WCDT 10-14 May 2021 (strips 4521-4525)

[Gnabberwocky]

How many crappy convenience store hot dogs could you buy with $700 million illegal dollars? Asking for a friend.

[jesslc]

Marigold's phrasing in the last panel made me wonder if she has moved in with Dale. We haven't seen it happen on screen so I guess not - she's probably just staying over regularly. They have been together since before Faye & Angus broke up though which is a long time (longer than Marten & Claire). I wonder if they ever discussed moving in together. Perhaps they just prefer separate places.

[Gyrre]

Marigold's phrasing in the last panel made me wonder if she has moved in with Dale. We haven't seen it happen on screen so I guess not - she's probably just staying over regularly. They have been together since before Faye & Angus broke up though which is a long time (longer than Marten & Claire). I wonder if they ever discussed moving in together. Perhaps they just prefer separate places.

I was under the impression she had.

Angus moved out after all.

[JimC]

Err Momo, May got busted for embezzling. Perhaps her knowledge of finance spreadsheets isn't that deep?

[sitnspin]

How many crappy convenience store hot dogs could you buy with $700 million illegal dollars? Asking for a friend.

Roughly 350 million of them.

[DaiJB]

I'm a little sceptical - sounds to me like Momo wants to use Marigold as a test-case for the benefit of May - like she really has May's best interests in mind, not Marigold's.
This is despite the fact that the person with the supposed skills with finances, used those skills to embezzle - and got caught - and still has a bad attitude, freely stating that she thinks it would have been cool if she had succeeded... 

[SpanielBear]

I'm a little sceptical - sounds to me like Momo wants to use Marigold as a test-case for the benefit of May - like she really has May's best interests in mind, not Marigold's.
This is despite the fact that the person with the supposed skills with finances, used those skills to embezzle - and got caught - and still has a bad attitude, freely stating that she thinks it would have been cool if she had succeeded... 

Note of clarification- I thought it was being a fighter jet that May thought (and still thinks) would be cool? The embezzlement was a means to that end, I never got the sense that May was a criminal for the thrill. Like, if there was a choice between fraud or realistically and legitimately acquiring that chassis, May would probably go with the legal option. She'd still be a foul-mouthed hobgoblin, but eh. Being rude isn't a crime.

[Is it cold in here?]

If we're assessing skill as opposed to character, working in finance full time successfully is a qualification, getting caught embezzling does not prove incompetence. It just means the auditors and the fraud unit did their job.

If we're assessing character, May strikes me as a mixed bag and I'm hard pressed to form an opinion about her with any confidence.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

That Momo has such a clear-sighted view of May's personality and can still call her a friend says something.
( it says she is a better person than i am )

[Roborat]

I am liking where this is going.  I hope this leads to an interesting story arc.  And about the discussion going on, I thought Dale moved in with Marigold a while back.

[Farideh]

Comic's up.

I think May accepts.

[shanejayell]

Cop: "There's a topless robot girl running by."

Other cop: "Eh. Must be thursday."

(Are there public nudity laws for robots?)

[Torlek]

Cop: "There's a topless robot girl running by."

Other cop: "Eh. Must be thursday."

(Are there public nudity laws for robots?)

She's "human standard" from the standpoint of the appearance of her anatomy, so public nudity laws should apply. Of course, given how liberal QC-verse seems to be, bare breasts may not count as public nudity in Northampton.

[badbum61]

Lotta hentai nerds goin' super saiyan right about now....

[Sorflakne]

What a great note to end the week on.

[Farideh]

Very classy

[Oenone]

I wonder if May could over shadow Marigold or trigger Marigolds insecurities bc of her new body

[Gyrre]

I wonder if May could over shadow Marigold or trigger Marigolds insecurities bc of her new body

Hopefully not on both fronts.
May is meant to be there as her manager, not her competition.

[Tyr]

I think Marigold will be fine. If we're correct (That is, if MariDale are full-time cohabitant) Marigold's probably had plenty of time to grow accustomed to May's new chassis, e.g. accidental nudity due to miscommunications on bathroom schedules and the like.

[Marco]

To those who were worried about May's poor impulse control: well, you were right to worry.

[Potato Farmer]

Well, now I want May to move that arm.

She's "human standard" from the standpoint of the appearance of her anatomy, so public nudity laws should apply. Of course, given how liberal QC-verse seems to be, bare breasts may not count as public nudity in Northampton.

I believe there's at least one state in which women are allowed to go topless because of a court case where someone argued that applying different parameters for acceptable coverage between men and women was sexist.

[cesium133]

Well, now I want May to move that arm.

If you sign up for Jeph's Patreon...

[Wingy]

May can certainly be bossy, but we have also seen her be helpful and supportive when she wants to be. She also likes and respects Marigold (for the most part anyway, the off-color jokes notwithstanding), and I think she'd jump at the chance to have a better paying job that doesn't involve leaking hot dog machines and shooing teenagers out of the store with a broom. Once she has that, she will try with all of her might not to screw it up.

Yes, but will that be enough?  If Momo doesn't raise the money issue, Dale will, which will annoy May no end regardless of the outcome of the discussion.  I expect this will all end up with Marigold having to be assertive with May over some trivial thing that has grown up to engulf the whole apartment.

[DaiJB]

Cop: "There's a topless robot girl running by."

Other cop: "Eh. Must be thursday."

"...You said 'topless' - should we arrest her or call the repair shop?"

[Dock Braun]

How might the human affect enjoyment, of skill in entertainment? We watch sports (like chess, or football), having played. We feel the twitch in our muscles as they execute their plays. How different need be cybrids, that their authentic performances pass human psyches ungrokked? In games: Only reflex excellence. But even inhuman performance have niche; Perhaps, instead, certain human entertainments, most cybrids won't fathom.

