297

Downplay
Posted on March 1, 2021 by David M Willis

297 thoughts on “Downplay”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    BECKY NO

    1. Sirksome

      This is the dialogue for the secret sixth panel to this strip!

      1. Clif

        What? She’s unifying them already.

        1. King Daniel

          Are you kidding? Now they’re still arguing about which one of them should drop out, only the roles are reversed! 😛

        2. Clif

          A fair point.

        3. GreyICE

          TBF I think their relationship was based on arguing, fighting, and makeup sex, in some order.

        4. Leorale

          Sometimes all at the same time

    2. Undrave

      I was thinking the same thing… DOWN GIRL, DOWN!

      Becky is a Shipper on Board.

    3. He Who Abides

      Oh hey, your Grav’s gonna switch tomorrow!

    4. Greebs

      While I inherently agree with you, years of meme training have instilled in me that the only response to this is:

      Becky YES!

    5. AGV

      I love it when Ana’s gravatar appears in the current strip, it’s like a prophecy come true

  2. Doctor_Who

    Leslie: Okay, now if we’re done with the unhealthy relationship drama and the random outbursts from people who used to crash at my house-

    Robin: HEEEEY, classroom neighbors!

    1. Doctor_Who

      Also, I love how Leslie totally has a catchphrase, and it took ten years for it to come to fruition.

      1. RassilonTDavros

        Leslie practically looks like a completely different person in that 2010 strip. Everyone looks different, of course, but she looks particularly different somehow.

        1. Doctor_Who

          Same evolutionary energy.

        2. Thag Simmons

          I was kinda expecting to see like, a Tiktaaliq or something when I opened that link

        3. Thag Simmons

          Guess I fucked up the tags.

          test test

        4. RassilonTDavros

          Funny you should mention that. Leslie totally sounds like Deedee Magno Hall in my head.

        5. Doctor_Who

          Oh, 100%.

        6. King Daniel

          Which might make things a little weird, considering that we know Leslie loves Steven Universe. 😛

        7. Ben

          Oh? When was that established?

        8. Annika

          They appear to be watching Steven Universe in this strip: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/02-everything-youve-ever-wanted/meltdown/

        9. milu

          she basically has a watching Steven Universe fetish

        10. RassilonTDavros

          Yeah, it made that scene extra hilarious for me.

        11. Rainhat

          Not knowing who this is, I assume this is the same as King Deedeedee.

        12. Needfuldoer

          Or Dee Dee from Dexter’s Laboratory, which is just… Disturbing.

          Maybe Didi from Rugrats?

          I always mentally hear Leslie as somewhere between Amy Poehler and Ellen DeGeneres.

        13. Jinx

          Is there sarcasm I’m missing in this? In the first frame of both strips, aside from her clothes, she’s identical, including how she’s holding her bag.

        14. Jinx

          Oops. My other window was scrolled. First frame of this strip and second of the old strip.

        15. Jinx

          Nevermind me. I just realized the link I clicked wasn’t to the decade old strip, but the one from December. Still, same pose different clothes.

          (I would have just deleted my comments, but I don’t see that as an option.)

      2. Rose by Any Other Name

        I mean, only if tons of college professor types have that same one.

        First day of a new class, you want to make certain that people are in the correct classroom. You wouldn’t think this would be a problem, but trust me, it is.

        Or it was in the Before Days.
        Although I still say it in Online Classes just to make sure everyones in the right facetime meeting.

        1. Miri

          Due to a room change and not wanting to interrupt, I once sat in on the first hour of a lecture on torts instead of the psychology one I had been supposed to go to (I was right in the front, so also felt obliged to let the lecturer know I wasn’t escaping in the break because I was bored etc)

      3. aelfwine

        Wait, I’m confused does she teach two different Gender Studies 101 classes or something in the same university? Because this is clearly the first day of the semester for this class, so um… when’s the one where she’s sensing a a familiar presence about?

        1. Thag Simmons

          Seems she does

        2. Nono

          The weird thing is that we’ve also seen Leslie teach another Gender Studies 101 course this semester at a different time, where none of the cast members are present.

        3. KM

          Is it not normal in American universities for the same course to have multiple sessions thought by the same professor? It would seem to be the only logical way to allow students to mix and match their schedules.

          At least at my non-american university any given course would have at least 3 different schedules so you could select the schedule that lined up with your other courses.

        4. Devin

          It was extremely normal at mine (I went to a New York State school), especially for intro classes.

        5. Rycan

          Oh, it’s completely normal. I don’t know why anyone’s confused.

        6. Scoops!

          Yeah, it’s common enough to offer the same class in multiple time slots, especially for first-year courses.

          Though, now that I’m thinking about this, the weird part to me is teaching multiple 101 courses in the second semester. In my university, they would have packed the 101 time slots into the first semester, and 102 time slots into the second semester.

      4. Dean

        One day, Leslie will drop that catchphrase and someone will jump out of their chair, say ‘Oh dammit, I’m supposed to be in Fluid Dynamics IIIa!’ and run out of the classroom. On that day she will be validated.

        1. Rose by Any Other Name

          This right here.

          I have done the “Welcome to English 10X” bit and had actual students go “oh – I thought this was math!”

          One time, I was the one who had the wrong classroom (I was on the wrong floor – my class was another level down) and I said that and everyone was like “actually, we’re here for history” and I checked my stuff and realized my mistake. Also I was early and their prof was late. I made it downstairs to my class on time and my students were never the wiser.

        2. StClair

          Thanks for two great stories. 🙂

        3. Bagge

          I would have been so tempted to start teaching history and see how far I could go before someone started yelling at me.

        4. Agemegos

          I showed up for the wrong econometrics course once. I had misread my schedule and was in the right room at the wrong time.

        5. Sombrero

          That’s really a great econometrics story!

      5. Bagge

        Hah! Nice catch

  3. Sirksome

    Y’know it’s suddenly very clear why Becky and Joyce are best friends.

