Topic: WCDT strips 4476-4480 (8th to 12th March 2021) (Read 28172 times)

BenRG · « **on:** 07 Mar 2021, 01:36 »

It's been a while since I last did a poll like this but I have a few new ideas and I'm interested to see what people would like to see and, more importantly, what new or existing plotlines they want to see more of! So, what do you think? You can vote for up to three options.

I voted for:

Marten Reed and the Magical Custom Electric Guitar - As a sort of 'portfolio' for his attempt to become a guitar repairman, Marten creates a complex hybrid guitar from a 6-string, a bass and other bits including a keytar; he might be onto something in terms of new sounds but a lot of people take convincing!
Sven and May - Sven felt so uncomfortable having 'bought' a sexy new body for May but what if she chose this new look specifically for him? Her reaction to Sven saying he was 'uncomfortable' keeping seeing her made me wonder;
Hannelore's first day at the AI Advocacy Group - New broom cweeps slean and Beepatrice may never be the same again!

What does everyone else think?

Farideh · « **Reply #1 on:** 07 Mar 2021, 18:15 »

Comic's up.

Your restraint is much appreciated Yay.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #2 on:** 07 Mar 2021, 20:09 »

Wasn't there a strip where Hannelore promised not to murder Marten in his sleep and he made some unsuccessful attempts to explain the awkwardness of that?

Gnabberwocky · « **Reply #3 on:** 07 Mar 2021, 21:04 »

Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 07 Mar 2021, 20:09

Wasn't there a strip where Hannelore promised not to murder Marten in his sleep and he made some unsuccessful attempts to explain the awkwardness of that?

I know the one you're talking about. It was soon after they first met, and I think it was Hanners promising not to stalk him on a date with Dora, maybe?

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #4 on:** 07 Mar 2021, 21:48 »

I think you're remembering it more accurately than I did.

Gnabberwocky · « **Reply #5 on:** 07 Mar 2021, 22:32 »

Found it, I think?

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=596

BenRG · « **Reply #6 on:** 07 Mar 2021, 23:11 »

Personally, I've got the feeling that Yay is saying this more to remind themselves that they are not allowed to do it than reassure Elliot. That said, I've got the feeling that Hercules is more fascinating to them than intelligence gathering right now. I'm sort of wondering if Elliot will come home to find a half-dozen Yays all waiting on a certain white cat's every whim!

Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 07 Mar 2021, 20:09

Wasn't there a strip where Hannelore promised not to murder Marten in his sleep and he made some unsuccessful attempts to explain the awkwardness of that?

Early model Hannelore was a lot more uncertain on what classified acceptable social behaviour. I wonder if Jeph will ever have a strip now where she is talking to her friends and gently freaking them out about all the bizarre things she would have done in some situations a couple of years ago.

snubnose · « **Reply #7 on:** 07 Mar 2021, 23:29 »

I get the feeling Jay works on fixing the problem that she's not intimidating at all for Elliot.

sitnspin · « **Reply #8 on:** 07 Mar 2021, 23:32 »

They. Not she.

Gyrre · « **Reply #9 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 05:12 »

Quote from: Gnabberwocky on 07 Mar 2021, 22:32

Found it, I think?

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=596

What's her shirt read in that one? 'Summer' something?

Wombat · « **Reply #10 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 05:18 »

Quote from: Gyrre on 08 Mar 2021, 05:12

Quote from: Gnabberwocky on 07 Mar 2021, 22:32
Found it, I think?

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=596

What's her shirt read in that one? 'Summer' something?

"Summer Camp"

hedgie · « **Reply #11 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 06:57 »

Quote from: sitnspin on 07 Mar 2021, 23:32

They. Not she.

Hells, even regardless of gender, Yay are a plural.

Gus_Smedstad · « **Reply #12 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 08:42 »

Elliot is fortunate he has such an adequate cat, since he's inspiring Yay to curtesy.

Gus_Smedstad · « **Reply #13 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 08:51 »

Quote from: sitnspin on 07 Mar 2021, 23:32

They. Not she.

I really think "they" as a gender-neutral (or gender-ambiguous, depending) pronoun is fraught with problems*, but in Yay's case, They really are a They, since we've frequently seen Them inhabiting multiple bodies.

