241

Padawan
Posted on December 26, 2018 by David M Willis

241 thoughts on “Padawan”

  1. Doctor_Who

    Ooh, can we mark another square on Joyce’s Continuing Development of a Potty Mouth Bingo (or just Bongo for short)?

    Also, if I ever join some sort of elite commando team, my callsign is totally gonna be Alpha Bongo.

    1. mister gray

      bingo bongo 😉

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Even Steven’s tears won’t resurrect Walky when she is through with him.

        1. cbwroses

          If she gets in Walky’s face, I hope he tells her off.

          It’s ok for him to get with Amber when SHE thinks it’s ok?

          It’s a betrayal of his relationship with Dorothy even though she’s never wanted him to be with Dorothy the entire time they were dating?

          I hope she doesn’t pull any self righteousness on him, but if she does, he should remind her about how she was just trying to break up a couple two days ago and would have gladly started dating Jacob immediately.

        2. LeslieBean4Shizzle

          Indeed. I continue to have no idea why it is “super gross” or any sort of betrayal. To quote the student who would be master, what the shit?

        3. ANeM

          I think it’s a matter of “I tried to play matchmaker with someone who was already in a relationship and maybe I should really be more considerate of boundaries rather than forcing my assistance onto others.”

          I’m hoping it’s the acknowledgement that just because they’re actually together doesn’t really change the sort of super gross betrayal that comes from trying to force people together without knowing either of their relationship statuses.

        4. BarerMender

          But no, she’s blaming Walky.

        5. Clif

          He’s her friend; it’s her prerogative to be unreasonable. I just like how Billie focuses on what’s important .

        6. Emily

          It’s kinda ehhhh that literally the day before he was trying to eat Amber’s face he was moping about how heartbroken he is over Dorothy. Like, it’s absolutely his right to do whatever he wants relationship wise in whatever time frame he wants after a break-up but our society does kinda frown upon like super fast turnaround with romantic partners even if it’s not really reasonable.

        7. Kris

          I think it more or less sets a bad precedent for him. Now the next girl has to wonder how quickly he’ll move on after their falling out. Tomorrow Walky could be texting and smooching with another girl. Amber should be worried.

        8. thejeff

          As long as it’s after she dumps him, I’m not sure why she should be worried.

          If I was her, I’d be more worried that I was just a rebound fling that would end as soon as he was properly over Dorothy and could think properly again. And I think that worry would be overblown too.

        9. Arawn

          He got dumped. He got dumped by a woman who was just using him for a fling before she moved off onto her career.

          The fact that he was able to move on is great. It doesn’t cheapen the feelings he had for Dorothy. Some people are just less attached to their pain than others.

        10. thejeff

          @Arawn: he got dumped by a woman who was failing to just use him as a fling before she moved on. That was the trouble. That she couldn’t keep it as casual as she thought she needed to.

          I’m not entirely sold on Walky having moved on so easily either.

        11. Kris

          True enough. Aren’t they broken up now though? Walky did walk out on her. I guess we don’t really know what that means yet. I hesitate to even say they were together because it’s been like two days tops. They haven’t even really done anything beyond kissing a few times and cuddling once. My point is Walky’s track record up to this point (which is small admittedly) would imply that he can and will move onto someone else a day after breaking off a relationship. He may be sad and mopey today but tomorrow he’ll be smooching someone else who makes him feel better. Probably an unfair judgement but that’s what the data presents.

        12. Kris

          Also just to be clear I’m not denouncing Walky for his actions. He can do what he wants. Just saying what has happened and the chance it could happen again. Although I do dislike Walky and do think he moved on too quickly because his quick (fling I guess?) with Dorothy was WAY more serious than initially proposed.

        13. Geeky Warrior

          Maybe she’s assuming Walky has been with Amber longer and has been cheating on Dorothy? That would at least make sense.

        14. Chronos

          …is that Matoi from Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei as your avatar, Plasma Mongoose?

        15. Bunnyfufu

          Shes gonna put him through a wall

    2. Remmington Steele

      “padawan”?

  2. Ana Chronistic

    holy stuff! what the hanky-panky is that language! *swoon*

    1. AntJ

      at least she didn’t say it to her mother this time

  3. butts

    y’know what they say

    “fool me once, shame on… shame on me…”

    1. Dana

      “Fool me, you can’t get fooled again.”

      1. Keulen

        “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

        1. Chris Phoenix

          People want the border wall. My base definitely wants the border wall, my base really wants it — you’ve been to many of the rallies. OK, the thing they want more than anything is the wall. My base, which is a big base; I think my base is 45 percent. You know, it’s funny. The Democrats, they have a big advantage in the Electoral College. Big, big, big advantage. … The Electoral College is very difficult for a Republican to win, and I will tell you, the people want to see it. They want to see the wall.

        2. Ryek Hvek

          “… and there’s a Caravan of Gila Monsters on its way to Bloomington…”

    2. Deadjolras

      “Fool me once, fool me twice, fool me chicken soup with rice.”

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Goddamn it, I had almost managed to forget this.

      2. Mordecai

        “Fool me once, shame on me. But teach a man to fool me, and I’ll be fooled for the rest of my life.”

  4. ValdVin

    Keep telling yourself you don’t do any nerd things, Billie.

    1. butts

      “Join me, Billie, and together, we can rule the university as nerdlord and nerdlinger! Come with me… it is the only way.”

    2. AntJ

      How’s this gonna look if she takes Ruth to Flight of the Navigator at Lucy’s tonight?

    3. JediMB

      She’s right, though. People who want to claim ownership of a mainstream movie franchise on behalf of “nerds” are silly.

    4. Yet_One_More_Idiot

      Not everyone’s seen Star Wars, Billie….

      (is referring to myself xD)

      1. Clif

        Gasp! Watch episodes 4, 5, then 2,3 and finally 6. For reasons .

