Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)

<< < (24/36) > >>

brasca:
I remember seeing something like this on the Nina Bedford Show.  Toast Fucking.

oddtail:
OK, so for some reason Pintsize's behaviour genuinely upsets me in this context.

Yes, he's constantly doing stupid and annoying stuff, but usually he does that to people he knows and/or who are able to handle it. It's unclear how much he's deliberately making everyone angry because it's amusing, and how much he's mentally four years old, but his behaviour somehow... works in context. Wacky (and unfunny, but YMMV) hijinks, something happens to him in retaliation, move on.

In this situation, he's explicitly with someone who went on a date with him. The NATURE of interaction suggests a way to act. He's supposed to act in a way that makes the other side comfortable and, ideally, happy. Hanging out with someone... I dunno, I guess one could say he gets bored and starts acting stupid. Here, he's either being a dick to his date, or he's really *that* clueless and he thinks it's something he should be doing.

If he's being a dick, I subjectively think he's being a dick more than he usually is to people (and it's PINTSIZE we're talking about). The dialogue is really what pushes this into the "this is f-ed up" territory. He can't claim ignorance, because his date is OBVIOUSLY in "date mode" behaviour, and she's trying to steer him in that direction.

If he's being clueless, he obviously acts in a way that's inappropriate to people outside of the comic's main cast. So he's disruptive and annoying and potentially may do something actually bad. He needs help, whatever that would entail for an AI.

I genuinely can't put to words WHY this specific behaviour seems so much worse to me than what he usually does. He's done some pretty stupid things. I can't put my finger on it, but it's something about the situation, about the context that seems wrong. Maybe it's the fact that it's closer to real behaviour? I can't imagine a person gluing dicks to everything and ALWAYS making crude sex jokes (plus, it's hard to interpret that behaviour as anything but trying to be funny), but I can sort-of see someone doing something to interrupt every time another person says something. Sure, the stereotypical thing to do would be to make fart noises and not sling toast at them, but same difference.

His action, and this is the closest I guess I can get to pin-pointing why his behaviour seems wrong-er than usual, clearly states "you're talking, and I don't care. I'm not listening, and I'll show it in the most blatant way possible".

The fact that he's shooting the toast from his general crotch area doesn't help. Normally I'd say that's due to his chassis' height, but it's Pintsize we're talking about. That's probably a "sex thing" to him, everything is.

TL;DR - Pintsize is acting like a four-year-old here, but due to the circumstances it's worse, to me, than most things he's said and done.

BenRG:
Ever since I first saw today's strip on Patreon, I've hoped that we can discuss its sixth panel here.

I find myself especially focussing on Pintsize's expression and his role. Normally, when he's annoying someone, he's all big, beaming smiles but here, he seems genuinely worried! Is he concerned that he's screwing up the date somehow? Was Pintsize really expecting to impress Roko with the power of his 'attachment' here? Or is his professionalism offended by the fact that he is only the second worst date that Roko has ever been on? Or maybe Roko isn't on a date with Pintsize at all; he's just been hired to operate the toaster (who is her actual date).

Here's a thought: Maybe Pintsize is the victim of preparation. Maybe he found out about a certain drunken incident in Roko's past and decided that he knew just how to put his date in the mood! Well, guess what, if she isn't intoxicated, she doesn't find it so attractive!

That said, I'm sort of glad that this strip has been semi-canonised (even if it's only because poor Jeph's back problems flared up again) because the idea of Roko having serious issues finding a good date and Pintsize actually being serious about showing his dates a good time deserves to be in the strip canon! I just can't help but speculate what her very worst date must have been like!

Gyrre:

--- Quote from: shanejayell on 01 Mar 2018, 07:00 ---I hadn't considered Momo would NOT want to be dealing with the sexing & such. Ha.

--- End quote ---
Remember the series of strips where Momo is talking about her life as an AI? In one of the strips, Jeph does a nice bit of optical illusion to simulate motion as Marigold's bed repeatedly slams into the wall her bedroom shares with Momo's.

Cornelius:

--- Quote from: BenRG on 01 Mar 2018, 23:30 --- Or maybe Roko isn't on a date with Pintsize at all; he's just been hired to operate the toaster (who is her actual date).

--- End quote ---

Until the sixth panel, I actually thought she was on a date with an AI toaster, like we saw in the shop when Momo got her new chassis.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page