I can feel a little bad for her. This event was a very hard test for her to pass. Imagine trying to move on with your life only to confronted with your old triggers. It would be like forcing new atheist Joyce to have a meal with her family. That’s a high check to clear.
Psychie
I don’t think this situation is even remotely comparable to Joyce having a meal with her family. Her parents were directly complicit in all the toxic BS she’s only now getting away from, and while her father is trying to be better after her mother and the church took things “too far” that doesn’t absolve him for supporting all the crap before that that somehow wasn’t “too far”.
Meanwhile Walky was her best friend and closest confidante her entire childhood, genuinely cares about her well being, and has always been supportive of her. The only way in which his presence is triggering is because he happened to be there for her trauma, not because he in any way contributed to it. Pushing away a positive member of her support group simply because “he was there” is very much not healthy behavior. She was genuinely very awful to him and has zero excuse, no amount of trauma or baggage justifies that kind of treatment.
Sirksome
That’s not really the point though. It’s the fact that the person exists as a trigger. Walky reminds Jennifer of her past and she regresses back to that person because he does. It’s fine that he was her “best friend” although I don’t really believe that because siblings hold a different role and that what they see each other as.
It doesn’t really matter what the trigger is over the fact that it is a trigger. Walky wouldn’t be seen in the best light if someone started talking about what the best episode of Dexter and Monkey Master is and why it’s not Wedding Smashers. Sal would probably crumble is she had to each lunch with Malaya. The list goes on. You think Raidah could keep her composure if Joyce and Jacob started making out in front of her? Everyone has something that sets them off. Some people aren’t capable of rising above it. I think it deserves some sympathy.
shrub
Good points
Schpoonman
I don’t entirely disagree, but I think the severity of the trigger should be acknowledged.
Malaya is awful and spends every second she’s with Sal huffily ignoring her and then glancing over her shoulder so she makes sure Sal sees Malaya snubbing her, and if Sal starts to actually ignore her Malaya will make more comments until she’s gotten under Sal’s skin. Joyce and Jacob making out in front of Raidah is… Well, that’s a lot closer to Malaya and her kinda-sorta-not-really targeted harassment than Walky being invited to breakfast by a third party and Jennifer taking offense at nearly his every word.
It’s not his responsibility to walk on eggshells when she’s determined to have a problem with him. And if his very presence is a trauma button for Jennifer then it’s still her responsibility to mind her own reactions, or remove herself from a situation she knows is going to trigger a bad reaction. Jennifer doesn’t get to tell Walky what he can and cannot do when she is going out of her way to remove him from her own life.
If Walky is such a problem for Jennifer, she should be an adult about it, not scream at him for not following a script she isn’t giving him in the first place.
Schpoonman
The same goes for Tall Rachel. If Ruth is such a nightmare that TR felt the need to find her after a suicide attempt and say “You’ll always be a monster,” she needs to get the fuck out of that dorm, not stick around for an additional semester past that point so she can continue to snipe at Ruth.
It’s partly she knows Walky SO well and she therefore KNOWS this is not the real Walky. Walky’s a charmer and he can schmooze with the best of them if he has to, but Jennifer knows that when the chips are down and he’s left to his own devices, he’ll turn right back into the lazy geeky sloth she knows him to be.
What I’m mostly curious about is what will happen when Lucy inevitably discovers this about Walky. She knows about his natural inclinations, and she definitely can get him to “smarten up” in situations that call for it, but is Walky’s natural state of being (his “true self”, so to speak) something that she actually loves and will appreciate? Or is it something that she actually dislikes and wishes he were more hardworking, professional etc. A lot of failed relationships I’ve seen (including some of mine) happened because one partner thinks the other person will change, but the other has absolutely no intention of changing and resents/pushes back when the first person tries.
Zaxares
To clarify though, Jennifer’s behaviour at this breakfast was DEFINITELY over the line and she needs to scale it back. XD
Lena
I don’t necessarily agree. I think sometimes you can know someone so long that you think you have a complete picture of who they are and all that they can ever be, and as such never allow them to change in your mind. Sure, that’s the Walky she’s always known, but they doesn’t mean that’s the Walky he’ll always be. It’s clear from the last bit of comics that he’s starting to care more about appearances and what people think of him, and he’s been worrying about needing to work harder to maintain the grades he expects from himself since almost the beginning of the comic. People change in college, and a lot of time the people who have known them the longest are least able to see that.
