“Huh. I guess I value helping people more than studying? Guess I’d better study a lot so I’m better at helping people.”
I’ve said it before, she’d sort into her choice of house. She’d fit well into any of them.
(Well, maybe not Slytherin if she didn’t have the right bloodline, but that’s her ancestors and not her. … though okay she’d also be surrounded by jerks and that would suck, so nm. But she definitely has the prerequisite of political ambition to rule.)
Snape and Riddle did well in Slytherin. Those who excel can carve out a place for themselves under the serpent’s banner, blood be damned.
She’s probably better suited to any other house, barring perhaps Gryffindor, but she’d do well in any of them. Very much a ‘House of choice’ situation.
bloodline doesn’t necessarily mean the end for a Slytherin. Snape is a muggle name and he not only was head of house, but maybe the best Slytherin there ever was.
Not necessarily a correlation. I didn’t get significant facial hair until late high school or early college, despite everything else progressing normally.
I’m imagining she was not even half awake and all she registered was that somebody is really excited or proud about something, but her response was still totally sincere.
We’ll just go with “I’m older than most of these characters’ parents”, but I still can’t grow a beard or mustache. I’ve just got random patches of hair across my face that don’t connect up or anything.
My brother got a double dose of beard, and I got nuthin’.
Nope. The worst is having dark hair grow on your face and/or neck when you are female (both trans and cis) and worrying that
1) You will forget to shave/wax/pluck and leave the house with a hairy face/neck, get stares, and possibly be asked by a small child if you are a boy or a girl
2) You will get teased or be the butt of a joke
3) A date will feel stubble and automatically jump to asking if you have a dick
Cis woman with a hairy neck here and yes that has all happened to me despite my cute face and awesome hooters. 😛
I mean I don’t see a little bit of hair as all that big a problem, but it’s definitely not a societally accepted thing on females and I imagine that can lead to all sorts of unpleasant situations.
My first post so I want to be sure I got the FAQ correct. Dee-na is mute, not Marcie. Everybody is a moron. I get to preach on your website if I post the first strawman. Joyce is Catholic and an automobile. I need to leer at objects until they turn gay. If I want to criticize, I must post 16 rows of slurs.
Seriously though, I’m a huge fan of Dumbing of Age and have gotten 2 of my friends reading it too. After my first read through, I followed your links and read all of Roomies, It’s Walky, the public strips from Joyce and Walky, and Shortpacked. I’m already reading Dumbing of Age again after reading the whole thing about a month ago. I cried at the Ruth part because it was the most honest and real depiction of depression I’ve ever seen (especially her in the hospital which most media either skips over, depicts in a censored way, or shows exclusively from the waiting room).
The reason I love it so much is they all feel like real people. So much of it resonates with me. Being from the south, my entire town is populated by far too many Christian stereotypes and I was the weird girl that doubted back before I even knew what an atheist was. Trying to fit in and not be bisexual or non Christian was hard. It didn’t help that I had parents who would have been at home in your stories (verbally abusive father and super abusive Christian mother who sometimes starved me). I also met a guy who I thought was nice who turned out to think no meant yes. I got depressed and didn’t go for help because you didn’t do that. I ended up in the hospital after years of hiding it. I got help and finally stopped pretending to be something I couldn’t be. When I came out as a bisexual atheist, it was the most freeing moment of my life even with the crap I’ve caught over it.
So thanks for writing real characters who are more than the sum of their parts. You make the world a better place for us and all our layers. Keep writing and keep inspiring. 🙂
Likewise. There was also a significant gap between reading it for the first time and the transition from lurking to posting, though I occasionally reference it when I worry about overstepping lines or just want to giggle as I imagine some of the stuff Willis filters out.
I’m surprised that he hasn’t added a section on the random things people who don’t read the comic closely ask to the point of facepalm brain damage like “Roz DID ask Joe permission. Read fucking [this] comic before I start lobbing comically oversized objects at your head!!!”
Hey, he just stopped by to say hi to his girlfriend and got a little distracted on his way out. Its not like he has the slightest idea he’s interrupting something serious.
Besides, his adorable show of affection for Dorothy got Amber to smile, so he’s now a saint in my book
I seem to remember an AWFUL lot of shouting about being a lesbian, if I recall correctly.
I feel like both of them just have an abundance of enthusiasm, and not so many filters. And when they’re excited about something they can’t keep that to themselves.
Other than the couple critical filters Walky’s missing, I rather like that about both of them.
Oh dang, I hope not. Even if she was just laying in bed all night not sleeping, that would not be good. Sleep deprivation would not be a good thing to throw into the mix there
Also Joyce’s dorm party, though they didn’t really talk.
But thanks for the reminder of the cookies. That makes her genuine-looking smile make more sense. She talked through some bad stuff with him. They’re kinda friends, even if he doesn’t know it.
Amazi-Girl had that rooftop conversation with Walky that ended up resulting in the cutest Walky panel ever, and they were both at Joyce’s dorm party, and there was the big chase scene that ended up leading into the events of the first Slipshine. They’ve interacted enough times where they know each other well enough. Amazi-Girl did say on the rooftop that Walky sort of triggered some sort of alarm bell in the back of her mind that she couldn’t figure out (probably her subconsciously recognizing the relationship to Sal), but apart from that she’s shown no indication that she knows about the fact that Walky is Sal’s brother.
Huh. Now that I think about all the ways people know each other I really wanna do a diagram chart of all the character relationships and see how interlinked they are. Eh, too much effort.
He was only a lavender beatnik
The hairs of his beard, they were two
But he wanted to be a beat poet
And do like the Kerouacs do.
Zen Flesh And Zen Bones was his credo
Espresso was his cup of tea
He even stopped looking in mirrors
And the hairs of his beard, they were three.
He jilted the girl who had loved him,
And said “What’s this experience for?
The sorrow will make me a poet”
And the hairs of his beard, they were four.
He took his first toke with trepidation,
And felt himself coming alive –
Understood what eluded the sages…
And the hairs of his beard, they were five.
He attempted to broaden his knowledge,
Make his poetry flow with a fix;
At the age of nineteen he’s a burnout,
But the hairs of his beard, they are six.
He was found in de-feat-al position,
An insanity sudden and weird…
He had aimed for his throat with a razor,
And shaved off the hairs of his beard!
Not sure if sarcasm…
The hair didn’t show up until it was zoomed in on, likely on account of being too fine to show up in the broader shot.
Yeah, you were probably being sarcastic.
First off Walky I haft to tail you that facial hair isn’t all that it’s cracked to be, sure it his manly but in my case I spent the last six years barely shaving only to find out that I’m one of those select number of people that wemon find appealing without it.
Also did we just bring up a significant plot point with some very serious tone only for the full length of entire strip only to drop it completely the next strip and move on ? That feels like to fast of a swerve I feel like I got whiplash from that.
I guess you guys are right I guess that at the moment it just felt a little bit too brief, like maybe I was expecting just one more strip discussing this before changing the tone. But Maybe I should just adjust to the pacing.
I’d set one up, but since I’d end up playing it by myself, it would probably not be the big draw one would otherwise imagine “Naked Instagram Twister” to be.
Walky knows about Amber/Amazi-girl, doesn’t he? He recognize his rooftop cookie buddy even without the mask and does his usual “Walky is an idiot” dance to cheer her up.
I’m calling it! He will tell Dorothy about it in a week or two.
Bagge might be onto something, though, FC. Walky can be quite insightful when he just doesn’t let his own ego get in his way. I was as surprised as anyone to see that he’d paid enough attention to Ethan and Joyce to see that it was a fake relationship. So there is a precedent for him doing this kind of thing.
I’m not saying its impossible. He’s definitely smart enough to put it together if he put his mind to it. But he usually doesn’t, and recently, he’s had lots of other things on his mind.
More to the point, he just woke up, and barely has his eyes all the way open. Walky is barely capable of subterfuge when he’s fully awake. I’m not sure he’d be actually succeed at it first thing in the morning.
I was about to say that the same tiredness could also prevent his own ego from showing up and just let his smartness do the job on its own…
…But considering how he in the very next second goes bananas over a single strand of facial hair, that obviously isn’t the case.
But then again, he was awake enough to notice that hair when he wasn’t even actively searching for it… Of course, he might always be on the lookout for signs of “being a man” even when sleeping, so not entirely sure how that’s working out.
