THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: Kugai on 12 Jun 2016, 10:29
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The Poll is a lie
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Of course, Jeph is God, at least to the characters of Questionable Content!
Am I the only one who would like to see Padma return at Renee's request to check up on Brun? Marten may have some mixed feelings but something tells me that Padma would prefer to girl-bond with Claire and teach her how to party (as well as pass on a few kick-boxing tips).
Coming fully out-of-universe and putting my serious hat on, the tragic and horrifying events in Orlando last night may affect the tone of Jeph's creative output somewhat over the next couple of weeks; we'll see.
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Of course, Jeph is God, at least to the characters of Questionable Content!
Am I the only one who would like to see Padma return at Renee's request to check up on Brun? Marten may have some mixed feelings but something tells me that Padma would prefer to girl-bond with Claire and teach her how to party (as well as pass on a few kick-boxing tips).
"Hey, I just came in from the literal other side of the country to check on a friend who already has two other friends looking out for her."
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I had to double take because today's art is so similar to Friday's.
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Bubbles' remark brings to mind Number Six protecting Gaius Baltar with her body during the initial Cylon attack. If I had to hide behind one or the other of them, I'd pick Bubbles.
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Bubbles is fantastic, and I agree woth the guy with the Gaius avatar* that Bubbles is much better defense than Tricia Helfer
*Sorry, JHeartney, that's honestly how I know you. If it makes you feel better, I didn't actually need to look at your avatar before typing this
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Blushing Bubbles is Best Bubbles
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So, it seems that it is Bubbles's fate to be the character who is always making easily-misinterpreted comments (and thus ship-teasing us). Fortunately, years of living with Marten seems to have granted Faye the ability to parse these without too much difficulty! Not only is she not offended, I think that she finds it cute!
Maybe it's just me but I'm wondering if the concern about misunderstanding is, in fact, purely on Bubble's part. After an indeterminate time of total social and emotional isolation, she's clearly having trouble choosing her words!
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If QC ever goes Full Anime i'm not accepting anything less than bubbles opening up and Faye climbing inside her and they combine their power and fight as a team.
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Jeph's bottom comment made me grin; now THAT's a bug-out bag!
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What word starts with defilade?
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None, of course (well, defilades, I guess) - the dash should have been an ellipsis (...).
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"Defilide" is a military tactical term defined as having an obstacle protecting you from detection and enemy fire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enfilade_and_defilade#Defilade). Basically, Bubbles is offering herself as a massive, mobile shield for Faye to hide behind in the event of a Zombie AI uprising.
Now... am I the only one who wants to see Bubbles do a Halo-style one-woman army action scene to save the day in some future arc?
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If QC ever goes Full Anime i'm not accepting anything less than bubbles opening up and Faye climbing inside her and they combine their power and fight as a team.
It would have to be an apocalyptic situation since Bubbles would have to endure years of Faye's double entendre and innuendo about being inside her.
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None, of course (well, defilades, I guess) - the dash should have been an ellipsis (...).
Yeah, the dash made it seem like she was interrupted mid-word, so it didn't occur to me that defilade was the word itself. Thanks.
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Bubbles continuing to solidify herself as my all-time favourite QC character.
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Semper fidelis, in the truest sense.
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Bubbles is being Dere.
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Jeph's bottom comment made me grin; now THAT's a bug-out bag!
Heck, with some armor modifications by Faye, Bubbles could BE a mobile howitzer!
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I don't want to want to ship this.
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I just want to know if this is how Mei is formed.
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Okay, the last time any being blushed this much, she had red hair and ended up with the protagonist.
Just saying.
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SHIELD WALL!!
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Comic!
What's under Denver International Airport? Dirt and rocks, mostly.
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The Indian Ocean (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipodes)
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Comic!
What's under Denver International Airport? Dirt and rocks, mostly.
I would've said Denver.
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(http://www.antipodesmap.com/images/f85780d26d4b0aac49c8b223a3cb7b35.jpg)
Cesium and Stephen are both correct.
Btw, I've been in that airport! Never underneath it, though.
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It's the reptoids, obviously. Denver isn't built on itself || loam, and THEY live underground until they master their shapeshifting abilities and can pass for human.
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Faye just skips over Winslow and CORPSE WITCH. These are the times when you learn who your real friends are.
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Not to mention May.
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Winslow is in the same area as Punchbot. Outside of his limited sphere of interests, he just doesn't have a lot going on. And Corpse Witch is the boss. One who has threatened Faye for being nice. You can kind of see why she wouldn't go to her. Of course, Faye is also skipping over all the other robots who work and/or live at the arena. She probably just doesn't have a strong working relationship with them. They come in, she knocks out the dents, welds on some spikes and off they go with nary a deep conversation on the nature of reality and robot butts.
