352

Pretended
Posted on May 5, 2022 by David M Willis

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352 thoughts on “Pretended”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    my money’s on Raidah’s already lost, by knowing Kit Fisto is a who and not a ship or planet or weird sex act or whatever

    1. Doctor_Who

      Plot Twist: Lucy wants Walky to dress up nice for brunch, but he doesn’t have any fancy clothes, but since it’s after Halloween all the costumes are on clearance, and he goes dressed as Kit Fisto.

      Jennifer falls for him right then and there.

      1. True Survivor

        I’m not sure Walky can pull off a Kit Fisto. Walky is short and kind of scrawny while Kit Fisto is tall, ripped, and, you know, also some sort of strange alien squid man.

        1. Dean

          Stop telling me who Kit Fisto is, dammit

        2. maarvarq

          According to my browser history, I had already yielded to curiosity, but managed to forget what I found.

        3. misanthropope

          TEACH ME YOUR WAYS MASTER

        4. Some Ed

          The true master does not remember the ways, but follows them regardless.

      2. Yotomoe

        *Rubs hands evily as my crackship becomes canon*

        1. Clif

          I mean it’s like you guys can see the future or something.

      3. Nono

        Isn’t it breakfast?

        1. Clif

          You have Kit Fisto for breakfast?

        2. Moonbeam Funk

          Nah man, Kit Fisto cereal!

        3. The Wellerman

          I wonder if they taste like takoyaki… ?

        4. ValdVin

          That was the working title for the Rodgers and Hart song.

          Fortunately the movie was changed in setting from a diner to a MittelEuropean monarchy, and a heavy sigh of relief was had by all

        5. Decidedly Orthogonal

          I read this as a “Heavy Mattel¹ European Monarchy” and was both lost, and completely on board with wherever you were taking us.

          [1] Yes, hothweels and barbie, not iron and lead.

        6. Decidedly Orthogonal

          HotWheels… but of course now I want a Barbie/StarWars ice-planet crossover with cool cars!

    2. ThunderNight

      well maybe she thinks he’s a living planet like Ego

      1. Doctor_Who

        She refuses to learn who Ego is too.

        Which is a shame, they have a lot in common.

    3. Rose by Any Other Name

      I mean, to be fair, I still have no idea who Kit Fisto is. I’m sure someone linked me to a wiki page at some point, but I just do not care enough to commit it to long-term memory.

      1. Shitbird

        He’s the green guy with tentacles hair in star wars

        1. Agemegos

          Was that in the original trilogy, or in something I haven’t seen?

        2. anonymsly

          Prequel trilogy. Iirc he had no lines, but has become a fan-favorite via comics and books?

        3. CallynD

          Clone Wars is an excellent series (after a couple of seasons) and Kit Fisto is fun in it.

        4. someone

          Honestly his name is enough to make him a fan favorite. I mean, “Kit Fisto”. Seriously. Best Star Wars name since Elan Sleazebaggano.

        5. Azhrei Vep

          I’m partial or Master Ima-Gun Di myself.

          Not even gonna try to get a link to work, so here: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Ima-Gun_Di

        6. Azhrei Vep

          partial to, not partial or. that’s just nonsense.

      2. zee

        The most fuckable man in star wars aside from the clones and obi wan that’s who

        1. zee

          Not that I’m personally attracted to obi, he just canonically fucks

    4. John Campbell

      Everything is a weird sex act.

      (Citation: urbandictionary)

      1. Clif

        Point acknowledged.

      2. Ana Chronistic

        Except the Rick Santorum

        That’s the AFTERMATH of the weird sex act

  2. The Wellerman

    Oooohhh ho ho ho I really wanna see Walky use his ADHDemon Powers to give these repugnant bourgeois pricks what’s coming to them!!!

    ??? ???

    *plays “Kamella’s Theme” on hacked muzak*

    1. The Wellerman

      *followed by “Magic Dance” by David Bowie*

  3. Dana

    Person? Weird sex act? Why not both?

    1. Agemegos

      It works for Rick Santorum!

      1. Opus the Poet

        Gigglesnort!!

      2. Ana Chronistic

        Whoops I didn’t scroll down far enough

        Also, though I’m not sure WHICH act, a Rusty Venture

  4. butts

    oh look, they’re douchebags, what else is new

  5. JepMZ

    I assume they don’t that’s Billie’s fetish

  6. True Survivor

    I’m assuming that Carl and Raidah are lying to preserve their friendship with Asher because they think he is cool and not because they are FBI or rival gangsters trying to get close integrate themselves into his Family.

    Something, Something, God Father reference.

    1. tim gueguen

      I’m sure Raidah doesn’t have a clue that Asher has mob connections. Or a past as a petty thief. I think she thinks he’s just an easily manipulated pretty boy, not realising he’s as smart, or smarter, than she is.

      1. cbwroses

        I’ve been assuming Raidah is completely aware of his mob connections, but actually wants to be the type of defense lawyer said mob connections hire.

        Whether or not Asher knows she knows is something my head canon hasn’t decided, yet.

      2. Fay

        I think she knows his family is powerful and also kinda bad, I think Jennifer mentioned it directly in front of her the last time we saw this group together.

      3. Agemegos

        Asher’s past is in armed robbery rather than petty theft. But of course that doesn’t make any difference to whether Raidah knows about it.

    2. brute

      i assume they know he comes from money.

    3. Sirksome

      I think they’re lying because it’s been shown that Raidah is most concerned with social networking and advancing her future legal career. Jennifer’s family is rich and more importantly is implied to have political connections. Asher may not factor in much at all beyond being a convenient in.

      1. thejeff

        I think she’s going for revenge on Joyce.

        1. Clif

          It seems plausible, but if so it’s a very elaborate plan.

        2. Sirksome

          Raidah’s gonna get revenge on Joyce for breaking up her and Jacob by going on a group date with a guy Joyce despises and his new girlfriend. Maybe Raidah’s just lonely. Some offense bug her friend group kind of sucks. Asher and Jen are the only okay ones now. Carl is nothing, Dana is gone, and her other two cronies are okay casually dropping the r-word. The one that rhymes with free-carded. Maybe she’s just trying to upgrade. I can respect that.

        3. thejeff

          Yeah, but from this it seems pretty clear than Jennifer isn’t actually her friend, but part of her plan.

  7. Nono

    And there’s the Raidah we all know and… know.

    Also I guess Jennifer is letting her nerd side free more often if she’s rambling about Kit Fisto?

  8. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

    It would be weird if they end up liking Walky more than Jennifer. Not likely, though, after this “stunted man-child” comment.

  9. Dark

    So… Where did Raidah go? And who’s this cartoonishly evil person talking to Asher?

    1. True Survivor

      I’m not sure she is being evil. Raidah may just assume that Asher wouldn’t leave Jennifer just because she dislikes her and thus has decided to suck it up and tolerate Jennifer in order not to offend a friend. It is two-faced but if done altruistically is also a sacrifice made for the sake a friend.

      1. Nono

        Jennifer’s parents are influential, too.

        Raidah is probably just getting as many high profile connections as she can.

    2. C.T. Phipps

      Everyone wants Radiah to be better than Mary and a horrifying hate sink.

      But….she’s not.

      1. Wraithy2773

        Yeah, I find complex characters more interesting than simple ones.

      2. Reltzik

        While I take and agree with your point, I feel obliged to note that Raidah’s still clearing the bar of “better than Mary”, and will continue to do so until she jumps a couple of orders of magnitude up on the heinousness scale to reach Mary’s high water mark of “driving someone into a suicidal state and then trying to keep her from getting help just for the sake of blackmail”.

      3. Thag Simmons

        Raidah is better than Mary, but that’s not exactly a high bar to clear.

        Raidah’s just an asshole. She’s not a nice person, but she hasn’t come close to matching Mary in terms of genuine malice

        1. RedCat

          Yes, that. Mary is like, hell levels of a bar to clear, Raidah is more ground-level.

      4. King Daniel

        Raidah spoke of a court case helping trans people in a positive light. That alone makes her better than Mary.

        1. thejeff

          It’s a low bar, but sure.

          Of course, she was using to manipulate Jacob, so who knows what her real opinions are.

