141

Hooking
Posted on April 18, 2021 by David M Willis

141 thoughts on “Hooking”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    *leans back like*

    1. Rose by Any Other Name

      … this is oddly heartwarming.

      ….

      That last panel… it hurts. In a heartwarming way. Arg.

      1. Clif

        I wonder how long it will be before Jennifer regrets this.

        1. I am Nothing

          Right after she leaves the building.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          Naw, it’ll take longer I think. But it’s going to be a much more painful regret and likely will be portrayed as her not getting where it’s coming from. Even if the break was apparently Ruth’s doing.

        3. Needfuldoer

          I think if Daisy and Ruth hit it off and she has to keep hearing about it, all those “oh yeah, I remember how nice that was” moments will chip away at her.

          Maybe then we’ll find out what Ruth allegedly did to cause Jennifer to break up with her and reboot her personality again, and if she’s blowing it out of proportion or not.

        4. DSL

          Pimping (that’s what this is) out one’s ex (or anyone, really) to curry favor with one’s boss is something one should regret even contemplating. At this point, the best possible outcome is a humiliating failure with minimal damage to Ruth, from which Billifer and Editor-in-name-only have a chance to learn something but probably won’t.

        5. Ham Sawyer

          I’m an independent, full service sex worker, and this is not even close to pimping. Sit down.

  2. Sirksome

    Daisy needs tips but all Ruth needs is a chest window and the night’s a done deal!

    1. C.T Phipps

      I worry for Daisy because “She’s a GIRL right?”

      Implies some rather unfortunate dating history.

      1. Sirksome

        Daisy’s whole existence implies a rather unfortunate dating history. Although I read it more as disbelief that there’s even someone interested in her at all. Like part of her thinks this is a prank by Jennifer somehow. I wouldn’t be surprised if Daisy never had an extended conversation with a woman or really anyone outside of her typical day to day obligations. She seems very lonely.

        1. C.T Phipps

          Yep. This could well be her first sapphic date.

      2. RassilonTDavros

        My guess about Daisy’s “unfortunate dating history” is that her parents kept trying to set her up with guys, saying that she just hadn’t met the right one yet or some similar crap, and called her ungrateful for not appreciating their efforts to find someone for her.

        I can see how she might be weary enough of it that someone actually setting her up with a girl might seem too much to hope for, and she’s constantly worried the rug is going to be pulled out from under her.

  3. Doctor_Who

    “An actual girl. Not, like, a mop with lipstick.”

    “Who would set you up with a mop with lipstick?”

    “…I did. I get lonely.”

    1. Makkabee

      “The coatrack with lipstick broke up with me. I wasn’t a good enough dancer.”

      1. Needfuldoer

        She wasn’t interested in the floor lamp.

        1. Ana Chronistic

          Don’t you talk that way about Lamp-sempai!!

        2. Needfuldoer

          (Floor Lamp replaced Congressional Aide, who was a guy.)

  4. Wagstaff

    So she’s a sadomasochist?

    As the old saying goes,

    “If the gift shark you’ve been gifted is a Trojan one, you’ll be glad you looked it in the mouth.”

  5. DinaWho

    Panel 3 Daisy hit me hard, ngl.

    1. Geneseepaws

      Ms. Jennifer, the evil we do fine comes back to bite us. Evil is ungrateful. And panel three made me hafta cut onions.saddest thing I’ve read this year.

    2. BarerMender

      So lonely. So afraid she’ll always be alone.

      1. Needfuldoer

        [I’m in this picture and I do ‘t like it dot jpeg]

  6. RassilonTDavros

    As much as I’m rooting for Jennifer and Ruth to get back together eventually, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how this goes and especially to seeing Daisy get some more development after largely being just a one-note gag thus far.

    …anyway, this is probably going to go horribly wrong.

    1. Thag Simmons

      Look, setting your ex up with your boss is a foolproof plan which couldn’t possibly backfire

      1. Stephen Bierce

        There are backfires, and there are backfires!

        1. Jamie

          There are backfires, and then there are backdrafts.

        2. Makkabee

          There are backfires, and then there are bacchinalias.

        3. Stephen Bierce

          There are bacchinalias, and there are bock beers.

