She’s not shown any sexual orientation thus far, so some people assume she’s asexual; but that’s like assuming anyone who’s a virgin is asexual. She could still easily turn out to be straight, or les, or bi, or anything really.
Or maybe she’s actually a Dinosexual who gets hot for Velociraptors? 😀
ThatMadCat
Most virgins however have still experienced some sort of sexual attraction. She explicitly states she has never felt such an attraction. Assuming she’s asexual is not really that odd given that statement.
Heavensrun
Most people in general don’t compartmentalize things the way Dina does, though. I feel like people ought to wait and see how the character identifies rather than slapping a label on her in advance.
Crimson
@Heavensrun Asexuality is generally not very well represented in fiction. People with nonstandard sexual orientations tend to get a lot of comfort/happiness out of seeing people with whom they can identify in fiction.
With that in mind, what’s the harm in people imagining or assuming Dina is asexual, when there is decent evidence supporting that and it brings them happiness? I don’t see any. On the other hand, it does seem like telling people that they aren’t allowed to make any assumptions about a character until things are made perfectly clear can be somewhat invalidating and disheartening, so maybe it’d be best to avoid that.
Just food for thought. 🙂
Xakimus
I cannot imagine people not getting hot for Velociraptors.
Betty Anne
Right??? Star-Lord Chris Pratt and Jurassic World’s fake velociraptors are probably going to kill me. ^^;
Omg I am really tempted to get that ebook just to see if it’s serious (?!?) or a parody (I hope!) but if I do, it’s going to really, really skew my Amazon picks.
Since she wasn’t asexual in It’s Walky, I’m pretty sure Dina is not asexual here, since sexualites have been noted to transfer.
Considering certain issues in continuity in It’s Walky, all we know for certain about Dina’s sexuality is that she has had heterosexual sex (in the Walkyverse, I mean, not here) and that she would describe herself as “non-white, non-heteronormative, neurodivergent”. And that covers a lot of possibilities.
Captain Batson
Well, she’s not white, so…
wakimaniac
So Carla…
rayrayravona
Wait, Dina had sex in the Walkyverse? I don’t remember this.
Spencer
With Mike. Maybe Walky as well? I think that was just X-Treme cuddling.
I don’t think either of those instances can be used to solidly say anything about Dina, though. She was in a huge depression and slept with Mike in an attempt to get him to stay with her, and even if she did with Walky, that’s not some ultimate confirmation. I’m like 90% certain Walky lost his virginity to Joyce in IW! near the end.
Spencer
(Forgot to add this part)
I guess the TLDR of it is that, if it eventually comes out that Dina is ace, then it’s the same reveal as Danny went through last year, since we all assumed he was straight since he never displayed attraction to men in the Walkyverse.
Meyers
ITT: making tl;dr’s as long as original comment ;p
Since when is Dina confirmed ace? Not saying she’s not, but I vaguely remember her expressing interest in the concept during a conversation with Amber? Which doesn’t preclude her from being ace, but there’s no real reason she should be.
Lucina
Yeah, I’m leery of calling her ace based on her conversation with Amber, considering it seems like it would play into the stereotype of asexuals being asexual because they’re unemotional/logical/etc.
Suitora
Dina’s not a robot, though. She has very strong emotions and cares for others, but she finds it hard to understand subtle social cues, which comes off to me as autism spectrum. I would normally question the Asian stereotype, but Dina isn’t really written as smart because she’s Asian, but because she has a very narrow focus that she exhaustively researches like someone on the spectrum would do.
I know Willis said she wasn’t diagnosed, but I would diagnose her right then and there based on what I’ve seen. She fits the criteria well enough that I think she was written that way.
Lucina
I meant more of the tone of the conversation; the detached, scientific way she described an approach to sex seemed like it would play into that trope.
Lucina
I just want to make sure I’m absolutely clear here that I’m not saying I think Dina’s definitely not asexual, or that I think interpreting her that way is wrong. I’m just saying that I think the conversation with Amber is a somewhat problematic one to derive that conclusion from, because to me it seems to play into a negative asexual stereotype.
