166

Forgotten
Posted on April 20, 2018 by David M Willis
The Dumbing of Age Book 7 Kickstarter has hit $45K, which means a sneak peek at a future Dumbing of Age strip has been unlocked for everyone to look at early! I put it to a vote, and the strip from July 2 was the winner. If you wanna check it out, it's the 8th update to the Kickstarter.
Next scheduled stretch goal is at $50K, when we unlock free Ruth character magnets for everyone who pledges for physical goods!

166 thoughts on “Forgotten”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    lasted longer than I thought

    1. Sporky

      Yeah, I was expecting the last panel of this strip to be him getting thrown out too. Maybe tomorrow.

      1. Deanatay

        He’s probably leading the others on a merry chase through Forrest Quad.

        1. Annonymouse

          Possibly being defenestrated while showing off his charts

        2. Needfuldoer

          In between all the rooms and back and forth across the hall.

          Halfway through they run into Norville and his dog.

    2. Pablo360

      Yeah. This only makes me more worried that something big is just around the corner.

    3. Antonio

      Faz would appreciate this double entendre.

      1. C.T Phipps

        Its McAwesomes. Faz is not creepy there the way Billie is cool.

        1. Willinwoods

          Dang… I totally missed that it’s a parallel to Shortpacked. Maybe should start reading the comments again.

  2. BBCC

    Oh dear.

    Well at least my birthday strip will lead to shenanigans!

    1. Dana

      Happy birthday!

      1. Yumi

        Oh, her!
        Yes, happy birthday!

      2. BBCC

        Thank you!

        1. BBCC

          Thank you!

        2. BBCC

          Shit, that was supposed to go under Yumi’s comment.

    2. Pablo360

      *da na na na na na na na*
      They say it’s your birthday!
      *da na na na na na na na*
      Happy birthday to ya!
      *da na na na na na na na*
      They say it’s your birthday!
      *da na na na na na na na*
      Happy birthday to ya!
      *da na na na na na na na*
      You’re gonna have a good time!
      *dana dana dana dana dana dana dana dana*
      You know there’s gonna be a party, party…
      *dana dana dana dana dana dana dana dana*
      You know there’s gonna be a party, party…

      1. Pablo360

        And the spacing breaks, ruining the awesome text-syncopation thing I was doing. Oh well.

        1. Marsh Maryrose

          Also, you inadvertently invoked Dana on 4/20. In-universe, Sarah suddenly sat bolt upright and doesn’t know why.

        2. Pablo360

          I’m going to pretend that was intentional.

        3. BBCC

          Pffft! Oh that is glorious.

          And thank you, Pablo!

    3. Arioch

      Happy birthday!

      1. BBCC

        Thank you!

    4. Mr D

      Happy birthday! May there be many more!

      1. BBCC

        Thank you! And yes, hopefully! XD

    5. Jdorr

      Happy b-day

      1. BBCC

        Thank you!

    6. adjudicus

      Happy birthday!

      1. BBCC

        Thanks!

    7. Inahc

      happy birthday 🙂

      1. BBCC

        Thank you!

  3. Doctor_Who

    Possibility 1: Faz managed to behave like a civilized being for once, and is accepted by Forest Quad.

    Possibility 2: What he said was so outrageous that the residents immediately resorted to cannibalism.

    Place ya bets!

    1. Yumi

      “Weird” just means something so different there that he ended up seeming acceptable.

    2. Puckish Rogue

      Possibility 3: This place is so damn strange Faz just fits right in

    3. DeepThought42

      Possibility 4 He could have been defensteatred out of window on the opposite side of the building

      Possibility 5 a wormhole could have opened up and he was trasnported to the gamma quadrent and now he is the Dominion’s problem.

      1. LookingIn

        So that’s why they went to war with the Federation!

    4. Felix

      Possibility 6: it’s 4:20 so everybody’s too baked to notice.

      1. Annonymouse

        I thought they were still in the first few weeks of the first semester?
        Might hit American thanksgiving sometime in 2020?

        1. Needfuldoer

          “Faz is Great” shows us Tuesday October 12th and Thanksgiving will be Thursday November 25th. (DoA uses 2010’s calendar for its days of the week, even though it’s perpetually “this year” to the story.) That’s 42 days to go in between.

          1 DoA day averages about 66.67 real-world days long. 42 x 66.67 rounds to 2800 days from the end of the current story to the last strip of November 24th. Since it’s apparently near evening and “Faz is Great” is already running long*, let’s say the next story starts on May sixth. 2800 days later will be Tuesday, January 3, 2026.

