 7:18 pm | #

                  Didn’t mean to imply it was Ruth’s fault, if that was directed at me. 🙂

            • StClair
              StClair
              May 31, 2025 at 9:46 pm | #

              Jennifer identifies as “normal”. Not nerdy, not queer, normal. Totally.

  8. True Survivor
    True Survivor
    May 31, 2025 at 12:05 am | #

    Those two have what really matters in life: killer jackets.

    • Plain Marie
      Plain Marie
      May 31, 2025 at 8:08 am | #

      Yesssss, killer jackets. And boots? I think? I feel like there ought to be boots too. *scrolls up to look*

    • Daibhid C
      Daibhid C
      May 31, 2025 at 8:56 am | #

      The opposite of life jackets!

    • nothri
      nothri
      May 31, 2025 at 10:09 am | #

      Yeah. See this killer jacket? Amazing right? Yeah, this jacket murdered a man back in 05. Sentenced him to 20 years. Got off on good behavior. Been keeping him here on parole ever since.

  9. IntangibleMatter
    IntangibleMatter
    May 31, 2025 at 12:05 am | #

    Yuri or Billie immediately fucking up? PLACE YOUR BETS NOW

    • jeffepp
      jeffepp
      May 31, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

      The odds are fairly even.

      • Yumi
        Yumi
        May 31, 2025 at 12:09 am | #

        Could be both simultaneously! She’s very talented.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      May 31, 2025 at 12:21 am | #

      I think at this point we’ve gotten enough Alice that it would be weird if this all just ended with drama hurricane 2.0 and her getting quickly driven away.

      Now, that doesn’t mean things won’t get fucked up, but I would expect it to be the sort of fuck-up that gradually unfolds over the course of like an entire book worth of pages

      • OngoingConversation
        OngoingConversation
        May 31, 2025 at 12:35 am | #

        A potential plot line: They hang out a lot and it’s so great that Alices old feelings for Billiefer awaken again, and Billiefer goes through something similar. Then something very sapphic happens, Billiefer goes “but just besties?” And then Alice calls her out on her bullcorn, leaves her (hopefully temporarily) and Billiefer finally realises she may be a tiny bit bi.

        • Thag Simmons
          Thag Simmons
          May 31, 2025 at 12:45 am | #

          Yeah, are they friends or are they girlfriends will probably be the first hurdle to clear

    • Leorale
      Leorale
      May 31, 2025 at 12:52 am | #

      While it definitely doesn’t seem like tackling was previously part of their relationship, so that Alice would be super reasonable to be like ‘wtf, you tackled me??’, I think it’ll be a way slower burn than that.
      – while a misdirection would be kinda neat, it’s not worth the exposition Willis has put in, like about where they’re eating, or that Lucy and/or Jacob might join them.
      – last panel stuff is often exaggerated for comedy, in which case it doesn’t have big consequences.
      – Alice has a cast page now.
      – Said cast page has a will-they/won’t-they vibe.

      My bet is on this not ruining it. Yet.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        May 31, 2025 at 8:43 am | #

        I’m not really seeing this as “tackling”, so much as knocking down while play fighting over the phone.

  10. Pocky
    Pocky
    May 31, 2025 at 12:05 am | #

    tackle and submission hold

  11. jeffepp
    jeffepp
    May 31, 2025 at 12:05 am | #

    Wrestling can only lead to making out… or a visit to the hospital.

    • True Survivor
      True Survivor
      May 31, 2025 at 12:07 am | #

      This is Billie so, those may not be mutually exclusive.

      • IntangibleMatter
        IntangibleMatter
        May 31, 2025 at 12:12 am | #

        With her it’d be more surprising if they were mutually exclusive

    • Steamweed
      Steamweed
      May 31, 2025 at 12:37 am | #

      Making out IN the hospital.

      • Hazel
        Hazel
        May 31, 2025 at 2:03 am | #

        Making out WITH the hospital.

        …What?

      • AbacusWizard
        AbacusWizard
        May 31, 2025 at 4:59 am | #

        Right outside Dina’s door.

  12. Opus the Poet
    Opus the Poet
    May 31, 2025 at 12:05 am | #

    Slight collision there. I hope it doesn’t get out of hand.

