535

Credited
Posted on September 5, 2015 by David M Willis

535 thoughts on “Credited”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    oh gloat about it whydoncha

    *Saruyamas for best parents EVAR*

    ((psst Becky hold out for Red Robin!))

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Even Sarah thinks they’re pretty awesome.

      1. Justin

        Bubba Gump’s?

    2. DarkoNeko

      Red Robin ?

      1. Proxiehunter

        Yum.

      2. brasca1

        In n’ Out Burger?

        1. JustCheetoDust

          Shake Shack?

        2. Packy

          Sbake Shack FTW!

        3. MrCatt

          Since it’s Indiana, would be Steak and Shake I would think.

        4. Captain Batson

          As a person from Alabama, I freaking LOVE Steak & Shake.

        5. Inkblot

          There’s a Which Wich in Bloomington. I ate there after touring the IU campus. Probably not where people typically think of when they think “first date”, but the food is tasty!

        6. Karfsma778

          MMMM, 7×7.

        7. Freezer

          I was gonna suggest Back Yard Burger, but the closest one to them is in Louisville.

        8. timemonkey

          This thread is one long list of food places I’ve never even seen.

        9. Charlie Spencer

          Are y’all serious, that the nicest places in Bloomington all have a drive-up window? Geez, even Nashville has at least a couple of nice ‘sit-downs’.

        10. P_chemist

          As someone is Bloomington, I can attest that there are plenty of good sit down restaurants. There is almost every type of Asian food on 4th st near campus.

        11. Leila

          Sit down? Avantis!

          Wait, wrong ISU in Bloomington…

        12. Ana Chronistic

          hey if I was serious I’d suggest a hibachi place, I was just going for “upscale fast food”

        13. JustCheetoDust

          hey if I was serious I’d suggest a hibachi place…

          Or ramen, or Japanese bar food.

        14. Toes14

          Doubtful, since the nearest one to Indiana is in Plano, Texas. It’s western chain.

        15. AustKyzor

          Five Guys!

        16. a big rock

          T-Rex.
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Rex_%28restaurant%29

        17. motorfirebox

          Nah, they’re gonna go to In’n Out tonight.

          HEYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

        18. Dana

          Appropriate gravitar is appropriate.

        19. motorfirebox

          Right!? You have no idea how pleased I am to have this gravatar. Honestly it’s a bad influence on me.

        20. James Small

          Probably not finding In n’ Out in Indiana.

        21. electromagneticDestroyosaur

          Gonna need to go to Outdiana for that one

    3. Sigurther

      Beat me to it.

    4. Lurlock

      “best parents EVAR”? Well given THIS comic, they hardly had any serious competition. Everybody else’s parents have been pretty much horrible. Well, maybe Mike’s parents were alright, but I feel like they must have some dark evil secret in their past to explain why Mike is, well, Mike. Those folks are hiding something, I’m sure of it…

      1. Clif

        Maybe, but I’m reasonably sure that it’s the complete and overwhelming lack of anything vaguely remotely dark and evil or even interesting that created Mike.

        Just as Nature abhors a vacuum, so nature abhors a complete absence of things Mikish. Fortunately, in this universe, we have the DOA comments section.

        1. Ghola

          Kinda like in GTA , Where Trevor was sacrificed to take on the negative energy of every other Canadian soul, so the rest could live a carefree life of maple syrup and apology.

        2. Strangeshapes

          You know, I’ve always wondered about Whether Mike is a response to his parents’ over-chummy attitudes. They are nice, but a bit smothering in their own way (their SP! counterparts even more so. He’s so focused on ripping apart surface hypocrisy, I have to think there’s something going on with his parents there. But maybe he’s just a Bad seed, too.

      2. John

        Pretty sure Dorothy’s parents are fantastic, which makes sense since so is Dorothy.

        1. Oishi

          Amber’s mom also seemed pretty nice not all the parents were bad…

        2. Amazistool

          And don’t forget Sierra’s parents were pretty cool, too!

      3. Muspel

        I really, really want to see Mike’s parents interact with Amber’s or Becky’s dad.

    5. Willoughby Chase

      $200 will buy a sit-down 3 course meal for two with wine, desert, coffee, candles, flowers and singing waiters 🙂

    6. ocbrad1

      Galasso’s!

    7. Whittier

      There are plenty of good restaurants in Bloomington, but I imagine that Becky’s conception of a nice restaurant is defined by her culture, socioeconomics, and her specific tastes. I kind of don’t see her wanting to go out for Thai or Ethiopian food.

  2. DarkoNeko

    Girl your parents are awesome.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      And generous it seems.

      1. Disloyal Subject

        Suddenly I wonder what all the characters’ parents do for a living.
        Hold on, does Ross count?

        1. DarkoNeko

          The Saruyamas seems well off, if anything
          (or really overjoyed their daughter is dating anyone)

        2. Aeron

          I think you’ve nailed it.

        3. DarkoNeko

          That’s what Jesus said.

        4. Screwball

          We’re not gonna start hammering out the bad joke again, are we?

        5. theheroesofcrash

          There’s no need to be cross.

        6. jpic89

          Careful, this is a thorny situation.

        7. Tualha

          Time to send in the calvary …

        8. GreyDefender

          Every time I see this joke it’s like finding an Easter egg.

        9. h0ax

          Ugh, spear me the puns.

        10. Amazistool

          Let’s hope this is not Dina’s and Becky’s last supper!

        11. RavenRyy

          We need to rise above this.

        12. nooB

          Considering Dina’s sociophobia, it’s probably the latter.
          I’d want to encourage her to mingle too.

        13. barefootbiker

          I’d say a little bit of both.

        14. inqntrol

          Toedads don’t count.

        15. DarkoNeko

          Butthole dad, won’t you come~

        16. Plasma Mongoose

          And wash away the gay??

        17. Screwball

          Butthole Dad, won’t come, won’t you come…

        18. Aislashu

          He did at least once, that’s how Becky exists.

        19. Sunny

          Way to miss the point, Aislashu.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbBbFH9fAg

        20. Amazistool

          Also the meme is canon, as its origin is the title text of this strip.

        21. Deanatay

          Butthole Dad! Butthole DAD!

        22. Deanatay

          Aren’t you mad…
          (Butthole DAD! Butthole DAD!)
          Aint it sad…
          (Butthole DAD! BUTTHOLE DAD!)

        23. Penguin Zero

          I hold out the hope that the Saruyamas are primatologists, for two reasons. First, growing up in a household headed by scientists would be a good basis for certain elements of Dina’s personality. And second, I love bad puns — and ‘Saruyama’ is Japanese for ‘monkey mountain.’

        24. Andrusi

          Are you asking whether he counts as a parent, or whether he counts as living?

          Zombie Toedad might actually be an improvement over regular Toedad.

  3. shadowcell

    achievement unlocked: parental approval

    1. gkheyf

      that’s gotta at least be shortstop!

  4. Mada

    Saruyamas confirmed for best parents.

    1. Nightsbridge

      There needs to be a cage match between them, the Keeners, Warners and Sierra’s parents before we can establish it, but my bet’s on them.

      1. Rabid Rabbit

        I don’t know that the Warners would stand up all too well. I mean, yes, they’re nice and supportive, but on the other hand they created Mike.

        Admitetdly, if Mike has any affection for his parents, he would prove it by slaughtering the couple that dared beat said parents. After (or possibly before) doing the mothers and leaving some nickels strewn on the bodies.

      2. barefootbiker

        Toss Walkyverse Browns in there too. They turned out pretty nice. And Dumbiverse Browns appear to be fairly kind on the whole, if a little intolerant and fearful. I wouldn’t put them in the cage match, but they’re certainly not Blaine or Toedad level.

        1. nightsbridge

          Wait till joyceline comes out for that verdict.

      3. Deanatay

        Meh, if you put the Saruyamas in a cage with the Keener’s, the Saruyamas would bow politely to Blaine, and politely ask them to give Amber her space. Blaine would fly into one of his rages, and Amber’s mom would beat him unconscious with her shoe and call the cops. Not the most exciting cage match.

    2. Pat

      There’s really not a lot of competition…

  5. Doctor_Who

    Dina’s parents just eclipsed Dorothy’s as the best in the comic.

  6. Kris

    Dina’s a sugar mama!

    1. gkheyf

      sugar puff mama!

  7. otusasio451

    Oh, God, Long John Silvers? Disgusting! Red Lobster’s where it’s at!

    1. Disloyal Subject

      My brethren.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      So it’s like a Barnacle Bills?

      1. fogel

        Except that calamari rings aren’t so popular in the US, nothing like in Oz.

        1. JustCheetoDust

          If that’s true, then their ubiquity at Italian restaurant chains in the US is confusing.

        2. fogel

          Sure, frutti de mare. Its in the US, there are folks who like it. Nonetheless, my impression is calimari is MORE popular in Oz than in the US and, I could be wrong, I don’t think a US fish n chips chain would automatically include calimari in a bundled meal, not have it as an option.

        3. Zana

          Depends where you go. As someone on the east coast, I can attest to the fact that around these parts, calamari is quite popular. I can’t speak to more southwestern parts of the country, but on the coast at least, we love our seafood.

      2. fogel

        And it’s noticeable that BB makes a point of including tartar sauce with the seafood; in the US that’s just taken for granted.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Not everybody likes tartar sauce, I know I sure don’t.

        2. Disloyal Subject

          I loathe the stuff, but I have a hard time throwing food away, even condiments.
          Fortunately, chickens don’t mind tartarsauce at all.

        3. fogel

          Yes, but an episode of the Simpsons turned on his workers demanding that Mr Burns provide tartar sauce in the cafeteria. Whereas, in Oz, you often must pay extra for condiments, icling “tomato sauce”.

    3. Lia47

      I don’t think I’ve ever seen a red lobster in real life. Go a long time I thought they were a hoax

      1. Time Sage

        We had both in the same street here. However the Long Johns closed. (Being the only one in the area, I will miss it, the other one closed years ago. However I will not miss the fact that it had a leaky roof…)

        1. Time Sage

          Since I can’t edit… I will point out the closure was only a couple weeks ago. It was very sudden. One day they were open the next they were shut down. No one I’ve talked to can figure out why

        2. Dean

          Secret meth lab, I bet.

