“Are you suggesting Sal didn’t get in on her OWN MERITS?!?!”
/prolly got in bc it felt like they accepted LITERALLY ANYBODY and also Dad was a prof (in a completely different area of study, like absolute polar opposite)
“Asher, at this point you might want to consider taking my sister’s name out of your filthy mouth.”
Laura
Other alternate reply:
“Asher, I’m sure you’d like to take a moment to reconsider that question. Take your time. I’ll wait.”
Seriously! Nobody trash-talks my badasse superhero sis but *me*.
Decidedly Orthogonal
“Wow, y’all aren’t just a little off, but you’re actually horrible people. Peace. I’m out.”
Schpoonman
Far and away the most likely answer given that Walky canonically cannot handle Asher at all in a fight and they both know that.
Bicycle Bill
But it’s the ones who can’t handle themselves in a fight that are the ones you need to watch out for, because there is no one more to be feared than someone who has lost – or never had – any sense of consequences, rules, technique, or control. Like all good legends, myths, and stereotypes, there’s more than just a germ of truth behind “The Berserker”. It’s not just a kick-ass trope.
BBCC
That can be true but the most likely response to going into a fight without knowing what you’re doing – even if you’re pissed off – is getting your ass kicked. I wouldn’t recommend it to Walky.
thejeff
Yeah, it’s mostly really a thing in sparring or other training.
eh, whatever
Nonsense. She can defend herself.
Laura
Of course she can. But that doesn’t mean Walky’s gotta sit there and participate politely in the conversation when Asher trash-talks her.
Dot
Not when she isn’t there?
Devin
Not if she’s not there and doesn’t know about it. Her being able to defend herself is not mutually exclusive with defending her when she’s not around and folks are talking about her behind her back.
thejeff
Alternate reply:
“No, did your mob boss grandfather pull string to get you in?”
Paradox
Does Walky know about Asher’s mob connections?
Pretty sure only Mike knew, and maybe Amber
thejeff
Those were Blaine’s mob connections. Don’t think Mike ever knew Asher.
Seriously, that was heinous and not terribly founded in reality, from what we know. Sal seems to be doing fine, aside from math, with which we’ve seen several people struggling because it’s kind of a hard class. Asher is a total bongo for that and I hope Walky calls it quits right now, maybe after telling these pretentious jackholes that hey, Asher is mobbed up.
he might be going at the “had a criminal record angle”, though this is Asher, noted jerk
Dave
Which takes some friggin CHUTZPAH seeing as Asher is the REASON she has a criminal record
Archieve
Exactly, if he’s trying to gage the amount of influence Linda has that’s a particularly bad way to go about it especially in front of other people and makes me wonder what Asher has to personally gain from knowing that. Also makes me seriously reconsider the possibility that Asher deliberately wore the same outfit as Walky to have a “bro” hoping it would let him ask that without getting slugged in the face again.
Do you think Raidah would care? She might view the mob as a useful connection
BigDogLittleCat
They always need attorneys!
thejeff
Jennifer apparently knows about Asher’s grandfather. Raidah was there when Sal brought it up, though without details. If she didn’t already know, she had enough then to start asking.
And really, this is a “friend” group openly based around networking and family connections. What does Asher bring to the table except his mob connection?
Dot
I mean, it’s not like the mob has Mob Stores that openly advertise themselves. More than likely his family is involved in front organizations and legitimate businesses.
Bluesnake463
I would not be surprised that she already knows and that is why he is here to begin with.
Asher actually looks… kind of uncomfortable with that question, to me? Like he swaps from a grin to a vaguely unsettled look. And I don’t mean like righteous indignation, but instead almost worried. Suffice to say we need to see more to get whether he’s intentionally being a dick in bringing it up or maybe is doing a poor job of demonstrating some concern for Sal.
Didn’t occur to me at first, but there’s one other possibility to account for that shift in mood–I could see Raidah having deliberately set up this line of questioning. She does strike me as the sort to manipulate events like that, with a veneer of plausible deniability at being the one responsible for the attack on Sal.
The only question would be, if Asher is disturbed at taking on this role, why would he? So it’s not a strong theory, but there might be some backstory reason for him taking Raidah’s marching orders that we don’t know about yet.
Could be he’s feeling some guilt over past mistakes. Especially since his own conscience isn’t exactly clean at this point.
