2019/09/23 - Teach The Children Well

Post by **D-Rock** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:03 am

[2019/09/23 - Teach The Children Well]
Title Text: writing this part of the arc is bringing back a lot of memories I'd rather be buried

Hurrah for equal treatment!

Gbr23 · Post by **Gbr23** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:04 am

I'm a little bit lost in translation, what's a tardy slip?

LunarFox · Post by **LunarFox** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:05 am

Gbr23 wrote:I'm a little bit lost in translation, what's a tardy slip?

Something students are given to give to a teacher that explains why they're tardy- aka late to class- and excuses them from actually being considered late to class.

Post by **D-Rock** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:05 am

Gbr23 wrote:I'm a little bit lost in translation, what's a tardy slip?

Just a slip of paper to show that you were late to class, leading to a reprimand from whoever they say it should come from.

dr_eirik · Post by **dr_eirik** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:05 am

How did Rick find out about my freshman math teacher? Or was he just standard issue?

Clearly this guy doesn't buy it, but doesn't care enough to make a fuss.

fenrirblack · Post by **fenrirblack** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:06 am

Okay, I'm not the only one who sees it right?

SO, we have our first skeptic. How refreshing?

The Vice Principal. I wonder if we'll continue this trail or skip to lunch.

LunarFox · Post by **LunarFox** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:06 am

dr_eirik wrote:How did Rick find out about my freshman math teacher? Or was he just standard issue?

Clearly this guy doesn't buy it, but doesn't care enough to make a fuss.

He also doesn't seem to buy that Marion's who he says he is, either.

Champion Wallace · Post by **Champion Wallace** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:07 am

We see at last Marion's get-up from head to toe and it turns out he doesn't have any shoes (and only one sock *Bricked*). That must be hard on his paws.

Saturn381 · Post by **Saturn381** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:08 am

Well at least he's being tread equal.

LunarFox · Post by **LunarFox** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:08 am

Champion Wallace wrote:We see at last Marion's get-up from head to toe and it turns out he doesn't have any shoes (and only one sock *Bricked*). That must be hard on his paws.

No kidding. What's his pace, six inches?

dr_eirik · Post by **dr_eirik** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:10 am

fenrirblack wrote:Okay, I'm not the only one who sees it right?

SO, we have our first skeptic. How refreshing?

The Vice Principal. I wonder if we'll continue this trail or skip to lunch.

Could be a relative, but not the same guy unless he had his eyebrows plucked.

I suspect we will skip ahead. I do wonder a little if Marion is throwing around the Miltons name, or if he was told to do that.

Welsh Halfwit · Post by **Welsh Halfwit** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:13 am

There are ups and downs in your life, our kid,
and one of them is supposed to be speed.
Your legs may be much shorter now, young Ward,
but you should be as fast as you should need.
What could be keeping you, slowing you down
as you strive to try and keep up your grade?
What advantage are you not taking here
within the whole truth of how you’re now made?
When you were running down the corridor,
looking to academically advance,
you didn’t like the feel against your knees…
Yes, you’d be faster if not wearing pants.

fenrirblack · Post by **fenrirblack** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:14 am

dr_eirik wrote:
fenrirblack wrote:Okay, I'm not the only one who sees it right?

SO, we have our first skeptic. How refreshing?

The Vice Principal. I wonder if we'll continue this trail or skip to lunch.
Could be a relative, but not the same guy unless he had his eyebrows plucked.

I suspect we will skip ahead. I do wonder a little if Marion is throwing around the Miltons name, or if he was told to do that.

Maybe the unibrow was something for Halloween.

I have a feeling we'll skip as well. No point in showcasing everyone at the school if we're not going to get to know them that well. Although, the alt-text makes me wonder.
I'm going to say we have three weeks left of this arc so no telling how it will be filled. Not including this strip that means there is 8 to go but that's my guess.

I think it's both. He knows the power the name "Milton" has at the school, town, state probably so he's smart enough to use it to his advantage whenever he runs into a wall or in this case the first prize winner of "Stereotypical High School teacher of the Year." I'm sure Miles, and the ferrets told him to invoke their name incase anyone gives him grief especially the adults.

LunarFox · Post by **LunarFox** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:17 am

Welsh Halfwit wrote:There are ups and downs in your life, our kid,
and one of them is supposed to be speed.
Your legs may be much shorter now, young Ward,
but you should be as fast as you should need.
What could be keeping you, slowing you down
as you strive to try and keep up your grade?
What advantage are you not taking here
within the whole truth of how you’re now made?
When you were running down the corridor,
looking to academically advance,
you didn’t like the feel against your knees…
Yes, you’d be faster if not wearing pants.

