186

Babar
Posted on March 10, 2018 by David M Willis

186 thoughts on “Babar”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “Duke Farthing Cumberbatch? Pence Worthington? Archibald Honeycutt? Lucius Mugg? Jammie Dodgers? Wallace N. Gromit?”

    “…you had me at ‘sir'”

    1. Cholma

      Maybe Jason is out getting knighted by a king?
      “In the name of my most Royal Majesty, I knight thee! (strikes Jason over the head with his sceptre) “Arise, Sir Loin of Beef!”
      (strike) “Arise, Earl of Cloves!”
      (strike) “Arise, Duke of Brittingham!”
      (strike) “Arise, Baron of Munchausen!”
      (strike) “Arise, Essence of Myrrh!”
      (strike) “Milk of Magnesia”
      (strike) “Quarter of Ten!”

      1. Wizard

        Duke of Earl.

      2. Screwball

        Bugs Bunny?

        1. Cholma

          Yep. 1949’s “Rabbit Hood”. You can find it on YouTube.

        2. Needfuldoer

          It’s weird, I had that one on VHS but never caught it on TV.

        3. Screwball

          Rabbit Hood? Hmmm, Daniel the Human taught me some Google-Fu…….. Found it!
          https://youtu.be/8Qtgm5g5Gyo

      3. Slipdance

        And now I’m imagining Jason singing a shaky version of ‘London Bridge’

      4. Bicycle Bill

        Sir Cumference (the fattest member of King Arthur’s Round Table)

        1. Paul

          So, apparently this is an actual thing. Although he’s not exceptionally fat. I had no idea.

          https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cumference-Knights-First-Round-Adventure/dp/1570911525

          Sort of a Phantom Tollbooth thing I guess?

          I was just going to do a ‘Yo Knight’ joke.

          “Yo knight so fat, when he sits around the round table he sits around the round table.”

        2. Deanatay

          Sir Cuitous, the latest (and most often lost) of Arthur’s Knights.

          Sir Tainly, the most confident of Arthur’s Knights.

          Sir Repititious, the secret Knight.

          Sir Plus, the extra Knight.

          Sir Endipity, the luckiest of Arthur’s Knights.

          Sir Rebral, the smartest of Arthur’s Knights.

        3. adjudicus

          Sir Cease, the knight who thinks it’d be better if it all just ended.

          Sir Pass, the knight who always manages to somehow be better than the rest.

          Sir Real, the knight who everyone thinks is bizarre.

        4. Ana Chronistic

          and of course, Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Film

        5. Clif

          My favorite.

        6. Xailenrath

          Sir Osis of The Liver?

        7. Yet_One_More_Idiot

          And Sir Iosis of the Immune System, with whom he is often confused.

        8. Kamino Neko

          Different cartoon(s)…that was used in Knighty Knight Bugs and Knight-Mare Hare.

      5. Charlie Spencer

        I saw that one yesterday. I didn’t worry and I didn’t fear.

      6. Goshii

        You forgot Sir Osis of Liverpool

    2. JessWitt

      Mathy McMathface?
      Chauncey Canterbury?
      Potter O’Gould?
      Captain Britain?

    3. Marsh Maryrose

      Actual British royal names:

      Charles Philip Arthur George (Prince Charles)
      William Arthur Philip Louis (Prince William)
      Henry Charles Albert David (Prince Harry)
      George Alexander Louis (Prince George)
      Charlotte Elizabeth Diana (Princess Charlotte)

      1. Ana Chronistic

        dang, meant to add Lord British in there

        1. Cholma

          +1 for the Ultima ref

        2. Ana Chronistic

          it’s also a ship! piloted by… Lord British

      2. Remmington Steele

        Ah, the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas. What a delightful bunch.

      3. HeySo

        “Actual British royal names:”

        Sooo basically they just slap a bunch of random, generic forenames together in the most awkward, clunky sequence possible?

        I mean, even going along with the theme of “a list of common forenames”, their approach is just lazy and lacking in any sense of poetry and charm. Consider alternatives such as Wilbur Peacock Davis and Marianne Kinsey Sage. Love them, hate them, at least they roll off the tongue and stick to memory better than Henry Charles Albert David and Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. -.-;

        (And yes, Peacock is an actual boy’s name. It’s not even remotely common as a name, but I’m giving it a pass on grounds of being familiar as a general word. 😛)

        1. Lamia

          I’m gonna play devils advocate and point out the royal names are largely hereditary. Charles is the name of the guy next in line for the throne. Phillip is the Queen’s husband. Diana is the name of Charlotte’a grandmother. Albert is a previously king. It’s a fairly common naming convention in the U.K; my brother’a full name is [Paternal Grandfather] [Maternal Granddather] [Mother’s Maiden Name] [Surname].

