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Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
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A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
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A young woman joins a group of summoners who call forth Guardian Beasts to protect their isolated magical island. Unfortunately, her Guardian Beast is nothing like she'd imagined, and he's about to change her life, and everything she thought she knew about herself...
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In a world where magical girls and their battles are commonplace, loss has become all too common as well.
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Samma and Tark didn't ask to be stuck together, but now they're partners on the adventure of a lifetime.
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A story about story-telling, and other metaphysical themes such as Nightmares! (Failed) Teamwork! Comedy! And more!
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Cuddles, gay flirting, weird feelings, and magic-fueled knife fights - it's an adventure across the queer multiverse!
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A young, energetic woman fights her way up in the world of super-powered boxing after discovering the mighty gloves of her missing idol!
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The flirtatious, directionless, and ever disastrous Luci searches for excitement in a life of crime, and finds himself caught in a web of messy romance and bad blood.
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The Railway World is a complex, mysterious network of trains, towns and mechanical monsters. Leo is a Guardian of one of these towns, and although their burn-out and depression has taken hold of them, they have one last job to finish.
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Join Kieran and his friends as they are pulled into another reality that may or may not be real and are forced to confront their own identities, the nature of simulated universes and reality itself.
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Fun fact: Rabies travels through the nerve endings and slowly along the rest of nervous system to circumvent the blood-brain barrier as it moves towards the victim’s brain. Once it enters the brain, death is basically a 100% certainty, but a quickly utilized rabies vaccination can still save an bitten individual because it takes the virus so long to travel through the nerves.
… While I will agree with your classification of rabies as not sexy (certain rabies-metaphorical vampire erotica potentially notwithstanding), I must question your classification of these facts as fun and fun-fun.
…now I’ve remembered that weird time on tumblr where a handful of people had rabies kinks and wrote bizarre hopefully-fics about trying to get raccoons to bite them.
I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but I’m asking again because I heard the song recently.
I’ve heard that at some point you will come with supplies of sugar, tea, and rum. Do you have any idea when that might be? I would like to put on my calendar when I can “take my leave and go.”
The more this goes on the more I feel like the problem isn’t that Dina couldn’t ever really want to have sex and just that she doesn’t get aroused just looking at someone, which… frankly is a hell of a lot more common, even at 18, than society would like to admit? Even with a naked person, it takes a certain level of libido (and often, allosexuality) to start feeling outright “pants euphoria”, a level that not everyone has.
I’m much more into the disrobing than the actual nudity to be honest. Like a naked girl standing in front of me is less enticing than someone in their underwear or actively removing clothes.
Oh, I will say, there is something to be said for presentation.
My wife and I are just generally naked around one another fairly often, and it’s no big deal. But put on some sexy lingerie, and that’s different.
Or there’s surprise nudity. Like, earlier today, we were sitting on the sofa, me in a t-shirt and sweat pants, her in a tank top and pajama pants. We were talking about the show we were watching, and she rolled her shoulder and had a brief nip-slip – and I found that arousing. I mean, I love it when she stretches anyway because she is the most graceful human being I have ever known, but that sudden unexpected moment of mild nudity was hot whereas us just sitting around on the couch naked (which happens sometimes in the summer months) is not.
There’s an episode of an old cartoon called “Squirrel boy” and in it the female squirrel mentions wearing a bikini. Rodney the squirrel, is very enticed by the proposition of this female squirrel wearing a bikini.
The thing is…these are squirrels. She is stark naked right now. But for some reason he was super into the idea of her…essentially putting on MORE clothes.
It was then that young yoto realized something. That clothing is sexier than nudity because it implies there is something to hide. By all intents and purposes, Smurfette would not have boobs. She’d have nothing on her nippe-less chest like all the other smurfs. But the fact that she’s the only smurf that DOES cover her chest makes you think “maaaaaybe?”
And I think that same principle applies to just…seeing people in clothes. If I look at boobs too much I’ll get used to them and they lose their OOMPH. But just seeing some hefty cleavage out in the wild? Blows me away.
William Theiss, costume designer for the original Star Trek, used this idea all the time—clothing that covered all the bits, but *looked* like it *might* slip at any moment.
Yes it’s very right that libido can be diverse this way, hence the importance of experimenting with your partner first!
Some people may even be aroused by stimuli that would seldom be considered “sexual” by anyone else.
That’s just what I love so much about this all — that which compels Dina’s pants euphoria could be literally ANYTHING, and they can only find out through the power of science, on a MARVELOUS expedition!!!
I posted something about this a few hours ago on the previous comic.
But yeah – I am a very sexual person, as is my wife, and neither of us are particularly aroused by nudity. I feel like Becky is too focused on what arouses her (seeing parts of Dina unclothed) rather than what arouses Dina (science). She should try reading a study about the female orgasm – that seems more like Dina’s jam. Or maybe a study about dinosaur mating practices.
Hey if you like that, I have something REALLY special I’m making right now that I hope I can finish tonight, because I think all of you will LOVE it!!!
It involves scientifically accurate dinosaur feathers! AND a certain cast member!
Sexual or not, a night of focus (or even hyper-focus 🤩) doing science research sounds absolutely invigorating and salubrious!!!!
But something tells me that Dina’s fetish is gonna be something we’d LEAST expect.
Something also tells me that it’s something that Becky can and will spam on Dina to make her just as horny as she is all the time, if not more so!!! 🤯🤯🤯 *plays “Awake” by Taku Iwasaki on Hacked Muzak*
Also, sight is only one of the five major senses (I presume there are minor ones too) that can prompt a brain to produce “pants euphoria” chemicals. There’s so much more science to be done, but sadly it may be difficult to convey in webcomic form.
I am, as far as I can tell, averagely allosexual (and pan, so I frequently see a large amount of people I *could* theoretically be attracted to). Do I feel the ~pants euphoria~ immediately on looking at them? Not very often, no. Almost never, actually. And maybe it’s because I’m an adult whose hormones are stable, but I honestly think even most allosexual people are like that most of the time. Especially if they’re already having enough sex/masturbating often enough to have their needs met?
So yeah. I agree. I think people tend to way overestimate how often even allosexuals get wildly, uncontrollably horny LOL. *Especially* people who are repressed themselves – they think about the sex they aren’t allowed to have constantly, so obviously everyone else is like that, right?
As a very highly sexual person, I’m quite able to shut down my sexual feelings in public.
Now, if I’m in a relationship with someone and I happen to run into them in classes I’m probably going to fantasize wildly about taking them somewhere private where we can have some fun lol
Probably the feeling of extreme fear that some straight guy will notice me ogling him and get violent helps me tamp down on any potential fantasizing about cute guys in public
“Allonormativity” is probably the word you’re looking for, as far as society’s weirdly high expectations of libido/arousal/”pants euphoria” goes. And yeah, I think you’ve definitely hit upon why allonormativity is terrible, not just for out-and-out aces (such as myself, fyi), but also for people who identify as allosexual! Whether they frame it as a bad thing (the traditional view) or a good thing (the “modern” view), all kinds of sources are constantly bombarding our society with the idea that any sort of nudity (especially female nudity) can drive any and all observers into some sort of Wild Sex Craze that’s only barely held in check by social norms. This helps to justify all kinds of interrelated social norms, expectations, and excuses, from rape culture to body shaming to the pathologizing of asexuality. I find the whole thing pretty fascinating, and also hate it and really wish society as a whole could just get rid of it already.
One thing I really love about this whole arc is how Willis made it very clear early on that Dina being ace (i.e. not experiencing “normal” amounts of sexual attraction to people) isn’t the problem to solve – the problem is Becky’s own ex-fundie hangups around sex, gender roles, and relationships, which are completely separate from her orientation and frustrate her immensely. It’s a magnificent departure from a lot of ace stereotypes, going so far as to turn the average person’s very definition of “asexuality” completely on its head! Considering that ace representation of any sort is pretty damn hard to find in modern media, this makes me Extremely Happy
Kinda weird question, but as someone who hasn’t shared a room with someone else since they were like, 10, when do all these people find time to go to town on themselves? Do they memorise class schedules?
It’s not that hard to remember when your roommate is gonna be gone, classes are at the same time every week. Plus sometimes they’ll probably mention something like “hey, I’m visiting home this weekend” or “going out to a party, sorry if I wake you up at 2am when I get home”, so you can safely assume you’ve got time. It’s harder to masturbate with roommates, but it’s not THAT hard. It is, at worst, a mild to moderate inconvenience.