    3. Keulen

      Raidah’s always been a jerk.

  10. Yotomoe

    https://i.imgur.com/2tnuDpE.png (NSFW)

    Alright while this whole story has been pretty self indulgent I’ll just say I mostly did this one for myself. I just like boobs so much y’all

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      Well done, and there’s no need to worry about us, boobs are great.

      1. Morleuca

        Heck, I like them so much, I grew my own

    2. butts

      yeah i’ve definitely noticed!

      1. Yotomoe

        Don’t worry, I like you too, butts.

    3. Rose by Any Other Name

      I mean, boob jobs are always kinda indulgent. I can’t recall any person I know with boobs who actually likes giving them. For those with breasts large enough, it’s usually uncomfortable and only worth it for bragging rights at best.

      I mean, I wouldn’t know personally, not having a sufficient cup size to even attempt it, but my wife assures me that’s the case.

      1. Yotomoe

        Haha I was actually discussing this earlier. If you were trying to be efficient in the act of like…making someone orgasm then a boobjob isn’t really the way to go. It’s a LOT of work for…less stimulation and it’s mostly just appealing as like…a really niche thing. If you’re super into boobs the novelty of it might make it more enjoyable but I assume it’s more of a labor of love for the boob jobeee.

        That being said I’m super into it so here we are.

        1. Imogen

          As an ace person, most sex acts feel that way to me in practice. It’s more about the aesthetic of, say, PIV that makes it hot. If you really are just about the physical sensations, just use a hand and lube, if you ask me. Best bang for your buck.

        2. Yotomoe

          Hand is optimal for the amount of control IMO. Though I have heard arguments about mouth stuff simulating naughty parts enough to make it more pleasurable. Though I can’t say I know firsthand.

        3. The Wellerman

          According to the latest Slipshine, both at the same time are optimal as you can get, much to Becky and Dina’s joyous discovery! ?

        4. Rose by Any Other Name

          When it comes to handling male anatomy, isn’t pressure the more important aspect? Hands can only provide pressure at their grip point, but mouths can create a vacuum that applies pressure over a larger area.

        5. Yotomoe

          Pressure is important but I also think it’s about pressure at the right places. Some parts are more sensitive (although it changes from person to person) Granted I have yet to experience a BJ and only HJs so for all I know BJs are better in literally every way.

        6. Clif

          It’s the change in pressure and movement. Within a wide range you adjust to any static constant pressure. I mean people are different, but I don’t think they are that different.

        7. Rose by Any Other Name

          I’m not sure here if you mean masturbation (your own hand and lube) or a partner’s hand and lube. Or Yes. Cause I have thoughts on both.

        8. The Wellerman

          Well, just to be fair, Billy is known to like it rough anyway, so….

        9. Roborat

          Wait, but what about all that hentai, almost every one features paizuri. Everyone knows Japanese porn is famous for being realistic and accurate depictions of sex.

    4. EpochFlame

      it’s a fun read

    5. The Wellerman

      I dunno I say everyone’s very much in character here.

      If ANYONE is self-indulgent here, it’s DEFINITELY Jennifer / Billie! ?

      What with her big beautiful bourgeois boobs, she has what it takes to make Walky’s mind melt into air! ?

      ???

      1. Yotomoe

        Bourgeois boobs is great.

    6. The Wellerman

      I dunno I say everyone’s very much in character here.

      If ANYONE is self-indulgent here, it’s DEFINITELY Jennifer / Billie! ?

      What with her big beautiful bourgeois boobs, she’s gonna make Walky’s mind melt into air! ?

      ???

      1. The Wellerman

        Oops sorry for the double comment I dunno what happened, delete one if you must

    7. Dr. Sharks

      I’m impressed with how you’re churning these out day after day. I usually start with something I find sexy, but somewhere between writing a script, doing layouts, roughs, outlines, flats, shadows, etc, it stops being sexy and starts being a project. I just have to trust that the past me that started the project knew what he was doing.

      1. Yotomoe

        I’m doing it on a whim day to day so most days are just “what do I feel like drawing today.” Though also coming up with new ideas day to day invigorates me on making more.

        Also I’m full time horny so I can always get a kick outta it. And even when I’m not I can remember what I like well enough to keep the momentum.

  11. Yotomoe

    Kit fisto sounds pretty erotic.

    1. RassilonTDavros

      I mean, his hair is a bunch of tentacles, sooooo…

      1. The Wellerman

        Hmmm…. wonder if Jennifer’d be into an alien parasite like me then ???

  12. BBCC

    This is gonna be fucking delightful and I want popcorn for it.

    And frankly, Raidah, right now you are not behaving like someone who deserves to know about Kit Fisto.

    (Speaking of, happy belated Star Wars day).

  13. Romanticide

    these two are the biggest closet fans of Kit Fisto aren’t they?

    1. King Daniel

      Jennifer is already a canonical fan of Kit Fisto—I assumed that was the Doylist reason he was mentioned.

  14. Rakeesh

    *snort* Well so much for Raidah not being a spiteful snob:) Shocking.

  15. jmsr7

    It’s good to know (?) that guys can be mean girls too.

    As long as terrible people hook up, that means they won’t be inflicting themselves on the rest of us!

  16. Deadjolras

    God, I love Asher. He’s not doing much of anything in this strip, but I like him here anyway!

    1. tim gueguen

      He’s probably mentally rolling his eyes at Raidah’s amateurish plans for manipulating everyone.

    2. Kim

      Yeah. He’s great!

    3. Spencer

      He’s being so nice.

      Which on one hand is vindicating, on the other hand I really hope all the doomposting about him is right because I want him to be an angsty queer crime man.

      I might have a thing for that.

  17. Yotomoe

    My favorite thing about this friend group is that they’re all so bad it kinda makes them not seem so bad. Like Asher’s kind of a sketchy guy but he’s the nice guy of the group. Jennifer’s a bongo (I typed the word bongo as in he drum) to her friends but I still root for her. Carl barely registers and Raidah’s the worst. And I wanted to try and like her.

    1. Regalli

      Yeah, it’s impressive that the kid on the run from his mobster family after stealing from them is the most readily likable.

      I see my unformed suspicions about Raidah befriending Jennifer in no small part because of her father’s influence are getting some founding in the text. On the other hand, I do think Jennifer and Raidah’s mutual queen bee bongoness WOULD easily sustain itself. Could be that their only issue is that Jennifer’s a massive Star Wars nerd. (Seriously, Kit Fisto’s a DEEP cut.) Could be an elaborate revenge scheme. Could be Raidah’s friendships are by default all about networking and she doesn’t care about ANY of her friends’ hobbies, because friendship to her is primarily transactional and mostly small talk or other surface level interactions. (I… would prefer that not to be the case, that sounds like a WRETCHED way to live, but honestly? Could be, and would explain a lot about how Dana could mask around them and refusal to hear Sarah out BEFORE she called Dana’s dad.) Could be that there can only be one Alpha Bongo In Charge and Raidah is trying to keep her rival close. Could be an elaborate revenge scheme, but Raidah’s carrying it out not for herself, but on behalf of her new friend Alice! *DUN DUN DUUUUN!* Who knows. We’ll probably find out shortly.

      (I for one also type ‘bongo’ rather than let the filter do it for me. If we didn’t periodically get new people come in and fail, I suspect Willis COULD change it back and we wouldn’t notice for days.)

      1. Yotomoe

        I do like the idea of Billie and Raidah playing nice but secretly each trying to usurp the other as the group alpha. Just total mean girls Bullshit.

        1. Sirksome

          This doesn’t really feel like a battle for dominance though. From what we’ve seen of this group (which is admittedly not much) they don’t seem to have a defined leader. At least nothing obvious can be taken from their conversations and Raidah in general doesn’t give off the vibe of needing to be the top b***h for lack of a better term. It’s actually hard to decipher what her motivations are here beyond maybe pissing off Sarah which really has minimal benefits beyond personal satisfaction for her. She has actually taken very keen interest in Jennifer, so maybe that’s her angle. She even invited Lucy specifically because she rooms with Jennifer. Maybe this is a just to build that connection with the Billingsworths. That would even feed off some themes reaffifmed in the flashback of the Billingsworth’s being people worth knowing and challenging Jennifer to recognize who her real friends are and who she really is. Walky or Raidah? Billie or Jennifer?