  13. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    May 31, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

    Everyone, don’t make too many comments today! If they break through the edge of the comic frame, then the longer this page grows the farther they’ll have to fall!

    • V98
      V98
      May 31, 2025 at 12:20 am | #

      +1

    • Crow
      Crow
      May 31, 2025 at 6:12 am | #

      This!

      • Crow
        Crow
        May 31, 2025 at 6:13 am | #

        Oh, sorry

        • Crow
          Crow
          May 31, 2025 at 6:13 am | #

          How d you delete comments?

          • Crow
            Crow
            May 31, 2025 at 6:14 am | #

            *do

            • eh, whatever
              eh, whatever
              May 31, 2025 at 8:17 am | #

              You don’t. You may have noticed you don’t have a password here…

              • Crow
                Crow
                May 31, 2025 at 10:58 am | #

                Shit!!! Sorry, guys

                • Nymph
                  Nymph
                  May 31, 2025 at 3:39 pm | #

                  That’s okay

                • Nymph
                  Nymph
                  May 31, 2025 at 3:39 pm | #

                  honestly not a big deal

  14. Elf grrl
    Elf grrl
    May 31, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

    Little did Alice know, Billifer has gotten tons of practice climbing tall things; like Ruth

  15. Erica
    Erica
    May 31, 2025 at 12:07 am | #

    There’s something about how Alice talks that doesn’t seem like a real person.

    • Nadamás
      Nadamás
      May 31, 2025 at 12:12 am | #

      She is literally one of the most normal characters in the strip.

      • IntangibleMatter
        IntangibleMatter
        May 31, 2025 at 12:14 am | #

        I think Tumblr Dumbing of Age is giving me a slightly skewed idea of what this show is about how people talk

        • Nadamás
          Nadamás
          May 31, 2025 at 1:47 am | #

          But there is literally nothing particularly strange about anything she is saying here.

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      May 31, 2025 at 12:49 am | #

      I noticed it more when she showed up at Ruth’s, but there’s some of her idiosyncrasy(?) here. I hope she keeps it up for the rest of the run of the comic, to make that strip less uncanny.

      • Erica
        Erica
        June 1, 2025 at 8:19 am | #

        I’m glad someone else gets it

    • 3oranges
      3oranges
      May 31, 2025 at 12:58 am | #

      Real people have to move their mouth to talk, but Alice has the exact same smile in every panel! Otherwise I really don’t know what this is about.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      May 31, 2025 at 12:58 am | #

      If you imagine her having a light Danish accent, everything falls into place.

      • Yumi
        Yumi
        May 31, 2025 at 10:03 am | #

        I like to imagine her as British, so that the “For British eyes only” sound clip from Arrested Development can play in my head.

    • anon
      anon
      May 31, 2025 at 2:09 am | #

      i dont’ think she had long enough of a convo with lucy to consider her a ‘sweetie’ or have any impression of her that was negative /closer to neutral tho the rest just seems like friends teasing each other , with the “i’m STILL taller than you” implies she might’ve done ‘keep away’ with jen before using her long arms/height lol

      • eh, whatever
        eh, whatever
        May 31, 2025 at 8:18 am | #

        or have any impression of her

        Her face.

      • Nadamás
        Nadamás
        May 31, 2025 at 2:21 pm | #

        Lucy just irradiate sweetie energy, it’s impossible not to arrive at that conclusion when you meet her.

        • Taffy
          Taffy
          May 31, 2025 at 2:56 pm | #

          Unless you’re one of the unstable, paranoid creeps here, of course. I’ve seen people claiming, with their whole chest, Lucy is a manipulative Mean Girl who wants to hurt and control everyone around her.

          • Nymph
            Nymph
            May 31, 2025 at 3:41 pm | #

            IT’S THE TRUTH AND YOU CAN SEE IT IN THE WAY SHE…

            I MEAN SOMETIMES SHE…

            AND THEN UHM…

  16. Taigan
    Taigan
    May 31, 2025 at 12:08 am | #

    Let’s see… a lesser writer (like me) would have them stumble into Joe returning from the shower, accidentally pulling off his towel revealing his unwilted erection. Dorothy sees this out of context and is convinced Joe has returned to his philandering ways after having had sex with Joyce. So she becomes committed to breaking up Joyce and Joe, and playing on Joyce’s newly revealed feelings for her is the only way she can think to do that.

