/doag/ - "Dame of..." ...Ah, "Groans"

Also, have this news post:
>Yay! The Dumbing of Age Book 6 Kickstarter is now over, and it made [DOLLAR AMOUNT TO BE FILLED IN LATER], and I’m so [ADJECTIVE] that all [NUMBER OF PLEDGERS] of you have once again come together to help me publish another collection of Dumbing of Age strips. I’m serious, I’m [OVERLY GRAPHIC SEXUAL METAPHOR WHICH WAS UNCALLED FOR AND UNWELCOME] with gratitude.

>That means it’s time to choose which character I’m gonna doodle into all the signed/autographed books, so there’s now a poll on the right hand side of the website, under the comic. You might ask, “WHERE IS SO-AND-SO???” and the answer is likely “they were already the default doodle for a previous book.” This is my thirteenth book, so that’s burned through a lot of folks, but there’s still plenty more to go!

>Also now that the Kickstarter craziness is over, I can go back to promoting other things, like my weekly Welcome To The Fuck Zone pages over at Slipshine. This week was more Billie and Ruth, also featuring some makeshift light bondage, sure, why not.

I dare somebody to go into the comments section and ask why Mary nor Carla are included in the poll.

>>91855158

ENOUGH WITH THE "GAME OF THRONES" SHIT ALREADY, WILLIS!!!

Is it possible for characters to be considered "flanderized" if they're one-note from the get-go?

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>>91855223
It's possible, but Howard at least talked about more than Game of Thrones back in 2013.

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Tonight, everyone's favorite bitch with a dick is back, and scaring Ruth's poor little, green eye-beetles up onto her scalp.

>>91855223
The GoT shit will continue until Willis is convinced that everyone who reads this schlock realizes that Howie is indeed autistic. Because...... idk spite filled reasons I'm sure.

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>>91855185

>>91855340
Wow, it's fucking nothing.

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>>91855340
well, this is nothing. time to post the only thing Carla is good for; lewds and suggestives implying he still has a fully working dick

>>91855377
Love that picture

>>91855340
So Ruth was given anti-depressants? Was that established at any point upon her dismissal from the hospital?

>What's-Her-Name
Which one is she?

>Carla can burn in hell!
Well, that's a vague callback to Billie yelling at Carla for twelve seconds about outing Ruth.

>He couldna been more than, what, 5'1"?
So this implies that Carla is 5'2" or more. As you can see, Ruth is shorter than Ca-

Oh my god, Ruth's got the Dobson eyebrows in the last panel.

Rejected DoA ideas:
http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/159961529572/your-mention-of-joyce-having-snkrs-in-her-dorm-got

Does Amber have DID?

>I mean, on the one hand, Amber’s entire deal is that she is afraid of her own capacity for violence and rage. She’s got 99 problems, and that’s all of them. And so her having DID would be extremely problematic because I’m reinforcing the idea that mentally ill folks are violent.
>On the other hand, I am pleaded with at every single public appearance I make for Amber to please have DID because that reader sees themself in her and wants their own experiences to be validated, because despite Amber being a violent person, she’s still a heroic protagonist who is using the lemons she was given to make badass superhero lemonade.
>So I ask myself, do I make these people happy? Do I make other, similar people enraged for the reasons outlined in the first paragraph?
>or do i just be extremely cagey about it forever, creating a new set of problems, and pleasing no one

http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/159962485017/this-is-probably-too-much-like-is-dina-on-the

Borderline personality disorder?
http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/159979017827/honestly-ambers-actions-have-always-reminded-me

I have no comments about this right now. Cerberus has continued to be reasonable with and about me.

>>91855453
>So Ruth was given anti-depressants? Was that established at any point upon her dismissal from the hospital?
I think so. I know she was on them when in the hospital.

"What's-Her-Name" could be just about anyone, honestly. Other than Billie and the other people present on-panel.

>>91855453
>Was that established at any point upon her dismissal from the hospital?

I think Billie mentioned that the mental ward had her hopped up on drugs or something. Also I think it's implied that her rehab would generally include anti-depressant pills.

>>91855473
Notice how he answers this on his Tumblr but not at any point on his Patreon where people are literally paying him to draw comics and asking him these same questions.

>>91855340
Jesus Ruth, Howies like 16. Do you really need to shield him from such things? I mean I guess I can see why: Willis writes him like he's still 5 or something.

>>91855532
Interesting note is that someone on the latest DoA comic said he sent in those asks a very, very long time ago and was surprised that he had answered them after all this time.

>>91855473
>I think very early I wanted to cast Mary as more of a direct foil to Joyce, rather than as a direct foil to … I dunno, everybody else.
Honestly, that should have been one of the central aspects to DoA from the start. You primarily follow Joyce as she copes with reconciling her Christian upbringing with the secular environment she's entered. You could then have two foils for Joyce that show the extreme aspects of these two areas: Dorothy is a through-and-through atheist, while Mary is a devout Christian. The two could clash at times, and Joyce would find herself conflicted between choosing a side.

>I just wanted her to be happy. And that didn’t survive, because it turns out Amber’s life has to be pretty crappy for her to be Amber in my mind. She embodies so much of my own brain’s fears. Those fears have to be put down on paper, or I don’t excise them, I don’t sort them out for myself.
We were wrong about Cerberus using DoA for self-therapy. It was Willis all along.

>>91855473
>She’s got 99 problems, and that’s all of them

Yeah, Jay-Z's lawyers would like a word with you Willis

>I’m reinforcing the idea that mentally ill folks are violent.

That sounds like a very big stereotype.

>On the other hand, I am pleaded with at every single public appearance I make for Amber to please have DID because that reader sees themself in her and wants their own experiences to be validated.

I'm kinda concerned if a large amount of his readers implant themselves onto Amber for that reason. Also pandering to readers by fundamentally changing characters on a whim is a slippery slope.

>>91855656
Didn't Cerberus at one point say that a licensed therapist told her to keep reading DOA and participating in the comments section? That's not exactly "self-"therapy.

It's also not exactly a great reflection on the US mental health care system.

>>91855340
Why is Ruth explaining the concept of medicine to her brother when he shows surprise that she's taking pills? Surely he understands what medicine does generally, he want to know why Ruth's taking it specifically. Why does he accept that as a response?

Ruth should stop pawning off her tasks on Billie if she's gonna do this job right (or even if the meeting is her saying she's quitting no matter what she should still take more responsibility). I get not wanting to talk to Carla because she feels like she let her down or whatever, and maybe Mary, but she should just go tell Agatha and "What's-her-name" herself.

>>91855473
Willis really likes to do this stuff where he gives a person a set of traits that seem to point to some concept (usually a mental health diagnosis) but avoids ever using the label. It kinda protects him from criticisms of inaccurate representations while letting him appeal to those who identify with the collection of traits.

Feels pretty cowardly to me, especially since there is such a stigma around getting diagnoses for mental issues.

Also, regardless of what specific diagnosis Amber's exhibiting she's definitely suffering mentally due to trauma and her dad's abuse and being a violent asshole, so I don't think refusing to choose a label really helps that much.

>>91855802
>she's definitely suffering mentally due to trauma and her dad's abuse and being a violent asshole
Er, that is to say she is being a violent asshole *while* suffering mentally due to trauma and her dad's abuse.

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>>91855340
Another example of people teleporting in the DoA dorm.

Does Willis not understand that handles turning and doors opening produce loud and easily noticeable noises unless done very carefully?

>>91855473
>>So I ask myself, do I make these people happy? Do I make other, similar people enraged for the reasons outlined in the first paragraph?
how about you make a character compelling and interesting and not worry about what diagnosis they might have at the hands of a mental health provider, since believe it or not,even people with fucked up brain problems can have problems that don't stem from chemicals in their heads.

>>91855922
I like to assume they're just coming from the bathroom and happen to overhear things.

>>91855340
>CARLA CAN BURN IN HELL

hate crime!

>>91855786
It's been theorized here that Cerb's therapist encourages her posting as a means to bypass any filters she has in a clinical setting.

>>91855973
>Why do things always happen when I'm taking a shit?

>>91855922
Did absolutely nothing wrong

>>91855473
>On the other hand, I am pleaded with at every single public appearance I make for Amber to please have DID because that reader sees themself in her
I really find it hard to believe that the overlap between people with DID, people who unironically enjoy this comic, and con-going people is large enough that Willis has been asked this more than once in public.
Unless Cerb just goes to every single con, just to ask Willis this.

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>>91855453
>So this implies that Carla is 5'2" or more.
Definitely more. Someone last thread that Ethan is explicitly 6' and Carla is basically the same height (if not a bit taller) in this strip.

>>91856063
I always pitied Cerb's therapist for having to read to read DoA and its comment section.

>>91856247
Holy shit so Carla's like 6'1 at least.