        2. thejeff

          It doesn’t seem like a battle for dominance now, but Raidah’s clearly been in charge of her friend group – see past interactions with Char and Chan and this strip with Carl.
          Jennifer isn’t part of her friend group. Jennifer’s a target. Asher’s probably incidental.

        3. Azhrei Vep

          It’s okay. Jennifer is safe. Raidah can’t control anybody whose name doesn’t start with a C. In fact, she wouldn’t have any self control, if not for the fact that her true identity is also a short word that starts with a c….

        4. Spencer

          This is a super normal and appropriate thing to say.

      2. The Wellerman

        Yeah in any case I sure hope Walky gives these bloats what’s coming to them at this oh so benign bourgeois breakfast.

        Glad to see your spoons are coming back Regalli! ??

      3. Mano308gts

        I just want to point out that Kit Fisto is barely a deep cut in Star Wars lore. He’s a fairly prominent background character with multiple scenes including some important ones (primarily his death….), As well as increased prominence in the relatively main-stream animated series.

        A pretty shallow deep cut would be knowing who The Ones are, or what the uncharted side of the Galaxy has to do with anything… But that information is still available from the same main EU source.

        If you really want to get into it, you’ve got to start going to the books (Old Canon or New) and video games, and avoid the major ones like things dealing with the Yuuzhon Vong, Mara Jade, Admiral Thrawn, or the Kotor series. A good example of this would a character like Wade Vox, who appears in only a single video game, as a playable but not main character.

        TL:DR Kit Fisto is rather mainstream for weird Star Wars Characters. Knowing who he is, heck liking him as a character, isn’t being far into the fandom.

        1. 80-watt Hamster

          I’d wager that if one showed the average person who’s seen the movies a portrait of Kit Fisto, they’d be able to provide neither his name, nor where he appeared. Well-known within the fandom != well-known. I probably wouldn’t know his name if it weren’t for the LEGO Star Wars games.

  18. timemonkey

    For the first time ever I hope Walky indulges his fondness for talking about poop.

  19. Johan

    Oh, Asher…

    1. C.T. Phipps

      Wow, Asher invited Walky to try to get Jennifer to rekindle with her surrogate brother.

      How…nice.

      1. Johan

        Oh I meant that his friends are fake people. Which is a very lonely feeling.

      2. Clif

        Asher wasn’t the one who invited Walky.

  20. Mr. Random

    I get the reason, but planning it out like that really makes her seem like a sociopath.

    She’ll go far.

    1. RedCat

      Sociopaths are not good at planning.

  21. newlland(Henryvolt)

    It’s strange that I trust the dude who used to run for the mob at age 13 and has a history of setting people up more than I do Raidah. I still don’t flat out hate her yet, but I’m sure it’s not to late for that to change.

    I still also See walky as the kind of guy who would be semi knowledgeable of star wars lore but wouldn’t be so into it that he would make constant jokes.

    1. tim gueguen

      Walky probably knows every connection and parallel between Star Wars and Dexter and Monkey Master. Like that some of the same people designed toys for both.

      1. newlland(Henryvolt)

        I can see him probably owning a couple toys that were probably limited edition crossover promotional figures that looks like Dexter Modeled after Darth Vader.

    2. khn0

      well some mobs did start as community protection, so I guess some kind of moral code, even if twisted, is still there, while capitalism moral code is inexistant. It’s especially when mobs reach a point when they don’t care for anything but profit that they ditch the code, no?

  22. Imogen

    Honestly, I’m happy that Jennifer/Billie’s actually talking about her nerdy interests! She’s growing a lot in that regard. And Asher seems like he might actually be on the level now, so good for him.

    Bad news for people who like Raidah as a non-cartoon jerk, though.

    1. C.T. Phipps

      Oh no, Jennifer, you are the nerdy one.

      1. Clif

        Her Kit Fisto past was something Jennifer revealed to show why she shouldn’t be put on a pedestal. It was Lucy who was wowed by the fact. Currently Lucy is more of a Fisto Fan than Jennifer.

        1. Azhrei Vep

          That’s just what Jennifer wants you to think!

    2. Taffy

      I think it’s a little funny that a few people have said “cartoon” as a negative qualifier for Raidah.

      1. Agemegos

        Heh! Nice observation.

  23. BubbaFett

    This is shaping up to be an interesting and amusing story line

  24. Sirksome

    Yeesh.

  25. huehuetotl

    Is she going to fall off the front of a boat?

  26. JessWitt

    Prior to this strip, I figured Raidah’s angle was delusional lust.

    Now I think she’s trying to amass as many enemies from the main cast as possible.

    1. Bryy

      My big fear is Raidah teaming up with Mary. She’d do it, too. She’d justify it by “using” her or some such.

      1. JessWitt

        You can rest those fears since Mary is a religious zealot. She wouldn’t team up with anyone not in her denomination.

        1. RedCat

          Also I would not be surprised if on top of being incredible transphobic and probably homophobic, she was also racist.

      2. Rabisch

        Time for use Mary’s artist skills for destroy someone with bad caricatures and evil comics?

        1. The Wellerman

          Oooo! A comic duel with Joyce?!?!? I’d drink to that!

      3. Thag Simmons

        I don’t think they’d get along, however I would be very happy to let them fight

    2. Yotomoe

      Maybe both. Maybe she wants a hatefuck.

      1. PirateTawnee

        the way comments nest, and my current tiredness, made my brain ponder “raidah x mary would definitely slam dunk the hate part of hatefuck, not sure about the fuck part though” before I woke myself up again and vowed to go bleach my brain.

      2. Nono

        I want to say I think Raidah is above actively breaking up Walky and Lucy, but shrug.

        1. Clif

          Well she clearly isn’t above inviting them to breakfast while having an ulterior motive.

          What the motive is isn’t clear but the fact one exists is.

        2. Sam

          She was willing to fight with Joyce over Jacob so she isn’t above being underhanded, sneaky and snide. But we don’t know yet if she would be the one willing to try to break up a couple, or if she was only willing to do so as part of a couple.

        3. cbwroses

          I’ll give you snide, but how is it underhanded or sneaky when Jacob was her significant other and Joyce was the one trying to undermine their relationship?

          The negative connotations associated with those words are a bit strong considering she was the one being schemed against in that scenario.

        4. thejeff

          It’s not that she was responding to it, it’s how she responded to it. Obviously Joyce was in the wrong and Raidah the victim in that sequence, but Raidah’s response was not to get openly mad at Joyce or to talk openly with Jacob about it, but to play mind games to make Joyce look bad. How she responded was sneaky and underhanded. It showed something of her character, despite her being in the right at the time.

        5. Spencer

          Her response was to cut up the bubblebrained MAGA-ass choir girl who was trying to steal her boyfriend and her friends reinforced in her were trying to steal her boyfriend, yeah.

          She got one whole chance to be mad about that (maybe she avoided it because “she doesn’t do jealousy” that we then very clearly saw she did, as if Raidah has character foibles of her own or something) before Jacob broke up with her.

        6. thejeff

          I really shouldn’t reply to you, but sometimes I fail Wisdom saves.

          She spent that entire lunch pretending to be friendly to Joyce, while undermining her appeal to Jacob in subtle mostly classist ways. After dashing down to do so as soon as she heard from Jacob that he was at lunch with Joyce.
          Again, she was completely justified in responding, but she did so in a sneaky and underhanded way. Manipulative. Which we’re seeing again as her character “foible”.

        7. Spencer

          You responded to me two days ago. It’s cool if you don’t want to, but pick one and stick to it.

          Anyway she was pretending to be friendly to Joyce because Joyce gave her all the reasons to be as unfriendly as possible, ie: trying to steal her boyfriend. It should probably matter that her way of demeaning Joyce happened as Joyce made herself a threat to her relationship.

        8. thejeff

          It’s almost like I didn’t even say multiple times that Joyce was wrong there, but I guess since Joyce was threatening her relationship, you can’t tell anything about her character from how she reacts.

        9. Spencer

          I’m saying that the extraneous circumstance matters, not questioning the binary morality.

