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223 thoughts on “Kept”
Ana Chronistic
Sarah: *now regrets not saying, “new social life, who dis”*
Ana Chronistic
if the comic is over, can we have the Second Dumbing of Christ
True Survivor
How on Earth do you remember comments from 8 years ago? I can’t remember what happened in the comic a week ago.
Are you a god?
Doctor_Who
Ana exists outside of time. How do you think they always post first? They’ve already posted tomorrow, next week, and three million years ago.
True Survivor
Makes sense. It is after all in the name.
Amós Batista
Aha? Yes, she is. At least, she got omnipresence.
Ana Chronistic
Google remembers EVERYTHING
The Wellerman
Looks like we have an encounter on our hands!
I just wanna see one of them roast Raidah like a sausage right here and now!!! ?
*plays “Elite Gym Battle” from Pokemon Kanto CD on hacked muzak*
True Survivor
Raidah is being needlessly cruel, but I understand her dislike of Joyce and Sarah (they did sorta try to steal her boyfriend – I think its been a while since I read that part of the comic).
PS. I have returned and finally figured out how to change my Avatar picture.
Agemegos
Did sorta try and succeed.
Khyrin
I think “stole your boyfriend” and “Accidentally convinced your boyfriend that You’re really not the one for him while simultaneously ruining any chance of dating him themselves” are legally distinct.
Needfuldoer
The former was Sarah’s plan, the latter was Joyce’s execution of said plan.
GeekyWarrior
The funny part of their plan was how effective it was when Joyce wasn’t even trying. She got distracted by the baby then was unable to correct Harrison’s mistake.
Jacob unknowingly laid the groundwork by constantly gushing about Joyce and managing to avoid even the smallest detail about his girlfriend.
thejeff
Did Raidah know anything about Sarah’s plan? She might be assuming it just because Joyce was Sarah’s friend, I suppose.
BadRoad
I think Walky roasted all of them pretty well with “Sonic the Hedgehog”.
JBento
That’s why nobody’s addressing him. They’re all “shit, I can’t match that level of wit, better aim for an easier match-up”.
Chaucer59
Wit? Pssh. More like, “He’s clearly the village idiot. Just ignore him.”
Doctor_Who
Maybe Joyce’s getting a comic and her bad state are connected.
She’s not suffering from feminine issues, she’s going through the early stages of metamorphosis. Soon she will form a cocoon, go into a deep slumber, and emerge as the next form of a comic strip creator.
Joyce: Internet Pornlord.
RassilonTDavros
And then KUTV in Salt Lake City will call her a satirist who is “a little bit edgy.”
The Wellerman
Wait, Willis was on KUTV?
The Wellerman
Yeah! She will undergoe a Shinka Hentai!!! ✌️?
C.T. Phipps
That’s a weird statement even from Raidah. There’s not much bizarre about being happy you have a comic published.
alongcameaspider
I mean she has very valid reasons for not liking Joyce, it shows impressive restraint on Raidah’s part that she’s only being passive aggressive right now
C.T. Phipps
I mean she does but she doesn’t dislike Joyce for those reasons. She dislikes Joyce for who she is.
Wraithy2773
And this is based on…?
Thag Simmons
I guess this? I dunno, I feel like Raidah has pretty valid reasons to dislike Joyce and Sarah. Doesn’t make her any less of an asshole, but she does have a Casus Belli here.
alongcameaspider
Probably her perception of Joyce as a Christian conservative from earlier in the comic, not everyone is going to be immediately aware of someone else’s character development
C.T. Phipps
Raidah doesn’t dislike Joyce because she’s a fundamentalist Christian. She dislikes her because she views her as an intellectual and social inferior. Which I think is a very different beast. Raidah’s every other statement is basically snobbery against everyone else. Its entirely okay to dislike characters who exist to basically be the Rich Mean GalTM.
King Daniel
Raidah called Joyce “MAGA-ass”, so I’d definitely say that the fundamentalist Christianity is part of it—consider that Raidah herself is Muslim.
Wraithy2773
The context should also be kept in mind: Raidah called Joyce “MAGA-ass” when Jacob was breaking up with her because Joyce had managed to drive enough of a wedge in their relationship that he knew that he was being unfaithful and needed to do right by Raidah.
I think she’s allowed to be a bit pissy in that circumstance.
Thag Simmons
I think it’s fair to say that a Muslim woman might have reasons to dislike someone she perceives as an evangelical christian conservative that go beyond typical mean girl shit. Especially if that person successfully sabotaged a previous romantic relationship.
C.T. Phipps
I’m inclined to think she mostly hates Joyce because she’s of a perceived lower social class. Raidah being the Draco Malfoy to Joyce’s Weasley.
not someone else
That’s a really interesting comparison given the books are British; the Weasleys are in the same social class as the Malfoys, explicitly. The Malfoys think they’re better than the Weasleys because of politics and racism primarily, though making fun of them for being on hard times is a thing.