        2. SgtWadeyWilson

          Yeah, but it’s still boring.

          I much prefer: [The two names my Grandmother used to yell at my Father with, despite neither of them being in his full name] [One of my Mother’s favorite characters from the Shannara books] [Surname].

        3. HeySo

          I actually contemplated mentioning the historical basis myself, but it wasn’t really relevant to my point that modern nobility names are still ungaily things, and should go out the way of royal intra- and intermarriage, and other outdated concepts of lineage.

          The issue isn’t the generic nature of the names, it’s that they flow together poorly and thus lack both appeal and ease of recognition. Tradition can be referenced to death, but if we’re contemplating impressions of regality, such a naming scheme doesn’t lend itself to such things. It does, however, readily lend itself to less favorable recollections of past royal intramarriages..

          After all, if the royal family was marrying out more, then following that naming scheme, their names should inherently become a lot more interesting and distinct and diverse over time.

          More relevant is that another notable naming consideration of the past is the adjustment of names to fit flow- ie, Davis instead of David is clearly still a tribute, but may make for better naming flow.

          Charlotte Lizbeth Diane, for example, could have made for an alternative to Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. In that vein, to emphasize the point, Charlotte is itself a feminine form of Charlot, which in turn is a variation of Charles.

          It really does feel awkward in its current implementation, in any case. 😛

  2. AnvilPro

    Want to sympathize with Walky for going through troubles, but actually annoyed with him for forgetting the name of the guy who is actually willing to help

    1. Yumi

      I read this strip and was like, “Huh, I…I don’t remember what his name is either.”

      I do now, but it took me a minute.

      1. GoblinScribe

        I was literally going to guess “Miles”.

        1. HeySo

          I do believe you mean Miles Alexander Butterworth the Third. ;P

          But then, Walky’d remember that one..
          ..it has butt in it. :X

      2. Viktoria

        Jason has had one appearance in he last 9 months. I couldn’t remember his name until I checked the comments.

        1. Dark

          Been reading “It’s Walky” so I remembered his name easily.

        2. Needfuldoer

          Yeah, he’s much more important to the old continuity.

    2. C.T Phipps

      Walky throws more shade at Jason than I’ve thrown at my worst enemies.

    3. DailyBrad

      He does want to help Walky, but it’s not entirely altruistic. It’s his job, it’s for pride after the other T.A. and Sal have called his work into question, and Jason hasn’t exactly done an excellent job of helping Walky just yet to bring in a lot of gratitude.

      That being said, Walky’s Walky, and their relationship started with him drawing Jason being devoured by a dinosaur. I think Jason knows what to expect to where Babar’s not going to be the dealbreaker.

      1. anonymsly

        In something like fairness, from what we’ve seen Walky hasn’t put a single shred of effort into being helped, either. It doesn’t seem fair to blame Jason for Walky’s absolute refusal to do anything but yammer insults and doodle insulting dino pics.

        1. Inahc

          we don’t know that it’s lack of effort or ADHD, but he *is* being a complete ass about it.

      2. Eldritch Gentleman

        To be fair Walky doesn’t owe him gratitude but he Does owe him some common human decency and respect as a human being. But he has given him none of that, I would honestly applaud Jason telling him to get lost.

  3. Passchendaele

    *actually*, the fifth. such an amateur mistake, Walky. 😛

    1. adjudicus

      Give him a break! The Duke of Thingley has more important things to remember than a foreign dignitary’s name! (namely, how to remove chicken nugget grease stains from clothing)

      1. HeySo

        “a foreign dignitary”

        Actually, Thingley is in Wiltshire England, so they’d both be British. 😛

  4. Mada

    Oh c’mon Walky; go the whole nine yards and call him “Adam Blampied”.

    1. David DeLaney

      > the whole nine yards

      i c wut u did thar, but how would Walky know Jason’s exact penis size?

      –Dave, does he read Sal’s diary?

  5. Nono

    This comic reminded me that I actually forgot the name of Dick van Dyke’s character in Mary Poppins.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Bad Cockney Accent Chimney Sweep 1#

    2. GoblinScribe

      It’s actually just Dick Van Dyke.

      1. C.T Phipps

        I could believe it’s actually him serving as a chimney sweep and knowing a sidhe nanny.

    3. Larkle

      It’s Burt (Bert?), idk the spelling. I don’t think a last name was said, but not sure.

