Somewhere in an alternate reality where Dina actually exists, she just screamed in frustration that Cereal Bowl of Drowned Dinosaur doesn’t exist in her universe. xD
I realized it was a cinema reference, but didn’t realized it was specific to the raptor attack that opens the original Jurassic Park movie until someone else pointed it out.
I mean, these two have been pushing and pushing at the cuteness limit set by Always Human. There’s gotta be a break for his blood-cuteness levels at some point, don’t there?
Honestly, I survived an overwhelmed Dina drifting off to sleep in her Triceratops and her last thought being of Becky. This comic will have to do better than this to get me – even if it pushes the limit in a dangerous way with strips like this.
I actually never finished always human… I’m not sure I will make it once I finally do.
Almost. Definitely a more appealing argument, but it still carries a tone of, “so there.” More importantly, as is typical, it straight up lacks the awareness or understanding of why it still fails as an argument for theism.
I think that was more of “a good kind of argument about theism to have” where argument is used more in the sense of discussion than a “good argument for theism” in the sense of “that argument is persuasive”.
I’m glad that despite the fact that they have different beliefs, they don’t care and still get along wonderfully. It gives me hope for me and my gf, who is religious while I am not.
Also, do we think Dina is still a “rebound” gf or has Becky’s affection changed that?
Dorothy/Danny was most probably longer, but that all took place before the comic. Amber/Ethan might have been, too. If we’re talking strictly within the timeframe of the comic Ruth/Billie will be the longest unless they broke up. We’ll have to wait for more information on what’s going on there.
My personal expectation is that while she could still harbor some feelings for Joyce (those feelings were around for a very very long time, they’re dug in deep), that doesn’t make her feelings for Dina any less real or valid, and those are extremely strong and built on a solid foundation. I don’t think this qualifies as a rebound relationship, no. Just one that came after a difficult time for Becky.
Well, since Mike’s death confirms that DOA and Something Positive exist in the same universe*, Vanessa can do it.
*The sheer number of comics that have crossed over with Something Positive is incredible, I really want to sit down and map them out at some point to prove that there is only one webcomic.
Tommy Westphall Theory is but a faint glimmer of the beauty of the Metafictional Theory of the Omniverse. All fictional universes and multiverses overlap one another to some degree, even if only in some reasonably divergent versions of each of those settings rather than their core versions (ie it may only happen in fanfic or fanon, not in canon).
There was a Life With Rippy comic about how all the creators of abandoned web comics and dead comic creators had willed their creations and IP over to Millholland, and he was trying to get Mark Trail and the older woman from Apt 3G out of their relationship. Then he did the Penny and Aggie characters and Jeph Jacques’ settings Because Someone was banging in the bathroom of Coffee of Doom. Rippy was going over the lists of characters that were interacting, in relationships, and banging, plus the ones that were married etc.
It was a very funny comic that came out shortly after Queen of Wands shut down.
No, see, that would just make it worse. Because Becky clearly has a thing for atheists, so if Joyce comes out as one, Becky’s just going to get conflicted.
Technically, since it’s now January of 2020 – though before the time skip it was October of 2020.
Mostly it’s set in a non-Covid era, since that would be too disruptive.
There’s colleges that are open for face-to-face classes this semester, (usually with various weirdass precautions,) but that’s basically them tempting fate and almost-inevitable wrongful death suits. I truly doubt any of them will manage to stay open through the full semester.
I thought so too. Looking at one of the last really clear strips pre-jump ( https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/04-is-a-song-forever/connelly/ ) it’s actually about the same length, maybe a touch longer? But with either the angle, a haircut and different styling sometime in the last few months or a slightly different style of drawing, there’s a bit more… looseness to it? Or volume?
On a more serious note, Dina’s hair looks about the same as ever in the strip after this one. I think it was throwing us off because it was sitting in front of her shoulders in this one.
While the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine has not yet determined a Recommended Dietary Allowance for ‘cuteness’, it is a given that today’s comic would far exceed any standards that might be set…..
I met a guy with HEP-C, he was on the new meds for a cure. He said, and I quote, “Until my liver’s back in shape, no beer, no wine, and NO SCOTCH- at ALL! (Sob).” He was in a Panic! to get that liver back.
So there are six losers left in to show up in the cast picture. Who do you think is next? I’m gonna say Amber will probably be last since she has the most dramatic interest tied to her with Mike’s death, so I’m gonna say it could be Malaya if we’re staying in the gitl’s dorm for a bit as we maybe check in with Sal which could also lead nicely to Carla. Or Danny who is boring enough to reveal at any time which could lead in to Joe.
My guess actually is Amber relatively soon, and now that the reveal’s been revealed we get everyone being awkward for a minute and Amber insisting they are FINE. (Also very possibly us seeing how AmbG have adjusted to the acknowledging they’re a system and aren’t getting rid of each other development from the kidnapping.)
Alternately, we cut away here to Sal and Fuckface (and oh yeah, also Fuckface’s human.)
I’m mad that he killed Mike, but I’m madder about the way it was revealed. I really liked Mike. He was actually an interesting character with a good heart that was just messed up. It was really unfair for it to be just an offhand comment like it was.