A bathroom is the most convenient place to do it. People knock, you automatically get privacy, there’s a sink and toilet paper right there to clean up after and you can flush the evidence. It’s the most optimized way
As we all know, super close roommates do it together. Back to back. It increases bonds between dormmates. Especially if you both orgasm at the same time.
Oh, so we’re sharing “educational” material now?
Allow me to share something I picked out from the “fucking library”. 🤪
Earthlings, take a look, if you dare!
She’s be in her lofted bunk, I’d be in my more normal height bed with the covers up to my neck, turned away from her, doing a bit of light clitoral.
Or, another favorite, was sitting in my computer chair reading hentai and quietly going at it while she slept. Had to keep the desk chair well oiled so it wouldn’t squeak, but otherwise that worked fine.
I spent all of 2020 living in a house in which I didn’t have a Door, my room’s entrance was RIGHT NEXT to the bathroom, and the house was, so very tiny.
I already hated it before spending an entire year locked in with my family.
That house I am talking about? No door in my room? Mum and her boyfriend living on the opposite end of the house (Also no door) and we transformed the living room into a bedroom for my 9 year old brother.
The house’s owner said it was built to be a summer cabin to be used over the weekends, not somewhere to live in :/
Back when I was in college and had a roommate for the first two years, I usually was pretty good at remembering when my roommate had class or had some other activity that meant they’d be out of the room for a while. I was lucky enough to get single dorm rooms for my last two years of college so I didn’t have to worry about things like that anymore.
I’ve always wondered about that.
I know Asexual people don’t feel sexual attraction, but they’d likely still feel the “urges”, for lack of a better word, after however long.
And I do genuinely wonder what they’d think of to… help themselves.
Now I’m not asexual but I can imagine it’s just a pleasurable feeling. ie. I LOVE the sensation of cleaning out my ears with a cotton swab. (Yes I’m using them wrong). Probably just feels super good.
…well, uh, you could ask. Treating it like a mystery is weird. We’re around.
From experience, I didn’t really need to think very hard and expect I ended up with similar conclusions to most allo folks. Physical stimuli at the relevant areas. Repeat until satisfied. Not complicated.
For the record, I don’t know that it’s “likely”. I guess it might be, in a raw statistical level. Some folks get into it and some folks don’t. I have an allosexual friend who gets grumpy whenever someone in Dumbing of Age asserts that masturbation is a crucial part of acknowledging or exploring one’s relationship to sex, as they personally don’t enjoy it. Not everyone gets “urges” or enjoys single-player mode.
I feel like there’s an inherent feeling of rudeness to asking stuff like this. Like I have a lot of questions about stuff but it feels super rude to actually talk or ask people about it, especially very uncomfortable with the notion of feeling foolish, uninformed or at worst offending anyone. Lord knows I’ve been made to feel stupid or inferior for not knowing something about sex or orientation or gender. So it’s easier to just not ask questions and just live in ignorance. Or y’know just do a fuckton of research in your spare time.
I mean to be fair this could be their way of asking. Maybe they felt comfortable enough IN this space to state that. Y’know cuz it’s pretty likely someone asexual WOULD bring up their experiences, as you did. I think this was kind of an open question to see how other people experience this thing, though phrased less like a question and more in the context of their curiosity.
There’s also been a persistent culture of “It’s not my job to educate you.” with an undertone that you’re just supposed to know what to look up, where to look for it, and whether your sources are reliable. On top of that, there’s often very little room for mistakes in phrasing or vocabulary, which people will use as a reason to basically make you feel “unworthy” of knowing things.
Yeah! And like I get it. I’m sure every person who is “other” has to endure constant questions, both in good faith and in bad faith and I’m sure it gets tiring. So eventually you probably just close yourself off to the lazy people who want to just ask questions and not do their own research. The thing about me, though is….I just don’t research stuff well. (except animal facts. I fucking love animal facts.) so I tend to just follow the flow of conversations and avoid talking about stuff I don’t know about.
asking someone to their face puts them in the spotlight and forces them to either decline or provide the info, either of which can be very uncomfortable. if i yell “hey what’s it like to have a dick” or something in a crowded room and no one answers, then the embarrassment is on me, not someone else. if someone does answer, then they probably chose to, rather than feeling forced.
Yeah. It’s not as simple as Don’t Ask or Ask Away, like all things in life there is a healthy middle ground (except politics).
I feel the best way to approach it is to ask in an open environment but present it in a way where you’re very clearly seeking authentic and lived impressions. Directly asking a singular person puts a lot of responsibility on them to answer or decline.
Sometimes I feel the urge to make a Twitter account about that. Like you anonymously submit a question you’re too nervous to ask about identities you don’t understand and get it answered.
I’m asexual and I cannot stand the way people think it’s okay to ask me personal questions. It’s like normal rules of etiquette don’t apply once you become clinically interesting.
So to me, openly wondering in a forum like this is less rude.
I mean if you’re curious and my diatribe below in the comments doesn’t satisfy your curiosity, I’d be happy to answer questions. This whole topic fascinates me to no end, I put so much thought into it and so rarely have opportunities to talk about it. IDK I’m willing to be a guinea pig for anyone who is curious, is all I’m saying.
More than willing. PLEASE ask me questions, dear god. Either here or idk you could email me or something???? SHRUG!
Trying to pinpoint a particular person, or even generalizing to a crowd and going “HEY! What’s *personal thing* like for YOU?” Can be seen as a bit rude and off putting. Stating it as a “mystery” but one that they are truly interested in and also open to discuss in space of public discourse invites someone to respond without being put in a spotlight.
Yoto is right! Focusing on the feeling is a thing. As for fantasies…
Sex-positive aces can fantasize about sex without wanting it. Other people (or fictional characters) having sex with each other but without us being involved is a thing. Or imagining you’re someone else, or BDSM (doesn’t need to be about sex if the psychological and strong physical feelings are what you’re after), and there’s also a broad broad spectrum of not-directly-sexual fetishes. I’ve stumbled upon stuff like weight gain wherein the focus is on solo hedonism and loss of control, which makes sense with how much pressure society put on beauty standards and how tasty food is, but that logic can apply to a lot of things.
(Yes I spend far too much time on the internet. I do go outside and touch grass once in a while, I promise.)
Also that’s funny cuz most of my fantasies also do not involve me. They mostly involve my own characters or characters from shows and stuff with each other. I’m SUPER into Femdom but I’m not personally a masochist, so a lot of my fantasies involve people who are specifically not me.
And yeah a lot of non-sex specific kinks and a LOTTA kinks that I have no desire to see or experience in real life. I just like the concept.
I sorta started to make peace with this only recently because my interest for the topic is high, my fantasies varied….. and then there’s how infrequently IRL Attraction happened (terms and conditions apply). It made no sense! I wanted to have it!
FIctional characters doing each other tho. Whew. And yep, things I’m aware I don’t actually wanna experience, too, but are “hot on paper”. I’m NOT saying “YOU TOO? YOU MUST BE ON THE SPECTRUM TOO!”, asjfh please ;3; Just, this storyline with Dina has generated a ton of neat exchanging of experiences and it makes me happy :’3
Haha yeah I’ve definitely had some “diagnosis” from people based on my tastes so I appreciate that. But yeah I’m way more into fictional stuff than real people. That’s why hentai and ecchi anime is a godsend. I only wish that there was more mainstream stylistic porn too. Cartoony gals are my JAM.
I was sex repulsed for a number of years (flux babeyyyy) and i still had a libido, i still had to take care of it. I just wasn’t very happy about it because it felt like a waste of time and tried to do it as efficiently as possible. I usually wouldn’t think about anything, just the feeling of it. If anything I’d mutter the name of a smut character i liked (regardless of where i am on the repulsion/positivity spectrum, i always have been and always will be fascinated with sexuality, so i always consumed the content even if the idea of engaging in it myself made me want to vomit)
Now I’m in a more sex positive but disinterested flux and my imagination is much more active
Oh cuz i guess it’s relevant, this active imagination still very rarely includes me or real people, it’s almost exclusively fictional characters i can project myself onto, like my own ocs. Imagining myself and my partner feels. Weird. Too much like meat bags. Real people aren’t sexy. Fictional characters with idealized looks and carefully planned personalities are sexy.
I love seeing talk about kinks like this, because you’re right. So often they aren’t even about the sex itself, not really.