>>91856247
>carla is 6'+
neat

>>91856077
She didn't brutally dom Carla then turn her into her perfect Christian 50s housewife.

>>91855340
>I WILL RULE HELL

unless somebody says you belong in boy's hell, then you'll freeze up and need rescuing

BOY'S HELL. WHERE THE BOY'S BURN.

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>>91856247
>>91856311
>>91856366
Tumblr question:
>Walky and Joyce are approximately similar height when they stand next to eachother.
>But for some reason in my head Joyce is average height and Walky’s like four feet tall. Walky just seems really really short to me.
>Here are Walky and Joyce’s heights, as I internalize ‘em:
>Joyce 5'4"
>Walky 5'7"
>So Joyce is indeed average height for a female American, but Walky’s a few inches under average for a male American.
>I don’t know everyone’s height in feet-inches, but I know Walky and Joyce’s (they’re basically mine and my wife’s, so). Walky’s the same height as his sister and Billie, while Joyce shares her height with Dorothy and Becky.

This is new info!

Walky, Sal, Billie: 5'7"
Joyce, Dorothy, Becky: 5'4"
Ethan: 6'0"
Amber/Amazi-Girl: 5'2"

>Sal’s about 5'7". Same height as Billie and Walky, shorter than Ruth and Carla, taller than Joyce and Dorothy. Definitely taller than Amber and Dina.

Pic related from 4-ish years ago.
>Here’s my progress so far. Yay, height chart. I was kind of stuck in a 5'5"-5'7" rut for a while there in the middle.

5 years ago:
>And part of it is just looking at my art and realizing, Jesus Christ, Walky’s head is huge.

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>>91856541
Also, the chairs:
http://68.media.tumblr.com/a952256537a6be3a345985722f53ccbb/tumblr_inline_nxw5yvr1mh1qjop0x_500.jpg

>>91856541

>Walky points at his twin sister's rack
>Joe eyes Danny's dick appreciatively
>Mary stares at Sarah's boobs

It's like a dozen different smutty fanarts just waiting to happen.

>>91856642
Dorothy is also clearly side-eyeing Sal.

>>91856642
>Joyce is hot for teacher

>>91856574
>Jacob staring directly into the camera

One day you'll find that burly black guy to take you to Poundtown, Willis.

>>91856574
Both Asian-descent characters are on the left.

All the black/partially black characters are on the right.

>>91857258
That hand is quite unfortunate but I'm not going to try and fix it. Just enjoy Dorothy's half-pinkie.

>>91857307
Dorothy isn't going to let something like losing her fingertips in a meatpacking accident slow her down.

>>91856227
There are a lot of people who claim to have DID, more than who actually exist. Could be them.

>>91857397
Even assuming a huge amount of fakers, how many of them are going up to Willis and talking about validating themselves through Amber?

>>91855340
>doesn't mind cussing around Howie
>dances around the topic of depression and anti-depressants

>>91857855
That's pretty believable. Mental issues have huge stigmas .

>>91857888
But doesn't he already know at this point?

>>91858028
She's just trying to keep her retarded brother from being upset since she knows that in a few years Clint will no longer be able to care for him and she'll have to ship Howie off to the halfway house.

>>91857064
His wife will film it. Then take over and make him watch.

>>91857307
>>91857349
Willis seems to have a habit of messing up her pinkies. Let's just decide it's canon for giggles.

>>91858886

Can you get anyone else to talk to him about this? Is there anyone you think he WOULD listen to?

>>91858951
Hmmm, maybe. I have a contact or two that may be of use.

>>91858886
If you're feeling threatened, your best bet is probably to have someone talk to him that he'd respect, as Zagreus mentioned, or possibly have a figure in authority do so.

Contrary to what certain groups think, making people they don't like feel uncomfortable while they live their life is very rarely acceptable. You deserve peace of mind.

>>91858886

Shit, if it's been 8 years I'd have made some official moves, though I dunno which branch of what to call on.

Have we gotten the latest pinup yet?

>>91856541
>Walky and Willis are the same height
Willis confirmed for manlet.

Also, this and >>91856574 make for awful height charts. the latter more so.

>>91858886
Personally, I haven't got any good advice. All I can offer is bad advice, like "Shoot him."
I'd check with >>>/adv/ about your situation, though.

>>91862766
Nope.

>>91855355
Bad news: Your comment didn't make it. But these did:
>Okay like geez. I know that Ruth did a lot of shitty things but… I also feel like Rachel is being an asshole right now. She had a point before that Ruth did some shitty things but this is just going too far with it in my opinion. Not to mention the way she condescends to Harold is just ew.

>[I think the in-book doodle should be Toe-Dad at the Women’s Rights March, wearing a pink knitted pussycat cap]

>While I can understand the sentiment, I think that Rachel’s kind of going over the line here. If Ruth’s being kept on, then that’s something to yell at management for.

>No Mike to vote for. I’m sad that I can’t vote for that sociopathic interdimensional asshole

>Part of me wants to say “HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT RUTH, YOU HEARTLESS DEMON,” and then I realize they call her Ruthless for a reason. I wish I knew enough about Rachel to explain why she, in particular, is most hostile to Public!Ruth, but I think she’s just blunt and strongly opinionated, no matter how much less terrible Ruth is.

>oh god Howard’s not far from my age, guess I better start watching HBO.

>Ruth, no.
>Your heart is in the right place on this issue, for once.
>But a floor meeting is NOT A GOOD WAY TO DO THIS.
>Sit down one-on-one. Hear out everyone individually. Listen to all their concerns.
>Do NOT set up a situation where peer pressure, group think, and mob mentality can rear their ugly heads and more hesitant voices can get drowned out by the sharper ones.

>In Dumbing of Age, bad decisions are more active agents in their own right through some sort of fusion of animism and platonic idealism. People don’t make bad decisions… bad decisions make themselves. Ontologically.

>Y’know, if she’s that mad about Ruth, you’d think she’d have complained to the RM.

Among other comments, of course. The comments section is surprisingly split between hating and supporting Rachel.

>>91863145
wait, so someone picks and chooses which comments go through and actually show up in the comment section?

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>>91863145
I have never seen Rachel do anything except shit on people from inside her room.

>>91863145
>But a floor meeting is NOT A GOOD WAY TO DO THIS
That's a good point. Mary or someone is going to raise valid concerns and complaints, Billie will punch them, then everyone will go back to their room feeling better about themselves.

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>>91863145
>People defending Ruth when even she knows she isn't fit for the job

>>91863218
Exactly.

The first comment a poster makes has to be accepted by Willis himself, I believe. That's how it was originally. Then he said his twins were taking up too much of his time, so the comments would go unmoderated. That lasted like a day when people with dissenting opinions started to be able to voice them, then Willis locked and closed the comments saying that he didn't have the time to do this because babies are hard work.

...which is why he said he WOULDN'T be moderating the comments at all.

In previous /doag/ threads, others have said there's a different mod/admin approving comments, but I couldn't say whether that's true or not.

NORMALLY, your first comment has to be approved and if it seems sufficiently un-trolllike* it goes through and you can post at will, but certain posters often seem to find their comments requiring frequent moderator approval.

*for a given value. i.e. "How the fuck did Mary know Carla was trans?" is what a troll would say.

>>91858886
As someone who's dealt with too many of these sort of assholes, I'm really sorry you've had to deal with this guy.

That said, if he hasn't listened to 8 years worth of 'fuck off', another few tries aren't going to help. Either drive him off with the contacts you mentioned, or consider getting the cops involved. There may be downsides to getting law enforcement involved, but some people won't stop unless the consequences are dire enough.

>>91855473
http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/159962485017/this-is-probably-too-much-like-is-dina-on-the
>Translation: "I'd rather be a pussy and publicly admit to being one than taking a hard stance about my own work that might piss off some of my fans."

Goddammit, Willis, you're a 40-year-old father and the person who's been writing these characters for 20 fucking years. Stop acting like you're a 16-year-old fanfic writer who's afraid of contradicting canon. If you have an interpretation, own it. If the fanbase is anything like the other Tumblr fanbases I've witnessed, they'll be perfectly happy to attach their own interpretations to your work without your help. Honestly, if he parents his children the same way he parents his fanbase, they're going to grow up spoiled as shit.

Re: the google doc, who's the "boobies-photoshopping guy" anyway? Was someone editing comics into smut and Willis responded... by drawing kinda-admonishing smut?

>>91865174
Yeah, that was a response to edits of his art on Paheal ages before Slipshine or anything.

>>91865174
>>91865452
>How dare this person edit my comics into becoming smut!
>I know how to combat this! I'll confront the artist through an Author Avatar™ in which my own waifu is topless!

