Well when he finally went to Jason for help, Jason’s first response was to tell him the drop date had ended. If I recall correctly, Walky rejected that option conceptually regardless.
Reltzik
Withdraw, then.
JessWitt
That’s gonna leave a bad mark on his record.
But yeah, what else can Walky do?
thejeff
Learn to study?
It’s not like this isn’t going to come back to bite him later on, even if he drops this class. He could drop out of school, I suppose.
His problem isn’t that this particular class is too hard for him. His problem is that he’s never had to work for grades before and he doesn’t know how. He will wind up in more classes he’s going to have to work for. He’s not going to be able to coast through four years of college if he just drops this one class.
Jimbo
It took me all of high school and 1 year of college to learn this lesson…
Indoor Cat
I have a friend who never learned this lesson and, instead, somehow managed to only take classes that didn’t require him to study (he was some humanities major– I want to say English, but possibly Public Health or Marketing & Communications). For any *hard* class, even core requirements, he would drop right away, and then he somehow managed to find an easy alternative that he could at least get a C in without studying. Often, he still got A’s and B’s.
It still boggles my mind, to this day. He wasn’t a legacy kid (we went to My Town State, so we didn’t even have legacy kids), he was just persistent about finding loopholes. Plus, some things were easy for him that were hard for others, like writing good papers quickly. He had a minimal math requirement that was a repeat of the Algebra he learned in high school, and every other class he seemed to find the shortest cut. He always seemed to have a bunch of free time.
Drop date is usually less than a week, but there’s still the option to Withdraw (or at least there was at my University), which counts against you in that you can only do it so many times and you’re still stuck paying for the course, but it doesn’t hurt your GPA and you’re able to try again next semester.
Wait. Does he mean okay for stomping on as in, “which is your one good foot for now?”. Or does he mean, “which one will be extra-painful to stomp on?” Or does he mean, “doesn’t really matter and I don’t really care, I’m just jerkily pointing out that your in trouble either way.”
Mike knows which foot is okay to stomp on. He’s just instinctively putting his victim off-balance while he decides whether would give him more satisfaction to injure the uninjured foot, or to further injure the injured foot.
Sadly, not how it works. When you’re that fed up with people, you don’t want to be around ANYBODY and being around other people, even your friends, just drains you more. It feels like someone shoving something itchy even deeper until you snap and start hollering at everyone to fuck off and leave you alone.
thejeff
Depends on the person. Some people apparently do recharge spending time with people they like.
I, on the other hand, need solo time to recharge from even time with people I do like.
Reltzik
Sal’s an introvert, so probably solo-time for her.
BBCC
Yeah, a lot of people recharge with people, but I’ve never heard of that being the case when ‘fed up with people’ is the problem.
There’s always the possibility of Amazi-Girl just showing up, picking Joyce off the ground and carrying her hither and yon. But for that to happen, Joyce would have to threaten Mike.
Anybody see a downside?
Yes, Amber’s plan to turn into Amazi-Girl to commit misdeeds is heavily flawed by the fact that once she puts on the suit she’ll be Amazi-Girl and seek out good deeds!
List of safe men, according to Joyce:
Ethan: Good guy, also gay.
Walky: Good, if annoying, guy, also taken.
Joe: Is scared of her.
Jacob: Good guy, also hot.
Mike: ???
I wonder how well Joyce might do at tutoring Walky, if she could hold off bickering with him. If I’m remembering right she still has math skills, even she doesn’t have alien-augmented maths brilliance this time around, give her a chance to try that whole teaching thing she’s using as an excuse to try to get her MRS Degree, and let her take a little of the pressure off her beloved Dottie.
I have a feeling Joyce will have a much easier time getting Walky to focus than Jason – for one, her head is not too firmly wedged up her ass to observe accurate reality, and for another, she knows his pressure points.
“Would you rather Dorothy did this?”
“FOCUSING. FOCUSING NOW. WATCH ME FOCUS”
It’s kind of sweet that even though Walky is in the middle of a “my life is falling apart around me” breakdown he’s still looking out for Joyce and being considerate of her feelings and needs – and I’m pretty certain that reflects character growth on his behalf?