…I’m pretty much arguing with myself back and forth now, aren’t I?
Though I don’t see his ego getting in the way of him applying himself. It just gets in the way of improving himself, and admitting it when he needs help.
His reaction to the hair I also don’t see as ego, so much as an overabundance of enthusiasm, and a tendency to blurt out his thoughts as they happen. His feelings re: pajama jeans were expressed in a similarly loud, blurty fashion to any and all who would listen.
I thought Walky had his eyes closed. He was, after all, in a girl’s room looking for Dorothy and had found her in the half-bath. Not knowing who else might be in there with her and what state of dress (or undress) they might be in, he is being a gentleman and has his eyes closed.
Although he had to have had them open to be able to see his “man hair” reflected in the mirror, so I may be totally off-base on this one.
I think even Walky would’ve had the sense to simply knock before entering instead of that. He definitely wouldn’t have entered both the dorm room the bathroom without knocking.
His entrance makes a lot more sense (to me, at least) if he’d slept over, and was only just now staggering bleary-eyed out of bed and towards the sound of voices.
Anything’s possible, but it’s common around here to assume it’s completely obvious and everyone with the slightest chance figures it out on sight, but they’ve never actually been right yet. Dina’s the only one who knew unexpectedly. Dorothy figured it out, but she had more direct clues.
I’m not sure which suprises me more – that a shapeshifter who routinely transforms into some pretty shaggy mammals getting armpit hair was emphasized, or that TTG is still on the air.
Does anyone else find it amusing that Walky is trying to grow hair in certain places while I daresay most of the females in the strip are concerned about shaving it from theirs?
So first of all, Amber’s smile. That’s really the thing here in an otherwise lighthearted comic. Amber sees Walky and she smiles.
And you know what? I’ll just say it right now, I haven’t the foggiest idea why this is. Is it because she recognizes Walky from the rooftop conversation and is happy because he was of some help that day? Is it because she’s relieved from (momentarily) having to make an important decision? Is it because seeing Walky no longer seems to give her the same alerts that it used to do?
All of these and other reasons are possible.
Also, Sierra, as much as I love you and think you deserve much more screentime*, Dorothy is right, nobody cares.
*I know, you’re far too well-adjusted to be a major character in this webcomic. But a human being** can dream, right?
My initial thought about Amber’s smile (other than “yaaaaaaay!”) was that she was reacting to not just to Walky, but to him and Dorothy being adorable and affectionate, because it would make me smile too.
But the more I look at it her face there, and that slight stammer in panel 4, the harder it is for me to shake the impression that Amber might have a couple heart bubbles floating around in her head there.
It could just be Amber feeling a little awkward and caught of guard by Walky’s sudden appearance in the middle of a sensitive conversation, and my first theory was right, but now the thought is lodged in there good, and it I’m very conflicted about it.
Poor Amber! I don’t think that she was ready for this amount of concentrated humanity this morning! That said, I think that she likes seeing people she knows – her friends, no matter how much she may deny it to herself – be happy.
Now, will Walky make an ass of himself today by showing off his ‘man hair’? Almost certainly yes. I suspect that this is something else that will make Amber empathise with Sal!
While everyone up there is being all happy with the lightheartedness that George is bringing to the party, I’d just like to say that every day that we see Amber in the comic without an AG tag may be good for her psyche.
That’s exactly what he thinks too. I bet he woke up, looked for a moment at Billie’s door and then NOPED all the way to Dorothy to be a cute and stupid doofus instead of dealing with feels.
It’s Amber looking at Walky without the corners of her brain lighting on fire because she kinda buried the hatchet with Sal.
It’s seeing Dorothy’s relationship with Walky and thinking about what she had with Danny, as for all the “you date Amazi-Girl” it was pretty clear she took joy from it.
Alternatively she’s seeing Dorothy happy with her boyfriend and thinking “at least SOMEBODY has a boyfriend they can trust not to betray them over something like my alter ego not dying in a head-on collision.”
I think the second theory is the most likely. ”Aww, that’s adorable 🙂 ” plus ”Aww, I miss Danny 🙁 ” would explain both the smile and the slight tinge of sadness to it.
The worry lines on her face are gone by panel 4, and I’m choosing to believe it’s because her smile was untainted by negativity
Panel 1: Aw, Walky woke up early to say goodbye to Dorothy before she left. That’s adorkable.
Panel 2: Hmm, interesting. Others have speculated on this one, but I’m genuinely unsure how to read Amber’s smile here. It could be the cuteness, but Amber has set very clear boundaries about who gets to feel nostalgic about AG’s relationship to Danny.
It could be remembering Walky’s conversation on the roof, but that was with AG. It could be a crush… and I’ll file that one for later, just in case.
Panel 3: I love Dorothy’s constant concern for the feelings of others though I still feel she’s been doing it in a slightly unhealthy way by placing her own emotional needs dead last.
Panel 4: Okay, I’m gonna note something right here. Dorothy pushes him back the way he came and says not right now, so he responds by moving past her and saying hi to Amber.
Like, yes, this is bad boundaries, but not uncommon among young men as the idea that women could be doing something important they should leave alone is something that is not culturally supported or reinforced.
Still, though, c’mon Walky. You can so easily be better than that shit.
Panel 5: Putting “man” in front of any other word instantly makes it hilarious. TRUE FACT.
So, I criticized Walky last panel, but his enthusiasm for small signs he’s growing up is adorkable. However, it’s also a little sad, because it’s also a reminder of the very different wavelengths him and Dorothy operate on.
And a large part of that is very very good. Like, he’s fun and simple which allows Dorothy to shut off her brain for a bit and just enjoy. But it also means she can’t really go to him with big complex issues like she’s currently struggling with. Not only is that not their dynamic, Walky simply wouldn’t be able to handle it with tact and the seriousness the situation required.
And that’s not a bad thing, but it’s sad to see Dorothy continuing to feel all alone when struggling with big decisions or concerns.
Panel 6: Aw, Sierra, never change. Always encouraging, no matter what. Even if no one cares. ;p
Amber’s stutter on panel 4 has me leaning slightly on the “crush” direction.
Also, I think you might be slightly misreading panel 3-4 – Dorothy tells him WHY “not right now.” She doesn’t complain when he shows up, only when he kisses her – *I* could be the one misreading the comic (I haven’t screwed up anything today yet, so I’m sort of due), but it strikes me as Dorothy’s objection isn’t to his presence but to his PDA.
I thought that too, but then I realized that Dorothy probably really does know about Amber and Danny, and isn’t just making up the line about Amber’s breakup to get Walky out of the room so they can talk. Dorothy objected to the PDA because she knows that sucks to watch right after a breakup.
Makes me wonder how she knows. Did she just do the math? Talk to Danny? Or does she actually chat with Amber about things other than Amazi-Girl?
I disagree about Amber crushin’ on Walky. I agree with your explanation of Dorothy’s behavior, but I somehow interpreted it as saying the opposite because I read Cerberus’s comment about that as also clearly noting what Dorothy was objecting to.
I think Cerberus was objecting to the way Walky barges past her after being asked to leave, not saying Dorothy was upset by it
Hm. That seems to be the disagreement – Cerberus and you seem to have interpreted the “not right now” as “don’t be here right now, please leave,” whereas to me it came across simply as “no PDAs right now.” On the other hand, she IS pushing him out on the last panel, so what do I know?
Yeah, I read it that way, because Amber and Dorothy kinda were in the middle of a big important conversation and Dorothy’s body language is very similar to when I’ve had to be like, hey, um, not right now, I’m dealing with something right now.
And so yeah, that plus shoving him out the door as soon as possible is all pretty strong code for, you’re cute but leave.
> But it also means she can’t really go to him with big complex issues like she’s currently struggling with.
I don’t know if I completely agree with this- although you’re certainly right to some degree that Walky isn’t mature enough for some topics. But he does clearly want to be more emotionally available and he’s more perceptive than he lets on (ex: his take on Joyce and Ethan). imo he deserves a little more credit than he gets.
Not too sure about that. Walky makes a point to deflect any emotional difficult situations, especially with Dorothy, and we’ve seen him use “you’re going to Yale” as a way to shut down Dorothy’s attempts at getting him to open up.
