226

What if it works
Posted on February 11, 2022 by David M Willis

226 thoughts on “What if it works”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    *every nose in existence starts shooting blood*

    O_O

    1. Doctor_Who

      Willis needs to put a warning label on this comic for hemophiliacs.

      1. King Daniel

        I think they’re already dead, Jim

        1. fridge_logic

          If I die from a nosebleed caused by thinking about Dina making out with Becky I want my eulogy to be read by someone with the stubbly Asher avatar.

        2. Yet_One_More_Idiot

          My make-out commission off the last year’s DoA Kickstarter was Dina-Becky-Joyce.

          Just saying. xD

        3. K^2

          They’re a Doctor, Jim, not a Jim.

    2. Cholma

      Yep. If this was a manga, then there would be giant sweat & blood drops everywhere! 😀 Hmm, Manga-ka Willis. I can see it now….

      1. Roborat

        And if it was a specific type of manga, her pants would be soaked in a certain area.

      2. Deathjavu

        Wait…are you trying to tell me DoA *isn’t* an Animes? Ridiculous.

    3. Yet_One_More_Idiot

      (like a cop): All stations, be on the lookout for a teenaged girl going around causing uncontrollable horniness. Suspect is hatless – repeat, HATLESS!

  2. The Wellerman

    ??? ?‍??‍??‍? ??? ???

    BEHOLD!!! The power of DINA!!!!

    *plays “Awake” on Hacked Muzak*

    1. The Wellerman

      OK let’s try again. here’s the song:

      https://vgmsite.com/soundtracks/jojo-s-bizzare-adventure-battle-tendency-leicht-verwendbar/vzupsneg/23.%20Awake.mp3

    2. True Survivor

      What is a Muzak? Also I see you changed your Avatar once again. Can you tell me how to do that as while tweed-jacket, glasses, and a bubble pipe definitely describe my inner soul, I thought I might tie my Avatar to my username and have it be the protagonist from crowded-funded 80’s action parody Kung-Fury or David Hasselhoff.

      PS.

      Have you ever heard David Hasselhoff’s ‘True Survivor’ because for a song made for a crowded funded parody movie, it has no right being that good.

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        I have to admit, I love True Survivor and was disappointed FBE removed their video about it and the movie.

        1. True Survivor

          The movie and video are still up on YouTube, though not on FBE channel.

      2. The Wellerman

        There’s a link above the comments button to change your avatar to whatever you want on WordPress.

        On that note i actually make pixel art including avatars and am open for commissions, so if you like my art spread the word, I kinda need it right now ?

        1. True Survivor

          Thanks. Will do.

        2. Ryan

          If you just want a different random one from DMW, try changing capitalization in your email address.

          Also, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfgwrdYUQ2A

      3. Stephen Bierce

        Muzak, my friend, is a fossil of pre-portable music culture, a phonograph system linked to public speakers. Ubiquitous in public spaces from the Fifties till about the second Bush Presidency. Nominally stocked with “easy listening” remakes of passe pop tunes.

        1. King Daniel

          So how do you hack a phonograph??

        2. Cholma

          In practical use, it was recorded audio played in public spaces; most notably inside elevator cars. Hence the “easy listening” version of many popular songs. Think Jazz or Lounge-ified versions of songs. (Richard Cheese-style versions of songs like “Chop Suey” and what not, but without the swearing)

        3. Erik

          My best/worst Muzak experience was the (probably) 101 Strings version of Mr. Crowley. True story.

        4. Bicycle Bill

          It wasn’t a phonograph per se, it was a music delivery service that played music from a central source which was then sent via the electrical wires (and billed on the subscriber’s electric bill) to a receiver in a location like a grocery store, department store, doctor’s waiting room, etc.  Later on it went to a signal bounced off a satellite back to the receiver before finally going digital through an ISP address.

        5. khn0

          phonograph was hacked from the beginning.
          See, Edison hacked it from Charles Cros.

        6. khn0

          beside this little joke, I guess you hack a phonograph almost the same way you hack a turntable: you get there first and change the record while none is looking?
          Not that I have done it.
          That anyone knows.

        7. Wizard

          Fun fact: the original Muzak was specifically designed to prevent that. The turntable used an oddball speed and a stylus that was deliberately incompatible with the commercial records of the day, so that only official Muzak records would play properly. Not that pranksters didn’t occasionally manage to “hack” the system, but it was a little more complicated than just sneaking into the right room and slapping on the latest 45.

