you will cry out for my masterfully-performed friendship

Redouble
Posted on March 14, 2026 by David M Willis

Share
Tags: alice, asma, jennifer, raidah

210 thoughts on “Redouble”

  1. NGPZ

    LOL the supervillainy XD

    in other news,
    I got my third iron transfusion today, just one more to go! ^-^
    it also seems I gained back another couple pounds since last week, yay! :’)

    1. IntangibleMatter

      Eyyy congrats!!!

    2. Sirksome

      Good work on your recovery.

    3. Li

      Yay!

    4. ZombieKyrik

      Congratulations, that’s great to hear; hopefully your recovery continues smoothly.

      1. NGPZ

        thank you :’)
        the doc said I should be feeling results delivered in as late as 6-8 weeks
        my leg hasn’t un-atrophied yet, nor can i walk on it, but it seems I can stretch it out more than ever, being able to do it in bed again feels SO GOOD :’)

    5. clif

      Yay!

    6. Joy

      <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

    7. Bryy

      Congrats!

    8. deliverything

      This’s good news! Not sure what to add that others haven’t already said, so guess I’ll second (or rather fourth) the “yay!”

    9. Rimwalker55

      Excellent news. :-)

    10. embe13

      breakout some party poppers!!

    11. RassilonTDavros

      That’s great! Hope your treatment continues to go well.

    12. a/snow/mous/e

      congrats!!!

  2. Sirksome

    Jennifer should top Raidah. I think Raidah could use a good topping.

    1. Jon

      Don’t trust toppings.

      1. Dara

        Only eat dips.

        1. tim Rowledge

          Go for the ones that are floor toppings *and* dessert waxes!

        2. Jon

          @tim Rowledge: i_understood_that_reference.gif

    2. Rose By Any Other Name

      … yeah, I’d read that Slipshine.

      1. Yet_One_More_Idiot

        Title: Billie Does A Topping!

  3. IntangibleMatter

    Billie: I always hear this voice in my ear… calling me to do terrible things.
    Ruth, speaking into an earpiece: gay gay homosexual gay

    1. cain

      LOL

    2. Shinji16

      omfg this got me cackling IRL well played

  4. Rebecca

    FINALLY, the time has come for Jennifer to realize that Raidah is not and has never been her friend!

    1. Coatl

      The question is whether she’ll realize it in time, or if she’ll keep insisting there’s something genuine there.

      And I think she’ll keep insisting.

      1. Noisy

        I think Alice might have something to say about that.

        1. Disastroid

          “What if we topped her…together?”

      2. Freezer

        Which begs the question “How did she not know?” It’s not like Raidah is subtle.

        1. deliverything

          It’s not like Sal looks like Amazi-Girl.

        2. Needfuldoer

          She knows Raidah is her friend, just like she knows Sal is Amazi-Girl.

    2. Bryy

      Jennifer’s immediate reaction was to go along with it,

    3. Rose By Any Other Name

      Or for Jennifer to realize she has a crush on Raidah.

      You know, one of those two things.

  5. Astariel

    Dammit, Jennifer, don’t hit on other girls in front of Alice!

    1. Stormtide Leviathan

      Well it seems to be working on her, so maybe do

    2. Michael Steamweed

      Poor Asma, watching all this.

      1. butting

        The smoke that’d coming out of her ears by panel 6 tho

      2. kdmw

        At least she knows Alice’s name now! Maybe she can use that to contrive to meet her.

    3. Thag Simmons

      Really curious how Alice ends up taking all this

  6. Li

    Interesting.

  7. RassilonTDavros

    …
     
    …yeah, I can ship this.

  8. NGPZ

    oh yeah,
    happy π (Pi) day 🥧
    and happy birthday, Einstein! 🚀

    1. flake

      an a european i sat here way too long trying to figure out what 14.3 had to do with pi…

      1. Wraithy2773

        And that is why MM/DD is, in fact, the superior date order, because the USA can have π Day but Europe cannot! Muahahahahaha!
        (please don’t get into an argument over dating standards, all my homies use YYYYMMDDHHMMSS)

        1. Tucker

          Except that 22/7 (3.142857…) is a better approximation of pi (3.141592…) than 3.14, so the REAL pi day is July 22 for non-USAns.

      2. clif

        14.3% is about 1/7. which as noted above is a 1/22 slice of the Pi. More to the point, “143” is a popular shorthand for “I love you,” based on the number of letters in each word: I (1), love (4), you (3). And who doesn’t love Pi?

        As Einstein might say, it’s all relative.

