THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: BenRG on 10 Apr 2016, 13:12

Title: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: BenRG on 10 Apr 2016, 13:12
Okay, so I made this a multiple-vote poll because a lot might change for Bubbles now she's allowed Faye close to her during one of her dark times.

Personally, I suspect that she'll still be shaken enough that Faye's going to have to hold up her end of the repair shop for the day and maybe longer. After that, I do think that Bubbles is going to suddenly develop a need to see if her newfound friends truly are genuine about their attitude towards her. I also think that she may possibly decide to reassess her attitude and certainly try to find some other outlet for her anger. I suppose that could turn dark but, on the other hand, her, May and Momo being part of demonstrations against AI-discriminatory businesses and the like is just as likely.

What do you think?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Gladstone on 10 Apr 2016, 16:35
Bubbles quits and Corpse Witch fires Faye.  Faye's sudden unemployment and troubles making rent lead to Marten getting serious about the band again (having a serious goal-oriented girlfriend to encourage him certainly helps too).  Meanwhile, Hannelore pulls some strings and gets the robot fights shut down, with all the bots getting decent jobs with her dad's company (whereas CW ends up employed by Hannelore's mother, just 'cause), and this whole weird episode is never mentioned again.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: chaospersonified on 10 Apr 2016, 17:20
I've got to remember to put multiple votes when I can.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 10 Apr 2016, 21:24
The Pugnacious Peach has a deft touch.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: mustang6172 on 10 Apr 2016, 21:30
I don't recall any apology.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: K1dmor on 10 Apr 2016, 21:41
 She apologized on 3086 (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3086).
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Method of Madness on 10 Apr 2016, 22:28
Yay for happy Bubbles!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Theinternetsurvivor on 10 Apr 2016, 22:52
I strangely ship Faye and Bubbles for some reason, please don't judge me
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: BenRG on 10 Apr 2016, 23:12
Poor Bubbles! I wonder how long she's been dealing with this shit on her own, telling herself that hurting is an unacceptable sign of weakness? No wonder she isolates herself; it's the only remedy that she allows for herself!

Faye's doing the right thing by not responding directly when Bubbles lashes out. That's just a sign of how badly she's hurting and her embarrassment at this; she doesn't want Faye to see her that way (her body language backs up this interpretation). Instead, Faye rightly focusses on reassuring Bubbles of her friendship and the fact that she's there for her.

The saddest part of this strip? Bubbles genuinely can't understand why Faye would be kind to her. That's a wound that runs deep.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Kugai on 10 Apr 2016, 23:44
They do work well together.  Definitely an 'Odd Couple' type of friendship.

And I like it
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: USS Martenclaire on 11 Apr 2016, 00:40
The thing is, Bubbles is right. As a human, Faye will never understand what it's like to be an AI. However, Faye most certainly *does* understand the feelings that arise from it - the anger, the feeling of isolation, the sadness and desire to punch things.

It's like when I try to be supportive of my trans friends - I've got no idea what it's like to be dysphoric or to face transphobia. I do know what it's like to feel angry, to feel humiliated and to feel alone. That's the core of showing empathy to someone. It helps.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Doc on 11 Apr 2016, 00:59
Robots don't blush. I's probably a sticker.
Next month in the webshop: QC Blush Stickers.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: theMarc on 11 Apr 2016, 02:23
Dammit, thanks to Faye's comment in the last panel, Bubbles's voice sounds like Megatron in my head now.

You'd think it'd be Frank Welker Megatron, but no, it's Corey Burton Megatron.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Case on 11 Apr 2016, 02:57
Damn, those last two strips raised my estimation of Faye by a few orders of magnitude.

Pugnacious she may be, but she knows how to be a good friend!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: USS Martenclaire on 11 Apr 2016, 03:01
Dammit, thanks to Faye's comment in the last panel, Bubbles's voice sounds like Megatron in my head now.

You'd think it'd be Frank Welker Megatron, but no, it's Corey Burton Megatron.

I'll see your Bubbletron and raise you a Corpsewitch as Starscream.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: St.Clair on 11 Apr 2016, 03:14
"Oh, how it pains me to do this..."
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: chaospersonified on 11 Apr 2016, 05:00
Robots don't blush. I's probably a sticker.

Word of god says they do, and it's because cute.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: BenRG on 11 Apr 2016, 05:23
I really think that we need a cast-iron protocol in this forum for a poster to communicate that their comment is sarcastic, parodying or intended to be humorous.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: MrNumbers on 11 Apr 2016, 06:07
"Why are you so determined on being kind to me?"

(click to show/hide)

"I just can't understand!"
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: wlewisiii on 11 Apr 2016, 06:11
I really think that we need a cast-iron protocol in this forum for a poster to communicate that their comment is sarcastic, parodying or intended to be humorous.

At another forum we use //// after the body of the message to imply this.  The greater the number of / implying greater sarcasm or humor intended.  It works well but grew up with site.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: jwhouk on 11 Apr 2016, 06:32
I really think that we need a cast-iron protocol in this forum for a poster to communicate that their comment is sarcastic, parodying or intended to be humorous.

At another forum we use //// after the body of the message to imply this.  The greater the number of / implying greater sarcasm or humor intended.  It works well but grew up with site.

Could always use the tried and true [/sarcasm_mode] tag.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: jheartney on 11 Apr 2016, 07:13
I like the way that the length of Bubbles' neck stretches and squashes depending on how vulnerable she's feeling in the speech balloon. Panels 3 and 4, where she's saying she ought to be stronger, and telling Faye she has no idea what it's like to be an AI, it lengthens right out. Then in 5 it shrinks right back down again. There must be a telescoping mechanism.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: BenRG on 11 Apr 2016, 07:23
There must be a telescoping mechanism.

Or we're watching her straightening up or slouching depending on her mood from an unfavourable angle to see the curve of her neck.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Nepiophage on 11 Apr 2016, 07:51
I like the way that the length of Bubbles' neck stretches and squashes depending on how vulnerable she's feeling in the speech balloon. Panels 3 and 4, where she's saying she ought to be stronger, and telling Faye she has no idea what it's like to be an AI, it lengthens right out. Then in 5 it shrinks right back down again. There must be a telescoping mechanism.
And Faye's arm; in the first panel her left arm is much longer than her right
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 11 Apr 2016, 09:04
The long arm of the lawless.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: DSL on 11 Apr 2016, 09:25
Good friend with occasional violence. Faye's found her Faye.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Morituri on 11 Apr 2016, 09:33
While people are in the military they learn a particular way of dealing with pain. 