          We’ll see Thanksgiving January through February 2026.

          *It might be time to run the numbers again, the last few stories have been much longer…

        2. ValdVin

          Your math is appreciated. I am older than Willis and if there is an end to this epic story I hope to see it.

  4. Passchendaele

    no time like weed time. 😛

  5. Yumi

    I don’t know why she’d assume Faz was okay.

    Also, I guess it does make sense for him to be confirmed mixed race, but just in general, does ethnicity always carry over cross-universes?

    1. Axel

      Because he’s been quiet the whole time and Billie didn’t kick him out personally, I guess?

      1. Yumi

        I’d think she’d be a little more suspicious, or at least ask some questions, but I guess she’s feeling like she just dodged a bullet anyway.

        1. Axel

          I didn’t realize it was Billie speaking so I probably shouldn’t be taken too seriously

    2. C.T Phipps

      You forget they’re all idiots.

      1. Yumi

        Well, sure, everyone’s an idiot. You can still be like, “Hey, also who’s this random kid.” Really, what I forgot is that Billie sometimes likes to act like she doesn’t care about things.

        1. C.T Phipps

          I mean that they live fairly divorced from reality in a very sheltered high school view. They wouldn’t kick him out or report him because well…they don’t asusme things are bad until demonstrated as such.

          Besides, he doesn’t have glasses, therefore he must not be imperfect.

        2. Yumi

          But I was only talking about Billie in my comment, questioning why *she* would assume Faz is okay. I figured you were bringing up the rest of Forest quad, but they really weren’t relevant to what I was thinking about.

        3. C.T Phipps

          Hey, he’s Joyce’s “friend.”

    3. Deanatay

      Yumi: Ethnicity is NOT consistent between universes. Billie is a perfect example of this – she wasn’t half-Chinese before DoA.

  6. Streben

    Huh. Poor Joyce. I wonder what will come of this, if anything.

    1. AnvilPro

      Does Billie know about Joyce not being able to walk around outside by herself? Because if so it’s messed up that she just shoved her outside and has left her there for what looks like hours

      1. PB

        … Oh yeah I didn’t think of that. I mean Joyce has gotten better but she implied today wasn’t a good day, didn’t she?

  7. Cheshrin

    Yeah, but what does Forest Hall define as “weird,” is the question.

    1. C.T Phipps

      They dislike relationships, human frailty, and mistakes. Everything is perfect or declared unclean.

      They’re all a future group of Dolores Umbridges.

      1. Miri

        Youch!!

        I mean, yeah, they seem to worship Billie and expect her to be Mean Girls nasty – but I put that down to simple immaturity and thinking that real life is indistinguishable from a cliquey high school comedy…

        Your conclusion is far worse!!

  8. Alopex

    He’s speaking in first person??

    Maybe he’s talking about his personal insecurities with the nosy pep trio.

    1. PB

      …. OH SNAP THAT’S IT ISN’T IT. FOREST HALL IS MOLLY-CLOCKING HIM INTO TEMPORARY NORMALITY.

  9. Marsh Maryrose

    Re alt-text: first legal one here in California! Still three hours away, though.

  10. Derek

    Hapa? what’s hapa?

    1. Yumi

      Mixed ethnicity

      1. Doctor_Who

        That was a clear opportunity to say “Not much, what’s hapa with you?”.

      2. Stephen Bierce

        Hawaiian/Asian/Pacific Islander/Alaskan…at least how I understand it.

        1. Nono

          That seems like such a weird term. Is it just that people are really bad at telling ethnicities so just use a ‘catch-all’ term?

        2. Yumi

          No, that’s not what the term is, though it could be applied to someone who is a mix of some/all of those ethnicities, I suppose. The most common usage of it that I’m familiar with is to refer to someone who’s half-Asian and half-white, or different percentages, though that’s not the only application.

        3. Marsh Maryrose

          There’s a good NPR Code Switch article on it here.

          (I love that there’s a Professor of Hawaiian Studies named Kealalokahi Losch.)

          I had no idea that it had spread to Indiana. But Billie, born and bred in Indiana, clearly assumes that her non-API dormmates understand the term.

