Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
Far to the North
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Kelu turns to the monsters of her remote mountain home when her family is held hostage by outsiders.
Between Failures
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The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
Patrik the Vampire
Bree Paulsen
Patrik loves to knit, bake, and help his friends while dealing with his own demons... like his thirst for blood because, oh yeah--he's a vampire.
Fairmeadow
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A wayward soldier finds herself in a pacifist commune deep in the wilderness of a war-weary land. Living in isolation brings her closer to those she was sworn to kill than she could ever imagine - but also threatens to tear the place apart.
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
Demon Studies
Miyuli
Four students summon and study potentially dangerous demons within the walls of the mysterious Summerland University.
Empowered
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A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Killjoys
Flatw00ds
When two disgraced ex-feds fall backwards into trouble with the clown mafia, getting out in one piece is gonna be no joke!
Tove
Severin
The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Drugs & Wires
Mary Safro, Io Black
Dan used to be a VR operator until his brain got fried by malware. Now he's stuck delivering packages in a post-Soviet hellhole all while trying to adjust to his new life and find some answers.
Cyanide & Happiness
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Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Dumbing of Age
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Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Nerf Now!!
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A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
[un]Divine
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A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
Anacrine Complex
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A superhuman heist involving probably too many pigeons than entirely necessary.
Knights Errant
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Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
Hazy London
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A story about messy relationships. From friendly foes to crazy families. Nothing is black and white, just full of color. But, all colors can get a little hazy...
Heart of Gold
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A pianist with failing eyesight seeks out a priest with a miraculous healing touch, drawing him deeper into a world of miracles and curses.
El Goonish Shive
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WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Lunar Blight
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Lunar Blight is a gothic horror story about an elite knight serving a moon cult who must choose between upholding his honoured duty or condemning everything he’s grown to know.
Star Trip
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Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
Solstoria
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The Witch Door
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Katariina Lehto discovers her neighbor is a witch called Jousia Muotka. Jousia introduces Katariina to the strange people and places beyond the witch door...
Clockwork
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Cog Kleinschmidt is a diligent, quiet worker at the Mercia Fortress, the world power's leading stronghold. His orderly life is thrown into chaos when an enemy kingdom sends a diplomat for peace talks. This diplomat needs something from Cog - whether he agrees to their terms or not!
The Otherknown
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Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
Folklore
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A superhuman horror story focused on a small band of survivors trying to navigate a war-torn world in the aftermath of the Federation’s collapse.
Real Science Adventures
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Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Sam & Fuzzy
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The Lonely Vincent Bellingham
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Demon's Mirror
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Wilde Life
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Goblins
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Whomp!
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A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
How to be a Werewolf
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Malaya Walters was bitten by a werewolf as a child. After being raised by her human family, she faces the chance to learn what being a werewolf is really like as an adult.
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We have yet to see her touch alcohol at all post time skip and this flashback confirms she’s been committing to staying sober. I don’t see why she’d need to lie to Raidah about it here when she barely knows her. Regardless of what she’s doing in her social life staying sober is a positive improvement for Jennifer.
I don’t, really. My mom’s actually pretty good, and she taught me a little. I picked up the rest from watching Japanese movies with subtitles over and over. Practiced a lot to have something in common with family and to be able to handle basic communication for work.
What I’d recommend would be just putting a little Japanese-language music on in the background while you work or study, and let your subconscious absorb it osmotically. Best way to train your ear to recognize words and patterns.
there are also LPs of ‘simple’ games like stardew valley and such that some Japanese commentators have a chill playthrough over and repeat some of teh same words so that helps a bit depending on how familiar you are with the original games, music def helps though
I do find it strange that in 2022 Jen thinks Star Wars one of the biggest franchises in the world is somehow nerd shit to be embarrassed about. Like you can’t consume 90% of media without inevitably seeing some sort of Star Wars related ad or something.
It’s got swordfights, wizards, lasers and spaceships. That’s like, all the nerdy things at once. Being the 5th most lucrative (Lukerative?) media franchise in the world can’t undo that. Especially when you consider the 1st biggest is Pokemon.
“No one hates star wars more than star wars fans” tho i guess billie still has the ‘head cheerleader’ mentality so she wouldn’t want anything associated with even ‘mainstream’ nerd culture
I think its because, while its normal to be a casual fan of Star Wars…
…that mostly applies to the high profile stuff. For a college student, that’s the movies and the Mandalorian only, basically. Maybe Jedi Fallen Order, that’s Madden enough for a casual sort to have gone for.
But she knows (and is a fangirl of) Kit Fisto. He’s a great character, but he’s an occasionally recurring supporting character from a long-over (even back when he was first mentioned in DoA) cartoon show.
She’s basically being incredibly self-conscious about her nerd stuff, to the point of overreacting to it.d
But how would differentiate a flaw from a quirk? Joyce’s triangle smile is a quirk, meeting the FockersBillingsworths is a flaw, and a Jedi turning into a Sith is a… plot point.
As much as Raidah is only using Jennifer to her own ends (whatever those might be, but you can be sure it’s anti-Sarah/Joyce) … if she is the catalyst that makes Jennifer realize she doesn’t HAVE to always to choose the unhealthy relationships, I can handle that.