        4. Opus the Poet

          Is that like a bacchanalia? Because I think those are restricted to red wines for religious reasons (Bacchus being the god of wine and sensual pleasure)

        5. Clif

          Bach’s beer was probably Gose.

          https://www.ediblemanhattan.com/foodshed-2/raise-a-historically-accurate-glass-to-bach-beethoven-and-brahms/#:~:text=Bach%20was%20working%20in%20the,temperature%20version%20of%20the%20brew.

          HOMPK!

    2. Keulen

      I’d like to hope this goes well, but I’m definitely getting the feeling that it’ll go badly.

      1. Azhrei Vep

        I kinda feel like the worst thing that could possibly happen is it going well. So I think it probably will!

  7. Gizaru

    “Maybe you should forward me your resident assistant’s phone number. Just in case?”

    Took a semester, but Jennifer did it.

  8. Sirksome

    I’d like to think that Ruth and Daisy potentially becoming a couple will make Daisy relevant and get her more panel time, but she’s not on the cast page so I ain’t getting my hopes up.

    1. Thag Simmons

      By the same token her going on the cast page would kind of deflate the tension of this plotline

      Also the character she’d probably be most comparable to in terms of panel time if this is successful is Jason, who I don’t think was ever on there

      1. Sirksome

        And where is Jason now? I assume still working at Gallasso’s but he could be dead for all we know. If you’re not on the cast page you get to maybe be a bit player in a storyline unless you make yourself a villain. Hell a few people on the cast page don’t get much panel time either. Looking at you Malaya, Jacob, Carla, and even the newbie Booster, who had a big entrance moment but for now just makes brief cameos for other more important characters to play off of.

        1. Clif

          Mike mostly made brief cameos and yet he owned the comic. And your mom.

          For a nickle.

        2. Sirksome

          Yeah and he’s dead now. I hope he had enough nickels to pay the ferryman to cross the river styx.

        3. Chronos

          You know he did, or he at least did the ferryman’s mom as well if he didn’t.

  9. BBCC

    That’s….not terrible advice. Nicely done, Jennifer.

    Also, off topic to the strip, but relevant to the author and some of the commentariat’s interests – I binge watched Beast Wars with my brother today. I saw a few episodes as a kid, but this was my first time watching it (or any transformers show tbh) all the way through. It was fun! Probably would’ve been more fun if it didn’t KILL OFF ALL MY FAVES but c’est la vie. It’s probably not going into my top 20 shows any time soon, but it was an enjoyable way to kill a week and hang out with my brother.

    1. RassilonTDavros

      I think it really goes to show that Jennifer still cares deeply about Ruth, even after whatever horrible things sunk their relationship, no matter how much she tries to deny it.

      1. BarerMender

        Loves. Jennifer, who is really Billie, loves Ruth.

        1. Daniel M Ball

          there’s Loving someone, and then there’s “being in love with” someone. the second is generally a short-term situation that might lead to the first or it might fizzle.

    2. Thag Simmons

      Look we can only have so many characters at once and not everyone gets to be Dinobot

      1. BBCC

        (SPOILERS)

        Okay, cool, what was their excuse after Dinobot bit it? 😛 By the end of the series, I think my only faves still standing were Optimus, Rattrap and Blackarachnia (and thank god for that last one – I would’ve rioted. :P) I like them all, so honestly, I’d have been sad to see any of them go for good, but EVERY TIME it was one of my faves. RUDE.

        1. BBCC

          (MORE SPOILERS)

          Okay, not EVERY TIME – Depth Charge and Tarantulas were fun, but not amongst my faves. ALMOST EVERY OTHER TIME THOUGH.

        2. Varangian

          “I could forgive your treachery…not so your INCOMPETENCE!!!”

          (Just…what a good villain line.)

        3. Thag Simmons

          As I understand it, for technical reasons how big the cast could be was limited, so if they wanted new characters they’d have to cycle out old ones. They knew Dinobot was going to get written out from early on, so he had his story built around that, and got to exit the show in a pretty satisfying way.

