Knob
Posted on November 26, 2025 by David M Willis

Share
Tags: booster, walky

445 thoughts on “Knob”

  1. QueenofSodor

    “Knob” is a very british thing for Walky to be calling himself. Must be some stray Jason particles.

    Also, nice that he still thinks of Joyce as a friend!

    1. Nymph

      Walky is a collector of “words that mean butt or penis” in many dialects.

    2. Thag Simmons

      Look, you pick up slang in your life. From media, from travel, from the people around you.

      In Walky’s case probably mostly media.

      1. Aquila

        “Black-aaadder, Black-aaadder
        He riiides a pitch-black steeeed!”

        1. Rose by Any other Name

          *I-understood-that-reference.gif*

      2. Decidedly Orthogonal

        Jimmy Carr recently expressed a great appreciation for what Australians have done with the language. In particular drawing attention to the delightful synonym for, “hush,” which is, “stick a dick in it.”

        1. ResRam

          Carr is such an impressive role model.
          He made a million-dollar career largely out of dressing nicely and adroitly insulting his audience.

        2. Yotomoe

          Hey now. He also has a silly laugh.

    3. RassilonTDavros

      Also he’s lifelong friends with Billifer, whose as-yet unseen dad is from England. Though given how he apparently spends mosy of his time on business trips, it’s anyone’s guess how much or how little his vocabulary rubbed off on hers.

      1. RassilonTDavros

        *most of his time

      2. True Survivor

        I had forgotten about her parentage. Thank you for the reminder.

      3. QueenofSodor

        this is something i also considered, what with Jennifer saying “i look a fright” in 15-3, which is also a Very British thing to say lol

      4. anon

        billiefer’s dad aside, he did spend quite a bit of time with jason, albeit unhelpful for his grades in the long run lol

    4. Tan

      Sure enough, the previous time that a strip was named knob, it was Jason saying it to Walky. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/knob/

      1. Vulcanodon

        OK Walky can fix all of this by affecting an eyepatch now

    5. Holly

      Are you saying that Jason’s “knob” has rubbed off on Walky?

      1. Sharizard

        Congratulations. You have won today’s comment section! Now please get out.

    6. Sharizard

      Yeah, as a British person, this threw me. I don’t expect Walky to be using british slang.

      He’s welcome to it, but part of the reason Walky and Jason work so well together is how unbritish Walky is. So yeah, it threw me.

    7. Needfuldoer

      Maybe he’s been watching a lot of Ashens, Doctor Who, Monty Python, and Only Fools and Horses lately.

      Or spending off-camera time around Jason.

    8. Olofa

      “Knob” is also Canadian Hoser slang. It’s what Bob and Doug MacKenzie would call each other when not on TV.

  2. StarfighterVicki

    Go tell Amber that, Walky!

    1. Clif

      We’ll he’s not wrong, but the fact is, that didn’t mean that they recognized the fact they were married. That might have continued indefinitely if Amber hadn’t nudged Dorothy when she was vulnerable. The current situation is exactly the one that Amber intended, albeit with collateral damage she hadn’t considered.

    2. Ray Radlein

      …except, of course, that’s not why Amber told him to not come over! She’s drugged out of her brain hiding wounds she really ought not let on about in public

      1. zee

        Well no she doesn’t give a shit about Walky finding out about that. She just feels guilty. “I don’t deserve to be rewarded with your presence” or whatever it is she typed and deleted

  3. EpochFlame

    walky speaks the truth

    1. Clif

      Just not the entire truth.

      1. Bleeple Deeple Dew

        So help me God

  4. NGPZ

    well Booster,

    there’s also the fact that, like me, Amber also don’t got a lot of spoons right on account of being in AGONIZING PAIN @-@

    regardless, Walky does have a point. XD

    1. Dean

      I don’t think that Booster knows about Amber’s injury, though.

      1. Mr D phone posting

        I don’t think *Wally* knows about her injury.

        1. Proxiehunter

          We don’t know what Wally kniws about. I’m not even sure Wally goes here, but he’s always so hard to find that I can’t be sure.

        2. Pappenheimer

          ask Waldo

        3. Mr. Random

          I would but I can’t find him.
          I’d ask Carmen, but who in the world knows where SHE is.

      2. Freemage

        I don’t think Booster knows anywhere near as much as Booster thinks Booster knows. About anything.

    2. Li

      Sorry to hear that’s still going on ?

      1. NGPZ

        thankfully the pain has gotten down somewhat as I’ve had my leg elevated, but it’s still very inflamed and I can’t walk or even stretch it out all the way yet ;-;

        I really really hope I’ll be able to work again soon, if not fully back on the ball at least for even an hour at a time, I’ve been staying just barely afloat with KoFi donations but it’s still been difficult X~X

    3. Miri

      I hope the agonising pain does a Jörmungandr impersonation, eats itself tail-first, and stops bothering you soon!

  5. Cholma

    “Knob”? Are Bob & Doug McKenzie in town?

    1. Doctor_Who

      Be an interesting twist if Walky is somehow a huge fan of 1980s Canadian sketch comedy.

      1. Alan

        It would be interesting, indeed, though if it were the case you’d expect him to at least own a (second) pair of boots instead of having a weird masculine hang-up about owning multiple pairs of shoes. And also that he’d be better at launching them.

  6. AeromechanicalAce

    Booster, can you stop trying to stir up more drama, FOR FIVE MINUTES?!

    1. Nono

      Look studying is kinda boring okay?!

      1. Cimorene

        Studying and stirring up drama are one and the same for Booster.

    2. Nymph

      Nnnnnnno.

      1. StClair

        Booster sounding like mid-80s Tim Curry is a disturbing thought indeed.

        1. Pocky

          nah, more like Pauly Shore.

        2. NGPZ

          personally I imagine them sounding like Double Trouble from the She Ra reboot ^^

        3. misanthropope

          i hear “magic bus”

        4. Drew Hargrave

          Same but I didn’t realize it until reading this

        5. Drew Hargrave

          Double Trouble, that is. I hear it in my head but I didn’t make the connection

        6. StClair

          I’m thinking of a particular line reading from one of the endings to Clue (1985).

        7. cbwroses

          Clue movie mentioned. My day is instantly better.

        8. Li

          Clue is one of the Best movies.

        9. Clif

          Certainly one of the most entertaining.

    3. CallynD

      He did, Walky told him to fuck off with that nonsense. Booster is just following instructions.

      1. Yotomoe

        They did*, rather.

        1. CallynD

          Right, sorry, late at night.

    4. Spacie

      Now, let Booster do their thing. Some of us want drama.

    5. Needfuldoer

      Booster doesn’t have a snooze button.

      Or a “stop” button.

      Or a “silence” button.

      1. Reltzik

        Booster does have a change-the-channel button. … but each channel is just a different version of irritating.

    6. Opinion

      Why study psychology when you can turn your entire social circle into an experiment you manipulate for your own amusement?

      1. thejeff

        Study psychology so you can turn your entire social circle into an experiment you manipulate for your own amusement.

    7. zee

      No ❤️

  7. Dara

    Walky is correct!

    Wait a minute, Walky is correct?

    also if walky knows they were always married then does this mean dorothy was cheating on joyce with walky because i wanna see if i can start a riot xD

    1. Lumino

      I’m down for starting a riot again! Let’s throw some chairs!

      1. Dara

        AND IT’S UNDEAD BOBBY KNIGHT, BACK on the COURT, and is that a STEEL CHAIR? Yes, I think it is!

      2. True Survivor

        Down with the system?

        1. a/snow/mous/e

          Amber and Amazigirl are already down for the count…

    2. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      He’s always been right, he’s the one who accused Joyce of only hating him because she wanted to steal his girlfriend which she was.

      1. Dara

        But if Joyce and Dorothy were already married, wasn’t Walky trying to seal Dorothy from Joyce?

        1. Clif

          Successfully for a while.

    3. Arianod

      Walky isn’t stupid. He’s just trying his damnedest *not* to grow up and become an adult.

    4. Deanatay

      Bong bong bong bong
      WHO IN ERE TRYINA START A

  8. Nono

    I think Booster is just bored at this point and is trying to manufacture drama by steering Walky towards Amber.

    (Does Booster even know Joyce was dating Joe?)

    1. Tawnee

      “was”?

    2. Yotomoe

      I’m trying to manufacture LOVEMAKING by steering Walky towards Amber!

      1. Needfuldoer

        Your ideas are intriguing to me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

    3. Tan

      Booster does know, yes. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/thumpasprunging/

      1. Vulcanodon

        OK I’d forgotten about that but now I’m convinced Booster is really Double Trouble because I totally read it in their voice

  9. Pocky

    Ah yeah, that’s what he needs now, to jump into another relationship in a span of less than two weeks, Booster remains the worst kind of influence lol

    1. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      I fully co-sign this, needs time to himself to be honest. If you’re getting cheated on and dumped within a week then maybe pump you breaks damn it.

      1. Astariel

        Ugh, I hate this take. You got dumped, so now you have to be punished by being single for some long but indeterminate amount of time, because somehow that’s good for you in a way no one can really explain. Real ‘eat your broccoli’ energy.

        1. apocryphascribe

          If anyone needs to eat their broccoli, It’s Walky!(tm)

          But seriously, both Walky and Joe are in a place where holding off on getting with someone is a good idea to actually develop some self-worth. They need friends, like, actual friends who actually respect them instead of, y’know, -gestures to everything-. Friends where sex and dating are off the table so they have room to breathe and reassess. But even though I think that would be very interesting narratively, most people would think it boring and thus I don’t think it’s gonna happen.

      2. Big Z

        Also not a huge fan of ignoring the entire context of Dorothy and Walky’s on-again-off-again relationship. Certainly, he needs to work on the level of self-esteem he’d need to have turned her down after Lucy dumped him, but going back to Dorothy isn’t really “dumped within a week” so much as “you need to break your cycle with this specific person who’s not great for you but who you keep going back to”, and that’s a horse of a very different color.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Amber and Walky have more chemistry than all the other major-cast relationships put together.

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/satisfaction/
      https://www.dumbingofage.com/bag/

      1. Pocky

        I don’t think Booster has ever shown themselves to be altruistic in starting up relationship drama. They’re just trying to see the pain they can cause.

  10. Dot

    Wally is being genuinely generous to still call Joyce a friend after what she pulled, frankly

    1. apocryphascribe

      Incredibly so! That said, I don’t know if that’s a reflection of a forgiving heart or his poor self-esteem, frankly.

      1. Harry Brownhole

        Oh that’s easy, poor self esteem

    2. Lumino

      Honestly, the only person in the comic that has any kind of object permanence when it comes to Joyce is Raidah.

      1. Bryy

        And even that is covered in shit.

      2. anonymsly

        I wonder if that’s why my brain wants Walky to flat around in Raidah’s sphere for a little while? Like, the one person on campus who isn’t going to tell him ‘go fuck yourself Joyce is perfect and you suck for being upset at her’.