Her and Joyce seem to have a good friendship, Not much has changed with Walky at her core, her and Sal are Cool, as for everbody else there wasn’t much of a relationship there because she spent the rest of her time with Ruth and we all know how that went.
Also I feel some dishonesty here with Raidah that’s unless all she did with Dana was smoke reefer.
Also also I wonder how specifically she was able to call out her wearing Star Wars clothes with out her with a light-saber, unless she actually has a real clue about basic Jedi attire.
Is it confirmed anywhere that Raidah actually did smoke with Dana? Or did Raidah just tolerate Dana’s smoking, or did Dana smoke when she wasn’t with Raidah?
Yeah but the robes alone probably could match some other series I always thought the lightsaber was the dead give away on what is or isn’t a Star Wars Gimmick.
First, I don’t think Raidah’s ever so much as indicated that she smokes weed.
Second, the hell does it matter if she is? The subject was about drinking. Its not dishonest to not mention any other things one might or might not partake in. Marijuana is, shockingly enough, a different thing from alcohol. It has its own pros and cons, and there’s a lot of valid arguments that if either of them should be illegal, it should be alcohol, not pot.
Hell, she’s not even being smug about it. Billie’s the one talking about wanting to maintain the moral high ground in the morning.
There’s plenty of reasons to sneer at Raidah, we don’t need to invent stuff to add to the list.
I will admit between weed and booze alcohol is definitely more lethal than the two, but as it still stands one is still more legally accessible than the other and if by chance she did have any weed I don’t see why she would find alcohol consumption more shameful.
That aside it’s a lot less about sneering at her for possible concealed habits and more about Dana. It’s hard for me to gage Raidah lately, when this started her grudge with Sarah because she felt like she betrayed someone she had a genuine friendship with but now a days her relationships seem kind of transactional.
It makes me wonder things like “What kind of friendship did they really have, Did Raidah change at all, Is she just pretending like she was never into that stuff because she for no reason really wants to pretend to be a grown up?” I don’t know and I guess I’m going to haft to re-read some earlier chapters if it’s so unsure that she was had any of that stuff.
I don’t actually see these as evil decisions. Harassing Sarah was mean and vindictive, but having a transactional view when choosing one’s friends and relationships— that’s very common in the legal community.
“having a transactional view when choosing one’s friends and relationships— that’s very common in the legal community.”
Just wait until these people find out why Dorothy’s university of choice is Yale, cos it sure as hell is not the curriculum. Though, honestly, there’s a good chance that even Dorothy doesn’t realise WHY going to Yale is a boon to a political career.
We’re sneering at both of them. But we ALWAYS sneer at Raidah. We’re sneering at Billie because we have a complicated relationship with Billie and we do not like Jennifer.
I definitely like Jennifer more than I like Billie, the girl who got so extremely drunk behind a wheel that she almost killed people and then kept drinking.
She didn’t really ghost anyone. She was busy with new people and personal issues and Walky took it personally. No one else in the friend group seemed to care much about Jennifer’s presence because she’s not super involved with them to begin with. She’s a friend but was always kind of on the edges of the group. Joyce and Walky were the ones she hung out with most and Walky regularly prioritized his gf at the time over Jen. Sal was her roommate/pseudo step sis but they never really hangout together and Jen still showed up to her roller derby post time skip. A lot of her time was spent with Ruth who regularly was with the group because their drama often called upon her RA responsibilities which brought Billie in. Without the Ruth dating connection that no longer happens.
That’s a hard call, since it was over the timeskip.
Walky comments when arriving back on campus about Jennifer being “elusive”. It’s really not clear how much that is him overreacting and how much is an actual change by Jennifer.
I’m sure it’s a change by Jennifer but I don’t think she was purposefully avoiding people as much as she didn’t have a very strong connection to begin with. It’s pretty natural not to be in regular contact with school friends over breaks unless you’re very close which Jennifer wasn’t really with anyone other than Sal and Walky. She even said she wasn’t avoiding Walky and didn’t hate him but was just busy. My guess was she was busy with Asher, hanging with a new love can be distracting.
Though a new love interet can be distracting the time where walky tried to talk with her made it sound like she really was trying to avoid all the people from her old social circle to start a new self image and she really didn’t want to hang out with him.
I get the impression Radiah wording it like she has on unhealthy relationship with everybody (when really it’s one person) is her manipulating jennifer out of the social circle. Seems to be a pattern, try to befriend someone Sarah knows while dropping hints that they should not interact with her anymore.
She could have been picking up on Billie’s talking about “why I bother with any of those nerds,” or being at a party hosted by someone who didn’t really “do” friendship. Billie’s antipathy in tone toward everyone at the party may have been what Raidah was referring to as “unhealthy”.
Plus there was surely gossip about Billie’s former alcoholism and DUI accident (which also involved another new IU student), Billie’s relationship with Ruth, Ruth’s hospitalization, and Billie’s having to move to another dorm. So Raidah may be referring to all that drama/mess and be suggesting that Billie might like a fresh start. Mama-bird style, Raidah swooping in to position herself as the rescuer.