I’ve even found this is often true with kinky allosexuals – there’s often a looooot more going on with a kink than the surface level. Even if someone finds something physically sexy, it’s probably because their mental buttons are being pushed in just the right way.
(Hello I also spend a lot of time online and thinking about this stuff haha)
i’m asexual, and i feel like i jack it the same way most folks do.
i’m not *sexually attracted* to other people, that’s all. it doesn’t mean i don’t masturbate, and it doesn’t even mean i don’t ever have sex. i don’t find my partner sexually attractive, but sometimes we have sex cause it’s fun and i love them.
that’s just one ace folks personal views. like all sexualities, asexuality is fluid and different for everyone!! <3
I’m asexual too and almost the flip! Outside of some unexciting experimentation, I don’t masturbate or get horny. I don’t experience sexual pleasure full stop. I don’t really have sexual urges at all most of the time. But I can find specific people and scenarios I’m in to be physically and mentally arousing and there’s a “dial up the intimacy” function of sex that makes it desirable in those situations even without pleasure.
Which I guess is just to back up that yeah, there are a lot of different non-normative experiences of sexuality and libido that fall under the Ace umbrella, here’s mine XD
The answer is that it heavily varies. Both in terms of feeling ‘urges’, what things may or may not cause arousal, and whether they actually feel like doing anything to satisfy those urges.
Like, both me and my younger sister are ace. We’re both 20+ adults. Neither of us have experienced sexual attraction towards anyone, ever, our whole lives. I’ve been masturbating somewhat regularly since I was like…14, and consume sexual content voraciously (mostly erotica). And my sister is adamant that sexual content makes her viscerally uncomfortable, she’s entirely uninterested, and she has zero urge to masturbate ever–in fact in one (very awkward, lol) conversation, she told me she’s tried it exactly once and found the experience very gross and that she’s not interested in trying it again.
Levels of libido vary. I know I have a fairly high one for the most part.
And to help satisfy your curiosity, for a while I actually didn’t fantasize about anything at all while doing it, though that’s changed quite a lot. Even now, though, I very strictly NEVER think about myself while fantasizing–tbh even trying is extremely unnerving to me, especially trying to imagine myself having sex with another person. Immediate turn-off.
I also never think about any specific, real people…well because there’s no specific, real people I’m attracted to (not even celebrities). That would do nothing for me and also be weird. Similar weirdness to thinking sexually about anyone you have strict platonic feelings about, or are very much not attracted to for other reasons.
Instead I think of fictional characters, usually, or just random sorta fuzzy faceless people, or maybe even fantastical sexy monsters or whatever. I need degrees of separation from myself, and quite frankly from reality a lot of the time, to be turned on at all–I think because the actual reality of sex (especially partnered sex) is so inherently unappealing to me. (But that’s just me, though.)
And for others, that can extend even further, to just finding the entire process of stimulation extremely uncomfortable no matter what is or isn’t involved. And further others have zero problems at all with thinking of themselves or other real people, or even having or desiring partnered sex. It’s just that, similar to Dina, despite being fine with or even desiring partnered sex, that still doesn’t mean you’re actually attracted to any potential partner sexually (even your romantic partner), nor that you’ll get turned on by them (“pants euphoria”). Which like. Lol to me has always put a damper on any potential plans to actually try out partnered sex, even though I’m curious. Like. Doing the partnered sex requires finding another person I’d be willing and interested in doing it with, and that just aint really in the cards for now.
I haven’t completely ruled out the possibility that I may potentially become attracted to a future romantic partner down the line, since I’ve semi-recently realized I’m demiromantic rather than strictly aromantic–meaning I only feel romantic attraction towards someone after considerable time developing a deep emotional bond. I’ve had exactly one romantic partner, though, and sex wasn’t really on the table while we were together anyway, which didn’t bother me at the time. Romantic attraction still happens so rarely for me though, I have no idea what my odds of actually having another relationship any time soon are–let alone whether I may be able to develop sexual attraction towards them similar to how my romantic feelings cropped up? I have no clue! This whole thing is so trial-and-error, lol, I WISH I could have had the opportunity to try things out like Becky and Dina are right now.
Anyway tldr I think about stuff like this a lot whoops this got long.
I tried to give a more or less comprehensive answer but this? This is amazing. Love to see a fellow ace-spec with this special interest, ajdfh :’3 Human sexuality is diverse as hell and just as fascinating!
Just to add to the outpouring of experiences, I’m a sex-averse ace and also of non-binary gender, and they interplay in a way that makes even acknowledging the relevant parts a deeply uncomfortable experience for me (dysphoria and disgust, yaaaaay /s). Thankfully I don’t have much of a libido.
I suppose it varies from people to people. My sister is asexual and has never masturbated. I suppose she might have and lied about it, but I don’t think so, we’re pretty open and forthright about these sort of things and we had several conversations while she was figuring herself out. She said she never felt the urge to touch herself down there, not even to experiment.
Man am I the only person in this thread who interpreted their question as “what do they think about when they masturbate” not “how do they masturbate”?
I’m Ace and don’t have any urges at all and don’t find it pleasurable feeling even. It doesn’t hurt but it just isn’t pleasurable either. It is just whatever. Really Aces run the gamut.
I mean, Becky’s basically saying here that she’s a frequent masturbator, and we don’t even know if Joyce has re-examined that aspect of her life in her new Atheist life.
Feels like a bad bet to make, unless you enjoy watching other people eat your taco :D.
Maybe we’ll get a shot of her back from the waist up at some point, just to change up the camera angles.
(Becky’s fundie shame is too powerful for an Austin Powers style “censorship through strategically placed foreground props” to really work, that might be more of a Roz thing.)
So does this mean that Becky actually HAS masturbated before?!?!? Somehow this is genuinely blowing my mind? How is that possible, she has such intense hangups around sex and sexual purity???
Or maybe it just means she’s watched or read porn/erotica? Possibly over the break maybe, since before that she had all of her online use heavily restricted or monitored, and then after running away she was living with people/sleeping on couches and junk, I just…whennnnn? Maybe she THINKS she knows how, but actually has some serious misconceptions about it?
She either has fiddled around downstairs, has experienced it before, was told about it or was WARNED about it so she is vividly aware of the thing she’s NOT supposed to do. Can’t know how to avoid the evil crotch touching if you don’t know the ins and outs (heh) of it.
Having hang-ups about sex and sexual purity doesn’t mean someone doesn’t masturbate. It means they have an overwhelming senses of guilt and shame. That’s the function of the religious prohibitions against masturbation. To make people, especially those in adolescence, feel like they’re wretched so they become emotionally dependent on the religion.
I guess she could have just meant a cold shower to “cool off”, but that’s how I’d taken it. It’s kind of hard to have never masturbated even one time, isn’t it? I’d imagine people with super sexual hangups just feel bad about it afterwords.
I can’t speak for Becky, but I remember just discovering that “oh hey this specific movement feels really good” one day as a kid, and only developing a sense of shame about it when I later learned that it was supposed to be sinful.
And by “sense of shame,” I mean “the act of posting this comment required heavy breathing and a ‘you can do this’ pep talk.”
Asjdh Becky being so good at double-speak is making more than one person here doubt whether she has done it or not and…. I’m almong them, ahaha :’3 My first impulse was that she wasn’t but she’s been physically and psychologically laid bare through this scene and now I think she wouldn’t lie? For once?
I’m truly sorry of I’ve seemed disinterested ;AAA; The RL is giving me the un-grooviest of poundings and my brainfog has gotten bad. I do wanna know about your project! ^^
“We spend many years training young women to survive their fathers intimating mass murders at their place of education, fighting toedads and their minions physically for their basic right to control their own course of education; but we won’t allow these women to show their lady parts on the comics page because that would be obscene.”
Actually that’s just a rewrite of a tweet I tweeted today regarding the Ukrainian ship that faced down a Russian warship with superior firepower and got murdered to the last soul on board for their insolence just the other day. But it works this way too I think.
If it’s the same incident I’m thinking of, it was a sparsely-manned Ukrainian island outpost near the Romanian border, not a Ukrainian ship (AFAIK the Ukrainian Navy–what was left of it after the capture of Crimea eight years ago at least–was entirely destroyed in harbor by missile strikes in the opening hours of the invasion). Still the same outcome, though.
You got to admire the Ukrainian’s balls – like, there’s no way that dude didn’t know he wasn’t going to get bombed to oblivion, but still went “Hey, Russian warship, fuck you.”