    4. cbwroses

      Yes! Glad I’m not the only one who immediately went to Marry Poppins!

    5. Needfuldoer

      I hope they find a way to sneak him into the new movie somewhere, even if it’s just “Old Man Making Chalk Drawings in the Background”, or “old bank owner”.

  6. DarkoNeko

    You may call him Lord Buckethead.

    1. tim gueguen

      I’ve never seen any indication Jason can play 64th note guitar arpeggios while wearing a chicken bucket on his head.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckethead

      1. ellernock

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Buckethead Nah, this guy. Who admittedly looks like he belongs in the other universe.

      2. sdrainbow

        Anyone can play 64th note arpeggios if the tempo is slow enough.

  7. Marsh Maryrose

    Cholmondely Featherstonehaugh Beauchamps (pronounced “Chumley Fanshaw Beechum.”)

  8. Stephen Bierce

    *plays the theme to the Jeeves & Wooster series (that wound up on Masterpiece Theater) on the hacked Muzak*
    Again, it was because of that and Blackadder that I never could take House seriously.

  9. C.T Phipps

    I shouldn’t feel sympathy for Jason. However, I work in academia and I’ve seen the desperate need of many students for attention from teachers. Even one as bad as Jason. The fact Walky wastes his time and Jason’s with mockery when other people need help really ticks me off. It’s worse than doing nothing at all.

    1. John

      Given Sal’s experience, I’m not sure but what wasting Jason’s time might be a public service.

      1. C.T Phipps

        I note what makes it even more insane is Jason didn’t even realize he was preying on a desperate girl trying not to flunk but assumed she really liked him.

        1. HeySo

          As noted below, Jason clearly wasn’t “preying” on anyone. He failed in the responsibilities of his position, but he never abused his power in any way, nor engaged in any manipulation. In fact, he seemed shocked after the fact that the sex was intended to manipulate grading; it seems he was under the impression that their long time together in study efforts had turned into a different type of connection.

          Being clueless and inept doesn’t make him a villain. It doesn’t make him likable, but he’s not inherently bad, as all his efforts to look after students indicates (note also the fact that he didn’t take advantage of Sal when she was drunk, as a villain presumably would).

        2. HeySo

          *actively abused, I should say. Ie, manipulating someone to sleep with him.

        3. the final pam

          I know you’re using it as proof of Jason not being a monster, but “didn’t take advantage of a drunk girl” is a low fucking bar to set for being a decent human

        4. HeySo

          Thankfully, that point wasn’t meant as a bar, or even as a testament of character- rather, it was meant to match to “preying on a desperate girl” and invalidate that claim by providing an actual example where that phrase would apply.

          Also, the bar for humans is pretty abysmally low to begin with, so do try and appreciate every minor moment of an individual not doing something horrific.

        5. HeySo

          Thankfully, that point wasn’t meant as a bar, or even as a testament of character- rather, it was meant to match to “preying on a desperate girl” and invalidate that claim by providing an actual example where that phrase would apply.

          Also, the bar for humans is pretty abysmally low to begin with, so do try and appreciate every minor moment of an individual not doing something horrific.

        6. the final pam

          Yeah, no, I’m not going to give a guy props for not raping someone. By that logic, we should be praising every member of the cast every time they don’t assault someone.

        7. HeySo

          I’m not sure if your reading comprehension is flawed, or if you’re so busy pushing an agenda that you’re not making an attempt, but you’re arguing a topic that- while meritous in its own right- isn’t at all relevant to the current discussion.
          I’m mechanically invalidating one point, while you seem to think I’m emotionally validating another. Your interpretation is completely off-base, since “props” doesn’t factor into this discussion, which is focused on linguistic application of terms such as “prey” and “evil”. If you browse through the page, you’ll easily note that I don’t in any way condone Jason’s behavior, but it’s most certainly not what it’s being described as.
          You’re comparing what is essentially statutory rape between an 18 year old and a 16 year old (except in this case the legality and onus of responsibility is tied to a position of power rather than to the position of advanced age) to actual rape. Neither one is appropriate, but no way in hell are they directly comparable to one another.
          That is the discussion here, not whether someone should be given props for not raping someone. That’s just.. a twisted thing to interpret to begin with. I’m sorry for whatever circumstances have set your expectations to think such an interpretation is likely.

        8. HeySo

          Ugh.
          “I’m not sure if your reading comprehension is flawed”
          I meant that to be in reference to your comprehension of those specific comments, not as an insult to your overall reading comprehension. Sorry for the misleading phrasing.

