266

Sharpen
Posted on July 5, 2017 by David M Willis

266 thoughts on “Sharpen”

  1. BBCC

    Sure, let’s go with that, Dottie.

  2. Doctor_Who

    Good thing he thought of that. He was getting desperate.

    “Kippers, jammie dodgers, bangers and mash…are any of these terms insulting?”

    “No, but now I’m hungry.”

    1. Remmington Steele

      Here, have a Jaffa cake with your fish and chips.

      1. Furie

        I say, old chap, steady on. Jaffa Cakes are for an entire class group above those who partake of the Fish ‘n’ chip shops most famous exports. Would you allow a Kardashian to be famous for actually doing something? This is the same thing.

        1. Halpful

          damnit, now I’m craving *both*.

    2. Ellegos

      Cor blimey pancakes!

  3. Danni

    enjoy the conversation over that F, walky.

  4. fillerusername

    Christ this kid’s annoying.

    1. fillerusername

      I mean I know some people were speculating he has add but until that’s confirmed I feel comfortable just calling him immature, annoying, and super fucking ungrateful that someone is taking time out of their day to help him.

      1. BBCC

        Jason wasn’t taking time out of his day that he wasn’t already obligated to – his job description mandated office hours.

        That said, Walky’s being an incredible asshat and it’s gonna be hard to feel for him if he fails again.

        1. Puckish Rogue

          That’s true but the time Walky is wasting might be able to be used by someone that actually wants to be there

        2. BBCC

          Oh yeah, that is absolutely 100% true. I just wanted to say, while he’s not obligated to help Walky when he’s wasting his time and not taking this seriously, he IS obligated to use these hours to help students and using them to help Walky is not actually any kind of special favour.

        3. Puckish Rogue

          Fair enough

        4. Remmington Steele

          Jason offered his help. As Mike pointed out that’s super fucking rare.

          IIRC, all Jason – and any TA – has to do to sit in his office and wait for students to appear.

          Jason could well have let Walkie sink without any hint of help.

        5. BBCC

          Yeah, he did, which is good. Walky turned him down. That would have been special attention.

          Walky asked him for help earlier this week and Jason told him to come to his office hours. That is NOT special attention, because Jason is obligated to use those hours helping students and I’m pretty sure that includes telling them when those hours are.

          Had this happened when Jason offered, you’d be right, but it didn’t.

        6. Remmington Steele

          The offer was there, though. And Walkie blew it: no second bite of the cherry.

          With the exception of Dotty, Walkie blows his chances every chance he gets.

          Walkie’s behaviour in these sessions is down to him and no one else.

          It’s almost as if he wants to fail but why he should do so I have no idea. Maybe we’ll find out when Walkie gets bumped off the course.

        7. Galdan

          Mmmm… I have seen kids who dropped high school, tried to find a job and failed due to lack of training or education, got a new chance at a public school for adults… and proceeded to blow their new chance by behaving just like in high school, because they literally were unable to do otherwise.

          Hard work, paying attention, focus, discipline… all of those aren’t just a matter of will, maturity and discipline… you have to learn them, like any other skill… your brain has to rewire itself… that’s the purpose of school…

          Walky never had to learn to focus and work, so his brain reacts pretty much like a kirdengarten’s kids, and rewiring it is going to be harder now that it has lost a lot of malleability…

        8. BBCC

          Those are both good points and I’m not arguing this is 100% Walky’s fuck up. I’m only saying he is not, in fact, getting special attention right now. This is Jason’s office hours – he’s being paid to do this. This isn’t some out of the goodness of his heart extra work he’s putting in.

        9. fillerusername

          I know it’s office hours but it’s still an hour of Jason’s life he’s never going to get back that could have gone to someone else more appreciative. I feel no sympathy for Walky at all. Honestly I kind of hope he does fail just so he can face some actual consequences for once in his life and grow up a little. begged for help after all and he couldn’t even try to take it seriously.

        10. BBCC

          It is true that he could have spent this time talking to someone more appreciative. I only objected because I thought this was going to be some ‘Jason’s doing him a favour’ type thing when he’s not – he’s obligated to have these hours to help struggling students.

          What he’s not obligated to do though is put up with Walky being an ass, you’re absolutely right.

        11. Council

          While you are technically CORRECT, the difference is purely academic, since Jason was willing to try and help out on his own free time. It isn’t a favor as it is now, but it might as well Be.
          Unless you are saying Jason might have been talking out his backside and would have backed out of special sessions with Walky after the promise was made, but for all of Jason’s bad traits I doubt breaking his word is one of them.

        12. BBCC

          What I’m saying is this isn’t a special session. Jason isn’t doing Walky any special favour any other student who came up for help wouldn’t get. He offered to, the offer was rejected, and now this is normal office hour stuff. The offer was special and anything outside of office hours would have been a special favour. This is not.

      2. Viktoria

        I am not a fan of that attitude. Walky we know has no clue how to work at learning. Now, is that because he has add, latent psychological problems from his mother’s perfectionism, or because he just never learned how? I don’t think it should matter to us. The exact nature of his problems is relevant to treatment, how others interact with him, and what coping methods he should try. It is not relevant to his actions and their effects on others, which is the big deal for judging someone’s behavior. He either handles his issues in a way that is considerate of those around him or he doesn’t, and that’s on him.

        (That said, Jason is a horrid teacher, Walky is a horrid student, and the 2 of them are guaranteed to bring out the worst in each other, so this particular situation I can cut them some slack. There’s no way this was ever going to work and they can both knew that from the start.)

        1. Socks

          Man, calling Jason… names? Is that calling names? Whatever he’s doing to Jason right now, that totally has nothing to do with his problems studying. That’s just a completely unnecessary and rude thing to do. Problems studying manifest in bathroom breaks and pencil sharpening, not… whatever that was.

        2. Clif

          Does anyone see the humor of the situation?

      3. foamy

        I dunno about ADD but this here? This is textbook avoidance behaviours.

        1. Reltzik

          …. pun intended?

        2. foamy

          More sort of a happy byproduct.

      4. Halpful

        yeah, I have lots of sympathy for him but this is still annoying to watch.

      5. Black

        Yeah, seriously, at this point just fuck Walky. He needs to ether get his shit together, or go play in traffic.

        At this point, I’m hoping it’s the latter.

      6. zoelogical

        i mean you can be both adhd and immature, unhelpful, annoying and ungrateful. the one doesn’t stop you from being the other. idk there’s a difference between being annoyed at how someone handles a situation, and how someone handles their disability

        most things with adhd are, like, average problems, but turned up to 11. everybody loses their car keys sometimes; but not everybody loses them with such frequency and scrambling.

        like – ok, real life example: the other week i lost all three of my car keys. found one, took it and made copies so that now i have five car keys. and they are all color coded and numbered now! but like: i found one of my keys in the pocket of my jacket, and the other one literally on my dresser. and like – i spent my time looking for it putting clothes away, because i didn’t really want to look for it. but also couldn’t like…focus enough to make myself actually look for it while i was looking for it.

        and then this week i lost my main set of car keys. and i still haven’t found them. and tbh i have no clue where they are, but i can’t focus enough to go looking for them because there are so many different interesting things that i could be doing with my time instead. and sometimes instead i won’t even do the interesting things that i want to do, i’ll do something pointless that i don’t actually want to do but am stuck doing for hours instead because i can’t get myself to move onwards. but like: the actual disability is different from, like, your attitude towards it, is the point i’m making.

        walky could be putting full effort towards it and his effort not being good enough, and that would be a really effective demonstration of adhd. but like: this is pretty clearly a more self-defeating attitude. like, it’s never going to be easy, so why try? and like if he doesn’t know why he’s here, why is he even here in the first place? and those are legitimate frustrations that have nothing to do with ADHD, and that you can struggle with whether or not you have the disability

        sometimes you just need to stop and get your priorities figured no matter how hard it is :/

        1. Liliaeth

          I often hate how people like to blame character’s bad behavior on actual disabilities. Especially since it’s far too often done to give them an excuse not to work on their own personal flaws.

        2. Jason

          I agree. You can have ADHD and genuinely, really want to improve and get things done. Nothing about Walky shows that he does. It’s avoidance.

        3. Jenny Islander

          Yep! You can be autistic and seem like a jerk, and when called on it go “Oh crap I did something jerkish, time to intensively update my database of acceptable behavior.” Aaaaaand you can be autistic and seem like a jerk, and when called on it tell people that you don’t have to change because autism. Or, as it is sometimes called, Assburger’s Syndrome.