But I’m not sure if he’s thinking about (or even knows about) Joyce’s fear of strangers, or if he’s just polite enough not to force the limping girl to fend for herself. (I totally forgot about her toe until I read the alt-text.)
Come to think of it, is Joyce still afraid of walking alone, now that Ryan’s off the streets?
It’s probably a fear of all strangers in general after all that’s happened. Add on the attempted assault and kidnapping from Toe Dad and one could see why she won’t feel safe without someone she feels is trust worthy by her side.
thejeff
It was very much a specific fear of Ryan – we’ve been shown her seeing him everywhere when she was stuck outside alone. I’m pretty sure Walky knows about it. He’s definitely been one of the people she’s relied on to keep from walking alone – despite her apparent dislike of him. And he’s definitely trying to help cover for her here.
She’s been getting better – even before the stabbings. Some of that might just have been being distracted by her other troubles though.
Lingo
Well, Joyce specifically told Sal that she hadn’t told anyone about her fear except for Ethan and Amazi-Girl. But Sal told her to talk to someone else about it. (That was just before Becky was kidnapped.) So I’m not sure if Walky knows or not.
List of safe men, according to Joyce:
Ethan: Good guy, also gay.
Walky: Good, if annoying, guy, also taken.
Joe: Is scared of her.
Jacob: Good guy, also hot.
Mike: ???
Mike and Joyce have an interesting dynamic.
She’s not at all intimidated by him and doesn’t take any of his shit. He in turn hasn’t really tried to screw with her.
Look, this is very easy. Joyce is good at math and is majoring in education, so she either can tutor the stuff or can use practice. Walky isn’t intimidated by her or shamed by her and she won’t take bullshit from him but can put him in his place and she’s not Jason-level incompetent.
So, Joyce takes over Walky-tutoring duty, freeing up Dorothy’s time for her to be awesome. Flawless victory, up until Mike invites himself along.
113 thoughts on “Shouldn’t”
Ana Chronistic
idk Mike doesn’t have the same fear factor
or is it more pleasant getting one’s head bitten off by Sal than just being around Mike
OOzulu
I mean some people would be into that.
Mara
tbh Sal is one of those characters who could punch me in the face and i would thank her.
Jimbo
Does Joyce still have a girl-crush on Sal, or is that ancient history?
Ryan
That is so last week. (In story time)
podian
We need a baseline for these things.
Anyone seen Faz lately?
Kamino Neko
I can’t think of many things that would be less pleasant than being around Mike.
Derek
methinks Walky will drop the course
Arawn
Does he even know that’s a possibility or when the cut-off date is? He only has 5 more years til the cutoff date.
TheKelliestKelly
Well when he finally went to Jason for help, Jason’s first response was to tell him the drop date had ended. If I recall correctly, Walky rejected that option conceptually regardless.
Reltzik
Withdraw, then.
JessWitt
That’s gonna leave a bad mark on his record.
But yeah, what else can Walky do?
thejeff
Learn to study?
It’s not like this isn’t going to come back to bite him later on, even if he drops this class. He could drop out of school, I suppose.
His problem isn’t that this particular class is too hard for him. His problem is that he’s never had to work for grades before and he doesn’t know how. He will wind up in more classes he’s going to have to work for. He’s not going to be able to coast through four years of college if he just drops this one class.
Jimbo
It took me all of high school and 1 year of college to learn this lesson…
Indoor Cat
I have a friend who never learned this lesson and, instead, somehow managed to only take classes that didn’t require him to study (he was some humanities major– I want to say English, but possibly Public Health or Marketing & Communications). For any *hard* class, even core requirements, he would drop right away, and then he somehow managed to find an easy alternative that he could at least get a C in without studying. Often, he still got A’s and B’s.
