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TJ Cordes
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Isa, Meg
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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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I sense that Dinah and Becky will run into some trouble. At heart, Dinah doesn’t believe that Becky and her sexy times abstinence means anything because she doesn’t believe in Becky’s values systems at all.
Dina respects Becky’s sexual boundaries. She’s been perfectly patient and respectful of them, she simply put her own cards on the table. You can definitely respect people’s bodily choices without having to believe in their gods.
To be fair, Becky’s value system was inherited from her abuser and the culture that enabled him, and she’s actively in the process of jettisoning it. Why would Dinah value the opinions of the theocrat that nearly killed her twice?
Last I heard Becky was still very much a Jesus gal at heart despite what’s happened to her. Has something happened since the timeskip that changed that?
She’s still a Jesus girl, but she’s certainly jettisoned large parts of the values system she was taught – all the anti-homosexuality parts as the largest example. Along with the creationism and all the pseudo-science that goes along with it.
So far she’s kept the “no sex before marriage” part, but it’s not clear from outside why that’s stronger than the “no lesbians” part.
Because she hasn’t abandoned the fantasy of the perfect wedding and happily-ever-after picket-fence home life that she was brought up with, she’s just re-imagined it with another woman who is definitely not Joyce, nope as her partner. And staying “pure and chaste” until then, despite what her hormones are screaming for, is how you (supposedly) get that.
There’s a part of me that seemingly recalls (can’t remember if it was here or Twitter, if at all), back when Dina was wearing a grey shirt with the ace flag on its sleeves, that Willis confirmed its implications for Dina herself.
If I remember correctly, the tweet you’re talking about had to do with the shirt Dina was wearing being based off a shirt that Willis saw on a rack somewhere, along with a picture of the shirt in question. The shirt had a different colour scheme from the one Dina was wearing in the comic, confirming that the shirt design mirroring the ace flag was intentional.
Is there a good place to go to learn about stuff like this? I know there are a plethora of asexual experiences, but I have trouble identifying and labeling and recognizing different types of them, and it’s really important to me because some of my closest friends are ace and I’ve never been very successful finding comprehensive material that could help me, like…even just understand very basic parts of those identities on a baseline level, let alone start cracking the really granular stuff…
Low key nose swab the comic isn’t actually called “Aces Wild that talks about all kinds of ace stuff (and occasionally other LGBT+ stuff) including the various forms that being ace can take”.
AVEN is the biggest resource on asexuality I know. They have a friends and family FAQ and several short other FAQs that will give you all the important terms for further google searches, but they also list blogs about asexuality under “Media and Press” > “Other resources”.
They also have AVEN-Wiki, which will tell you all about asexual vs. aromantic vs. nonlibidoism, grey asexuality and demisexuality. asexuality vs. sex-repulsion (just to throw around some of the key terms for research-starting points), asexuality vs. medical conditions or phobias (which are not part of asexuality but do get people confused sometimes) and the ABCD Categories of Asexuality which honestly I don’t think anybody identifies with but which are helpful to sort through the diverse experiences within asexuality.
Sorry for the infodump, I hope it helps though.
I am perfectly willing to do things that I don’t particularly enjoy, simply for the sheer pleasure of seeing my girlfriend having a blast. It’s probably the same for some asexual people who are in relationships.
From what I’ve heard that is sometimes the case but it’s better to look at it this way. You have two scales, sexual attraction and libido. Libido is just “i want pleasure”, attraction is “based on physical features, i want sex with this person specifically”. You can experience low or no attraction, but high libido, which means if you’re in a relationship you can still want and enjoy sex with your partner. That’s what I’ve heard at least, I’m not ace so I’m no expert
There’s also romantic attraction, which is an entirely different spectrum. Speaking as someone who’s ace and yet madly in love with my wife, romantic attraction can be more than enough, if you’re with the right person.
Abstinence isn’t going to be the problem here. Dina’s stated multiple times that she’s patient about it. I think the problem is that Becky has a lot of trouble with direct communication, while Dina both needs and thrives on it.
Becky, you were doing… I hesitate to say “well” but you were improving. Now you think throwing your drink on the ground in response to legit criticism is alright…?
I take it back, she might actually have a career in politics; she has the attitude down already.
You know, unless there is some epic payoff of Dorothy telling Becky to grow the fuck up somewhere soon down the line, I really could do without this “feud” BS.
I hope Dorothy tells her to fuck off and pick up her own trash, because she’s a goddamn adult in college and not a four-year old throwing a tantrum in Walmart.
So I’ve been in that situation before, and the response was to just leave it there until someone (me) cared enough to do something about it. I hope that’s not the path Becky is headed down, I’m already tiring of this pattern of behavior without escalation.
I suspect that ultimately its going to be Joyce that gets fed up eventually and tells Becky to grow up, I also suspect that’s the only way its going to sink in for Becky
Yeah, it is really Joyce that’s going to need to step up to put a stop to this. I’m not saying she has an obligation to do so, but that that is the only way that Becky will stop with her one-sided feud.
It wouldn’t surprise me, considering how things are going for Joyce right now. Her nerves are pretty frayed, and it feels like only a matter of a small push before she snaps.
I’m definitely hoping Becky ends this “rivalry” crap soon. It’s gotten really annoying and I’m amazed that Dorothy deals with it as well as she has so far.