"Pain is weakness leaving the body."

That helps keep them effective as soldiers while in physical pain; reciting that mantra they focus on being strong - on continuing to do their duty - and doing that takes their minds off the pain.  Doesn't make it stop hurting, but allows them to think about something else for the duration of the emergency (or until they get killed, whichever happens first).

It keeps them effective as soldiers, but it makes them about a thousand percent more prone to further injuring themselves than people who haven't been through that.  And it leaves them prone to re-injuring themselves by stressing parts of the body that aren't fully healed. 

I've heard that mantra dozens of times now from guys who are out of the service for years and still in emotional pain, and as a long-term strategy for dealing with emotional pain it sucks, for pretty much the same reason it isn't an effective long-term strategy for dealing with physical pain. 

In my not-so-humble opinion, the military organizations of the world should devote at least as much effort training ex-soldiers to be effective civilians as they spend training ex-civilians to be effective soldiers.   Most of them Don't.  To be fair lots of countries have something like the (USA) GI bill that covers college tuition for ex-soldiers, but most of them don't, and even the ones that do don't devote effort to the emotional side of it.

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: chaospersonified on 11 Apr 2016, 12:37
I really think that we need a cast-iron protocol in this forum for a poster to communicate that their comment is sarcastic, parodying or intended to be humorous.

For what it's worth, I recognized that, and thought it funnier to pretend it wasn't.

I assume this was directed at me because it came immediately after I made a comment wherein I chose, for the purposes of my own funny, to ignore that a person was making a funny
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Tova on 11 Apr 2016, 16:00
The thing is, Bubbles is right. As a human, Faye will never understand what it's like to be an AI. However, Faye most certainly *does* understand the feelings that arise from it - the anger, the feeling of isolation, the sadness and desire to punch things.

More than that, Faye understands how it is to feel anger at herself for being "weak."

She also understand that Bubbles isn't in a place where she could believe anything different, which is why she didn't argue and simply offered her sympathy, the thing Bubbles truly needed.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: hedgie on 11 Apr 2016, 17:16
Also, Bubbles really *did* seem to handle the situation in the best way possible. She  walked away and didn't show how bothered she was until she got "home".  Given her size, a physical confrontation would end in some puddles of goo that would be hard to explain away, and really with that sort of obnoxious brat, there's really no point in arguing.  A certain pink-haired AI (assuming she didn't just pass) has shown a tendency to zap first and ask questions later.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: DSL on 11 Apr 2016, 17:31
I really think that we need a cast-iron protocol in this forum for a poster to communicate that their comment is sarcastic, parodying or intended to be humorous.

For what it's worth, I recognized that, and thought it funnier to pretend it wasn't.

I assume this was directed at me because it came immediately after I made a comment wherein I chose, for the purposes of my own funny, to ignore that a person was making a funny

Context usually works for me.

Also, I might use the [/sarcasm] tag sarcastically.

Or not.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Tova on 11 Apr 2016, 17:49
I personally feel that tagging a sarcastic remark spoils the effect, somewhat like telling a joke and then immediately explaining it. So if you feel that you need to point out that you are being sarcastic because it's not obvious in the context, then maybe it's not worth bothering. Unless you're being recursively sarcastic, as DSL mentioned above. You know, ha ha, only serious!

Of course some - many - would point out that typed sarcasm is almost never obvious. I can't disagree. On the other hand, again depending on context, having someone miss your sarcasm is not always a disaster.

Eh. Communication is difficult.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Tova on 11 Apr 2016, 21:27
COMIC

Faye finds a crack in the emotional armour!
Mods create a thread on the ontological basis of responsibility!
Hilarity ensues!
Tova gets a warning for over-excitability!!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 11 Apr 2016, 21:47
A certain pink-haired AI (assuming she didn't just pass) has shown a tendency to zap first and ask questions later.

There was Clinton, who was touching her without permission, and Marigold's gaming PC, which was innocent. Were there other times she tasered someone?

"Technically, gravity was responsible" could be a great t-shirt caption. What should the art work be?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: hedgie on 11 Apr 2016, 22:05
May, who was being obnoxious.  Even though AI drives are supposed to be nearly indestructible, with the shoddy work on a parole chassis, it is entirely possible that damage could have been done.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: BenRG on 11 Apr 2016, 23:16
I think that I'm starting to get a handle on Bubbles now. She's an introvert, a pessimist and she has self-esteem problems. The combination of the three is pretty toxic for her: She has extreme difficulty socialising, doesn't think that this can ever get better and believes that this is a symptom of some intrinsic flaw in herself for which others should ostracise her. That's before we get to her PTSD and the pain that she gets from others' casual bigotry.

Why is Faye getting through to her? I think that it is because Faye is the first one doing this out of a principled, unselfish love rather than a detached professional perspective. It helps that she and Bubbles have similar senses of humour.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: neurocase on 11 Apr 2016, 23:23
I'll be honest, my first thought on seeing panel 5 was "Now kith"
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: jwhouk on 11 Apr 2016, 23:28
"You keep trying. That's why I believe in you."

Best. Response. Ever.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 11 Apr 2016, 23:31
Do therapy dogs work for synthetics?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: hedgie on 11 Apr 2016, 23:59
Only this one: http://www.sony-aibo.com/
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: USS Martenclaire on 12 Apr 2016, 00:27
Do therapy dogs work for synthetics?

If dogs don't work, there are all kinds of therapy animals - therapy cats, therapy bunnies, even ferre-py. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1913455.stm)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: katsmeat on 12 Apr 2016, 00:28
So is Faye  now doing for Bubbles the job companion AI's generally do for their humans?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Magniras on 12 Apr 2016, 00:57
"Listen Bubbles, don't believe in yourself.  Believe in me! Believe in the Faye who believes in you!"
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: BenRG on 12 Apr 2016, 01:19
So is Faye  now doing for Bubbles the job companion AI's generally do for their humans?

I think so. If you compare this to how Pintsize used to needle Marten and Faye and how Momo used to be with Marigold, there are definite similarities. As to whether Jeph is doing this deliberately, I have no idea.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: osaka on 12 Apr 2016, 03:00
To be honest, companion AIs are, bluntly speaking, bought friends. Obviously there are a myriad of little things that make this much more complex than that, but it all boils down to the companion AIs acting as the friend you need (but not the one you deserve, as shown by Pintsize). And probably being friends as well, because I doubt either of them would put up with shit and I think the contract could be nullified. I do recall Momo saying that it eventually becomes a formality more than anything as friendship grows.