It still boggles my mind, to this day. He wasn’t a legacy kid (we went to My Town State, so we didn’t even have legacy kids), he was just persistent about finding loopholes. Plus, some things were easy for him that were hard for others, like writing good papers quickly. He had a minimal math requirement that was a repeat of the Algebra he learned in high school, and every other class he seemed to find the shortest cut. He always seemed to have a bunch of free time.
TheKelliestKelly
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/deadline/ I think it would be awhile before Walky would actually consider that an option for himself. Besides which, according to Jason he’s past the drop deadline without academic penalty.
Seerow
Drop date is usually less than a week, but there’s still the option to Withdraw (or at least there was at my University), which counts against you in that you can only do it so many times and you’re still stuck paying for the course, but it doesn’t hurt your GPA and you’re able to try again next semester.
AnvilPro
Mike’s time has come. Also I think that’s the most casual Joyce has ever spoken to Walky, almost like they’re acquaintances
kitty
mike’s hair is a F
Dean
Just like Walky’s math grade!
DarkoNeko
Yup, maybe get serious about math before your GF litterally overwork herself to death there, Walky. No pressure ~
Doctor_Who
Hey, there’s an urban legend that if your girlfriend overworks herself to death you get straight As for the semester. Walky’s just hedging his bets.
Needfuldoer
Nah, he’s probably going to the bathroom to stare into the mirror, turn out the lights, and repeat a name three times.
“Stephen Hawking, Stephen Hawking, Stephen Hawking.”
DarkoNeko
[robotic voice] ITTT’S SHOWTIME
Passchendaele
*Walky grabs Mike by his shirt collar and holds him back while Joyce frantically hops away*
TemporalShrew
It’s actually pretty considerate, by Mike standards, to check which foot is okay to stomp on.
fogel
And he doesn’t have the default angry, scowl…
DarkoNeko
I guess getting laid somehow mellowed him.
Vi
Wait who got Mike laid. What did I miss.
thejeff
Mike seduced a minor character (Eric, maybe?) apparently as part of his plot to screw with Ethan and Danny.
Hoodiecrow
He isn’t saying what he’s going to do with the information, though.
MatthewTheLucky
Yeah, that sounded much more like a “What is your weak point?” to me.
Reltzik
Wait. Does he mean okay for stomping on as in, “which is your one good foot for now?”. Or does he mean, “which one will be extra-painful to stomp on?” Or does he mean, “doesn’t really matter and I don’t really care, I’m just jerkily pointing out that your in trouble either way.”
Marsh Maryrose
Mike knows which foot is okay to stomp on. He’s just instinctively putting his victim off-balance while he decides whether would give him more satisfaction to injure the uninjured foot, or to further injure the injured foot.
Plasma Mongoose
Use this as an opportunity to overcome your fear Joyce, unless you really love limping.
BBCC
I’ve been there, Sal. Being stuck with people you hate drains you like nothing else.
Reltzik
So… take some time to recharge with people she likes?
BBCC
Sadly, not how it works. When you’re that fed up with people, you don’t want to be around ANYBODY and being around other people, even your friends, just drains you more. It feels like someone shoving something itchy even deeper until you snap and start hollering at everyone to fuck off and leave you alone.
thejeff
Depends on the person. Some people apparently do recharge spending time with people they like.
I, on the other hand, need solo time to recharge from even time with people I do like.
Reltzik
Sal’s an introvert, so probably solo-time for her.
BBCC
Yeah, a lot of people recharge with people, but I’ve never heard of that being the case when ‘fed up with people’ is the problem.
Kernanator
Mike or fear of strangers, Mike or fear of strangers. Tough call.
Josh Spicer
I know this is painted as something of a joke, but in context, it is a pretty tough call.
Stephen Bierce
There’s always the possibility of Amazi-Girl just showing up, picking Joyce off the ground and carrying her hither and yon. But for that to happen, Joyce would have to threaten Mike.
Anybody see a downside?
Rowen Morland
Yes, Amber’s plan to turn into Amazi-Girl to commit misdeeds is heavily flawed by the fact that once she puts on the suit she’ll be Amazi-Girl and seek out good deeds!
Solenoid
Things fall apart.