>>91858886
If all he's doing is trying to get in contact with you without flooding your social media accounts with requests and messages you might not have enough for the police to make an official response, unfortunately. If you can show that this is a long-term pattern of behavior you'll have a much better chance of getting them to take action. If there are any mutual connections like friends between the two of you see if they'll intervene. You should also find some local women's support groups who should be able to provide you with significantly better help and resources than the assholes on a Norwegian relief carving forum. Finally, there is always rolling up on him with a tire iron and breaking his knees; we can call that one Plan D.

>>91864688
He could introduce new characters with ambiguous mental issues and let his readers project onto them.

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>>91858886
My knee jerk reaction is that it would be nice to just bring some dudes and beat (or threaten to beat) his ass, but that probably wouldn't fix anything in the long run, right?

Right?

I can't really get into that guy's head, so I dunno what else to do. If you can get the police to scare him and establish a paper trail that would be good, but I'm not sure if they'd actually do anything. Wouldn't hurt to try, though, right?

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General note: I don't know if he knows I've moved to a different state.

Thank you for all of your thoughtful responses. <3

>>91858951
>>91860048
>>91861304
>>91862811
>>91866078
>>91868547
He hasn't done any in-person stalking since 2010 or 2011. It's just Facebook at this point.

I generally screenshot his attempts at contact, so that might help.

The last time I had an issue back in that town (a "friend" made vague rape threats at me via text), the police weren't able to do anything, so I'm not too optimistic.

Getting someone to beat him up sounds kinda tempting at this point, but you're right that it's probably not helpful.

Since most of it has been online, it's hard to make a case for it. I'm just concerned because it used to be like every year-and-a-half that he tried to make contact, and now it's getting much more frequent.

He deletes his Facebook account and then as soon as he makes a new one, he tries to contact me. I try to stay proactive about it and block him before he can get to me.

Much love to all of you. <3 You have already been more kind and supportive of me than people were when my "friend" made those rape threats.

I'm not sure how helpful my two contacts are at this point. I get the sense that at least one of them has tried to talk to him about it. The other one has moved to a different state as well, but maybe he can message him or something.

I guess I'll try /adv/ and see what they think. Thanks again. <3 I'll keep you updated as much as I can.

>>91863898
Yeah, you have to be very careful about what you post, especially if it's your first time posting.

If you can get in with a sufficiently reasonable post, he won't get too angsty about subsequent posts.

>>91858886

Just tell his boss, if he's harassing students then his campus job is fucked.

>>91870169
He's no longer working there, fortunately. He only made it for a few months. Good point, though!

>>91869115
>You have already been more kind and supportive of me than people were when my "friend" made those rape threats.

As someone who's previously been in a place where my only solace was a Croatian logo board, I'm really sorry that we, randos on a Croatian logo board who argue about a mediocre webcomic, are better help than your friends were. I hope you've traded up since then.

>>91870169
>>91870205
Even if he's since moved on from the university job, letting it slip to his boss or coworkers that he's being an ass would give him better things to worry about than harassing you.

>>91870232
Thanks, yes, I don't talk to many of the people who were around me at those times.

I accidentally found out where he currently works when I was blocking him, so that may be something to go on.

>>91865692
Wait, that's real???

So is there anyway to save Amber as a character or is she on the path to doom and un-likability?

>>91855340
>I will rule hell
>...........With my penis

Or whatever she's got going on down there.

>>91872766
Therapy?

What she needs is guidance and friends who are willing to tell her off.

>>91872936
Well Danny could have done something. But no, he left with no real fuss. Because I guess Willis is saving him for the eventual gay butt sex with Ethen and Mike

>>91872258
Yup. He even posted it to Paheal himself with the account name dorothykeener. Check it out (link is NSFW, obviously)
http://rule34.paheal.net/post/view/704539

>>91872766
Drop the DID thing, go back to right when she dumped Danny and was simply having a mental breakdown.

>>91872936
All of her friends (which I guess is just Ethen) is convinced this behavior is totally normal and not a problem though. So really, are they just enablers at this point? Danny was the only one so far to say "hey, maybe you should stop this crazy BS before you die."

>>91872766
Actually do something with the Sal/Amber thing and either expand on it, conclude it, or develop it into something that isn't a waste of time.

>>91873168
They're not very bright and just see it as "Eh, she's fine, because she's not getting hurt or anything." Danny didn't even realize it was an issue until Sal pointed it out.

Everyone's just excited to have a superhero on campus.

>>91873168
Danny was cool with it until Sal pointed out that it was a bad idea.

Speaking of Danny and Ethan, outside of them bonding over Amber being a psycho, have they ever had any meaningful interactions?

>>91873386
The Amber stuff has always been there like background radiation but they've had some nice moments. Mostly because Ethan is one of the few characters who isn't an asshole, so they have nice talks, even when they're disagreeing about nerdy stuff.

>>91873386
They stared at each other and blushed one time.

>>91875182
Just like in Mary's Japanese cartoons!

>>91875025
But anon, Mary is so Protestant she shits sola fide tracts.

>>91858028
Probably not. He hasn't gotten to that episode of Game of Thrones.

>>91875182
And they thought about kissing. They also discussed how it would be terrible for Amber if they dated. I say let her deal with it.

>>91875696
Danny and Jacob switch rooms, allowing Danny to go balls deep in Ethan's mangina every night with Amber being none the wiser.

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>>91875826
>implying Amazi-Girl hasn't created an Amazi-anus tracker that would instantly know when Ethan's been penetrated
What are you, some kinda misogynist?

>>91876603
But Amber is blindsided by her thirst for Ethan's cock, remember? Her tracker would detect when he's fucking someone, but her paradigm of Ethan being the penetrator would leave her tracker vulnerable to backdoor exploits.

>>91876727
She probably covered her bases and put one for both places. And his mouth.

Danny's gonna get his dick sucked by Ethen. That's why he's so happy in that strip sneak peak in june.

>>91877581
Nah, he'd be screaming in agony if that was the case. This is Willis we're talking about. There will also be way too much teeth.

>>91877581
>ethan is actually an incubus and sucks danny's lifeforce out through his dick

>>91855340
This strip is interesting, because I wish death on everyone in it. Except howie. Hes collateral damage.

>>91855340
Everyone in the dumberverse seems to know how to teleport when the plot/joke demands it.

>>91863273
Mary is best girl.

>>91878048
Are you saying you don't want Howie to GRRM his way through the cast?

>>91877913
>if Joyce had managed to get to third base with Ethan then by the laws of devilry his powers would have been transferred to Joyce

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>>91878495
I'm now imagining howie doing
>pic related pose
While shouting "GAME OF THRONES"

>>91863273
>In her better moments, Ruth cared.
About you, maybe. What about the rest of the floor?

>And in her worst? She still could depend on her motherfucking spite.
That's not a good thing. Being spiteful is not a positive trait for any person to have.

>>91878618
>Howie bursts through Chloe's office door
>She demands to know why he's painted head to toe in blood
>He can only respond with one question
>"Why couldn't you have just sprung for HBO?!"
>He lunges upon her

>>91878811
>About you, maybe. What about the rest of the floor?

The thing that bothers me the most about the Ruth/Billie arc is it's the classic creepy 'victim falls in the love with their rapist/abuser' cliche. Like, Ruth stalked Billie. She broke into her room, stole from her, harassed her. This part of the relationship was always glossed over, even when it was supposed to be this toxic codependency. Now that it's women in loooooove uwu, the audience has completely forgotten that Ruth is a violent abuser. They're turning on Rachel because she's pointing out, quite rightly, that Ruth is not a good person and her getting to keep her job is bullshit.

>Being spiteful is not a positive trait for any person to have.

A little bit of spite can be a beneficial thing. It can motivate you to do create something, if only to stick to someone or something else. i.e. writing a vampire romance novel because you hated Twilight so much. It's when spite becomes a major, or sole motivational force that it becomes truly worrisome. Like, it's not enough to write the vampire fic, you have to make sure everyone knows that you're pissing on Twilight. That's how Willis, and through him, many of his characters operate and you're absolutely right there - that is not a positive trait. Like, there are oodles of comics, posts and so forth that just ooze spite. "You don't like this? Well fuck you!" And many of the characters in DoA, 'good' or bad, share this behaviour, where the motivational effects are curdled, turned in on them themselves and it becomes less about winning, than making sure someone else loses.

>>91873148
This.

Going by what Willis mentioned in the tumblr post linked above, Amber was originally designed to be, above all else, afraid of becoming violent and callous like her father. The emphasis shift to pseudo-DID happened, as far as I can tell, to cater to Cerbie and folks like her. If he goes back to Amber being scared of her own violence over anything else, she'll be salvageable.

>>91863273
Billie really had no reason to punch Mary here, even by Willis logic. A simple "no" would've worked.
>tfw Billie's emotional immaturity will never be addressed because Willis thinks this is a healthy response

>>91879497
>tfw Billie's emotional immaturity will never be addressed because Willis thinks this is a healthy response
Pretty much this.