Remember he’s got his own issues with his family connections; he likely assumed Sal got in on her own merits but now he’s wondering if she did. (Or more specifically, if she needed the parents she hates to get her in. The two of them do have disliking powerful family members in common)
Speaking of faces… do the past couple of comics seem weirdly zoomed in to anyone else?
Cause if it is an intentional technique used to help the reader feel uncomfortable with the uncomfortable conversations, then boy howdy is it working on me.
Like, I just read through the entire set of comments looking for others who were as weirded out as I was, and saw no comments, so either it’s just me or no one is talking about it.
Nooooo You Belong Here With Us ….
There issss no code here, Wellerman, only comicssss
Come back into the dark
Be one of us
One of us One of us One of us One of us One of us One of us One of us One of us One of us
Multiple projects in fact. I’m tutoring someone so they can program their own RTS game, designing and coding an audio system for a metroidvania game with an LBGTQ+ cast and setting similar to Adventure Time, and still trying to come up with DoA fan game ideas.
For that last one, gonna load up on Mac and Cheese and Pumpkin Spice Lattes and 1984 Transformers in the background one of these days in the hopes that I can somehow channel Willis’s autism. XD
Ugh, Booo daylight savings
I hate all you temperate countries for it
Just got used to having only a 6 hour time difference with my boyfriend instead of 7
I’m not sure he is being a jerk on purpose, I think it is possible that he assumed that Walky had already come to that conclusion and was worried about it. I think Asher might have been trying to be sensitive and supportive – and just failing miserably.
depends if we get to hear some inner thoughts later because it feels like it can be 50/50 on him being like “yeah i’ve moved past it/feel bad about sal”/”still wanna fish for info that might be useful for later”
Laura
Yeahhh… Makes me think this is part of Raidah’s larger plan:
-Isolate Jennifer from Joyce and Sarah.
-Integrate Walky into their friend group, at the expense of Jennifer if need be.
-Cut Lucy and Walky off from Joyce’s friend group.
-Gain intel from Walky on Sal. (“Come on, we’re all friends here. You can confide in us.”)
-Trash Sal’s reputation, possibly bullying her to drop out if possible, while finding corruption/nepotism intel to squeeze the Dean at the same time.
-Joyce loses another close friend and personal hero.
…I just feel like she’s picking off Joyce’s friends, one by one.
I feel like Mr. Burns: “Excellent..”
Adam Black
I thought maybe she wanted to break up Walky and Lucy so she can be introduced to the Dean.
Like Dorothy was.
But i think it might be more complex.
zee
I dunno…
Raidah sucks but i don’t think she’s a cartoon villain
I’d argue that it *would* be a thing that Linda would do. She has a HELLA LOT of faults but she apparently has (What she considers to be) their best interests in mind (but also *fuck* their opinions on what those bests interests are.)
296 thoughts on “Hookup”
Ana Chronistic
“Are you suggesting Sal didn’t get in on her OWN MERITS?!?!”
/prolly got in bc it felt like they accepted LITERALLY ANYBODY and also Dad was a prof (in a completely different area of study, like absolute polar opposite)
Laura
Walky, the correct answer to that question is:
“What, the first time I slugged you wasn’t enough? Well, try talking smack about my sister again if you need more.”
Laura
Alternate reply:
“Asher, at this point you might want to consider taking my sister’s name out of your filthy mouth.”
Laura
Other alternate reply:
“Asher, I’m sure you’d like to take a moment to reconsider that question. Take your time. I’ll wait.”
Seriously! Nobody trash-talks my badasse superhero sis but *me*.
Decidedly Orthogonal
“Wow, y’all aren’t just a little off, but you’re actually horrible people. Peace. I’m out.”
Schpoonman
Far and away the most likely answer given that Walky canonically cannot handle Asher at all in a fight and they both know that.
Bicycle Bill
But it’s the ones who can’t handle themselves in a fight that are the ones you need to watch out for, because there is no one more to be feared than someone who has lost – or never had – any sense of consequences, rules, technique, or control. Like all good legends, myths, and stereotypes, there’s more than just a germ of truth behind “The Berserker”. It’s not just a kick-ass trope.
BBCC
That can be true but the most likely response to going into a fight without knowing what you’re doing – even if you’re pissed off – is getting your ass kicked. I wouldn’t recommend it to Walky.
thejeff
Yeah, it’s mostly really a thing in sparring or other training.
eh, whatever
Nonsense. She can defend herself.
Laura
Of course she can. But that doesn’t mean Walky’s gotta sit there and participate politely in the conversation when Asher trash-talks her.