I THINK that leaves Carla and Joe behind Becky, A/AG next to Boomer, Danny and Malaya flanking Lucy, and… someone? in the middle of those three silhouettes between Lucy and Boomer?
Today I met a little girl on a bicycle who was wearing a helmet that might have appealed to Dina. I thought of taking a photo for you all, but thought that perhaps her grandparents might not like it.
I didn’t get a chance to ask about dinosaurs because she was too busy talking about my dog, whom she was very happy to see again. She didn’t remember my name, though.
Dina and Becky should viciously annoy me but even with the surrounding dramabombs that are the cast, two people who are just endlessly supportive and loving of each other, and try to directly communicate when things go astray, I’d read a whole series of just these two. It’s not saccharine or twee, it’s just genuine love and adoration for one another. I love it to pieces.
I just hope this doesn’t turn from a minor point into something worse. I’m concerned that Becky’s hesitation about pre-marital affections doesn’t bring her to a point where she’s avoiding contact with Dina to a ridiculous degree. I mean, she did get upset for a bit about Dina falling asleep close to her and not wearing her Dino hat
It is. 🙂 I really, really hope it lasts and the two of them find a way to maintain their love despite the differences. In real life, I often see such couples ultimately break up when the love/lust wears off and they discover that their partner really truly does/doesn’t believe God exists, insist/refuse on getting the kids baptized etc.
Athiest married to a polythiest here. Our approach is probably similar to the Keeners. We teach our kids the histories behind the holidays and mix our childhood traditions. We keep emphasis on trying your best, valuing time itself, and respecting the lives around you. Plus, stories are a kind of magic anyone can enjoy.
That being said… Id definitely refuse to let my kids get baptized until they were old enough to make that choice themselves. Part of our mixed beliefs working well is the shared belief in our children’s autonomy. As parents, we think it’s our job to teach our kids how to navigate resources/experiences, weigh pros/cons/probabilities, and practice critical thinking. Hopefully we do a good enough job, that we will be proud of the people they become and the convictions they develop, regardless of what their faith is called.
I think being married to a polytheist is a bit different than being married to a Christian, because from what I’ve heard most polytheist don’t believe their loved ones will be tortured for eternity if they don’t bring them to God.
He’d argue it all depends which god is holding the most power when you die, and if your behaviors aligned with their wants. It isn’t worth trying to predict your resting place based on the struggles of the pantheon.
Yeah, my parents are one ex-Catholic atheist, one member of a historic peace church (who’s now by beliefs probably more of a Universal Unitarian.) Similar raising in our household. My brother and I went to services as a norm but were allowed to read through them; both of us ended up atheists and there wasn’t much fuss made by my mom as the one theist in the household about that fact. (I think she did need some time to come to terms with it, but she kept that angst away from us and didn’t push.) Since my mom’s church only baptizes once you’re old enough to make an informed decision anyway, we never were but it was never really a topic of conversation between my parents to begin with.
I got the impression that Dana’s parents wanted her to have a total change of social circle; they at least partially blamed Raidah and her friends for her addictive behaviour. So, it is unlikely she’ll return to a location that her family considers harmful.
The only thing about Dana we’ve heard since she was pulled was Raidah reporting that ‘Dana didn’t think [she was in a better place],’ last she checked, by not being at school. The thing is that is INCREDIBLY vague – it could mean Dana’s dad is abusive, or within-normal-acceptable-limits-but-stricter (such as, say, ensuring she’s back home before midnight, or the obvious ‘no weed’. Sidenote: Even with the sliding timescale and more widespread legalizing of marijuana, at least for medical purposes – and it is NOT in Indiana – the indication Dana’s a pre-law student like Sarah and Raidah means that she’d be going into a field where marijuana use is still going to be pretty stigmatized. Depending on what field of law it is, anyway, but that plotline’s not going to break plausibility on that front any time soon given her dad runs a law firm.) It could mean she’s at another school, but it’s a different one that she doesn’t like as much. It could mean that she is in fact still extremely depressed, but no longer feeling the need to put a front on for her friends. (Or no longer able.) And we have no idea WHEN Raidah last checked. Given Raidah, it could go either way – she is quite loyal to people she actually considers her friends, but she was also convinced Dana was ‘getting better’ and ‘going to be okay’ and they all rejected out of hand the suggestion of a therapist – the semester her mother died. (Sure, Sarah wasn’t making a great pitch with ‘she’s not getting better,’ but the idea that she WOULD be ‘snapping back to normal eventually’ within that time is INCREDIBLY unlikely, and Sarah was obviously not equipped to be someone’s primary mental health support in a situation like that. Even if it was only as bad as the front Dana was putting on, don’t put that on an 18-year-old.) I’m not sure if she’s a surface-level friend there, or if her idea of grieving is ludicrously naive and therapy’s only a thing for ‘damaged people.’ Again, given Raidah, both are options.
(I forgot until I did that tag trawl that the phrase Raidah uses for Dina isn’t ‘special’, it’s ‘mentally challenged.’ Probably because every time I see it and check, my mind rejects it and softens it to the polite euphemism that people still use as an insult, not the Clearly And Blatantly An Insult. GOD, fuck Raidah.)
