Billie is actually giving a thoughtful response to all the things Ruth is saying, but she’s speaking directly into the pillow so it just sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher.
Why do I have the feeling that non of the ships in DoA is going to survive until the last episode when Willis does an epilogue showing what each did with their lives? I mean, the ships in DoA are close as volatile as the ships in Homestuck.
The only one I can see lasting is Becky and Dina. Walky has lots more growing up before he’ll be able to make a relationship work. In the end Billie and Ruth probably aren’t healthy for each other.
I think they have the potential to become a healthy, happy, long-term couple. Especially with Ruth starting on antidepressants and therapy and Billie going sober. They have come a long way from being a love-hate suicide pact couple in only a few months. Will they get married and grow old together? Who knows (Willis does). But they have made a lasting impact on each other.
Sombrero
Yes! Billie/Ruth is THE ship of this strip. If and when it ends, the strip will end (or transform into something entirely different).
There’s a couple ships I can see happening that aren’t actually things yet but could work out long-term (Joyce/Joe, Danny/Sal or Danny/Ethan depending,) and ones that were canon, broke up, but I wouldn’t count out entirely if the right combo of character development and not falling into old bad habits occurs (Walky/Dorothy and Amber-AG/Danny).
Ruth/Billie feels like one to me where it may not last forever, but hopefully the way it’s motivating them both to try and work on their mental health now makes it a net positive even if it runs its course.
I can definitely see Dina/Becky lasting through college, though that may also be wishful thinking and/or an inability to really see them with other people on my part. Initial reboundyness on Becky’s part aside, she clearly adores Dina and they go together well.
Grace/Sierra/Mandy is definitely also a thing I can see lasting. (No, I’m not just saying this because of their Walkyverse counterparts, why do you ask?… Of course I’m just saying this we never see Grace or Mandy and rarer still see them with Sierra.)
I fully believe Peter and Mary get Rush Evangelical Married so they can have guilt-free sex, then the hormones wear off and they’re left with either a nasty divorce or years of quiet, simmering resentment. So basically the Walkyverse but without the ‘pregnancy as punishment’ subtext. (Which is specifically why I’m not suggesting they have premarital sex/‘Well, ACTUALLY, it wasn’t penetrative PIV so I’m still a virgin!’ shit and a pregnancy scare – the ground’s been covered and it would feel too close to the punishment subtext that was very much present in Roomies’ handling of things.) That’s technically an endgame ship but like, in only the loosest and least pleasant sense of the term. (Barring an EXTREME change of heart on Mary’s part, I’m pretty sure her future looks like that regardless, it’s just a matter of what shitty evangelical dude she picks. Peter’s just enough of a character outside Mary to imply that he is actually like this as well.)
If this goes all the way to graduation at the rate we are moving through just the first semester that will happen roughly a week after the Heat Death of the Universe
I am curious as to how this will handle their summer breaks. We should prep for massive cast expansion, as almost everyone goes back to their home towns. We are gonna see parents, siblings, high school friends who either didn’t go to college or went somewhere else, summer job co-workers…
Of course we haven’t even gotten to Thanksgiving break yet so that is a loooong way off
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Our best hope is the Singularity, so that Willis gets uploaded into a cyberspace body and overclocks his time rate and can do hundreds of strips per day.
(Of course by then, we will also be uploaded and have accelerated time sense, so a day will feel like a decade, so …)
When we were young the future was so bright (Woah)
The old neighbourhood was so alive (Woah)
And every kid on the whole damn street (Woah)
Was gonna make it big and not be beat
Now the neighbourhood’s cracked and torn (Woah)
The kids are grown up but their lives are worn (Woah)
How can one little street
Swallow so many lives?
Chances thrown, nothing’s free
Longing for what used to be
Still it’s hard, hard to see
Fragile lives, shattered dreams
well i mean in 5 billion years the sun in its death throes will probably have expanded far enough to engulf the Earth, at which point DoA will probably still be halfway through senior year…
I hope Billie eventually reaches a point where she is stable and can appreciate how much Ruth cares. In some ways Billie reminds me of a friend of my own so I do wish the best for her as a result, even if she isn’t putting for an effort.
She does appreciate it though. That’s why she tried to push her away.