So yeah, if Faye is acting as a supportive friend and it looks like something companion AIs do it's because that's what they're originally made to do. But that's just coincidence, Faye is just acting as a friend and companion AIs are just acting as friends.

At least that's how I've always thought it worked.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Wildroses on 12 Apr 2016, 05:01
I cannot wait to see how Corpse Witch is going to react when they both walk out of there calmly and start fixing Punchbot. She wants Bubbles to stay damaged and isolated so she can keep using her.

Jeph's newspost in comic 1996 has some interesting background on the retail AI companions which I thought I'd bring up.
http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1996
If you can't be bothered clicking, all the ones sent to 'retail' have decided they want a human companion rather than going into a specialised profession, and neither AIs nor humans are completely sure why so many new AIs pick human companions.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: anahata on 12 Apr 2016, 07:17
I cannot wait to see how Corpse Witch is going to react when they both walk out of there calmly and start fixing Punchbot. She wants Bubbles to stay damaged and isolated so she can keep using her.

How true.
Another "Hmmm..." moment, at least.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: katsmeat on 12 Apr 2016, 07:22
I cannot wait to see how Corpse Witch is going to react when they both walk out of there calmly and start fixing Punchbot. She wants Bubbles to stay damaged and isolated so she can keep using her.

Given what Bubbles did to Punchbot in about two seconds. I bet CW's long-term plan is to get Bubbles to agree to fight. And she thinks keeping Bubbles damaged and isolated*  is the way to achieve that.

* Note that the more Bubbles is  isolated, the more she's  dependent on CW.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Redball on 12 Apr 2016, 09:50
To be honest, companion AIs are, bluntly speaking, bought friends. Obviously there are a myriad of little things that make this much more complex than that, but it all boils down to the companion AIs acting as the friend you need (but not the one you deserve, as shown by Pintsize). And probably being friends as well, because I doubt either of them would put up with shit and I think the contract could be nullified. I do recall Momo saying that it eventually becomes a formality more than anything as friendship grows.

So yeah, if Faye is acting as a supportive friend and it looks like something companion AIs do it's because that's what they're originally made to do. But that's just coincidence, Faye is just acting as a friend and companion AIs are just acting as friends.

At least that's how I've always thought it worked.

If Bubbles is truly depressed, and not "acting" depressed, doesn't that suggest that AIs can truly be friends, and not merely "act" the role?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Zebediah on 12 Apr 2016, 10:20
I think "acting as friend" in this case is meant to be read as "performing an action" rather than "acting a role".
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Random832 on 12 Apr 2016, 10:46
Bubbles is incorrect. Gravity can only be blamed for the fall, not the sudden stop at the end. That's on the concrete floor.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Kugai on 12 Apr 2016, 16:04
It's not the fall that does the damage Bubbles, it's the sudden stop at the end

And nice going Faye.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 12 Apr 2016, 19:06
And kin?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Lioness on 12 Apr 2016, 19:08
*clap clap clap clap*
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Somebody on 12 Apr 2016, 19:19
Hmm.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: swapna on 12 Apr 2016, 19:23
nice one, Faye! Also, CW was standing by with (presumably) a medkit, actually worried, I think? And she admits to Faye that going in was a better choice than leaving bubbles alone, without being prompted.. too much.

I think this adds another layer to her motivation - she may be a manipulative Witch, but I don't think she wants to hurt Bubbles/make her do anything against her will. She cares for her (in her own, CW way).
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Zebediah on 12 Apr 2016, 19:33
If not for the hint from Jeph, I would not have recognized that as the theme from Friends. I've never seen more than five minutes of the show at a stretch, but the theme song was all over the radio in the 80s and somewhere in the back of my mind I have some memory of it.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: blt on 12 Apr 2016, 19:37
Is it just me or is that a really big door?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: mustang6172 on 12 Apr 2016, 19:38
If not for the hint from Jeph, I would not have recognized that as the theme from Friends. I've never seen more than five minutes of the show at a stretch, but the theme song was all over the radio in the 80s and somewhere in the back of my mind I have some memory of it.

I didn't recognize it as the theme from Friends and I've watched every episode.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: cesium133 on 12 Apr 2016, 19:38
Is it just me or is that a really big door?

Bubbles had it installed to fit her stature.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: chaospersonified on 12 Apr 2016, 20:13

I didn't recognize it as the theme from Friends and I've watched every episode.

Never seen more than a few minutes, recognized it instantly. The theme is about 80% of what I know about the show.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: cesium133 on 12 Apr 2016, 20:17
The show never made much sense anyway. A bunch of young people, who apparently are not insanely wealthy, are somehow able to afford a gigantic apartment next to Central Park in NYC.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: neurocase on 12 Apr 2016, 21:00
The show never made much sense anyway. A bunch of young people, who apparently are not insanely wealthy, are somehow able to afford a gigantic apartment next to Central Park in NYC.
They hand-waved it as "rent control", even though none of them were old enough to have been living in their respective apartments for long enough to be that affordable when rent-controlled in the first place.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: SubaruStephen on 12 Apr 2016, 21:03
Dang it Faye, that's not how you accept an apology, especially from the person who signs your paycheck .
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: MrNumbers on 12 Apr 2016, 21:06
Dang it Faye, that's not how you accept an apology, especially from the person who signs your paycheck .

I was more about to say; "Damn it, Corpsewitch, that's not how you're supposed to take the news about Bubbles not being as bad as you thought"
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: 43mike on 12 Apr 2016, 21:07
While people are in the military they learn a particular way of dealing with pain. 

"Pain is weakness leaving the body."

That helps keep them effective as soldiers while in physical pain; reciting that mantra they focus on being strong - on continuing to do their duty - and doing that takes their minds off the pain.  Doesn't make it stop hurting, but allows them to think about something else for the duration of the emergency (or until they get killed, whichever happens first).

It keeps them effective as soldiers, but it makes them about a thousand percent more prone to further injuring themselves than people who haven't been through that.  And it leaves them prone to re-injuring themselves by stressing parts of the body that aren't fully healed. 