Sirksome
There’s some real irony here in this observation of Walky and Jennifer.
Matthew Davis
I haven’t seen any indication that Lucy is looking to “fix” Walky, at least not in that way. She has mentioned wanting him to dress nicer and I can see how you would extrapolate the rest from that, but I don’t think she wants to change his personality beyond keeping the Pajama Jeans to a dull roar.
“And yet nobody else is going to let you forget who you were.”
Jennifer’s interactions with Ruth and Walky are motivated by this: their presence reminds Jennifer of who she once was, and she doesn’t like that. She also vehemently refuses to allow them to be anything other than what they once were to her, and she doesn’t notice the hypocrisy inherent to it. “I get to grow up into someone else, but YOU aren’t.”
That’s what it looks like, to me. It’s pretty classic of her, I think. There are a lot of angles or lenses through which this can be presented (e.g. “she is the protagonist of her story and everyone else is a static supporting character who must never outshine the hero”) but I doubt she’s aware enough of it to apply any meaningful philosophy to it.
I’m also pretty sure she’d reject that it’s happening if someone tried spelling it out to her. This could take a while (or take a disaster) to resolve, if indeed it ever is resolved.
Maybe because he’s the one thing about her past she doesn’t want to change….Like he’s the only good thing about life before college, holy shit I see it now.
Related to that i think she still expects the status quo from high-school to remain and Walky gaining status is also stealing ‘the plot’ from her.
Steve C
Yep. However much “Billie” pats herself on the back for becoming “Jennifer”, the “alpha cheerleader” is still a core part of her personality that she’ll never give up. Walky is problematic for Jennifer since he grew up with Billie, never took the alpha cheerleader all that seriously, and is now (for lack of a better way to say it) threatening to steel some of the spotlight from her.
Also, being “adopted” as Walky’s new best friend on the first day of kindergarten, and adopted as a foster daughter by Walky’s parents (whatever the parents’ social-climbing reasons may have been) essentially saved her from what she clearly foresaw (waiting alone at the bus stop that day) as a lifetime of neglect, exclusion, and isolation. The nickname “Billie” gave her confidence, uniqueness, a chance to create her own identity anew for the new school environment.
I don’t think she wants to lose that affectionate bonding memory she had of trading nicknames with Walky on day one.
There may well be deeper motives here that are more of a problem, but I really don’t get the hypocrisy angle here. “Call me what I want to be called and call him what he wants to be called” isn’t hypocrisy. Even if Walky seems to be willing to put up with it for whatever reason.
It would be hypocritical if Walky was asking to be called David and she was protesting that, but he’s not.
Of course if she recognizes that Raidah’s trying to manipulate him the same way she did Jennifer, that complicates everything, but I don’t think she’s there yet.
This kind of makes me feel like maybe Raidah pressured her to drop “Billie” to present professionally as “Jennifer” and she is having emotions about that being brought up here and no emotional capacity to do process it or do anything about it.
I second thejeff’s point here—it’s not hypocrisy because Walky *wants* to be called “Walky.” “David” is the name that only banks, government officials, his mother, and Raidah use.
Meanwhile, Jennifer doesn’t want to be called “Billie” at all.
That said, Jennifer has been incredibly out of line concerning Walky in other ways during this outing, as others have noted.
i mean if anything getting into a fight with jen would prolly make him more immature or say snarky things but idk how much jen’s actually physically hurt him besides ‘shoving him into lockers’
Especially when they’re based on an insular, stuffy 2nd grade teacher from a small suburban “flyover state” community in the 1950’s stereotypical view of an much bigger world she’ll have nothing to do with.
It’s “Mr. Walkerton” or “David Walkerton, but my friends call me Walky” just as easily for presenting oneself professionly *unless* practiced otherwise by the specific professional setting in question. I’m sure it’s done exactly as Raidah said in the household she was raised in…But I’m also pretty sure her parents don’t have half the respectability they believe they’ve earned with their cartoon levels of broom-up-the-ass they display that Raidah mimics…
have decided to start abusing the reddit page more. As of tonight to get the ball rolling on that I have opened up a one week poll to vote on who has the most heated rivalry in Dumbing of age.
