243

The most pretty
Posted on May 7, 2021 by David M Willis
The second bonus strip of the month has Carla!  And Joyce, but Joyce has been showing up plenty in these bonus strips recently, so CARLA.  Carla Carla Carla Carla.  All Patrons can read this super extra bonusy strip now over at the Dumbing of Age Patreon! And remember, you can always pledge up to read tomorrow's strip today!

243 thoughts on “The most pretty”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    strip tease tease

    1. Ana Chronistic

      It is *12:01* server

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        Yeah the server’s time is clearly off. It seems to get farther away every week.

        1. Wagstaff

          Well, no implement of timekeeping is perfect. Did you know that every year our orbit around the sun takes 5 more nanoseconds?

        2. AbacusWizard

          *gasp* Five extra nanoseconds? In MY orbit??

        3. Jhon

          And that’s on a good year.

      2. Demoted Oblivious

        Yes. YES…. let us all clamor for the server time to be corrected.

        That said, the webserver for the comic releases the new comic at damn near exactly midnight, so I don’t think it’s the webservers’ clock that is out. The comments’ time has been pretty solidly reading 5 minutes off(fast/later) for months. (at least as long as I’ve been monitoring it.) My suspicion is that the comment server or it’s database backend server is what has the wrong time. It does have a reasonably up to date dst table, since the times stayed consistently wrong during spring ahead and last years fallback. However, it clearly doesn’t have NTP or time-sync enabled since the clock has been remaining 5 mins out.

        And no, I don’t actually care over much if it gets fixed, but I have no other value to provide. So I share the observation. If it’s a choice between pretending I can support Willis via slipshine and getting new comics, or demanding the clock be fixed, well, my vote is for the clock to remain wrong.

        1. Clif

          You could always say something deep, but unrelated. You know, like “You can take the girl out of the Sunday school, but you can’t make her drink.”

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          I could, but this thread was about the server time. Although Sunday school is chronometrically related. Umm… you can take the girl out of daylight saving time, but she’ll still be early for sunday school because her watch is 5 minutes fast.

    2. Yotomoe

      Is there a niche for strip teases that are only teases because the person doing the stripping is too shy to go through with it. Like less of a “hehe I’m teasing you” and more of a “alright, any moment now I’ll finally take this shirt off I promise. No no, don’t worry I can do this. heeeere we go.”

      1. NotThatDrew

        Probably. Let me do some quick searching
        *runs to Google*

        Yep, it’s a thing. There’s plenty of “educational” videos

        1. NotThatDrew

          Definitely gotta sort through a metric ton of the standard porn to find it though

        2. Jhon

          You could have warned us.

      2. RowenMorland

        That’s like 60-80% of El Goonish Shive.

    3. Demoted Oblivious

      You can do it Becky! Get those ttfo! (but only because you want to, and not if you don’t!)

      Also, you may want to talk about dinosaur facts and evolution to further put Dina in the mood. Ooh. Maybe draw them on your body, for Dina to explore , excavate and discover like a field paleontologist.

      1. Yotomoe

        Becky doing a sexy strip tease and every inch of her body has a different obscure dinosuar fact written on it in marker.

        1. Miri

          Dina slowly stripping her off and writing obscure dinosaur facts all over her…

        2. Needfuldoer

          Or just go all-in on the roleplay and completely paint herself to resemble a dinosaur. Dina can help strike a balance between scientific accuracy and artistic license. (There probably aren’t too many woman-shaped dinosaurs, so they’ll just have to work with what they have. Oh no.)

          Dina might not let her shower it off for a couple days, but I’m sure she can Austin Powers her way through those chapters.

        3. Demoted Oblivious

          Now I’m seeing Becky dressing all ‘sexy-like’ in one of those wacky t-rex outfits that everyone is running around youtube in.

        4. Clif

          You said that, and yet you didn’t include a link.

        5. Delicious Taffy

          There oughtta be a law.

        6. Demoted Oblivious

          Ughh.. FINE! a link about a t-rex running around on youtube 😉

        7. Needfuldoer

          Inflatable T. Rex costumes don’t help Becky’s need to feel physically desirable, though.

        8. Demoted Oblivious

          au contraire

        9. Opus the Poet

          Except most of those are sexy Godzilla costumes (or stegasaurus, it’s difficult to tell them apart)

        10. Demoted Oblivious

          There’s even a boudiour photo shoot.

        11. Jhon

          ^^^

        12. DanSantos

          My hero!

    4. Reltzik

      Striptease tease strip.

      1. Opus the Poet

        I already pay $10 a month, do it already!

  2. RassilonTDavros

    Please tell me this isn’t about to end in tears

    1. RassilonTDavros

      Like, the tension is really coming to a head here. I feel like this storyline is either going to end in a breakup or a Slipshine.

      1. Sunny

        Por que no los dos?

    2. Demoted Oblivious

      This has an indeterminate likelihood of not ending in tears.

      1. Wagstaff

        “The suspense is horrible…. I hope it lasts.”

        -Willy Wonka

    3. Keulen

      I’m hoping it ends ok, but I’m definitely worried that it’ll end in Becky and Dina breaking up.

  3. Audkitten

    Poor Becky. Someone needs to tell her what asexuality is ☹️

    1. Doctor_Who

      She showed confusion about bisexuality too if I recall. Her education in this area has been lacking.

      1. Regalli

        Yeah, but understandably so. Remember that her first cell phone was acquired after the first kidnapping. Poor kid probably didn’t have any computer time that was unsupervised, either. (Maybe at college, but I’m betting those terms of use login pages would keep her wary. Becky managed to avoid detection long enough I suspect she was pretty careful except for the Impulsive Kaitlin Makeout.)