          Which you can’t say for most of the casualties

        4. BBCC

          I get why, but I’m still salty 😛

        5. Thag Simmons

          I mean they definitely could have handled a lot of them better, completely agree about that

          Especially Airazor and Tigatron

        6. BBCC

          Eh, I’d have been salty regardless. I’m not actually angry or upset about it, but I enjoy a little salt when it’s fave after fave. Could it have been better? Probably. Did it really affect my enjoyment? Not really.

        7. Regalli

          Alas, Hasbro wanted to make more character toys and good CG models were way too expensive (in no small part because Beast Wars was a really expensive show.)

          But yeah, agreed.

    3. Zach

      Beast Wars had the best toys and was the first drama that ever sucked me in! Glad you liked it. Aquapunk is a webcomic heavily influenced by transformers where becoming living stone means immortality but statues that spontaneously come to life are a slave class. And I just binged it.

      Autobot4life

    4. Jason Rivest

      Did you watch Beast Machines as well? A sequel series to Beast Wars, that picks off more more or less where we left off: some of the survivors (including your surviving faves) reunite on Cybertron with some memory loss and stuck in Beast Mode and are basically on the run. Not as good as Beast Wars, but watchable.

      1. BBCC

        I have not and don’t really care to. I liked BW as a complete story and don’t really care enough to dive into other stories, related though they may be. Especially because I’ve heard some rather dubious things about some of the characterization.

    5. Felgraf

      “Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly. The rest is silence.”

      1. BBCC

        >:(

  10. Proto_Eevee

    I was expecting her advice to be more of a trash fire.

    1. FGarber

      Jennifer always gives great advice to help people achieve their goals. Now, usually those goals are horrible life choices, but she knows the best route to those goals.

  11. Stephen Bierce

    Ask Me How I Know, And I’ll Tell You So!

    1. saltchocolate

      Perfect choice.

  12. Raen

    At first I thought, “geez, has she really been so obnoxious about her ‘healthy’ relationship with Asher that Daisy thinks she’d try to hook her up with a guy”?

    And then I realized that Daisy doesn’t seem to know who Ruth is. So not only has Jennifer been that obnoxious, but so much so that Daisy only ever found out she’d been dating a girl from her proclamations that she’s better off in a “real relationship with a boyfriend.” Good Lord.

    1. Dark

      I mean her relationship with Asher still seems less problematic than her relationship with Ruth, just from an outside perspective.

    2. Daibhid C

      That makes depressingly more sense than my interpretataion, which is that Daisy was worried that Jennifer had somehow failed to realise she was a lesbian. You know, because of how low-key she is about it.

    3. Alex

      I think it says more about Daisy’s insecurities than anything Jennifer has done or said. She doesn’t believe her good fortune and it looking for something to be wrong with the situation.

  13. Thag Simmons

    Poor Ernie still doesn’t get a tag

    1. Raen

      …hold up, where did you get DOA-style Guns?

      1. Needfuldoer

        From the wiki, presumably. It’s not fan art, but I can’t find it on the official Tumblr pages…

        https://walkypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Guns#Dumbing_of_Age

      2. Jhon

        Thank you. I’ve been wondering for the longest time where this gravatar came from. ( reverse image search — whazzat? )

      3. Thag Simmons

        [It’s from an april fools post on Willis’s Tumblr](https://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/81423773440/i-have-bowed-to-your-demands-and-added-guns-to)

        1. Thag Simmons

          It’s from an april fools post on Willis’s tumblr

          Man, an edit function would be nice

  14. Yumi

    I still ship Daisy with the Forest Quad desk person, but since that’s hella obscure, this is good too.

    1. Yumi

      (The one with purple hair, not the one seen in a flashback with Malaya.)

      1. Thag Simmons

        I do not remember this character.

        Was she in a bonus comic?

        1. Yumi

          I wish.

          No. She was just barely in a strip of the main comic (three years ago).
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/sass/

        2. Thag Simmons

          Oh wow, she’s way in the background

        3. Yumi

          And yet I almost wrote fanfiction.

        4. Needfuldoer

          Headcanon says she and Asma coordinate their lunch breaks so they can complain about their respective clients to someone else who ‘gets it’.

  15. Josh Spicer

    (sigh)

    I just…there’s obviously still a level of love there.

    1. Hazel

      Yeah, agreed. Daisy won’t notice though.

