1 | [[quoteright:342:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/academiaimage_2179.JPG]] |
2 | |
3 | ->'''Stephen''': I used to be a serious scientist.\ |
4 | '''Pasha''': And then you moved in with ''me''. |
5 | |
6 | ''Academia '', "the webcomic for the intellectual in all of us", is a [[SliceOfLifeWebcomics slice-of-life webcomic]] about a pair of undergraduate students with different majors and different outlooks, who [[OddCouple live together]] in Toronto. Stephen Janzen Gould is a high-strung, prickly ambitious student of neurobiology and immunology, who is making a genuine effort to be a more pleasant person to be around without compromising his academic future, and dealing with a minor inferiority complex. Pavel "Pasha" Moskowitz is a gigantic and affable Russian Jew with a double major in music and philosophy, easygoing but for his nightmares of ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Inferno]]'' and the occasional philosophical quandary. |
7 | |
8 | Supporting characters include Gloriana Muruthi, Stephen's lab partner, Jack Fortinbras, her roommate (who is awesome), Ida Portinari, a snarky figure skater, and Zelig, Pasha's pet coconut octopus. |
9 | |
10 | This being a series about the different mindsets of different types of university student, GeniusBonus abounds, naturally. |
11 | |
12 | You can read it [[http://academia.thecomicseries.com/ here]]. The comic debuted in September 2012 and the last comic was posted in May 2013 before the comic stopped updating without any explanation. |
13 | |
14 | ---- |
15 | !! This comic provides examples of: |
16 | * TheAce: Jack Fortinbras is better than you. |
17 | * AnimalTesting: Stephen wants to run some tests on Zelig the octopus. |
18 | * ArtShift: Pasha's dream sequences are done in the style of Creator/GustaveDore 's illustrations for ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''. |
19 | * AuthorAppeal: In-universe. Pasha comments that, since Dante's guide through the Inferno was Virgil, his should probably be J.K. Rowling. |
20 | * BigEater: Pasha. "I ''love'' cream eggs." Although it's implied he keeps kosher about food. |
21 | * TheBigGuy: Pasha |
22 | * BerserkButton: Stephen's is apparently the colloquial misinterpretation of the word "[[GravityIsOnlyATheory theory]]" |
23 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: Ana's character page tells us that she's an example of this. Presumably it will come into play later on. |
24 | * BreadEggsBreadedEggs: "Kids today with their rap music and their iPods and their cephalopods and their... [=cephaloiPods=]..." |
25 | * ContemplateOurNavels: "Fucking philosophy students." |
26 | * CargoShip: In-universe. Pasha's breakup with his reading glasses. |
27 | * CirclesOfHell See DreamSequence |
28 | * {{Cthulhumanoid}}: Invoked by Pasha. |
29 | -->'''Stephen''': "You have an octopus on your face, don't you?"\ |
30 | '''Pasha''':"Stephen, help. He has ''suction cups''." |
31 | * DreamSequence: Pasha's Dante dreams |
32 | * DeadpanSnarker: Ida, Ana, and Pasha's grandfather. Additionally, there's a poster above the sofa at Stephen and Pasha's place, depicting a "[[NeverSmileAtACrocodile Snarkosuchus]]". |
33 | -->"Someday your descendants will be picking my descendants' teeth." |
34 | * DiscreditedMeme: In-universe during one of the Hell sequences. |
35 | -->'''Zeyda''': I'm not having you pass out at Paolo and Francesca. [[DreamWithinADream Falling unconscious within a dream?]]\ |
36 | '''Pasha''': Inferno[[Film/{{Inception}} ception]].\ |
37 | '''Zeyda''': Even I find that reference dated, and I died at 97. |
38 | * EyeScream: "Should you really be putting your gloves in your eyes?" |
39 | * FireAndBrimstoneHell: Averted, overall. Since it's closely based on Dante, the first look we get at Hell is "a dark wood" full of mist, and then we get a lot of rain on the river Styx. |