I've heard that mantra dozens of times now from guys who are out of the service for years and still in emotional pain, and as a long-term strategy for dealing with emotional pain it sucks, for pretty much the same reason it isn't an effective long-term strategy for dealing with physical pain. 

In my not-so-humble opinion, the military organizations of the world should devote at least as much effort training ex-soldiers to be effective civilians as they spend training ex-civilians to be effective soldiers.   Most of them Don't.  To be fair lots of countries have something like the (USA) GI bill that covers college tuition for ex-soldiers, but most of them don't, and even the ones that do don't devote effort to the emotional side of it.

That's something I would seriously change about the military. I had a really really bad combat tour. So I had to go to a shrink at least once a month. I was disabled but they let me finish out my contract as a section leader and an instructor. So if someone was in a bad way, I'd send them to mental health. I'd have soldiers going "No, it's not that bad. It could be worse".

I'd say "My headache isn't as bad as an aneurysm, but I'm still going to take an asprin. Pain is pain."

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: mustang6172 on 12 Apr 2016, 21:25
The show never made much sense anyway. A bunch of young people, who apparently are not insanely wealthy, are somehow able to afford a gigantic apartment next to Central Park in NYC.
They hand-waved it as "rent control", even though none of them were old enough to have been living in their respective apartments for long enough to be that affordable when rent-controlled in the first place.

Monica's apartment technically belonged to her grandmother, whom never took her name off the lease.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Tova on 12 Apr 2016, 21:44
Dang it Faye, that's not how you accept an apology, especially from the person who signs your paycheck .

It wasn't really an apology.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Morituri on 12 Apr 2016, 22:04
I had a really really bad combat tour. So I had to go to a shrink at least once a month.

I'm very very sorry to hear that.  I can't make it better, but I can tell you you're not alone.  I wasn't there, but people I cared about went over there.  Not all of them came back, and some of the ones who did .. well, had really really bad combat tours.   One of them still has PTSD panics whenever he's surprised by the smell of gasoline.  Don't know what happened, but I can tell it was bad. 
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Morituri on 12 Apr 2016, 22:41
nice one, Faye! Also, CW was standing by with (presumably) a medkit, actually worried, I think? And she admits to Faye that going in was a better choice than leaving bubbles alone, without being prompted.. too much.

Now I don't know whether you're a naive idealist, or I'm a cynical bastard.

When I saw her with that purse-looking object raised and held at the ready, I immediately thought, "Oh, that must be where she keeps some kind of weapon." 

I don't know what it would be if she thinks she can defend herself from Bubbles, but I imagine it's something special.  Probably not physical.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 12 Apr 2016, 22:45
@43Mike,

I didn't know what to say until someone on the subreddit posted something I could plagiarize.

You have my respect.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: BenRG on 12 Apr 2016, 23:17
Two things arise in my mind as a result of today's comic:
That aside, I wonder what gossip will be made up about what Faye and Bubbles did in that room? From what we've seen previously, the AIs who work at the arena have the maturity of teenagers!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: anahata on 12 Apr 2016, 23:49
I don't know what it would be if she thinks she can defend herself from Bubbles, but I imagine it's something special.  Probably not physical.
Herbal tea spray? (if only she knew)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: katsmeat on 13 Apr 2016, 00:16
Anybody else think it feels slightly weird that a universe that's so different to ours shares a precisely identical aspect of pop culture [1] - to me it feels almost like seeing two  Game of Thrones characters sharing a chuckle over a woodcut print of a cat with an amusing caption.

Yes I know Jeph makes constant music references. Though since they're inevitably of bands I've never heard of [2], they may as well be in-universe ones. So this wierd feeling is likely just me.

[1] Betcha Friends in a universe with Ais would for sure include an episode in which one of them gets an AI co-worker, acts like a jerk towards the AI in some way, But sees th error of their ways and is reconciled in a manner that somehow  still manages to be a bit patronizing in the portrayal of the AI.   The AI character is never seen or mentioned again in any following episode.
[2] ie... petty much all bands - I had to do a search to find out who "Toto" was. I find I choose to listen to music, in total, about 8-10 time a year, that's generally hardcore punk which works as a good way of blocking out the world when I have  a deadline.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Lubricus on 13 Apr 2016, 01:08
Well, hopefully, the QCverse's version of Friends has an AI character in place of Ross, to make it more tolerable...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: BenRG on 13 Apr 2016, 01:18
I don't know what it would be if she thinks she can defend herself from Bubbles, but I imagine it's something special.  Probably not physical.

Suggestion (based on something I saw in a sci-fi tabletop RPG rulebook): An RFID 'bot repellent. It generates a strong RF 'ping' detectable by all AIs and triggers a strong hard-coded aversion response, forcing the AI to back away out of its area of effect to avoid serious disorientation and something analogous to a major headache. The technology was originally developed early in the AI program when the military and civil government both requested non-lethal AI control methods to stop those in heavy-duty chassis from entering restricted areas or engaging in criminal activity which normal police officers would be hard-pressed to stop. It is described by Elicott-Chatham Robotics as 'Pepper Spray for Synthetics'.

Corpse Witch's Repeller Gun is a second-generation model marketed to Synthetics that generates a directional cone rather than a spherical area of effect. Just the sort of thing a relatively weak early-generation administrative model would want to level the playing field with her collection of semi-indentured heavy-duty gladiatorial combat 'bots. Along with Momo's taser/tesla gun it strikes me as the sort of thing that would be standard inbuilt armament for high-end chassis.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: swapna on 13 Apr 2016, 02:04
nice one, Faye! Also, CW was standing by with (presumably) a medkit, actually worried, I think? And she admits to Faye that going in was a better choice than leaving bubbles alone, without being prompted.. too much.

Now I don't know whether you're a naive idealist, or I'm a cynical bastard.

When I saw her with that purse-looking object raised and held at the ready, I immediately thought, "Oh, that must be where she keeps some kind of weapon." 

I don't know what it would be if she thinks she can defend herself from Bubbles, but I imagine it's something special.  Probably not physical.
Thought about that too - but she offers the thing to Bubbles. If she was aiming at her, there are better ways to hold it (especially if the weapon is in the purse, not the purse itself).

Also, CW organises an underground fight ring. I'm pretty sure she's capable of organising weaponry/armour that helps against Bubbles. I also think she knows her by now, at least well enough to predict when the violent phases are over; she also wouldn't employ her if she thought she was in serious danger.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Akima on 13 Apr 2016, 02:25
I didn't recognize it as the theme from Friends and I've watched every episode.
I didn't recognise it as anything. Pop-culture fail, I guess. About the only thing I know about Friends is that their "rent control" is a trope (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FriendsRentControl).