    1. JessWitt

      They’re hopeless romantics… about couples, both real and not.

    2. StClair

      and they were considered the “best socialized” of their group.

      1. Eldritchy

        In the land of the blind and all that…

      2. bhtooefr

        I think that was supposed to be that they were the most indoctrinated of their group, and therefore the ones least likely to be “corrupted” by the outside world.

        1. StClair

          I worry that you are right.

      3. thejeff

        Officially that was just Joyce. Possibly part of why she was allowed to go the real college.

  4. Suet

    “You can’t quit, I quit!”

    *chucks comic into Someone chatters into panel obscurity file* Downplay? What downplay?

  5. Kyrik Michalowski

    Becky, please no. Leslie, please fix Becky before Ruth and/or Jennifer kill her.

    In other news, who ate burritos? I was saving those for breakfast.

    1. He Who Abides

      Breakfast burritos, or regular?

      1. He Who Abides

        By which I mean, burritos full of egg and such, or meat and beans?

        1. Kyrik Michalowski

          Regular burritos, beef, bean and cheese.

          I would eat burritos for every meal if my body would allow it.

    2. Clif

      Oh great. Now I’m hungry for burritos.

  6. Nono

    This is why teachers shouldn’t take on students with conflict of interest.

    This is also why Becky needs to learn boundari- wait.

    Oh no. Becky is Roz.

    1. Needfuldoer

      So now Becky has two classes with a conflict of interest.

      She’s learning more about politics than she thinks she is.

      1. Lorien Inksong

        Agreed, Becky is a very smart cookie even if she doesn’t consciously realize what she’s learning right away. (Which to be honest I think is cute in people that young. They’re still kids in a way.) Let us hope she learns to use her adorable gremlin powers for good.

  7. RassilonTDavros

    At first I thought she was just stuck on the whole True Love thing, but I think I’ve figured it out. This is really Becky trying to deflect from her suddenly-realized insecurities about her own relationship… by desperately trying to fix one that’s long since fallen apart.

    1. Nono

      It’s also not that unusual for LGBT people to very fervently any possibilities of a LGBT relationship. Like, it’s not even that harmful in isolation.

      But doing it in real life, and out in the open? Yeah nah.

    2. Alanari

      This seems to be planned for some time, since she was already waiting for Ruth outside. The insecurity thing is very recent. It probably plays a role but I’m pretty sure that plan predates it.

      1. Clif

        Ruth came up behind Becky when she was saying goodbye to her friends and trying to recall who else was taking the course. The one who was waiting outside the door for Ruth to show up was Jennifer.

        Which of course makes complete sense once you realize that Jennifer is Mike in disguise. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/03-see-you-in-the-funny-page/rockypatch/#comment-1529265

        1. thejeff

          Jennifer walked in after Ruth and Becky. No reason to think she was waiting.

          Except for the Mike thing, of course.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          But what no one seems to have commented on, is that instead of just leaving space, Jenniworth engaged Ruth, asking her why she was there. Instead she could have just given Ruth space and not caused a scene. But no, Ms. Billingsworth, Jennifer, is totally turning over a new leaf to be a better person. ?

        3. thejeff

          Seems a perfectly normal response to me, but then I never thought Jennifer had magically become perfect.

  8. Thag Simmons

    Becky why

  9. Dark

    If ever there was a time for Ruth to rip out a pair of femurs…

    1. Clif

      Were you volunteering?

      1. Dark

        Feels like Becky definitely is.

      2. Needfuldoer

        I love comment-Gravatar synergy.

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          That’s not all your grav loves.

  10. StClair

    oh Becky no

  11. NinjaNick

    Shut up, Becky.

  12. Newllend(henryvolt)

    I guess Joyce ain’t the only one who needs to learn to not push boundaries.

    1. milu

      Oh Newllend hi how are you doing, would you mind checking yesterday’s chat? There’s a bet Clif and me need settled ITS SUPER IMPORTANT (not really) thank you very much ^_^

      1. Newllend(henryvolt)

        Glad I came back to check this

        1. milu

          Glad you did ^^ cheers!
          Now to alert Clif about their DEFEAT

  13. cmasta1992

    JFC I’d almost rather be dealing with Malaya right now

    1. Doctor_Who

      Cut to: Malaya, Mary, Raidah, and Roz.

      The four of them are actually having a very civil conversation over tea.

      1. King Daniel

        Are monocles and crumpets involved?

        1. King Daniel

          Ah, nah.

        2. Nono

          Malaya would crumple a few people that looked at her funny, sure.

      2. Sombrero

        Yeah, I totally picture today’s strip at the Joyce & Walky rerun with Malaya & Mary as Joyce & Walky, Roz as Sal and Raidah as Becky.

  14. timemonkey

    OH, is the twist that becky ends up kicked out of the class instead? That’d be hilarious.

  15. TemporalShrew

    I think Becky needs a time-out.

    1. brionl

      And a cold shower.

      1. He Who Abides

        I can loan a locking ballgag, might help.

        1. milu

          Ok yeah, that would not be distracting at all
          I was also gonna mention Jesus but ykw i don’t think Jesus said anything about premarital ballgags

        2. Spencer

          I mean that’ll solve the current problem but it probably won’t do much good for Becky’s sexual hangups.

          Or lots of good. It could go either way.

        3. woobie

          Loan? You would want it back?

        4. He Who Abides

          All the gear gets thoroughly cleaned once the missus is removed from it. Same rule applies here.

        5. He Who Abides

          Plus, good ones are not cheap.

  16. Thag Simmons

    The Becky likeability quotient just went into freefall

    1. cmasta1992

      Hard to free fall from underground

      1. milu

        Maybe if you’re a graboid

  17. Cerberus

    Oh no, it’s the lesfic version of Joyce’s romance rants from the first few books.

    1. Nono

      At least Joyce only did her romance rants either in the presence of a few people, or before class. She wasn’t disrupting class.