I love the asexual rep here. Asexual people can absolutely masturbate! As Dina says, we have those nerve endings too. I love that Dina admits this, and is clearly admiring Becky, even though she doesn’t seem to be experiencing sexual attraction.
I’d love to hear firsthand from an ace person about masturbation then. How… exactly does it work? You don’t feel sexual attraction to anybody in particular but I presume that the feelings of pleasure/satisfaction arising from orgasm are still comforting, yes? Do you use any kinds of aids in the process? (For example, most people would use porn or nudes to get themselves in the mood, but for ace people I assume it wouldn’t provide any benefit.) Is it thus a mostly biological process (as Dina says, “I do have nerve endings down there.”) I’m mostly just fascinated by how it might work differently because as someone who is strongly into BDSM, mental headspace and “scenes” play an integral role in arousal and satisfaction so I’m curious as to how it works for somebody for whom conventional sexual attraction is non-existent.
Porn works if you like the ideas and symbolism but don’t want to have to deal with the physical beyond yourself, and if you are likely to get bored at any given time. A video doesn’t mind if you want to alt tab for a bit and go back and forth, and a picture doesn’t care if it takes you half a day to finish.
Well that’s the case if it is all about exploration of semantics, but I bet there are a lot of different answers for your question. I think the most important thing is not excluding Ace types who approach it differently.
As for toys and stuff, then I’d have to give up some of my physical space to keep them and maintain cleaning and hiding, that just raises the effort doesn’t sound like it would be worth the return.
Honestly, I like porn! Both porn and erotica work fine for me for the ‘getting into the mood’ part, aka getting the parts involved actually interested. I’m not personally attracted to anyone involved, but thinking about the act of sex in the abstract works great–including stuff like bdsm. So it’s very similar to the setting of a scene, at least for me–in crafting a fictional/pretend scenario that’s arousing. It’s just not ME that’s in the scene, it’s the characters in my head or in my erotica.
Porn is also fine and works but tbh I mostly find it kinda distracting, and being real, I find the act of watching actual real people doing it sort of personally unnerving? Like just the idea of thinking of actual REAL people in a sexual manner makes me personally uncomfortable. So thus, erotica is great, as the people involved are all fictional and strictly in my head. Or yknow. Drawings and art, that sort of thing.
But all ace people are different. This is just me, there are definitely ace folks who don’t have my weird hangups, dont use porn or anything, or maybe are more comfortable with different types, etc etc…
Also there are lots of ace folk for whom the act of orgasm actually isn’t pleasurable or satisfying at all. Either that or the process to get one is so unpleasant for them that it’s not remotely worth it, or they simply feel no urge to even try.
Quite frankly I’m confused as to how sexual attraction towards a specific person could be required for literally any of this at all.
I’m in a similar sector- I’m ace but I have a libido… it just isn’t connected to a visual stimuli of “attractive people” even if there are traits I recognize as asethetically pleasant. I’m at a cross roads between “my brain occasionally needs a reset to move on – this is an annoyance” and “this is enjoyable within a certain set of scenarios/environments.”
Probably depends if you’re a sex repulsed ace, libido level etc. As someone somewhere on the ace scale – I can recognize when someone falls on an attraction scale but they don’t give me “pants euphoria.” I do still have a libido (not all do) which is really annoying because it seems to activate with disregard to “human” cues and is more a button to mechanically reset so that I can get on with my life. It can be enjoyable and it definitely is with my partner, but it is strongly entwined more with the idea of being as close as possible/exposed/ connected in the intimacy sense of the word when anything beyond my body being a jerkface. Sharing is caring I guess?
This is both wholesome and adorable and such a positive exploration even if it’s a little awkward.
I love what is developing for these two. So Dina is not sex repulled in the slightest just not particularly horny for people. She’s obviously interested academically and physically enjoys pleasure she just isn’t very driven by urges.
I wonder if the two of them can work. Or if Becky needs someone who is just naturally hornier. Dina doing a great job of communicating and compromising and having fun with her girlfriend though
I don’t know if they are compatible. The yare working through it but Becky clearly likes and needs to feel desired just because two people are great and talk well doesn’t mean they can work together despite anything
Would you like to take a survey? Do you like to eat beans? Do you like George Wendt? Would you like to eat beans with George Wendt? Would you like to watch a movie about George Wendt eating beans?
so i'm thinking, okay, i took some extra photos of this set of doors this year so i could draw some other angles, it's an important set of doors, so let's pull up my new reference photos...
....and do you see a problem, do you see an issue
Well, Lizard is here, and I've been telling myself for... years that I'd take down my Endgame shelf and put up Spider-Man:No Way Home once the final villain was out.
So.
That's a thing I gotta do.
okay okay -- spider-man reboot idea
the lizard is still dr connors, but he's dr PHIL connors, and he wakes up every day and it's groundhog day and he's a lizard
is this anything
Sean Thomason @seanthomason.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com ⋅ 1d
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Barb O. Saur 
⚧️
“I will show you my nerve endings if you show me yours”
“I already AM”
“What I mean to say is… put ON a show *clumsy attempt at winking*”
Fun fact: Rabies travels through the nerve endings and slowly along the rest of nervous system to circumvent the blood-brain barrier as it moves towards the victim’s brain. Once it enters the brain, death is basically a 100% certainty, but a quickly utilized rabies vaccination can still save an bitten individual because it takes the virus so long to travel through the nerves.
Fun Fun Fact: Rabies is not sexy.
Indeed the unsexiest thing I’ve read in a while but new knowledge is A++ o.o
(I also heard this in Janet’s Voice omg)
… While I will agree with your classification of rabies as not sexy (certain rabies-metaphorical vampire erotica potentially notwithstanding), I must question your classification of these facts as fun and fun-fun.
…now I’ve remembered that weird time on tumblr where a handful of people had rabies kinks and wrote bizarre hopefully-fics about trying to get raccoons to bite them.
I feel like I knew this already bc we had a children’s book on Louis Pasteur that showed basically that
Put on a show?
“You’re going out a youngster but you’ve got to come back a star!”
if you can’t obtain publicly available pants euphoria, homemade is fine
Teenager in store: Mom, can we get Pants Euphoria?
Teenager’s mom: We have Pants Euphoria at home
Pants Euphoria at home:
BEHOLD!
The POWERS and PLEASURES of FLESH!!!
BEHOLD!
Our star Dina SHINES!!!
*plays “Vain Star” by Cycerin on Hacked Muzak*
Dina, Chosen of Slaanesh.
I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but I’m asking again because I heard the song recently.
I’ve heard that at some point you will come with supplies of sugar, tea, and rum. Do you have any idea when that might be? I would like to put on my calendar when I can “take my leave and go.”
See below, I’m making something SUPER cool right now that I hope I can finish tonight!
Competition to determine who is the master bater! ;D
First one to cum wins! Or – they touch each other and first to cum loses! xD
love it when dot-eyed wilis characters look like this cat for whatever reason https://i.imgur.com/jZWAwWY.jpeg
I like that too. It kind of makes Becky look like an alien. Watch out Dina, she’s here to abduct your heart.
The more this goes on the more I feel like the problem isn’t that Dina couldn’t ever really want to have sex and just that she doesn’t get aroused just looking at someone, which… frankly is a hell of a lot more common, even at 18, than society would like to admit? Even with a naked person, it takes a certain level of libido (and often, allosexuality) to start feeling outright “pants euphoria”, a level that not everyone has.
I’m much more into the disrobing than the actual nudity to be honest. Like a naked girl standing in front of me is less enticing than someone in their underwear or actively removing clothes.
Oh, I will say, there is something to be said for presentation.
My wife and I are just generally naked around one another fairly often, and it’s no big deal. But put on some sexy lingerie, and that’s different.
Or there’s surprise nudity. Like, earlier today, we were sitting on the sofa, me in a t-shirt and sweat pants, her in a tank top and pajama pants. We were talking about the show we were watching, and she rolled her shoulder and had a brief nip-slip – and I found that arousing. I mean, I love it when she stretches anyway because she is the most graceful human being I have ever known, but that sudden unexpected moment of mild nudity was hot whereas us just sitting around on the couch naked (which happens sometimes in the summer months) is not.
There’s an episode of an old cartoon called “Squirrel boy” and in it the female squirrel mentions wearing a bikini. Rodney the squirrel, is very enticed by the proposition of this female squirrel wearing a bikini.
The thing is…these are squirrels. She is stark naked right now. But for some reason he was super into the idea of her…essentially putting on MORE clothes.