Raidah strikes me as someone who would keep tabs on gossip to seek every advantage.
Again — not calling her evil. Manipulative, scheming, ambitious, sure. Self-centered, Always looking out for number 1, sure.
But these are qualities that are celebrated in USA capitalist culture, and especially in the legal profession. She’s doing what it takes to meet her goals by playing the game as it’s been presented to her. Seeking every advantage is part of what defines success in the competitive legal field.
Billie didn’t really have much of a relationship with anyone else that we could see, though, did she? She’s had punctual contacts with others, but not counting Ruth, Walky, and Sal (whom she tooms with), I’d struggle to qualify her interactions with anyone else as a relationship.
I’m honestly starting to wonder if she’s more angry about Ruth being the one to break up with her, like she hates the implication that Ruth knew better then her.
Stronger in the person she’s talking to. Billie was worse at the beginning of this comic. Raidah, like the large amount of people IRL like her, just got better at hiding it.
I think Raidah’s mentioned that she’s Muslim,* so I wouldn’t assume she’s lying (couldn’t decide who to reply this to)
* when Jacob and Joyce are talking and she says something like “trust me, I know a lot more about your religion than you know about mine”
** not that all Muslims have the exact same beliefs on alcohol or follow those beliefs perfectly
Can’t tell if “healthy” as applied to interpersonal relationships is supposed to mean “this feels like it works for you and is sustainable and by your most lucid standards of harm you’re not being harmed” or “a person with a healthy relationships infographic from pinterest could look at your relationship and check off all the green boxes and none of the red ones (regardless of what the people in the relationship think, want, or feel)”. Also can’t tell if the problem here is supposed to be that Billie is saying that everything’s fine because she’s okay with it while clearly not actually being okay with it, or if the problem is the idea that you can meaningfully consent to being Problematic™.
In real life not all stories about crazy people thinking they don’t have to live like sane people end with the poor dears realizing they should’ve listened to their betters about the one right way to be a human being.
I would probably try to avoid someone telling me something like what Billie is saying here. Raidah instead stays and listens to her. She probably thinks Billie is a mess, but standing next to her and listening to her is a good thing.
Can’t help but notice Radiah still isn’t acknowledging that Sarah has given an apology and that she accepted…and is now implying that puching is a common trait of Sarah’s which it isn’t. Really hope she eventually gets called out on this, when you accept an apology from somebody there’s an expectation your not going to continue trash talking them behind their back as through they never apologized to begin with.
I don’t know about that. Sarah is pretty handy with her bat. And there’s nothing wrong with acknowledging that something violent happened, and that one chooses friendships where physical violence is unlikely. (Billie’s pretty punchy too, come to think of it, though.) I don’t see that as trash talk.
Reminder that Raidah’s introduction was to taunt Sarah and tell her she hopes Sarah chokes on her lunch when Sarah was minding her own business eating.
Sarah’s use of said bat was in response to her friend almost getting raped, I don’t normally condone violence but I strongly believe Sarah should get a pass on that. Violence is not normal for Sarah like it is for Amber, Ruth or even Sal so implying that she is normally punchy is frankly dishonest of Radiah. Sarah will normally avoid confrontation. Again my main issue is Radiah going along with the implication that she hasn’t already been apologized to and accepted said apology for getting punched, if she’s going to act like that then she should atleast tell Sarah she doesn’t really accept her apology.
but but but Sarah hit a person which is the worst thing you can ever do though wait hold on are you bringing context into this how dare you I will now subtly accuse you of several layers of bigotry in a way that lets me deny it if I’m called out
I’m happy to agree to disagree on this point, but I do recognize where you’re coming from.
(I think that as the punchee, Raidah gets a lifetime pass on being allowed to talk about it, especially after someone else who was there, like Billie, brings it up first. I’ve been hit before, and even though the hitter apologized and I accepted the apology, I still get to talk about it, and I still get to choose to spend my time with other people. Once is enough: I don’t have to give second chances for hitting.)
That’s just me, though. Different opinions are totally valid, too.
And I do appreciate you for sharing your opinion.
Understood and sorry to hear that happend to you. Just to clarify, its not that I think accepting an apology means never discussing the incident that was apologized for, but Radiah leaving mutual friends and acquaintances like Jason with the impression that they too should avoid Sarah because she hasnt changed her behavior is what doesn’t sit right with me.
Thank you, Archieve. I appreciate you for saying that. And I am grateful for the clarification too — what you are saying makes a lot of sense. Thank you for sharing that important perspective.
I don’t really mean to be defending Raidah all the time. I just get a little nervous when I hear people (not you) talking about “f*** her” and how she deserves to be punched, and calling her literal Satan. That’s when my “never OK to hit” defenses come out. Just the demonization of someone who’s already marginalized. Again, not you — just how the comments the past few days have been making my hair stand up.
I just realised that present-day Jennifer is much more comfortable in Raidah’s group than she ever was with the main cast. Everyone else who learned about her love for Star Wars pretty much had to crowbar it out of her, but she’s apparently so vocal about it around Raidah, Carl, and Asher that she brings Kit Fisto into the conversation multiple times.
