Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
Shaderunners
Alex Assan, Lin Darrow
A ragtag band of bootleggers open a speakeasy for bottled colour in the greyscale city of Ironwell.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
All Known Alternatives
Karolina 'Kajotko' Jankiewicz
Akane has only one way to get back home: collect the 42 keys to parallel worlds. Eri and Ben are just trying to get through the summer before university. When a magical key turns up in an old spare set, all three are forced to change their plans and fast.
No End
Erli, Kromi
A queer romance about people attempting to build lives in a cold, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by hordes of undead.
Hemlock
Josceline Fenton
A witch accidentally marries a monster, and now she and her familiar has to navigate life around her monstrous husband and her even more terrifying in-laws.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
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24. Sarah does not look a day over 24….because when this comic started she was at least two years older than I am and I don’t know how old she is but now she’s like at least four to five years younger than me!
She’s either 19 or 20, depending on when students in school system were allowed to start school. Because her birthday is in October, she probably had to wait until the year she turned 6 to start kindergarten. Because she’s now a sophomore in college, she’s probably 20.
Turning 20, right?
That still seems old to me. I was 19 my entire sophomore year and while I knew people who turned 20, that was later, in the spring.
I think the usual age to start school has shifted a bit later since my time though.
States have different cut off dates for school too. If she started in one state and moved to another half way through her education that would put her in the older group easily.
So that the many friends that both of them have managed to collect can celebrate their birth and no one needs to be left out. They can still poke out and see all the people who are happy to know them while having the safety of a place to retreat to. It’s pretty ideal really.
Hey, a question from a guy who is not ‘aware of all internet traditions’: Is there an equation for the “relatively younger age number you find flattering”?
(Age/100)+17
(Age/100)+18
(Age/100)+25
(Age+18)/2
Lowest age that if they told you they were still that age you would believe them.
Age-1
Based on your accomplishments and wisdom I would have guessed you were ten years older, based on your curiosity, energy level, memory, and agility I would have guessed you were ten years younger.
There are different types of charming. Sometimes people are charming because they’re so obviously at ease with themselves, you can’t help but feel that way, too. Some people have a rough charm, some people’s charm is more smooth. There are a lot of other examples I could mention here but the relevant one is this one: sometimes people who are chronically socially awkward for one reason or another decide that instead of feeling anxious about it, they’re just going to OWN that awkwardness and live with it the best they can. It might seem like a lot of work at first to get through a conversation with that person who stares at their own feet and blushes the whole time, but that person’s learned to make themselves blurt out “Sorry, I’m just very, very shy” at the start and if you give them even half a chance you find out that they’ve really got some cool stuff to say. (And, yes, this is a real person – it’s not me, just someone interesting I’ve met.)
The way Dina is written, I feel like she has that kind of charm.
Dina makes people feel more at ease because she puts zero pressure on others regarding social expectations. You follow the script of Appropriate Words and then sit in silence, it’s all good.
I will say this is more charming, because the other day I realized that there is actually a point where it’s not actually flattering to be told you look younger, in that my junior high teacher told me I hadn’t changed a bit.
I’m 35, and I had frequent crying jags in the middle of class back then, so the thought kind of horrified me.
Can Dina be canonically autistic? I really appreciate the representation as it stands, because I don’t see many characters who share my struggles (Dina is so relatable to me!) but I don’t recall it ever being explicitly stated, even though she shows all of the signs of it.
Reading that reminds me of the times I’ve wondered if I might have some undiagnosed form of autism. It seems like I fit some of the signs, but not others.
You don’t need to fit every sign to be autistic. As I have seen people say before, it tends to be more like a topping bar of symptoms rather than every autistic person is the exact same in symptoms. It can also overlap a lot with ADHD in terms of symptoms.
Holy wow, I identify with that so damn much. That fear of being unable to connect. The conciously learned social masks. I know these things all to well. And ironically, knowing that someone else knows these feelings does make me feel connected, so thanks for sharing, Willis
Dina has the charisma of a Persona protagonist and the awareness of John Egbert. In other words, she is perfect the way she is… except when she accepts dinosaurs bought with blood money from political campaigns. I can’t forgive that easily.
That’s because your priorities are screwed up. Nothing is more important than dinosaurs, said the man living a life of ease in the land stolen from the bloody crushed hands of its native inhabitants.
Everyone needs a Dina in their lives to remind them about how essentially ridiculous and yet amazingly reassuring and relaxing all these social interaction conventions actually are!
Not sleeping but rubbing against Sarah’s hand and lap because, quite frankly, they should be the centre of Sarah’s attention, not the other two-legs. Yes, I’ve had cats in my life; how did you know?