        1. Annaphylaxis

          But literally no one has told him that or is telling him that?

        2. Bittersweet

          I have very little faith in anyone not taking Joyce’s side when Walky’s involved. Not in the “ah writing bad” passive aggressive way, in the “Walky might be the only person with fewer friends than me” kind of way. Billifer is legit the closest to one and her attempts at comforting weren’t exactly the best. Not as bad as it could’ve gone, just not the best.

          I weirdly have begun to lightly ship Walky and Raidah on conditions he gets her to chill tf out and she forces him to have a spine, I could see that being a fun dynamic, I still mainly ship him with Amber. I just desperately want that kid to get actual friends, his core group is and has always been terrible to him. If Billie is trapped in the high school mindset, Walky is trapped in high school relationships where he should just feel lucky to be included.

        3. zee

          I’m desperate for raidah to character develop and for Walky to get an arc focused on his self esteem so I’m mad into this

        4. Dot

          You get the Walky/Raidah vision

        5. thejeff

          It’s a bit too drastic a character shift in Raidah for me. She’d need a lot of development before I could buy any real interest in Walky. And since she’s shown herself willing to pretend to at least friendship, it would be really hard to trust anything that started.

        6. apocryphascribe

          Think you might be mistaking some of the things commenters have said for things the characters have said. I’m actually expecting some surface level sympathies for him in the coming months, if nothing else.

    3. Yotomoe

      With friends like those, who needs enemies?

      1. Coatl

        The truth is that I always considered Joyce and Walky’s interaction to be one of simple tolerance.

    4. Coatl

      Walky isn’t the resentful type, but yes, it worries me that he considers Joyce a friend.

      1. Miri

        They did survive a kidnapping together, both lose a member of their friends group they didn’t necessarily like but really didn’t want to see dead either, see Becky lose her father… I think that sort of stuff may be more impactful in terms of “space this person holds in the other’s life” than “after Walky spent the entire time he knew her insisting she was crushing hard on Dorothy – she realised she was crushing hard on Dorothy. Two days after he’d got back together with her… And he always knew that Dorothy’s feelings for Joyce ran incredibly deep too, so it kinda felt more like ‘when’ than ‘wham’…”?

        I think he is acknowledging it’s hurting while also recognising that in part it’s his ego hurting here, and that he wasn’t really blindsided by this. He’s actually taking this surprisingly healthily and emotionally maturely, I think?

        1. thejeff

          I disagree. I think this is far more the low self esteem talking than maturity.

          And even that summary ignores both the cheating side of it and Joyce’s gloating about winning and him losing.

        2. Jon

          Yeah this is absolutely not a healthy and mature way to take this. Walky and Joe have both reacted in different ways but they are unified in their reactions by obvious low self esteem and denial of their own hurt feelings. “I don’t deserve to feel upset,” etc etc

    5. Pocky

      Dot, you gotta open up the hater thread back up for Booster.

      1. Dot

        I don’t hate Booster. At most my reaction to them is “oh they’re kind of unpleasant. I wouldn’t like this person if I knew them in real life.”

      2. Yotomoe

        I don’t feel like I see NEARLY as much Booster hate as Doyce hate. It honestly seems like the people who dislike Booster have a lot less vitriol too.

        1. Thag Simmons

          I’d say it’s partially that Booster being kind of annoying and pretentious is an intended takeaway. If you think they’re a bit of an asshole, that is not a read that is actively dissonant with the tone of the story.

          I do suspect it might just be that they’ve been around longer and people are used to them by now.

        2. JBento

          Also, Booster is both not boring and shows up less, instead of being a nothingburger that eats up strip time for I dunno how long.

        3. Needfuldoer

          And Booster wasn’t introduced by rug-pulling two long-running plot threads the audience was supposed to get invested into.

        4. Bittersweet

          I hate Doyce, but to be entirely fair, Booster was introduced as a consequence of killing a character that was way better at stirring the pot and causing drama. I love Booster to death, but I also very much loved Mike. Was he a terrible person? Oh absolutely. Was he entertaining to read? Very much yes.

          Booster is too, just not so cartoonishly out there.

        5. Dot

          The thing about Mike is that he just didn’t belong in this universe. He was made for a universe that was, in general, both a lot meaner and a lot more fantastical. So yeah, in the Walkyverse Mike could create rituals to sacrifice Joyce’s dog in order to make a crack about freedom of religion, he could get into fucked-up psychosexual shenanigans with Amber, he could offer children knives, he could do and say all sorts of horrible things, because that was Mike, and that was the universe.

          But in the Dumbiverse, where everything is more grounded in often harsh reality, suddenly Mike’s gadfly nature becomes a lot harder to tolerate. Suddenly, his manipulation and tongue-lashing become a lot more uncomfortable. Suddenly, him punching Joe on a date feels a lot more like regular old battery. Suddenly, Mike’s whole shtick becomes abusive behavior.

          So Mike had to die. He didn’t fit in this world.

        6. Yotomoe

          Strong disagree. I actually liked Mike’s dynamic with the cast MUCH more in DOA than in Shortpacked. I’ll also say the tone of DOA is more grounded than shortpacked but early on it wasn’t all that grounded.

        7. Dot

          Yes, I would say that what really doomed Mike is that as time went on and the series started hewing closer to verisimilitude he just couldn’t keep pace as a character, and his whole deal started to become more and more uncomfortable – as evidenced by the volume of people in this comment section who loathe Mike.

        8. Yotomoe

          I can agree. I really wanted to see him arc out. We were starting to get depth to him i found really engaging. I would’ve been fine with his role lessening even. Killing him off forever just means he can’t ever grow or change and I hate that.

          Like imagine if he was injured and for once had to depend on people to do basic stuff and realize how much scorning everyone around him has hurt his support system. Or even being surprised how many people ARE offering him support. Or just have him decide on his own to just tone it down. Stuff like that.

        9. Dot

          At that point I don’t think he’d really be Mike anymore. Killing him helped to preserve the character.

        10. Freemage

          Honestly, I might’ve hated Mike as a person, but I was quite happy with him as a character. booster, much like Raidah, fails to win me over in either category.

        11. Ike

          Mike was literally killed in the middle of a serious character arc. It was a huge rug pull. He was realising the consequences of his actions and explicitly attempting to channel his energy into something more constructive. And then he fucking died.

          What killed Mike wasn’t his personality it was the existence of Walkyverse Mike. I’ve never read the Walkyverse, so I know that this stupid insistence that Mike is out of place in the Dumbiverse was always just a ridiculously biased take from people who were too attached to a different story. And this idea that he wouldn’t be Mike anymore if he changed is ENTIRELY about Walkyverse Mike. Because this Mike did change and it was GOOD and WELL-WRITTEN and he was still the same character on a fundamental level and then he fucking died. Seemingly because Willis was too attached to the status quo of Walkyverse Mike to imagine another possibility for this Mike. And that sucks.

          For a long time after Mike died, this comic felt hollow. The timeskip took a while to work. And we did eventually get some great development for Ethan out of Mike’s death. But I still think it was a mistake. A Mike character arc would’ve been much more fulfilling.

        12. AeromechanicalAce

          If they keep trying to make Trouble for Amber like this, I’ll get there. Girl’s been through enough, and Booster’s careless attitude of who their shit-stirring hurts is starting to seriously Piss me off.

        13. Cimorene

          That’d be a pleasant take for Walky to stand up to them and tell Booster they haven’t been around enough or really know anyone in the group deeper than a superficial level. Would be good for Walky to stand up for himself and friends, and good for Booster for someone as chill and laid back as Walky to tell them they’re being a jerk.

        14. Pocky

          honestly; a lot of characters have been mercifully avoiding Booster’s nonsense. Would actually like for Booster to be pointed at characters who are not going through mental health crisis lol

        15. John Campbell

          Characters who are not going through a mental health crisis? In this Dumbing of Age?

        16. Needfuldoer

          It’s more likely than you think.

        17. Bobin

          My guess is that they aren’t in the story consistently enough to build-up a hate-boner combo.

        18. Li

          This is very much an artifact of Booster not having been around for the last few months. Every time they show up, they’ve gotten looooads of comments about how they’re awful and manipulative and the worst person in the comic and also so much worse than Mike, remember Mike, Mike was so much nicer to Walky [citation needed].

        19. Yotomoe

          I mean listen. I’m a staunch Mike lover and defender but I’ve come around to Booster somewhat. Honestly I think the psych analysis thing they do can rub people the wrong way but to me they just feel like the greek chorus, maybe with just a bit more narrative influence.

        20. C.T Phipps

          I mean you have described EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER in the comics really.

          Joyce
          Dorothy (Want her to be hit by a football)
          Ruth (“hate ruth! want her to get smashed by a steamroller!”)
          Jennifer
          Joe
          Danny
          Carla

          I think the only person not hated by the comments is Jocelyn because she is perfect in every way.

        21. Fuzzy

          Is being hit by a football a particularly violent event?

        22. C.T Phipps

          I don’t *hate* Dorothy but this story does make me want her to suffer some President Doris-esque pratfalls as comeuppance.

        23. Needfuldoer

          It’s less violent than when you’re running up to the football to kick it, and it gets pulled away at the last second so you go flying though the air yelling “AUGH” and fall flat on your back.

          Make sure the signed testament that the football won’t be pulled away is notarized before starting the kick.

        24. Yotomoe

          On a similar topic I think one of the most underrated peanuts lines is from the first football pull.
          “I don’t mind your dishonesty half as much as I mind your low opinion of me. You must think I’m a real idiot”

        25. Needfuldoer

          At least they paraphrased it in Great Pumpkin.

        26. JBento

          And then Charlie Brown goes on to prove that Lucy is, in fact, right, and he is, in fact, a real idiot. Repeatedly.

        27. Needfuldoer

          I like to think Rerun let good ol’ Charlie Brown finally kick the football that last time.

        28. Li

          It’s really not, actually, every single character! Also some of them have actually done stuff to deserve being hatesinks, whether now or in the past, and others have not. The disproportionate negativity especially gets my attention.

        29. Yotomoe

          I dunno Booster is also in sort of a hatable role. They’re the replacement Mike, after all.

        30. Li

          Mike was not even a tiny bit universally hated. Lots of people saw and still see him as a catalyst for hard truths and important growth.

          Meanwhile I can count the Booster fans (who comment) on the fingers of one hand.

        31. Yotomoe

          Booster’s also not universally hated? I could point to a lotta people in this comment section alone that talk about loving them. I think it’s just that the negativity feels more prominant than the positivity. Mike’s been catching a lotta strays too and he’s not even alive!

        32. Li

          Mike is one of Willis’s most beloved characters ever.

          And I promise I was counting the few folks sounding off below. There might be like seven of us, which would make me wrong about the number, but it is very small.