>>91879497
>>91880315
And since Willis has admitted that the characters in DoA are essentially himself and his personality and other hangups personified and given a voice. Billie's emotional immaturity is Willis' as well.

So Willis wants to get drunk, fuck his own alcoholism, and then punch his war-veteran grandfather after having punched his failed waifu.

>>91879497
>>91880315
Something you've got to consider that has been swept under the rug with the sexy suicide lesbians, is that Billie is also a bully, and a status-obsessed one at that.

In the beginning Ruth makes her alpha bitch status very clear and what does Billie do? Immediately tries to pull Ruth down. When she can't manage that she more or less immediately ingratiates herself to Ruth once Ruth's attraction is made manifest. After that she becomes Ruth's codependent enabler and starts basically running Ruth's life for her. Billie craves power and control, even if it is indirect. Without Ruth around she goes back to nothing so she has to fight hard for something that gives her power. So she poisons the well against Mary and creates a situation that allows her to freely abuse Mary. Billie is probably a worst monster than Ruth, with Ruth a case can be made that she was raised to be authoritarian and controlling by Clint, Billie does what she does because she expects people to think she's important.

>>91880885
Billie and Ruth would be really entertaining to watch in the hands of a more self-aware author. They were my favorite couple in the comic to watch before Willis started sweeping the abusive parts of it under the rug

>>91881205
>entertaining to watch in the hands of a more self-aware author
This applies to the entire comic.

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How do you all persist?

>>91881746
It's amazing that the stuff churned out in greentexts and pastebins in these threads can be more engaging than the actual comic.

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>>91881870
Through great suffering

>>91881205
It could be really good. One of the ugly secrets of the LGBT scene is that lesbian couples have the highest rates of domestic abuse in America (only a few percentage points above mf/ which is itself only a few points above m/m), but it's something that gets swept under the rug. Willis wants to be progressive? Do something for the many victims of that abuse that get ignored because 'women/lesbians don't act like that' and show them that what they go through is just as real as anything else and anyone who tries to erase it or deny it is just as bad as someone who'd say 'he's such a nice chap, he'd never beat his wife'. He's already got Becky/Dina for a healthy relationship as well as 90% of the other girls on the floor. Do something actually progressive and beneficial for the people he claims to want to champion, rather than... how did Mary put it? Earn brownie points for that merit badge.

That's where I thought he was going with the Ruth/Billie relationship to begin with, but now it's true love. I may be more cynical than not, but I honestly don't see him pulling a switcheroo here. For starters, his fans would eat him alive. (i.e. turning on Rachel just for acknowledging what a human personification of a garbage fire Ruth is) Secondly, it's not safe. Happy lesbians overcoming adversity is plenty safe. It's diverse, it's comfortable, and it's easy. Which is the third qualifier. Willis writes on autopilot. No research, no effort. Bang out a few dozen strips all at once, queue them up and call it a day. To actually look into the various issues he brings up would require effort. It's much easier to crank out yet another violent paternal figure for a boss fight.

>>91881870
A strict regime of meditation and intoxicants.

>>91882051
I don't even care about the sociological implications of the whole thing. I just find 'two people trapped in a shitty relationship because of their shitty issues' to be an engaging story.

>>91882051
It becomes pretty apparent when you look at characters like Carla and Jacob. We know nothing about them as dynamic characters. They have no goals, no motivations or interests, just a few vague descriptors for their shallow personalities.

>>91882135
That's fair. I was just using it as an example to show how shallow Willis's commitment comes across and how little effort or thought goes into it.

Back in its heyday, I knew a woman who loved House and would constantly write Hurt/Comfort fics with Wilson and House, where Wilson was tortured and/or murdered and then House would find out just how much he loved him.

>>91882286
To be fair, that is generally a thing with Sherlock Holmes derivatives. Hell, there's even a bit in canon (The Three Garredibs) where he does that after Watson nearly gets shot by a counterfeiter.

>>91881870
Well I haven't died yet, and this booze keeps me from wanting to.

You mean persist in participating in these threads? Habit and boredom.

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I'll admit it. This one made me smile tonight, if only for the possible implications of Howie's blind lust.

I quickly realized Willis would never do it though, so the smile was fleeting.

>>91884301
You know what Howie: Go for it. You need to learn the hard way that things aren't what they seem sometimes.

>>91884301
Oh, great. Now these threads are going to be 80% "When does Howie fuck the tranny".

Is Willis so brazen in attempting to emulate Jeph Jacques that he's stealing QC's memes now?

Also,
>You look fine to me.
I dunno, Carla. Ruth's eyes are clearly bulging from her skull and peeking through her bangs.

>>91884301

If the comment section realizes that Willis is making a joke in the classic tradition of "Ha ha, the guy panting after the cute girl doesn't realize she has a dick!" - and about CARLA, of all people - they will Eat. Him. Alive. Trans women HATE these jokes, and I can't see Cerb or any of her ilk taking this well.

>>91884301
>>91884493
Also, I think we have an answer to whether or not Carla's packing heat. Just look at how flat that crotch is.

Unless that's actually the bulge, and Carla's schlong is so long that it acts as an internal belt and holds up her short-shorts.

>>91884301
>You look fine to me

Carla, it's mental illness. It's not something that really shows blatantly or something you dip shit.

>>91884514
inb4 Willis just cuts out the middle man and just closes the comment section again because Carla's in the scene.

>>91884493
>Is Willis so brazen in attempting to emulate Jeph Jacques that he's stealing QC's memes now?
Yes. This isn't even the first one he's stolen.

>>91884659
kek
ok, you can go away again now
>I might return to my retarded parody comic someday
pls no

>>91884716
Ok now i definetly will, just for you anon.

>>91884681
can someone post the strip of riley eating cereal that people actually paid money for?

>>91884537
>>91884493
As much as I hate to play apologist for Willis, It's pretty clear from the fourth panel that he's going for a 'I'm pretending I don't care but I'm really concerned and guilty' vibe for Carla.

So what we should be complaining about is that Carla's now a tsundere.

>>91884681
>>91884787
I'm aware he's stolen it before.
I mean that now Willis is stealing the memes that 4chan made for QC and applying them to DoA.

>>91884812
Does she even have motivation to care for Ruth in any degree?

Is this fake? There no way willis would do something so divisive.
Anyone with an ounce of concern for the issues of depression will tear Carla a new one, and then Carla apologists will get pissed. The "joke" of howie thinking a transsexual is pretty will piss the Carla squad off even more. The pattern comments will be fucked, and the site comments will be a dumpster fire.

>>91884537
Not like she would know what dealing with that shit is considering her rich ass folks bought her the best vagina on the market.
>>91884812
Take out the fourth panel, and then Carla looks like a complete asshole this whole time.

>>91884659
Motherfucker, I hoped you were dead.

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>>91884787
Here ya go

>>91884965
>The way she holds the spoon.
Oh that's gonna' bother me for a while.

>>91884990
For me, it's the freaking way she hold that bowl. That just looks weird.

>>91884965
>>91884990
Don't forget to take notice of her bear-grip around her bowl of cereal.

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>>91884787
And the high-res version of the box he did in case the Jacques dick riding needed to get pounded home a bit harder

>>91884900
She has, like, the exact minimum amount of giving a shit. The same amount that led her to haul Billie to Ruth and fuck the situation up in the first place

>>91884934
It's actually a rare good use of the 'one panel with no background thing. You notice that panel and then you notice Carla's expression

>>91884301
I just noticed that it looks like Carla's looking directly at the reader in the last panel. She should be looking more away from Ruth and Howie or looking more directly at them, not in the middle.

>>91885541
In addition, who the fuck is she pointing at? It sure ain't Ruth or Howard.

>>91884301
So it's not okay to spell out "piece of shit" in front of Howie, but you can call people assholes in front of him.

This is one of those points where Willis is trying to show Carla as being eaten up by guilt because she's good without the ability to convey how she feels. But like an anon said, the things she's saying are pretty shitty. Saying "you look *fine to me*" to someone who is suicidally depressed is a dick move even if you're just saying it to convince yourself you did nothing wrong (maybe even moreso in that case).

>>91880315
Really, was Carla and Mary's mutual antagonism/prank war at all unusual in DoA? Barely concealed hate is the norm for most character interactions.

Ruth shouldn't have stepped in unless things got out of hand and the other residents started complaining to her or if Ruth herself was bothered by their bullshit.

>>91886535
I think a major component of it was how Carla repeatedly tried to trap Mary in her room.

>>91884734
Aw, fuck, not again

>>91884301
Oh god, Carla's eyes. Someone call a doctor.

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>>91884990
Please tell me I'm not the only one.

>>91884528
Tucking can produce the flattest smoothest crotch you've seen in your damn life.