    2. AlexanderHammil

      Someone did! https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/03-see-you-in-the-funny-page/doomed/

      1. Twig the Troll

        Becky is definitely struggling somewhat with how a relationship between an allosexual person and an ace-spec person can work, but, honestly it also seems like she’s doing better than some people might. I mean, it does worry me that Becky’s questioning if the lack of sexual attraction means this won’t work out, even though the romantic attraction and love and care and commitment is still definitely there on both sides, and Dina’s even totally willing to have sex if/when Becky wants to. But I like that Becky doesn’t exactly seem to consider this a problem with Dina herself, and that she’s even questioned “am I bein’ a jerk for wantin’ somethin’ from her she can’t give?” I think there’s really only a couple steps for Becky to take to see how this can still work out. Might need a little bit of help getting there, but I think she can.

    3. woobie

      Someone like Dina, maybe.

    4. RowenMorland

      It would probably be better for Dina to either get to tell her how she identifies, or for the two of them to explore it together. Becky getting given something that might just be gold star check list or a reason to define Dina without actually talking to her about it would be about as useful as Dorothy trying to give Danny an intro to bisexuality or maybe Ruth and Joyce’s talk about sexuality.

  4. Sirksome

    Becky should start doing crunches. Maybe Dina’s into abs and middrift is Sunday school approved!

    1. NotThatDrew

      Well, that depends on which sect of Christianity you belong to. Somehow I doubt Joyce & Becky’s church view midriff as anything less than an gateway to premarital hanky panky

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Literally every christian church prominently features a dude bearing his midriff. He also spreads his hands and even his arms to show you how well he’s hung. It’s like their main thing.

        1. DinaJoyce

          Actually most protestant churches don’t depict the cross with Jesus on it. That’s a Catholic/Orthodox thing. Protestants depict it empty to show the significance of the resurrection together with the crucifixion.

          Also double standards for guys and all. I definitely played youth group beach volleyball games where the guys were all shirtless but any girl with a two piece suit had to have a shirt on over it.

        2. Needfuldoer

          I think Joyce brought that specific point up to Jacob once, maybe after they went to the Episcopal service together?

        3. Demoted Oblivious

          Don’t go throwing around your facts. We’re talking about religion. I want to believe there are giant sexy jesus’ in every christian church.

          I mean, I’ve heard that women find him super sexy. Something about him being hung like this: (spreads my arms straight out to each side)

        4. Jhon

          Around here we call that T-posing, stranger.

        5. Demoted Oblivious

          Or did you mean that the don’t show the rest of his corporeal form and instead just focus on showing off his giant wood?!

    2. Yotomoe

      Don’t you dare make me think of Becky with Abs. I can only take so much.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Becky with ABS, forward collision warning, and free 6 months’ trial subscription to SiriusXM.

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          No dual airbags? Or was that fruit hanging too low-brow?

        2. Delicious Taffy

          If Sirius is involved, there’s a severe risk of Blue Collar Radio, so the floor for low-brow is already subterranean.

      2. Deanatay

        You know how to release that tension, Yoto.

        Get to drawing!!

  5. Gon

    Well, here come the waterworks

  6. Wagstaff

    Fight back Becky! You can resist the Sunday school!

    1. Bicycle Bill

      Darth Becky:  “The Force is strong with this one…”

  7. Stephen Bierce

    *plays “I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On” on the hacked Muzak*

  8. Brasca1

    I’m so starved for something new on Slipshine I’ll take this.

    1. Doctor_Who

      “Becky Performs 1/32nd of a Striptease”: It’s too hot for Sunday School!

      1. Wizard

        Good Christian Girls Gone (very slightly) Wild!

      2. Keulen

        Becky Exposes Part of Her Midriff: A Dumbing of Age (Almost) Pornographique

    2. Wagstaff

      People who are really starving seldom stop after an appetizer.

    3. Opus the Poet

      If it’s that bad I suggest Cafe Les Beans.

  9. Kyrik Michalowski

    Come on Becky, find that courage inside you. I’m definitely not in favor of this for my own satisfaction or anything. *cough*

    But we’re still taking bets on how long before she caves, and on whether Joyce or Becky will do the horizontal tango first.

    1. Thag Simmons

      It’s Becky

      She’s in an actual romantic relationship that has lasted multiple books and is also excessively horny

      1. Doctor_Who

        Joyce is too, but she works it out in her Julia Gray stories. Also, she has dispensed with religion, so that’s not holding her back any more.

        But yeah, unless something really unexpected happens with Jacob or Joe, she doesn’t really have any obvious candidates to give into her primal instincts with. She didn’t even seem particularly fazed by Walky’s new hotness, even though she can see now. So Becky’s the probable winner in this race.

        Mind you, if it was a question of which one is gonna discover “self-love” first, I’d give Joyce the edge.

        1. Thag Simmons

          Becky is excessively and openly horny. Joyce is still kinda trying to hide it

        2. Regalli

          I’d say repress it, even more than hide it. Stuff all the bad thoughts into a little box and then set that box on fire, and ta-da! She is a good little Christian girl (but one who is okay with gayness and being a cool lady fighter pilot whose best friend is the President and also an atheist, but still DEFINITELY feels God when she prays and DEFINITELY ALWAYS DID, lalala!) once more.

        3. RacingTurtle

          I thought you were going to do a strikeout thing where Joyce is a good little Christian atheist girl, since she’s suppressing the atheism only in public, while I suspect she’s still trying to suppress the horny even in the privacy of her own head

        4. Regalli

          I’m not sure Joyce has come to terms entirely with the atheism yet, either – she’s getting better about it, but it also seems to scare her to really acknowledge it. (At least as the word atheist explicitly.) So there’s still seemed to be some denial there.