Dot
Not when she isn’t there?
Devin
Not if she’s not there and doesn’t know about it. Her being able to defend herself is not mutually exclusive with defending her when she’s not around and folks are talking about her behind her back.
thejeff
Alternate reply:
“No, did your mob boss grandfather pull string to get you in?”
Paradox
Does Walky know about Asher’s mob connections?
Pretty sure only Mike knew, and maybe Amber
thejeff
Those were Blaine’s mob connections. Don’t think Mike ever knew Asher.
Sal certainly knew about Asher’s.
Gunslinger
“Joke’s on you, mom HATES Sal.”
Karla Jean
Ah. That explains a lot.
Dave
Asher angling for a second punch in the face
pope suburban
Seriously, that was heinous and not terribly founded in reality, from what we know. Sal seems to be doing fine, aside from math, with which we’ve seen several people struggling because it’s kind of a hard class. Asher is a total bongo for that and I hope Walky calls it quits right now, maybe after telling these pretentious jackholes that hey, Asher is mobbed up.
pickonecard
he might be going at the “had a criminal record angle”, though this is Asher, noted jerk
Dave
Which takes some friggin CHUTZPAH seeing as Asher is the REASON she has a criminal record
Archieve
Exactly, if he’s trying to gage the amount of influence Linda has that’s a particularly bad way to go about it especially in front of other people and makes me wonder what Asher has to personally gain from knowing that. Also makes me seriously reconsider the possibility that Asher deliberately wore the same outfit as Walky to have a “bro” hoping it would let him ask that without getting slugged in the face again.
Erica
Do you think Raidah would care? She might view the mob as a useful connection
BigDogLittleCat
They always need attorneys!
thejeff
Jennifer apparently knows about Asher’s grandfather. Raidah was there when Sal brought it up, though without details. If she didn’t already know, she had enough then to start asking.
And really, this is a “friend” group openly based around networking and family connections. What does Asher bring to the table except his mob connection?
Dot
I mean, it’s not like the mob has Mob Stores that openly advertise themselves. More than likely his family is involved in front organizations and legitimate businesses.
Bluesnake463
I would not be surprised that she already knows and that is why he is here to begin with.
Nerrin
Asher actually looks… kind of uncomfortable with that question, to me? Like he swaps from a grin to a vaguely unsettled look. And I don’t mean like righteous indignation, but instead almost worried. Suffice to say we need to see more to get whether he’s intentionally being a dick in bringing it up or maybe is doing a poor job of demonstrating some concern for Sal.
Fred
Or it could be that Raidah the Bongo Queen said “Asher, you will ask David about this, or I will let them know you had something to do with .”
Freemage
Didn’t occur to me at first, but there’s one other possibility to account for that shift in mood–I could see Raidah having deliberately set up this line of questioning. She does strike me as the sort to manipulate events like that, with a veneer of plausible deniability at being the one responsible for the attack on Sal.
The only question would be, if Asher is disturbed at taking on this role, why would he? So it’s not a strong theory, but there might be some backstory reason for him taking Raidah’s marching orders that we don’t know about yet.
Adam Black
Yes.
But why?
General Tekno
Could be he’s feeling some guilt over past mistakes. Especially since his own conscience isn’t exactly clean at this point.
Remember he’s got his own issues with his family connections; he likely assumed Sal got in on her own merits but now he’s wondering if she did. (Or more specifically, if she needed the parents she hates to get her in. The two of them do have disliking powerful family members in common)
Rose by Any Other Name
Speaking of faces… do the past couple of comics seem weirdly zoomed in to anyone else?
Cause if it is an intentional technique used to help the reader feel uncomfortable with the uncomfortable conversations, then boy howdy is it working on me.
Like, I just read through the entire set of comments looking for others who were as weirded out as I was, and saw no comments, so either it’s just me or no one is talking about it.
Hrodvitnir
It is noticeable to me and I 100% took it as an intentional technique, so here’s a +1
The Wellerman
I see server time is shifted like an iceberg again.
🙁 Also yeah, I’m gonna try engaging with the below discussions as little as possible, I got games with diverse casts to code.
True Survivor
Nooooo You Belong Here With Us ….
There issss no code here, Wellerman, only comicssss
Come back into the dark
Be one of us
One of us One of us One of us One of us One of us One of us One of us One of us One of us
The Wellerman
I’m already in the dark. I mean look at my avatar. The way I see it WE can do whatever WE want. ?