>>91885029
>cereal of some sexy dude's asshole
>pound it

Goddamn :0

Has Amber raped Michelangelo they way she did in Shortpacked! yet?

>>91887758
You make it sound so impressive.

>>91889081
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTT9-YfgeTU

>>91884301
Okay, someone needs to edit the last panel to "She has a dick." and "IT'S VERY FEMININE!"

>>91885905
Yeah this "you look fine to me" is something that people with mental illness and advocates for treating mental illness seriously absolutely despise, because it implies that if you're not visibly falling apart, you should just suck it up because it can't be that bad. That was the thrust of a whole campaign of awareness ads recently, showing how 'oh you look fine/you're just lazy/get over it' is not the kind of response.

It's like... mental illness isn't cancer or a fever. You don't break out in depression sores or manic rashes. Someone could look perfectly normal while on the inside they're just barely holding it together.

>>91884920
Exactly so. There's a possibility that the comments are going to get interesting for exactly those reasons: people who care about depression and mental illness are going to pounce on that line and Carla's defenders will rush in. Will it actually happen, though? It'll be interesting to see.

>>91890995
I can't help but point out that Ruth didn't have it that bad. Her entire suicide attempt amounted to sleeping in on a Sunday then Carla claiming she's suicidal.

>>91890995

>people who care about depression and mental illness are going to pounce on that line and Carla's defenders will rush in

I love Civil Wars

>>91891187
I actually had a couple extra paragraphs about that, talking about how the entire situation was being milked for cheap drama, but I chopped them out, but yes: you're right. Ruth's entire drama stems from her moping in bed after a bad relationship ended badly. That's one of the issues with Willis's pacing. For Ruth to actually be passively wasting away or coming apart to the degree that everyone *says* she was, she'd have to be out of the story for months, probably the better part of a year. She might drag herself out of her room to go to the bathroom, maybe to the cafeteria just to stare at her tray, then leave. That could be a dramatic strip on its own. Ruth is looking down at the plate of food, prods it. Stares, then gets up and leaves. One of the other characters notices that her meal isn't touched and that could kick off them realizing that something is Very Wrong in Ruthville.

Instead, we got Ruth in bed for a day, then the I-don't-know-anything-about-actual-hospitalization scenes.

>>91891305
Also in the suicide plot Carla didn't actually give a shit, she bailed on responsibility the moment she thought things might not be right with Ruth. It should also be noted that Ruth didn't start drinking again. Even if he didn't want lock Ruth out of the story for a year, he could done a short segment focused entirely on Ruth and had her self-destruct hard. We got how many strips dedicated to Toedad's Wild Ride? That was maybe an hour in universe. He could have taken two weeks and given Ruth a dozen strips of hitting the bottle while not leaving her room for two or three in-universe days.

>>91891305
Willis could have gone cerebral and shown the thoughts racing through Ruth's head while the world around her passed her by. From our perspective she was sleeping in; from her perspective it could have been thinking of nothing but her own failures.

That's actually kind of a flaw with DoA's writing. In an adherence to hard realism (in the presentation of material, not necessarily realistic stories or physics), Willis is unwillising to experiment with means of storytelling outside of flashbacks. There's no cross-cutting between two stories at once, there are no extended inner monologues, there aren't even any dream sequences that aren't treated as a joke.

On a completely separate note, I wonder how old the current crop of DoA readers are. I recall one of them saying they were 15 in the comments section the other day; I wonder if they're an outlier or if DoA has become "Degrassi" for a new generation.

>>91891549
>Willis could have gone cerebral and shown the thoughts racing through Ruth's head while the world around her passed her by. From our perspective she was sleeping in; from her perspective it could have been thinking of nothing but her own failures.

One way that would be ridiculously easy to show that would be to have Ruth in bed for one panel, eyes open, starting at nothing. Next 3-4 panels are from previous strips where she's been violent or abusive. Easy mode: copy, paste add Amber's 'bad flashback' red background. Hard mode: re-draw, and present Ruth as more 'monstrous' - as she's seeing herself. Brutish, all her flaws amplified. Beady, rat-like eyes, freckles splotched all over like a disease, disproportionately large hands balled into fists, etc. The final panel is Ruth with her eyes squeezed shut, maybe a tear or two and this communicates that Ruth isn't just moping. She's focusing on everything she's done wrong, just as you pointed out, and amplifying her failures and behaviour to make things even worse.

>>91884301

>well, this is me...

>...game of thrones!

>>91891549
Flashbacks would have been fine. A series of flashbacks to Ruth growing up, her issues with Clint, maybe a prior failed relationship that resembled her dumping Billie, would have been a far better way to show that Ruth is dealing with some deeply rooted problems.

Willis' non-use of anything but conventional narrative and linking, even when it creates jarring tone and narrative shifts, is a massive flaw when you consider his sprawling cast and multiple plotlines. I'm reading Poppy O'Possum and the story right now is using short, single or double page vignettes linked through dialogue, emotion, or even paneling, to tell a "day in the life" type story. Using Willis' style would just make it a series of jarring jump cuts.

>>91891549

I dunno about actual age, but they're probably in a range from toddler-15, mentally.

As for Ruth, I've gone through depression before, had periods of lying in bed staring at the ceiling, among others. Eventually I simply went to the doctor, told him what was wrong, was prescribed some light meds, and got back to normal within a couple of weeks.

I remember my mother even asking if what I was going through warranted hospitalization, and the answer was "No, unless he's actively trying to/planning on committing suicide".

"But she was!" Willy's retards will bleat, to which I say no, she was lying in bed doing nothing. I have no sympathy for my fictional fellow depressed-person.

>>91891708

>I'll call it Needle

>>91891731
>Willis' non-use of anything but conventional narrative and linking, even when it creates jarring tone and narrative shifts, is a massive flaw when you consider his sprawling cast and multiple plotlines.
Exactly. How many times have we talked about how awful Willis' jump cuts between scenes are?

>>91891753
Come to think of it, Willis had to outwardly telegraph a trigger warning for an implication of attempted suicide. If he felt that strongly about that, there's no way he'd have ever put an actual suicide attempt in his comic.

Really, there's no reason to assume anything bad will happen to any character in this comic anymore. It will all end hunky-dory; Ruth and Billie will get to stay together, Dorothy will get her grades up, Sarah will finally talk with Jacob probably, Danny and Ethan are going to fuck, and Mary will throw herself off the roof of a building just like everybody wants.

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>>91890844

>>91891549
Considering that the most experimental thing Willis has done is the one chapter = one day thing, which keeps him from actually focusing on any one subplot in favor of juggling all of them to keep things in chronological order, I don't think we can trust him to 'experiment'

>>91891804
>Really, there's no reason to assume anything bad will happen to any character in this comic anymore.

That's a side effect of his 'no one dies' policy. It's fine to have one, if you as an author don't want to deal with that particular aspect of drama. But here's the thing: that policy, coupled with the one week = one year timeframe completely eradicates all drama. If no one dies because then the characters would be in morning for years real-time, then no can be badly injured. They'd never get out of the hospital. The Ryan the Rapist plot has been dangling for how many years now? 4? 5? 6? That's longer than the run of many serial TV shows.

When you have this kind storytelling decompression coupled with a 'no one dies' policy, it completely destroys any sense of tension and drama, because you know that nothing seriously bad will happen to the characters. Everything will either be wrapped up instead a week story-time, or left in the fridge for half a decade.

>>91891982
It also, as >>91891804 pointed out, makes it super easy to predict what will happen because any alternatives would either violate Willis's 'no significant injury' clause or wouldn't work with the way Willis runs his story structure or would require more range in the cast than 'one dorm floor's worth of girls, a few guys and some mandated adults' or might piss off his fanbase. The only way he can surprise us is by doing something so stupid that no one would ever predict it (i.e. Toedad's Wild Ride)

>>91891807
You're good people, anon.

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https://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/post/159960690312/so-is-doa-kind-of-a-rest-of-your-career-project#notes
>So is DoA kind of a "rest of your career" project for you at this point? I mean it's already around 65% the length of shortpacked and has covered like two months-ish of in world time. And with more scope and more characters introduced arc by arc, It seems from a reader's perspective that you're in for the real long haul with DoA. Don't mean this as a criticism, I wouldn't have been reading you for over a decade if I disliked your pacing. I'm just curious.

Willis' response:
>Man, I hope so.

Also from the DoA Tumblr: A "model sheet" of Rachel. Guess she's going to be a more prominent character from now on.

>>91892374
That doesn't really mean anything, Jacob is on the cast page and he's only had 62 appearances. Rachel in comparison, has had 28.

Also that linework makes it look like she's got an Amish style neckbeard.

>>91892374
...Is he serious?

After writing about secret spy organizations and madcap nerd stores, he's really going to do nothing but shitty college melodrama for the next 20-40 years?