        3. Random832

          I’ve always assumed that they have different economic niches – like, Long John Silver’s is like a Burger King but for seafood, and Red Lobster is like a TGI Fridays but for seafood.

    4. Halloween Jack

      As long as it’s a fish place, eh? Eh? Amirite?

      …I’ll show myself out.

      1. Mada

        Well they are going out for clams.

        *shot*

    5. Cheryl

      Bras/Bros do you even Garfunkels?

    6. Aeron

      Cattleman’s, Since they’re in California.

      1. Gordon

        They’re in Indiana…

      2. Kelly

        Um.
        How did you ever get that idea?

        1. Opus the Poet

          I think he’s still thinking of Shortpacked. Dude that series ended like january.

        2. Ana Chronistic

          …It DID, didn’t it =| feels like ages ago…

          Damn, my work week is fucking FOREVER.

        3. Amazistool

          But wasn’t Shortpacked! located in San Francisco?
          I remember BART was mentioned in that comic!

        4. Amazistool

          Well not mentioned; even better:
          It was tagged.

          And if that is not a teaser to follow that link, you get a partial transcript:
          Robin: I’m a lesbian now.
          Conquest: Intriguing.
          Robin: Want to go make out?
          Conquest: Sure.

        5. Kinoko

          Shortpacked was indeed set in San Francisco. I remember well because, as a SF local, my rage kicked in when a background character once said “San Fran”.
          …we have weird problems with people nicknaming our city, and I’m still not entirely sure why. >_>;

        6. Bicycle Bill

          There could be worse things than “San Fran” — back in the day truck drivers on CB referred to the Bay area as “Shakeytown” (for the earthquakes).

    7. JaneDoe

      Yeah, I used to love Long John Silvers. Then I had it again while visiting family in Oklahoma, and wondered what the hell I was thinking. Now Ivar’s is where it’s really at, for an equivalent fast food seafood place.

      1. Disloyal Subject

        The thing about chains is that they can vary wildly in quality. Playground dirt is preferable to the “food” the Denny’s uptown from me serves, whereas the one I stop at en route to visit my granny is one of the ten best diners I’ve eaten at.

      2. HMRC4EVR

        I’d put my local Libby Hill up against any seafood chain resturant.

    8. Ed Rhodes

      We had one “Long John Silver’s” in NYC. On 32nd or 33rd St. on 6th (Ave. of the Americas) Avenue. My wife and I would go there frequently. She would have the fish, I would have Chicken Planks. (I hate fish.) I will acknowledge that it’s a seafood McDonald’s and Red Lobster is heads and shoulders better, but I have warm memories of LJS.

    9. gkheyf

      as a bostonian, i am apparently supposed to advocate for legal seafood. i do find all seafood unpalatable, but local pride is local pride

    10. Sensei Le Roof

      THE HELL YOU SAY. *burn*

  8. inqntrol

    If only more parents were like that.

  9. dr-calamity

    Holy Raptor Jesus, Dina has some great parents

  10. Yotomoe

    $200!?
    Are Dina’s parents made of money? First dates are $50 affairs!

    1. a4lbi

      They factored in the possibility of rad dino souvenirs. 😀

      1. Ana Chronistic

        maybe they can go to the Rainforest Cafe

        …in Illinois

        1. 0kami

          I once went to a Rainforest Cafe…

          … in London…

        2. dmaxx

          That was very……noisy…..and not cause of the people xD

    2. Kris

      50$! Okay Rockefeller. First date? You better like what’s on the dollar menu!

      1. Ana Chronistic

        had a first date at the college cafeteria

        “hope you have your own meal plan”

      2. Kelly

        My first date (only ever had one) was at a ski resort. Can’t recall where we ate… maybe just the little place actually on the mountain? (I paid for dinner, she already had her own season pass). There aren’t that many restaurants or bars in that town (it is tiny without the tourists)(and no chains at all), we ate at all of them at one time or another. Don’t think we ever topped $50 for a meal. Of course I was driving down and paying for skiing and such, but that’s a different matter, and fun anyway.

        Most expensive dinner date was… what, over $250 I think? One of the highest end restaurants in Seattle.

        1. neeks

          My first date was at an arby’s. I think we went to chili’s for our second date, but I don’t remember. It was a long time ago. I mean, we did go to fancier places later, but neither one of us were the “wine and dine” type.

          Would be nice to go back to that fondue place, though. Eventually. Budget concerns and all that.

    3. David M Willis

      it’s gonna be a motherfuckin’ ruth’s chris night

      1. Ana Chronistic

        Serendipity 3!

        *breaks out 10 Benjamins just for dessert*

        1. Disloyal Subject

          That’s so absurd it’s disgusting.
          Damn it, why do I want one?!

        2. JetstreamGW

          Screw that. Gold leaf cannot possibly taste good.

        3. Inkblot

          It tastes exactly what you think it would taste like.

          Metal.

        4. Random832

          You could order it without.

        5. GanymedeanOutlaw

          Well,

        6. GanymedeanOutlaw

          And my link didn’t work. I was going to say it’s not that expensive to try just gold leaf.
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B98O6LlLT4Y

        7. JustCheetoDust

          The last three years of inflation must have been ridiculous, because this site lists the current price of that sundae as $5,000.

    4. Agemegos

      Perhaps they want her to take Becky out more than once.

      1. Mollyscribbles

        I was about to say — that kind of funding is to ensure multiple dates. Or maybe two movies with snacks.

        1. A5PECT

          What theater in Illinois charges $100 for a ticket, drink, and popcorn?

        2. A5PECT

          I mean Indiana. Derp.

        3. Mollyscribbles

          Two tickets, two drinks, two popcorns. I’m going by the prices near here. Wait, sorry, my bad — they could go to the movies four times.

        4. Random832

          Also, many movie theaters have a combo deal on two drinks and an extra-large popcorn, so it’s significantly cheaper than 2x the cost of a drink and medium popcorn a la carte.

        5. Mollyscribbles

          The combo deal at aforementioned local theater is $25. Tickets are $15 each.

          Purchasing snacks a la carte is, somehow, cheaper.

        6. Betty Anne

          [Disclosure: I’m in northern Wisconsin] $20 for the tickets, $10 for a large/x-large popcorn, $7.00 for two sodas = $35. Eat out anywhere but McDonald’s, $25 per plate, plus tip. I’m a generous tipper unless the service is really shitty, so I tend to go a bit above the 15% tip. $35 movie + $50 meal + $10 tip = $95. $200 will cover two dates and gas in the car for those dates, provided they don’t drive far. (Or bus fare, if they have a cheap fare/frequent fare discount for students like our local mass transit did.)

    5. Gangler

      It’s Dina’s first first date, and that might have special significance to Dina’s parents, knowing that this is new territory for her.

      Could be that they don’t anticipate having to pay for that many first dates. Could be that they hope Dina will have many first dates to come and this is their way of ensuring she finds this to be a positive experience.

      1. Ana Chronistic

        hope you mean many dates to come, not firsts… weird thinking of Dina as a swinger, as it were

        1. Dana

          Good data collection works to find a representative sample though.

        2. Gangler

          I meant first dates. As in “After Dina’s done dating Becky, we hope that she will eventually go on to date somebody else. Then again after that relationship runs its course. So on and so fourth until she finds that special somebody she wants to date for the rest of her life.”

  11. MM

    It’s so nice to be reminded there are decent parents in this webcomic.

    1. Someone

      Those guys arnt good at causing conflict, so they don’t get focused on as much.

    2. Lia47

      Whoa, pretty much all the parents we’ve met have been assholes, haven’t they? I never really noticed

      1. Kris

        The Walkertons are…okay. I’d even say the Browns aren’t horrible. Have we met the Billingsworths?

        1. DarkoNeko

          They skipped parents day.

        2. Regalli

          Yeah, their horribleness was noted mostly by their absence. Billie wasn’t expecting them there AT ALL.

        3. DarkoNeko

          (to Sal) “Hell, sometimes I accidentally call YOUR parents Mom and Dad”

        4. Leorale

          We haven’t met the Billingsworth folks, and we probably won’t because they prefer to just send cash.

          Mama Walkerton is a pill who plays favourites, and they’re allegedly/probably unintentionally racist to their biracial kids, so that is pretty sucky.

        5. Kamino Neko

          Oh, jeeze, I forgot the Browns on my list…yeah, aside from that One Bit, which they, to their credit, backed down on, they were pretty good, too. Well, we can at least put Hank in the ‘good’ column…Carol continuing to give Deborah the stink-eye shifts her a bit…

          I also forgot about the Wilcoxen who seem fairly cool, too.

        6. Regalli

          What we saw of them that weekend was okay, but I do not doubt for a second what’s going to happen when they find out that
          A: Joyce is harboring Becky and is perfectly okay with her being a lesbian, and
          B: Jocelyn is trans, a reveal that will probably be later than the Becky one but will be AT LEAST as painful.

          And it’s that second one that puts them firmly for me in the “bad” column, because parents who are only conditionally good are not good parents at all. And from what we know of them from their parenting techniques there is not a snowball’s chance in hell they will react to Jocelyn in any way that could be considered “good”. (I mean, those allusions to Jordan being too “… Jordan” suggest there’s already one child they’re not on good terms with, Jocelyn isn’t out because she knows that’d mean being disowned.)

        7. Cerberus

          At a minimum.

        8. Regalli

          Ohhh, yeah. Fortunately Jocelyn’s out of her teens and as a legal adult and seems to have some degree of financial and general independence compared to Becky, so it’d be harder for them to get her in conversion therapy… but were it not for those circumstances, I’d be putting that as the most likely scenario.

          I would also not be surprised if they are in fact already estranged from one child over less, and that Joyce’s inevitable siding with her best friends and her sister will get her blacklisted, too. (Because whenever the Jocelyn reveal goes down, I suspect Joyce will have developed however much she still needs to to side with her, and I just really want Jocelyn to know she has at least one family member still and we don’t know for sure about Jordan. Also that way they can have sister clothes-shopping bonding time, which is a thing I know we’ll never get to see but I very much wish to.)

