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Dina’s awesomeness is like the universe. There is the visible awesomeness, and naturally, we can only see so much of that. Then, outside the edge of that, we still have the (for us) invisible awesomeness, which expands into infinity.
electrons and positrons ANNIHILATE each other in a burst of gamma radiation. There’s something to be said for the intensity of a meeting like that. Bring on that kink!
Not necessarily. You can feel fear and arousal at the same time. In fact, this is how many abusive relationships begin. Let’s hope Becky & Dina aren’t going down THAT path…
I’m not so dumb as to not know the true disctinction.
The quotes are only there to tell that some people are quick to categorize some things as “abuse” when in fact, it’s consensual. People which are also quick to say that it’s not “sane”, because supposedly the “abuser” has meddled with the other one’s head. Or the “abusee” is crazy. Etc, etc.
In fact, I have lived through both real abuse and kinky relationships, and… arousal + fear, really? Never in a lifetime when it’s real abuse. Kink though? Yeah, totally. Real abuse generates emotional distress at a level which can’t be handled, and in a way where the control is taken out of your hands (meaning: you can’t put a stop to it when you’ve had enough).
That sentence: “this is how many abusive relationships begin” was very misinformed imo. And potentially confusiong for people wondering about their kinks. And also kink-shaming. There, I elaborated.
The quotes are also a shout-out to all the “please abuse me” that have been uttered with puppy dog eyes after pressing all the buttons at once.
Pet Peeve Triggered. It’s “FAZE!” “Phased” is something that happens to you after the modulation of the molecular subspace inducers hits a 6.7 femtometer variance, and then you walk through the bulkhead into space and die.
Yeah, I see ‘faze’ and ‘phase’ misused often. Almost as often as ‘aw/aww and ‘awe’.
In books and magazines, though, I think the most common ones I see are mixing up ‘further’ and ‘farther’ and using ‘poisonous’ when the proper term would be ‘venomous’.
I have one like that. It’s STRAITjacket, NOT straight jacket. A straitjacket is a canvas device used to subdue the murderously insane. A straight jacket is a nice tweed that no gay man would ever touch. To fit it into terms the group can follow; you force the Joker into a straitjacket, Bruce Wayne wears a straight jacket. Are we good?
A straight jacket is a nice tweed that no gay man would ever touch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Now would you like to have a try at explaining the line from the Christmas carol about “gay apparel”?
When you are this new to relationships, the prospect of “no” can be pretty devastating.
And the worst that can happen is that Dina is outrageously offended, screams at Becky of only liking her for her body head, and stalks off in a huff, refusing to even have anything to do with Becky ever again. In other words, the End Of The World.
Yeah it sounds like some bad movie or sitcom, but what other model does she have for how relationships work?
It may not be likely, but Becky isn’t a position to know that. This is only the second woman she has liked ever, and the only one who liked her back.
(Unless you count one makeout session with Kaitlin.)
Becky, no. Stop. Use your words like a big girl and ask for what she wants. I know it can be tricky to phrase and it might be awkward and intimidating, but it’s the only way to do this right.
I know a person who was raised to keep kosher, which has a totally different/ancient taxonomy for figuring out which animals are okay to eat. She’s a sciencey person who is also fully capable of grasping regular taxonomy, so her friends were really startled and appalled when she tried to explain that bats are like birds and frogs are like bugs.
Hm I wonder how interested or disinterested Dina is in entomology, since insects change a lot faster than most megafauna (that’s why we use fruit flies for experiments on genetics!). Since she knows the arachnid distinction off the top of her head, does she consider that common knowledge? or common knowledge for any science student? (I’d say the latter)
Basic zoological terminology should be general knowledge in any civilized society, even among proponents of hypotheses like intelligent design. However, I get the impression that US education rather enumerates the bones in the human body than the general overview over the animal kingdom.
Is the use of latin names like femur and vagina over English-rooted terms like thigh bone and womb a consequence of puritanism and bowdlerizing?
Isn’t the womb the uterus, though?
Pretty sure ‘vagina’ is considered a lewder word by far in the US. We’re not Victorian England, categorizing poultry meat into white and dark so no one has to enunciate ‘thigh’ or ‘breast.’
Familiarity with the basics of etymology is middle school material to my knowledge, but the USA are anything but consistent in what our schools teach.
I knew that arachnids weren’t bugs in high school, I probably learned it from a book or my nerdiest brother or something. I figure it’s common knowledge among people who remember random weird facts, and Dina is definitely such a person.
I think most people are taught it… but I’m not sure very many of them are paying attention and even if they are they don’t remember it for long. My class definitely covered the material in 7th grade “life sciences” and possibly covered it some in grades before that. That said, I’ve always had a ridiculously easy time with basic biology and “life sciences” material, so I don’t really know how to compare that to other people.
actually since one thing she appreciates about dinosaurs is the fact they are in a sense time locked as in what they are will not change like how humans she tries to interact with change she might appreciate it.
Next Becky will claim that the hat must be hurting Dina’s heels. Then she’ll suggest removing the hat in honor of National Naked Head Day. Then she’ll just ask for a coffee.
“I’d like to see you out in the moonlight
I’d like to kiss you baby way back in the sticks
I’d like to walk you through a field of wildflowers
And I’d like to check you for ticks.”
“Then, she let out a long sigh
Which, I took to mean, ‘Uh
“Mama, What is that deodorant you’re wearing?
It’s intoxicating
Why don’t we drive out to the country sometime?
And collect deer ticks in a zip-lock baggie’, Oh yeah”
Like in most places, ticks in Sweden transmit borelia and other fun stuff. Due to the climate Northern Sweden is tick-free, but thanks to global warming they are moving north. My cousin comes from up there and everytime we are in any even remotely nature-like place that is south of the border he FREAKS THE FUCK OUT. He basically plans to follow the ice north as temperature increases.
Oh, Dina. Bug doesn’t equal insect. “Bug” as a colloquial term encompasses all land arthropods (and sometimes other terrestrial invertebrates), and as a semi-scientific term, it only encompasses the order Hemiptera, aka the “true bugs.”
I thought bugs were defined by their wings, which are hard like a beetle’s near the base but become membranous like a fly’s as they go along their length, hence Hemiptera, or “half wing”. That said, aphids, which are usually wingless (they only get wings when the previous generation has finished sucking their poor victim dry, requiring a mass exodus), are true bugs, so the mouth parts may be a back-up identifier.
It’s like how mammals are defined by being hairy and warm-blooded, or having a particular pattern of dentition, or nursing their young with milk glands. They’re really a lineage, and you could pick different unique things to recognize them.
True bugs have a distinct type of wing when present, and are one group with sucking mouthparts, and I’m sure share other features you could pick. I wouldn’t say “bug” is the same thing as true bug, though. It’s more calling someone a “true friend”, it doesn’t mean the others aren’t friends at all.