          When Raidah was threatened she found ways to infantilize Joyce and her choice of education. Why is this her ammo? My guess is it has to do with the part where Jacob is someone who needs her and what she can provide, which she said in her last major appearance prior to that one.

          It’s more involved than “she is sneaky,” it’s thinking about where that kind of attack comes from with easonable analysis of the person she’s been depicted as so far.

        10. Sam

          She was playing the dance with Joyce of ‘see if you can take him’ instead of talking to Jacob about it. Her methodology was underhanded tactics of sneakily trying to convince Jacob on some level that Joyce was too childish to be worth his time and undermine Joyce as a person for having ‘silly beliefs’ and sensory issues around food while leaving him unaware anything was actually wrong.

          Like. Joyce was definitely more in the wrong. But that doesn’t mean how Raidah handled it was right. Neither were treating Jacob like a person with his own autonomy.

  27. Bryy

    Of course this group hates everyone else in it.

    1. C.T. Phipps

      Not Asher! Asher is full of love and kindness!

      1. alongcameaspider

        Honestly, something tells me he’s going to be the catalyst to get Jennifer to walk away from this friend group

        1. Reltzik

          Carl IS pretending to care about Kit Fisto, and someone as alert and savvy as Jennifer is going to see through such a brazenly implausible lie.

        2. Bryy

          Asher being the most socially morally grounded of the group seems plausible.

  28. Wraithy2773

    Hey! It’s Master Fisto! He earned that title, show him some proper respect!

    1. King Daniel

      Master Baytes also deserves some love. (Yes, that’s an actual Legends character. Things be wild sometimes.)

  29. BigDogLittleCat

    Okay, then! Anyone still wondering whether or not Sarah’s dislike of her is justified?

    Not a good look when you make Asher look good.

  30. Nono

    Radish’s snippy, but it’s not like, cartoonishly evil. Amber and Danny talked smack about Walky behind his back.

    She’s not a good person, but I don’t think this alone makes her a demoness.

    1. Agemegos

      Also, Sarah and Jacob talked smack about Joyce behind her back.

    2. The Wellerman

      You kidding?

      Don’t fucking call her a demon. Demons are COOL. She’s just a bourgeois prick. ?

    3. epitome of incomprehensibility

      It was just confusing to me at first, because I thought she had a crush on Walky.

      So now I’m wondering what she’s up to. Does she just want to get to know him because his parents are rich/mildly important? Does she find him hot but annoying?

      1. Clif

        Walky’s mother would like to be rich and mildly important, but they are not.

        Yeah, okay. This. Something is not adding up. It was Raidah who invited Walky and Lucy to breakfast. If she thought Walky was hot and thought it was an opportunity to drive a wedge between him and Lucy and get him for herself, then at least it made some kind of sense. And now we find that she holds Walky in contempt. But she wants her boyfriend to laugh at Walky’s jokes. What’s her end game with this?

        If she’s targeting Jenifer, trying to impress *her*, Walky is not the correct route. Jennifer would prefer to keep her new life separate from her old. Likewise it seems odd that Jennifer would bring up Kit Fisto to this group. And apparently whatever they’re up to, Asher isn’t part of it.

        I’m sure there’s some simple explanation, but I’ve got nothing.

        1. Sam

          Carl isn’t Raidah’s boyfriend to our knowledge. He used to be Dana’s until Dana broke up with him.

          It is likely Raidah wants to ‘assess’ what Connections Walky has and then consider if trying to curry favour with his parents is a good investment in time and energy or if trying to take him for herself would be worthwhile to get to exploit them. Or if Lucy even might have some good connections that haven’t been mentioned because LITERALLY NO ONE HAS ASKED.

        2. Clif

          True, it’s not been explicitly stated that Carl is Raidah’s boyfriend, but he seems to hang out around her and to take instructions from her. Perhaps there’s another explanation. But it’s difficult to imagine another motivation for him unless Sarah is the endgame and Carl is in on it.

        3. not someone else

          Maybe she’s trying to piss off Sarah by making her friends abandon her like Sarah tried to get Jacob to break up with her?

        4. Nono

          Linda knows the dean and wanted to sue an entire church, so I don’t think she’s typical suburban mom. She probably has a tiny amount of power, though not on the level of Asher or Jennifer’s parents.

    4. Thag Simmons

      Raidah’s just kind of an asshole. Not a nice person by any stretch but she hasn’t done anything that bad yet beyond have a generally mean attitude.

  31. newlland(Henryvolt)

    Also I guess Raidah just doesn’t have sense of fun. How long do you think it would take for her to name her favorite genre movies? She can’t say none because the idea of someone not being a fan of some type of cinema is pretty much inhuman at this point.

    1. khn0

      Hmm, there are. There are people who don’t like music either. I don’t get it but whatever. Myself I’m such a snob I consider most people don’t really like music or cinema but just the social circle it gives the impression to belong to.

      1. newlland(Henryvolt)

        OK but I’m sure atleast people can think of two or 3 movies they can enjoy or think up a small number of songs people thought were good.

        1. Arian

          A friend of mine genuinely dislikes all music. He’s neurodivergent, and it gets in the way of him being able to think, he says. Granted, he’s the only person I know who likes no music at all.

        2. newlland(Henryvolt)

          That’s a new word for me.

        3. Spencer

          Neurodivergent? It means any deviation in neurological function, seen in disorders like Autism and ADHD.

        4. khn0

          That was a joke, sorry

        5. newlland(Henryvolt)

          I see.

        6. khn0

          Sorry I hadn’t time to develop: the joke that was poorly delivered was that implying some people like things only by trying to maintain a social cred (what is different from having socially access to a restructed choice, or from social conditioning), and in the same time claiming to be “better” by saying to be a snob is precisely trying to maintain a social cred. I apologize again for having been inable to convey properly the sence of this joke.

  32. Sirksome

    Isn’t Star Wars pretty mainstream now? Raidah’s is actually more likely to have grown up with the prequels. All she proves by not knowing who Kit Fisto is, is that she doesn’t own a Disney+ subscription.

    1. thejeff

      I mean, Star Wars is pretty mainstream. The prequels are too old for her to have seen on release, but they would certainly have been available in her childhood. Kit Fisto though was a background character in one of the movies. If she didn’t get into the fandom or at least the Clone Wars cartoon, where he actually got lines, then there’s little reason she’d know.

      I don’t think I remembered him when he first came up here, despite having watched Clone Wars.

      1. Sirksome

        It’s just weird to me she’s so adamant about not having the knowledge like remaining ignorant to Kit Fisto a slightly obscure character from the second or third most profitable franchise in the world is somehow validating. It’s not really a mark of being deeply entrenched in nerd culture like it once was. (If that’s even something to be ashamed of now)

        You’re not more of an adult now for not knowing who Kit Fisto is and it doesn’t really make you a more serious person. I’m not sure what Raidah’s deal on that is.

        1. thejeff

          You know, kind of like Jennifer was before she revealed it to Lucy and her floor.

          I’m more surprised that Jennifer mentioned it to her new friends – unless it came up through Lucy somehow.

        2. Sirksome

          So is she fronting or does she hate Jennifer for some reason? I do think Jen probably brought it up. I think part of her new and healthier mindset is more embracing the things she enjoys instead of rejecting them to protect her self image. Somewhat ironically in front of a new more judgemental friend group. She’s actually talking about things she likes but her new friends only pretend to care which is what she was afraid of to begin with.

        3. Clif

          I’m not sure I would call it a new and healthier mindset. I mean she thinks it is. And it’s certainly a new coat of paint.

        4. Sirksome

          As far as we know she’s not drinking and not nearly as depressed. That’s healthier to me even if her priorities haven’t matured.

  33. RassilonTDavros

    Jennifer is on the Council, but they do not grant her the rank of Friend.

  34. RassilonTDavros

    Also I like the implication that Jennifer has come to terms with her love of Kit Fisto and talks about him to other people now.

  35. Florence

    On the one hand Asher really shows a genuine warmth, on the other hand, why does Radah keep talking like a cartoon supervillain with her presumably close friends? I keep waiting for private conversations to reveal something and every time it’s just more of this.