        9. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          Personally, I’m interested in seeing how they react when they realize they’ve estranged themselves from all of their children. They probably won’t realize that they’ve estranged themselves, but still.

        10. Time Sage

          Wait… who’s Jocelyn?

        11. Regalli

          Joyce’s sister, introduced in the comic as “Joshua” who visited during Freshman Family Weekend, but tagged consistently since she was revealed to be trans as such. (Though actually I’m misspelling her name- it’s Jocelyne, with an e on the end.)

          A minor character, comparatively, especially since she’s another IU alum who spent most of that day spending time with other friends in the area, but there was a lot of shipping “him” with Ethan before the reveal and she’s appeared in a Patreon strip since that arc.

        12. Salmo

          Joyce’s sister that everyone but Ethan thinks is her brother.

        13. barefootbiker

          I’m optimistic that the Browns will come around. Perhaps it will take some time, and some difficult conversations, but they have shown themselves to be fairly kind people. It will be long and probably unpleasant, but I don’t see them abandoning Joyce for any reason, and Jocelyne… well, maybe, but probably not for long. As long as the kids hold their own, the parents will more than likely move toward them. If anyone will complicate it, I suspect it will be some of Joyce’s brothers– they’re likely facing up against a lot of opposition to their beliefs already, which could make them more defensive when Joyce and Jocylene’s situations come to a head.

        14. hof1991

          There’s some conversion therapy in their future. Happens to some parents when they have to choose whether or not to continue to be in their child’s life. Sadly, some choose unwisely.

        15. Lord Stoneheart

          The Wilcoxen’s opinion of their son is directly tied to their opinion of his girlfriend, and his ability to get one. It doesn’t seem like a great situation to be in.

        16. Spencer

          I’d say the Wilcoxen are firmly in the bad parent category. They base their son’s worth on his relationships and whether Danny will be able to ride their coattails.

        17. Kinoko

          The Wilcoxen aren’t perfect, but I wouldn’t say they’re bad parents. They haven’t been totally unsupportive of Danny in the way that, say, Ethan’s parents are of him. They seem worried that Danny doesn’t have much direction in life and so hope that he’ll “find the right girl” to give that to him (and Walky’s parents did the same thing but WAY worse). That’s not Best Parent Ever material, but Danny’s parents seem fairly normal, and realizing that your parents are normal people with flaws is part of growing up.

          …Personally, I’m reserving judgement on them until he comes out as bi.

        18. Spencer

          The impression I got from them was that they have no respect for their son (and the alt text for one strip even stated they can’t bring themselves to compliment him) and base his worth on attracting a partner who will carry him through life. When they find out their son broke up with his longtime girlfriend, their first instinct is to blame him and ask whether his new girlfriend is better than Dorothy.

        19. Andrusi

          To be fair, that alt text was probably just making fun of Danny.

        20. Mada

          Amber’s mom seems okay from what we’ve seen of her.

          I think overall it’s more accurate to say that the lousy parents have had a much more lasting impact on things.

          (And Amber’s left a lasting impact on her father too 🙂 )

      2. Leorale

        Dorothy and Sierra have lovely families too (Sierra’s dad is especially on point). But yeah, mostly they are jerks.

        1. gkheyf

          sierra was adopted by kindly folk

      3. Ana Chronistic

        Ethan’s dad’s just a doormat

        1. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          And probably gay, if the way he spoke to Ethan was any indication.

        2. gkheyf

          thank you, i was wondering whether i had been reading too much into that

      4. Joshua503

        Dorothy’s parents are cool, encouraging her to find her own path in life.

        1. Cerberus

          Yeah, this. Dorothy’s parents are super supportive and encouraging of their daughter’s dreams and gives her free range to find her own path:
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/areligious/ (even comforting her when she encounters bias for doing so)
          And they even push back against the whole anxiety “push to success” culture which will be super critical for Dorothy if she starts to burn out:
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/footforward/
          They definitely seem to just be so proud of their daughter and her accomplishments in an incredibly healthy way:
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/forfun/

          And yeah, Sierra’s parents (and Dad especially) are incredibly brave and were shown to crucially intercept the Worst Dad Award Winner:
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/blood/

          And Amber’s mom seems fairly nice albeit with terrible taste in men:
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/mister/

          Interestingly enough, I’d say the strip is fairly balanced between decent parents, shitheel parents, and unknowingly meh or damaging parents.

          We’ve got awesome supportive parents in Sierra’s, Dorothy’s, Galasso, Mike’s, and Dina’s.

          We’ve got irredeemable shitheels in Ethan’s mom, Amber’s dad, and Toedad.

          And we’ve got just too wrapped up in themselves to realize how they are being damaging in Walky and Sal’s, Joe’s dad, Danny’s, and Joyce’s.

          And that’s a pretty realistic spread. It shouldn’t be the case that universally supportive rents are about as common as universally awful rents, but it tends to be the case (if not worse on the shitheel side in life) and a lot of times people just carry damage from small little micro-aggressions and inherited baggage from rents just viewing their kids as something that should follow the path they have in mind and just unwittingly being kinda damaging with those expectations (whether they be to succeed in the exact way they did or to retain the worldviews, religion, or sexuality they expected of them).

          And often times in life, it can seem rare for fully supportive awesome parents to just be a healthy good influence on their kids but it’s always nice to see.

          Dina’s parents are being an example of that here.

        2. Cephalo the Pod

          I, for one, would put Ethan’s mom in the “too wrapped up in themselves” category.

          Sure, she’s more abrasive than the others but she is not a Blaine or a Ross.

        3. Bagge

          I’m a BIG fan of Dorothy*, and her parents clearly have done a lot to make her that perfectly awesome individual she is today.

          *) No “friend of Dorothy” joke today, sorry. Check back later for regular service

        4. gkheyf

          dorothy’s parents’ parenting certainly works with her being as driven as she is, but suppose she had a brother who struggled to do well in life. i do wonder whether their laissez faire attitude would’ve brought up as great a child in that case. freedom and support aren’t the only things that kids need, but their absence can pretty easily be tied back to children’s issues. i agree that they are awesome people and were great to her, but i don’t think that we know enough about them to judge whether they’re ideal. and also, maybe them providing more structure to her life would’ve alleviated the stress that she feels to be so strict with herself on their behalf. just a thought, not trying to argue

        5. barefootbiker

          It is truly a strange day when Galasso is praised for his parenting.

        6. spiderfan14

          he’s a parent?

        7. Cybersnark

          His offspring works at the restaurant, her name is Conquest..

        8. Shade

          Yep his daughter Conquest, she also works at his Pizza (and subs) Shop.

          The last time she appeared was here.
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/orders/

        9. Shade

          Come to think of it, he also seems to be a much better parent in DoA than he was in Shortpacked even though they haven’t shared screen time. Not that that’s hard considering his sole interest in their relationship was wanting her to have a son to be his heir to the point of ignoring her accomplishments even when she ended up more successful than him.

        10. fogel

          He has a daughter who’s a waitster at his resto.

        11. Amazistool

          You are judging Dorothy’s parents only on the surface!

          Behind the surface however they are even more encouraging and supportive!

          (authorship of this belongs to vsophi).

      5. Viktoria

        Dorothy’s are great. Dina’s are great. Joe’s dad and Amber’s mom were both good. It’s just that none of those stand out as much as the various flavors of emotional abuse and bigotry that define the rest of the families.

      6. Kamino Neko

        Eh, maybe half.
        Ethan’s mom
        Amber’s dad
        Becky’s dad
        Joe’s Dad (arguably)
        The Walkertons

        vs

        The Keeners
        The Saruyamas
        Sierra’s parents (or her dad? I’m pretty sure she had a mom arrive, but only remember her dad…)

        With Amber’s mom and Ethan’s dad getting too little screen time to judge.

        1. Regalli

          Her mom also arrived, just her dad got an actual bit of focus defusing the Blaine bomb and her mom did not but seemed perfectly fine in all other ways.

          And the Warners only had a pretty brief appearance but it was them being their obscenely nice selves as usual, so we can assume they’re good.

        2. Leorale

          -oh yeah, I forgot Mike’s folks! Attaboy, champ.

        3. Leorale

          Amber’s mom is an abuse survivor, right? And she seems really together and free from Blaine, so that’s mad impressive in my book.

          Ethan’s dad does not get a pass though. There’s been no indication that Naomi abuses or threatens him, so it’s not okay to stand by when your spouse is horrid to your kid.

        4. Regalli

          Ethan’s dad also had a comment like “Son, even though this thing is horrible and it scares you YOU SHOULD DO IT ANYWAY because that’s what you’re Supposed To Do.” (I ditto the comments we all made at the time that Saul came off as a REALLY repressed closeted gay/asexual man.) So he wasn’t just standing by, he had some degree of participation in it.

          (Amber’s mom is in fact an abuse survivor, and given the flashbacks seems to have managed to get divorced and away from him as much as possible relatively early, at least compared to the old universe. Good on her.)

          We’re also leaving out, come to think of it, the Wilcox parents, who immediately got on Danny’s case for losing Dorothy and generally not being an impressive person who will one day go places. So I’m putting them firmly on the bad parent side.

        5. Leorale

          Yeah, the Wilcoxen aren’t, like, evil, but they’re self-centered and they tend to undermine their kid, at least from what we’ve seen. I’d say they’re stoutly mediocre so far.

        6. Regalli

          I mean they’re nothing on, say, Blaine, I’d say they aren’t even on the Walkerton/Siegal/Brown level, but they’re clearly not the Keeners, either. I’d put them and Joe’s Dad on the same tier of “not HORRIBLE, but still not very GOOD.”

        7. Rutee

          I’m agnostic on Joe’s Dad. All we know about him is that he’s roomies era joe, and that he got divorced. We know that Joe eventually became a perfectly capable parent. The Wilcoxen are bad, but with a little b. Or maybe mediocre, as you said. We don’t know much about Joe’s Dad, but we know the Wilcoxen are kinda bad.

          I’m curious on Billie’s dad. On the one hand, he bribes his daughter, sure, but he might have a legit ridiculously demanding job (Such as being a good lawyer).