        8. Needfuldoer

          I think they ran at 16 RPM, or close to half the speed of an LP. This gave them double the runtime, the lower fidelity wasn’t an issue, and making the system semi-proprietary was a nice side bonus.

        9. vlademir1

          To explain that, I’ll first have to make you forget the technological common usage, especially those of comsec, for the verb and noun forms of “hack” over the last three decades. The original application of the term and it’s derived common hacker subcultural applications from the ’60s through the ’80s would be to make a system of some sort operate outside it’s normalized operational parameters. The means of doing this would be “a hack” and the process of enacting those means would be “to hack”.
          In the case of a Muzak system, the hack would be to allow the individual to allow one to play some arbitrary audio. The easiest means of doing this across the various formats Muzak has taken would be to access the speaker system the Muzak hardware was connected to and output whatever audio one wanted through that speaker system (say by disconnecting the wires from the Muzak hardware and connecting them to another audio source like a Walkman or MP3 player).

      4. EpochFlame

        it’s a gravatar from the titular website

      5. Edward Rhodes

        “Muzak” was a company that produced bland, instrumental versions of popular songs, to be played in elevators or supermarkets. The term became generic for any music presented in any store or office.

        1. Needfuldoer

          See also: Seeburg, Rinx Records, 3M Cantata

      6. Chris (the other one)

        Re-watch the Blues Brothers at your convenience. Besides sitting through two hours of pure enjoyment, when it gets to the scenes where Jake and Elwood are riding the elevator up the tower (and being chased by various state, county and local authorities (hut hut hut hut hut) there are several instances of auditory disconnect within the elevators concerning Muzak. If you watch Joliet closely (played by the late GREAT John Belushi) he starts jamming to the muzak. (unless my brain is misremembering things again)

        1. Stephen Bierce

          By Request! Girl From Ipanema, in Jake & Elwood’s elevator.

  3. Suet

    There is no baseline. The first moment Dina was hatless blew it all away.

    1. King Daniel

      Technically the second time! https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-7/01-glower-vacuum/dislike/

    2. Nono

      She was born with the hat.

      1. King Daniel

        She is one with the Hat, and the Hat is with her.

      2. Doctor_Who

        I think it was installed as a power limiter.

        The world was not ready for Dina’s might. It may never be.

        1. Ascension

          She’s removed her weighted clothing!

      3. Needfuldoer

        Maybe she’s born with it.

        Maybe it’s Holocene.

      4. Keulen

        Becky merely adopted the hat. Dina was born in it, molded by it.

        1. Khyrin

          She didn’t remove the hat until she was a woman. By then, a bare head was nothing to her but chilling!

      5. Max

        Maybe the hat is the real sentient being. Dina is just the meat puppet.

      6. The Wellerman

        You know what would make for a great bonus strip one of these days?!?!

        The story on how Dina got her hat!!! ???

    3. Reltzik

      But you need baselines if you’re going to make baseball metaphors to work. How else are these two going to end up grand slamming?

  4. True Survivor

    Hats off to, ya, my lady.

  5. King Daniel

    IT’S SUPER EFFECTIVE

    1. Jay M Ferguson

      Thank you!

    2. Chronos

      If only this was the very first comment.

      1. Adept

        I was also disapointted that it wasn’t.

  6. Sirksome

    Okay are they gonna bang or not? Like I don’t really even want to watch, I just want to know it happened.

    1. Devin

      Gee whiz, do you skip to the last pages of books too?

      1. Sirksome

        I can appreciate the slow burn, but I can also want to see the relationship finally progress. Cause this has been like a super slow burn. I’d love to see how Becky develops beyond being so sexually repressed but it feels like we’ll never get there.

        1. Opus the Poet

          I’m 63 years old, I may not live long enough to see Becky and Dina consummate their love.

        2. Agemegos

          I definitely won’t survive to see Joe and Joyce sort their stuff out and get together.

    2. Bryy

      I feel like this is going to backfire somehow. I think it’ll come back around to religion somehow.

    3. Chris (the other one)

      Oh Christ, you’ve called forth the power of Willis to fuck with us… way to go Sirksome

  7. Wack'd

    *approaches a queer couple*
    so which one of you is the control group and which one of you is the experimental group

    1. Carms

      im ace and my partner is pan, this is a Difficult Question

    2. StClair

      ITYM “lord and handmaiden” *ducks and runs*

      1. Wack'd

        becky and dina are actually more heteronormative than m/f couples because they fall into the traditional control/experiment gender roles

    3. HeatherJean

      Ahah! Another XKCD reader….