Walky is a kind, dedicated and loyal friend, but he’s also wrapped up in a lot of toxic ideals about being a Real Man, that and his fears regarding opening up to people because he loses them.
Note that Dorothy herself has maintained their relationship is only temporary and “for fun,” until she goes to Yale. I’m not saying Walky shouldn’t take the opportunity of a relationship with someone who isn’t wacky to help him work through his issues (he totally should – he seems to be failing at learning math, so he might as well learn to relationship), but “this isn’t really a serious relationship with an actual future” isn’t (solely) on him.
Dorothy and Walky both agreed to that, but between the two of them, Dorothy doesn’t want it to be just something casual, and Walky is afraid of recognizing that it’s far more serious than “for fun.”
Walky isn’t wrong to chafe at Dorothy’s attempts at pushing for a deeper relationship, it’s not what they agreed on, but at the same time the relationship has evolved beyond what the two of them were expecting, and it’s something they need to address, or perhaps wonder if that struggle is worth a relationship that is inevitably doomed.
Dorothy won’t go to Yale for years (or more accurately, never, because she’s going to be a freshman for all eternity), and the idea is that she and Walky will be together until then. Two years is really long for a relationship at that age!
Perhaps, but the responsibility for starting that talk falls on the one who wants to deviate from the previously agreed (as in, an actual talk, as opposed to what Dorothy did, which was using sex to try to manipulate Walky).
She had sex with him because he was in a funk and she wanted to cheer him up, not because she was hoping the post-coital glow would cause Walky to reveal all his secrets.
I agree that Dorothy set the rules for their relationship, but she’s allowed to be upset about her boyfriend not wanting to talk to her about his problems. Billie knew Ruth was a suicidally depressed alcoholic but she still looked really shocked when Ruth was laying in bed contemplating suicide.
Seriously why are you people making me defend Dorothy so much lately? I hate Dorothy. She smells bad.
And she has cooti – no, I’m sorry, I can’t type that with a straight face. She IS allowed to be upset, she’s just not allowed to be upset AT HIM for treating the relationship as she told him she wanted him to treat it.
I mean, she’s never actually gotten upset at him over it. She mulls over it to herself or to Joyce, but she’s never once directly said to Walky that he needs to open up to her.
At the same time, well, she loves the guy, and she knows Walky loves her back. She’s just too much of a ditherer to upset the status quo, the same way she was with Danny.
Because it keeps coming to mind when I see “dither” again and again, from Into the Woods
“We’ve no time to sit and dither. While her withers wither with her– And no one keeps a cow for a friend!”
The problem there for me is that she’s been trying to change the consequences of it being a short term, just for fun relationship, without actual changing it being a short term, just for fun relationship.
She’s pushing it deeper, but not actually changing anything.
I see panel 3-4 as more like Dorothy saying to knock off the PDA and not trying to shove him out the door, its not until he starts blabbering on about man hairs that she removes him
There never is a no once to care for Sierra will always care in some way.
I took Walky as trying to bit lighthearted and silly cause of all the drama around them, and that the back off in panel 2 as to PDA, since Dorothy had followed up the “not now” with “she just broke up” so he switched tactics. But I’m trying to outgrow some of those manly toxic thingies myself, so I could be wrong there.
I love how considerate Dorothy is. Most people her age wouldn’t consider the fact that someone going through a breakup doesn’t want to watch people doing the smoochies. She’s honestly such a sweetheart.
Something I’ve been thinking about is why Walky is so determined to reinforce his masculinity, and has been for the entire comic so far. It’s been shown that he got a lot of bullying (that flashback scene with Sal and Leland), and I wonder if any of that was centered on him as “wimp” or non-masculine, if he could never be manly enough for his peer group.
I think part of the traditional gender attitude comes from the Walkerton parents. Walky is going to become a doctor, because the men go on to have successful careers, Sal should have her hair long and straight because it makes her look pretty (and she is pretty much ancillary to the whole thing to them anyway).
Note: For the person who wondered if Sierra was always happy, I found this when looking for the above:
Would agree, both are right. Like, that’s the thing about toxic masculine behaviors and obsessions with being “manly”. It’s reinforced by both culture and family.
Walky has unenviably seen what happens to guys who are deemed “non-manly” with the example of his own bullying in his youth and has no desire to see that happen again. Additionally, his family has rewarded “masculine” behaviors and punished feminine ones and reinforced traditional gender norms to a degree, so he’s also associated following these norms as benefitting him and his place in the family.
Honestly, it’s a hard thing to avoid dealing with when you grow up being presumed to be a guy as toxic masculinity and masculinity obsession tend to reinforce themselves by brutally mistreating anyone deemed “not manly enough”. Which might also explain why he overexaggerates those aspects almost as a shield.
What’s interesting has been seeing all the men in the comic deal with toxic masculinity and its requests of them. Some have found it easier to reject owing to how it tends to view those of their sexualities (Danny and Ethan), others are clinging on for dear life even when it is negatively impacting their life (Walky and Joe). Hopefully, in the end all will make their way through and allow themselves access to just be themselves instead of a performance of “masculinity”.
As you say, many of the male characters who denounce toxic masculinity does it because they have something important to lose by not doing it. Now, that’s all perfectly fair and understandable in their situation. I can’t blame them for that, I have not that right from where I sit.
But I do think that it does makes Current Hank all the more impressive, because -he- is currently in the progress of denouncing much of his toxicness (admittedly of a slightly different kind, but it’s in the same ballpark, really) not for his own sake, but for his daughter’s. Actually, make that daughters’, now that he has two that he knows of.
True, you could make a pretty good case that he’s afraid of losing Joyce, but he’s still bent on gosh-danged real integrity and compassion rather than following the trend because it’s a toxic trend, -even if following the trend can give him personally plenty of benefits-. He could have done all the things he did to Joyce and still none of the things he did to Becky, and Joyce would still probably think of him as “Greatest Dad”.
I’m not sure Joe actually has embraced it, considering his rather healthy views on consent, and his response to Walky shaming him for owning multiple pairs of shoes here:
His behavior fits the traditional masculine mold pretty well, but I think he acts that way because that’s just how he is, not because he feels he has to. There’s definitely some of the toxic elements there, like how he doesn’t like talking about feelings, but even that’s seems to be more because he gets bored rather than because he thinks feelings are gross.
Joe is abominable on consent. Like just awful. Not Ryan bad, but definitely steeped heavily in the “an absence of a no is as good as a yes” school of thought.
He’ll respect hard no’s, but he SUCKS at soft no’s (as in, implying they are not interested, and him working to get around issues that would make them say no – also, refer to him treating Joyce’s faith and virginity as problems to be ‘fixed’ with his penis).
Huh. I never got that impression of Joe in DoA. Definitely in It’s Walky, but not here.
…aaannd skimming the tags for Joe’s appearances reminded that he basically thought he could “fix” Joyce with his penis. Not sure how I forgot about that, when I remember finding it gross at the time.
I retract my earlier statements about him. He’s absorbed different aspects of toxic masculinity than Walky, but definitely not less
While something of a throwaway joke there, I wonder how true it is that he was often mistaken for Sal and perhaps felt the need to ‘amp up’ the masculinity to differentiate himself. Especially when it seems like Sal may have been something of a tomboy
So I’m in the midst of the post-Ryan arc (specifically when Dorothy watches cartoons with Walky to unwind) of my post-Walkyverse re-reading of DoA.
Something I’ve noticed?
The comments are 25% inside jokes (faaaaaaaaaaaace), 15% really good jokes (like, better than some of the best ones nowadays), another 40% just basic comments (mix of jokes and random stuff), and 20% assholes. Like, seriously, people who would get chewed up and shat out here for saying altogether dickish stuff. I mean, I’m not great at percentages (assume the ones I applied were arbitrary) but still.
And now consider that Willis wields the banhammer fearlessly – if those 20% got through, imagine the things that Willis ACTUALLY goes “yeah, no.”
From the top of my head, the Mary vs. Carla (take note of the s in vs. WB, your movie wasn’t a legal case) had several strips where he preemptively disabled the comments due to the foreseeable shitstorm. Considering some of the comments I had the disgust of reading on the strips of that arc that you COULD comment on, I shudder to think of what some people would type on the others.