And another round of appaws for you, Welsh, for another great poem!

fenrirblack · Post by **fenrirblack** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:31 am

A thought occurred to me. We don't know if this is a public school or not. We talked about the plans for the wolves to go to school a year ago and I insisted that their best option was private school. And honestly we never found out if it is a public school or not. I bring this up because of the sheer power the Milton's have which makes me think they wouldn't have that kind of influence if this was a public school unless they still end up funneling a bunch of money into the school's recreational activities or something.

One more thing, they thought about giving him his own personal sized desk but not how he was going to get around the halls. What about his locker? The more you think about it the more this just feels like a joke for Marion to attempt to finish the school year like nothing happened. It's already been established that his book bag is too small to carry anything like books. It's barely big enough for pens. God forbid there be stairs for him climb. Not to mention lunch. What is he supposed to eat and how? I know all these complications is the point but I wonder if anyone tried to stop him or tell this was a bad idea.
At this point I want to see the Vice Principal or someone sit him down and say:
VP: Marion, I don't pretend to understand what happened to you or why you're a squirrel now but you need to understand that this is an adjustment for us all.
Marion: How is this an adjustment for you? I'm the one with fur and a tail now.
VP: I wonder if you thought this through well enough. You could take your exams in private without the hassle of getting to class on time or worrying about what the other students might say.
Marion: So far everyone has been cool about the whole thing. It's Mr. Porter who seems to have a problem with it.
VP: It's not just him. I've received several notices and calls from teachers as well as parents who are concerned that your presence is a distraction to the students. If there weren't six days left in the school year and you weren't a graduating senior I would have voiced my own disagreement about allowing you to return, Miltons or not.
Marion: Thanks. It's nice to know you have my back.
VP: I want you to understand that you cannot always get what you want.
Marion: Have you been talking to a badger with glasses by chance?
VP: You want to pretend nothing happened but the truth is hard to digest at times. Think about taking the reminder of your classes in private. I can even have Mr. Wolf be your proctor if you want.
Marion: Thanks but no thanks. I may be a squirrel but I refuse to let that change who I am or impact my life any more than it has. Now if you excuse me I have to get to class and if I leave now that gives me half an hour and I just might make it before the tardy bell rings.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:48 am

fenrirblack wrote:Okay, I'm not the only one who sees it right?

I thought the same thing!

I wonder if Marion is expected to hop across the tops of the lockers like a squirrel to make it on time. I bet there are no rules explicitly against that

Ash Greytree · Post by **Ash Greytree** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:58 am

I really love Marion’s look in the second panel. His expression is cute and the pose of confidence in contrast with how tiny he is with that air vent behind him for scale is great.

LunarFox wrote:No kidding. What's his pace, six inches?

Yeah, he should at least be given 5 minutes more than everyone else to get from class to class.

The introduction of these named characters, including faculty, has me thinking of a different arc that could take place in the future. Marion graduates successfully but sticks around Babylon Gardens and stays kinda-sorta the focal point of the story, with side arcs that center around different characters to serve as breathers. An arc following Rockstar and Sanchez going through some time at school (since they seem like here on their junior year at most and wouldn’t be graduating alongside Marion) would be fun. Mr. Porter could be their homeroom teacher and Bronson could be there cause he got held back a year; he definitely seems like the type for that

Rikunda · Post by **Rikunda** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 1:03 am

Does this confirm his father was the badger? Wasn't the person who used to work for the Milton's last name Ward?

Welsh Halfwit · Post by **Welsh Halfwit** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 1:06 am

Ash Greytree wrote:I really love Marion’s look in the second panel. His expression is cute and the pose of confidence in contrast with how tiny he is with that air vent behind him for scale is great.

LunarFox wrote:No kidding. What's his pace, six inches?
Yeah, he should at least be given 5 minutes more than everyone else to get from class to class.

You know Squirrels are really fast little things, right?

Ash Greytree · Post by **Ash Greytree** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 1:18 am

Welsh Halfwit wrote:You know Squirrels are really fast little things, right?

I know they’re fast, but Marion probably has to duck and weave so he doesn’t get squished. He could possibly do parkour all on top of the lockers to get where he needs to go, like Frank mentioned, but I don’t think he’s anywhere near practiced enough to do that at this point.