* To be absolutely clear, it's plurality, not the gender-neutrality I see as an issue, and the resulting grammar mutilations that follow. Plus, They will always be giant ants to me.

Dandi Andi · « **Reply #14 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 09:23 »

I do not care, not one little bit, what you think about the grammar of my pronouns. My pronouns are they/them and that is not negotiable.

And more, I pray thee, doest thou also take umbrage with the singular "you"? Art thou confused by the loss of subject/object distinction? Doest thou consider it a mutilation of language to always use the plural verb construction even with a singular subject? No? Are you actually quite comfortable with using the word you? Then you'll get used to singular they, I'm sure.

hedgie · « **Reply #15 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 11:54 »

To be fair, I find it inelegant, myself. However, I'm still happy to use the singular "they" out of respect for others, 'cos I'm not *that* much of a dick. I also think, that at least for me, it becomes much less awkward the more I get used to it IRL. Changing one's behaviour is often much easier than changing one's thoughts, but at least for me is a necessary first step.

Gyrre · « **Reply #16 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 17:18 »

Quote from: Gus_Smedstad on 08 Mar 2021, 08:51

Quote from: sitnspin on 07 Mar 2021, 23:32
They. Not she.

I really think "they" as a gender-neutral (or gender-ambiguous, depending) pronoun is fraught with problems*, but in Yay's case, They really are a They, since we've frequently seen Them inhabiting multiple bodies.

* To be absolutely clear, it's plurality, not the gender-neutrality I see as an issue, and the resulting grammar mutilations that follow. Plus, They will always be giant ants to me.

English otherwise lacks broadly recognized gender neutral pronouns apart from none, nobody, noone, etc. Which, frankly, really doesn't work.

Gnabberwocky · « **Reply #17 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 18:21 »

Comic's up.

I present Ms. Augustus, Grand Master of Effective Communication.

DaiJB · « **Reply #18 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 18:30 »

All of these plot ideas are OK, I'd be happy with any of 'em.

The one thing I really want to see is this: An arc where Yay actually has to learn a little humility instead of being an insufferably smug and self-righteous git.

zioninavision · « **Reply #19 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 18:47 »

Jeph's surprise twists are always well timed and feel natural! this one couldn't have been guessed! i am not sure if Elliot will leave now, or if Clinton will realize what is happening and go see him??

Quote from: DaiJB on 08 Mar 2021, 18:30

All of these plot ideas are OK, I'd be happy with any of 'em.

The one thing I really want to see is this: An arc where Yay actually has to learn a little humility instead of being an insufferably smug and self-righteous git.

Yes; i do think that, if there are any must-resolve story elements, what exactly Yay is and where they come from is in there somewhere! hopefully along with where the Espressosaurus went!

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #20 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 18:48 »

Quote from: Gnabberwocky on 07 Mar 2021, 22:32

Found it, I think?

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=596

Bingo. That's the one.

Singular "they" goes back to Chaucer.

What I want to see is Faye and Bubbles making it official. They have taken their vows already and have said "forever".

Shjade · « **Reply #21 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 19:03 »

Quote from: Gus_Smedstad on 08 Mar 2021, 08:51

I really think "they" as a gender-neutral (or gender-ambiguous, depending) pronoun is fraught with problems*

https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/

shanejayell · « **Reply #22 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 19:05 »

Poor Elliot.

"Uhm, I'm not the delivery guy."

"Eh?"

"I'm your son's date."

Farideh · « **Reply #23 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 19:25 »

To be fair, Elliot does deliver baked goods occasionally. He must have that 'here is your order' vibe going on.

Gyrre · « **Reply #24 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 20:26 »

Quote from: Farideh on 08 Mar 2021, 19:25

To be fair, Elliot does deliver baked goods occasionally. He must have that 'here is your order' vibe going on.

I wonder if Mrs. Augustus vaguely recognizes him from the bakery from walking by and just hasn't placed where she's seen his face before?

EDIT: typo fix, missing 'y' in 'barkery'

Christophelous · « **Reply #25 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 22:33 »

I feel like we're finally seeing where some of the awkwardness of Clinton comes from. He and his mom both have a tendency to make assumptions that can lead to awkward encounters. This isn't the FIASCO that was their bar "date" but it's got a similar feel to me.