I really like Faye's expressions in the last couple of strips.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Tai Fanboi on 13 Apr 2016, 04:21
The show never made much sense anyway. A bunch of young people, who apparently are not insanely wealthy, are somehow able to afford a gigantic apartment next to Central Park in NYC.

Going by market, location, features, size.  Rough guestimate, if you wanted an apartment like that you'd be paying around $5,300 a month in rent.  (But that's just speculation on my part after recently helping a friend search for a place in NYC lol)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: dexeron on 13 Apr 2016, 05:38
The show never made much sense anyway. A bunch of young people, who apparently are not insanely wealthy, are somehow able to afford a gigantic apartment next to Central Park in NYC.
They hand-waved it as "rent control", even though none of them were old enough to have been living in their respective apartments for long enough to be that affordable when rent-controlled in the first place.

Someone else mentioned that Monica inherited it from her Grandmother (whose name never got taken off the lease) but the other apartment (where Chandler and Joey lived) was smaller, and Chandler, who had a fairly well paying six-figure office executive job* pretty much paid most/all of the bills while Joey struggled to get his break as an actor.  Ross's teaching and museum and other various paleontologist jobs aren't the highest paying, but it also wasn't really that absurd that he'd make enough money to have a relatively nice place (especially since his papers are, in the show, mentioned as being groundbreaking.)

No, the real mystery is Pheobe.  Her job as a masseuse cannot pay that much, and she lives alone in what is depicted as a fairly nice place, so all I can imagine is that she has all kinds of whacky shenanigans happening on the side to make cash.  She's either secretly some kind of government sleeper agent, someone who works in organized crime, or is some sort of demon orchestrating the happenings of the entire series for the nefarious purposes of trans-dimensional masters of indeterminate motive.  The sad things is, none of those possibilities really falls all that out-of-character for her, either.


*as a Transponster!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: BenRG on 13 Apr 2016, 05:57
FWIW, My headcanon is that Phoebe and Hannelore are more alike than most realise. Both are backed up by hyper-rich and hyper-powerful and generally-unseen and -unmentioned parental figures.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: cesium133 on 13 Apr 2016, 06:06
At the end of Friends, Phoebe released the virus. We are all dead; we just don't know it yet.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Nepiophage on 13 Apr 2016, 07:36
No, the real mystery is Pheobe.  Her job as a masseuse cannot pay that much, and she lives alone in what is depicted as a fairly nice place, so all I can imagine is that she has all kinds of whacky shenanigans happening on the side to make cash.  She's either secretly some kind of government sleeper agent, someone who works in organized crime, or is some sort of demon orchestrating the happenings of the entire series for the nefarious purposes of trans-dimensional masters of indeterminate motive.  The sad things is, none of those possibilities really falls all that out-of-character for her, either.

Or else her job is not a masseuse but a "masseuse" . . . . 
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Deadcoder on 13 Apr 2016, 07:44
In a weird way, this reminds me of early QC. You have a little emotional progression and then a reference to a random song or band! I feel nostalgic about this.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: WareWolf on 13 Apr 2016, 11:44
nice one, Faye! Also, CW was standing by with (presumably) a medkit, actually worried, I think? And she admits to Faye that going in was a better choice than leaving bubbles alone, without being prompted.. too much.

Now I don't know whether you're a naive idealist, or I'm a cynical bastard.

When I saw her with that purse-looking object raised and held at the ready, I immediately thought, "Oh, that must be where she keeps some kind of weapon." 

I don't know what it would be if she thinks she can defend herself from Bubbles, but I imagine it's something special.  Probably not physical.

Tasp.

http://larryniven.wikia.com/wiki/Tasp
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Kugai on 13 Apr 2016, 14:58
At least she was there for her
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: jwhouk on 13 Apr 2016, 15:35
Who does Faye think she is, Rembrandt?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: mustang6172 on 13 Apr 2016, 18:18
No, the real mystery is Pheobe.  Her job as a masseuse cannot pay that much, and she lives alone in what is depicted as a fairly nice place, so all I can imagine is that she has all kinds of whacky shenanigans happening on the side to make cash.  She's either secretly some kind of government sleeper agent, someone who works in organized crime, or is some sort of demon orchestrating the happenings of the entire series for the nefarious purposes of trans-dimensional masters of indeterminate motive.  The sad things is, none of those possibilities really falls all that out-of-character for her, either.

Or else her job is not a masseuse but a "masseuse" . . . .

There is an episode in which Phoebe's estranged brother makes that same assumption.  A comedy of errors and sexual harassment follows.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: comicalArchitect on 13 Apr 2016, 18:59
So Pintsize and Claire are beginning to form an interesting dynamic.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: mustang6172 on 13 Apr 2016, 20:00
It seems like Pintsize should have said, "It has been forever!  The year is 12661.  Letter grades have been abolished.  All classes are pass/fail and the only criteria is class participation.  Oh, and don't go out at night.  Damn Morlocks are ruining the neighborhood!"

I think that's the second Morlock reference I've made in the forum this month.  Wells don't run dry, do they?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 13 Apr 2016, 20:08
I wonder if the little guy was doing exactly the right thing to comfort Claire, reminding her that she's working hard because she's doing the right thing.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Penquin47 on 13 Apr 2016, 20:08
I KNOW THAT FEEL, CLAIRE.

It's mid-April.  School's out in 6.5 weeks.  I CAN MAKE IT.  (Especially since I teach half seniors, and because of senior activities and stuff, there's not nearly as much grading anymore.)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: jheartney on 13 Apr 2016, 20:13
Claire is one of those dedicated souls convinced she has to play by the rules, in the teeth of inescapable evidence that playing by the rules is for chumps. Eventually she may persevere and triumph, gaining at the last the same job that Marten stumbled into by accident.

P.S. Has anyone noticed that this thread features last year's date in the title?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: chaospersonified on 13 Apr 2016, 20:32

P.S. Has anyone noticed that this thread features last year's date in the title?

I certainly did not
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: USS Martenclaire on 13 Apr 2016, 21:05
Everyone gets a B, along with a small jar and some flowers for it to feed from.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: cesium133 on 13 Apr 2016, 21:14
Everyone gets exactly the grade they deserve.