Probably 18, like Joyce. That said, cluelessness is not a factor of age, it is a factor of experience. And Becky has zero experience with trying to talk people out of their clothes, and may not have much with guys trying to talk her out of hers. And almost certainly none with gals trying to.
Pretty sure they were both still fully dressed when they got caught. Doesn’t seem like Becky’d rush the removal of clothes; she did come from the same community that produced Joyce.
In panel four, they’re on their third set of clothes in a row. The middle panels don’t all take place on the same day, unless they wear shorts and then put pants on and then take off their pants to reveal their shorts again, all while changing shirts constantly.
Speaking as a girl, yes it would, in my experience. Unless they were going out to different places requiring vastly different types of clothing and/or had a school uniform to change out of (neither of which is the case) there is no reason to be constantly changing clothes.
Also, that was when your daughter was little. Becky and Kaitlin are 18.
Dina is all: “Becky DOES know the difference between insects and arachnids, right? That is fundamental for taxonomical understanding of animals…. No, I mustn’t assume. They have lied to her about so much. But I mustn’t condemn either. I should present this fact as the wonderous thing it is rather than chide her for her lack of knowledge.”
My personal position is I understand it but as a linguistic descriptivist categorically object to the notion that science has any business deciding that “bug” must mean “insect”, let alone “hemiptera” (and why doesn’t anyone ever object to describing flies and beetles as bugs?). Also, tomatoes are vegetables.
Wheat is a fruit. Peanuts are fruit. The definition of “fruit” which is used to justify saying that tomatoes are fruit is so broad as to be useless. And incidentally by that definition a strawberry is not a fruit.
Yes, and the actual part we eat is the fruit. Did you think that grass didn’t have fruit? All plants* have fruit. (On a strawberry, the yellow dots that we call seeds are the fruits)
*Well, most plants. There are a few exceptions. For example, pinecones aren’t considered fruit. Incidentally, a juniper berry is a pinecone.
Anyway, the idea is that bacteria and archaea are different groups, so lumping them together in one group is wrong, kinda like reptiles is not one group (unless you include birds). Norman Pace wrote a piece about it in nature a few years back, and we have been arguing about it since. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v441/n7091/full/441289a.html
Yep. Pretty much any scientific use of a common name for something needs the caveat: “Definition may not apply to everyday life.” The botanical definition of “nut” does NOT include: almonds, brazil nuts, cashew nuts, pistachio nuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts, pecan nuts, walnuts…. but what the hell else do you call your bag of mixed nuts?
In botany “fruit” isn’t a broad meaningless term, but a very specific one: it means a mature floral ovary. That just so happens to include tomatoes and legumes, but not say the parts we eat in carrots, celery, or cauliflower. Strawberry are usually called a multiple fruit.
This arc does a great job describing just how immature Becky is when it comes to relationships, and I’m glad it does it with Becky pining about Dina’s scalp rather than her boobs, because this is hilarious, but that would have been very uncomfortable.
Mostly because it would have it too close to home for a LOT of people who have been awkward 14-year-olds. Becky says she wants to take the “next physical step in their relationship” Having Dina take off her hat for her – knowingly, willingly – WOULD be that because, as Cerberus note, that’s something that Dina rarely do, and that makes it an intimate act.
But tricking Dina to take of her hat in some sort of stupid lesbian shenanigan (TM) is not an intimate act, it is not the next physical step. It is just Becky catching an eyeful of forbidden fruit. And it is very, VERY similar to lot of 14-year-old-boys “accidently” brushing against their girlfriends boobs in a narrow corridor.
And it of course makes sense – Becky IS very immature and have not been given any way to prepare for this at all. So far she has excelled at relationship far better than could be expected, with support, consent and overall empathy, so this is a good reminder.
You, know i’ve never posted here before, but I think this is an appropriate time…. I hope these kinds of comics go on for eternity, i absolutely adore this relationship! XD
Considering “DoA time” works out to be roughly one week per (real-time) calendar year — Sept 10th 2016 was the sixth anniversary of the first strip and we’ve only covered about 37 days into the semester — I will probably be on Social Security before the characters get to mid-semester, and will likely be pushing up daisies before the semester final exams. So for me, it probably *WILL* go on for eternity.
Becky’s youth pastor: “And bewaaaaare of the daaaangers of girl-on-girl-hanky panky, because the eeeeeevil leeeeeeesbians are dangerouuuuuus and full of spiiiiiiiiders.”
Becky, present day: “Would you look at that – he was actually right about something. Still hot, though.”
Nah, they just teach you that lesbians are lost souls desperate for husbands and got confused. Only gays and trans people are evil, because they’re possessed. /s
I don’t know why but the last two panels have me concerned like Becky will get annoyed and snatch it off her head. I have absolutely no basis for this but I just had my mind jump to it for some reason.
And why does this thought make me so uncomfortable?
Eh on reflection I don’t think Becky would. Hopefully she’ll just come clean and Dina will poke/become a bit ticked at her not being direct. Dina prefers people being direct and upfront given conversations with Sarah her second fave. It is a potential interesting area they could clash as a couple, as a kid, Becky hid her desires so effectively, even from herself, a common aspect of being in the alphabet soup depending on how they are raised/wider society expectations affecting your own. (After all it took being away from Joyce to realise them).
That thought makes you uncomfortable because it’s a massive violation of boundaries, bordering on assault.
I don’t think Becky would, either. I think it’s much likely that she we would have a strip of despairing meltdown in front of Dina, to which Dina responds “oh. you could’ve just asked,” reaches for the hat aaaaaand… either the strip fades to black or we get a full shot of Becky’s face with shining eyes (possibly saying “It’s… it’s beautiful…”)
I think it makes you uncomfortable because you know that Becky has sexualized Dina’s hat, so that, to Becky, it’d be like ripping off Dina’s shirt without consent. I agree with JBento’s hypothesis that Becky will get to see and we won’t, I think that’d be perfect.
(Ahhhh, now I’m remembering when that adorable jumping spider crawled up my hair. It was a bit worrisome, getting her out without hurting her. DX She did not want to crawl on me again after that, either. But. So adorbs.)
I really wish I shared your ability to perceive spiders as “cute”.
To me, if I cannot immediately identify a spider, it is a very angry brown recluse and I treat it as such.
(Treating it as such involves lots of running away and yelling.)
I find it helps if you go on a field trip where you’re promised butteries, but they won’t sit still, and there’s this nice little orb spider that’s content to just work on it’s web and eat insects.
Plus, if a butterfly stops by while you’re watching, that’s your best chance to see a wild one sit still for a prolonged period of time.
Why are you walking away? Is it because you know what happened to the butterfly? Did I not present the spider as the hero well enough?