        1. figureaddict

          Yes, this order, and skip episode 1 entirely.

        2. Azhrei Vep

          No no no. Gotta squeeze The Clone Wars in between two and three.

        3. Yet_One_More_Idiot

          Ooooooor just not watch them at all. It’s worked well for me for 36 years so far. 😛

      2. Kinoko

        IDK. I get why the Machete Order works, due to the flow of information reveal.

        Here’s the thing though: I was a teen when the prequels were coming out and I really loved them. But rewatching them with a critical eye as an adult, I have to say, 2 and 3 DO NOT work as films at all. 2 has some decent acting and nice choreography, but is structurally all over the place, and 3 is a garbage trainwreck. 1 actually works as a narrative, because of 1-3, it’s the only one with a coherent narrative structure. So by skipping 1, you’re only adding the prequels in there to augment the flow of information. At which point, why bother? Just watch 4, 5 & 6 and save yourself some trauma.

        1. Kinoko

          Addendum: when I say “2 has some decent acting”, I mean mostly from Ewan McGregor and Christopher Lee. It also has the worst, Razzy-winning performance of the lot from Hayden Christensen. Poor guy.

        2. KittyK

          And the sad thing is that Hayden Christiansen is not a bad actor. If you look at the other movies he’s been in he’s done fine. But there is only so much he can do with the script. And unlike 4,5 and 6, George had some fame and people didn’t want to argue over much with him despite him being kinda crap at writing dialogue and directing.

        3. KittyK

          Also my current gravatar looks remarkably like me. Brown floofy hair and glasses.

        4. BBCC

          I don’t think he dialogue is too bad if acted out differently (for instance, instead of the infamous sand lines being played straight, I’d play it more as Anakin being awkward around the girl he likes and floundering for things to say). With that in mind, I have to believe it’s the directing.

        5. thejeff

          Obviously the proper way to watch them in is the order they came out in and most importantly: at 12 years old.

          Honestly, even 4 is unbearably cheesy and hokey if I turn off my nostalgia filter while watching it. Empire actually holds up a bit better.,

        6. Tim

          I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks The Phantom Menace is the best of the Prequels. It holds up way better than the others and it’s the prequel I’ve watched the most. AotC is absolute garbage and I’m sorry it features Christopher Lee so much. Ewan McGregor was great but his subplot was horribly executed.

          I’m trying to remember if there was anything redeemable of RotS…

  5. Stephen Bierce

    I will turn your face to alabaster
    When you find your servant is your master!

    1. Stephen Bierce

      Today’s strip is brought to you by the Google Store, home of the Pixel 3 smartphone.

  6. William Leonard Reese Jr.

    *tilts head like a confused dog* . . . I do not think I am following the chain of logic here as it goes to the dialog and Billie’s facial expressions.

    1. JR

      I also do not quite follow…did Billie already know about Walky and Amber? Why does Joyce think it would be a betrayal?

      1. BBCC

        Joyce is upset that Walky started dating someone else less than three days after the breakup. She’s likely questioning whether he loved Dorothy at all. That’s unfair, but it’s also not surprising given Joyce has been raised on a steady diet of (presumably clean, Christian) rom-coms. And Twilight.

        1. Tacos

          But it doesn’t change the fact that Joyce just tried to set up Walky and Amber together just as shortly after the breakup.

        2. Clif

          Logic has little to do with it.

        3. Tacos

          I know. I was just pointing out how hypocritical it is if this is what Joyce is angry about.

        4. Tan

          But see, if Walky and Amber get together because Joyce put them together, then it is by Joyce’s will (and by extension God’s will working through Joyce, since Joyce accepts that she is incapable of anything except through God). If Walky and Amber have already gotten together on their own, that means that Walky’s own will was involved, which would be the betrayal, because Walky shouldn’t be having any will about girls besides his deep mourning of his relationship with Dorothy.

        5. BBCC

          Joyce is learning Walky and Amber were, in fact, already together. Maybe she thinks three days is an appropriate amount of time, but they must have gotten together shortly after the breakup?

          Look, that girl’s drowning in purity culture, I have no idea what’s up in her head.

        6. Deanatay

          In your standard Christian rom-com, a break-up (usually precipitated by the woman) leaves the man ‘pining’, sort of a mourning phase for the lost relationship. During this period, the man is generally uninterested in relationships, and spends most of his time moping. His friends good-naturedly try to set him up, but he is still ‘in love’ with the woman who broke up with him.

          This pining period is allowed to end in one of two ways:
          – The woman who broke up with him realizes she was being foolish, and throws herself at his feet, begging forgiveness, or
          – Another woman, who is either ‘the perfect match’ for him, in some way, or who has herself been pining for the man for a while, accidentally stumbles (or is pushed) into his arms, and they instantly fall in love, and everything is better.

          Any other method means the man’s heart was insufficiently ‘pure’, and he can’t be the hero of the story. Thus, super-gross and a betrayal.

        7. thejeff

          Of course, that second way is essentially what happened, it’s just that it happened before Joyce got involved.
          I mean, I guess it wasn’t literally falling into his arms, but Joyce doesn’t know that.

        8. Zee

          TBH I wouldn’t be surprised if she thought they started dating before the break up due to how fast it developed. We know that’s not what happened but if someone is seen with a new girl a day after a break up, from the outside it could look like “oh hey, guess the side chick got promoted”

      2. pjeseb

        Walky already told Billie about him and Amber.

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-9-comic/01-flyin-to-the-red/propriety/

        And presumably Joyce thinks it is a betrayal because Walky started going steady with Amber a short time after Dorothy dumped him. Although she might think that Walky was seeing Amber BEFORE Dorothy dumped him, which would be much worse, and if so hopefully Billie corrects her here.