Torra
I totally understand where you’re coming from! A lot of asexual characters I’ve seen represented in places tend to be logical, detatched and sometimed come off as quite cold characters. The best place I’ve seen asexuality represented is on Girls With Slingshots as the girl who was ace was none of those things but just a normal girl who didn’t like sex. (Which I would like to see more of in places!)
Cerberus
The flip side of this coin is that I know a number of asexual people who are on the spectrum who get frustrated when they feel like they are seen as inherently a negative stereotype and like their experiences need to be hidden so as to make life easier for neurotypical asexuals. A positive spectrum ace depiction would mean as much for those individuals as a positive trans ace character in Ultra Car/Carla meant to me.
Additionally, her counterpart in the other universe did seem to be able to be read as demisexual/grey ace and it would be awesome if this universe’s Dina would happen to confirm either (especially the demi as I can’t think of a single representation of that identity and I trust Willis to handle that well and not just make it a “love fixes the ace” storyline)
I seriously doubt Dina will confirm anything sexual anytime soon.
Suitora
Well, to be fair, that’s Dina. She sees words as serving a practical rather than thematic purpose. She talks like a dictionary most of the time because she’s on the spectrum.
Regalli
Dinosaurs are totally her special interest and after Willis has said the Walkyverse version of her was in fact implied to be neurodivergent I’m taking her as canon until stated otherwise.
(I really, REALLY want her to be explicitly autistic in canon, though. You know even the protagonist of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime isn’t canonically autistic? Why is it that we only seem to get positive representation and status as protagonists if we’re implied?)
The Articulator
I get your desire for explicitness, but this is such a textbook case of Aspergers that it’s not even really necessary, I don’t think. Unless Willis explicitly stated otherwise, I think it’s safe to take it as canon.
JonRich
Are any of you actually medical professionals?
Les
My daughter is a clinical psychologist who works primarily with autism spectrum children. She doesn’t read this comic but I gave her a brief synopsis of Dina’s character. She agrees that there are cues in her behavior that would at least encourage having her evaluated, particularly the fixation on dinosaurs, difficulty of expression/social skills, and apparent overstimulation (being overwhelmed in a crowded environment). But she reminded me it’s called a spectrum because there are a wide range of potential symptoms and degrees of severity, so diagnosing her accurately would require a little more effort.
WordFlyer
@JonRich… I don’t know about these other folks, but I’m licensed clinical professional counselor. What I’ve seen of Dina would lead me to think that she is on the autism spectrum, but she’d need a proper evaluation to determine just where.
Majere
I expect the reason creators avoid making it explicit is they don’t want to deal with the responsibilities that entails. As soon as you declare a character to explicitly be on the spectrum you have an obligation to portray what that means accurately and you immediately lose the ability to make them the butt of shitty jokes and then say “Oh no they’re not actually autistic so it’s totally okay to mock the textbook autistic traits they exhibit.”
Lukas
Reminds me of Big Bang Theory.
DSL
Or, perhaps, wanting to avoid the shitstorm that results from them not sufficiently hewing to one reader or another’s agenda.
stevecharb
We were also never told what was divergent about Forrest Gump, Abed Nadir, or Arnie Grape.
The audience takes refuge in labels and learns to define characters by them, instead of by their actions and personality.
Else, as was the case with “Rain Man” when they did name his condition, it tends to lead to popular misconceptions when audiences come to expect the unique character’s quirks to be generally true of all people of the same label.
I mean, she kinda described it like, “I’m curious what it feels like, but there’s no one I’ve ever actively wanted to have sex with in my life.” Seems pretty ace or gray-ace to me.
Random832
Or she’s just a teenager who hasn’t reached that point in her life yet.
Suitora
Dina’s in college, though. And the way she worded it was “I don’t really have any sort of sexual inclinations, but I’m curious because people say it’s good.”
Not, “I haven’t met a person I trust…” but no urges whatsoever, which is unusual before 18.
Kaete
I didn’t meet even a single person I wanted to have sex with until I was 20. Not in a “I trust you” way, but literally not even one person that made me want to roll in the hay, or daydream about rolling in the hay. I honestly thought I was broken! Then I got out of my small town and met a bunch of fellow nerds, and BAMMO, suddenly there were sexy people in my universe. It happens.