It was then that young yoto realized something. That clothing is sexier than nudity because it implies there is something to hide. By all intents and purposes, Smurfette would not have boobs. She’d have nothing on her nippe-less chest like all the other smurfs. But the fact that she’s the only smurf that DOES cover her chest makes you think “maaaaaybe?”
And I think that same principle applies to just…seeing people in clothes. If I look at boobs too much I’ll get used to them and they lose their OOMPH. But just seeing some hefty cleavage out in the wild? Blows me away.
William Theiss, costume designer for the original Star Trek, used this idea all the time—clothing that covered all the bits, but *looked* like it *might* slip at any moment.
This is known in the fandom, and even other places (like a certain site about tropes), as the Theiss Titillation Theory.
now thinking of Sora from No Game, No Life going on at extreme lengths about the importance of upskirt always TANTALISING but never SHOWING
Surprise nudity and flashing (accidental OR deliberate) are the highest of humanity’s blessings.
I knew you were an individual of taste, much like myself.
As one of my friends used to put it, “nudity isn’t titillating unless you frame it right”.
Yes it’s very right that libido can be diverse this way, hence the importance of experimenting with your partner first!
Some people may even be aroused by stimuli that would seldom be considered “sexual” by anyone else.
That’s just what I love so much about this all — that which compels Dina’s pants euphoria could be literally ANYTHING, and they can only find out through the power of science, on a MARVELOUS expedition!!!
🦕🦖
🧠
🤩
*plays “Depart to Adventure!!!” by Shinji Miyazaki on Becky’s phone*
I posted something about this a few hours ago on the previous comic.
But yeah – I am a very sexual person, as is my wife, and neither of us are particularly aroused by nudity. I feel like Becky is too focused on what arouses her (seeing parts of Dina unclothed) rather than what arouses Dina (science). She should try reading a study about the female orgasm – that seems more like Dina’s jam. Or maybe a study about dinosaur mating practices.
Becky should wear a sexy outfit with accurate dinosaur feathers. It’d be sexy cuz it could look like a Carnivaaal outfit but also sexy cuz dinosaurs.
That is also a good idea.
Hey if you like that, I have something REALLY special I’m making right now that I hope I can finish tonight, because I think all of you will LOVE it!!!
It involves scientifically accurate dinosaur feathers! AND a certain cast member!
Sexual or not, a night of focus (or even hyper-focus 🤩) doing science research sounds absolutely invigorating and salubrious!!!!
But something tells me that Dina’s fetish is gonna be something we’d LEAST expect.
Something also tells me that it’s something that Becky can and will spam on Dina to make her just as horny as she is all the time, if not more so!!! 🤯🤯🤯
*plays “Awake” by Taku Iwasaki on Hacked Muzak*
Also, sight is only one of the five major senses (I presume there are minor ones too) that can prompt a brain to produce “pants euphoria” chemicals. There’s so much more science to be done, but sadly it may be difficult to convey in webcomic form.
Dina has literally already stated that she wants to have sex with Becky though, this isn’t a revelation. Shes just not sexually attracted to her
Wish I could upvote this.
THIS.
I am, as far as I can tell, averagely allosexual (and pan, so I frequently see a large amount of people I *could* theoretically be attracted to). Do I feel the ~pants euphoria~ immediately on looking at them? Not very often, no. Almost never, actually. And maybe it’s because I’m an adult whose hormones are stable, but I honestly think even most allosexual people are like that most of the time. Especially if they’re already having enough sex/masturbating often enough to have their needs met?
So yeah. I agree. I think people tend to way overestimate how often even allosexuals get wildly, uncontrollably horny LOL. *Especially* people who are repressed themselves – they think about the sex they aren’t allowed to have constantly, so obviously everyone else is like that, right?
Wrong, but good luck convincing them of that.
As a very highly sexual person, I’m quite able to shut down my sexual feelings in public.
Now, if I’m in a relationship with someone and I happen to run into them in classes I’m probably going to fantasize wildly about taking them somewhere private where we can have some fun lol
Probably the feeling of extreme fear that some straight guy will notice me ogling him and get violent helps me tamp down on any potential fantasizing about cute guys in public
I’m nonbinary with a mixed presentation, so I tend to clock as gay to everyone… so I really feel that last bit, sad as it is. :C
“Allonormativity” is probably the word you’re looking for, as far as society’s weirdly high expectations of libido/arousal/”pants euphoria” goes. And yeah, I think you’ve definitely hit upon why allonormativity is terrible, not just for out-and-out aces (such as myself, fyi), but also for people who identify as allosexual! Whether they frame it as a bad thing (the traditional view) or a good thing (the “modern” view), all kinds of sources are constantly bombarding our society with the idea that any sort of nudity (especially female nudity) can drive any and all observers into some sort of Wild Sex Craze that’s only barely held in check by social norms. This helps to justify all kinds of interrelated social norms, expectations, and excuses, from rape culture to body shaming to the pathologizing of asexuality. I find the whole thing pretty fascinating, and also hate it and really wish society as a whole could just get rid of it already.
One thing I really love about this whole arc is how Willis made it very clear early on that Dina being ace (i.e. not experiencing “normal” amounts of sexual attraction to people) isn’t the problem to solve – the problem is Becky’s own ex-fundie hangups around sex, gender roles, and relationships, which are completely separate from her orientation and frustrate her immensely. It’s a magnificent departure from a lot of ace stereotypes, going so far as to turn the average person’s very definition of “asexuality” completely on its head! Considering that ace representation of any sort is pretty damn hard to find in modern media, this makes me Extremely Happy
Kinda weird question, but as someone who hasn’t shared a room with someone else since they were like, 10, when do all these people find time to go to town on themselves? Do they memorise class schedules?
It’s not that hard to remember when your roommate is gonna be gone, classes are at the same time every week. Plus sometimes they’ll probably mention something like “hey, I’m visiting home this weekend” or “going out to a party, sorry if I wake you up at 2am when I get home”, so you can safely assume you’ve got time. It’s harder to masturbate with roommates, but it’s not THAT hard. It is, at worst, a mild to moderate inconvenience.
Also, bathrooms. With locks.
True if you absolutely have to go that route, but a bathroom is about the least compelling place to do that.
A bathroom is the most convenient place to do it. People knock, you automatically get privacy, there’s a sink and toilet paper right there to clean up after and you can flush the evidence. It’s the most optimized way
As we all know, super close roommates do it together. Back to back. It increases bonds between dormmates. Especially if you both orgasm at the same time.
This is a lie.
Gotta charge up your J.O. crystals.
I hate that I know what those are.
I love that I know what those are
I am indifferent because I have no ideas what those are.
Allow me to educate you, my friend.
https://i.imgur.com/asirE_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium
Oh, so we’re sharing “educational” material now?
Allow me to share something I picked out from the “fucking library”. 🤪
Earthlings, take a look, if you dare!
(WARNING: NSFW and fucked to the MAX)
https://archive.org/details/965007188
I had forgotten the existence of this. Thank you :’3
What? Crystal necklace that charges up with energy whilst guys get handsy with friends..? O.o
And it’s super-secret other than the publicly visible post on the internet *including the guy’s face*..? O.o
Damn it, Yoto, you almost gave it away! Stop telling the non-roommates all our secrets!
I just learned to do it quietly.
She’s be in her lofted bunk, I’d be in my more normal height bed with the covers up to my neck, turned away from her, doing a bit of light clitoral.
Or, another favorite, was sitting in my computer chair reading hentai and quietly going at it while she slept. Had to keep the desk chair well oiled so it wouldn’t squeak, but otherwise that worked fine.
o3o Stealth jacking is the worst. I had to stay somewhere for months where eventually that became the only option. Having a door is underrated.
I spent all of 2020 living in a house in which I didn’t have a Door, my room’s entrance was RIGHT NEXT to the bathroom, and the house was, so very tiny.
I already hated it before spending an entire year locked in with my family.
Mine was 2021 sharing a living room with my mom. Talk about awkward.
That house I am talking about? No door in my room? Mum and her boyfriend living on the opposite end of the house (Also no door) and we transformed the living room into a bedroom for my 9 year old brother.
The house’s owner said it was built to be a summer cabin to be used over the weekends, not somewhere to live in :/
*plays “Starship Mario” by Koji Kondo on Hacked Muzak*
Back when I was in college and had a roommate for the first two years, I usually was pretty good at remembering when my roommate had class or had some other activity that meant they’d be out of the room for a while. I was lucky enough to get single dorm rooms for my last two years of college so I didn’t have to worry about things like that anymore.