  9. ZombieKyrik

    Wow Raidah has no problem telling Billie that she only likes her for social climbing purposes. I’d be impressed by her boldness, but she’s a garbage person, and an oxygen thief. So it’s less impressive because of that.
    .
    How long before this breaks down, and Billie abandons Raidah too?

    1. Bryy

      Alice’s reaction to Jennifer literally up and going “I…. I know that” to Raidah to her face saying they are not friends is going to be interesting.

    2. Coatl

      And to think she used to have her own peculiar entourage, and now only Jennifer remains.

      I don’t know why, but even though she doesn’t appear as much anymore, it’s quite possible that Lucy is willing to be her new right-hand woman, should she finally be left alone.

      1. Thag Simmons

        Lucy is dating Jacob, which would probably be a roadblock

        1. Coatl

          True, and at the same time a perverse opportunity for Raidah to destroy that ship

      2. Astariel

        I don’t see it. Lucy was only invited to lunch by Raidah because she was dating Walky, and was basically ignored while she was there. There no indication that she has any social standing that would interest Raidah. Since dumping Walky, Lucy has become more independent and self-confident, which would make her less susceptible to Raidah. Neither of them has even mentioned the other for practically ever. The idea that Lucy is just dying to be one of Raidah’s hangers-on has never made sense to me, and it makes even less now than it did just after the big lunch.

  10. Doopyboop

    I appreciate Jennifer sticking up for Walky in a way, even if it is prefaced with calling him a dumb idiot baby.

    1. Coatl

      It’s Jennifer, her way of showing affection to those she cares about… is debatable.

    2. AeromechanicalAce

      It’s pretty clear that she thinks of Walky as her little brother, even if she’d rather gnaw her own legs off than admit that.

    3. Lee

      I mean, does even he deny that he’s a dumb idiot baby?

    4. John Campbell

      That’s Billie’s love language.

  11. Ray Radlein

    LOL Raidah not everyone is like you

    In fact, no one is like you, more or less

    1. John Campbell

      Fortunately.

    2. Lokitsu

      Raidah must be pretty rattled to go and say the quiet part out loud.

    3. zee

      A lot of people at my old university were like her to an extent, to the point where I had a teacher rant about how much she hated hearing freshers talk about “networking”, like just make friends like a normal person damn it. We have a rise and grind problem here. The thing that sets raidah apart is that she’s phenomenally bad at it and keeps saying the quiet part out loud

  12. Andrusi

    Asma has to watch so much drama

    1. Stormtide Leviathan

      oop I didn’t even notice her. Reading that book very carefully and definitely not watching Alice

    2. clif

      I keep trying to interpret the expression on her face, but it’s a bit obscured from the reflection of the bottom of the noteboard on the glass in front of her face. It cuts right across her mouth.

    3. Pocky

      I interpreted it as her being jealous lol

  13. Shakes

    I’m imagining Raidah’s voice with the Darth Vader filter.

  14. Dave Van Domelen

    Alice is getting turned on.

  15. Cameron Stone

    I think Alice would like to a friend underneath Jennifer!

  16. Cbwroses

    Raidah is letting her failure with Tony and frustration with Sarah blind her to networking opportunities.

    I don’t know what Alice’s parents do, but since she went to school with Jennifer and Walky, there’s a better than average chance her parents are in the same or similar sphere of influence.

    1. Sirksome

      Raidah is already kind of full of shit with her goals because she hasn’t once shown interest in connecting with Carla the famous billionaire! But it would also be very funny if Alice also had some kind of significant family connection Raidah just overlooks because her frustrations.

      1. Bryy

        Hm I wonder why she has not tried Carla yet.

        1. Cameron Stone

          I would say it’s because Carla is very obnoxious to be around, but disappointingly it’s probably transphobia.

        2. Thag Simmons

          I’m sure she did, and I’m sure it was disastrous. Carla is extremely guarded, deliberately keeps people at a distance and I can’t see Raidah being able to put up with the sort of people Carla is friends with

        3. Sirksome

          I feel like there must be a bit of history between them. Like Raidah tried once and failed so badly she knew Carla would never give her another opportunity. I can’t imagine she just doesn’t know of Carla and any other reason I can think of makes Raidah just a truly awful person. Either that or for some reason a tech billionaire has no value to her? Is that really where Raidah would hold a moral line?

        4. Thag Simmons

          Probably can’t be moral, given that she tried to make contacts with the guy from the mobster family

        5. Joy

          I feel like it makes sense that Raidah is the particular kind of leftist who can deal with organized crime but draws the line at Zionism

        6. thejeff

          Not even Zionism really, but just the military-industrial complex.

      2. Throwatron

        Can’t say this for sure, as she was probably with Jacob primarily because of his brother, who famously works for the Ruttens.