In Lipke’s defence, orb spiders can’t kill you, nor are they super-aggressive little shits. And their webs are super gorgeous, and orb spiders are easily identifiable as such.
Look, what I’m getting at is that brown recluses are the sort of spiders that make you go “what do you mean, they’re not australian wildlife?”
We have no (0) species of dangerous spider here, but most people are still scared of them. It’s the House spiders that get the worst reaction- big, dark, long-legged and fast-moving, but utterly harmless. They’re actually rather elegant-looking creatures, but I can only appreciate that when they’re safely under a glass.
I live in an area where Brown Recluses (dangerous) and Huntsman spiders (harmless) are pretty common. They look a lot alike when they’re small so we were always taught to identify the poisonous one by looking for the “violin” on it’s back.
(BR’s have a marking on their abdomen that look a lot like the musical instrument.)
Also, Huntsmen, though arachnids, have no waist (and therefore aren’t true spiders). They also have no silk, so, again, not true spiders, but you can’t visually identify a spider for it’s silk glands. Around these parts, we call them “Daddy Long-legs” – not to be confused with the Australian spider of the same name that is, in fact, venomous.
Interesting etymological trivia note: Here in London, we also call Crane Flies ‘daddy long-legs’. This may have something to do with the fact that they are many times more common a sight than a Huntsman (of which I’ve seen maybe two in my 42 years).
I live in an area where damn near every scary type of spider is either relatively common or at the very least not nonexistent. Black widows, brown recluses, etc etc etc.
In fact, my first day moving into my first house when I moved to this state, I saw a black widow building its web on the overhanging bit of the roof. I haven’t seen one since in my three years being here, which is a good thing because I think I’d have a heart attack if I did… like, logically, I know that I probably won’t get bitten and die horribly if I don’t bother it or stick my finger in its web by accident or whatever, but when I’m seeing jet black and blood red on a natural friggin’ creature, I’m panicking.
If I lived in an area where dangerous spiders lived, I don’t think I would be getting close enough to them to identify some microscopic markings on it.
Spiders generally eat the -real- annoyances. Like mosquitoes. Spiders are our friends. Spiders generally leave us alone too, with a few exceptions. This one was probably just hanging from a strand of web when Dina’s hat brushed against it and swept it away. Then it sought out a hiding place out of sight until it felt safe again.
I mean, in their relationship, she could actually ask the shirt one. How else would Dina know that Becky wants to see her disrobe? Dina misses most subtext. Becky needs to learn to be extremely direct.
The whole hat thing is brilliant because it lets us have Becky’s discomfort and excitement, while still keeping them well in the realm of adorableness/PG-shenanigans.
thejeff has several Doctorates on their wall, all issued by Trump U. They have ALL THE DOCTORATES, and they’re yuuuge, the best doctorates there are. Other people don’t have as many doctorates as thejeff, and they’re worse doctorates. Sad.
People who act like “bug” is a scientific term with a narrow meaning are the worst. Generally people use it to refer to all arthropods, from insects to arachnids to myriapods to some smaller crustaceans (pillbugs mostly, although you can try stretching it further). Sometimes people even use the term to mean non-shelled tiny invertebrates, but I think that’s pushing it.
Hemiptera can go screw itself with its “true bugs” nonsense. Absolutely nobody but the stingiest jerk taxonomist cares.
It’s not a scientific term, but it does have a common usage that usually excludes spiders Most people call spiders spiders and other arthropods “bugs”. (if just for phobic reasons) A lot of other people mistakenly think spiders are insects: Considering the entire thrust of their conversation has been a deliberate effort to dispel Becky’s anti-science creationist teachings, I don’t feel like Dina’s being mean or petty here.
Person who needs things to be laid out in direct plain words meets person who has been trained her entire life Not To Talk About, You Know, That. I’d watch it!
I found out yesterday that one of my friends had passed away. I think she would have fit well into this crowd, so here’s what I wrote about her:
Slingblade (her internet nick) was a woman that had a big heart, a quart of sass, and a passion for fairness. And she let all those things show.
The combination of these things also led to a righteous anger towards all those people that would actively deny such things to the world. Her life as a young adult had led her into contact with far too many such people, who told her to stick with her abusive husband, because the bible tells us that a wife shall submit.
After finally getting out of that kind of absolute bullshit, Sling had had enough of that crap. And what she really, absolutely, detested the most were the kind of people that would a) happily support a system designed to kick and keep certain people down, and then b) immediately tell the people kicked down to pull themselves back up by their own bootstraps. She had no patience with such scumbags of the world (as well she shouldn’t), and frequently told them so.
But if you weren’t one of those (or similar) arseholes, she’d be as good a friend as you could ever wish for. Always ready with sincere and funny well-wishes when something good happened, and equally sincere empathy when something bad was going on.
We need more people like Slingblade in this world. Instead we now have one less.
Im waiting for the punchline to this whole hat thing.
>She raises her hands to her head slowly, letting becky savor the suspence
>Gently she grasps her hat by the bottom
>She slowly raises it off her head
>Becky’s heart flutters with anticipation
>With it nearly off becky can almost see it, that which she has longed for all this time
>She removes it completely to reveal
Calling it – under the hat dina is bald or has a scar or something. She has Lukemia or cancer or something and won’t make it to the end of the semester.
Where did Hollywood go so wrong? I thought movies were supposed to be an escape from reality, a chance to put your worries aside and not have to think about any underlying ideas or concepts. Well, not anymore.
theonion.com/you-can...
It's not a new argument, of course, but Chesterton dismissed it effectively in 1908.
"You will hear everlastingly... this argument that the rich man cannot be bribed. The fact is, of course, that the rich man is bribed; he has been bribed already. That is why he is a rich man."
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com ⋅ 19h
Hawley dismisses Trump lining his pockets with his memecoin: "Listen, I think nobody believes that Donald Trump can be bought. I mean, what does Donald Trump need more money for?"
wilbur, savvy enough to know he's in a comic strip but still not a great actor, awkwardly lifts a muffin up into frame so that we, the audience, understand that he has a muffin right now, which is very important narratively, but he's not really selling it well as an organic, human action
confirming that the reason there's been no Galaxy Version female characters in Blokees until now is that they felt they needed to make Round Lady Thighs For Ladies
It's #webcomicday? We have a special day???
Well, my name is Pat McHoarney and I draw 69 Mouse-Ear Blvd, a multigenerational story about women who all have sexy legs and probably other features. There was a grandmother, but she wasn't hot and so she died off-panel.