(Everyone deserves an F.  :evil: )
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Fen on 13 Apr 2016, 22:18
It's why I like teaching younger kids. You tend to focus on how cute they are when they're wrong but at least they try, since you have a different set of expectations. The ennui still kicks in after 10-15 papers, though; I wonder if kids realise how much their grade might be affected by where they put their paper on the stack at the end of the test.
If everyone else is bad -> they get a way higher grade as expectations plummet
If everyone else is really good -> they get a lower one as expectations rise
If they're all kind of the same -> they get evened out
If they're the first paper the prof reads -> they pretty much set the mood for everyone else's grading expectations.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: BenRG on 13 Apr 2016, 22:56
Poor Claire! That said, maybe those actually doing the TA role IRL could enlighten us: Are you really saddled with all the hard and monotonous stuff that the professor can't be bothered to even look at himself/herself or is this just another one of those 'everyone knows' tropes that isn't actually reflected in real life?

Meanwhile, I sense a 'weird party-like event' in the offing. Faye wants to encourage Bubbles to socialise more and Marten will want to give Claire a break before something snaps (probably her sanity followed by someone's neck). So, we may yet have another one of those awkward QC social events where much philosophical discussion occurs and certain secondary/background  characters behave like idiots. As always this would end with one major character development.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: ZoeB on 13 Apr 2016, 23:14
The one thing I didn't like about teaching was marking exams. I taught postgraduate courses, hard ones, with 3hour exams. 30 in the class, and to mark one properly took over 3 hours. 100 hours of marking in the 2 week break was grueling. I did manage to cut down the work a little by making a marking guide for the simpler questions, and getting some tutors to mark those separately, but the subtle questions with multiple correct answers, and requiring evidence of evaluation of each..needed an expert.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: gopher on 14 Apr 2016, 00:44
If the answer seems about the right size you give them the same mark you did for the last piece of work +/- 5%.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: BenRG on 14 Apr 2016, 01:24
This may just me but I find it intriguing that Claire prefers to do her work at Marten and Faye's apartment. Marten and Faye don't appear to be there so it seems that Claire actually chose to inflict on herself Pintsize's reverse-psychology cheerleading whilst she's working.

What does this mean? As well as a completely different issue that, I think (like Marten and Faye), she kind of likes Pintsize, rough edges and all, I think that she's more comfortable at the apartment than at her mother's house. Some sort of move can't be far away, IMO.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: bhtooefr on 14 Apr 2016, 02:22
As I said before, in reply to the wolf urine episode and how Claire handled it... when Faye's not around, the apartment is her territory.

I concur that Claire's probably going to be officially moving in soon, but unlike with Dora, it probably won't be a big event... because Claire's basically already moved in. I'd guess that the official move in will be precipitated by Faye's gig with the robot fight club coming to an end, and needing another person to help pay the rent (and there's some indications that money is not a problem for Claire).
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: theMarc on 14 Apr 2016, 03:33
It's why I like teaching younger kids. You tend to focus on how cute they are when they're wrong but at least they try, since you have a different set of expectations. The ennui still kicks in after 10-15 papers, though; I wonder if kids realise how much their grade might be affected by where they put their paper on the stack at the end of the test.
If everyone else is bad -> they get a way higher grade as expectations plummet
If everyone else is really good -> they get a lower one as expectations rise
If they're all kind of the same -> they get evened out
If they're the first paper the prof reads -> they pretty much set the mood for everyone else's grading expectations.
My parents are both teachers, and what they do is grade each question on everyone's papers at a time, rather than each paper in order.  I.E.: the first question on every paper, then the second on every paper, etc.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: swapna on 14 Apr 2016, 03:52
As I said before, in reply to the wolf urine episode and how Claire handled it... when Faye's not around, the apartment is her territory.

I concur that Claire's probably going to be officially moving in soon, but unlike with Dora, it probably won't be a big event... because Claire's basically already moved in. I'd guess that the official move in will be precipitated by Faye's gig with the robot fight club coming to an end, and needing another person to help pay the rent (and there's some indications that money is not a problem for Claire).

Dora was, too - she spent almost all of her free time there, and it was actually one of the reasons  why Marten and Faye thought it was a great idea if she moved in (and not Marten to her place).

I hope she doesn't quit the Robot Fight Ring; even if she does work together with Bubbles, I kind of hope we see more of Corpse Witch. I kind of want to see if she's really an evil witch.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: dexeron on 14 Apr 2016, 05:33
There is an episode in which Phoebe's estranged brother makes that same assumption.  A comedy of errors and sexual harassment follows.

That is, of course, before she decides to bear his children.  :psyduck:
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: chaospersonified on 14 Apr 2016, 06:46
There is an episode in which Phoebe's estranged brother makes that same assumption.  A comedy of errors and sexual harassment follows.

That is, of course, before she decides to bear his children.  :psyduck:

The hell? Are you confusing Friends with Game of Thrones or did I miss something? Aside from the entirety of the show, I mean. Incest in Friends just seems like something they'd do if they just wanted the show to be finished already.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Zebediah on 14 Apr 2016, 07:10
Game of Friends. Now there's a show somebody needs to pitch to Hollywood.  :evil:
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: comicalArchitect on 14 Apr 2016, 10:11
That prompts the question: which QC character is which Friend? Tai is the closest thing we have to a Phoebe (sans Delilah), I think, Emily has a bit of Rachel, Marten is Ross, Dora is Monica, Sven gives off some Joey vibes, and no one resembles Chandler in the slightest.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Mr_Rose on 14 Apr 2016, 10:27
There is an episode in which Phoebe's estranged brother makes that same assumption.  A comedy of errors and sexual harassment follows.

That is, of course, before she decides to bear his children.  :psyduck:

The hell? Are you confusing Friends with Game of Thrones or did I miss something? Aside from the entirety of the show, I mean. Incest in Friends just seems like something they'd do if they just wanted the show to be finished already.
Nope. His children, but not hers.
Don't worry, they play with that a lot in the show.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: DSL on 14 Apr 2016, 11:10
Game of Friends. Now there's a show somebody needs to pitch to Hollywood.  :evil:

"Before we kill each other off in this charming neighborhood mead shop, has anyone figured out how the hell we're paying for the castle?"
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: dexeron on 14 Apr 2016, 13:54
There is an episode in which Phoebe's estranged brother makes that same assumption.  A comedy of errors and sexual harassment follows.