        1. thejeff

          But Joyce wanted Walky to get with Amber a short time after Dorothy dumped him. Would have been perfectly fine, if she’d been behind it.

        2. Kinoko

          Yeah, this. I think what we’re supposed to be taking away from this is Joyce’s hypocrisy that this relationship is only okay this soon if they have her blessing.

      3. BarerMender

        Yeah, Walky already discussed it with Billie. Billie suggested he get with someone like Lucy. Lucy liked this idea.

      4. Kinoko

        Yeah, Billie did already know about Walky and Amber. Walky came to Billie for advice, which prompted a “so, you’ve decided to have revenge sex” talk from Billie.

    2. Jed!

      I find it weird too, but like everyone else said, it’s considered wrong to start dating someone so soon after a breakup. Another factor is that Dorothy and Amber are friends (in particular, Amber saved Dorothy’s life), and it’s considered even worse to date an ex’s friend after a breakup (I guess it’s like taking her friend away from here). I don’t get it, but I also didn’t get why it would have been so cruel to Amber if Danny and Ethan started dating, so I probably just don’t understand social conventions of dating.

  7. TheLurkerAbove

    Wow, she said shit. I’m waiting for the time when Joyce says fuck, it’s going to be a glorious comic (I hope).

    1. King Daniel

      She’s said “shit” before. In Carol’s presence, no less.

      *runs off to find the comic, hoping not to get ninja’d*

      1. King Daniel

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/dresses/

        Here it is! That, and the previous strip. So she said it twice in Carol’s presence, consecutively no less.

        1. Needfuldoer

          At this rate she’ll be a vulgarity gatling gun by Thanksgiving break.

        2. Kinoko

          And a profanity nuke by Christmas!

        3. Zellgato

          I read this as “Vulgarity gatling pun” and i like that

    2. Doctor_Who

      I’m honestly kinda hoping that something small causes it, like her stubbing her toe, or her selection getting caught in the vending machine.

      Then several strips pass before it suddenly dawns on her what she said, and we get a new Joyce Reaction Face.

      1. Pablo360

        At the pace we’re going, that’s seeming increasingly likely.

        1. Kinoko

          If she stubs the toe she broke earlier, I think a “fuck” makes a lot of sense. It’s been… a few weeks maximum? That’s still soon enough that any trauma to the toe will hurt a lot. Broken bones are the worrrrst pain.

        2. Kinoko

          Though, I may be biased when it comes to broken bones, because the only bone I’ve ever broken was my L1 vertebra. Go big or go home! Maybe other bones hurt less? (I’m fine now, no spinal damage, everything healed up.)

    3. John

      I’ve got a spot on the scoreboard waiting for her.

  8. AntJ

    So does this increase the odds of Joyce telling Dorothy?

  9. theKOT

    Don’t forget, if you break up with someone you must undergo an arbitrary mourning period wherein no other dalliances may occur, or it is a betrayal.

    1. Pearl

      Yep this is where I’m at with this, 100% not understanding the forced widowhood melodrama.

      1. Madock345

        Especially when they only dated for a few weeks

        1. BBCC

          I mean, it was short (about a month and a half) but it was also relatively serious. Both of them said they loved the other.

        2. lilyliv

          Yeah, like I don’t really see a moral issue with Walky dating someone else so quickly as much as I just… don’t quite get it, from a subjective standpoint? (My demi ass just doesn’t get how you can like someone in the first place unless you’ve been through at least 1 year of friendship and a minimum of 3 semi-traumatic bonding events together. Slight exaggeration.) I mean, if Walky’s happy (well… before the Amber and Sal revelation, ofc) I’m glad for him, I’m just a socially inept potato who doesn’t understand things and stuff.

        3. Z

          Wally has potentially known amber as long as Dorothy, albeit not as intimately, and they were doing garbage roof long before they started kissing licky style so even from a demi perspective its understandable. Honestly there’s stronger emotional connection between Walky and amber than there was between Walky and Dorothy.

        4. Kinoko

          Yeah, Walky and Dorothy’s relationship started out purely based on physical attraction to each other. (This is not a bad thing!) They became more intimate later, once they’d gotten to know each other.
          Walky and Amber’s relationship *was* built on a friendship of mutual support and trust that developed rapidly. Amber’s history with Sal undermines that for Walky, which is really unfortunate. I don’t blame him at all for needing some space.

        5. BBCC

          That’s not entirely true. Walky first got really interested in Dorothy when she was talking bout Dexter and Monkey Master. After that point, their conversation was about his comics of the same (because before that he kept freezing and not speaking when he saw her) and then them sitting together to watch cartoons after the party with Ryan. Then they had their beach day and watched more cartoons wherein Walky talked about himself being smarter than he came off and about how he watches the show alone because Sal was gone and Billie wasn’t interested. Later that night, Dorothy came to his door and kissed him. That relationship was also based in mutual interests and support, just over different issues.

        6. Zee

          I think she’s just “thicc Dorothy” in his eyes

        7. Zellgato

          Both are like.. what 19? max?
          Love is a come and go concept they don’t really know. Right now they’re really just mixing together affection, lust, new found freedom, self agency and finding their footing anyway

          Dorothy dated whats his name for a long for her life time, period.
          but no one really got on her for Walky. Which was also relatively short period.

        8. BBCC

          1) And? Yes, they’re young, but teenagers can be in love.

          2) Dorothy and Danny dated for three years. That’s not an insignificant amount of time even for an adult relationship.

          3) Danny was certainly not happy she had a new boyfriend. Though, granted, he didn’t really get why she was dumping him in the first place (because he wasn’t supportive of her future ambitions).

        9. Zee

          I find the dismissal of teenage love and long term relationships insulting

    2. Agemegos

      This period of chaste mourning must last until a meddler who has a crush on your ex and is in denial about her sexuality manipulates you into a hookup with the goal of preventing a reconciliation between you and your ex. Then it’s okay.

