Topic: WCDT Strips 3316-3320 (26th - 30th September 2016) (Read 39317 times)

Gyrre · « **Reply #50 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 02:19 »

Is it just me or does Bubbles look more like someone in armor in these last few strips? No one else has brought it up, so I figured I'd ask.

[It's 4:18AM, why am I still awake?]

Welu · « **Reply #51 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 05:00 »

Oh, the forests of Timber sure has changed!

Case · « **Reply #52 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 05:13 »

Quote from: Neko_Ali on 26 Sep 2016, 23:08

Shaka, when the walls fell.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/darmok_and_jalad.png

Wiiiiiiiiiiiink!

(... so much for my self-imposed forum-hiatus)

hedgie · « **Reply #53 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 06:49 »

Quote from: Gyrre on 27 Sep 2016, 02:19

Is it just me or does Bubbles look more like someone in armor in these last few strips? No one else has brought it up, so I figured I'd ask.

[It's 4:18AM, why am I still awake?]

She is. She never takes it off.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #54 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 11:19 »

Maybe she looks more armored than usual because we're "hearing" her being reserved even by Bubbles standards, so we know that she's running with warp power to the shields.

I'm certain Bubbles noticed that Faye is staying out of loyalty. Betcha Bubbles still sees the world as divided into "in my unit" and "not in my unit".

JimC · « **Reply #55 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 11:23 »

Thing is if there's no dirt there's no problem. If there is exploitation and other illegal and immoral stuff going on, then Faye (who took on the job only after being assured there wasn't) and Bubbles have significant ethical problems to deal with as well as interactions with the law.

Kugai · « **Reply #56 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 14:21 »

It would be interesting to actually find out whether she was a grunt, an NCO or an actual Offiver.

I like the fact that Faye is staying loyal to Bubbles. I don't think she's had a lot of that since she got out of the Service.

Oh

John has a long mustache

Perfectly Reasonable · « **Reply #57 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 18:02 »

"It takes at least twenty minutes to properly appreciate a burrito"

No, really!

Thrudd · « **Reply #58 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 18:17 »

The jam is moldy in the kitchen and the rolling rabbit gathers no moss

Storel · « **Reply #59 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 19:01 »

Quote from: Morituri on 26 Sep 2016, 22:54

While we're on the topic of code phrases, I have some good advice for you:

Never, EVER, under any circumstances, read a list of random numbers aloud on a radio channel.

Okay, I'll bite. What happens if you do?

Tova · « **Reply #60 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 19:41 »

I assume he's referring to numbers stations.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #61 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 20:35 »

Elliott is cute, and this is a side of Brun I don't remember seeing before.

Tova · « **Reply #62 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 21:37 »

And we get our first glimpse of Brun's headcanon.

brasca · « **Reply #63 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 21:49 »

I know this is supposed to be an anime fantasy, but it reminds me of Ralphie imagining that his Christmas essay was the best thing ever written.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #64 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 21:54 »

Quote from: Tova on 27 Sep 2016, 19:41

I assume he's referring to numbers stations.

4 8 15 16 23 42

BenRG · « **Reply #65 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 23:08 »

Well, we now know what Brun's inner world is like. I wonder what's she's applying for? Barkeep at a new Trump Tower (you know, one of those places where everything is gold-plated, even the beer taps)? From Renee's reaction, I'm thinking that, as a resumé, it's somewhat... padded.

I can tell that Jeph really enjoyed drawing the workings of Brun's inner reality.

bhtooefr · « **Reply #66 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 23:10 »

She's applying for unemployment.

This determines how much she'll get: http://www.mass.gov/lwd/unemployment-insur/basic-ui-information/initial-claim/how-your-benefits-are-determined/calculating-benefit-rate.html

BenRG · « **Reply #67 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 23:14 »

Something tells me that filling out a standardised DHHS form would be something for which Brun would have a natural aptitude. After all, if there is one thing she's good at, it is understanding and communicating things that are true as opposed to not true.

Martin · « **Reply #68 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 23:35 »

Nichijou-Reverence?

Awesome!

Tova · « **Reply #69 on:** 27 Sep 2016, 23:42 »

Quote from: Method of Madness on 27 Sep 2016, 21:54

Quote from: Tova on 27 Sep 2016, 19:41
I assume he's referring to numbers stations.
4 8 15 16 23 42

Bingo!

Jakk Frost · « **Reply #70 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 02:28 »

Y'know, they say; "You have to set goals and then strive to reach them, If you want to get ahead in life."

I say (and apparently Brun does too); "I have to set ridiculously unobtainable goals just to be able to get out of bed every morning to get to the mediocre in life."

Sullivan · « **Reply #71 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 02:57 »

Quote from: Thrudd on 27 Sep 2016, 18:17

The jam is moldy in the kitchen and the rolling rabbit gathers no moss

Prepare for Operation Plan Code Two One Four.

Zebediah · « **Reply #72 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 03:33 »

"No! Not Two-One-Four!"
"Are you questioning me?"
"Um - no ma'am."