  36. Carms

    Just for the seekers, Here’s the strip that contextualises Carl and Raidah’s shittiness about Kit Fisto.
    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/olympus/

    1. epitome of incomprehensibility

      Wow, good catch! I had no idea that was a callback.

      1. The Wellerman

        She cannot deny her fandom forever!

        BTW before you go, based on a comment you made a while back, I take it you have ADHD too?

        1. epitome of incomprehensibility

          Yes, correct!

        2. The Wellerman

          ??? ???

          Isn’t that something? Neurodivergents are like Stand Users — we seem to have this mysterious way of being drawn towards each other.

    2. Clif

      Except Carl and Raidah weren’t there. Now if they were researching Jennifer they could have probably discovered the fan-fiction blog. But why?

      1. Carms

        Implication being that Jennifer has talked about kit fisto in this group.
        Or, not that, but Willis used this specific example of something they’ve pretended to care about to contrast with the following panel where asher says how well Jennifer fits in.

  37. Uly

    Wow, that is just a mean thing to say for no reason.

  38. Bathymetheus

    It’s a good thing Malaya isn’t hearing this. It would overload her “fakey” detector, with who knows what dreadful consequences.

    1. Creatrix Tiara

      oh my god now i really want those two to meet

      disaster all around

      1. RassilonTDavros

        I’m voting Team Malaya.

  39. RassilonTDavros

    I love how the Star Wars-y strip is technically the strip for May 5th, but in my time zone it’s still May the 4th for a few minutes so it still fits like a glove.

    1. King Daniel

      The hovertext does read “Revenge of the Fifth”

  40. Nathan

    This all feels much more high school than college, no?

  41. Yotomoe

    https://imgur.com/a/BMt6pbF
    Just a cute Jennifer doodle.

    1. newlland(Henryvolt)

      And it is cute.

    2. The Wellerman

      Such astonishing speed and precision! ?

      Your drawing power is increasing exponentially! At this rate, you’ll soon become a true Porn Lord, Yoto!!! ?

  42. anonymsly

    The hilarious thing is that at breakfast, Walky won’t talk about ‘Star Wars or whichever’, but he will probably be genuinely charming in his Walky way. Imagine how mad Raidah will be if no one’s faking being entertained by David Walkerton.

  43. Juanoku

    Oh ok
    Definitely not a sociopathic comment

  44. Dr. T

    Wait, so Asher legit really cares about Jennifer? I was unsure how healthy the relationship actually was.

    No surprise that Raidah is a manipulative, arrogant twit. Why is she interested in Walky if she thinks so little of him?

    1. newlland(Henryvolt)

      The way I figure it I wouldn’t be surprised if he saw in her what Sal sees in Danny, A kind, caring, goodheated person who can look at him and see something other than some more negative things other people have lead themselves to believe about him.

      Also I think Asher just wants some simple things in his new life, some good none law breaking friends, a girl that cares for him, and a decent future that doesn’t involve the mob.

    2. Sam

      When Sal was suggested to be jealous of Jennifer, Asher made it very clear he wasn’t going to cheat on her and that he didn’t want to create unnecessary drama. Jennifer told him to shut up and inject the drama directly into her veins.

      The relationship is definitely unhealthy in some ways but not because of Asher. Jennifer viewing him as something she can hold over Sal ain’t great.

      Also he followed through on his thought of quitting smoking I just noticed too! And he wanted to get eggs so he wouldn’t be irritable around people. So Asher genuinely LIKES being a cheerful friendly guy with a drama free life.

      And Raidah mostly seems interested in Walky to learn what Connections he has and if she can maybe exploit them. It could make for an interesting plot point where Raidah tries to get along with his parents and they ask Walky why he isn’t dating HER instead of LUCY and it Walky would have to have the spine to tell his parents to back off. It would make sense with his character arc so far that he needs another reason to stand up to them and for his response to be even stronger than the last one!

    3. Thag Simmons

      Yeah. I think it’s been apparent since his early appearances that the danger with Asher isn’t his own bad intentions, he’s genuinely trying to turn his life around and be a good dude, it’s the fact that he’s knee deep in mob connections

      1. Sirksome

        You can be a good person and still do bad things. I think that makes Asher a very interesting antagonist. He’s not evil, he really, genuinely likes Jennifer, but his decisions still have potential to hurt her and others.

    4. Yotomoe

      Because Walky’s a smoke show.

  45. Tan

    Oh look, Raidah’s still a percussion instrument turns out. I am shocked. Truly shocked. The most shocked I have ever been. It is almost like someone being able to put on a friendly face when it suits them somehow does not translate to them being a goodhearted soul deep down inside.

    1. thejeff

      But don’t you know it’s just your protagonist bias. Many other characters have done worse things than Raidah.

      1. Taffy

        So? Raidah’s the one on-panel right now. It’d be a little odd to bring up the time Dorothy was sawing the legs off of horses when we have perfectly serviceable and unambiguous shittiness right here in front of us.

        1. Sam

          You know those horses had leg cancer. Those legs had to go. And Becky raised 500 million dollars to get them prosthetics in two hours. And then Dorothy had to give up all her dreams because she couldn’t resolve a farmer’s blood feud of 200 years in one conversation so she can never be president.

      2. Bryy

        Raidah is the kind of asshole that makes everything worse by complicating things when you’re trying to fight real evil.

  46. ADLegend21

    god she’s insufferable.

  47. epitome of incomprehensibility

    This strip confused me at first – I thought Raidah actually liked Walky. Or at least found him hot.

    (Yeah, I’ve had crushes on people I know I wouldn’t actually get along with, but I wasn’t going around calling them stunted manchildren/womenchildren etc.)

    1. Agemegos

      It’s a strange bit of mood whiplash. Raidah did not take well to being even very gently mocked.

  48. Maggie

    I hope it doesn’t take Jennifer too long to see Raidah for who she is. Though it’s possible she already knows and just isn’t acknowledging it.

    1. RedCat

      I doubt she would care, Jennifer was Head Cheerleader. Plus, she’s all about acting like she’s fine now, and her new friends are a part of that.

      1. thejeff

        Though them concealing their disdain for her isn’t going to go over well when it comes out.

  49. mrnoidea

    Wooooow, that last line from Raidah. Yeah, she’s been as smooth as sandpaper this whole storyline, sure, but…I draw the line at bringing up someone’s tragic past in a flippant, leveraged way.

    She really is an example of “Ahaha, you’re funny, I will kill you last.”

  50. Lucky Winner

    Part of this arc is Billie going by Jennifer. Asher is trying to twist Walky into going by David, too, so it’s probably Asher who’s forcing Billie to think of herself as Jennifer. It’s an interesting way to control people, to require them to change their name to be in your group. And he’s changing their names to what their names officially are. Perhaps his family taught him to do that? It can even be sort of righteously justified as showing respect for people, to always call them by their proper name. Which makes this sort of control easier to get away with.

    1. John Campbell

      It seems to be Raidah who’s driving that. Asher’s all, “Walky, or David, whatever.”

    2. Rabisch

      Pretty sure Asher is a victim here.

    3. Yotomoe

      Does that imply Asher is his actual name? I also assumed Asher was a nickname.

      1. Agemegos

        It’s Biblical. Asher was the eighth son of Jacob and founder of the Tribe of Asher

  51. Chasey

    So if Raidah’s trying to amass a pile of ‘friends” that have political and/or monetary reach, why is Walky invited? Just to win over Billie some more right? I think I’ve been up too long and am overthinking it.

    1. brute

      possibly to break up Joyce and sara’s friend group out of spite?

      1. brute

        …i know i typed an h.
        *Sarah’s

    2. Needfuldoer

      Does she know his mom is the dean’s ex-wife?

      1. Needfuldoer

        I just double-checked that to make sure I wasn’t misremembering a strip from a decade ago.

        Confirmed:
        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/fancypantslounge/

        1. Chasey

          Holy moly, I never would have remembered that! Nice deep dive there. And thank you for linking it!

      2. JBento

        A couple of strip ago she asked Jennifer who his parents were, so I’m guessing no.

    3. RedCat

      Watch her drop Asher like hot iron as soon as she finds out he’s related to mobsters and possibly has a criminal record.

      1. thejeff

        I don’t know. Mob lawyers make good money.

        Mostly I kid. But only mostly.