True Survivor
Hey, the darkside is the best side – it has cookies. Good luck with your project, unless you want to tell us about it.
The Wellerman
Multiple projects in fact. I’m tutoring someone so they can program their own RTS game, designing and coding an audio system for a metroidvania game with an LBGTQ+ cast and setting similar to Adventure Time, and still trying to come up with DoA fan game ideas.
For that last one, gonna load up on Mac and Cheese and Pumpkin Spice Lattes and 1984 Transformers in the background one of these days in the hopes that I can somehow channel Willis’s autism. XD
zee
Ugh, Booo daylight savings
I hate all you temperate countries for it
Just got used to having only a 6 hour time difference with my boyfriend instead of 7
Bluewind
Nothing important to contribute except to say that my cat Danny (named after the character) turned 6 this Monday! ^_^
AY
Happy birthday to cat!Danny 😀 what flavor of cat are they?
BBCC
Awww! Happy birthday to the kitty!
Bluewind
A gray short-haired chaos boy who thinks he’s a toddler and follows me EVERYWHERE XD
laura
Congratulations to you and Danny! Many happy returns!
anon
you can’t tell us that without a cat tax, man ;P but congrats! lol
Bluewind
I wish I could share pictures here! He is very cute. He’s a rescue but he looks JUST LIKE a fancy chartreux. I love him dearly ♡
Needfuldoer
Tell him he is a pretty cat. And a good cat.
Bluewind
I shall!
Opus the Poet
I’ve lived with cats for over 60 years, and I still don’t know what they like for their birthdays.
Bluewind
His favorite food, lots of attention, and a new toy in his favorite color (yes, my cat has a favorite color and it’s green)
The Wellerman
Happy birthday to Danny! ? ? ??
Sirksome
Press X to doubt.
Katerly
Whatanass
True Survivor
I’m not sure he is being a jerk on purpose, I think it is possible that he assumed that Walky had already come to that conclusion and was worried about it. I think Asher might have been trying to be sensitive and supportive – and just failing miserably.
anon
depends if we get to hear some inner thoughts later because it feels like it can be 50/50 on him being like “yeah i’ve moved past it/feel bad about sal”/”still wanna fish for info that might be useful for later”
Laura
Yeahhh… Makes me think this is part of Raidah’s larger plan:
-Isolate Jennifer from Joyce and Sarah.
-Integrate Walky into their friend group, at the expense of Jennifer if need be.
-Cut Lucy and Walky off from Joyce’s friend group.
-Gain intel from Walky on Sal. (“Come on, we’re all friends here. You can confide in us.”)
-Trash Sal’s reputation, possibly bullying her to drop out if possible, while finding corruption/nepotism intel to squeeze the Dean at the same time.
-Joyce loses another close friend and personal hero.
…I just feel like she’s picking off Joyce’s friends, one by one.
I feel like Mr. Burns: “Excellent..”
Adam Black
I thought maybe she wanted to break up Walky and Lucy so she can be introduced to the Dean.
Like Dorothy was.
But i think it might be more complex.
zee
I dunno…
Raidah sucks but i don’t think she’s a cartoon villain
C.T. Phipps
I think Asher feels like he derailed Sal’s life.
BBCC
Oh, Asher, you clearly do not know Linda well. The only reasons she would EVER do a thing like that are
A) As fuel for future emotional blackmail and guilt trips.
Or
B) If it’s an image thing, like Walkertons go to university and they attend THESE classes and get GOOD GRADES dammit.
Sporky
I mean… those are two pretty big reasons though. So it’s definitely possible.
BBCC
That it is, but not for the more altruistic if nepotistic reasons Raidah and co. might think.
Bryy
Linda’s too racist to do A.
Schpoonman
Not necessarily. She got Sal permission to keep her motorcycle on campus.
Do you think Jennifer going to Linda about Asher’s motorcycle is why he has it?
zee
She’s also paying for sale tuition afaik. Emotionally abusive parents love doing things for their kids so they can hold it against them later
Mr D
I’d argue that it *would* be a thing that Linda would do. She has a HELLA LOT of faults but she apparently has (What she considers to be) their best interests in mind (but also *fuck* their opinions on what those bests interests are.)
BBCC
Hence B and A, because their best interests always wrap around to A.
newlland(Henryvolt)
OK I’m with Walky I don’t want to think to hard on this.
Yotomoe
“H-hey Jennifer, What else about me is annoying, huh? Let’s do that bit again haha”