143

Quiver
Posted on June 3, 2018 by David M Willis

143 thoughts on “Quiver”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “good thing you’re just his evil twin or I’d be busted”

    1. Tacos

      But I thought all evil twins had facial hair and an eyepatch.

      1. King Daniel

        What if I’m the one with facial hair and an eyepatch? What does that make of my twin?

        1. MatthewTheLucky

          Your good twin, you fiend.

        2. Bruceski

          As babies my brother and I had shirts that said “I’m the evil one”.

      2. Pablo360

        No, you’re thinking of people from the future. Evil twins have facial hair or an eyepatch.

        1. SgtWadeyWilson

          …and what if they’re your alternate universe self’s evil twin’s future self who you run into while exploring your own evil twin’s past?

        2. K^2

          Can you rephrase that question as a flow-chart?

        3. John

          No, that’s his evil dad.

        4. kendermouse

          …are there any not-evil dads in this comic?

        5. Lothir

          Hank?

        6. Tacos

          Dina’s dad?

        7. Ana Chronistic

          Dad Not-Appearing-in-This-Comic?

      3. Unusually Angry Hippie

        His dads the one with the eyepatch.

      4. hof1991

        https://youtu.be/7qpH2WL0B3U

        My evil twin, bad weather friend
        He always wants to start when I want to begin
        It scares me so, like I scare myself
        With that book of Nostradamus up upon my shelf
        Playing hangman ’til the morning light
        Doing donuts on the neighbors lawn
        Then sleep all through the day, get up and start again
        I can hear some sirens somewhere but I don’t know why
        My evil twin runs home again
        Search lights look for an alibi, but I’ll be home by then
        Here he comes again, my evil twin
        My friends have seen him hiding underneath my skin
        Who cut the arm off the voodoo doll
        That resembles a Republican president from long ago
        I’d hate to see you leave
        ‘Cause I have grown so grateful for the
        Blame you save me from
        My twin
        My twin
        My twin
        I know he looks like me
        (My twin) Hates work like me and walks like me
        (My twin) He’s even got a twin like me
        My evil twin, bad weather friend
        I know some day I’ll meet him
        But I don’t know where or when

    2. Deanatay

      Of course he’s your Math T.A.! Just look at that bowtie!

      …

      Of course he’s not your Math T.A.! Just look at that bowtie!

  2. Doctor_Who

    In fairness, it’s basically impossible to say a name like “Billingsworth” without an English accent.

    I tried it while drinking a Coke once, and it turned into Earl Grey.

    1. coru

      It is a pretty damn English last name

    2. Dean

      I tried it in France, and they made me leave the European Union.

    3. BrokenEye, the True False Prophet

      That, or in Doctor Evil’s voice

  3. King Daniel

    Think Billie might have a bit of an accent as well?

    1. BBCC

      Possibly but unlikely. You usually pick up an accent based on peers not your parents necessarily.

      And would it be some variety of English accent, some variety of Chinese accent, or a mix of one of each plus Hoosier.

      1. Opus the Poet

        I imagine she has my accent “Not from here”

      2. wwwhhattt

        I’ve heard it varies unconsciously depending on who you’re talking to.
        i knew someone from an English family living in Scotland who sounded Scottish at university but who would pass for English when speaking to her family.

        1. Yumi

          I had a friend like that in high school. She had a sort of…unique voice, in that it was a mix of Michigan Midwestern and Indian already, because she was Michigan born and raised but was kind of isolated as a child, so she had more traces of an Indian accent than others in our school had. When she would talk to her parents on the phone, though, it would switch to a full-on Indian accent, which was kind of funny at times.

          Most of my other friends had immigrant parents at well, but they would tend to switch languages when talking to their parents on the phone, so it wasn’t exactly the same from the outside perspective.

        2. BBCC

          Huh. Interesting!

        3. Poofdepoof

          Code-switching is cool! I think about it all the time.