United States Gay Squad? All I know is, I highlighted (highlit?) the coordinates and, without changing a single thing, hit “search”, and it sent me to a Google Maps view of a park with no distinguishing landmarks.
Well, the average elevation in Moral, IN is 794 ft. There’s got to be way to overstretch this already pretty thin joke into something witty about the Moral high ground and some high horse conveniently cavorting in the park nearby, maybe.
And i’m pretty sure “highlighted” is way more common, and the reason is because “to highlight” is not derived from the verb “to light”, but from… wait, the noun “highlight”? I think? Too tired for ngrams and online dictuonaries at present
thinking about how mario's head has stayed the exact same size his entire life, while princess peach's head has shrunk on its way into adulthood
David M Willis!@damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 8h
do you think Mario, Luigi, and the Princesses have, like, existential crises about the baby versions of themselves also just casually being next to them in all the races
like I would be having ego death right now, not leaping triumphantly
do you think Mario, Luigi, and the Princesses have, like, existential crises about the baby versions of themselves also just casually being next to them in all the races
like I would be having ego death right now, not leaping triumphantly
For July's first bonus strip, folks voted for DEXTER and MONKEY MASTER! For world domination! Read this bonus strip and hundreds of previous at the Dumbing of Age Patreon:
www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-...
and remember you can always pledge up to read tomorrow's strip
Good news for the people still circulating this post: it is now a real t-shirt you can purchase and wear to let the world know you take responsibility for the actions of fictional characters:
The Emotion Engine@emotion-engine.bsky.social ⋅ 9d
Normally I’d let this sort of thing just die out but an alarming amount of you have asked where you can buy this and my wife had to have an emergency surgery the day before I made this, so here is my chance to live the American Dream (selling print-on-demand shirts to pay down medical debt)
The Emotion Engine@emotion-engine.bsky.social ⋅ 13d
Working on a t-shirt to sell to the weird people that show up in your mentions every time you talk about enjoying something that has crime or impure thought in it.
Someone leaked the entire unreleased Micronauts animated series to archive.org
All 52 episodes
Yes they FULLY FINISHED a Micronauts cartoon in the early 2020s and mothballed it
Vangelus@vangelus.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
tested ep1 of Micronauts, skipped to the credits so I could see every name of every crew member who put in so much work with the expectation that anybody would ever see the thing they did as part of their vocation in a creative field, working in service of what should be a reliable client & partner
tested ep1 of Micronauts, skipped to the credits so I could see every name of every crew member who put in so much work with the expectation that anybody would ever see the thing they did as part of their vocation in a creative field, working in service of what should be a reliable client & partner
admittedly, i might be arriving at a little annoyance on behalf of anyone responded to ever with "WELL it's not called SMARTING of age" because that's become a lot, i think the fork might be in that one, it's done
today in #9chickweedlane i learned that "how to lie" is not, actually, achieved by cupping the balls, despite the evidence of the entirety of the first panel, but by some other giant pile of words i guess, tl;dr
“It’s not me who’s a bigot,” they always argue. “I’m fine with all you people. But the rest of the electorate is full of bigots, on whose behalf I will now speak”
The two greatest evils known to mankind, A.I. and the person directly in front of you in line at the post office, have finally teamed up. We’re done.
Frances “Poet Laureate of the Robot Alliance” Klein@fklein907.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Woman in line in front of me at the post office is not happy about the cost of shipping. She just whipped out her phone, asked ChatGPT how much it thinks the shipping should cost, and is trying to get the mailman to honor that price.
OK democrats shutting down congress by attaching Epstein amendments to everything is pretty funny
Aaron Fritschner@fritschner.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Politico & Punchbowl report House Republican leadership is shutting down the Rules Committee - which is essential for moving party-line bills on the floor - for the week rather than vote on Democratic amendments on the Epstein files.
Dems have effectively halted Republican legislation in the House:
Josh Johnson is brilliant and I’m happy for him and wish him the world
Josh Johnson@joshjohnsoncomedy.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
This week, I’m hosting The Daily Show Tuesday through Thursday.
It’s my first time hosting anything on TV. Ever.
I’ve spent years writing behind the scenes, learning from truly great and talented people. Now, for three nights, I get to sit at the desk and do it myself.
Was it? Dang, I’m too used to minimum Danny-level cosplay to recognise stuff like Walky’s D=
(was thinking Rey after the Kylo Ren crack, but then I remembered there’s a Rey figure on my shelf and I guess not)
Did not follow comment. Would read again.
I think Walky was going as Head Master, not Darth Vader lol
Monkey Master?
Jennifer: I don’t drink, and know nothing about Star Wars.
Jennifer (six drinks later): And thatsh reason fo-five why me an’ Kit Fisto are gon’ get marieeeeed and make fifty Jedi babiesh!
Having a crush on Kit Fisto honestly sounds like the least controversial nerd crush ever. Have you ever seen that guy smile?
You don’t hook up with a guy named “Kit Fisto” for his smile.
He does have a pretty great smile
the things he can do with his head tentacles man. *chefs kiss*
I’m just hoping that the Star Wars franchise lasts long enough for Kit Fisto to get his own show.
Hey, it worked for Boba Fett.
