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Flush
Posted on May 1, 2024 by David M Willis
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109 thoughts on “Flush”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Dumbing of Age Book 14: By Poop

    A Memoir

    by Joyce Hannah Brown

    1. Rose by Any Other Name

      By Boop.

      That is to say, in that final panel, I really want Joyce to boop Joe’s nose.

      1. David DeLaney

        counterpoint: she could actually REACH his nipple

  2. NGPZ

    *plays “Super Freak” by Rick James on hacked muzak*

  3. IntangibleMatter

    This better be a cuddling storyline. If not I will be VERY upset.

    (unlesss we get to see Carla or Ruth, been missing them)

    1. Amy

      But imagine: a Carla and Ruth cuddling storyline.

      1. Mark

        I don’t think my imaginator has that much power.

      2. Miafillene

        *head kersplodes!*

      3. Opus the Poet

        This is why this comment section needs an upvote button,?.

    2. GoblinBagsSumo

      But what possible better time is there for them to round the bases than after all that poop talk and being hungover?

      1. drs

        And her pooper is relatively clean now!

  4. RassilonTDavros

    Dumbing of Age Book 14: I’m Really Gonna Have to Teach You When to End Your Sentences

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      There was a Monty Python sketch about that.

    2. Chaucer59

      Dumbing of Age Book 14: I’m Really Gonna Have to Teach You When to End Your.

    3. GoblinBagsSumo

      Here, let me try: Am I do?

  5. shadowcell

    Dumbing of Age Book 14: Uninterrupted By Poop

    1. Joe Helfrich

      Since this is the start of a new day, wouldn’t that make this book 15?

      Though I suppose that does mean book 14 would be uninterrupted by poop.

      1. Devin

        Nah, this is storyline 4 in Book 14. Check the archives dropdown, it usually includes the next 2-3 upcoming chapter titles, and the one we’re in is listed as the last one in Book 14.

      2. Needfuldoer

        Each day is a chapter, and the books usually have 4 to 6 chapters in them.

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

    2. Rose by Any Other Name

      I too wish to live a lie uninterrupted by poop.

      1. Taffy

        It’s such a waste of time, honestly.

        1. clif

          Not if you multi-task.

          A life uninterrupted by poop is certainly a lie.

        2. David DeLaney

          they did not tell me in school just how much TIME wiping was gonna end up taking later on

      2. Alan in DC

        I’m now reimagining the old Peter and Gordon song “World Without Love”, substituting the word “poop”.
        Please make it stop.

  6. HueSatLight

    nipples

    1. Rose by Any Other Name

      Indeed.

    2. Steamweed

      Scandalous! :O

  7. Kyrik Michalowski

    No Joe, you can’t teach Joyce when to stop talking! It’s half of her appeal as a person; it must never disappear.

    1. Warcodered

      That’s true but the dynamic of it between them is pretty good.

  8. Sirksome

    Not particularly comic related but Sayid has the worst tattoos. Are those like muscle fibers? I hope that’s not actually a skin condition and I’m being super insensitive.

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Compare Jeph’s hand tattoo at: https://www.jephjacques.com/

    2. Taffy

      It’s his dead father’s exact muscle structure.

      1. Sirksome

        Well now I feel like an asshole.

        1. clif

          Jeph is Willis’s dead father?

          I somehow feel that I lost the thread of the conversation somewhere.

        2. Steamweed

          Yes, Jeph is dead (RIP), but has one heck of a buffer in stored comics and blog posts for QC. Should last a while.

        3. Pergola

          You never realize what someone meant to you until they’re gone.

    3. Derek

      each to their own I guess, I am personally a huge fan of anatomical muscle tattoos. I certainly like his a lot better than the discordant nonsense Sal has going on in her sleeve.

      1. Sirksome

        I forgot what Sal has going on with hers. I know she wanted to add to the spider. As for Sayid I don’t hate the idea I just keep seeing it as arm hair before I realize what it’s supposed to be.

        1. Sirksome

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-13/03-joementum/bullshit-3/

          From best I can tell Sal’s looks like the Spider-man logo with a row of sheet music as a band around the arm. Not a terrible concept.

        2. Needfuldoer

          It’s a Tarantugun, a giant robotic spider/A-10 hybrid from the It’s Walky! universe (and probably a comic or cartoon in DoA).

          After she rekindled her interest in music, she added the staves over the time skip / winter break.

        3. HueSatLight

          original: https://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/98293895862/i-want-to-ask-something-cool-but-cant-think-of
          hint at personal significance: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-9-comic/01-flyin-to-the-red/alphabet/

          current: https://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/714955965452156928/can-we-see-the-design-for-the-updated-version-of

        4. HueSatLight

          Second bonus strip of Sept 2017 (book 8 I think), more context on personal significance.

        5. Derek

          yeah I was referring to the update that HueSatLight helpfully linked to: it’s a spider on a clock that’s set on a musical stave that has flames on top and leaves or feathers on the bottom. There’s no unifying theme, it’s just a lot of shit thrown together

        6. HueSatLight

          It’s probably the things that are most meaningful to Sal. The theme is her.