        4. BBCC

          I have heard of code switching but only in the context of when you don’t share your regular accent or dialect for fear of mockery or abuse. I didn’t know switching your accent depending on who you speak to was apparently a common thing.

        5. N0083rp00F

          Maybe not common but it does happen.
          I prefer to think of it as being a linguistic chameleon to avoid standing out.
          Unfortunately I seem to have a distinct Canadian accent when speaking German… according to my relatives across the pond anyway.

    2. Marsh Maryrose

      My friend the linguistics professor reminds us all: everyone has an accent.

      When someone says someone else “doesn’t have an accent,” what they usually mean is that that other person has the same accent that they do.

      Since Billie grew up in the part of Indiana that borders on Kentucky, I’d guess that her accent is sort of Kentucky-ish, whatever that may be.

      1. Yumi

        I always say, “I don’t have an accent, I have a speech impediment,” even though, yeah, of course I have an accent. But usually people bring it up in a “where are you from” sort of way.

        I have responded to people saying, “You have an accent” with “So do you” in the past, which can really throw them off.

      2. Savail

        Everyone may have an accent at any given point in time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s consistent.

        Mine can vary in the same conversation depending on who I’m talking to. My spouse will abuse this by adopting an East Tennessee hillbilly accent because he knows it drives me up the wall when I start sounding like that.

  4. Josh

    That bowtie IS pretty dorky…

  5. Sol Karas

    I love that face of Jason’s. It’s just… so great. There’s volumes of disapproval coming off that expression. I love it.

  6. Danni

    thankfully jason was working today! hell be sensible and not give her drinks.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Well certainly not around 9am in the damn morning.

      1. Jason

        Not at all, I expect. I doubt he wants to lose two jobs in as many days.

        1. geno

          He’s aware she is under aged.

  7. Jess

    One math TA, as requested.

  8. Yumi

    I’m impressed that he recognizes her enough to remember her full name. Big class, she seems to skip often, and she doesn’t even have a face tattoo.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Plot twist: he recognizes her because nearly everyone in that class has a face tattoo, so she stands out.

    2. Jed!

      Some universities will provide a photo database to instructors. As a TA, I use it to help with name-to-face association. For a large class, it’s especially useful for students who never come to class/recitation, since there’s that fear that a student nobody’s ever seen will get someone else to take the exam for them. (I’m sure people have done that before, though I’ve never heard of a specific case of it.)

      1. CJ

        Don’t they card you for exams? With a photo-id?
        Oh, right, the US doesn’t have mandatory ID cards issued by the state.

        1. Dellaran

          True, but pretty much every college/university issues photo ID cards to students. So yes, checking in for an exam with your ID is very common.

        2. Victor

          It is? I have no recollection of having to do that, and I went to a large state university.

          I think the only time my college ID ever got used was to check books out of the library, and for a few student discounts.

        3. Yumi

          Did you take 100+ student classes? Most of my classes were under 30 students, so the professors knew us enough not to need to do that, but in some of my big psych 200-level courses, we had some tests where we showed TAs our IDs.

        4. Jed!

          Depends on the size. I’ve been in a ~200 person lecture that did, but if it’s in the range of 50-80, usually not, but those classes will usually have a TA who should recognize the students by face.

    3. jeffepp

      He has, in the past, hoped for the opportunity to… tutor her.

  9. Cattleprod

    I like her commitment to insisting this is some stranger that she just ignores that he knows her name.

    1. Nono

      We’ve already seen that Billie is acing denial.

      1. Kernanator

        She’s so deep in denial, she bought a summer home in Egypt.

        1. King Daniel

          Aswan heck of a place to settle, or so I’ve heard.

        2. Marsh Maryrose

          It’s mostly a place for old Gizas to retire to.

        3. 3oranges

          My mom once had a chance to buy some property there, but I think it turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.

        4. Fire_daws

          It turns out that pyramid schemes are quite good in Egypt.

        5. 3oranges

          Maybe. I still wouldn’t want to get involved in such a nefertarious scam.