Akima · « **Reply #73 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 03:35 »

Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 26 Sep 2016, 23:23

We have no idea what Bubbles's rank was, do we?

None at all. I think she's got the NCO vibe about her, and an obvious keen tactical sense, but there might be issues with placing human soldiers under the command of an AI. Regardless of their talents, I imagine units of AIs would be placed under human officers, much as the officers of the 54th Massachusetts all "had" to be white.

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #74 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 06:18 »

Quote from: BenRG on 27 Sep 2016, 23:14

Something tells me that filling out a standardised DHHS form would be something for which Brun would have a natural aptitude. After all, if there is one thing she's good at, it is understanding and communicating things that are true as opposed to not true.

Eh, the trouble is that Brun takes a brutally honest stance on things she does. It's likely that what she put down is 100% true to the best of her knowledge. That's not how the government operates, especially social services. Since they are chronically and tragically underfunded, trying to get help is more like a dance where your partner is doing their best to make sure you fall on your face without being to obvious about it. It's dancing around with enough truth so they can't call you on facts and deny your claim while at the same time jumping through the hoops and avoiding pitfalls they throw in your way to reduce your assistance, deny it completely or get you so frustrated you give up.

I don't blame the workers at these places most of the time. It's a difficult, stressful job being caught between helping people who are in desperate circumstances and your employers who want to keep slashing your budget. It's just that the system is stacked against you. And I've found being 100% honest tends to make it easy to get disqualified from personal experience.

Gyrre · « **Reply #75 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 13:03 »

Quote from: hedgie on 27 Sep 2016, 06:49

Quote from: Gyrre on 27 Sep 2016, 02:19
Is it just me or does Bubbles look more like someone in armor in these last few strips? No one else has brought it up, so I figured I'd ask.

[It's 4:18AM, why am I still awake?]

She is. She never takes it off.

Right, I know that. I just meant in regards to proportions of her head compared to her body, we can tell that a bit easier now visually. Especially in that panel where we see her with her torso fully facing toward the viewer in the lower left panel of #3316 Morning Calisthenics. As well as the upper right panel of the same page, and the first two panels of the next page.

Her proportions have been changing a little over time (and there's nothing wrong with that). Take a look at 3059 Welcome Giant Friend, #3174 She Has Many Talents, and #3247 Game of Thrones to see how she's changed over time.

edited to add some comparison pages.

Kugai · « **Reply #76 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 14:40 »

Ohm manipadme Brunnnnnnnnnnn

Perfectly Reasonable · « **Reply #77 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 16:41 »

ALL MY WOODEN CUBES
.
.
.
and the forum would not accept my password. Which I had NOT forgotten. It assumed I had, and kept offering to retrieve it for me. So I ~~biffed it soundly about the ears~~ restarted Linux and then it behaved.

Pogopotamus · « **Reply #78 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 20:20 »

Re Brun there are (maybe) two guys interested in her now. She seems politely, passively OK with getting attention, but doesn't seem all that interested in actively engaging either ones interest. Is this really how functional but autistic people are with the opposite sex?

Storel · « **Reply #79 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 21:09 »

Interestingly, Bubbles's hair has been looking increasingly natural over time. Originally it looked more like a helmet than anything else. Now, it looks quite a bit like real hair. I guess she's getting better at styling it.

Although I have to say, if her hair were green her current style would remind me strongly of the Little Green Sprout (the Jolly Green Giant's little sidekick).

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #80 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 22:42 »

Is it just me or have Bubbles's eyes gotten more expressive over time?

brasca · « **Reply #81 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 22:44 »

In theory Renee and Claire would get along, but since the former is pushing Elliot towards and the latter is pushing Clinton towards the same girl there is bound to be conflict.

Kugai · « **Reply #82 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 22:45 »

They seem to be a matched pair.

The matchmaker being Renee by the look of it.

BenRG · « **Reply #83 on:** 28 Sep 2016, 23:19 »

Poor Brun! This whole thing about casual and targeted social interaction just passes her by, doesn't it? Meanwhile, the real joke in this strip is Eliot, a 7-foot, 250lb bouncer, is perceptibly terrified to be in this situation. The secondary joke is that Brun is completely ignorant of this.

Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure that Renee is getting an illegal level of enjoyment from Eliot's demonstration of 'flop-sweat'.

Y'know, I hesitate to think of Brun's puzzled reaction if someone were to actually ask her out on a date!

Gyrre · « **Reply #84 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 03:41 »

Quote from: Pogopotamus on 28 Sep 2016, 20:20

Re Brun there are (maybe) two guys interested in her now. She seems politely, passively OK with getting attention, but doesn't seem all that interested in actively engaging either ones interest. Is this really how functional but autistic people are with the opposite sex?

It depends on the person (both the person with autism and the person showing interest in them).

Autism is more of a case-by-case sort of thing. Sometimes it's even a day-by-day thing, as we have both good days and bad days (where the hallmarks are much more pronounced).