Becky cares about herself and Joyce and thats it, everyone else simply isn’t important.
Becky wouldn’t hesitate to dump Dina if Joyce asked her to be her girlfriend and Dina should be at the top of Beckys thinking but instead shes only thinking of Dorothy
Maybe? It depends on what level of “rebound” Dina ended up being for Becky, like what Sarah said yonks ago.
If Dina is just the girl Becky went out with after realizing Joyce wouldn’t love her back, that’s fine. No harm there, and by all accounts the two are extremely loving and accommodating towards each other.
On the other hand, I do think there’s an an inkling of truth where, if Joyce were to suddenly say “I found out I’m bisexual but not for Dorothy. Marry me, Becky” then… I mean, yeah, I don’t doubt Becky would dump Dina as fast as possible. This hypothetical is obviously never going to happen, but I think we’ve had enough small hints scattered throughout to at least indicate that Becky is, for all that she does love Dina and is ardently fascinated and in awe of her, still holding back from fully committing to the relationship for one reason or another.
I’ll be honest, the idea that Becky is doing this to cling to familiarity rather than, like, because she still has lifelong feels for Joyce seems like sidestepping the obvious answer. Then again I have a demonstrable problem getting out of my own head so maybe it makes more sense to someone else.
This is a significant hurdle in the Dina and Becky relationship. I don’t think it’s a stretch to claim Becky loves Joyce more than she loves Dina. Whether that’s romantic love or familial love now is the real question here. I do think it’s a hurdle a lot of relationships go through. Like would you choose your mom over your wife? Or I guess for Becky your sister over your gf? But I don’t think either Dina or Joyce would ever put Becky in a situation like that. Even if Joyce came out as bi the next strip I doubt she’d make a pass at Becky. And I think Dina respects Joyce and Becky extreme familial connection enough not to be jealous of it. That’s where the idea of trust comes in.
But also it’s pretty obvious Becky is extremely hot for Dina and just the knowledge that sex is available is too much temptation for her Christian values. That’s another, different, conversation though. It’s actually a little surprising to me Becky would hold tightly to the concept of chastity to me when that was such an obvious religious tool for controlling women. But whatevs. She can do or more accurately not do who she wants. I think she’s just afraid she’d be bad a sex.
I’ve been trying to find the strip in which Dina acknowledged her awareness that Becky had turned to her on the rebound and that this did not bode well, but I haven’t managed it. Can someone give me a hand? I’d like to remind myself what exactly Dina said.
That Sarah says it and Dina acknowledges it, doesn’t mean it’s actually true.
Or necessarily bad, for that matter. Relationships start for all sorts of reasons, many of them as shallow as implied by “rebound”. Some of them work out. Some don’t.
Becky isn’t completely over her feelings for Joyce. That’s not a surprise. It’s not like Would she ditch Dina for Joyce if the opportunity arose? I don’t know. It doesn’t much matter because the question isn’t ever going to come up.
All the evidence shows she’s strongly attracted to Dina and cares a lot about her. (It’s also currently the longest lasting main cast relationship in the comic, which seems like it should mean something.) The current conflict in the relationship isn’t Joyce, but is over Becky’s worries about sex, as called out in this strip.
Maybe some people are taking their irritation with Becky out by making her motives worse than there’s any reason to think they are.
I disagree. While I do think in that theoretical scenario Becky would ultimately choose Joyce, I don’t think it would be that fast or easy a decision. I think there would definitely be some angst and soul searching for Becky if that happened.
I think Dorothy might be wrong. Maybe Becky is holding off on sex because she’s still carrying a torch for Joyce. She was caught making out with her roommate at Anderson. That doesn’t mean she would’ve gone all the way, but it’s more than what she’s been up to with Dina so I find her celibacy to be dubious. I’m willing to excuse Becky’s shabby behavior on her recent trauma, but I won’t forgive her for breaking Dina’s heart.
Maybe, but we’ve seen a lot of focus on Becky’s fear of Dina’s seductive powers. It could be entirely fake on her part, but it’s not at all new. Back to when she was fantasizing about Dina taking off her hat or worried about the
offer to sleep there when she was still couch surfing in the dorm.
We’ve seen her and Dina kiss – at least way back. I don’t think there’s any evidence she did more than that with her Anderson roommate.
Future attack ad: “Before she attended Harvard, the future Senator Dorothy Keener declared her desire to launch a precision nuclear strike against her college roommate and current head of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Doctor Becky Saruyama – a known aficionado of orbital nuclear strikes herself. Is a person who would so lightly use nuclear weaponry against another presumptive nuclear power really the person you want to be the next holder of the nuclear button?
This message has been approved by the Elect Peter Paul and Mary Bradford PAC.”
Pretty impressive of Dina to take the concept of sexual intercourse and place it on a table somewhere! The question now is when are we gonna see this table and where is it?
I’m getting kind of tired of Becky’s constant attitude. It was initially funny, but she’s pretty much deserving of a real dressing down from Dorothy. But I suspect it’ll be much more polite than that. I think Dorothy pretty much has her number.
I get the feeling Dorothy just doesn’t care enough to bother firing back at Becky. She seems mostly unfazed by how Becky talks to her and is focused on other things.
