As far as I can recall neither of them have been diagnosed at all. Joyce was told “that’s something you should look into” by an optometrist, and Dina’s parents never found a psychiatrist who didn’t insist everything about her was explained by being non-white.
They both clearly are, but they’ve not been diagnosed.
willis is really nailing what it’s like to be young and queer because “you are perfect because you are so autistic and gay” is definitely a sentence i could say to like half the people i know
see it’s funny because Dina basically is written with no faults and never gets to make any major mistakes sometimes does just feel like kind of a mascot for autistic lesbians
Sometimes people are just chill, having 1 in contrast to like 10 trash fire it’s not a big deal. And personally I quite enjoy an autistic character that is portrayed as emotionally mature.
I literally knew someone like Dina in college. I don’t think she’s particularly unrealistic – she has flaws, she has insecurities, she just doesn’t talk about them for the most part. She’s mentioned before her own insecurities regarding her feelings with Becky all of once – it never got resolved that we could see. Becky herself seems like she’s still sensing something, it’s very possible that something’s building under the surface that we just don’t see because of how relatively little we see of them now.
Not to argue against the Dina is perfect narrative, but I think she does make mistakes and have flaws. She’s just quick to mitigate or correct them. Like when she opened the door for Blaine despite Amber telling her how abusive and dangerous he was. She realized that mistake and corrected her behavior in response to the next dangerous dad she met.
Recognizing a mistake and then avoiding the behavior that caused it?? What, are we expected to believe a character learned something? When she’s surrounded by other characters who are also constantly doing that?
Her mistakes just aren’t that major. Well, I mean, there was that bank vault thing, but they navigated out of that without incident. The next biggest mistake, I would say, would be not more strongly advocating Blaine not come into their dorm room and not giving Amber a sufficient heads up, which was a long time ago.
A lot of what might be considered her “faults” are part of her being autistic, and luckily she seems to be around supportive people when it comes to navigating that. But she also just doesn’t freak out externally too much when she makes a mistake, which is where a lot of the drama for other characters might show up.
I also think Joyce in particular is a huge weak spot for Dina, as their opinions of each other are kind of mirrored. Dina has shown the same amount of frustration and intolerance of Joyce’s former religious beliefs as Joyce had towards her facts and logic. She’s even flat out been jealous of Joyce and the romantic jealousy and affection Becky still has for her. These have never been depicted as flattering aspects of Dina’s character, just relatable ones.
Dina is in the very fortunate position for a comedy character where she can just make jokes about dinosaurs and not have to do anything particularly embarrassing to get a funny reaction.
Also she had it really rough in the original series so I think the author decided to go easy on her in this one.
Hard disagree. Dina is not perfect. To the readership perhaps, for being such an excellent partner to Becky. But she started out as a shrinking violet who hides behind doors. Someone who is not good at acknowledging or interacting with other people. And as much as people like her deserve compassion and kindness, they can be frustrating to interact with in real life. I was certainly annoyed with her before I warmed up to her.
Wow, I was not expecting Joyce to immediately apologize, and realize the things she said are what make Dina who she is, and aren’t to be mocked, or put down for.
Like, Joyce understands that Jocelyne might feel more comfortable coming out first to Becky and Dina, as they are also part of the LGBTQIA2+ community, whereas Joyce does not yet recognize that part of herself.
So being gay (or gay/demi/ace/etc.) makes Dina and Becky “perfect” members of Joyce’s friend group for Jocelyne to start opening up to.
I just don’t get where the autism comes in, though. Like, is Joyce assuming that Dina doesn’t accidentally misgender because Joyce is stereotyping Dina’s autism as helping Dina to learn structured rules and live by them?
So here’s one thing: for some people (me, for example), being autistic is awesome too.
I don’t think the gay and autistic comments were about how Joce told Dina before Joyce. I think some of it might be Joyce’s frustration around the idea of Dina figuring out these things about *herself* first (in relation to Joyce), but more, I think she’s lashing out because she she’s upset. And some of the ways Dina approaches things might be ways she wishes she could approach things, but different autistic brains can be very different, so maybe some of that too.
Oh, yes, that makes lots of sense. Thank you, Yumi!