        8. Cerberus

          Yeah, Amber’s mom is mad impressive and while Amber still retains her PTSD and DID from those early years, she’s clearly been hard at work in the last X years to fully extricate herself from an abusive relationship and try to protect her daughter as best she can and that is not at all easy, especially when the abuser is so willing to travel large distances and kidnap loved ones (and probably violate restraining orders like crazy) in order to continue harassment and threats.

          Given what we have seen of Blaine, it’s quite clear that she knowingly took that risk to protect Amber at the risk of her own life (abusers on that level have a consistent habit of trying to murder what they see as “escaped property”, especially if they feel “humiliated” by the divorce as Blaine hinted at in his “surprise visit” to Amber during Parents Week), so she definitely deserves all the kudos in the world for that one.

          And also echoing the condemnations of Ethan’s dad and Danny’s parents. Ethan’s dad is clearly happily projecting his own “self-sacrifice” and ex-gay or ex-ace delusions on his son and expecting him to follow in his footsteps and Danny’s parents can’t see beyond their own high school romance to marriage track and definitely push that to the point of belittling their son to his face in front of what they view as his romantic partner.

        9. Regalli

          Yeah, Amber’s Mom managed to get out, support herself and Amber working double-shifts, and while I can’t say for sure, probably managed to keep Blaine from having any actual custody rights that I’d bet he tried to get.
          (We don’t know the timeline for sure, but we know that he hasn’t seen Amber in three years, with her phrasing suggesting that was intentional on HIS part and not hers or Stacy’s; that Blaine is paying at least partly for Amber’s college by “court order”; that “[her] dad left when [she] was little”; and that the shoplifting incident was when she was thirteen, so four-five years before the start of DoA. So I’m betting she got him to pay child support but couldn’t stop him from getting visitation rights despite the fact that he probably left them first and she didn’t let him come back – not an ideal setup, but courts very much are not perfect.)

        10. Lord Stoneheart

          Not sure if this will help in nailing the timeline down further, but Ethan says that the divorce finalized shortly after the robbery incident.

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/tippingpoint/

        11. fizzywafflezsuperstore

          What about the Warners?

        12. DarkoNeko

          Still locked in that animaniacs tower.

        13. Screwball

          +5

        14. Eyebrow

          😀

        15. Someone

          Well Joes dad is a bit like his son. But there is no evidence that he’s a bad father. Plus Joe doesn’t appear to dislike him, at most being annoyed with his fathers Casanova tendencies

        16. inqntrol

          ,,STOP stealing my game!”

        17. Cerberus

          Well, besides the fact that as a 40ish year old man, he creepily pervs on 18-19 year old college students, which is… eeeeeesh to say the least, Joe does seem to hint at the fact that his father’s lechery and sleaziness as well as his tendency to escalate to shouting matches was part of why his parents split up:
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/persistent/
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/03-men-are-from-beck-women-are-from-clark/divorce/

          And it is clear that Joe does feel stunted with regards to taking about emotional issues or forming attachments with others owing to his raising environment.

    3. Mandy

      Danny’s parents seemed very nice too.

  12. Stephen R. Bierce

    *plays the B-52s “Rock Lobster” on the Muzak*

    1. Stephen R. Bierce

      And $200 might be a few months rent on an efficiency apartment outside of town. At least, it is in this redneck part of the Nation.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        $200 would almost pay for my electricity for a month.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Sorry almost 2 months.

      2. drs

        Having lived in Bloomington, I doubt it. Or if it is, it’s so far out of town that transportation is pretty difficult.

      3. Kelly

        Wow. In Seattle (dunno about outlying areas), studio apartments probably start at like $600 a month (non-subsidized). But then, Seattle is now in the top ten in the US for most expensive housing.

      4. Bicycle Bill

        I wouldn’t bet on it, not in (or near) a college town.  Hell, I’m paying almost $300 a month lot rent for my mobile home — although that does include property taxes, water and sewer, and snow removal from the roads in the park during the winter.

    2. fogel

      Not “Love Shack”?

      1. Disloyal Subject

        Long John Silver’s is a seafood place that competes with Red Lobster.
        Both serve lobster, which is probably an option with $200 handy.

      2. fogel

        Doh!
        (I was focused on DinaBecks more than the $200. Plus, Love Shack is on my main playlist.)

  13. Captain Batson

    I wanna know what questions Mrs. Saruyama asked.

    1. timemonkey

      Is she a hot redhead? Have you told her about dinosaurs yet?

      1. DarkoNeko

        Sounds about right.

    2. BrotherPrickle

      “Does she make you happy?”

      “Do you make her happy?”

      1. Cerberus

        That’s my headcanon for that conversation. 😀

        1. StClair

          Mine too.

        2. Screwball

          Yeah, sounds about right, unless Mr Willis says otherwise…

    3. Leorale

      Mine would’ve said “that’s wonderful, dear. Is she nice? Are you happy about this?”
      Mind, they wouldn’t be wiring m money, and they would talk and listen way more. But that’s how the conversation would start. 🙂

    4. Viktoria

      “Do you wish to take her on dates?” “Would money be helpful in taking her on dates?”
      Or
      “Is she a nice girl?” “Would $200 be acceptable for taking her on dates?”
      Dina’s parents aren’t very visibly sentimental, but they are definitely excellent people.

      1. Bagge

        And just like her, they seem practical and straight to the point.
        “Girlfriend means dating. Dating will be facilitated by money.”

    5. Kas

      I am also very curious about this.

    6. Ana Chronistic

      “A girlfriend? Really??”

      Some parents just want their kids hooked up so they’ve got someone watching their backs.

    7. inqntrol

      Does she know the world isn’t 6000 years old?

    8. Kamino Neko

      ‘Is she likely amenable to adopting us some grandchildren in a few years?’

    9. drs

      “Really? REALLY?”

      1. Kamino Neko

        Eh, both of Dina’s parents seem rather similar to her. They found each other, I doubt they’d be too surprised that Dina found somebody.

        1. Mollyscribbles

          Maybe one of ’em was “Did she not back away slowly even when you began speaking about dinosaurs?” because the mark of a solid potential relationship is someone who isn’t weirded out when you babble about your interests. A practical question, and one that would ensure the mentioned girlfriend would stick around for a full date.

          Possibly the other one was “Is she with you now?” which would be their reasoning for hanging up so soon — given that they’re similar to her, they’ve likely learned from experience that a girlfriend would not wish to sit around during a long phone conversation.

    10. Sterling

      I imagine their first question probably had to do with Dina’s sexuality. Something like… “Oh. You are attracted to girls?”

      And then asking if she wants money for dates.

      1. John

        I don’t think Dina could answer that one with a simple “yes” at this point. It’d be something more like, “I am currently testing that hypothesis. Initial results seem promising.”

        1. fogel

          Dina seems like a curious-about-Sexualität sexual. She was open/interested in exploration and Becky got in with her first and they bonded on personalities. Becky is lesbian. For Dina, I think, it might not matter at this point whether her friend is b/f. (Maybe there’s a word for this orientation that I don’t know?)

    11. showler

      Not necessarily questions. “Yes” is an acceptable response to parental instructions. Such as instructions to treat the girlfriend well.

      1. fogel

        In other words, the civilian equivalent of HUA!
        (Heard, Understood, Acknowledged!)

    12. Amazistool

      Did you study human mating behavior?
      Did you take copious notation?

  14. timemonkey

    Fuck yeah Dina’s parents.

  15. Leorale

    Wow, $200! That’s a very nice place indeed. Dang.

  16. electromagneticDestroyosaur

    Joyce lived in a world where “parent” meant “closed-minded person who was indoctrinating you in the first place.” That’s a sad place to be. She’s no longer there anymore. Rejoice!

    1. Sam

      ReJoyce?

      1. Disloyal Subject

        I have a VIVID mental image of Joyce in a Matrix ensemble – trenchcoat, shades, submachine gun, the works – in DMW’S pre-Shortpacked style. Did that ever exist, or am I just imagining things?

        1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

          Do you mean the jetpack vest and crazy death cannon?

        2. fizzywafflezsuperstore

          *Jetpack, vest

        3. electromagneticDestroyosaur

          Your lack of Oxford comma bothers me, but at least there’s no jetpack vests. Those would be even more dangerous and impractical.

        4. fogel

          Don’t believe everything that you read on tee shirts!

        5. John

          I’ve actually never been certain whether the vest was to hide the jetpack, or whether it was in fact a jetpack vest.

        6. Screwball

          Actually, seems she did have a jetpack vest, in that “he seems to have a special affinity for a jetpack, which is hidden inside the back of her vest”. I guess that counts…

        7. fogel

          “When in a fight, she uses an extraordinarily large cannon, which she calls a giant pulsating gun, and keeps somewhere on her person.”

          Giant pulsating gun? Euphemism much? “Are you happy to see me or is that a giant pulsating gun somewhere on your person?” :-0

        8. John

          Yeah, Joyce’s cannon was basically just an enormous dick joke.

        9. inqntrol

          Unfortunately,there isn’t.But now that you said it,I wish it did.

        10. fogel

          In a recruiting poster for Alien Fighters.

        11. Disloyal Subject

          I’ll have to keep an eye out when I finally read those.

  17. DarkoNeko

    Becky looks at Joyce in the last panel
    “seee ! seee, it went ok !”

    1. Bagge

      I love how it takes her brain a split second to go from “What? It went OK” to picking out her favorite restaurant. Walky would approve.

      1. Cerberus

        It’s pretty clear that “rolling with it” and hoping for the best is one of the key pillar’s of Becky’s survival mechanism. She’ll worry and she has all her triggers and all her internal fears and pain, but her active choices are to run with the bright side of everything she encounters as best as she can until it all gets so painful she can’t.

        Toedad skulking around wanting to send her away for good? Focus on the awesome girlfriend and the plan we’ve got so far. Religious beliefs may be incompatible with happiness? Then they must have been wrong. Girlfriend coming out to folks? Worry about it, but if it turns out well, rejoice and deflect from the fear.

        It’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has kept her alive and out of a really shitty situation. On the other, it makes it extremely difficult for her to get emotional support for all the traumas she is accumulating as she views that as the beginning and the end of collapsing and not getting back up again.