Leorale
If you desire a really fancypants word for that, you might call that ‘sapiosexual’. As in, you’re attracted solely to really smart people, because they are smart. 🙂 I find it fun to say.
Nerd Patrol
What a coincidence. I myself am only sexually attracted to those who consider the term “sapiosexual” to be the stupidest fucking thing to be created by allegedly functioning human beings since the Insane Clown Posse.
Leorale
Uh, okay? Sheesh, that’s a strong reaction to such a harmless word. Did somebody who likes making up words run over your puppy?
Strangeshapes
Yes! This! I am almost perfectly in the middle of the Kinsey scale, and enjoy sex quite a bit, but a lot of people thought I was ace (or rather, “frigid, because they were jerks) because I had absolutely no interest in sex with any of them. I thought that might be the case too, until I got to college and went, wow, every flavor of cereal looks so GOOD here!”
The Articulator
It could be a part of her Autism – I have on average a 3 year social lag, though I don’t know if that’d apply to sexuality.
In my experiences working with spectrum kids, I haven’t seen that apply to sexuality.
In my experiences interacting with spectrum ace adults, I think it would be awesome to have a positive spectrum ace individual, especially if Dina is as I suspect, demi, as those individuals shouldn’t be stuck with stereotypes or nothing.
Random832
The problem is, asexuality _is_ a stereotype for non-neurotypical people. There’s nothing wrong with being on the spectrum or otherwise different, and there’s nothing wrong with being asexual, but that doesn’t mean it’s not problematic for media to consistently pair these traits.
REmember how she super got along with Roz’s little sister ?
Random832
“Dina’s in college, though. ” – Just started. And as someone who personally didn’t have sex until 19, I feel obligated to object to applying labels based on someone’s lack of high school relationships.
We suffer from periodic mass amnesia, and wind up having the exact same discussions all over again.
JonRich
All of this talk of aces, which is a term I have never heard used before in this context, makes me think of a group of asexual fighter pilots. Especially that comment mentioning “confirmed ace,” which I initially read as “a confirmed ace.” I thought the idea was too awesome not to share.
JonRich
I’m not saying that I’m awesome, mind you. I’m pretty average. I just think the idea is great.
Rycan
You aren’t really an asexual until you’ve shot down at least five planes. Unless, of course, you’re a neurotic beagle who thinks his doghouse is a biplane – then you’re automatically an ace.
John
Hmm, perhaps you’re not a confirmed ace until you’ve shot down at least five sexual advances.
her being asexual would actualy work on my dina/carla ship… yeah I also have no idea why i ship them, I just do
vmgx
also, I used to heve a gravatar, I haven’t reolyed in a long time, but why did it change for a randon one? (even tho I kinda like like it)
fogel
Every so often the gravs are shifted if you are using a system assigned one.
Focal Malice
I can already taste the despair Willis is going to bring to this later on.
jesslin
Well sure! Just because you’re asexual doesn’t mean you don’t have or enjoy any sex at all. It’s just not what drives you or your attraction to a person. I could totally see Dina and Carla having a good dinosaurs-on-rollerskates debate that evolves into an other-things-dinosaurs-and-rollerskates-are-good-for “discussion”. OR…yeah, never mind. I have no idea where I was going with that. 😀
530 thoughts on “Dinosaurs”
Jen Aside
OMG BEST BFFs FOREVAR =D =D =D
Willis, I forgive you all your damn-worthy transgressions =D [that is, until you DROP THE HEARTBREAKS again]
John
Incoming heartbreak of Dina’s asexuality.
DarkoNeko
That never prevented people from being friends.
airyu
Nor from having romantic relationships.
Cerberus
Or even from engaging in sexual activities as she has stated she is curious about one day exploring those in a scientific way: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/overstepped/
Yet_One_More_Idiot
She’s not shown any sexual orientation thus far, so some people assume she’s asexual; but that’s like assuming anyone who’s a virgin is asexual. She could still easily turn out to be straight, or les, or bi, or anything really.
Or maybe she’s actually a Dinosexual who gets hot for Velociraptors? 😀
ThatMadCat
Most virgins however have still experienced some sort of sexual attraction. She explicitly states she has never felt such an attraction. Assuming she’s asexual is not really that odd given that statement.