It’s not about Star Wars enduring, it’s about living long enough to see it.
Well, then. I wasn’t planning on dieing, so it’s all good.
I mean, I haven’t died for the last 73 years now, so I figure the odds have got to be in my favor.
I checked last century too, and i also did not die then.
I’m really happy for Jen sticking to her sobriety. Good for her.
Hmm.. given the other lies she’s prone to, and how long she’ll hold onto them, I wouldn’t trust her own testimony here. (see last panel for citation)
We have yet to see her touch alcohol at all post time skip and this flashback confirms she’s been committing to staying sober. I don’t see why she’d need to lie to Raidah about it here when she barely knows her. Regardless of what she’s doing in her social life staying sober is a positive improvement for Jennifer.
As much as I would love to dunk on Billy / Raidah, I really need my spoons for coding the interview project tonight, sorry :/
Good luck! *Thumbs Up*
Ganbatte!
焦らずに頑張ってね。
Thanks!!!! Hey I didn’t know you knew Japanese!
Such a coincidence too, I’m studying the AI of Pac Man to help me with my project!
I don’t, really. My mom’s actually pretty good, and she taught me a little. I picked up the rest from watching Japanese movies with subtitles over and over. Practiced a lot to have something in common with family and to be able to handle basic communication for work.
Awe sweet! I can’t wait until I get the time and spoons to learn Japanese — Pokemon movies with subs are a MUST!
What I’d recommend would be just putting a little Japanese-language music on in the background while you work or study, and let your subconscious absorb it osmotically. Best way to train your ear to recognize words and patterns.
Sounds like good pre-training, and something I’ve already been doing for quite a while now! Thanks!
there are also LPs of ‘simple’ games like stardew valley and such that some Japanese commentators have a chill playthrough over and repeat some of teh same words so that helps a bit depending on how familiar you are with the original games, music def helps though
Cool, thanks, anon!
Ooof.
Jennifer will deny Kit Fisto three times before the cock fistcrows.
+1 to this comment!
While it’s good Jennifer acknowledges her flaws, she’s still something of a narcissist.
She is totally a narcissist, that’s literally how she’s written.
Here she’s only “acknowledging her flaws” here as yet another 4 dimensional chess move to get the upper hand and make it look like SHE’S in control.
Ding ding ding! Nailed it.
And so she could throw in that nobody but herself is as self enlightened about their flaws.
She is so unbelievably humble, you guys.
Sorry, no Muzak help tonight. I overdid the grunge because somebody left a mix disk in my car.
*Plays “Star Wars Battle Music Mix” on the hacked Muzak:*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWkm2jSGVhM
An hour-plus of that stuff? TL:DL. (too long, didn’t listen)
Listening as we speak. Er, as I type.
Plays “Lovefool” by the Cardigans on the hacked Muzak.
Love-me-love-me-say-that-you-love-me
Ah, much better!
I’m starting to believe that ‘hacked muzack’ is kind of a meme here, because I didn’t find it on Google.
It has been for several years!
Mr Bierce is its patron saint.
I do find it strange that in 2022 Jen thinks Star Wars one of the biggest franchises in the world is somehow nerd shit to be embarrassed about. Like you can’t consume 90% of media without inevitably seeing some sort of Star Wars related ad or something.
I mean, she has also called it mainstream and therefore not nerdy to be into.
She has cake, and she also eats it. And also points out that you can’t have it and that it’s a lie.
Which is also another “nerd” reference she will vehemently deny understanding.
Also, Raidah recognized it.
It’s got swordfights, wizards, lasers and spaceships. That’s like, all the nerdy things at once. Being the 5th most lucrative (Lukerative?) media franchise in the world can’t undo that. Especially when you consider the 1st biggest is Pokemon.
“No one hates star wars more than star wars fans” tho i guess billie still has the ‘head cheerleader’ mentality so she wouldn’t want anything associated with even ‘mainstream’ nerd culture
I get the feeling Jennifer thinks she’s literally in a high school comedy movie or something, with nerds, jocks and what not.
She’s still clinging to the whole head cheerleader thing and can’t seem to fathom that you can both be a (former) cheerleader and be into Star Wars.
no… that’s not true… that’s imPOSSible!
Why can’t this board have upvotes? I want to upvote this X-D
Star Wars by itself isn’t nerdy. The depth she knows? Nerdy.
I think its because, while its normal to be a casual fan of Star Wars…
…that mostly applies to the high profile stuff. For a college student, that’s the movies and the Mandalorian only, basically. Maybe Jedi Fallen Order, that’s Madden enough for a casual sort to have gone for.
But she knows (and is a fangirl of) Kit Fisto. He’s a great character, but he’s an occasionally recurring supporting character from a long-over (even back when he was first mentioned in DoA) cartoon show.
She’s basically being incredibly self-conscious about her nerd stuff, to the point of overreacting to it.d
I do have a young colleague who didn’t know who Luke’s father was.
They didn’t know about the Queen’s complicated relationship with Ben?
Suuuuuuure…
But how would differentiate a flaw from a quirk? Joyce’s triangle smile is a quirk, meeting the
FockersBillingsworths is a flaw, and a Jedi turning into a Sith is a… plot point.How is the close-up of Joyce plus a mask more unnerving than the triangle smile? How did you do this?