    2. Undrave

      Also networking is much easier if people enjoy your company. Why would anyone even WANT to network with Raidah exactly? What does SHE bring?

      1. Random832

        Her connections to other people, clearly.

        [Tom Smykowski voice] “I have people skills!”

  17. chaostails7

    Raidah kinda sucks, huh

    1. Astariel

      That’s an understatement.

  18. Nono

    We see you staring at Alice there, Asma.

    1. Dara

      Yes, yes we do :D

  19. Taigan

    Jennifer “I don’t know when to cut my losses” Billingsworth.

    1. clif

      If you’re in a hole and keep digging, eventually you’ll come out in China.

    2. Bryy

      In tonight’s strip, three deeply insecure people.

      1. Nono

        Which of the four is the secure one?

        1. clif

          Yeah, I was wondering that. Maybe they didn’t notice Asma?

  20. Lee

    Another masterstroke of subtlety and strategem from Raidah.

    1. Bryy

      I’m assuming based on her intensity and lack of entourage, she’s desperate.

  21. darkoneko

    Prepare for trouble (and make it double)

  22. Tequila Mockingbird

    Billiefer, the closet you’re living in is made of some kinda one-way glass, because everyone can see you in it but you.

  23. John Campbell

    I wonder if Asma caught Alice’s name this time.

  24. Bill Erak

    Alice: “I know it’s just her stupidity and inhability to not be gay, but it’s really making it for me”

  25. Zerblergen

    Jennifer *already* knows Walky and his parents, why would she possibly need to swoop in to recruit him as a connection? He’s already a connection! It’s like scheming to become friends with your dog, even though they’ve been friends with you for years. This doesn’t even make sense as an anti-Sarah gambit, since she barely interacts with Walky anyway. Raidah being dismissive and openly transactional about Jennifer is also a terrible way to maintain the connection she already has with *Jennifer*. A person who’s decided you aren’t worth interacting with isn’t exactly going to help you further your career. I thought she was supposed to be a capable social climber?

    1. Sirksome

      I….I’m starting to think Raidah doesn’t really know what she’s doing and is maybe kinda stupid.

      1. Undrave

        If she was smart she’d be banging Walky.

        1. Cameron Stone

          Don’t give Willis ideas for another burn out Walky relationship, he’s finally back with Amber after so long.

        2. Thag Simmons

          Walky and Amber is fun but we’ve also seen them before.
           
          Walky and Raidah has the potential to be a whole new kind of disaster

        3. John Campbell

          Eh, not really. They fell apart before they really got going. I’d like to see them get a real shot.

        4. Adam Black

          Does Raidah even have sex?
          ive seen no evidence of this

      2. Michael Steamweed

        Connections for connections’ sake. Networking without purpose other than naked ambition. Quite the house of cards.

        1. Thag Simmons

          It’s gotta be at least partially out of insecurity. If all my friends and relationships are cynical networking then there’s no feelings involved. I’m a machiavellian chessmaster and future badass lawyer, not an awkward college student who has the capacity to be hurt

        2. Foolissa

          Thag, I like this take. I think it’s real and also the most sympathetic one possible.

      3. thejeff

        And that’s frustrating to me. I think she’d be more interesting as a more competent antagonist. One whose plots at least need to be opposed rather than ignored until they fall apart on their own

    2. Throwatron

      The simplest explanation is that Raidah genuinely hasn’t clocked that Billie and Walky were literally childhood best friends from the jump; she only understands their relationship to be “I went to school with him,” which probably is compounded by the fact that Jennifer would never let on that she was actually friends with somebody like Walky, who she sees as socially inept, unserious, and uncool.

      It isn’t sufficient for Raidah to just know people; she needs them to be under her thumb, relying on her, and wanting her approval. Walky isn’t really a “connection” until Raidah is in the position where he is, in some way, relying on her for something, or if not her in particular, than one of her closer inner circle.

      Raidah can let the mask slip around Jennifer more than she can with most, because Jennifer will not do or say anything to her, which might make Jennifer fear that Raidah won’t see her as equally cool, powerful, and together. So, Raidah believes that Jennifer is much more like her,personality-wise, than she actually is, because of this front Jennifer puts up. Jennifer needs the attention and tacit approval of people who treat her like shit; that’s her messed-up cue that the person treating her like that is an equal who is worthy of her respect, as opposed to being dependent upon her, the way she views friends such as Joyce and Alice. It all comes back to Jennifer needing to place herself atop a hierarchy, both socially, and in terms of perceived competency.