The problem isn’t that she doesn’t appreciate Ruth, the problem is that she can’t imagine deserving it. And she hasn’t really gotten the notion that it doesn’t really matter what someone deserves.
Yeah, Billie’s been masking depression well enough and the spotlight’s been on other things long enough we kind of forget that she IS clearly and significantly depressed, but then you get moments like earlier.
Let it go. Seriously.
At this point, it’s quite obvious (at least to me) that Willis will tell us when he wants to, and not a day before.
Best to not talk or even think about it until then.
Willis will tell us when he wants to, and not a day before.
And so we should bring it up every chance we get because that’s the kind of people we are.
StClair
Really? I find it pointless and tiresome.
Tan
If you’re only looking at it in terms of influencing the immediate future of the comic, every comment is pointless (Eat Arby’s). Because we know that the next 67 comics are already completed.
StClair
It also fills up the comment threads with a lot of (IMO) “sound and fury, signifying nothing”.
StClair
Like, whether people don’t understand how this works, or are aware and just like to hear themselves talk, either way it adds nothing of value to the discussion.
clif
Adds many things. Thoughtful speculation. Occasional humor. The drama of lurking horror. A way to honor the jerk and keep his memory alive if he should happen to actually be dead. Mike is like an onion with many layers and obscure motives and is a gift that keeps on giving. Without Mike, Amber and Ethan are incomplete. Without Mike, Joe and Joyce’s date goes in a more toxic direction and they don’t wind up with their current relationship. Without Mike, your mother would have a more boring life and many fewer or many more nickles (it’s never been clear which).
When I come across a conversation thread in the comments that I find less interesting, I usually skip over it rather than commanding people not to talk about it. But that’s me. You do you.
I like how I was Ruth’s age when I went through my first gay love that started off as the first time I was ever happy in my life and slowly deteriorated into an unhealthy toxic mess.
Then you’re in your late 20s and its just two gay women wanting to be in love but one or the other panics and backs out hard before it even goes anywhere out of fear of those toxic codependent memories, and heartache that still ain’t dead.
Poor Danny will not be reassured to know that the gayngst and the bangst don’t necessarily end at college graduation. (Sorry about your angst, GutterChick. It sounds rough. 🙁
99 thoughts on “Recrimination”
Ana Chronistic
even Billie’s ponytail is tense
King Daniel
Past, present, or future?
nobodybasically
Subjunctive
Agemegos
Moody ponytail!
Needfuldoer
Ponytails of Future Passed?
clif
Perfect!
TomHCinMI
Which aspect of her ponytail are you discoursing upon?
clif
Future Perfect Tense.
thejeff
That was abandoned when it was discovered not to be.
Kaidah
Didn’t Moody Ponytail open for Poorly Repressed Teenage Lust last week?
Deanatay
Will-on haven ponytail?
Ray
Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Ablative, Vocative, or Locative?
anonymousethatscurriesinthedarkness
I have no idea what all that is – its Greek to me…. or maybe Latin?
Bathymetheus
It’s latin, but those are declensions, not tenses – they apply to nouns, not verbs.
JA
Was going to say. That’s half a cannister of mousse at least.
Doctor_Who
Billie is actually giving a thoughtful response to all the things Ruth is saying, but she’s speaking directly into the pillow so it just sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher.
shadowcell
Dumbing of Age Book 10: YOU’RE a Volcano of Self-Loathing and Self-Recrimination
abysswatcher1993
Why do I have the feeling that non of the ships in DoA is going to survive until the last episode when Willis does an epilogue showing what each did with their lives? I mean, the ships in DoA are close as volatile as the ships in Homestuck.
tim gueguen
The only one I can see lasting is Becky and Dina. Walky has lots more growing up before he’ll be able to make a relationship work. In the end Billie and Ruth probably aren’t healthy for each other.
MatthewTheLucky
What about the most stable ship, EthanxStarscream?
Hazel
I think they have the potential to become a healthy, happy, long-term couple. Especially with Ruth starting on antidepressants and therapy and Billie going sober. They have come a long way from being a love-hate suicide pact couple in only a few months. Will they get married and grow old together? Who knows (Willis does). But they have made a lasting impact on each other.