        33. Shogeton

          I also think, and this is not an accusation, it’s perfectly normal, that Doyce being the thing that broke up Joe and Joyce enflames people’s passions.

        34. Annaphylaxis

          The folks who sincerely hate Booster mostly hang out elsewhere, but MAN they really dislike Booster over there. It’s the only place I’ve seen folks fantasizing about Booster getting punched.

        35. C.T Phipps

          I have a crueller fate envisioned for booster.

          They make a hilarious (to them) observation and then get utterly handed their butts by someone who points out their cold readings aren’t actually clever or accurate.

        36. Wizard

          How many butts do they have? (Sorry, but that really struck me as funny for some reason.)
          More seriously, I would definitely be cheering if that happened.

        37. RassilonTDavros

          Apologies for accidentally reporting this when I actually meant to reply that I dig this idea.

    6. Astariel

      I’m kind of surprised he thought of her as a friend even before that, actually. They’ve each been downright nasty to each other at times, even before the latest mess.

      1. Dot

        They were friends. They had a bickering sibling kind of relationship, but Walky was always someone Joyce could rely on for companionship when she really needed it, like when her agoraphobia made it impossible for her to be alone on campus. She was embarrassed by it, but that means something, even if they did both occasionally cross the line in their sniping. They were friends. And then she laughed in his face about stealing his girlfriend and frankly I find it worrying he’d still consider her a friend after that.

        1. Lee

          I agree with this 850%. I don’t get people saying Walky hated her and was cruel to her. He had the exact same dynamic with her as he does with Billie. I’m sure he thought they were friends. Plus, all the examples people give of his awful behavior he was just spelling out Joyce’s love for Dorothy in precisely the way Joyce always needs things spelled out for her. One of the only examples that does anything for me is the time Joyce overheard him calling her “hella indoctrinated” or something like that, although even that she should be over since she now agrees with that assessment strongly and is so bitter about it that it caused a rift between her and Becky for a while.

        2. RexLatro

          I think it’s just people misreading elements of their interactions, and how they communicate with each other like cats and dogs: one sees swishing tail and thinks its time to goof around while the other is wondering why their very clear warning sign is being ignored.

          Dealing with my intensely ADHD ass, I’ve found my interactions with autistic folk to either be “we become the best of friends due to covering for each other and letting loose with our weirdness” or “basically Joyce and Walky, one barely tolerates while the other thinks they’re good friends with a “bit” going on”

        3. Cimorene

          And also the subtext of the characters and how they used to act in It’s Walky and how that makes their interactions read in Dumbing of Age. They’re friends, just not besties, but not quite frenemies. Foils.

        4. Astariel

          I get this take, and it’s certainly a valid one. I’m about 50% convinced it’s true myself. But there’s so much vitriol between them and so few expressions of friendship that it makes me skeptical. They’re about 99% tsun, 1% dere. Joyce does things like call him “the stupidest little piece of poop I have ever met,” and smirk at the idea of telling him that she and Dorothy are together now. Walky isn’t quite as bad, but he turns down her request to hang out by saying all there is to her is Bible Study or telling her her superpower is to say “the scariest, most messed-up crap.” He also has a very dismissive attitude towards her when he talks about her to other people.

        5. Li

          Also the relentless mocking of her burgeoning crush on Dorothy for months. Including sometimes specifically doing it to be mean. And also that one time he wouldn’t stop saying she wanted to see Jacob naked and have sex with him, even though that made her super uncomfortable, expressly because Dorothy had broken up with him so he no longer had any reason to listen to her when she asked him to knock it off.

          I don’t think Walky gave worse than he got, mind you, but I dislike the glossing over of stuff like that.

          Part of it is the recency bias, of course, but I think part of it is also that we as readers don’t respect Joyce’s former religious beliefs and always thought she’d be better off without them, so we tend to think of them as not being worthy of respect, regardless of how important they were to Joyce.

          Like when Walky mocked her faith by pretending to be raptured more than once!

        6. Yotomoe

          I think laughing in someone’s face for stealing their girlfriend is something the villain of an 80s movie does.

        7. Li

          Which I’ve noted before is part of why I have trouble taking it seriously.

          Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t support Walky taking her to task for it tho.

        8. shepsquared

          Glossing over what Walky said goes both ways though. Are we going to hold what Joyce did against her? Her treating Wally badly because he (and Dorothy) didn’t think having sex was a big deal? All the times where Joyce was more demanding about what Walky’s girlfriend did than he ever was, the fact that she never thought he was good enough even though that was none of her business?

        9. Li

          Sure, but no one is arguing Joyce hasn’t been a jerk to Walky. At least not at the moment. So I didn’t feel the need to list all of the things out (I’ve done it before tho!).

        10. Sirksome

          I guess I’m one of the people that doesn’t understand this reasoning. I think it files away a lot of the rough edges around a character and takes away their character development and flaws to create an idealized version of themselves. I agree that Walky and Joyce have sibling style bickering I just don’t think Joyce laughing at him crossed some line in that dynamic. I like Walky because he’s a guy that’s still learning, that’s immature, and doubts himself, and gets in his own way. So when the argument is he was just pointing out stuff that Joyce needed to hear I feel like it undersells his growth as a person.

          I think this applies to other characters like Joe and Mike as well. Joe was never a misogynist, he was just self assured and sex positive. Mike was teaching people lessons about themselves and wasn’t a horrible bully that caused real damage to his closest friends.

        11. APW

          It was a completely shitty thing to do of Joyce but I get why Walky might not see it as crossing the line. He prophesied them getting together so many times that he’d feel dumb for being resentful about it.

        12. Clif

          No, no, Sirksome. Mike was teaching people valuable lessons about themselves AND was a horrible manipulator that caused real pain to his closest friends by doing so.

          When did he bully anyone? The only thing I can think of that comes anywhere close is punching Joe. But he wasn’t using it to intimidate Joe as such. In a physical conflict, Joe could probably overpower Mike with ease, and I suspect both knew it. Instead Mike had manipulated a situation where Joe was not going to punch back.

          During the Ding Dong Bandit affair, AmaziGirl assaulted Mike and she could definitely have taken Mike down with ease. And Mike used mental judo to make this impossible. It was the very same class of mental judo that he had used on Amber’s father when he was threatening Mike’s parents.

          So I would strongly argue manipulator for his own amusement rather than a bully as such.

        13. thejeff

          Bullying is not just punching.
          But to be honest, I’d call Mike an abuser rather than a bully. There’s overlap there, but they’re not quite the same thing.

        14. Sirksome

          Maybe bully was the wrong term. I was trying to be a bit generous with Mike. I actually think the stuff he did is way worse than that, but I also know readers really liked him so I hesitate to bad mouth him or overly criticize his actions.

        15. thejeff

          So instead you get those of us who don’t like him and are sensitive to the pass he so often gets coming down on you hard.

          There’s no way to win. 🙂

        16. Nymph

          Yeah I agree with thejeff and Sirksome: Manipulating someone for your own amusement is bullying, but more accurately that is abuse.

    7. Francoinblanco

      I blame English language where everyone is a friend and nobody is a colegue

      1. Clif

        And here I thought we were mere associates.

        English is endlessly versatile.

    8. Cimorene

      I keep rereading that panel trying to figure out if the first ex-girlfriend is Lucy/Dorothy and which friend yeeted Lucy or Dorothy from him. Maybe it’s because Joyce yoinked Dorothy in my imagination, but I can’t think of any friend that yeeted Walky from Lucy and am excited about my upcoming archive reread over winter break.

      1. Clif

        It depends if Lucy is in the group that would be walking together that particular day. If she is in the group, then presumably Jacob is also, and Jacob the one who yeeted her away from him. If not, then Dorothy is his ex-girlfriend and is also the one who yeeted Lucy away.

        Also, Walky is venting and it’s possible to over-analyze.

      2. thejeff

        I think the walking group includes both Lucy and Joyce, with Joyce being the one who yeeted him from Dorothy – explicitly in that it was Joyce who told that he and Dorothy were broken up.

        Dorothy isn’t in this morning’s class with them.

    9. anon

      i mean he’s still friends with billiefer despite her kicking him otuta bed, childhood friends aspect aside

      but slight bitterness aside ido n’t htink he’d out right hate joyce , or anyone for that matter

    10. Fuzzy

      Walky is used to his friends being super shitty to him and sniping at him constantly and shoving him into lockers.

  11. Taffy

    She’s making perfect sense. Amber didn’t do shit to help Dorothy and Joyce.

    1. Nono

      “She?”

      1. Taffy

        Yeah.

        1. JD

          did you mix up charlie and booster or something

        2. Yotomoe

          No it’s the whole “Trans walky” thing.

        3. Bryy

          ….. what

        4. Harry Brownhole

          Did I miss something?

        5. Yotomoe

          People headcanon Walky (and Danny) as being trans at times and like to play around with the concept in the comment section.

        6. Harry Brownhole

          Huh

          I completely missed that

        7. Masha

          Creating headcanon for someone’s gender sounds like a Mary thing

        8. Nymph

          It’s actually a pretty common way for marginalized people to engage with media. This is one place where “they aren’t real people” is important, because it’s actually fine for someone to want trans rep they see themselves in and if it’s not available to just headcanon it.

        9. zee

          There was like a whole…thing about it yesterday that got nuked. It’s pretty harmless and fun usually but. Ig certain triggers can be touched if you bring real life into it

          Anyway my personal favorite is still transmasc Danny phantom, if only because i know it makes bongo Hartman cry and mald

        10. Li

          Just gonna reiterate that my problem yesterday wasn’t with joking about forcefemming Walky, it was the many folks who responded to transmasc distress and with “no it’s good actually” and “the thing you literally just said happened to you and was traumatic doesn’t happen and isn’t traumatic”.

        11. zee

          Yeah I think you actually made your point very well, emotions were just running too high for some people to realize. It was like a pillow fight involving people without skin. That’s not an insult to anyone, just a way to visualize the unintended touching on raw nerves.

        12. Li

          …that is an excellent metaphor. It felt that way.

          Also thank you.

        13. JD

          ahhhh. i see. in that case carry on. i approve wholeheartedly.

        14. Bobin

          There aren’t any she’s in this conversation. Unless I missed a very important Walky stirp

        15. Taffy

          No.

    2. apocryphascribe

      Maintaining the agenda is our top priority.

  12. Amós Batista

    See? Even Walky did know that Joyce and Dorothy were bound to each other, since a long time ago.

    1. Dot

      I’m afraid that to me having the aggrieved party say “well it was always gonna happen anyway” is just always gonna feel like ass-covering on the author’s part.

      1. shepsquared

        If Walky wasn’t so negative about himself and his relationships it might mean something.

        1. Pocky

          His whole arc about getting past his self esteem and him actually having to try to succeed has been on hold, so it tracks. But even Walky could see the flames.