      1. BarerMender

        Good one.

  10. Ivy

    Why does Joyce think it would be terrible for them to date on their own, but is okay with them being together if she facilitates it?

    1. Madock345

      She’s probably assuming that “already dating” includes when he was with Dorothy

  11. kay

    And she doesn’t even know about the sister problem…

  12. Yumi

    *mocking Leslie Knope voice* “Star Wars is not that nerdy.”

  13. Dave

    I’m unclear on what the “betrayal” is. Unless Joyce is assuming Walky dated Amber behind Dorothy’s back?

    1. jeffepp

      Well, you know, Walky WAS dating Amber behind behind Dorothy’s back. So…

      1. Kris

        He wasn’t actually. They broke up the day before. The worst you can accuse Walky of is rebounding really quickly, and I’m a guy who hates Walky! Although I guess they were trying to keep it a secret of sorts.

        1. jeffepp

          I disagree. When they are meeting on the down low, on the roof, they were dating, or at least courting. He left Dorothy to go see Amber. Then, he made plans to break up with Dorothy.

        2. cbwroses

          The day he left to break up with Dorothy, he had JUST found out that Amber was Amazi-girl, and he was on the roof waiting for the latter so she’d make Dorothy feel better later.
          They were not dating.
          He started meeting Amber, as herself, on the roof after Dorothy broke up with him, and that was only because she made him feel better that Dorothy broke up with him.

        3. Zatar

          “Ah yes clearly any positive interaction between a man and a woman is courtship. This kind of thing really makes me pop my monocle.”

        4. Clif

          Your monocle has my sympathy.

        5. Zellgato

          Friendship much?

        6. Pearl

          The fact of their breakup was already more or less a foregone conclusion before Walky and Amber started talking. He had some time to come to terms with it before it was made formal.

    2. Agemegos

      Walky has to mourn his break-up with a period of ascetic chastity lasting until Joyce decides that his hooking up with a new girlfriend is only an offence to God and no longer an offence to both God and Dorothy.

  14. jeffepp

    How has this not exploded over the explicit use of expletives? It’s un-explainable!

    1. King Daniel

      It’s not the first time Joyce has used an expletive (that would be during the Toedad Incident). As I linked above, it’s not even the first time Joyce has used this expletive specifically.

  15. AndroidDreams

    SHIT THE WALK, WHATTY

    1. goggleman64

      WHAT, THE SHITTY WALK?!

      1. JoeCovenant

        Take your order, please?

  16. Agemegos

    Judge not, Joyce, lest thou also should be judged. For with such judgemnet as thou judgest, therewith shall you be judged, and with such measure as thou metest, therewith shall it be measured to you.

    Or in otherwords, having an imaginary friend doesn’t make you the proper arbiter of others’ conduct, and don’t fucking meddle in other people’s fucking. Joyce.

  17. Kris

    I mean maybe it has betrayal undertones but the truth is actually much worse.

    1. cbwroses

      How is getting together soon after being dumped worse than cheating (which is the only way it would actually be a betrayal)?

      Or are you saying it in regards to a betrayal of his love for her?

      Or something else altogether tha I’m just missing?

      1. Kris

        I was referring to him dating the girl who stabbed his sister. That’s way worse than this betrayal nonsense.

        1. cbwroses

          *So it was something I was missing.*

          Eh. Sal was friends with her and didn’t know, and has forgiven her afte finding out (eventually).
          If someone from the outside in can look at that, they should be able to accept walky dating her.

        2. Emily

          I still think the way Sal forgiving Amber happened is a super bad look for this comic so at this point I’m pretty unaccepting of yet another situation where Amber doesn’t face meaningful consequences for her actions.

        3. Kris

          That’s very possible. I’m interested in seeing how this turns out. Sal will probably give Walky approval to continue to date Amber if he reveals he knows the situation or, most likely she’ll be indifferent to it. So it’s totally up to Walky to make this decision. I don’t have much faith in him.

        4. Emily

          If he does keep dating her I kinda hope her tampering with his grades immediately bites him in the ass because that would be pretty fitting.

        5. Kris

          I doubt that will happen. We’ve seen Amber use significantly elaborate methods to cover her tracks, including stealing the only physical copy of the grade. Repercussions for that at this point would be kind of forced to me. Either Amber’s not as good a hacker as she’s booked, or something like the school has backup copies of grades, or video camera evidence of her stealing it, or maybe someone searches her room and finds the physical copy if she didn’t dispose of it for some reason? The more I think of it the more implausible it seems. Walky’s probably not gonna face any blowback for that. Amber might, if she admits it to Walky, but I don’t know why she’d do that.

        6. Emily

          I mean Walky’s gonna notice when his grades come back and they’re completely different from what they should be and if he’s not a complete idiot he’ll connect the dots.

  18. pjeseb

    Star Wars is so popular that generations yet unborn have already seen the movies and are even now arguing over which are the superior and which ones suck.

    Also… Dammit, Joyce, you were taking the “Walk rebounds with Amber” SO well. And without the side-helping of… hypocrisy? It’s not exactly hypocrisy; maybe hypocrisy’s distant cousin.

    1. Sporky

      Lopocrisy

      1. Tacos

        Sounds like some kinda disease.

    2. Black

      Star Wars is required viewing before one is allowed to leave the womb.

  19. John

    Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Billie.

  20. foducool

    hey, she’s making progresses on her swearing game

  21. BBCC

    Sure, Billie, sure. I mean, that term’s pretty well sucked up by pop cultural osmosis by now, but still.

    And oh dear. Drama’s about to hit in 3, 2…..