Is it possible to learn this power?
The arting is strong in this one.
As much as Raidah is only using Jennifer to her own ends (whatever those might be, but you can be sure it’s anti-Sarah/Joyce) … if she is the catalyst that makes Jennifer realize she doesn’t HAVE to always to choose the unhealthy relationships, I can handle that.
I kind of feel like realizing she doesn’t have to always choose unhealthy relationships, but still choosing them, is actually worse. Ya know?
Being unaware that one’s behavior is unhealthy is a blind spot. Being aware of it and doing it anyway is a compulsion or addiction.
What about deeply denying your behavior while you’re in the middle of doing it?
That’s just normal human.
Do or do not, there is no cry
Her and Joyce seem to have a good friendship, Not much has changed with Walky at her core, her and Sal are Cool, as for everbody else there wasn’t much of a relationship there because she spent the rest of her time with Ruth and we all know how that went.
Also I feel some dishonesty here with Raidah that’s unless all she did with Dana was smoke reefer.
Also also I wonder how specifically she was able to call out her wearing Star Wars clothes with out her with a light-saber, unless she actually has a real clue about basic Jedi attire.
I mean, the classic Jedi attire isn’t that hard to recognise and Star Wars isn’t exactly a niche franchise.
As far as the close go it’s definitely not Niche but it’s also no trademarked without the Saber, but that’s only how I see it.
Is it confirmed anywhere that Raidah actually did smoke with Dana? Or did Raidah just tolerate Dana’s smoking, or did Dana smoke when she wasn’t with Raidah?
Star Wars is so ingrained into mainstream media now it would be weirder if Raidah didn’t recognize it.
Yeah but the robes alone probably could match some other series I always thought the lightsaber was the dead give away on what is or isn’t a Star Wars Gimmick.
True actually. Not a deep cut but she’d have to at least be familiar. Who knows what Raidah is savvy to?
First, I don’t think Raidah’s ever so much as indicated that she smokes weed.
Second, the hell does it matter if she is? The subject was about drinking. Its not dishonest to not mention any other things one might or might not partake in. Marijuana is, shockingly enough, a different thing from alcohol. It has its own pros and cons, and there’s a lot of valid arguments that if either of them should be illegal, it should be alcohol, not pot.
Hell, she’s not even being smug about it. Billie’s the one talking about wanting to maintain the moral high ground in the morning.
There’s plenty of reasons to sneer at Raidah, we don’t need to invent stuff to add to the list.
I will admit between weed and booze alcohol is definitely more lethal than the two, but as it still stands one is still more legally accessible than the other and if by chance she did have any weed I don’t see why she would find alcohol consumption more shameful.
That aside it’s a lot less about sneering at her for possible concealed habits and more about Dana. It’s hard for me to gage Raidah lately, when this started her grudge with Sarah because she felt like she betrayed someone she had a genuine friendship with but now a days her relationships seem kind of transactional.
It makes me wonder things like “What kind of friendship did they really have, Did Raidah change at all, Is she just pretending like she was never into that stuff because she for no reason really wants to pretend to be a grown up?” I don’t know and I guess I’m going to haft to re-read some earlier chapters if it’s so unsure that she was had any of that stuff.
Raidah’s sobriety is probably less about shame and more about her being Muslim and/or an underage law student.
Probably more the former than the latter. >_>
Dana’s father ran a law firm. Dana was an important friend for Raidah to cultivate as part of her career plans.
Just as Jacob was an important boyfriend for Raidah to have because of his famous lawyer brother.
I don’t actually see these as evil decisions. Harassing Sarah was mean and vindictive, but having a transactional view when choosing one’s friends and relationships— that’s very common in the legal community.
Actually, I wonder how much of the harassing Sarah is performative, too, and if so, for whom is she performing.
“having a transactional view when choosing one’s friends and relationships— that’s very common in the legal community.”
Just wait until these people find out why Dorothy’s university of choice is Yale, cos it sure as hell is not the curriculum. Though, honestly, there’s a good chance that even Dorothy doesn’t realise WHY going to Yale is a boon to a political career.
I do wonder what Dorothy’s game plan once at Yale is.
Wait. Are we sneering at Raidah? I thought we were sneering at Billie.
No one tells me anything.
We’re sneering at both of them. But we ALWAYS sneer at Raidah. We’re sneering at Billie because we have a complicated relationship with Billie and we do not like Jennifer.
I definitely like Jennifer more than I like Billie, the girl who got so extremely drunk behind a wheel that she almost killed people and then kept drinking.
Remember she basically ghosted Walky and company during the time skip.
She didn’t really ghost anyone. She was busy with new people and personal issues and Walky took it personally. No one else in the friend group seemed to care much about Jennifer’s presence because she’s not super involved with them to begin with. She’s a friend but was always kind of on the edges of the group. Joyce and Walky were the ones she hung out with most and Walky regularly prioritized his gf at the time over Jen. Sal was her roommate/pseudo step sis but they never really hangout together and Jen still showed up to her roller derby post time skip. A lot of her time was spent with Ruth who regularly was with the group because their drama often called upon her RA responsibilities which brought Billie in. Without the Ruth dating connection that no longer happens.