But we never see Dana smoke pot with Raidah, Chan and Char, and every indication is that Raidah’s not the only one of the three with a successful lawyer parent. (With Boyfriend Carl in the mix, he might have been one of the ‘two, maybe three’ Dana mentions, but I’m inclined to think it was all the girls.) They’re RESPECTABLE friends, you see. So Dana’s father wouldn’t think they’re a bad influence, just that they missed the signs only Sarah as her roommate could see. (Which… isn’t wrong.)
They didn’t. All we know is Sarah called Dana’s dad because she wasn’t improving and her friends refused to believe things were that bad. She was up at all hours smoking and/or crying and Sarah was worried she was going to die. Since overdosing on weed, to my knowledge, doesn’t kill you, my guess is Dana was either doing other drugs or Sarah was worried she might commit suicide. Either way, it also cut into Sarah’s grades and risked her education so she called Dana’s dad and he withdrew her from school.
Fine, the entire strip is adorable. You’re perfectly right.
But I was specifically thinking of the fact that Dina does not feel the need to seek confirmation that the “best girlfriend ever” Becky talks about about is her. She knows that’s how Becky sees her.
Not to be all meta here, but it strikes me that Dina’s technically wrong. In the Dumbing of Age universe, there IS a god, one who brought them together. Not the Christian god, but a great Author, who created the world, the people, knows them all by name, and knows their histories and where they will go, and guides them through life. Someone who sees them from a completely different universe, with a completely different system of time and completely different physics
That is, of course, Willis. Our Willis. The dude with the Patreon. He’s the guy who, you know, writes the comics.
Of course that adds some confusion, because David Willis is also a character of Dumbing of Age. He’s the creator of Dexter and Monkey Master and Ultra-Car. And again, in the Walkyverse, he’s the cartoonist who hated Ethan, loved transformers, and wrestled him in pudding.
But those are… obviously… not the same Willis. And if you had suggested to Willis half-deep in pudding that he was the god of his world, he’d tell you to go jump in a lake.
So I ask…
… how can we be SURE, honestly, that our reality isn’t just some cartoon, written by a David Willis of another universe?
I mean, come on, the villains in 2020 are about as Willis-y as you could get. Clearly evil dads with pretty much no redeemable flaws that end up doing terrible things and getting away with it.
And of course, our Willis wouldn’t know anything about it. He’d probably call it stupid. Because he’s the author Willis of OTHER worlds.
And maybe – maybe – even though Mike just died… that doesn’t mean that there won’t be another comic, long after Dumbing of Age’s last comic has been written, in which Willis take a good, hard look at the character, dusts him off, and writes him in.
Interesting Point, and a great one we can devate if there is a good or not in our reality but any fictional universe has atlest 1 God as those universes exist by the will of the Author
In the meantime, GrrARGH the Velociraptor God is all sulky and pissy somewhere because SHE created Dina and Yahweh just swoops in and steals all the credit as usual.
Totally off all topics, what’re the odds on fifth-from-the-right profile on the cast silhouette being not Amber, but Marcie? It looks like that might be a skateboard silhouette on one side.
Just blew threw all 10 years of this comic in about half a month. Kinda glad it’s a new semester, feels like I started at just the right time. Damn these two are cute! I tried clicking for the next strip several times before realizing I had finally run out. I guess I could read the Walkyverse stuff now, but not sure how confused I’ll be keeping the 2 universes straight. Love Sal’s new hair and I hope Amber knows about student loans.
This is the best time to make a binge read of the comic I ever heard. There were a few poor saps who did it durign the kidnapping(s) and had to slow down to one strip a day in the middle of all that drama.
Oof, I can imagine! And although I’m sad Mike ended up dead, I’m glad I know. It was damn hard waiting almost a whole season of Orphan Black to find out what happened to Delphine. I figure this was similar, dragging it out, then not confirming for a bit.
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Dina, never change =D
…well, change your clothes, sure, but I mean OTHERWISE
“Hnnnngh …fighting…flow of…time” “Please continue to change, Dina.”
Okay, that was neat-o.
So was she standing on the sink or something to pull Becky up to the top of the door or what.
Her love lifts Becky up.
Worked for Tara.
Love lifts us up where we belong.
Where the raptors fly, on the counters high.
Nah, she transforms as soon as she’s hit by a cereal box. It’s a little weird but works out for the best.
Cereal Bowl of Drowned Dinosaur?
argh.
https://ranma.fandom.com/wiki/Jusenkyo
Somewhere in an alternate reality where Dina actually exists, she just screamed in frustration that Cereal Bowl of Drowned Dinosaur doesn’t exist in her universe. xD
Is too, too tragic story of dinosaur wearing other dinosaur head as hat that drown here 70 million years ago. Aiyaa, what you do, Miss?!
Don’t look too logically at a silly gag and reference by Willis, comic’s just having a lark for a bit, no need to pick at the physics of it :).
I realized it was a cinema reference, but didn’t realized it was specific to the raptor attack that opens the original Jurassic Park movie until someone else pointed it out.