        1. Bagge

          Yup. As survival mechanisms come it’s a pretty good one. It doesn’t prevent her from actually discussing her situation – as seen with Sarah and Sal. But you are right, it makes it much harder to get emotional support.

          The really sad thing is of course that a key component of her personality is best described as “survival mechanism”

  18. Cerberus

    Joyce’s brain is breaking at the concept that queer children can actually have supportive parents. But- but ranting about hell and scary style disownment… you mean this isn’t normal for you weird evilutionist people? That’s odd cause that would seem to be the more moral way to- ERROR ERROR ERROR, stack overflow on the preconceptions treadmill!

    1. Mada

      I don’t see eyebrows on her anymore.

      It’s like her eyebrows have risen completely off the page.

      1. DarkoNeko

        It’s not Easter, tho ?

      2. Plasma Mongoose

        I don’t eyebrows on anyone except for Joyce in panel 1.

    2. Bagge

      Allegedly awful people behaves wonderfully… just as they warned her about. But it’s OK because Becky needs it, and that is were Joyce has taken her stand.

      …misty eyed again, sorry…

    3. Rycan

      Go get Sarah or Dorothy – one of them is bound to be familiar with how to do a hard reboot of Joyce, given how often her mind is blown.

      1. Nightsbridge

        They’re new users though, Becky has been with this OS through the alpha and beta stages.

        1. Cerberus

          Hell, Becky has practically written the manual on Joyce Brown mind explosions. Both the creation of and resetting from.

        2. DarkoNeko

          We all know where the reset button is.

    4. Screwball

      I didn’t make this, but I think it’s still somewhat relevant to Joyce’s current reaction…

      1. fogel

        🙂

  19. Andr3wtime

    I miss Long John Silvers. I’ve been having to survive on Farmer Boy’s fish and chips like an animal.

    1. setsun

      http://blommi.com/copycat-long-john-silvers-chicken-planks-recipe/

      Hopefully you’ll actually see this.

      1. neeks

        Well even if they don’t, I did, and thanks for the link! I call bullshit on the low amount of salt the recipe calls for, ljs batter is WAY saltier than that. 😛

  20. setsun

    You were saying, Joyce?

    1. Lapin

      Joyce was speaking from her own experiences and fears. She was worried for Dina. She has no comprehension/experience with the fact that some parents just don’t care. She’s grown up in a very insulated society, where she was home-schooled and had limited Internet privileges.

      1. setsun

        And cows go “moo”.

        The point is she would now(in theory) be envious of Dina’s experience with coming out as dating a person of the same gender.

        1. nothri

          Why? I’m expecting shock followed by relief.

      2. Cerberus

        When bad responses are what you see most often, it’s what you assume will happen. I’ve encountered it in most of the trans groups for kids I’ve run in the past. Occasionally someone will have genuinely supportive and awesome folks who have their back 100% and for a lot of the kids, that’s just unheard of and causes Joyce style BSODs, cause their own real life experiences are rather in contrast to that.

        Which is a shame. Supportive folks can make all the difference.

        1. fogel

          Which makes life way difficult, because you go into situations that look the same on the surface and that reflex gets tripped and you anticipate an attack/betrayal even with people who aren’t like the people who did that to you. It’s nasty, because the negative interactions get hardwired into your brain/mind and continue to haunt you and mess with you even when they happened LONG in the past. Totes fubar. In my experience you can’t deal with that on your own, but there is useful help out there — IF you can find it, which is not always easy in itself. (But its never too late!) Cerberus, good on ya for helping kids!

  21. Cephalo the Pod

    Heh, that sounds like an It’s Walky reference.

  22. TheKelliestKelly

    *slams fists on table* This is the kind of quality taste in restaurants I look for!

  23. Yumi

    This is so cute, and possibly something I could see my parents doing if I eVER GOT A GIRLFRIEND.

    1. DarkoNeko

      Well, fingers crossed.

    2. Leorale

      Appropriate avatar is appropriate.

    3. Rycan

      We’re rooting for you, Daisy.

      (Yumi has Daisy grav as of this posting)

      1. Screwball

        LOL I’m wondering if you know about the…other meaning “rooting” has Down Under…

        1. fogel

          Yup. For those yanks who don’t I recommend this episode of Flight of the Conchordes:
          Unnatural Love
          Season 2 – Feb 15, 2009
          Bret is distraught when Jemaine starts dating an Australian.

          Warning: FoC is HIGHLY addictive; don’t be surprised if you binge watch all of the episodes.

  24. Lia47

    Well I’m freakin jealous

  25. Benjy

    Oh, man. Ponderosa. Those left my neck of Indiana years ago. I miss it.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      We had both a Ponderosa and a Bonanza in my home town.  However, the last manager of the Ponderosa bought the building and turned it into a North Country Steak Buffet, and in the final analysis it beats the hell out of Ponderosa.

      1. Benjy

        Where did you live that the corners of fate met and you were blessed with a Ponderosa AND a Bonanza?

        1. Chris

          Had them both in my home town too… Winnipeg, Canada.

        2. Bicycle Bill

          Western Wisconsin (La Crosse, specifically) — and just to make you even more envious, they were both there *AT THE SAME TIME*!!!

    2. fogel

      Outback’s been doing the business here for ever.

  26. anonymsly

    I love the total lack of trepidation or worry in Dina. She already knows without any doubt whatsoever that her parents love/support/are cool with her.

    I also note the little worried-face on Becky in panel 1. Parents finding out about their child’s same-sex-shipping has not gone well for her before. It’s got to feel great that not only is her girlfriend adorable and great, her parents aren’t going to be some awful thing that swoops in and tears them apart.

    1. Cerberus

      Yeah, that’s how it should be for every queer kid out there. It’s sad that too many have Becky’s parents instead of Dina’s.

      And it’s nice to see that level of unconditional support to serve as that stark reminder that it really is the bigotry and bullshit that makes coming out and all that is associated with it so hard.

      1. Regalli

        I know. I remember being terrified of coming out (even knowing my parents would be fine with it) just because I’d absorbed so much “this is different and Bad and you should feel Bad because you are” from the culture at large and then finally telling my parents was just a weight off my shoulders. It’d be nice to live in a world someday where that isn’t something kids have to worry about whatsoever.

        1. Spencer

          Tell me about it. When I told my dad I was bi, I was scared he’d suddenly hate me. He’s practically my best friend and I can tell him anything but in that moment, and this is a guy who helped me compartmentalize a lot of my depression and anxieties by telling me that it’s not me thinking that, it’s that there’s something in my brain and I shouldn’t blame myself, and I was worried “I like guys too” was going to ruin my life.

      2. fogel

        Which is why no one should think that one supreme court decision, as great as it is, “changes everything”.

  27. jacky

    so i think its official that this is the best doa couple ever

    1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

      That is so true that it has stretched it’s truth through all of time and space.

      They where always the best DOA couple,

      Since the beginning of the universe.

  28. Lapin

    Dina’s parents are the best. Not for the money, just because they’re so…excited? Like, just in that excited happy-for-you-because-we-love-you way, and wanting their kid and her girlfriend to have a good time.

    I really think that’s a good thing for not only Becky to see, but Joyce as well, and possibly Ethan. That there are parents who just want their kids to be happy, and not with an agenda.

    Just, “Here’s $, have fun with your girlfriend, we’re so happy you’re happy”

    1. DarkoNeko

      I imagine the conversation being really deadpan rather than exited, lol.

      1. Mada

        [excited internally]

        1. Screwball

          [internal squealing in foreign language…]

          have we ever found out Dina’s ethnic background & if she/her family know other languages?

  29. Cholma

    Now all Dina has to do is find a restaurant that serves the FINEST cereal! 😀

    1. Agemegos

      And there was silly me thinking of lobsters and champagne.

      1. Disloyal Subject

        I’m sure lobster can be processed into breakfast flakes. I doubt pouring champagne over breakfast cereal is a good idea, but some good milk should suffice.

    2. Mollyscribbles

      Cereality looks like a good choice, though I don’t know if they have a location in her area.

    3. Cerberus

      Organic Fair-Trade Cereal and Artisinal Mountain Dew

  30. brionl

    Looks like cafeteria food at the Natural History Museum and a whole bunch of sweet dinosaur swag at the gift shop.

    1. Bagge

      Nailed it!

    2. Mollyscribbles

      That’s the nicest place Dina knows of.

    3. Gamaran Sepudomyn

      I honestly wonder how they’d make time for that, yet I still want to see a montage of them going there and Dina explaining all the dinosaur facts to Becky.

  31. Van Dyne

    …Didn’t this exact same thing happen when Joyce and Walky hooked up in “It’s Walky!”?

    Guys! This author is just recycling stuff from old comics into his…um…wait. Carry on.

    1. Ana Chronistic

      don’t think Mrs. Brown would’ve chipped in for a non-sperm donor

    2. barefootbiker

      Is your avatar a mix of Mike and Elesa from the Unova region in Pokemon?

      If so, good on you. You managed to combine the two hugest pains in the ass of all time.

      Except maybe Whitney and her Miltank. Fuck that Miltank.

      1. Xakthul

        Looks more like Wasp from the Avengers cartoon that’s been running the last couple of years.

        1. Van Dyne

          That is correct. Specifically, it’s a fanart-y response to this stuff

        2. fogel

          A) Leslie channeling/cosplaying Samuel L. Jackson-as-Nick Fury: WAY awsome.

          B) that seems awfully close to the Joyce-as-Neo that Disloyal Subject mentions above. Perhaps DisSub saw that.

          C) Someone with skillz should swap Joyce’s head for leslie’s. And those of all other DoA characters who should be rendered as SLJ.

        3. fogel

          Also: Danny as Black widow in a Hawkeye Project pose Kwith Marcie as Hawkeye!)!! Wunderschön und Fantastisch!!! That should be on Hawkeye Project for real, if it isn’t.

        4. Van Dyne

          Also, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes got cancelled a long time ago. THANKS FOR REMINDING ME, JERK.

        5. fogel

          Say wa? You provided the link that led me to those pics?? which are great!