I don’t actually believe that. I just couldn’t resist the setup.
Miri
Possibly also one of the most supportive rivalries because while there are some genuine insecurities spilling out there and at play especially on Becky’s end, they also do seem to mainly like each other as people…
Johnny Dangerously, Batman (twice), Beetlejuice, Mr. Mom, and more recently Birdman (for which he received a Best Actor nomination), vs Winkler’s very deep TV and very shallow film career.
Or to sum up, Night Shift was probably Henry Winkler’s best film, but it doesn’t crack Keaton’s top five. I do enjoy Night Shift, and then forget that it existed.
No. No. It’s a bad idea to plan your murdering aloud in front of witnesses. Even if you don’t follow through, you’ll still come across as Jenniferious.
Not to mention how gauche and immature it is to even consider murdering for free in this economy. A willingness to ice for cash is an asset. Some individuals might even be wanted dead by multiple parties. If you play your cards right, by dropping a single body you might rake in several billings’ worth.
Walky? Professional? Dude’s gonna walk onto a film set, joke around with director a bit and suddenly he has a job. 5 years later he’ll be heading up WB’s fifth reboot of the DC universe.
Being able to casually side step the rules is the Walkerton twins brand of cool. Radiahs idea of the required steps to sucess is actually closer to Dorothy’s work ethic.
I give the odds better than 50/50. That emphasis on “bet it was” last comic can be taken as “I know I’m awesome,” but it can also be taken as “ok, I get your game and hopefully Billie will too.”
I say very likely (and it may lead to a heated discussion).
But I think the first thing he’s going to say, when out of sight and earshot, is “whew! that was exhausting!” That fixed grin will fall off like a mask with its string cut. After the “discussion” we may see him return to his normal level of Walky insouciance.
She thought all of her hard work rebranding had worked but seeing Radiah casually give Walky the same invitation and push her to the side means she never had the acceptance she thought she had refound.
Asher may be somewhat up to par with her preferred crowd, but the two others would have to be a charity case on *her* end, in terms of fake fair weather friends, for her not to feel rightfully stupid for hanging with them.
230 thoughts on “Broclone”
Ana Chronistic
so angry about not completely losing “Billie” but so insistent that he never loses “Walky”
Hypocrisy of Age
sakamism
Also she’s still inexplicably mad at him when he did nothing wrong, didn’t embarrass her, and left on a good note.
I want to feel sorry for Billie but she makes it so hard.
Vanessa
Yup. It’s Walky, Billie.
Sirksome
I can feel a little bad for her. This event was a very hard test for her to pass. Imagine trying to move on with your life only to confronted with your old triggers. It would be like forcing new atheist Joyce to have a meal with her family. That’s a high check to clear.
Psychie
I don’t think this situation is even remotely comparable to Joyce having a meal with her family. Her parents were directly complicit in all the toxic BS she’s only now getting away from, and while her father is trying to be better after her mother and the church took things “too far” that doesn’t absolve him for supporting all the crap before that that somehow wasn’t “too far”.
Meanwhile Walky was her best friend and closest confidante her entire childhood, genuinely cares about her well being, and has always been supportive of her. The only way in which his presence is triggering is because he happened to be there for her trauma, not because he in any way contributed to it. Pushing away a positive member of her support group simply because “he was there” is very much not healthy behavior. She was genuinely very awful to him and has zero excuse, no amount of trauma or baggage justifies that kind of treatment.
Sirksome
That’s not really the point though. It’s the fact that the person exists as a trigger. Walky reminds Jennifer of her past and she regresses back to that person because he does. It’s fine that he was her “best friend” although I don’t really believe that because siblings hold a different role and that what they see each other as.
It doesn’t really matter what the trigger is over the fact that it is a trigger. Walky wouldn’t be seen in the best light if someone started talking about what the best episode of Dexter and Monkey Master is and why it’s not Wedding Smashers. Sal would probably crumble is she had to each lunch with Malaya. The list goes on. You think Raidah could keep her composure if Joyce and Jacob started making out in front of her? Everyone has something that sets them off. Some people aren’t capable of rising above it. I think it deserves some sympathy.
shrub
Good points
Schpoonman
I don’t entirely disagree, but I think the severity of the trigger should be acknowledged.