Ah, damn, now I’m pretty sure Bagge’s dead for real. I heard screaming.
I’ll get the mop.
I blame how stinking cute these two are.
Bagge survived reading “Always Human”. He’ll survive this too.
Wait, Bagge’s a dude? And you didn’t even give a spoiler alert warning?? Just how cruel are you???
I am the emperor of the internet. You don’t get to be in this position by being nice.
I’m a walking spoiler 🙂
Like Sean Bean.
Which makes me wonder: Do you get resistance to dying if you practice it a lot by playing characters that end up dying?
This, and Bagge being Sean Bean, would explain why this comic wasn’t as fatal as BBCC thought.
Based off that Hitman DLC in which Mr. Bean appeared, yes.
Speaking of cruel facts, Bagge’s also Swedish.
I mean, these two have been pushing and pushing at the cuteness limit set by Always Human. There’s gotta be a break for his blood-cuteness levels at some point, don’t there?
Honestly, I survived an overwhelmed Dina drifting off to sleep in her Triceratops and her last thought being of Becky. This comic will have to do better than this to get me – even if it pushes the limit in a dangerous way with strips like this.
I actually never finished always human… I’m not sure I will make it once I finally do.
Okay, fair.
But Always Human IS dangerous for your blood cuteness level, so have a doctor and dentist on standby.
Panel 2 best panel
Definitely
Best sort of theological argument.
Almost. Definitely a more appealing argument, but it still carries a tone of, “so there.” More importantly, as is typical, it straight up lacks the awareness or understanding of why it still fails as an argument for theism.
Fortunately that is unimportant to both Becky and Dina for their affection of each other. <3
I think that was more of “a good kind of argument about theism to have” where argument is used more in the sense of discussion than a “good argument for theism” in the sense of “that argument is persuasive”.
I can subscribe to your argument for that interpretation.
Yes, that was my intended meaning.
Cutest theological argument!
Becky is so fucking cool.
I’m glad that despite the fact that they have different beliefs, they don’t care and still get along wonderfully. It gives me hope for me and my gf, who is religious while I am not.
Also, do we think Dina is still a “rebound” gf or has Becky’s affection changed that?
I think with the time skip, it’s probably the relationship that’s lasted the longest in the whole comic so far, so no, not anymore.
Dorothy/Danny was most probably longer, but that all took place before the comic. Amber/Ethan might have been, too. If we’re talking strictly within the timeframe of the comic Ruth/Billie will be the longest unless they broke up. We’ll have to wait for more information on what’s going on there.
My personal expectation is that while she could still harbor some feelings for Joyce (those feelings were around for a very very long time, they’re dug in deep), that doesn’t make her feelings for Dina any less real or valid, and those are extremely strong and built on a solid foundation. I don’t think this qualifies as a rebound relationship, no. Just one that came after a difficult time for Becky.
Dina’s only a rebound in the sense that Becky probably still has unrequited love for Joyce and they hooked up pretty fast.
Becky’s love for Dina is 100% genuine.
BEST. Girlfriend. EVER.
This warms my cold, dry heart.
this is very adorable
Love that the cereal is in the shape of little vacuums.
I think they are bunnies.
Teeth. They’re teeth.
How often do you get teeth in your vacuum?!
The cereal’s “Robo-Vac-Os – Oops! ALL Bunnies!”.
Are they sharp and/or pointy?
Big, nasty, pointy teeth.
I think if they had been “little vacuum”, Willis would have identified them using “Hoover Text”…
The solution is to get married. Preferably by an officiant in a dinosaur costume, like Dinosaur Neil from The Tick.
Well, since Mike’s death confirms that DOA and Something Positive exist in the same universe*, Vanessa can do it.
*The sheer number of comics that have crossed over with Something Positive is incredible, I really want to sit down and map them out at some point to prove that there is only one webcomic.
The Westphall Universe of webcomics!
Tommy Westphall Theory is but a faint glimmer of the beauty of the Metafictional Theory of the Omniverse. All fictional universes and multiverses overlap one another to some degree, even if only in some reasonably divergent versions of each of those settings rather than their core versions (ie it may only happen in fanfic or fanon, not in canon).
I suspect Jasper Fforde’s Bookworld is enough to unite everything. Including fanfic, vanity publishing, etc.
Bookworld includes everything, including all the stories that were never written. I’m a big Jasper fforde fan.
Yeah, there’s some really awesome worldbuilding going on there.
tbf, the Walkyverse has crossed over with a shit-ton as well, even if you decide the Avalon cameo was non-canonical
Mike can now be found at Coffee of Doom, harassing Hannelore.
That might actually get her to kill someone.
I thought that was Walkyverse!Mike dying?
There was a Life With Rippy comic about how all the creators of abandoned web comics and dead comic creators had willed their creations and IP over to Millholland, and he was trying to get Mark Trail and the older woman from Apt 3G out of their relationship. Then he did the Penny and Aggie characters and Jeph Jacques’ settings Because Someone was banging in the bathroom of Coffee of Doom. Rippy was going over the lists of characters that were interacting, in relationships, and banging, plus the ones that were married etc.