    2. Meagan

      Yeah. Getting heart strings pulled here. Hard to tell if it’s unresolved and they’ll get back together or just normal softness toward someone who meant a lot to you.

    3. Keulen

      Definitely.

  16. Leorale

    Daisy vs Booster, on the same date with Ruth, hilarity ensues (with some tragedy too).

    1. Reltzik

      The overly-perceptive and caustically surgical emotional observer, vs the transparently desperately thirsty dry spell.

      …. yeah, not much of a competition.

    2. bcb

      Booster seems like they might be poly (especially given their comment after Walky said “not all at the same time or anything.” But Ruth seems like she’d be much less interested in going out with two people at once.

  17. Reltzik

    … did Billie just regift Ruth for Ruth’s birthday?

  18. Fart Captor

    Aww, this is so sweet ?

  19. JetstreamGW

    Subtle, Billie.

  20. Yotomoe

    https://i.imgur.com/zaIrVuS.png
    The newest chapter of Walky’s harem. Aptly timed because this is a Billie strip 😀

    1. Yotomoe

      Ok 2. things.
      1. Yes I wrote Billie instead of Jennifer. Old habits etc.
      2.Real question, was Billie being notably busty brought up in the comic itself? I feel like I always go with the idea that she’s got a prominent chest but I can’t remember if that’s just my own headcanon or if that’s something that’s come up.

      1. Yumi

        Off the top of my head, there was this: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/distance-2/

        1. Yotomoe

          God I forgot how the art used to look back then.

        2. saltchocolate

          How did you do that?? “Off the top of my head”?? That happened *years* ago!!!

        3. Demoted Oblivious

          “Big-breasted half Asian girl,” with glasses. Some things just stick in your memory. Who knows why? It’s a mystery for the ages.

      2. justin8448

        Also – “I could crawl up into them and stay safe and warm forever…”
        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/03-answers-in-hennessy/curiosity/

        1. Regalli

          Yeah see, THAT is why I’m like ‘yeah Joyce’s potential biness cannot entirely be explained by Becky skewing her platonic female friendships.’ (It also wasn’t her only Attraction To Jennifer moment, so it can’t be entirely explained by punchline either.)

      3. Dagonz

        How might one find the entire series? Asking for a friend.

        1. Yotomoe

          I’ll compile them when it’s done.

    2. Delicious Taffy

      Y’know, you’ve really been spoiling us lately, Yoto.

      1. Yotomoe

        😛 I’m just being self indulgent. I like drawing sexy stuff and I like getting praise! Two birds with one stone :3

        1. Clif

          Just think how self indulgent you could be if you did your own web-comic. Doesn’t mean you have to be a Willis and update every day. Twice a week, most weeks, would keep people coming back and you could draw it as sexy as you want.

    3. Jhon

      Um, you left a lonely parenthesis dangling there…

      ( nah hes just bein meta )

      1. Yotomoe

        Whoops. I’ll fix it.

    4. Amos Batista

      Must confess your draw is awesome.

  21. Flonk

    “Hurt her a little, she likes that.”
    Run, run for the hills, now!

  22. DaisyFM

    This is cute. :3

  23. Bagge

    Oh Jennifer…

  24. Varangian

    On the one hand, I’m kind of rooting for Ruth and Daisy to get at least one nice slipshine of fun before that arrangement implodes, but on the other hand oh no the melancholy, the feelings

  25. Minim

    Jennifer saying Ruth is ‘sort of’ a girl sort of rubs me the wrong way. I think she’s trying to downplay, consciously or otherwise, Ruth’s being-a-girl-ness to frame the relationship as “normal” in some sense. However, I find it kinda shitty to imply someone’s less of a girl(/boy/enby) than they are?

    Or maybe I’m just overthinking things.

    1. Albi

      If you’re overthinking things, then so am I!

    2. milu

      To me it comes off as a casual dig at Ruth’s expense, almost an affectionate one as Ruth’s taste in hockey teams has been a running joke, and perhaps an acknowledgment that Daisy’s into fem chicks and Ruth is not that fem

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        When the team goes from winning, to losing so badly for so long, do they switch from “has been” a running joke to “is” a joke? Or do they just remain has-been’s forever?

        1. Thag Simmons

          They’re saying that Ruth’s taste in hockey teams has been a running gag.