        6. King Daniel

          Now that’s what I call game, Set, and match.

        7. Keulen

          Billie should change her name to Cleopatra, because she’s the queen of denial.

  10. DailyBrad

    Billie is the cutest while making terrible decisions.

    Wait, does that mean redhead lady doesn’t card her? Maybe Galasso was tricked into making a good hiring decision.

    1. BBCC

      Billie has a fake ID and all the info on it memorized.

      1. K^2

        Question is, does Jason know her real age?

        1. wwwhhattt

          He’d know her ID is fake, and would be able to work out that she wouldn’t have one if she didn’t need it.

    2. chris73

      No this isn’t cute in the slightest

      1. DailyBrad

        I’m referring to her expressions, etc. I find her alcoholism more than a little heartbreaking, given it hits close to home and her youth, so I am not condoning it or making light of it here.

  11. BBCC

    Well thank god it’s not your math TA. I mean that’d just be awkward wouldn’t it?

    …This will not end well but it will be hilarious so I encourage it to proceed.

  12. DarkoNeko

    Denial. Sweet denial.

    1. DarkoNeko

      Also, I choose to believe Jason is saying that like the Terminator’s “Sarah… Connor”

  13. Passchendaele

    “but obviously he’d never be cool enough to get this job, so”

    1. Deanatay

      I mean, just look at that bowtie, right?

  14. Agemegos

    Are they both cutting class?

    1. Jed!

      Jason was fired. You could say that class cut him.

      1. Inahc

        technically, not yet. … but skipping class sure ain’t gonna help his case.

      2. King Daniel

        Technically he’s not been fired yet, but he has, IIRC, decided not to dispute any upcoming inquiry into his actions. Which would likely lead to his being fired.

        But in the meantime, he may well be cutting class. 😛

        1. Inahc

          jinx! 😉

        2. Swissaboo

          For maximum comedy i expect him to eventually get told “yeah we fond no actual evidence you fucked a student but also you stopped doing your job so you’re definitely fired for that.”

        3. Miri

          Does arguing that he was asked to prove the impossible while aiding the case against him (bring the unnamed student you have been accused of sleeping with to give evidence that you weren’t sleeping with her or be fired) and that made a hostile working environment?

        4. thejeff

          Without more details it’s hard to be sure. It does seem like a Catch-22.

          It’s possible Penny gave them a description and described the events that made her suspicious, so if he could bring that student in to say “No, it really was just a long outside of normal office hours tutoring session”, he’d be fine.

          It really is just about the worst possible way to handle it – not only are they firing him based on an accusation from a decidedly not unbiased third party, but by putting the onus on him to contact the student he’s alleged been sleeping with, they’d be setting up a less scrupulous version of Jason to threaten or bribe her into clearing him.

        5. Regalli

          Yeah, that is NOT how you would want an inquiry like that to be set up. On many, many levels.

  15. pjeseb

    Billie, you can’t order up a math T.A. here. This is a bar, not a brothel.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Nonono, a Math TA is a cocktail.

      It’s made from Kahlua, Clamato, Bud Light, a dash of tabasco, and garnished with a protractor.

      1. Inahc

        oh god, that sounds worse than a cement mixer.

        1. Circeus

          I’m sure Billie’s come up with worse recipes.

      2. vlademir1

        I could see that almost working if, ya know, ya like the taste of cheladas with sweetened coffee…

  16. kay

    No. She goes by Billie.

  17. Schpoonman

    Oh thank god, someone who can really just shut her down here.

    Jason’s lines are immensely improved if read as voiced by Alan Rickman.

    Whoops! Now I’m sad.

    1. pjeseb

      “Turn to page 394.”

      “But I didn’t bring my math–

      “Don’t. Lie. To me.”

      “…Shit.”

    2. Bickendan

      Aww damn. What has been heard cannot be unheard.