BenRG · « **Reply #26 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 23:16 »

How Elliot went on a date and became a take-out delivery guy. "It just seemed too awkward to say 'no'!" You all know that it's exactly the sort of trap into which Elliot could fall. He'd so almost anything to avoid being in a socially awkward situation!

If he wanted to do so, this is the starting point for Jeph to effortlessly craft a Shakespeare-style romantic comedy arc where Mrs A falls ever more for the 'delivery guy' and, by luck, she, Clinton and Elliot are never in the same room at the same time. It finally climaxes with Elliot standing there as Clinton and his mother both enter the room and say, simultaneously: "Meet my boyfriend! Wait, your boyfriend? He's my boyfriend!" Cue laugh track and the 'We''ll be right back after this break!' caption card.

ihaveavoice · « **Reply #27 on:** 08 Mar 2021, 23:53 »

Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 08 Mar 2021, 18:48

Singular "they" goes back to Chaucer.

And beyond! It's been with us for at least three centuries longer than the singular "you" has. And note how that great history link points out that grammarians didn't decide to start acting like the singular "they" was an error until the 18th century, FOUR centuries after the first recorded instance of its use, and at most ONE century out from the tipping point of "thou" being deemed too rude for even casual conversations. These people were using the still rather new singular "you" while getting weird about the much older singular "they." It's best not to mimic the ideological inconsistency of random Georgian Era scholars.

I'd also bet good money that every single person who feels weird about using "they" to signify one person in a gender-related context has had several conversations like these in their lifetime:

"Well, I talked to the auditor."

"What'd they say?"

Farideh · « **Reply #28 on:** 09 Mar 2021, 01:10 »

Quote from: Gyrre on 08 Mar 2021, 20:26

I wonder if Mrs. Augustus vaguely recognizes him from the baker from walking by and just hasn't placed where she's seen his fac
e before?

I will accept this as canon

Tyr · « **Reply #29 on:** 09 Mar 2021, 03:20 »

Quote from: zioninavision on 08 Mar 2021, 18:47

Yes; i do think that, if there are any must-resolve story elements, what exactly Yay is and where they come from is in there somewhere! hopefully along with where the Espressosaurus went!

Stay with me here... What if Yay... is Esspressosaurus, and when it vanished from our timeline, it was flung into an environment in which it gained sentience and sapience, going from 'it' to 'them' in the process, then was installed to the Yaycloud and its¹ broad sensorium. That would explain why they are so keen on being chummy with the Social Group and were slightly dejected with having alienated themselves from their Creatrix when they next interacted from Yay/Espressosaurus' point of view.

^{1: the "its" here refers to the bodies as a singular collective entity, rather than the mind(s) controlling them.}

Annemoon · « **Reply #30 on:** 09 Mar 2021, 06:53 »

'They' as a gender neutral pronoun is actually my favorite to use, because I've seen it used in language like this before; it makes a lot of sense to me.
As ihaveavoice nicely shows.

Quote from: ihaveavoice on 08 Mar 2021, 23:53

"Well, I talked to the auditor."

"What'd they say?"

Not that I wouldn't use other pronouns if people ask, but you know, this is the one where I'm least likely to make a mistake.
I would also just naturally use this if I wouldn't know the gender of the person.

I do get giddy by the use of they in the case of Yay, because it fits both ways. They are a being without gender, and somewhat of a multitude.
It's the small things in life~

zisraelsen · « **Reply #31 on:** 09 Mar 2021, 08:46 »

Silver lining: at least in the hypothetical where Elliot is a delivery guy that forgot the food, mrs. Augustus is being extremely polite about it. If she was mad about it, Thisd go from "awkward but pretty funny in hindsight" to "should we still have dinner tonight, or can we just not?"

zisraelsen · « **Reply #32 on:** 09 Mar 2021, 18:16 »

Comic!

Pleased to meet you, Aurelia!

Farideh · « **Reply #33 on:** 09 Mar 2021, 18:17 »

Mrs Augustus now has a first name! Quite nice

I wonder what she wasn't expecting, though...

- Such a hunk?
- Such a tall person?
- Such a male person?