Elizabeth Holmes is in prison for defrauding investors through her blood-testing company, Theranos. Her partner, Billy Evans, is now trying to raise money for a company that describes itself as “the future of diagnostics.” nyti.ms/3FbtZm9
www.ebay.com/itm/23609767...
selling my netflix war for cybertron megatron -- the walmart exclusive one that came with pinpointer and lionizer (but being sold here without pinpointer and lionizer)
Gran... IS ALIVE?
okay, juliette still has brown hair, so this is probably definitely a flashback
i'm just surprised that the comic has remembered her, at all
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com ⋅ 19h
Pavel
@spavel.bsky.social ⋅ 10d
The New York Times @nytimes.com ⋅ 5d
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 3d
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TAXING TAXONOMY
CURSED COLLOQUIALISMS
“Time’s Short” was better.
You heretic.
That talking shrimp in Wedding Smashers will always have a special place in my heart.
I’m disappointed that nobody seems to appreciate Ultra Car for the masterpiece that it is.
Pshh, *kids’ cartoons.* Everyone knows that Robo-Vac is the true masterpiece of our time!
Phobias don’t care about technicalities.
I’m not at all sure that Becky’s reaction is from a Phobia vs being spider-blocked.
That spider just got to first base with Dina!
Given the bases adjusted for a relationship with Dina, I think it’s third. First is holding hands, second is smooches.
Third is meeting the parents, so not quite. XD
So… 2 1/2?
I don’t think that Dina and the spider are related.
But the spider might have been a parent, so …
I think this particular game has like 30 bases.
Also AnvilPro wins the Internets. Use them wisely.
Byee little friend bug
Actually, this one seems rather average, in terms of spider sizes.
Depends where you’re from. Here up North that would be hella BIG.
Contrary wise, here in south Texas that spider is fairly small.
smaller than Dina
This is so cute. I’m gonna die from over exposure to adorable
*shuts jaw, realize I’m still squeeing*
Damn you, Willis! EVERY TIME I think Dina has reached maximal awesomeness, you KEEP CRAMMING MORE IN!!
Dina has no maximum awesomeness.
Dina’s awesomeness is like the universe. There is the visible awesomeness, and naturally, we can only see so much of that. Then, outside the edge of that, we still have the (for us) invisible awesomeness, which expands into infinity.
ARe you saying Dina is composed of 99% Dark Awesomeness?
Now Becky’s Craniophilia will mix with Arachnophobia and birth a startling new fetish.
heard of muffet from undertale? there ya go
Girls with giant spiders for heads?
It is like The Fly, only you know, with spiders.
Be afraid.
Not sure if phobia + phobia = fetish
Philia + phobia
Philia + phobia cancel each other out like electrons and positrons.
electrons and positrons ANNIHILATE each other in a burst of gamma radiation. There’s something to be said for the intensity of a meeting like that. Bring on that kink!
Hell yeah!
Not necessarily. You can feel fear and arousal at the same time. In fact, this is how many abusive relationships begin. Let’s hope Becky & Dina aren’t going down THAT path…
Nothing wrong with “abuse” if it’s safe, sane and consensual.
Kink and abuse are not the same thing, and calling them as such even with finger quotes can lead to very bad things…
I’m not so dumb as to not know the true disctinction.
The quotes are only there to tell that some people are quick to categorize some things as “abuse” when in fact, it’s consensual. People which are also quick to say that it’s not “sane”, because supposedly the “abuser” has meddled with the other one’s head. Or the “abusee” is crazy. Etc, etc.
In fact, I have lived through both real abuse and kinky relationships, and… arousal + fear, really? Never in a lifetime when it’s real abuse. Kink though? Yeah, totally. Real abuse generates emotional distress at a level which can’t be handled, and in a way where the control is taken out of your hands (meaning: you can’t put a stop to it when you’ve had enough).
That sentence: “this is how many abusive relationships begin” was very misinformed imo. And potentially confusiong for people wondering about their kinks. And also kink-shaming. There, I elaborated.
The quotes are also a shout-out to all the “please abuse me” that have been uttered with puppy dog eyes after pressing all the buttons at once.
I think I just vomited in my mouth a little.
Hope you like the taste of vomit, then.
Science shows that fetishes can arise from phobias. Now you know!
I think the term is “scaroused”?
Well,it is now.
lucky spider
….. Becky I don’t think you’re going to win this, if a spider under her hat doesn’t phase her what can
Pet Peeve Triggered. It’s “FAZE!” “Phased” is something that happens to you after the modulation of the molecular subspace inducers hits a 6.7 femtometer variance, and then you walk through the bulkhead into space and die.
i thought a phase was when you go through an oddity in your life that you will eventually discard.
When you go through an oddity like a bulkhead in space, yes.
A space oddity?
Ground control to Major Tom…
I’m sorry Tom, I’m afraid I can’t do that.
Ground Control to Top Space Man…
You die, Batman just stands there. Unfazed by the vacuum of space.
Now I know what you’re thinking, “but what does he stand on?” And I think you know the answer already…
A turtle?
The turtle doesn’t stand on anything. Turtles swim.
Batman always stands on gargoyles. Yes, even in space. He brought his own.
It’s gargoyles all the way down.
It’s one of those words you hear a lot more than you read… The wrong spelling now gets into magazines all the time, and I’ve even seen it in books.
Fazers on stun!
Yeah, I see ‘faze’ and ‘phase’ misused often. Almost as often as ‘aw/aww and ‘awe’.
In books and magazines, though, I think the most common ones I see are mixing up ‘further’ and ‘farther’ and using ‘poisonous’ when the proper term would be ‘venomous’.
I have one like that. It’s STRAITjacket, NOT straight jacket. A straitjacket is a canvas device used to subdue the murderously insane. A straight jacket is a nice tweed that no gay man would ever touch. To fit it into terms the group can follow; you force the Joker into a straitjacket, Bruce Wayne wears a straight jacket. Are we good?
A straight jacket is a nice tweed that no gay man would ever touch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Now would you like to have a try at explaining the line from the Christmas carol about “gay apparel”?
Becky, Becky, Becky. If you want Dina to remove her hat, just say so! What’s the worst she will do? Say no? Dina is too smart to be tricked so easily.
Whil Dina is pretty dang smart, I’m pretty sure she has little or no experience with this particular type of shenanigan
When you are this new to relationships, the prospect of “no” can be pretty devastating.
And the worst that can happen is that Dina is outrageously offended, screams at Becky of only liking her for her
bodyhead, and stalks off in a huff, refusing to even have anything to do with Becky ever again. In other words, the End Of The World.Yeah it sounds like some bad movie or sitcom, but what other model does she have for how relationships work?
It may not be likely, but Becky isn’t a position to know that. This is only the second woman she has liked ever, and the only one who liked her back.
(Unless you count one makeout session with Kaitlin.)
Dina blushes furiously.
“My… my hat? I know we talked about sex, but I hadn’t thought you wanted to take it THAT far… I’m just not ready for that kind of commitment!”
So adorable tho
Another day closer to Project S.A.U.R.S. becoming reality.