    But I have faith that Willis has something else in mind.

    • Nadamás
      Nadamás
      May 31, 2025 at 12:11 am | #

      *Blink* *Blink* Oooookay?

      • Crow
        Crow
        May 31, 2025 at 6:17 am | #

        Shhh…Let them be horny

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      May 31, 2025 at 12:14 am | #

      They’re not even in the same building. Unless Joe went for a walk in his towel after the shower.

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        May 31, 2025 at 12:22 am | #

        A long walk in the cold air to cool his head.

      • HueSatLight
        HueSatLight
        May 31, 2025 at 12:51 am | #

        ludicrously unwilted.

      • Shade
        Shade
        May 31, 2025 at 4:28 am | #

        Surely a stroll through a woman’s dorm will fix it.

    • cbwroses
      cbwroses
      May 31, 2025 at 12:17 am | #

      They’re in different dormitories, so that would have been one hell of a detour during the walk back from the shower.

    • Queen Anthai
      Queen Anthai
      May 31, 2025 at 12:30 am | #

      That’s lesser writing, all right

      • Rabbit
        Rabbit
        May 31, 2025 at 12:40 am | #

        And how. (literally.)

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      May 31, 2025 at 12:37 am | #

      I have several questions but I don’t think I want answers to any of them

    • Vanessa
      Vanessa
      May 31, 2025 at 12:42 am | #

      Oh gosh, let’s hope not!

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      May 31, 2025 at 12:58 am | #

      That’s just plain hack writing.

    • Derek
      Derek
      May 31, 2025 at 1:01 am | #

      I think the implication in recent strips is that Dorothy is pretending her queer awakening doesn’t count, so there’s no reason for her to try to break up Joyce and Joe

    • Risky
      Risky
      May 31, 2025 at 4:02 am | #

      Seems unlikely but let me know if you post this as a fanfic or fancomic or music video… where.

      • Risky
        Risky
        May 31, 2025 at 4:04 am | #

        AU fic where this happened in the same building is not very AU at all… but it could lead to a lot of other choice interactions that would be unlikely in doa prime.

  17. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    May 31, 2025 at 12:08 am | #

    Looks like Jennifer is laughing at the end. That’s good. I don’t wanna her ruining the mood again

  18. Nadamás
    Nadamás
    May 31, 2025 at 12:10 am | #

    Everyone say hi to Jennifer “Totally over it she swears” Billingsworth!

  19. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    May 31, 2025 at 12:14 am | #

    Alice in 2nd pannel: Trollface

    • Steamweed
      Steamweed
      May 31, 2025 at 10:39 pm | #

      You mean third panel?

  20. Suet
    Suet
    May 31, 2025 at 12:15 am | #

    Grabbed by the waist and we don’t see them land… They’re the most cliffhanger pair, I swear

    time to dust off the height charts

  21. Dave Van Domelen
    Dave Van Domelen
    May 31, 2025 at 12:16 am | #

    Go ask Alice, when she’s in the res hall.

    • Steamweed
      Steamweed
      May 31, 2025 at 12:39 am | #

      Plus one point to you.

  22. V98
    V98
    May 31, 2025 at 12:17 am | #

    Shoves is not loves.

    • V98
      V98
      May 31, 2025 at 12:18 am | #

      And… is she going through Alice’s phone?????

      • Thag Simmons
        Thag Simmons
        May 31, 2025 at 12:23 am | #

        She’s going through her own phone and trying to get Alice to show her hers.

      • HueSatLight
        HueSatLight
        May 31, 2025 at 12:53 am | #

        Ruth texted Alice from Jennifer’s phone.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      May 31, 2025 at 12:59 am | #

      Have you read a single strip with Billie in it? One?

      • Aquila
        Aquila
        May 31, 2025 at 1:19 am | #

        Since Jennifer’s been trying to impress Alice, she’s been more or less behaving herself.
        … tackle notwithstanding.