      1. Fart Captor

        Becky’s doing a bad here, but “disrupting class” is barely a part of it. Especially as it doesn’t look like Becky paused for breath during that exposition dump

    2. Tan

      It is good to see you around again Cerb and I send you all the internet warmth and good vibes

    3. He Who Abides

      Cerb! How’ve you been?

  18. Dean

    It’s funny because Becky has been homeschooled for her entire academic career to date, and has no understanding of classroom etiquette!

    1. RassilonTDavros

      …Honestly, that would go a good way towards explaining her behavior here.

    2. Nono

      She had a few months at Anderson’s.

      Even then, I highly doubt every person who’s been homeschooled has no idea how to act in a classroom.

      1. Tan

        Becky’s “visit” started in book 5 chapter 1, which was less than a month into the school year.

        1. anonymsly

          Becky was capable of behaving appropriately in Biology class.

          Joyce, with the same homeschool experience as Becky, knew how to behave in a classroom from day 1.

          Becky fully knows how to behave in a classroom. She simply chooses not to, because it’s more fun to detail her friends’ personal lives in front of 20-30+ strangers.

        2. SuperZero

          Becky was openly–and apparently loudly–having a very private conversation in the middle of biology class.

        3. Nono

          I’m hardly one to defend Becky, but it seemed like it was the tail end of class, or after class ended since the room cleared out pretty quickly. It may have also been a very short ‘intro’ class where he basically told them to pair up as lab partners and that was it for the lesson.

        4. Demoted Oblivious

          Which does not denote that she doesn’t _know_ how to behave in class, just that she chose not to in that situation.

        5. BBCC

          It was after class ended. The prof hadn’t left yet (and may not be allowed to leave until they do).

    3. BigDogLittleCat

      The problem here is not so much classroom etiquette as it is complete and total lack of respect for other people’s privacy.
      Becky’s going off like this about Ruth’s and Jennifer’s relationship would be inappropriate in any setting.

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        I’m inclined to think it is not so much lack of etiquette knowledge as she has never had a classroom class before where she cared about the subject at all. She never had to learn to restrain her enthusiasm.

      2. Sombrero

        The other problem here is lack of proper boundaries between personal and professional interactions. She’s doing this because Leslie is the teacher.

    4. Eclipsa

      She went to church, and probably sunday school with other kids. She knows.

  19. Delicious Taffy

    “Rebecca McIntyre, MP Flydale North.”

    1. RassilonTDavros

      Yes, I know who you are.

      1. Doom Shepherd

        Don’t you think she looks tired?

        1. Khyrin

          I appreciate the reference, but Becky consistently looks like she needs a shot of anti-espresso. This particular moment, becky may benefit from the legendary venti anti-espresso, which is twenty shots of anti-espresso in a single cup. it is incredibly sweet as, much like espresso grows more bitter as its constituent beandust fully releases its chemical cocktail into the creation of the black blood of the office worker, anti-espresso grows sweeter as it blooms into its full chillitude.

        2. Needfuldoer

          Maybe she just needs moreespresso so she achieves transcendence, like Fry in the $300 tax rebate episode of Futurama.

        3. milu

          Well done, I actually looked up anti-espresso JUST IN CASE =P

  20. anonymsly

    Jesus CHRIST Becky. How do you have ANY friends with how little respect and consideration you show for people’s private lives??

    1. timemonkey

      Because her friends shared the same upbringing and have just as little respect for privacy as she does? Joyce was just less inclined to yell everything.

      1. anonymsly

        Neither a reason nor an excuse. She has now had months to learn the basics, which includes ‘don’t bellow your friends’ laundry to 30+ total strangers if you want to have friends’. Even Joyce knew that, even at her worst.

        1. timemonkey

          I didnt say it was an excuse, you asked how she had friends who tollerated this behavior.

    2. Jamie

      She has a friend whose defining trait is loyalty, and a girlfriend who doesn’t have any secrets. So… she doesn’t, really.

    3. woobie

      Stories featuring normal situations and normal people are not very interesting.

  21. Katerly

    BECKY. BE COOL. JUST….CHILL I’m begging you

  22. a/snow/mous/e

    Rutholph the Red-Headed Reindeer?

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      (referring to this song)

  23. King Daniel

    Alsooo, Becky, telling a couple of bi people (even if they were formerly an item) that a hypothetical same-sex relationship is clearly better for them than a hypothetical opposite-sex relationship…may not be such a good idea.

    Just, you know, bi the way.

    1. BigDogLittleCat

      Does Becky even acknowledge the existence of bi people? I do not want to hear her response to that discovery.

      1. King Daniel

        As I recall from memory (can’t link from phone), Becky early on once told Jennifer that “you can’t like both, is there even a word for that?” Later around the time she and Dina got together, Dina apparently told her offscreen about the existence of bisexuality (”Turns out liking both is a thing! I mean, I sure as hell don’t, but whatevs”).

        There haven’t been any acknowledgements from her since then from memory, and as seen here she may still buy into some…less-than-good attitudes (“all bisexuals are just gays waiting for the right same-sex partner,” etc).

        1. SuperZero

          “Is there even a word for that?” was Danny. Immediately after Dorothy used the word “bisexual” in a sentence.

          Unless Danny and Becky said the same words?

        2. Nono

          She’s said something to that effect, yes.

        3. Doopyboop

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/sneaking/ looks like they probably said the same words

    2. Lulu

      Well there are people who think homosexuality doesn’t exist and it’s just a phase till a girl/boy will find a proper straight partner. Or many people think, or at least many webcomic readers from my experience, that bisexuality works only in one direction for a girl who dumped a girl to end with a guy and have a happy life after case. Look at what Jen is doing exactly that. Male bisexuality is basically non-existent anyway in most works. That is what is annoying the most, that for most bisexuality is just a game where after bad same-sex relation always must come a happy heterosexual one which fixes the gay one basically making it non-existent over time. Why you think many straight people whiten their college life even if they had same-sex relation blaming that on being drunk/confusion etc. over their peers later to not be labelled bisexuals but straight only? Of course Becky shouldn’t out them like that, but I blame that on her upbrining and really fucked up things she had to live through recently.

