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"Past Scholastics"
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Past Scholastics
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Past Scholastics

by Paul Taylor on July 21, 2011 at 12:00 am
Story: Wapsi-Archive
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Discussion (66) ¬

  1. ProleBoi
    July 21, 2011, 12:02 am | # | Reply

    Hmm. May isn’t quite lucid lately, is she?

    • ProleBoi
      July 21, 2011, 12:04 am | # | Reply

      Clarification: She isn’t expressing herself very clearly. ‘lucid’ isn’t quite the word I was groping for.

      • Fairportfan
        July 21, 2011, 12:14 am | #

        Actually, it seems to me she’s expressing things very well, given that she’s discussing fairly technical subject with someone who doesn’t speak the language.

        I’ve spent enough time in my time trying to explain computer or electronic things to people who didn’t have the knowledge base to follow a real explanation to appreciate her situation.

      • txmystic
        July 21, 2011, 7:49 am | #

        say, what’s that big, glowing doohickey for, anyway?

      • AvengerReloaded
        July 21, 2011, 10:12 am | #

        Ah yes. The joys of bringing tech to the techless.

      • Fairportfan
        July 21, 2011, 11:55 am | #

        Touch it and find out. I’ll be way over here.

      • Ratcatcher
        July 25, 2011, 4:00 am | #

        Fairportfan- Amen brother, And if you are related to them it just gets worse. Speaks from painful experience.

  2. Ari
    July 21, 2011, 12:02 am | # | Reply

    Actually…in terms of treating things like schizophrenia that is how you deal with it. You try something and if it doesn’t work you try something else.

    • Casey
      July 21, 2011, 12:04 am | # | Reply

      Exactly! Normal people just use drugs rather than potential world-destroying artifacts.

      • Opus the Poet
        July 21, 2011, 12:07 am | #

        And just how well do drugs work when you no longer have a biology to work with any more?

      • Ari
        July 21, 2011, 12:11 am | #

        Which is WHY she’s using artifacts instead of drugs.

      • Julie
        July 21, 2011, 8:21 am | #

        Hence the comment about moving past scholastics then… 🙂

      • Jabberwonky
        July 21, 2011, 10:06 am | #

        The chemical alcohol seems to have an effect on them…

    • bmonk
      July 21, 2011, 3:08 pm | # | Reply

      I agree–you don’t “experiment” on persons as you would on a radio. Any intervention must be intended for the good of the person you treat–and should be the best possible way to treat them that you know, given your current limits. That’s why schizophrenia or depression may take some time to find a suitable treatment–you just don’t know how their chemistry will respond to the available options.

      I see Monica objecting to “experimenting” on Jin, not realizing that the intent is to help her, and not to fix the world.

  3. Casey
    July 21, 2011, 12:07 am | # | Reply

    No big deal, but in panel three, golem should only have one L.

    • Paul Taylor
      July 21, 2011, 12:20 am | # | Reply

      Yep, fixed it. Just hit refresh. =)

  4. Dafydd
    July 21, 2011, 12:09 am | # | Reply

    “her gollem form”? Jin’s not going to start obsessing over her Precious, is she? 😛

    • Ari
      July 21, 2011, 12:14 am | # | Reply

      That’s Gollum. Pfft. Nerd! *Returns to nerdly activities to prove that the last comment was a joke*

      • txmystic
        July 22, 2011, 9:38 am | #

        ♥
        &frac12;

      • txmystic
        July 22, 2011, 9:40 am | #

        1⁄2

  5. Paula
    July 21, 2011, 12:20 am | # | Reply

    Awesome
    She isn’t loopy 🙂

    Jin heard things and saw things no one else did.

    May doesn’t say those things are not real I notice.
    I wonder if Jin is 50% vision? 50% of the stuff that she sees actually exists but cuz most other people are wired differently we don’t get to see it.
    Such as how she gets to see Crispy. She might exist on another plane but only Jin can see her. Thats the 50% vision.
    The snowflakes however they were all staring at her so I suppose they could be the 50% nuts. Or maybe Jin is 25% sane and 25% nuts. With the 50% vision and the 25% nuts it would throw your sanity off balance slightly.

    But then Crispy was looking at her also.