It was a very funny comic that came out shortly after Queen of Wands shut down.
If The DYW has cheated us out of Halloween, at least we have Doc’s party to look forward to…
I think you could use that to prove that DoA and the Walkyverse are the same.
As a Tick character, I approve of this plan.
Dina, you’re super freaking cute.
Omfg that retort is the most adorable thing ever
Becky has moves. xD
Cutest atheist ever… Don’t tell Joyce I said that about Dina.
Actually, tell Joyce that just so she can admit she is an atheist.
No, see, that would just make it worse. Because Becky clearly has a thing for atheists, so if Joyce comes out as one, Becky’s just going to get conflicted.
plot twist: becky develops a crush on dot. ALL KINDS of hilarity ensue.
Time to see my dentist.
This was just TOO SWEET!
You read webcomics with your teeth?
Eyeteeth
Oh, he’s the Corinthian. Should’ve known.
I could see Dina at the cereal convention.
The Willis giveth and the Willis taketh away; blessed be the name of the Willis.
Clever girls.
I love these two.
At some point, someone is going to walk in with shorter hair than they had before and everyone will flip the hell out.
Ambers BALD
That would be something
Yeah, but you need a slipshine account to see that.
Probably Billie.
One of them had to have gotten a haircut over the winter break, right? Or did they all just let their hair get really long.
Well, you know, with COVID none of them could go to a barber / stylist…
Too soon?
Too late?
Wrong year, this is set in the pre-COVID19 era.
Technically, since it’s now January of 2020 – though before the time skip it was October of 2020.
Mostly it’s set in a non-Covid era, since that would be too disruptive.
There’s colleges that are open for face-to-face classes this semester, (usually with various weirdass precautions,) but that’s basically them tempting fate and almost-inevitable wrongful death suits. I truly doubt any of them will manage to stay open through the full semester.
Many are already closing down/reverting to online due to exploding case numbers.
YEP! But unfortunately, not the one my mom works at yet!
(I seethe with rage. We all seethe with rage. No one thinks it’s actually a good idea, and yet.)
This is adorable and I love it.
Did Dina grow her hair out? She looks different and I think it might be that, but looking at previous appearances I’m not sure.
it might be a little longer, and also she is emoting a lot rn
Well, either way, she’s super cute!
Eh, looks about the same length to me. Might be styled a bit differently, though.
I thought so too. Looking at one of the last really clear strips pre-jump ( https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/04-is-a-song-forever/connelly/ ) it’s actually about the same length, maybe a touch longer? But with either the angle, a haircut and different styling sometime in the last few months or a slightly different style of drawing, there’s a bit more… looseness to it? Or volume?
so she changed her shampoo
Maybe she’s born with it.
Maybe it’s holocene.
Thank you, all of you.
(I forget that shampoo has, like. Effects. On hair. That are noticeable. I care VERY LITTLE about such things.)
You’re welcome!
On a more serious note, Dina’s hair looks about the same as ever in the strip after this one. I think it was throwing us off because it was sitting in front of her shoulders in this one.
Guess you could call these two….magnetic.
Cuz… Cuz I have magnets of them.
Robo-Vac-Os it was, then.
Who do you think I am, Ray Stantz?
Robo-Vac-O’s Oops, All Bunnies!
“Dina Donk” sounds like a 90’s platformer from the Sega Genesis
Turbo 16 had a Bonk the Caveman game where Bonk headbutted things and opponents into submission.
These two are the absolute cutest!!!
Salty as I am about Mike dying off-screen…
…this makes it worth the price.
Awwwww!!
I was really hoping Dina had gotten really shredded or actually turned herself into a dinosaur.
Uh? I’m not sure how my comment ended up as a reply sorry. I typed it on my phone.
That smile, that face!! Dawwwwwwws!
Just not Dawkins.
Normal comics can turn it up to ten, but Willis. Here’s Proof that Willis goes to eleven.
“I must warn you he doesn’t exist”
“you’re proof he does”
WAIT WAIT HOLD ON I NEED A MINUTE WAIT WHAT WAIT T^T
I mean, the math checks out.
God: I have sent you my daughter Dina, as proof of my love for you.
Dina: God doesn’t exist.
God: WUT
Kids, am I right?
While the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine has not yet determined a Recommended Dietary Allowance for ‘cuteness’, it is a given that today’s comic would far exceed any standards that might be set…..
Putting the spleen and pancreas at risk.
Fuck ’em. Who needs those organs, anyway?
I met a guy with HEP-C, he was on the new meds for a cure. He said, and I quote, “Until my liver’s back in shape, no beer, no wine, and NO SCOTCH- at ALL! (Sob).” He was in a Panic! to get that liver back.
It’s bound to have higher nutritional content than cereal marshmallow bunnies.
This is the cutest religious disagreement I’ve ever seen in a college or university.
Right? Way to talk about God with your atheist girlfriend and tie it into a flirt, Becky! I love them so much ♥️
I was wishing Dina’d change hats.
Maybe the old Walkyverse one.