      1. Akp

        And there’s also a lot of gatekeeping in LGBT spaces where people don’t acknowledge bi people as legitimately part of the movement or community if they are in a heterosexual relationship. A thing which, because there are more straight people available to date then gay or bi people, will statistically be the case more of the time.

        This gets very shitty in both directions. The text in the final panel drives me up the wall because it’s the one I have a lot of exposure to.

    3. Spencer

      Yeah I definitely had much the same reaction going in on Patreon, but eventually I worked it out.

      The context of these strips is, specifically, that Jennifer is burying her sexuality and treating it as a phase that she’s now gotten over, and what Becky is responding to is the Jennifer’s assertion that Ruth herself was a phase.

      If this really was just “Becky finds out Jennifer has a boyfriend and proceeds to throw a fit” then yeah, and the fact is it *sounded* close enough to start tripping my alarms with Becky since she’s in the past said that Jennifer couldn’t be bi, though changed her mind in a Patreon one-off with Sierra. Regarding the specific question of “how would Becky react to a bi woman being in a relationship with a man” she hasn’t really said anything.

  24. Jamie

    How is Becky doing this without being drunk?

    1. JessWitt

      Enthusiasm.

  25. Kravis

    Becky used Charuto’s most powerful technique, the “Speech no Jutsu”.
    You can see that her hands are making a seal.

    But since she’s not a ninja and rolled a 1, it had the REVERSE desired effect.

  26. BBCC

    Ahhh, yes, fundie upbringing biting everyone in the butt.

  27. Sirksome

    It might be risky but I’m calling this now. Becky probably just spoiled Ruth and Jennifer’s long term story arc. Like it seems like a joke now but a few years from now people will look back on this strip like “Oh, shit! Willis really spoiled everything for us and we didn’t notice.”

    1. RassilonTDavros

      I do personally have a hunch that they’re still “endgame,” especially since they were a relationship that ended poorly (to put it very lightly) in the other universe that Willis thought was compelling enough to revisit here, but if that does end up happening then I’m betting it won’t be anything like Becky describes. Especially since, as of right now, Becky and Jennifer are both erasing the latter’s bisexuality, though in opposite ways.

      1. Nono

        I’m still expecting Alice to throw a wrench in this somehow. She can’t just appear for 3-4 strips without being set up for something, eventually.

        1. Thag Simmons

          I think she fulfilled her original role of being a harsh reminder for Billie about her past behaviour, and would not be surprised if she never appeared again

        2. Needfuldoer

          At least until another harsh reminder is needed.

          Though she’s actively avoiding Billiefer, so their paths don’t cross very often.

        3. Spencer

          Oh hey this is why I thought Dana was gonna make a comeback after the timeskip.

        4. Needfuldoer

          Dana’s part of Sarah and Raidah’s backstory. (But I do hope she makes another non-flashback appearance eventually. Maybe she’s appreciative of Sarah’s intervention but still puts on appearances in front of her old friends.)

        5. Seregiel

          If Alice shows back up, it would probably be for maximum drama, not healing. Like Asher cheating on Billie with her since they probably also know eachother OR Alice getting into a relationship with healthy Ruth and Billie spiraling down because she must have been “the true toxic one” and together her exes found happiness… ignoring all their mistakes and hard work etc. Is Alice L?B? something else? I don’t recall it being spelled out beyond she was in love with Billie and I dont expect her return unless it is to see her own dumbing of age moment or to be a Billie hammer again.

        6. Seregiel

          … Id actually dig a healthy Ruth/Alice. Alice has a spunk, boundaries and is clearly invested in doing better for herself.

        7. RassilonTDavros

          That’s not a bad idea at all, actually. Though if that does happen I’m hoping that their initial bond is over something other than “we both used to date the same person.”

        8. Seregiel

          MOST people don’t have Becky putting out their entire backstories or do it themselves on first dates… I imagine unless Alice is also in this class, it would onky be some weirdness to untangle after bumping into her in the halls or something or discovering it after sharing vulnerable moments and Going Le Gasp. There’s enough drama potential without that being the bonding? I hope? Oh dear… I thought it would be good but this has DYW written all over it. I am a fool.

        9. Varangian

          Oh hell yes, a healthy Ruth/Alice would be dope as hell

          Willis please take note

    2. Spencer

      I always figured they were going to be permanent because Ruth’s death in Roomies is one of Willis’ longest running gags, but they’re definitely two different people here and not only are they much unhealthier, the status quo that keeps their relationship going is one of bitter, vindictive, dramatic fights.

      I think they’ll get back together when DoA enters a hypothetical endgame, but until then we’re getting a lot of soul searching and personal growth between the two where they won’t say shit like “I was miserable and alone without you, let’s go back to being incredibly self destructive.”

  28. Tan

    Misguided as it may be, my soul needs every word of Becky’s speech.

    1. RassilonTDavros

      I can make out something about being saddled with boyfriends, something about “one kiss,” and something about an inevitable discovery “possibly in the rain.”

      Clearly, Becky’s speech is the storm we all have to endure.

      1. Clif

        Here. Have a spare Internet.

    2. Devin

      Given the bit about discovering that girl/girl is “enticin’ly transgressive”, this sentiment of yours concerns me a little.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Yeah, sometimes Becky comes across as dismissive of all relationships that don’t interest her.

      2. Tan

        Look, I’m not going to sit here and claim that every word isn’t infused with some toxic ideas of what romance is that she needs to at some point grow out of.

        But the pure baby-gay energy is strong and endearing to me (in a fictional character).

  29. Dr. T

    You know what? Between this and her one sided feud with her roommate Becky amazingly went from my favorite character in this strip to easily the most annoying character in the strip.