  52. Darkoneko

    ooof Raidah, just because you are right doesn’t mean you are correct

  53. Jon

    Honest question, what the hell is the angle here? Raidah invites Walky to breakfast but then is immediately annoyed by the prospect of breakfast with him? Is she really just that petty, trying to damage Sarah’s friendships (somehow)?

    Why does she surround herself with people she hates?

    1. Brian K. Pittman

      Walky is physically attractive, that’s about it as far as I can tell. Raidah likely just wants to add a notch to her bedpost and hurting Sara is an added bonus.

    2. Thag Simmons

      I assume it has more to do with Jennifer, but I honestly don’t know what her play here is

    3. Keulen

      I’m not sure either. I wouldn’t invite someone to a meal or to hang out with me somewhere who I don’t like or find annoying.

  54. Bagge

    This is fine…

    1. Clif

      Nuh-huh.

  55. Rabisch

    Wow… Raidah is actually scum… and the boy with her is disgusting too. Asher and Jennifer are two poor victims involved in some weird scheme that will made them suffer a lot and now she probably wants Walky for herself and to control/destroy Lucy!? Raidah is slowly becoming a great villain and I love it!

    1. Clif

      But if she wants Walky for herself, then why the contempt?

      1. Amelie Wikström

        Hmm I was not expecting Walky’s situation to have a lot of parallels with Jacob’s, but consider: Jacob has people who wants him for his Greek god physique and don’t care about who he is, Walky has people who want him for his body, his hair and his family connections and actively resent who he is.

        Of course for Jacob it’s happened so much he started hating these people but Walky doesn’t even know it’s happening. But give it time. . .

        1. Eldritchy

          Let’s add that Jacob’s family seems to be pretty prestigious, Raidah mentioned that his siblings work in prestigious professions and pushed him to be like them.

    2. Dave

      Yes, Mr Rabisch?

      I have a message addressed to you by a “Sarah”? It reads: “I F$%^&ing told ya so!”

      …That’ll be $5.50

    3. Needfuldoer

      This feels like the story’s setting up a situation where Jennifer gets torn between her new world (going along with Raidah and Carl) and her old one (sticking up for Walky), maybe with Asher somewhere in between.

      1. Rabisch

        YES… Hahaha! YEEESS!!!

    4. Amós Batista

      Is Asher a victim? I didn’t understand his attitude in today strip…

      1. Rabisch

        To me, it seems like Raidah and Carl suddenly changed the subject upon his return. Maybe he’s an accomplice, but as far as we see here, he doesn’t seem to know what her plans are.

        1. thejeff

          Definitely seems like he’s serious about liking Jennifer and they’ve been hiding their disdain from him. In theory, they could just be doing so since they like him and tolerate his girlfriend for his sake, but it doesn’t read that way to me.

  56. RowenMorland

    In which Asher will look like a comparatively decent human being.

    (my jury is actually still out on Asher since our narrative focus hasn’t really allowed him much explanation for his actions or a good look into who he is)

  57. Brian K. Pittman

    It’s nice to see my complete dislike of Raidah is justified.

  58. Acher4

    Does not want to ever learn of Kit Fisto?

    …ok, NOW I hate Raidah with all my being. 😛

  59. Amelie Wikström

    I sure love to have normal life experiences with my group of ordinary well-connected friends. This strip feels like the conversation equivalent of filling your bookshelf with books with the pages facing out, for the neutral white texture look.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Nah. Filling it with books you don’t care about and have no intention to open, but you want to create the illusion that you’ve read them all.

  60. TheFlamingonator

    Ah yes the “everyone who laughs at silly pop-culture jokes rather than clever fancysmarts ones are beneath us” crowd…

    Plan your days around avoiding them and tou will have mlre fun.

    1. newlland(Henryvolt)

      Sounds about right, at the moment I’m getting the feeling that Raidah as a personality is as entertaining as paint drying on a wall.

  61. Eldritchy

    Okay I’m dropping all animosity towards Asher. Dude has a complicated history but is pretty cool after all.
    Now let’s dump all that animosity onto the pile of animosity I already had for Raidah. Damn she is going to surpass Mary at this rate.

  62. Lone Duck

    So… What do they want from Walky? Also, as someone who shares the name, I’m sad that this Carl is a jerk.

  63. shanunu

    I don’t really get why Raidah invited Walky to their breakfast? Is it just because she found him attractive? It doesn’t seem like she learned that she has anything to gain from a connection to his family and it doesn’t seem like Raidah is interested in making a connection with his girlfriend, either. She is already anticipating that their conversation will be over something she totally isn’t interested in, so…. what was her goal? I misremembered that it was Asher that invited him, but it wasn’t. Why go out of her way when she has seemingly nothing to gain?

    1. Taffy

      Some people seem to think that this could be her In with the Dean somehow, so maybe it’s that? Although I’m personally confused on how having breakfast with the Dean’s ex-wife’s son by another man is going to form any connection to the guy himself. Seems like a bit of a leap.

      1. JBento

        Raidah was asking who Walky’s parents were a few strips ago, so if she IS hoping to have Walky as a networking contact she can’t have anything specific in mind.

    2. Sam

      She is being fakey and doing a socially polite thing so she can learn if Walky or Lucy have any useful connections she can exploit. She doesn’t know for SURE that either will have ANY but she wants to stay on/be on their good sides just in case they do it seems like.

    3. Rotunda

      We know of two major motivations for Raidah’s actions. 1. Network and get ahead. 2. Stick it to Sarah and Joyce. She also seems to find Walky attractive, and she doesn’t mind being devious in getting her way.

  64. khn0

    Kit Fisto is the early 20th german immigrant kid superhero that is a demon spawn (hence squid appearence) because they’re Faust’s kid with Mephisto (before he got Gretchen back), and to disguise themselves, they have renamed themselves Kid Fist (Fist=Faust), but since they have a german accent some italian friends there name them Kit Fisto (Fausto being a legit italian name). Also they are Will Eisner adopted brother and the source for The Spirit, and also Goethe never got to write about it because the knight of Eon stole this part of the book.

    1. Clif

      I like your world. Let’s live there for awhile.

    2. RedCat

      I like that version.

    3. anonymsly

      Darn that chevalier d’Eon! If she’s not winning duels, she’s stealing important papers.

      1. khn0

        Inorite

  65. Kim

    Panel #3; Spoken like a true villain

  66. foducool

    damn, that girl is faker than a Luis Button luxury hanbag made in China

  67. Sporky

    Yep, Raidah still sucks

  68. Spencer

    Raidah’s making the exact same kind of comment Jennifer did when she found out Sal was jealous of her, let alone that it’s the kind of thing the cast says about each other behind their backs all the time (my favourite is Sarah going “I bet it’s Joe’s fault his parents got divorced”) but since Raidah doesn’t show up enough to reveal that she’s #damaged it’s probably just because she’s pure evil.

    I can’t imagine any reason why a Muslim woman in middle America getting a law degree would feel the need to throw her name out to as many people as possible, let alone the son of a woman who was married to the dean. Someone named Raidah is, naturally, never going to get her resume chucked into a bin.

    1. Sombrero

      Raidah’s “damage” is not revealed by narrative necessity. She’s here as an antagonist, and if we knew more about her motivations she would be just like the rest of the cast. The only thing we need to know about her is that she’s a “bourgeois prick”, as The Wellerman says. This storyline seems to be less about Sarah vs Raidah and more about the inner conflict of Jennifer the aspiring bourgeois prick vs. Billie the damaged Billingsworth child.

      1. Spencer

        That’s absurd. That’s just saying that two characters can do the same action but since I like one more it’s automatically more worthy of consideration. Jennifer has said the same thing and even worse because she’s openly reveling over how Sal’s parents like her more, being sad and cuddling in bed with Ruth doesn’t actually change that, it just means I’ve been given reason to believe she has positive qualities as a person.

        Moreover, Raidah’s never been written with the same stakes as the other villains of the series (and villains feels like it should be a weird term for a college slice of life, it’s nevertheless pretty good) because Raidah isn’t, and I swear to god this isn’t a complaint, entirely without positive qualities in all but the barest circumstance and viscerally devoted to exacting control over another person on the grounds that she’s entitled to it, which is the defining throughline for every single villain in the series.