Also I kinda see Becky’s talk as exaggerated banter, like she doesn’t really dislike Dorothy as much as she says, but she wants to stir up pretend drama because it’s “fun” or whatever.
“Mind your own business” in response to a negative statement directed at the person? Who was previously minding their own business until Becky fired shots? Sometimes I wonder if I am reading a different comic than other people.
No offense to Becky and I know that’s the joke of the strip but this is such a weak clap back. If she had more sharpness she’d call Dorothy out for studying on the first school day of the semester! What the fuck is that about? You really expect me to believe Robin and the rest of the non existent faculty in charge of classes assigned homework on the first day? Fuck no. She had her laptop open at the optometrist’s office and I didn’t hear no Parks and Rec streaming! Dorothy has a problem! Ease off the gas a little and learn to relax and maybe you won’t feel the need to micromanage every aspect of your friends lives to overcompensate for the fear that you’re never available of enough.
I imagine going to a state school is not bad for being a state politician. (To do: look up the alma maters of every governor and state congresscritter ever.)
Dorothy would probably be happier and better as a career bureaucrat than politician.
I’m sure it varies and because every professor and every curriculum is different but in my experience the most I’ve ever gotten in any class on the first day was some light reading. Most of the time the first class is spent making sure everyone is actually in the right class and has the books or supplies, they need. And considering Robin assigned watching a ten year old sitcom for homework in the only class we’ve seen Dorothy attend I think it’s fair to say she doesn’t have a lot on her plate right now. Her behavior is still very concerning for someone who habitually overworks.
Becky’s bed is closer to the ‘camera’ but out of frame to the left. She tried to get a three-pointer off the trash can from across the room, but came up short.
(I thought the same thing at first, but the sheets are different colors.)
Dorothy makes a very good point. Even if she’s not ready for sexy times yet, Becky really should spend more time with Dina. Ghosting your girlfriend like this is not cool.
Good point, Dotty!! I was thinking all through this arc how little Becky/Dina we had lately, and wondering if this was related to Willis becoming aware that Becky/Dina interactions are kind of dull (my particular opinion) relative to Becky’s interactions with anyone. So I hope this means Willis has found the way to put some sparkle into Becky/Dina.
Becky and Dina already had some differences, on God, on sex, and a little on her need to impress (that overshadowed by giant stuffed dinosaur). If either had experience with relationships, I’d expect a fairly amicable breakup. Maybe Dina will surprise me. But given their lack of experience, I’d expect this to get real messy. Hopefully not Ruth/Billie level of messy, but we’ll see.
Becky has seen both her mother and father die in front of her, the latter after her father kidnapped her for the second time in less than a month. This would cause problems for ANYBODY, and she really needs to be seeing some kind of therapist on the regular.
I still fear that Becky is ultimately going to dump Dina because she still has feelings for Joyce and isn’t sure how to move on from them. Not to sound harsh, but Dina is like the perfect rebound relationship because she’s patient and understanding enough that she won’t ever push Becky beyond what she’s comfortable giving, but that ALSO means that it keeps Dina at a safe distance beyond what Becky feels comfortable in investing in the relationship.
That strip came out in 2016, so that’s actually five years exactly:
16 Jan. 2017 – one year since
16 Jan. 2018 – two years since
16 Jan. 2019 – three years since
16 Jan. 2020 – four years since
16 Jan. 2021 (today) – five years since
It’s a common take here, but what’s called out in this strip and has been explicit in the comic for awhile is that Becky’s concerns about premarital sex are why she’s keeping some distance from Dina.
yeah, Dina went pretty quickly from my fave to someone i never want to see on camera because the redheaded little shit was always around her. Dorothy is following the same trajectory.
It’s plausible that this will be what makes Dorothy snap, because this is something tangible. Or else that her next nuclear strike will be pointing out that littering was banned in their roommate agreement.
So, it’s clear that Becky can’t stand Dorothy for being right in ways she isn’t willing to confront. Becky is not paying attention to Dina because intimacy ultimately scares her (still not shaken off her father’s teachings?). She also doesn’t like the idea of anyone else influencing Joyce.
Girl has a lot of problems. I’m not sure I can blame her for not appreciating Dorothy sort of talking down to her in this strip though.
Also, I don’t think Dotty -has- to clean up anything. She probably will, because she’s not a child, but the rules say that its usually the thrower that picks stuff upp.
Personally, I’d probably refill it with soda or something and throw it back into Beckys bed.
I kind of like the idea of just picking it up and putting it on Becky’s bed. Not refilling it to cause a mess or anything, but just leaving it there for her to deal with.
Keeps Dorothy’s part of the room nice and tidy and still leaves it for Becky to deal with.
Probably more passive agressive than Dorothy is though.
On the one hand, I get that Becky has a metric fuckton of trauma and DESPERATELY needs a therapist, and that this behavior is the result of that, so it requires a bit of understanding and compassion.
On the other, my GOD is she starting to grate on me.
These comments are, as always, fucking wild. Like, you see Dorothy completely fucking trash Becky’s whole shit, just psychologically suplex her into the ground, and then Becky throws an empty cup out of completely impotent frustration and she’s the villain. Okay.
(There is no villain here and Dotty totally earned that suplex, but holy shit, haters, calm down)
I mean no, there is no ‘villain’ here, but Becky has been acting kind of like a tool towards Dorothy since the strip came back. That “HAHA I hate you you’re my rival lol just kidding (but not really) (or am I)” schtick gets tiresome after a while, speaking from experience.