    I wonder if May is wired like that too but she hasn’t got the nuts side to her so she is more 50% vision 50% normal.

    • ShadOBabe
      July 21, 2011, 12:42 am | # | Reply

      Pfft… Crispy…
      I know it’s been mentioned before, the nickname is old news, BUT IT’S JUST SO FREAKIN’ TWISTED!!
      And yet it seemed to make me grin… I must need help. XD

    • NOTDilbert
      July 21, 2011, 1:46 am | # | Reply

      I think in that one she was actually yelling at the real snowflakes,
      outside the window,
      beyond the staring people in the forum – er, foreground.

      • Paula
        July 21, 2011, 12:09 pm | #

        yea i know
        i just like calling the people snowflakes also 😀

    • NOTDilbert
      July 21, 2011, 2:24 am | # | Reply

      If she had been born in the right place and time, seeing the unseen and hearing the unspoken voice would have elevated her to holy/wise status.
      Or, gotten her burned at the stake (wrong place, wrong time).

      • Eee
        July 21, 2011, 8:48 am | #

        The burning at the stake bit is pretty much what happened, anyway… 🙁

  6. Apera
    July 21, 2011, 1:05 am | # | Reply

    Cutest Bud ever in the last panel.

  7. D. Walker
    July 21, 2011, 2:02 am | # | Reply

    Wait… “past scholastics”? What’s that supposed to mean?

    I mean, the word is being used as a noun. But all the noun meanings of “scholastics” don’t really fit the intended meaning. Ever last definition for the noun form “scholastics” refers to a type of people: various forms of students, philosophers, or, by extension, pedants.

    It dunno. It just seems like the intended word for that space is “semantics”, or “pedantry”.

    ~D.

    • Kramegame
      July 21, 2011, 2:09 am | # | Reply

      scholastic could also mean pedantic- which means to be overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching.

      I think that’s what she meant, since she is “teaching” Bud…

      • Kramegame
        July 21, 2011, 2:13 am | #

        oh wait, you knew that…nevermind… 😳

        But if Jin’s schizophrenia is a minute detail, I’d hate to see what the big ones are…

    • Yamara
      July 21, 2011, 6:00 am | # | Reply

      It’s an interesting choice of word. Not to get too… pedantic, but “scholastics” implies a professional courtesy to tradition(s). (Neo-Platonist, Neo-Confucian, etc.)

      May is all about the skunkworks it seems, but she also knows that the politicians expect their nod.

      • scantron
        July 21, 2011, 2:03 pm | #

        i think what she meant was to not get too hung up on the minute semantic differences in definitions as to what “EXACTLY” is wrong with Jin, but just to say “ok, she’s crazy” and then move the discussion on to trying to fix it… the comment Ari made way up top in this thread is basically what she wants to do, if one method doesn’t work, then use another.

        as for alcohol working on them, i’m sure the EFFECTS of alcohol can be simulated by their programming, but what actually happens internally with the food they eat? no clue… but that begs the question of: why do they even need to eat at all?, as well as: if alcohol can be simulated, what about other drugs?

  8. Maark30
    July 21, 2011, 2:33 am | # | Reply

    I have to say that Paul is aiming Jin’s schizophrenia very well. And by what May neglects to say shows that it is possible that the schizophrenia might just have made it possible for Jin to be a seer and not just a nutcase.
    Jin is just lucky (if the term has any meaning after what she and the girls had been through in their beginning) that she has a good support structure around her. I mean the Girls and her Guy have proven that she cant scare them into leaving her.

    • Yamara
      July 21, 2011, 5:13 am | # | Reply

      57 tries doesn’t really count as luck. More like persistence bonded with strategy.

      Although if Jin were aware the 57th try was the last, she might have pushed her luck for all it was worth.

  9. Tristan
    July 21, 2011, 5:02 am | # | Reply

    I wonder if the second artifact has a body count? After all, Shellys died to make the first one…

    • Julie
      July 21, 2011, 8:24 am | # | Reply

      Yeah…and don’t forget the dead guys on the submarine. I think they can be tallied in the artifact’s body-count.

  10. Sonicthunder
    July 21, 2011, 5:05 am | # | Reply

    So, Jin was like Monica as a youth, hearing voices that weren’t there and such.