    1. Lux

      Kinda have to agree here 🙁

    2. Seregiel

      You have discovered your Becky dose. A Becky a week makes your knees go week. A Becky a day gives your migraine a say.

      1. King Daniel

        As long as it doesn’t go above 3.6 Beckys, it won’t be that bad. Not great, but not terrible.

  30. BigDogLittleCat

    Enjoy your dorm life with an RA who can’t stand the sight of you, Becky!

    Also, where is Leslie? As the teacher she should have shut down Becky the moment she started going on about two other people’s personal business.

  31. Fart Captor

    Surprising no one, I continue to love Becky ^_^

    1. MrSmith

      And I’m still perplexed anyone does

      1. Fart Captor

        She’s an adorable goofy sweetheart who loves the shit out of her friends. It’s not complicated

        1. Devin

          I mean it’s a little complicated. The way she kicked off things with her roommate is concerning, and despite the peace offering it has to be stressful sharing a room with someone who seems to devote a significant amount of energy towards antagonizing you.

          Also the way Becky has reacted to the bits Joyce has shown her about her own crisis of faith have been shockingly unsympathetic.

          I’ve known people who were this kind of enthusiastic, and their enthusiasm had a tendency to trample over other people’s feelings.

          I’m not in any way saying you shouldn’t love her (and I get it, although I no longer do), but the hits just keep on coming, and she’s a lot more flawed than just “…an adorable goofy sweetheart who loves the shit out of her friends.”

        2. Fart Captor

          I was literally talking about MY reasons. Maybe it’s complicated FOR YOU, but I very much wasn’t talking about what anyone else felt about her

      2. Fart Captor

        Also I’m a lot like Becky minus the fundie upbringing and murder dad, though it took me way longer to figure out being a lesbian as I FIRST had to figure out that I was a girl, which tookme a while

        She’ll learn chill as she gets older

      3. Keulen

        I think I would find a real-life person like Becky very annoying just based on how annoying I’m already finding Becky as a fictional character these days.

    2. RassilonTDavros

      Yeah, this would be annoying in real life, but in a work of fiction it’s a lot more bearable. I can like characters despite their being assholes, though I understand why other people can’t. In Becky’s case, I guess she reminds me a little too much of someone I care about for me to dislike her.

      Also I have a Dina grav at the moment, so it fits

      1. RassilonTDavros

        With that said, I do hope she learns to be a little more respectful of people’s boundaries after this. Or at least to be a little more respectful of these particular boundaries. At the moment she’s probably one of the biggest obstacles to her OTP getting back together.

        1. anonymsly

          In order to learn to respect boundaries, she would have to first learn/understand she has done wrong. In order to learn/understand that, she would have to at least be called out in some way that she’d actually care about enough not to dismiss completely.

          Given that Leslie has already let her go on as long as these speech bubbles, nobody’s calling Becky on anything at all.

        2. Nono

          Well Joyce has never called her out on anything. Dorothy just shoulders most of it. The few people that have called her out on things, like Sarah, she just glibly ignores.

          It would take someone like Joyce actually being mad at Becky for her to listen.

        3. Edwin I Callahan

          In order to learn to respect boundaries, Becky would have to be written by someone other than David M. Willis. It would be interesting, though, to see what T. Campbell might do with the character.

        4. Delicious Taffy

          I only recognise that name from Pixie Trix comics, which… well, it doesn’t inspire much confidence. I’m not sure how much involvement Campbell had/has in those stories, but they got into some really creepy territory and I really don’t want that for Becky.

        5. Spencer

          T. Campbell’s the guy who made Fans! back in the day. He only did some minor assistance on Pixie Trix according to his TVTropes page.

        6. Delicious Taffy

          Well, that’s reassuring.

        7. Seregiel

          Or she is just speaking that astonishingly fast and people are stunned by the torrent of what the duck. I think I have enough faith in Leslie to say her investment in LGBTQ+ rights trumps personal feelings for Becky or may make her even more disappointed in this outburst. I’m looking forward to a dynamic of Robin being the “good parent” and Leslie being the “mean parent” or some such because I think it would be good story. Not looking forward to the kids smarting before they get smart though (okay… just a little).

      2. Fart Captor

        No, you misunderstand me. Becky and I would totally have been pals in real life, especially when I was her age

        1. Nono

          If you had a friend like that, I would actually hope you call them out on their most obnoxious behaviours, instead of being a Joyce or Dorothy and just shrug it off.

        2. Fart Captor

          You’re not the boss of me 😛

      3. MrSmith

        Yeah it could be that my first go to with characters to imagine how I’d react to them in real life (depending on the genre of course) first and then their actions in the story second

    3. zee

      Hell yeah join the club *internet high five*
      Y’know i started doing Booster Appreciation Threads under the strips they appear in bc of all the hate they get, maybe you could do the same thing with becky. A thread dedicated to becky positivity

  32. jeffepp

    Nope. Too late. The entire class is emotionally involved now. The won’t let either of you drop.

    1. Bagge

      Oh God, I just got a horrible thought.

      What if any of the pod people from Forrest Hall are in the class?

      1. Zach

        What if pod people ARE in the class!?
        This can’t be our first contact.
        I don’t care that they are here to kill us, I will end my species out of shame.

        1. Needfuldoer

          I thought Ruth already made first contact with the Forrest pod people?

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/performative/

          Unless maybe they now see Ruth as their nemesis, because she broke up with Jennifer? Maybe they’ll lead an insurrection against Ruth’s floor to oust her as RA out of revenge, that story would resonate for generations.

        2. Bagge

          Who have any clue what those cheese-eating weirdos are up to at any given moment. I’m just worried they will start up the cargo cult again.

        3. Demoted Oblivious

          Not Fpod people. POD people. Real REAL pod people (in the comic). But we all know the truth. Damn you Willis is actually, Damn you Pod People!

  33. AbacusWizard

    take it to the fanfic boards, becky

  34. Icalasari

    Leslie is so going to use this in her lesson plan

  35. Bagge

    Becky doesn’t really do “downplay”

    1. StClair

      nope.