        4. zoelogical

          yeaah, it’s both disrespectful to the disability and dishonest to the behavior

          like one of the most powerful things i’ve learned in terms of my own disability is that like….it’s not like you’re alone for struggling with this? it can make you feel cut off and isolated because No One Struggles With Things This Much but. everyone does struggle with it, and some of the techniques neurotypical people use do help, some of the…adjusting your attitude, and rolling with the flow, and planning ahead stuff. but a lot of it is just not stuff that is limited to adhd people.

          like you might feel isolated and misunderstood and incapable, but that’s only because our world isn’t geared towards accommodating different needs and encouraging people’s strengths and specialties.

          having a disability isn’t a get-out-of-working-on-personal-flaws card, lmao. honestly it makes working on those flaws kind of even more crucial

        5. Egg

          Tangentially, I think “priorities” is probably the key, and not just in a headshaking “priorities, man” way. I was just thinking to myself that this situation was absolutely not something I could relate to at all, despite the fact that I:

          1. once failed to turn in a major paper because I was relying on the library for all my required readings and someone took out the book(s) I needed and I hadn’t got a purchased copy (when I finally broke down and told the professor, she asked me why I hadn’t just asked her for a copy)

          2. once froze up on a written exam to the point of literally becoming immobilized and only went to see the professor when it was down to “turn in the make-up exam or fail the class”

          3. straight up dropped out of a non-required math course as soon as it started getting difficult, because I knew it wasn’t required and that I could just no-show without filling out special paperwork or speaking to anyone

          and at no point did I go round wasting their time in one-on-one sessions (!) or sassing them up (!!!). But: *Walky prioritizes study-avoidance over conflict-avoidance.* So, if it will serve the former, he’ll ditch the latter.

        6. zoelogical

          mmm, feel this.

          i figured out i had adhd because i took a year off of school after getting a D in a class. which was…kind of an overreaction, but on the other hand i figured it out, because those were my priorities

          figuring out what your priorities actually are and going after them is an underrated skill

        7. Reltzik

          Oy. Lost keys.

          I’ve lost count of how often I’ve locked myself out of apartments.

          My personal best must have been that time I was driving to my friends’ place for a weekend of gaming. I was almost there after an hour-plus drive when I started getting a sense that I’d forgotten something. I looked in the back seat and, yup, there were my gaming books. I rifled through my bag at a stoplight and, yes, I had my dice and character sheets. I checked my pocket for my wallet and, yes, I had my wallet with me. But my keys WEREN’T in my pocket.

          I almost turned around to head back for them, but I took a moment to think things through. Maybe I should just have a fun weekend and deal with my forgotten keys later? Obviously I was locked out of my apartment and I’d have to deal with that, but I’d have to deal with that whether I drove back now or at the end of the weekend. Besides, I’d long since rigged my window so I could get in without keys. So I might as well just go to my friends’ place, rather than add two hours to my trip by turning around to fetch them, right?

          But no, I realized, I needed my keys to start my car. So if I stopped my car and got out at my friends place, I wouldn’t be able to start the car and drive home again when the time came. I had to go back and get those keys right the hell now or I’d be stranded. So I got over to the left, made a U-turn, and started driving back home.

          ….

          …. so, yeah. I managed to lose my keys, while driving, WHILE THEY WERE IN THE IGNITION.

          Posted for… solidarity, I guess?

        8. zoelogical

          fuck this is so intensely relatable, you do not even know

          *HIGHFIVE, ACCOMPLISHMENTS*

        9. Halpful

          hahaha yeah. like trying to find the glasses you’re wearing. (the string on my glasses is so annoying but at least they’re harder to lose!)

          people think I’m so organized and don’t get why I worry so much, but, like, if I’m not near-ocd levels of organized, it quickly swings the other way into total chaos.

          my keys, bus pass and cash are physically attached to my purse; I’d attach the rest of my cards too, but there’s still a lot of no-tap shops around here.
          actually, I’ve been meaning to improve some of the purse things, maybe I should go do that now… 🙂

        10. zoelogical

          i was talking to someone and she was like “you know we use the same skills to manage adhd as someone else would use to manage twenty people” and like………………..makes so much sense

      7. Kabo

        He can have add and be ungrateful and immature. Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.

    2. Jamie

      As long as you realize he’s doing it to avoid actually confronting his problems.

  5. Van Jealous

    You forgot Benny Hill!

    1. Doctor_Who

      He’s waiting for Jason to chase him out of the office. Then he plays the music on his phone.

      1. Stephen Bierce

        Benny is the one who gets chased, not the one who chases.

        1. Brotato

          Yeah, but Walky called him MR. Who. I could see him playing tge song, even though the AUDIENCE knows better, because he thinks it fits.

    2. Roborat

      You could also add Rowan Atkinson’s other famous, and to me much funnier character, Blackadder.

  6. Fart Captor

    C’mon Walky, there’s SO MUCH left to reference. You haven’t even touched Monty Python yet

  7. Kernanator

    You need to step up your game, Walky. I could make twice that many references!

  8. Pablo360

    Doctor Who is his real name, he keeps it a secret because he’s embarrassed at his own pomposity. This is canon (if you believe Missy).

    1. Doctor_Who

      Who wouldn’t I believe Missy? None can argue with Goth Mary Poppins.

      1. maarvarq

        Nice. I’d never thought that about Missy, but you’re right on the nail.

    2. Woobie

      Like Doctor Krieger?

  9. Andy

    FIRST OF ALL, how dare the ship it poll not involve a polyamorous MINDY/ANNA/LESLIE. I’m not voting on the ballot, I’m writing my vote in!

    Second of all, I delight in Jason being tormented. This is excellent. Too bad Walky still needs good grades (and a beej will not get them for him any more than it would his sister, even tho he offered. Sorry Walky, not that kind of hard work.)

    1. Emperor Norton II

      Word of Satan said in a tumblr post that he wanted a poll where he didn’t already know exactly where all the votes would go.

      1. Andy

        Ok, thank you for that, 1)I hate fireworks and am panicked and this made me laugh loudly, 2) that’s actually informative and pleasing.

        1. Emperor Daniel

          Also, he said that while Mindy and Anna may or may not be open to the possibility, Leslie only wants one wife.

        2. Emperor Norton II

          I basically met my wife by being informative, pleasing, and making her laugh.

      2. Tacos

        I’m just sad there’s no Unknown Evil option. There should be an Unknown Evil option in any kind of poll <.<

        1. Emperor Norton II

          …

          …

          …

          Have you forgotten what happened last time Willis put up “unknown evil” as an option?

          Or do you remember, but actually enjoyed it?!?! If that’s the case, no wonder you’re wearing that paper bag, to cover your shame.

        2. Tacos

          I forget things all the time but I was under the impression that Ruth being RA again would end up only being temporary until somebody smart realized what a horrible decision it was to make her RA again.

  10. Stephen Bierce

    *plays Steely Dan’s “Doctor Wu” on the hacked Muzak*

  11. Tacos

    RE: Alt-text: You forgot Benny Hill, Monty Python, and Sherlock.

    On another note, have fun explaining that F to your girlfriend Walky.

    1. darkoneko

      Benny is for when Jason eventually snaps and chase him around campus

      1. Cholma

        Plus, there’s plenty of Red Dwarf jokes he could make! Jason would make an excellent Rimmer!

        1. Puckish Rogue

          Yes! He is a complete smeg head.

        2. Tacos

          I knew I forgot one.

        3. chris73

          Blackadder

  12. Cattleprod

    “Does that mean you’re related to my gender studies teacher?”

  13. Puckish Rogue

    That Jason hasn’t given Walky a well-deserved smack speaks highly of his self control

    1. fillerusername

      It’s pretty easy to suppress the urge to slap when your job is on the line.

      1. Puckish Rogue

        Yeah that’s true, I wonder if his immigration status is tied to having a job? (I don’t know anything about immigrating or working in the USA)

        Jason did handle it pretty well in the end though

        1. BBCC

          Since it’s probably tied to his graduate studies, most likely.

        2. Puckish Rogue

          Sucks to be Jason, in this situation

        3. BBCC

          Yeah, sucks to suck.

    2. zoelogical

      didn’t show much self-control when he was sleeping with sal

      1. chris73

        Its not even close, hes a TA not a teacher, he wasn’t saying sleep with me for grades , in fact it was Sal that made the suggestion

        Yeah he shouldn’t have but then how many people would be able to resist an offer of sex from Sal

        So the two instances aren’t even comparable

        1. zoelogical

          honestly like….i think that regardless of whether or not Sal propositioned him, it was his job to turn her down as her teacher. like. he had choice in that situation; as much as Sal did, and he was supposed to have more experience. it was his job to turn her down, regardless of whether or not she was willing, because it was his job as his teacher.

          i think if you’re talking like “how many people would be able to resist an offer of sex” like. people?? multiple people??? idk there is a level of which this squicks me out hugely. like. yes??? if someone offers you sex and they’re somebody who you should not be having sex with, then you should say no? you should have the ability to say no??? you should have the ability to say no in any situation that you do not want to be in, or that you should not ethically allow yourself to be in????? this makes so much sense to me that i do not understand it not making sense to someone

          sal is just an attractive woman? and, like, yes, an attractive woman, but it’s not like she’s the first one or the last? it’s not like her attractiveness comes before her personhood or her educational needs?? she was explicitly trying to give sex for good grades, like. jason screwed her over by even engaging with her in this way, and could have screwed her over for life if he hadn’t backed out last minute and refused to give her a better grade. and even then he did it in the jerkiest way possible

          it doesn’t actually matter how sexy she was???? he was still really entitled and self-absorbed??