I’ve always wondered about that.
I know Asexual people don’t feel sexual attraction, but they’d likely still feel the “urges”, for lack of a better word, after however long.
And I do genuinely wonder what they’d think of to… help themselves.
Now I’m not asexual but I can imagine it’s just a pleasurable feeling. ie. I LOVE the sensation of cleaning out my ears with a cotton swab. (Yes I’m using them wrong). Probably just feels super good.
Hey bruh have you ever tried it in a VR doujin game?
o3o I ain’t got VR money so I can’t say I have.
Granted I’m not in a rush to get any sorta apparatus.
I played it in a Google Cardboard before, but even as a 360 video it’s super cool!
…well, uh, you could ask. Treating it like a mystery is weird. We’re around.
From experience, I didn’t really need to think very hard and expect I ended up with similar conclusions to most allo folks. Physical stimuli at the relevant areas. Repeat until satisfied. Not complicated.
For the record, I don’t know that it’s “likely”. I guess it might be, in a raw statistical level. Some folks get into it and some folks don’t. I have an allosexual friend who gets grumpy whenever someone in Dumbing of Age asserts that masturbation is a crucial part of acknowledging or exploring one’s relationship to sex, as they personally don’t enjoy it. Not everyone gets “urges” or enjoys single-player mode.
I feel like there’s an inherent feeling of rudeness to asking stuff like this. Like I have a lot of questions about stuff but it feels super rude to actually talk or ask people about it, especially very uncomfortable with the notion of feeling foolish, uninformed or at worst offending anyone. Lord knows I’ve been made to feel stupid or inferior for not knowing something about sex or orientation or gender. So it’s easier to just not ask questions and just live in ignorance. Or y’know just do a fuckton of research in your spare time.
I’m not sure how wondering aloud about other people’s sexual habits in a public space is less rude than asking, but alright.
I mean to be fair this could be their way of asking. Maybe they felt comfortable enough IN this space to state that. Y’know cuz it’s pretty likely someone asexual WOULD bring up their experiences, as you did. I think this was kind of an open question to see how other people experience this thing, though phrased less like a question and more in the context of their curiosity.
There’s also been a persistent culture of “It’s not my job to educate you.” with an undertone that you’re just supposed to know what to look up, where to look for it, and whether your sources are reliable. On top of that, there’s often very little room for mistakes in phrasing or vocabulary, which people will use as a reason to basically make you feel “unworthy” of knowing things.
Yeah! And like I get it. I’m sure every person who is “other” has to endure constant questions, both in good faith and in bad faith and I’m sure it gets tiring. So eventually you probably just close yourself off to the lazy people who want to just ask questions and not do their own research. The thing about me, though is….I just don’t research stuff well. (except animal facts. I fucking love animal facts.) so I tend to just follow the flow of conversations and avoid talking about stuff I don’t know about.
Or I do what I did earlier and WILDLY SPECULATE
asking someone to their face puts them in the spotlight and forces them to either decline or provide the info, either of which can be very uncomfortable. if i yell “hey what’s it like to have a dick” or something in a crowded room and no one answers, then the embarrassment is on me, not someone else. if someone does answer, then they probably chose to, rather than feeling forced.
Yeah. It’s not as simple as Don’t Ask or Ask Away, like all things in life there is a healthy middle ground (except politics).
I feel the best way to approach it is to ask in an open environment but present it in a way where you’re very clearly seeking authentic and lived impressions. Directly asking a singular person puts a lot of responsibility on them to answer or decline.
Sometimes I feel the urge to make a Twitter account about that. Like you anonymously submit a question you’re too nervous to ask about identities you don’t understand and get it answered.
I’m asexual and I cannot stand the way people think it’s okay to ask me personal questions. It’s like normal rules of etiquette don’t apply once you become clinically interesting.
So to me, openly wondering in a forum like this is less rude.
I mean if you’re curious and my diatribe below in the comments doesn’t satisfy your curiosity, I’d be happy to answer questions. This whole topic fascinates me to no end, I put so much thought into it and so rarely have opportunities to talk about it. IDK I’m willing to be a guinea pig for anyone who is curious, is all I’m saying.
More than willing. PLEASE ask me questions, dear god. Either here or idk you could email me or something???? SHRUG!
Trying to pinpoint a particular person, or even generalizing to a crowd and going “HEY! What’s *personal thing* like for YOU?” Can be seen as a bit rude and off putting. Stating it as a “mystery” but one that they are truly interested in and also open to discuss in space of public discourse invites someone to respond without being put in a spotlight.
Yoto is right! Focusing on the feeling is a thing. As for fantasies…
Sex-positive aces can fantasize about sex without wanting it. Other people (or fictional characters) having sex with each other but without us being involved is a thing. Or imagining you’re someone else, or BDSM (doesn’t need to be about sex if the psychological and strong physical feelings are what you’re after), and there’s also a broad broad spectrum of not-directly-sexual fetishes. I’ve stumbled upon stuff like weight gain wherein the focus is on solo hedonism and loss of control, which makes sense with how much pressure society put on beauty standards and how tasty food is, but that logic can apply to a lot of things.
(Yes I spend far too much time on the internet. I do go outside and touch grass once in a while, I promise.)
… Sex-repulsed aces tho. I’ve got no idea >>;;
Hell yeah, I was right!
Also that’s funny cuz most of my fantasies also do not involve me. They mostly involve my own characters or characters from shows and stuff with each other. I’m SUPER into Femdom but I’m not personally a masochist, so a lot of my fantasies involve people who are specifically not me.
And yeah a lot of non-sex specific kinks and a LOTTA kinks that I have no desire to see or experience in real life. I just like the concept.
Please do continue, I LOVE all of this!!!
It’s really helping me see my unique stripes as an ace myself!
Queerness is truly a rainbow and I love it ;; [hi5!]
I do like talking about all the weird stuff I’m into
I can’t really think of what else to say about it though.
I sorta started to make peace with this only recently because my interest for the topic is high, my fantasies varied….. and then there’s how infrequently IRL Attraction happened (terms and conditions apply). It made no sense! I wanted to have it!
FIctional characters doing each other tho. Whew. And yep, things I’m aware I don’t actually wanna experience, too, but are “hot on paper”. I’m NOT saying “YOU TOO? YOU MUST BE ON THE SPECTRUM TOO!”, asjfh please ;3; Just, this storyline with Dina has generated a ton of neat exchanging of experiences and it makes me happy :’3
Haha yeah I’ve definitely had some “diagnosis” from people based on my tastes so I appreciate that. But yeah I’m way more into fictional stuff than real people. That’s why hentai and ecchi anime is a godsend. I only wish that there was more mainstream stylistic porn too. Cartoony gals are my JAM.
Me too bruh!
I was sex repulsed for a number of years (flux babeyyyy) and i still had a libido, i still had to take care of it. I just wasn’t very happy about it because it felt like a waste of time and tried to do it as efficiently as possible. I usually wouldn’t think about anything, just the feeling of it. If anything I’d mutter the name of a smut character i liked (regardless of where i am on the repulsion/positivity spectrum, i always have been and always will be fascinated with sexuality, so i always consumed the content even if the idea of engaging in it myself made me want to vomit)
Now I’m in a more sex positive but disinterested flux and my imagination is much more active
Oh cuz i guess it’s relevant, this active imagination still very rarely includes me or real people, it’s almost exclusively fictional characters i can project myself onto, like my own ocs. Imagining myself and my partner feels. Weird. Too much like meat bags. Real people aren’t sexy. Fictional characters with idealized looks and carefully planned personalities are sexy.
I love seeing talk about kinks like this, because you’re right. So often they aren’t even about the sex itself, not really.
I’ve even found this is often true with kinky allosexuals – there’s often a looooot more going on with a kink than the surface level. Even if someone finds something physically sexy, it’s probably because their mental buttons are being pushed in just the right way.