  22. newllend(henryvolt)

    And there’s the rage. Okay so yeah Walky and Amber hooking up not even 3 days after Dorothy and Walky had split up is a bad look. But as much as one can frown down upon it at the end of the day Dorothy was still the one to cut him loose, lingering might still be a factor but at the end of the day he was still free game at that point.

    Though still the considerate thing would have been to give it more time at least, but what are you going to do Amber x Walky is already here.

    1. MatsuoTanuki

      “THEY WERE ON A BREA—!”

      *gets beaned on the head by a thrown brick*

      1. Delicious Taffy

        A brick? What is this, Flipside?

      2. Zee

        Who are you, Jason Grace?

      3. JoeCovenant

        Who was that masked mouse?

  23. Marsh Maryrose

    We need as many books as we have book titles. And tonight, we added two more titles: “What the Shit, Walky” and “It’s Not a Nerd Thing.”

  24. avistel

    Mmm, smells like “control freak who needs to learn the concept of boundaries yesterday” up in this bongo

  25. Badgermole

    Honestly I’m glad Joyce knows because it increases the chances of Dorothy knowing. I can’t predict how Dotty will react (though I can’t see her taking this as A Betrayal), but it does suck to be the last one to find out your ex has moved on and she doesn’t deserve that.

    1. BBCC

      I think Dorothy might be sad he’s moved on (and so less chance of possibly getting back together later, even on a more casual basis) and maaaaaybe hurt he moved on so quickly (in the ‘did he mean it when he said he loved me’ sense) but I don’t think she’d begrudge him.

    2. cbwroses

      Didn’t Dorothy start spending time with Walky less than a week of meeting each other?
      And didn’t Danny not find out they were dating until they needed to borrow his shoes?
      Which wasn’t long after that?

      1. Badgermole

        The breakup with Danny was very different from the breakup with Walky. In the first Dorothy was clearly sick of Danny and the relationship – he knew she had moved on, which is why the breakup was even happening. The latter was hard for both Dorothy and Walky because it’s clear to both of them there were still mutually strong feelings. Dorothy may have been holding on to that and unconsciously waiting for an opportunity to get back together again. If Walky’s feelings have changed, she deserves to know that instead of continuing under the misapprehension that he’s still missing her like she misses him (which is what he led her to believe the last time they interacted http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-9-comic/01-flyin-to-the-red/simpatico/ and which annoyed me then for this reason).

    3. Clif

      Dorothy may find herself unexpectedly saddened, but I don’t see her angry with Walkie. She might be miffed at Amber.

  26. Icalasari

    Oh damn, Joyce swore. That’s how you KNOW she’s beyond mad

  27. MatsuoTanuki

    YeS! She said a profanity! The sickly saccharine churchmouse brainwashing is cracking more and more every day! >:D

    In all seriousness though, what I’m really proud of Joyce for is realizing the full implications if what Walky and Amber rebounding together means.

  28. Delicious Taffy

    I appreciate the Asian woman saying Star Wars isn’t a nerd thing.

    1. Yumi

      I’m confused what Billie’s race has to do with it?
      Like, not in a “trying to call you out” way, I’m genuinely confused.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Oh, it’s because certain irretrievably bigoted asshats decided to single out Kelly Marie Tran, the woman who played Rose in the latest Star Warsmovie. You know the sort.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Motherfuck goddamn, there’s supposed to be a space in there.

  29. Pylgrim

    Gotta love how Billie has been an unapologetic jerk as of late, but not even she has the heart to be mean to those puppy eyes.

  30. bodmans

    It was at THIS moment, Joyce knew, she’d fucked up.

    1. Clif

      Bets?

  31. cbwroses

    Considering Joyce’s behavior of late, and Walky’s attitude when he’s having girlfriend troubles, if she gets in his face right now, he might be the one who finally gets her to rethink her ideas about boundaries.

    1. timemonkey

      She’d have to respect him first.

      1. cbwroses

        Not really.
        He did just get her to stop trying to break up a couple.
        If we assume she doesn’t respect him, he still did that seemingly without meaning to. Walky’s words can affect her regardless of how she feels about him.

        1. timemonkey

          He did that by pushing at one of the things she’s conditioned to feel ashamed of. Nothing else is going to have the same reaction.

        2. cbwroses

          I’m saying he can use that to show how hypocritical she’s being, which would then be what makes her rethink her behavior.
          After all, the people she “respects” haven’t gotten it done.

  32. lilyliv

    Every time Joyce swears, I smile. If she ever drops an F-bomb, my face will literally explode from the force of my grin.

    1. timemonkey

      Pretty sure she already has.

      1. John

        She hasn’t. She’s said “shit” three times now (twice in front of her mom), and “damn” a bunch, but she hasn’t actually busted out a “fuck”.

    2. Chronos

      I’d link an image of the Grinch giving his iconic grin, but I’m not sure that’s allowed.

  33. Zatar

    Billie….. one of these days your going to have to admit your a nerd and always have been.

  34. Cody

    *Sees panel 2.

    “Wow, what a face.”

    *sees panel 4.

  35. ItsASecret

    dating someone a few days after a breakup = super gross betrayal

    aggressively flirting with someone already in a relationship = fine

    Okay Joyce.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      That was a valid argument that I was holding onto for later but oh well.

      I guess the only defense someone like Joyce would have against that is that she would say she wouldn’t try to steal a boyfriend away from someone she’s friends with…..or would she ?

      1. thejeff

        Nah, we’ve seen Joyce’s defense. It’s that it’s True Love and is meant to be and therefore not wrong at all.

        Or at least that’s what it was until Walky made her realize how much of it was just lust and that she wasn’t actually playing the role she thought she was in the Christian rom-com script.

  36. Grant

    Joyce Performs A Cuss

  37. Zellgato

    …huh why is it a betrayal?
    I think its been at least a week or two right?

    time is so hard to follow in this.