I dunno, I can’t help but chortle at the fact that the only part of the sign you can read is “RE” and it looks like she’s pointing at her cleavage, so the avatar is basically prefacing everything by saying “Regarding: my boobs”
I going to second the suggestion that Walky immediately recognizes Amber as Amazi-girl. I think he was about to greet her, and only caught himself just in time after realizing that Dorothy didn’t call her that. (He probably thinks she’s not privy to AG’s secret identity.)
Then he got distracted by manhair and will never bring the subject up again.
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Now Walky can refuse things by saying “Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin”. Isn’t adulthood grand?
Does Dorothy huff and puff when she blows?
Don’t say that to her. She has nightmares where she’s attending Hogwarts and gets sorted into Hufflepuff instead of Ravenclaw. She might freak out.
“Huh. I guess I value helping people more than studying? Guess I’d better study a lot so I’m better at helping people.”
I’ve said it before, she’d sort into her choice of house. She’d fit well into any of them.
(Well, maybe not Slytherin if she didn’t have the right bloodline, but that’s her ancestors and not her. … though okay she’d also be surrounded by jerks and that would suck, so nm. But she definitely has the prerequisite of political ambition to rule.)
If only Billie could be sorted into Hufflepuff, then we’d have no Sal=AG issues.
Snape and Riddle did well in Slytherin. Those who excel can carve out a place for themselves under the serpent’s banner, blood be damned.
She’s probably better suited to any other house, barring perhaps Gryffindor, but she’d do well in any of them. Very much a ‘House of choice’ situation.
She’s smart, but at heart she’s defined by her ambition and organizes her life around it. I’d make her a Goodguy Slytherin for sure.
bloodline doesn’t necessarily mean the end for a Slytherin. Snape is a muggle name and he not only was head of house, but maybe the best Slytherin there ever was.
Top tier response timelord
No, it’s Walky who huffs and puffs …
I don’t think that’s how that works… O_O
Grand Dad.
Flintstones?
I was gonna say work on the other man hairs but he’s got like twelve of them down there already
ya know I never thought to try this Website URL option, let’s see what it does
coolness
now if I only had some updates
woah, cool stuff!
Nice, I love anthro art! I never seem to read any straight-up furry webcomics anymore…
I mean, unless Prequel counts, I suppose
I’m gonna assume that is in the Slipshine.
Not necessarily a correlation. I didn’t get significant facial hair until late high school or early college, despite everything else progressing normally.
That’s totally the wrong avatar for that comment, isn’t it?
The wronger it is, the righter it is.
Except when it’s Wrong wrong. Then it’s just Wrong.
Two wrongs don’t make a right, that’s three lefts.
As Commodore Tagon would say, “We are WAY past two.”
gross get rid of it
But, Willis has NAMED him! George The Wonder Hair! And Willis promised no killing off main characters, so George is safe.
FWIW, I imagine ‘George’ is probably a throwback to a character in one of Willis’ older comics, but I am unfamiliar with it.
(Willis, George needs a tag….)
I am a little ashamed that I instantly got the George reference.
I’m not! It made the comments that didn’t so much more funny XD
here y’all go
Walky, you’re balding and it’s just stuck to your chin with drool.
People care. It’s important!
Have I seen this strip before?
It’s Walky in factorymode.
It’s Beta?
Is that actually his hair or should he be telling Dorothy about some of his other hobbies
like eating hair
Sierra gets it
Sierra is just on half-awake autopilot saying whatever seems most likely to get him to shut up and go away.
Or having a weird dream.
Actually, Sierra seems like one of those people who is just happy that you’re happy.
I’m imagining she was not even half awake and all she registered was that somebody is really excited or proud about something, but her response was still totally sincere.
Sierra is the anti-Mary because she doesn’t even know how to judge someone.
(like)
Because there is no button and it must be known O_O
Oh gods… You’re so goddamn right. I -knew- there was a reason I really loved Sierra and wished for more of her in the comic.
We need Mary to walk a mile in Sierra’s shoes
only
uh
okay, slight problem
QUICK! Somebody skin her feet!
How old is Walky? Guess he’s a late bloomer.
Weirdly, I was able to grow a mustache at 15, but didn’t get chin hair until college.
We’ll just go with “I’m older than most of these characters’ parents”, but I still can’t grow a beard or mustache. I’ve just got random patches of hair across my face that don’t connect up or anything.
My brother got a double dose of beard, and I got nuthin’.
I…don’t remember when I had to start shaving.
crappy pube beard havers unite
we get the worst of both worlds. having to shave and no beard
Nope. The worst is having dark hair grow on your face and/or neck when you are female (both trans and cis) and worrying that
1) You will forget to shave/wax/pluck and leave the house with a hairy face/neck, get stares, and possibly be asked by a small child if you are a boy or a girl
2) You will get teased or be the butt of a joke
3) A date will feel stubble and automatically jump to asking if you have a dick
Cis woman with a hairy neck here and yes that has all happened to me despite my cute face and awesome hooters. 😛
That’s sad.
But my hooters are awesome 😉
That’s good!
Well, that sucks 😐
I mean I don’t see a little bit of hair as all that big a problem, but it’s definitely not a societally accepted thing on females and I imagine that can lead to all sorts of unpleasant situations.
Funny, I was basically the opposite.
Likewise. I can probably grow a mustache as of last week, but I jave no intention of finding out. Mutton chops are sufficient.
How about palm hair? Does that count? I was growing that back when I was eleven.
My first post so I want to be sure I got the FAQ correct. Dee-na is mute, not Marcie. Everybody is a moron. I get to preach on your website if I post the first strawman. Joyce is Catholic and an automobile. I need to leer at objects until they turn gay. If I want to criticize, I must post 16 rows of slurs.
PS: Can I have free comic porn?
Seriously though, I’m a huge fan of Dumbing of Age and have gotten 2 of my friends reading it too. After my first read through, I followed your links and read all of Roomies, It’s Walky, the public strips from Joyce and Walky, and Shortpacked. I’m already reading Dumbing of Age again after reading the whole thing about a month ago. I cried at the Ruth part because it was the most honest and real depiction of depression I’ve ever seen (especially her in the hospital which most media either skips over, depicts in a censored way, or shows exclusively from the waiting room).
The reason I love it so much is they all feel like real people. So much of it resonates with me. Being from the south, my entire town is populated by far too many Christian stereotypes and I was the weird girl that doubted back before I even knew what an atheist was. Trying to fit in and not be bisexual or non Christian was hard. It didn’t help that I had parents who would have been at home in your stories (verbally abusive father and super abusive Christian mother who sometimes starved me). I also met a guy who I thought was nice who turned out to think no meant yes. I got depressed and didn’t go for help because you didn’t do that. I ended up in the hospital after years of hiding it. I got help and finally stopped pretending to be something I couldn’t be. When I came out as a bisexual atheist, it was the most freeing moment of my life even with the crap I’ve caught over it.
So thanks for writing real characters who are more than the sum of their parts. You make the world a better place for us and all our layers. Keep writing and keep inspiring. 🙂
Bluewind
Hear, hear!!!!
Also, I think you got the FAQ nailed down.
Wait, there’s a FAQ?
Welcome to the madhouse, Bluewind.
One of us, one of us…
Yea! I’m part of a group and nobody thinks I’m going to hell or a member of the Illuminati*! ^_^
* Seriously. One of my former friends said that crap. -_-
If they were seriously suggesting that it’s so absurd I’m not even sure that’s worth a response. How did you even react to that?
Think a cross between customer service worker and automated messaging system.
I…. I think this may be the first time anyone has ever actually read the “read before posting” page before posting.
you are my new favorite
SQUEEEE!!! *faints*
You squee now, but wait until you see what DYW* does to the people he thinks of as his favorites…
*Short for Damn You Willis, in case you haven’t read comments too much
Then I shall not tell him that I want Mike to get drunk and smooch Amber 😉
Well done.
Congratulations, Willis gets to focus on YOU while the rest of us get to do shenanigans.
I think I’ve read it before. Don’t think I properly retained it all though.
Likewise. There was also a significant gap between reading it for the first time and the transition from lurking to posting, though I occasionally reference it when I worry about overstepping lines or just want to giggle as I imagine some of the stuff Willis filters out.