      Also, too soon.
      Too soon 🙁

      1. Schpoonman

        It’s been two and a half years.

        1. Fire_daws

          Too. Soon.

    3. complex

      Oh that is BRILLIANT!
      I’m rereading all the Jason strips now and this is fantastic.

  18. Dafydd

    You realize now some bartender’s going to invent a drink called the “Math T.A.”

    1. No Name

      I’m pretty sure it actually exists already. It’s like rule 34, but for mixed drinks: if you an think it you can drink it!

      1. Abel Undercity

        A quick Googling suggests not (though the second result about a TA in Iowa accidentally emailing homemade porn to their students sounds like it could be a DoA plotline). I think some enterprising mixologist has an opportunity here.

  19. Tacos

    I’m not sure Jason can say anything to her. He got fired for doing the nasty with a student, is currently drunk and doesn’t actually work there, and also got an underage kid drunk sooo….

    1. Regalli

      Nah, by this point in the morning he’s hung over, and proooobably semi-hired by way of Galasso declaring he must be legit due to bow tie? Which is fishy and not how that works, but given he hired Becky on the spot and pays in cash, not necessarily the shadiest thing about Galasso’s Pizza And Subs.

    2. King Daniel

      This is the next day, so I’d be pretty surprised if Jason’s drunk so early in the morning. Galasso has also employed him (or Galasso himself is under that impression, at least), and Jason has technically not yet been fired – especially since unless Penny’s been shouting it from the rooftops, Jason’s actions have still been mostly under wraps thus far.

      1. Tacos

        Forgot it was already the next day. Anyways Jason said he’s not gonna contest the allegations so he’s good enough counted already as fired.

    3. Fart Captor

      Sure, he’s got no right to judge, but he should still refuse to serve her, if only to keep his new job

    4. Jago

      So letting Billie drink would make that streak of bad decisions better how?

    5. Deanatay

      Willis usually adds drunkie-bubbles around the heads of drunk characters, so I can safely assume that Jason isn’t drunk. Hungover is a distinct possibility, though.

  20. Regalli

    So: do we think Jason will care about her skipping class? Possible, especially if this is relatively early in her depression-alcohol slide combo. (Remember, Billie showed up in Walky’s bed in a clearly bad headspace before she hooked up with Ruth.) Depends entirely on how much Jason actually cares about his students as a whole. Will he serve her regardless? I doubt it, given he JUST got that job, but we never know. More importantly: Pretty sure Word of Willis is that Billie’s dad is a Brit, and we know he’s pretty wealthy either way. What are the odds Dargon and Billingsworth Sr. know each other somehow?

    1. King Daniel

      Billie’s actually stated in-comic to Joyce that her father’s British; she’s also mentioned that her mother’s Chinese, which is presumably where she gets her middle name (Yunru) from.

      1. Regalli

        Remembered her mother came up, couldn’t remember her dad and her tag’s too big to trawl for a mention like that late at night. (Especially since I couldn’t remember when it came up or who with.) Thanks!

    2. CJ

      Huh, will those two actually bond over having rich parents?

      1. DailyBrad

        Given both of them really don’t like their dads very much, shit, they might.
        Also both have an affinity for Walky, in spite of themselves.
        Lastly, they could also bond over how both of them have hit on Sal, but I don’t even know if Billie remembers doing that.

  21. Harvest Time

    Oh jeez, this is way to early to be worried about this, but I’m gonna be pissed these two make passes at each other. Jason’s exactly the kind of emotionally unavailable type that Billie would go for.

  22. Keulen

    Are we sure Billie’s not already drunk? She doesn’t appear to realize that Jason is her math TA and not some random guy who looks and sounds just like him. Or maybe she’s just that in denial.

    1. Jago

      No, that’s typical for her… sometimes she doesn’t get obvious things.

    2. thejeff

      Context. See someone out of the context you know them in and it’s easy to not recognize them – especially if you don’t know them well and mostly think of them as their job function.