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RE: The Denver International Airport.
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I FUKKIN KNEW IT!
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I don't want to want to ship this.
Past me look at today's third panel.
Future me what are you doing put the fanfiction down before someone gets hurt.
EDIT FROM FUTURE SELF: [Ha ha ha you couldn't stop me you tried so hard but you were weak]
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Really Bubbles! Do you know Alice or Sedna?
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Beneath the Denver Airport is a special machine. If it detects one single snowflake, it shuts the airport down.
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FWIW, I think that the thing with Bubbles is that she's so unused to friendship that she has a difficult time controlling or even entirely understanding her reaction to Faye's easy intimacy.
Basically, I think that she's going through the emotional maturation that most humans go through in childhood. I don't know if this reflects her age or if it's a symptom of her trauma; that she literally lost her emotional grounding (which has been strongly implied in other scenes) and is having to learn it all over again.
I do like her dry sense of humour, though. It's a indication of how close she's become to Faye that she can identify when she isn't serious and respond accordingly.
Also, I'd name any super-soldier staffed buffet for Dale Brown rather than Tom Clancy; that's more his kind of thing!
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Faye just skips over Winslow and CORPSE WITCH. These are the times when you learn who your real friends are.
Not to mention May.
Perhaps a dozen panels in which Faye expounds the characteristics of every single AI that has appeared in the web comic wouldn't advance the plot too much. And it would still end up with Bubbles being the rational choice for Faye to talk to.
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FWIW, I don't think that Faye has a relationship with Winslow (beyond knowing him as Hanners's AnthroPC Companion) or May (beyond that she is Momo's irritatingly crude friend). Because of this, they're hardly the sort of people Faye would feel she has the social connection with to ask such deep and philosophical questions!
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FWIW, I don't think that Faye has a relationship with Winslow (beyond knowing him as Hanners's AnthroPC Companion) or May (beyond that she is Momo's irritatingly crude friend). Because of this, they're hardly the sort of people Faye would feel she has the social connection with to ask such deep and philosophical questions!
That and they are a bit redundant for this conversation. Winslow isn't as idealistic as Momo, but I imagine his opinion wouldn't be too different and May's opinion wouldn't be all that different from Pintsize's Moreover, she's asking Bubbles as a means to get closer which is why she's not rattling off a list of every AI she knows and why they wouldn't provide a suitable opinion.
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FWIW, I think that the thing with Bubbles is that she's so unused to friendship that she has a difficult time controlling or even entirely understanding her reaction to Faye's easy intimacy.
Basically, I think that she's going through the emotional maturation that most humans go through in childhood. I don't know if this reflects her age or if it's a symptom of her trauma; that she literally lost her emotional grounding (which has been strongly implied in other scenes) and is having to learn it all over again.
I do like her dry sense of humour, though. It's a indication of how close she's become to Faye that she can identify when she isn't serious and respond accordingly.
Also, I'd name any super-soldier staffed buffet for Dale Brown rather than Tom Clancy; that's more his kind of thing!
This brings up an interesting point about AI development. For humans, we have pretty set out development periods for our brains, and from what I've seen, evidence suggests if you "miss" some of them due to lack of socialisation or whatever, you've missed them for good (see: feral children). Do AI work the same way? Obviously we've seen they can grow and change (otherwise they wouldn't really be intelligent (but that's a subject that was debated a lot last week), and Bubbles wouldn't have had the capacity for trauma), but would an AI need emotional development, or do they come into being more fully formed than we do? Basically are there baby AI?
It probably wouldn't make for good comic reading but I sort of hope this is where Faye and Bubbles go next.
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The thing with organic brains is that the pathways are created during growth, following outline (genetic) designs, but formed in detail according to the input at the time of growth of each part of the brain. If AIs don't replicate that physical (biological) process and its limitations, then there's a good chance that they can patch up faulty or incomplete programming later.
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Bubbles is the strong, masculine presence Dora has longed for in her life
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...what?
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Okay, first, I think you've gotten Dora and Faye mixed up.
Second ... I got nothin'.
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There's every reason to think Faye accepts Bubbles as a woman.
A woman, though, can be a father figure.
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Again...what?
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*clears throat*
There's every reason to think Faye accepts Bubbles as a woman.
A woman, though, can be a father figure.
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ZoeB has mentioned here that she takes her son to father-son events. That's an example of a woman being a father figure. Yes, it stretched my brain too.
Bubbles is not "masculine", though. Protecting others forcibly is not gender-specific!
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I think people are getting "strong" mixed up with "masculine".