So there are six losers left in to show up in the cast picture. Who do you think is next? I’m gonna say Amber will probably be last since she has the most dramatic interest tied to her with Mike’s death, so I’m gonna say it could be Malaya if we’re staying in the gitl’s dorm for a bit as we maybe check in with Sal which could also lead nicely to Carla. Or Danny who is boring enough to reveal at any time which could lead in to Joe.
Considering Danny’s last known convo with Ethan? I think he may have some interesting sort of introduction.
He melted from the pure shame he felt after hearing Mike didn’t make it, now he’s living in a storm drain.
“We all play ukulele down here.”
I looked into the future and Danny has given up on Ethan and set his sights on a certain hot queer tattooed musician with a skateboard.
My guess actually is Amber relatively soon, and now that the reveal’s been revealed we get everyone being awkward for a minute and Amber insisting they are FINE. (Also very possibly us seeing how AmbG have adjusted to the acknowledging they’re a system and aren’t getting rid of each other development from the kidnapping.)
Alternately, we cut away here to Sal and Fuckface (and oh yeah, also Fuckface’s human.)
I had to reread that before I realize you meant “Malaya, the human that belongs to Fuckface” and not “Fuckface should be human now.”
Amber / AG looks like the one lightly shaded (it’s the cape), so I would expect her next.
Now would be a good time for amber actually since they’re in the half bath connected to her room
Scratch that she pulled her all the way across to her room
“You’re proof he does”
GAH! MY FUCKING HEART! I CAN’T TAKE THIS MUCH CUTE!!!!!
Awwww, Becky’s closing line!! 🥰🥰
THEY ARE
SO CUTE
I’m still pissed at Willis for killing off Mike. But this comic was worth returning to see. Might still take a break, but it’s tougher now.
Willis you are not forgiven, but this, this is a good start.
Yeah in retrospect I felt mike was more of a meme than a character and it’s a shame to kill him off after finally giving him some depth
Dina and Becky being adorable together always makes me feel better. But yeah, I’m still annoyed at Willis for killing off Mike too.
I’m mad that he killed Mike, but I’m madder about the way it was revealed. I really liked Mike. He was actually an interesting character with a good heart that was just messed up. It was really unfair for it to be just an offhand comment like it was.
Some of the most depth we were given about Mike was in flash-backs, so maybe we’ll get some more Mike still?
That’s really sweet, I cried.
Yeah, those two will be married within a week.
Well damn. Think my heart just peed a little.
You might want to get that looked at.
EXCUSE ME WHILE I SQUEAL AT HOW UNREASONABLY ADORABLE THIS IS
incomprehensible baby noises DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW
Re: the last panel, my boyfriend and I have had that exact same exchange! Awwww.
They are so fucking adorable together and proof relationships between people of different faiths can work.
And another banner reveal. Hi Dina!
I THINK that leaves Carla and Joe behind Becky, A/AG next to Boomer, Danny and Malaya flanking Lucy, and… someone? in the middle of those three silhouettes between Lucy and Boomer?
I’m guessing Billie with a hair cut.
But we lost Billie, remember? 🙂
We have one of her favorite blankets in a Havahart trap. If we don’t find her, the familiar scent should help lead her back.
I thought that referred to Billie leaving for the other dorm.
I’m pretty sure it did.
Booster
Okay, Booster.
The one that looks just like Mike except for the glasses.
I don’t think that’s A/AG fifth from the right, actually. I think it’s Marcie. There seems to be a skateboard to one side.
Could be, but I was seeing that as a cape.
Looks like a hand to me
Just what I needed to start the morning on the right foot. Thank you, Willis.
Does this university have married student housing?
It shouldn’t be hard to figure something out.
And mine did, back in the Eighties. It was called “Graduate House”, but I knew one undergrad couple who lived there.
Today I met a little girl on a bicycle who was wearing a helmet that might have appealed to Dina. I thought of taking a photo for you all, but thought that perhaps her grandparents might not like it.
I didn’t get a chance to ask about dinosaurs because she was too busy talking about my dog, whom she was very happy to see again. She didn’t remember my name, though.
This is so sweet and cute I may collapse in a diabetic coma. Not really, my last diabetes test came back negative. I’m still dead…
I have to agree (well, not the diabetic coma part, but the notion of your comment) – my heart’s melted with the last panel
*God appears in a puff of logic.*
Who else but you would do a DNA reference?
DNA? This is Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy reference.
awww
What is this feeling I’m feeling?
It.. warm and… fuzzy… what is it? WHAT IS IT?
Could be allergies.
Trials break some people’s faith. They sometimes affirm the faith of others.
Dina and Becky should viciously annoy me but even with the surrounding dramabombs that are the cast, two people who are just endlessly supportive and loving of each other, and try to directly communicate when things go astray, I’d read a whole series of just these two. It’s not saccharine or twee, it’s just genuine love and adoration for one another. I love it to pieces.
I do like that Becky is secure enough in her beliefs that she doesn’t bat an eye at Dina’s comment and just retorts with something cute.
I just hope this doesn’t turn from a minor point into something worse. I’m concerned that Becky’s hesitation about pre-marital affections doesn’t bring her to a point where she’s avoiding contact with Dina to a ridiculous degree. I mean, she did get upset for a bit about Dina falling asleep close to her and not wearing her Dino hat
“Doink” = Joyce saying: “Okay, you two lovebirds, just keep it down in there.”