        2. apocryphascribe

          *Every* arc that isn’t directly connected to Joyce and Dorothy getting together has been on hold. I don’t actually see that changing anytime soon as we deal with the fallout either.

      2. AMagicalDuck

        Except for the fact that Walky is very obviously correct

      3. Airyu

        I think Walky thinks that, I don’t think Willis does, or he would have written them as star-striken from the start. Sometime down the road Walky started teasing Joyce about being “gay for Dorothy” and I think rn he’s being like “dang, I was right, I didn’t want to actually be right about this :(“. Seeing how the comic has gone overall, I feel like Willis is probably setting up for another shoe to drop wrt Joyce and Dorothy, rather than them being perfect forever.

        1. Yotomoe

          I wanna believe that but golly do I feel like the narrative has been very “Theyv’e been in love the whole time and are just now admitting it to themselves” rather than “this is a new development and evolution of their previous relationship.

        2. Stormtide Leviathan

          I mean, yeah? That’s a very easy reading to make that a lot of people were doing well before they began to actually become a couple. Even in book 1, as an easy example, we had Joyce throwing a ball at Dorothy’s head, in the same book as “he threw a toy at you, that means he likes you”. And how long has walky been making jokes about joyce being in love with dorothy? Sure, they were jokes, but they only made sense as jokes because dotty and joyce’s relationship was something people could look at and see the possibility of romantic/sexual attraction there. Is it really much of a stretch to go “yeah, actually, that was there”?

          Now, I don’t think it was Willis’s intention from day 1 for these two to become a couple, but when they *did* decide to do so it was based on those existing readings of dotty and joyce having feelings for each other.

        3. Clif

          Well, Dot, if it’s “ass-covering on the author’s part” then it’s one that was extremely premeditated, set up and foreshadowed a long time ago. How often has Walky said something like my girlfriend and my girlfriend’s girlfriend.

        4. Coatl

          Dude, this is Dumbing of Age. The more they keep promoting that ship, the more devastating the fall will be. Like it or not, no ship is safe.

      4. Cimorene

        Except the “aggrieved party” continually and constantly teased and called Joyce gay for Dorothy the entire length of the fifteen years of comic? If that’s not foreshadowing that’s at least karmic justice in a literary sense that Walky was a jerk to the point that Dorothy and Joyce became a self fulfilling prophecy. Or maybe that’s just me projecting my magical realism OCD train of thought.

      5. zee

        This is also more of walky just, hating himself? Like the unspoken implication is “so I’m the idiot for thinking I had a chance.”

    2. NGPZ

      yep XD

      https://www.tumblr.com/ardiebeaphotography/800722575146844160/walky-has-always-known?source=share

    3. Stormtide Leviathan

      I think Walky has been the single most consistent noticer of that kind of thing from day 1. Even if he expressed it via joke so that he didn’t have to think to hard about it for real. There’s a reason his reaction was “I guess I kinda always knew that was gonna happen”

    4. anon

      well he did say it in a joking way but he basically did ask becky something like “So does joyce talk to all her female friends like she wants to go down on them or just dorothy”

  13. JA

    Looking back in retrospective from reading various strips that have been linked in comments recently and going on mini archive binges, yeah, Walky ain’t wrong.

  14. Yotomoe

    Walky. My friend. I’m going to need you to walk into Amber’s room right this instance because a healthy dose of Garbage Scow is the only thing that can halt my downward spiral.

    1. Kim

      That would be so great. And probably good for both of them ??✨

    2. anon

      i mean, amber might not even be conscious right now, unless the painkiller helps her also stay awake to sorta keep her mind active even if she can’t phscally move yet

    3. Tan

      I feel like y’all’re forgetting that Amber’s abdomen is currently held together with surgical glue.

      1. Yotomoe

        No? If anything Walky being there for her when she’s injured would be really romantic?

  15. Astariel

    Some interesting insight into Walky’s POV here. In panel 2, he refers to Joyce as his friend. I wasn’t sure he would have called her that even before the whole thing with Dorothy. (Has he ever called her that directly before?) But even now, after she ‘stole’ Dorothy and rubbed his face in it, he’s still referring to her in present tense as his friend. This makes me even more curious about the preview panel with Joyce looking thoughtful while Walky smirks at her.

    The last panel is also interesting. No anger or blame for Amber at all. Has he always thought that Joyce & Dorothy were inevitable? Or is this a retroactive interpretation to make himself feel slightly better about being dumped? I’m sure he recognized a grain of truth in his jokes about Joyce wanting Dorothy, the more so as time went on and it became more obvious, but did he see Dorothy’s attraction to Joyce? As recently as two days ago he pooh-poohed the idea of them having sex to Jennifer and Alice.

    1. Coatl

      Walky isn’t the type to react with resentment, but the fact that he says he saw that relationship coming… I don’t know, I think it’s a kind of self-inflicted punishment for bothering Joyce, but even so, she was more unpleasant in that previous strip.

      1. hatman

        I remember Walky pointing it out (as a jest, as he is wont to do) before, so I don’t think it’s strictly being salty here.

    2. Nono

      Consider his friendship dynamic with Jennifer and then maybe further consider that Walky hadn’t had a lot of healthy friendships.

      1. Coatl

        I know it’s asking too much, but perhaps it’s a starting point for Walky to distinguish who are genuinely friends.

        1. Nono

          Sad part is that Jason is the closest things he’s had to a guy friend.

        2. Coatl

          I know, but it wouldn’t hurt if he tried something genuinely new, so that Dorothy realizes that she genuinely messed things up with that decision she made.

        3. Yotomoe

          Walky is the kinda guy the song “Sk8r boy” was made for.

        4. Yotomoe

          I still think Walky and Joe should try hanging out. Not just cuz they’re heartbreak hotel right now. I liked some of their dynamic way back in the early strips and think they’d play off each other well.

        5. shepsquared

          Or Walky and Danny. We should be able to get a strip out of Danny encouraging Walky to be a little critical of Dorothy before Walky tries to revert back to antagonising him.

        6. JBento

          Not sure the dude whose ex-gf’s you’ve been sleeping with is prime commiserating material in this specific situation, though.

        7. Yotomoe

          It’ll always be weird to me that that is a point of contention. It’s not like Walky was doing it on purpose. Those girls, of their own free will, chose to date Walky. It’s not like Walky and Danny are friends so it’s not like a bro-code violation or something.

        8. a/snow/mous/e

          it’s a weird coincidence in-universe, even if from an outside perspective it’s an obvious byproduct of there only being so many male main-cast members to pair up with presumed-straight women.

        9. JBento

          @yoto I agree it’s weird that it’s a point of contention (instead of it just being treated as a “but it’s weird that it happened X times” thing), but it’s something Danny, at least, has objections to, so there’s probably better people for Walky to out his sorrows to.

        10. Cimorene

          But Danny is dating Walky’s sister now so it’d be nice to be nice.

        11. shepsquared

          @Yoto, at some point while dating Lucy Walky realised he was bugging Danny and kept doing it, probably because he wasn’t taking it serious and was only around Danny because he was just going along with what Lucy wanted.

          It isn’t his fault that he dated two of Danny’s exes, but he noticed the sitcom trope and leaned into it for a laugh. I doubt he’d do that again for longer than a strip.

        12. Yotomoe

          Yeah I think he just thought it was a funny coincidence and wanted to riff on it rather than like..think deeper on it. Which is probably what I’d do.

          “Yo bro, we got the same type. Or the same type has an us!”

    3. Savail

      I don’t suppose you have a link to that preview panel? I don’t usually keep up with them.

      1. Trying my best

        Here: https://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/post/784209931765252096/may-22-2026

        Familiar jacket!

        1. Savail

          I am several days late to thank you, but thank you!

    4. Cimorene

      I think panel 2 giving me issues other than Joyce yoinking Dorothy away vs yeeting Walky from Dorothy is back when Walky himself yeeted Monkey Master at Dorothy’s head at the first actual human he had Feelings for. He puts Dorothy on a pedestal (and Amber/Amazigirl, too, for that matter).

      Maybe the smirking preview is Dorothy finds out that Joyce didn’t actually break up with Joe officially and Walky is gloating about that. Because either Dorothy complains about it to Walky directly or he hears about the drama from Booster through the friend chain.

      I really hope Amber/Amazigirl is ok, too, especially when they are on the mend and see the collateral damage of Joe, Walky, Becky, and Dina (the last two she probably didn’t expect with the tee hee garbage human that craves chaos titty pics). Walky is going to need to be there to support Amber’s self hate spiral and reinforce that Dorothy/Joyce are their own entity and Amber wasn’t causing this to happen.

      1. Astariel

        Re the preview: That’s possible, but my take is that while Walky certainly could be gloating, Joyce doesn’t look upset or worried or embarrased, just thoughtful, which seems unlikely if it’s the Joe poly thing causing serious fallout.

        1. Cimorene

          I mean I hope it’s a gloating of, “See, you don’t “win” Dorothy, we can share if Joe is sharing too.” Idk if it is hinge, kitchen table, etc, but I’m still hoping for team polycule. Joyce doesn’t get mad/annoyed at Walky, but is finally like, “Dang you’re right.” And then there is a truce.

    5. Bash

      Walky’s been pretty hard on Joyce himself. I think most people consider them friends who enjoy making fun of each other.

      1. Astariel

        I get that, and it’s a reasonable interpretation. It’s just that some of their vitriol has been so nasty, it’s hard for me to see them as genuine friends.

    6. JBento

      Walky suffers from acute low-self-esteemitis. It can’t be Joyce’s or Amber’s fault, because then it wouldn’t be HIS.

      1. Ray Radlein

        Except “they were always married” sure doesn’t sound like “this is all my fault”

        1. Shepsquared

          It could be “its all my fault for thinking I could come out of this happy”, but not “it’s all my fault and I deserved to be dumped.”

        2. thejeff

          It’s not “it’s my fault and I deserve it”, but it does line up with “I’m a loser and I didn’t deserve her, so it was inevitable”.

    7. zee

      I mean Walky fucking hates himself and he’s, or at least tries to present as a chill guy. He almost always treats being dumped as “yeah that was bound to happen”, at least when it’s by dotty. His mindset has always been very “yeah I’m garbage so I’m gonna be treated that way. Why would I get mad at someone for throwing trash in the trash?”

  16. NGPZ

    In other news,

    the next patreon comic is still on Booster and Walky!!!

    THE 48 HOUR CURSE HAS BEEN BROKEN!!!

    VICTORY SCREECH!!!!

    1. Dot

      Really really glad this scene gets to breathe

    2. Pocky

      one hell, replaced by another. . . the monkey’s paw curls yet again. . .

    3. RassilonTDavros

      Do I hear 72?

    4. zee

      Another win for checking the blurred out Patreon pages!!!

    5. Yumi

      Sighing about the continued tossing out of these comments like it’s not spoilery for some and against the spirit of the “join this tier to be one day ahead” for the Patreon. (I do sometimes check the blurred updates if I want to spoil it a little for myself. That’s not an alway or for everyone thing, though.)