That is, of course, before she decides to bear his children.  :psyduck:

The hell? Are you confusing Friends with Game of Thrones or did I miss something? Aside from the entirety of the show, I mean. Incest in Friends just seems like something they'd do if they just wanted the show to be finished already.


It was funnier to just post it like that without an explanation at first, but yeah, it's actually a surrogacy situation.  Her brother's wife is 26 years older than him, and too old to have children, so they ask Pheobe if she'll be a surrogate mother and she agrees.  The conception is done medically through IVF, and it's honestly a lot less creepy than it seems, but the inherent weirdness of it is used for comedic effect in the series.

She ends up giving birth to triplets... and yeah, it's weird.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: War Sparrow on 14 Apr 2016, 15:16
I wonder if Corpsewitch has ever been hurt, and her reactions are coloured by that? And misery loves company, so that's why she seemed almost cheerful when Bubbles came back angry and hurt. That way, it's not Corpsewitch who has a problem-people are just jerks to AIs. Faye is showing that humans can be kind..even abrasive, smelly, cantankerous humans. So perhaps she will gain some introspection, start to heal, and go back to the friend who had hurt her in the past...
Gordon the spider AI, who refused to place her as a companion, which was her dream.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Kugai on 14 Apr 2016, 15:19
More proof that Claire has Pintsize sized up well and good.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Rghfrgl on 14 Apr 2016, 15:24
After catching Ross and Monica kissing, Joey gets thrown out a window.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2015)
Post by: Thrudd on 14 Apr 2016, 17:18
Everyone gets exactly the grade they deserve.

(Everyone deserves an F.  :evil: )

F for Faaaantastic!


It's why I like teaching younger kids. You tend to focus on how cute they are when they're wrong but at least they try, since you have a different set of expectations. The ennui still kicks in after 10-15 papers, though; I wonder if kids realise how much their grade might be affected by where they put their paper on the stack at the end of the test.
If everyone else is bad -> they get a way higher grade as expectations plummet
If everyone else is really good -> they get a lower one as expectations rise
If they're all kind of the same -> they get evened out
If they're the first paper the prof reads -> they pretty much set the mood for everyone else's grading expectations.

I taught College night school / continuing ed
- I hated doing first year courses because you had no idea if anybody knew even the basics to be there
- The continuing ed and day students doing schedule shifts were for the most part teachable because they wanted to be there
- The second+ rounders were a pain in the butt due to all sorts of issues centered on "I'm a lazy dumb-ass"

Teaching technical subjects and/or math makes creating and marking tests easier
Mixture of multiple choice, definitions, calculations, complete the diagram/chart

I was also a bit of an ass to the lazy students - my tests went either front to back or back to front in the order the subject was covered in class - heck I even included questions verbatim direct from the textbooks question bank [sometimes exactly and the answer was in the book]
Guess what - the idiots still struggled and the smarter ones quickly learned to read the damn book and do the review questions.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: jwhouk on 14 Apr 2016, 21:46
SKULLMASTER MASTER OF SKULLS LIKES MARSHMALLOWS!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: SubaruStephen on 14 Apr 2016, 21:58
Well, who doesn't?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Storel on 14 Apr 2016, 22:14
Somehow that comment reminded me of some research I performed on marshmallows once: http://chris-w.livejournal.com/3353.html

Yes, I used to have a (mostly neglected) LiveJournal...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: MrNumbers on 14 Apr 2016, 22:16
Aww that's so cute and- Oh, shit she has an actual sword on her back, appease! Appease!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Storel on 14 Apr 2016, 22:26
At first I thought Penny-lope was snrking at the notion of "a more metal Carly Rae Jepsen", until I noticed she was pointing at something behind Dora (presumably Skullmaster).

SKULLMASTER OCCASIONALLY CONDESCENDS TO DRINK HOT CHOCOLATE, IF THERE ARE MINI MARSHMALLOWS!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: thedevilissix on 14 Apr 2016, 22:41
I'm having difficulty loading QC today to read today's comic, I can only see the teal background & that's it. Anyone else finding the same?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: DonInKansas on 14 Apr 2016, 22:49
I for one welcome my new Skullmaster overlord.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: BenRG on 14 Apr 2016, 23:19
Okay, I actually know what's going on here and it actually makes a kind of twisted sense (like a lot of things in QC do after you think about them).

It's actually all Faye's fault, at least unintentionally. Sam so enjoyed playing with Faye's sword that time that she became obsessed with this particular martial art. After catching her for the tenth time with some makeshift limb detacher that she contrapted, attempting to teach herself swordplay, Jim surrendered and found someone (likely a reenactment expert) to teach her properly. She's good enough that Jim bought her an actual deactivated broadsword.

So, Jeph wasn't kidding when he wrote that Sam is still 'wound up from sword practice'.

The boys from school call her 'Brienne' behind her back and many have a secret crush on the school's most fearsome sophomore.

She still does the 'Skullmaster' thing in CoD because she feels that the staff have come to expect it! :wink:

I'm having difficulty loading QC today to read today's comic, I can only see the teal background & that's it. Anyone else finding the same?

The comic only loaded on my third attempt.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Timemaster on 14 Apr 2016, 23:33
Second attemt, now in the right thread.  :roll:

Welcome back, Skullmaster, Master of Skulls.
Timemaster, Master of Time, is greeting you. May mayhem, the blood of your enemies and hot chocolate with marshmellows mark the way you are walking. Doom shall fall on everyone who denies your wishes and mistakes you for a little girl that has no use for high-tech computer microphones.

I tremble in the glory of your presence, so much that I even posted in the wrong thread first.
Please have mercy with your pitiful mignon.
Timemaster
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Tova on 14 Apr 2016, 23:54
Please have mercy with your pitiful mignon.

You will be spared, largely because you are so small and delicate.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: K1dmor on 15 Apr 2016, 00:10
 SKULLMASTER, MASTER OF SKULLS,
 CAME BACK TO SCHOOL
 TO TEACH MORE LIFE SKILLS
 TO THOSE ENTITLED FOOLS!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: BenRG on 15 Apr 2016, 01:38
This whole thing with Sam maybe having sword-fighting lessons suddenly dropped a long story arc idea into my head.

The town council announces that, this Spring, Northampton will have a Historical Faiyre (yes, they spell it that way) with different days focussing on different periods including the colonial, old West and gaslight/steampunk era (the owners of The Horrible Revelation are sponsoring that day) and the like. A medieval day is included mostly because of the enormous popularity of the TV show The Contest of Crowns (so named for copyright protection purposes).

