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Cute Faybles pillow talk

30 (23.3%)

Awkward Faybles pillow talk

18 (14%)

The backlash starts - Not everyone is happy with the news

6 (4.7%)

Marten and Claire try to congratulate the new couple; this could go well or badly!

17 (13.2%)

Pintsize should have learned his lesson when Bubbles crushed his head!

6 (4.7%)

Tortura spends five strips berating Steve for not making an honest woman of Cossette (over cereal)

8 (6.2%)

Roko and Melon having an ironic conversation (not that they know it) about whether humans could ever be romantically interested in AIs

13 (10.1%)

Dora and Tai have a cute argument over who saw it coming first

5 (3.9%)

Brun is confused about why Elliott and Clinton are so awkward around her. Renee tries to explain

23 (17.8%)

Other (please specify in a comment)

3 (2.3%)

Total Members Voted: 69

[BenRG]

So, with the events of last week, I think that we are in a position to certainly say that one arc is at an end and we can be sure a new arc will be beginning this new week. However, what will it be about? I've tried to cover as many bases as possible but I'm sure I've missed some possibilities.

Personally, as well as Bubbles and Faye talking self-consciously about where they go next, I'm wondering if Jeph will add some drama. To me, this new couple gives him a chance to write a parable about the trials experienced by couples in minority groups. So, I'm wondering if we might see the first hints of some people (possibly including some previously-seen background characters) being less than thrilled.

[Thrillho]

I think we're going to go to a completely different group of characters from here, possibly Brun and Clinton's arc, while Faye and Bubbles go and have some conversations using words and other things. We'll come back to them later for the conversation that follows.

[awgiedawgie]

I voted for Melon. I always vote for Melon. She's just so damn adorable! Sure, she's clueless, and things don't often go her way, but nothing gets to her either.

But I also have a feeling that it's about time to dig a little deeper into the Clinton/Brun/Elliot triangle of confusion.

[SpanielBear]

Comic!

Pintsize chose... wisely.

[Undrneath]

And of course Melon is eating her cards.

[ImVeryAngryItsNotButter]

I'm guessing Melon started the game with that big pile of chips as a beginner's handicap.

Either that or she just steals from everyone else's piles, and no one cares because they're tallying the scores in their heads anyway.

[SpanielBear]

And of course Melon is eating her cards.

Even Melon knows that would be ridiculous.

Like a totally normal person, she is eating chips.

[Greymoon]

I've been following QC since about 2004, this is the first time I've registered to do more than lurk around...

Just gotta say, I've been following the whole Bubbles and Faye thing with bated breath, lol. I find that decent storylines with two folks of the female persuasion are still pretty hard to come by. And yes, I have been on the Dora and Tai ship for as long as it has sailed.. but the Faye/Bubbles thing struck me closer to home since I identify very strongly with both characters, being a large, mouthy, unusually strong, PTSD-coping, lesbian-leaning-demi-sexual lady (that takes forever to build and recognize romantic wants) personally.

Guess I just wanted to de-lurk and say bravo Jeph. And that I hope we get at least another comic or two with Bubbles and Faye before we move on to the next story arc because I really want to see the resolution of "yep we have caught The Feels". (And I genuinely mean that in a not-perverse way.)

[LustFilledRunza]

If Monday's comic isn't a homage to this scene...   

This would be a perfect ending point for QC right here...     The small offensive robot's work is done, it's time to relax.

[LustFilledRunza]

Also hi-i-new-longtime-reader-lurker-of-forum.   

[Magniras]

Translation: Pintsize isnt going to mess with two of the three people who’ve caused him serious physical harm.

[Carl-E]

Well, it's not Steve eating cereal, but I think it might as well be. 

Could be an arc of its own, but I'm pretty sure it's a pause for Jeph before diving further into ... anything. 

[Tova]

Welcome, new people!

It's a kind of coda, I guess, before we head into... who knows what.

[jesslc]

And of course Melon is eating her cards.

Ha! Can't believe I didn't notice that. Wait - how is she winning by so much if she's being eating her cards?

[Inconsequential]

I was sort of wondering how he was going to top the boot on the door and the sound-canceling headphones (Faye/Angus).


Pintsize.

Shuts.

Up.


Never saw THAT coming!

[Greymoon]

I agree it's probably just a dramatic "pause". It sort of conveniently gets Pintsize out of the way back at the apartment and we already know Marten was at the library, only Claire is "unknown" in location but that's easy enough to deal with.

Plus Jeph is just a big fat troll sometimes so we should expect this kind of "dramatic draw out" after already leaving it over the weekend, lol....