40 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: In the very first comic, we see Pasha quoting ''Inferno'' in his sleep. |
41 | * FootnoteFever: All the quotations from Dante receive proper academic citations. |
42 | * FunnyBackgroundEvent: The series is full of this in the form of posters on people's walls. |
43 | ** Gloriana has one of UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin, labelled "[[Music/PublicEnemy Chuck D]]". |
44 | ** The above "Snarkosuchus" poster, as well as "Well-Meaning but Racist Apatosaurus" at Pasha and Stephen's place. |
45 | -->I like all dinosaurs, Triassic, Cretaceous, and regular. |
46 | * FunnyOctopus: Zelig, the vaguely cuddly coconut octopus who functions as a sort of TeamPet. |
47 | * GagPenis: Subverted, when it turns out Jack isn't talking about his penis after all. |
48 | * GentleGiant: Pasha |
49 | * GeniusBruiser: Jack's sports scholarship is almost as big as his academic scholarship. |
50 | * GodWasMyCopilot: Yo-Yo Ma is an angel. |
51 | * GravityIsOnlyATheory: Stephen mentions this specific example as part of [[TheRant a rant]] about common misconceptions of scientific terminology. |
52 | * HellGate: "I am the way into the doleful city..." |
53 | * HiveMind: Zelig. As Stephen explains, "Besides the central brain, each arm has a nerve cluster that can independently carry out simple commands." |
54 | * HuskyRusskie: Pasha |
55 | * IgnoredEpiphany: "For some reason, I feel compelled to go to the gym. I'm not ''going'' to, of course." |
56 | * InsufferableGenius: Stephen is trying not to be this. Massively averted with Jack. |
57 | * JerkAss: Pasha's grandfather |
58 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Stephen |
59 | * LawyerFriendlyCameo: Yo-Yo Ma |
60 | * LovableJock: Jack. Ida is working on being more lovable. |
61 | * KindHeartedCatLover: Ana |
62 | * NiceJewishBoy: Pasha |
63 | * NiceGuy: Jack |
64 | * NonIndicativeName: "I Thought [[Literature/TheDivineComedy Comedies]] Were Supposed To Be Funny" |
65 | * OddCouple |
66 | * TheProfessor: Dr. Sun, of Neurobiology, and Dr. Cadbury, of History of Modern Composition |
67 | * PosthumousCharacter: Pasha's grandfather, who appears only in Pasha's dreams |
68 | * RedOniBlueOni: Pasha is the blue one, and Stephen the red. There's a bit of variation in that the more even-tempered one is the humanities student and the scientist is the irritable, energetic one. |
69 | * TheScottishTrope: Pasha's references to "[[{{God}} G-D]]" |
70 | * TheScream: Stephen's reaction to an 82% yield. |
71 | * ShoutOut: |
72 | ** Pasha's surname, girth, and violin-playing are likely references to Papa from ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' |
73 | ** A panel depicting Stephen outside the chemistry building parodies the poster for ''Film/TheRaid: Redemption''. |
74 | ** The octopus, a creature renowned for its flexibility and camouflage abilities, is named "Film/{{Zelig}}". |
75 | ** One of the leads is a scientist named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_jay_gould Stephen J. Gould]]. |
76 | ** Pasha's character page features a variation on the ''Webcomic/HyperboleAndAHalf'' "Clean all the things" meme, and Jack's has a doodle of [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Trogdor]]. |
77 | * TheSmartGuy: Everybody. Literally everybody. |
78 | * StealthInsult: Pasha's grandfather tells him he'll be "seeing plenty of this circle." Pasha doesn't immediately recognize what that means; they're in the circle of the gluttonous. |
79 | * TeamPet: Zelig |
80 | * TotallyRadical: "Gould out. Peace!" |
81 | * {{Tsundere}}: Both Ida and Ana, to an extent. |
82 | * WMG/TimeLord: Jack's character page suggests he might be one. |
83 | * VisualPun: Some of Stephen's t-shirts |
84 | * WhatMeasureIsANonCute: Dr. Sun mentions that the Ethics board won't object to Stephen running tests on Zelig. |
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