        5. Spencer

          My take on Joyce is that she doesn’t believe in God and feels she never heard his voice, but is still inundated with her fundie beliefs that she’s going to start evolving out of.

          Becky herself broke away where it matters most (Of course God doesn’t hate me for being gay, he made me gay!), but as much as she tries to be an unflappable rebel she still bought into as hard as Joyce did and is now chafing under it in different ways.

        6. Regalli

          Yep!

        7. Seregiel

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAhh5pQyFxU

          If you feel depressed and misunderstood… what ya gonna do? Repress it!

        8. Roborat

          I think both of them should definitely do some self-loving, it would take the edge off for them, at the very least.

  10. Thag Simmons

    Well, points for trying

  11. NotThatDrew

    Stay strong Becky! The chains of Sunday school cannot hold you back forever!

    1. Wagstaff

      “Freedom can only come from a mind made free… this is where the liberal arts get their name.”

      – J.S. Mill

  12. Shitbird

    So Dina has shown definite interest in sex with Becky, who has if they could wait. Dina respected Becky’s wishes, and now Becky is upset because she feels she can’t seduce her girlfriend physically, which she can? I’m confused at the problem it seems it could be easily solved with a conversation about now wanting and being ready for sex and intimate physical affection might be a way to ease into that?

    1. Nayann Martinelli

      I mean, the alt text basically tells us what the problem is

      1. Wagstaff

        That’s interesting.

        I mean, “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make ’em drink it.”

        Now, why would a horse want to avoid water?

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          Not thirsty. Contaminated. Delusionally dehydrated. It’s not a horse. It’s not water. It’s a hobbyhorse. Or saw-horse, or pommel horse.

        2. King Daniel

          The horse is imaginary. The water is imaginary. The horse and water are both imaginary.

        3. I am Nothing

          The horse died and the water dried up years ago.

          I know it’s hard King Daniel, but you have to let go. It wasn’t your fault.

        4. Demoted Oblivious

          But does the imaginary horse imagine the water, or the imaginary water imagine the horse? Ouroboros.

        5. Clif

          The imaginary worme swallowing it’s own imaginary tail.

        6. StClair

          but does it have a name?

        7. Alan in DC

          It does now: “Elmer’s”.

        8. Demoted Oblivious

          I laughed hard enough my son complained I was disrupting his school. (still on lockdown here).

        9. Regalli

          Seriously this whole little thread’s a delight but that one’s just gold.

      2. NotThatDrew

        Yeah. Hell, I went to a waaaay more liberal church than what Becky and Joyce grew up with, and it still took me about a year and a half after starting college to grow comfortable around even the tamest of sexual situations

    2. Regalli

      1) Becky does not understand asexuality, due to lack of exposure (due to fundie upbringing among other things). Even if she did, plenty of people who know vaguely that asexuality exist fail to recognize that it’s a spectrum and that sexual attraction is different from ‘willingness, or indeed even active desire to have sex.’

      2) Again due to fundie upbringing, Becky’s ideas about sexual desire are that lust is all-consuming and ever-tempting, but must be resisted outside a church-sanctioned union or else Satan will claim your soul. Especially for The Womenfolk, who are considered property of a nearby man – having sex with anyone other than your Inevitable Godfearing Husband devalues you in the eyes of the church, and also God. (Becky’s managed to shake the heteronormativity off and keep faith, but she clearly still has hangups about sex all the same.)

      3) Becky also REALLY REALLY WANTS to have sex. But acting on that desire would of course be Bad, and honestly she isn’t really supposed to have Lustful Thoughts in the first place because that would also probably devalue her in the eyes of God etc. However, if her awesome atheist girlfriend is also overcome with lust, and they just happen to act on it because they can’t contain their sexy sexy passion, then that’s not really her fault and that makes it okay, right?

      Subpoint to the last two: I’ve heard from other aces who live in more aggressively religious settings, including some in the comments here, that apparently the same religious people talking about the perils of lust get all aggrieved and irritated if you say ‘oh that’s no problem I don’t want to have sex anyway.’ How dare you! That is defying God’s plan to get married and have Proper Christian Children! Clearly you just haven’t met the right person yet anyway and basically it’s not just the Not Having Sex, it’s the WANTING to have sex but resisting that is also a key element of this dynamic. Probably in part because kids will get married much sooner if they want to have sex and this is the only community-sanctioned way.

      4) Becky thinks Dina’s hot, because Dina’s her awesome girlfriend and she loves her. If Dina doesn’t think Becky’s hot, then maybe she’s failed as a girlfriend. How can someone love her who isn’t barely fighting off their own constant, nearly-overpowering sinful urges? Worth noting that Dina’s Becky’s first crush who hasn’t rejected her for not finding Becky attractive (Joyce) or being pressured and painting Becky as the ‘bad influence’ that led her astray when caught and threatened* (Kaitlin the ex-roommate.) So there’s some personal hangups there as well, and even if Becky and Dina proceed to have a mature conversation about all of the other issues that particular point could well be a sticking one for Becky due to the disaster that was her coming out.

      * Threat of expulsion at minimum, most likely, but I suspect that if Kaitlin hadn’t flipped, her parents would also be thinking of ways to ‘fix’ her gayness a la Toedad. Hopefully not with a gun, but like. It would not be a good experience.

      1. BBCC

        We saw Kaitlin in the patreon strips. She seems pretty miserable, the poor thing.

        1. Regalli

          Seriously. I wish that girl one day finds the support network necessary to come out and tell her parents to go fuck themselves if they have a problem with it.

        2. BBCC

          I like to believe they saw Toedad on the news and did a 180 on their shit. They may not be perfect but they are willing to try now. Because holy fuck, I want things to improve for Kaitlyn.