Fuck, I knew Willis was a hack, but this is Jim Davis levels of hackery. Even Jacques eventually moved away from his boring oatmeal cash cow to do something completely different with Alice Grove.

>>91892592
>he's really going to do nothing but shitty college melodrama for the next 20-40 years?

Why not? Boring college melodrama is the Alice Grove to the Walkyverse's Questionable Content.

>>91893190
Reverse that.
I'm pretty sure Alice Grove isn't gonna become the primary comic over Questionable Content.

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>>91892374
Not that I mind it, but Willis really is subconsciously thiccening his characters.

>>91893657

Being thin is offensive

>>91893657
I can't imagine how lumpy and misshapen Other Rachel would look like in real life.

>>91893657
Willis has a thing for shortstacks, remember?
It's hardly subconscious. Note how Mary and Carla are both skinny. He doesn't want to fuck either of them.

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>>91892374
>Also from the DoA Tumblr: A "model sheet" of Rachel. Guess she's going to be a more prominent character from now on.

When looking for >>91893657
I found that yeah she's supposed to have a bigger piece. Literally from 4 years ago (http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/41628618307/):
>I have always had a story for her, though I wanted to make sure I established who the main characters are in DoA first and spent some quality time with them, since there’s a lot of ‘em. But I think it might be time to shine more light on her, like I did with Raidah. Let’s just say Rachel’s been just outside the panels in a certain few strips in a certain classroom.

Now Rachel is traditionally a science student, she bonded with Joe over engineering in the last universe.So that would suggest either math (with Sal, Billie, Walky, Joyce and Mike) or comp sci (with Danny and Amber). However, I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be a second year along with Carla (pic related), so that would rule out those 1st year classes and suggest the nondescript law major class that Sarah and Jacob are taking. Or maybe that she went back to the gender class for a distribution requirement? Although It'd be way weird if she was never referred to in a class with Joyce.

Although, considering how long ago this was talked about I might die of old age before it actually happens.

>>91893789
His wife had to tell him to stop turning every single woman in his comics into a shortstack, so he posted this kind of passive-aggressive comment about it on his tumblr, about how he didn't realize that this shortstack was totally different than other shortstacks, honest.

Lately it seems he's slipping back into 'everyone's a shortstack' mode.

>>91894377
>how she didn't realize*

>>91891549
One thing he prides himself on is his scene-cutting, because it allows time to pass without anyone noticing. Hahahaha.>>91891549

>>91885021
>>91885027
obviously it's a subtle hint that Riley has been abused. look at how tightly she grips that bowl. she's terrified of it being snatched anyway at any moment, a common sign of emotional abuse. her stance is alert, nervous because she knows at second her abuser (probably Robin, what with her being a filthy conservative and all) could come in and take all her happiness away or i'm talking out my ass and Willis is just a hack

>>91895060
Food insecurity as abuse tends to manifest in hording behavior, she should be pouring the cereal in her pockets for later.

>>91891708
I need this edit in my life

>>91895060
Why not both?

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>>91891804
>It will all end hunky-dory
>It will all end
>end

>>91893657
Freshman 15?

>>91898019
What, in a single month?

>>91898103
Maybe they don't know how to manage their meal plans?

>>91898103
Happened to me back in the day. At first, it was a lot easier sitting in my dorm, munching on the care packages from mom, than to walk to the supermarket or socialize in the cafeteria.

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>>91897588
i'll take a crack at it
just dont expect high quality
what am i saying? look where we are

>>91900550
This is surprisingly well done. Quiet and understated.

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>>91900550
>>91897588
done, with as much effort as willis puts into his own comics

>>91901556
thanks

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>>91872900

>>she

>>91900550
>>91901810
The hero we deserve
I owe you a beer editanon

>>91873168

I like to think Danny isn't making more effort to help her beyond that one warning as passive-aggressive revenge, hoping Amber will finally get herself injured

"Hey, I warned her. Whatever harm she does to herself from this point on is not my fault"

>>91901923
>hero
for shitposting?

>>91856541
> Yay, height chart

It's not a height chart unless the characters are at least trying to stand up straight you utter *hack*

>>91890995
My guess is that Willis is trying to make the point "Literally no-one is always a good person. It's not called moral fortitude of age."

I'll respect him more if he follows through.

>>91902075
>original edits are shitposting
ok

>>91884301
>"You look fine to me."
>"And you look like a girl to me. Appearances can be deceiving, huh?"

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>>91902353
OOOOOHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

>>91902353
Friendly reminder that minority-based insults are one step above toilet humor on the wittiness scale.

>>91902281
well, arent they? its not like im contributing to any discussion or meaningful content, just some memes that i churn out of photoshop

>>91902529
Still several steps above Willis humor, so I consider it a win.

>>91902529

Only to piss-brained Tumblrinas

>>91901893
Wow, Carla couldn't wait to get a hold of Joyce's jugs.

>>91903237
Every trannie joke is literally a variation of 'lol, this girl has a cock'. Every single one. Even toilet humor switches it up more often.

>>91903361
No, some are 'lol, this guy has a vagina'.

Not every trannie is MtF, shitlord.

>>91903361

>Implying that only MtF are trannies

Check ur privilege shitlord

>>91903423
>>91903459
When's the last time you've seen a MtF joke? And it doesn't count if it's riffing off of the Crying Game

>>91903496

ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT DELEGITAMIZING THE STRUGGLE OF MTF IS A JOKE?????? SHITLORD

>>91903496
>When's the last time you've seen a MtF joke?

Several times in this thread...did you mean to ask about FtM?

>>91903533
...fuck. Yes, I meant FtM.

>>91902529

I disagree. Wit is primarily about the delivery of the joke, not the joke itself. The joke you were responding to was very well-delivered.

Do you think there's any honest Dumbing of Age fanfiction out there?

>>91901810
I like it, but I would maybe move the nose and mouth down to fit the face better. I almost thought she didn't have a mouth. But it's otherwise pretty good!

>>91902196
Willis is not a smart man. Maybe he would know that if he had stayed in college or gone to art school.

>>91905772
There's been PasteBins, AUs, greentexts, etc. There's quite a lot. Some of it's in the non-smut Doc.

>>91905772
None that anyone has bothered to cap or archive. We try really hard to not really be a general, so even the peeps who are in here every day treat it like one.

The Google Doc is the closest thing we have to an archive, and even that doesn't have all the full pron comics or all of the fan r34

>>91906008
>There's been PasteBins, AUs, greentexts, etc. There's quite a lot. Some of it's in the non-smut Doc.
Oh, I'm aware of our fanfiction. I'm talking about fanfiction from actual fans of DoA.

Hell, I'll just go check myself...

...Well, FF.net had absolutely zero.
But a Google search shows that in 2010, Willis himself posted two submitted fanfictions as blog posts:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/fanfiction/
>Sweet, my first Dumbing of Age fanfic! And it’s SLASHfic! (Of the PG-13 variety.) That’s the best kind of fic!

Those two fanfictions were posted to a web forum that is now dead. I'll see if I can't scrounge them up regardless.

Otherwise, I found an "excerpt" from an unfinished Homestuck/Dumbing of Age crossover (apparently): http://siddlaw.tumblr.com/post/26598713684/to-not-disappoint-david-willis

There's also this blog which appears to turn DoA into a D&D game: https://questingofage.tumblr.com/

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>>91906008
>maybe move the nose and mouth down to fit the face better.
looks a bit better now
i shoulda done it in the first place, but copy/pasting the face was easier

>>91906325
Found the slash-fic. It's unfinished, and it's Joyce/Billie: https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20110702170503/http://www.blanklabelcomics.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=102
>Sarah cleared her throat. She couldn’t wipe the smirk off of her face though. It shouldn’t have surprised her. Joyce’s very conservative upbringing should have been a tip-off.
>“Good morning Sarah,” Joyce said as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
>“You should really leave a sock on the door next time,” Sarah said pointedly. “I wouldn’t have accidentally barged in, had I known.”

And the second fic, a more tame Sal/Jason story: https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20110702171900/http://www.blanklabelcomics.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=105
>“Ah’ve got a question about the midterm,” Sal drawled as she waltzed into Jason’s office. She looked around, unimpressed with its size of level of clutter.
>“Yes?” Jason said looking up. “Ah, Miss Walkerton. I remember your test well.”
>“Yeah,” Sal said with a frown, sitting herself down on Jason’s desk, much to close for his taste. “Ya must’ve gone through a couple a’ red pens on it.”

Hey, when did Sal and Jason first bone in the comic? This fanfiction is from 2010; the writer may be able to sue for royalties.

>>91906445
I will try to find out!

>>91906445
>>91906889
Found it pretty quickly, actually.

http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/117740291762/head-of-the-class-may-1s-new-dumbing-of-age

About a year or so ago. Willis doesn't include actual dates on his Tumblr posts, but the fanfiction definitely came first.