I’m surprised that he hasn’t added a section on the random things people who don’t read the comic closely ask to the point of facepalm brain damage like “Roz DID ask Joe permission. Read fucking [this] comic before I start lobbing comically oversized objects at your head!!!”
There’s a read before posting page?
Wait, there’s a ‘Read Before Posting’ page?
…
Excuse me.
Well, I wish I’d have thought to do that with my first post, but I’m neither as clever nor as funny as you are.
Welcome…here? !!
Thank you excited and confused person ^_^
You forgot the part about how Justices of the Peace are just trying to study and musical punters are only ever around on Thursdays.
And how it all takes place in 1997 😉
And how Green Haired Pasta is Running for Emperor.
For furry comic porn, please refer to e621
oh, you said FREE
(e621 is free, though. Stolen, but free. Recommended if your morals are already compromised :p )
“Leering at objects until they turn gay” would be a very interesting super power.
I can already picture Amber staring very intently at her Transformer collection
Now kiss :*
hey, how come george doesn’t get a tag?
…is this one of those plot-relevant things like with jocelyne?
Tomorrow, most likely. He just saw it, so he doesn’t have a name for him yet.
Sadly George will be quickly killed off most likely by Dorothy or Mike. But don’t worry; he always comes back and often brings his bros 😉
Can’t fool me, title text. George isn’t in the tags.
It’s a plot!
I guess the answer to ??? is “no”
Yes, Walky, this moment is completely about you.
Also, I love how Sierra is totally cool with pretty much everything.
Hey, he just stopped by to say hi to his girlfriend and got a little distracted on his way out. Its not like he has the slightest idea he’s interrupting something serious.
Besides, his adorable show of affection for Dorothy got Amber to smile, so he’s now a saint in my book
I know, and I don’t really blame him. But he does have that way of making the moment all about him, whether he means to or not.
The problem with being ‘generically beige’?
I’m trying to think of something to say to you, Reltzik, but all I can see is Walky’s goofy smile right next to your comment…
….Damn, he’s -good- at this.
Well, Becky seems to have the same quality and the ability to suppress it when necessary. Perhaps his New Best Friend™ can gice him lessons.
I seem to remember an AWFUL lot of shouting about being a lesbian, if I recall correctly.
I feel like both of them just have an abundance of enthusiasm, and not so many filters. And when they’re excited about something they can’t keep that to themselves.
Other than the couple critical filters Walky’s missing, I rather like that about both of them.
To be fair she’s had years of keeping quiet on this specific matter to rectify. Better do it with large chunks of population, it saves time.
I bet someone will pull it out. 😛
What do you think will happen when he points it out to his roommate?
It would probably go like this
Walky: Hey Mike, check out my man hair!
Mike:What hair?
Walky:This one *hair gets pulled out* Ouch!
Mike:Oh, this one.
NOOOOO!!! Damn You, Willis!! You promised, no killing off named characters!!
If it’s not tagged, I don’t think it counts as a character.
For example, Other Jacob is not tagged, so it’s possible the batteries will die eventually.
(or however vibes work)
Technically, the motor can die, as well.
Aw, Walky’s finally going through puberty.
I suppose I’ll supply the comment where it took only 6 years.
Wait until one of the girls says “No problem, I’ll take care of it.” and yanks it out.
Hey, superstition dictates it’ll come back twice as thick!
[Insert Sexual Innuendo Joke Here]
We don’t need this to be a true fact with dongs
Out=Orgasm was what I was going for. Genital mutilation should never be endorsed.
Billie will not be up this early.
But she might be up this late.
Oh dang, I hope not. Even if she was just laying in bed all night not sleeping, that would not be good. Sleep deprivation would not be a good thing to throw into the mix there
Especially if she spent the entire night in Ruth’s alcohol-less room and thus is also suffering from detox symptoms at the same time.
…. oh, right, we left her with feels. I was just thinking in terms of normal bad sleeping habits.
Sierra is so supportive.
I forget, had Amber ever met Walky aside from in passing? Is this going to make her memory of AG’s interactions with Sal resurface or anything?
At least she’s smiling.
Not really, other than one time when she ran into him on the roof as Amazi-Girl and they hung out eating cookies for a while
Also Joyce’s dorm party, though they didn’t really talk.
But thanks for the reminder of the cookies. That makes her genuine-looking smile make more sense. She talked through some bad stuff with him. They’re kinda friends, even if he doesn’t know it.
I dunno, I think it’s sufficiently explained by Walky’s sincere, hammy display of affection for Dorothy being completely adorkable.
Don’t forget about the day they were all at Galasso’s.
For future reference: http://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/walky+amber/
Amazi-Girl had that rooftop conversation with Walky that ended up resulting in the cutest Walky panel ever, and they were both at Joyce’s dorm party, and there was the big chase scene that ended up leading into the events of the first Slipshine. They’ve interacted enough times where they know each other well enough. Amazi-Girl did say on the rooftop that Walky sort of triggered some sort of alarm bell in the back of her mind that she couldn’t figure out (probably her subconsciously recognizing the relationship to Sal), but apart from that she’s shown no indication that she knows about the fact that Walky is Sal’s brother.
Huh. Now that I think about all the ways people know each other I really wanna do a diagram chart of all the character relationships and see how interlinked they are. Eh, too much effort.
Perhaps Emperor would be willing to whip , I mean ask, one of his slaves, I mean associates, to do so?
I would, but I’m too busy pondering if it’s a good idea to set up an instagram account that’s all pictures of me playing Naked Twister solo.
Ah, Emporer, I’ve got your new clothes here…something something stupid people…
Just go along with it, he can have us flogged.
It’s Walky, the only danger he poses is to himself because he can’t shut up.
The plot thickenses as Amber realizes her confidante’s boyfriend’s twin sister is her arch-nemesis/ally.
Also said confidante’s boyfriend is her cookiefriend, and might have earned some respect back in the chase scenes.
Later he finds out it’s just a stray eyelash.
Dumbing of Age Episode 7: The George Awakens
Nonono, 7 was the one where George went away. You want Episode 1: The Georgetom Menace.
George Beyond. Into Georgeness.
The Georgeness at the Edge of Town.
George 2: Electric Razor?
Amber’s smile in panel 2 is everything I didn’t even realize I needed
…I’m not sure I understand what she’s smiling about.
Possibly thinking about what she had with Danny?
My guess is that it’s because Walky was kind to her on the rooftop when she was in costume. He’s also adorkable. ^_^
He was only a lavender cowboy…
He was only a lavender beatnik
The hairs of his beard, they were two
But he wanted to be a beat poet
And do like the Kerouacs do.
Zen Flesh And Zen Bones was his credo
Espresso was his cup of tea
He even stopped looking in mirrors
And the hairs of his beard, they were three.
He jilted the girl who had loved him,
And said “What’s this experience for?
The sorrow will make me a poet”
And the hairs of his beard, they were four.
He took his first toke with trepidation,
And felt himself coming alive –
Understood what eluded the sages…
And the hairs of his beard, they were five.
He attempted to broaden his knowledge,
Make his poetry flow with a fix;
At the age of nineteen he’s a burnout,
But the hairs of his beard, they are six.
He was found in de-feat-al position,
An insanity sudden and weird…
He had aimed for his throat with a razor,
And shaved off the hairs of his beard!
(Written by my parents, ex-hippies.)
*applauds*
He may have a man hair, but he’s still a man-child.
How can a hair grow that long in just a single panel?
Not sure if sarcasm…
The hair didn’t show up until it was zoomed in on, likely on account of being too fine to show up in the broader shot.
Yeah, you were probably being sarcastic.
First off Walky I haft to tail you that facial hair isn’t all that it’s cracked to be, sure it his manly but in my case I spent the last six years barely shaving only to find out that I’m one of those select number of people that wemon find appealing without it.
Also did we just bring up a significant plot point with some very serious tone only for the full length of entire strip only to drop it completely the next strip and move on ? That feels like to fast of a swerve I feel like I got whiplash from that.
Tell a tail
I think this is probably just a momentary pause for some light-hearted comic relief, which I for one am glad to have.
It’s not moving on. It’s just a comedic interruption. At the end, you can see that Dorothy wants to keep on discussing it.