Wraithy2773
Nah, Raidah doesn’t hate Joyce for being a perceived lower social class.
She pities her for it. Her attitude towards Joyce before Jacob broke things off was never hatred, it was bemused condescension, after all, she had no issue being around and trading snipes with Joyce, because she felt that there was nothing Joyce could do to keep up.
That changed.
Wraithy2773
(for the record: this is absolutely a way that Raidah’s an asshole. She’s an asshole in a lot of ways, but people tend to see her being in asshole in all the ways, and that’s… rarely been supported by the comic)
thejeff
@WRaithy2773: She had no issue being around Joyce and trading snipes because that was defending her territory. All of it aimed at putting Joyce down to limit the risk of losing Jacob to her. She played it off as if Joyce couldn’t keep up, but she was worried.
AlexaSpuds
Raidah deserves all the bad things, she shouldn’t have been an asshole to Dina
DailyBrad
I dunno, not much passive about “you look like shit”.
ValdVin
Add another vote for taking the passive out of passive aggressive.
Also, does Joyce look like shit? I know there’s been a thing or two going on, but really?
thejeff
Not in their context, since Raidah isn’t remotely sympathetic, but Joyce is obviously sick, so the “you look like shit” isn’t coming out of nowhere or even necessarily hostile. Except it’s Raidah, so it is hostile.
V
She might have valid reasons, but saying someone looks like shit isn’t passive aggressive, it’s just normal aggressive
Wraithy2773
I think its more the “Joyce looks like shit” situation right now that she’s talking about. Raidah’s no doubt holding a hell of a grudge against her, for entirely understandable reasons, hence the half-hearted way she said it.
Thag Simmons
Well she’s also implying that ‘being a cartoonist’ is a medical condition that requires treatment, but yes, mainly building on the fact that Joyce very obviously should talk to a doctor about this.
Clif
Wait. Are you trying to imply that being a cartoonist isn’t a medical condition that requires treatment?
Bryy
She views comics as something that you shouldn’t concern yourself with. Like, having known people like Raidah, they legitimately see “child activities” as a sign of mental illness.
The Wellerman
? ? ?
I ought to send my parasite spores straight into that insolent, repugnant brain of hers.
Too bad I’m lazy.
Limons
Remember that Raidah is kind of a classist, so for someone like her , being a comic artist must be some of the lowest of the low.
The Wellerman
Do you wanna think about something other than what a dick Raidah is being? ?
Do you wanna win a free HD art commission that’s as erotic as you want it to be? ?
Do you want to just help me make a DOA game anyway?
If you or anyone you know has experience in modding 3D models in Blender, don’t hesitate to reply!!! If you could help me this way, I’d be SO GRATEFUL!!!
Sirksome
I don’t know what to say here honestly. I don’t want to hate Raidah but she is not aging well.
C.T. Phipps
Serious question: Why don’t you want to hate Raidah?
Yotomoe
I know you didn’t ask me but personally I don’t like hating people. I don’t derive pleasure from it. I derive displeasure from it. If I can help it I’d prefer to not hate anyone, fictional or not.
The Wellerman
Well if you have hatred anyway, at least you can turn it into something. Like turning lemons into lemonade!
It’s what Willis does with hate-reading 9CL.
King Daniel
I don’t know what some people get out of hate-reading, myself. I just find it emotionally draining.
Regalli
There are certain kinds of badness that are deeply entertaining, and also sort of mesmerizing, in their badness – if I watch Riverdale I’m not expecting it to be a GOOD show, but I am expecting whatever absolute bullshit the writers have come up with this season to be so completely OUT THERE I walk away feeling like this was a solid use of my time. (I don’t actually watch Riverdale. But I AM watching Birdie Wing: Golf Girls Story this season, and it is definitely the kind of show you start watching on a whim and then cannot look away from because the Golf Crime Syndicate ISN’T the most ridiculous thing here, somehow.)
And sometimes it’s an elaborate form of self-harm and obsession.
I could not tell you which one 9 Chickweed Lane is for myself, much less Willis.
BarerMender
I had to look up “hate reading.” And I agree: why bother. Go do something that feels good. Read a book.
khn0
you can learn from what you hate. Notably what not to do, and how not to do it unwillingly.
Raven
You realize that the term hate reading is often talking about books, right?
Raven
I hate-read out of a sense of morbid curiosity to see how bad it gets and a feeling of obligation that I have to give a book a fair chance before giving it a bad goodreads review.
Devious Smile
I imagine Hate-reading is entertaining for the same kind of people who love to watch Bojack Horseman and find it entertaining. or similiar shows that just show suffering ,small bits of hope that get squashed and than alot more Suffering.
RedCat
Raidah’s not a person, tho, she’s a character. I’m perfectly fine hating Raidah in the same way I hate Sasuke from Naruto, except less. He is the worst, and will always be the worst.