        4. Yumi

          I’m from Michigan and have never not been familiar with the term–that is, I probably was at some point, but I don’t remember when I learned it– so I wouldn’t be surprised about it being a term someone who fits that description in Indiana knows. As far as assuming that her dormmates know it…sometimes something seems so familiar to you that you’re like, “of course other people know this,” you know? Her dormmates may or may not know depending on their individual identities and experiences.

        5. Mango

          It seemed common enough to have it’s own subreddit (r/hapas) at least.

        6. Marsh Maryrose

          If there is one thing I have learned over the years of reading this comic, it’s that Willis is not going to put in a detail like this unless it is something that is true to his real-life experience.

        7. Yumi

          Wouldn’t surprise me; like I said, I’ve pretty much always known the term, so I don’t see why anyone else living in the Midwest couldn’t.

        8. CJ

          Seeing Billie herself is Hapa, I don’t see why she shouldn’t be familiar with the term. Though I doubt her dormmates know.

        9. Yumi

          Well, lots of things have their own subreddit, but in my experience, it’s a pretty common term. My experience just may involve more people of Asian decent than some others.

        10. JessWitt

          A few years back I wondered if the term applied to me since I’m half-Asian.

          Then I read that NPR article above on my friend’s FB post (who is actually hapa herself) and decided against using it to describe me since I’m not of Hawaiian descent.

        11. Sabrina

          Same, I’ve often wanted a cool term for myself but since I’m not connected to Hawaii I don’t feel comfortable adopting “hapa” because it really seems to have strong roots in growing up in Hawaii or being of Hawaiian decent.

        12. Yumi

          It’s taken from Hawaiian; it’s not an acronym and the mixed part is pretty key to the definition.

        13. Bicycle Bill

          Then why would Billie be the one to be using it?  I doubt that it’s a common term in Indiana.

        14. Yumi

          Why would a girl of mixed Asian-Caucasian ethnicity be familiar with and use a term that’s primarily applied to people of that identity?
          It’s TAKEN from Hawaiian, but it’s used well beyond that and does not always mean Hawaiian as part of the ethnic mix.

        15. Boops

          I know at least, for my japanese-canadian community, it was picked up since a large portion of immigrants heading to north america stopped in Hawaii for some time and it was appropriated as a term for people of mixed ethnicity, tho as a kid I understood it as just ‘half-japanese’. I know it’s popular to the point where I attended ‘Hapa-palooza’ a festival for people of mixed ethnicity, and that was the first time I saw non-japanese-canadian people use the term? But my experience is vry different from an american’s so, I don’t know if any of this holds true elsewhere

        16. Bicycle Bill

          I know Billie’s entry in the Walkypedia states this, but could someone please direct me to the point in the storyline where her ethnicity was revealed? I must have missed it.

        17. tim gueguen

          Billie mentions her middle name is Yunru.
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/bigred/

        18. Yumi

          First time I can recall her being mentioned as half-Asian:
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/distance-2/

          First time I remember her specific ethnicity being stated:
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/mixed/

      3. Yumi

        I’ve mostly heard/seen it for those who are part Asian, though it can be a bit more varied in the Hawaiian usage.

      4. tim gueguen

        Funny to see it here, since the few times I’ve seen it has been in some Hawaiian context.

    2. C.T Phipps

      That’s kind of racist of them.

      1. Yumi

        Well, it’s Billie saying it, which I think kind of complicates it in terms of racism, but it does seem kind of rude.

        1. DSL

          It’s a classification term, and Billie’s all about the classification.

    3. Charlie Spencer

      First time I’d heard the term too. Apparently it hasn’t spread to SC; I guess there aren’t enough people it applies to for the word to have worked its way into general use.

      1. Roborat

        Me too, I have never heard that term before.

  11. DarkoNeko

    Weirder than what they said in the last few panels ?

  12. DailyBrad

    Glad Billie’s not a denying Peter and didn’t disown Joyce.
    Remember the Alamo line is fucking adorable.
    Poor Joyce. Also, poor wing, because they seem pretty naive. Hope he’s not like, panty raiding or something.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Yes, all she did was kick her friend out and say to forget she existed.

      But Billie be the rock on which Joyce builds her new church.

  13. tyranidswarm

    Little do we know is that Faz immediately went mute the second he said “I”.

    1. Wizard

      And there was much rejoicing! Although I’m confident a silent Faz could still be creepy.

      1. 3oranges

        We all know Faz is great, but do you suppose he is great enough to hang out with the Burger King mascot?

  14. Stephen Bierce

    Warning! Some other site tried to hijack me from here. Norton caught it, but watch out!