        2. chris73

          Theres no question as to whether she propositioned or not, she totally did so he wasn’t saying sex for grades in fact it was Sal wanting sex for grades (plus she was feeling horny as well so two birds with one stone)

          Yes Jason did wrong by sleeping with Sal but when you’re talking what people in this strip have done when they’re in positions of responsibility I don’t think its all that bad

          Not as bad as Ruth sexually harassing and stalking Billie, not even as bad as what Leslie did to Roz and the class in ditching them to sort out Robyn while throwing Becky front and center into Robyns sphere of influence

          Yes he shouldn’t have done it but its easy for us to say he should have said no but I’m thinking its not quite so easy when you have a young, attractive women taking her top off, straddling you and then propositioning you, especially when you’re (presumably) single

        3. zoelogical

          let’s just leave it at…it really grosses me out, and i don’t think it’s ok, and i think that…that whole arc was permeated with rape culture in ways that make me super uncomfortable

          it might not be easy to say no to something you really want, but it’s crucial to do so when it’s somebody else’s wellbeing on the line. and that this attitude of…permissiveness….makes me really, really uncomfortable.

          like. i’m not okay with ruth/billie as they started out, either; it’s a little different because they’re much closer in age/maturity, but it still was a deeply destructive relationship for both of them as it started out. and, like, regardless of whether or not ruth/billie was ok, it doesn’t change what jason did at all???

          like, holy shit, your own sexual gratification does not make or break your world. you can live after a case of blue balls. sal’s education was on the line. sal’s future in the college was on the line. that is a whole different ballgame

          i think prioritizing sex over somebody else’s wellbeing is a fundamentally selfish action. and…i don’t think we’re going to agree on this, so we should probably leave it at that

        4. Fart Captor

          All of this. jfc dude

        5. Halpful

          “your own sexual gratification does not make or break your world. you can live after a case of blue balls. ”

          I think a big part of the problem is that our culture teaches boys exactly the opposite.

        6. thejeff

          Yes and no. I mean, yes, it’s obviously true and “blue balls” aren’t really the concern in this scenario.
          Hormones really mess with your ability to think rationally, especially around that age and it’s easy to fool yourself into thinking the situation isn’t what it actually is. Especially when, as in this case, the other party makes the first actual move. At that point, it’s really easy to imagine him thinking “Yeah, she really was reacting to me like I am to her”, rather than realizing it was about grades.

          Now, his behavior leading up to that was generally awful and I’m actually more inclined to cut him slack on catching her when she threw herself at him than than for spending the rest of their interaction alternately trying to flirt with her and insult her.

          Mind you, he still should have pushed her away. That’s part of the job, but people making bad decisions over sex has been part of literature from the beginning and real life even longer.

        7. zoelogical

          yuuuuuuuuup

        8. zoelogical

          anyways to circle back around to, like, self-control: self-control probably would have helped jason with sal, and it would also help him here. because, like, walky is being disrespectful and annoying and a twit, but he’s also being really goofy about it. walky did not walk in here with bad intentions. he’s not asking for help in the right way, but he still deserves the help that jason has to give. and he deserves to get that help whether or not he’s being particularly likable.

          like – comparing him to Mr. Bean and Dr. Who??? how thin a skin does jason even have? like, they’re stereotypes, but they’re not harmful stereotypes, and from a certain point of view they’re even funny. and now that walky knows they get to him he has no reason not to use them. walky is all of eighteen. jason is how old?????

          anyways just because he’s a pompous british stuffed shirt doesn’t mean he’s disciplined, responsible, patient or self-controlled

        9. kagato23

          the entire point is that Walky isn’t just teasing him, he’s clearly not there to learn. It’s not simply about self control, but even if it was it’s more on Walky then Jason. Walky is there to be tutored, and he’s doing anything but being tutored. He is in fact self-sabotaging. He WANTS to get tossed. He does not want to be tutored. And Jason is under no obligation to push through that when he could use his time to be available for people who actually want it.

        10. zoelogical

          i mean that is a fair analysis! it’s just, also, that being a teacher means letting yourself in for a fair amount of shit. because kids are forced to be in school for their own benefit, but beyond their choice. that’s usually a little different in college, because people are paying to be there and thus have choice of classes, but it’s easy for that attitude to carry over.

          and like – if you want to reach your kids, if you want to be a teacher your students will respect – you do have to learn to deal with stuff like this. it doesn’t make it ok for the student to do, but you do have to learn how to deal with it.

          college is a slightly different environment, because you get treated as an adult and not a kid, but…idk, there really isn’t a but here. it’s just. six bathroom breaks. what. the hell.

        11. kagato23

          you yourself just stated the context. They are in college. and Jason has been asked to take extra time beyond the classroom to help walky. Who is antagonistic and making negative effort to do that.

          I’d put forth in fact that if Jason kept trying with him at this point, he’d be a BAD tutor. He’s not here to help Walky deal with his mental blocks, he’s here to help Walky with Math. Since Walky isn’t going to learn math at all at this point, it’s not a good use of either’s time. Jason basically just said “There’s no point in us doing this if you aren’t going to take this seriously” and he’s not wrong to say it.

        12. zoelogical

          i think…there are ways in which i am being super judgy with Jason here on the basis of his desire to be a teacher. which is a field i know a lot about, if not by actual experience then by osmosis! so, like, there are ways in which his praxis here really annoys me because it’s so fundamental to the way i understand the world. as a place where you can help each other, and where help sometimes means putting up with a lot of people’s bullshit. if you can be…fluid, sometimes, you can work with people where they’re at instead of where you would like them to be. and that’s useful.

          but also like – this whole thread started with a person being like “Jason not slapping Walky is proof of his self-control” and lolno. like, that is the bare minimum, even for a tutor. that is the bare minimum for a person. like. if someone annoys you that much, you walk away. which is what jason did.

          jason isn’t required to continue being walky’s tutor if he feels like they have personality conflicts. at this point, the decent thing to do would be to look around and try to find somebody who could maybe tutor him, but that’s not something that’s required either. the thing that would make him a superb tutor would be having a mentor he could ask for advice on dealing with walky. but he seems pretty isolated.

          i just…strongly object to the idea that avoiding physical aggression is somehow a sign of being gifted in self control

        13. thejeff

          As a grad student? And apparently a new one at that: 22. Maybe 23.

          Older than the kids, but not that much older.

        14. zoelogical

          good to know, thank you

          so kind of the perfect time to learn this shit

        15. Fart Captor

          “I really want to” is under no circumstances an excuse for a moral lapse like that.

  14. brionl

    That’s Mr. Dr. Professor Benjamin Who, CBE if you please.

  15. Fallingivy

    I know it’s not 100 percent his fault, but my annoyance and dislike of Walky is increasing out of resentment that yet again he gets chances and patience that Sal didn’t get and continues to blow it off and take it for granted. It’s probably petty of me, but I’m ok with disliking a fictional character for stuff like that.

    1. fillerusername

      Honestly the only thing stopping Walky from being the most insufferable person in the comic for me is that Mary and Robin continue to exist. But he’s like less…grand scale damaging than they are and more the human equivalent of the same irritation of a canker sore.

      A canker sore that gets every opportunity just handed to him >:(

    2. Poskie

      Thank you for putting my feelings of dislike of Walky into words. He’s so entitled! He gets so many chances and he blows every single one of them and still gets treated like the golden child while Sal is working her hardest and doesn’t even get the time of day from her mother.

  16. BBCC

    Aw, come on Walky, you grew up in the early 2000s. HARRY POTTER.

    1. spriteless

      wat thats british?

      1. BBCC

        Both in author and setting, yeah.

      2. Woobie

        Hogwarts Castle was transported, stone by stone, and has resided since the early 1930s in the mountains near Lave Havasu, Arizona.

        1. Emperor Norton II

          Just like Jesus was actually American.

        2. StClair

          I thought it was on top of the Eyrie Building, NYC, NY.
          … wait, no, that’s Castle Wyvern.

    2. DashingDeinonychus

      While unquestionably British, I suspect Walky thinks it doesn’t count unless Jason wears glasses at the bare minimum.

      1. MM

        And even then, he’s either Malfoy’s less racist but swottier cousin, or Percy Weasley.

        1. Rukduk

          I personally would say “short-haired blonde Snape”. Mainly because I just pictured Jason talking like Alan Rickman and it works for me way to well.