  17. Suet

    Eh, she’s not denying it anymorebut bitter? oh maybe

    “wait, they’re married?” “always has been”

  18. Jay

    Cut to Joyce and Dorothy in 3…

    1. Li

      Look, NGPZ already spoiled it for you that that isn’t happening.

      1. Jay

        I haven’t spoken to anyone today?

      2. Jay

        oh I see.

        My comment is absolutely pointless then.

        My apologies

        1. NGPZ

          hey it’s alright, take this opportunity to enjoy a VICTORY SCREECH

        2. Li

          You’re fine it was just funny timing ?

  19. Harry Brownhole

    Is this kick Walky while he’s down day?

    Also not surprising Booster has no friends

    1. Yotomoe

      Cut to Mike crawling out of his grave to celebrate this momentous occasion.

      1. Pocky

        good on zombie Mike to celebrate Booster being friendless!

      2. Cimorene

        Mike hasn’t been an alter in Amber’s head because he fully possessed a welcome drama spot in Booster’s psyche.

    2. anon

      it does make me wonder what their psych classmates or like. or friends in high school

      but while charlie’s chill due to her nature i wonder if she’s ever like, “man booster is a bit much sometimes”

  20. Grimey

    Very excited to write this essay about the nature of Joyce and Walky’s relationship here and why he would refer to her as a friend.

    We have seen the two of them even recently arguing back and forth even leaving a math class. It has never been a question since the start of all things that Walky and Joyce’ relationship is antagonistic. Yes, they have been nasty to each other–Sal and Mike have both had to intervene on Joyce’s behalf a few times even–and many times it has centered around Dorothy as the key dynamic…

    But they also have both been accepting of each other, and been there when the other needed it, even in very subtle details (look at the whole Night-Guy debacle where Joyce is the only one to call Walky by his superhero name), or her hanging out with Dorothy and Walky and watching stuff.

    I therefore submit the idea that Walky probably admits to himself that if everything was reversed–i.e. Dorothy and Joyce were on-again, off-again with the same frequency he and Dorothy were, and then he and Dorothy had some wedding-protest-Paramore-will-they-wont-they business build up, he would probably have mocked Joyce and HA-HA-HA’d her in the face too.

    Because they both carry that same energy. It’s likeminded energy. I personally await the day that someone keys up both Joyce and Walky’s irritation at the same time because that character’s sanity WILL NOT SURVIVE THE DAY (or month in comic time).

    If anything I suspect the biggest fallout we may see is Dorothy trying to have a conversation with Walky or talk to him, we have a switch of dynamics…He’s more prickly, or biting at Dorothy similar to how he used to treat Joyce, while Joyce he becomes more cordial with.

    1. Justnobodyfqwl

      I was kinda surprised to hear Walky describe her as a friend as opposed to “a person in his friend group”, but I think you probably have the most accurate read on it. Walky and Joyce seem to be so mutually understanding of what their relationship is like that they just have moved passed antagonism. This IS what their friendship is, like it or not.

      1. Grimeyville

        Genuinely!

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/04-the-only-exception/beeswax/

        That conversation with Billie and Alice to me speaks to the heart of the matter and the inevitable convo between Dorothy and Walky. It was NEVER a question that Joyce was in love with Dorothy. It was never a question that somewhere down the line Joyce and Dorothy would even get there. The hurt Walky is feeling was under the assumption that Dorothy would at least have some bare minimum of respect for him to maybe not cheat on him or at least end things with him first as he did with Lucy.

        Yes, yes it’s college and week long relationships, yes I know but even Dorothy herself, and Billie acknowledge this one cut him deep.

        We’re just finally getting the info on WHAT part of it.

        1. Shepsquared

          All that and Dorothy couldn’t even manage to dump him after cheating on him. She needed Joyce to do it, in the worst way.

        2. anonymsly

          And then she cheerfully co-signed that emotional brutality in less than a second, as exactly what Walky deserves, and has thought no more about it,

          Joyce has never been any level of real friend to Walky, and we saw that Dorothy hasn’t either. Friends deserve better than ‘haha fuck off I win you lose hahahaha’.

    2. Lee

      Right. Also, Walky has this same dynamic with Billie, so HE definitely thinks that’s how friends interact, even if Joyce doesn’t.

      1. Grimeyville

        We can officially put a picture of Walky and Joyce together in the TVTropes category for ‘Vitriolic Best Friends’.

        1. Cimorene

          Does that category include Archer and Pam?

        2. Grimeyville

          Cheryl and Pam apparently.

        3. Cimorene

          I’ve been doing a rewatch and I think it’s where Archer is Pam’s date for her sister’s wedding (or right before or after that). He goes, “Oh my god, I think you’re my best friend!”

      2. StClair

        Why wouldn’t Joyce think that? HER best friend had a LONG history of trying to break her to get “funny” reaction faces.

        (and then everyone grows up a little more and suddenly this stuff is no longer as funny)

        1. thejeff

          It’s not so much that it’s no longer as funny, it’s that done well, the friendly teasing avoids the really painful areas, or backs off and checks in immediately when you see something hit harder than intended.

          Hitting Joyce like that about a breakup isn’t something Becky would do. Because that’s actually painful.

    3. Tarod

      You know, there characters are all from a prior comic called It’s Walky.

      You can see them be irritated at each other and also recognize sharing the same energy through the whole thing. Dina dates Walky at one point. It’s a good read.

  21. Throwatron

    walky is often wrong about a lot of things but for once he’s right

  22. Justnobodyfqwl

    I legitimately forgot the “joyce laughing at Walky” thing ever happened, much less ever considered the idea that it should be taken seriously as an emotional beat. The comic has been around for fifteen years, guys. It literally almost always ends on someone saying or doing something funny that is socially inappropriate or mean. Because it’s a newspaper strip punchline.

    1. C.T Phipps

      I think the comic depends on telling things in a funny way then playing them for drama.

    2. Jon

      Okay. Sure. I get that a comic will have punchlines.

      That doesn’t mean you can just DO WHATEVER. And Joyce’s mocking laughter at Walky crossed a line for me, going beyond “ha ha punchline” into “I struggle to believe Joyce would be that mean, on purpose.”

      And that meanness alone is one thing. But coupled with so many fans acting like it was some lighthearted harmless whatever jokey joke…that’s just wrong. It’s your “friend” showing up to gloat about how she “won” (her words) your partner. I don’t understand trying to defend shit like that.

      1. Clif

        Maybe reread Walky’s comics??? That’s what Joyce is riffing on.

        1. anonymsly

          Really? HAHA DOROTHY IS MINE FUCK OFF LOSER YOU SUCK HAHAHAHA is not riffing on comics, to my read.

        2. Clif

          I’m talking about the comics Walky wrote.

      2. John Campbell

        Walky spent fifteen years rubbing Joyce’s crush on Dorothy in her face. Joyce had one strip. Let the girl have it.

    3. zee

      Of course it’d be taken seriously. That shit would leave me a wreck for weeks and I’m not even a teenager at a tumultuous point in life anymore

  23. Derek

    is the “friend” Joyce?? the one who callously laughed in his face?? brother I would not consider her a friend at all

    1. Coatl

      Walky isn’t the resentful type, but it would be great if he at least gave her the silent treatment. Yes, Joyce won’t care, especially with that arrogant declaration of “being the best version of herself.”

      But Dorothy…

      She knows what she did was wrong, and yet she wants to convince herself that her decision is “an exception to the rule.”

      1. thejeff

        Yeah, I’d really like Walky to come out of this with some kind of “I deserve better than this” attitude, even if it takes him awhile.

        I’m not really hopeful though.

    2. Icalasari

      To be fair, Joyce and Walky are kinda antagonistic to each other. Not saying that Joyce was right to do that, just that Walky probably would have been more surprised if she wasn’t a butt about it

    3. Fail Earnhardt

      No fr if I was his friend, and I didn’t know Joyce and Dorothy’s situation, I would be barking in his ear like FUCK THIS BONGO, YOU SHOULD BE PISSED OFF!

    4. hatman

      For the longest time his “best” friend was literally ashamed of being seen with him.

      Walky doesn’t have “friends”. He has McNuggets.

      1. Grimeyville

        Walky’s self-esteem explained in a single comment.

  24. Lightweight Baybee

    Common walky W

    like nah yeah he gets joyce just has rizz like that

  25. C.T Phipps

    Booster seems way too happy during this conversation.

    1. Lightweight Baybee

      i might be whack
      but it feels a lil flirty
      i want walky and booster to kiss 🙂

  26. BorkBorkBork

    Fuck yes.

    Panel 5 Booster. Actually showing some humanity and compassion and using their connections and awareness to help other people.

    I don’t even care that it snapped back to that sassy expression last panel. That’s fine. That’s whatever. Today, I see that Booster actually cares beyond their own entertainment, and I am sated.

    1. sickolesbian

      yea idk why ppl think this is bad booster is trying to help with communication it seems?

      1. Wraithy2773

        Mostly because its followed up by Panel 6.

        I think Booster’s being a bit of a dink here, but I’m not going to read them the riot act for this.

      2. BorkBorkBork

        Because at every other turn, Booster is displaying that they are actually EXTREMELY good at understanding other people, EXTREMELY adept at understanding their motivations, derive a huge amount of joy from other people’s drama and strife, and dont mind in the least if their actions cause said drama.

        Sure, I can assume that they have some sort of handicap and are completely unaware that they’re being an asshole, but that’s a creative interpretation be cause there hasn’t been any overt hints that this is the case, other than just an assumption that SURELY they don’t mean it, not really. And theres plenty of evidence that they actually are capable or being empathetic, like thebfact that their major is psychology, something that requires being empathetic to others. Using the “But they’re probably just handicapped” argument could also excuse Mike, and say it was just a mental handicap, and that at the end he rose above his sociopathy.

        I’m not big on assuming that people are mentally handicapped and using that to excuse behavior. People are responsible for their own actions.

        So to this. Booster might be an arrogant, self-absorbed antisocial prick, but they still care. They still feel Walky’s pain, and want to alleviate it by sharing that the reason Walky thinks Amber said no probably isn’t what she thinks.

        This is why I’m celebrating. Not because Booster’s actually awesome, but because I can see a shred of humanity and empathy behind that grin.

        1. Li

          I linked two strips yesterday where Ethan observes that Booster’s photography hobby and their interest in psychology both point to a need to observe other people, and Booster confirmed that hyper vigilance (they used that word) was a survival skill, considering they grew up in a small town and, you know, are trans.

          Ethan then accused them of being a bad friend and they said, “Quite possibly! I don’t have many.”

          But sure, no hints.

        2. BorkBorkBork

          I don’t remember those! I might have missed them. I dont spend as often on this site as it probably seems. I’m going to go check out the comments from yesterday and see if I can find those links.