        3. Regalli

          Unfortunately she’d probably still be at Anderson for the time being, and the school definitely appeared to have an institutionally-enforced closet (which is a thing at some real-world religious schools, as well,) but maybe they’re arranging a transfer. That would be nice. Ten years from now Season Three of Dumbing of Age will kick off with her and Dana rooming together across the hall from our protagonists, for maximum awkward, and we’ll get to hear how they’ve been doing since their roles in other people’s backstories were fulfilled.

        4. Regalli

          … Just realized that first sentence implied Anderson doesn’t actually exist. To clarify: Institutionally-enforced closet, definitely not a thing Willis made up for drama.

        5. BBCC

          Yep, Anderson is Title IX exempt. I choose to believe her parents will let her leave and attend elsewhere.

        6. RassilonTDavros

          Personally, I would love to see those two in Season 3. I’ve wanted to see Dana’s return pretty much since we got Sarah’s origin story, and it’d be interesting to see how she’d react to the bitter rivalry that Sarah and Raidah developed in her absence. Not sure what I would do with Kaitlyn- I haven’t read the Patreon stuff so I don’t know her current situation. I wonder if Becky would have any lingering resentment over her selling her out.

          The biggest thing I’d look forward to in a Season 3 is Howard going to college— not because I particularly like him as a character, but because having him out from under Clint’s thumb shifts the Ruth-Gramps power dynamic ever so slightly away from the old bastard. (Unless he forces Howard to wait a year just to fuck with Ruth, which is admittedly his M.O.)

        7. Regalli

          There was only the one Patreon strip with her, not a running subplot, IIRC. So it would be interesting in that it’s entirely new ground, but not because it’s a sudden shakeup to an existing subplot.

          Howard would be excellent. Faz would likely also be there for narrative convenience, and I’d really like to know how he’s doing post-Blaine, but since Sir is still an ongoing issue so yeah, that would change things up a lot in Ruth’s ongoing issues.

    3. Sam

      Becky wants to feel physically attractive. She is using an unhealthy but not uncommon metric for people insecure about themselves who want to reassure themselves: whether she can arouse her partner and have them lust for her.

      Which is an unhealthy metric because it relies on outside validation and if inconsistent, e.g. if partner is sick or tired and therefore is less capable of being lustful, then the confidence said person has is often inconsistent and goes up and down with their partner’s lust level. It doesn’t become true confidence as the insecurity is still there and not actually addressed for what it is.

      Which is further reinforced by Becky’s upbringing which basically went ‘you must be fighting off the lust all the time’ so somewhat selfishly to reassure herself, Becky also wants to arouse Dina… so that Dina has to resist lust like she does.

    4. zee

      Along with the great comments above, it’s pretty normal for an allosexual person to want their partner to be sexually attracted to them. Especially in Becky’s case where she faced a traumatic rejection due to Joyce being straight (as far as we know for now) she very likely has hangups around not being sexually attractive to women
      And at the end of all that, she’s like 18 what do you expect, consistent rationality? She’s 18 and knew nothing about the lgbt+ spectrum except L and g, only learned about b a few months ago, might not know much about t and definitely doesn’t know anything about the +. Cut her some slack, the girl is in insecure uncharted water

      1. Regalli

        Yep! Also all true.

  13. Yotomoe

    https://imgur.com/a/5WeFPEc
    Somewhat comic relevant but I doodled this. I honestly was gonna take a break tonight but this sorta happened. I thin I’ll take a break after this though.

    1. NotThatDrew

      *Insert George Takei “oh my” here*

    2. Doctor_Who

      How did you draw the inside of Becky’s mind?

      1. Yotomoe

        It wasn’t too hard to figure out :P. Except there’d be more bibles I’m sure.

        1. Deanatay

          It would explain why their cooches are all covered with passages from Leviticus…

    3. Bagge

      Uh oh! Missed a spot

    4. Wagstaff

      Dina doesn’t use contractions. But besides that, good work!

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        well maybe Becky’s mental projection of Dina uses contractions

        1. Wagstaff

          How could you be so sure this is a mental projection?

        2. King Daniel

          Because even if Joyce does turn out to be bi, she’s made it very clear she isn’t attracted to Becky?

        3. Yotomoe

          I’ll confirm this is meant to be a Becky Fantasy. As Daniel said Joyce probably isn’t into Becky even if she IS bi, and even if she was bi and was into her that doesn’t mean both her AND Dina would be up for sharing. I mean to be fair Becky might not be either in a real life context, but in a fantasy it might be a fun idea.

      2. Yotomoe

        I hope I was fired for that blunder!

        1. Wagstaff

          Regardless, your best work has yet to come!

        2. He Who Abides

          I’m sure that you can find it in your heart to forgive yourself.

      3. Delicious Taffy

        Nah, she does it occasionally. Early on, she was contractionating unprovoked, and she had a talk with Sarah about the subject slightly less early. It’s just very rare, is all.

    5. Miri

      <3

    6. Mravac Kid

      I see the fanartings are slowly beginning to approach the levels of inappropriateness once rampant in the It’s Walky! forums. 🙂

    7. Yotomoe

      I wonder if it’s become apparent that I always draw Dina rubbing her hair on Becky. Given the context I find that unexpectedly naughty.

    8. Rabisch

      What a nice, extremely happy, Becky ♡♡♡.

  14. Yotomoe

    Offhand, Lemme just say, getting flashed by someone is like…the best way to see boobs. Like if someone’s just topless it’s sexy but there’s something about the deliberateness of pulling up your shirt to explicitly show somebody your bits that just gives the gesture so much more POWER.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Toplessness can be considered passive, a sort of “Yeah, it’s all out. So what?” state of being.

      Flashing demonstrates intent. It says “I want you to look.”, in a way that’s hard to argue with.