>>91906889
>>91906932
I meant in the comic itself, but that was linked in the Tumblr post thankfully. Sal and Jason boning dates to 2013.

However, having actually READ the fanfiction, it would appear to actually be tame, with nothing more brazen than kissing the TA. So I guess Willis came up with Sal boning Jason on his own.

>>91907091
They were a couple in the original universe, too, so it's kind of an old ship.

>>91906437
O

>>91902529
friendly reminder that minorities are (barely) human toilets

>>91907702

As opposed to you, who is a COMPLETE human toilet.

>>91907702
That wasn't friendly at all, buddy.

>>91906932
>>91907091
Thing is, though... that fanfic author could sue (and quite possibly win) that Willis had taken their idea and just embellished it. It's why even the authors and creators that encourage fanfic don't ever read any of it and why licensed authors for franchises won't read fan submissions. Ask David Gerrold and Marion Bradly why that is.

Gerrold was a Star Trek writer. He met some fans, one of which started telling him about this awesome idea for a sequel to 'The Trouble with Tribbles'... which is something that Gerrold had already written a script for for TAS. When the episode aired, Gerrold was sued by the fan for stealing his idea. Fortunately, Gerrold could prove that he wrote his script before hearing their idea.

It was worse for Marion Bradly. She welcomed fanfic and even published it in an anthology. One day, one of the submissions she got was very similar to a novel she'd just about finished writing. Unlike Gerrold, she couldn't prove that she hadn't read the fanfic before writing her novel and she was forced to flush a year's work.

If the fanfic author wanted to raise a ruckus, it would be a huge problem for Willis, since he's shown that he was aware of this fanfic before writing the Sal/Jason hookup in DoA. Now, that doesn't mean that he did borrow any ideas from it and the two situations might be completely different... but one miffed fan writer going 'hey, that was my idea!' is all it takes.

>>91907702
>minorities
So you mean white people?

>>91907914
white people aren't a minority

>>91907620
What ISN'T a retread?

Guess we wait for Patranon.

>>91906437
This definitely looks a lot better. I'm really getting tired of the gaping holes that Willis thinks look like noses.

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>>91906437

10/10, that's going on the edits tumblr

>>91905772

/doag/ came up with pic related a while back and it led to a lot of greentext, but that's as far as I know

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>>91910893

the second part of that premise, by the way

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Here ya' go assholes.

>>91910893
Wait, tumblranon? You're still alive?

>>91911206
the gaypron would be funny if it wasnt hard to read and hideous

>>91911220

more or less, yeah. I just stopped 'cause the content well dried up.

>>91911206
>Joyce goes into an overly complicated 'haha, religious people' bit
>Robin's a fucking idiot, and decided to make cupcakes for no fucking reason
>Not only did Leslie apparently wade through a crowd of reporters to and from school without getting mobbed, but she also led Joyce (whose family and church would freak if they saw her in this news story) and Becky (homeless lesbian youth who would not benefit from being part of a political scandal) through a crowd of microphones and cameras.

Wow. I don't even have a snappy remark to make for that.

>>91911206
I still don't understand the LeslieXRobin thing. Robin follows Leslie home for no apparent reason, sleeps in her bed for no apparent reason, and refuses to leave for no apparent reason. I honestly don't know where this is going, because I don't know where it came from.

>>91911328
>(homeless lesbian youth who would not benefit from being part of a political scandal)
Oh yeah, did the local news reach out to her about the whole GUNMAN thing? they should have recognized her if so.

>>91911206

I hate every line in this strip equally and for completely different reasons. It's like a potluck dinner of awful.

>>91911360
>Media is acting as if Robin and Leslie kissed.
>Robin's career is probably over because she works for anti-homo republicans.
>Decides to fucking bother the shit out of Leslie since she's half-responsible for that shit.
>Leslie has now brought a homeless gay teenager into her home to try and force her crush into seeing who she's hurting and maybe turn gay for her.
>The comments section still hates Robin because, surprise surprise, she's a piece of shit.
>Willis completely miscalculated how many people had their nostalgia goggles on when he came up with this plot line and didn't expect Cerberus of all people to be against it.
>In three months time Robin will most likely be gone, and Leslie will either have a new love interest or spend most of her time trying to help Becky.

>>91911206
Oh shit, Willis managed to be somewhat topical instead of dated by adding "fake news".

>>91911360
I don't get it either. Maybe if Willis knew how to pull an absurd plot, but he only has shitty, lazy plot lines in his magician's hat.

>>91911206
>fake news

Timely as ever, Willis.

>>91911206
I can't help but feel that Robin's plot could be a decent tragic story.

>>91911206
I really want Robin to cook me muffins.

>>91911206
How the fuck did Willis forget to include a background (even a flat colour) in panel 4?

>>91911766
Enjoy your diabetes, I guess?

>>91911206
How huge is Leslie's apartment that she couldn't find Robin baking muffins in the kitchen before Joyce and Becky?

Also, reading this comic is agony.

>>91911831
Panel 5 you mean, but good catch anyway. I guess the answer is laziness, and wanting to go fast when making the strips.

>>91911206
And speaking of that panel, I hate when he draws that pose with the closed eyes and the finger pointing upward. I mean I hate it more than the regular poses.

>>91911206
Every panel is a joke, but I'm not laughing.

>>91911564
It would be very tragic if every single thing in that plot line after the scandal erupting wasn't completely retarded. Robin's behavior can only be explained by a brain injury or psychotic break.

>>91911360
>I still don't understand the LeslieXRobin thing. Robin follows Leslie home for no apparent reason, sleeps in her bed for no apparent reason, and refuses to leave for no apparent reason. I honestly don't know where this is going, because I don't know where it came from.
Because Willis says they are the OTP.

>>91911447
>Media is acting as if Robin and Leslie kissed.
They did, off-screen. It apparently was very quick.

>>91911891
Maybe she had to pee? They probably already spoke off-screen in the kitchen.

>>91912015
I think we all know it was both.

>>91911206

There are no rivers in Egypt named "Denial"

Nor anywhere else in the world for that matter.

>>91911206

Leslie?

You can call the police at any time and have her removed. Any time at all.

You've always been able to.

This IS justifiable grounds to do so.

>>91912093
>De Nile

>>91912093
the Nile

>>91912126
>>91912130

That concept of denial and the geographical location The Nile are two entirely unrelated things.

>>91912226
not sure if bait or autism

bautism?

>>91884812

Given her history of proud assholery I really don't give a shit.

People make excuses for that bitch every time she blurts out something cruel, same as with Amber.

>>91912015
>>91912083
>Hey, I know you! You're that girl in Leslie's class who said her parents were Republicans but still made things weird, aren't you?
>You...you remember me?
>Well of course! Just because I've got some shrapnel in my head doesn't mean I'll forgetful.
>You have shrapnel in your head?
>Hell yeah! I spent three years in Iraq, it was pretty great until the IED.
>Oh my God, I'm so sorry.
>It's not so bad, sure sometimes I have a little impulse control issues and that filter between what I think and what I say is kinda...gone and sometimes I catch myself after I've made a mess of things and all I can do is double down on what I've done because I'd rather people be furious at me than give me that look of pity, unease, and contempt when they know that they're dealing with someone whose brain doesn't work right anymore. Great, now you've got me all teary-eyed over nothing.
>It's not nothing, Ms. DeSanto.
>You're nice, but it's stupid to be upset about it. Just because you need someone to constantly keep you focused and you can't write in lower-case letters anymore for God knows why, doesn't mean you get to have a pity party everyday. Mueller and Haynes didn't make it back and Rimes is stuck in that assisted living facility for the rest of his life, what do I have to complain about?
>...Roz?
>I like you, kid. I really do.

>>91900550
Huh.
Pretty good, actually.

>>91912538

Two thumbs up, friendo. I like that. Shame what actually happens won't be half as good.

>>91912701
>Okay, so Tai is dating Marten, correct?
>No, Tai is dating Dora, Marten's ex-girlfriend.
>So who is Marten dating?
>Claire.
>And she's the tranny.
>Tranny is rude, the proper terms are transman and transwoman, but yes, Marten's girlfriend has a penis.

>>91912538
Oh christ, why am I sad now.

>>91912538
>Sad, slow acoustic version of Born in the USA starts playing in the background when Robin starts talking.

>>91911206
I just... idk

>>91912538
This fan theory is a lovely balm to my mind every time this horrible story line shows up in DoA.

>>91911206
"Doesn't at all look or smell like dude" really means "doesn't smell like my dad lives here" because she's only really lived in one space that had a dude in it.

Outside of camp shenanigans which could only feature partially duded rooms.