At first I interpreted the last panels as a cartoonish trail left behind from exiting at a high speed. On further review, I’m disappointed that I’m wrong.
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“Yer just saying that because yer jealous that I 1. have a girlfriend and 2. have a BESTIE”
“cool story bro”
Dorothy can be mean when she wants to be. Nothing hurts like the truth.
whoa, way to bring down the mood with facts, dotty
Dorothy has been absolutely SLAYING it so far this arc.
To keep the sports metaphor going, Dorothy is MVP.
I don’t think that “down” is what Dotty actually did to Becky’s mood.
….
… also, I accidentally wrote that Dotty as Betty. If that’s not the name for the inevitable Dorothy/Becky ship, I demand to know why not.
Better than Dorkie…
I sense that Dinah and Becky will run into some trouble. At heart, Dinah doesn’t believe that Becky and her sexy times abstinence means anything because she doesn’t believe in Becky’s values systems at all.
Dina respects Becky’s sexual boundaries. She’s been perfectly patient and respectful of them, she simply put her own cards on the table. You can definitely respect people’s bodily choices without having to believe in their gods.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/signalling/
This just reminds me how much I LOVED Becky’s look in that part of the arc
To be fair, Becky’s value system was inherited from her abuser and the culture that enabled him, and she’s actively in the process of jettisoning it. Why would Dinah value the opinions of the theocrat that nearly killed her twice?
Dangit, Dina, not Dinah, sorry.
Because the person she cares about is still holding onto some of them, and Dina is nothing if not incredibly respectful.
Last I heard Becky was still very much a Jesus gal at heart despite what’s happened to her. Has something happened since the timeskip that changed that?
No. Maybe they’re getting her mixed up with Joyce?
She’s still a Jesus girl, but she’s certainly jettisoned large parts of the values system she was taught – all the anti-homosexuality parts as the largest example. Along with the creationism and all the pseudo-science that goes along with it.
So far she’s kept the “no sex before marriage” part, but it’s not clear from outside why that’s stronger than the “no lesbians” part.
Because she hasn’t abandoned the fantasy of the perfect wedding and happily-ever-after picket-fence home life that she was brought up with, she’s just re-imagined it with another woman
who is definitely not Joyce, nopeas her partner. And staying “pure and chaste” until then, despite what her hormones are screaming for, is how you (supposedly) get that.I get a vaguely asexual vibe off of Dina, so I’m interested to see how this plays out.
There’s a part of me that seemingly recalls (can’t remember if it was here or Twitter, if at all), back when Dina was wearing a grey shirt with the ace flag on its sleeves, that Willis confirmed its implications for Dina herself.
If I remember correctly, the tweet you’re talking about had to do with the shirt Dina was wearing being based off a shirt that Willis saw on a rack somewhere, along with a picture of the shirt in question. The shirt had a different colour scheme from the one Dina was wearing in the comic, confirming that the shirt design mirroring the ace flag was intentional.
Dina has extended to Becky an open invitation for sexytimes.
Asexuality (in its various forms) =/= sex-repulsed.
My gravatar is very fitting tonight, it seems.
Is there a good place to go to learn about stuff like this? I know there are a plethora of asexual experiences, but I have trouble identifying and labeling and recognizing different types of them, and it’s really important to me because some of my closest friends are ace and I’ve never been very successful finding comprehensive material that could help me, like…even just understand very basic parts of those identities on a baseline level, let alone start cracking the really granular stuff…
I read a comic on deviant art called Aces Wild that talks about all kinds of ace stuff (and occasionally other LGBT+ stuff) including the various forms that being ace can take
I forgot to put the thing that stopped the link after wild. Oops
And I apperantly didn’t even do the right link. Teaches me not to get too fancy
https://www.deviantart.com/sallyvinter/gallery/63329389/aces-wild
Low key nose swab the comic isn’t actually called “Aces Wild that talks about all kinds of ace stuff (and occasionally other LGBT+ stuff) including the various forms that being ace can take”.
What is this comic and why did I not know of its existence sooner
AVEN is the biggest resource on asexuality I know. They have a friends and family FAQ and several short other FAQs that will give you all the important terms for further google searches, but they also list blogs about asexuality under “Media and Press” > “Other resources”.
They also have AVEN-Wiki, which will tell you all about asexual vs. aromantic vs. nonlibidoism, grey asexuality and demisexuality. asexuality vs. sex-repulsion (just to throw around some of the key terms for research-starting points), asexuality vs. medical conditions or phobias (which are not part of asexuality but do get people confused sometimes) and the ABCD Categories of Asexuality which honestly I don’t think anybody identifies with but which are helpful to sort through the diverse experiences within asexuality.
Sorry for the infodump, I hope it helps though.
I’ve always looked at it this way:
I am perfectly willing to do things that I don’t particularly enjoy, simply for the sheer pleasure of seeing my girlfriend having a blast. It’s probably the same for some asexual people who are in relationships.