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I hear there's a que for their Friday Night All You Can Eat Buffalo Wings Special
I think that Faye has come to exactly the right AnthroPC AI to get the information she wants.
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ZoeB has mentioned here that she takes her son to father-son events. That's an example of a woman being a father figure.
Though this is obviously playing the role of a father in this specific event, I'm not convinced that this makes the woman a father figure to the child. It makes her a good mother, though.
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The smile Faye has in the last panel though, it's so happy it might hurt someone.. though this wouldn't be abnormal for Faye I guess.
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TacAirBnB?
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The one under the airport in Seattle is C(++)TacAirBnB. :claireface:
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Ohmigod. So THAT'S why they're finally allowing Gays in the military!
If their 'genetically enhanced supersoldiers' can't join the military, then they'd have to muster out as civilians and the top secret program's cover is blown.
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That... that is NOT the Renee we were looking for. :?
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ZoeB has mentioned here that she takes her son to father-son events. That's an example of a woman being a father figure.
Though this is obviously playing the role of a father in this specific event, I'm not convinced that this makes the woman a father figure to the child. It makes her a good mother, though.
Here's the exact quote:
I will always be his father, both biologically and socially. He will always be my son. In a more sane world, I'd be his mother, but he already has one of those, and this universe is one of the weirder ones.
Bubbles is all set to be a strong and dependable presence in Faye's life, possibly a protective one. The Pugnacious Peach does have a hole in her emotional life shaped like that, where her father used to be.
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No, she doesn't appear to be the Renee from the Secret Bakery. Could be wrong - I mean, look how much Cosette's appearance has changed since she was first introduced. But for now I'm assuming she's a different person unless Jeph tells us otherwise.
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I think the reason nobody ever trusts me is that when someone asks if I'm a murderer and I tell them I'm not, I always add "as far as I know" to the end of that statement.
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i'm wondering what Renee's relationship is to Brun. At a guess, I'm thinking not immediate family (though this could be wrong). Therapist? Social worker? Old friend? Also, did Brun rescue the soggy phone number from the shower?
Renee, aside from being overprotective, seems destined to get into a confrontation with someone in the main cast. Maybe Claire, if Renee goes on the warpath accusing Clinton of being a sexual predator. Or maybe even Emily. May the wild rumpus begin.
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ZoeB has mentioned here that she takes her son to father-son events. That's an example of a woman being a father figure.
Though this is obviously playing the role of a father in this specific event, I'm not convinced that this makes the woman a father figure to the child. It makes her a good mother, though.
Here's the exact quote:
I will always be his father, both biologically and socially. He will always be my son. In a more sane world, I'd be his mother, but he already has one of those, and this universe is one of the weirder ones.
Okay, this makes it pretty clear that taking her son to a father-son event is not why she is a father figure. I'm sure there are mothers out there who take their son to father-son events without being father figures. "ZoeB is an example of a woman being a father figure" would have been more accurate.
There's every reason to think Faye accepts Bubbles as a woman.
A woman, though, can be a father figure.
If the purpose of this post is to suggest obliquely that Bubbles could be a father figure, then you've failed to make your case. The reasons why ZoeB is a father figure don't (AFAIK) apply to Bubbles and Faye.
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For comic #3243...
If someone asks you if you are a murderer, they have to tell you.
Also, if someone asks if you are a god, remember to avoid the incorrect marshmellow-kaiju-summoning response.
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Pretty sure that's the same Renee, she just grew her hair out and got contacts over the same length of time Faye hulked out. She's even got the same piercings.
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Same piercings, same skin tone, same name. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1845) I don't have any reason to think it's a different Renee.
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That... that is NOT the Renee we were looking for. :?
As the above folk have said, I'm not so sure it isn't. We can't know until she meets Marten and the gang, which would happen because Clinton stowed Brun's belongings at CoD.
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Yeah, I think this is the same Renee. It would be pretty weird on Jeph's part to create a new black character with the same name.
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As the above folk have said, I'm not so sure it isn't. We can't know until she meets Marten and the gang, which would happen because Clinton stowed Brun's belongings at CoD.
Clinton returned Brun's stuff to the hotel (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3236). It is not at CoD anymore.
My bet is that it's the same Renee.
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YES, Tova, Brun's stuff is no longer at CoD. That wouldn't stop Renee from using them as a method of locating Clinton, which is what I was thinking.
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Also, it seems while Faye bulked up, Renee put on a tiny bit of weight, either that or just art difference. But either way I absolutely love her design. :3
Also love how she doesn't look like some Faye doppelganger anymore
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I got no problem with your 'spoiler,' TheCollector. Others might. I still have no idea what the context is. Context makes story. I still no nothing about tomorrow but baking.