And I apologize, truly: I did NOT mean to imply that autism was any less awesome than being gay. I just meant that Joyce might be able to understand the awesome parts of gay spectra more than she might yet understand the awesome parts of autism spectra.
I was just trying to figure out what Joyce in particular meant by that.
I did not intend any disrespect. I am truly sorry that my words came out the wrong way.
Personally, being late-identified autistic there’s a lot of emotions that aren’t so pleasant along with the joy of figuring out that I was never “built wrong” or “bad at being human”. I’m definitely mapping some of my experiences onto Joyce here, but I had a year of grieving and still hold a lot of resentment and anger (mostly at the mental health system, but sometimes it gets misplaced) because I spent so long thinking I was broken, then figuring out how to exist in a way that works for me and accepting that I won’t have the life that i always wanted for myself.
Throw in a couple of big reveals, a touch of jealousy, a dose of insecurity and a dash of fear of rejection (or feeling not-enoughness) and I can understand why Joyce might be a teenie-weenie bit dysregulated.
“bad at being human”
Heh, I think that about myself regularly, but I don’t consider it a bad thing. Humans are horrible beings (at least potentially, definitely not always) so being bad at that is at worst morally neutral. It is just a thing I am in specific moments like tired or sad, and sometimes it feels like something permanent, like feeling tired… or sad. Huh, I really thought I would have different things to put there. Ah well.
There’s a lot of different feelings and experiences, and that’s totally fair. I am also a later-identified autistic, having received my diagnosis earlier this year. I TOTALLY get that feeling of “bad at being human”– I felt that all the time. I’d phrase it in ways like, “I do a terrible impression of a human and would like to stop.” My experience of learning that I’m autistic has been very positive for me, though there are various stresses and sadnesses with it. It’s been exciting for me to learn about in much the same way that recognizing my queerness was exciting; not everyone has positive or predominantly positive experiences of either of these things. But some do!
Also, very much hear you on the “thinking I was broken”; when my therapist suggested I might seek a neuropsych eval, it was like, “Really? Like, you think I might be something other than broken?”
Yes, that makes sense. Like Joyce is saying,
“You are perfect, because you are YOU.”
“You are perfect exactly the way you are, because of who you are.”
It’s less that autism is related to perfection, and more that Joyce is saying it because it’s part of who Dina is. She’s saying Dina is perfect just how she is because her traits make up who Dina is.
Is Dina perfect for most things? No; nobody is. Is Dina perfect girlfriend for supporting Becky and spending time with her? Absolutely.
In Panel 1, she’s yelling at Dina because she’s mad. “Oh, you’re so perfect, cuz you’re…”
And then, well, what insults can she use? Once upon a time, she’d have said “You’re an evilustionist,” but now she’s started to admit that as well.
So what else does she know? Dina’s gay (well, Dina’s female-shaped and dating a female-shaped person, so by Joyce’s current standards that means…), and Dina’s autistic (based on what Dina herself has said). Two things that are societally not great, so make valid insults.
“Oh, you’re so PERFECT” — you must be, after all, Becky loves you. Because — um, autism and gayness.
In a concentrated form, this is kind of like Becky’s overall reaction to Dorothy.
But then, Joyce being Joyce, she feels bad, and apologizes, using those same two things she instinctively used as insults as compliments.
Also I imagine spending time around Becky has exposed her to the current use of gay to mean good or flawless. She’s probably taking it in the spirit it’s intended, even if it may not be entirely correct.
I’m more referring to her “not being concerned with gender presentation of partners” or however she put it. Whether I’m talking about sex, romance, or both I hadn’t actually been considering.
I feel like she would want to be exact and scientific about it, but that’s just my take on the character in this moment. And of all the labels she or we could attach to her the only one I can think to claim for myself is autistic, so perhaps I’m not the best authority on the whole mess.
It’s possible she’s not sure on the details of her orientation herself– she seem open to ongoing questioning– and so she’s fine with what she (and many) views as a general term.
I honestly don’t even remember it. I just know Willis has said that sexuality for the characters is the same across universes, and Dina has had romantic interactions with guys in Willis’ other work. (Which I have never read.)
In universe, the strip Dana linked is the best evidence of it, I think.
Dina doesn’t seem particularly attracted to or repulsed by men or women; it’s Madame Science who she lusts for. Whosoever dons the mantle of science is the one who inspires the Pants Euphoria.