          The Maple Leafs themselves are just a joke, they haven’t been competitive for like 75 years

        2. Roborat

          And yet, they are on top of their division right now.

    3. RassilonTDavros

      Yeah, I noticed that too. Jennifer’s issues with gender seem to be becoming a theme. It’s part of why I’ve been wondering if she might be trans or nonbinary and in deep denial over it.

    4. Canary

      came here to say that, glad I’m not the only one. :/

  26. Keulen

    I kinda hope this turns out alright for both Daisy’s and Ruth’s sakes, but somehow I get the feeling this is gonna end badly.

  27. eskimolos

    it always feels weird to think of Ruth as “a girl”, and I feel Jennifer really vocalises that unspoken hesitation succinctly. If Ruth had more emotional bandwidth and fewer scales, would not surprise me if there’d be a journey of self discovery and a change in identification there, to some extent. As a brain in a jar myself, Ruth often resonates with me.

    1. eskimolos

      certainly, the kind of “a girl” I feel Daisy might be looking for, doesn’t feel like the kind of being Ruth is or has ever existed as.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Ain’t nothing wrong with being a tomboy.

      In terms of Peanuts characters, Ruth is somewhere in the Lucy / Peppermint Patty range. If Daisy’s looking for a Violet or a Freida, she’ll be disappointed.

  28. Sombrero

    Happy to see we will get some more Daisy. Already stockpiling pre-emptive DYWs, just in case.

  29. Rabisch

    It’s nice to see how much Jennifer care about Ruth ♡. Daisy looks so nervous♡♡♡ … I really hope this will end well, the beginning of a new, great couple ♡!

  30. Spencer

    “Like, emotionally? What the hell did you two-”

    “What no I meant like spankings or whatever.”

  31. Allan

    I feel sorry for Jennifer here. While it’s obvious she believes she’s doing the right thing, it hurts her to do it, of she’d vehemently deny it right now, but still….

  32. Amos Batista

    Was it shown the reason Jennifer broke up with Ruth, or still not?

    1. RassilonTDavros

      Hasn’t been shown yet, but it’s been hinted that something really bad happened— and while Ruth claims that she didn’t “lose Billie,” both parties seem to agree that Ruth was responsible for whatever that something was.

      1. Sam

        But both also have a warped sense of fault/blame so it is very likely Ruth initiated the *break-up* at least but whether she is at fault for the actual thing involved or not is up in the air.

      2. thejeff

        But at the same time neither of them seem to hate or be mad at the other over it.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Well, as we saw in Leslie’s class they’ll still bicker around it.

        2. thejeff

          They bickered while they were still a couple. 🙂

  33. ValdVin

    Not making fun of the Maple Leafs? It’s a good thing Jennifer’s not trying to ship Ruth with any comedians or big sport fans.

    Daisy’s lip-biting is cute.

    Also, what year is Daisy in, or how old is she? I don’t remember in the Dumbiverse what’s been established.

    1. Chris (the other one)

      I *think* all we know for sure is that Daisy is the editor of the Uni Newspaper…

  34. C.T Phipps

    I predict this date will end perfectly and we’ll have a new power couple!

    1. Dana

      I predict that lots of popcorn munching will result. One date’s worth is easiest to picture, but if there’s more corn is cheap enough to use as a gas additive, so I can always get more.

  35. Solace

    So sweet t_t

  36. Lulu

    I bet “find somebody to love” by Queen started playing in Daisy head with hope. But it’s never easy to find someone like that, many are still looking or choosed wrongly… Personally I just can’t see these two character wise of what we saw to hit on, but to be honest we didn’t see much of Daisy in private but if her only gimmick is to be forever alone crazy lesbian cat lady it doesn’t bode well. Sad part about this comic page is that we all know it will fail horribly.

  37. Wonderboy

    “She’s also my ex, but you probably don’t need to worry about that. Enough time has passed, it’s not weird.”

  38. Juanoku

    THERE IS STILL HOPE
    I CAN SEE IT IN HER EYES

  39. C.T Phipps

    Sadly, the date will end with Ruth bloodying Captain Indiana’s shield and traumatizing Daisy.

  40. thumb

    Nice motivation, but that sounds like a terrible idea.

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