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Do not talk about stuff you see as a Patreon member. Even something as vaguely contextless as this. Seeing the comic a day early is a bonus and benefit of being a Patreon donor. Talking about the stuff you know because of that is rude to Jeph.
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I don't think Patreon material should be spoiled, even minor (?) details. Maybe consider editing that out of your post?
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And the mods have spoken.
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If the purpose of this post is to suggest obliquely that Bubbles could be a father figure, then you've failed to make your case. The reasons why ZoeB is a father figure don't (AFAIK) apply to Bubbles and Faye.
Bubbles could be, as a strong dependable presence, for someone who has been searching for one for a long time.
The Pugnacious Peach has even turned to Bubbles for emotional support, as when she went back to Coffee of Doom. That implies there's a side of Bubbles we haven't seen, perhaps one that would make her the kind of person to turn to when you accidentally kill Kenny Wallace's goldfish.
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Not even with the cool design update I'm going to like her character. Looking forward for further introduction with the rest of the cast though!
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Who knew Brün was friends with Raven-Symoné?
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i'm wondering what Renee's relationship is to Brun. At a guess, I'm thinking not immediate family (though this could be wrong). Therapist? Social worker? Old friend? Also, did Brun rescue the soggy phone number from the shower?
Renee, aside from being overprotective, seems destined to get into a confrontation with someone in the main cast. Maybe Claire, if Renee goes on the warpath accusing Clinton of being a sexual predator. Or maybe even Emily. May the wild rumpus begin.
If she's a therapist then she's not a particularly good one. Being overly cautious is one thing, but she comes off as paranoid.
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I'd been working off the assumption it was a different Renee, though I guess it's plausible they are the same. Assuming Chad the hunky boy-toy is the same as Chad the dorky store clerk, then we seem to have a certain latitude with character design.
Still wondering what Renee's connection to Brun is. (Although not interested enough to want Patreon spoilers.)
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If she's a therapist then she's not a particularly good one. Being overly cautious is one thing, but she comes off as paranoid.
If I may defend Renee here, she knows nothing about Clinton, and there are plenty of predators out there. And Brun could well be vulnerable to them. The apartment above the bar arrangement suggests Brun was placed in the job/living setup by some sort of social services arrangement. Though I guess it does seem a bit strange that you'd place a vulnerable autism-spectrum client in a dive bar.
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I'll have to agree there. From Clin-ton's perspective it's mostly an annoyance, even if Brun didn't have social difficulties her Renee is right to be concerned. In my own experience, it's better to look out for one's friends. I've *been* in his situation[1] where after having to get my friend cut-off at the bar on her birthday, convinced her to have a couple of glasses of water whilst waiting for a taxi. Her BFF[2] didn't trust me. Yeah, it cost me in extra cab fare since I had to carry instead of one drunk person up to her flat there were two, and make sure that their flatmates were taking care of them. Do I understand why her other friend thought the way that she did? Hell yeah. I would have done the same thing.
[1] nothing burning down, but dealing with someone who was in a vulnerable position
[2] I *really* hate that term, but it applies here
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So is no one going to talk about that breath-taking painting on the wall? That aside Renee (old or new) seems a bit less violent in this, probably as she's now actually next to Brun. Hopefully everyone keeps a level head.
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I think Renee is totally justified in her caution of some strange guy who was with her friend through a very vulnerable moment.
Also, sort of unrelated, is anyone else finding Renee almost distractingly attractive? Because daaaaaaaaaang.
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She certainly does care about Brun, which is a good thing.
But I get the feeling she can be a bit over the top at times.
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Fun fact about the german language: We dont even have a word for "creep". Well we have words for specific types of creepy behavior, such as "Spanner" for "Peeping Tom", but not a general term. Also "creepy" can only be very rudimentally translated as "gruselig", "schauerlich" etc, but that actually means only "eerie", not really "creepy".
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She must be fun at parties.
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Ah! The joys of paranoid ideation, where denial is a confession and lack of evidence of a worst-case interpretation is suspicious!
In Renee's defence, she doesn't know Clinton or anything about him other than the fact that he inserted himself into Brun's life when she was at a low, vulnerable spot. A good friend should be at least concerned! I'll reserve judgement until we see how she reacts to him in person and whether she'll give him a chance.
FWIW, I'm expecting a show of protective aggression followed by suspicious glares and fretting.
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So is no one going to talk about that breath-taking painting on the wall?
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Kc2E_8Du4yY/V2D5pmGH4GI/AAAAAAAAGnc/N9aApl7b1MwvkWrvkS5NgDxgVeoJyEkrgCCo/s576/155-Kolleberg.jpg)
Mine...