        2. BBCC

          And they’re both horrible teachers!

        3. Liliaeth

          Well considering that Percy is one of my all time favorite Weasley’s, that’s not that bad a thing. (I always felt so sorry for Percy in how he was bullied by his brothers)

  17. Tenzhi

    I don’t get the “Mr. Benjamin” thing.

    1. Remmington Steele

      Me neither. Pretty sure they don’t mean Mr Benn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVFcIJWe0zE

  18. Beef

    OK I know Walky’s being kind of a dick here and it’s easy to come to the conclusion that he’s having so much trouble because he doesn’t care enough about the class (which is at least partly true I’m sure)

    But do y’all think Jason might also just be a bad tutor? I know we’ve only seen Walky and Sal so I’d be interested in seeing if any students *have* had success with him. Also I think it’s worth remembering that the reason, according to Sal, that Danny did better at tutoring her was because “He listened.”

    tl;dr: Walky’s being difficult but Jason may not be helping matters

    1. Puckish Rogue

      Its quite clear Jason is not a good tutor but Walky (from how it appears) is not even trying to learn

      1. iforgetwhatiputhere

        This. Jason may be a bad tutor but at least he is trying. I don’t know of any tutor, good or bad, that would tolerate their time being wasted like that. Walky can flunk out of school if he wants to, nobody should (have to) care more about whether he succeeds or not than him…

      2. segnosaur

        Jason may not be a good tutor, but he can’t be completely bad. Remember, even though Sal is doing better with Danny’s help, Jason still was able to help her enough to get her a passing grade. (Not that that excuses the whole ‘sleep with my students’ thing.)

        1. BBCC

          No. No he did not. She’d stopped going to his office hours by that point.

        2. segnosaur

          Actually Sal managed to get a 76 on a test while she was still being tutored by Jason.

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/assignments/

        3. BBCC

          Nope, she’d stopped seeking his tutoring by that point after fucking him for a grade didn’t work. She didn’t have a tutor by that point.

        4. segnosaur

          She may not have been getting Tutored by Jason AT THAT POINT (the comic is ambiguous as to whether she got any tutoring from Jason after the whole ‘sex for grades’ plan fell though; we know they saw each other at least once after that), but her grades still had improved BEFORE Danny got involved.

    2. Fallingivy

      I definitely think he’s a bad tutor, but Walky hasn’t even given him a chance to show how much of a bad tutor he is. He came in with this attitude, set out to make fun of him by calling him the names of British characters, and engaged in every activity he could to distract himself. Jason’s a bad tutor and Walky’s currently being a bad learner.

      (I get Walky has his own issues with school, and as someone who dropped out of classes by just not showing up, I get that to some extent. But he’s taking his annoying behavior very far here.)

      1. fillerusername

        If Walky were willing to actually try I think he might have had a much better experience with Jason than Sal did. Sal’s words about what a terrible teacher Jason was for her shook him after all. Now he wants to make an effort and prove he can be good at his job. So if Walky were coming to him actual ready and willing to learn he might not have gotten Jason the-now-amazing-tutor but he definitely might have gotten Jason-the-significantly-improved-now-that-he’s-working-to-improve-and-trying-to-listen. But Walky’s not doing that so he’s getting Jason the frustrated just like Sal got Jason the frustrated but with Sal we knew his frustration was unfair. In this situation it’s not so much.

        1. segnosaur

          It should also be noted that Sal and Walky also had different levels of knowledge…. Sal was rather lost early in the course. On the other hand, Walky is lazy, but he may have had a better grasp of some of the basics (thanks to high school).

          Jason may not be good at explaining things for someone at Sal’s level of understanding, but he might be better at teaching someone who knows more but is struggling with the more advanced concepts.

  19. Cedrick

    This comic is getting desperately light on likable characters and I’m starting to wonder why I come here every day…

    1. Puckish Rogue

      Naah its cool, theres still the dynamic of Joyce and Joe so its all good

    2. Aphrodite

      I come here in hopes to see more Ruth and Amber.

    3. Tacos

      At least there’s Becky and Dina.

    4. timemonkey

      It has more now than when it started so I’m not really seeing the problem.

      1. Nono

        Possibly more that there’s been enough time for some of the worse traits to start showing up. Leslie went from ‘pretty rad LGBT teacher’ to ‘someone with pretty bad relationship decisions’. Amber went from ‘nerd with cool superhero persona’ to ‘someone with DID and may have seriously injured people’. Some characters with potentially annoying traits, like Carla and Joe, have been getting more story focus too, so that might turn people off.

        1. timemonkey

          Amber was always like that though, the comment section was just too busy calling her a damned car to recognise the signs. And one of Leslie’s defining characteristics has always been her attraction to unhealthy relationships (though I suppose if you didn’t read Shortpacked that would be less obvious).

        2. thejeff

          Yeah, she was always like that (though I think she’s actually gotten worse – more disassociated – during the strip), but we were only introduced to it gradually.
          Similarly with Leslie. That’s a character trait she’s always had, but there’s a difference when it’s actually portrayed on screen and we get to see her screw up.
          It’s also worth recalling that Amber has not just “may have seriously injured people”, but she’s also saved people – even if she’s needed some help at times. Without her, Becky’s gone. Even if she managed to escape she’d be living under a bridge to avoid bringing her dad down on people she cared about. Without her, Ryan would likely have gotten to Dorothy and possibly Joyce as well.

    5. Madock345

      Reading this comment section it feels like “likeable” means “Perfect”. What would this comic even be about if every problem was resolved by removing the character traits that made them happen?

      1. timemonkey

        Likable means not annoying. You can be flawed without being annoying. I just don’t get why this is what’s getting to people, Walky’s been like this from the start.

        1. Fallingivy

          It could be this specific situation is more annoying to people, it could be the drop of water on stone issue, where watching it over and over gets grating, it could be people are more critical now than before, I don’t know. I’ve never liked Walky, but I didn’t hate him? I just find him irritating, and what does it for me in this particular situation is just as I said in a comment below: it’s this trend of Walky getting stuff handed to him and taking it for granted. The immaturity palled a long time ago for me, I guess.

      2. Wraithy2773

        The problem isn’t that Walky is an imperfect person. Jason definitely is, and I’m finding him a lot more tolerable than Walky right now.

        The problem is that Walky is acting like a complete jackass here. If Mike were watching, he’d give Walky props for hammering so hard on the “You’re a foreigner” button, before making a comment about how Walky’s clearly just doing this because he wants Jason to throw him out of his office but can’t actually muster the balls to leave himself.

        Flawed characters are one thing. Jackasses are another.

    6. zoelogical

      there’s no reason why you can’t take a break if you’re struggling to remember why you like the comic. i mean, the backlog will be there whether you read it today or a month from now.

      1. Jason

        I actually like taking a break at times. Sometimes just a few days, sometimes much longer. I took a brief one during Ryan’s reappearance, and I took a long one from Girl Genius twice after the story took certain turns.
        Sometimes it’s refreshing to leave and come back when the story has moved on and there’s a nice backlog to read through.

        1. zoelogical

          exactly!! this also has the benefit of being much less stressful, because all the drama gets saved up for one stint and you don’t have to wait a day to find out what happens next

          …i have been keeping up with girl genius, but tbh i only have a tangential understanding of what even is going on

  20. Aphrodite

    I’m really starting to dislike Walky.

  21. timemonkey

    See, I said Jason wouldn’t have the patience to outlast Walky. He smashed into Walky’s immaturity and was broken.

  22. tim gueguen

    I’m not too impressed with Dorothy’s perceptiveness here.

    1. Bagge

      Sadly, having a too good opinion about people is a reoccurring theme for her. Sometimes she is right, though (see: Joyce)

    2. Derek

      give her a break, she’s still processing the fact she saw a rapist get stabbed and recently talked and cried about it

    3. Sam

      Walky worded it so she would interpret it optimistically. It is not Dorothy’s fault for being optimistic and taking it positively, it is Walky’s for purposely deceiving her by being unclear as to whether it was meant positively or negatively.

  23. Reltzik

    Alt-text: I thought tea was in there somewhere.

  24. Koms

    Studying is a habit. Not studying is also a habit. He’s clearly trying to avoid getting started in seriously studying. Like I am. I want to get a post grad. But now when I look at books I break into a cold sweat.

    1. Koms

      Heh this Joyce faaaaaace is perfect for every comment.

      1. Bagge

        It works pretty well in combination with this Becky face as well 🙂

        1. Koms

          🙂 true

  25. Bagge

    Don’t give up Jason. Even for all his clowning around, he still comes to the sessions. That’s something you can work with.

    1. Emily

      It’s not his job to cajole Walky into learning this isn’t grade school. He has students who actually WANT to learn he could be spending time with instead of wasting it giving Walky special attention while he dicks around being an insulting manchild.