(Hello I also spend a lot of time online and thinking about this stuff haha)
i’m asexual, and i feel like i jack it the same way most folks do.
i’m not *sexually attracted* to other people, that’s all. it doesn’t mean i don’t masturbate, and it doesn’t even mean i don’t ever have sex. i don’t find my partner sexually attractive, but sometimes we have sex cause it’s fun and i love them.
that’s just one ace folks personal views. like all sexualities, asexuality is fluid and different for everyone!! <3
I’m asexual too and almost the flip! Outside of some unexciting experimentation, I don’t masturbate or get horny. I don’t experience sexual pleasure full stop. I don’t really have sexual urges at all most of the time. But I can find specific people and scenarios I’m in to be physically and mentally arousing and there’s a “dial up the intimacy” function of sex that makes it desirable in those situations even without pleasure.
Which I guess is just to back up that yeah, there are a lot of different non-normative experiences of sexuality and libido that fall under the Ace umbrella, here’s mine XD
The answer is that it heavily varies. Both in terms of feeling ‘urges’, what things may or may not cause arousal, and whether they actually feel like doing anything to satisfy those urges.
Like, both me and my younger sister are ace. We’re both 20+ adults. Neither of us have experienced sexual attraction towards anyone, ever, our whole lives. I’ve been masturbating somewhat regularly since I was like…14, and consume sexual content voraciously (mostly erotica). And my sister is adamant that sexual content makes her viscerally uncomfortable, she’s entirely uninterested, and she has zero urge to masturbate ever–in fact in one (very awkward, lol) conversation, she told me she’s tried it exactly once and found the experience very gross and that she’s not interested in trying it again.
Levels of libido vary. I know I have a fairly high one for the most part.
And to help satisfy your curiosity, for a while I actually didn’t fantasize about anything at all while doing it, though that’s changed quite a lot. Even now, though, I very strictly NEVER think about myself while fantasizing–tbh even trying is extremely unnerving to me, especially trying to imagine myself having sex with another person. Immediate turn-off.
I also never think about any specific, real people…well because there’s no specific, real people I’m attracted to (not even celebrities). That would do nothing for me and also be weird. Similar weirdness to thinking sexually about anyone you have strict platonic feelings about, or are very much not attracted to for other reasons.
Instead I think of fictional characters, usually, or just random sorta fuzzy faceless people, or maybe even fantastical sexy monsters or whatever. I need degrees of separation from myself, and quite frankly from reality a lot of the time, to be turned on at all–I think because the actual reality of sex (especially partnered sex) is so inherently unappealing to me. (But that’s just me, though.)
And for others, that can extend even further, to just finding the entire process of stimulation extremely uncomfortable no matter what is or isn’t involved. And further others have zero problems at all with thinking of themselves or other real people, or even having or desiring partnered sex. It’s just that, similar to Dina, despite being fine with or even desiring partnered sex, that still doesn’t mean you’re actually attracted to any potential partner sexually (even your romantic partner), nor that you’ll get turned on by them (“pants euphoria”). Which like. Lol to me has always put a damper on any potential plans to actually try out partnered sex, even though I’m curious. Like. Doing the partnered sex requires finding another person I’d be willing and interested in doing it with, and that just aint really in the cards for now.
I haven’t completely ruled out the possibility that I may potentially become attracted to a future romantic partner down the line, since I’ve semi-recently realized I’m demiromantic rather than strictly aromantic–meaning I only feel romantic attraction towards someone after considerable time developing a deep emotional bond. I’ve had exactly one romantic partner, though, and sex wasn’t really on the table while we were together anyway, which didn’t bother me at the time. Romantic attraction still happens so rarely for me though, I have no idea what my odds of actually having another relationship any time soon are–let alone whether I may be able to develop sexual attraction towards them similar to how my romantic feelings cropped up? I have no clue! This whole thing is so trial-and-error, lol, I WISH I could have had the opportunity to try things out like Becky and Dina are right now.
Anyway tldr I think about stuff like this a lot whoops this got long.
I read it all :3
and i read it nooooow
I tried to give a more or less comprehensive answer but this? This is amazing. Love to see a fellow ace-spec with this special interest, ajdfh :’3 Human sexuality is diverse as hell and just as fascinating!
This is a good comment.
Thank you for sharing! I’ve known asexual people on all ends of the sex-repulsed/positive spectrum, but this was still a good read.
There’s all kinds. I for example either don’t know how to do it right or don’t really get anything out of it. But I also have no need for it.
Just to add to the outpouring of experiences, I’m a sex-averse ace and also of non-binary gender, and they interplay in a way that makes even acknowledging the relevant parts a deeply uncomfortable experience for me (dysphoria and disgust, yaaaaay /s). Thankfully I don’t have much of a libido.
I suppose it varies from people to people. My sister is asexual and has never masturbated. I suppose she might have and lied about it, but I don’t think so, we’re pretty open and forthright about these sort of things and we had several conversations while she was figuring herself out. She said she never felt the urge to touch herself down there, not even to experiment.
Man am I the only person in this thread who interpreted their question as “what do they think about when they masturbate” not “how do they masturbate”?
Based on the many replies addressing the question of “what do they think about when they masturbate”….no?
I’m Ace and don’t have any urges at all and don’t find it pleasurable feeling even. It doesn’t hurt but it just isn’t pleasurable either. It is just whatever. Really Aces run the gamut.
One taco bet to say… erm… Joyce has touched base already before Becky
*rapidly plays I Touch Myself by The Divinyls on the sax on the way out*
I mean, Becky’s basically saying here that she’s a frequent masturbator, and we don’t even know if Joyce has re-examined that aspect of her life in her new Atheist life.
Feels like a bad bet to make, unless you enjoy watching other people eat your taco :D.
Now there’s a great innuendo
I was about to bet against Daniel Day-Lewis
Now well…
That’s a good one, but Jacksong by Circle of Fear really, um, slaps? Is a banger?
SHOULDERS-AND-UPS FOR ALL
(Still fairly out of it right now, but not so out of it that I can’t comment at all)
It’s good to see you here, King Daniel.
We’re always here to listen and be here with you.
Maybe we’ll get a shot of her back from the waist up at some point, just to change up the camera angles.
(Becky’s fundie shame is too powerful for an Austin Powers style “censorship through strategically placed foreground props” to really work, that might be more of a Roz thing.)
first panel dina is so cute!! all dina panels are cute but the first one is *chefs kiss*
So does this mean that Becky actually HAS masturbated before?!?!? Somehow this is genuinely blowing my mind? How is that possible, she has such intense hangups around sex and sexual purity???
Or maybe it just means she’s watched or read porn/erotica? Possibly over the break maybe, since before that she had all of her online use heavily restricted or monitored, and then after running away she was living with people/sleeping on couches and junk, I just…whennnnn? Maybe she THINKS she knows how, but actually has some serious misconceptions about it?
She either has fiddled around downstairs, has experienced it before, was told about it or was WARNED about it so she is vividly aware of the thing she’s NOT supposed to do. Can’t know how to avoid the evil crotch touching if you don’t know the ins and outs (heh) of it.
Having hang-ups about sex and sexual purity doesn’t mean someone doesn’t masturbate. It means they have an overwhelming senses of guilt and shame. That’s the function of the religious prohibitions against masturbation. To make people, especially those in adolescence, feel like they’re wretched so they become emotionally dependent on the religion.
You know, I always kind of figured this comic here implied she was going to go masturbate in the shower: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/jammies-2/
I guess she could have just meant a cold shower to “cool off”, but that’s how I’d taken it. It’s kind of hard to have never masturbated even one time, isn’t it? I’d imagine people with super sexual hangups just feel bad about it afterwords.
I’m taking it as she’s only going to shower at night because that seems to be the only way nobody can see her naked.
I can’t speak for Becky, but I remember just discovering that “oh hey this specific movement feels really good” one day as a kid, and only developing a sense of shame about it when I later learned that it was supposed to be sinful.
And by “sense of shame,” I mean “the act of posting this comment required heavy breathing and a ‘you can do this’ pep talk.”
Thank you for the insight!!! And thank you for being brave and posting your comment, it was super helpful.
i do have nerve endings down there is the ace rep we all needed
Oh my God Dina is perfect and I love her and I don’t even know in how many ways.
Does Becky mean she’s a valedictorian at… um… Yeah. I bet she does.
Toedad High, Class of [current year minus 1].
Becky, joking about having graduated from that class magna cum laude was right there.
On the other hand I’m betting she had to be quiet.
Asjdh Becky being so good at double-speak is making more than one person here doubt whether she has done it or not and…. I’m almong them, ahaha :’3 My first impulse was that she wasn’t but she’s been physically and psychologically laid bare through this scene and now I think she wouldn’t lie? For once?
As for Dina… Dina, marry me. That’s all.