[Storel]

And of course Melon is eating her cards.

Ha! Can't believe I didn't notice that. Wait - how is she winning by so much if she's being eating her cards?

Maybe she just has some crackers behind her humongous pile of chips.

Whaddya wanna bet that tomorrow we shift back to Bubbles and Faye looking... aftermathy?

Edit: And hey, isn't this the first time we've seen PT410X for, oh, an eon and a half or so?

[awgiedawgie]

And of course Melon is eating her cards.

Even Melon knows that would be ridiculous.

Like a totally normal person, she is eating chips.

Look closer... that's definitely a card in her mouth.

Ha! Can't believe I didn't notice that. Wait - how is she winning by so much if she's being eating her cards?

As someone on Patreon pointed out, all of Melon's chips are a completely different colour from everyone else's. So is she even playing the same game? I get the idea that she makes up the rules - and a lot of other things - as she goes.

[awgiedawgie]

I know Jeph admitted it's a typo, but I can actually picture Pintsize saying "expistence". As in "ex-pissed-ence".

[Undrneath]

And of course Melon is eating her cards.

Ha! Can't believe I didn't notice that. Wait - how is she winning by so much if she's being eating her cards?

Maybe she just has some crackers behind her humongous pile of chips.

Whaddya wanna bet that tomorrow we shift back to Bubbles and Faye looking... aftermathy?

Edit: And hey, isn't this the first time we've seen PT410X for, oh, an eon and a half or so?

I love all of Jeph's afterglow scenes and we have had some doozies.

[A small perverse otter]

If Monday's comic isn't a homage to this scene...   

This would be a perfect ending point for QC right here...     The small offensive robot's work is done, it's time to relax.

It's more similar to this one from the _Dogs Playing Poker_ series.

[Bollthorn]

Love the cute little dapper bowler hat

[OldGoat]

Love the cute little dapper bowler hat

Who is that in the bowler?  (Looks like an old mate of Pintsize's from an earlier era, but I'm not remembering anyone specific.)  And who's the purple hair to Bowler's left?

[Dust]

And of course Melon is eating her cards.

Ha! Can't believe I didn't notice that. Wait - how is she winning by so much if she's being eating her cards?

Eating, or sneaking a better card out of her mouth while Pintsize's arrival hopefully distracts everyone?

[Tova]

I like the idea that Melon has the largest pile of chips because she is completely unreadable.

[cesium133]

And of course Melon is eating her cards.

Ha! Can't believe I didn't notice that. Wait - how is she winning by so much if she's being eating her cards?

Eating, or sneaking a better card out of her mouth while Pintsize's arrival hopefully distracts everyone?

She draws bad cards, eats them, then draws better cards to replace the ones she ate.

[awgiedawgie]

Love the cute little dapper bowler hat

Who is that in the bowler?  (Looks like an old mate of Pintsize's from an earlier era, but I'm not remembering anyone specific.)  And who's the purple hair to Bowler's left?

I looked back through the archive, and couldn't find any other anthroPCs that colour. This one has a white torso with a dark blue head and limbs. Someone on Patreon suggested it might have been the one at the LanPark who had been complaining about the awful paintjob and body work their owner had inflicted upon them, but that one was bright green with blue limbs. There was a blue anthro at Pintsize's housewarming party, but it was bright blue with white limbs. Then at the set-up for the VespAvenger, there was one with dark blue head and torso, and black limbs, and another one with white head and torso, and dark blue limbs. So far, I'm coming up empty on an exact match.


The one with the purple hair might be the girl from the AI support group. The hair and skin are the right colours.

[SubaruStephen]

Love the cute little dapper bowler hat

http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2189

Yeeessss, the little haaaat.

[zisraelsen]

A theory about this comic:

Pintsize chose today to "exercise basic decorum" because he knows faybles is happening, and chose to vacate the apartment by going to play poker, because he wants his friends to be happy but admitting as much would ruin his image as an irredeemable asshole.

[awgiedawgie]

A theory about this comic:

Pintsize chose today to "exercise basic decorum" because he knows faybles is happening, and chose to vacate the apartment by going to play poker, because he wants his friends to be happy but admitting as much would ruin his image as an irredeemable asshole.

I theorized that he claimed to "exercise basic decorum" because he didn't want to admit that he was merely vacating the apartment out of basic self-preservation. He knows he likes to run his mouth, and he knows that with Faye and Bubbles as a united front, he wouldn't stand much chance of survival.

[Tova]

Yeah, it was either poker or the freezer again. Potentially, whether he opened his mouth or not.

