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Steampunk (c.f. Girl Genius)

8 (9%)

Slice-of-Life College Kids (like 'Dumbing of Age')

6 (6.7%)

Non-continuity social and political commentary (like 'Doonsbury' or 'Dilbert')

1 (1.1%)

Mainstream superheroes (Roko as Northampton's answer to the Punisher?)

4 (4.5%)

Period Comedy (Think 'Downton Abbey' or 'Pride and Prejudice' with jokes)

8 (9%)

Cyberpunk (Basically what it is now but darker, grittier and with more augmented humans)

11 (12.4%)

Fighting Fantasy (Marigold the Orc?)

7 (7.9%)

Magical Girl manga (Because we all want to see Claire and Emily with superpowers)

13 (14.6%)

Space Opera (Coffee of Doom as a 'Star Wars'-style spaceport cantina!)

14 (15.7%)

High-concept Sci-Fi ('Alice Grove' universe or something similar?)

7 (7.9%)

Anthropomorphic Animals (because the end of 'My Little Pony' leaves a gap in the market!)

6 (6.7%)

Political drama/comedy with no fantasy elements (think of 'The West Wing')

2 (2.2%)

Other (please specify in the comments)

2 (2.2%)

Total Members Voted: 34

[cybersmurf]

Finally, people have often wondered if Pintsize has a job. I'm wondering if Jeph is just kidding in the footer text or if that is Pintsize's job. If it is, I'd laugh if he was by far the most professionally successful person in the apartment!

I wouldn't be surprised if Pintsize was an ordained minister. 
...Hell no, he's not going to officiate Dora's and Tai's marriage. (would be fun if he did, an noone knew beforehand)

[namelips]

Yeeeesh... this hits a little close to home.

I'm 41. I have never really had dreams or ambitions. I've coasted through. I graduated, got an english degree, got a wife, had 3 kids, and eventually settled on a job as a cook.

But I don't feel like I've ever had a plan, or a goal, or any of that. I'm just always more or less content with everything. Things happen, and lots of the time they're cool things that I like, and I just let them happen. And bad things... just don't happen much. Or maybe since I have no goals or ambitions, it's really hard to throw me off course, so I barely notice bad things that would profoundly bother other people.

But recently... I've started wondering if there's more to life than just coasting through, being kinda chill, and not really doing anything. I have a vague sort of feeling of... longing. Like, I wish I wished for things. I want to want things. But I don't know how.

At least Martin could think of "well, I'd kind of like to be an old guy puttering around a workshop." I can't even get that far. People ask me what my dream job would be and I get a... blank. There's nothing I've ever really wanted to do, or felt like working toward. And it's not really limited to "job". People ask what I'd do if I had a million dollars... and I don't know. I guess fix up the house? What do people normally do with a big pile of money?

I know people seem to like the triumphant feeling of setting a goal and working to achieve it, but I have no freaking clue how they have goals. How do you get yourself to feel strongly enough about something to think you'd actually want to do it?

Sometimes I wonder if I'm a broken person, since so much of my internal experience seems to just not match at all with what I see other people experiencing.

[cybersmurf]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm a broken person, since so much of my internal experience seems to just not match at all with what I see other people experiencing.

No, you're not. Sometimes takes people a little longer to find their "calling", whatever the reasons may be.
Maybe you'll find a sudden interest in woodworking, or tinkering with old machinery.

Whatever you'll find, I'm sure there's something to spark a passion 😊


You still got a few years lead on me, but I haven't found anything that I would call "my dream job/project", but I'm doing something that's fun for now, so I surely not complaining.

[citizenfive]

I know people seem to like the triumphant feeling of setting a goal and working to achieve it, but I have no freaking clue how they have goals. How do you get yourself to feel strongly enough about something to think you'd actually want to do it?

Sometimes I wonder if I'm a broken person, since so much of my internal experience seems to just not match at all with what I see other people experiencing.

First of all, you're NOT broken for not having goals. There are plenty of people just like you who don't have grand goals. When you're seeing other people experiencing so many things, you need to remember that the people like you aren't going to be the ones you're hearing about. Feeling inferior or broken in some way is just the availability heuristic at work.