        9. the final pam

          Could you be any more condescending?

          I already noted before that you are using the situation as an example of Jason not being a villain preying on innocent young girls, but I’m pointing out that using “didn’t rape someone” as an indicator of someone’s moral standards is shaky. Then you also said “do try and appreciate every minor moment of an individual not doing something horrific.” which reads as thought I should be, what? Grateful that the first thought to cross Jason’s mind wasn’t to take advantage of Sal? No, that’s absolute horseshit and you know it. You’re phrasing this as though Jason actively chose not to assault someone, and it’s honestly more horrifying that you think that’s something to be appreciated.

          Just because Jason wasn’t aware that Sal was trying to manipulate him into adjusting her grades does not mean that an abuse of power didn’t happen. Jason was her TA. He should not have in any way considered, much less gone along with, sleeping with Sal because he is an authority figure over her. As much as you want to argue that Jason did not abuse his power in any way, him not taking advantage of Sal once does not, in any way, strengthen that argument. Just because you do not take advantage of a person one time does not mean that an abuse of power never occurred, nor will ever occur.

          But please, do keep on insulting me and insist I’m pushing an agenda. After all, I’m not the one who doesn’t seem to understand how power dynamics work.

    2. geno

      I don’t really get why everyone assumes Jason is evil. It’s kinda silly in my opinion. He had difficulty teaching two people. He might be a fine T.A. for the other students Also what kind of self-loathing wretch assumes someone slept with them without being into them?

      1. C.T Phipps

        I dunno, because she was clearly angry, frustrated, and scared when she made the offer? Because he’s the guy who grades her papers?

        1. sdrainbow

          Scared? Didn’t she literally throw him to the floor?

        2. sdrainbow

          I looked it up – she doesn’t throw him to the floor, she jumps over the desk with a grin and takes off her shirt whilst astride. The only thing Jason could conceivably have done to be construed as “starting it” is loosening his bow tie after working with her for what he calls “hours”.

          I’m not excusing the behavior – he 100% should not have let it escalate any further and should have reported the incident immediately, and letting it continue AFTER the fact is totally on him, but he didn’t attack Sal (literally the opposite) and he didn’t start anything.

          I’ll buy that she just gave up and it’s a self-esteem thing, yeah, absolutely, and if you meant “scared she was going to fail a class”, sure. But she was under absolutely 0 physical threat when she initiated the sexual encounter.

        3. BBCC

          I’m pretty sure ‘scared of failing the class (and the subsequent chat with her parents) was what C.T. meant

        4. Cyrus

          But Jason never even implied he’d do anything for her in exchange for ‘favours’. Sal made the assumption all on her own and basically jumped him. In that context, using the term ‘preyed’ as C.T. did above is going a little far.

      2. BBCC

        Evil’s a strong word. I think he’s a jackass and a crappy teacher. That and evil are two entirely different things.

        1. C.T Phipps

          I think his assholery is best exemplified in that after sleeping with her and giving her a “honest” grade, he chose to insult her progress which she earned. That’s some serious hypocritical slut shaming.

        2. Kat

          I think you might be thinking of Mike; as far as I remember Jason was only an asshole when her marks went *down* after his tutoring (before Sal slept with him). Mike was the one who said she got her better marks by sleeping with the TA (which prompted her to ask Jason about the mark, and he told her he gave her paper to be marked by another TA).

        3. HeySo

          I’ll up the precision a notch: Socially awkward, uppity, self-absorbed, and a crappy teacher.

          Definitely not evil, as he never engages in the destruction of another person’s freedom, life, or dignity with intent, nor engages in irrational destruction. As such, he doesn’t fit either common interpretation of the term.

      3. Fart Captor

        I dunno, a woman of color who has already had plenty of experience with the power structures that expect her to work three times harder for half the recognition? Or someone with self esteem issues who is desperate to do well?

        Or even just someone who is just a self-loathing wretch, because that would not excuse Jason’s behavior in any fucking way?

  10. brasca1

    Shouldn’t have started with Babar. He’s French.

    1. C.T Phipps

      That’s a trampling offense in Elephantland.

    2. Marsh Maryrose

      Walky’s called him Tintin (who is Belgian), but at least Tintin is young and blond.

      I’m waiting for Walky to call him Captain Scarlet.

    3. Axel

      thanks, I was scrolling through the comments hoping someone would confirm this (because I was pretty dang sure).

      And yeah tintin makes more sense (although, Walky’s probably just going by popular/common but foreign-to-him european cartoons)

    4. No Name

      If I remember correctly, what little bits of the Babar cartoon I watched had him speaking in RP, so it’s perfectly reasonable.