[awgiedawgie]

Yeah, it was either poker or the freezer again. Potentially, whether he opened his mouth or not.

I think it would have been the freezer if he didn't open his mouth. Much worse if he did.

[Is it cold in here?]

I've been following QC since about 2004, this is the first time I've registered to do more than lurk around...

Just gotta say, I've been following the whole Bubbles and Faye thing with bated breath, lol. I find that decent storylines with two folks of the female persuasion are still pretty hard to come by. And yes, I have been on the Dora and Tai ship for as long as it has sailed.. but the Faye/Bubbles thing struck me closer to home since I identify very strongly with both characters, being a large, mouthy, unusually strong, PTSD-coping, lesbian-leaning-demi-sexual lady (that takes forever to build and recognize romantic wants) personally.

Guess I just wanted to de-lurk and say bravo Jeph. And that I hope we get at least another comic or two with Bubbles and Faye before we move on to the next story arc because I really want to see the resolution of "yep we have caught The Feels". (And I genuinely mean that in a not-perverse way.)

Welcome, new person!

[Is it cold in here?]

Welcome, all new people that I didn't greet individually!

[BenRG]

Like most people, I'm assuming that Pintsize took one look at how Faye and Bubbles were looking at each other when they came home and came to the following conclusions:

• They're about to have sex;
• I'm not going to be able to restrain myself from giving off-colour commentary;
• If I do that, Faye will rip me apart and Bubbles will stomp the remains into powder and sheet metal;
• Ergo, it's a healthy time to finally find out what PT410x and the other losers do at this 'poker night' they're always inviting me to attend.

Meanwhile, I have my suspicions that Melon has no idea what she's doing and is winning purely by blind chance.

I'm serious. Anyone remember that probability thought experiment about how, if you gave a monkey a keyboard and infinite time, it would eventually type out the script of Hamlet simply by pressing keys in a random order? I suspect that something similar is happening with Melon here: She's just acting randomly but, by blind chance, these random actions are game-winning moves. However, she doesn't know that and, indeed, is still trying to work out what the cardboard tiles she's holding are. I suspect that she'll start eating the chips too soon because her research shows that is what one does with chips.

Meanwhile, IIRC, PT410x is a bit of a radical AI liberation believer and is no great fan of humanity. I'm wondering if he won't be happy at the thought of a synthetic being in an intimate relationship with one of her 'oppressors'.

I agree it's probably just a dramatic "pause". It sort of conveniently gets Pintsize out of the way back at the apartment and we already know Marten was at the library, only Claire is "unknown" in location but that's easy enough to deal with.

Given that it's at some point during the working day, I'm assuming that Claire is still at classes or doing her TA duties. The Clareaction will occur after a few hours when she comes home and finds one of Faye's socks on her and Bubbles' bedroom door.

[osaka]

I see this strip as Jeph basically telling us that [in tts voice]ｔｈｅｙ  ｓｍａｓｈｉｎ＇ but this comic isn't the time or the place to show us, and also gives us some quality Pintsize content. I wonder if we'll see a couple more strips of this before turning back to our favorite couple.

[awgiedawgie]

... However, she doesn't know that and, indeed, is still trying to work out what the cardboard tiles she's holding are. I suspect that she'll start eating the chips too soon because her research shows that is what one does with chips.

Or maybe she just likes the taste of pasteboard. After all, we did see her eat a cereal box.

[oeoek]

just to make sure I am getting this; the basic decorum Pintsize is showing is to give Faye and Bubbles some privacy, right? So today is still about Fay and Bubbles... Just in a very respectful way. Way to go Pintsize!

[jesslc]

As someone on Patreon pointed out, all of Melon's chips are a completely different colour from everyone else's. So is she even playing the same game? I get the idea that she makes up the rules - and a lot of other things - as she goes.

Another great little detail that I didn't notice. So did Melon just bring along a pile of her own poker chips to stack in front of her then? I can believe that she's playing a different game to everyone else - that definitely seems like something Melon would do.

As far as Pintsize is concerned, I think PT410x said it all really - "Wonders never cease!"

[Nycticoraci]

And of course Melon is eating her cards.

Even Melon knows that would be ridiculous.

Like a totally normal person, she is eating chips.

If you look carefully, you can see the same two overlapping circles as on the back of the deck of cards.

[sniktchtherat]

As an interesting thought, Pintsize generally doesn't, strictly speaking, lie.  He also has an uncanny ability to provide the cast with assistance while making it seem like he's being a jerk-ass to them.  Remember, he's the one who pointed Faye to the fight ring in the first place.  Good does not always equal nice.