      • Tan
        Tan
        May 31, 2025 at 1:32 am | #

        I think it is safe to assume that V98 has read at least one strip in which Jennifer appears. Namely this one: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/04-the-do-list/secretly/

    • Nadamás
      Nadamás
      May 31, 2025 at 1:54 am | #

      I guessing that you are making a joke that I don’t get, but just in case, Alice is playfully pulling he upr phone so Jennifer can’t see the messages that Ruth sended about her (because she is not at all over her) Jennifer tries to get to it in a pretty funny manner like trying to get something out of a high shell, and accidentally and comically topple both of them over. That is what happens here and nothing else.

  23. Icalasari
    Icalasari
    May 31, 2025 at 12:22 am | #

    Dammit Billifer!

  24. The 25th
    The 25th
    May 31, 2025 at 12:22 am | #

    Aww~ they’re flirting.

  25. Proxiehunter
    Proxiehunter
    May 31, 2025 at 12:24 am | #

    And then they land on the floor their faces just inches apart staring into each others eyes . . .

    • Quinn
      Quinn
      May 31, 2025 at 12:40 am | #

      I hope so. My mind went straight to a chipped tooth, heads knocking together or some other nasty injury; thus ruining their positive moods.

      • Nymph
        Nymph
        May 31, 2025 at 3:43 pm | #

        Seems unlikely, given the tone of the comic, but I guess Joyce did once rip her own toenail off.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      May 31, 2025 at 9:04 am | #

      It does kind of feel like a lead in to that scenario, though Willis could easily subvert, though probably not with any serious injury.

  26. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    May 31, 2025 at 12:26 am | #

    With Alice, Billie, Lucy, Jacob, maybe throw Sarah and Tony in there, we can have a nice second group going. Those Read Hall losers have had too much spotlight. They gotten complacent in their top position. They better watch themselves before the new group takes their spot.

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      May 31, 2025 at 12:31 am | #

      Tony lives in Read.
      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/plebs/

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        May 31, 2025 at 12:43 am | #

        I did forget that, but I also don’t really have a good name for the main group of dummies thats’s Joyce, Dorothy, Walky, Becky, Dina, Joe, Sal, Danny, Amber, Amazi-Girl. I know there’s more but these get the most attention and honestly even that is more of a foursome of Joyce, Dorothy, Becky, and Amber.
        What do we call them?

        • HueSatLight
          HueSatLight
          May 31, 2025 at 12:59 am | #

          Abductees etc

          • Risky
            Risky
            May 31, 2025 at 4:08 am | #

            Yep

        • Leorale
          Leorale
          May 31, 2025 at 1:03 am | #

          That main group. Joyce’s friends, plus also Danny.
          They like walking to class together if that would lead somebody to a better name

          • DailyBrad
            DailyBrad
            May 31, 2025 at 1:10 am | #

            Walkys. Wait, fuck.

          • Yumi
            Yumi
            May 31, 2025 at 8:46 am | #

            Joyce and Friends and Danny

  27. NGPZ
    NGPZ
    May 31, 2025 at 12:41 am | #

    Awe, Alice seems to be endearing to Billy already XD

    • Nadamás
      Nadamás
      May 31, 2025 at 1:56 am | #

      The love was always still there she just needed to know it would not turn into pain

  28. Steamweed
    Steamweed
    May 31, 2025 at 12:41 am | #

    At first, I thought they hit a wall pretty hard. Finally clicked on rotating the comic. Floor be more sensible why yes I don’t get enough sleep why you ask?

  29. CC
    CC
    May 31, 2025 at 12:51 am | #

    Unrelated to the actual comic, I do love how the character polls are always:
    – every girl (roughly tied)
    – every guy (tied significantly lower)

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      May 31, 2025 at 1:09 am | #

      If I cannot otherwise decide, I always vote for Danny because I think it’s just funny knowing he’s virtually never going to win these, plus I just think he’s fun.

    • Adept
      Adept
      May 31, 2025 at 12:12 pm | #

      ”every girl roughly tied” sounds like an entirely different genre.

  30. Josh Spicer
    Josh Spicer
    May 31, 2025 at 12:55 am | #

    Aw shit…here we go again.