      1. StClair

        well said.

      2. Yotomoe

        EXACTLY. Intent is SO sexy. “I don’t care if you see” and “I want you to see” are two completely different vibes. (Honestly why when I’m looking for lewd stuff I always try to look for stuff with seduction or stripteases because the most fun part of it for me is the moment when the clothes come off.)

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          Yes. This. I find porn boring because there is no seduction in it. Bikinis that are too small are less sexy than a design that hints you -might- see something. No criticism for those that enjoy it, it’s just not my ball of yarn.

          You are doing truly divine work Yoto. My dark thoughts ask, does your work drive more people to Willis’ ‘shines, or does it slake the thirst of those that may be driven to subscribe? I’m guessing the former, but I worry it’s the latter.

        2. Delicious Taffy

          To answer your dark thoughts solely for myself; As a capital-P Pervert, Yoto’s art and Willis’s Slipshines satisfy separate but equal varieties of thirst. The Slipshines have a more… official comic book feeling to them, comparable to what we in southern Illinois call “Mom’s cookin'”, meal-wise. Yoto’s art, in this comparison, is more like a favorite takeout meal. It’s tasty and satisfies a more immediate urge in a way that cooking for myself just ain’t gonna match. I wouldn’t place either above the other or say that one draws me toward the other, but I’m also that one fatass who will 100% eat at Mom’s and then DoorDash some Chinese in the same night. Does that make sense?

        3. Delicious Taffy

          Fuck, now I’m hungry.

        4. Demoted Oblivious

          And I’m worried I’m going to get titilated the next time I open my refrigerator.

        5. Roborat

          Just keep your titils clear of the door.

        6. Demoted Oblivious

          So … it’s the image equivalent of a comestible orgy? Or an orgasm equivalent of gastronimically getting off?

        7. Delicious Taffy

          It’s like one of those restaurants that have a dedicated menu along with the buffet, plus also the staff are all dressed like sexy librarians.

        8. Jhon

          We should do Arby’s sometime.

        9. Delicious Taffy

          Damn, I could fuck up a gyro though.

        10. Yotomoe

          I could too. That’s because I don’t know how to make them.

        11. Opus the Poet

          Gyros are just bland tacos with bland meat (non-hot spicy) and pita bread instead of soft tortilla.

        12. Yotomoe

          Who knows! I doubt my low quality scribblings are inspiring anyone to keep a death grip on their wallet if they weren’t already planning on not purchasing them. Especially cuz there’s hardly any sex. If anything all I draw are appetizers. Because I find foreplay WAY hotter than the part where fucking happens.

        13. Needfuldoer

          “Low quality scribblings”

          Malarkey. Every single one is a gift.

  15. Nayann Martinelli

    I am pretty sure that Becky’s Sunday school would consider her bare midriff to be too sexy to be Jesus approved.
    Maybe tell Dina that people who are into magical thinking would be appalled by her 1/9th of nakedness, see if that gets her going.

  16. PB

    Please have a conversation about this where Becky actually listens

    1. Regalli

      Lord, same.

    2. Fart Captor

      She literally does that all the dang time

      1. Council

        I mean, she listens to Portions of it. And interprets it. From a rather self-contained perspective.

        I guess that qualifies. Broadly speaking.

        But I think PB meant it in the more conventional sense.
        Like, listen to the whole thing. Try to understand the other perspective being shared. That kinda thing.

      2. Spencer

        I mean she ain’t listening now, or to the parts where Dina has openly expressed a desire for sex when Becky is comfortable while Becky thinks they’re just doomed and incompatible because Becky’s specific view right now is “Dina needs to want me, but not have sex with me.”

  17. Pocky

    can’t show the pretty titty yet

  18. Robbie

    Oh god it me

    Both of them some how

  19. Andy

    Dina’s face going from 😐 to :\ to 🙁 in the last 3 panels

    1. Varangian

      I read it differently! I feel like Dina in panel 3 is going “interest?” then panel 4 is going “confusion???” to finally “…okay, straight up what are you doing?” in panel 5.

  20. BBCC

    Yeah, that conditioning will take a while.

    That’s not how it works though, hon.

  21. DailyBrad

    Becky’s trying, but I think there’s not really an “easy” way to do this. They’re talking, and that’s an enormous step, but figuring out where each other is on this, figuring out what both of them want, that can be tough when you’re inexperienced and new to this, and both are pretty new to the whole dating thing.

    I hope that Becky’s anxieties don’t prove insurmountable, I find these two so easy to root for.

    1. Zaxares

      I hope it works out for them too. :/ The two of them love each other, which is the most important bit, but the knowledge that Dina does not find Becky “hot”, and probably never will, might gnaw away at Becky. Even though she might know that Dina is engaging in sex with her because she loves her, well… She knows that Dina is ONLY doing it because she loves her.

  22. Bagge

    Becky has spent too much time around Robin.

    and with ‘too much’ I mean ‘any’

    1. Reltzik

      And yet she’s ignoring what Robin said about making mistakes TOGETHER. In conjunction and as a team.

      1. Bagge

        Which, frankly, is a very Robin thing to do.

      2. Council

        Maybe Becky thought Together can just mean proximity? Like ‘I make a mistake, the rest of you just need to sit there and watch dumbfounded’

        1. Reltzik

          Didn’t sound like that, but maybe.

          Regardless, I trust that Becky can do better than making a Mary-style mistake.

  23. Qube

    *hypertext* if you take the girls out at sunday school you will probably be thrown out of sunday school

    1. HeySo

      No, that’s when you TRY to take them out. If you’ve TAKEN them out, you’ve already succeeded, which means.. uh, burgers and shakes? Pretty sure it doesn’t matter what kind of school you’re skipping on, going for grub is a rather universal teenager indulgence. 😛

      …now I want [veggie] burgers and shakes. >.< Curses..