  15. Stellar

    Has Faz found his people at last? Stay tun…

    …never mind

  16. Rukdug

    It appears Faz had more self control than expected.

    1. C.T Phipps

      I’m fully of the mind Faz is capable of staying silent to the point of living there with no one noticing like a horror movie attic kid.

  17. Tacos

    Huh, I was expecting the strip to end with Faz being kicked out the door.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      So did Joyce, apparently.

      See her checking her watch?  She knows he’s overdue.

      1. Nono

        The lighting also changes, implying the sun is setting.

        1. Roborat

          What she doesn’t know is that they threw him out another door.

  18. C.T Phipps

    Faz will now live with the women there who interpret all of his creepiness as actually being a sexual dinosaur and cool kid. Either that or interpret him as inoffensive (but actually very offensive) ethnic comic relief like Sixteen Candles.

    1. Puckish Rogue

      Sixteen Candles 2: The return of Long Duck Dong

      1. C.T Phipps

        Oh my God, now I can’t stop seeing Faz in that role.

  19. Mad_Academic

    This is another moment where I feel the suspension of disbelief fails. Sorry. I guess I’m just going to be hated into oblivion now…

    1. C.T Phipps

      What’s unbelievable?

      1. Mad_Academic

        Faz isn’t immediately removed from the premises.

        1. C.T Phipps

          They have a Faz.

    2. geno

      They don’t know him though. Has been completely inoffensive in this building. They would have no reason to kick him out.

      1. thejeff

        If so, this is the longest period of “completely inoffensive” Faz has ever managed. At least not without someone riding herd on him to shut him down whenever he starts to say or do anything.

        Which is why it’s unbelievable.

  20. nlips

    He’s getting laaaaid.

    1. DrunkenNordmann

      He’s underage, so hopefully not.

      1. thejeff

        Unlikely, but as Faz clearly stated early on, Indiana’s Romeo and Juliet law makes it legal as long as they’re 19 or under.
        Faz has a printout of the law in question.

        1. Twirls

          But he also said that he’s not eligible for it
          til his birthday (and is taking reservations)

        2. thejeff

          Nope. He’s 15. The reservations were those not happy taking advantage of the Romeo and Juliet law.

    2. Hielario

      As infuriating as that would be, I’d want to see that happen merely to check the results.

  21. Dana

    Happy birthday!

    1. Dana

      Heh. That wasn’t supposed to go there.

      1. Yumi

        Happy birthday to whoever* anyway!

        *except that one guy

  22. newllend(henryvolt)

    He actually went a few hours without talking about his dick, there’s some will power for you.

  23. Bagge

    You know what, I would also loose Faz if I was stuck with him. I can’t throw any stones here.

  24. Crazy Potato

    He’s dead… isn’t he…

  25. caesaria82

    I like how panel 3 and 4 are one continuous image.

    1. Yumi

      I agree. This strip did it too: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/tower/
      as I’m sure other strips have, but it’s kind of a cool thing, especially for these group scenes.

    2. Rodrigo

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/02-choosing-my-religion/non/

  26. C_P

    Is Faz Hawaiian or of Hawaiian heritage? That’s really the only time “hapa” is acceptable. It really shouldn’t be used to describe someone of non-Native Hawaiian heritage.

    1. BenRG

      The irony, of course, is that Billie is of the same ethnic heritage as Faz – Half-European, half-East Asian.

    2. Deanatay

      That’s debated. It’s gained wider acceptance as a term for people with mixed Pacific Islander ethnicity. It’s cultural appropriation, of a sort, but it happens everywhere. No culture gets to remain ‘pure’, these days.

      1. geno

        The only cultures that were ever “pure” were isolationist cultures. Who probably only got that because of a bad experience with another culture.
        Everyone has been getting their peanut butter in everyone else’s chocolate for a very long time.

    3. thejeff

      As I understand it, it’s used by Hawaiians for any kind of mixed heritage – if mostly part Asian and/or part Hawaiian, since those were most common in Hawaii.
      In mainland use it seems like it’s mostly a west coast thing and mostly used for those of part asian or pacific descent.
      No idea how it’s used in Indiana. 🙂

    4. Petra

      Wider usage of it like Billie uses is not universally accepted, but neither is it universally considered incorrect or appropriation, even by Native Hawaiians, as far as I understand it… the draw is that it’s, um, a less cruel word in literal meaning than a lot of terms for mixed race people, since it just means ‘half’ and wasn’t developed as a derogatory term. Since Billie is mixed race herself I could see why she uses it.