From what I’ve heard that is sometimes the case but it’s better to look at it this way. You have two scales, sexual attraction and libido. Libido is just “i want pleasure”, attraction is “based on physical features, i want sex with this person specifically”. You can experience low or no attraction, but high libido, which means if you’re in a relationship you can still want and enjoy sex with your partner. That’s what I’ve heard at least, I’m not ace so I’m no expert
There’s also romantic attraction, which is an entirely different spectrum. Speaking as someone who’s ace and yet madly in love with my wife, romantic attraction can be more than enough, if you’re with the right person.
It won’t be the abstinence that causes problems for Dina, it will be the avoidance.
Abstinence isn’t going to be the problem here. Dina’s stated multiple times that she’s patient about it. I think the problem is that Becky has a lot of trouble with direct communication, while Dina both needs and thrives on it.
Won’t be the problem with Dina, but Becky’s afraid she won’t be able to resist.
Don’t Mention The War
That’s what FOOTBALL is for!…
Having a football game instead of a war is all well and good until someone actually declares the Football War.
There’s a soccer born every minute, my brother would say.
That’s the kicker, isn’t it?
I’m calling a punalty on this topic.
You have any other goals in mind?
Getting “punalty” to catch on with more than just me.
I choose to interpret this as the closest to passively aggressively lashing out Dorothy can muster and I’m all for it.
So Becky is Danning it up now?
From Becky’s unearned bravado and Dorothy somberly pointing out the real problem, I was getting a Joe/Danny vibe in the opposite direction.
I was feeling Mike energy out of Dotty tbh.
Dorothy used to date Danny, I guess if anyone knows how to deal with someone “Danning it up” it would be her.
Becky that’s some dubious point scoring
Step aside Booster, Dorothy is the new Mike for now
When your only response is to throw something, there are no points. You’ve lost the entire game.
That depends. Are you throwing things at the opponent? That can be viable, depending on the situation.
And, in fact, there are some games where throwing things is critical to scoring points.
Ask Walky.
Many competitive exercises actually assign points and determine the victor based on the participants abilty to throw something
If you flip the table and then grab it and run off, clearly you are a winner.
Re: Alt text.
Becky is a Political Science major now.
I thought according to Joe, Dorothy scored an 8.
“Don’t rate women, Joe.”
Now, see, you say that Bex, but Dorothy just scored yet another very polite fatality, so I’d say she won this round.
Dorothy is absolutely right to call out Becky, and she does it so effectively too.
Cool! The banner with Joyce and Becky’s been updated to have Joyce wearing glasses.
Becky, you were doing… I hesitate to say “well” but you were improving. Now you think throwing your drink on the ground in response to legit criticism is alright…?
I take it back, she might actually have a career in politics; she has the attitude down already.
When did “floor” and “ground” switch meanings? She threw the drink on the floor.
Floor definition:
the lower surface of the room, on which one may walk.
“Informal”: the ground.
The only difference between the floor and the ground is the number of nearby walls.
Whoa. I didn’t know I was being informal when calling it the ground. I don’t know it well enough to be informal like that.
I’ve heard ‘floor’ and ‘ground’ get used interchangeably when indoors.
Not that I care or anything.
If you’re grounded enough, you’re almost never floored.
That’s deep.
Same. Even if technically incorrect, in context it makes sense. NBD.
I think she was aiming for the bin but, yeah
Just like she picked up Joyce
oh fuck
Dorothy went there.
You know, unless there is some epic payoff of Dorothy telling Becky to grow the fuck up somewhere soon down the line, I really could do without this “feud” BS.
I have to hope that happens soon, this overblown rivalry with Dorothy is already wearing on people’s nerves, mine included.
Not gonna lie, I was done by the end of the second strip of it…
Becky is rapidly becoming my least favorite non-parent character in this series…
I hope Dorothy tells her to fuck off and pick up her own trash, because she’s a goddamn adult in college and not a four-year old throwing a tantrum in Walmart.
So I’ve been in that situation before, and the response was to just leave it there until someone (me) cared enough to do something about it. I hope that’s not the path Becky is headed down, I’m already tiring of this pattern of behavior without escalation.
I suspect that ultimately its going to be Joyce that gets fed up eventually and tells Becky to grow up, I also suspect that’s the only way its going to sink in for Becky
Yeah, it is really Joyce that’s going to need to step up to put a stop to this. I’m not saying she has an obligation to do so, but that that is the only way that Becky will stop with her one-sided feud.
It wouldn’t surprise me, considering how things are going for Joyce right now. Her nerves are pretty frayed, and it feels like only a matter of a small push before she snaps.
I’m definitely hoping Becky ends this “rivalry” crap soon. It’s gotten really annoying and I’m amazed that Dorothy deals with it as well as she has so far.
I’m glad just glad Dorothy finally fired back SOMEhow
Did not consider that angle
Becky cares about herself and Joyce and thats it, everyone else simply isn’t important.
Becky wouldn’t hesitate to dump Dina if Joyce asked her to be her girlfriend and Dina should be at the top of Beckys thinking but instead shes only thinking of Dorothy
Dina deserves better
Becky can absolutely be selfish and inconsiderate, but I really don’t think you’re giving her enough credit
Maybe? It depends on what level of “rebound” Dina ended up being for Becky, like what Sarah said yonks ago.
If Dina is just the girl Becky went out with after realizing Joyce wouldn’t love her back, that’s fine. No harm there, and by all accounts the two are extremely loving and accommodating towards each other.