        7. Needfuldoer

          It’s probably something like her finding peace through her love of music. The fire is her righteous anger, the leaves and/or feathers represent calm, the music represents… music.

          She’ll never admit it, though.

  9. Sirksome

    Does Joe have a history of going out and getting drunk with Danny? If you think about it, the guys do get way less panel time, they could be doing anything!

    1. Jeremiah

      Well there was that mention early on by him about going out drinking to facilitate threesomes.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Early DoA Joe said a lot of things.

    2. Devin

      I think him not getting to feel jealous is more a broad statement than specific to going out and getting drunk.

      1. DailyBrad

        Yeah, Joe has sown a ton of wild oats, whereas Joyce has cut loose comparatively far less often.

  10. DrWattson

    Joyce is very lucky that she’s cute. She can get away with unironic poop talk.

  11. JR

    This could be an interesting development if Joyce is a bit more sexually motivated at the moment and Joe is not in the mood.

    1. Tan

      I really don’t think Joyce means it sexually. Also I’m pretty sure the sticking point here is going to be the existence of classes.

  12. pope suburban

    Unexpected Joe cuddles are good. Joyce embracing her grown is better.

  13. JA

    Fecal interruptus can really kill the mood.

  14. Dday

    Joe, you don’t *get* to feel feelings, you have them. Trying to judge your own feelings and swat at them for being the wrong ones will make you crazy. If you feel jealousy, you do. Just don’t let jealous feelings direct you into a vindictive attitude.

    1. DashWallkick

      I don’t think that’s what he’s talking about here. I think he’s trying to thread the needle on Joyce’s obvious desire for physical intimacy and sex that’s walled off behind shame with his own fear of breaking things. He wants to treat her the way she wants to be treated, but she also obviously doesn’t want that. It’s not a great place for a boyfriend to be, when you can see cognitive dissonance and can’t know what’s real.

      1. Dday

        Sure, that all sounds correct in the bigger picture of things. I’m mostly referencing his lines in panels 2 and 3. My interpretation is that he seems to be picking up on the same Joyce/Dotty sexual vibes as everyone else in the universe (and in the comments section), but thinks he doesn’t have a right to “feel jealous” because of his own history of promiscuity.

        My broader point is that feelings aren’t oriented around justice or fairness, they are just information about what we are experiencing, so it’s not healthy to attempt to hold them in abeyance.

  15. DailyBrad

    Imagine telling someone last semester, including Joyce herself, that she would be able to be in front of Joe in her panties and not be remotely self-conscious about it. She’s really reached a comfort and trust level with him.

  16. Shakes

    Worst comes to worst Joyce can always find a dog puppet and a cigar and take her poops on the talk show circuit.

  17. SailorCakes

    Goddamn it Joyce don’t say poop every chance you get just stop girl ?

  18. Derek

    is alcohol induced diarrhea a thing? I always thought it came out either as piss (normal) or vomit (bad), never knew there was a secret third option

    1. SailorCakes

      Ya I’m with you there I never heard of the drunken shits before. This is new to me…..

    2. BBCC

      Yes, because it messes with your intestine’s ability to absorb water.

    3. HueSatLight

      I guess we don’t get a panel with a PLOP

      1. Svankensen

        Oh, it’s not a plop…

    4. Svankensen

      Yes, it’s quite common for some, and gets worse with age. But then again, for some people, everything gives them… the ability to know when to stop a sentence.

      1. MK15

        Well-played ^.^

    5. Big Z

      Pooping more than usual after heavy drinking? Absolutely common. (see also the slang term “whiskey shits”)

      Do I think these two actually drank enough to be experiencing the whiskey shits? Not really.

    6. HueSatLight

      she says constipation

      1. Tan

        That is not what she said, no. She explicitly said that she apparently poops a lot when hung over. She then went on to share a different story about constipation to demonstrate that the opposite of her current situation is not better.

  19. Reltzik

    … okay, maybe Joyce/Walky is a viable ship in this universe after all.

  20. BBCC

    Oh, you love it, Joe.

  21. David DeLaney

    today we learnt
    that Joe can frown with his chest hair

  22. Tatterhood

    Is it just me, or does it sound like Joe is questioning if the things she wants might include Dorothy? I kind of love the idea of considering polyamory as a character development arc for all of them.

    Seems kinda bonkers fast for Joyce to get so cool with so many things things that would have gone against her worldview at the start of the school year, but that tends to be how these things go in real life – you reach the tipping point and then jump in with both feet.

    September’s Joe would not have been able to fathom considering the idea of two hot chicks hooking up without his biggest concern being how he could get to watch. Now he actually knows and cares about Joyce as a person and is invested in her happiness for its own sake.

    September Dorothy could never jeopardize her electablity like that. Now she gets to figure out how to be a person. She started the year leaving a relationship with someone she’d outgrown on her way to her dream, then found someone who was a distraction from the dream, and now she’s outgrown the dream but found someone whose hand she wants to hold while they both build new ones.

    1. TerribleTransit

      No, I get that too. There’s a hint of “There’s nothing going on between you and Dorothy, is there?” in his statement amount jealousy (though I guess you could also read it as “You weren’t out at a bar searching for other guys, were you?”). However it’s meant, Joyce either rejects it or doesn’t pick up on it in the first place.