    1. Reaver

      Lmao like 3 days

    2. newllend(henryvolt)

      3 days.

    3. King Daniel

      1 chapter = 1 day in-comic, unless we’re explicitly given a narrator’s aside at the beginning of the chapter stating that it’s been a timeskip (the only examples that come to mind off the top of my head being when Walky got his pajama jeans, the lead-up to Freshman Family Weekend, the post-Toedad timeskip, and the post-Ryan-slashing timeskip).

    4. Zee

      They got together a day after the break up

  38. Derek

    Joyce, why would it be gross and a betrayal if people made romantic decisions without your meddling?

    1. BenRG

      I think that Joyce is saying that trying to ‘get together’ two people are already a couple is gross and sort of a betrayal; she’s talking about herself.

      1. thejeff

        That doesn’t really fit the “What the shit, Walky?!”

        No, I think she’s actually talking about them getting together. Makes no sense to me either, but somehow fits Joyce anyway.

        1. Clif

          Walkie is rebounding from the perfection of Dorothy on his own. How dare he?

  39. not someone else

    Unpopular opinion: she’s not wrong.

    (Even more unpopular opinion: You can say the same about any phenomenally popular piece of mainstream SF/fantasy media currently gaining new franchise entries. There was a period where you had to trade VHSes of your obsessions to watch over and over, but that was a long time ago now…)

    1. the final pam

      I don’t think that’s really an unpopular opinion except for the nerd guys trying to hold onto that belief so they can continue to gatekeep the community. See also superhero fandoms. Superheroes are extremely mainstream currently and many of them have been a mainstay in modern pop culture for years, far outside of any niche geek community (Superman, Batman, Spider-Man).

      1. thejeff

        Oh don’t worry. There are plenty of non-nerds happy to watch the blockbuster movies and look down on the nerds reading comics about the same characters. Or geeking out about new Transformers figure releases.

        And to an extent they’re right. Not the looking down on part or the gatekeeping, but there’s a big difference between passing familiarity with the mainstream characters and the deep obsession nerds often have with their fandoms.
        I can talk comic movies with nearly anyone, but talking comics is a different story, even if it’s the same characters. Or SF movies vs SF books, for that matter.

        1. the final pam

          … Okay? Just because nerds still get looked down upon doesn’t make Star Wars any less of a mainstream pop culture mainstay for the past 30 years. Like, we were literally talking about mainstream fictional media making current franchise entries i.e. movies, not comics or toy lines.

          Yes, there’s a difference between passing familiarity and deep obsession, but we weren’t talking about that in any way and like… with the context of what’s happened with the Star Wars fandom, where nerd guys continue to act like the mere act of watching them is reserved for a select few, because the franchise is still some niche, hidden gem only nerds will watch instead of the wildly popular, multi-billion dollar franchise that’s been a pop culture mainstay for the past 30 years with innumerable references, crossovers, cartoon and video game adaptations, and merchandise, going on about how non-nerds look down on nerds for their interests and about how nerd interests are different than mainstream familiarity makes no sense. Like, there’s Star Wars face characters at Disney. And all of this literally came from Billie using ‘padawan’ as a reference, which has a wildly popular reference for the past ~20 years. It’s mainstream as shit.

          It’s like the equivalent of someone using the phrase, “With great power comes great responsibility” and someone started acting like Spider-Man was some niche, unknown character who only a few would have any familiarity with in light of Enter the Spider-Verse reaching over $73 mil in the box office in ~2 weeks.

        2. thejeff

          No, I basically agree, especially with Billie’s usage.

          And Star Wars was never niche. It was blockbuster mainstream from the moment it existed.

          Just running with the mention of superheroes led me to thinking that while superheroes have long been mainstream in some senses, there are still big parts of the larger superhero world that aren’t. And not due to nerd gatekeeping, though that’s a real thing of course.

        3. the final pam

          I mean the biggest gatekeeping there is to cape comics right now is how completely inaccessible it is for the most part except for the people already deep in the fandom who can keep track of everything. Marvel has done a complete relaunch and renumbering of their series every year for the past four years. DC also did some fairly recent relaunching in the past ten years. Both of these reset or retconned various aspects of characters, although I think it was more of that for DC than for Marvel. And Marvel in particular looooves its universe-wide events that involve a lot of cameos that require you to read several other books to get the full picture while derailing the plot of the original book, where sometimes it just can’t recover from. Like, it’s generally accepted by non-cape comic artists that it’s hard as fuck for people to get into cape comics because there’s constant references to other comics that necessitate you doing homework just to understand this one that you are currently reading, and that with their constant renumbering, retitling, relaunching of series, it’s hard to know where to begin with different series or what the chronological order is or anything.

          That being said, you’re talking about two different things when you’re talking movies vs comics. Of course people who watch the movies aren’t going to be able to talk to you about comics. They’re different things. Not everyone has the time or desire to read through a backlog of 70+ y/o comics, let alone even just the backlog of the last two years. Reading takes time, time that not everyone can put it or wants to put in, especially if they can’t just jump into any title they want without needing to open up a wiki page to understand what else is being referenced at the moment. And like, this still isn’t on the non-nerds. This isn’t normies looking at comics and going “Pfft, this is for babies“. This is entirely because of how cape comics run their business model. If you look at other comics from other companies, they’re doing *great* at reaching a wider demographic and expanding their readership far beyond typical comic readers. They know how to keep things accessible and entertaining and most importantly inviting to potential new readers.

          And that’s not to say that cape comics aren’t alluring to new readers. I saw so many people, who had never been interested in comics before, wanting to read them after watching Venom and Spider-Verse. The thing is, I highly doubt most if any of them will continue reading afterwards. Because this big companies do not know how or care about retaining their readership. If you want to read more about this, there have been several different articles about specifically Marvel’s business model’s failings, as well as a few different (free) essays and twitter threads written by Colin Spacetwinks about the same topic.

