History Webcomic / DumbingOfAge

** [[spoiler:In the flashback, "And then Dana's mother died. Breast cancer.]] Suddenly Sarah's junkie roommate just got a ''lot'' more sympathetic.

** Walky teases Billie about hooking up with Sal [[http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-2/01-pajama-jeans/gross/ after she defensively tells Joyce that she'd "sooner do his sister" than him.]] [[WebcomicTime Days later Billie gets drunk and hits on Sal]] (though this is verging on a [[FunnyAneurysmMoment Funny Aneurysm moment]] given her [[DudeNotFunny obviously worsening alcoholism]]).

** Blaine O'Malley. His appearance in DOA is much more direct than in ''Shortpacked'', his abuse is given more onscreen development, he kidnaps Danny to lure his daughter out, and his emotional abuse of his wife is upgraded to both emotional and physical. [[spoiler: And then he orchestrates the kidnapping of a good portion of the cast, murders Ross for disobeying orders, and then plans to kill his other conspirators, and potentially his hostages, to cover it up.]]

** While [[https://www.dumbingofage.com/2022/comic/book-12/03-trial-and-sarah/bothnaked/ guilt tripping]] [[spoiler: over just having sex with Dina]] Becky imagines God showing up waving a big wooden spoon.

* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: After [[spoiler: Walky and Sal's parents confront the Browns [[https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/04-is-a-song-forever/maniac/ over their church bailing out Ross]] who went on to abduct ''multiple'' college students after shooting up the school]], Carol's defense is "He didn't shoot anybody."[[note]]This may be even worse than it seems, in that Carol might not have missed the point, she just didn't think it was an ''important'' point, that she might think that Ross was ''justified'' in what he did[[/note]]

** Dina has [[https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-11/02-look-straight-ahead/gestalt/ strong opinions]] on which cereals may be combined based on their milk absorbtion, specificaly referencing Cap'n Crunch. This is a sideways reference to the "Soggies may rule" finale of ''Shortpacked'' [[spoiler: in which Walkyverse Dina made an unexpected return]].

** PlayedForLaughs in Book 10, where [[spoiler: Blaine is chasing Mike when both are on electric scooters. [[SmugSmuke Blaine]] tries to be menacing by suggesting that Mike won't even make it to the woods he's trying to escape to, only for Mike to point out that they're using the same scooters, and thus have the same top speeds.]]

** It's not one for the characters, but Walky casually mentioning [[spoiler: "My roommate died."]] abruptly informs the audience that [[spoiler: Mike ultimately did not survive his coma.]]

--->'''Joyce''': The doctor...gave me a referral? To get, um, diagnosed?...[[spoiler: for autism?]]

* WrongInsultOffence: {{Invoked}} and {{Defied}} out-of-universe; the forum guidelines specifically discourage commentors from making Catholic jokes at Joyce's offense, as [[spoiler: until Book 11]] she is an ''evangelical''.

** Joyce's [[https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/03-see-you-in-the-funny-page/prequel/ idea]] is a college prequel to her space opera stories, which is basically ''Roomies''/this very strip in relation to ''It's Walky''.

* SelfDeprecation: In a Patreon strip, Joyce gives Dina's ''Roommates!!!'' counterpart the PunnyName Cerie because she loves cereal. Sarah complains that this seems reductive, which is Willis criticising his own creation of characters like Leslie Bean the lesbian and, yes, Dina Sarazu/aruyama the dinosaur fan.

** Both Becky and Joyce are in the process of breaking away from Christian fundamentalist upbringings to more broad-minded world-views, making friends with non-fundamentalist fellow college students in the process, which leads to serious friction with their still-fundamentalist families. Whereas Joyce is on a long, hard path of change, so that her relationship with her family is merely difficult and complicated, Becky breaks away radically, coming out as lesbian and abandoning creationism — to which her father responds by bringing a ''shotgun'' to the college. [[http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/startreks/ Becky ends up more or less invoking the trope.]]

* {{Foil}}: Almost all of the room-mate pairs are foils for each other in some way, starting with [[ThePollyanna Joyce]] and [[JadeColouredGlasses Sarah]].

* SelfDeprecation: In a Paetron strip, Joyce gives Dina's ''Roommates!!!'' counterpart the PunnyName Cerie because she loves cereal. Sarah complains that this seems reductive, Willis criticising his own creation of characters like Leslie Bean the lesbian and, yes, Dina Sarazu/aruyama the dinosaur fan.

** According to Mike's [[CharacterBlog Twitter]], his turn-ons are [[http://www.joyceandwalky.com/d/20020511.html hats]], [[http://www.shortpacked.com/2005/comic/book-2-pulls-the-drama-tag/01-addicted/iloveyoumaggie/ strong tempers]], and [[RefugeInAudacity fuckable moms on the brink of death]], referencing Mike's romantic relationships in It's Walky! and Shortpacked!

*** Her [[https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/03-see-you-in-the-funny-page/betty/ first strip]] is directly based on the [[http://www.itswalky.com/comic/and-now/ first strip]] of ''Roomies,'' right down to the first word balloon extending past the panel's right edge.

** Dorothy wants to be President of the USA one day, and is working hard toward this goal. Almost too hard, she is neglecting meals and actively trying to cut back her social life to spend more time working. However, as she discovers, politics isn't just hard work; it ''literally'' is a popularity contest, and not being likeable/popular or not being charasmatic enough to make friends quickly and easily is a death sentence for a career as a political candidate.

* IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow: "[[http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/02-choosing-my-religion/notsure/ Jour]][[http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/02-choosing-my-religion/journalism/ nalism]]". [[spoiler:Subverted as Danny rejected Billie's sexual advances and never did have sex with her.]]

* SexSignalsDeath: Conversed [[http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/intent/ here.]]

* DeathBySex: Conversed [[http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/intent/ here.]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees: A good indication of whether or not something in the comic relating to Joyce is based on Willis' autobiographical experience is whether or not someone claims it's too dumb to be real. Such as Willis relating in one comic that he learned about firebreathing dinosaurs as a kid... or, perhaps as the best example, ''Hymmel the Humming Hymnal'' is based on the very real ''[[Music/KidsPraise Psalty the Singing Songbook]]''. Cue [=YouTube=] comments expressing disbelief that it actually exists (that and "Oh God, what did I just watch?").
* AmbiguousDisorder:
** Dina. Many readers have speculated whether she has Aspergers Syndrome given her obsessive interest in dinosaurs, social problems, frequent lack of expression, and various other traits. David Willis has gone on record saying that she has not been [[ShrugOfGod diagnosed with anything]], later admitting that she probably does have Aspergers.
** Ruth shows many of the traits of Anti-Social Personality Disorder. Her low threshold for frustration, violence, impulsiveness, criminal behavior (assault, drinking, etc.), abusive behavior towards Billie (someone she ''likes''), etc. are all major red flags. Not to mention it's been implied (and now directly shown that) her grandfather is abusive...

** Also, in [[http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/theplural/ this strip,]] Joe, despite usually being a Jerkass, gives a surprisingly thoughtful defense for drinking. He reasons that if he’s old enough to die for his country, he should be old enough to ‘get a little sloshed.’ Considering this is the argument that got the voting age moved to 18, he has a very valid point.

*** Another Paetron strip riffs on a ''Roomies'' strip in which Danny ignores Joe's GirlOfTheWeek, with Julia ignoring Doris claiming that a character based on Walky is going to be her Vice-President.

* BroadStrokes: Willis stated at Anime Fest 2010 (where the comic was unveiled) that he plans to write the characters so that they are up to date with the other continuities. For example, Joyce starts off with the same level of maturity she had gained at the end of IW! (thanks to not having been abducted and actually having a friend her own age), and Ethan came out some time in high school. This is so that he doesn't have to cover the same character arcs that people have already read.

* WorldOfJerkass: One of the core elements of Dumbing of Age is the characters' growth and all the implications it has on their lives. As such, while most of them have the potential to grow, a large portion of the cast either is a jerk to begin with, goes through an asshole phase, or demonstrates how mean they can be in certain occasions. With just the main characters in Read Hall: Clark Wing, you have an InnocentBigot with a subtle superiority complex about her faith (Joyce), an antisocial misanthrope (Sarah), a proudly obnoxious AttentionWhore (Carla), an aloof and rude loner (Sal), a wrathful and violent vigilante ([[spoiler:Amber/Amazi-Girl]]), a self-righteous condescending activist (Roz), an abrasive former AlphaBitch (Billie), a self-destructive tyrant (Ruth), and a thoughtless and surprisingly manipulative loudmouth (Becky). And each of them is far from being the worst of the cast (hell, they're not even [[BrutalHonesty the worst]] of [[ManipulativeBastard the good guys]]).

* WorldOfJerkass: One of the core elements of Dumbing of Age is the characters' growth and all the implications it has on their lives. As such, while most of them have the potential to grow, a large portion of the cast either is a jerk to begin with, goes through an asshole phase, or demonstrates how mean they can be in certain occasions. With just the main characters in Read Hall: Clark Wing, you have an InnocentBigot with a subtle superiority complex about her faith (Joyce), an antisocial misanthrope (Sarah), a proudly obnoxious AttentionWhore, an aloof and rude loner (Sal), a wrathful and violent vigilante ([[spoiler:Amber/Amazi-Girl]]), a self-righteous condescending activist (Roz), an abrasive former AlphaBitch (Billie), a self-destructive tyrant (Ruth), and a thoughtless and surprisingly manipulative loudmouth. And each of them is far from being the worst of the cast (hell, they're not even [[BrutalHonesty the worst]] of [[ManipulativeBastard the good guys]]).

* RiddleForTheAges: It never was revealed just who leaked Joe's 'Do-List'.

* WebcomicTime: Possibly one of the worst offenders of all time. As of December 2011, the strip had been running for roughly a year, and the amount of time that had passed was from Monday to ''Sunday.'' By the strip's second anniversary, it had managed to cover eight more days... but only by {{Time Skip}}ing four of them. Finally, in celebration of the strip's ''tenth'' anniversary, the characters entered their second semester... by skipping another ''three months''. At current velocities, Willis will need to live past his 100th birthday if he wants to see Joyce graduate.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: [[spoiler:Joyce and Becky's argument in Book 12, as conceded by the reader poll. On Becky's end, Joyce made fun of her faith behind her back and lied to her about still believing, so her anger at catching Joyce in the act is understandable. On Joyce's end, the whole reason she stopped believing in Christianity is because of how much suffering it caused both of them, and she can't understand why Becky would still affiliate herself with a group that actively persecutes LGBTQ+ people - even more so, as Becky specifically ''is'' one of the people who has been persecuted, to the point her life was in danger.]]

* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: After [[spoiler: Walky and Sal's parents confront the Browns [[https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/04-is-a-song-forever/maniac/ over their church bailing out Ross]] who went on to abduct ''multiple'' college students after shooting up the school]], Carol's defense is "He didn't shoot anybody."