It actually makes me suspect that Dorothy is going to decide something really bad. Hence the need for comedic relief.
I guess you guys are right I guess that at the moment it just felt a little bit too brief, like maybe I was expecting just one more strip discussing this before changing the tone. But Maybe I should just adjust to the pacing.
I think that’s a bit premature. Regardless of what Dorothy and Amber end up doing, there’s gonna be some stressful subject matter coming up.
George?
this a walkyverse hair?
does he come to life?
And who is George anyway?
The hot mentions him, but I don’t see a George anywhere?
The “George” reference….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO-3Fst2W7g
wait is his facial hair called “George” in the walkyverse or something? is that what this is about?
Walky will kiss it and love it and squeeze it and call it George.
Man Hair Georg is an outlier adn should not have been counted.
Joe probably would care.
I have no idea who George is but he sounds AWESOME!
Knowing how Willis is such a good twister plotter, George could be awesome – in the olden days meaning of the word. Or not.
The kids here are far to young to play something as retro as Twister.
Kids today only play Naked Instagram Twister.
That actually sounds like a good time. Not good enough to set up an Instagram for, though.
I’d set one up, but since I’d end up playing it by myself, it would probably not be the big draw one would otherwise imagine “Naked Instagram Twister” to be.
You know, Walky, having a facial hair is a big responsibility. You’ll have to feed it and walk it and shave it every day.
Shave every day and you’ll always be keen.
I don’t understand why Lazarus comes to my mind?
“I’ve got a new hair! And I will hug it and pet it and name it George!”
Man, that just reminded me of them breaking up.
Dammit.
I think Amber’s been reminded too, and it might be important that we still haven’t seen her have any reaction to the breakup yet.
Wait, is Walky super young or something? University seems like an odd time for facial hair to kick in.
It’s fairly normal; lots of guys start around 18.
I couldn’t say how many. I’m sure there have been statistical studies.
“Oh hey…. Amber.”
Walky knows about Amber/Amazi-girl, doesn’t he? He recognize his rooftop cookie buddy even without the mask and does his usual “Walky is an idiot” dance to cheer her up.
I’m calling it! He will tell Dorothy about it in a week or two.
I read it as him having trouble remembering Amber’s name, since they’ve barely spoke two words to each other, apart from that time on the roof.
Unless Dorothy told him, I’m not sure he would have put enough thought into it to figure it out himself.
Bagge might be onto something, though, FC. Walky can be quite insightful when he just doesn’t let his own ego get in his way. I was as surprised as anyone to see that he’d paid enough attention to Ethan and Joyce to see that it was a fake relationship. So there is a precedent for him doing this kind of thing.
I’m not saying its impossible. He’s definitely smart enough to put it together if he put his mind to it. But he usually doesn’t, and recently, he’s had lots of other things on his mind.
More to the point, he just woke up, and barely has his eyes all the way open. Walky is barely capable of subterfuge when he’s fully awake. I’m not sure he’d be actually succeed at it first thing in the morning.
I was about to say that the same tiredness could also prevent his own ego from showing up and just let his smartness do the job on its own…
…But considering how he in the very next second goes bananas over a single strand of facial hair, that obviously isn’t the case.
But then again, he was awake enough to notice that hair when he wasn’t even actively searching for it… Of course, he might always be on the lookout for signs of “being a man” even when sleeping, so not entirely sure how that’s working out.
…I’m pretty much arguing with myself back and forth now, aren’t I?
Pretty much.
Though I don’t see his ego getting in the way of him applying himself. It just gets in the way of improving himself, and admitting it when he needs help.
His reaction to the hair I also don’t see as ego, so much as an overabundance of enthusiasm, and a tendency to blurt out his thoughts as they happen. His feelings re: pajama jeans were expressed in a similarly loud, blurty fashion to any and all who would listen.
“Morning Dorothy. Morning Dorothy.” *beat* “Why are there two of you?”
I thought Walky had his eyes closed. He was, after all, in a girl’s room looking for Dorothy and had found her in the half-bath. Not knowing who else might be in there with her and what state of dress (or undress) they might be in, he is being a gentleman and has his eyes closed.
Although he had to have had them open to be able to see his “man hair” reflected in the mirror, so I may be totally off-base on this one.
I think even Walky would’ve had the sense to simply knock before entering instead of that. He definitely wouldn’t have entered both the dorm room the bathroom without knocking.
His entrance makes a lot more sense (to me, at least) if he’d slept over, and was only just now staggering bleary-eyed out of bed and towards the sound of voices.
That would explain the uncertainty about if Amber is the other person there.
Given he’s saying Amber with a question mark, I’d say he realises the Amber-Amazigirl connection.
Anything’s possible, but it’s common around here to assume it’s completely obvious and everyone with the slightest chance figures it out on sight, but they’ve never actually been right yet. Dina’s the only one who knew unexpectedly. Dorothy figured it out, but she had more direct clues.
Of course this 3-4 month old comic comes out a week after Teen Titans Go has their Beast Boy Gets Armpit Hair episode. Serendipitous.
I’m not sure which suprises me more – that a shapeshifter who routinely transforms into some pretty shaggy mammals getting armpit hair was emphasized, or that TTG is still on the air.
It’s ridiculously popular. Like, highest rated show on CN popular.
“I remember Teen Titans, didn’t know it was still on the air. *Looks it up* What the?”
Not recognizing the most popular kid’s shows is a terminal symptom of Old, isn’t it…
Get old enough and you watch it with your kids….or grandkids. The you really are old.
Does anyone else find it amusing that Walky is trying to grow hair in certain places while I daresay most of the females in the strip are concerned about shaving it from theirs?
I always figured that to be an age/culture/gender thing, so no. Walky trying to grow it in general, yes.
So first of all, Amber’s smile. That’s really the thing here in an otherwise lighthearted comic. Amber sees Walky and she smiles.
And you know what? I’ll just say it right now, I haven’t the foggiest idea why this is. Is it because she recognizes Walky from the rooftop conversation and is happy because he was of some help that day? Is it because she’s relieved from (momentarily) having to make an important decision? Is it because seeing Walky no longer seems to give her the same alerts that it used to do?
All of these and other reasons are possible.
Also, Sierra, as much as I love you and think you deserve much more screentime*, Dorothy is right, nobody cares.
*I know, you’re far too well-adjusted to be a major character in this webcomic. But a human being** can dream, right?
**As far as you all know.
My initial thought about Amber’s smile (other than “yaaaaaaay!”) was that she was reacting to not just to Walky, but to him and Dorothy being adorable and affectionate, because it would make me smile too.
But the more I look at it her face there, and that slight stammer in panel 4, the harder it is for me to shake the impression that Amber might have a couple heart bubbles floating around in her head there.
It could just be Amber feeling a little awkward and caught of guard by Walky’s sudden appearance in the middle of a sensitive conversation, and my first theory was right, but now the thought is lodged in there good, and it I’m very conflicted about it.
I like to think the minor characters all have their own parallel struggles and secrets and trauma. We just don’t get to see it.
Sierra, you precious cinnamon roll ^^
Sierra is the opposite of the honey badger. She *does* care!
I, for one, am very glad to have a moment of levity in the midst of this story line.
Poor Amber! I don’t think that she was ready for this amount of concentrated humanity this morning! That said, I think that she likes seeing people she knows – her friends, no matter how much she may deny it to herself – be happy.
Now, will Walky make an ass of himself today by showing off his ‘man hair’? Almost certainly yes. I suspect that this is something else that will make Amber empathise with Sal!
I think she was especially happy to see Walky. Maybe she has a slight crush? Who wouldn’t?
Walky is one of the few people to really show empathy to the Amazi-Girl persona and I think that makes him particularly dear to her.
I love off screen voice Sierra 😀 I’d love to see some more Dorothy/Sierra roomie interactions, they sound like they would be cute!
And gosh, Amber’s smile. That makes me happy.
The world always needs more Sierra.
Though I kinda wonder if she’s ever not cheerful.
While everyone up there is being all happy with the lightheartedness that George is bringing to the party, I’d just like to say that every day that we see Amber in the comic without an AG tag may be good for her psyche.
I think this particular storyline needs more Walky to lighten the mood with his silliness.
That’s exactly what he thinks too. I bet he woke up, looked for a moment at Billie’s door and then NOPED all the way to Dorothy to be a cute and stupid doofus instead of dealing with feels.