  11. newllend(henryvolt)

    I’m going to guess drunk in his office ?

    1. Raen

      I’m thinking more “banging his sister.” And maybe also drunk.

      1. Viktoria

        Huh, I didn’t realize Jason’s sister was in the states.

        1. HeySo

          You’re one up on me- I didn’t realize Jason had a sister. 😛

      2. Proxiehunter

        And in his office.

      3. brasca1

        Well it can’t be Joe banging Penny since we last saw him with Faz.

        1. HeySo

          In fairness, we don’t know how much time has passed, nor how kinky Penny is.

  12. Raen

    Aren’t Babar and Paddington both immigrants, anyway?

    1. C.T Phipps

      Babar was educated in France and returned to Africa to dominate the locals like Killmonger and plot revolt against his colonialist masters.

      1. StClair

        Nice.

  13. General Tekno

    He’s probably having a private session with Sal.

    1. C.T Phipps

      I don’t think their sexual encounters continued past the tit for tat which Jason confused as Sal liking him for versus a desperate attempt to avoid flunking out of college.

      1. thejeff

        Their second encounter happened after she found out he didn’t improve her grade, so I doubt she was expecting it to help her academically.
        More of an angry hate-fuck, but there was definitely some level of attraction.

        Pretty sure they haven’t since then though.

  14. tim gueguen

    “Walky should ask Faz for help. My teachers tell me they’ve never seen anything like my work.”

  15. C.T Phipps

    Is Walky going to offer sexual services? I think he should. Then again, I really do ship Jason and Walky. The love which must not be named–Bowties and Cartoon Nerds.

    1. Dean

      “Fine, I’ll wear the wig. Happy now?”

      1. C.T Phipps

        Jason only liked Sal because she reminded him of Walky.

    2. cbwroses

      Pretty sure Walky already offered sexual favors to Jason. Of course, with his usual amount of snark, so I doubt either one viewed the offer as serious.

      1. HeySo

        :eyes your avatar:
        Oh, but I think someone viewed it as serious..

  16. Rukdug

    Walky, you forgot “Esquire”. People with “Esquire” at the end of their name hate it when you forget the “Esquire”.

  17. JessWitt

    Isn’t Babar French?

  18. Marsh Maryrose

    I’m not understanding the alt-text. Who is Jim in this context?

    1. Clif

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-crw986KF-0

  19. Keulen

    I’m guessing it’s too late for Walky to just drop that math class.

    1. C.T Phipps

      I wish I’d followed that advice for French. Fucked up my GPA enough to almost lose me my Masters.

    2. Marsh Maryrose

      Caveat: the floating timeline complicates research into matters like this, both in terms of available information (right now the IU site only gives information for the current Spring semester) and applicability (what applies in real-world 2018 does not necessarily apply in DoA).

      In Spring 2018, the last day for IU students to drop a class was one week after the first day of classes.

      Students can withdraw from a class with an “Automatic W” up to about two months after the first day of class, so that option would presumably be available to Walky, but the W would show up on his transcript, and he surely knows that his parents would blow their tops when they saw that.

      He could still negotiate with the instructor for an Incomplete, but at this point he’s so freaked out that he may not even realize that this is an option.

      1. thejeff

        Okay, so he drops the class. Or at least gets an incomplete. Then what?

        His problem isn’t that this particular class is too hard for him, but that he’s always been able to coast before and he’s never learned how to study. That doesn’t go away with this class. If he’s still coasting through his other classes, maybe he’d be fine this semester, but he’ll hit the wall eventually. Far better to tackle this now – as he’s trying to do, even if he’s trying so very badly – than to dodge it and wait for it to hit him in later years.

        1. No Name

          It’s also that he’s still afraid of his mom, as Marsh Maryrose implied in their penultimate paragraph. Heck, I’ll bet you a nickel his mom’s eventual freak out is at least half of his freak out, the other half being “I’m not special anymore”.

        2. thejeff

          Perhaps, though I don’t recall much direct evidence of it. Far more that his personal self-esteem is tied to his self-image of “smart one who gets good grades without trying”.

          That’s still sort of beside my point though: Regardless of the reasons for him freaking out about it, dropping the class isn’t a solution. He’s still going to have to learn to study and that’s not going to happen without a class he won’t do well in without studying.

        3. HeySo

          In fairness, he appears to be doing fine in his other classes and, iirc, it was indicated he doesn’t even need this math class for his major. So while the “and then what” may need to be addressed at some point, right now his best option may nevertheless be to drop the course.