Aside from paleontology, entomology is Dina’s favorite hobby.
and manufacturing hats from her own willpower and spirit energy
thats pretty high up there
Now picturing the DoA remake of Inuyasha with Dina as an ancient spider-girl and Becky as her reincarnated time-travelling girlfirend.
And the ancient spider-girl uses the silk-like threads she makes to weave various hats?
Magical Hats!
I’d watch that.
Gah! She’s full of spiders!
Is Becky brave enough to enter The Spider Zone?
She looks very unsure about that
that comment plus your avi picture made me think of the coffee of doom basement.
Check out the link.
Doo doodoodoo doo doodoodoo…
Seriously, dude, don’t touch it.
Of course she’s full of spiders, she’s a girl.
Face spiders are an actual thing.
Mites != spiders.
Face arachnids, then.
Acne arachnids?
Spiders all the way done.
And that’s cool.
Becky, no. Stop. Use your words like a big girl and ask for what she wants. I know it can be tricky to phrase and it might be awkward and intimidating, but it’s the only way to do this right.
Becky, you know not the forces with which you deal.
Give it up Becky. Dina’s too prepared.
She always keeps a spider in her cap, just in case.
Becky, Becky, Becky.
*gets the campus glee club to sing “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” as a round, and puts that on the hacked Muzak*
So does Becky use the same system of taxonomy that Walky does?
I know a person who was raised to keep kosher, which has a totally different/ancient taxonomy for figuring out which animals are okay to eat. She’s a sciencey person who is also fully capable of grasping regular taxonomy, so her friends were really startled and appalled when she tried to explain that bats are like birds and frogs are like bugs.
Also I think no one uses the same system of taxonomy Walky does.
Hm I wonder how interested or disinterested Dina is in entomology, since insects change a lot faster than most megafauna (that’s why we use fruit flies for experiments on genetics!). Since she knows the arachnid distinction off the top of her head, does she consider that common knowledge? or common knowledge for any science student? (I’d say the latter)
“…off the top of her head…”
I see what you did there.
Some creepy-crawlies do look kinda like miniature dinosaurs
Basic zoological terminology should be general knowledge in any civilized society, even among proponents of hypotheses like intelligent design. However, I get the impression that US education rather enumerates the bones in the human body than the general overview over the animal kingdom.
Is the use of latin names like femur and vagina over English-rooted terms like thigh bone and womb a consequence of puritanism and bowdlerizing?
Isn’t the womb the uterus, though?
Pretty sure ‘vagina’ is considered a lewder word by far in the US. We’re not Victorian England, categorizing poultry meat into white and dark so no one has to enunciate ‘thigh’ or ‘breast.’
Familiarity with the basics of etymology is middle school material to my knowledge, but the USA are anything but consistent in what our schools teach.
I knew that arachnids weren’t bugs in high school, I probably learned it from a book or my nerdiest brother or something. I figure it’s common knowledge among people who remember random weird facts, and Dina is definitely such a person.
Bugs is an ill defined term. Google sea bugs for example. English as it is used can incorporate spiders as a kind of bug.
I think most people are taught it… but I’m not sure very many of them are paying attention and even if they are they don’t remember it for long. My class definitely covered the material in 7th grade “life sciences” and possibly covered it some in grades before that. That said, I’ve always had a ridiculously easy time with basic biology and “life sciences” material, so I don’t really know how to compare that to other people.
Oh my god, becky’s FACES in this one
(see, I can do things other than butts)
Butt, you still had to say SOMETHING with butts in it, butt?
Honestly, Becky, just be straight with her.
Wait, that came out wrong.
Hats off to you for realizing that.
hey-o!
Ting-a-ling. 《rings bell》
Dina and I just had a bonding experience.
Watch the pretty spider.
Bye little spider!
Enough with the manip, Becky. Just ask, FFS.
God will be toppled from his throne before Dina removes THE HAT
Willis has to get up and walk around sometime, but it’ll be a few years before his kids can wrestle him to the ground.
Aaaaaaand we’re done.
dina is so chill the dinosaurs went extinct
Dina would probably not appreciate that zinger but I do.
actually since one thing she appreciates about dinosaurs is the fact they are in a sense time locked as in what they are will not change like how humans she tries to interact with change she might appreciate it.
Her hat swallowed a spider to catch the fly.
To this day, no living soul can fathom the reason it consumed the fly!
Becky seems turned on by the thought of checking Dina’s hair for parasites.
She got in trouble for watching a Jane Goodall documentary late at night on TV when she was a kid.
Hrm, red hair, no sexual hangups… Becky confirmed to be part bonobo.
are you kidding? That kid is full of sexual hangups
Also, I thought bonobos had black fur
Why is scalp lust a hang-up, per se.?
1) the reasoning behind it
2) The scalp lust is not even what I was referring to
MIGHT be confusing them with orangutans…
You know, I bet if Becky just asked…
Next Becky will claim that the hat must be hurting Dina’s heels. Then she’ll suggest removing the hat in honor of National Naked Head Day. Then she’ll just ask for a coffee.
Hats are the ultimate coffee mugs.
“I’d like to see you out in the moonlight
I’d like to kiss you baby way back in the sticks
I’d like to walk you through a field of wildflowers
And I’d like to check you for ticks.”
That’s… kinda cute, actually.
“Then, she let out a long sigh
Which, I took to mean, ‘Uh
“Mama, What is that deodorant you’re wearing?
It’s intoxicating
Why don’t we drive out to the country sometime?
And collect deer ticks in a zip-lock baggie’, Oh yeah”
Weird Al, Jackson Park Express
Like in most places, ticks in Sweden transmit borelia and other fun stuff. Due to the climate Northern Sweden is tick-free, but thanks to global warming they are moving north. My cousin comes from up there and everytime we are in any even remotely nature-like place that is south of the border he FREAKS THE FUCK OUT. He basically plans to follow the ice north as temperature increases.
#SwedishAnecdotes
Oh, Dina. Bug doesn’t equal insect. “Bug” as a colloquial term encompasses all land arthropods (and sometimes other terrestrial invertebrates), and as a semi-scientific term, it only encompasses the order Hemiptera, aka the “true bugs.”
That doesn’t conflict at all with what she told Becky?
Dina implies that Hemiptera is the “real” meaning, when “arthropods in general” is by far the more common usage.
If anyone is going to put proper (or semi-proper) scientific terms above the most common usage, it’s Dina. This is a hill she will die on.
No, she only says that spiders aren’t bugs, and nothing at all about what would correctly be considered a bug
If a lobster had crawled under Dina’s hat, ‘bug’ would have been an incorrect usage.
Also, far more interesting problems would be of somewhat higher priority.
That’s not a bug, that’s a feature /programmer joke.
I’m pretty sure it’s just a moth.
Lobsters are the tastiest kind of bug
Crawfish/crayfish, which are basically freshwater lobsters, are known colloquially around these parts as “mudbugs”.