  27. Wright

    The one person who would have rejoiced to find out that Billie isn’t just some alpha cheerleader is Lucy, and unfortunately Lucy and Joyce didn’t meet.

    Then again, we’re probably lucky that they didn’t meet. The universe would likely explode from all the cheeriness.

  28. Gojira

    What does hapa mean?

    1. Yumi

      Mixed ethnicity, commonly Asian and something (most frequently white, in my experience), but taken from Hawaiian. It can have somewhat varying uses in different areas, but here seems to be Billie referring to Faz being of mixed Asian ethnicity.

      1. Baba Yaga

        I, and like, a quarter or so of my cousins are half-Asian and I’ve never actually heard the term used out loud. Weird. Anyways yeah it’s a Hawaiian word that literally means “half” (insert biracial/bisexual joke here).

        1. Yumi

          My cousin used it as a self-identifier for a while. I knew one classmate who did as well. Mostly I’ve heard people who are ethnically Asian, not mixed, use it to describe people who are/will be mixed (ie, future kids).

  29. Larkle

    Hey, that was first person. Good job, Faz.

  30. Keulen

    Obviously Forest Hall has different standards of weird. Or Faz is somehow managing to not be creepy for a while longer.

    1. BenRG

      Either that or he is the least creepy and offensive male to attempt seduction in the hall in recent memory.

  31. BenRG

    What the hell is going on in Forest Hall anyway? Some kind of mind control experiment?

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Damn, that’s an idea ofor a good It’swalky storyline gone to waste.

  32. PB

    (return of the Anxious Puppy Noises™️)

  33. Laladoria

    He’s still in first person! He CAN be taught!!

    Also the lighting changed a good bit considering Joyce has been standing there the whole time.
    I know she said she’d watch Faz, but I think this is a little much…

    1. Rowen Morland

      She could be anxious about crossing back over the quad alone.

  34. Danni

    the time blazed by

  35. Jago

    That is a long-ass time for Faz not to say something weird.

    1. BenRG

      He’s probably currently lying on the couch in the break room with his head in Ruth’s lap as the Forest Hall girls coo over the ‘cute baby brother’ figure in their midst and is wondering how he found his way into The Forbidden Paradise.

  36. Joe Covenant

    Billie gives Faz a back-handed compliment…

    Faz’ mind is blown.

    “I…”

    Dawn of a new Faz

    Chapter Title finally makes sense! 🙂

  37. BenRG

    So, is Joyce waiting for Faz or is she trapped by her fear and unable to get back to Read Hall on her own (feeling guilty asking Dorothy for help won’t help her either)?

    1. C.T Phipps

      Dorothy goes to Forest and proceeds to find out she’s popular and everyone wants to elect her as the new RA.

      Dorothy: NO! I WON’T LEAVE! YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!

  38. RaulTsi

    I don’t think Joyce is cognizant of what the significance of 420 is 😀

    1. Clif

      That’s okay (I guess). Neither am I.

  39. BenRG

    It occurs to me that I’m probably never going to learn what Joyce is to Billie that she doesn’t want to discuss with her dorm-mates.

    1. Lingo

      A truth-teller?

  40. Deanatay

    “I… am a hapa? Faz… belongs?”

  41. Deanatay

    Plays Gorillaz Clint Eastwood on the hacked Muzak

    1. Deanatay

      Heh, “I ain’t HAPA, I’m feelin’ glad”

      1. abysswatcher1993

        He then summons an army of undead gorillas.

  42. abysswatcher1993

    Billie has issues.

    1. BenRG

      This makes her different from the rest in what way?

    2. thejeff

      Billie has no issues. She can’t. She’s a head cheerleader and alpha bongo.

  43. geno

    I learned a new word today thanks Willis

  44. PB

    … I’m relieved that Billie clarified IMMEDIATELY that Joyce IS indeed her friend. So she’s not too far gone yet.

  45. M

    For clarification, as someone of native Hawaiian descent, hapa is term specifically derived from Hawaii meaning half Hawaiian half x (usually caucasian). While a lot of Kanaka (native Hawaiians) feel very strongly about hapa only being used if youre Hawaiian, many people who are asian or polynesian in general still use it, since Billie is partly asian herself it wouldn’t surprising she knows the term as it’s fairly common.

  46. A

    My favorite scenes are the ones where Joe is shirtless/almost naked

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