      Ultimately, I think Raidah has been acting consistently more irritable and unhinged, because more things have been going wrong for her, and more things have happened that have pissed her off. If she were being self-aware about her own behavior, she’d know she’s not being responsible to her goals, and not acting sensibly. But she’s not being self-aware, she’s just fucking incensed at everything, and scrambling to regain that feeling of control and self-importance. In this way, her and Jennifer are extremely alike, even though Jennifer is much nicer, and with better intentions.

      1. tim gueguen

        I don’t think she understands that Walkie is the worst sort of guy to try to use as a connection, because he doesn’t think of using his own connections to his own benefit. The Dean being his mom’s ex is a weird uncomfortable thing to him, not “Wow, I can really benefit from knowing this guy directly” thing.

        1. thejeff

          It’s also probably that the connection is through his mom, so anything he could get through knowing the dean would go back to her – which would be fine if it was for things like the good seats for the game where he found out about it, but not for most things he actually cares about at the moment.

    3. John Campbell

      I don’t think we’ve seen any signs that she’s capable. Like, I’m pretty sure she’d have more and better connections if she quit worrying about “making connections”, and just had friends.

    4. HueSatLight

      I don’t think she’s supposed to be capable. I think she’s a different kind of naive than Dorothy, in that her plan to amass influence was hatched probably around 17 years old, and Dorothy’s at 12 or something.

      1. Ed Callahan

        For Dorothy, maybe more like 2.

    5. Adam Black

      starting to figure out Willis somehow doesnt know how to write good villains.
      prove me wrong…

      Either they are secretly sympathetic antiheroes with bad backstories that are recovering from them,
      or they get cartoonishly flattened made one dimensional over time.

      Raidahs a POS right? but what purpose does this serve her character saying the quiet part aloud and just not even trying?
      same as her meeting with Tony
      it was NOT Even trying
      It was like she literally learned nothing in an entire year. Tony is not going to care about the Dana story.

      so is Raidah this stupid ,all the time …always, or does Willis just not give AF, whos being lazy here, Raidah or Willis?

      This feels like writing for literal babies. or Not bothering to write good villains, because Hes just Not interested anymore. .. Mary in roomies was once a sympathetic Beyongo. with Nuance in her hateful smallminded cliquey us-them attitude. i feel like Willis has given up bothering, ( just like he gave up Bothering making a jo-jo a thing ) . and the comic is poorer for it.
      Raidah is a character we should Love to hate or Villain we love , but it seems she is incapable of loving anything genuinely, having true passion, no entrance into sympathy into her flawed mind.

      Her last few pages ( of Raidah dialogue ) are soo bad, if i was the author I would do something unprecedented and rewrite them!

      a sharp Raidah, a manipulative Raidah is much more interesting, one who has a plan for something. One you could sympathize with sometimes.
      ..
      ..
      She might as well quit and work for Gallasos and pretend shes conquering the world.
      But as long as hes going to nerf her so thoroughly, he might as well kill her off. and pretend its for something Noble or they they believe in .

      1. Jon

        Do you think Niccolo Machiavelli was a master of his craft when he was like maybe 20? Raidah may think of herself as a master manipulator (she probably was in high school), but she’s still just a kid.

        1. thejeff

          No, but she could be good at it for a 20 year old. Good at manipulating other college kids. Rather than being just transparently obvious and ignored by everyone.

        2. Whirlakitty

          I mean, we have spent the past decade or so learning that, in fact, a lot of villains in the real world ARE cartoonishly flattened and one-dimensional. And tend to get very flustered when things aren’t going their way.

      2. embe13

        wow sounds like raidah isa dumbass second year uni student, who was able be “the shit” in highschool with her “people exhist as connections for me to exploit” shtick and finding out that people dont have time for that shit in the real world, making her inept as a villain but more real as a character.

        not every antaginist has to be compitent for them to be a good antagonist or character.

  26. Muttski

    Raidah. Still a terrible person.
    *Noted*

    1. clif

      I look forward to reading you comic which will undoubtedly be much better and have a much larger audience of emotionally invested people who return daily.

      1. clif

        And somehow this did not come out as a reply to Adam Black above.

  27. Vukodlak

    I wonder what connections Dana had to make Raidah care she’s gone.

    1. Axel

      I’m pretty sure her dad had a good law firm (when she tells Sarah college is also about networking, Sarah asks how many of her friends are related to high powered law offices (or something like that), and Dana says “Other than me?”), but it does feel like there must be something else since Raidah has dumped most of the other people from that friend group by now

      1. furubatsu

        I almost want to give her the benefit of the doubt and think that Dana was Radiah’s only friend for the sake of friendship–being the daughter of a well reguarded lawyer or whatever just so happened to be a bonus–which is why she’s still so bent out of shape over it/took it so personally.