  32. Plasma Mongoose

    I can imagine one of Dina’s parents saying to the other “Called it, I told you she will swing that way, now pay up”

    1. DarkoNeko

      hah.
      And then “Dina dear, he’s your percentage on the bet”

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        “Awesome, now I can place my order for a pterodactyl cape, I have a feeling I will be needing it soon”

        1. inqntrol

          LOOK,It’s a bird,it’s a plane,NO IT’S DINACTYL!

        2. inqntrol

          Ok,why does that sound like the name of a yogurt brand?

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          Cos it has things like Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain inside it.

        4. fogel

          Cause we’re heading rapidly towards the Yogurt Event Horizon, where EVERYTHING will be a brand of yogurt. (Not to be confused with the Shoe Event Horizon.)

        5. Deathjavu

          I…I like yogurt…

          take me to this mythical yogurt future

        6. fogel

          “Relax and enjoy your [yogurt, it’s delicious and healthful, with live probiotic cultures].” True facts: I had whole milk and Greek yogurt in Australia years before it came to the US. That ruined me for the insipid low/no fat stuff which was the only thing Dannon et al would market where I live. The approach of the Yogurt Event Horizon has made it possible to have REAL yogurt, YUM. And kfir! Life ways Key Lime Kfir: breakfast!!!

        7. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          If Dina gets any kind of pterosaur-related clothing, I’d imagine it’d be a bathrobe. Can be used as a cape, also useful if you don’t want to wear the somewhat manky clothes you slept in while you haven’t yet had a shower.

  33. Rob S.

    Long John Silver’s?? If Becky think’s that’s “nice”, she would probably be shocked to visit a Red Lobster!

    1. Cerberus

      I get the sense that Becky’s family has not been overly encumbered with wealth to put it mildly.

      Or certainly if they were, very little managed its way in practical effect to Becky.

      1. Bagge

        I don’t see any reason to believe money was the issue rather than restrictions. It’s clear ransoning Becky’s privileges to do any little thing was a main control mechanism.

        I’m sure Long John Silver can be seen as sinful in SOME way.

        1. Betty Anne

          They serve shellfish. 😐 Leviticus 11:9-12; Deuteronomy 14:9, 10

        2. Cerberus

          True. Very, very true.

  34. brasca1

    My hometown had 3 Ponderosas and they are all gone now. I saw one as I drove through Indiana, but it appears to be a dying franchise.

  35. newllend(henryvolt)

    Joyce underestimate the level of fucks Dina’s familyl doesn’t give.

    1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

      Dina’s parents give -9^9^9 fucks

    2. nightsbridge

      They give many fucks. Only issue is, those cares are about their daughter’s wellbeing and happiness.

      1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

        Cares=/=fucks

  36. Dana

    Dina wasn’t just confident it would go over well, “give me a minute” was an actual time estimate.

  37. Plasma Mongoose

    What is the Ponderosa the hovertext is referring to?

    1. Benjy

      A steak house that used to be really popular in Indiana but just up and vanished one day.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Sounds a bit like what happened to Charlie’s restaurant down here.

  38. JessWitt

    Not all parents, Joyce.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      #NotAllParents

      1. DarkoNeko

        #notAllToes

        1. Betty Anne

          #NotAllToeParents (I’m guessing there’s a ToeDad out there somewhere who is not a butthole? Just out of random odds. ^^; )

  39. Edupoet81

    It’s nice to see good, supportive parents from time to time ’round these parts. Joyce and Becky probably haven’t often encountered parents like this.

    Also, Dina’s parents have money it seems. I don’t know that Becky and Dina necessarily need $200 dollars for dinner. It might be a good idea to buy Becky some other essential items with whatever money is left. For instance, it may be a good idea to get a toothbrush, and some toothpaste to go with it before the plaque building up in Becky’s mouth becomes sentient.

    1. Just Me

      It appears that Becky is now a Kept Woman and Dina is her Sugar Daddy. Talk about getting lucky.

    2. SnowXing

      Man, back in college, if I had 200$, I would have seriously blown it all off on whatever strikes my fancy, as opposed to the things I probably ought to buy. I went for months stealing to school’s toilet paper.

      In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have been trusted with half my money. Sure glad I had it though.

    3. Someone

      I wondered why Becky couldn’t use Joyce’s toothbrush. Then I remembered that the idea of anyone else using her toothbrush would probably cause Joyce to start hyperventilating.

      1. Bagge

        There are limits to friendships. I mean, defying God, parents, recalibrating her own beliefs to the core… sure. But Joyce do NOT share toothbrush.

      2. Agemegos

        Better use Dina’s.

      3. DarkoNeko

        Sharing toothbrush actually sound really gross.

        1. Someone

          I wouldn’t mind sharing one, but I have low standards. I would just ask them to was it afterwards.

  40. SnowXing

    I kinda wish Dina’s Dad had picked up the phone and felt proud of his daughter instead of Dina’s mother. There are too many bad father figures in this comic. I would like see some adequate ones… a father who in his struggles to help his daughter doesn’t fuck up horrendously.

    I mean, I wanna be a father some day. I’d like “dad’s just fuck up” not to be the default expectation of me.

    1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

      But low expectations make you a technical overacheiver if you do reasonably well!

      1. SnowXing

        Wow, that’s depressing. 😛

        1. fogel

          But that was how Montgomery Scott became known as the Miracle Worker.

          Seriously, tho, it is the case that fathers tend to get big praise for doing things that mothers get stigmatized for NOT doing. Major double standard, still.

    2. Ana Chronistic

      Hmm, Dorothy’s is okay. Sarah’s…? How ’bout Carla’s? Marcie’s?

      Lucy’s!

      let’s see ’em, Willis

      1. Regalli

        Sierra’s dad helped take Blaine down, he was great.

        1. SnowXing

          Oh yeah. I forgot about that. He had a really cool beard too.

        2. Disloyal Subject

          People keep mentioning that. It was great, particularly how he tried to defuse things nonviolently, but we don’t really know much about them aside from that one action.
          Admittedly, they probably are great parents, considering how their kid’s turned out.

        3. Regalli

          It’s a small action, but it’s definitely enough to rank him as a good parent compared to the competition.

        4. Amazistool

          Well, word of god said that “they’re pretty cool and laid back, and that’s obviously imprinted on Sierra a bit”.

      2. Mercimary

        I’m actually really hoping to see what Carla’s parents turned out like in doa. For some reason it’s something I’m way too curious about.

        1. Rycan

          She was adopted, and will find out that her parents are actually living in the same dorm as her! And, they’re about her age! Somehow.

        2. fogel

          Word. I can’t envisage anyone but Joe as her father!.

        3. fogel

          Actually, Joe was a pretty good father, wasn’t he.

        4. Mercimary

          I’m the same way. I can only see bearded Joe.

          From what I remember he was alright… Distant but supportive. Been a while though, so maybe I’m wrong. Guess it’s time to reread shortpacked.

        5. Screwball

          Wait, Bearded Joe was her Dad, in this universe Joe’s Dad is Joe with a beard, in other words basically Bearded Joe. Does this mean Carla is in fact Joe’s brother-turned-sister? Don’t know about you, but it seems possible to me…

          …Either that or I need that shut down cycle more than I realize…

          …Wow, Pop spelt backwards is pop…

        6. fogel

          Which also means that Joe is his own dad thru some kind of time recurssion! So Carli is both Joes daughter and his sister! Woe! Let it go Jake, it’s Willis-town.

        7. Cerberus

          There was a Willis comment somewhere around here recently that seemed to suggest that Carla’s parents were the type to build her a Johnny Five Prototype if she asked, so from that I’m presuming supportive engineering types.

      3. Captain Batson

        Carla’s parents apparently run a company called “Rutten Technology”, if that helps.

    3. barefootbiker

      In a webcomic about college drama, the best parents are the ones you hear the least about. For instance, when was the last time we heard a single word uttered about Dorothy’s parents anywhere in the strip? And yet, here in the comments, they’re being praised as among the best of them. These characters are adults (technically). While it’s good for most of them to keep in contact with their parents, often less is more. If there’s something to talk about, it’s probably not good.

      1. Lankin the Mad Mage

        Dude, Doroth’s parents were IN the strip. They weren’t just mentioned, they were SHOWN. They walked around, talked with people, had an unfortunate run-in with Joyce’s parents, and so on. They’re being praised because we SAW them be good parents, not because they were absentee parents.

      2. Nightsbridge

        If we’re talking about people damned by their absence, Billie’s parents are prime contenders, they’re so non-present it baffles the mind.

    4. Nightsbridge

      Well, Haruka was also the one who spoke up to Amber about being sorry she let Blaine in, so it’s sorta nice she gets this bit.

  41. Yossarian Duck

    Looks like someone’s parents are keen for some granddinosaurs.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      It will have to be in vitro fertilization, however.

      1. Yossarian Duck

        So what you’re saying is, they should start Jurassic Park for real.

        1. SnowXing

          Best. Idea. Ever.

          If ethically dubious.

        2. MsSchiff

          Sciences will teach you how to make lesbian babies.

          Ethics will teach you why that idea is FUCKING AWESOME.

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          So their babies will have frog DNA?

        4. inqntrol

          Turtle DNA would be better, ‘cuz we’ll have new TMNTs.

    2. NoOneOfConsequence

      “Life finds a way”

      1. Gamaran Sepudomyn

        The motto of every Desert Grassland whiptail lizard ever.

  42. Plasma Mongoose

    That’s strange, there doesn’t seem to be any character tags.

    1. inqntrol

      Someone up there heard ya,now there are tags.

  43. Aeron

    Let’s read between the Willis on this one:

    “Hello MOTHER.”

    $200 for taking her out and promising never to let father find out.

    1. DarkoNeko

      She distinctly said “my parents have credited”. Dina isn’t one for imprecision.

  44. Dean

    I’m a little bit surprised that Dina doesn’t have some kind of dinosaur-themed phone case.

    1. Bagge

      It IS green…

    2. Disloyal Subject

      The front might have jaws framing the screen.

      1. Bagge

        HEADCANON!!!

  45. Plume

    Parenting: You’re doing it right

  46. Anima

    Dina’s family fo tha wiiiiin!