      1. Bagge

        He tried to do that with Sal and failed miserably. Jason needs to become a better teacher, and one way of doing that is reaching out to the students who really need him – both for explanation and for motivation.

        You are right that Jason doesn’t HAVE to do it – heck, judging from Penny he doesn’t have to do squat as a teacher. But Jason WANTS to be a good teacher and he TRIES to become one. He has my respect for that. Toughing it out with Walky is one step on that journey.

        1. kagato23

          No, screw that noise. You teach the people who show up to be taught. Sal couldn’t understand but she was there to learn. Walky is not. You can bring the horse to the trough, etc. He’s a bad teacher if he wastes his time on a kid that is not there to learn and doesn’t want to listen rather then keep himself available for the kids who’d actually want to come see him.

      2. thejeff

        Does he? Is there any indication anywhere that Jason’s office hours are so booked that he’s putting off other students in order to tutor Walky?

        He’s doing his job. Not “special attention”.

        1. Wraithy2773

          Jason’s office hours can be used for other things besides trying to put up with a little jackass wasting everyone’s time. Grading papers and such, isn’t it a fairly common thing that college TA’s have to put in huge amounts of hours?

        2. thejeff

          That’s fair, I suppose. At that point, we’re back to just wasting Jason’s time, not keeping other students from getting the help they need.

        3. Wraithy2773

          Well, wasting his time, mocking and insulting him in a manner that, if Jason came from a nation that wasn’t historically a global power (and generally well known for horrific actions during imperialism) and predominantly white, would have shades of racism to it…

          Like, this is the sort of dialog I’d expect out of Mike. It comes off like Walky is deliberately trying to piss Jason off so that he can get thrown out…

        4. C.T Phipps

          Mind you, Jason is pretty damn racist to the Walkertons.

        5. Wraithy2773

          ………when?

          I looked through the archive, the only time he says anything that might be considered racist is when he referred to Sal hanging out with thugs and hoodlums, which might be influenced by her *just having bodily dragged him to his shared office*.

        6. Jason

          I imagine the way Sal dresses may have partly inspired that comment, as well. (Not that that makes it okay, but I can see how motorcycle gear on a teenager might affect his view.)
          Speaking as a Brit, we don’t have the same association with gangs and race that America does. (Not saying we don’t have race problems, we TOTALLY do, just that they can manifest in culturally different ways.)

        7. Emily

          People often forget that race issues aren’t interchangeable across cultures. Like America’s race issues regarding black people are different from England’s because there’s just a very different history at play in the same way the race issues surrounding the Roma in Europe don’t really carry over to North America. Different cultures, different histories, different racial hangups.

        8. thejeff

          OTOH, it’s being written by an American. Maybe Willis took the differences in racial issues between England and the US into consideration and carefully had Jason make comments that would appear racially tinged from US perspective with the intention that Jason meant them completely innocently.
          Or not.

  26. Rukduk

    Welp. Guess it’s time for New Danny to get a second Walkerton tutoring pupil. Then again, if he somehow succeeds with Walky, then he has to be using magic.
    …
    Wait a minute. Dapper hat. Musical instrument. New sense of style and greatly improved social graces. New Danny re classed as a Bard instead of a Sorcerer!!

    1. Emperor Norton II

      If math as explained through the power of ukulele can’t help Walky, nothing can!

    2. Reltzik

      …. don’t bards dump int?

      1. Emperor Norton II

        Not in Hackmaster 4th Edition they don’t!

        1. Rukduk

          We don’t talk about 4th edition.

        2. Emperor Norton II

          Hackmaster, not D&D.

        3. Rukduk

          Oh, sorry. Never heard of Hackmaster before. I have heard, and myself have, used that term to describe 4th edition D&D, which is why I made the assumption. My bad.

        4. Arioch

          4th Edition Hackmaster is more or less similar to 2nd Edition AD&D, 5th Edition came out about 5 years ago now and it is still kinda similar but more of its own system. Both are far superior to that awful mess that is AD&D 4th Edition.

      2. Rukduk

        Generally speaking, all the bards I’ve seen played make strength their dump stat, as they tend to use finesse weapons when not rocking out. That said, I’m pretty sure old Danny was technically a lvl 0 commoner and New Danny used his racial stat increases upon in charisma to be a bard upon becoming an adventurer. That having been said, I’d say New Danny has made strength his dump stat, followed closely by constitution.

  27. Rukduk

    Also @alttext: You forgot about Earl Grey Tea and the Royal Family.

  28. JessWitt

    Is Jason implying Walky might have a learning disorder?

    1. Tacos

      I think he’s trying to tell Walky that he’s not taking tutoring seriously and is just avoiding his problems.

      1. Zuzi

        I mean, it’s very possible that Walky has a learning disorder (possibly ADD or something involving attention deficits) that was simply just ignored because his symptoms weren’t pronounced enough to disturb his schooling.
        But it’s also that Walky is being a shit to get out of confronting his problems, something he desperately does not want to do

        1. Reltzik

          Also, Walky went to a private school for rich people. Sometimes those places coddle students and give them good grades just to appease the parents. This could be the first time he ever NEEDED to study.

        2. David M Willis

          Walky went to a public school.

        3. BBCC

          That seems to be another case of ‘comment section theory gets ahead of itself’. It was something people thought was a possibility in the Leland strips that never really went away. Kinda like the ‘Becky’s mom died of cancer’ thing that seems to have been a mix up with Dana’s mom, who did die from cancer, back when we didn’t know what happened to Bonnie.

        4. 3oranges

          I don’t think it’s fair to try to rob him of credit like that. All the indications so far have been that Walky is very clever, clever enough that he didn’t have to study much in high school because he picked up everything very quickly.

          That’s a real thing, you know! Unfortunately, it also means you don’t have a chance to figure out what to do when your raw intelligence isn’t enough on its own, which can make university a shock.

          Some people adapt to actually needing to work fairly well anyway. But Walky still insists to himself being clever should be enough not to do work, which is a recipe for failure.

        5. thejeff

          It’s also worth remembering the compressed time here. He’s really only a week or two into realizing there’s a problem at all. That’s not a lot of time to come to terms with a major shift in self-image and properly come up with a strategy to change behavior that’s always worked for you.

    2. Sam

      Jason is implying that Walky is very easily distracted and using it like a list of failings to try to guilt Walky for being burdensome I think; ultimately wasting more time in a way that was never going to teach Walky the lesson he wanted him to learn from it which is to take things more seriously.

      1. Emily

        Or he’s implying that Walky very clearly does not want to be there and is wasting time to avoid actually making an effort.

        1. Jason

          Yup. 100% what I took from it. Walky’s attitude towards Jason cements it for me- it comes across as not being interested, not as being interested but easily distracted (as someone who often falls into that second one.)

        2. Emily

          Like if Walky weren’t being actively insulting towards Jason I could see interpreting it as him being distracted but this is clearly intentionally trying to derail any attempts to make him actually learn.

        3. Halpful

          yes, it’s soooo *clearly* intentional that there’s not a single comment here suggesting it could possibly be anything else! 😛

    3. Wraithy2773

      I think Jason’s implying that Walky’s being a jackass that’s wasting everyone’s time.

      Learning disabilities are a problem, sure. But the attitude describes says less “Walky has trouble focusing and studying” and more “Walky is deliberately doing disruptive stuff because he resents doing this and is doing whatever he can to get out of it”.

  29. iforgetwhatiputhere

    I think the only possible wakeup call for walky right now is seeing how much better his sister is at this than him. Even then I expect him to take some time before working up the courage to talk to her about it, if he ever does…

  30. BBCC

    Walky, seriously, go talk to your big sister.

  31. Teddae

    Yeah jason is not the best teacher for walky and god dammit walky just tell your girlfriend the whole truth and stop dancing around the subject cos of your pride

    1. kagato23

      Right now nobody is a good teacher for Walky. You have to actually try to learn before any tutor is going to work.

  32. OnyxIdol

    Well, I for one will not be sad if that’s the last we see of Jason and Walky. Theirs is probably the least interesting dynamic in the comic.

    1. Nono

      It’s probably saying something when Jason ends up being the more sympathetic member of the pair. Walky doesn’t get much grounds to redeem himself in these interactions, so we just get Annoying Walky with no Sweet Walky to temper it.

  33. Keulan

    Come on Walky, that’s not even close to all the British pop culture references you can make!

  34. JohnnyO

    CinemaSins Guy: “That’s racist.” *ding*

  35. pumpkincat

    I am so glad that when I tutored STEM subjects I did not get this type of attitude.

    Of course, I like to think I handled my end better than Jason here. That likely helped.

  36. BenRG

    Yep, it looks like Walky is one of those guys who will actually need consequences (i.e. being ejected from the course because of consistently poor results) to realise that he has to change his approach.