Or did you mean the empty sea painting? I think the ship went down with the bar. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3212)
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Same piercings, same skin tone, same name. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1845) I don't have any reason to think it's a different Renee.
There are better images of her here (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1867) and here (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1868). Considering how much Jeph's art has changed since then, as well as the fact that even series regulars like Dora seem to change from one appearance to the next, I guess it's not too much of a stretch to say it's the same Renee.
Which means that Marten's ex-girlfriend's ex-coworker and Marten's girlfriend's brother's once-bartender are friends, and this meeting between the two of them is probably the furthest removed from the original main cast (Marten/Faye/Dora/Steve) as we've ever been. Weird but cool, eh?
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The real question is of course if Renee would be as paranoid about a girl helping Brun?
Also, with all the AI talk lately, I wonder if Jeph watches Person of Interest?
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Re: father figure: how about parental figure? Being a strong and grounding presence could just as well be a mother.
Renee: she's about as infuriating as the time we met her. I get that she's afraid for Brun, but Brun has to make her own decisions on who to trust, and her criteria are pretty good - he was helpful, he didn't try anything, and he respected her wishes. Renee acts like this kind of paranoia is normal, but it really isn't; and she doesn't help at all calling Clinton a creep or maybe-murderer. She could help Brun hammer out a road map on what to do next, or what to do if she's ever in a similar situation again, but nah, she likes Brun depending on her...
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"That Clinton creep." Renee has never met him and knows nothing except that he helped her friend in a crisis. Reasonable caution is fair enough; immediate certainty of bad intentions based on no evidence at all is not. Whatever her (or Brun's) experiences the belief that everyone else in the world is evil is close to mental illness, and would make the holder intolerable company.
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Just a shot in the dark: I think it might be interesting if Renee has her own reasons for being suspicious of a helpful stranger. It could make for an interesting story if Renee tries to tolerate Clinton for Brun's sake but is constantly flashing back or reliving abuse that she suffered for trusting the wrong person. Then it stops being the aggressive, obstructionist friend and starts being about a woman trying to handle her own demons whilst still trying to be a to a vulnerable friend.
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Same piercings, same skin tone, same name. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1845) I don't have any reason to think it's a different Renee.
Yes, my only proble is if enough QC time has passed for her to grow such long hair.
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The apartment above the bar arrangement suggests Brun was placed in the job/living setup by some sort of social services arrangement.
Wouldn't be that unusual over here - or at least wasn't when I was younger. I've worked at shops which were converted houses with upstairs rooms hardly used for the business, and letting a member of staff who's OK as a keyholder live in them informally means there isn't a need to modify the building to provide separate access and there's someone you know on site. Much less work to do that than do a proper conversion with separate entrances for a tenant who's nothing to do with the business. I suppose it might be legislation has made that sort of casual arrangement more difficult these days.
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Brun has good, if not particularly strident friends. Best new character in some while.
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Same piercings, same skin tone, same name. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1845) I don't have any reason to think it's a different Renee.
Yes, my only proble is if enough QC time has passed for her to grow such long hair.
It's been at least two time skips since we saw her, I think, so that shouldn't be a problem.
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I think people are getting "strong" mixed up with "masculine".
I think people are getting shitposting mixed up with a serious contribution to the discussion, unless I misinterpreted the original comment that spurred this sidebar on.
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Re: father figure: how about parental figure? Being a strong and grounding presence could just as well be a mother.
Renee: she's about as infuriating as the time we met her. I get that she's afraid for Brun, but Brun has to make her own decisions on who to trust, and her criteria are pretty good - he was helpful, he didn't try anything, and he respected her wishes. Renee acts like this kind of paranoia is normal, but it really isn't; and she doesn't help at all calling Clinton a creep or maybe-murderer. She could help Brun hammer out a road map on what to do next, or what to do if she's ever in a similar situation again, but nah, she likes Brun depending on her...
The subtext here is that at some point, Brun's been taken advantage of. If, as some on here have speculated, she's on the autism spectrum, she might be quite easy to take advantage of if she fails to understand threats or subtext or sarcasm or all sorts of intonations and emotions.
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Does Renee's behavior towards Brun remind anyone else of Corpse Witch's behavior towards Bubbles?
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Does Renee's behavior towards Brun remind anyone else of Corpse Witch's behavior towards Bubbles?
No. Because I think Renee's comes from an area of genuine concern.
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But wait - what if Renee meets Clinton and decides he's the most adorable thing she's ever seen (unlikely but....)
I like the way she's drawn though! This ought to be interesting.
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Does Renee's behavior towards Brun remind anyone else of Corpse Witch's behavior towards Bubbles?