Malaya is awful and spends every second she’s with Sal huffily ignoring her and then glancing over her shoulder so she makes sure Sal sees Malaya snubbing her, and if Sal starts to actually ignore her Malaya will make more comments until she’s gotten under Sal’s skin. Joyce and Jacob making out in front of Raidah is… Well, that’s a lot closer to Malaya and her kinda-sorta-not-really targeted harassment than Walky being invited to breakfast by a third party and Jennifer taking offense at nearly his every word.
It’s not his responsibility to walk on eggshells when she’s determined to have a problem with him. And if his very presence is a trauma button for Jennifer then it’s still her responsibility to mind her own reactions, or remove herself from a situation she knows is going to trigger a bad reaction. Jennifer doesn’t get to tell Walky what he can and cannot do when she is going out of her way to remove him from her own life.
If Walky is such a problem for Jennifer, she should be an adult about it, not scream at him for not following a script she isn’t giving him in the first place.
Schpoonman
The same goes for Tall Rachel. If Ruth is such a nightmare that TR felt the need to find her after a suicide attempt and say “You’ll always be a monster,” she needs to get the fuck out of that dorm, not stick around for an additional semester past that point so she can continue to snipe at Ruth.
Zaxares
It’s partly she knows Walky SO well and she therefore KNOWS this is not the real Walky. Walky’s a charmer and he can schmooze with the best of them if he has to, but Jennifer knows that when the chips are down and he’s left to his own devices, he’ll turn right back into the lazy geeky sloth she knows him to be.
What I’m mostly curious about is what will happen when Lucy inevitably discovers this about Walky. She knows about his natural inclinations, and she definitely can get him to “smarten up” in situations that call for it, but is Walky’s natural state of being (his “true self”, so to speak) something that she actually loves and will appreciate? Or is it something that she actually dislikes and wishes he were more hardworking, professional etc. A lot of failed relationships I’ve seen (including some of mine) happened because one partner thinks the other person will change, but the other has absolutely no intention of changing and resents/pushes back when the first person tries.
Zaxares
To clarify though, Jennifer’s behaviour at this breakfast was DEFINITELY over the line and she needs to scale it back. XD
Lena
I don’t necessarily agree. I think sometimes you can know someone so long that you think you have a complete picture of who they are and all that they can ever be, and as such never allow them to change in your mind. Sure, that’s the Walky she’s always known, but they doesn’t mean that’s the Walky he’ll always be. It’s clear from the last bit of comics that he’s starting to care more about appearances and what people think of him, and he’s been worrying about needing to work harder to maintain the grades he expects from himself since almost the beginning of the comic. People change in college, and a lot of time the people who have known them the longest are least able to see that.
Sirksome
There’s some real irony here in this observation of Walky and Jennifer.
Matthew Davis
I haven’t seen any indication that Lucy is looking to “fix” Walky, at least not in that way. She has mentioned wanting him to dress nicer and I can see how you would extrapolate the rest from that, but I don’t think she wants to change his personality beyond keeping the Pajama Jeans to a dull roar.
Gigafreak
“And yet nobody else is going to let you forget who you were.”
Jennifer’s interactions with Ruth and Walky are motivated by this: their presence reminds Jennifer of who she once was, and she doesn’t like that. She also vehemently refuses to allow them to be anything other than what they once were to her, and she doesn’t notice the hypocrisy inherent to it. “I get to grow up into someone else, but YOU aren’t.”
That’s what it looks like, to me. It’s pretty classic of her, I think. There are a lot of angles or lenses through which this can be presented (e.g. “she is the protagonist of her story and everyone else is a static supporting character who must never outshine the hero”) but I doubt she’s aware enough of it to apply any meaningful philosophy to it.
I’m also pretty sure she’d reject that it’s happening if someone tried spelling it out to her. This could take a while (or take a disaster) to resolve, if indeed it ever is resolved.
newlland(Henryvolt)
Maybe because he’s the one thing about her past she doesn’t want to change….Like he’s the only good thing about life before college, holy shit I see it now.
Archieve
Related to that i think she still expects the status quo from high-school to remain and Walky gaining status is also stealing ‘the plot’ from her.