Wisdom is perception of the world around you, which she far exceeds other cast members on. Social awareness is typically a subcategory of charisma, rather than wisdom, since it relates to understanding and properly manipulating social expectations, rather than to general awareness / logical ability / life experience / intuitive deduction / other facets associated with wisdom.
I remember rolling a high Charisma, high Intellect, low Awareness character and thinking, I’ve rolled for Autism, I need to have a special interest in my background and sink all my knowledge points into that. Just like I have in real life.
I like how my profile pic is still me dressed as Sun Wukong for a children’s literacy and multicultural event from years ago, and that the photo was snapped while I was eating a banana on my break completely unaware of the irony
I’ve always appreciated how Sarah treats Dina kindly but doesn’t coddle her or act condescendingly. She takes her on her own merits and accepts that this is just the way she acts and thinking of it as ‘weird’ does not help at all.
There might be some truth to that but to me that has nothing to do with this.
Dina sounds like she thinks differently but never gives the impressions that she thinks other peoples feelings don’t matter as more than a tool to get what she wants. Nor does she treat anything that is really common decency as useless BS society expects from her, and when she gets things wrong in a way that might honestly upset people it feels like a honest mistake not a “mistake”.
I hope Becky didn’t really steal it, and she’s taking her new independence with at least a small smidge of responsibility. Please let her be adopting/fostering a rescue so she can have a fur baby with Dina.
Tbh, your average outside cat can’t really be stolen, it can only be temporarily relocated. Unless you take it across state lines. Then it’s a federal matter.
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I hope it’s the cat’s birthday, too
BIRTHDAY CONVERGENCE
Have we named the cat yet? If not, I suggest Pizza Cat.
All the pizza that was left in the box when Sarah was surprised by Dina has magically teleported into Pizza Cat’s tummy.
(It’s a Dina-Catspiracy)
Garlic Bread Kitty
I saw what you did there, Calzone Lass.
That’d be neat!
It’s the Triceratop. It adds +4 charisma points.
The other 96 are all Dina.
With that much Charisma, she must be an Epic-level Sorcerer!
…huh, that would explain the invisibility/teleportation…
What’s really surprising is that nobody thought of that sooner!
Thanks goodness Dina is a good person. If someone got her triceratops hat there would be a repetition of the high charisma hat from SAO Abridged.
Triceratops hoodie.
Or of wearing a lizard on your head from some webcomic I can’t quite place.
Webcomic? There are a few out there now. [SHET SHET SHET]
TV series? Can’t think of the name but the hair was always frizzy.
Actually, wasn’t it a newspaper cartoon that first had the lizard?
Foxtrot, Quincy the iguana, usually perched on Jason’s head
And a smooth SAOA reference? My cup runneth over.
(and yes, I checked Joyce and Walky before Dumbing)
Funny, we’re just thru a “How is this somehow still charming?” arc for Walky on the other side.
No wonder those two got together in one universe.
“How is this somehow still charming” is a great book title.
Dumbing of Age Book 10: How is this somehow still charming? I do not know!
(the question and answer together are important, I think)
I think it’s better without it.
Book 10: How is This Somehow Still Charming?
It’s snarky.
Except that Walky and Dina together were a train wreck.
Oh, yes, they were very different people who were very different types of still charming. But still…
The world needs more Dinas.
Two important questions: what’s the cat’s name and whose cat is it!!
I Been Through The Boudoir With A Cat With No Name…
That was on the First album by the Beagles, right?
Two contradictory answers: 1) It’s Sarah’s cat now, b****! 2) Don’t you mean, who belongs to the cat?
Yeah, the cat seems to have claimed Sarah pretty successfully.
Since Willis won’t tag the cat, I hereby dub them Tag, the Cat.
No, no. It’s PizzaCat.
It looks NOTHING like Speedy or Polly.
#TagTheCat
It’s The Cat who Walks Through Walls. Explains the teleportation.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/designated/
Name might be unknown if wacky hijinx are afoot.
I had completely forgotten that. Good on Becky.
24. Sarah does not look a day over 24….because when this comic started she was at least two years older than I am and I don’t know how old she is but now she’s like at least four to five years younger than me!
She’s either 19 or 20, depending on when students in school system were allowed to start school. Because her birthday is in October, she probably had to wait until the year she turned 6 to start kindergarten. Because she’s now a sophomore in college, she’s probably 20.
She’s 20. Ruth and Billie discussed this in an earlier strip.
Turning 20, right?
That still seems old to me. I was 19 my entire sophomore year and while I knew people who turned 20, that was later, in the spring.
I think the usual age to start school has shifted a bit later since my time though.