    2. milu

      “i said let’s downplay it ok?”
      “you mean more than that??!”

  36. Nenja

    Becky, NO.

  37. Rainhat

    Oh god. This is gonna be taught in Leslie’s format, with lots of no-hand-raise participation.

    She is never gonna stop.

    Though points to Leslie for at least trying to not offer a major in Becky McIntyre Lived With Me.

    1. SuperZero

      Becky introduced herself, which did actually downplay the fact that they know each other. Leslie then announced that they do.

      Becky’s not the one causing that problem.

      1. He Who Abides

        I mean, it’s not a problem yet. If Becky asks for an automatic “A”, on the other hand . . .

  38. Orangey

    Becky wtf is your damage, why cant you see its common sense to not air out people’s dirty laundry

    1. milu

      *Becky proceeds to bullet-list her damage*

    2. Demoted Oblivious

      Meh, she provided some details, but until Billingsworth confronted Lessick, from behind, people weren’t necessarily to know they were who Becky was talking about.

  39. Loki

    Apart from airing other people’s laundry, she also deadass outed two people to the entire class. Also, what if she did this in another class where the professor is homomisic?

    Damn, I have dropped people from my friendship roster for less.

    1. Spencer

      Yyyyeeaaahh this is kind of a thing that happened too we should talk about.

      The “camera” is only focused on the main characters and for storytelling purposes the rest of the class might as well not exist, so Becky having this loud ass conversation that Jennifer and Ruth also loudly contributed to, that kind of sells it as less “getting forced out of the closet” and more a way to have this conversation in a place where they all converge.

      Then Leslie walks in and Becky jumps up and screams about how the two dated and it becomes more complicated. One one hand, this is exactly how Becky would act: She is enthusiastically gay, Leslie is her gay mentor, and she’s in a gender studies classroom predicated on being a safe space. As far as Becky is concerned, as Becky has been written, there’s no scenario in which she’d approach this with any subtlety.

      But there’s no getting around it, you never out someone to anyone, no matter how closely you trust them, no matter how much you believe they’ll take it well, because it sure as hell isn’t your call to make. Ruth may not care and Jennifer may be burying it, but that’s their decision, and Becky just took that from them, for a joke to continue a series of strips, for sure, I understand why this is playing out, but it does unfortunately trip over one of the major realities of living as Queer.

      1. Sombrero

        Very good take, but somehow this and the rain stuff reminded me of Walkyverse Walky’s words “It’s the world that’s ugly”.

        1. RassilonTDavros

          I can’t read the word “rain” in a Willis comic and not think of that scene.

      2. RassilonTDavros

        Oh God. I think Willis is setting up for a scene where Jocelyne comes out to Joyce, asks Joyce if it’s safe to come out to Becky, Joyce has to admit that it probably isn’t due to Becky’s inability to keep a secret, and Joyce feels horrible over yet another thing she’s keeping from her best friend.

        Preemptive Damn You, Willis!

        1. Seregiel

          But I’d also kind of love Joyce having to struggle with a way to keep both her sisters in her life? I just imagine they’d have “eyes of an angek” playing in every wrenching scene but to see Joyce have come so far? Bittersweet in the best ways.

    2. milu

      Ooooh “-misic” as an alternative to “-phobic” to clearly denote bigotry as opposed to sounding confusingly like a mental syndrome??
      It threw me for a minute but I like it, hope it catches on ✊

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Very interesting, and I’ll likely use it too, but I’m also not convinced that radical bigotry isn’t possibly sometimes a mental syndrome. (not as an excuse, but possibly to enable some tools for dealing with it). Like psycho, socio, and other pathological extremes, it can result in the afflicted/subscribed to then inflict violence upon others. That is a pretty damn good reason to lock someone up and has (too rarely) actually resulted in a conviction. But for historical reasons bigotry has a oily, clingy sheen of social acceptance, because … well, everyone is doing it.

    3. milu

      …also dang good point. Bad bad >dangerous idea Becky.

    4. thejeff

      This is a weird take to me. Maybe I’m just out of the loop on current etiquette.

      Is it really always wrong to “out” people, even if they show no signs whatsoever of being in the closet? Keeping secrets for others that they’re not even trying to keep themselves?

      It’s definitely rude to be laying out their history in front of the whole class, but that would be true if they were an opposite sex couple as well.

      1. Spencer

        It’s always wrong without their approval, yes. Acknowledging yourself as queer and to the people you choose to trust is an entirely separate matter to letting everyone know.

        We’re not all Becky.

        1. thejeff

          No, I get that not everyone is Becky, but if someone is openly out and has no shown no signs of concealing it, is it still a problem to let it slip casually to someone who still might not know?

          There are a lot of queer folks of various types in this comic. If there’s a couple that’s openly dating, is it really a problem to mention that if it comes up, but you’re not sure that everyone present already knows?
          This isn’t how I’ve every seen social dynamics around outing ever work, even back in times when LGBTQ issues were far less socially acceptable than now.

          If they’re only out to a handful of trusted people, sure, but that’s not the case for Ruth and Jennifer. Or for Ethan. Or Mandy and Grace and Sierra. Or most of the other queer folk in this comic. Even if they don’t go as far as Becky.

        2. milu

          i mean of course there’s all sorts of situations. the way i like to think about it, and actually same goes for any sort of potentially sensitive info, it’s an agency thing. it’s your identity or history, you get to control who gets to hear about it and when and how.

        3. Spencer

          It’s not a matter of whether the recipient will take it well, it’s that it’s not anyone’s place to establish someone’s sexuality for another person outside of that person themself.

          What does it mean to be “openly out” anyway? Would you say Jennifer is openly out right now, calling her relationship with Ruth a phase?

          Frankly, the fact that the cast are openly accepting isn’t the issue, it’s that Ruth and Jennifer’s agency regarding the nature of their sexuality was taken away by Becky. You don’t out someone to anyone without their say-so, simple as that.