        And with Raidah, we already have flagrantly humanizing moments in all six pages worth of appearances she has:

        – Meeting Sarah in the flashback she is entirely kind and gentle to her, encouraging her that Dana and her friends want to be nice to her. Raidah very obviously thinks of Dana being sent home as a betrayal on Sarah’s part and then tells her to stay away from her. Raidah has checked in on Dana at least once, Sarah has not or at least not since.

        – She’s just actually nice and pleasant to Joyce meeting her for the first time. Things only go wrong when she acts up with Sarah’s presence, and instead of getting back at the person who ruined Dana’s life and decked her in the face, she lets it go.

        – Raidah’s only back in the main plot because Sarah thought she didn’t deserve to be with Jacob (ie: if we want to apply “attempting to control someone else’s life” to Raidah, we’re applying it to Sarah too). The entire time this relationship is depicted Raidah is clearly enjoying herself, Jacob talks about how he’s finding meaning in participating in Raidah’s faith, if Raidah believes that everyone really should just not be near Sarah at all and will make an effort towards this she sure as fuck does not attempt to stop Jacob from this. They just actually get along all the time on-panel.

        – Raidah, the mean evil social climber, says Jacob needs her, that she’s someone who will make his brother proud. She ends up being more correct than she probably thought since once Harrison shows up he describes a profile of a girl he was hoping Jacob wouldn’t date he just actually describes Raidah. Jacob is using her to get ahead, he hasn’t even told Harrison a thing about her, but he sure said a lot about Joyce.

        – Raidah says she doesn’t do jealousy and that if Jacob cheated on her she wouldn’t give a shit because she deserved better. Once Jacob actually does this she’s clearly devastated enough to say that she’s going to feel sorry when he sees him and Joyce walking off together. Jacob, who definitely didn’t just mack on Joyce to, I dunno, put a period on doing all the things he’s supposed to do after he breaks up with Raidah, chides her for calling Joyce a MAGA-ass choir girl that she absolutely was all the time and she has every reason to believe she is, let alone that you don’t say nice things about the girl who snaked your boyfriend.

        That’s more than enough to make a stake like “maybe Raidah has feelings too and is not just a punching bag for the heroic protagonists to antagonize at their leisure,” Mary shows up and gets aggressively hompked to death but she’s not sitting there crying because Dorothy stole her boyfriend. That’s a bit of a difference in terms of acceptable consequence for an antagonist and let alone that Raidah’s only an antagonist because two of the main characters picked a fight.

        And, come the fuck on, you seriously want me to buy that this series’ Evil Bougie Rep is its only significant recurring Muslim character? In the same series where, since Dorothy in the Walkyverse was adopted and a morally ambiguous antagonist and now she was an upright heroic person with her bio parents, David Willis decides “I’m gonna make Sierra adopted since I don’t want to make some weird connection like Dorothy being adopted made her a villain”?

        1. Sombrero

          Absurd? Well, it’s fiction. Fiction has its own rules. Raidah is not entirely cartoonish, maybe there’s a character development arc in store for her somewhere around 2030, but for the time being her group is been there mostly to remind us that IU is populated by a majority of characters that are socially more conventional than our bunch of freaky/nerdy/divergent protagonists.

        2. Spencer

          I’ve been led to believe over time that the standard of writing in this series is higher than fucking Revenge of the Nerds, so I don’t think I see the same rules this series runs on that you do.

        3. Sombrero

          Who knows? Maybe Willis’ rule is to have no rules and we’re deceived by our pattern-recognizing brains.

    2. Eldritchy

      The main difference is that Sarah doesn’t try to kiss her way up Joe’s butt for personal gain. Sarah is an asshole, Raidah is a two-faced opportunistic asshole.

      1. Spencer

        Look this might be a hard pill to swallow but “at least I’m honest about it” isn’t actually an indicator of moral character, it means you’re patting yourself on the back for making everyone around you tolerate your petulant anger that you’ve convinced yourself makes you cool.

        1. Eldritchy

          That’s not it, it’s a case of enemy vs traitor. Sarah is honest about her animosity, she lets people know that she doesn’t like them. And that’s a good thing because people are given a free, informed choice of whether to interact with her or not. Raidah is a two-faced opportunist who will behave nicely up front but will be stabbing you in the back if it fits her

        2. Spencer

          Walky definitely made the free, informed choice to be told that he was something to be inflicted onto another person. He had it coming for walking to math class with a group that included Sarah.

          Joyce and Liz love Sarah to pieces which means they’ve made the free, informed choice to be told that their problems are fake and annoying, since loving Sarah to pieces means you’re supposed to tolerate someone who tells you that you deserve to be fired because you’re super annoying about the collapse of your worldview.

          Sarah tells Joe off all the time because Joe was a pig in front of her but she never said that part about his parents to his face. He offered himself as a hate receptacle, he’s making the free, informed choice to offer himself to someone who’s a cranky jerk all the time so she stops being a cranky jerk to everyone around her, but he missed out on the part where she blamed him for his parents’ divorce in a private conversation. Did he make the free, informed choice to be her hate receptacle because he didn’t know that?

        3. Taffy

          That all might be just a little extreme, don’t you think?

        4. Spencer

          I don’t know what’s extreme about “being bad with people is not actually a free pass to being a cantankerous asshole to everyone who exists in the same space as you, because once in every 20 occasions you’re capable of basic human decency.”

        5. Taffy

          Never mind.

        6. Rahdream

          Spencer, I agree that “villain” is a strong term, but Raidah is in the role of antagonist here just by virtue of playing an opposing role to the established protagonists (who are not “heroes” themselves). It’s just a story-telling structure thing, not a moral judgement on either side as far as I can see. Raidah in today’s strip reveals that she’s faking at least some of her social niceties, which serves to contrast her against Sarah who is generally sincere in her lack of niceties but has demonstrated that she will do good/kind things for the people around her even if she’s a jerk about it in the process. While the contrast between them helps establish her antagonistic role, but as you point out this doesn’t mean she’s any less moral or any more villainous than the flawed protagonists

  69. JBento

    I’m now officially coming up blank as to why Raidah would invite Walky and Lucy to join them. Like, literally zero viable hypotheses.

    1. Sombrero

      It seems that Raidah is the one that doesn’t stop Billie-ving. Maybe she fears that Asher can be attracted to the light side.

      1. Clif

        I can come up with hypotheses, but none of them really make any sense.

        1. JBento

          Yeah, that’s what I meant by “viable”. Like, we know Raidah think’s he’s hot, but why invite Lucy along if she wants to hit on him? She knows enough of his antics (presumably from Jennifer) to call him “stunted man-child”, but she didn’t know who he is enough to ascertain his value as a networking contact? I can’t make heads or tails of this.

    2. alongcameaspider

      I think her thought process goes something like this

      Jennifer’s parents are rich and important, Walky is Jennifer’s friend, therefore Walky’s parents must also be rich and important

      Because she’s so far into this networking bullshit she genuinely can’t understand being friends with someone for the sake of it instead of trying to further her career

      1. RedCat

        TBF that’s true in this case. Rich neighbourhood, probably.

      2. JBento

        I don’t think Jennifer has been categorising Walky as a “friend”, though. She certainly did the opposite of that when we had eyes on her – she was ignoring him at the start of the semester.

    3. Blue

      She thinks Billie must have rich and powerful friends, and apparently she hangs around Billie because of who her parents are.

      1. JBento

        Please see above because I’m too lazy to copy-paste. XD

        1. Blue

          Maybe connection or acquaintance would have been better. Whether or not they are currently friends doesn’t really change Raidah’s reasoning.

  70. Buli-buli

    Man Raidah. How empty do you have to be to be this fake? Like, what even is the purpose?

    1. Amelie Wikström

      Being rich and being surrounded by rich friends and not have anyone be sad when you die, I guess.

  71. Chris (the other one)

    Wow… when Asher is portrayed as being a better person than Raidah… that’s something

    1. Mr.Morningstar

      From what I’ve gathered from asher he was a troubled kid who is trying to be better. We know his family are part of the mob but he doesnt want much to do with it, so his stuff with sal was likely him trying to fit into the role of criminal. Although I’m pretty sure he ensured blaine would be un-alived, he seems to genuinely not want any part of that kind of thing anymore.