On the other hand, I do think there’s an an inkling of truth where, if Joyce were to suddenly say “I found out I’m bisexual but not for Dorothy. Marry me, Becky” then… I mean, yeah, I don’t doubt Becky would dump Dina as fast as possible. This hypothetical is obviously never going to happen, but I think we’ve had enough small hints scattered throughout to at least indicate that Becky is, for all that she does love Dina and is ardently fascinated and in awe of her, still holding back from fully committing to the relationship for one reason or another.
I’ll be honest, the idea that Becky is doing this to cling to familiarity rather than, like, because she still has lifelong feels for Joyce seems like sidestepping the obvious answer. Then again I have a demonstrable problem getting out of my own head so maybe it makes more sense to someone else.
This is a significant hurdle in the Dina and Becky relationship. I don’t think it’s a stretch to claim Becky loves Joyce more than she loves Dina. Whether that’s romantic love or familial love now is the real question here. I do think it’s a hurdle a lot of relationships go through. Like would you choose your mom over your wife? Or I guess for Becky your sister over your gf? But I don’t think either Dina or Joyce would ever put Becky in a situation like that. Even if Joyce came out as bi the next strip I doubt she’d make a pass at Becky. And I think Dina respects Joyce and Becky extreme familial connection enough not to be jealous of it. That’s where the idea of trust comes in.
But also it’s pretty obvious Becky is extremely hot for Dina and just the knowledge that sex is available is too much temptation for her Christian values. That’s another, different, conversation though. It’s actually a little surprising to me Becky would hold tightly to the concept of chastity to me when that was such an obvious religious tool for controlling women. But whatevs. She can do or more accurately not do who she wants. I think she’s just afraid she’d be bad a sex.
I’ve been trying to find the strip in which Dina acknowledged her awareness that Becky had turned to her on the rebound and that this did not bode well, but I haven’t managed it. Can someone give me a hand? I’d like to remind myself what exactly Dina said.
This one’s the one, I believe: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/02-that-perfect-girl/riddles/
Featuring: the Saddest Dina Face™
(hovertext isn’t helping there)
and it’s the 4 year anniversary of that strip. Willis, he is like clockwork on the drama.
Five-year anniversary, actually.
That’s the one.
That Sarah says it and Dina acknowledges it, doesn’t mean it’s actually true.
Or necessarily bad, for that matter. Relationships start for all sorts of reasons, many of them as shallow as implied by “rebound”. Some of them work out. Some don’t.
Becky isn’t completely over her feelings for Joyce. That’s not a surprise. It’s not like Would she ditch Dina for Joyce if the opportunity arose? I don’t know. It doesn’t much matter because the question isn’t ever going to come up.
All the evidence shows she’s strongly attracted to Dina and cares a lot about her. (It’s also currently the longest lasting main cast relationship in the comic, which seems like it should mean something.) The current conflict in the relationship isn’t Joyce, but is over Becky’s worries about sex, as called out in this strip.
Maybe some people are taking their irritation with Becky out by making her motives worse than there’s any reason to think they are.
I disagree. While I do think in that theoretical scenario Becky would ultimately choose Joyce, I don’t think it would be that fast or easy a decision. I think there would definitely be some angst and soul searching for Becky if that happened.
If it doesn’t involve herself, Joyce and to a much lesser degree Dina Becky simply does not care.
At her introduction it was all about how brave Becky was by saying what she thinks and not holding back
This is Becky saying what she thinks and not holding back and its not pretty
I think Dorothy might be wrong. Maybe Becky is holding off on sex because she’s still carrying a torch for Joyce. She was caught making out with her roommate at Anderson. That doesn’t mean she would’ve gone all the way, but it’s more than what she’s been up to with Dina so I find her celibacy to be dubious. I’m willing to excuse Becky’s shabby behavior on her recent trauma, but I won’t forgive her for breaking Dina’s heart.
Maybe, but we’ve seen a lot of focus on Becky’s fear of Dina’s seductive powers. It could be entirely fake on her part, but it’s not at all new. Back to when she was fantasizing about Dina taking off her hat or worried about the
offer to sleep there when she was still couch surfing in the dorm.
We’ve seen her and Dina kiss – at least way back. I don’t think there’s any evidence she did more than that with her Anderson roommate.
Dorothy claiming she doesn’t want to play the rivalry game, then lands a precision nuclear strike on Becky’s neuroses.
Dorothy doesn’t play.
Future Commander in Chief.
Future attack ad: “Before she attended Harvard, the future Senator Dorothy Keener declared her desire to launch a precision nuclear strike against her college roommate and current head of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Doctor Becky Saruyama – a known aficionado of orbital nuclear strikes herself. Is a person who would so lightly use nuclear weaponry against another presumptive nuclear power really the person you want to be the next holder of the nuclear button?
This message has been approved by the Elect Peter Paul and Mary Bradford PAC.”
Pretty impressive of Dina to take the concept of sexual intercourse and place it on a table somewhere! The question now is when are we gonna see this table and where is it?
You’ll find it on the table when you’re eating out.
I’m getting kind of tired of Becky’s constant attitude. It was initially funny, but she’s pretty much deserving of a real dressing down from Dorothy. But I suspect it’ll be much more polite than that. I think Dorothy pretty much has her number.
I didn’t think it was funny to begin with. Pretty rough on poor Ethan.
When Ethan returns, we will see another grav shuffle.