      1. Needfuldoer

        The shakes bring all the Sunday school boys to the churchyard.

    2. 3oranges

      Oh, that’s where it was going. I was thinking “you can’t take the sunday school out of the girl”. Which makes sense but with Becky failing to take something out, it made it sound like “sunday school” is a euphemism for breasts.

      And sure, anything is if you say it the right way, but that one probably shouldn’t be.

      1. milu

        “sunday school” is a euphemism for breasts XD
        because… sundays is when you sneak out with your girlfriend, and study… boobs?

        yeah i do think the second part of the phrase is what you thought it was, it went unstated because it’s obvious. Qube is just having fun

  24. Lars

    Once again: Leave the second to last panel silent and it will be funny somehow. Ever since Joyce said these words I see that method in 3 out of 4 strips.
    And it effing works!

  25. Lulu

    Becky x Daisy will work better.

  26. Mr.Morningstar

    So just based on past interactions Dina is not a sex repulsed asexual. Just the kinda more “Eh take it or leave it” type, since she HAS shown interest in sex with Becky before.

    Which I appreciate, too many times asexual people are portrayed as completely and utterly repulsed by the idea of sex. And that’s fine, those people exist but it’s nice to see the other types be represented as well.

  27. AGV

    I swear if Walky crashes this moment I’ll cut his hair myself but at the height of his neck alright

    1. AGV

      Maybe I should clarify, I don’t have any problems with him (besides the obvious) but this is too important to be interrupted by shenanigans and my comic-senses are tingling

      1. Varangian

        Dogg I love Walky but I’m totally with you there, interrupting this would be a guillotine crime

  28. Keulen

    Well, Becky was sort-of talking about her worries about Dina’s asexuality for a brief moment. But she seems to have missed the point of Dina’s response.

  29. Amos Batista

    After reading comments, I got myself confused: Is Dina assexual? Is Becky’s too?

    1. Rabisch

      Dina is asexual. Bekcy is very, VERY repressed.

    2. King Daniel

      Dina is grey-ace (which is on the asexual spectrum; unlike Carla – the other prominent DoA character on the ace spectrum – Dina doesn’t seem to be sex-repulsed, however, hence her being open to the idea of sexytimes with Becky), while Becky is almost super-definitely not asexual.

  30. Rabisch

    If Dina will compassionately tries to help Becky do it… the whole floor will hear the sound of Becky’s head exploding!

  31. Wereg

    See, this is the kind of thing you gotta get consent for. If you’re talking to your girlfriend about their asexuality, maybe flashing them for the first time ever(I think?) isn’t the most respectful idea. At best, it’s kinda fuckin’ rude. At worst, it’s sexual harassment.

    1. milu

      context matters though. do you really get the sense that Dina could have gotten upset about Becky flashing her unannounced? cos i really don’t.

      note that i’m not saying that flashing is nbd, just that we have no reason (that i can see) to think that it would be perceived as uncool here.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        And considering both:
        A: Dina has expressed her willingness to engage in congress with Becky,
        B: She is not objecting here. Instead, she is observing and asking *specifically* if that’s what Becky is doing. So it’s on her mind at least enough to guess at Becky’s intent. (not saying she’s not ace, just that it’s definitely grey, as she herself said.)

      2. Wereg

        Senses can be wrong. Iunno about you, but I always ask if they’re alright with it when doing things like this for the first time. Even consent given prior, especially with Dina saying she’s good taking their relationship to another level MONTHS ago in comic iirc, is still iffy at best and consent should be reacquired.

  32. TheFlamingonator

    I guess that T-shirt is more durable than the dress… Becky, use your lesbian powers to rip it APART.

  33. ValdVin

    “Well let’s see whatcha think after ya getta load of this baby!”
    “Singular this?”
    “I’m referring to my navel, cos that’s as far as I can make myself raise my shirt.”

  34. Spencer

    The first two panels depict separate questions that Becky thinks mean the same thing.

    The last panel depicts what is actually messing Becky up right now.

  35. Aethelred the Unready

    Becky just needs to propose a science experiment to Dina.
    Hypothesis: Test subject can be aroused by certain things.
    Null hypothesis: Test subject is completely asexual.
    Experimentation: Becky will engage in a series of tests to determine what acts, if any, arouse test subject. After each test, any signs of arousal will be noted. Full consent will be required from test subject, in accordance with modern scientific ethics.
    Analysis: Following the rounds of tests, the results will be analyzed to determine accuracy of hypothesis. Refinement of the hypothesis and additional testing will follow.
    Note: A potential confounding factor is that the test subject appears to be aroused by the use of the scientific method. Possibly also a bonus.

    1. milu

      To aid in designing the experimental phase, a review of available data on stimuli shown to positively affect arousal levels in adult females will be conducted.

      1. Jhon

        I would read that paper.

    2. Demoted Oblivious

      +50 internets for the “Note:” re: scientific method arousal.

    3. BBCC

      Ace people can be aroused. They don’t feel sexual attraction. Sex drive is a separate thing. Some have a low or non-existent one but that’s not the same thing, that’s true for folks with other orientations too.

  36. frogger44

    Even if Becky flashes Dina, Dina would more than likely compliment Becky’s body and say something along the lines of “You don’t have to force yourself to sexually arouse me.” Becky’s hang ups shouldn’t have to be Dina’s hang ups. Dina’s ready and willing to do the deed with Becky. Maybe Becky isn’t ready because she feels that you have to have sexual attraction in order to do it and with Dina being gray-ace, that severely confuses her?