Sombrero
Yes! Billie/Ruth is THE ship of this strip. If and when it ends, the strip will end (or transform into something entirely different).
Regalli
There’s a couple ships I can see happening that aren’t actually things yet but could work out long-term (Joyce/Joe, Danny/Sal or Danny/Ethan depending,) and ones that were canon, broke up, but I wouldn’t count out entirely if the right combo of character development and not falling into old bad habits occurs (Walky/Dorothy and Amber-AG/Danny).
Ruth/Billie feels like one to me where it may not last forever, but hopefully the way it’s motivating them both to try and work on their mental health now makes it a net positive even if it runs its course.
I can definitely see Dina/Becky lasting through college, though that may also be wishful thinking and/or an inability to really see them with other people on my part. Initial reboundyness on Becky’s part aside, she clearly adores Dina and they go together well.
Grace/Sierra/Mandy is definitely also a thing I can see lasting. (No, I’m not just saying this because of their Walkyverse counterparts, why do you ask?… Of course I’m just saying this we never see Grace or Mandy and rarer still see them with Sierra.)
I fully believe Peter and Mary get Rush Evangelical Married so they can have guilt-free sex, then the hormones wear off and they’re left with either a nasty divorce or years of quiet, simmering resentment. So basically the Walkyverse but without the ‘pregnancy as punishment’ subtext. (Which is specifically why I’m not suggesting they have premarital sex/‘Well, ACTUALLY, it wasn’t penetrative PIV so I’m still a virgin!’ shit and a pregnancy scare – the ground’s been covered and it would feel too close to the punishment subtext that was very much present in Roomies’ handling of things.) That’s technically an endgame ship but like, in only the loosest and least pleasant sense of the term. (Barring an EXTREME change of heart on Mary’s part, I’m pretty sure her future looks like that regardless, it’s just a matter of what shitty evangelical dude she picks. Peter’s just enough of a character outside Mary to imply that he is actually like this as well.)
clif
Willis does an epilogue showing what each did with their lives? That would be cool and should buy us another ten years of comics.
Happilychaotic
Wait, what do you mean by this “last episode” thing? This comic shall last forever! (Otherwise, where would I get my daily dose of dumbing?)
MutantSentry
If this goes all the way to graduation at the rate we are moving through just the first semester that will happen roughly a week after the Heat Death of the Universe
I am curious as to how this will handle their summer breaks. We should prep for massive cast expansion, as almost everyone goes back to their home towns. We are gonna see parents, siblings, high school friends who either didn’t go to college or went somewhere else, summer job co-workers…
Of course we haven’t even gotten to Thanksgiving break yet so that is a loooong way off
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Our best hope is the Singularity, so that Willis gets uploaded into a cyberspace body and overclocks his time rate and can do hundreds of strips per day.
(Of course by then, we will also be uploaded and have accelerated time sense, so a day will feel like a decade, so …)
Alan in DC
REAL dumbing?
I recommend Conservative AM Talk Radio.
anonymousethatscurriesinthedarkness
When we were young the future was so bright (Woah)
The old neighbourhood was so alive (Woah)
And every kid on the whole damn street (Woah)
Was gonna make it big and not be beat
Now the neighbourhood’s cracked and torn (Woah)
The kids are grown up but their lives are worn (Woah)
How can one little street
Swallow so many lives?
Chances thrown, nothing’s free
Longing for what used to be
Still it’s hard, hard to see
Fragile lives, shattered dreams
He Who Abides
God, I both love and am depressed by that song.
shadowcell
well i mean in 5 billion years the sun in its death throes will probably have expanded far enough to engulf the Earth, at which point DoA will probably still be halfway through senior year…
Stephen Bierce
*plays The Monkees’ “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” on the hacked Muzak*
clif
You put a lot of thought into this.
Kyrik Michalowski
I hope Billie eventually reaches a point where she is stable and can appreciate how much Ruth cares. In some ways Billie reminds me of a friend of my own so I do wish the best for her as a result, even if she isn’t putting for an effort.
JetstreamGW
She does appreciate it though. That’s why she tried to push her away.
The problem isn’t that she doesn’t appreciate Ruth, the problem is that she can’t imagine deserving it. And she hasn’t really gotten the notion that it doesn’t really matter what someone deserves.