[SpanielBear]

And of course Melon is eating her cards.

Even Melon knows that would be ridiculous.

Like a totally normal person, she is eating chips.

If you look carefully, you can see the same two overlapping circles as on the back of the deck of cards.

Yeah, I know I know.

*sigh*

Sometimes reality just does not respect a good pun.

[heyjames4]

This strip, like Pintsize, has layers.
A nice button on faybles actually happens arc.
It's fun to see PTX again, and is that Roko in the back?
Some of these AIs we know, and some of they may have Opinions about Faybles or other AI:Human romances. But immediately after the happy conclusion may not be the best time to bring them up.

[BenRG]

FWIW, I am convinced that Pintsize will get talking about why being out of the apartment is good for his health. I'm expecting some manner of debate amongst the synthetics about the significance (or lack thereof) of these turn of events. Melon and Roko's presence, IMO, probably means that it is going to lead to at least one of the two of them raising the issue of Clinton.

[sniktchtherat]

Roko's skin is lavender; the purple-haired AI is pink-skinned.  Plus, pretty sure Roko would have let out a shriek on seeing Pintsize.

[Is it cold in here?]

I too am curious about how AIs will react. Faye's friends are going to know how utterly wonderful this is for her and Bubbles's non-Faye friends are almost non-existent. Hannelore had a "Eww" reaction to her robot boyfriend but knows the world well enough to understand that what squicks her can be wonderful for another.

The AIs react like humans to most things and it's reasonable to expect some AIs outside their circle of friends to react like humans have all too often reacted to interracial marriages.

[Undrneath]

Faybles would IRL have the double whammy of AI (assuming they exist in real life) and human, as well as being a same gender couple. In the comic universe everyone seems almost completely accepting of LGBTQ hopefully they are just as accepting of intersentient being relationships.

[dutchrvl]

I too am curious about how AIs will react. Faye's friends are going to know how utterly wonderful this is for her and Bubbles's non-Faye friends are almost non-existent. Hannelore had a "Eww" reaction to her robot boyfriend but knows the world well enough to understand that what squicks her can be wonderful for another.

The AIs react like humans to most things and it's reasonable to expect some AIs outside their circle of friends to react like humans have all too often reacted to interracial marriages.

I'm not sure if it's entirely fair to use the reactions (Hanners' and others') to the robot BF that Hanners' dad sent her as a frame of reference. It is obvious that technology has come a very, very long way since that uncanny valley skeleton that Winslow briefly tried out, and based on everything we have seen since then it seems that the current humanoid AIs are quite close to humans at least appearance/behavior wise. That said, that's exactly why I do agree with your last statement, since therefore the AIs might be just as prone to human flaws such as bigotry/racism/etc.

[SeaWoodStage]

*waves* I'm not technically new, as I've been reading since late 2003 (when a wise friend posted a link to QC with the note "I think I just found my new favourite webcomic!"), and I joined the forum about the time Faye was hospitalised. I haven't really posted since then, and I don't even lurk that often, but the comic has taken such an interesting turn recently that I decided to, um, de-de-lurk for a bit?

I don't have much interesting to contribute at the moment, as others have made far more insightful and articulate comments on the current in-comic events than I could. I suppose I just felt the need to pop in and say: "Wow." What's interesting to me is that I was never a Faye/Bubbles shipper. While their relationship was developing, I actually stuck to the hope that they would NOT form a romantic partnership, because I preferred the idea of a rich, meaningful, mutually supportive, platonic friendship.

The last few strips have changed my mind though. Not, I hasten to add, because I find recent events particularly hot or sexy (such things usually leave me pretty cold), but because it's such a great representation of the (true) notion that we don't usually choose who we fall in love with. To me, lust is a consequence of love, rather than the other way around. However attractive I find someone, I have never felt genuine physical passion until I was already in an established relationship with that person, and had come to recognise them as someone truly special, mentally and emotionally.

So to me, it was suddenly logical, because I realised that Faye and Bubbles have spent a long time building up a real and wonderful connection. Of course, there was no rule that it had to culminate in romance, but it makes a lot of sense to me now that it has. Looking forward to seeing where this next step leads them. (Hoping it's to happy places, because they've both put in real effort to change themselves and their lives positively, and that doesn't come easy.)

[Mad Cat]

I was sort of wondering how he was going to top the boot on the door and the sound-canceling headphones (Faye/Angus).


Pintsize.

Shuts.

Up.


Never saw THAT coming!

A good author always knows how to throw his readers a curve ball.