That’s not entirely a joke. Most of what would make me think she’s gray asexual is what she said *before* she and Becky figured out what got her going, and she’s been kinda active since. I kinda thought she had a sapiosexual thing going, except… scientiasexual? I dunno.
I honestly love this as an autistic asexual lesbian(and yes, I do identify as gay too). Especially since… Dina resented Joyce for being so easily identified as autistic when Dina hasn’t been diagnose despite much effort. This is such a validating thing to say in that context.
I remember the moment i had the realization that just because someone was queer didn’t mean i had to *like* them. I think that was way past college hahaha. as a person who grew up in a conservative church this is so relatable, because when you’re learning about a whole new part of the world sometimes you start to just overdo it and feel bad about not being queer enough, or start to kind of put people on a pedestal just because they part of a minority, without recognizing that that’s also a form of putting people in boxes rather than looking at them as people. this really hits the nail on the head. Ouch.
Being the kind of autistic with wild emotional dysregulation can suck. Being the kind of autistic with wild emotional dysregulation who is friends with auties who don’t /appear/ to have wild emotional dysregulation which feels like *I’m not even good enough compared to you* sucks harder
I just wanna make a comment to say that I find the reaction of some commenters in the past few strips to be… kinda weird. Namely, the ones who were upset that Dina and Becky knew before Joyce. Not just ‘aw I wish we’d seen that’, I saw a couple that did say that it was wrong that Joyce wasn’t told first. Joyce is allowed to feel some type of way about that, but acting like not telling her sister is a moral failing of some kind…
People aren’t beholden to knowing things about others. Not even family. I say this as a non-binary biromantic asexual who is barely out to anyone in my family. My close friends know. My father knows. Two of my cousins (one of which is bi) knows. That is it. Because I live in the South. Because the vast majority of the people in my extended family are racist, homophobic, and a whole lot of other nasty things. It literally isn’t safe for me to tell some of these people these things. I’ve gone no-contact with almost all of them, but I still have my grandmother that I’m in contact with. She knows very little about me, and that’s her own damn fault.
We still don’t know how it is that Hank knows about Joss. Joyce is still new to being an ally and even if Joss knew she was cool with Becky, there was still a chance that Joyce could have been the type to think “gays, they’re okay, but the trans people? Oh no!”. What matters is that Joss is telling her sister now, and Joyce is doing a great job of accepting her sister. It isn’t wrong of Joss to have not told her sooner, or that she told other people sooner. It is Joss’ choice when and who she tells. It needs to be respected.
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gAy for effort
Shortpacked! and/or Dina is Totally Autistic and Gay!
This harkens back to Dina being pissed about Joyce getting diagnosed so quick, when it took years for Dina to get diagnosed.
As far as I can recall neither of them have been diagnosed at all. Joyce was told “that’s something you should look into” by an optometrist, and Dina’s parents never found a psychiatrist who didn’t insist everything about her was explained by being non-white.
They both clearly are, but they’ve not been diagnosed.
aaaaawwwwwwweeeee <3
you may never surpass the Empress of Evolution yourself Joyce,
but as for being (and embracing) your autism AND gayness, you're already halfway there! ^^ <3
*plays “99” by Mob Psycho 100 Choir on hacked muzak*
loving joe’s little questioning expression at the end there. it’s funny AND adorable!
Stupid , gay, autistic comic!….That’s not fair. I promised to be kinder to the gay, autistic media I consume.
Love Joe genuine puzzlement in that last panel. Yeah this is the woman you love man.
Yep, things sometimes get confusing. That’s life in these United States!
Well Joyce also thinks Dorothy is perfect.
Dorothy is autistic and gay??
I mean, she’s almost certainly at *least* one of those
she is at least one of those, and I am riding this ship… wait, is that expression right? ah who cares drink up me hearties yo ho! ~<3
For some reason “riding this ship” recalled Slim Pickens as Major Kong, sitting astride the falling H-bomb llike a bull rider….
There are many ways to be perfect.
Stupid sexy Dorothy.
Pretty sure she’s autistic and bi.