      1. Wack'd

        wait did xkcd do this exact joke

        1. Amós Batista

          I don’t know, but, clearly, it’s a joke xkdc would make it, right?

        2. King Daniel

          wait, whaty joke did xckd make

        3. Opus the Poet

          This joke from a couple of weeks ago:
          https://xkcd.com/2576/

        4. Amós Batista

          Loved it!! A perfect front-end developer joke.

        5. HeatherJean

          Well, last Friday anyway…

  8. Schpoonman

    Sweet merciful Neptune.

  9. Kyrik Michalowski

    Oh boy, she can barely handle hatless Dina, how is she going to react to half-nude Dina? Or full-nude Dina?

    In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m thoroughly enjoying Becky and Dina time.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Wouldn’t it be a funny twist if she’s honestly not affected by any of that?

      Becky: “I mean, nice, but I have all the same stuff, I know what it all looks like, the top of your head is something I almost never see. Now I’ve brought a box of various hats here, would you mind putting them on and taking them off…slowly?”

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        It would certainly lead to an interesting relationship, if nothing else.

  10. DailyBrad

    Oh my.

    Also, I sometimes forget Becky’s way more down to swear than Joyce previously was, but, it makes sense.

    1. King Daniel

      I think this is either her third or fourth F-Bomb (Joyce by contrast has not yet given a single fuck), so yeah.

      1. Yet_One_More_Idiot

        Honestly, at this point in time it seems like Joyce just doesn’t give a fuck about anything at all. 😉

  11. Darkoneko

    you can leaaave you hat on

    1. Opus the Poet

      Joe Cocker classic:
      https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4b04jq7NB1s&list=RDAMVM4b04jq7NB1s

  12. Rainhat

    NGL, this is the first time I’ve registered Dina as being drawn ‘not, visually, a child’.

    1. Needfuldoer

      There have been a few times before, but yeah I agree. She usually reads very young, even to others in-universe.

      1. Abel Undercity

        Often to her annoyance.

      2. zee

        Tbh ever since her moment at Joyce’s party, a switch flipped in my head and I’ve just been seeing her as a short thin adult. A cute one but very much adult. Especially since she started pursuing Becky sexually at her birthday party. And double when she ripped ambers overalls apart with her teeth…

        Yeah Dina’s very much not a child

      3. Adept

        Dina registering as a child to a lot of people is quite realistic for a petite uni-fresh(wo)man.

        1. thejeff

          It’s also at least partly her mannerisms – witness her bonding with Riley way back when.
          That’s changed somewhat since then, of course.

  13. TrueVCU

    Becky is not prepared for this level of overclocking

    1. Cholma

      She’s gonna need some water cooling, stat!

      1. King Daniel

        Forget a simple water-cooler, Becky’s about to need a full array of cooling towers and a closed-cycle coolant system.

        1. Needfuldoer

          She’s going sub-ambient! Gotta watch out for condensation!

        2. Keulen

          If they can’t afford all that, they could at least get several fans and have them all blowing cool air on Becky.

  14. Suzi

    Not gonna lie, Becky’s attitude of “I think sexual attraction means unable to stop myself from r*ping someone” is reminding me heavily of the middle/high school talks I heard from other girls at my church and wow utterly horrifying in retrospect.

    1. RassilonTDavros

      CW: sexual assault

      I mean, I’m no expert on fundies, but considering it’s well-established that Toedad viewed the women in his family as “property” first and foremost… it’s pretty damn in-character for him to have r*ped his wife if he ever wanted to have sex and she didn’t. And, considering how much Bonnie was clearly suffering, the odds of this having happened at some point approach certainty. He’d probably see her not wanting to fulfill her “wifely duties” as a sign that Satan was influencing her, and consider forcing himself on her an attempt to “lovingly” “guide” her back to the “correct” path. (Ugh, Just thinking about his thought processes makes me want to shower.) Which makes me wonder, if this guess is correct, how much Becky knew. The idea that sexual attraction makes you unable to not r*pe someone is a classic tool of the Toedads in this world, ingrained in their societal power structures, and it’s probably not surprising that it rubbed off on Becky somewhat.

      Again, not an expert here, so feedback would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I probably got something wrong.

      1. Amós Batista

        That’s a theory people raised here before, about Toedad and Bonnie. Sadly, I’ve hear one or two case of this issue happened; I believe is pretty real.

        I’m still processing if this speak Becky has said is a healthy thing or not…

      2. Azhrei Vep

        I suppose it may have been a religious thing. But I can also assure you from personal experience that even without fundie craziness, some wives think that being married means they get permanent consent from you forever, whether you agree or not.