        4. thejeff

          Better to deal with it now and get a handle on it in course he doesn’t really need than to wait and deal with it later – say in multiple courses in his major all at once.
          Besides that would postpone any character growth until after this semester – decades away in real time. 🙂

        5. HeySo

          I’ll yield you the narrative point, but trying to hold on to what you can’t in college is the very opposite of what you should do- in fact, a major part of college is learning what you can handle, and how you can go about handling things well. Learning when to reallocate your resources from one thing to another is a vital skill to learn in itself. You’re viewing the matter as one of running away, when in fact it’s one of re-prioritizing so as to better apply oneself.

          Or, to rephrase: If you try to hold on to what you can’t handle in college, it’ll just drag down your other grades, and then you’ll be worse off than you were to begin with. It’s important to pace yourself and prepare yourself properly for things. For someone without experience in applying themself like Walky, a learning experience in doing such is valuable, but there’s far more to be learnt by going in properly from the start, than from trying to grasp at falling balls once you’ve already staggered in your juggling act.

          I’m not saying he shouldn’t try, but that retreat and reorganization can be a valid option in any conflict.

      2. Deadjolras

        According to this strip, the deadline to drop the class “without academic penalty” has already passed and Walky doesn’t want to drop it anyway for fear of disappointing his mum.
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/deadline/

  20. Victor Riley

    SIR Chad Wellington Chimneysweep was his father, Walky. He’s just Chad Wellington Chimneysweep. (the IV)

  21. Adam Lafferty

    No, it’s SPELLED “Sir Chad Wellington Chimneysweep IV,” but it’s pronounced “Throat Warbler Mangrove.”

    1. jeffepp

      Right.

  22. chris73

    Theres a few people here I actively hate and Walkys certainly not at that level but hes certainly the male character I dislike the most

    1. Some1

      Doesn’t that mean you hate Walky more than Blaine, Ross, and Ryan? If you hate him as a character and not as a person please disregard this statement.

      1. BBCC

        I’d assume that chris meant other than complete garbage people like Blaine, Ross, Ryan, etc.

        1. Clif

          Well, but the garbage people is unclear. Does it include Mike? Does it include Faz? Does it include Ethan?

      2. chris73

        I hate characters like Blaine, Ross, Mary and Ryan but Walky is to me just such an entitled, spoilt, unappreciative little dickwad that hes just a completely unlikable character

        I think he needs to fail because if he gets an easy out he won’t learn anything at all and will have no reason to change

        1. Steve C

          I can’t believe I never realized this until chris73 pointed it out to me. I was thinking, “Yeah, but he has a good heart”, but then I realized that the only person you can actively tell he cares about is Dorothy–whom he’s sleeping with. Even his recent heart to heart with Amber/Amazing Girl could be written off as just a pity party.

        2. thejeff

          Well, there’s Billie, despite her abuse of him.
          If you try hard enough you can find reasons to write off anyone’s good qualities.

        3. Inahc

          I don’t think failing alone would teach him anything here, but an easy out would indeed be bad for him.

          Ideally he needs to talk to someone who actually understands this shit, and be exhausted enough to actually listen.

      3. the final pam

        hate =/= dislike

        And bringing up irredeemable villain characters intended to be hated by the majority of the audience to shut down someone’s opinion of a different character isn’t cool, don’t do that.

        1. Clif

          The quote was, “hes certainly the male character I dislike the most”. In what way does pointing out that this includes Blain, Ross, Ryan, Mike, Faz and Ethan constitute shutting down someone’s opinion? For that matter, ‘X isn’t cool, don’t do that’ sounds a lot more to me like trying to shut down someone’s opinion. Just saying.

        2. the final pam

          They did not bring up Mike, Faz, or Ethan, though. They specifically brought up Blaine, Ross, and Ryan. You know, the abusive fathers and the rapist? The characters that are not in any way meant to have any depths beyond being villains and bringing them up as a counterpoint reads as a fallacy.

          It would be different if the comparison was Walky and Mike, but it wasn’t.

        3. the final pam

          For a comparison, it’s like someone going “I dislike Bob the most” “Wow, really?? More than Murder McStabberson???”

          It’s a fallacy and does not read as genuine. Of course Murder McStabberson is reprehensible, as he’s not intended to be anything more, and shouldn’t be counted in this kind of discussion.

  23. Ainara

    “Wellington? Beef Wellington?”

    1. Ainara

      Thank you, Gravatar gods

  24. Bagge

    “I even wear pants and everything.”