          Thank you!

        3. sickolesbian

          hey so, consider using neurodivergent people instead of “mentally handicapped”

          also neurodivergent people seeing themselves in a character like booster
          and commenting on it is not ableist? thats what has been happening….

          also like, do you think we are incapable of being rude? neurodivergent
          people can be just as rude as neurotypicals, its ableist to reduce us down
          to innocent little babies who can do no wrong just as it is ableist to go in the other direction and present us as unfeeling machines

          coming from an autistic person with a bunch of other stuff going on, adhd, etc etc

        4. BorkBorkBork

          If I meant neurodivergent, I’d say neurodivergent.

          As someone who is very obviously neurodivergent (I mean, come on, it’s obvious right?) I don’t just blanket consider neurodiversity to be a handicap. My particular blend of autism and ADHD still allow functioning in the world, nd I excel at a lot of things others don’t.

          My nephew is in his early 20s, and is almost entirely nonverbal. He has a handicap. That handicap is caused by his autism. Autism itself is not a handicap, but the way in which it affects him is.

          I’ve made no effort to hide the fact that Booster’s behavior has a lot of similarities with psychopathy. Superficially charming. Has difficulty forming attachments. Difficult time empathizing with others. Shows little to no remorse. And psychopathy, IMHO, is a disability.

          Mike, I think we can all agree, *also* showee signs of psychopathy. And Booster is, in many ways, playing the same narrative role. They’ve even been labeled as “new Mike” by Willis via Amber. That’s why I talk about them the same.

          My celebration here is because Booster isn’t acting like a psychopath, but as someone with genuine concern for others. And that’s good.

          To your point. Obviously neurodivergent people feel.I’m neurodivergent. I feel.

          But a psychopath doesn’t. They are students of human emotion because they work so hard to emulate it, but it is mostly foreign to them, other than on a superficial level.

          That’s why I’ve disliked Booster for a while, and why I’m so pumped that they’re finally showing empathy.

        5. sickolesbian

          first of all im sorry i assumed you were neurotypical

          i don;t agree with using person first language for autistic people
          as it implies that being autistic is a disease and something to be
          fought against and cured instead of actually helping us

          but yes being autistic is disabling and there are different levels
          to which people are disabled by being autistic

          personally i still dont really feel good about mentally handicapped, but
          i would defer to whatever an individual prefers, to me its too close to how
          neurotypical people talk about us, so i prefer to use the term disabled in some
          fashion, or high support needs low support needs etc etc for describing
          difference in disability

          psychopathy isnt a diagnosis and its not appropriate to armchair diagnose people as psychopaths as the term is highly stigmatized

          im not convinced they ARE but instead i would say ASPD or Antisocial personality disorder, i am for positive representation of people who are ASPD though
          i think its a little soon to diagnose booster like this, there are other reasons that
          weve seen discussed that could lead to them acting the way they do

          anyway I like booster! I feel like id get along with them but id have to call them on their shit a few times which no one in the comic has really done very much?

    2. shepsquared

      Hopefully Booster turns some of this on Joyce or Dorothy at some point. I really want to see them realise that Walky and Joe were reduced to being the fourth most important person in their respective dumpings, and Dorothy would probably mentally benefit from addressing that with Walky and properly tying up their disastrous love life.

  27. Icalasari

    I like that Walky isn’t mad at Amber or anything, he’s just going, “Honestly, I really should have expected this”

  28. Cimorene

    I audibly gasped and smacked my hands to my cheeks reading the fifth panel. Damn Booster. Wow. And Walky is somehow very perceptive of the interpersonal situations of those around him. At least Amber/Joyce/Dorothy. What would his mom think if Booster gets Walky to change majors to psych?

    1. Cimorene

      I just went and read through and commented on other comments and my cheeks are actually stinging .-.

  29. Sirksome

    I’m super disappointed in everyone this morning. Walky is hiding in bed, Dorothy and Joyce are out shopping. The title of the chapter is “I’m the Problem. It’s Me.” And Becky hasn’t even appeared yet! I wanted to a see a bloodbath on their morning walk routine! It was all supposed to burn! No drama, no chaos, just hiding like babies!

    1. nadamás

      Wow, almost like the storyline it’s just starting! What a strange concept, why nobody talking about this?!

      1. Sirksome

        I have no patience. Every moment something isn’t happening that means it will never happen! It will be a hundred years before they all interact again probably!

        1. nadamás

          My god, they uttered the fiorbiden word! We are all doomed!

        2. Yotomoe

          This, kids, is a game I like to call
          “Sarcasm Chicken”. Who will swerve first?

        3. nadamás

          Your mom is a swerve.

        4. Sirksome

          Don’t trust Yotomoe.

        5. Clif

          When I think sarcasm chicken, Yotomoe is not the first name that comes to mind.

        6. Sirksome

          Don’t trust Clif.

        7. Clif

          Well, that goes without saying.

        8. Nymph

          They seem to have both swerved at you.

    2. Cimorene

      If I were Walky (or Booster giving Walky advice) it’d be a long the lines of, “I’m not ditching class and giving them the satisfaction of not being uncomfortable by my presence.” which is not something Walky would consider naturally, but Booster might do if they were in such a situation?

    3. Andy

      Walky is saying that he’s the problem. The problem is him. If he hadn’t thrown a toy at Dorothy, she would have been with Joyce sooner. If he hadn’t agreed to makeup sex, Dorothy would have had to work out her issues instead of avoiding them. He knew early on that he was just for fun and stress relief.

      We’ve see two young men who wanted serious long term relationships do things right and get dumped.

      The key point is the narrative is Dorothy turning down Yale. Not sure how she explained that to her parents. If she left, Joe and Joyce would be happily screwing their brains out.

      TLDR. Joe. Walky. Becky. All feel that they are the common denominator in everything that goes wrong in their lives. Amber might join that club. Not a simple storyline.

  30. Reltzik

    Booster’s a Trash Goblin as well.

    … does that mean I shouldn’t ship them with Amber on the grounds that the two joining forces terrifies me, or does it mean I should ship it harder?

    1. Cimorene

      I’ll join your shipping of Booster and Amber. 2025 is the next quarter century of polycules/triads. We’ll get a Walky/Booster/Amber and a Joyce/Dorothy/Joe.

      1. Nymph

        I’m still hoping for Walky/Joe/Ethan/Asher, but I will allow for Joe/Ethan/Asher and Walky/Booster/Amber as second place.

        1. Reltzik

          We’re talking about polycules. No reason that Walky can’t be part of a triad and a separate tetrad at the same time.

          … wait, is it tetrad or quadrad?

        2. Clif

          I believe that would be a quintad, Walky and four other individuals.

          At this point, I’m not seeing Joe as part of any poly arrangement that doesn’t include Joyce.

        3. Clif

          Please ignore that reply. I didn’t reed your comment accurately. Or ignore the first part anyway.

        4. Nymph

          True! I just had a whole dynamic in mind that had the original quartet I suggested as all dating each other in a kitchen table poly situation but more literally where Joe makes them all eat healthy and take care of themselves while he attends culinary school.

    2. nadamás

      They canonically think she is hot so you are on a good track

  31. anon

    didn’t expect walky to say ‘knob”, isnt that more british leaning in slang. tho i wonder how booster would react to her being injured from the protest, i don’t think they know that she’s amazigirl yet

  32. Anonymous

    “Then maybe you should tell her that, say in person?”

    I enjoyed today’s strip! I’m curious to learn whether in the fourth panel the second reason is the real deciding factor and the first reason an excuse, or vice versa, or both sufficient deciding factors in themselves.

  33. darkoneko

    Just go to class, Walkerton.

    1. nadamás

      That is already a losing proposition for him under normal circumstances!

  34. Doopyboop

    Donovan, you’re well within your right to not comment, I just want to leave a comment to say I’m still thinking about you even hours later and that I hope you have a better day.

    1. zee

      I parasocially like you a lot and will miss your insights Donovan, hope you’re doing okay ❤️ do whatever is best for you but know you do have friends here. This place has been a cesspit recently so I fully understand walking away

    2. Li

      Thirding this.

    3. Donovan

      I didn’t wanna leave this unanswered because it’s really kind of all three of you. I do feel better after a nights sleep, so no worries, yeah?

      1. zee

        Good to hear, glad you’re doing better

      2. Li

        ❤️

  35. Taffy

    Y’know, he could always just go over there and be a friend. Not everything has to result in bareback fucking someone in the ass for exactly three hours and six minutes, he could just simply merely visit her and offer a pleasant social interaction or the presence of a sympathetic companion. Maybe if he rinsed the jizz off his brain, he’d have an easier time.

    1. Mr.Morningstar

      I mean he asked if he could come.hang out and play Nintendo already, with zero expectation for sexual reciprocation.

      1. Yotomoe

        Yeah. If “can I come over and play nintendo?” means “sex” then what means “can I come over and play nintendo?” and how do you express it via text?

        1. Clif

          You can’t. The English language is powerless in such situations.

        2. Taffy

          So, what you wanna do is send “Yo, Hyrule Warriors? Midna??”

      2. Taffy

        Nintendo is cursed and tainted and all their games are noisy as fuck. Amber is recovering from severe injury, she’s not gonna want to hear all that.

    2. C.T Phipps

      Booster has not really shown themselves to be anyone’s friend.

      They’re friendly but have not demonstrated any real loyalty or help.

      1. Li

        The “he” in Taffy’s comment is Walky. Because Booster uses they/them. Reminding you again.

        1. C.T Phipps

          Note that I used they them pronouns in the post and there’s no edit function.

        2. Li

          It’s just that you used she yesterday and seemed to misread Taffy’s post as referring to Booster, that’s all.

        3. C.T Phipps

          Oh I did? Crap.

        4. Li

          Hey, it happens. I’m really glad it wasn’t on purpose!

  36. Mr.Morningstar

    Like.. honestly what is boosters deal? Are they trying to make walky feel bad? I dunno, they seem to treat everyone like “oooh what whacky and wild mental issues have YOU got” and I get that’s their whole thing of being an obnoxious.psychology student, but like,.it really feels like they have 0 empathy for most in these situations and just wants to see the reactions of their peers in regards to their mental foibles.

    1. Doopyboop

      I think Booster is trying to help, by getting Walky to verbalize why he’s struggling rather than letting him silently ruminate, it does at least provide him the opportunity to express his feelings and thoughts. Plus, Booster knows Amber and Walky like each other, so Booster is attempting to get Walky to spend time with someone he enjoys rather than brooding in his bedroom. I think Booster is just a very blunt individual at the same time who’s cutting through the secret keeping nonsense to get to the heart of the matter, AKA Walky thinks Amber must hate him for some reason, or just dislike him, Booster informs him Amber feels guilty because she likes Walky and feels she sabotaged his relationship, Walky expresses he doesn’t feel Amber did that because Dorothy and Joyce had feelings for each other regardless of one titty pic.