        4. thejeff

          Well, it was open knowledge that she dated Ruth (or that she’d slept with Ruth at one point in Forest.)

          I don’t know. I’ve never seen this kind of strict never let on that anyone is queer thing in real life. It’s rarely openly announced in this kind of obnoxious way, but you’ll get things like “Oh, Bob is seeing John now”, just like you might casually comment about a straight couple. Nor does anyone in the cast in the comic seem to adhere to this rule or at least not calling anyone out for breaking it.

      2. Demoted Oblivious

        I agree with Spencer et al. that it’s wrong to out people, most of the time. However, I am not convinced that within the context of the comic Billingsworth and Lessick are being outed here. There was a big deal about it last semester, the administration was involved, Billingsworth moved dorms because of it, and on campus grounds those two were openly in a relationship. And there are definitely times when outing someone could be appropriate. To throw out an extreme example, you know X had a fling (or an affair) with Z but Z has/had some STD and now X is banging Y but isn’t telling them about Z’s disclosure. Maybe the gender of Z is irrelevant, but at this point X is risking people’s lives, so fuck’em. Y needs to know the risks they’re exposed to. n.b. Z’s id doesn’t need to be exposed, so only X is being outed in this scenario.

        1. BBCC

          I agree that there are emergency situations where the sexuality of a third party might be relevant, but in this example, I don’t actually think that you’d need to out X. You’d just need to tell Y that X has had sex with someone who has a potentially lethal STD and refused to tell Y that.

        2. thejeff

          How about something simpler like “Don’t bother hitting on Ethan, he’s gay.”? Assuming some new girl who wouldn’t be likely to know yet. And Ethan, who was very much not closeted when last seen.

          No emergency, but sparing everyone some embarrassment and not revealing anything that isn’t common knowledge to anyone who knows him.

  40. Nenja

    This reminds me of how Joyce had planned out all of Walky and Billie’s ‘childhoodfriends to lovers’ story.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Another time, waaay back, Dorothy commented that she and Walky bickered “like an old married couple”. That went over well…

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-2/01-pajama-jeans/nerve/

    2. Bogeywoman

      Also her entire sarah/Jacob obsession…

  41. Lamppost

    oh no, just when I thought Becky was on her way to become more likeable, this happened

  42. Jane

    You know, at first I just rolled my eyes at Becky Being Becky, but… It occurred to me that if Jennifer and Ruth wanted to get out from under the shadow of how dramatically their relationship developed, now that they’re in a new semester with plenty of new faces in their classes who weren’t familiar with the gossip, well… Yeah, this pretty much just blew that up.

    Now, once again, they’re going to be known as “That dramatic couple”, rather than anything about how they want to be seen in the eyes of others.

    Like, how creepy it is to ship other people aside, standing up in front of the class and talking like this about near-strangers to complete-strangers seriously Not Okay.

    1. MrSmith

      She also just outed them to anyone that doesn’t know them in the class

      1. CJ

        Outing them would have been „they were a couple“. This is trampoline down any fences of privacy while busy with your inner movie where you are the star.

  43. William Leonard Reese Jr.

    Here lies the grave of Becky McEntyre, where she was laid to rest by her good friends Jennifer “Billie” and Ruth “Ruthless”. We may never know why she went so soon but legends say that it all started with a single moment of inconsideration.

    1. Miri

      Single moment? I think legends are a little more accurate than that…

  44. Barf Ninjason

    “possibly in the rain” is good

    1. milu

      Yeah! Appreciation for Becky’s oratory talent ^^

      1. StClair

        or at least her knowledge of romcom cliches, which appears to be… comprehensive, if not encyclopedic.

  45. Anastasia

    God I hate Becky so fucking much.

  46. Rycan

    Ruth is handling this in a very restrained manner, all things considered. If it were me, I’d be spitting fire at this point.

    1. Sporky

      I’m surprised she hasn’t strangled Becky to death

      1. Needfuldoer

        Jennifer might do that, but Ruth would probably club her to death with her own femurs instead.

  47. Raen

    …wait, looking at Becky’s spiel – Ruth has a boyfriend?

    1. King Daniel

      Jennifer does. Ruth doesn’t (currently), as far as we know.

      1. Seregiel

        But probably doesn’t like her ex-Ciaran being dismissed as Sir often did that as a form of emotional abuse to further isolated her.

        1. RassilonTDavros

          I would be guessing that we’d get an arc about Ruth trying to get back in touch with him at some point down the line, were it not for the fact that he’s from another webcomic whose creator has vanished off the face of the Earth and whom Willis thus has no way to get permission to use.

          Although maybe such an arc about Ruth trying and failing to get back in touch could be a metaphor for Willis wondering about Josh Phillips’ whereabouts. I should really read Avalon at some point, considering how much love for it I see in the comments. After I finish It’s Walky, maybe. Wikipedia claims that Willis and Phillips were collaborating on a proper conclusion to Avalon at one point, but the Tweet being cited went up on April Fools’ Day so I kinda doubt it was ever real.

        2. King Daniel

          Was it actually ever confirmed that Dumbiverse!Ciaran is supposed to have been the character from Avalon? It seems to be a fairly-common Irish name, going from Wikipedia.

        3. BBCC

          The name was a reference but I don’t believe we ever actually see that its him, no.

  48. Keulen

    Holy crap Becky please stop.

  49. Sunny

    On the one hand Becky, no! But on the other hand it seems to be working.

    1. RassilonTDavros

      Working in getting them united against her is not the kind of working that actually works.

  50. Eldritchy

    I dunno if it’s just me but… doesn’t Leslie look… livelier and happier than before? Girl is pretty much Glowing in these panels.

    1. AGV

      Maybe she’s just trying to start the class in good terms

      1. Eldritchy

        [takes out a stopwatch] Let’s see how long that lasts…

        1. King Daniel

          *looks at stopwatch* huh, the clock seems to be counting backwards…

  51. AGV

    “Ok. Fisrt: Becky, shut your trap before you do any more harm.
    Second: Today we’ll learn about boundaries.”