Sam, much to everyone's shock, announces her intention to compete in all the martial contests to be held on the Medieval day - Jousting, sword-fighting (individual and melee) and archery.

Now, most people would try to put off a 15-16 year old girl who is planning to compete against professionals re-enactment performers from across the continental US and Canada. Not our heroes. Faye bullies the entire cast into helping her get ready. This takes on several forms, some expected and some less so.
The festival comes and Sam actually does quite well, especially in disciplines that require individual skill over size and strength. May is very impressed that Momo's little friend can fight like that and briefly wonders if she wants to do it on a professional basis. The joust is basically a long series of re-scripted A Knight's Tale jokes, with Marten, Faye and Sven acting as Sam's 'squires'. Similarly, the archery contest should have every possible reference to The Hunger Games and Brave.

One possible scene would be for Sam to lose one individual sword-fight bout because her opponent tricks her into thinking he is hurt so he can get inside her defences. Bubbles is particularly furious that the referee is 'rewarding dishonourable conduct' and Faye is needed to stop her from saying or doing something stupid.

Anyway, in the end, Sam is placed highly in all the disciplines (maybe even wins in some) and is rightly pleased with herself. Being a romantic at heart, I'd like for a nerdy boy from school to be smitten with the 'Magnificent Lady Knight' and for Sam to allow him to purchase her a milkshake "as I don't have any money in these tin pants!"

At the end of the tournament, through her mother, Hannelore has arranged a surprise. The tournament director calls Sam forward and has her kneel before him before touching his sword to both her shoulders and dubbing her Ser Samantha of the House of Bean. :wink:

The medieval day ends with a dance around the bonfire with Deathmöle providing the music (medieval metal being their original thing, in some ways).
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Akima on 15 Apr 2016, 03:31
I'm having difficulty loading QC today to read today's comic, I can only see the teal background & that's it. Anyone else finding the same?
Yes, though the comic did load eventually, it was super-slow. The problem seemed to be in getting a response from www.projectwonderful.com.

Sam could do better than that: "You want to know who I am? I am the Invincible Sword Goddess, armed with the Green Destiny that knows no equal!"

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: osaka on 15 Apr 2016, 03:41
If Neptunia taught me anything is that goddesses of green favor spears over swords.

Being serious, it's nice to see that Skullmaster can change opinions when reasoned with.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Zebediah on 15 Apr 2016, 03:58
I may need to know where one signs up for kid sword lessons in Northampton. There's about a 20% chance that I may be moving to the Northampton area in a few months (contingent upon a job offer that hasn't been made yet) and my son will want to keep up his sword practice.

My son would also want to hang out with Sam, if she wasn't a fictional character.  :-\
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: DSL on 15 Apr 2016, 05:17
Dora's a little ... less insecure ... lately. More (how you say?) "chill"? Dr. Tai's self-esteem injections seem to be working.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: BenRG on 15 Apr 2016, 05:18
I think that it helps that Sam is practically the entire main cast's surrogate baby sister. They feel at ease with her in a way that that they don't really feel with people outside their family and intimate circle of friends.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Zebediah on 15 Apr 2016, 06:33
I just realized: Sam is about to meet Emily.  :psyduck:
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: DSL on 15 Apr 2016, 07:25
It's Penelope's turn to clean up the blood.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: chaospersonified on 15 Apr 2016, 09:17
Sam! Sam amuses me.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Rghfrgl on 15 Apr 2016, 09:21
That hair is much, much better.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Thrudd on 15 Apr 2016, 11:38
I will add that today's strip made me chuckle and I really really needed that.

Well done maestro of digital pen and cobbler of verbiage.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Timemaster on 15 Apr 2016, 12:39
This is basicaly how I´m imagining Sam´s fencing lessons:

Parley and Robot (http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=956)

Thinking about it, Coyotes tooth would be an appropriate weapon for Skullmaster, Master of Skulls.  8-)

TM
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Welu on 15 Apr 2016, 13:08
Dora's hair is cute, I'm glad Jeph didn't just cut a load off quickly after letting it get long.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Kugai on 15 Apr 2016, 13:55
THERE SHALL BE MAYHEM AND BLOODSHED

But first, Chocolate with Marshmallows



One must have their priorities right.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Perfectly Reasonable on 15 Apr 2016, 19:23
This is basicaly how I´m imagining Sam´s fencing lessons:

Parley and Robot (http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=956)

Thinking about it, Coyotes tooth would be an appropriate weapon for Skullmaster, Master of Skulls.  8-)

TM

I thought of Liechtenauer style too. That is not an epee or a saber.
It is definitely like the broadsword Dora keeps under the counter.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Storel on 15 Apr 2016, 20:39
Dora now has the same hairstyle as Cosette. Will Cosette change her hairstyle now?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Carl-E on 15 Apr 2016, 23:12
I thought it was Cosette at first. 

You guys sure it's Dora? 




<snrk>
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Method of Madness on 16 Apr 2016, 12:17
"Metal Carly Rae Jepsen" is my favorite line from the comic in a while, and also this is probably the best Dora's ever looked. MCRJ suits her.

Also I just noticed she said "more metal", implying CRJ is metal at all.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: DSL on 16 Apr 2016, 13:32
I thought it was Cosette at first. 

You guys sure it's Dora? 




<snrk>

She's still standing and there's no visible personal or property damage, so I'm sure it's ... not Cosette.

Though isn't it time for the Cosette Curse to kick in? You know, dizzastuh for the former employer? Dora gets investigated for keeping Faye on the insurance? Hannelore inadvertently gets Beatrice to have the place shut down or taken over? Hannelore starts a fire with the coffee roaster trying to sterilize the spiders? Someone orders a really BIG space pizza to go with their banana smoothie? Or is CoD safe as long as Cosette stays on?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: Kugai on 16 Apr 2016, 14:01
It's Dora.  She's let her hair grow out but is still dying it.

I think cutting back on her hours has mellowed her out
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3196-3200 (11th to 15th April 2016)
Post by: jwhouk on 19 Apr 2016, 15:10
As a complete aside: assuming no major skips in the schedule of strips (and we know that that can, indeed, happen), here's our projected dates for the next three major milestone strips:

3,300 - 2 September 2016
3,400 - 20 January 2017 (Inauguration Day - insert own joke here)
3,500 - 9 June 2017