Sirksome
I don’t think she’s a terrible person. I used to enjoy disliking her, but a lot of the comment section has slowly changed my mind on her. Joyce and Sarah have done their share of dirt against her completely sabotaging her relationship with Jacob. That’s not right. I don’t know how invested in Jacob she was and maybe them splitting was ultimately for the best, but it was still an effed up thing to do.
Some of the commenters seem to side with Raidah, saying that she’s justified and even a victim of Joyce and Sarah and maybe that’s true, but then she says stuff like this and it makes me question everything, but much like my former Walky hate, I don’t like trashing on characters people enjoy.
Thag Simmons
I think literally everyone agrees that Raidah is an asshole, even the people who defend her. Hell, Raidah probably agrees.
DailyBrad
Right, she’s perfectly aware she’s a Girl Boss, to grab a meme-y way of putting it.
zee
She is a girlboss
She is gate keeping
She is slay queening
She is doing it in the name of Allah of course
But she is doing girlboss shit
not someone else
Kinda fun to go back and read the comments and listen to all the terrible things some people thought Raidah was going to do in response to the breakup.
Clif
Cut her some slack. It hasn’t been an entire semester yet.
Regalli
She was definitely the wronged party in the Jacob issue.
Given the going out of her way to harass Sarah, she was definitely in the wrong there. (Even if she has concrete evidence Dana being sent home was actively harmful to Dana – and I don’t think she does – the way you make sure your ex-friend knows she fucked up is NOT ‘harass her in the cafeteria like a petty middle schooler repeatedly, nine months later, with maybe one veiled comment about the actual issue.’)
There’s also clearly some elitism Raidah’s got going on (yesterday’s strip in particular… there’s a reason I skipped entirely, though not unexpected given her reactions to Harrison and hearing Joyce wanted to be a teacher,) and some casual ableism though much of the cast also deals with that. Regardless of all other conflicts, a lot to unpack there.
But Raidah’s also like, nineteen or twenty. If prompted, I think she’s just as capable of growth as anyone else in the cast… though I don’t give her great odds at the moment, when she thinks she’s so much more mature than most freshmen for being a whole year older. Unlike Jennifer, I’m not AS certain it’s about to come crashing down on Raidah prompting some self-reflection. (Mainly because to our knowledge, Raidah’s not dating a mobster’s grandkid and doesn’t have a pattern of reinvention to avoid her problems.) But seeing that disaster whenever it DOES go down might make Raidah question herself as well, since Jennifer and Asher seemed so put-together. Or maybe not. Who knows.
BarerMender
I don’t have much sympathy for Raidah in the Jacob situation. She latched onto him for purposes of social climbing and didn’t give one furry rat’s ass about him as a person.
Regalli
Eh, while yesterday’s comic was suggestive, we didn’t see enough of their relationship for me to say conclusively she didn’t care AT ALL about Jacob beyond status and competition with Joyce. We got VERY brief glimpses, and they were dating for like a month.
But also, just because you’re dating someone for The Wrong Reasons doesn’t mean other people are justified in knowingly trying to break your relationship up to get back at you because they dislike you personally (Sarah) or do things like, I dunno. Lie to your datefriend’s older brother that THEY are dating them out of jealousy and also somewhat furthering the previous revenge plan (Joyce.) Jacob is not The Bachelor, thank god, and Joyce’s decisionmaking there was just… profoundly terrible. Which to her credit I think she realized pretty quickly.
Clif
You could make an argument that Raidah was the wronged party, but if so she was wronged by Jacob, not Joyce or Sarah. People can agree to belong to each other, we call it marriage. Beyond that, people are not possessions. People can have understandings and violating such an understanding can be wrong. Making a move on someone a friend has feelings for is being a bad friend. Joyce and Raidah were never friends. You can’t steal what isn’t owned. Joyce may have done a number of things that were wrong, but flirting with Jacob wasn’t one of them. If Raidah goes after Walky, Lucy has every reason to be unhappy about it, but it isn’t wrong. To quote an old saying, all is fair in love or war.
Jacob did not belong to Raidah. Walky does not belong to Lucy.
Agemegos
There is much in what you say.
thejeff
Yeah, we went through this a whole bunch of times during that arc and I eventually accepted that there’s just a fundamental gap in understanding here that neither side can bridge.
I do believe that trying to break up a couple in order to get one of them for yourself is wrong. That has nothing to do with ownership or people being possessions.
Clif
If you believe that the one you are trying to “get” will be happier and you don’t consider it a form of theft, then on what basis do you consider it wrong. From whence comes the wrongness?
Andy
It’s massively disrespectful to both people in the relationship. It’s disrespectful to the person you want to be with, because you’re essentially making the point that they chose wrongly and should have chosen better. It’s disrespectful to their partner because you are disregarding their feelings and trying to make the object of your affection do something that will hurt them.