  37. Remmington Steele

    Marmite. We’re missing Marmite, and now I crave some.

    1. Bagge

      Marmite? Isn’t that just some cheap Vegimite knockoff?

      *Runs for his life from the flames*

  38. KSClaw

    Walky just… there’s the door. Go out the door, and get yourself a heavy dose of reality, then come back.

  39. Zaxares

    Maybe you SHOULD go into politics with Dorothy, Walky. It seems you have a knack for doublespeak. 😛

  40. KingMonster

    Good god, Walky you wonky moron. Whatever, happens from here on out. You deserve.

  41. C.T Phipps

    Jason is not just an awful teacher but an awful person. However, Walky is wasting his time and the school’s.

    I would love to hear a Cerberus podcast on this, though.

    1. Wraithy2773

      Sorry, what did Jason do that makes him an awful person? I know he slept with Sal when he clearly, clearly shouldn’t have, and sure, he’s a fair bit stuck up and arrogant, but he reacted to the indiscretion in a fairly reasonable manner, and being a bit of a jerk doesn’t make one an awful person…

      1. thejeff

        Well, sleeping with Sal pretty much puts him in the awful category all by itself.

        His whole attitude towards her and her problems was steeped in awful – from first suggesting she drop and insulting her at every step of the way.

        1. Wraithy2773

          No one’s going to deny that he fucked up with Sal. The reason I’m less harsh about it is because of what he did after: He’s well aware that what he did was wrong, and he’s been trying to act responsibly in the aftermath.

          No one’s arguing he’s a *good* teacher. But I just hesitate to label him as awful, given his efforts to, well, not be.

      2. C.T Phipps

        Sleeping with Sal is awful but it’s actually his attitude to it that makes him truly creetacular. He assumes that Sal slept with him because of LIKING HIM then when she said it was solely because of the grades, he keeps stalking her. Then he doesn’t give her a bonus and treats her like a prostitute when she’s genuinely proud of the achievement she made saying, “I would have given you better.”

        BUT YOU DIDN’T. Which is like…he made her do him sexual favors, claimed to be stupid to realize he was doing so, then when he didn’t help her, claimed she SHOULD have because he’d have done her better despite having done so.

        Like…screw you Jason in every possible way.

        1. Wraithy2773

          Hrm. That’s not what I got from that scene. That seemed more of a joke along the lines of “You thought I gave you a *76* for sleeping with me?”

          And yeah, the general assumption a lot of people make is that, when you sleep with them, it’s because you find them appealing in some way. Getting told “No, it was only to bribe you” not only hurts on that level, but also amplifies the guilt that Jason was already feeling for what he did.

          Also… he didn’t make her do anything involving sex. Yes, he should have said no, he’s in a position of authority over her (…as little authority as a TA has over a student), he was in the wrong. But she took off her shirt and hopped in his lap with zero prompting from him, there as no coercion from him…

        2. Fart Captor

          The lack of coercion only means he’s not as awful as he could be.

          Although his inappropriate “right the hell now” comment when she first asked him about office hours can be credited planting the idea in Sal’s head that sex for grades might work/be necessary. She’s used to authority figures being unfair.

          There was also no real attempt on his part to stop her. Literally no objection until afterwards.

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/whatsallthis/

        3. Wraithy2773

          Yeah, that “right the hell now” line is cringeworthy.

          And he showed that, by cringing and apologizing for it in the subsequent strip.

          What I’m basically saying is that I see Jason as, on the scale of dickishness, where Joyce is a 1, Mike’s an 10 and Mary’s an 11? I’d put Jason more at the 4-5 range, and trying to get better. It’s the people like Mary who revel in their vileness that I save my disgust for…

        4. Ethan

          If the sexes were reversed, it would be a rape scene.

          Just sayin.

        5. avistel

          I know, right? She took her shirt off, climbed into his lap after “eh, you’ll do” , as if she’s doing him a favor by deigning to fuck him. People have been expelled/fired for less.

          But because of some power imbalance and “punching up lol” some of you chuds will shit on a guy for basically getting raped by his student. Shameful.

        6. Halpful

          …

          …

          what is this i dont even

        7. Fart Captor

          …because (1) he never did anything to even suggest to the much smaller girl who he was in a position of authority over that she should stop, and (2) that power imbalance is not a tiny, insignificant detail.

          Sure, Sal failed to get affirmative consent. That’s a valid criticism. But it doesn’t clear Jason of anything. Sal thought she needed to do it to get a better grade. At no point did Jason have any reason to fear consequences for refusing, or even show the slightest hint that he felt an irrational fear about refusing.

          I completely understand that men can and are the victims of sexual assault, but the reason most people don’t feel that’s what happened is not simply “because Sal’s a girl”

        8. BBCC

          Also, the Slipshine shows that after climbing in his lap, he says that that is not what he meant by ‘being judged by her marks’ and she admitted that yes, she was twisting his words. He also said that having sex with her would be immoral which she agreed it would be. He responded to her agreeing by kissing her and they fuck.

          She didn’t get affirmative consent before climbing in his lap, that is fair, but them fucking was consensual.

          I get not everyone has slip shine – that’s cool, neither do I, but this is part of a free preview right here (warning: The link is incredibly not safe for work): http://slipshine.tumblr.com/post/117834905926/enjoy-these-two-pages-from-david-williss-new

        9. avistel

          Only because a guy reacting with disgust at being treated like a walking boner by telling her to put her shirt back on, get out his office and never come back again doesn’t make for good porn.

          And “failed to get affirmative consent” is an understatement of the century. Try “made highly aggressive and disrespectful sexual advances in a setting where such are considered tremendously morally questionable and inappropriate”. But by all means, let’s focus on the fact she didn’t clearly and expressly say “may I shove my tits in your face?” before doing so. To me, it’s something of a footnote.

        10. BBCC

          The storyline was written years in advance of the porn. What made good porn was PROBABLY not in mind when it was written and it is still written as consensual. This is not a rape scene.

        11. BBCC

          So we’re just pretending Jason didn’t consent then? Because he did.

    2. frogger44

      Walky shows up to Jason’s office hours, after Jason offered the opportunity to help him, which Mike (I believe) said is very rare, and Walky spent that time dicking around and insulting Jason instead of attempting to take the study time seriously. Jason was recounting Walky’s bad behavior, trying to get to the meat of the problem.

      So how is Jason an awful person in regards to this situation with Walky? He has been patient with Walky. Very patient. He seems to give more of a damn than Walky at this point.

      1. Ragingagnostic

        I agree. Walky is displaying national bigotry by comparing his tutor to various aspects of English pop culture and he isn’t even getting those right. He’s behaving like a slightly less crass version of Bart Simpson. (By diabetes, he may be misspelling dumbass.)

      2. Halpful

        people seem awfully eager to throw around the “awful person” label lately. I’m starting to wonder if it’s misplaced anger that we still don’t know what happened to amber. 😛

  42. not someone else

    I love this new Walky. I can finally read strips in this arc without being reminded of my own crippling failures to learn basic study habits in college and subsequent anxiety-ridden avoidance behaviors and judging myself horribly. At least I wasn’t also a dick to others!

    (Now watch as Walky eventually gets help that helps and makes good of his college experience rather than getting locked in a crisis cycle and not coming out of it until medical intervention 8 years later just as you’re *completely* unemployable. Ah well.)

  43. Sam

    I burst out laughing at Panel 2.

  44. Wraithy2773

    So, I was a kid like Walky when I was in High School and early College.

    I mean, I wasn’t this bad, and I sure as fuck wasn’t this obnoxious about it. But I did well without having to study, picked up things quick, thought highly of myself…

    …and then ran headlong into a brick wall when I reached coursework that I couldn’t easily pick up. Because I wasn’t picking things up, and I didn’t figure “Oh, okay, I should just study more”. I just sulked, scowled and kept doing the same shit hoping I’d figure it out this time… and ran into the wall again, wasting time and money.

    Office hours were open to me, and I ignored them. I had time to study, and I wasted that time because, hey, I was one of the smart ones, I didn’t need to study!

    So no. Walky’s attitude isn’t cute or endearing. This is called “He can’t deal with fucking shit up in college and, instead of trying to improve himself, he’s wasting his TA’s time and patience with fucking antics because he doesn’t want to think he has a problem”.

    That’s a very human thing. But so is being an asshole and believe me, he’s being an asshole to Jason.

  45. TSB

    This tutoring is doomed to fail. Walky’s problem is not that he needs extra help to understand the material, it’s his inability to confront the work.

    He’s not “wasting an opportunity” here because this is not an opportunity. This isn’t helping him. It’s like trying to add more RAM to your computer so you can play a game when in reality the problem is that you need a better graphics card. There are situations where the solution might apply to this problem, but in this case it fails to address the real root of his issue.