Slipper lobsters are known in these parts as “Balmain bugs”. And flathead lobsters are known as “Moreton Bay bugs”.
Bugs are insects that special mouths that suck.
I thought bugs were defined by their wings, which are hard like a beetle’s near the base but become membranous like a fly’s as they go along their length, hence Hemiptera, or “half wing”. That said, aphids, which are usually wingless (they only get wings when the previous generation has finished sucking their poor victim dry, requiring a mass exodus), are true bugs, so the mouth parts may be a back-up identifier.
It’s like how mammals are defined by being hairy and warm-blooded, or having a particular pattern of dentition, or nursing their young with milk glands. They’re really a lineage, and you could pick different unique things to recognize them.
True bugs have a distinct type of wing when present, and are one group with sucking mouthparts, and I’m sure share other features you could pick. I wouldn’t say “bug” is the same thing as true bug, though. It’s more calling someone a “true friend”, it doesn’t mean the others aren’t friends at all.
Anyone working in IT will tell you that there is a huge difference between bugs and spiders.
Oh dear god a spider actually crawled up Dina’s hat!!! Similar scenarios are my worst nightmare but she isn’t freaked out in the slightest.
well, I’ve just gotten derailed by imagining spiders in my hair now – anyone else?
It would make for a good Halloween costume, but my cousin’s tarantula died, and toy spiders are much less fun.
How old is Becky again? Cause I want to know if I (at 20) am old enough to tell her “Good lord child you’re really reaching now!”
Probably 18, like Joyce. That said, cluelessness is not a factor of age, it is a factor of experience. And Becky has zero experience with trying to talk people out of their clothes, and may not have much with guys trying to talk her out of hers. And almost certainly none with gals trying to.
I wouldn’t say zero experience – she did succeed in one case, which led to her being taken off Anderson U.
Pretty sure they were both still fully dressed when they got caught. Doesn’t seem like Becky’d rush the removal of clothes; she did come from the same community that produced Joyce.
Panel 4 pretty much suggests that they got down to underwear:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/definitely/
In panel four, they’re on their third set of clothes in a row. The middle panels don’t all take place on the same day, unless they wear shorts and then put pants on and then take off their pants to reveal their shorts again, all while changing shirts constantly.
Well, based on my daughter’s clothes changing activity when she was a little kid, that wouldn’t be considered all that unusual girl behavior.
Speaking as a girl, yes it would, in my experience. Unless they were going out to different places requiring vastly different types of clothing and/or had a school uniform to change out of (neither of which is the case) there is no reason to be constantly changing clothes.
Also, that was when your daughter was little. Becky and Kaitlin are 18.
It seems unlikely that couple of teenagers would interrupt their steamy makeouts for multiple unnecessary wardrobe changes.
I guess it’s possible at least, since we have no idea what kind of stuff Kaitlin was into
I definitely interpreted that as a collage of various day’s activities.
Dina is hijinks-proof. Only serious and cute things happen around her
And sometimes Seriously Cute.
Ah, but what about tomfoolery? I’ll bet that’ll work
Not sure spiders crawling out of her head counts as “CUTE”
I’m pretty sure Becky is wrestling with the same conundrum in the last panel.
“I wonder what she hides under her hat, there is where all the good stuff is. It must be something amazing, it must be… SPIDERS!!!!
…OK, that didn’t make my already confused libido any less confused.”
Are you sure we just read the same comic?
I found that cute.
Not cute.
ABSO-FREAKIN’ ADORBS.
ADORI-BUG
Yes, yes it does.
With Dina it does
Dina is all: “Becky DOES know the difference between insects and arachnids, right? That is fundamental for taxonomical understanding of animals…. No, I mustn’t assume. They have lied to her about so much. But I mustn’t condemn either. I should present this fact as the wonderous thing it is rather than chide her for her lack of knowledge.”
Becky is all: “
BooooooooooooooobsScaaaaaaaalps.”My personal position is I understand it but as a linguistic descriptivist categorically object to the notion that science has any business deciding that “bug” must mean “insect”, let alone “hemiptera” (and why doesn’t anyone ever object to describing flies and beetles as bugs?). Also, tomatoes are vegetables.
A tomato is a FRUIT.
Wheat is a fruit. Peanuts are fruit. The definition of “fruit” which is used to justify saying that tomatoes are fruit is so broad as to be useless. And incidentally by that definition a strawberry is not a fruit.
Wheat is a grass and peanuts are legumes, bro :p
Yes, and the actual part we eat is the fruit. Did you think that grass didn’t have fruit? All plants* have fruit. (On a strawberry, the yellow dots that we call seeds are the fruits)
*Well, most plants. There are a few exceptions. For example, pinecones aren’t considered fruit. Incidentally, a juniper berry is a pinecone.
I’m so sorry, I just couldn’t help myself
Great, I started a taxonomical debate. Now this comment thread feels just like work.
*Browses over the article, keeps writing*: “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PROKARYOTES!!!!”
Without prokaryotes there can be no antikaryotes.
…that would be virus, I think.
Anyway, the idea is that bacteria and archaea are different groups, so lumping them together in one group is wrong, kinda like reptiles is not one group (unless you include birds). Norman Pace wrote a piece about it in nature a few years back, and we have been arguing about it since.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v441/n7091/full/441289a.html
Yep. Pretty much any scientific use of a common name for something needs the caveat: “Definition may not apply to everyday life.” The botanical definition of “nut” does NOT include: almonds, brazil nuts, cashew nuts, pistachio nuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts, pecan nuts, walnuts…. but what the hell else do you call your bag of mixed nuts?
In botany “fruit” isn’t a broad meaningless term, but a very specific one: it means a mature floral ovary. That just so happens to include tomatoes and legumes, but not say the parts we eat in carrots, celery, or cauliflower. Strawberry are usually called a multiple fruit.
Actually a strawberry is an accessory fruit. Raspberries are multiple fruit.
My point is it’s meaningless from a culinary perspective – it includes all grains and all nuts (real or otherwise).
Yes, I mixed the two up! I have been pedantic one too many times here, and it caught up to me. Apologies, it wasn’t the best day.
Botanical fruits and culinary fruits are different things. If you’re going to be pedantic, do your research first.
Is there anything sweeter than out-pedanting a pedant?
A spider is a VEGETABLE
I knew that.
Becky’s like “EEEE you slipped your hand up under your hat! DO IT AGAIN”
+1
So I tucked my spider under my hat, and I turned left to ask her why.
Dina has really improved her smiling skill.
Being close to Becky helps.
Doooooooooooofus
This arc does a great job describing just how immature Becky is when it comes to relationships, and I’m glad it does it with Becky pining about Dina’s scalp rather than her boobs, because this is hilarious, but that would have been very uncomfortable.