I don't get the same vibe. Renee does appear to be jumping to conclusions. About Clinton as well as about how vulnerable Brun's difficulties in handling emotions make her. It is easy for us to dismiss her concerns about Clinton, because the way the story unfolded (which is something Renee did not see) he was painted as the good guy. OTOH we can safely assume that Renee knows more about Brun's history than what we have seen. There may be incidents in Brun's past that make Renee's concerns very real/valid. She may still make wrong conclusions about how well Brun is judging Clinton's character, because she was not there. Anyway, she seems to genuinely care for her. We will see more when/if Brun gives a more detailed account of the night of the fire to her.
It could be argued that similarly Corpse Witch knows more than we do about Bubbles' personal history. But her callous retort to seeing Bubbles in distress painted a very different picture - CW has her own agenda that is not focusing on Bubbles' emotional well-being.
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But wait - what if Renee meets Clinton and decides he's the most adorable thing she's ever seen (unlikely but....)
I like the way she's drawn though! This ought to be interesting.
She is not bad, she is just drawn that way.
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Just a shot in the dark: I think it might be interesting if Renee has her own reasons for being suspicious of a helpful stranger. It could make for an interesting story if Renee tries to tolerate Clinton for Brun's sake but is constantly flashing back or reliving abuse that she suffered for trusting the wrong person. Then it stops being the aggressive, obstructionist friend and starts being about a woman trying to handle her own demons whilst still trying to be a to a vulnerable friend.
Well I'm getting the vibe that Renee may be more messed-up than Brun. if indeed Brun can be considered messed up at all - she simply has her own way of dealing with the world.
Saying that, I could be reacting to her insistance on dumping on somebody we know to be fundamentally decent, if somewhat annoying at times.
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I disagree - Renee's reaction reminds me of classic narcissist control technique. It's more subtle than Corpse Witch's almost blatant evil, but Renee's behavior has a definite stink of manipulation to it. Could also just be being overprotective, but, well, when your reaction to someone telling you they made a friend other than you is to call him a creep and threaten him it really doesn't say good things about you to me.
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Does Renee's behavior towards Brun remind anyone else of Corpse Witch's behavior towards Bubbles?
Not really, no.
Edit: replied before noticing there was a whole new page I hadn't even read yet.
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To me it's more reminiscent of Clinton's (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2325) behaviour (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2425) towards Claire. Well-meant, protective, but unsolicited and belittling.
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Which opens the door to a series of jokes where people who know Clinton and meet Renee and Brun remark about how this all seems so familiar, somehow.
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Both Brun and Renee are messed up. Lets deconstruct, shall we?
Clinton just went in the pub for water, and she acted not only ignorant, but very disrespectful to a client. Water, or soda, if you patronize, her behavior was unbecoming. And all Clinton was trying to do was assist. By all rights, he could have just ups and rolled after the fire. He owed her nothing. But whatever issues she had she seems to be working on.
Renee, is borderline sociopath, paranoid and outright hostile. Faye has her issues, but even she has her crazy train limits. Everything she has said so far shows a deeply disturbed individual
I might even suspect an abusive relationship may even exist between Brun and Renee...interest wait and see situation
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I disliked Renee over the phone. Now that we've met her, my feelings have intensified.
STFU, Renee.
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We're really starting to see what Angus meant.
(Also, it really doesn't make sense that Renee would be Brun's social worker or therapist, given that she was working in a bakery not too long ago.)
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Renee, is borderline sociopath
Where the hell are you getting that from?
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(Also, it really doesn't make sense that Renee would be Brun's social worker or therapist, given that she was working in a bakery not too long ago.)
My assumption at the time was that it was a different Renee.
I think we are all in danger of doing to Renee what Renee did to Clinton: jumping to the harshest possible conclusions based on scant evidence. Renee might well have good reasons (rooted in history) to protect Brun from strangers. We know very little about either character's past.
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I think we are all in danger of doing to Renee what Renee did to Clinton: jumping to the harshest possible conclusions based on scant evidence.
In an online forum? InconCEIVable, I say!
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On a slightly different tack, I wanted to say that panel 2 of today's comic is a nice touch - Renee is literally smothering Brun. The little "oof" says a lot quickly.
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Renee, is borderline sociopath
Where the hell are you getting that from?
Its an easy leap actually. Over-possessive and putting in disturbing thoughts into someone else head. Manipulation of a situation to further Brun's feeling of self doubt. Yeah, Renee is riding the crazy train bigtime. We are talking about not looking at the situation a normal person would view it.
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Yeah, Renee is riding the crazy train bigtime...We are talking about not looking at the situation a normal person would view it.