          But yeah like, comics still aren’t mainstream, sure. They definitely used to be, way back when, when they were originally for everyone. But then when they decided to cater them specifically for a certain group of people, then they cut off everybody else. And they really haven’t been able to get them back for a while, because there’s definitely a barrier to getting into comics. Like, I stopped reading modern cape comics because I got tired of the constant events and unnecessary cameos that derail or ultimately kill a story. I got tired of never knowing exactly how long a series was going to run, because Marvel would cancel it if it didn’t reach a certain number of preorders BEFORE the series would even start being released. I got tired of the questionable ethical decisions made by the higher ups, like the entire debacle with Secret Empire. And for sure, with how convoluted titles are, that’s a big detraction to get me to read older series already out. There’s a reason that comics won’t become mainstream, and that’s got nothing to do with non-nerds. Until comics clean up their act, movies, cartoons, and TV series are always going to remain that much more accessible.

  40. Anywhere

    Billie, Billie, Billie

    BILLIE BILLIE BILLIE

  41. Bagge

    I like how much is conveyed only with faces here.

  42. Ari

    What rhymes? Am I missing something?

    1. podian

      It’s a George Lucas quote.

    2. Marsh Maryrose

      I can’t say for sure what Willis meant, but I assume it’s in reference to a quotation often attributed to Mark Twain: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

      History in this case being women who try to set Walky up with girls he’s already started dating. (Billie/Dorothy was the previous instance.)

      1. Clif

        Now see, I thought it was “it” rhymes with what Joyce said.

  43. Keulen

    Calling someone else a young padawan means you’ve seen the Star Wars prequels, and is definitely a nerd thing, Billie.

    1. Dana

      Seeing a mainstream blockbuster movie doesn’t make you a nerd. Pulling vocabulary from a Sci-Fi one might.

      1. Marsh Maryrose

        As when Dorothy, in casual conversation, referred to her “recreation quadrant.”

    2. BBCC

      Not necessarily. It gets referenced a lot. That said, Billie says right up there she’s seen Star Wars, so.

    3. Zellgato

      Given their ages, it most likely was on tv a lot, and later ones in theaters maybe.

  44. BenRG

    In which Joyce learns that she should try to work out what is actually going on before getting involved and trying to ‘help’.

    I’m assuming that Joyce is going to go storming over to see Walky now and demand to know why he didn’t tell her that he and Amber were already a thing. I doubt she’ll have an answer to: “Would you have listened if I did?”

  45. ScarvesandCelery

    I’m intrigued to see what Joyce’s logic is behind “Getting together with someone else one day after your break up is a betrayal of your ex, but two days is just fine.”

    This isn’t meant to trash Joyce, the poor girl’s had terrible ideals for romance pushed on her. Perhaps this conversation with Billie could be an unexpected way for her to begin to see that.

    1. ScarvesandCelery

      Correction: seeing comments saying it’s apparently been three days since Walky and Dorothy’s break up, nonetheless, I think my point still stands

    2. ScarvesandCelery

      Although, as other people have said, it’s also plausible that Joyce believes Walky and Amber were a thing while Walky and Dorothy were still together, which would definitely have been bad.

    3. Bagge

      I think she’s mostly miffed that it was his initiative rather than her.

      1. ValdVin

        Joyce arrived at the dock with her champagne bottle only to find the ship steaming away over the horizon.

        1. Bagge

          …towards a waterfall, but Joyce doesn’t know that part yet.

  46. GUIGUI

    How is that a betrayal. Walky don’t aught to tell everything about his private life. And I think he was respecting Amber’s wish to have their relationship on the low down.

    And it’s actually less gross tan pushing to people who weren’t together to be together.

    1. Agemegos

      It’s far least gross than trying to break up Jacob and Raidah.

    2. thejeff

      Though in this case she was at least acting on her correct perception that he liked her, not just her own desire to ship people.
      I don’t think there’s anything wrong with helping a friend connect with someone they’re interested in. I might quibble about her tactics though. 🙂

  47. Agemegos

    Perhaps some kind fellow-reader with a better memory than mine can set straight a couple of things I’m not clear on:

    ☛ How long did Dorothy remain romantically mopey between dumping Danny and taking up with Walky?

    ☛ What exactly did Joyce say about how when she used coarse language people were going to know that it really meant something?

    ☛ Amber and Walky haven’t yet gone further than hand-holding and kisses, right?

    1. BarerMender

      Dorothy wasn’t romantically mopey at all when she dumped Danny. She was glad to get rid of him.
      I don’t remember exactly what she said, but it was pretty much as you summed it up.
      So far as I know. They haven’t mentioned anything but making out. They don’t seem to be in any hurry.

    2. emusam

      Dorothy broke up with Danny August 29. She and Walky started watching cartoons together September 3, kissed without defining it September 5, and implied defined September 6.

      1. Zellgato

        How are you keeping track of the time and day?
        Is there some sorta date marker somewhere?

        I would love if there were dates on the strips or something.

        1. OBBWG

          Its on Walkypedia:

          http://walkypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Dumbing_of_Age_Timeline

        2. BBCC

          It should be noted that while the days of the week and month are accurate, the actual dates are approximate.

    3. ValdVin

      Joyce, on swearing: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/word/

    4. Agemegos

      Thanks, all.

  48. Emily

    Using “padawan” in a non-Star Wars context is absolutely a nerd thing Billie. Hell, using it in a Star Wars context is a nerd thing.

  49. BarerMender

    I don’t understand the hoorah about being a nerd. Is being a nerd inferior? What is a nerd, anyway? (I’m an old guy, OK? I’m not up on the insults of the young.)