        I would imagine there are some husbands like that too, but I can’t say from experience.

  15. Joe Moose

    Dina! My goodness gracious, please!

  16. Yotomoe

    https://i.imgur.com/s8n222m.png
    A little break up for the action.
    Trying something different with the color.

    1. The Wellerman

      Must I say that shade of purple looks GORGEOUS on her!!! ?

      Sweet work Yoto!

    2. Doctor_Who

      And Joeing is half the battle.

      1. Opus the Poet

        My mind went to GI Joe as well…

        1. Rose by Any Other Name

          Yup. The 80s have scarred us all.

      2. Deviant

        Where is the red and blue lasers though?

    3. BarerMender

      Nice.

  17. John Seiler

    This is some real dom/sub energy.

  18. Shitbird

    … Dina is hot wtf

  19. Joyfulldreams

    “The goal is that you can’t” ummmmm Becky, wtf?

    Not only is that…weird, it also doesn’t make any sense, because Becky won’t shut up about how intensely she experiences sexual attraction, yet she can also clearly control herself, because she hasn’t acted on it.

    Also I sincerely HOPE Becky genuinely isn’t implying that she genuinely, REALLY wants the fantasy of being overpowered by the lust of her partner into doing pre-marital sex so she can somehow get away with having sex guilt-free???? I very much get that that is an understandable fantasy to have, but I’d think that’s one of those things you REALLY don’t want to go beyond fantasy.

    I don’t think that that’s what’s being implied here, but somehow this makes more sense to me than whatever is actually being said???

    Maybe I’m just too ace for this.

    1. King Daniel

      “Also I sincerely HOPE Becky genuinely isn’t implying that she genuinely, REALLY wants the fantasy of being overpowered by the lust of her partner into doing pre-marital sex so she can somehow get away with having sex guilt-free????”

      I believe specifically this is what Willis specified in the Walkyverse rerun commentary as the reason why so many sexual situations in the Walkyverse were steeped in alcohol. I think Becky might have even mentioned it in-comic here in Dumbing of Age, come to think of it.

      1. Joyfulldreams

        Yeah that. Still doesn’t mean it’s a thing you actually want, it’s a thing you fantasize about. Fiction, though a form of self-expression, is still fantasy.

        It might be a fantasy you don’t realize isn’t realistic until reality actually slaps you in the face (due to sheer lack of experience or perspective), or might even be one you indulge in within your own mind anyway despite knowing (or suspecting) so, but still.

        1. Leorale

          TW: kink discussed

          Plenty of people have this kind of fantasy of being overpowered by lust, or even being overpowered by another person’s lust.

          It can be sexy to imagine lust as such a powerful force.

          Becky’s experience is that her lust is very powerful indeed — her undeniable attraction to women was a Big Deal that led to her world being totally changed. Dina’s experience is that her own lust might be elusive or nonexistent — but whatever she finds, Dina expects herself and others to have basic self-control of their own actions, losing control doesn’t strike her as sexy.

          One common route to a fantasy of being overpowered is when a person is strictly taught that sex is evil, only bad girls have sex, it’s a lady’s moral job to always resist sex — but also she has a sex drive and might wanna try having sex. So she subconsciously solves the problem: she imagines having sex *without* failing her moral responsibility to always shut it down. She tried to shut it down like a good Christian girl, but it was just too powerful, she couldn’t prevail, so sex happens to her, due to her super-sexy girlfriend; oh no / hooray.

          (She/her used here bc it’s Becky and Dina, but anyone can have this kink. It’s imaginary, they do not want to be assaulted in real life.)

        2. thejeff

          I think some do want it to happen that way. Want it to be more than a fantasy. Obviously they don’t really want to be assaulted – certainly not by a stranger or anyone except the person they desperately want to have sex with, but are afraid to.
          If Dina was the type of person who could get carried away and did, I don’t think Becky would perceive it as assault. She’d still be messed up by it, since the guilt about having sex wouldn’t actually vanish.

          This whole idea is problematic for a whole bunch of reasons, if taken anywhere outside of strict fantasy/roleplay. For all the same sorts of reasons the basic idea that good girls should say no even when they really want to and guys should realize that and persuade them is horrible.

        3. Doki

          Real talk: I have been there. It wasn’t necessarily always the healthiest, but since it was always within the confines of consensual queer* relationships I ended up fine. I’ve always felt guilty asking for sex – not because I think it’s shameful, but because I have such bad self-esteem I think I don’t deserve good things – so it’s so, SO much easier having a partner pursue me. It also helps this has always been with people who would stop if I seriously said no, though.