Champion Wallace · Post by **Champion Wallace** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 1:20 am

Rikunda wrote:Does this confirm his father was the badger? Wasn't the person who used to work for the Milton's last name Ward?

Steward's last name was Steward, not Ward.

fenrirblack · Post by **fenrirblack** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 1:31 am

Ash Greytree wrote:
Welsh Halfwit wrote:You know Squirrels are really fast little things, right?
I know they’re fast, but Marion probably has to duck and weave so he doesn’t get squished. He could possibly do parkour all on top of the lockers to get where he needs to go, like Frank mentioned, but I don’t think he’s anywhere near practiced enough to do that at this point.

Speed is relative when you are walking on two legs compared to four. He needs Lois to carry him on her shoulder like Pikachu.

NHWestoN · Post by **NHWestoN** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:35 am

fenrirblack wrote:Okay, I'm not the only one who sees it right?

SO, we have our first skeptic. How refreshing?

The Vice Principal. I wonder if we'll continue this trail or skip to lunch.

Lots of teachers have side jobs to supplement their incomes.

Silly Zealot · Post by **Silly Zealot** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 6:44 am

Yay! Another new character! We are being spoiled!

He looks real slender for someone his age. Nice!

LunarFox wrote:
Gbr23 wrote:I'm a little bit lost in translation, what's a tardy slip?
Something students are given to give to a teacher that explains why they're tardy- aka late to class- and excuses them from actually being considered late to class.

Also worth noting that "tardyness" means the same as "lateness", rather than just "lateness to class".......but it's true they don't hand you tardy slips outside of school, they mostly just yell at you and/or fire you.

Post by **SeanWolf** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 7:02 am

Look on the bright side, Marion! At least it's not a Detention slip!

Pumkin6 · Post by **Pumkin6** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 7:45 am

John Oliver: Our main story tonight concerns animal transformations, the unexplained phenomenon that completely changes a person's life. Unsurprisingly, the current systems we have in the United States are somewhat unequiped to deal with this new problem. So tonight we're going to look at what happens when you suddenly turn into an animal, the problems that the victims face in everyday life, and what can be done to help.

Argent · Post by **Argent** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:09 am

D-Rock wrote:
Gbr23 wrote:I'm a little bit lost in translation, what's a tardy slip?
Just a slip of paper to show that you were late to class, leading to a reprimand from whoever they say it should come from.

I don't really get it either, since I went to high school in Australia where the response to being late didn't involve making you even later and missing more of the lesson. You just got marked late in the class's attendance and your housemaster later gave you a note that had to be signed by your parents (or detention if you'd been making a habit of being late).

Sir Chestnut · Post by **Sir Chestnut** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:18 am

I can't remember if we had tardy slips in high school. I don't think we did.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:25 am

At my school, the policy was you needed a slip if you were 15 minutes late or more.... and yet there was always that one teacher that stood by the door looking at their watch and closed it at the second.

trekkie · Post by **trekkie** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 10:03 am

I love Marion's outfit. Hopefully, Marion won't be punished too badly for talking back to Mr. Porter, if he's punished at all.

Ash Greytree wrote:I really love Marion’s look in the second panel. His expression is cute and the pose of confidence in contrast with how tiny he is with that air vent behind him for scale is great.

LunarFox wrote:No kidding. What's his pace, six inches?
Yeah, he should at least be given 5 minutes more than everyone else to get from class to class.

The introduction of these named characters, including faculty, has me thinking of a different arc that could take place in the future. Marion graduates successfully but sticks around Babylon Gardens and stays kinda-sorta the focal point of the story, with side arcs that center around different characters to serve as breathers. An arc following Rockstar and Sanchez going through some time at school (since they seem like here on their junior year at most and wouldn’t be graduating alongside Marion) would be fun. Mr. Porter could be their homeroom teacher and Bronson could be there cause he got held back a year; he definitely seems like the type for that

I like the idea of having Marion (if he stays a squirrel) staying around Babylon Gardens, perhaps attending college online. As a squirrel, Marion could serve as a bridge between pets and ferals and as a former human he could serve as a bridge between pets and their owners/parents.

dr_eirik · Post by **dr_eirik** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 11:28 am

The tardy slip thing in the US would vary from district to district, and I suspect to some degree from school to school. IIRC, when I was in high school (and taking my mastodon to school, or my friends '82 Chevy Citation) if you were tardy the teacher would mark it on an attendance slip and send it to the attendance office. I believe that if you got 5 it either counted as an unexcused absence or a detention. I can't recall which. There was nothing about being sent to the VPs' office. But that could easily be different from school to school.