  25. DeepThought42

    Salutations long time reader first time commentator. First I truly love this comic and I have been reading it for 6 years now. I also apolgize for grammar spelling and syntax of this comment, I am writing this on my phone and so it will be quite bad. I would like to say as TA before you post comments crtical of TAs, you should understand a little bit of what a TAs schedule is. First TAs up until generally their third or fourth year have to take 9 credits of classes which involve reading and over 100+ pages of reading per class so 300 pages a weeks. They also must either assist the Proffessor with research and teaching. Also they have to work on their own term papers, plus their own research which they will be either trying to publish said research or prepare it for a confrence. after they have taken about 60 they are expected to take a comprhensive exam which is a grueling exam in which at least for me is writing about 40 pages over 5 days analyzing promient works and methodlogical condrums of your selected feild. followed shortly by an oral examination. Then depending on your university and or feild you are expected to teach a class which could concide with classes your taking. Not to mention the dissertation and the subsquent steps before the disertation defense (ie your propsal defense). Also you need to be looking for jobs and preping for job talks to hopefully get a tenure track job. So given all this have some sympathy for your TA. while Jason may not be that sympathetic, but you shouldnt assume all TAs are Jason

    Also Jason could be in the bathroom or getting a drink and locked his office while he is out I do that during office hours for a couple minutes.

    I do realize this qualfies ad tl/dr, so in summary TAs have alot of things going on so have some sympathy or at least try understand why they might be jerks for them also Jason may be in the bathroom

    1. Viktoria

      Teaching is a skill. It requires experience, knowledge of the subject, and a talent with people. TAs generally have one of those three. That would be fine if they mostly graded papers and acted as intermediaries for the professors, but no, universities are cheap. So you end up with TAs being responsible for teaching a large number of students for a professor who is at best overwhelmed, at worse lazy and tenured.

      So students pay 10 grand a semester for a lecture series that’s better on YouTube, tutoring from a TA with no ability to teach, and then have to learn from a $500 textbook that’s out of date and was written by the professor. That’s not the TAs fault, but he’s the one in front of you not teaching, so he gets the blame.

    2. BBCC

      My TAs are great. Jason’s crappy performance doesn’t reflect on them. But Jason’s done shit that no educator should ever get a pass for, like banging his student. And, while it happens in other schools or classes, Jason is not teaching this class at all. Professor Rees is. He’s terrible too but according to Penny, the department’s philosophy is ‘We’re all shit teachers, who cares? Just don’t rock the boat’ so that’s not surprising.

      1. sdrainbow

        If Jason isn’t teaching the class, he’s not an educator.

        1. sdrainbow

          ARGH I keep forgetting there’s no edit function here, sorry.

          To elaborate: Jason’s not the teacher of the class, the professor is. He is, at best, an adjacent and more advanced student who has provided tutoring hours. If I, an undergraduate in this scenario, went to the library and got help from a grad student who was earning extra cash by working in the “help ppl write papers gooder” station, I could also be dating and banging that grad student and no one would be doing anything unethical.

          The fact that Sal initiated the sexual encounter DURING said tutoring hours is skeevy, and I maintain that Jason should have reported it and not seen her again in a tutoring session, but he’s NOT her teacher. By definition. A tutor and a teacher are NOT the same thing.

        2. thejeff

          He’s not the teacher, but he’s not just a random tutor either. He’s that classes TA. Among other things, he grades the tests. He could have changed Sal’s grade, as she expected him to. He explicitly says at one point he gave her paper to another TA to grade so she knows her better grade is real.

          Does that change your take on the situation?

        3. Inahc

          “He explicitly says at one point he gave her paper to another TA to grade”

          huh. that’s surprisingly sensible…

        4. thejeff

          It’s not nearly enough though.

        5. BBCC

          A tutor and a TA aren’t the same thing either. A TA, by definition, does share responsibility for teaching the students, hence why they have office hours. Like thejeff said, they also are involved in grading.

          Sleeping with Sal isn’t just skeevy, it’s a breech of ethics. Jason even admitted it was and said if anybody found out, he’d be tossed out of his program.

        6. HeySo

          Jason has a job with the school, and the purpose of that job is to facilitate education. Ergo, he’s an “educator”. Since ethical standards apply to any people in such positions, you may as well be saying “Oh, he was just a school counselor” or “Oh, he was just the school nurse”. Except, [presumably] unlike a counselor or nurse, he has the opportunity (even if he didn’t utilize it) to actually manipulate performance reviews (ie, grades). So a better example would perhaps be “Oh, he was just an assistant coach”. Whatever the consideration, there’s just no way to excuse his actions from a legal or ethical standpoint.