          So, yeah, I think this is the guilt-relieving mechanism Becky is using here, just without my sex-positive kink knowledge and plus a lot of religious shame (which is a slightly different flavor of shame than depression shame).

          * I mention it was queer to point out we were dodging the typical straight gender roles. Obviously this kind of guilt alleviation through lust isn’t really queer-exclusive haha

    2. Hazel

      I think Becky is just very messed up by the way her church/community talked about sexuality.

    3. BBCC

      It would definitely be bad for it to go beyond fantasy but this is a very real shame fuelled desire by many folks who try to repress their sexuality.

      1. Joyfulldreams

        Well yeah. I know it’s a real desire, but there is a difference between something you fantasize about, and something you actually want to happen. I’d think the moment the fantasy even has the potential to become real, the stark differences between the fantasy and the immediate reality would make it no longer desirable.

        Because there’s no way for the reality to ever actually be like the fantasy–which is enjoyable only because it happens in your head, where you have complete control over everything. You don’t have control over everything in reality, especially when the scenario literally involves loss of control. (Outside of, yknow, consensual play where you are just pretending to lose control, but in fact know that you do through negotiation and safewords.)

        1. BBCC

          Yeah. I’ve only known one person who actually wanted it to happen (or at least thought she did at the time) and that was a result of being heavily shamed for her virginity and abused by a fuckhead.

    4. Devin

      My read on it is that Becky thinks that once you get to a certain point in the process you lose the ability to think like a person and stop, and just lose yourself to the lust.

      Which seems consistent with the way she and Joyce were probably taught about sex.

    5. Belegcam

      I think she’s referring obliquely to an orgasm.

    6. Regina phalange

      I think she’s just referring to getting Dina aroused, which is the literal goal of this “experiment” and not something Dina can consciously control.

    7. Florence

      Yea, it’s real messed up but I think Becky feels like that’s the only way for anything to happen in her life, against her will. That childhood sex education is not good.

      Honestly worried that Becky isn’t communicating these parts of her desires properly to Dina. I’m projecting my autistic feelings here, but if someone wanted to go down that path in kink, I’d like it to be clearly talked about. Doing it all through silent communication would make me uncomfortable.

      Probably won’t go bad but I feel you on the implications of the line

    8. Needfuldoer

      She wants sex, but she doesn’t want it to be “her fault”.

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/signalling/

      Poor Becky. She left her hometown and Toedead is no more, but their damage has already been inflicted.

      1. King Daniel

        That is exactly the strip I was thinking of in my reply above, yes.

    9. Keulen

      Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s due to the messed-up ideas about sexuality that Becky was taught from her fundie Christian upbringing.

  20. Nathan

    Dina, I’m not sure that using Becky as the *baseline* for human sexual attraction is a good idea.

    Like, I’m no expert, but I don’t *think* that most react like that to seeing the top of a human head.

    1. Mewzard

      I’m pretty sure she’s trying to establish the baseline for THEIR relationship, so it makes sense.

  21. Drakkin the Alien

    remember to lock the door… 😉

  22. Audkitten

    THIS is how you science

  23. BBCC

    Now that’s just plain unfair to Becky, Dina. XD

    1. The Wellerman

      Don’t worry!

      In a short order, Becky’ll get a chance to try to arouse Dina!

      1. Icalasari

        The words Becky needs to say to instantly make Dina jump her

        “I denounce God and embrace science fully”

    2. Kyrik Michalowski

      I wonder if Dina will be more aroused more by her love for Becky, rather than her horniness being related to a specific body region.

      1. milu

        she made it clear in yesterday’s strip that she’s not attracted to specific body parts, or bodies generally.

  24. Yotomoe

    So I was thinking about why this is so hot to me. And while I love some good head like most people, I do think it’s a combination of the fact that Becky finds it arousing that makes this hot. Basically because Dina’s head is always hidden, her exposing it illicits a similar response to exposed legs, thighs or breasts. (But enough about chicken).

    But, and this is important. What drives it over the edge. What takes this scene from appealing to arousing is that Dina is WELL aware that this turns Becky on. You see, it’s one thing if Dina removed her hat unknowingly causing Becky to cream her panties. But you see, Dina KNOWS it makes Becky wetter than the Niagra and she’s doing it because she wants to set Becky’s loins on fire. It’s basically her performing a worksafe striptease.