Mostly because it would have it too close to home for a LOT of people who have been awkward 14-year-olds. Becky says she wants to take the “next physical step in their relationship” Having Dina take off her hat for her – knowingly, willingly – WOULD be that because, as Cerberus note, that’s something that Dina rarely do, and that makes it an intimate act.
But tricking Dina to take of her hat in some sort of stupid lesbian shenanigan (TM) is not an intimate act, it is not the next physical step. It is just Becky catching an eyeful of forbidden fruit. And it is very, VERY similar to lot of 14-year-old-boys “accidently” brushing against their girlfriends boobs in a narrow corridor.
And it of course makes sense – Becky IS very immature and have not been given any way to prepare for this at all. So far she has excelled at relationship far better than could be expected, with support, consent and overall empathy, so this is a good reminder.
If Dina’s got bugs crawling around in her hair up there….. bad hygiene.
Look, she just went over this…
She never takes her hat off, what do you expect?
What’s inside Sal’s glove?
Eh, she walked under a tree. That’s how a spider got into mine. It wasn’t a big deal.
I think it’s safe to say Dina does not have arachnophobia or any insect phobias.
Spiders are cool. Dina confirmed as favourite character.
If there was ever any doubt, it has now been eradicated.
I’ve seen worse crawl out of a dude’s dreadlocks before.
Becky, you should do something about that eye of yourse before it wanders off…
Will we get to see Dina without her headgear by Haturday?
[rimshot]
You, know i’ve never posted here before, but I think this is an appropriate time…. I hope these kinds of comics go on for eternity, i absolutely adore this relationship! XD
Eternity in-comic time, or external time?
Considering “DoA time” works out to be roughly one week per (real-time) calendar year — Sept 10th 2016 was the sixth anniversary of the first strip and we’ve only covered about 37 days into the semester — I will probably be on Social Security before the characters get to mid-semester, and will likely be pushing up daisies before the semester final exams. So for me, it probably *WILL* go on for eternity.
*thinks long and hard*
Crud… I said I was gonna put song lyrics related to the strip in every comment I left, but all I got is the Spider Man theme song… barely fits…
Is there a spider-girl theme song?
Not yet, but I got a feeling between Spider-Woman, Silk and Spider-Gwen, it’s only a matter of time.
Well, there is a Squirrel Girl theme song, which by an amazing coincidence, sounds remarkable similar musically to the Spider Man theme song.
What about:
I am the one hiding under yours stairs
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair
Aaaaw, darnit, it’s so obvious now…
How about some Jim Stafford?
“I don’t like spiders and snakes
And that it ain’t what it takes
To love me…
Like I want to be loved by you.”
When BDSM means, “”Bug?” Dina. “Spider, mean!””
I tried. ^^:
I honestly did not get that at all.
dang is becky getting desperate
“Hey, I wanna see what you like without a hat/bandana on your head. Is that cool?” are apparently the hardest words to say in the English language.
That was cute, but what are the chances that spider was making eggs under Dina’s hat? Becky might be speculating that.
Every time I see that friggin’ grass now I’m gonna get happy
Willis you better not ever use a grassy background for bad things
Becky’s youth pastor: “And bewaaaaare of the daaaangers of girl-on-girl-hanky panky, because the eeeeeevil leeeeeeesbians are dangerouuuuuus and full of spiiiiiiiiders.”
Becky, present day: “Would you look at that – he was actually right about something. Still hot, though.”
Nah, they just teach you that lesbians are lost souls desperate for husbands and got confused. Only gays and trans people are evil, because they’re possessed. /s
“Spiders are dangerouuuuuus because they’re full of eeeeevil leeeeeeesbians”
Muttley LOL.
+1
I would be freaking out if I found a spider on my head.
I don’t know why but the last two panels have me concerned like Becky will get annoyed and snatch it off her head. I have absolutely no basis for this but I just had my mind jump to it for some reason.
And why does this thought make me so uncomfortable?
Eh on reflection I don’t think Becky would. Hopefully she’ll just come clean and Dina will poke/become a bit ticked at her not being direct. Dina prefers people being direct and upfront given conversations with Sarah her second fave. It is a potential interesting area they could clash as a couple, as a kid, Becky hid her desires so effectively, even from herself, a common aspect of being in the alphabet soup depending on how they are raised/wider society expectations affecting your own. (After all it took being away from Joyce to realise them).
That thought makes you uncomfortable because it’s a massive violation of boundaries, bordering on assault.
I don’t think Becky would, either. I think it’s much likely that she we would have a strip of despairing meltdown in front of Dina, to which Dina responds “oh. you could’ve just asked,” reaches for the hat aaaaaand… either the strip fades to black or we get a full shot of Becky’s face with shining eyes (possibly saying “It’s… it’s beautiful…”)
I think it makes you uncomfortable because you know that Becky has sexualized Dina’s hat, so that, to Becky, it’d be like ripping off Dina’s shirt without consent. I agree with JBento’s hypothesis that Becky will get to see and we won’t, I think that’d be perfect.
….I love you Dina. Plz never change.
(Ahhhh, now I’m remembering when that adorable jumping spider crawled up my hair. It was a bit worrisome, getting her out without hurting her. DX She did not want to crawl on me again after that, either. But. So adorbs.)
Yeah, I’m pretty impressed that Dina extracted a spider from a snug hat blind and one-handed without harming ir
Spiders can be pretty dang cute.
I really wish I shared your ability to perceive spiders as “cute”.
To me, if I cannot immediately identify a spider, it is a very angry brown recluse and I treat it as such.
(Treating it as such involves lots of running away and yelling.)
I find it helps if you go on a field trip where you’re promised butteries, but they won’t sit still, and there’s this nice little orb spider that’s content to just work on it’s web and eat insects.
Plus, if a butterfly stops by while you’re watching, that’s your best chance to see a wild one sit still for a prolonged period of time.
Why are you walking away? Is it because you know what happened to the butterfly? Did I not present the spider as the hero well enough?
In Lipke’s defence, orb spiders can’t kill you, nor are they super-aggressive little shits. And their webs are super gorgeous, and orb spiders are easily identifiable as such.
Look, what I’m getting at is that brown recluses are the sort of spiders that make you go “what do you mean, they’re not australian wildlife?”
We have no (0) species of dangerous spider here, but most people are still scared of them. It’s the House spiders that get the worst reaction- big, dark, long-legged and fast-moving, but utterly harmless. They’re actually rather elegant-looking creatures, but I can only appreciate that when they’re safely under a glass.
I live in an area where Brown Recluses (dangerous) and Huntsman spiders (harmless) are pretty common. They look a lot alike when they’re small so we were always taught to identify the poisonous one by looking for the “violin” on it’s back.
(BR’s have a marking on their abdomen that look a lot like the musical instrument.)