Autistic amd queer, because she was in a relationship with Danny, then Walky, then Walky again, and now maybe Joyce?
now she’s REALLY starting to get it
willis is really nailing what it’s like to be young and queer because “you are perfect because you are so autistic and gay” is definitely a sentence i could say to like half the people i know
Hahaha same
This is def one of the more bizarre interactions in recent memory
Yup
heh, never thought I’d ever see a title with “stupid”, “perfect” AND “Dina”
well played, Damn You Willis!!!! ^^
I wonder how much of this Jocelyne witnessed
Pretty sure she’s just off panel.
see it’s funny because Dina basically is written with no faults and never gets to make any major mistakes sometimes does just feel like kind of a mascot for autistic lesbians
It’s also funny in a less snarky way because Joyce is autistic and gay
It’s called staying in your lane, and we all should follow her example.
This is supposed to be a comic about college kids making dumb mistakes 😭
Sometimes people are just chill, having 1 in contrast to like 10 trash fire it’s not a big deal. And personally I quite enjoy an autistic character that is portrayed as emotionally mature.
I would have enjoyed Dina getting to be a character!
Good for you, she is!
What a ridiculous thing to say.
I literally knew someone like Dina in college. I don’t think she’s particularly unrealistic – she has flaws, she has insecurities, she just doesn’t talk about them for the most part. She’s mentioned before her own insecurities regarding her feelings with Becky all of once – it never got resolved that we could see. Becky herself seems like she’s still sensing something, it’s very possible that something’s building under the surface that we just don’t see because of how relatively little we see of them now.
“Unrealistic” is not really the charge being levied here…
She IS a character
an autistic character who for once isn’t a stereotype from the 80s
dino digga like a breath of fresh air x9001, and much more
She is lmao, she’s just not the kind of character you like. There’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes things are for other people.
Not to argue against the Dina is perfect narrative, but I think she does make mistakes and have flaws. She’s just quick to mitigate or correct them. Like when she opened the door for Blaine despite Amber telling her how abusive and dangerous he was. She realized that mistake and corrected her behavior in response to the next dangerous dad she met.
Recognizing a mistake and then avoiding the behavior that caused it?? What, are we expected to believe a character learned something? When she’s surrounded by other characters who are also constantly doing that?
Totally unbelievable.
I’m afraid we have no choice but to diagnose her with Mary Sue
I can already hear the angry dude bros coming to complain
Also those flaws and mistakes generally aren’t the focal point for dramatic storylines because Dina is usually in a supporting role.
this
the whole “Mary Sue” vs “Flawed” shit is a binary which like many others is counterproductive
ALL the cast make mistakes, they all just learn from them at varying *speeds*
Her mistakes just aren’t that major. Well, I mean, there was that bank vault thing, but they navigated out of that without incident. The next biggest mistake, I would say, would be not more strongly advocating Blaine not come into their dorm room and not giving Amber a sufficient heads up, which was a long time ago.
A lot of what might be considered her “faults” are part of her being autistic, and luckily she seems to be around supportive people when it comes to navigating that. But she also just doesn’t freak out externally too much when she makes a mistake, which is where a lot of the drama for other characters might show up.
Sh is literally just chill.
I also think Joyce in particular is a huge weak spot for Dina, as their opinions of each other are kind of mirrored. Dina has shown the same amount of frustration and intolerance of Joyce’s former religious beliefs as Joyce had towards her facts and logic. She’s even flat out been jealous of Joyce and the romantic jealousy and affection Becky still has for her. These have never been depicted as flattering aspects of Dina’s character, just relatable ones.
Dina is in the very fortunate position for a comedy character where she can just make jokes about dinosaurs and not have to do anything particularly embarrassing to get a funny reaction.
Also she had it really rough in the original series so I think the author decided to go easy on her in this one.
Wait for it.
she’s gonna get trucked, by the ghost of mike.
Not if Penny’s dad has anything to say about it.
“She’s kind of short, but she’s okay.”
Dina did her character flaw time in the Walkyverse, she can have a little not-really-anything-like-Walkyverse-Dina-but-still-neato as a treat
Hard disagree. Dina is not perfect. To the readership perhaps, for being such an excellent partner to Becky. But she started out as a shrinking violet who hides behind doors. Someone who is not good at acknowledging or interacting with other people. And as much as people like her deserve compassion and kindness, they can be frustrating to interact with in real life. I was certainly annoyed with her before I warmed up to her.