      Besides, it can’t be her Math TA. He’s obviously in the Math class that she’s skipping right now.

  23. Romanticide

    I am honestly glad Jason is working the bar right of this moment.

    1. stoodmuffin

      Agreed

  24. CrazyJ

    Fools! Galasso was not given a tag.

    1. Deanatay

      It’s been fixed.

  25. stoodmuffin

    Man, how does Willis walk a character from one story line to another with such ease and my brain still puts two and two together the very strip he does it.

    He’ll telegraph a move and I will STILL miss it.

    1. Bickendan

      That’s because Willis less telegraphed the move and teleported it instead.

    2. DailyBrad

      Dude’s been doing this a long-ass time, so I guess it’s experience.

  26. Axel

    I mean he doesn’t know her age for sure. People take gap years and whatever.

    1. BBCC

      And like people in higher years can take classes lower than their average level. I had fourth years in freshman classes in both high school and university because they hadn’t gotten the needed credits yet.

  27. brasca1

    Methinks someone’s fake ID isn’t going to pass.

  28. Bagge

    Funny thing is… sneaking away from class, suddenly being confronted by your TA… your MATH TA… that’s WALKY’S nightmare.

  29. chris73

    Quite like how this is playing out, Billie being all “cutesy” in this and the last strip yet its about alcoholism so when the inevitable crash comes it’ll be even more entertaining

    DOA” Come for the drama…stay for the drama

    1. Eldritch Gentleman

      It’s the kind of bizarre dissonance I got from the Dragon Maid anime when I realized that Kobayashi was basically a functional alcoholic…

  30. Koms

    I think Billie looks cute in panel 4.

    1. Koms

      I meant panel 2.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Why not both?

        1. Koms

          All panels. Mr. Willis draws such cute characters.

  31. Lingo

    The sad thing is that it would be a totally reasonable thing for a university teaching assistant to have a second job … that is, if the university didn’t take away your assistantship for having a second job.

  32. BenRG

    I think that Jason is going to thoroughly ruin Billie’s drinking experience. She’ll leave Galasso’s in such a discomforted mood that Galasso will promote Jason on the spot for making her ‘quiver’.

  33. Rukdug

    You know, given that the bar is inside the restaurant and us secondary to the restaurant, it might be part of Jason’s new job to card the people he’s about to serve if he suspects them of being under the legal drinking age. What happens next in this situation may well depend on Jason’s ability to discern between a fake and real American ID.

    1. Eldritch Gentleman

      To be fair, he knows her and he knows her age so that will just end in trouble for Billie.

      1. BBCC

        How would he know her age? Do US school IDs have birth dates on them?

        1. SpookyFox

          Freshmen are typically not 21+

        2. BBCC

          Does he know for sure she’s a freshman? She’s in a freshman class but in university that can mean exactly diddly. I’ve had so many classes where people were ‘above’ or ‘below’ the class level. Same in high school.

        3. Smooti

          Well, he teaches freshmen, and while not every freshman is the same age, he knows she was classmates with Walky and Sal, whose ages I think he DOES know.

        4. Yumi

          Not IDs, in my experience, but professors and TAs (at my school, anyway) do have access to student profiles with basic information like name, preferred name, picture, birth date, and major.

        5. BBCC

          That would make sense if it were the case.

        6. Roborat

          Don’t forget, it is a fake ID, it likely doesn’t have her real name on it.

  34. Renshear Blade

    I’ll make you quiver, when I deliver….

    Galasso’s Pizza and subs! score!

  35. GeorgeV

    Already he inspires terror in his customers. Galasso’s truly is a perfect fit for Jason.

  36. ninja_jesus

    Called it!

  37. Arianod

    “Since when are you a bartender?”
    “Since when are you drinking age?”

  38. abysswatcher1993

    And I want a sexy female biology professor, Billie, but we can just dream.

  39. nightshade

    Id still like official confirmation that hes fired or what ever ….you’d think they’d be looking for him if he was …….

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