Also, Huntsmen, though arachnids, have no waist (and therefore aren’t true spiders). They also have no silk, so, again, not true spiders, but you can’t visually identify a spider for it’s silk glands. Around these parts, we call them “Daddy Long-legs” – not to be confused with the Australian spider of the same name that is, in fact, venomous.
Oh, are Huntsmen the english common name for opilionids?
Interesting etymological trivia note: Here in London, we also call Crane Flies ‘daddy long-legs’. This may have something to do with the fact that they are many times more common a sight than a Huntsman (of which I’ve seen maybe two in my 42 years).
Apology: ‘Harvestman’, not ‘Huntsman’.
I live in an area where damn near every scary type of spider is either relatively common or at the very least not nonexistent. Black widows, brown recluses, etc etc etc.
In fact, my first day moving into my first house when I moved to this state, I saw a black widow building its web on the overhanging bit of the roof. I haven’t seen one since in my three years being here, which is a good thing because I think I’d have a heart attack if I did… like, logically, I know that I probably won’t get bitten and die horribly if I don’t bother it or stick my finger in its web by accident or whatever, but when I’m seeing jet black and blood red on a natural friggin’ creature, I’m panicking.
This is a mistake: huntsmans are true spiders. You are thinking of harvestmen, which don’t look much like brown recluses.
If I lived in an area where dangerous spiders lived, I don’t think I would be getting close enough to them to identify some microscopic markings on it.
Give it up, Becky! It isn’t ever going to happen!
What the hell, Dina? You kill spiders! Setting them free just means they’ll spider at another innocent bystander.
Spiders generally eat the -real- annoyances. Like mosquitoes. Spiders are our friends. Spiders generally leave us alone too, with a few exceptions. This one was probably just hanging from a strand of web when Dina’s hat brushed against it and swept it away. Then it sought out a hiding place out of sight until it felt safe again.
I’m geting an “It’s Walky” vibe. http://www.itswalky.com/comic/i-got-it/
Oh, FFS, Becky, just ask her to take off the f*€&king hat! Tell her you’re dying to see her without it.
Considering that Becky sexualizes the hat now, that might not be a such a good idea.
“Hey could you take off your shirt for me? I’m dying to see you without it!”
I mean, in their relationship, she could actually ask the shirt one. How else would Dina know that Becky wants to see her disrobe? Dina misses most subtext. Becky needs to learn to be extremely direct.
The whole hat thing is brilliant because it lets us have Becky’s discomfort and excitement, while still keeping them well in the realm of adorableness/PG-shenanigans.
There’s one under your shirt too, Becky.
The point of this strip is that Dina is comfortable with contractions, right?
Bug ≠ insect. Bugs = { insect, arachnid, general creepy-crawlies }
Bats are bugs!
And I suppose you’ve got a bit of paper in a professional-looking clear fronted plastic folder that says so?
thejeff has several Doctorates on their wall, all issued by Trump U. They have ALL THE DOCTORATES, and they’re yuuuge, the best doctorates there are. Other people don’t have as many doctorates as thejeff, and they’re worse doctorates. Sad.
The style sounds familiar but I can’t quite place it. :-P.
I LIKE the two of you.
Maybe we can show spiders are bugs by tracing the Spider-man logo and adding fangs. Except it already has fangs. Hm.
People who act like “bug” is a scientific term with a narrow meaning are the worst. Generally people use it to refer to all arthropods, from insects to arachnids to myriapods to some smaller crustaceans (pillbugs mostly, although you can try stretching it further). Sometimes people even use the term to mean non-shelled tiny invertebrates, but I think that’s pushing it.
Hemiptera can go screw itself with its “true bugs” nonsense. Absolutely nobody but the stingiest jerk taxonomist cares.
It’s not a scientific term, but it does have a common usage that usually excludes spiders Most people call spiders spiders and other arthropods “bugs”. (if just for phobic reasons) A lot of other people mistakenly think spiders are insects: Considering the entire thrust of their conversation has been a deliberate effort to dispel Becky’s anti-science creationist teachings, I don’t feel like Dina’s being mean or petty here.
Becky’s face in the 5th panel. “I just realized this chick never takes off her hat and probably hasn’t washed her hair in *maybe* 15 years???”
Person who needs things to be laid out in direct plain words meets person who has been trained her entire life Not To Talk About, You Know, That. I’d watch it!
Oh my God, a spider was there! That means it gotten to see Dina’s head before Becky!!!
There is a non-zero chance that when they first have sex, Dina will still be wearing the hat.
Thanks to that dotted line, now I want a comic showing us the Family Circus-esque adventure the spider has from here.
Why do I envision a panel six in which Becky goes ‘full Garfield’ on the poor little spider?
I am impressed that she was able to grab the spider firmly enough to pull it out of her hair, but yet not crush or injury it.
High impact cranial assault incoming
I wonder how long it will take Becky to just ask.
Of course, Dina will then say “I thought you’d never ask!”
OMG DINA IS A COLONY OF SPIDERS
I found out yesterday that one of my friends had passed away. I think she would have fit well into this crowd, so here’s what I wrote about her:
Slingblade (her internet nick) was a woman that had a big heart, a quart of sass, and a passion for fairness. And she let all those things show.
The combination of these things also led to a righteous anger towards all those people that would actively deny such things to the world. Her life as a young adult had led her into contact with far too many such people, who told her to stick with her abusive husband, because the bible tells us that a wife shall submit.
After finally getting out of that kind of absolute bullshit, Sling had had enough of that crap. And what she really, absolutely, detested the most were the kind of people that would a) happily support a system designed to kick and keep certain people down, and then b) immediately tell the people kicked down to pull themselves back up by their own bootstraps. She had no patience with such scumbags of the world (as well she shouldn’t), and frequently told them so.
But if you weren’t one of those (or similar) arseholes, she’d be as good a friend as you could ever wish for. Always ready with sincere and funny well-wishes when something good happened, and equally sincere empathy when something bad was going on.
We need more people like Slingblade in this world. Instead we now have one less.
I’m sorry to hear about your friend. She sounds like she was a great person. I hope everyone recovers peacefully and she rests in peace.
*hugs*
Im waiting for the punchline to this whole hat thing.
>She raises her hands to her head slowly, letting becky savor the suspence
>Gently she grasps her hat by the bottom
>She slowly raises it off her head
>Becky’s heart flutters with anticipation
>With it nearly off becky can almost see it, that which she has longed for all this time
>She removes it completely to reveal
A bald spot
Calling it – under the hat dina is bald or has a scar or something. She has Lukemia or cancer or something and won’t make it to the end of the semester.
Damn you willis.
At the pace of this comic strip, a terminal illness doesn’t actually mean much.
Besides, Willis said that nobody dies in DoA.
if we never get to her death, she’ll never die
She has a psionic conjoined twin, like in that movie.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure she could be currently bleeding out right now and we’d die of old age before she succumbs.