    Also the comments about cheering Becky on to flash Dina? Especially knowing that more than likely the same people would pitch a fit in certain characters were to say the same thing? Interesting.

    1. Eldritchy

      Someone needs to sit her down and explain it to her because she seems to be taking Dina’s asexuality as some kind of personal failure. As in “My girlfriend doesn’t find me hot and that’s my fault.”.

      1. Needfuldoer

        My read is that Becky needs affirmation that she’s desirable, expressed in the kind of manner she has to Dina. However, that may not be something Dina has the capacity to provide without prompting (or only under very specific circumstances), even if she’s there emotionally. Becky’s also still hung up on being sexually active before marriage for religious reasons, so she freezes whenever she tries to act on her feelings and make the first move.

        I’ve said it before, but sometimes the comments seem to forget Becky was raised in the same (or an even more strict) environment as Joyce.

        1. Eldritchy

          Well she acts more out-going and… worldly I would say than Joyce so it’s easy to forget how sheltered she was all her life.

    2. Spencer

      The DoA commentariat is absolutely the place wherein a character flashing another character they are dating would be seen as a transgression.

      Completely. Absolutely. 100%. The words I speak are truth.

      1. Aethelred the Unready

        The DoA commentariat is guaranteed to find anything to be a transgression. It is large, it contains multitudes. Multitudes who do not hesitate to express their displeasure.

        But then, it is the Internet in miniature.

        1. JBento

          I find your comment to be a transgression.

        2. Aethelred the Unready

          Well I’m glad someone did!

        3. JBento

          How dare you?!

        4. milu

          i strongly disagree with the reasons you have for feeling that this comment was a transgression.

        5. JBento

          I disagree wiht your disagreement. As this is is the internet, [insert comment disparaging your humanity here] and something something you’re worse than Hitler.
          Also, appeal to authority using a misquote.

        6. milu

          I retaliate with Obscure Jargon and pray that you will not understand any of it because I was absolutely bluffing in implying my own familiarity with the concepts involved!

        7. JBento

          I use the Bad Apples defence, completely ignoring the rest of the saying, and then create a Strawman by referencing a topic that has nothing to do with the conversation and I push it towards you via Slippery Slope.

        8. milu

          well, i huffily proclaim that i am actually above arguing on the internet, reference xkcd strip 386 to demonstrate how meta-savvy and blasé i am, use all sort of euphuistic and orotund vocables i transpicuously airlifted from a nearby thesaurus, and metaphorically slam the door on the whole thing by declaring that i am done with this discussion and shan’t be replying any further (though i will of course nervously keep checking for a reply in the hope that it doesn’t one-up me too badly).

        9. Delicious Taffy

          Oh hey, it’s the avatar of that guy who seems to read all the same webcomics I do.

        10. JBento

          Dismissive, paternalistic comment regarding how OF COURSE someone of your gender/race/education/socio-economical level (even though I have no idea of any of those qualities) would take the stance you have. Off-hand remark on how you should familiarise yourslef with the writings of Dude Nobody Ever Heard Of and Whose Theories Have Been Thoroughly Debunked.

        11. milu

          well i melodramatically announce that i break my vow of silence to……. thank you all ladies & non-ladies for your rapt attention, this has been a humorous rendition of: “Ye Olde Runne Of Ye Mille Rancid Comment Flame” by JBento as “that one shitty commenter” and myself as “that other shitty commenter”, i hope you’ve all had a terrible time! *bows*

          well, congratulations on some quality shitposting, sparring partner! it has been an honour.
          ….i’ll be over there watching some sort of mushy wholesome romcom or something x_x

        12. JBento

          This was a Because We Felt Like It Independent Productions work. Admission was free, because, well, would you PAY to read it?

          I swear that when you did the Obscure Jargon one I was like “Holy crap, I JUST read this tweet”.* XD Enjoy your romcom.

          *I’ll refrain from saying what the tweet was about to spare you having to fight the urge to press the self-destruct button on the Universe console.

        13. milu

          that was very brave and dignified of you, refraining from sharing that one unacceptable tweet you read ^^

        14. milu

          not being sarcastic. did i come off as sarcastic? just hyperbolic, but the sentiment is sincere. as a postscript to our (very masterful) mockumentary of a pointless online argument, let me say i do fondly believe that, sometimes, ignorance of dumb shit people say is bliss.

        15. Jhon

          Something must be done. This cannot go on. Everyone agrees. The passive voice will be employed.

        16. Demoted Oblivious

          I’m feeling really called out here. 😀 Well done! Bravo! Encore!

      2. frogger44

        They are dating, yes. Becky wanting to flash her gray-ace girlfriend to try and fail to seduce her isn’t a transgression. It’s Becky’s hang ups and repression vs Dina’s gray-ace. It’s an interesting and common dynamic with partners if one is on the asexuality scale. No need to get hyperbolic.

        1. Spencer

          Dina greeted Becky by tackle hugging her when she got back from her visit, physically dragged her into her room after Winter break, and then climbed into her bed to honk at her to wake her up.

          Aggressive cuddling has been authorized for these two.

        2. frogger44

          I’m not understanding. Are you trying to compare the aggressive cuddling to Becky attempting to flash Dina in order to sexually arouse her? Because I never said anything about those two cuddling. I don’t think that has anything to do with this current conversation.

        3. Spencer

          Yeah neither do I so let me try this:

          You said it was interesting that ” the same people would pitch a fit in certain characters were to say the same thing” in regards to Becky flashing Dina and the commentariat being into that. What was up with that? What were you trying to say there?

        4. Frogger44

          I forgot I set up a different commenting account on my phone.

        5. Demoted Oblivious

          So… is this more a face-palm than a fuck-face?