      I’m still waiting for the other lesbian romance shoe to drop between those two, and a poly relationship is a plausible outcome but I don’t expect it.

      1. Tatterhood

        Oh, I wouldn’t say I truly expect it either. It’s just fun to play with possibilities, and it surprised me how on board I’d be with that one.

      2. thejeff

        Or just non-sexual jealousy of her going out and doing fun things that he would have liked to share with her.

        1. Mark

          This.

          And, maybe, a little bit of “is this still the Joyce that I think I know?”

    2. Big Z

      Okay, so I’ve been poly myself for decades, and I remember what it was/is like to try to figure out if someone you’re interested in might be interested in poly, and frankly speaking?

      It doesn’t look like this, at all, at least from where I sit.

      What this looks like, as (also) a reformed fuckboi myself, is a fuckboi trying to be reformed (and apparently mostly succeeding).

      1. TerribleTransit

        I don’t think it’s Joe feeling out a potential poly relationship. It can read (and does to me) more like he’s tacitly asking if Joyce has any feelings for Dorothy, which if affirmative could lead to a poly-leaning conversation several steps down the line. But right now it’s a pretty simply “Are you sure you want to be with me” insecurity situation.

        1. GholaHalleck

          I read it as “If you love her I won’t stand in your way, even if we caught feels” thing, because Joe’s whole fuckboi mindset is heavily entrenched in martyrdom.

          “I’m scum because my dad was scum, I won’t hurt people like my dad did, by not putting myself in the position to fall in love, because I’ll cheat like my dad did.” swaps real easy into:

          “I won’t stand in the way of someone falling in love, even if I want them to love me, because I’m undeserving of love and they deserve to be happy instead of with an asshole like me”

  23. Taffy

    Okay, I’m on record as wanting Joyce and Dorothy to fuck, but this is a hell of a reach.

    1. Taffy

      Fucksake, blah blah blah reply blah blah

    2. Tatterhood

      Reaching is fun sometimes ? ?. For the record, I was strictly speculating about V-shaped poly. Probably still a reach, but not as big a one as Joe/Dorothy would be.

    3. HueSatLight

      your “hell of a reach” avatar

  24. C.T. Phipps

    So who did Dorothy sleep with last night? And who was she?

    1. Mark

      Well, obviously Becky, but in separate beds.

      1. Da Boy

        Naah they were in the same bed. Becky pinning Dotty to the bed and demanding “Tell! Me! Everything!” with bloodshot eyes.

        1. Mark

          Okay, I can see that.

  25. Amós Batista

    pantless is my weakness

  26. DarkoNeko

    Well okay then

  27. Amós Batista

    Of course you shouldn’t be jealous, given your history, Joe! I hope Joyce can enjoy her new life before any serious commitment.

  28. Mark

    Almost always one of the best places to end a sentence.

  29. Roam85

    Studies have shown that talking about poop and pooping habits is a sign of a close relationship in couples.

    She is trying to bring you together, Joe.

    1. Mark

      Citation?

      1. GholaHalleck

        Charmin commercials.

  30. Steamweed

    “Instead of saying ‘poop’, just end your sentence with a clean period.”
    “But my periods are messy.”

    1. Schpoonman

      That’s what the birth control is for, I thought.

      1. Taellosse

        Doesn’t make ’em less messy – just more regular.

        1. thejeff

          Less painful mostly. And she hasn’t been on bc long enough to know the effects yet.

  31. Yeet

    stopping a clause or so earlier than you wanted to can be actually be a fantastic way to help with conversations

    1. David DeLaney

      for me it leads to my finishing their sentences on the spot
      old habit that started cuz my dad would pause (looking back, to pick The Right Word)
      and all three of us kids got conditioned to fill it in for him right then
      so the sentence would continue
      because all y’all remember how SLOW adults talked when you were kids…

  32. zee

    I love that Joyce has reached a point where she can comfortably:
    – openly request to see Joe’s morning wood
    – walk around in front of him without a bra or pants
    – cuddle in bed with little clothing

    It’s such progress. I’m just so happy to see her allowing herself to enjoy her relationship without fear of turning into a lust monster or the anxiety of 18 years of purity culture indoctrination

  33. Ray

    Joe’s character development makes me want to keep that tall young man in a purse. A lot of points of characters’ developments lately have been good to see in different ways, and it’s whack how complex and poignant the expressions, tones, or contextual event implications around their conversations can be, staggered out with the jokes.

    I dunno if ‘in love’ will work out good FOR him, but it’s a damn good look on him.

  34. Woop de doop

    Is she gonna boop his nose?

    1. NGPZ

      Boop it!

      Touch it!

      Squeeze ’em!

      Moan it!

  35. Kaiyalai

    I love the dynamics of these two so much,

  36. Suet

    I
    I want
    I want to lie
    I want to lie in bed
    I want to lie in bed with you
    I want to lie in bed with you, uninterrupted
    I want to lie in bed with you, uninterrupted, by poop

    Why even teach how to end a sentence, when the structure doesn’t help at all

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