States have different cut off dates for school too. If she started in one state and moved to another half way through her education that would put her in the older group easily.
I really enjoy how Dina acknowledges that she navigates this social situation by following a script she doesn’t understand… yet totally nails it!
Same! She is so on point. <3
Practicing your white voice is an important part of growing up!
Practicing your what, now? I’d look it up, but I don’t really need that pair of words, in that order, in my search history.
I suspect a spell-correct incident, but maybe not.
It’s a traditional Eastern European style of singing. What that has to do with this, I don’t have the faintest idea.
She’s not the only one. The difference is that I keep the script in my head and I’m immensely proud of myself whenever I only fuck it up a little.
That’ll just be weird, looking older when turning older. Us? Nah, we’ll never look old.
Luck did not favor Dina when she had to be given social attributes, and thus, hi-jinx galore
Between cosmetics and plastic surgery, I bet humanity spends trillions every year on the war on aging.
Two people a pizza and a cat, that is the best party an introvert could ask for
This does seem perfect for Sarah.
I’m glad the party planners gave them this quiet room to actually celebrate the way they like it. The question is, why does the other room exist
So that the many friends that both of them have managed to collect can celebrate their birth and no one needs to be left out. They can still poke out and see all the people who are happy to know them while having the safety of a place to retreat to. It’s pretty ideal really.
Because it’s more fun for Sarah to be in a room by herself when she gets to snub a whole room full of other people to do so.
That sounds like a pretty good party to me.
It’s because you’re currently petting a (presumably) purring cat, Sarah. That’s why!
Hey, a question from a guy who is not ‘aware of all internet traditions’: Is there an equation for the “relatively younger age number you find flattering”?
No, because it’s too individually subjective. The XKCD dateable age equation works because it’s calculating society’s opinion.
No. What individuals find flattering varies erratically.
(Age/100)+17
(Age/100)+18
(Age/100)+25
(Age+18)/2
Lowest age that if they told you they were still that age you would believe them.
Age-1
Based on your accomplishments and wisdom I would have guessed you were ten years older, based on your curiosity, energy level, memory, and agility I would have guessed you were ten years younger.
There are different types of charming. Sometimes people are charming because they’re so obviously at ease with themselves, you can’t help but feel that way, too. Some people have a rough charm, some people’s charm is more smooth. There are a lot of other examples I could mention here but the relevant one is this one: sometimes people who are chronically socially awkward for one reason or another decide that instead of feeling anxious about it, they’re just going to OWN that awkwardness and live with it the best they can. It might seem like a lot of work at first to get through a conversation with that person who stares at their own feet and blushes the whole time, but that person’s learned to make themselves blurt out “Sorry, I’m just very, very shy” at the start and if you give them even half a chance you find out that they’ve really got some cool stuff to say. (And, yes, this is a real person – it’s not me, just someone interesting I’ve met.)
The way Dina is written, I feel like she has that kind of charm.
Dina makes people feel more at ease because she puts zero pressure on others regarding social expectations. You follow the script of Appropriate Words and then sit in silence, it’s all good.
Wait. She has a cat now? Kitttttttyyyyyyyyeeeeee!!1!
The cat adopted her.
I will say this is more charming, because the other day I realized that there is actually a point where it’s not actually flattering to be told you look younger, in that my junior high teacher told me I hadn’t changed a bit.
I’m 35, and I had frequent crying jags in the middle of class back then, so the thought kind of horrified me.
Can Dina be canonically autistic? I really appreciate the representation as it stands, because I don’t see many characters who share my struggles (Dina is so relatable to me!) but I don’t recall it ever being explicitly stated, even though she shows all of the signs of it.
I thought she was.
Willis answered this a while ago: https://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/post/124121859452/hi-willis-community-clips-are-great-and-all-but
Reading that reminds me of the times I’ve wondered if I might have some undiagnosed form of autism. It seems like I fit some of the signs, but not others.
You don’t need to fit every sign to be autistic. As I have seen people say before, it tends to be more like a topping bar of symptoms rather than every autistic person is the exact same in symptoms. It can also overlap a lot with ADHD in terms of symptoms.
Holy wow, I identify with that so damn much. That fear of being unable to connect. The conciously learned social masks. I know these things all to well. And ironically, knowing that someone else knows these feelings does make me feel connected, so thanks for sharing, Willis
I just wanna be as happy as that cat
I just wanna be the cat. Can I be the cat?
We were all PizzaCat all along.
Dina has the charisma of a Persona protagonist and the awareness of John Egbert. In other words, she is perfect the way she is… except when she accepts dinosaurs bought with blood money from political campaigns. I can’t forgive that easily.