    Walky might be able to realize this if he’d done a lick of emotional labor in his life. Jason might recognize Walky’s real problem and direct him to more appropriate student resources if he’d done more research on helping students. Walky is being a jerk here by mocking Jason when Jason is trying to help.

    ADHD here, let me just say: in the end, everyone is responsible for their own shit, but Walky is only 18 here. He’s brand new to the part of his life where he’s expected to handle his own shit. For the past 18 years, the people who were supposed to teach him how to learn have not been able to do so. Now he’s trying to figure it out on his own and he’s doing what he’s “supposed” to do, going to tutoring, and it’s not working.

    If Walky does not have ADHD or anxiety or anything of the like, then he has more or less created these bad habits himself by being arrogant about schoolwork.

    If Walky does have ADHD or anxiety or a learning disorder or whatever, then the people who were supposed to catch his symptoms have failed him. He can’t understand why he’s like this, or that there’s a “this” that he’s like, and he didn’t make himself this way.

    Either way, he needs to get used to digging deeper into analyzing his own behavior and independently searching for resources. This is not a statement of blame or condemnation towards Walky. (I do repudiate the British jokes, though. Rude.) It’s just, factually, what I think he needs to do.

    1. TSB

      Also let me add: I respect that there are people in this cast who were forced to be responsible for themselves at much younger ages in their lives than Walky, because the adults in their lives were malicious or neglectful, or in some cases good parents who started introducing responsibility to their kids early. And there are people in this cast who are better at handling their shit than Walky because they chose to take responsibility for themselves, or they had to or chose to take on emotional labor in their relationships.

      Walky isn’t exactly covering himself in glory here. He’s not doing anything impressive. I guess what I mean is that there’s circumstances behind why he’s like this which he did not create and it’s very early in his life to declare him fundamentally irresponsible. He could have changed earlier if he were a better person, but he’s not a 40 year old choosing to be like this. He’s 18 and it’s early in the game yet.

    2. TSB

      I regret writing this comment with such tentative, conciliatory language. I want to be clearer.

      I have ADHD. I have read a lot about ADHD. Everything Walky does in this comic is potentially an ADHD symptom, or a pattern of behavior directly resulting from an ADHD symptom. All of it. Even the rude parts. Even the parts you don’t like. Even the parts you think are annoying.

      That doesn’t mean all people with ADHD have these symptoms. That doesn’t mean that even if Walky does have ADHD, these are all definitively “ADHD things” and not “Walky things”. That doesn’t make it okay for him to behave this way. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t need to try and do better.

      But guess what? They’re still potential ADHD symptoms.

      Personal tutoring has no effect on ADHD symptoms. You cannot just stop having ADHD because it’s important. You cannot just stop having ADHD because you’re wasting other people’s time.

      If Walky really does have ADHD then he literally cannot sit down and behave perfectly and pay complete attention every single time that he wants to or is supposed to. He literally is incapable of doing so. If he has ADHD, then he needs accommodations to help him construct a fruitful working environment, or extra deadlines to give him more time to work, or medication to help him focus, or some other treatment that accounts for his disability.

      If Walky does not have ADHD or any other learning disorder, honestly? Some of the above still applies! Even neurotypical people can’t magically stop having bad habits (like avoiding stressful work) just because it’s important that they do so! Jason, to his credit, is obviously trying here to be helpful to Walky, but he doesn’t seem to have any idea what he can actually do to address Walky’s problems with avoidance, or where to send Walky to get help with those problems.

      Walky needs to stop making childish jokes, both to Jason and to other folks like Joyce, but like. There are many people in this world, including myself, who literally cannot focus on tutoring and lessons and studying, and I have seen more evidence that Walky is in that category with me than I have seen evidence that Walky just doesn’t care.

      1. Wraithy2773

        I see a lot of my college self in Walky too. I don’t know if I have ADHD, there was some talk about it when I was in college but no formal definition, but I definitely have “oh, I’ll check my phone” or “oh, my mind will wander off-topic easily and sometimes stuff will come out of my mouth weird” issues.

        But what I’m identifying with a lot more is the self-destructive aspect. We’ve seen Walky try to study, and it’s clear that he has issues doing it… but that’s not what we’re seeing here. We’re seeing him not even try to focus, not even try to pay attention, not even try to stay on topic.

        It’s hard to say what exactly it is. The mind’s fucking complicated, both when it’s working normally and when there’s a disorder/deficiency involved, it’s not like looking at a broken leg and saying “yup, that leg’s broken”. What’s getting me angry with Walky here is… it doesn’t even look like he’s trying, and I know where that leads.

        1. TSB

          “We’re seeing him not even try to focus, not even try to pay attention, not even try to stay on topic.”

          How do you know that? What evidence do you have that he’s not trying?

        2. Wraithy2773

          Continually going back to the “Make british references to the british person for no explained reason” is the thing that’s popping to my attention. Yesterday’s strip, he explicitly mentioned that he had to go to a different reference, and then blurts out another british thing that he hadn’t called Jason.

          He makes no attempt to apologize or rationalize or go anywhere near doing the thing that he’s there to do, study. I might completely be reading too much into this, it really does just feel like Walky either has no self-awareness of what he’s doing, or he’s trying to avoid thinking about it and hoping that Jason just kicks him out…

          …which it sounds like is what he got.

          I never did this specific thing. But I tanked a few quarters in college, not because I was doing poorly, but because I was doing poorly and was terrified to admit it to myself, and I just let things fester.

    3. zoelogical

      it’s weird but i think this is true regardless of whether he has ADHD or not

      like. not everybody learns good study habits! and if you are under the assumption that everything should be easy for you, having to work hard is a really hard thing to learn. it’s just exponentially harder when you have ADHD.

      i mean. you don’t learn what you don’t learn: whether you weren’t taught it, or you didn’t go hunt it down yourself. you can totally go around blaming people if you want to, but at the end of the day you still have to figure it out yourself, i think. it’s…not a wise decision to put responsibility for yourself in the hands of other people.

      i think this was well written! it’s a very complicated thing, and there are a lot of different angles to it. it doesn’t have to be just one thing or the other.

      1. Halpful

        very well written indeed. 🙂 TSB said lots of things I couldn’t find the words for, and more I hadn’t even thought of.

        1. zoelogical

          ayyyyy

          i think…the thing i’m coming down to is that the experience of something behind difficult does not have to be justified by anything but your experience of it being so. if it’s hard for you, then it’s hard for you, and there doesn’t have to be any other rationale behind it. and saying that it’s hard is all that you should need in order to get help.

          ….man if only we lived in that kind of a world

    4. Chris Borgars-Smith

      Also he seems pretty much stone terrified of anyone knowing he’s failing academically which is IME pretty much universal in people with ADHD who did well in secondary school.

      Honestly walky increasingly feels like a deliberate and targeted portrayal of an 18 year old with ADHD failing to adapt to independent living. Which, relateable.

  46. What Was The Question Again?

    If he’d only fucked him a little.

  47. Tomas

    And yet he knows that frequent urination is a symptom of diabetes.

    1. Amazi-Stool

      His mother was right all along!

  48. Luchucholo

    I hear people saying that being eighteen years old is a bit early to own up to your own shit? Sorry, that’s not how it works in the world at large. Granted, being cooped up and lazy on your parent’s lap up until college seems quite alright nowadays, but I assure you, Walky should be glad this wakeup call happens now. But I don’t see him up to the game of life. He mostly thinks of college as an extension of highschool…

    1. thejeff

      Yeah, well damn. He hasn’t figured everything out in the first month and half of college.
      Obviously he’s going to completely fail the game of life.

      1. John

        Walky only pawn in game of life.

  49. Scar Man!!!

    Walky totally has either untreated ADD or has gotten treatment and not really taken it seriously

    1. Wraithy2773

      There is no symptom of ADD or ADHD that involves explicitly being a jackass to other people.

      Some of what Walky’s done in the flashback scenes, sure, that can be seen as symptoms (checking the phone and sharpening the pencil). Bathroom breaks… eh. Maybe, if you stretch it, a lot.

      But the “Oh! You’re british! You’re a british brit and I’m going to call you as many british things as I can because you’re british” shit is just Walky channeling his inner Mike and just being an asshole.

      1. TSB

        I have ADHD. Being unable to focus on unwanted work in a stressful environment is a symptom of ADHD. Looking for plausible excuses to stop trying to focus and to do something active is a symptom of ADHD.

        It’s not a “stretch” for bathroom breaks to be an ADHD symptom. That’s one of the things I do when I feel jittery or overstimulated and I need a break.

        “I’m supposed to be working but I got so distracted by a previous train of thought that I impulsively blurted it out” is abso-fucking-lutely an ADHD symptom. And actually, having no “inner filter” is also an ADHD symptom. So is having difficulty picking up on social cues, such as the cues that inform you that you are being rude or disrespectful or hurtful.