      1. Li

        This is the thing that’s going on.

      2. sickolesbian

        yes!!! this is what i see happening too

      3. apocryphascribe

        Yep. One of Walky’s biggest problems is he likes to pretend he’s aloof and unaffected by the shit that truly bothers him because 1) low self-esteem, of course, and 2) actually jumping head on into your troubles? that shit is HARD WORK. And Walky is not good with that yet, if he ever will be.

    2. DashWallkick

      Remember that Booster quite literally replaces Mike. Mike’s whole deal was saying the meanest, truest thing he could to make people around him grow up. Booster is a new variant of that. They’re saying “hey maybe instead of wallowing in your own pity and low self esteem you could do something like spend time with other people and not be alone” and he’s like “nah, sounds lame.”

      1. thejeff

        Except for the times Mike made stuff up to hurt people around him.
        Or as he said, spent years poking Amber’s bear to make her a time bomb.

    3. C.T Phipps

      Part of the reason that I didn’t want Booster to be neuroatypical is they are just incredibly cruel.

      Selfish?

      Yes.

      But we have enough negative depictions.

      1. StClair

        apparently not enough for the people who’ve said “yeah, let ND people be bad too”.

        we contradict ourselves, we are large, we contain multitudes.

        1. Li

          This.

          Also I don’t read cruelty but YMMV.

    4. Clif

      Booster has done Walky a service by providing context for Amber’s rejection. This increases Walky’s options going forward.

  37. IntangibleMatter

    DOA: Max Breakups% (WR)

  38. Tan

    So I assume the person who was like “At least Mike was honest” yesterday is typing up at-length praise for Booster’s honesty here.

  39. YourCousinJay

    I get that in a meta way the story was literally building up to it but it’s sad how “Joyce just hates me cuz she wants to date my girlfriend” was actualized in such a way it just orbital nuked Walky’s self-esteem entirely

    Also the classic of thinking people will think less of you for getting cheated on

    1. apocryphascribe

      To be fair, it’s not like people think *well* of Walky. Even his “friends” don’t really respect him.

    2. StClair

      You presume that he had any to begin with.

  40. Fail Earnhardt

    Walky’s not wrong, and I mostly agree with his assessment of his and Joyce’s friendship, but I definitely think his low self-esteem is clouding his judgment on if Joyce is *still* his friend. She and Dorothy cut him deep whether he wants to acknowledge it or not. That energy has to go somewhere and if he’s not careful he’s gonna blow up at them at the worst time in the worst way.

    1. anonymsly

      I don’t think Joyce was ever his friend. Honestly, neither was Dorothy. He’s just been a punching bag or a project (never a real person) to both of them, and they both fully threw him in the trash in less than a second.

      1. thejeff

        I don’t think it’s fair to say Dorothy never was. She very much was in the first semester. She screwed up, because she was a teen on her second relationship, but she clearly cared about him.

        This time around the crush on Joyce just seems to have overwhelmed her.

        1. apocryphascribe

          Yeah, I do think Dorothy cared about Walky a lot, but that care kept butting heads with her need to be in control of her circumstances, which led to her leading him on multiple times, relationship instability, and struggling to properly assess her priorities.

          I’ve said as much in a post on my tumblr, which was about something else entirely (the cheating being boring), but this came up. The key thing that comes to mind in their relationship for me is that, when Walky needed help with his grades and Dorothy tried helping him, she stopped when her own grades were in jeopardy (granted, other things were happening around that time too!). Because she was still desperately holding onto going to Yale then, they broke up because she wanted to stay the course instead of putting it at risk for Walky – the same Yale dreams that she dropped for Joyce. As I said in prior mentioned post, Joyce is Dorothy’s “only exception” in more ways than one.

          Whether unfortunate timing or unwillingness to sacrifice for him specifically, Walky would be well within his right to believe Dorothy wasn’t taking him seriously as a person and to feel some type of way about that. It’s why I’m not too upset the cheating isn’t a big deal for HIM, because quite frankly it’s simply the latest in a list of problems Dorothy either created or perpetuated in their relationship, and I’m really looking forward to when those particular chickens finally come home to roost.

  41. Juanoku

    i find funny that walky doesn’t find her guilty because he kinda saw it as an inevitability

  42. Acher4

    *hugs* for Walky…

    But it would be so fricking hillarious if he managed to be dumped by Amber in the same week.

    (Joyce and Dorothy were always married? You don’t say? lol)

  43. Kyulen

    Walky really could use some better friends. Or at least some friends who aren’t in the same friend group as Joyce and Dorothy.

    1. apocryphascribe

      Trouble is I don’t know where he’d start. Most of his current acquaintances are tied up in the Joyce/Dorothy knot so he’d have to look outside of it, and from what I can tell there are slim pickings there too.

      1. thejeff

        Just from a narrative point of view, it’s hard. Start giving too many characters their own circles of friends and the cast rapidly gets even more unwieldy.

  44. Jernacious

    Walky should go to class regardless, because he’s in need of a good knobbing. 😛

  45. Axel

    Becky has been alright with Walky, maybe they could try being sad together.

    1. apocryphascribe

      I’m actually thinking this is where Joe is going to end up, if for no other reason than they both got their heart broken by the same girl.

  46. Dot

    They

    1. Clif

      their

  47. goggleman64

    Willis, I just saw the adorable kittycat in your Patreon banner – what is with this terrible lack of kittycats in your story??

    1. David M Willis

      miss sakaki actually died one year ago today

      1. Dot

        My condolences. Hope the day’s not too rough.

      2. StClair

        Condolences and sympathies on this unhappy anniversary.

      3. NGPZ

        (T~T) my greatest sympathies (with light physical contact)

  48. DashWallkick

    Every time I see a new comic and Becky isn’t in it I get another coin added to my “something bad happened” jar and given that we’ve been years of things going pretty well for people and no big dramatic turn that shakes up the cast….?

    1. Nymph

      Agreeeeed.

  49. Kwyjibo

    We traded Mike for this?

    1. zee

      We call that an upgrade (and i loved Mike)

      1. Kwyjibo

        People keep using that word.
        I don’t think it means what ye think it means.

        1. Pocky

          yeah, I think people need to learn antonyms.

          in this case; Booster is a sever downgrade on all accounts.

        2. Taffy

          Mike is dead. Nobody wants a rotting corpse for a friend.

        3. Kwyjibo

          When the alternative is Kirkland brand “I can’t believe it’s not Mike”, it’s time to start looking for a necromancer.

        4. Taffy

          Your mom’s looking for a necromancer.

        5. Kwyjibo

          Aye, to bring that joke back to life so you can beat it to death again.

        6. Taffy

          Your mom beat the joke to death.

        7. nadamás

          I am so proud ?

        8. Taffy

          Thanks, Dad.

        9. Yotomoe

          Billy and Mandy did.

        10. Taffy

          Y’know, I never did watch much of that show. I only remember a couple of scenes, like Mandy blasting the fuck out of Billy with a water gun, somebody eating cursed chocolates, and some little Melvin-ass kid being in some variety of Hell dimension with either a big spider or a very hairy demon.

        11. nadamás

          No i think they know what they since they are correct. Like, i can’t think a single way Mike is better that Booster.

        12. Vaishino

          Mike threw hands at Blaine. Booster doesn’t strike me as someone who’s capable of physical violence.

  50. Odo

    I kind of find the whole “it was inevitable that they would be together” argument annoying.

    First of all it isn’t true. People can like each other a lot and not end up together. There can be potential for a romantic relationship without it being actualized. And it certainly isn’t inevitable that they will cheat on their partners.

    Second of all it seems like pushing it minimizes how shitty Dorothy and Joyce acted. “Oh it was so obvious that they would end up together… Walky should have expected it. He knew what he was getting into so it wasn’t really cheating…”

    Which is absolute BS. It might seem obvious in retrospect but it was not something Walky knew before hand. He knew “these two are close” but not “Dorothy will drop me like a bag of potatoes if Joyce waves a finger”.

    And fundamentally the fact that Dorothy would act so cruelly toward a romantic partner is still a shitty way for her to be. How much she loves Joyce is entirely irrelevant.

    1. Kwyjibo

      “it was inevitable that they would be together”
      Aye, this is just the post-hoc justification for both Joyce and Dorothy being perfect angels who never did anything wrong, and not amazingly shitty people.

      Which is fine, they’re horny self-centered idiots that’s to be expected – but that doesn’t mean everyone else has to buy what they’re selling.

      1. nadamás

        They are not selling anything?? I don’t remember them ever saying, it’s mostly been the comments and Walky right now.

        1. Kwyjibo

          If you’ve missed the whole “we were always meant to be together” bullshit the horny idiots have been indulging in, then you have my deepest envy.

    2. Li

      Willis has talked about this.

      Literally the only characters who think it was actually inevitable are Joyce (because as Willis said, she’s a Calvinist even as an atheist) and Walky, because Walky LITERALLY called Joyce his girlfriend’s girlfriend a million years ago and has been joking about Joyce’s obvious crush for months.

      Like I get the sentiment, I do, but these are the two exact characters who were always gonna think it was inevitable: one of them in hindsight because she believes very strongly in fate and determinism, the other because it’s a bit he’s been doing this whole time.

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        someone needs to tell Walky he didn’t accidentally will this couple into existence by joking about Joyce and Dorothy, and actually yeah he has a right to be pissed that his girlfriend kissed someone else, and even that she decided to leave instead of considering just talking to her partner and asking what he wants to do. (not that she doesn’t have a right to leave her relationship, but the way her priorities immediately shifted kinda shows how little she actually felt towards him romantically)

        1. a/snow/mous/e

          and the fact that Joyce basically burst into the room to break up with him on Dorothy’s behalf is just so disrespectful, regardless of Wally’s ongoing bit…

        2. apocryphascribe

          Would love to see the story progress in a direction where him and Joe stop being doormats and get some self respect, but idk how long that would take.

        3. thejeff

          Yeah, that’s basically it.
          It makes sense for Walky to see it this way – he’s both perceptive enough to have picked up on the attraction and has low enough self-esteem to think that Dorothy wouldn’t stick with him if she had other choices, but that doesn’t mean he’s right or that it somehow makes it okay.

        4. Li

          I mean I didn’t say that.

          I’m just saying I don’t think this is Willis’s way of telling readers “see even Walky thinks it’s fate, shut up”.

        5. NGPZ

          If Willis kept putting off getting them together, he was afraid he was gonna be guilty of queer-baiting (hence Daisy’s reaction to Julia Grey)

          that he thus accelerated it, it’s now *rushed*

          in the end it’s like there was no way for him to win, and honestly feel really bad for him atm

        6. Li

          I… do not think that first thing is true?