The only 'broad strokes' are that there will probably be some level of social awkwardness in some form or another.

gopher · « **Reply #85 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 05:12 »

I've tried, but U just don't care about the interaction of several tertiary characters.

pwhodges · « **Reply #86 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 05:19 »

When we see this much of them, are they tertiary characters any longer?

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #87 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 05:59 »

Well, as I've said before, Brun seems to go for the most direct and literal interpretation of a situation and ignores others. Or doesn't notice them. From the first time we met her, she she seemed to not understand or be upset that someone came into her bar and only wanted water. Or here where she had to have it pointed out that Elliot was just trying to make excuses to get to know her better. Which makes the fact that she picked up on why Clinton was upset when they met all the more interesting. Apparently she saw right through the junk he was clouding the issue with right away, and true to form pointed out the obvious to her.

Gyrre · « **Reply #88 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 07:04 »

Quote from: BenRG on 28 Sep 2016, 23:19

Meanwhile, the real joke in this strip is Eliot, a 7-foot, 250lb bouncer, is perceptibly terrified to be in this situation.

He's a full foot-and-a-half taller than me and he only weighs 20 lbs more!?
I know I'm stocky and barrel-chested (and ~20 lbs overweight), but wow! (ϾôϿ)

I wonder if we have the same lung capacity?

Kugai · « **Reply #89 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 14:32 »

Quote from: pwhodges on 29 Sep 2016, 05:19

When we see this much of them, are they tertiary characters any longer?

My own guess is is that Jeph is diversifying his Character Base in order to tell different kinds of stories using different types of characters.

Tova · « **Reply #90 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 15:15 »

QC has had an ensemble cast for a very long time now. It's been discussed in these very forums many times. Is this really so hard to come to terms with?

Kugai · « **Reply #91 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 15:30 »

Not really. I think the thing that some are having 'Issues' with is the fact that Jeph is moving what were once essentially background characters into the foreground and lessening the interaction of the 'Original Core Cast Characters'.

Remember folks, we have had shifts before, the departure of Raven, Amir, Nat, Sara and Angus. The falling into the background of characters such as Steve, Sven, Wil, Penelope and others as Jeph moves the stories forward or feels the need to change/chop or delete characters that have, to a certain extent, served their purpose or he feels need to go to make room for newer characters and storylines.

Marten and Faye are, to a large extent, the Main Core Characters of the Comic, along with Dora, Pintsize and others who have come into the picture while others have moved back into secondary roles but are seen as part of the Core of the Comic as time moves on.

Pogopotamus · « **Reply #92 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 19:17 »

Quote from: Gyrre on 29 Sep 2016, 07:04

Quote from: BenRG on 28 Sep 2016, 23:19
Meanwhile, the real joke in this strip is Eliot, a 7-foot, 250lb bouncer, is perceptibly terrified to be in this situation.
He's a full foot-and-a-half taller than me and he only weighs 20 lbs more!?
I know I'm stocky and barrel-chested (and ~20 lbs overweight), but wow! (ϾôϿ)

I wonder if we have the same lung capacity?

People who have no reference point for large people often throw would absurd hypothetical height weight stats. Given his build if he was 250 lbs he'd be about 6'2" to 6'4". If he was 7 feet tall with that build he'd be about the same as Shaq who is 350lbs. Based on his relative height vs the other characters he's about 6'5" or 6'6" and 250 - 265 lbs. Essentially the size of a medium sized linebacker.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #93 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 19:49 »

I don't think seven feet is unreasonable, considering he was a full head above the guy who punched Clinton, and that guy was already a bit taller than Emily who probably pushes six feet herself. I'd say probably about 6'10" and 295/208cm and 134kg.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #94 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 19:50 »

Ugh. I can relate to Brun. I've been in that situation with something much more emotionally charged. It's a huge cognitive effort to keep a memory from escaping a locked room.

TheEvilDog · « **Reply #95 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 20:07 »

Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 29 Sep 2016, 19:50

Ugh. I can relate to Brun. I've been in that situation with something much more emotionally charged. It's a huge cognitive effort to keep a memory from escaping a locked room.

Eh, I just try to forget about it. Usually works.

Carl-E · « **Reply #96 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 20:35 »

"... I hate those".

Me too, Brun. Meeee tooooooooo....

Clubman8 · « **Reply #97 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 20:37 »

Did the font of the speech bubbles change in the latest comic or is my sight going?

Method of Madness · « **Reply #98 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 20:50 »

It did! I don't care for it.

Storel · « **Reply #99 on:** 29 Sep 2016, 21:30 »

Yes, it looks like a different font. It's okay -- seems a little more readable to me. But I'm overdue for bifocals and have a small screen, so your mileage may vary.

Edit: Just noticed Jeph's comment under the latest strip: "Renee tries, really she does." Yes, she's very trying.

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Author Topic: WCDT Strips 3316-3320 (26th - 30th September 2016) (Read 39317 times)

TheEvilDog