That’s a hard call, since it was over the timeskip.
Walky comments when arriving back on campus about Jennifer being “elusive”. It’s really not clear how much that is him overreacting and how much is an actual change by Jennifer.
I’m sure it’s a change by Jennifer but I don’t think she was purposefully avoiding people as much as she didn’t have a very strong connection to begin with. It’s pretty natural not to be in regular contact with school friends over breaks unless you’re very close which Jennifer wasn’t really with anyone other than Sal and Walky. She even said she wasn’t avoiding Walky and didn’t hate him but was just busy. My guess was she was busy with Asher, hanging with a new love can be distracting.
Though a new love interet can be distracting the time where walky tried to talk with her made it sound like she really was trying to avoid all the people from her old social circle to start a new self image and she really didn’t want to hang out with him.
I get the impression Radiah wording it like she has on unhealthy relationship with everybody (when really it’s one person) is her manipulating jennifer out of the social circle. Seems to be a pattern, try to befriend someone Sarah knows while dropping hints that they should not interact with her anymore.
She could have been picking up on Billie’s talking about “why I bother with any of those nerds,” or being at a party hosted by someone who didn’t really “do” friendship. Billie’s antipathy in tone toward everyone at the party may have been what Raidah was referring to as “unhealthy”.
Plus there was surely gossip about Billie’s former alcoholism and DUI accident (which also involved another new IU student), Billie’s relationship with Ruth, Ruth’s hospitalization, and Billie’s having to move to another dorm. So Raidah may be referring to all that drama/mess and be suggesting that Billie might like a fresh start. Mama-bird style, Raidah swooping in to position herself as the rescuer.
Raidah strikes me as someone who would keep tabs on gossip to seek every advantage.
Again — not calling her evil. Manipulative, scheming, ambitious, sure. Self-centered, Always looking out for number 1, sure.
But these are qualities that are celebrated in USA capitalist culture, and especially in the legal profession. She’s doing what it takes to meet her goals by playing the game as it’s been presented to her. Seeking every advantage is part of what defines success in the competitive legal field.
Billie is also an accomplished social climber and networker.
Billie didn’t really have much of a relationship with anyone else that we could see, though, did she? She’s had punctual contacts with others, but not counting Ruth, Walky, and Sal (whom she tooms with), I’d struggle to qualify her interactions with anyone else as a relationship.
Yeah, just Joyce, who shares a suite with her. Billie tried to take Joyce under her wing to mentor her and teach her about fitting in socially.
Jennifer couldn’t be any deeper in denial if she was up to her neck in crocodiles.
Jennifer is a pretty terrible liar, especially to herself.
I’m honestly starting to wonder if she’s more angry about Ruth being the one to break up with her, like she hates the implication that Ruth knew better then her.
Very true.
Sorry, Jenifer, but that IS your fault.
Sure you do, Jennifer. Sure you do.
I’m not sure if Billie wants people to be as miserable as her or if she is genuinely confused as to why people are different than her.
Billie has a weird idea about a lot of social interactions due to the fact that she has no non-awful frame of reference.
Pernicious little creep.
While being small is probably an advantage in a rider, the Dragon’s would never put up with Raidah.
What do you mean Pernicious doesn’t mean having to do with Pern?
Raidah would probably love Threadfall, but for some reason I think Ruth would probably thrive on Pern.
Ruth already did the whole “partner in a suicide pact” thing.
They should make out.
The Self-Delusion is strong in this one.
Stronger in the person she’s talking to. Billie was worse at the beginning of this comic. Raidah, like the large amount of people IRL like her, just got better at hiding it.
What are you referring to?
Kind of amazing when people manage to over share and also lack any vulnerability at the same time (she can’t even admit to liking star wars).
I think Raidah’s mentioned that she’s Muslim,* so I wouldn’t assume she’s lying (couldn’t decide who to reply this to)
* when Jacob and Joyce are talking and she says something like “trust me, I know a lot more about your religion than you know about mine”
** not that all Muslims have the exact same beliefs on alcohol or follow those beliefs perfectly
Raidah knows you perfectly, Billie
Can’t tell if “healthy” as applied to interpersonal relationships is supposed to mean “this feels like it works for you and is sustainable and by your most lucid standards of harm you’re not being harmed” or “a person with a healthy relationships infographic from pinterest could look at your relationship and check off all the green boxes and none of the red ones (regardless of what the people in the relationship think, want, or feel)”. Also can’t tell if the problem here is supposed to be that Billie is saying that everything’s fine because she’s okay with it while clearly not actually being okay with it, or if the problem is the idea that you can meaningfully consent to being Problematic™.
In real life not all stories about crazy people thinking they don’t have to live like sane people end with the poor dears realizing they should’ve listened to their betters about the one right way to be a human being.
Strange is truer than fiction.
Don’t mind me. I’m still trying to figure out how lucid standards differ from the non-lucid ones.
I like this. Thank you.