Regalli
Yeah, Billie’s been masking depression well enough and the spotlight’s been on other things long enough we kind of forget that she IS clearly and significantly depressed, but then you get moments like earlier.
DailyBrad
I feel like we’re… going in a healthy direction, just, we’re taking one hell of a bumpy ride there.
Rose by Any Other Name
I mean, it can be nice AND self-loathing self-recrimination. Billie can mean it AND use it to hurt herself. She’s a creative girl, that Billie.
clif
Cheerleader. Problem solved.
clif
… Solver.
Rose by Any Other Name
I mean, both work really.
Problem Solver? Problem Solved.
poofdepoof
Poor Ruth! Good luck to both of them.
BBCC
Oh these two. It’s always a little of both ain’t it?
Miri
… It’s good to share core values? Makes for a solid foundation?
But ouch.
Chaucer59
I realize in DOA time, it’s still the next day (I think), but in real time it’s 49 days since we saw Mike plunge headlong from the stairway.
StClair
Let it go. Seriously.
At this point, it’s quite obvious (at least to me) that Willis will tell us when he wants to, and not a day before.
Best to not talk or even think about it until then.
clif
Time flies when your having fun.
Willis will tell us when he wants to, and not a day before.
And so we should bring it up every chance we get because that’s the kind of people we are.
StClair
Really? I find it pointless and tiresome.
Tan
If you’re only looking at it in terms of influencing the immediate future of the comic, every comment is pointless (Eat Arby’s). Because we know that the next 67 comics are already completed.
StClair
It also fills up the comment threads with a lot of (IMO) “sound and fury, signifying nothing”.
StClair
Like, whether people don’t understand how this works, or are aware and just like to hear themselves talk, either way it adds nothing of value to the discussion.
clif
Adds many things. Thoughtful speculation. Occasional humor. The drama of lurking horror. A way to honor the jerk and keep his memory alive if he should happen to actually be dead. Mike is like an onion with many layers and obscure motives and is a gift that keeps on giving. Without Mike, Amber and Ethan are incomplete. Without Mike, Joe and Joyce’s date goes in a more toxic direction and they don’t wind up with their current relationship. Without Mike, your mother would have a more boring life and many fewer or many more nickles (it’s never been clear which).
When I come across a conversation thread in the comments that I find less interesting, I usually skip over it rather than commanding people not to talk about it. But that’s me. You do you.
Jhon
Or we can talk about shotguns.
clif
Rifles.
Roborat
Phones
He Who Abides
Ponies.
Agemegos
Limousines.
clif
Sharp Cellphones.
GutterChick
I was like “nah that can’t be right” but it sure is. Feels like winter is passing so fast this year, I see this as a win
deathjavu
The panel 3 *oh shit I’m describing myself* moment is pretty perfect here.
Cmasta1992
Toedad and Blaine could start dating and it would be less toxic than this.
clif
Depends on who they’re dating. If Toedad and Blaine were dating Mary then it could get pretty toxic.
DarkoNeko
Blaine, dressed as a superhero/vilain, crying in front of toedad, nailed to the cross…no wait, that was sonic.
(Also nope nope nope)
clif
It sounds like Sonic may have been a great deal more interesting than I assumed.
He Who Abides
Mary’s toxic enough on her own. Filthy sociopathic sadist, probably knew where each “missing” cat was buried when she was a kid.
Agemegos
Ruth has pants!
clif
Willis is in the picture but he’s mostly hidden by Ruth’s hair.
clif
Dunno why he doesn’t have a tag tho. 😛
GutterChick
I like how I was Ruth’s age when I went through my first gay love that started off as the first time I was ever happy in my life and slowly deteriorated into an unhealthy toxic mess.
Then you’re in your late 20s and its just two gay women wanting to be in love but one or the other panics and backs out hard before it even goes anywhere out of fear of those toxic codependent memories, and heartache that still ain’t dead.
What? No, I’m not feeling gay angst right now
RacingTurtle
Poor Danny will not be reassured to know that the gayngst and the bangst don’t necessarily end at college graduation. (Sorry about your angst, GutterChick. It sounds rough. 🙁
RacingTurtle
For anyone that missed it: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/bangst/
Bagge