    INTENT. IS. SEXY

    1. EpochFlame

      dina intends to discover what precisely turns becky on

    2. TheKelliestKelly

      I love the phrase “worksafe striptease”. Thank you for coining it

    3. Needfuldoer

      “And while I love some good head like most people”

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oShTJ90fC34

    4. milu

      haha i love how much thought and eloquence you put into this <3

    5. Beau Kirin Maysey

      i feel like the exposing of something hidden elicits a ‘sexy’ response from the brain…

      dopamine. i was looking for the word dopamine…

    6. Rose by Any Other Name

      Intent is the fuckin’ sexiest.

    7. Yotomoe

      One of my friends says there’s a strong femdom vibe here and as a connoisseur of femdom I agree. Like look at Dina’s stance in the last panel. It’s just her hat but imagine if she had removed her shirt and was standing over Becky similarly. She is in control but in a very loving way. Like a “let mama Dina take care of you” kinda way. Pretty sexy power move from Dina here and I respect it.

  25. Bagge

    Holy carp! This made me flustered.

    Becky will straight up explode, won’t she? That thing with the lady syrup will only be the beginning.

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      Divine fish often leaves us flustered, but that is it’s purpose and we shouldn’t take that away.

      If Becky explodes I’m expecting a dozen mini Beckys running around trying to calm down.

      1. The Wellerman

        What the hell is a Divine Fish?

        Either way, you can be 10 billion percent sure that Dina’s POWER rivals that of any god! ?

        1. Kyrik Michalowski

          An example of a divine fish is a holy carp. (I was making a joke about the fact that Bagge mispelled crap.

        2. King Daniel

          I say “holy carp” on purpose from time to time, FWIW. Wouldn’t be surprised if Bagge did too.

        3. Kyrik Michalowski

          Fair enough.

        4. King Daniel

          A holy carp.

          And Iunno, pretty sure The Cheese can give Dina a run for her money. Or Willis. 😛

        5. The Wellerman

          ” Dare try it, you will remember the battle and NEVER do it again! “

          — Job 41:8

          or some other raggedy old dude worshiping some raggedy old god, i dunno

        6. Reltzik

          Saying “Holy Carp’ is the equivalent of saying “Holy Mackerel”, except that “Holy Mackerel” is for when you’re feeling straightforward and just want to come out and say it, and “Holy Carp” is a euphemism for when you’re feeling more koi.

        7. King Daniel

          And what if you want to say things just for the halibut?

        8. Reltzik

          Never a good idea. If I don’t have a script, I end up just fishing around for a pun.

        9. milu

          “holy carp” might also be a euphemism around people with strict morays.

        10. King Daniel

          Even when they’re just one person in a large grouper?

        11. milu

          Isn’t this a bit of a red herring? Are you trying to bait me into an argument about coddling everyone’s sensitivities vs a more sink-or-swim philosophy?

        12. King Daniel

          Are you for real right now, or are you just being a sarcastic fringehead?

        13. King Daniel

          It seems my last fish pun didn’t lamprey-lly well.

        14. Reltzik

          The last one didn’t land well? Solely the last one? Reely? Why do you think it didn’t fly? Did it need a different punch-line, or maybe a better hook?

        15. milu

          Oh no I’m sorry for giving that impwrassion, it just happens I’m now in a place with abysmal signal, so I couldn’t rayspond sooner. I realize gaining a punster’s trust is a makor-break affair and while accepting my gillt, I salmonly swarm I did not mean to shark my responsibilities. Let us hereby coelacanthirmation of our continued friedship, Krill Daniel, shoal we?

        16. King Daniel

          I see your angler, and I accept the offer of friendfishp.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Becky will never straight up anything, as she will loudly affirm.

      But yes, the moisture is probably the only reason she hasn’t spontaneously combusted yet.

  26. Mada

    Their inevitable slipshine issue will just be the two of them in a hat store.

  27. the jighole man

    dina: removes a sock
    becky: faints

  28. TheKelliestKelly

    Next slipshine: Dina and Becky Test a Hypothesis

  29. Clif

    For Science!!!

  30. Juanoku

    I think she’s gonna have a heart attack

  31. PB

    Becky’s gonna have to make sure the blinds are drawn, otherwise she’ll have to fight competitors for Dina.

  32. foducool

    but… but I thought the hats stayed ON?!

  33. Piotr W

    I thought the hat was part of her head???

    1. khn0

      hm this hair don’t look like they’re never washed and combed

  34. King

    I feel like Becky is nearing the point of consuming her lower lip

    1. Reltzik

      More like inhaling.

  35. fireprincesslily

    Dina and Becky ’bout ta be sinnin’ ‘fore the eyes of the lord

  36. DaveM

    Lao Tzu’s crucible! Dina deliberately removing her hat in front of Becky (knowing well Becky’s proclivities) is at least borderline slipshine!