For me personally, I don't necessarily have grand goals (or those that I do are so far in the future that I can't do much to directly affect them at the moment), but rather short term personal projects. Doing DIY work gives me the same sort of satisfaction on a smaller scale for completing a goal. I'm terrible at being self-motivated, so I just treat my projects as things done for fun.

I hope this helps; I've heard the same sort of sentiment you have from many of my friends who look at what I do at express amazement at it.

[BenRG]

Speaking personally, I've always smiled bitterly at missing my 'calling', which is technical drawing. The big problems is that I didn't know what to call it and ended up going down completely the wrong track at high school to get into the field. Basically, I was called into the (somewhat odd) head of social education's office, asked "What job do you want when you're an adult?" and assigned elective classes based on that 13-year-old's stammered and uncertain listing of likes and dislikes.

In their defence, as a working class boy with an acknowledged issue with time-keeping and organisation and from one of the poorest boroughs in London, I was expected to spend the rest of my life on benefits or carrying boxes at a warehouse, so only minimum effort on their part was required.

[Wingy]

Finally, people have often wondered if Pintsize has a job.

He hawks his processors during downtimes, something May can't do and is still bitter about.

I'm wondering if Jeph is just kidding in the footer text or if that is Pintsize's job. If it is, I'd laugh if he was by far the most professionally successful person in the apartment!

Notary Public isn't that lucrative.  And keep in mind that a notary can be called to court to help prove signed documents.  Can anyone imagine believing Pintsize if he said he saw something happen?

[BenRG]

I'm wondering if Jeph is just kidding in the footer text or if that is Pintsize's job. If it is, I'd laugh if he was by far the most professionally successful person in the apartment!

Notary Public isn't that lucrative.  And keep in mind that a notary can be called to court to help prove signed documents.  Can anyone imagine believing Pintsize if he said he saw something happen?

It depends if his memories can be faked. If they're as good as a recording of events, then his personal reputation is almost meaningless. Beyond the judge spluttering: "Him? You were literally so badly off that you had to go to him?!?"

[TV4Fun]

Whew, another near-drama experience narrowly averted.

[Wingy]

It depends if his memories can be faked. If they're as good as a recording of events, then his personal reputation is almost meaningless. Beyond the judge spluttering: "Him? You were literally so badly off that you had to go to him?!?"

Agreed, though how you'd get those memories exposed in a court situation remains a question.  I suppose if Pintsize can aim his laser pointer, he could simulate a TV on a blank wall.  Then all he'd have to do is keep snippets of the ID process and the actual document signing for later cases involving questions.  But, of course, the ability and desire to create a deepfake isn't beyond him...

[Roborat]

So, signed affidavit huh? Is that what the young'uns are calling it nowadays?  I have so much trouble keeping up with the slang.

[greytheearthling]

a "content is not enough for me. Either I'm happy, or I'll die trying" situation.

That's why it's called Questionable Content — everyone's basically content, but they don't quite accept it

[Is it cold in here?]

Welcome, insightful new person!

[Penquin47]

My cousin was married to a manipulative woman.  He was a nurse, damn good at his job and passionate about it, but she kept telling everyone how he was going to go to medical school and become a doctor and make somebody of himself.

When she *finally* got it through her head that, while he left nursing to become an EMT he was not going to medical school... hello divorce papers.

Claire is asking Marten what he wants.  She's pushing him to do it, but at least she's pushing him to follow *his* ideas instead of conforming to hers.

[Theta9]

a "content is not enough for me. Either I'm happy, or I'll die trying" situation.

That's why it's called Questionable Content — everyone's basically content, but they don't quite accept it

Marten does.

[cybersmurf]

My cousin was married to a manipulative woman.  He was a nurse, damn good at his job and passionate about it, but she kept telling everyone how he was going to go to medical school and become a doctor and make somebody of himself.

When she *finally* got it through her head that, while he left nursing to become an EMT he was not going to medical school... hello divorce papers.

Claire is asking Marten what he wants.  She's pushing him to do it, but at least she's pushing him to follow *his* ideas instead of conforming to hers.

Sounds like "I'll be married to a doctor. Found someone working in the medical field, hiw hard can it be for him to go to med school?"

[Gyrre]

I've long felt that Marten is in many ways Jeph's self-insert
[...]
'guitar repair guy' is a bit of a specialist field

About two years ago it just happened, that one million subscriber YouTube channels were rarer than Nobel Prize laureates. I.e. by this measure, one million YouTube subscribers is more prestigious than the Nobel Prize. This may have changed since then, I didn't have a chance to check.