    And even if Jin lacks extrasensory powers, I wonder if the solution will be to 100% remove such perceptions (real or not), or to just grant Jin better control over when such perceptions appear.

  11. NOTDilbert
    July 21, 2011, 5:11 am | # | Reply

    Entirely not on topic – just watched the last shuttle land. When I was a kid, we got up at four AM to watch the Mercury flights, then Gemini, then Apollo. We got to the moon, then left it, telling ourselves we’d come back. We got good science, and lost great explorers, then went poking around with probes in the rest of our flying sandbox here around Sol.
    We don’t have to worry about the bravery of any future explorers we send – will we be brave enough spend the money for what’s behind the Curtain?
    Vote for brave politicians for that.

    (Okay, taking my soapbox and going home now….)

  12. Yamara
    July 21, 2011, 5:23 am | # | Reply

    And May sounds sane and technically competent again this morning. She’s been aggressively hunting down other ancient secrets to help her daughter. No one’s fault they weren’t consulting each other in a timely fashion.

    I’m sure now that May has… um… has the…

    …

    where’s the damn Relic gone.

  13. TheDoctor
    July 21, 2011, 7:53 am | # | Reply

    May looks more ‘Joan Crawford’ today or is it me? Plus Bud does look Cuter day by day.

    • Wyvern
      July 21, 2011, 11:21 am | # | Reply

      I find I don’t have a good sense for how old May is supposed to appear.

    • SoWhyMe
      July 21, 2011, 11:36 am | # | Reply

      Her hairstyle appears to be something out of the 40s.

      To me Bud seems to be looking more “cartoon-y” lately. Like something from a “Dexter’s Laboratory” episode. Yesterday’s next to last panel really pointed that up to me. Especially the nose and mouth.

  14. eschmenk
    July 21, 2011, 8:17 am | # | Reply

    Why is Bud acting like this is news to her? Why are both of them acting as if Maya addressed Bud’s concerns?

  15. Eee
    July 21, 2011, 8:44 am | # | Reply

    How do they KNOW Jin isn’t a radio? Have they ever plugged her in and seen what sort of reception she gets? ^_^

    • Fairportfan
      July 21, 2011, 11:53 am | # | Reply

      Alan plugged her in and he got pretty good reception…

      (Looks furtively around, quietly slinks off into shadows…)

      • jwhouk
        July 21, 2011, 8:46 pm | #

        PHWEET!

        Off to the penalty box! Two minutes for bad sexual innuendo!

      • Fairportfan
        July 21, 2011, 8:59 pm | #

        I thought it was pretty good, actually.

        So did Alan.

      • Ratcatcher
        July 25, 2011, 4:07 am | #

        Fairportfan- I agree, drops two wooden nickles into ‘ye old bad pun jar’, then runs and hides under the couch.

      • Wyvern
        July 22, 2011, 12:13 am | #

        Plug her in and play with the knobs. You’ll never know how she handles unless you try.

  16. Jabberwonky
    July 21, 2011, 10:14 am | # | Reply

    A scan of the playbill from my favorite off-Broadway show…

    http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/playbillscan.png/

    • Yamara
      July 21, 2011, 11:15 am | # | Reply

      Okay, that’s pretty fantastic.

  17. kingklash
    July 21, 2011, 10:56 am | # | Reply

    She sees thing no other can see, does things no other can do, next thing? Probably a mention of “The Black Blood Of The Earth.” I think I’ll put some distance between me and David Lo-Pan. These things tend to start small, you know….

    • Jabberwonky
      July 21, 2011, 12:54 pm | # | Reply

      I’ll volunteer to carry Tina in place of a seven demon bag…

  18. Yamara
    July 21, 2011, 11:23 am | # | Reply

    “We need to move past scholastics, right?”
    “Past them… to what?”

    “TO THE ZEPPELINS!!”

  19. Jabberwonky
    July 21, 2011, 12:50 pm | # | Reply

    You will never, NEVER diminish my love for the most obvious sign of an alternate reality…

    • Jabberwonky
      July 21, 2011, 12:52 pm | # | Reply

      DURK
      DURK
      DURK…

      That was meant as a reply to Yamara above.