  37. Amós Batista

    It’s another hypothesis we will have to test.
    I just don’t know if Dina aways had this level of malice in herself. That’s a huge jump in her character evolution.

    1. Amós Batista

      My hope is Becky doesn’t step back to her fundie life and stops when things get hotter. But it’s ok if she want to take some time, because leaving old fears is pretty, pretty hard.

      1. Bryy

        She already did that when Dina’s views on sexuality conflicted with what she had been taught about sexuality.

        1. The Wellerman

          SAUCE?!?! ?

        2. Amós Batista

          Huh, I guess it starts here: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/signalling/

    2. Rowan

      I’m not sure what you mean by malice in herself, can you explain?

      1. Rowan

        Oh no I need another grav

        1. Rowan

          Am I just *stuck* as wassername now?

      2. Amós Batista

        I mean like, I never felt Dina were so free, or confortable, to seduce Becky.

  38. Agentomega

    It’s gettin’ hot in here
    So take off all yo’ hats

  39. Ophidiophile

    Dina feels insecure and anxious without something around her head.
    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-7/01-glower-vacuum/substitute/
    So by taking the hat off, she is stepping into a vulnerable place.

    1. The Wellerman

      I know the feeling. Why I’m so fond of my hoodie. ? ☺️

  40. Kristine

    As someone who is ace themselves (more or less. A – spec and its complicated) with a number of ace friends

    We can and do enjoy sex.
    Its a fun activity that feels good.. But like lots of things feel good

    For me personally sex is one of those take it or leave it things where it doesn’t even register on my hierarchy of needs.

  41. thumb

    I don’t know if it’s intended, but the dialogue makes me think they actually want very different things from this. That, as she has said, sex makes very little difference to Dina herself, but it means a hell of a lot to Becky. The only thing it means to Dina is what it means to Becky and also curiosity. So they’re not on the same vibe. At the moment.

    1. Daniel M Ball

      Just means Dina, at least, has the right view of Sexual relations-your partner comes first, you’re doing it for them, not for yourself. (if you’re doing it for yourself, masturbation works pretty well. Sex is a team activity, not a solo activity.)

      1. Zaxares

        I HAVE actually known a couple where one partner was ace but would go along with sex because they knew it made their partner happy. It was a bit easier for them because they both had a shared love of bondage (and yes, for those who didn’t know, it’s possible to be into bondage but not mix it with sex!), so the ace partner would usually go along with it because they were getting satisfaction out of the bondage part, if not the sex part.

      2. milu

        it’s possible (and generally advisable) to be doing it for your partner AND yourself…?

        most people will find it hot when their partner is actually into the sex thing, and not doing it out of some weird abnegation

        1. milu

          @Zaxares wrote comment before seeing yours.

          ugh i gotta stop having takes about ace people, i keep saying ill-informed, shitty stuff. people have all sorts of reasons for having sex, and doing it because you’re getting different things out of it is super fine. honestly i was just reacting to Daniel M Ball’s weird overgeneralizing but i just did the exact same thing basically. ok that’s enough from me *facepalms*

        2. thejeff

          Weird overgeneralizing, but with some truth hiding in it. More in the “team sport” part, rather than the “for them, not for yourself” part.

          It really shouldn’t be just for yourself. Even for those not ace though, there are times where you’re not particularly in the mood, but pleasuring a partner can be an enjoyable thing in itself rather than a burden.

      3. Reaver

        Shouldn’t sex be for BOTH people and not just for one person? That view of sex seems kinda icky to me….

      4. Delicious Taffy

        If sex isn’t supposed to be a solo activity, why do I get told to go fuck myself so often?

        1. Daniel M Ball

          I suppose those people don’t feel (accurately or otherwise) that you can satisfy a partner, and are offering advice? or possibly they have a voyeuristic masturbation fetish?

    2. zee

      That’s just what having a non sex repulsed ace partner be dude ?‍♀️

  42. Opus the Poet

    Dina is going topless. And also has exposed shoulders.

  43. Daniel M Ball

    Dina is always a delight, because Dina is CORRECT.

  44. Rabisch

    I admire Diana’s scientific confidence and her decision to test everything thoroughly but with fun.

  45. Eldritchy

    Dina is unleashing a fatality on Becky’s poor gay heart.

  46. Sombrero

    This storyline so far: lots of (scientific) trial and a little bit of Sarah.

  47. Deviant

    In the words of Palpatine: Do it.

