Early update for September 9, 2024
Added 2024-09-08 03:55:00 +0000 UTCwhere's the kaboom???
Comments
While Sarah’s abrasiveness has certainly got worse, we can also note that it was bad enough to drive away at least one guy in high school who was interested in her.
Phil_M
2024-09-09 08:05:49 +0000 UTCI posted this above, but I think I want to do it as a new comment too. I think most people are choosing to forget that Sarah was not always like this. She was a bit abrasive sure, but she had a friends group she cared about, she felt like she fit in, and she was mostly happy. But then she was the ONLY ONE who took action when Dana's mom (remember her roommate?) died, and Dana crashed and burned. Yes, Sarah was worried about the effect it was having on her ability to study, but she also TRIED to help Dana, and said herself she didn't know how. She was the ONLY ONE who took action and got Dana help by calling her dad, and she was bad enough her dad took her home from school. She didn't turn Dana in to the RA, she didn't call the cops, she called the one person who could help Dana, her dad. And for that Raidah and the rest of her friends were furious and BRUTAL to Sarah. She was the only one who was willing to take action, and since then Raidah and her crew have harassed Sarah, talked about her, and ostracized her. Sarah developed her uncaring and prickly exterior to survive. Dana is probably alive thanks to her, and she lived through hell for the rest of the school year. As far as I'm concerned, Sarah is a stronger person than most of the characters, and she has been very very badly hurt. She's protected Joyce as much as she could, she has tried, and I'd rather make friends with her than most of the gang. Edit: I do hope at some time we find out what happened to Dana. It would be awesome if she came back and acknowledged to everyone that Sarah saved her, but I really would like to know if she survived, and got better.
Onyx
2024-09-09 05:37:40 +0000 UTCIt's nice to see Sarah acknowledge that Joyce is the only reason she has friends
Gale Tazzin
2024-09-09 03:34:37 +0000 UTCI just wanted to tell you all that you are freaking exhausting sometimes.
Jeremy AR
2024-09-08 21:30:19 +0000 UTCFingers-crossed that she looks outside the incestuous little friend group for a partner she deserves 💕
Girlycore
2024-09-08 20:46:51 +0000 UTCShe doesn't need to get over her physical preference in romantic partners. She's allowed to have a type of guy she finds hot, even if that means her potential partner pool shrinks a little. The number of people who think one single preference is something she needs to "get over" is so interesting to me. Hmm.
Girlycore
2024-09-08 20:44:24 +0000 UTCI don't know what Sarah has drunk, but I want a sip.
Amós Batista
2024-09-08 19:38:37 +0000 UTCSarah, I know you can find a dude who’s taller than you on the campus of a large public university. But that means going outside which is scary and sucks.
E
2024-09-08 18:04:21 +0000 UTCReply to self: I just remembered the end of the Liz visit saga, which established that Sarah had at least one admirer in junior high, but she was indeed spiky back then, which intimidated him and caused him to turn to Liz for advice, which eventually led to Liz stealing him. As it's also established that Liz was a virgin when last seen, and she didn't seem to think that Sarah was any more experienced, I think it's a fair bet that Sarah is indeed a romantically naive virgin. So the sight of Joyce about to get some may indeed be driving her up the wall.
Phil_M
2024-09-08 17:16:39 +0000 UTCBy the way, do we have any confirmation as to Sarah's level of sexual or romantic experience? Because I don't remember anything since the strip started, even in flashback. And I assume that she'll have been somewhat spiky and highly task-focused back in high school, which won't have done much for her social life. If she regarded the jocks the way she sees Joe (which would hardly be surprising, because adolescent male jocks), they likely retaliated by making remarks on things like her height. And the milder-mannered nerdier types will have been intimidated by her attitude - and also by her height. This could help explain why she regards height as so important. And if she's actually completely inexperienced in every aspect of the mating game, that would help explain why her attempts to seduce Jacob were a bit cack-handed, and why she has some trouble not objectifying him. Men are a closed book to her, but she wants to crack the covers. So maybe she knows she wants to do something about this inexperience, but hasn't a clue how. Now, consider that her roommate is also inexperienced, but is clearly moving toward changing that fact. The thought that Joyce - Joyce! - is about to get some sexual release while she's getting nowhere will mean that Joyce's sense of the sheer bloody unfairness of the universe is screaming in her ears.
Phil_M
2024-09-08 16:36:47 +0000 UTCI agree. Maybe the closeup of Joe looking concerned a few strips ago is a signal that it actually will happen. I mean, Joe can talk about the difficulties he had in turning from Old Joe — y’all remember him, right? Dude who referred to women not by name but by the attractiveness number he gave them, had a “do” list, got his roommate to film his sex tape without asking first. That Joe? — to the person he is today, bettering himself and reaping the benefits in a cozy relationship with Joyce.
Em
2024-09-08 14:52:25 +0000 UTCIronically I feel like Joe would be the best person for Sarah to have this conversation with—but we will probably never get there.
Smoochie
2024-09-08 09:43:14 +0000 UTCThe Straights Are Not Okay
Jasmijn Wellner
2024-09-08 08:45:39 +0000 UTCI kinda think Sarah can keep this up as long as she keep to this level of bitterness
Bagge
2024-09-08 08:24:04 +0000 UTCUmm, did somebody mention Sarah’s horniness with yesterday’s strip? She needs to get over her height fixation, obviously, it’s a silly conventional thing. But for now, she probably just needs to go pretend to be a basketball team groupie for 24 hours. It wouldn’t solve any of her problems, and might even add some more, but still least it would enable her to think about them clearly, Incidentally, just to note that Jacob is unlikely to give Sarah the advice she needs here, but that’s mostly because they’re in the wrong sort of comic. She’s right that her previous presentation was self-destructive and pointless, but trying to flip to the opposite overnight is obviously going to fail, disastrously. If she wants to change, she should do it by stages. Start by treating people with cold politeness rather than open hostility. If they annoy you, be the bigger person and just walk away. Practise being smily and positive with people like Joyce, when the situation justifies it. You can work up from there when you feel comfortable. Oh, and cut Jacob and Lucy stone cold dead. If they try to talk to you, ask them nicely to fuck off. That’s nothing to do with guilt; it’s just that being reminded of a past failure will always cause you stress, which you don’t need, and you don’t owe them anything. Like I said, Jacob isn’t going to tell her this, though. Calm, graduated changes are not the stuff of Webcomic soap opera.
Phil_M
2024-09-08 07:22:22 +0000 UTC