Anyway, I'm glad that Jeph didn't drag that misunderstanding out.

Torlek · « **Reply #34 on:** 09 Mar 2021, 18:49 »

Bad Aurelia! No poaching your son's potential love interest. And don't try to deny that's what you're thinking!

shanejayell · « **Reply #35 on:** 09 Mar 2021, 18:59 »

Aurelia: "Oh no! He's hot!"

Gyrre · « **Reply #36 on:** 09 Mar 2021, 20:56 »

Aurelia; a golden gal.

Tyr · « **Reply #37 on:** 09 Mar 2021, 21:42 »

which is most amusing?

Elliot picking up Cosmo?
Cosmo jumping and Elliot catching her?
Cosmo just teleporting into Elliot's arms?

BenRG · « **Reply #38 on:** 09 Mar 2021, 23:22 »

Well, as a lot of people foresaw, this arc sort of demanded that Jeph come up with a name for the Augustus martiach. I'm just sort of surprised that her name doesn't start with 'C'!

I took one look at the name 'Aurelia' and almost immediately a fan-fiction plot dropped fully formed into my lap about her being the great-niece of infamous (and deceased) gold mogul Auric Goldfinger, named at his insistence. Auralia's father had never been formally cleared of involvement in his uncle's plot to nuke Fort Knox and that's why Steve's in Northampton - to watch the family for any signs that any of them are Evil Geniuses. It's sort of a ironic that, as usual, the Agency is looking in the wrong direction whilst the Ellicott-Chathams are busy becoming the economic and technological masters of the world!

Meanwhile, back in the comic, I see that, as expected, Elliot ticks all of Aurelia's 'attractive male' boxes. You can't help but wonder if she'll be able to control her impulses for Clinton's sake or, if her son hesitates, she'll pounce and poach!

She might be too late, though. I think that Cosmo has already decided that Elliot is her big human!

SmilingCat · « **Reply #39 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 00:37 »

Okay, at first I thought this was going to be a "mom didn't know her boy was bringing a boy" situation. With hilarious overcompensation on her part to cover up her moment of surprise.

But I re-read it and its clear she just wasn't expecting sooo much man meat showing up. Totally different hijinks to expect.

bhtooefr · « **Reply #40 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 03:01 »

As some people yesterday on the Patreon comments suggested...

Wingy · « **Reply #41 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 04:45 »

And now we see where Clinton gets his lack of chill from. But Aurelia is a nice name - very TOS actually - think Aurelan from Operation -- Annihilate!.

Aegir · « **Reply #42 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 04:56 »

It wasn't until Aurelia introduced herself that I realized it wasn't Claire. Looking back now, I can see there's a tiny wrinkle under the eye, and of course she's wearing the same thing she was wearing a few strips ago (but that was like a week ago so I didn't remember), but I think Jeph needs to differentiate them a little better.

Wingy · « **Reply #43 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 05:04 »

Totally different hair styles. Aurelia has a nice do and Claire just lets hers run wild.

Actually, is that Clinton or Claire in the background picture?

Mr Intrepid · « **Reply #44 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 07:30 »

It looks like Claire, college graduation photo. Maybe getting her BA?

Mr_Rose · « **Reply #45 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 07:42 »

Yeah, pretty sure that’s Claire; I doubt Clinton would ever wear his hair like that.

Perfectly Reasonable · « **Reply #46 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 10:47 »

Hercules. Cosmo.
They're fluffy.

awkwardness · « **Reply #47 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 15:04 »

I'm not sure if Cosmo jumped into his arms or he lifted her up, but that was a great punchline.

I'm of the belief that he's great with animals and they can sense that he's a lovable goof who'll scratch their bellies and behind their hears

Farideh · « **Reply #48 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 15:10 »

Jumped, is my guess

HeavyP · « **Reply #49 on:** 10 Mar 2021, 18:19 »

I KNEW it. I KNEW that's what the awkwardness was. It's not what we're all here for, popcorn in hand, but I think that just once I'd like for a romantic pairing in this comic to NOT be fraught with some sort of awkwardness or drama.

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Poll

New/Continued Plot - Which do you want? (three votes)

Author Topic: WCDT strips 4476-4480 (8th to 12th March 2021) (Read 28172 times)