Steve C
Yep. However much “Billie” pats herself on the back for becoming “Jennifer”, the “alpha cheerleader” is still a core part of her personality that she’ll never give up. Walky is problematic for Jennifer since he grew up with Billie, never took the alpha cheerleader all that seriously, and is now (for lack of a better way to say it) threatening to steel some of the spotlight from her.
Laura
Also, being “adopted” as Walky’s new best friend on the first day of kindergarten, and adopted as a foster daughter by Walky’s parents (whatever the parents’ social-climbing reasons may have been) essentially saved her from what she clearly foresaw (waiting alone at the bus stop that day) as a lifetime of neglect, exclusion, and isolation. The nickname “Billie” gave her confidence, uniqueness, a chance to create her own identity anew for the new school environment.
I don’t think she wants to lose that affectionate bonding memory she had of trading nicknames with Walky on day one.
thejeff
There may well be deeper motives here that are more of a problem, but I really don’t get the hypocrisy angle here. “Call me what I want to be called and call him what he wants to be called” isn’t hypocrisy. Even if Walky seems to be willing to put up with it for whatever reason.
It would be hypocritical if Walky was asking to be called David and she was protesting that, but he’s not.
Of course if she recognizes that Raidah’s trying to manipulate him the same way she did Jennifer, that complicates everything, but I don’t think she’s there yet.
Liliet
Mhm.
Comic.phile
This kind of makes me feel like maybe Raidah pressured her to drop “Billie” to present professionally as “Jennifer” and she is having emotions about that being brought up here and no emotional capacity to do process it or do anything about it.
Liliet
Sounds right to me.
Jon Rich
I second thejeff’s point here—it’s not hypocrisy because Walky *wants* to be called “Walky.” “David” is the name that only banks, government officials, his mother, and Raidah use.
Meanwhile, Jennifer doesn’t want to be called “Billie” at all.
That said, Jennifer has been incredibly out of line concerning Walky in other ways during this outing, as others have noted.
Decidedly Orthogonal
There’s a reason why I address Ms. Billingsworth as such, and it’s not out of respect.
BBCC
I mean, it’s true. You don’t know it’s not, Raidah. Hypotheses require testing.
anon
i mean if anything getting into a fight with jen would prolly make him more immature or say snarky things but idk how much jen’s actually physically hurt him besides ‘shoving him into lockers’
DudeMyDadOwnsADealership
Especially when they’re based on an insular, stuffy 2nd grade teacher from a small suburban “flyover state” community in the 1950’s stereotypical view of an much bigger world she’ll have nothing to do with.
It’s “Mr. Walkerton” or “David Walkerton, but my friends call me Walky” just as easily for presenting oneself professionly *unless* practiced otherwise by the specific professional setting in question. I’m sure it’s done exactly as Raidah said in the household she was raised in…But I’m also pretty sure her parents don’t have half the respectability they believe they’ve earned with their cartoon levels of broom-up-the-ass they display that Raidah mimics…
C.T. Phipps
Poor Jennifer is backsliding.
YOU CAN BE MORE THAN BILLIE! BILLIE IS CHAOTIC EVIL!
Jennifer is…err, Lawful Evil!
newlland(Henryvolt)
have decided to start abusing the reddit page more. As of tonight to get the ball rolling on that I have opened up a one week poll to vote on who has the most heated rivalry in Dumbing of age.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbingofage/comments/11ob9xb/greatest_nemesis_type_rivalry_in_doa/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
newlland(Henryvolt)
Damn it I forgot to put “Dorothy V Becky,” what a waste.
Dana
That’s the hottest rivalry, not the most heated.
I don’t actually believe that. I just couldn’t resist the setup.
Miri
Possibly also one of the most supportive rivalries because while there are some genuine insecurities spilling out there and at play especially on Becky’s end, they also do seem to mainly like each other as people…
The Wellerman
damn Jennifer ?
GeekyWarrior
I swear, Jennifer has some marvelous frowns
huesatlight
She looks like Nancy.
Stephen Bierce
And all the mention of the movie “Night Shift” on Twitter today. Is it really Michael Keaton’s best movie, or just Henry Winkler’s second best?