GOT ‘EM COACH
Jesus Christ Becky. You’d shown some progress in the clinic but this is making a strong “asshole of the semester” bid.
dorothy dropping truth bombs
Tbh, Dotty, this sounds like an MYOB situation
Oh this new avatar is ironic
And by ironic, we mean appropriate.
Not with the way Becky’s been acting it isn’t.
LMAO oh THIS is a mind your own business situation, not any of the other times where it’s someone else butting in, I see.
Sorry I just recently started reading a book about boundaries
It seems to me like after all the crap Becky’s been giving her, Dorothy’s responses have been very mild so far.
I get the feeling Dorothy just doesn’t care enough to bother firing back at Becky. She seems mostly unfazed by how Becky talks to her and is focused on other things.
Also I kinda see Becky’s talk as exaggerated banter, like she doesn’t really dislike Dorothy as much as she says, but she wants to stir up pretend drama because it’s “fun” or whatever.
I’m curious to see how you come to that conclusion
Talk shit, get hit.
There are plenty of MYOB situations in this comic. Some of which bother me more than others, I will admit. But I do agree with you.
That said, it’s a comic, it’s all exaggerated, so there’s that.
“Mind your own business” in response to a negative statement directed at the person? Who was previously minding their own business until Becky fired shots? Sometimes I wonder if I am reading a different comic than other people.
*plays Two Tribes by Frankie Goes to Hollywood while raising a boombox*
Oh I know what Becky’s personality streak reminds me of – Eric Cartman.
Just get frisky with Dina, coz it’ll be risky with Joyce
No offense to Becky and I know that’s the joke of the strip but this is such a weak clap back. If she had more sharpness she’d call Dorothy out for studying on the first school day of the semester! What the fuck is that about? You really expect me to believe Robin and the rest of the non existent faculty in charge of classes assigned homework on the first day? Fuck no. She had her laptop open at the optometrist’s office and I didn’t hear no Parks and Rec streaming! Dorothy has a problem! Ease off the gas a little and learn to relax and maybe you won’t feel the need to micromanage every aspect of your friends lives to overcompensate for the fear that you’re never available of enough.
Well, for me Becky picking the lamest possible clap-back is not only the joke of the strip but an important point of characterization for Becky.
Basically this is her version of saying… yeah, you got me.
I mean to be fair, Dorothy would be a dick streaming in a public place with no headphones.
Relax, Dorothy has gotten into writing fanfiction. She‘s not working.
Actually, given the letter from Havard, is she working her ass off or is she researching alternative carrier paths.
“The sensitivity scanner and the caramel boy”
I imagine going to a state school is not bad for being a state politician. (To do: look up the alma maters of every governor and state congresscritter ever.)
Dorothy would probably be happier and better as a career bureaucrat than politician.
Really? I think on almost every first day I had, the prof would assign reading to prepare for the next class.
I’m sure it varies and because every professor and every curriculum is different but in my experience the most I’ve ever gotten in any class on the first day was some light reading. Most of the time the first class is spent making sure everyone is actually in the right class and has the books or supplies, they need. And considering Robin assigned watching a ten year old sitcom for homework in the only class we’ve seen Dorothy attend I think it’s fair to say she doesn’t have a lot on her plate right now. Her behavior is still very concerning for someone who habitually overworks.
You’re trash.
Dorothy: “Pick up your trash.”
Becky: “No. Up here, I can be garbage.”
That will show her.
So for anyone counting scores…. I’d say that’s about a few billion points to Dotty and like… five to Becky (that ring-binder gag still counts)
Becky, you missed. Badly. You pick it up.
oooooooh shots fired
and also trash thrown
Is the cup spilling liquid in the last panel or are they just move movement lines to show it rolling about like there’s a mouse inside?
I was wondering as well; I think they’re movement lines.
The important thing is, did the cup have Sprite or merely Sierra Mist in it?
It is probably movement lines. If Becky had thrown a partially full cup it would be so much more jerky.
Is Dorothy’s desk under Becky’s bed?
The motion lines plausibly come from Becky’s bed, which is closer to us but not seen as we look at Dorothy.
Becky’s bed is closer to the ‘camera’ but out of frame to the left. She tried to get a three-pointer off the trash can from across the room, but came up short.
(I thought the same thing at first, but the sheets are different colors.)
So *this* is what it all was about. Oh my god.
Dorothy dragged her by her ginger roots! God damn that was cutting!
Untrue and homosexual. Dotty would know to use whom.
Dorothy makes a very good point. Even if she’s not ready for sexy times yet, Becky really should spend more time with Dina. Ghosting your girlfriend like this is not cool.
Translation: please be in a room with Dina instead of me right now.
Good point, Dotty!! I was thinking all through this arc how little Becky/Dina we had lately, and wondering if this was related to Willis becoming aware that Becky/Dina interactions are kind of dull (my particular opinion) relative to Becky’s interactions with anyone. So I hope this means Willis has found the way to put some sparkle into Becky/Dina.
Becky and Dina already had some differences, on God, on sex, and a little on her need to impress (that overshadowed by giant stuffed dinosaur). If either had experience with relationships, I’d expect a fairly amicable breakup. Maybe Dina will surprise me. But given their lack of experience, I’d expect this to get real messy. Hopefully not Ruth/Billie level of messy, but we’ll see.