Heavensrun
Most people in general don’t compartmentalize things the way Dina does, though. I feel like people ought to wait and see how the character identifies rather than slapping a label on her in advance.
Crimson
@Heavensrun Asexuality is generally not very well represented in fiction. People with nonstandard sexual orientations tend to get a lot of comfort/happiness out of seeing people with whom they can identify in fiction.
With that in mind, what’s the harm in people imagining or assuming Dina is asexual, when there is decent evidence supporting that and it brings them happiness? I don’t see any. On the other hand, it does seem like telling people that they aren’t allowed to make any assumptions about a character until things are made perfectly clear can be somewhat invalidating and disheartening, so maybe it’d be best to avoid that.
Just food for thought. 🙂
Xakimus
I cannot imagine people not getting hot for Velociraptors.
Betty Anne
Right???
Star-LordChris Pratt and Jurassic World’s fake velociraptors are probably going to kill me. ^^;Kellorna
Neither can this guy ;D http://www.amazon.com/Billionaire-Dinosaur-Forced-Me-Gay-ebook/dp/B00MCVVH6G
Strangeshapes
Omg I am really tempted to get that ebook just to see if it’s serious (?!?) or a parody (I hope!) but if I do, it’s going to really, really skew my Amazon picks.
Rich
True that.
Church
#me
LeslieBean4Shizzle
Since she wasn’t asexual in It’s Walky, I’m pretty sure Dina is not asexual here, since sexualites have been noted to transfer.
Considering certain issues in continuity in It’s Walky, all we know for certain about Dina’s sexuality is that she has had heterosexual sex (in the Walkyverse, I mean, not here) and that she would describe herself as “non-white, non-heteronormative, neurodivergent”. And that covers a lot of possibilities.
Captain Batson
Well, she’s not white, so…
wakimaniac
So Carla…
rayrayravona
Wait, Dina had sex in the Walkyverse? I don’t remember this.
Spencer
With Mike. Maybe Walky as well? I think that was just X-Treme cuddling.
I don’t think either of those instances can be used to solidly say anything about Dina, though. She was in a huge depression and slept with Mike in an attempt to get him to stay with her, and even if she did with Walky, that’s not some ultimate confirmation. I’m like 90% certain Walky lost his virginity to Joyce in IW! near the end.
Spencer
(Forgot to add this part)
I guess the TLDR of it is that, if it eventually comes out that Dina is ace, then it’s the same reveal as Danny went through last year, since we all assumed he was straight since he never displayed attraction to men in the Walkyverse.
Meyers
ITT: making tl;dr’s as long as original comment ;p
Alan
Since when is Dina confirmed ace? Not saying she’s not, but I vaguely remember her expressing interest in the concept during a conversation with Amber? Which doesn’t preclude her from being ace, but there’s no real reason she should be.
Lucina
Yeah, I’m leery of calling her ace based on her conversation with Amber, considering it seems like it would play into the stereotype of asexuals being asexual because they’re unemotional/logical/etc.
Suitora
Dina’s not a robot, though. She has very strong emotions and cares for others, but she finds it hard to understand subtle social cues, which comes off to me as autism spectrum. I would normally question the Asian stereotype, but Dina isn’t really written as smart because she’s Asian, but because she has a very narrow focus that she exhaustively researches like someone on the spectrum would do.
I know Willis said she wasn’t diagnosed, but I would diagnose her right then and there based on what I’ve seen. She fits the criteria well enough that I think she was written that way.
Lucina
I meant more of the tone of the conversation; the detached, scientific way she described an approach to sex seemed like it would play into that trope.
Lucina
I just want to make sure I’m absolutely clear here that I’m not saying I think Dina’s definitely not asexual, or that I think interpreting her that way is wrong. I’m just saying that I think the conversation with Amber is a somewhat problematic one to derive that conclusion from, because to me it seems to play into a negative asexual stereotype.
Torra
I totally understand where you’re coming from! A lot of asexual characters I’ve seen represented in places tend to be logical, detatched and sometimed come off as quite cold characters. The best place I’ve seen asexuality represented is on Girls With Slingshots as the girl who was ace was none of those things but just a normal girl who didn’t like sex. (Which I would like to see more of in places!)