No faults? Are you in love with her and putting her on a pedestal? Because she most definitely has faults.
Dumbing of Age Book 15: You Are Perfect, Because You Are So Autistic and So Gay
Dammit, beat me by a minute!
Dammit, beat me to it!
Book Whatever Title: “You Are Perfect, Because You Are So Autistic and So Gay.”
I love how Dina simply said thank you because that is a completely viable way to salvage this interaction
– signed So autistic and so gay
LMAO
That’s the idea of perfection? So, then…
“Stupid Perfect Dina” Anyone that associates that with Flanders gets pied.
like, just 12 years ago Joyce thought she was gonna be “teaching Dina the ways of the world”
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/05-saturdays-all-right-for-slighting/story-2/
Now look at Joyce’s aspiration to Dina, the contrast is HUGE :0
I adore this.
Wow, I was not expecting Joyce to immediately apologize, and realize the things she said are what make Dina who she is, and aren’t to be mocked, or put down for.
True. I love that. But I don’t get the association between autism and perfection? Why does Joyce think that Dina’s autism makes her perfect?
(The gay thing I do get, though, totally. Even though Dina hasn’t completely pigeonholed her sexual orientation as far as we’ve seen.)
What is understandable about the gay thing to you? (Not challenging that, just looking for more of your perspective for a starting point.)
Well, just because being gay is awesome! 😀
Like, Joyce understands that Jocelyne might feel more comfortable coming out first to Becky and Dina, as they are also part of the LGBTQIA2+ community, whereas Joyce does not yet recognize that part of herself.
So being gay (or gay/demi/ace/etc.) makes Dina and Becky “perfect” members of Joyce’s friend group for Jocelyne to start opening up to.
I just don’t get where the autism comes in, though. Like, is Joyce assuming that Dina doesn’t accidentally misgender because Joyce is stereotyping Dina’s autism as helping Dina to learn structured rules and live by them?
So here’s one thing: for some people (me, for example), being autistic is awesome too.
I don’t think the gay and autistic comments were about how Joce told Dina before Joyce. I think some of it might be Joyce’s frustration around the idea of Dina figuring out these things about *herself* first (in relation to Joyce), but more, I think she’s lashing out because she she’s upset. And some of the ways Dina approaches things might be ways she wishes she could approach things, but different autistic brains can be very different, so maybe some of that too.
Oh, yes, that makes lots of sense. Thank you, Yumi!
And I apologize, truly: I did NOT mean to imply that autism was any less awesome than being gay. I just meant that Joyce might be able to understand the awesome parts of gay spectra more than she might yet understand the awesome parts of autism spectra.
I was just trying to figure out what Joyce in particular meant by that.
I did not intend any disrespect. I am truly sorry that my words came out the wrong way.
Personally, being late-identified autistic there’s a lot of emotions that aren’t so pleasant along with the joy of figuring out that I was never “built wrong” or “bad at being human”. I’m definitely mapping some of my experiences onto Joyce here, but I had a year of grieving and still hold a lot of resentment and anger (mostly at the mental health system, but sometimes it gets misplaced) because I spent so long thinking I was broken, then figuring out how to exist in a way that works for me and accepting that I won’t have the life that i always wanted for myself.
Throw in a couple of big reveals, a touch of jealousy, a dose of insecurity and a dash of fear of rejection (or feeling not-enoughness) and I can understand why Joyce might be a teenie-weenie bit dysregulated.
“bad at being human”
Heh, I think that about myself regularly, but I don’t consider it a bad thing. Humans are horrible beings (at least potentially, definitely not always) so being bad at that is at worst morally neutral. It is just a thing I am in specific moments like tired or sad, and sometimes it feels like something permanent, like feeling tired… or sad. Huh, I really thought I would have different things to put there. Ah well.
There’s a lot of different feelings and experiences, and that’s totally fair. I am also a later-identified autistic, having received my diagnosis earlier this year. I TOTALLY get that feeling of “bad at being human”– I felt that all the time. I’d phrase it in ways like, “I do a terrible impression of a human and would like to stop.” My experience of learning that I’m autistic has been very positive for me, though there are various stresses and sadnesses with it. It’s been exciting for me to learn about in much the same way that recognizing my queerness was exciting; not everyone has positive or predominantly positive experiences of either of these things. But some do!