        That doesn’t mean ADHD people are absolved from learning to manage that symptom and apologize for their actions, or that people don’t have the right to be upset and offended by rude behavior. But it is still a symptom.

        1. Wraithy2773

          …okay, that’s fair on the bathroom break part.

          I’m not sold on the British stuff, though. There’s not picking up on social cues and blurting out things at random, and then there’s not even trying to do the thing that you went there to do. Walky’s shown a lot of self-destructive tendencies centered around trying to avoid responsibility or work, and it feels a lot like he’s in that spiral again.

        2. Schpoonman

          Except Jason (probably) has a British accent and that would CONSTANTLY be pushing for acknowledgement even if he’s mentioned it a hundred times already. It’s how being ADD is, any reminder of a topic is an open invitation to go down the rabbit hole.

          Not to say that Walky ISN’T being an asshole, but the idea that this was a calculated remark is wildly off-base even if Walky DIDN’T seemingly have ADD.

        3. Wraithy2773

          Calculated is probably the wrong word for it. It’s just… Walky hasn’t apologized for going off track, hasn’t even noted that he’s not on track, hasn’t made a mention or an effort to get on track…

          Jason’s laying out the ways that Walky’s getting off track and stalling and delaying, and the only thing Walky’s said is “Maybe I have diabetes”. That’s not the sign of someone that wants to be there and is making a single effort at focusing.

          I’m leaning more towards subconscious self-destruction than intentional asshole-being, but still, nothing I’m seeing in the strip so far indicates that Walky’s made a single effort at getting tutoring beyond entering the bloody room.

        4. zoelogical

          i mean, like, with adhd it’s impossible to make a single effort at focusing. it is usually either straight hardcore focus for two hours on a single subject or it is multiple attempts that don’t get much of anywhere

          i agree with you that a huge part of the problem is that walky didn’t show up to this session to work. but i think what’s being said is that all these distractions he uses are a legitimate part of the problem that is keeping him from studying for this class

        5. Halpful

          yeah, and stress can do weird things to your bladder.

          walky seems to still be in denial or obliviousness about 99% of his problems here. he got himself *to* the tutoring session, but then avoidance took over. how much he tried to resist that before giving in? even he might not know.

          a lot of the time I honestly don’t know whether I could have done better or if trying harder would have just made things worse. (yes, it can make things worse. so much worse.)

  50. Max

    I think Walky is ADHD

    1. CoMa

      Could be. Or a case of very extreme procrastination with things he doesn’t like to do or deal with (doing best things first, ‘bad’ things last)

  51. BenRG

    Am I the only one thinking that Walky is going to join his twin in being coached by Danny?

  52. Indoor Cat

    Question, re: ADHD—

    How common is is for someone with ADHD to do well in k-12 but not in college?

    Because my two closest friends who have ADHD really struggled in k-12; one of them got a lot better after diagnosis, one didn’t.

    But, when I was in college, it was suggested by a few counselors (or therapists?) that I seek a diagnostic test for ADHD. I ultimately didn’t; I had other issues going on at the time that were more pressing.

    Now post college (which took me six years, since I did some semesters only part-time), and having my anxiety disorder and physical chronic illness, I’ve been wondering if it might be worth pursuing again, as I still have some symptoms that I assumed would go away once my anxiety was treated, like restlessness.

    But I did so well in k-12, and it seems like ADHD is something that is generally early onset. Is it less unusual than I realized to only have ADHD after you’re in your late teens?

  53. Temperaryobsessor

    Jason has been shown not so much trying to figure out what Sal has trouble with but dismissing her as stupid, and using Sal’s grades which he is supposed to be helping her improve to justify thinking less of her as a person.

  54. Puckish Rogue

    It seems to me that Sal had sexy times on her mind:
    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/without/

    then the first panel of the next strip and that suggests to me that Sal was already feeling horny and that she could kill two birds with one stone in that she could get some and improve her grades

    Sal strikes me as the type that’s quite sure of her actions and could be considered more emotionally mature for her age (especially compared to her peers) so for all those saying Jason was wrong in his actions, yes he was, but Sal was also wrong for thinking that sex would also equal grades

    Also nothing to do with the above but Walky is well aware its Dr Who not Mr Who: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/quizzes/

  55. BP

    Walky.

    You very likely have ADHD, inattentive-dominant.*

    Get help. Maybe medication, but definitely help. Running from this problem isn’t going to make it go away; if anything it’ll only make it worse. Facing it head-on means years of not making crappy mistakes in the name of pride. STOP YOURSELF NOW BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.

    Also, Jason. You are a lousy teaching assistant for not telling Walky this. At minimum you should make sure he can get the help he needs. You know, the kind that’s not from you.

    *My diagnosis is based on the fact that Walky is a biracial male version of me in middle school right now. I was just less snarky and more quiet. If it turns out he’s just lazy because he was told he is smart his whole life and there isn’t a diagnosable issue, my bad. But reading this is like looking in a 4-panel mirror, so I figured that might be it.

    1. BP

      **Also, I do doubt it’s ADD/ADHD, if it hasn’t been caught for this long. Then again, different people exhibit symptoms differently, so it’s a strong possibility but it also could just be him being spoiled into laziness.

      1. TSB

        It’s not uncommon for people who are naturally good at academic stuff to go undiagnosed for a long time. I didn’t get diagnosed until I was 24, in graduate school.

      2. zoelogical

        it’s more common for girls to get diagnosed in college, because they tend to present differently from boys and they get paid less attention to? and also, it’s not an uncommon stereotype for girls to be flighty or distractible or just not-as-with-it as guys are

        but if Walky is inattentive-ADHD, then there’s a good chance that it wouldn’t have been caught anyways, because the hyperactivity isn’t predominant. and if his parents were against even the idea of their child having a mental disability, then it’s even more likely that it wouldn’t have gotten caught. like, my parents knew that most of my family had ADHD and still did jack squat in terms of counseling or medication, because they saw it as a condition you could just power through. and if you didn’t, you just weren’t trying hard enough. i had to self-diagnose! which was loads of fun.

        walky’s parents appear to be people who primarily don’t want their kids to have issues. so when they do have issues, they squash the life out of them. it’s not every kid that acts out by robbing a gas station. :/ i get the picture that walky would have been very encouraged to not have problems.

    2. Puckish Rogue

      We’re assuming Jason can diagnose ADHD?

  56. Puckish Rogue

    It seems to me that Sal had sexy times on her mind:
    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/without/

    then the first panel of the next strip and that suggests to me that Sal was already feeling horny and that she could kill two birds with one stone in that she could get some and improve her grades

    Sal strikes me as the type that’s quite sure of her actions and could be considered more emotionally mature for her age (especially compared to her peers) so for all those saying Jason was wrong in his actions, yes he was, but Sal was also wrong for thinking that sex would also equal grades

    1. Spencer

      Jason’s the one with power so ultimately he’s more responsible but it bugs me that people overlook that Sal was willing to fuck her way to a better grade.

      1. Puckish Rogue

        Yeah true there does seem to be…double standards (not sure if that’s the correct term) in that Jason is seen as the bad person and Sal is seen as the victim

        1. Spencer

          I mean, that is the case. Jason is the teacher, Sal is the student. Even though Sal literally jumped on top of him and tore her shirt off, he still had a responsibility. The only good thing he did was not give her the grade.

          I’m just saying it bothers me that people forget that Sal was also doing something terrible.

          IDK I’m not a teacher or someone who’s put up with this specific circumstance. I don’t hate Jason for what he did because I lack the lived experience to get too mad over it, the way I do over other stuff in the comic.

        2. Wraithy2773

          I think part of it is that, prior to that scene, Sal’s character was something of a Diamond in the Rough: We’re aware that she can be better, but that she’s not now. So, her acting disreputably? That’s the status quo for her character, and any points of growth are focused on as good things.

          Meanwhile, Jason is a TA, is older and is generally portrayed as more “got his shit together” than Sal. So, any honest and noble action is seen as “Well, that’s what he should be doing anyway”, and any disreputable action is focused on.

          It’s like Dorothy’s grades vs Sal’s grades. Sal getting a 76 was a cause of celebration for her, because it was dramatic improvement. Dorothy getting the exact same grade leaves her feeling devastated, because she’s used to getting A’s.

  57. Puckish Rogue

    Also Walky is well aware its Dr Who not Mr Who: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/quizzes/

  58. Yakumo

    -1000 pts for picking Mr. Bean over Edmund Blackadder. (Recognition to to Roborat and Chris73 for pointing out he didn’t include the character, they just weren’t as sever as me about it).

    1. Puckish Rogue

      I always thought Mr Bean wasn’t funny at all, not when you can compare it to stuff like this

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91DSNL1BEeY

  59. Erica

    I don’t like you at all, Walky…

  60. Torra

    Mannn, Walky you’re so irritating

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