        1. Tequila Mockingbird

          I think this would be one of the most fascinating backstory outcomes. It could explain so much, I think.

        2. The Queer Agenda [frog memes]

          Raidah should have been able to stay in contact with Dana if they were such good buds, which tells me that Raidah failed to make any sort of connection with Dana before she departed the school, or Dana declined contact.

  28. Nevermaker

    Wow, she said the quiet part out loud.

    1. Rimwalker55

      I think that was the point. Raidah just took a double burn to the ego by Tony then by Sarah. She needed to make an overt gesture prove she was still Master and Commander by giving direct orders to an “underling”.

      Raidah probably has another hit coming since 1) in the first panel Jenifer basically says “Look, I got my friend back without your help.” and 2) normally talkative Alice is silently watching and judging this exchange, and may have significant input soon. Raidah may be about to lose another minion.

  29. Undrave

    Why aren’t you doing it yourself, Raidah? You coward!

    1. Reaver

      Low charisma score

      1. deliverything

        Diametrically opposed alignments.

    2. Bryy

      It’s rather ironic that Jennifer is trying to introduce her to Alice, whom she also got into a friendship with based on pressuring other people to speak for her.

  30. Michael Steamweed

    Keep going, Jennifer! You’re doing great!

  31. Throwatron

    just another day in the trials and tribulations of Jennifer, the Straightest Woman on Earth

    1. StClair

      Perfectly Normal in Every Way. Says so on the tape measure and everything.

  32. CrazyJ

    The sad thing isn’t just how she perceives human relationships as transactional, but she’s convinced everyone else too. So much so that she’s comfortable telling Jennifer she’s not her friend. Raidah is not only a sociopath, but one who hasn’t yet figured out that she isn’t normal, who hasn’t sat down to wonder why she’s slowly losing all her connections over time.

    1. Adam Black

      Raidah is ( probably) not a sociopath.
      ..
      Shes just a naked user, shitty human being that uses knowing people for clout. A social climber whos bad at it. She has yet to do anything actually bad to anyone other than be a mean girl ( social isolation ) or worse , inflcit herself on someone “as a friend”. She hasnt scammed anyone, robbed anyone, physically fought back. ( or gotten a 3rd party to do it, something a sociopath would )
      …
      as Black as her heart is, if she was wholly without a conscience or remorse, if she was a psychopath or sociopath she would have bodies or empty bank accounts, to her name.
      …
      She hasnt done much to violate the social contract and think its a tool she can benefit from. She has shown a Ton of restraint against Sarah and Joyce this yeaR , That if she was a sociopath, that restraint would be nonexistent.
      Having tangled with a few actual sociopaths and psychopaths its frustrating that people use it for “someone who says a mean word on the internet”

      she easily could have gotten a restraining order against sarah or turned in Joyce, and didnt even try to blackmail either one. Its almost weird how little she seems to understand revenge or take pleasures in others misfortunes, or know how to do it.

      She might even be on the spectrum, not understanding these things and following weird rules about who to be friends with instead if just trusting her feelings. I dont even want to call her a narcissist, as she hasnt displayed “narcissistic wound” when slighted . ( except maybe when Sarah got her roommate kicked out, but i think that was common garden variety feelings of betrayal ) .
      .
      .
      Raidah follows boundaries way too much ( to be sociopath ) with almost no understanding how easy they are to cross or ignore. Maybe you think this is a “mask slip” moment for Raidah, but shes been maskoff abusive to Jennifer since she dumped her bf. Raidah doesnt even know how to pretend to like Billy anymore.

      *Willis could yet make her one having killed off too many villains. But almost definely probably wont as feel;ing there is not enough muslims in the cast.

      1. CrazyJ

        I wasn’t trying to make an official diagnosis but rather noting that she is worse at hiding that she isn’t normal than a lot of people who are considered sociopaths. With that said ASPD exists on a spectrum and half of those with the personality disorder don’t have any criminal record. Symptoms she has in common with people with ASPD include lack of remorse or empathy, deceit and manipulation, unstable relationships and maybe some emotional dysregulation. Look at it from another angle, even assuming that none of the college students we’ve seen had diagnosable ASPD, which student do you think came closest or had the most traits of that disorder.

        1. Adam Black

          ” half of those with the personality disorder don’t have any criminal record”
          Ive met many. They still cause much more chaos than raidah. or get other people to act on their behalf to do things. They have a bad sense of boundaries and take pleasure when they can show that off. “mask slips” are like seeing the face of evil . Not ” i dont like your personality” . Thats not even an insult!

          “maybe some emotional dysregulation.” sarah Punched her and she didnt even fight back! This isnt true. If anything shes over-regulated.. shes repressed. Compare amber or Sal. or Ethan.