    I think my mum would’ve done that if she were still around. lol I never brought anyone home to her..

  47. caesaria82

    This is so cute and uplifting!

  48. Bagge

    Panel four:
    Dina’s mother: “Do you smooch?”
    Dina: “Yes”
    Dina’s mother: “On the mouth?”
    Dina: “Yes”

    1. fogel

      “Do you smooch?”
      “Yes.”
      “Is she a good smoocher?”
      “Yes.”
      “Good for you, Dina.”

      1. DarkoNeko

        You’re missing the Joyce quote thee.

        1. fogel

          No doubt. I’m still missing it.

        2. Bagge

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/04-walking-with-dina/rush/

        3. fogel

          Righto. Par for the course for me, really.

          Tho “Is she a good smoocher?” still seems an apt question. Also, “Do you like it?”

  49. Asterysk

    As a father of 3, one who is exploring what he likes in 8 year old fashions both sides of the fence(and he is 8 so it is not creepy) I just want to say that this comic more than any others that you have put together(these panels In particular). I cannot for the life of me understand a parent that can stand so firm against a child being happy. And now I am going to have to start a jar of cash for the first dates.

  50. Rycan

    ‘Dorothy, Joyce just blew a fuse again. Do you have a spare handy? Oh, it was the concept of parents being okay with homosexuality this time’

    1. Bicycle Bill

      +1.

  51. AgentKeen

    On the one hand, Long John Silver is not $200 expensive, so they could go someplace a lot fancier.

    On the other hand, I can see Dina saying Becky should use it for some clothes/other essentials (like a toothbrush).

    On the third mutant hand, Dina could buy a couple of nice dino/science books for Becky that they can hold hands and smooch while reading.

    1. Agemegos

      Or they could go somewhere nice as well as just eating somewhere nice.

      Is there are zoo where they live? What’s admission to the zoo? Last time I went to a zoo is was about $40 for adults and $25 for students.

      1. AgentKeen

        That seems pricey for a zoo, but maybe the zoo near me is just cheap (but awesome).

        1. Agemegos

          It was Taronga Zoo, which is pretty awesome. But yes, I thought it was pricy. I like the zoo, though.

        2. Disloyal Subject

          The price of General Admission for an adult to the Oakland Zoo is only $18, so it seems Taronga is on the pricey side.

        3. Agemegos

          I thought maybe I was mis-remembering, but I checked on the web and now its $46, which is about US$41 by purchasing power.

          Sydney is expensive.

        4. Bicycle Bill

          It does not appear that Bloomington has a zoo.  They’d have to take a road trip to Indianapolis, Louisville (KY), or Cincinnati (OH).

        5. Dana

          Yeah toedad, your daughter and the pokemon girl went to Indianapolis to go to the zoo. You’ll want to take the non-stop bus, it is the quickest way. Oh btw, your car has been impounded.

  52. JohnnyO

    I wish I had Dina’s parents. My family had a very different reaction when they found out I was dating a guy. About as negative as Becky’s, but different because instead of trying to find me they told me to not bother ever coming back.

    1. Cerberus

      I feel you there. *Appropriate gesture of support*

    2. WingedBeast

      Well, if you ever need somebody to go beat up your parents, you now have a commentariat full of volunteers. Just let us know.

    3. Bagge

      *Sympathy via light touch*

      1. podian

        *Sympathy via light physical contact*

        FTFY.

        1. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          *Sympathy via lots of hugs*
          FTFY.

    4. Regalli

      *Gives internet hugs and internet blanket*

  53. chris73

    One of the things I like about this comic is I can read the comments then look up what people are talking about which is interesting but then I look up the Ponderosa and I get hungry
    One thing the USA seems to get right is the amount (and different types) of eating establishments, if I ever get my act together and visit I’m pretty sure I’ll add at least 10kgs…and I won’t mind one bit

    1. fogel

      And the Natives won’t notice because Americans don’t know about kilograms! 😉

      1. chris73

        Thats 22 pounds for our american friends

        Oh and well done Dinas parents, it would have been nice if my parents had given me money when I announced I had a girlfriend.

        Don’t know how applicable this is to the comic but when I was 14 my father told me one day that “whatever you do I hope you don’t turn out gay” and “be careful because men wait on street corners for young boys like you”

        1. Deathjavu

          I think you forgot a decimal, its 2.2

        2. TheGrammarLegionary

          No, he means 22 pounds, he’s talking about 10 kilograms. Right idea, though.

    2. DarkoNeko

      I do not get half of their US foodstuff brand ref, lol.

    3. Captain Batson

      If you put on that much weight because of a steakhouse, you are doing something terribly right.

      1. fogel

        That’s if you gave the steak, potato, salad bar, roll and butter, and Boston cream pie rolled in cookie crumbs and deepfried.

    4. brionl

      Give this place a try:

      http://bigtexan.com/72oz-steak-rules/

      My father and I stopped there once, and shared an appetizer platter for one person, and we couldn’t even finish that.

      1. chris73

        You americans don’t know how lucky you are..I’d attempt that bad boy

  54. Yukidrag0n

    My parents are exactly like Dina’s, when I told them I had a girlfriend they didn’t care, they were just happy that I was happy.

    1. Bagge

      High five!

  55. DarkoNeko

    Oh, anyway.

    If they go out to somewhere nice they are more likely to cross Toedad’s path on the way.

    1. DarkoNeko

      I’m not saying Toedad is likely to eat at expensive restaurant chains, mind you. But they may cross path nearby.

  56. Krzysz

    Does Becky know the long johns there aren’t actually made of silver? I love today’s strip so much.

  57. Romanticide

    Well some people save for their childrens weddings but Dinah’s seem to have first dates in mind XD XD

  58. Jake

    I love Dina XD

  59. Peter Sadlon

    Me thinks they are just happy she’s dating anyone. Just saying.

    1. podian

      Anyone human.

    2. Gamaran Sepudomyn

      It’d seem rather strange for them to be aromantic-phobic. Also, “aromantic” is the silliest-sounding term ever used to refer to romantic orientation.

  60. Mo

    Wow, Becky really does like to poop.

  61. Tacos

    $200? Dina’s parents might be the bestest parents of DoA.

  62. Siddif

    Damn you Alt-text now I miss ponderosa! I only got to experience it when I was on holiday in Florida a few years ago.

  63. Random Comment

    I wish my parents were like that. But then again, I’m a straight male that is awful at talking to girls/women… so I guess I’d need to fix that first.

    Also, is no one going to comment that the banner changed and the text box changed color? No? Okay.

    1. Acebats

      The text box change was made to distract from the banner 😛

  64. NinjaNick

    Dina has an awesome mother. Might as well use a bit of that reward to give Becky a toothbrush. 😀

  65. zmm

    Sounds about right given what we know.

    Assuming she’s not adopted that is pretty on par with my own Asian family and my lack of dating.

  66. The Gentleman Mummy

    The Saruyama family: where all emotions are compacted for ease of carrying.

  67. Mr. Random

    Sounds about right. The Saryamas seem like they care very little for What they each do so long as they do it together… Or…
    Y’know, I think we only saw like three panels of them.
    And they were basically just standing by the wayside…
    Watching.
    We barely know anything about them, but the fact that they don’t really care what their daughter does, DOES seem to fit in with their observer vibe,

  68. kay

    I must clap, now.

  69. BonniePride

    SO MUCH HAPPINESS RIGHT NOW!!!! SO! MUCH! HAPPINESS!!!!!

  70. Gangler

    I wonder if Joyce has mixed feelings about the fact that the EVillutionist’s family is so supportive of this.

    I mean, it’s further evidence that these people are godless unrepentant sinners unconcerned with the traditional values she holds dear.

    But at the same time she could hardly wish Becky’s dad on Dina, and she suspects that her own beloved parents wouldn’t be all that much better.

    1. Deathjavu

      Her own parents already called up looking for Becky, remember? It’s not clear how much they know, but Walky was compelled to lie to them.

      1. Gangler

        That’s what I’m referring to. When her parents called looking for Becky, she suspected they did not have Becky’s best interests at heart. Hence why it was such a cause for concern.

        Her parents as far as we know haven’t flatout confirmed they’re in cahoots with Becky’s dad to “Rehabilitate her by any means necessary” but Joyce isn’t exactly optimistic on this front.

    2. Jason

      She’s trying to overthrow a lifetime of conditioning to come to an acceptance that being gay is totally fine- and is honestly doing remarkably well. So Dina’s parents not really batting an eyelid about their daughter’s date’s gender would actually- consciously, at least- be a point in their favour.
      Subconsciously is another matter, given that, again, it’s a lifetime of religious indoctrination to overcome and that is NOT easy.

  71. Victor Riley

    Parenting. They’re doing it right.

  72. Liz

    Changed my mind. My new favorite character is not Dina, it is Dina’s mom.

    1. Hellhound

      Dinas Mom has got it going on.she’s all i want i have waited sooo Long.
      Dina cant you see,you’re not the Girl for me.
      I know it might be wrong
      but i am in love with Dinas Mom.

  73. JustcallmeSoul

    why do the buttons under the strip hurt my eyes?

  74. Undrave

    They’re gonna go to Galasso right? And Beck with end up getting a job there I bet!

    1. Xakthul

      That’d be cool… And then seeing Galasso go off on Toedad if he tries to do something.

      1. fogel

        Soy lent Green subs and pizza?

        1. neeks

          The secret’s in the sauce

  75. Torra

    I wish I had parents like Dina! My dad would probably be OK with it if/when I got a girlfriend, but my mum would defs be weirded out. It annoys me as she likes to pretend she’s OK with differing sexualities to her own, but she’s always coming out with something subtly homophobic, transphobic, racist, pretty much anything you can think of.

    yay mothers

  76. Arianod

    O3O Oooh!

  77. Mr. Morningstar

    holy

    how rich are dinas parents

    HERE HAVE 200 DOLLARS DAUGHTER

  78. Lulu

    Wow, I bet her parents are relived she’s dating a human rather than a dinosaur ^^

  79. TheHabbadasher

    Sounds like there might be a genetic component to Dina’s awesomeness. Though maybe she just had an awesome upbringing…

  80. Caspar

    This is my first post. And this is my favorite DoA so far!