  48. Chris (the other one)

    I’m mentally picturing Amber coming in one last time, opening the door, glancing up with her index finger raised and ready to say “one more thing” but nothing coming out, eyes wide, mouth catching flies and backing out slowly.

  49. Beau Kirin Maysey

    Is this what the hyperspace tunnel in 2001: A Space Odyssey felt like???… i think i can taste lavender now…

  50. Keulen

    If this is how Becky reacts to Dina removing her hat again, I wonder how she’d react to them doing something as lewd as handholding.

    1. Drakkin the Alien

      they have kissed, Dina giggled, still wondering how that registers in her sexual scale 🙂

  51. Spencer

    Three days remain.

    1. Amós Batista

      OMG

    2. Heather

      /majoras moon/

  52. Big Z

    Mood-spoiling me wants this to somehow result in Becky learning something about herself that makes her stop being an asshole to Joyce.

  53. Inbar Fink

    A lot of folks equate “Asexual” with “Desexualized”. It’s kind of a complicated topic, but I think it’s generally important to think of us Ace folks as another demographic that suffers from unfair desexualization (portraying asexual folks as all ‘ugly loser virgins who can’t get anyone to bang them’, acting like we’re incapable of having any sexual agency, erasing our different unique relationships to the concept of sex, erasing all gray-ace folks).
    So, I really wanna say that I think Dina is an excellent example of a non-desexualized ace-spec representation!

    1. Daniel M Ball

      Huh-whut?? Sorry, you lost me in your politics rant there, inbar.

      Dina is DINA, her orientation is “DINA”, her Identity is “Dina”, her relationships are “Things and people that make DINAH happy”. She is not fit to be pidgeonholed, stamped, catalogued, marked, boxed up, packaged or pinned by some half-assed pop-sociology bullshit.

      she’s not a ‘representative’ she’s a CHARACTER, not a caricature, not a crass checkbox on the demographic victimhood bingo card made solely to appeal to someone else’s constructed, convoluted facebook labelmaking pissing contest.

      She’s DINA, she likes BECKY, she’s curious and inquisitive and rational, she uses intelligent approaches to complicated problems like ‘how does this ‘desire’ and ‘sex’ thing work?”

      which is a hell of a lot smarter in her approach than most of us did at eighteen. She isn’t applying false standards, she’s actually USING HER BRAINS ABOUT IT-including deciding whether she wants it or not, and from whom.

      1. David M Willis

        daniel this is a wendy’s

      2. Inbar Fink

        … Dina is gray-ace. It’s been basically confirmed by Word of God that she’s gray-ace. It’s not ‘pigeonholing’ to mention a character’s sexual orientation. It does not reduce their uniqueness as a character or their personal identity to accurately mention a character’s sexual orientation. Or do you also get this affronted when folks refer to Dorothy as a Heterosexual character?

        1. David M Willis

          also it’s pretty strongly telling on yourself if you jump on somebody talking about their sexual identity by calling it a “political rant,” daniel

          the person who’s making it political is you, daniel

      3. DalNiente

        Hm. Way to prove their point about erasure there :/

      4. Yumi

        Hm. Fuck off.

      5. Big Z

        Congrats on having a take so bad that Willis himself came to dunk on you, I guess.

  54. Kravis

    Daaamn! Homegirl only saw her without the hat on and is ALREADY weak in the knees!

    If they go on she’s gonna SPLOOSH so hard that she’s liable to drown the whole floor!

  55. Disastroid

    All clothes are simply hats for other body parts. Accept this truth, and realize the true power of your garments.

  56. Arianod

    RIP Becky’s virginity

  57. Throwatron

    dina is seducing the absolute fuck out of me am i in lesbians now

  58. Kirt Dankmyer

    So, she is doing to Becky what she only _mentioned_ doing to Joe

    Becky is lucky that Dina _will_ stop if asked to

  59. Chokfi

    the dino hat stays ON during sex :<

  60. bcb

    Whoah! I really did not expect to see another hat removal ever.

    1. King Daniel

      You thought the once was the best Dina could do?

  61. Imogen

    For the record, I don’t usually like Becky lately. I’ve enjoyed Becky the last few days. This is a cute scene. I’m happy.

  62. Josh Spicer

    Dina taking off her hat should NOT have that much effect on anybody but holy shit if it ain’t a hell of a story beat.

  63. Mravac Kid

    It’s taken over 20 years, but we finally have the Holy Grail.
    Show’s over, folks, pack it in and let’s go home.

  64. ADLegend21

    Super effective!

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