          “unstable relationships” . NO, that would be Billie. Or Amber. Or Ruth.
          Nope. they are metastable. she uses people and throws then away when inconvenient.
          ” deceit ” she seems to be Open in her methods. When did she outrightly lie?
          she is even open here with Billie about wanting to use walky and not caring about Billie. shes just a shitty person, Not everything is a pathology

          “remorse” Shes barely even done something worth real remorse. we dont know if shes incapable of remorse because she has high self control.
          an opposite characteristic of aspd.

          “empathy” except she surrounds herself with people she doesnt like or care about. Shes bad at being a human but she could have impaired theory of mind .

          We have Never seen raidah even take great pleasure in suffering. she is just written to be childish, superficial and very petty. If she had aspd she would have taken real revenge on Sarah and JOyce. NOt let it go. Tried to get them thrown out of school.

          JOyce is way more emotionally unstable than Raidah, has a poorer sense of personal boundaries. If Raidah was a sociopath it wouldnt be hard to use her connections to keep pushing joyce till she breaks. a restraining order on sarah, get Dorothy kicked out school for the protest. Tell the dean his son is dating a terrorist ( joyce ) and let the chaos sort itself out. Befriend sarahs sister and get her in trouble. Pour alcohol in front of ruths room and call the cops.

          the sole extant of her manipulations is to pretend , she is popular and shun ex friends. Thats it.
          she made friends with Billie because she thought she was sarah and joyces friend and to hurt them via isolation. Which didnt work at all.

          tldr Humans dont need medical pathologies to be Good or bad. Its harmful to pretend this is so

          No ASPD os not a “spectrum disorder” .
          you really need a majority of traits, or its just ClusterB or Machiavellian behavior . Its not about “lack of remorse” ie telling people sarah was Mean. or bullshit. Its about doing / inciting violence and being incapable of feeing remorse or that the victims are human beings too.
          .
          .
          Other characters : “Amber and SaL” would both score far higher. both routinely do violence and break laws and break social boundaries routinely. People with Heroic traits often score higher on these scales despite lacking antisocial characteristics. Most people are sheep, and to be hero or save someone is to intervene and break free from social convention and conditionings. raidah had a hot bf and didnt have sex. seems like she is high on repression and social conditioning and not a problem with a impulse control .

          Ethan is mentally unstable.
          Ruth has been shown to be without empathy and remorse and willing to violence, for half the comic.
          Ryan his friends and Incelerator are willing to do evil things. Ambers father was meant to be. maybe Mike. Walkys mother is empathy impaired. Joyces mother. Toedad ( goes without saying ) . Robin is too self centered to have any remorse over her congressional career . Ruths grandfather can push people to suicide .
          .
          .
          Raidah is too unwilling to sully herself ( the opposite of psychopathy ) or to make others do things that would sully her. shes way too dispassionate.
          Her evil is too impotent to show up on ASPD. Not because she wasnt arrested, because she hasnt done anything. shes wayyy to “well adjusted”!

          she has an inferiority complex which she uses weaker people to mask with a mix of narcissism. Shes had the means, motive and opportunity to do lots of dirty tricks ( LOTS of them ) and then NEVER does them. If she was a sociopath it would be her only big pleasure plus poor social boundaries and poor impulse control. Raidah is too ‘above it all’ .
          .
          .
          Joyce can just steal her boyfriend and feel zero remorse, and feel justified. and this actually shocks Raidah. Joyce has poorer impulse control, less self awareness, with an ends justify the means mentality. Raidah believes in following the rules and weaponizing them maybe.
          .
          .
          to Raidah , JOyce is the problematic one. Joyce only current morality is work hard, impress dorothy, be kind to friends. Raidah: make friends to gain power and have someone to be mean too.

          This isnt so say Raidah is totally Normal. She isnt. She seems to not understand basic human warmth for its own sake. She reads people badly. she could have impaired theory of mind . Her rule based socialization might be aspie thing. Shes admitting to her scripts here. she intuits hierarchy but not how to be in one. she also might have alexithymia. ( not feeling/recognizing her own emotions )

  33. Taffy

    Billie-

  34. Trina

    Billie lost her scrunchie in the last panel.

  35. Pocky

    I dunno if Raidah knows how to be a bottom lol

  36. Lvlu

    Mmmm very heterosexual

  37. Alongcameaspider

    Do we even know why Raidah is so obsessed with forming connections with powerful people

    Like networking is important yes but to what end? What does she hope to do with the connections she makes?

    1. Shakes

      Evil lawyer that gets bad people off the hook with a single call I think.