Also, very much hear you on the “thinking I was broken”; when my therapist suggested I might seek a neuropsych eval, it was like, “Really? Like, you think I might be something other than broken?”
I really hear this. It makes a lot of sense to me. Thank you for sharing these experiences, Yumi and Regret and Bogeywoman.
(I’m still at the “busted brain” phase, my self. Still just figuring it all out. It’s a strange place to be. Working on it.)
It’s because of Dina that Joyce really began to break her Chains of Sunday School, as well as her being a partner to Becky, Joyce’s best friend.
Dina’s beautiful mind is also a very good place to be, if not the best in the universe T_T <3
*plays “The Touch” by Stan Bush on hacked muzak*
ooops,
that SHOULD have read,
*plays “Welcome To Jurassic Park Piano Cover” on hacked muzak*
Lovely!
Because these things are a part of her and make her who she is?
Yes, that makes sense. Like Joyce is saying,
“You are perfect, because you are YOU.”
“You are perfect exactly the way you are, because of who you are.”
Thank you for the clarification, Shade and Kyrik!
It’s less that autism is related to perfection, and more that Joyce is saying it because it’s part of who Dina is. She’s saying Dina is perfect just how she is because her traits make up who Dina is.
Is Dina perfect for most things? No; nobody is. Is Dina perfect girlfriend for supporting Becky and spending time with her? Absolutely.
In Panel 1, she’s yelling at Dina because she’s mad. “Oh, you’re so perfect, cuz you’re…”
And then, well, what insults can she use? Once upon a time, she’d have said “You’re an evilustionist,” but now she’s started to admit that as well.
So what else does she know? Dina’s gay (well, Dina’s female-shaped and dating a female-shaped person, so by Joyce’s current standards that means…), and Dina’s autistic (based on what Dina herself has said). Two things that are societally not great, so make valid insults.
“Oh, you’re so PERFECT” — you must be, after all, Becky loves you. Because — um, autism and gayness.
In a concentrated form, this is kind of like Becky’s overall reaction to Dorothy.
But then, Joyce being Joyce, she feels bad, and apologizes, using those same two things she instinctively used as insults as compliments.
She’s learning.
Don’t worry Joyce: you’re also autistic, and at the rate the comic is going you could conceivably come out as bi within the decade
And absolutely no one will be perfect ever.
Carla would disagree.
Yeah, what do people find so confusing about this? You’re either perfect, or you’re not Carla. There’s no grey area.
Careful; your Vegeta is showing.
i love the immediate turnaround LOL. awesome
… so when does Joyce start squeeing with glee about having the big sister she always wanted?
Sarah reaches for her bat…
So the three of them can play softball together!
Dina’s like “I’m not gay, but I can see Joyce is processing things and doesn’t need me weighing in.”
Dina is grey asexual
however, earthlings also seem to use “gay” to romantic attraction as well as sexual ^^
Also I imagine spending time around Becky has exposed her to the current use of gay to mean good or flawless. She’s probably taking it in the spirit it’s intended, even if it may not be entirely correct.
I’m more referring to her “not being concerned with gender presentation of partners” or however she put it. Whether I’m talking about sex, romance, or both I hadn’t actually been considering.
I think Dina is biromantic, but plenty of bi folks use “gay” as a label sometimes.
I feel like she would want to be exact and scientific about it, but that’s just my take on the character in this moment. And of all the labels she or we could attach to her the only one I can think to claim for myself is autistic, so perhaps I’m not the best authority on the whole mess.
It’s possible she’s not sure on the details of her orientation herself– she seem open to ongoing questioning– and so she’s fine with what she (and many) views as a general term.
Given she referenced “Be gay do crimes.” I think she’s comfortable with that use.
YES :D
Good catch! ^^
Oh, are you referencing that one time she put a Dino hat on Ethan?
yee yee, bi folk using “gay” as a label totes valid as well ^^
I honestly don’t even remember it. I just know Willis has said that sexuality for the characters is the same across universes, and Dina has had romantic interactions with guys in Willis’ other work. (Which I have never read.)
In universe, the strip Dana linked is the best evidence of it, I think.
Ah, in DoA verse she still may be questioning it seems! ^^
also yes, in It’s Walky she actually dated Walky and even Mike if you can believe that.