  31. JA
    JA
    May 31, 2025 at 12:56 am | #

    Welp, that’s a stellar start to an atonement and reconciliation arc.

  32. William
    William
    May 31, 2025 at 12:57 am | #

    Aaaaaand there Billie goes, fuckin’ shit up again. Rip. 🙁

    • Nadamás
      Nadamás
      May 31, 2025 at 1:57 am | #

      I don’t this as her fuckin shit up quiet the opposite, Alice and her probably were playful like this back when they still were high school friends.

      • Adept
        Adept
        May 31, 2025 at 12:10 pm | #

        I read it as her fucking it up as well. She seems brittle, and a little feral. I don’t think Alice expected that at all, nor will she necessarily be ok with it.

        • Nadamás
          Nadamás
          May 31, 2025 at 2:18 pm | #

          I don’t see that in the slightest.

    • anon
      anon
      May 31, 2025 at 2:10 am | #

      i would read that last part as her bumping/accidentally tripping, not purposefully too aggressive in trying to grab her phone

      • Adept
        Adept
        May 31, 2025 at 12:11 pm | #

        I think it was an actual tackle, look at her arm around Alice’s waist.

        • anon
          anon
          May 31, 2025 at 10:59 pm | #

          prolly a tackle turned stumble/i doubt she meant to knock her al the way down or so

    • Nymph
      Nymph
      May 31, 2025 at 3:45 pm | #

      You know, waiting until she actually does something wrong is… if not required, then at least the traditional method of complaining about someone.

      • Nadamás
        Nadamás
        May 31, 2025 at 5:11 pm | #

        Not on this comment section it isn’t.

  33. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    May 31, 2025 at 1:02 am | #

    I am so glad Alice is still around. She’s one of those characters I latched onto right away and was hoping would come back around, and this has been friggin’ bliss for me, let me tell you. Billie/Jennifer has had her past hanging over her in a way that’s fairly unique amongst the cast. Yes, Sal, Amber, etc, have a haunting past in their own right, but Billie’s DUI situation and how that affected her from day one, going from feeling like a big deal cheerleader in highschool to being arguably the biggest loser of the main cast for her initially weeks of college, and how it led to Ruth singling her out pretty quickly, was so defining. Having someone other than Walky, someone who DID think she was hot shit before Billie fell right off of her pedestal in front of her, is a very interesting dynamic to me, especially as Billie navigates who she wants to be, what her present and future look like.

    I do wonder if Raidah is going to try to stomp out this connection, like how she already tried to exert pressure to make Jennifer patch things up with Asher for her own wants.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      May 31, 2025 at 5:28 am | #

      There’s a version of Alice that’s incredibly one-note and uninteresting, the path of least resistance would have been to make her a shallow heel who ditched her friend once she stopped being popular.

      What we’ve gotten instead is a million times better and more interesting than that.

      • DailyBrad
        DailyBrad
        May 31, 2025 at 1:33 pm | #

        Absolutely agreed, and hell, even in her first appearance, it went deeper than that, with her having been in love with Billie and being bitterly disappointed in how she’d fucked up majorly in their past together. I am just glad she came back around, since Willis had previously intimated that wasn’t the original expectation. It meant that, when she DID resurface, she had more dimension than “Former Cheerleader-Era Buddy”.

  34. DashWallkick
    DashWallkick
    May 31, 2025 at 1:07 am | #

    No, Billie, that’s a Ruth tactic! Alice isn’t into roughousing!! Adjust, adjust!

  35. Fireprincesslily
    Fireprincesslily
    May 31, 2025 at 1:14 am | #

    I really want this ship to sail.

    Also could some of y’all get your boots off Billie’s neck? Gah dang it

  36. Laura
    Laura
    May 31, 2025 at 1:15 am | #

    For your reading pleasure, apropos of nothing…

    projethomere.com/ressources/Sappho/Poetry-of-Sappho.pdf

    inamidst.com/stuff/sappho

    poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Sappho.php

    thehypertexts.com/Sappho%20Translations.htm

    sacred-texts.com/cla/sappho/index.htm

    wikisource.org/wiki/The_Poems_of_Sappho

    Enjoy!