    2. Zero

      I don’t think she knows.
      She’s, uh, really super bad at this.

      1. Jon

        Bingo.

  38. Kitschensyngk

    Apparently to her, the one who dies with the most friends wins.

  39. The Wotch

    Raidah really is just the worst.

  40. Ophidiophile

    Raidah really knows how to bring out the best in people.

    1. Adam Black

      esp the commenters who love her best.

  41. Acher4

    hehehe.
    Asma in the back just openly yearning! :O

  42. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    It’s not like I’m friends with you because I *like* you or anything, b-baka!

  43. M!a

    Pretty cynical shit to be saying within earshot of others. I don’t see any of Raidah’s Devil’s Advocate Brigade weighing in, and I’d really like to hear what they might have to say on this one.

    1. Li

      idk I’m probably on that list but I just think there are other shoes to drop wrt Dana and that Raidah probably cares about stuff like genocide, these aren’t high bars and this comic isn’t exactly disproving them.

      1. Li

        Like nothing Raidah is doing or saying here has surprised or dismayed me at all. I’m more surprised that Jennifer is essentially claiming to know Raidah isn’t really her friend; that’s the new wrinkle, imho. I’m almost tempted to say she’s only pretending to have know this because it would be too embarrassing and vulnerable to admit she thought otherwise.

      2. Adam Black

        This is such a double standard.

        No ones asking if Nashido cares about Genocide . But for some reason Raidah is held up to higher standard ?
        maybe she cares about the Genocide, But whatabout…. Danny. How comes hes never mentioned it, literal Whitebread of the strip. well?

        You are damning Raidah with feint praise.
        BUt why should should one of the only muslim characters have to perform antigenocide slogans for you, when Carla is materially benefitting from the genocide. Dana was important to her, like becky is to joyce .

        This lukewarm support is why you are off the raidah fanclub mailing list. Good Day, Sir

        1. Li

          Yeah I am not gonna bother reading all that. You are not worth engaging on this topic.

    2. Thag Simmons

      The thing I’d say is that Raidah is much closer to Jennifer and Dorothy than she would like to admit. Her transactional social climber shit is essentially armour. It’s a narrative she’s constructing to create a sense of control and emotional distance over her life.
       
      It’s cope, obviously. She is bad at this, she has still very much gotten hurt, and she’s been slowly bleeding social connections because nobody is willing to put up with her shit. It’s not sustainable, and she’s in a fragile space. Crashout imminent, if it hasn’t already begun

    3. The Queer Agenda [frog memes]

      Pretty sure I’m a certified hater, but respect to Raidah that she has the ‘nads to say it to Jennifer’s face here. (Or has figured out that Jennifer is actually attracted to being treated like shit.)

  44. Joy

    heeeheeeheeeheeeheeeheeeheee omg ^W^

  45. Kyulen

    I wonder if Raidah is gonna eventually realize how bad she is at being a social climber, and maybe drop the supervillain style of talking. I also kinda wonder what caused her to be like this in the first place.

    1. Odo

      She isn’t practicing good Machiavelli

      “A prince must take great care that nothing goes out of his mouth which is not full of the above-named five qualities, and, to see and hear him, he should seem to be all mercy, faith, integrity, humanity, and religion.”

  46. ADLegend21

    I sentence Raidah to 5,000 years Therapy.

  47. Jerna

    Raidah: “Now’s the optimum time to swoop in.”

    Jennifer: “Optimum… optimum… THAT’S IT!!”

    A few moments later, Walkie enters his dorm where Billie is dressed as Optimus Prime.

    Jennifer: “Greetings, young Walkerton. I have come to you bearing a message of great importance.”

    Walky: “Wee-gee, it’s Gundam!”

    1. Jerna

      Yeah, yeah. I know Jennifer wouldn’t do it and I know Walky will recognize Optimus Prime. I just wanted to get a laugh here.

      1. Mr D

        I don’t actually remember if DoA Walky has ever said wii-gii…

        1. Jerna

          He never did. I thought it would be funny.

  48. Myra V

    Oof, that’s a deeply toxic “friendship” right there – a relationship built not on love and mutual respect, but building connections to try to gain some sort of advantage? No wonder Raidah’s such a nasty piece of work…

  49. kdmw

    Oh man, now I want Raidah to lose all her friends/connections, be left completely alone, and then have to seriously reconsider her life and her goals. And maybe realize she’s gay? The mean girl > character development > gay pipeline is one of my favourite tropes.

    1. Doopyboop

      It would explain why Raidah’s relationship with Jacob seemed less about seeming interested in him romantically or sexually, and primarily about the connection to his brother. Which isn’t to say that’s all to it, Raidah does seem friendly and even playful with Jacob, but I could also have mistaken the strips with them as just being a pair of slightly touchy friends. There’s little in the way of chemistry, if that makes sense.