      That’s what I’ve gathered anyway, could be way off base but he strikes me as genuine.

      1. Amelie Wikström

        Yeah he’s probably safe to be around, unless his family needs some of the favors he owes them, or some of their enemies come after him. Like it’s not super likely his car is going to blow up when he just wants to give you a ride, but it’s the sort of possibility you can never entirely discount unless maybe if the entire mob and all their crooked cops go to jail.

    2. Amós Batista

      Willis is giving me hopes, and I hate it.

  72. SDRainbow

    Huh. Never thought I would relate to Raidah of all people, but here we are.

  73. Beau Kirin Maysey

    when the feather is weighed against the heart, Raidah’s refusal to learn about Kit Fisto may just be the sin that decides her fate…

    Or, wait, it would be the SENATE that would do that…

    1. mrnoidea

      Raidah: “I AM the Senate!”

  74. Taffy

    If they dislike him so fucking much, why don’t they just not interact with him? I know that when I loathe somebody, I don’t go out of my way to make sure they’re around me for an extended period of time, but maybe that just makes me the anomaly. Maybe Raidah isn’t a hateful, two-faced little freak with nothing useful to contribute.

  75. thejeff

    Interesting that, going by Asher’s line there, Asher was in their group before Jennifer was. Seems like she got brought in through him.

    But he’s not on the real inside, because he’s got no idea how much the others are faking it.

  76. Reed

    Is it bad that I love “evil” Raidah? Like fuck Toedad, but this is a bad character I can “root for” while still wanting the best for our main characters? Like Raidah’s an asshole but she’ll probably never kill anyone or commit any crimes.

    anyways cheers to not knowing who kit fisto is.

    1. Taffy

      Kit Fisto is that long-eared horse demon with the racist accent, from the underwater bubble city.

      1. Reed

        everytime i try to read this reply my eyes glaze over thus preserving my blissful ignrance of cat busto or whomever.

        1. Clif

          We admire your ability to deceive yourself.

        2. Taffy

          No, Cat Busto is a popular character design use by players of Final Fantasy 14.

    2. Blue

      Nah, in fiction a good villain is enjoyable, and the people she hurts aren’t real. I prefer someone with more nuance, but that’s not a moral judgement.

  77. Serendipity

    Wow, Raidah, what the hell is wrong with you? How did you get so vile?

  78. Jammy

    Mmm…all that judgmental energy. I can see who’s the leader of the pack.

  79. PB

    I really wish I were surprised.

  80. Amós Batista

    Asher, you are a motherfucking mobster. Cops and shit, a true millitia. Really, are you into this gossip-popular-college-people shit?

    1. Throwatron

      I mean, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that maybe it’s possible, growing up in that sort of life, to literally find it alienating and not want to be a part of it? People born into something frequently resent it, good, bad, or otherwise.

      That, or there’s a more complex game being run, here. I think the first story is more fun, and that’s what I’m hoping for, but a lot of people here seem primed only for the latter option.

      1. Daibhid C

        I agree that the first story is more fun, but also I’m not sure that “Why would a mobster be interested in ‘networking’ with law students who are trying to make ‘connections’ with powerful people?” needs a particularly complex answer.

  81. Keulen

    Raidah just keeps giving me more reasons to dislike her with every strip she appears in. And I absolutely don’t understand why she would invite someone to breakfast with her and her friends who she doesn’t even like. I would never do that.

  82. Username Taken

    Growing up seems to be going very well for Raidah.

  83. thumb

    Asher is going to punch Raidah at some point. I predict it. Or maybe Walky will, but Asher will certainly want to.

  84. Fetch85

    Wait… they’re actually coordinating pretending to like someone’s jokes? Is that something people do?

    1. RowenMorland

      More like they know they’ll do it anyway but they want to remind each other that they’ll both actually be laughing at Walky so they can savour it better.

    2. Blue

      You have to be pretty fakey to do that.

      1. thejeff

        Malaya really needs to meet Raidah.

        1. Rose Red

          oh my goodness yes I really want to see that happen

        2. Taffy

          Malaya goes to poke Raidah out of sheer bafflement, and Raidah just dissolves into aether.

  85. Stephen Nedland

    To be fair, I think my life would have been just fine, without knowing who Kit Fisto is.

    1. Amelie Wikström

      I don’t have a great need to find out who Kit Fisto is, but I think that’s a bit different from “I REFUSE TO LEARN THINGS about your (fifth highest grossing media franchise in history) NERD MOVIES”.

      1. Stephen Nedland

        “I’m not interested in this”, is perfectly fine, and reasonable. Not everyone is into Nerd Culture, and that is okay. There are lots of people who have not seen a single Star Wars movie, Raidah is just one of them. Not liking something you like is not a basis for judgement.

    2. RedCat

      Nautolans are literally the coolest alien race in the whole of Star Wars.

  86. Fuzzy

    Yikes. They’re only faking being friends with Jennifer. That’s sad.

    1. Victor Riley

      I’m curious why they want to fake being friends with Walky… something sinister is afoot.

      1. alongcameaspider

        I think it’s just Raidah trying to network, remember her first thought when she saw him in this storyline was “who are his parents”

        1. JBento

          Actually, her first thought was “he’s hot”. “Who’re his parents?” was only one panel behind, though.

  87. Daibhid C

    …okay, I will concede that Asher is possibly the least terrible of these terrible, terrible people.

  88. Blue

    I was a Raidah apologist for a long time but it seems like she’s just shallow all the way down.

  89. RedCat

    Life’s too short to have breakfast with people you don’t even really like. Unless you’re desperate, I guess.

  90. DudeMyDadOwnsADealership

    We all knew it, didn’t we? Raidah is SO transparent. Wondering if Linda will pull Walky over to scold him about wasting her time.

    What does she have to offer their icy asses, anyway? She practically radiates “Cowardly Fake Nobody who spends her days overcompensating for being a Cowardly Fake Nobody” with the social drifting, keeping her distance from general society in favor of small groups of either toadies that she orders around ceaselessly or people who are strictly a part of an ulterior motive, none of which last for long; the control issues that make Linda Walkerton look like one of Tommy Chong’s characters that seem to be more like self-medication than what would help with social climbing….Then there’s how brittle her persona gets at the slightest sign of pressure AND why she’s always moving to someone the main cast knows rather than, say, a crowd of other paralegal majors with more certain futures….Please, Sal. Just let this problem resolve itself….Until it’s down to just Jennifer and Asher, that is.

  91. JBento

    Just letting folks know that there’s two recently-released indie games that you might want to check out to see if they’re up your alley: Dinosaur Fossil Hunter and Citizen Sleeper. There’s also another game by the dude behind Sleeper, called In Other Waters, which is older but beautiful and perfect and I love it.

  92. hazel

    Sorry but implying someone’s parents are right to neglect them is just terrible. Idk if there’s projection going on there? Do we know about Raidah’s family? I just assumed they were high status but maybe not?

    1. Blue

      Yeah that seems really fucked up.

    2. Spencer

      The only info we’ve ever gotten about Raidah’s family is in the alt text from this strip waaaaaayyyy back in 2013.

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/lover/

      “Raidah is super happy she’s a sophomore and doesn’t have to deal with her parents today.”

      1. hazel

        Damn, that’s either impressive effort or impressive memory, thank you.

        1. Spencer

          I am a wellspring of minor factoids.

    3. RedCat

      I think her Dad’s a lawyer: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/06-strange-beerfellows/relax/

  93. Rikunda

    Wait… Who is Raidah talking about? Does Jennifer talk about Star Wars or Kit Fisto?

  94. elfroyalty

    it makes me kind of sad that two of jennifer’s new “friends” seem to genuinely resent her interests – especially because this shows that jennifer has been very honestly sharing interests she seemed to be really ashamed of before. like, this is proof i think that jennifer has been making legitimate headway in being healthier – even if she still falls into classic billieisms.

    finding out that people she trusted just genuinely don’t give a shit about her and were feigning any amount of interest in her as a person is gonna really fuck her up, i think, and when this all surfaces i think it will also demonstrate how good of a partner – and friend – asher really is.

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