Aaaw, thats the cutest athemism vs religion discussion I’ve come across.
It is. 🙂 I really, really hope it lasts and the two of them find a way to maintain their love despite the differences. In real life, I often see such couples ultimately break up when the love/lust wears off and they discover that their partner really truly does/doesn’t believe God exists, insist/refuse on getting the kids baptized etc.
Athiest married to a polythiest here. Our approach is probably similar to the Keeners. We teach our kids the histories behind the holidays and mix our childhood traditions. We keep emphasis on trying your best, valuing time itself, and respecting the lives around you. Plus, stories are a kind of magic anyone can enjoy.
That being said… Id definitely refuse to let my kids get baptized until they were old enough to make that choice themselves. Part of our mixed beliefs working well is the shared belief in our children’s autonomy. As parents, we think it’s our job to teach our kids how to navigate resources/experiences, weigh pros/cons/probabilities, and practice critical thinking. Hopefully we do a good enough job, that we will be proud of the people they become and the convictions they develop, regardless of what their faith is called.
I think being married to a polytheist is a bit different than being married to a Christian, because from what I’ve heard most polytheist don’t believe their loved ones will be tortured for eternity if they don’t bring them to God.
He’d argue it all depends which god is holding the most power when you die, and if your behaviors aligned with their wants. It isn’t worth trying to predict your resting place based on the struggles of the pantheon.
May I ask which specific type of polytheism this is? No judgement, I’ve just been interested in different religions lately.
Yer proof he does… This is the most sweet thing to say♡♡♡. And the cereals are ignored
Yeah, my parents are one ex-Catholic atheist, one member of a historic peace church (who’s now by beliefs probably more of a Universal Unitarian.) Similar raising in our household. My brother and I went to services as a norm but were allowed to read through them; both of us ended up atheists and there wasn’t much fuss made by my mom as the one theist in the household about that fact. (I think she did need some time to come to terms with it, but she kept that angst away from us and didn’t push.) Since my mom’s church only baptizes once you’re old enough to make an informed decision anyway, we never were but it was never really a topic of conversation between my parents to begin with.
That was supposed to be a reply to Seregiel. Whoops!
Saw it. 😉 Unitarian universalist and secular humanist slants can definitely help reach across the faith aisle.
I just thought of something: I wonder if this timeskip means we’ll see Sarah’s old roommate again.
I got the impression that Dana’s parents wanted her to have a total change of social circle; they at least partially blamed Raidah and her friends for her addictive behaviour. So, it is unlikely she’ll return to a location that her family considers harmful.
Where’d they do that?
Yeah, I don’t recall anything like that. (And not “parents”, since the trigger was her mother’s death. )
The return of Dana would be an interesting twist though.
The only thing about Dana we’ve heard since she was pulled was Raidah reporting that ‘Dana didn’t think [she was in a better place],’ last she checked, by not being at school. The thing is that is INCREDIBLY vague – it could mean Dana’s dad is abusive, or within-normal-acceptable-limits-but-stricter (such as, say, ensuring she’s back home before midnight, or the obvious ‘no weed’. Sidenote: Even with the sliding timescale and more widespread legalizing of marijuana, at least for medical purposes – and it is NOT in Indiana – the indication Dana’s a pre-law student like Sarah and Raidah means that she’d be going into a field where marijuana use is still going to be pretty stigmatized. Depending on what field of law it is, anyway, but that plotline’s not going to break plausibility on that front any time soon given her dad runs a law firm.) It could mean she’s at another school, but it’s a different one that she doesn’t like as much. It could mean that she is in fact still extremely depressed, but no longer feeling the need to put a front on for her friends. (Or no longer able.) And we have no idea WHEN Raidah last checked. Given Raidah, it could go either way – she is quite loyal to people she actually considers her friends, but she was also convinced Dana was ‘getting better’ and ‘going to be okay’ and they all rejected out of hand the suggestion of a therapist – the semester her mother died. (Sure, Sarah wasn’t making a great pitch with ‘she’s not getting better,’ but the idea that she WOULD be ‘snapping back to normal eventually’ within that time is INCREDIBLY unlikely, and Sarah was obviously not equipped to be someone’s primary mental health support in a situation like that. Even if it was only as bad as the front Dana was putting on, don’t put that on an 18-year-old.) I’m not sure if she’s a surface-level friend there, or if her idea of grieving is ludicrously naive and therapy’s only a thing for ‘damaged people.’ Again, given Raidah, both are options.
(I forgot until I did that tag trawl that the phrase Raidah uses for Dina isn’t ‘special’, it’s ‘mentally challenged.’ Probably because every time I see it and check, my mind rejects it and softens it to the polite euphemism that people still use as an insult, not the Clearly And Blatantly An Insult. GOD, fuck Raidah.)