      1. zee

        And why she’s so deeply obsessed with Sarah. Hell maybe she had a crush on Dana

        1. Li

          👀

  50. ResRam

    Alice panel 4?
    Would like to apply for that “underneath frindship topping” position, by her look.

  51. Zamperla

    Keep digging girl. I beleive in you. Who does he mean? Yes. Everyone. Everyone here is trying to Dig Up.

    Also girl if “sarah continues to exist and Tony is not a wide eyed freshman nice girl or a vulnurable Jennifer Billingsworth” is enough to full Lost Cause a situation I can kinda see why the Social Network Club here keeps kinda shedding members.

  52. Adept

    Billie is always on top of things, at least in her own mind.

  53. DashWallkick

    Billie’s social acumen at work, everyone!

  54. tif

    No Billie you absolutely meant top…..and that’s fair.

  55. tif

    Jennifer waiting to fuck Raidah makes sense. I think the characters with the best chance with her though are Daisy, Boomer, and honestly if he were still alive I think Mike would be prefect for her. Terrible for the world though. I think Willis does a paring like Raidah/Boomer or Raidah/Daisy if he wants to make Raidah better. I think he does Raidah/Mike to make her more efficient.

    1. Yumi

      (Booster?)

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        ok, *booster

        1. tif

          Ha yeah that should say Booster. I wrote that long enough ago idk if it was autocorrect or just me fucking up.

  56. tif

    The only real hint of potential friendship Raidah got was with Dorothy and she ran from that asap. Real human no strings attached walls down friendship/connection? Too terrifying.

  57. Mr. Random

    When fake sociopathy meets someone ACTUALLY… trying to be sociopathic.

  58. Stephen Nedland

    When the sub fantasises of being a dom.

  59. keet

    this is the funniest jennifer has ever been omggg

  60. The Rev

    Everybody in that school should just bang everyone else (relatives excluded of course)

  61. wakeangel2001

    is this how psychopaths view personal relationships?

    1. Rosicrucian

      Let’s not bring mental health into this.

    2. yak

      “psychopaths” as in people that view all other people as means to an end: yes, clearly.

      “psychopaths” as in people diagnosed with psychopathy, meaning they have no empathy, remorse, or conscience: no, and in there is not much scientific evidence that such a condition actually exists.

  62. SaffronComic

    Raidah why do you talk like Sephiroth

  63. MIB4u

    off-topic: holy crap this page is long until you can comment …
    on-topic alt-text: I can see a Monty Python sketch in this …

    1. embe13

      man you should have seen the comment section a year ago
      2000+ comments multipletimes

  64. Jennifer

    Raidah’s cognitive dissonance is so interesting. On one hand she loudly proclaims that it’s only about connections and who is a good or bad connection, that actual friendship isn’t worth your time and you cut ties with anyone who could mess up your status. But on the other hand, she still blames Sarah for getting Dana kicked out, when (by Raidah’s own standards) Sarah was completely in the right to report Dana because she could have cost Sarah her scholarships and had become a “bad connection”. Technically, by Raidah’s logic, she should have been applauding what Sarah did.

    1. UnDrewsual

      Or that’s just a bit of information she filed away in her mind in case she needed something to use against Sarah in the future. I could easily see Raidah not caring one bit about Dana getting kicked out. But, as Tony said, it’s possible kompromat.

  65. yak

    “Oh, you’re friends? Which one’s the top?”

  66. Smooti

    Now I want to see them together, mainly because their breakup would be so messy it might actually break the fibers holding the universe together. Category 5 disaster lesbians. Turning the dormitory into Pripyat levels of toxic. It’d be magnificent.

  67. Wizard

    Jen, honey, do yourself a huge favor and just quit walking. Or at least change the subject.

  68. Arianod

    Gotta give points to Raidah for self-awareness… I guess?

  69. ElderlyMarxist

    ngl i think jennifer should top raidah. can it do any harm??

    1. ElderlyMarxist

      also i am unobservant and only just noticed asma. pls god/willis let this mean an alice/asma meeting 🙏🙏🙏

  70. Rosicrucian

    Alice’s crotch is screaming at a frequency only dogs can hear.

  71. John Campbell

    Also, want to note that twice zero is still zero, so it would take Billie exactly no effort to carry out Raidah’s instructions.

  72. Felian

    I will never understand the appeal of social climbers. They treat friendship as a commodity, never making real connections.

  73. Whirlakitty

    I confess it took me way too long to figure out who ‘David’ was.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.