*kicks self for forgetting Melon as an oddbal candidate*

I don't think Melon's job is virtual.

[Dock Braun]

If we're assessing character, May strikes me as a mixed bag and I'm hard pressed to form an opinion about her with any confidence.

She's demonstrated honesty, creativity, duty, interpersonal acuity, respect, diligence, responsibility, and endurance. On the other hand, she's impulsive and made one pretty big mistake. Her impulsivity might be controlled by setting appropriate restrictions, and I'm inclined to believe, after all we've seen of her interpersonal growth, that she's learned, despite systematic vengeance, her lesson.
I appreciate, by the way, your abstinence from (mis)characterization;

There's a big difference between being assertive when necessary and enjoying pushing people around for its own sake, and May is very much the latter.

I don't recall any evidence of frivolous commands or manipulation from May, though she is quite brusk. I suspect often that many persons fear admitting the perfectly valid reason of interpersonal incompatibility, against hiring certain persons for certain roles. [spoiler=tangent]It's taboo! It reminds us of prejudice---potential, in oursen---so we grasp for more presentable reasons. It's sad per-se, seeing one hiding one's own self from themself, but it's sad further, when the hiding self-misdirects to believe fabrications. My condolences to such self-mislead, naturally, but their acts and echoes magnify and distort our challenges, embellish fault onto (lightly) dissonant lifestyles; Metaintolerance engendering misconceipt.[/spoiler]

[David F]

I'm impressed that May managed to top Dale's "I quit!" moment.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

'May reporting for duty' will now become a wallpaper, along with 'Reporting for duty' Emily.

[Wingy]

I'm impressed that May managed to top Dale's "I quit!" moment.

Well, yes, but that poor plumbing!  Cloth should never go into the sanitary sewer...

[Wingy]

(Are there public nudity laws for robots?)

Well, if they're like Barbie, as May's first body was, then maybe not?  But if they're behipped and betitted or bepen*sed, why would human laws about such not apply? 

Regardless of the legality, for a humanoid AI to run around "naked" would cause more than a little stir, and in ways the AI (who is trying to fit in after all, otherwise why would Bubbles find reading a physical book desireable (her word, "performant")?) probably doesn't want.  Note that Jeremy, Pintsize, the arachnid AI, etc. don't wear clothes on a regular basis.  Seven is the odd Humanoid AI in that regard - though the revamped Jeremy was shown without clothes several times during and after his transformation.  I'm counting Bubbles armor as clothes for this discussion.  Seven may be different because her body was fairly heavily stylized and obviously not human even if humanoid.

[DaiJB]

It just occurred to me (I know, I'm slow) - May must have flushed her uniform top at the store.

Several other thoughts now occur to me:

1.  Trust May to quit with a grand exit!
2.  The manager is probably having heart palpitations, and
3. The clientele lurking around the adult book section got an unexpected bonus   

also, 3a. If anyone had a phone, that image/video is probably already circulating on the internet...

[Mr Intrepid]

(Are there public nudity laws for robots?)

Well, if they're like Barbie, as May's first body was, then maybe not?  But if they're behipped and betitted or bepen*sed, why would human laws about such not apply? 

Regardless of the legality, for a humanoid AI to run around "naked" would cause more than a little stir, and in ways the AI (who is trying to fit in after all, otherwise why would Bubbles find reading a physical book desireable (her word, "performant")?) probably doesn't want.  Note that Jeremy, Pintsize, the arachnid AI, etc. don't wear clothes on a regular basis.  Seven is the odd Humanoid AI in that regard - though the revamped Jeremy was shown without clothes several times during and after his transformation.  I'm counting Bubbles armor as clothes for this discussion.  Seven may be different because her body was fairly heavily stylized and obviously not human even if humanoid.

Well, recall the AI who piloted the EC space shuttle,  when Hanners, Marbear, and Hanners went to the space station.  Just not accustomed to it.

[Wingy]

Point taken, but notice that was an avatar, not Spaceship themselves, and when it was pointed out, they immediately fixed the problem without a fuss.  That indicates to me the desire to fit in even for non-humanoid AIs.  See comic 2108.

[shanejayell]

I believe there's at least one state in which women are allowed to go topless because of a court case where someone argued that applying different parameters for acceptable coverage between men and women was sexist.

In Canada too...

[Gyrre]

Wow. I wasn't expecting Pintsize to win by such a large margin.

I hope I didn't ruin any of Jeph's plans.

[Wingy]

Marigold's phrasing in the last panel made me wonder if she has moved in with Dale. We haven't seen it happen on screen so I guess not - she's probably just staying over regularly. They have been together since before Faye & Angus broke up though which is a long time (longer than Marten & Claire). I wonder if they ever discussed moving in together. Perhaps they just prefer separate places.

I was under the impression she had.

This has been a point of confusion for me for a while.   We don't see Marigold move, and Momo takes the empty room after Angus moves out.  And I vaguely remember Dale saying he lived with his mom.  So when May shows up fresh from robot jail, she must be at Dale's Mom's house.  But when May moves in with Dale, and falls on Dale's sword, ripping her face open, the incident is shown at Marigolds place?

It's baffled me every time I review the sequence.  What have I missed?

[sitnspin]

I just assumed the move happened off camera and Jeph didn't consider it worth writing about.

[alc40]

I don't remember Dale living with his mom (though I could have forgotten about it); I thought that he had his own apartment when he met Marigold.

I'm pretty sure that they weren't living together when May tripped on the sword.  That happened at 3168, but as late as 3689 Momo and May didn't live together so I don't think Dale & Marigold did either.  That might have changed by 3846.

[Mogster]

I'm surprised that May doesn't already have an OnlyFans account.