          Per Willis themself, the “queerbaity” strip with Daisy was meant to reassure readers that the tension between them WAS gonna go somewhere (which I think had somewhat middling success), but everything they’ve said about the development has been:

          – starting to write the conversation between Dorothy and Joe twice before, in 2023 and 2024, but not liking the strips, and also wanting to give Joe/Joyce more time to cook

          – then realizing as they wrote the protest scene that it was finally happening, to them organically, and going for it

          Like, I don’t think they’ve said they sped things up for any reason other than “it felt right”, and indeed I keep trying to remind people that this almost happened two years earlier.

          There were multiple different timelines for this, not just “it happened in 2025 or else it waited until 2030”. And certainly Willis didn’t do it this year out of fear of accusations of queerbaiting.

      2. Tan

        > Literally the only characters who think it was actually inevitable are Joyce … and Walky

        Funnily, Joyce and Walky are probably the two most direct reflections of the author in the comic. Who also always knew Dorothy and Joyce would get together, if not the details of when/how. Which isn’t the point, but just an amusing aside way to look at it.

        1. Li

          Well, Willis definitely didn’t always know they would get together, it’s something they decided at some unspecified point before the timeskip. But a cute point, heh.

      3. Clif

        Walky loves being a goofball, but he’s been consistently been shown as very socially ept. He was one of the very few that realized Amber and AmaziGirl were distinct without it having to be spelled out for him.

        1. apocryphascribe

          Also his surprising ability to handle Raidah the few times they’ve interacted.

  51. Opinion

    Booster/Mike serve the same narrative purpose. They are there to be an antagonistic voice to step in and poke at the rest of the cast. Basically a way to force conversations that might be odd for other characters to be direct about. But dang I really prefer Mike’s version of that role.

    Like Mike was a jerk, he thought he was a jerk, everyone in universe thought he was a jerk, everyone reading the comments knew that’s what he was. No pretending just “does what it says on the tin”

    Booster does the same thing but tied up in the psych student wrapper that just makes them seem so much more annoying to me. They are still being mean to other characters, still poking at things to advance character development, but because they use long words rather than 4 letter ones it’s supposed to makes them some sort of enlightened psychological puppet master steering their social circle. It just gives off this aura of smugness that I find pretty off putting.

    1. Dot

      Like I’ve said before, Booster is a realistically unpleasant person of a kind I tend to dislike in real life, while Mike was a cartoon character.

  52. Steamweed

    Willis, just reverse “Knob” and title the strip “Bonk”. Totally suffice.

  53. zee

    BOOSTER POSITIVITY THREAD. GLAZE THEM.

    Also @Taffy i just saw your birdbrain comment and let me say. That is. The perfect context in which to discover birdbrain. Jamie Paige would be proud. Welcome to the fold my friend. also maybe give When Spring Comes a listen if you really liked Birdbrain, JamieP is like Toby Fox for even gayer people and she fuckin LOVES reusing melodies (complimentary)

    1. zee

      I think booster would like Birdbrain. I think they’d recognize our beloved bedrilled overlord ?

    2. Nymph

      Booster is a genuinely fun and interesting person to read about. I like the enby rep and I want to see them get more screen time. I like the burgeoning thing they’ve got with Amber and I’m feral to see that come to fruition. I enjoy the way they embody the First Year Psych Student vibes because it lets Willis poke at his characters from an angle that doesn’t feel forced.

      I really enjoy what a good, protective sibling they are to Charlie. Vetting Carla and refusing to just help someone get with their sister without checking with said sister first is the kind of solidarity that we don’t see often enough between siblings in this comic.

      They give off strong neurodivergent vibes, and it’s a flavor we haven’t seen yet in the comic! Analytical/Social-focused/Hyperverbal (which just so happens to be where I sit on the spectrum so it’s a delight to see).

      Is what they’re doing (unpacking other people’s trauma for them) unethical? Nope, not yet. They don’t have a degree or any kind of professional responsibility. Right now they’re just a gossip and a dramamonger and I fucking love that character archetype!!!

      1. zee

        As long as they’re not torturing rats or writing their papers with chatGPT they are in the ethical clear babeyyyyyyy

        As a psych degree holder I see some of my 19 year old self in them too. Dsm5 (not DSM V as my professor so helpfully yelled at us for ?) became my hyper fixation for a while. I didn’t read people out loud bc I have a clinical fear of negative judgement but yeah! Shits interesting! It’s cool connecting real life shit to what you’re studying! Are they a little bit of an asshole? Yeah absolutely. Do I want them to stop being an asshole? Fuck no, you can pry this snarky lil shit from my cold dead hands. They’re perfect just the way they are and I hope they keep cold reading people and keep trying to play therapist because it’s fun and amusing to me. Going back to food metaphors they’re like pimento (or *all spice berries* for y’all non Caribbeans I guess, ugh). Perfect and add the best possible flavor to any scene they’re in. Everything is better when they’re involved.

      2. Tan

        This comment makes me realize how much I can’t wait for Booster and Alice to meet.

        1. zee

          Oh the TEA

      3. Li

        This is such an excellent analysis <3

    3. apocryphascribe

      I ADORE how Booster craves and creates drama. Love a good messy nonbinary character, I resonate with them so well. They’re so fun! The comic is woefully bereft of friction and tension these days so anytime they show up, I know shit’s bound to get interesting very soon.

    4. Taffy

      Nice recommendation. I like when an artist takes a piece of music that works for them and uses it more than once.

      1. zee

        There’s also Machine Love which uses a similar motif, as well as being a tribute to the first original Kasane Teto song “Song of the Eared Robot”. They’re very sweet, the line “I am definite and real” makes me tear up.

        Idr if it appears on machine love but there’s also something called the “baby do you know what you wanna hear” motif, which you’ll pick up on very quickly if you listen to more of her music. It appears on like half her discography and almost everything on the Constant Companions album. She’s also the rare vocaloid producer that actually sings! And duets with her SynthVs! Dyad and Encore come to mind with that.

        Sorry for the info dump, I hope it’s not overwhelming. I just. Really like kasane teto and really, *really* like Jamie Paige. Her music is really interesting and it has so much thematic meat to dive into. I know I probably don’t have to apologize but I’ll feel squirmy if I don’t.

    5. Mitzi B.

      Based on this strip? They know exactly when to drop a gossip bomb on someone. It’s a skill everyone needs to learn 🙂

      In general, I love their array of garish and loud shirts. Their fashion sense fits them nicely.

    6. NGPZ

      they can be a bit much at times but really are some of my most favorite nuanced enby rep I’ve ever seem <3

  54. AntithesisConundrum

    New main characters!! HYPE

  55. Kazuma Shouri

    glad to see two camps of commenters being represented today
    if I didn’t know about the buffer Willis had built up, I’d think it intentional

    1. nadamás

      Hey that doesn’t stop some people of saying so.

  56. Kwyjibo

    So, as long as he’s alive the apocalypse can never happen?

    Ooffff – that’s a real tough choice. End the world or live with store-brand Mike?

  57. Rimwalker55

    Today’s strip is a real good example of how well Willis keeps track of who knows what and when. Booster only knows of Amber https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/thumpasprunging/
    and doesn’t know of Joe’s question to Dorothy. Meanwhile Walky has been telling Dorothy the Joyce was ‘half a week from going down on her’ since around book 4.

    1. Rimwalker55

      Gotta feel bad for Walky though. Not a lot of joy in saying “Welp, I called it.”

  58. sickolesbian

    sucks how whenever booster shows up everyone just starts hating on them, also they are 100% no where close as bad as mike, mike was fucking terrible.

  59. Yakumo

    Point Walky. He has Booster’s number and, unlike Booster, didn’t go out of his way to show. It was far more organic.

  60. AlexanderHammil

    people hating on booster in the comments is always funny because booster is the living embodiment of the comments section, just here for the drama

    1. nadamás

      And unlike the comment section they don’t complain when they don’t get it immediately.

      1. Yotomoe

        To be fair, Booster doesn’t have to wait as long.

  61. C.T Phipps

    I’m going to make a controversial hot take that due to Walky’s relationship witj Mike and Jennifer, he assumes that a lot of people are his friends that really aren’t. In fact, Joyce has been objectively awful to him and Walky just ignores it as that’s how his siblings have treated him.

    Joyce could learn she’s been awful to him.

    1. Ranter

      Those two have always been “friends of convenience”. They have almost nothing in common, but they stand next to eachother because they have to. Putting that aside for a minute, though…

      People– especially Joyce– have treated him a certain way because the things he says and does has been totally out of line for a long time, and he’s slow to learn.

      He’s disgusting, and a bit of a fuck-boy. He has a history of sleeping in his own food stains and not showering. He eats like a garbage can. He also dates within his friend group, and has been straight up mean to his friends: especially Joyce.

      None of those things are punishable by death, exactly, but the point is that he just isn’t very mature, and the people who spend the most time with him– especially the ones he’s dated– have straight up told him that they at least want him to smell better.

      Joyce has been very nice to him, excluding the specific times that he acted gross and bullied her for her beliefs. She’s exclusively acted mean to him when he refused to put in effort, after he had already been asked to do better.

      THE REASON Joyce taunted him about the new relationship– a few strips ago– is because she never believed he had earned a relationship with Dorothy through his actions, and because he had put her down by calling her a “lesbian” from day one. She was right. It’s funny.

      The fact is that Walky has never had to put in any effort before. He has never had to grow before. He calls himself trash. Unfortunately, he’s sort of surrounded himself with people who are mid-range and expect a little more of him.

      When people who spend time with you tell you to change over an over again– and if you stay the same– then they aren’t going to “abandon” you right away. They’ll get a little meaner over time, first. Imo that’s what’s been going on here.

      There have been a lot of changes to the friend group with Joyce and Dorothy entering into a relationship. Dina can’t be around Becky. Becky can’t be around Joyce. It might even mean that Walky is officially out.

      However, in regards to whether Walky has any “real” friends apart from Amber in the first place:

      If Joyce has been mean to him, he has absolutely no one to blame but himself, because he was the one who needled her, first; If he doesn’t have any friends outside of his exes anymore, it’s because he hasn’t made any effort of make new friends outside of the women he’s dated; If he has nothing in common with anyone except the one chick who calls herself “garbage”, then he had multiple chances to elevate himself already.

      1. apocryphascribe

        Just want to point out this is an excellent comment. It’s actually one of the ways I appreciate Willis’s writing, because this is paralleled by Joe’s lack of friends *despite* him working harder to be a better person. If there was ever a wake up call for Walky to start getting his shit together (and for both him and Joe to stop trying to get laid or date for a little while), I’d be thrilled.

  62. Zamperla

    First of all I absolutely adore that Booster 100% tattles on this one immediately, Booster, love you dearly, you could never do me any wrong. Second of all…. yeaahhhh I think Wally saw this coming from a ways off. Due to all the times Walky said, Out Loud, “hey i think joyce has incredibly sapphic feelings for dorothy”.

    Tough spot.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.