    • darkoneko
      darkoneko
      May 31, 2025 at 1:37 am | #

      Oh, right. The Poems… The Poems of Sappho, the Poems chosen specially to read for Sappho, Sappho’s Poems.
      – Those Poems ?
      – Yes! Those Poems.

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      May 31, 2025 at 2:13 am | #

      ah yeah, Pride month is almost here!

      yippee!!!! ^-^

      • Risky
        Risky
        May 31, 2025 at 4:13 am | #

        Almost there… things are getting pinker and yet more rainbow by the moment…

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      May 31, 2025 at 11:03 am | #

      When I was in high school, I had a time when Sappho was a recurring figure in my dreams. I was kinda annoyed at my dream symbolism being so obvious, but was also kinda like, “Okay, well, let’s see what Sappho’s up to tonight.”

      • Astariel
        Astariel
        May 31, 2025 at 2:45 pm | #

        That sounds pretty cool, actually.

  37. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    May 31, 2025 at 1:34 am | #

    my eyes only 👀 (hmm, comment won’t work if it starts with an emote)

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      May 31, 2025 at 1:46 am | #

      👀Is that so?

  38. Falcon
    Falcon
    May 31, 2025 at 1:48 am | #

    They still have feelings for each other. But it’s not going to work out. Alice built up a lot of bad experiences with Billie and the biases that come with that. She’s actively pushing through them because she is really, really attracted to Billie and now has an excuse thanks to people putting in a good word, but Alice’s attitude feels too…rushed.

    • anon
      anon
      May 31, 2025 at 2:12 am | #

      they’re young enough to go through a lot and still be friends/rekindle friendship but i don’t mind it staying platonic versus expecting a spark/some chemistry

      assuming alice isn’t too friendly/flirty with another chara in front of billiefer and that sets her off somehow lol

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      May 31, 2025 at 5:15 am | #

      Maybe, but there’s good experiences there too. I think it’ll be rough, but if they can act with maturity and intelligence I think they’ll be able to make it work.

      …

      So yeah, they are probably doomed.

  39. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    May 31, 2025 at 1:48 am | #

    ….unrelatedly, the last panel doesn’t really sit well with me. Billiefer is being too aggressive, especially with someone she barely restarted connecting with.

    • Nadamás
      Nadamás
      May 31, 2025 at 1:59 am | #

      I am pretty certain she just tripped.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      May 31, 2025 at 3:18 am | #

      The machine gun is a bit much, I agree.

  40. anon
    anon
    May 31, 2025 at 2:03 am | #

    i mean, wouldn’t it make more sense if it was a dm than public post? unless alice has some social media that can be commented on just publicly and only dm’d as mutuals

    • Risky
      Risky
      May 31, 2025 at 4:17 am | #

      Seems like it was a dm, from Jennifer’s phone typed by Ruth and sent only to Alice, then subsequently deleted from Jennifer’s phone by Ruth using the delete only from this device type of delete. So Alice still has her copy even though Jennifer does not.

      • anon
        anon
        May 31, 2025 at 11:00 pm | #

        ah iforgot she texted her from jens phone, i suppose it’s possible she could’ve copied her number as a separate contact tho iguess that’d be a bit awkwardto do

  41. Kyulen
    Kyulen
    May 31, 2025 at 2:39 am | #

    I’d like to hope Billifer doesn’t screw this up, but I’m not optimistic.

  42. Li
    Li
    May 31, 2025 at 3:00 am | #

    This is so cute. Loving this take on Jennifer’s hair, too. They look so comfy together.

  43. Nadamás
    Nadamás
    May 31, 2025 at 4:01 am | #

    Seems I was mistaken about Jennifer having tripped I didn’t not see that her hand was on waist. My bad.

    • Risky
      Risky
      May 31, 2025 at 4:19 am | #

      Ah, the hand. Zooming and enhancing. Alice’s eyebrow changed a lot between panels. Is she shocked by this attack, and not in a good way? They are going to crash again, actually they’ve crashed off camera and outside the borders already. Stay between the lines!

      • Nadamás
        Nadamás
        May 31, 2025 at 4:37 am | #

        I wouldn’t go that far either.