Wait, do you mean double-speak or Newspeak? Both are at play here.
Hey ya wanna see something really cool and Dina AND scientifically-accurate dinosaur related?
I got your discord handle some time ago but not your number?
Akfjfb HI :D! The number is #3067
I’m truly sorry of I’ve seemed disinterested ;AAA; The RL is giving me the un-grooviest of poundings and my brainfog has gotten bad. I do wanna know about your project! ^^
Totally alright bruh! As a fellow neurodivergent I know how you feel.
But thank you for expressing interest!!! It means so much to me!
Hey I’m having trouble finding you, what’s the username again?
Also, here’s mine, maybe try DMing me? The Wellerman#3099
Took me some tries but I sent a request, hell yeah! :DDD
“We spend many years training young women to survive their fathers intimating mass murders at their place of education, fighting toedads and their minions physically for their basic right to control their own course of education; but we won’t allow these women to show their lady parts on the comics page because that would be obscene.”
Actually that’s just a rewrite of a tweet I tweeted today regarding the Ukrainian ship that faced down a Russian warship with superior firepower and got murdered to the last soul on board for their insolence just the other day. But it works this way too I think.
If it’s the same incident I’m thinking of, it was a sparsely-manned Ukrainian island outpost near the Romanian border, not a Ukrainian ship (AFAIK the Ukrainian Navy–what was left of it after the capture of Crimea eight years ago at least–was entirely destroyed in harbor by missile strikes in the opening hours of the invasion). Still the same outcome, though.
You got to admire the Ukrainian’s balls – like, there’s no way that dude didn’t know he wasn’t going to get bombed to oblivion, but still went “Hey, Russian warship, fuck you.”
*he was going to get
Obviously. CURSE YOU, LACK OF AN EDIT FUNCTION.
Fantasy of the author or actually happened to the author?
I’m calling dibs on this whack idea:
Dina will suggest that perhaps some sort of theropod mating display might work.
Becky will present her rear to Dina, bend over, put her arms akimbo, flap her elbows, and bellow “Hompk!”.
Dina: “Something is definitely happening down below!”
Only head-and-shoulders views of these goings-on will appear, of course, unless something shows up in Slipshine/Patreon.
That’s the Slipshine extension of this scene :D.
I just don’t think we’d see that because, well, it’d be too difficult to really do while keeping things moderately PG-13 >_>.
Or perhaps it’ll develop into a “Here, Becky, put on this Velociraptor costume” situation.
That can be arranged.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/sinproofed/
There are people who don’t and are perfectly fine, I’m sure, but ….yeah, I don’t know why people pretend they’re stupid and don’t know what it means.
what’s a masturbation
is it something you eat
MAS-TUR-BAY-SHUN
Jill it, jack it, do it in a group
Gollum likes it raw and wriggling.
Goku, is that you?
Only if you’re into that sorta thing.
Masturbation? Isn’t that like, chewing?
It means to pee.
Wait, no, that’s micturation.
Dina had played a huge card now. I mean, a real King Crush on turn 9.
Fuck YEAH bruh!!! She’s a real player!!!
Becky’s Chains of Sunday School don’t stand a chance against the Empress of Evolution!!! 🦖
*plays “Cross Worlds Boss Battle” by Deniz Akbulut on Becky’s Phone*
For science!
I love the asexual rep here. Asexual people can absolutely masturbate! As Dina says, we have those nerve endings too. I love that Dina admits this, and is clearly admiring Becky, even though she doesn’t seem to be experiencing sexual attraction.
I’d love to hear firsthand from an ace person about masturbation then.
How… exactly does it work? You don’t feel sexual attraction to anybody in particular but I presume that the feelings of pleasure/satisfaction arising from orgasm are still comforting, yes? Do you use any kinds of aids in the process? (For example, most people would use porn or nudes to get themselves in the mood, but for ace people I assume it wouldn’t provide any benefit.) Is it thus a mostly biological process (as Dina says, “I do have nerve endings down there.”) I’m mostly just fascinated by how it might work differently because as someone who is strongly into BDSM, mental headspace and “scenes” play an integral role in arousal and satisfaction so I’m curious as to how it works for somebody for whom conventional sexual attraction is non-existent.
Porn works if you like the ideas and symbolism but don’t want to have to deal with the physical beyond yourself, and if you are likely to get bored at any given time. A video doesn’t mind if you want to alt tab for a bit and go back and forth, and a picture doesn’t care if it takes you half a day to finish.
Well that’s the case if it is all about exploration of semantics, but I bet there are a lot of different answers for your question. I think the most important thing is not excluding Ace types who approach it differently.
As for toys and stuff, then I’d have to give up some of my physical space to keep them and maintain cleaning and hiding, that just raises the effort doesn’t sound like it would be worth the return.
Honestly, I like porn! Both porn and erotica work fine for me for the ‘getting into the mood’ part, aka getting the parts involved actually interested. I’m not personally attracted to anyone involved, but thinking about the act of sex in the abstract works great–including stuff like bdsm. So it’s very similar to the setting of a scene, at least for me–in crafting a fictional/pretend scenario that’s arousing. It’s just not ME that’s in the scene, it’s the characters in my head or in my erotica.
Porn is also fine and works but tbh I mostly find it kinda distracting, and being real, I find the act of watching actual real people doing it sort of personally unnerving? Like just the idea of thinking of actual REAL people in a sexual manner makes me personally uncomfortable. So thus, erotica is great, as the people involved are all fictional and strictly in my head. Or yknow. Drawings and art, that sort of thing.
But all ace people are different. This is just me, there are definitely ace folks who don’t have my weird hangups, dont use porn or anything, or maybe are more comfortable with different types, etc etc…
Also there are lots of ace folk for whom the act of orgasm actually isn’t pleasurable or satisfying at all. Either that or the process to get one is so unpleasant for them that it’s not remotely worth it, or they simply feel no urge to even try.
Quite frankly I’m confused as to how sexual attraction towards a specific person could be required for literally any of this at all.
I’m in a similar sector- I’m ace but I have a libido… it just isn’t connected to a visual stimuli of “attractive people” even if there are traits I recognize as asethetically pleasant. I’m at a cross roads between “my brain occasionally needs a reset to move on – this is an annoyance” and “this is enjoyable within a certain set of scenarios/environments.”
Willis, I think you might have accidentally mixed up your Dumbing of Age and Sliphine buffer.
I’m just super confused as to who the top and who the botto…
No, Dinah is the top. I lied about the confusion
Becky has an angel on one shoulder and a velociraptor on the other.
In her head, the velociraptor is the ‘Good’ voice.
The angel represents religion, of course, so it’s the ‘Bad’ voice.
Nah, the velociraptor is Chaotic and the angel’s Lawful. This is Becky we’re talking about.
wow
“Hey Tony, do you know how to pleasure a woman?”
*Smugly* “I’ve read thing or two in the Encyclopedia Britannia.”
Antonio Tyler, 2002
I mean, it’s a valid question. Some aces don’t.
I’ve never found statistics though on what fraction of aces do versus don’t masturbate. People need to ask more awkward questions for science.
Probably depends if you’re a sex repulsed ace, libido level etc. As someone somewhere on the ace scale – I can recognize when someone falls on an attraction scale but they don’t give me “pants euphoria.” I do still have a libido (not all do) which is really annoying because it seems to activate with disregard to “human” cues and is more a button to mechanically reset so that I can get on with my life. It can be enjoyable and it definitely is with my partner, but it is strongly entwined more with the idea of being as close as possible/exposed/ connected in the intimacy sense of the word when anything beyond my body being a jerkface. Sharing is caring I guess?
The alt text are the words of a coward
I have to admit that this is going a lot further than I thought it would.
Second panel killed me!
This is both wholesome and adorable and such a positive exploration even if it’s a little awkward.
I love what is developing for these two. So Dina is not sex repulled in the slightest just not particularly horny for people. She’s obviously interested academically and physically enjoys pleasure she just isn’t very driven by urges.
I wonder if the two of them can work. Or if Becky needs someone who is just naturally hornier. Dina doing a great job of communicating and compromising and having fun with her girlfriend though
“These two characters are having a great interaction and communicating super well. They’re probably a bad match.”
I don’t know if they are compatible. The yare working through it but Becky clearly likes and needs to feel desired just because two people are great and talk well doesn’t mean they can work together despite anything
See ya on the other side!
„Becky, i DO have nerve endings down there“ is an excellent title. For a book, or for a slip shine.