  20. kittencontinues
    July 21, 2011, 3:49 pm | # | Reply

    Wow, is armchair psychology a real degree now? I cannot be sorry thinking that when I read the comments here from time to time. Although Jin has had some incredible moments in her life, I find it hard for anyone to really know what is going on. Since no one but Jin personally dealt with problems with her mindset or seen enough of her thought process to make any kind of real informed decision I find this kind of offensive. Maybe I am wrong for mentioning this? I do not think that continual misuse of psychiatric definitions or outdated and obviously cultural misconceptions created by outdated psychiatric ideas would be helpful to Jin or anyone, for that matter. It makes me wonder how much political pressure/brainwashing has steered this conversation off rail? Thank you for the wonderful story and for showing issues like this. It is wonderful to see people talking, especially when there are so many opinions out there.

    • Fairportfan
      July 21, 2011, 9:00 pm | # | Reply

      scoff scoff

    • SoWhyMe
      July 21, 2011, 9:32 pm | # | Reply

      You Do realize this is only a cartoon, do you not? Also, nearly everything we discuss is from an armchair perspective. Getting upset about our opinions, and that’s all they are, is pointless. Besides, where psychology and psycotheraphy is concerned, the worst thing the physician can do is actually start to believe what he/she practices is actually hard and fast science.

      I recall reading about a phychiatrist hiring an actor to deliver a speech of doubletalk to a group of phychiatrists at a convention. Just a bunch of buzzwords and garbage thrown together. The actor had a number of the audience come up to him later and tell him how insightful his speech was.

      Oh, and yes, I do have my degree in Armchair Psychiatry proudly displayed next to my Air Guitar proficiency award.

  21. zacharaiaha
    July 21, 2011, 4:23 pm | # | Reply

    Paul,

    Just to let you know that malware from the ad last week walked right throguh my virus protection and trashed my system. Only just got it recovered today. My checker caught two virus attacks and missed the thrid one while dealing with the first two. Put up a false utility that almost perfectly mimiced the windows systems restore/system checker utility. Luckily I stopped it before it got everything. if you ever tracked down where it actually came from my local tech shop that helped me is very interested in finding the source. Thanks.

    • Paul Taylor
      July 21, 2011, 4:48 pm | # | Reply

      Very sorry to hear that. =( I wish the cowards that let these viruses loose on the web would end up somewhere where they have pineapples shoved up their butts! I don’t know if Troy found out where the virus came from but did find it and remove it. Try contacting him for more info: troy@bkwm.com

      • zacharaiaha
        July 22, 2011, 2:34 am | #

        Thanks Paul. I will.

    • GreyWolf
      February 24, 2012, 7:20 am | # | Reply

      FYI, not all viruses are intentional, and their developers not necessarily evil. You’d be surprised how many are created by “white hats” trying to test a new defense. Or by young up-and-comers who want to prove their skills – then the virus accidentally gets out.

      Some even start out as tools meant for a good purpose (think retrovirus like is used in medicine today), but are given too much autonomy over their own updating and become the electronic version of a cancer.

      Yeah, I know, falls right into that “humans get wiped out by their own machines” cyberfuture horror storyline that’s so played out already. But shockingly true.

      And yes, all too many are intentionally malicious, made by stupid little pricks who do it for the money – or the kicks. THOSE devs I say kill em with fire. Nuclear fire. From orbit. Sick of them making the rest of us look bad.

  22. Sheik
    July 21, 2011, 4:34 pm | # | Reply

    Redundancy
    I like redundancy.
    In fact I want a fall back for the fall back if I can get it.
    Not to mention a kill switch AND a destruct if I can swing it, preferably something that can react a whole lot faster than I can.
    As you can see, I don’t like fooling around with things that would make the H-Bomb look like a kitchen match.

    • Ratcatcher
      July 25, 2011, 4:14 am | # | Reply

      Sheik- Is my wormhole/anti-matter space heater ready yet. Grins, ducks and runs.

  23. donutguy640
    September 2, 2019, 9:35 pm | # | Reply

    “you don’t experiment with different brands of batteries”
    …don’t we, though? Some medications affect people differently, and we can’t really know whether they’ll help or hurt till we try it. At least, so I’m told, and so I once experienced. Ritalin was supposed to calm me down, but it was more like throwing gas on a fire.

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