  81. 0kami

    “Daughter has leveled up her social skills. Such efforts must be rewarded.”

    “Yes, presumably in financial funds so as to further social efforts.”

    “Agreed. Approved?”

    “Approved.”

    “Transaction completed.”

  82. QuantaCat

    Nice, the first character with normal parents?

    1. A5pect

      Mr. And Mrs. Keener, Sierra’s parents, and the Warners come to mind.

      Alright, so the one doesn’t quite constitute “normal” parental behavior, but they’re much better adjusted than the likes of Mrs. Walkerton of Toedad.

      1. A5PECT

        “The last one.”

        Stupid phone even made me get my own username wrong.

    2. Jason

      Sad to say, but the less awesome parents in this strip generally feel more like “normal parents” to me. I mean, not really the Browns, but different cultures, but the others? Yup, definitely normal.
      From what we’ve seen of Dina’s parents, they are very concerned with manners and appearances (to the extent of, well, Blaine) but also accepting of their daughter. So… Flawed but well-meaning? Actually that does sound pretty “normal”, whatever that is.

      (For other decent parents though, Dorothy’s set a high bar and Amber’s mother was fairly good. The parents in this are highly varied, which seems fairly realistic.)

      1. Lord Stoneheart

        They made a mistake with letting Blaine in for the sake of politeness though Haruka was willing to admit that it was a mistake.
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/strength/
        I wouldn’t classify them as the best judges of character, but I also wouldn’t want to underestimate Blaine’s ability to portray himself as something other than an abusive controlling fuckwad.

        1. Regalli

          Yeah, Blaine managed to come off well to Danny, I can TOTALLY see him acting really polite and respectable to other adults. (And we don’t know how many of the details Dina knew in advance of that incident to tell her parents, either.)

        2. Jason

          Yeah, they made a mistake and that doesn’t make them bad people by a LONG shot. But my read on it was that Dina knew it was a bad idea and that her parents (to quote) were “insistent on being hospitable”, more concerned with manners than Amber’s personal space.
          Everyone has flaws and I certainly wouldn’t call them bad parents or people- evidence shows they are very much the opposite. That was my point- good people, but flawed and believable.

  83. Potatamoto

    *whimper* All the Long John Silvers in Tucson closed down several years ago, and gods help me, I miss them. I miss them so much! Becky doesn’t know how lucky she is!

    Also, Dina is awesome, so that’s another plus.

  84. podian

    Because everything about Dina is awesome, even her parents.

  85. showler

    If she had said her girlfriend’s name was Lucy, her mother would have just been happy she had moved to fossils closer to our part of the family tree.

  86. Xakthul

    Wow, this was a great birthday present… Now we see where Dina got her coolness from.

  87. podian

    To be fair, they fully expected that she’ll date a velociraptor…

    1. Xakthul

      The real kind would be too short to kiss like that… Maybe a Utahraptor?

      1. Screwball

        Austroraptor is about the same size, & doesn’t have those teeth in the way…

  88. Daisy

    Cue 1,000 Pex Flexington comments about how unrealistic it is that Dina’s parents are not raging homophobes.

  89. Darwin

    Oh, I envy a youth where Long John Silver’s was considered “someplace nice.”

  90. Wixvhen

    Time for everybody to play the guessing game of ‘what did the parents ask! I’ll go first!

    ‘Is she real?’

    ‘Does she like dinosaurs?’

    1. podian

      “Does she know?”

    2. Bicycle Bill

      “Is she human?”

    3. Alexx

      “You will find a way to give us grandchildren whether by adoption or through alien genetic testing to mix your DNA and make a child, correct?”

  91. BenRG

    To me, the thing I’ve learnt from today’s strip is that Dina’s parents are rich! Two hundred dollars on a whim?

    1. Ana Chronistic

      It’s like a college fund, but a “HOORAY OUR CHILD FINALLY FOUND A MATE” fund

      1. Xakthul

        See, now you got the “You. Fuck. Her.” speech stuck in my head.

        Except Dina’s parents are too nice for that.

  92. Willoughby Chase

    Joyce needs a reboot.

  93. Bicycle Bill

    You know, we may be looking at this from the wrong angle.  Remember, *WE* have seen the entire scenario play out and know that Becky has unabashed lesbian tendencies; Dina’s parents have not.

    So what did Dina tell her mother — merely “I have a girlfriend”, which doesn’t automatically mean that “I am having a wild and passionately torrid affair with a person of the same sex”.  It’s entirely possible that Dina’s mother just thinks that Dina has made friends with someone and lesbianism doesn’t even enter into the equation.

    1. Jack

      It’s possible, I suppose, but the “take her out somewhere nice” advice seems like date behaviour rather than platonic bonding behaviour.

    2. Blue

      However, the phrasing ‘take you someplace nice’ would seem to imply a date, and therefore an understanding that their relationship is something other than a simple friendship.

      However, I could definitely see one of the questions that Dina answered being intended to clarify that point.

      1. Xakthul

        With Dina’s mother, at least, being as reserved as she’s shown earlier, it’s not a big stretch that “girlfriend” could be interpreted as “a friend who should be taken out somewhere”… Which is almost right, if you nix the romantic part…

  94. Jack

    Nice to see that Dina comes by being awesome naturally.

  95. Robert

    And for the next two weeks all we will hear from joyce is “Seriously?….Seriously??….Seriously?!?…”OH COME ON ?!?!?”

  96. Toes14

    What I tool out of this strip is that Joyce still has much to learn about the world. Her home schooled Christian upbringing has her believing that all parents behave & believe the same as her parents, despite the fact that she’s already learned that not all kids her age behave and believer the same way she does. I guess she hasn’t made that logical leap yet.

    1. timemonkey

      Hearing Leslie and Ethan’s experiences didn’t really help, Dina’s literally the first to come out of the closet with no angst.

      1. Bagge

        Well, there are a few more, like Billie (who’s angst has nothing to do with having kissed girls, which is as much as Joyce know about it), but yeah, she has a very limited and biased view.

  97. Miles

    Secretly Dina’s parents have actually been replaced with real Dinosaurs. They’re just trying to fatten up Dina and Becky before they eat them.

    1. Cybersnark

      Real dinosaurs being better human beings than Toedad is somehow not surprising.

  98. Asper Storm

    BEST PARENTS EVER!!!!!

  99. M Paquette

    Ah! I love it.

  100. wakeangel2001

    how the other half lives…

  101. Amake

    No no, go to Olive Garden. Then you’ll never want food again, and you’ll be stuffed to the nose with paste, and you’ll have backpacks full of secreted breadsticks, and you’ll have 175 dollars left over to get Becky toothpaste and a dinosaur hat.

    1. Amake

      *pasta

      Also maybe more like 180 dollars since you probably won’t be drinking the expensive stuff.

      1. Adj

        No no, it’s paste. You were right the first time.

    2. chrisashtear

      if youre gonna steal breadsticks, might as well steal pizza huts.

      1. Xakthul

        Pizza Hut’s breadsticks are usually glorious.

        1. Amake

          But are they infinite? If there’s one thing I know about America, it’s that Olive Garden has infinite breadsticks.

  102. cmd1095

    Hell my family isn’t even homophobic and I’M envious, 200 bucks for a date? I’m pretty sure all straight and gay teens alike would love for their parents to drop that in their laps

    1. Bicycle Bill

      Granted it was back in the 1970s, but when I took someone out on a first date I asked my dad to borrow the car and twenty bucks; you’d have thought I was asking him to take out a second mortgage on the house.

  103. Pierre-Eric

    Dina is so awesome even her parents are awesome. o_O

    They’re probably just overjoyed their socially inept daughter actually got into a relationship (and is therefore not so socially inept anymore!)

    1. Jerden

      They also seemed socially inept in their previous appearance, that may be why their response to this relationship is to throw money at it and hope it works.
      I mean, 200 dollars is quite a lot, right? I live in Not-America, I really don’t know.

      1. TFGM

        So it varies state to state but here in California they could probably eat at a fast food joint for under $10. A low end diner for $20. A decent restaurant for $30-40. A fancy restaurant for $50-80. So they could get two tickets to an amusement park and go eat lobster afterwards.

      2. somebody

        $200 is a lot for 1 date, yes. Though I’d guess that it’s more of “here’s some money for a date, and while we’re at it, here’s some general spending money too.”

        TFGM said “California”. Prices in Indiana << Prices in California.

        Prices of things in IU/Indiana/USA:

        Based on this 2015 prices (is it 2015 in DoA?), they're paying about $715/month for her to live in Read Hall.

        If she wanted to go to sportsball games, $310 would get student tickets for all home football and basketball games for the year (apparently IU won't sell individual game tickets to students, or basketball tickets without forcing you to buy football tickets also).

        For me (a college student (at Purdue, not IU) living off campus), a week of groceries averages about $80/month.

        Holiday World (the only real theme park while staying in Indiana) is $45/day/person.

        A movie ticket costs around $10/person. A nice dinner for a college student date could be anywhere from $10-$25/person (though it's easy for that number to go way up once you can buy alcohol).

        A console video game is usually around $60.

  104. Professor Stahp

    But then they meet Becky’s dad at the bus stop… Dina should put spotters all around town.

  105. Adj

    I’m wondering if Dina’s parents had this hotkeyed, since it was a really quick transaction.

  106. Rick Robin Cagnaan

    So… It’d be a wonder if Dina’s parents learned about her sexual orientation and accepted it… We’ll be asking that question…

  107. Tenn

    Joyce is all “Wait, parental disapproval isn’t one of the fundamental forces? My physics textbook lied to me?”

  108. Deimir

    Things are going way too well these last few updates…

    1. HeySo

      :points to next comic:
      Way to jinx it.

      Wait, no, this is Willis.
      It was jinxed to begin with 🙁

  109. My2Cents

    Dina’s Parents:
    “Thank God! she’s not asexual after all!”

    1. ninja_jesus

      I don’t think Dina’s parents care about that.

    2. My2Cents

      All parents want grandkids. And being asexual would make that a lot harder.

  110. Sarah

    The put a Post Office where the Ponderosa used to be. We call it the Posterosa, now.

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