So not "normal" means "crazy"? Please rethink this, or you will not do well here.
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Yeah, Renee is riding the crazy train bigtime...We are talking about not looking at the situation a normal person would view it.
So not "normal" means "crazy"? Please rethink this, or you will not do well here.
Rethink? Her behaviors reflect someone who is disturbed. Perhaps I should have said "sane"
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Because being protective is abnormal, right. I see nothing in today's strip to suggest Renee's making any especially big leaps. She hugged her friend. She voiced concern that could be based off past experience. We don't know if she's been hurt before in similar situations, or if she knows Brun has, but she's acting like one of those two things has happend and she doesn't want a repeat.
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I didn't mean to come off as antagonizing. Its just from her her first interaction, or introduction, she came off as disrespectful. Clinton isn't the most likeable person, but nothing warranted her attitude and threats. Today's interaction confirmed her poor and possibly toxic attitude
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Hrmmm. I had someone behave toward me in much the same way as Renee views Clinton. It almost cost me the friendship of someone important to me.
Even if Renee were to meet Clinton in person, I don't think there's anything he could say that would reduce her hostility toward him. She doesn't trust him but critically does not *want* to trust him either.
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I'm going to be cautious about Renee until she meets Clinton and/or we get more information about her behavior...
The biggest thing that makes her suspect imo is how she up and hugs Brun which looks like it makes Brun uncomfortable. If her concern was genuinely looking out for Brun I would expect her to ask or give warning before immediately smothering her.
It looks to me like Renee just assumes that she can do that, and Brun probably knows her well enough that she isn't ESPECIALLY bothered or is accustomed to that, but it's still basically an act of entitlement to Brun's space and person.
Even if she's well-meaning, and her fears are reasonably founded, I think that Renee oversteps her boundaries, and Brun is just used to it or doesn't know how to enforce them.
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The real question is of course if Renee would be as paranoid about a girl helping Brun?
Probably not - while there are indeed predatory women out there, someone overprotective like Renee is more likely to be worried about men; most rapists and serial killers are men after all. Plus if, as some suspect, Brun was taken advantage of in the past and this is part of the reason for Renee's overprotectiveness, it was most likely a man who took advantage of her. Or of Renee herself, if she was the one preyed on.
Renee's snap judgment of Clinton as a predator (even in the face of his helpfulness) does annoy the hell out of me, as I have been on the receiving end of such treatment as well. But I have to remind myself that SOME men ARE real bastards and would take advantage of someone in Brun's position in horrible ways. And one often can't tell ahead of time which men are the bastards and which ones are decent (the bastards can be really good at acting decent and the decent men can be awkward), so I can understand some women taking the position that a man she doesn't already know well is a bastard until proven otherwise beyond the shadow of a doubt.
I don't like it, at all, but I can understand it.
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I certainly won't blame any woman for being wary of men, especially unknown ones. It's self-preservation. It sucks (as I have stated upthread) being on the receiving end, but I'm wary of my *own* gender, especially younger guys because of the propensity for violence. Between what I went through when I was younger, and my various anxiety disorders, I can't help but be.
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Re: father figure: how about parental figure? Being a strong and grounding presence could just as well be a mother.
Absolutely. The only good reason to think "father figure" is that it's what the Pugnacious Peach is missing in her life.
Being a strong and grounding presence is only part of being a parental figure, though. A parental figure is one with two or three decades more life experience than you, who can give you advice which you realize years later was sound.
Bubbles has some life experiences that Faye doesn't but at a guess Bubbles is in the AI equivalent of a human's early 20s.
And, welcome, Corsair!
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I'm going to fall back on what Jeph said about his creation a long time ago: No one in the strip is 100 percent right or good; no one in the strip is 100 percent wrong or bad. (Beatrice was pushing it, but even she had her redeeming qualities. Quality. Moment.)
I'll keep that in mind when evaluating this new Renee.
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There are people who are naturally cautious because of upbringing or previous negative experiences. Some guys can be badly, but then again women do it too. Caution is fine, but lashing out is a poor way of dealing with things. Without understanding or stepping back to understand a situation creates more enemies than friends. There runs a risk of generalizing all people based on the actions of a minority of a gender.
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There runs a risk of generalizing all people based on the actions of a minority of a gender.
And quite honestly, I'm good with that. If giving up my cis straight white middle class U.S. southern male privilege for a while is all I have to do so someone else feels more comfortable, I'll just have to cope.
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There runs a risk of generalizing all people based on the actions of a minority of a gender.
And quite honestly, I'm good with that. If giving up my cis straight white middle class U.S. southern male privilege for a while is all I have to do so someone else feels more comfortable, I'll just have to cope.