Cerberus
The flip side of this coin is that I know a number of asexual people who are on the spectrum who get frustrated when they feel like they are seen as inherently a negative stereotype and like their experiences need to be hidden so as to make life easier for neurotypical asexuals. A positive spectrum ace depiction would mean as much for those individuals as a positive trans ace character in Ultra Car/Carla meant to me.
Additionally, her counterpart in the other universe did seem to be able to be read as demisexual/grey ace and it would be awesome if this universe’s Dina would happen to confirm either (especially the demi as I can’t think of a single representation of that identity and I trust Willis to handle that well and not just make it a “love fixes the ace” storyline)
DarkoNeko
I seriously doubt Dina will confirm anything sexual anytime soon.
Suitora
Well, to be fair, that’s Dina. She sees words as serving a practical rather than thematic purpose. She talks like a dictionary most of the time because she’s on the spectrum.
Regalli
Dinosaurs are totally her special interest and after Willis has said the Walkyverse version of her was in fact implied to be neurodivergent I’m taking her as canon until stated otherwise.
(I really, REALLY want her to be explicitly autistic in canon, though. You know even the protagonist of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime isn’t canonically autistic? Why is it that we only seem to get positive representation and status as protagonists if we’re implied?)
The Articulator
I get your desire for explicitness, but this is such a textbook case of Aspergers that it’s not even really necessary, I don’t think. Unless Willis explicitly stated otherwise, I think it’s safe to take it as canon.
JonRich
Are any of you actually medical professionals?
Les
My daughter is a clinical psychologist who works primarily with autism spectrum children. She doesn’t read this comic but I gave her a brief synopsis of Dina’s character. She agrees that there are cues in her behavior that would at least encourage having her evaluated, particularly the fixation on dinosaurs, difficulty of expression/social skills, and apparent overstimulation (being overwhelmed in a crowded environment). But she reminded me it’s called a spectrum because there are a wide range of potential symptoms and degrees of severity, so diagnosing her accurately would require a little more effort.
WordFlyer
@JonRich… I don’t know about these other folks, but I’m licensed clinical professional counselor. What I’ve seen of Dina would lead me to think that she is on the autism spectrum, but she’d need a proper evaluation to determine just where.
Majere
I expect the reason creators avoid making it explicit is they don’t want to deal with the responsibilities that entails. As soon as you declare a character to explicitly be on the spectrum you have an obligation to portray what that means accurately and you immediately lose the ability to make them the butt of shitty jokes and then say “Oh no they’re not actually autistic so it’s totally okay to mock the textbook autistic traits they exhibit.”
Lukas
Reminds me of Big Bang Theory.
DSL
Or, perhaps, wanting to avoid the shitstorm that results from them not sufficiently hewing to one reader or another’s agenda.
stevecharb
We were also never told what was divergent about Forrest Gump, Abed Nadir, or Arnie Grape.
The audience takes refuge in labels and learns to define characters by them, instead of by their actions and personality.
Else, as was the case with “Rain Man” when they did name his condition, it tends to lead to popular misconceptions when audiences come to expect the unique character’s quirks to be generally true of all people of the same label.
It’s much better to show instead of tell.
Meyers
Willis never said she was DIAGNOSED its possible she’s never been to a doctor about it
Wack'd
yep
Suitora
I mean, she kinda described it like, “I’m curious what it feels like, but there’s no one I’ve ever actively wanted to have sex with in my life.” Seems pretty ace or gray-ace to me.
Random832
Or she’s just a teenager who hasn’t reached that point in her life yet.
Suitora
Dina’s in college, though. And the way she worded it was “I don’t really have any sort of sexual inclinations, but I’m curious because people say it’s good.”
Not, “I haven’t met a person I trust…” but no urges whatsoever, which is unusual before 18.
Kaete
I didn’t meet even a single person I wanted to have sex with until I was 20. Not in a “I trust you” way, but literally not even one person that made me want to roll in the hay, or daydream about rolling in the hay. I honestly thought I was broken! Then I got out of my small town and met a bunch of fellow nerds, and BAMMO, suddenly there were sexy people in my universe. It happens.