        6. Frogger44

          i dunno why my comment is still under moderation. Let’s try again.

          here are some people being a little gross about Becky attempting to flash Dina. If it was Joe that made that sort of comment a lot of people, probably the same ones would condemn him for it.

        7. Delicious Taffy

          The difference (for me at least) is that to Becky, Joe is real. To me, both are fictional and incapable of being harmed by a single word any of us say, so it’s occasionally fun to be crass with them.

        8. Spencer

          It would be weird if Joe walked up to Dina and offered to flash her yeah. That’s because they aren’t dating nor has Dina indicated to Joe that she wants him to flash her.

          Becky and Dina are in a relationship where unprompted displays of affection are considered acceptable, and I can’t think of a fun way to spin how clinical I made that sound.

        9. Spencer

          Oh as for your comment being under moderation you might have misspelled your email address when typing. If you capitalize a letter you get a different avatar from the shuffle but if you misspell it you’re considered an all new email address that needs to get approval before posting.

        10. Frogger44

          @Delicious Taffy sure. That’s understandable. Being crass sometimes is fine. There’s nuance to a lot of situations.

        11. frogger44

          @Spencer Thanks for the heads up. I’ll have to remind myself to change that on my phone. Anyways, unprompted displays of affection are considered acceptable, but in this particular situation, in this comic, Becky is attempting to flash Dina to try and get Dina sexually aroused knowing full well that Dina won’t be.

          Dina loves Becky, adores her, finds her beautiful, but isn’t sexually attracted to her. That’s a hang up Becky has among other things. Dina would more than likely compliment Becky’s body, if Becky were to actually go through with it, but won’t get aroused like that which is probably what Becky wants.

          I guess to sum it up: Becky wants Dina to get horny for her.

        12. Spencer

          Yeah that is exactly it because Becky does not want to have sex (in the sense that it is a sin to have sex before marriage), but she wants Dina to want to have sex with her because Becky judges her value as a partner by whether not she’s attractive and desirable, because that’s what her fundie upbringing imprinted onto her.

          You know how Joyce was constantly horny for Ethan but obviously the two were never going to consummate that relationship? That’s kind of what Becky wants at the moment.

  37. Alan in DC

    It is subtle, but I like how Dina’s sightline dips slightly to Becky’s torso in frame 4. That’s good “acting” for a cartoon character.

    1. Alan in DC

      Not only good acting; her gaze was intense enough for the Universe to “wink out” for just a moment, leaving our two lovers alone in a large white void.

  38. Greylurker

    So…..what if Becky tried wearing a Dinosaur costume

  39. jdorr

    Wait is Dina ace?! Like actually ace? Cool

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Grey-Ace

      1. RedCat

        What does grey-ace mean?

        1. Spencer

          Intermittent sexual attraction. Basically Dina can get horny sometimes and under specific circumstances.

          Carla for example is ace and sex repulsed, describing sex as gross.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          Here is a link to a more in-depth article on grey asexuality

  40. Wakeangel2001

    Just remember that the reason sex negativity exists is because some gross dudes in the bronze age wanted to preserve the value of their daughters so they could sell them to other gross dudes and that shirt will fly off

    1. Eldritchy

      Also sexually transmitted diseases and out-of-wedlock-children.

      1. Mopey

        More the latter than the former. These guys still thought diseases were caught by bad air and evil spirits.

        1. Eldritchy

          Maybe a bit but there is a lot of religious beliefs and traditions that might have been just common sense rules disguised as religious. Like Muslims have some strict cleanliness rules, washing hands and all that. Not to mention not eating pork because the animal is seen as unclean. Our ancestors might not have had our knowledge but they were not stupid. It’s unfair to criticize them for not knowing about something we have only discovered a century or two ago.

    2. Delicious Taffy

      Imagine thinking you can appraise the worth of another human being when you aren’t even smart enough societally to invent Power Rangers or clean water yet. Those Bronze Age chuckleheads sure were rock fucking stupid, weren’t they. Like, get with the program, Ezekiel, VHS is only a few centuries away.

      1. Needfuldoer

        “Stop shitting near the drinking water” took way too long for humanity to figure out. That explains a lot about us as a species.

        1. StClair

          On the other hand, a lot of early religious taboos were attempts to establish basic hygiene without knowledge of germ theory etc. IMO, gotta give credit where credit is due to stuff like kosher laws (“do not eat these foods because they’ll probably make you incredibly sick because we live in a desert with no refrigeration they are unclean” or Shinto’s “don’t touch blood and (literal) shit unless you are so low on the totem pole that is your literal job, and even then“

        2. Eldritchy

          Exactly. Our Ancestors weren’t stupid and could see the patterns, they just lacked the tools to fully understand what was going on.

  41. Falcon

    Becky’s difficulty with processing any information in front of her which falls outside her preconceived expectations doesn’t bode well for her scientist aspirations. Hopefully she’ll get better at it. She certainly doesn’t lack for passion.

  42. skud fargo

    look, becky, you’re doing it all wrong.
    what does dina like? Dinosaurs.
    so what do we do?
    Simple! Get a good good dino/human costume (make sure the dino parts are completely accurate. Feathers, talons, etc), THEN do the tease!

  43. Brighter Side

    This atl-text is worthy of a book title or a spinoff comic.

  44. Emily

    I’m just surprised Becky has yet to don a lab coat and serenade Dina with scholarly articles about dinosaurs.

    But then again, maybe her highly strained virtues are keeping her from even considering it lol.

    1. Robbie

      Becky doesn’t want to seduce Dina. She wants Dina to be attracted to her the way Becky feels it as a constant background noise..

      Dina is interested in exploring but she’s just not wired the way Becky is. That’s ok but whether it can be ok to Becky remains to be seen

Leave a Reply to Eldritchy Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.