  52. Needfuldoer

    Life isn’t a romantic comedy, Becky. Knock it off.

    1. StClair

      those words you just said… don’t make any sense? o.o
      (to Becky)

  53. DarkoNeko

    no, I’M dropping out !

  54. Queezle

    I am still at a point were I really like Becky..but sometimes I just want her to shut up.
    Seriously Becky: boundaries, ever heard of them?

    1. StClair

      not from the community she grew up in, that’s for damn sure.

  55. goggleman64

    If I were Leslie, right now I’d be thinking “Oh God, what happened to my poor child? She seemed to be doing so well just a little bit ago!”

  56. Alaric

    Well, Becky just killed whatever slight, one-in-a-million chance there may have been of them ever getting back together…

    1. MatsuoTanuki

      Not necessarily. The beauty of changing yourself for love is that there’s no true time limit, or at least that’s what I believe.

      I am still holding out hope for Ruth and Billie to get back together, and Becky inadvertently making them deeply think about the hows and whys they separated in the first place is the first step to doing that.

      Their relationship started out abusive, codependent, and toxic, and it led to Ruth having a very, very dark night of the soul, if not because of it, then at least contributing to it. But Ruth got help. She went to the doctors, started a medication regimen; went to therapy, and began evaluating who she IS as a person to try and change for the better, not just to be a better partner for Billie but to be a better person.

      And Billie did none of that. She was in denial over her own issues that caused friction between her and Ruth, and refused to acknowledge and work on them. Until she realizes that and starts her own path to self improvement, she and Ruth can’t be together.

      Maybe in time they will get back together again, and learn how to help each other improve. Maybe they won’t, and will find relationships elsewhere after changing and growing in their own ways. Either way, I trust Willis will make it beautiful.

      1. thejeff

        But Jennifer did do that – she got through that denial, stopped drinking, went through withdrawal and started therapy, acknowledged and started working on those issues. It was near the end of the first season and we don’t know how it went during the time skip, but she’d definitely started.

        1. MatsuoTanuki

          Did she..? Shit, I need to re-read then, that fact changes things.

  57. hof1991

    Leslie-no I’m dropping out.

  58. plasticwrap

    “in the rain” that’s a nice touch

  59. milu

    Becky sure seems confident of what Gender Studies teaches for someone who has never studied it =D

    Reminds me of that time i studied linguistics for 3 years and i would mention it and people who had zero linguistics background would immediately start explaining language to me. I think gender studies is another one of those fields about which everyone has strong emotional intuitions… that almost always turn out to be unoriginal variations of common myths.

    1. thumb

      To be fair, her expectations are consistent with her experience. And also, her new mom teaches it.

      1. milu

        ummm her experience… of the first 30 seconds of the gender studies course? ok ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

        1. thumb

          of the previous semester when all the juicy stuff was centred around this class.

        2. milu

          haha fair

  60. Regalli

    Hoo boy. Joyce seems to have learned to back off by now after repeated Life is Not a Romcom, particularly after the Jacob thing blew up but she really wasn’t doing the ‘wouldn’t it be cute’ for a bit before that. Becky, alas, has not. And yep, there’s some ‘heavily invested in Jennifer as queer role model and therefore her and Ruth as an item’ with bonus lack of regard for bisexuality.

    Yeah this is gonna be fun.

  61. Rabisch

    I laughed so hard about the “Mutual Respect” part!!! Becky is so funny!

    1. milu

      hahaha yeah, classic Becky xD

  62. Vulcanodon

    Is this the beginning of a Becky meltdown? It wouldn’t hurt her to get some counseling.

  63. Seregiel

    This is the opposite of bierasure (the conclusions, not becky herself). Now they can never be invisible again! Anywhere on campus people will KNOW. They. Will. Know. THOSE two like men and women. And they will nod sagely, avert their gaze to a 10 pc chicken nugget and go “oh shit! I’m late for chem!”

    1. milu

      you funny ^^

    2. Demoted Oblivious

      Except for Walky, who rushes his nugs’ for no-one.

  64. LazyReader

    Gender Studies: Students show up by the dozen
    STEM:………………..
    “WHERE MY WELL PAYING JOB”

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Now make the joke about the helicopters. Say the line, Bart.

    2. milu

      i mean, can you believe most universities still have a history department??? How does anyone justify that?! And don’t get me started on the disgusting marxist loons who actually invented “”””literature””””” classes. what an absolute scam.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Any sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from the real thing. Which leaves me wondering… this was… which?

        1. milu

          parody. very parody

  65. Joya

    Becky’s ability to escalate things without fail and with little to no effort is astounding

  66. thumb

    Leslie’s internal monologue: Did I do this? Have I been a bad mom?

    1. Rabisch

      No… Poor Leslie!

  67. Varangian

    Becky. Darling. No. Oh no.

  68. Axel

    Billie should drop out and Ruth should let her feel like she ‘won’ by doing so. Ruth probably needs not to drop (to remain RA and because Billie’s family has money).

    1. Axel

      *Jennifer, and about the money I mean that Jennifer can afford to drop out because she’s definitely not on financial aid

    2. Regalli

      Hell, they could probably still add a class in while dropping this one, it’s the second day of the semester. Not effortless, but still 100% doable. Honestly the sharing a class with Becky has immediately become as big a concern as sharing a class with their ex for both girls.

  69. Lia

    shes right

  70. Mr. 2

    Am I the only person who ships Becky and Ruth?

    1. Meagan

      so much ginger

  71. Meagan

    I know it’s a comic and all but in real life Leslie better be shutting down that conversation and telling Becky not to publicly air other people’s private business in a class. Boundaries yo.

    1. Bagge

      Not Leslie’s best subject, sadly

  72. Dracke

    Wow Becky really deserves to be decked in the face

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