But we never see Dana smoke pot with Raidah, Chan and Char, and every indication is that Raidah’s not the only one of the three with a successful lawyer parent. (With Boyfriend Carl in the mix, he might have been one of the ‘two, maybe three’ Dana mentions, but I’m inclined to think it was all the girls.) They’re RESPECTABLE friends, you see. So Dana’s father wouldn’t think they’re a bad influence, just that they missed the signs only Sarah as her roommate could see. (Which… isn’t wrong.)
They didn’t. All we know is Sarah called Dana’s dad because she wasn’t improving and her friends refused to believe things were that bad. She was up at all hours smoking and/or crying and Sarah was worried she was going to die. Since overdosing on weed, to my knowledge, doesn’t kill you, my guess is Dana was either doing other drugs or Sarah was worried she might commit suicide. Either way, it also cut into Sarah’s grades and risked her education so she called Dana’s dad and he withdrew her from school.
“Yer proof he does.”
*clutches heart*
Whelp that killed me.
Aaaaaawwwwwwww! I needed that this morning
I just ‘awwwwwww’ed the longest genuine awww I’v ever awwwwwed out loud in my life.
“Yer proof he does.”
Spoken like a true ‘Best Girl’ of this series.
Yeah but who’s going to pick up all that cereal?
Ahhhhhh, turning into my favorite characters
You know what’s adorable?
Fine, the entire strip is adorable. You’re perfectly right.
But I was specifically thinking of the fact that Dina does not feel the need to seek confirmation that the “best girlfriend ever” Becky talks about about is her. She knows that’s how Becky sees her.
and that’s adorable.
We can still have nice things! Hooray!
Very late to the party but….
Squeeeeeeeeeeee!
Squeeee indeed
DONK!
Not to be all meta here, but it strikes me that Dina’s technically wrong. In the Dumbing of Age universe, there IS a god, one who brought them together. Not the Christian god, but a great Author, who created the world, the people, knows them all by name, and knows their histories and where they will go, and guides them through life. Someone who sees them from a completely different universe, with a completely different system of time and completely different physics
That is, of course, Willis. Our Willis. The dude with the Patreon. He’s the guy who, you know, writes the comics.
Of course that adds some confusion, because David Willis is also a character of Dumbing of Age. He’s the creator of Dexter and Monkey Master and Ultra-Car. And again, in the Walkyverse, he’s the cartoonist who hated Ethan, loved transformers, and wrestled him in pudding.
But those are… obviously… not the same Willis. And if you had suggested to Willis half-deep in pudding that he was the god of his world, he’d tell you to go jump in a lake.
So I ask…
… how can we be SURE, honestly, that our reality isn’t just some cartoon, written by a David Willis of another universe?
I mean, come on, the villains in 2020 are about as Willis-y as you could get. Clearly evil dads with pretty much no redeemable flaws that end up doing terrible things and getting away with it.
And of course, our Willis wouldn’t know anything about it. He’d probably call it stupid. Because he’s the author Willis of OTHER worlds.
And maybe – maybe – even though Mike just died… that doesn’t mean that there won’t be another comic, long after Dumbing of Age’s last comic has been written, in which Willis take a good, hard look at the character, dusts him off, and writes him in.
Go now; there are other worlds than these.
Willis, is there a hell in your universe? Asking for Mike.
Dina isn’t wrong because David “Damn You” Willis may be more Devil than God.
Interesting Point, and a great one we can devate if there is a good or not in our reality but any fictional universe has atlest 1 God as those universes exist by the will of the Author
Looks like Becky, regardless of what she said two installments ago, has commenced being under the top. And she doesn’t seen to mind.
I rather like this arrangement, and the ensuing interaction.
I mean, we all know Dina is the top in this relationship and has been from day one.
In the meantime, GrrARGH the Velociraptor God is all sulky and pissy somewhere because SHE created Dina and Yahweh just swoops in and steals all the credit as usual.
Totally off all topics, what’re the odds on fifth-from-the-right profile on the cast silhouette being not Amber, but Marcie? It looks like that might be a skateboard silhouette on one side.
Just blew threw all 10 years of this comic in about half a month. Kinda glad it’s a new semester, feels like I started at just the right time. Damn these two are cute! I tried clicking for the next strip several times before realizing I had finally run out. I guess I could read the Walkyverse stuff now, but not sure how confused I’ll be keeping the 2 universes straight. Love Sal’s new hair and I hope Amber knows about student loans.
This is the best time to make a binge read of the comic I ever heard. There were a few poor saps who did it durign the kidnapping(s) and had to slow down to one strip a day in the middle of all that drama.
Oof, I can imagine! And although I’m sad Mike ended up dead, I’m glad I know. It was damn hard waiting almost a whole season of Orphan Black to find out what happened to Delphine. I figure this was similar, dragging it out, then not confirming for a bit.
An exceptionally cute comic of an already exceptionally cute ship~
Oh contraire, Becky. Dina may very well be perfect proof of the non-existence of God.
“I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.”
“But,” says Dina, “I am kind of a dead giveaway, am I not? I am living proof you exist, and so therefore you do not.”
“Oh crap,” says God, “I hadn’t thought of that!” and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
was that a marriage proposal?
That last Becky reply is actually too cute and i will not admit it
lady and gentlemen, the most stable relationship of this webcomic