  44. Adept
    Adept
    May 31, 2025 at 4:41 am | #

    Way to be normal Billie. This lasted about as long as I thought.

  45. Florence
    Florence
    May 31, 2025 at 4:47 am | #

    ☺️

  46. Arianod
    Arianod
    May 31, 2025 at 5:15 am | #

    Looks like someone might need to get a room. Soon-ish.

  47. Florence
    Florence
    May 31, 2025 at 6:39 am | #

    New discourse: this is nice

    Second new discourse: sending ☺️ and 💜 to everyone here in the comment section

    Third new discourse: thank you Willis for this wholesome moment

    • Laura
      Laura
      May 31, 2025 at 8:40 am | #

      🕯🎶🎵🎼☕️
      Right back atcha!

      • Florence
        Florence
        May 31, 2025 at 9:17 am | #

        ☺️

    • Looney
      Looney
      May 31, 2025 at 9:36 am | #

      i love this song! i genuinely think this is just nice stuff happening!! not every moment is setting up doom and disaster!!

      • Florence
        Florence
        May 31, 2025 at 10:09 am | #

        Yea! Sometimes something is just nice!

    • Amós Batista
      Amós Batista
      May 31, 2025 at 4:51 pm | #

      thank you

      • Florence
        Florence
        May 31, 2025 at 10:40 pm | #

        ☺️

    • Li
      Li
      May 31, 2025 at 5:27 pm | #

      B’aww <3 Thank you, Florence.

      • Florence
        Florence
        May 31, 2025 at 10:40 pm | #

        ☺️

  48. thumb
    thumb
    May 31, 2025 at 6:47 am | #

    I hope they’re good for each other, however it goes.

  49. SvenTS
    SvenTS
    May 31, 2025 at 6:56 am | #

    A perfectly normal and not at all suspicious reaction.

  50. Ornathe
    Ornathe
    May 31, 2025 at 9:31 am | #

    I haven’t seen anyone else really mention it – understandably, Billifer and Alice are kind of the spotlight of this strip and all – but I like that Lucy settled on an amicable “you go on ahead, maybe I’ll see you there if I feel up for going there later”. I was a little worried it’d become a minor argument, with her being so caught off guard that Billie invited her to join them to hang out, but she actually recovered nicely without giving Alice any reason to think Billie’s still awful to her peers, even to the point of Alice saying she seems sweet. Drama’s always juicy in here, but it’s nice when tiny things occasionally just go well, too.

  51. AlexaSpuds
    AlexaSpuds
    May 31, 2025 at 10:45 am | #

    Putting down 20 bucks on this becoming a love triangle between Billie, Alice and Ruth, with Billie still kinda leaning towards Ruth, but the end result will be a 50/50 and basically totally up to Willis (may god have mercy on my gay soul, this man is so evil with his sapphic stories).

  52. Stephen Nedland
    Stephen Nedland
    May 31, 2025 at 12:46 pm | #

    This is how lesbian make outs start, right? It starts with one lesbian/bi girl tackling the other, the two awkwardly stare at each other for a few seconds, and then the tounge wrestling commences. Right? Just asking this, for a friend.

  53. Taffy
    Taffy
    May 31, 2025 at 1:14 pm | #

    Really rude of Billie to steal Alice’s wallet and use her cash to buy heroin and then encase the heroin in a block of acrylic so it could be seen but not used.

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      May 31, 2025 at 2:09 pm | #

      Um, it’s called a metaphor. Very obvious if you’re familiar with literary analysis.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        May 31, 2025 at 2:17 pm | #

        It’s more like a simile, if you read it in Aramaic.

        • Steamweed
          Steamweed
          May 31, 2025 at 10:31 pm | #

          But it’s more like an analogy if you read it in the original Klingon.

  54. Yak
    Yak
    May 31, 2025 at 5:51 pm | #

    The “have a friend vouch for me” technique totally paid off huh

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      May 31, 2025 at 11:53 pm | #

      It turns out that Joyce pulls, actually

      • Yak
        Yak
        June 1, 2025 at 7:51 am | #

        I was talking about Ruth but yeah

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