    1. BenRG

      Ruth rightly thinks it is somewhat odd for Billie, who has a socially-induced dislike for ‘nerds’, should be so openly demonstrating nerdy behaviour patterns.

    2. MatthewTheLucky

      A nerd is someone with specialist knowledge of

      Fantasy
      Science Fiction
      Mathematics
      Physics
      Computer Sciences

      Note that while other subjects may be debatably included, the catch-all term for most subjects would be ‘geek’.

      Billie doesn’t want to be a nerd because she only wants to be recognized for specialist knowledge in Alpha Bonging.

      1. BarerMender

        So the term “nerd” exists to make the superior creature feel inferior.

        1. MatthewTheLucky

          Essentially, yes.

      2. ninja_jesus

        What about a sports statistics nerd?

  50. RicardtheDragoon

    So, the way I see it, the “betrayal” is, with which others seem to agree, that only three days have passed though it could be because Walky did not tell Joyce he was dating Amber already which would have saved her from being fooled/foolish as well as from “Literature”; however, as to why it might be okay in Joyce’s mind for her to “get them together” so soon, if someone pushes Walky into it, it’s neither his fault nor a problem. The context of the situation changes the appearance (at least for Joyce) significantly.
    (In no way does this represent my personal opinion on whether Joyce is justified in her feelings of betrayal or approval of any related actions depicted in this strip.)

  51. Rosstifer

    Joyce being so angry about this is really shitty. Her getting angry enough about this to swear is shittier. Her thinking that playing matchmaker is fine, but Walky and Amber having agency over their relationship is gross is just the shittiest. Fuck you Joyce.

    1. JBento

      Newsflash: Like 90% of EVERYTHING Joyce does is shitty. Another 8% is sleeping.

      1. Zee

        What’s the last 2%? Adorable?

        1. Mel

          Separating her food so it doesn’t touch

        2. JBento

          Stuff like helping Becky get her documentation.

  52. DarkoNeko

    hahahahahahahahahahaha

  53. Hi

    Embrace your nerd side. Embrace it.

    1. DarkoNeko

      but she just got out of bed

  54. Bottas_Heimfe

    this is a rare instance of Joyce Swearing. wow

    1. Jake'm

      Sarah pops her head ’round the corner to give Joyce another ten bucks.

      1. Bagge

        Heh, nice callback.

  55. Anime fan

    Our precious baby finally swore reactively. I’m so proud.

  56. abysswatcher1993

    Joyce, if npeople date each other without your intervention it isn’t gross, you puritan jerk.

    Also, Billie, you aren’t fooling anyone. Every person that says they don’t like nerd things is an hipocrite. If you watch an MCU movie you are a nerd, if you sing the song of Frozen you are a nerd, if you show to be smart in a class, you are a nerd, if you know every verse of the bible you are a sub type of nerd.

    Nerds have become mainstream, even if 4channers want to claim nerd culture is only theirs to keep. What a bunch of assholes.

    1. A5PECT

      I don’t think Joyce is referring dating as gross, but Walky lying to her about his relationship with Amber relationship.

      1. Clif

        When did Walkie lie to Joyce?

        1. BBCC

          When he didn’t tell Joyce he was dating Amber when she said she was going to hook them up. That’s a lie of omission (because they want it to be secret).

  57. wakeangel2001

    ha, it may be alright in TV after 10pm, but its still a legitimate swear

  58. WHATTT

    am i the only one worried that joyce is following billie’s footsteps?
    and no offense billie, but my personal opinion on star wars is that evryone knows it exists, but it SUCKS.
    . . .please don’t kill me.

  59. Graham

    I *really* don’t get this “Walky shouldn’t be dating” bit. Dorothy dumped him, when they’d been together for about two weeks, and for very little reason (poor grades is a reason to concentrate more on college, not a reason to end the relationship entirely).

    He owes her nothing, and can do what he wants.

    *Dorothy* dating now would give Walky a reason to be upset, but the other way round, nah.

    1. BBCC

      They’d been dating about 6 weeks and were relatively serious (they got to the point both said they loved the other anyways). Dorothy also took the need to get cracking on her grades as her not having time for a relationship. I don’t really have a problem with Walky moving on quickly, but things were more serious than that.

  60. Dev

    While Walky and Amber may have gotten together quickly, this is college. This happens. Dorothy and Walky broke up – it sucks but this also happens.

    Misunderstandings happen, sure, since Billie isn’t correcting Joyce but I’m not sure what’s the problem here? I THINK Joyce is angry that Walky didn’t just tell her but it’s also none of her business either when she’s the one who basically just tried to shove him at Amber because she wanted to matchmake.

    1. the final pam

      Joyce has pretty screwed up priorities and beliefs. And since she was just bragging to Billie that she did the one thing Billie couldn’t, she thought she was actually helping Walky find his True Love after he was mourning his relationship with Dorothy. But, if Walky had already been secretly involved with Amber, then it’s clearly Not True Love and possibly even brings to question if Walky was even mourning his loss of relationship.

      But yeah, you’re totally right. It’s none of Joyce’s business if Walky or anyone wants to keep their relationship private for a while, in fact many people do that at least until they’re ‘sure’ it’s gonna work out, and her anger is pretty hypocritical, considering it was fine when she thought she was putting them together personally.

  61. DailyBrad

    I like Billie’s closet nerd side, especially since there’s a reasonably solid chance the reference would be lost on Joyce, anyway. At least, I can’t picture Joyce’s mom being super thrilled with all of the Force stuff.

  62. NinjaNick

    Anyone got Lifebuoy soap?

    1. Dafydd

      I told you not to use Life Buoy!

  63. Kazumi

    I FOUND IT! The title for the next book! “What the SHIT, Walky?!”

  64. Hari

    Hahaha! Wow! Joyce said shit? Shit got real!

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