So, combining this with the parallel that BenRG has laid out: How many 'guitar repair guys' are there in the world? How many webcomic artists are there in the world? It's easy to count the former. How would you count webcomic artists? How about only those, who do it full time? Maybe only those with 1000 daily hits on their site? 10000 hits per week?

How would you count webcomic artists, if you wanted to compare this occupation with another?

Oh look, Claire's attempts to manipulate someone's life again.

The word "manipulate" usually has a negative connotation. I've never understood this sentiment. All people affect lives of others around them. People are not isolated from outside influences.

Of course, effect of all people is different. Both in who it covers, and the impact's magnitude. Some affect whole countries, some affect only their family. Some reach into your soul, others you forget the next moment.

Why do people think that Claire's influence is somehow bad?

'Manipulation' has negative connotations when it specifically refers to something being done for incredibly selfish and/or deceitful reasons.
Example: billionaires manipulate the system to extract wealth from it while adding (comparatively) little value to it.

[Mr Intrepid]

Claire isn't being manipulative.   She's concluded that her best life is with Marten.  And she wants to be sure his life isn't one of regret and dissatisfaction. Claire is a very focused and driven person, and Marten provides a kind of anchor, a counterweight to that.  She also realizes he can be more.

[Gyrre]

Claire isn't being manipulative.   She's concluded that her best life is with Marten.  And she wants to be sure his life isn't one of regret and dissatisfaction. Claire is a very focused and driven person, and Marten provides a kind of anchor, a counterweight to that.  She also realizes he can be more.

Exactly!

[chris73]

Interesting hes wanting to talk to Steve about this and not Dora, Faye etc.
I recall a while back saying that one of Martens issues is that he doesn't have enough male friends (for exactly times like these) and that having both male and female friends is better for you than friends of one gender only (which I still stand by)

[cybersmurf]

Interesting hes wanting to talk to Steve about this and not Dora, Faye etc.
I recall a while back saying that one of Martens issues is that he doesn't have enough male friends (for exactly times like these) and that having both male and female friends is better for you than friends of one gender only (which I still stand by)

Well, Steve used to be a ladies' man, so Marten would be used to asking Steve about girl trouble. Seems Steve has been off a bit. Maybe that's just Steve, or Cosette  "derailed" him. Or Tortura. We will never know.

[Cornelius]

There's also the fact that Steve is his oldest friend. Possibly tied with Pintsize, but nobody can really fault Marten for not going to him. I mean, there might be a cathartic response, but, well...

[BenRG]

Poll Results Post
All Change! What genre for a reboot QC?

1. Space Opera (Coffee of Doom as a 'Star Wars'-style spaceport cantina!) - 14 (15.7%)
2. Magical Girl manga (Because we all want to see Claire and Emily with superpowers) - 13 (14.6%)
3. Cyberpunk (Basically what it is now but darker, grittier and with more augmented humans) - 11 (12.4%)
=4. Steampunk (c.f. Girl Genius) - 8 (9%)
=4. Period Comedy (Think 'Downton Abbey' or 'Pride and Prejudice' with jokes) - 8 (9%)
=6. Fighting Fantasy (Marigold the Orc?) - 7 (7.9%)
=6. High-concept Sci-Fi ('Alice Grove' universe or something similar?) - 7 (7.9%)
=8. Slice-of-Life College Kids (like 'Dumbing of Age') - 6 (6.7%)
=8. Anthropomorphic Animals (because the end of 'My Little Pony' leaves a gap in the market!) - 6 (6.7%)
10. Mainstream superheroes (Roko as Northampton's answer to the Punisher?) - 4 (4.5%)
=11. Political drama/comedy with no fantasy elements (think of 'The West Wing') - 2 (2.2%)
=11. Other (please specify in the comments) - 2 (2.2%)
13. Non-continuity social and political commentary (like 'Doonsbury' or 'Dilbert') - 1 (1.1%)

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Well, colour me very, very surprised! I would never have imagined the winners to be what they are and by what a wide margin! I really hope that Jeph sees the poll because I think it will genuinely amuse and overjoy him to know just what a strange, strange bunch of ans he has and just what  they want from their entertainment!