Reltzik
The centre cannot hold?
Marsh Maryrose
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world!
Viktoria
List of safe men, according to Joyce:
Ethan: Good guy, also gay.
Walky: Good, if annoying, guy, also taken.
Joe: Is scared of her.
Jacob: Good guy, also hot.
Mike: ???
Cass
I wonder how well Joyce might do at tutoring Walky, if she could hold off bickering with him. If I’m remembering right she still has math skills, even she doesn’t have alien-augmented maths brilliance this time around, give her a chance to try that whole teaching thing she’s using as an excuse to try to get her MRS Degree, and let her take a little of the pressure off her beloved Dottie.
Needfuldoer
This is assuming he can knuckle down and focus, or that she’ll tolerate his being a goofball without feeling like she’s wasting time.
Liliet
I have a feeling Joyce will have a much easier time getting Walky to focus than Jason – for one, her head is not too firmly wedged up her ass to observe accurate reality, and for another, she knows his pressure points.
“Would you rather Dorothy did this?”
“FOCUSING. FOCUSING NOW. WATCH ME FOCUS”
Miri
It’s kind of sweet that even though Walky is in the middle of a “my life is falling apart around me” breakdown he’s still looking out for Joyce and being considerate of her feelings and needs – and I’m pretty certain that reflects character growth on his behalf?
Lingo
But I’m not sure if he’s thinking about (or even knows about) Joyce’s fear of strangers, or if he’s just polite enough not to force the limping girl to fend for herself. (I totally forgot about her toe until I read the alt-text.)
Come to think of it, is Joyce still afraid of walking alone, now that Ryan’s off the streets?
Josh Spicer
I think THAT’S where Walky’s mindset is. Less of a “you have to hobble” and more of “our ‘friend’ group agreed not to let her walk alone”.
auroki
It’s probably a fear of all strangers in general after all that’s happened. Add on the attempted assault and kidnapping from Toe Dad and one could see why she won’t feel safe without someone she feels is trust worthy by her side.
thejeff
It was very much a specific fear of Ryan – we’ve been shown her seeing him everywhere when she was stuck outside alone. I’m pretty sure Walky knows about it. He’s definitely been one of the people she’s relied on to keep from walking alone – despite her apparent dislike of him. And he’s definitely trying to help cover for her here.
She’s been getting better – even before the stabbings. Some of that might just have been being distracted by her other troubles though.
Lingo
Well, Joyce specifically told Sal that she hadn’t told anyone about her fear except for Ethan and Amazi-Girl. But Sal told her to talk to someone else about it. (That was just before Becky was kidnapped.) So I’m not sure if Walky knows or not.
Reltzik
IS Ryan off the streets, or did he get bail?
Joy
he’s still in the hospital
timemonkey
He got a knife to the gut.
Viktoria
List of safe men, according to Joyce:
Ethan: Good guy, also gay.
Walky: Good, if annoying, guy, also taken.
Joe: Is scared of her.
Jacob: Good guy, also hot.
Mike: ???
MatthewTheLucky
Mike is safe, but only because the anticipation is worse than the payoff could be, so he’ll never get to it.
ValdVin
Joe’s merely being in Dorothy’s presence kept Ryan from attacking her. That’d outweigh “scared of Joyce’s emotions” in my book.
thejeff
Mike and Joyce have an interesting dynamic.
She’s not at all intimidated by him and doesn’t take any of his shit. He in turn hasn’t really tried to screw with her.
Reltzik
Look, this is very easy. Joyce is good at math and is majoring in education, so she either can tutor the stuff or can use practice. Walky isn’t intimidated by her or shamed by her and she won’t take bullshit from him but can put him in his place and she’s not Jason-level incompetent.
So, Joyce takes over Walky-tutoring duty, freeing up Dorothy’s time for her to be awesome. Flawless victory, up until Mike invites himself along.
Joy
yeah!
Rukdug
At which point Joyce gets fed up with Mike and delivers him a very cathartic punch to the face.
BBCC
Ace solution. Which is why it won’t happen.
Liliet