Ryan
Johnny Dangerously, Batman (twice), Beetlejuice, Mr. Mom, and more recently Birdman (for which he received a Best Actor nomination), vs Winkler’s very deep TV and very shallow film career.
Also, is Twitter still around?!?
Ryan
Or to sum up, Night Shift was probably Henry Winkler’s best film, but it doesn’t crack Keaton’s top five. I do enjoy Night Shift, and then forget that it existed.
RassilonTDavros
Half expected the tags to change back to “Billie” on this strip.
Vanessa
That would be too good. At least our goofball Walky hasn’t transformed into a completely fake hair-brushing tie-wearing premed David.
AND Lucy didn’t freak out and hero-worship the mean girls in cringingly spineless way, or talk for an hour about how much Walky loves her.
Reltzik
No. No. It’s a bad idea to plan your murdering aloud in front of witnesses. Even if you don’t follow through, you’ll still come across as Jenniferious.
milu
Not to mention how gauche and immature it is to even consider murdering for free in this economy. A willingness to ice for cash is an asset. Some individuals might even be wanted dead by multiple parties. If you play your cards right, by dropping a single body you might rake in several billings’ worth.
Sirksome
Walky? Professional? Dude’s gonna walk onto a film set, joke around with director a bit and suddenly he has a job. 5 years later he’ll be heading up WB’s fifth reboot of the DC universe.
Yotomoe
Couldn’t be worse than Zaslov.
Dana
Walky, a more fully human Mr. Peanutbutter?
System_Anomaly
Damn, so spot on.
For those that want to know what Walky getting a job will look like
brionl
It’s been more than half a year since the latest Batman movie.
Isn’t it time for another reboot?
Archieve
Being able to casually side step the rules is the Walkerton twins brand of cool. Radiahs idea of the required steps to sucess is actually closer to Dorothy’s work ethic.
Mark
You’ve reminded me that I once wondered if it was reasonable to consider Raidah to be Dorothy’s evil twin.
Dot
Over/under on Walky finally complaining about what awful people Raidah and Carl are once he and Lucy are out of earshot?
Wereg
Good odds. I’ve been loving Walky this arc, and would love for him to continue that streak.
Bryy
Yeah, I’m placing bets on the storyline ender being Lucy’s shift to the dark side.
Matthew Davis
I give the odds better than 50/50. That emphasis on “bet it was” last comic can be taken as “I know I’m awesome,” but it can also be taken as “ok, I get your game and hopefully Billie will too.”
Mark
I say very likely (and it may lead to a heated discussion).
But I think the first thing he’s going to say, when out of sight and earshot, is “whew! that was exhausting!” That fixed grin will fall off like a mask with its string cut. After the “discussion” we may see him return to his normal level of Walky insouciance.
thejeff
Over/under on Raidah and Carl complaining about the stunted man-child and about Jennifer once they’re out of earshot.
Kind of impressive to have a breakfast that requires multiple debriefings.
Dot
Oh no, I suspect they’re going to complain about Walky while Billie still is in earshot.
thejeff
I don’t think so. Maybe to play up to Jennifer, if they’re being a bit more subtle.
But Raidah and Carl’s conversation when they made the invite showed they’re fooling Jennifer as well.
Dot
I didn’t say they’d know she was in earshot.
Kyoulkoa
Great expressions in today’s comic
Kmoore305409
Quoth the friends from the other side, Jennifer: “You got what you wanted, but you lost what you had”
cbwroses
Nice.
Though which dumbiverse should have Keith David’s voice?
Rainhat
Mary. 🙂
Schpoonman
Fuckface’s inner dialogue.
Excuse me, I meant Fuckface’s iguana’s inner dialogue.
Dday
Galasso obviously, how is that even a question
Archieve
She thought all of her hard work rebranding had worked but seeing Radiah casually give Walky the same invitation and push her to the side means she never had the acceptance she thought she had refound.
DudeMyDadOwnsADealership
Asher may be somewhat up to par with her preferred crowd, but the two others would have to be a charity case on *her* end, in terms of fake fair weather friends, for her not to feel rightfully stupid for hanging with them.
EpochFlame
lol she’s totally oblivious to her hypocrisy
Zero
You’ll have to be more specific.
MM
No, no, Carl. The catchphrase is “I’ve been here the whole time.”
Jamie