Leorale
If you desire a really fancypants word for that, you might call that ‘sapiosexual’. As in, you’re attracted solely to really smart people, because they are smart. 🙂 I find it fun to say.
Nerd Patrol
What a coincidence. I myself am only sexually attracted to those who consider the term “sapiosexual” to be the stupidest fucking thing to be created by allegedly functioning human beings since the Insane Clown Posse.
Leorale
Uh, okay? Sheesh, that’s a strong reaction to such a harmless word. Did somebody who likes making up words run over your puppy?
Strangeshapes
Yes! This! I am almost perfectly in the middle of the Kinsey scale, and enjoy sex quite a bit, but a lot of people thought I was ace (or rather, “frigid, because they were jerks) because I had absolutely no interest in sex with any of them. I thought that might be the case too, until I got to college and went, wow, every flavor of cereal looks so GOOD here!”
The Articulator
It could be a part of her Autism – I have on average a 3 year social lag, though I don’t know if that’d apply to sexuality.
Cerberus
In my experiences working with spectrum kids, I haven’t seen that apply to sexuality.
In my experiences interacting with spectrum ace adults, I think it would be awesome to have a positive spectrum ace individual, especially if Dina is as I suspect, demi, as those individuals shouldn’t be stuck with stereotypes or nothing.
Random832
The problem is, asexuality _is_ a stereotype for non-neurotypical people. There’s nothing wrong with being on the spectrum or otherwise different, and there’s nothing wrong with being asexual, but that doesn’t mean it’s not problematic for media to consistently pair these traits.
DarkoNeko
REmember how she super got along with Roz’s little sister ?
Random832
“Dina’s in college, though. ” – Just started. And as someone who personally didn’t have sex until 19, I feel obligated to object to applying labels based on someone’s lack of high school relationships.
DarkoNeko
Amen to this.
AgentKeen
Unusual, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
Rorror
Yeah, it seems we had that discussion already.
Rycan
We suffer from periodic mass amnesia, and wind up having the exact same discussions all over again.
JonRich
All of this talk of aces, which is a term I have never heard used before in this context, makes me think of a group of asexual fighter pilots. Especially that comment mentioning “confirmed ace,” which I initially read as “a confirmed ace.” I thought the idea was too awesome not to share.
JonRich
I’m not saying that I’m awesome, mind you. I’m pretty average. I just think the idea is great.
Rycan
You aren’t really an asexual until you’ve shot down at least five planes. Unless, of course, you’re a neurotic beagle who thinks his doghouse is a biplane – then you’re automatically an ace.
John
Hmm, perhaps you’re not a confirmed ace until you’ve shot down at least five sexual advances.
vmgx
her being asexual would actualy work on my dina/carla ship… yeah I also have no idea why i ship them, I just do
vmgx
also, I used to heve a gravatar, I haven’t reolyed in a long time, but why did it change for a randon one? (even tho I kinda like like it)
fogel
Every so often the gravs are shifted if you are using a system assigned one.
Focal Malice
I can already taste the despair Willis is going to bring to this later on.
jesslin
Well sure! Just because you’re asexual doesn’t mean you don’t have or enjoy any sex at all. It’s just not what drives you or your attraction to a person. I could totally see Dina and Carla having a good dinosaurs-on-rollerskates debate that evolves into an other-things-dinosaurs-and-rollerskates-are-good-for “discussion”. OR…yeah, never mind. I have no idea where I was going with that. 😀
JA
Your avatar is the perfect fit for your post.
setsun
On the other hand Dina did say she’d be open to sexual experiences……… no mention of any specific orientation.
Maybe Becky is what is necessary to awaken the sexual beast that is Dina.
Aisling
Becky x Dina make a cute couple.
LittleMountain
Everyone! Stop shipping what you were shipping and ship Becky x Dina!
Raise your hands and give Goku your energy!
AlexDenton
Man I ship the hell out of that !!!!
Jen Aside
then one day THIS HAPPENS
Leorale
yeeeeeeee
DarkoNeko
eeeessssssssss
vmgx
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!