BTW, the mastodon was more reliable than the Citation. My friend used that though college until it caught fire spontaneously in an intersection in Bakersfield.

fenrirblack · Post by **fenrirblack** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 11:55 am

I remember that you were late to school you got a slip from the front desk. Only happened to me once when I got lost on the way there (the road was blocked and I had to find detour and ended up in the middle of nowhere). I was never late to class and I don't remember exactly what happened if you were. I want to say that if you were late you were either marked absence for the day or weren't allowed in the classroom and had to "detention" for the entire time. It varied from teacher to teacher and was never exactly a problem. I'm going to stick with marked absence for the day but we never got sent to the VP, they have better things to do. As I say that, I'm going to change my earlier statement and say that we WILL see Marion talk to the VP.

Pumkin6 wrote:John Oliver: Our main story tonight concerns animal transformations, the unexplained phenomenon that completely changes a person's life. Unsurprisingly, the current systems we have in the United States are somewhat unequiped to deal with this new problem. So tonight we're going to look at what happens when you suddenly turn into an animal, the problems that the victims face in everyday life, and what can be done to help.

That would be the best thing ever. I can literally hear him say that in my head.

GameCobra · Post by **GameCobra** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 12:14 pm

Tardy slips were never a thing where i was at. Just a phone reporting system. I sometimes wonder how fun (bad) this system was :3

Cesco · Post by **Cesco** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 1:21 pm

This Mr. Porter, who seems to be a teacher, has an already seen old face, indeed... Just with shaved eyebrows.

And yeah, another one knows that Marion is now a squirrel, and he's right about the equal treatment of him like the other human students.

Oh, so this tardy slip is a note for being late at the lessons, right? What a nice start as squirrel in your school.

And also, sounds that Marion has to walk a lot with his short squirrel steps... Despite the help from Keene, the tough new life as a squirrel continues.

Sir Chestnut · Post by **Sir Chestnut** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:15 pm

Kind of wonder how many teachers actually believe Marion's a squirrel and don't think it's just some sort of weird act Keene came up with.

dr_eirik · Post by **dr_eirik** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:58 pm

Sir Chestnut wrote:Kind of wonder how many teachers actually believe Marion's a squirrel and don't think it's just some sort of weird act Keene came up with.

It's hard to say. I suspect those that had more interaction with Marion will be more inclined to believe him, especially if they recognize speech patterns or other verbal ticks that he has. Or even just recalling something obscure that would have been difficult to predict being asked about. Some might be inclined to believe if just because they would rather see Marion as a squirrel than missing and possibly dead.

Then you'll get the ones that either could care less about their students or Marion did not have a good relationship with. His immediate confrontation with Porter feels like this was not a teacher that was going to be fondly remembered even if none of this happened to him. I'm sure there are others that either don't believe but won't put up a fight because, why bother? If they want to pursue it, then they can take it up with the school board over the summer or something.

Bill in OK · Post by **Bill in OK** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:31 pm

Maybe I'm the only one, but I think Marion looks good in those slacks.

CunningFox · Post by **CunningFox** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:46 pm

Bill in OK wrote:Maybe I'm the only one, but I think Marion looks good in those slacks.

No, I think he suits them too.

dr_eirik · Post by **dr_eirik** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 4:03 pm

CunningFox wrote:
Bill in OK wrote:Maybe I'm the only one, but I think Marion looks good in those slacks.
No, I think he suits them too.

Yeah, me too. In fact, even if it's only been a few strips we've seen him dressed in, it's going to be strange going back to him au natural in the older strips, or any in the future where that may happen. I very much like this character design.

In fact, it does make me wonder about the design of his feet. His paws are different colors, and I've wondered if that was going to be important later, or if I'm trying to read the tea leaves a bit too hard.

Amazee Dayzee · Post by **Amazee Dayzee** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 4:30 pm

You know, when I was in high school I was allowed to get to class a few minutes late if I had to go to my locker in order to get books and put other books back. That way I wasn't lugging books for 7 periods of the day (minus breakfast and home room). I wonder if Marion could get that at least temporarily.

Of course, I had an IEP and it was written into it so he might not be able to himself.