I’m thinking this might be the furthest he’s gotten from bed this morning, and checking on Billie is actually why he’s up early
I just realised that Walky and Dorothy are Sierra’s personal soap opera.
I just realised I just described everyone’s relationship with their room mates.
Good lord, I cannot stand that manchild.
He used to be a childman. But now that he has his manhair, he is now a manchild!
PROGRESS!
If he criticises someone, would it make hi a manchide?
If he rings a bell, does that make him a manchime?
Back when he was pulling up his shirt in public he was a manwild.
If he doesn’t like spicy food then he’d be manmild?
Seriously, will someone just give him a swirly and be done with?
That smile, to me, means at l
It’s Amber looking at Walky without the corners of her brain lighting on fire because she kinda buried the hatchet with Sal.
It’s seeing Dorothy’s relationship with Walky and thinking about what she had with Danny, as for all the “you date Amazi-Girl” it was pretty clear she took joy from it.
Alternatively she’s seeing Dorothy happy with her boyfriend and thinking “at least SOMEBODY has a boyfriend they can trust not to betray them over something like my alter ego not dying in a head-on collision.”
I think the second theory is the most likely. ”Aww, that’s adorable 🙂 ” plus ”Aww, I miss Danny 🙁 ” would explain both the smile and the slight tinge of sadness to it.
The worry lines on her face are gone by panel 4, and I’m choosing to believe it’s because her smile was untainted by negativity
At this rate we’ll have a goatee’d Evil Walky by lunchtime.
In Walky’s dreams, at least.
Comic Reactions:
Panel 1: Aw, Walky woke up early to say goodbye to Dorothy before she left. That’s adorkable.
Panel 2: Hmm, interesting. Others have speculated on this one, but I’m genuinely unsure how to read Amber’s smile here. It could be the cuteness, but Amber has set very clear boundaries about who gets to feel nostalgic about AG’s relationship to Danny.
It could be remembering Walky’s conversation on the roof, but that was with AG. It could be a crush… and I’ll file that one for later, just in case.
My current guess is that Walky was the first one to praise the good qualities of Amber to AG’s face and this is Amber appreciating that memory and kind touch:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/03-when-god-closes-the-door/super-human/
Panel 3: I love Dorothy’s constant concern for the feelings of others though I still feel she’s been doing it in a slightly unhealthy way by placing her own emotional needs dead last.
Panel 4: Okay, I’m gonna note something right here. Dorothy pushes him back the way he came and says not right now, so he responds by moving past her and saying hi to Amber.
Like, yes, this is bad boundaries, but not uncommon among young men as the idea that women could be doing something important they should leave alone is something that is not culturally supported or reinforced.
Still, though, c’mon Walky. You can so easily be better than that shit.
Panel 5: Putting “man” in front of any other word instantly makes it hilarious. TRUE FACT.
So, I criticized Walky last panel, but his enthusiasm for small signs he’s growing up is adorkable. However, it’s also a little sad, because it’s also a reminder of the very different wavelengths him and Dorothy operate on.
And a large part of that is very very good. Like, he’s fun and simple which allows Dorothy to shut off her brain for a bit and just enjoy. But it also means she can’t really go to him with big complex issues like she’s currently struggling with. Not only is that not their dynamic, Walky simply wouldn’t be able to handle it with tact and the seriousness the situation required.
And that’s not a bad thing, but it’s sad to see Dorothy continuing to feel all alone when struggling with big decisions or concerns.
Panel 6: Aw, Sierra, never change. Always encouraging, no matter what. Even if no one cares. ;p
Amber’s stutter on panel 4 has me leaning slightly on the “crush” direction.
Also, I think you might be slightly misreading panel 3-4 – Dorothy tells him WHY “not right now.” She doesn’t complain when he shows up, only when he kisses her – *I* could be the one misreading the comic (I haven’t screwed up anything today yet, so I’m sort of due), but it strikes me as Dorothy’s objection isn’t to his presence but to his PDA.
I thought that too, but then I realized that Dorothy probably really does know about Amber and Danny, and isn’t just making up the line about Amber’s breakup to get Walky out of the room so they can talk. Dorothy objected to the PDA because she knows that sucks to watch right after a breakup.
Makes me wonder how she knows. Did she just do the math? Talk to Danny? Or does she actually chat with Amber about things other than Amazi-Girl?
Amazi-Girl told Dorothy that she and Danny had broken up. Specifically, she wanted her to talk to him because he had “lost the faith.”
We don’t actually know Amber’s opinion about Danny yet.
I’m having sort of a response disconnect here, because your start sounds like you’re disagreeing with me, but then you go aaaaaand… agree with me?
I disagree about Amber crushin’ on Walky. I agree with your explanation of Dorothy’s behavior, but I somehow interpreted it as saying the opposite because I read Cerberus’s comment about that as also clearly noting what Dorothy was objecting to.
I think Cerberus was objecting to the way Walky barges past her after being asked to leave, not saying Dorothy was upset by it
Hm. That seems to be the disagreement – Cerberus and you seem to have interpreted the “not right now” as “don’t be here right now, please leave,” whereas to me it came across simply as “no PDAs right now.” On the other hand, she IS pushing him out on the last panel, so what do I know?
Yeah, I read it that way, because Amber and Dorothy kinda were in the middle of a big important conversation and Dorothy’s body language is very similar to when I’ve had to be like, hey, um, not right now, I’m dealing with something right now.
And so yeah, that plus shoving him out the door as soon as possible is all pretty strong code for, you’re cute but leave.
You’d have to be pretty oblivious to miss those sorts of signs.
Like, Walky-level oblivious.
Amber having a crush on Walky puts her relationship with Sal in new and interesting lights.
Sal did draw parallels between Amazi-girl’s stalking and a creepy lovesick puppy…
> But it also means she can’t really go to him with big complex issues like she’s currently struggling with.
I don’t know if I completely agree with this- although you’re certainly right to some degree that Walky isn’t mature enough for some topics. But he does clearly want to be more emotionally available and he’s more perceptive than he lets on (ex: his take on Joyce and Ethan). imo he deserves a little more credit than he gets.
Not too sure about that. Walky makes a point to deflect any emotional difficult situations, especially with Dorothy, and we’ve seen him use “you’re going to Yale” as a way to shut down Dorothy’s attempts at getting him to open up.
Walky is a kind, dedicated and loyal friend, but he’s also wrapped up in a lot of toxic ideals about being a Real Man, that and his fears regarding opening up to people because he loses them.
Note that Dorothy herself has maintained their relationship is only temporary and “for fun,” until she goes to Yale. I’m not saying Walky shouldn’t take the opportunity of a relationship with someone who isn’t wacky to help him work through his issues (he totally should – he seems to be failing at learning math, so he might as well learn to relationship), but “this isn’t really a serious relationship with an actual future” isn’t (solely) on him.
Dorothy and Walky both agreed to that, but between the two of them, Dorothy doesn’t want it to be just something casual, and Walky is afraid of recognizing that it’s far more serious than “for fun.”
Walky isn’t wrong to chafe at Dorothy’s attempts at pushing for a deeper relationship, it’s not what they agreed on, but at the same time the relationship has evolved beyond what the two of them were expecting, and it’s something they need to address, or perhaps wonder if that struggle is worth a relationship that is inevitably doomed.
Dorothy won’t go to Yale for years (or more accurately, never, because she’s going to be a freshman for all eternity), and the idea is that she and Walky will be together until then. Two years is really long for a relationship at that age!
Perhaps, but the responsibility for starting that talk falls on the one who wants to deviate from the previously agreed (as in, an actual talk, as opposed to what Dorothy did, which was using sex to try to manipulate Walky).
She had sex with him because he was in a funk and she wanted to cheer him up, not because she was hoping the post-coital glow would cause Walky to reveal all his secrets.
I agree that Dorothy set the rules for their relationship, but she’s allowed to be upset about her boyfriend not wanting to talk to her about his problems. Billie knew Ruth was a suicidally depressed alcoholic but she still looked really shocked when Ruth was laying in bed contemplating suicide.
Seriously why are you people making me defend Dorothy so much lately? I hate Dorothy. She smells bad.