          As noted with Ruth, even purely student positions like Resident Managers, who have no interaction as far as actual scholastics, can get in trouble for inappropriate relationships. TAs are assistant teachers, as their name explicitly states. There’s just no way around the fact that the conduct was unethical.

        7. HeySo

          Not that I’m saying a nurse is an educator. I meant to tangent over to discussion of school liability there, kinda dropped the ball on the transition. 😛

          My end point was intended to be that a TA is unlike any other non-professor role in a school, because it actually does directly take part in education; as such, if there are ethical and liability issues with other positions, then we’d have to assume those would be elevated for TAs, even if you don’t consider them to be primary educators. However, considering how many classes are taught mostly by the TAs, it’s hard to not view them as potentially being such.

  26. jeffepp

    What are the odds that Walky will get the OTHER British grad student? That tall, randy, red lass. She can say, “Well, now, what all this, now? Come into my parlor.”

  27. BenRG

    Why do I feel it is entirely in character for Walky to have failed to have remembered poor Jason’s name?

    1. Emily

      Because Walky’s self-absorption is pretty well established.

  28. Reltzik

    Wow, is IU really that cheap? When I shared an office in grad school, we all got nameplates outside the door.

    …. or Walky’s just overlooking the obvious.

    1. DinaWho

      I would be completely in favour of him noticing the nameplates next strip (alternately Jason pointing them out when he opens the door) and reading off every single one of them in order because he has legitimately no clue which one is correct.

      1. No Name

        I think Jason only shares that room with Penny, so…

      2. DinaWho

        Given how horrifically bad Walky is with Jason’s name I wouldn’t be wholly surprised if he still couldn’t figure out which name was right.

    2. Lin

      You MUST have been in the sciences. All of my grad offices just said “WGSS Grad Offices” on the door.

      1. Reltzik

        I…. guess Mathematics was part of the Science School?

        …. granted, the nameplates were actually just computer-printed stickers on easily-swapable pieces of plastic, but still.

        Is this a general rule? STEMs get nameplates while others don’t?

        1. DinaWho

          This would still likely apply to Jason, as he is also a math TA.

  29. Emily

    You suck Walky.

  30. Abel Undercity

    Prescott Bartleby Wellington-Smythe?

    1. DinaWho

      Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith. 😛

      1. HeySo

        Marvin Allister Bentley-Jones?

        1. DinaWho

          Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart

        2. HeySo

          Patrick Ramsey Sedgwick-Meyerson

  31. Kabo

    I’m preeeetty sure Babar is French

    1. David DeLaney

      I’m preeeetty sure Walky’s referring to Jason’s elephant’s trunk there.

      –Dave, also the horniness

  32. Minder

    My knee-jerk reaction is to groan at how much of a pain Walky is being and then I remember what kind of a TA Jason is and I decide Walkerton is a good boy and has well-earned a captive ear to pour all his anxiety-fueled dithering out to today.

  33. fogel

    How do Walky’s untied shows stay on his feet?

    1. Sensei Le Roof

      He has TV shows on his feet?

      1. Reltzik

        He’s a Communications major, so probably.

  34. Deanatay

    It’s OK, we’ve all forgotten names before, young Mister W…

    …

    … whatever your name is.

  35. Zeussical

    Clearly his first name is Pam.

    It’s right there.

    1. Clif

      So it is. How did I miss it?

  36. Raibean

    “Dr. Who? Are you in there?”

  37. Joe How

    When he says I’ll call you by your real name I hear “I will speak your true name” , and now all I can imagine is Walky summoning Jason like a Noble Phantasm.

  38. ǝ snow ʍousɐ

    I didn’t know Babar was British!

    1. Reltzik

      It’s still Europe. It works.

      1. Clif

        Well, he speaks English rather than European.

        1. Clif

          He even speaks English with an English accent.

  39. Hari

    Wouldn’t it be funny if he accidentally walked in on Jason and his sister. Oy vey!

    1. HeySo

      Stuff like that is why everyone finds you creepy, Howard.

      1. Clif

        Everyone? To paraphrase Mike from memory after he was on the phone with Joyce’s mom, like any of you weren’t thinking it. Yeah, Jason would never use the phrase, “Oy vey!,” but still.

    2. HeySo

      Though now I’ve the visual image of her walking out, soaked with sweat, and going “Oh, hey bro. You here for your turn with Jason?”

      The fujoshis in the audience will no doubt approve.

  40. Jeremy

    Call me by *my* name?

    1. Clif

      Jeremy Jason Jim?

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