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>>91911831
For some reason it has his photoshop transparency pattern rather than the actual transparency. All his strips have a transparent panel. though. It's correct on the site.

>>91911206
>It doesn't all look or smell like DUDE

Is she implying that girls wing where Joyce lives smells like that? That there is nasty sex going down all the time? In that regard she's wrong, as the only sex going down there is of the "girl on girl" variety...

>>91915492
Probably just referring to the majority of private residences, with at least one male in the house.

>>91911206
>Oh, great, the journalists are still outside. Just ignore them, you two.
>Ms. Bean! Ms. Bean! Quick question!
>Just ignore them.
>Leslie, are these two of your students?
>Ms. Bean, did you go to campus just to pick these two up?
>Leslie, Leslie! These two girls look familiar. Aren't they the victims involved in the gunman incident a week ago?
>Leslie, what's wrong with the redhead's face?
>Ms. Bean, why are you bringing two girls into your home while you are currently embroiled in a political scandal involving lesbianism?
>Leslie, do you realize the implications this action might have were one or both of these girls' parents watching the news at this very moment?
>Ms. Bean, what's wrong with the redhead's face?
>Leslie, what kind of sick sexual experimentation are you planning on committing with these two innocent virgins?
>Ms. Bean, is it true that Robin has a taffy clit?
>Leslie, for the love of God, what is wrong with the redhead's face?!

It's walky more like it's faggy

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>>91917462

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>>91881870
>from Hell's heart we stab at thee!!
Willis is our white [cishet] whale

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>>91917408
>Any of you guys want a pizza roll?

>>91917408
>green text funnier than actual strip
Well played anon

I have an immense lust for the horse-dicked redhead; how long do I have left before the cancer fully consumes me?

>>91918478
Just stop whining and accept that you care more about a girl's looks than about what's in her pants.

>>91917408
I hope we get a strip of Joyce's parents having simultaneous heart attacks.

>>91918478
>cancer
you're basically dead already, so you may well enjoy what's left

>>91911919
>And speaking of that panel, I hate when he draws that pose with the closed eyes and the finger pointing upward. I mean I hate it more than the regular poses.
In this case, Joyce looks like she's about to sneeze and is holding up a finger to let everyone know to wait a second so she can sneeze.

>>91915731
hashtag most realistic storyline ever

>>91884301
>>91884514
>>91884537
>>91885905
>>91890995
>>91891305
It's obnoxiously clear that both Willis and the commenters don't actually give a shit enough about any social issues to dive deep and learn their complexities; they only care to get a grasp on enough rhetoric to virtue signal and validate themselves. No interest in making an actual difference.

I read a few comments on this strip (I can only stomach so much of that shit) and as far as I can tell, no one is bothered by what Carla said to Ruth, nor the "Howie doesn't know about the penis" joke (if that is indeed what Willis is going for). A group of fans known for going nuclear when characters do "problematic" things ought to be able to recognize these as not unlike what Mary did to Carla, but they're just phoning it in. They're not taking the time to think about these issues, they're just going by what they feel, and so if it's not spelled out for them they won't see anything wrong.

Whatever real benefits social justice might have, these people and thousands more like them are making sure the movement instead flounders pointlessly, or sometimes even moves things in the wrong direction. Not only that, but the sort of person that has no concrete personal philosophy and instead relies on feeling things out is incredibly easy to manipulate, and many of them are being manipulated regularly.

It's infuriating. Perhaps even more as someone who has major depression.

>>91902257
That would be great, except that the corollary to that is that no one is always a bad person. As we see from the way Willis writes the "bad guys," it's clear he doesn't have that kind of nuance. He's an incompetent writer, and as long as he goes on thinking all his critics are just bigots, he'll never improve.

>>91911206
>more of this arc
Shoot me in the fucking face.

>>91918478
Come to think of it, there hasn't been a Welcome to the Fuck Zone issue for Carla, has there?

>>91922183
Got a nice rant about the "you don't look sick" comment here:

http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/sorry-4/#comment-1222070

Seems like a good comment thread. I added to it as well regarding my depression and chronic pain.

I hate this comment:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/sorry-4/#comment-1222111

>Poor Howard. He thinks he finds Carla attractive, but little does he know he’s actually gay.
>(This isn’t a transphobic comment, I’m just pointing out that Howard hasn’t met Jacob, yet.)
>>91922227
There hasn't, nor will there ever be. He is insistent on not revealing what her body looks like, to avoid transphobic comments about pre-op, post-op, no-op, etc.

>>91922227
She's asexual, so Willis will never have to deal with her bits.

"But anon," you wonder, "aren't they just pinups? She doesn't have to be indulging in anything particularly sexual to do an attractive pose." And then you might gesture towards the Marcie, Sal and Jason pinups that feature nudity without any specifically erotic acts.

And to that, I'd say, good point, sounds like referring to her sexuality in the context of not drawing undressed Carla is just a cop out.

He could do one of her from the back/side, like Marcie's one. No genitalia on display, no problemo, right?

>>91922731
>not drawing undressed Carla is just a cop out.
Sure but let's be real, there's no winning if he decides to draw her. If he decided to it's only a matter of who you want to throw a fit.

>>91922834
Because they love to be contrarians, I'm sure people would complain that it would be a cop-out.

Or maybe Willis just can't think of any more poses that can be done from the back or side.

>>91917462
>>91917608
More like It's THE NUTSHACKy

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>>91917408
>Ms. Bean, is it true that Robin has a taffy clit?

>>91922906
I just want some fit Carla exercising, is that too much to ask.

Girlanon has betrayed us and is actually commenting on DoA's main page.

>>91917408
>Ms. Bean, what is wrong with the redhaired girl's faaaaaaaace?

>>91912538
I want to see a version of DoA with co's Interpretations of the characters.
Joyce as she is, maybe a little less internal turmoil.
Becky as she is, but she doesn't get away with it as much.
Billie the battered housewife.
Ruth and Amber as the violent, manipulative villains.
Mary "Deus Vult" Bradford and Sal as the sane ones, and foils to each other.
Walky and Dorothy are secondary characters with a much more minor role, 'cause they're boring

>>91926524
In that case Billie would be equally violent and manipulative, just in a mutually abusive relationship with Ruth. Becky would also have more inner turmoil that bubbles up beneath her exterior. Sal, while sane, would also be more noticeably hypocritical and self-absolving. Joyce and Mary would be the foils to each other, as Joyce would learn to temper her fundamentalism while Mary would retreat into it.

>>91925105
I knew girls couldn't be trusted!

>>91912538
Awwww, man, we will never have nice things.

>>91911206
>maybe it's just a turn of phrase

...this is the smartest thing that she's said. Ever.

>>91927340
Welcome to /doag/, where Willis characters get compelling backgrounds, nuance, and the occasional pathos.

>>91925105
What?

>>91926524
Roz and Mary should definitely be playing off each other more.

>>91931068
They'd probably have a weird sort of friendship.

>>91926524
What about Carla? Does she fuck Mary with her massive dick?

>>91931439
Carla I didn't know how to make her presence acceptable without making her unrecognizable.

>>91925105
>>91927041
>>91928937
What? I posted once earlier and mentioned it (>>91922693). I guess I'll be more consistent about putting a name on here. I felt I should comment on the depression stuff because it's something I feel very strongly about. No need to get dramatic about it.

I commented on the DID stuff, like I said I would. It'll be like another 2 years before I feel compelled to post again.

Breathe, y'all.

>>91931610
Welcome to the world of being a minor, minor internet celebrity, where anyone may find a reason to call you an asshole.

>>91931758
Yayyyy for being almost-not-really-sorta-famous.

>>91931068
I would love to see an arc where they get trapped in a room or elevator together and are forced to reconcile their differences, somehow finding something in common or whatever.

>>91932920
>trapped in a room or elevator together
theyre already roommates, does that not count?

>>91933147
Nah, because they can leave any time. Like when Riley stayed the night, Mary slept elsewhere. It's a lot easier to ignore someone when you know they have to go to class or sleep eventually. Especially since a lot of Roz's hanky-panky generally takes place elsewhere.

>>91931846
didn't call you an asshole. I just asked a question.

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>>91933475
That was really strange. Also, Mary hating Riley for no reason was really weird. Like, she has so many reasons to dislike people, surely Willis could've made Riley trip one of those markers. Technically the one she fell into is "all DeSantos are terrible monsters," but she could've just said anime is bad or something.

>>91933836
just accept that your waifu is a shit person

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In this latest strip, I guess Becky has a place to live now?

>>91934340
>Becky slowly turns into a wookie by panel 5

>>91934340
Well at least ONE other adult is aware of just who Becky is...

I suppose by Willis standards that's...progress?

>>91934423

Holy shit, I didn't even notice that Becky's hair had gotten that bad. It's like her head is turning but her hair keeps staying in the same position. It's fucking unnerving.