“And if you look at my laptop I have zero bookmarks for Wookieepedia. I mean, what’s ‘Wookieepedia’? “
I would probably try to avoid someone telling me something like what Billie is saying here. Raidah instead stays and listens to her. She probably thinks Billie is a mess, but standing next to her and listening to her is a good thing.
Gives her lots of material to work with.
I think Raidah sees Billie as her “project”. Like an extreme makeover.
Are you saying that Jennifer is Raidah’s fault? Because that’s what I’m hearing.
Maybe more like her protegee.
Self-destruct in a cool and romantic way or a self-aware depressing way, Billie. You can’t pick both.
Hah!
Jennifer desperately hopes you respect her sigma grindset
It’s a nerd costume for nerds.
Ruth was right to end things, awkward as it is in present day.
admitting you have a problem is only the first step to mental health, you can’t just stop there
Star Wars Jedi costume? I thought it was a Moral High Ground costume!! Like, Tibetan or something.
Can’t help but notice Radiah still isn’t acknowledging that Sarah has given an apology and that she accepted…and is now implying that puching is a common trait of Sarah’s which it isn’t. Really hope she eventually gets called out on this, when you accept an apology from somebody there’s an expectation your not going to continue trash talking them behind their back as through they never apologized to begin with.
I don’t know about that. Sarah is pretty handy with her bat. And there’s nothing wrong with acknowledging that something violent happened, and that one chooses friendships where physical violence is unlikely. (Billie’s pretty punchy too, come to think of it, though.) I don’t see that as trash talk.
Reminder that Raidah’s introduction was to taunt Sarah and tell her she hopes Sarah chokes on her lunch when Sarah was minding her own business eating.
Raidah’s a huge asshole.
Well, yeah. She’s vindictive and bitter.
Sarah’s use of said bat was in response to her friend almost getting raped, I don’t normally condone violence but I strongly believe Sarah should get a pass on that. Violence is not normal for Sarah like it is for Amber, Ruth or even Sal so implying that she is normally punchy is frankly dishonest of Radiah. Sarah will normally avoid confrontation. Again my main issue is Radiah going along with the implication that she hasn’t already been apologized to and accepted said apology for getting punched, if she’s going to act like that then she should atleast tell Sarah she doesn’t really accept her apology.
but but but Sarah hit a person which is the worst thing you can ever do though wait hold on are you bringing context into this how dare you I will now subtly accuse you of several layers of bigotry in a way that lets me deny it if I’m called out
OK, yeah, I see your point. Valid argument.
I’m happy to agree to disagree on this point, but I do recognize where you’re coming from.
(I think that as the punchee, Raidah gets a lifetime pass on being allowed to talk about it, especially after someone else who was there, like Billie, brings it up first. I’ve been hit before, and even though the hitter apologized and I accepted the apology, I still get to talk about it, and I still get to choose to spend my time with other people. Once is enough: I don’t have to give second chances for hitting.)
That’s just me, though. Different opinions are totally valid, too.
And I do appreciate you for sharing your opinion.
Understood and sorry to hear that happend to you. Just to clarify, its not that I think accepting an apology means never discussing the incident that was apologized for, but Radiah leaving mutual friends and acquaintances like Jason with the impression that they too should avoid Sarah because she hasnt changed her behavior is what doesn’t sit right with me.
Thank you, Archieve. I appreciate you for saying that. And I am grateful for the clarification too — what you are saying makes a lot of sense. Thank you for sharing that important perspective.
I don’t really mean to be defending Raidah all the time. I just get a little nervous when I hear people (not you) talking about “f*** her” and how she deserves to be punched, and calling her literal Satan. That’s when my “never OK to hit” defenses come out. Just the demonization of someone who’s already marginalized. Again, not you — just how the comments the past few days have been making my hair stand up.
Thank you for explaining too.
I just realised that present-day Jennifer is much more comfortable in Raidah’s group than she ever was with the main cast. Everyone else who learned about her love for Star Wars pretty much had to crowbar it out of her, but she’s apparently so vocal about it around Raidah, Carl, and Asher that she brings Kit Fisto into the conversation multiple times.
Considering the time skip she’s probably spent more time with them at this point.
So, I’ve looked it, up and this is the location of the Moral high ground
39.687436675115265, -85.95188207063704
(in Moral Township, Shelby County, IN)
(obviously)
(833 ft high)
(you’re welcome)
…a random park outside indianapolis?
Listen, are you disrespecting the USGS right now?
United States Gay Squad? All I know is, I highlighted (highlit?) the coordinates and, without changing a single thing, hit “search”, and it sent me to a Google Maps view of a park with no distinguishing landmarks.
Well, the average elevation in Moral, IN is 794 ft. There’s got to be way to overstretch this already pretty thin joke into something witty about the Moral high ground and some high horse conveniently cavorting in the park nearby, maybe.
And i’m pretty sure “highlighted” is way more common, and the reason is because “to highlight” is not derived from the verb “to light”, but from… wait, the noun “highlight”? I think? Too tired for ngrams and online dictuonaries at present
(Yeah it was a joke)
(the joke is, the place is called “Moral”)
(The USGS is the US Geological Survey, they do the elevation maps and such)
neat trivia tho
(sorry, spoons going to code right now)
Very cool!