That’s because your priorities are screwed up. Nothing is more important than dinosaurs, said the man living a life of ease in the land stolen from the bloody crushed hands of its native inhabitants.
Because Dina genuinely wants to be nice in her social interactions even though she doesn’t understand how they work, that’s why Sarah.
Everyone needs a Dina in their lives to remind them about how essentially ridiculous and yet amazingly reassuring and relaxing all these social interaction conventions actually are!
There’s a sleeping cat!!!! I’m already charmed.
Not sleeping but rubbing against Sarah’s hand and lap because, quite frankly, they should be the centre of Sarah’s attention, not the other two-legs. Yes, I’ve had cats in my life; how did you know?
Certain breeds of dog are that way, too.
How animal-charismatic is Sarah that the cat wants Sarah, and not pizza?
DoA Book number whatever: You Do Not Look A Day Older Than Whichever Relatively-Younger Age Number You Find Flattering
I would so buy a birthday card of that last panel with only Dina’s speech bubble.
(I say that as a guy who is both older than Willis, and also has married a cougar.)
Okay, two things.
Dina is my favorite, she’s adorable and sweet and a genuinely nice person.
and
Please More CATS!!!
I must be late to the party. Can someone please tell me how to find the alt-text on a mobile nowadays? The old method doesn’t seem to work anymore.
Very carefully.
On this comic only, tap on the clear area to the right of the arrows.
Dina has high Intelligence, high Charisma, but low Wisdom.
Wisdom is perception of the world around you, which she far exceeds other cast members on. Social awareness is typically a subcategory of charisma, rather than wisdom, since it relates to understanding and properly manipulating social expectations, rather than to general awareness / logical ability / life experience / intuitive deduction / other facets associated with wisdom.
Aw, I was gonna say that!
I remember rolling a high Charisma, high Intellect, low Awareness character and thinking, I’ve rolled for Autism, I need to have a special interest in my background and sink all my knowledge points into that. Just like I have in real life.
I like how my profile pic is still me dressed as Sun Wukong for a children’s literacy and multicultural event from years ago, and that the photo was snapped while I was eating a banana on my break completely unaware of the irony
I’ve always appreciated how Sarah treats Dina kindly but doesn’t coddle her or act condescendingly. She takes her on her own merits and accepts that this is just the way she acts and thinking of it as ‘weird’ does not help at all.
Thank you, Willis. This and the previous strip have been the greatest things to ever grace my eyes.
Happy Birthday to a fellow Aspie
I, too, have that question about listicles.
Dina’s existence warrants everything she does being charming.
Also high dex based on how good her stealth score is.
Awww. Sarah has not stop to pet the cat for all the speak with Dina.
damn right
I expected it to end with “…do you have a pen so I can cross it off the list ?”
She’s got a list, but does she check it twice?
Oh Dina you will never stop being charming
when you’re cute and non-threatening it doesn’t matter if your speech patterns make you sound like a borderline sociopath
There might be some truth to that but to me that has nothing to do with this.
Dina sounds like she thinks differently but never gives the impressions that she thinks other peoples feelings don’t matter as more than a tool to get what she wants. Nor does she treat anything that is really common decency as useless BS society expects from her, and when she gets things wrong in a way that might honestly upset people it feels like a honest mistake not a “mistake”.
This is adorable, but seriously whose kitty is that
Also did Dina learn how to teleport from Joyce? Because that’s a much better gift than a $5 Amazon gift card.
Dina’s been teleporting for a lot longer than Joyce has, I’d almost say it’s the other way around.
I don’t think Dina teleports, I think it’s more of a “phase-in, phase-out” sort of relationship with corporeality.
I’d always assumed a “Someone Else’s Problem Field” deal. She is there all along, but no one notices her until she wants them to. Including DYW.
Dina doesn’t teleport. She just has a cloaking device.
*STEALTH 100*
Why is the cat not tagged? I must know the cats name (please let it be Mustard)
Well my cat is not tagged because his collar caused friction wounds or something. Could be something like that.
I think they mean the website tags.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/designated/
I hope Becky didn’t really steal it, and she’s taking her new independence with at least a small smidge of responsibility. Please let her be adopting/fostering a rescue so she can have a fur baby with Dina.
Tbh, your average outside cat can’t really be stolen, it can only be temporarily relocated. Unless you take it across state lines. Then it’s a federal matter.
She’s a natural born poet, she is.
Dina is so endeering and adorable
So in my head Dina has the cadence and tone of B-Mo from Adventure time
It’s charming because she’s enthusiastic, genuine, and unembarrassed to be herself.
I’m 41 and barely figuring this shit out.
The genuine effort can be seen so that is how it’s charming.