Becky has seen both her mother and father die in front of her, the latter after her father kidnapped her for the second time in less than a month. This would cause problems for ANYBODY, and she really needs to be seeing some kind of therapist on the regular.
This behavior is merely signaling her problem.
oh no Becky…
oh no the good ship Dina & Becky…
Please don’t let dinosaur daughter get hurt. ;_;
I still fear that Becky is ultimately going to dump Dina because she still has feelings for Joyce and isn’t sure how to move on from them. Not to sound harsh, but Dina is like the perfect rebound relationship because she’s patient and understanding enough that she won’t ever push Becky beyond what she’s comfortable giving, but that ALSO means that it keeps Dina at a safe distance beyond what Becky feels comfortable in investing in the relationship.
Dina knows she’s Becky’s rebound, and it does seem to bother her more than she expresses / lets on.
You can’t tell me this strip isn’t a Chekhov’s Gun:
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/02-that-perfect-girl/riddles/
Oh wow! exactly four years ago!
I always have the feeling Dina and Becky are together four years already.
That strip came out in 2016, so that’s actually five years exactly:
16 Jan. 2017 – one year since
16 Jan. 2018 – two years since
16 Jan. 2019 – three years since
16 Jan. 2020 – four years since
16 Jan. 2021 (today) – five years since
Yes, thanks I was stoned
It’s a common take here, but what’s called out in this strip and has been explicit in the comic for awhile is that Becky’s concerns about premarital sex are why she’s keeping some distance from Dina.
I think the intensity of Becky’s feelings is scaring her. Maybe there’s a reason for the ‘abstinence before marriage’ idea.
Oh hey, we’re back to Becky being completely unsufferable. In other news, water’s wet.
yeah, Dina went pretty quickly from my fave to someone i never want to see on camera because the redheaded little shit was always around her. Dorothy is following the same trajectory.
There we go. Now it’s hostile.
After all that, the line in the sand turned out to be “littering”.
It’s plausible that this will be what makes Dorothy snap, because this is something tangible. Or else that her next nuclear strike will be pointing out that littering was banned in their roommate agreement.
So, it’s clear that Becky can’t stand Dorothy for being right in ways she isn’t willing to confront. Becky is not paying attention to Dina because intimacy ultimately scares her (still not shaken off her father’s teachings?). She also doesn’t like the idea of anyone else influencing Joyce.
Girl has a lot of problems. I’m not sure I can blame her for not appreciating Dorothy sort of talking down to her in this strip though.
IMO, much like Joyce’s childish reaction(s) to the whole glasses thing in this arc, it’s what such behavior deserves.
or, tl;dr – act like a child throwing a tantrum, get treated like one.
Couple of things:
– OK, NOW Becky’s being mean.
– So much for 1-0 being the ‘ultimate’ score of the day.
– Even odds Dotty winds up picking up that discarded cup.
But enough of this! Have at you!
Yep, called it. With that mind, Becky should be happy that Dorothy isn’t using it for evil or bad things. She’d ruin people.
Also, I don’t think Dotty -has- to clean up anything. She probably will, because she’s not a child, but the rules say that its usually the thrower that picks stuff upp.
Personally, I’d probably refill it with soda or something and throw it back into Beckys bed.
I kind of like the idea of just picking it up and putting it on Becky’s bed. Not refilling it to cause a mess or anything, but just leaving it there for her to deal with.
Keeps Dorothy’s part of the room nice and tidy and still leaves it for Becky to deal with.
Probably more passive agressive than Dorothy is though.
Dorothy has a point. Dina needs to receive more attention and love or Becky will lost her.
Oh I’d love that! And yes probably I would do the same
But Dorothy … it would be very funny though! 
especially Dotty doing it!
I’m conflicted.
On the one hand, I get that Becky has a metric fuckton of trauma and DESPERATELY needs a therapist, and that this behavior is the result of that, so it requires a bit of understanding and compassion.
On the other, my GOD is she starting to grate on me.
Two things can be right at once
Luckily for Becky, she doesn’t have any competition for Dina’s affection, and Dina’s not the type to look elsewhere while in a relationship.
If it was me, I’d be sexing up Dina until she made dinosaur noises.
She makes dinosaur noises without sexing!
Yeah, if you stop when she makes dinosaur noises, you’re not going to get much sexing done.
Going to be honest, I would have *way* less patience with Becky than Dorothy is displaying at this point
Becky, you’re being kinda awful and I would like you to stop lashing out in response to friendly help/course correction.
Im a Pacifist and i want Dorothy to kick Beckys ass
I require a Like button for these comments.
These comments are, as always, fucking wild. Like, you see Dorothy completely fucking trash Becky’s whole shit, just psychologically suplex her into the ground, and then Becky throws an empty cup out of completely impotent frustration and she’s the villain. Okay.
(There is no villain here and Dotty totally earned that suplex, but holy shit, haters, calm down)
I mean no, there is no ‘villain’ here, but Becky has been acting kind of like a tool towards Dorothy since the strip came back. That “HAHA I hate you you’re my rival lol just kidding (but not really) (or am I)” schtick gets tiresome after a while, speaking from experience.
At first I interpreted the last panels as a cartoonish trail left behind from exiting at a high speed. On further review, I’m disappointed that I’m wrong.