Found the quote: “I am uncertain if gender expression matters to me.”
Given Dina’s tendency to be precise we know this applies both to her judgement of others and her own gender expression.
Dina doesn’t seem particularly attracted to or repulsed by men or women; it’s Madame Science who she lusts for. Whosoever dons the mantle of science is the one who inspires the Pants Euphoria.
That’s not entirely a joke. Most of what would make me think she’s gray asexual is what she said *before* she and Becky figured out what got her going, and she’s been kinda active since. I kinda thought she had a sapiosexual thing going, except… scientiasexual? I dunno.
Labels are imperfect anyways. She’s Dina.
Autism to Autism communication
I honestly love this as an autistic asexual lesbian(and yes, I do identify as gay too). Especially since… Dina resented Joyce for being so easily identified as autistic when Dina hasn’t been diagnose despite much effort. This is such a validating thing to say in that context.
That’s a really cool point.
It was my understanding she has at this point, it just took a lot of work to get there.
While Joyce doesn’t have the formal diagnosis yet, but got referred pretty easily.
yee, Dina was denied a diagnosis for decades because of racist doctors, I can see why she very much appreciates Joyce affirming her like this T_T <3
Dina is a college freshman. She isn’t multiple decades old.
*decade
This is what I get for pulling all-nighters, fair XD
well they’re baby steps and they’re shaky as all fuck, but they ARE still moving forward. that counts
These two are getting there!
It’s all in the delivery.
I remember the moment i had the realization that just because someone was queer didn’t mean i had to *like* them. I think that was way past college hahaha. as a person who grew up in a conservative church this is so relatable, because when you’re learning about a whole new part of the world sometimes you start to just overdo it and feel bad about not being queer enough, or start to kind of put people on a pedestal just because they part of a minority, without recognizing that that’s also a form of putting people in boxes rather than looking at them as people. this really hits the nail on the head. Ouch.
Ayup. Yup, yup, yup. *shaking head*…
*Walks away, sadly, muttering, “yup, yup, yup, yup, yup. Hmm. Yup…”*
I, don’t really think that is what this strip is trying to convey. At all
It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it in action
“What you said, but without the sarcasm.” 😛
“Sarah I feel like you’re just saying the same things but with a different tone and facial expression.”
Joyce five minutes later:
Stupid sexy
FlandersDinaBeing the kind of autistic with wild emotional dysregulation can suck. Being the kind of autistic with wild emotional dysregulation who is friends with auties who don’t /appear/ to have wild emotional dysregulation which feels like *I’m not even good enough compared to you* sucks harder
Joe just standing there like “wth is just happening”.
Not unlike me.
She a bit confused, but she got the spirit
Glass houses, Joyce.
Joyce learning from her other older sister, Sarah
I just wanna make a comment to say that I find the reaction of some commenters in the past few strips to be… kinda weird. Namely, the ones who were upset that Dina and Becky knew before Joyce. Not just ‘aw I wish we’d seen that’, I saw a couple that did say that it was wrong that Joyce wasn’t told first. Joyce is allowed to feel some type of way about that, but acting like not telling her sister is a moral failing of some kind…
People aren’t beholden to knowing things about others. Not even family. I say this as a non-binary biromantic asexual who is barely out to anyone in my family. My close friends know. My father knows. Two of my cousins (one of which is bi) knows. That is it. Because I live in the South. Because the vast majority of the people in my extended family are racist, homophobic, and a whole lot of other nasty things. It literally isn’t safe for me to tell some of these people these things. I’ve gone no-contact with almost all of them, but I still have my grandmother that I’m in contact with. She knows very little about me, and that’s her own damn fault.
We still don’t know how it is that Hank knows about Joss. Joyce is still new to being an ally and even if Joss knew she was cool with Becky, there was still a chance that Joyce could have been the type to think “gays, they’re okay, but the trans people? Oh no!”. What matters is that Joss is telling her sister now, and Joyce is doing a great job of accepting her sister. It isn’t wrong of Joss to have not told her sooner, or that she told other people sooner. It is Joss’ choice when and who she tells. It needs to be respected.
+1
And a lot warmer than you, with that sweater
Dina is gay-tistic.
Scream to your sister and not to Dina, dumbass!