And she has cooti – no, I’m sorry, I can’t type that with a straight face. She IS allowed to be upset, she’s just not allowed to be upset AT HIM for treating the relationship as she told him she wanted him to treat it.
I mean, she’s never actually gotten upset at him over it. She mulls over it to herself or to Joyce, but she’s never once directly said to Walky that he needs to open up to her.
At the same time, well, she loves the guy, and she knows Walky loves her back. She’s just too much of a ditherer to upset the status quo, the same way she was with Danny.
And today I’ve learnt what “dither” means! Wheee, new word!
Dither is such a fun word.
Because it keeps coming to mind when I see “dither” again and again, from Into the Woods
“We’ve no time to sit and dither. While her withers wither with her– And no one keeps a cow for a friend!”
The problem there for me is that she’s been trying to change the consequences of it being a short term, just for fun relationship, without actual changing it being a short term, just for fun relationship.
She’s pushing it deeper, but not actually changing anything.
I see panel 3-4 as more like Dorothy saying to knock off the PDA and not trying to shove him out the door, its not until he starts blabbering on about man hairs that she removes him
With regard to panel 5, I’d like to add that Walky is also not going to Dorothy with complex issues. Like his grades.
There never is a no once to care for Sierra will always care in some way.
I took Walky as trying to bit lighthearted and silly cause of all the drama around them, and that the back off in panel 2 as to PDA, since Dorothy had followed up the “not now” with “she just broke up” so he switched tactics. But I’m trying to outgrow some of those manly toxic thingies myself, so I could be wrong there.
I love how considerate Dorothy is. Most people her age wouldn’t consider the fact that someone going through a breakup doesn’t want to watch people doing the smoochies. She’s honestly such a sweetheart.
Something I’ve been thinking about is why Walky is so determined to reinforce his masculinity, and has been for the entire comic so far. It’s been shown that he got a lot of bullying (that flashback scene with Sal and Leland), and I wonder if any of that was centered on him as “wimp” or non-masculine, if he could never be manly enough for his peer group.
I think part of the traditional gender attitude comes from the Walkerton parents. Walky is going to become a doctor, because the men go on to have successful careers, Sal should have her hair long and straight because it makes her look pretty (and she is pretty much ancillary to the whole thing to them anyway).
Note: For the person who wondered if Sierra was always happy, I found this when looking for the above:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/blood/
I love everything about this strip!
I think you are both right. No reason they cannot both have been part of it.
Would agree, both are right. Like, that’s the thing about toxic masculine behaviors and obsessions with being “manly”. It’s reinforced by both culture and family.
Walky has unenviably seen what happens to guys who are deemed “non-manly” with the example of his own bullying in his youth and has no desire to see that happen again. Additionally, his family has rewarded “masculine” behaviors and punished feminine ones and reinforced traditional gender norms to a degree, so he’s also associated following these norms as benefitting him and his place in the family.
Honestly, it’s a hard thing to avoid dealing with when you grow up being presumed to be a guy as toxic masculinity and masculinity obsession tend to reinforce themselves by brutally mistreating anyone deemed “not manly enough”. Which might also explain why he overexaggerates those aspects almost as a shield.
What’s interesting has been seeing all the men in the comic deal with toxic masculinity and its requests of them. Some have found it easier to reject owing to how it tends to view those of their sexualities (Danny and Ethan), others are clinging on for dear life even when it is negatively impacting their life (Walky and Joe). Hopefully, in the end all will make their way through and allow themselves access to just be themselves instead of a performance of “masculinity”.
As you say, many of the male characters who denounce toxic masculinity does it because they have something important to lose by not doing it. Now, that’s all perfectly fair and understandable in their situation. I can’t blame them for that, I have not that right from where I sit.
But I do think that it does makes Current Hank all the more impressive, because -he- is currently in the progress of denouncing much of his toxicness (admittedly of a slightly different kind, but it’s in the same ballpark, really) not for his own sake, but for his daughter’s. Actually, make that daughters’, now that he has two that he knows of.
True, you could make a pretty good case that he’s afraid of losing Joyce, but he’s still bent on gosh-danged real integrity and compassion rather than following the trend because it’s a toxic trend, -even if following the trend can give him personally plenty of benefits-. He could have done all the things he did to Joyce and still none of the things he did to Becky, and Joyce would still probably think of him as “Greatest Dad”.
I’m not sure Joe actually has embraced it, considering his rather healthy views on consent, and his response to Walky shaming him for owning multiple pairs of shoes here:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/manhood/
His behavior fits the traditional masculine mold pretty well, but I think he acts that way because that’s just how he is, not because he feels he has to. There’s definitely some of the toxic elements there, like how he doesn’t like talking about feelings, but even that’s seems to be more because he gets bored rather than because he thinks feelings are gross.
Joe is abominable on consent. Like just awful. Not Ryan bad, but definitely steeped heavily in the “an absence of a no is as good as a yes” school of thought.
Since this is you, I presume this is a claim you can back up via comic sources?
Because that’s not my take on him at all. Sure, he’ll flirt with you until you say no, but I’ve seen no sign he’ll jump any further than that.
He’s got some entitlement issues, but not to the point of violating consent.
He’ll respect hard no’s, but he SUCKS at soft no’s (as in, implying they are not interested, and him working to get around issues that would make them say no – also, refer to him treating Joyce’s faith and virginity as problems to be ‘fixed’ with his penis).
Huh. I never got that impression of Joe in DoA. Definitely in It’s Walky, but not here.
…aaannd skimming the tags for Joe’s appearances reminded that he basically thought he could “fix” Joyce with his penis. Not sure how I forgot about that, when I remember finding it gross at the time.
I retract my earlier statements about him. He’s absorbed different aspects of toxic masculinity than Walky, but definitely not less
There’s some comments about alcohol that raise red flags for me as well – something like “helps facilitate the threesomes”.
It’s also worth bringing up his final line in http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/emasculated/
While something of a throwaway joke there, I wonder how true it is that he was often mistaken for Sal and perhaps felt the need to ‘amp up’ the masculinity to differentiate himself. Especially when it seems like Sal may have been something of a tomboy
So I’m in the midst of the post-Ryan arc (specifically when Dorothy watches cartoons with Walky to unwind) of my post-Walkyverse re-reading of DoA.
Something I’ve noticed?
The comments are 25% inside jokes (faaaaaaaaaaaace), 15% really good jokes (like, better than some of the best ones nowadays), another 40% just basic comments (mix of jokes and random stuff), and 20% assholes. Like, seriously, people who would get chewed up and shat out here for saying altogether dickish stuff. I mean, I’m not great at percentages (assume the ones I applied were arbitrary) but still.
And now consider that Willis wields the banhammer fearlessly – if those 20% got through, imagine the things that Willis ACTUALLY goes “yeah, no.”
From the top of my head, the Mary vs. Carla (take note of the s in vs. WB, your movie wasn’t a legal case) had several strips where he preemptively disabled the comments due to the foreseeable shitstorm. Considering some of the comments I had the disgust of reading on the strips of that arc that you COULD comment on, I shudder to think of what some people would type on the others.
I’m gonna pretend, for my own sake, that Willis was more lenient with the banhammer back then. ;-;
Wait????
Walky was not shaving up to now?
Is that normal?
It can be. I wasn’t at his age, while having the rest of the expected male changes.
(Still the wrong avatar for these comments. Maybe I should assume whoever asked has it by now and change out.)
I dunno, I can’t help but chortle at the fact that the only part of the sign you can read is “RE” and it looks like she’s pointing at her cleavage, so the avatar is basically prefacing everything by saying “Regarding: my boobs”
That was basically Leslie’s plan.
Not shaving at 18 is not unusual but only seeing your first hair at 18 is probably a bit more unusual…*opinion based on going to all boys high school
I going to second the suggestion that Walky immediately recognizes Amber as Amazi-girl. I think he was about to greet her, and only caught himself just in time after realizing that Dorothy didn’t call her that. (He probably thinks she’s not privy to AG’s secret identity.)
Then he got distracted by manhair and will never bring the subject up again.
I know AG’s secret identity which Dorothy needs to know? Screw that, Man Hair!
Well, on the one hand, I’m glad Walky can enjoy the simple things in life. On the other hand, THIS IS REALLY NOT THE TIME, DUDE.