Everybody is different. And I respect your position. I see absolutely nothing wrong wit a person being cis or white. There is a myth of male privilege but that is a discussion for another day. You are the person you are and your uniqueness is something that makes you who you are. I am non white, but being from a multi racial and cultural society educates that everyone is unique and deal with the hand they are dealt.
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If this is indeed the Renee from TSB, it's nice to see that there's more to her than "Black Faye" to put it bluntly. Even if she comes across as pretty unlikable to some (including me).
I do understand the whole being protective thing, but we should remember that one of the things that survived the fire is Brun's harpoon. I'm sure she'd have used it if Clinton / anybody tried anything dumb.
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Does Renee's behavior towards Brun remind anyone else of Corpse Witch's behavior towards Bubbles?
No. Because I think Renee's comes from an area of genuine concern.
And from the way you said that I infer you do not think Corpse Witch's behavior comes from genuine concern. However, apart from that difference in presumed motive (a difference for which you have not stated any objective basis), the similarity is still there.
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I'm going to fall back on what Jeph said about his creation a long time ago: No one in the strip is 100 percent right or good; no one in the strip is 100 percent wrong or bad. (Beatrice was pushing it, but even she had her redeeming qualities. Quality. Moment.)
I'll keep that in mind when evaluating this new Renee.
How about Vespavenger?
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Does Renee's behavior towards Brun remind anyone else of Corpse Witch's behavior towards Bubbles?
No. Because I think Renee's comes from an area of genuine concern.
And from the way you said that I infer you do not think Corpse Witch's behavior comes from genuine concern. However, apart from that difference in presumed motive (a difference for which you have not stated any objective basis), the similarity is still there.
Yes, but my point was that I felt the difference in altruism level was too obvious to ignore.
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I'm going to fall back on what Jeph said about his creation a long time ago: No one in the strip is 100 percent right or good; no one in the strip is 100 percent wrong or bad. (Beatrice was pushing it, but even she had her redeeming qualities. Quality. Moment.)
I'll keep that in mind when evaluating this new Renee.
How about Vespavenger?
Vespavenger used to volunteer at a shelter for homeless puppies.
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While Renee may have reason to be suspicious, I think it is safe to say her suspicions are a bit too far. I've had a friendship like this when struggling with my autism spectrum diagnosis, who meant well, but ended up making the friendship very toxic and abusive. I was not allowed to trust anyone but them and had to get their permission first on who I could consider a friend or foe. In hindsight, I still see it as one of the most toxic relationships I had in my life since I lived in constant anxiety on any possible new friend being a problem because the protective friend told me to be weary of them. It took a long time for me to get self-confidence in myself on how to interact with day-to-day strangers.
Now I'm not going to conclude Renee is that, because we have to see more of her first. But I will say this is what the vibe is coming off from, and it's not too uncommon. Sometimes people have this need to BE the one to protect another so hard that they tunnel vision and forget that each person is unique and each case is different. Straight hostility will cause more harm than good for someone in Brun's situation, if she's on the autism spectrum. This is just coming from a personal experience, so take it with a grain of salt.
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I'm going to fall back on what Jeph said about his creation a long time ago: No one in the strip is 100 percent right or good; no one in the strip is 100 percent wrong or bad. (Beatrice was pushing it, but even she had her redeeming qualities. Quality. Moment.)
I'll keep that in mind when evaluating this new Renee.
How about Vespavenger?
Some of my fellow men are @$$holes who need a good whuppin'. Dispute her generalization and her methods, but she wasn't wrong about that part.
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This page does not pass Bechdel test. :-D
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If QC ever goes Full Anime i'm not accepting anything less than bubbles opening up and Faye climbing inside her and they combine their power and fight as a team.
That'd probably only work if Bubbles had a transtector (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transtector).
Now... am I the only one who wants to see Bubbles do a Halo-style one-woman army action scene to save the day in some future arc?
How about as part of some sort of simulation for therapy?
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It's the reptoids, obviously. Denver isn't built on itself || loam, and THEY live underground until they master their shapeshifting abilities and can pass for human.
Huh.
I thought they did maintenance on the MIB train tunnels and just had to slap on a Trying Human device to appear human.
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To me it really seems like Renee means well, because she's aware of Brun's vulnerabilities, but in doing so revokes her autonomy. We shall see how that plays out. Hopefully she'll realise that soon.
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There is a myth of male privilege but that is a discussion for another day.
You must be joking.
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There is a myth of male privilege but that is a discussion for another day.
Here is that discussion (https://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,30487.0.html) - it might be prudent for you to read it before saying things like that in this forum.
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Same piercings, same skin tone, same name. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1845) I don't have any reason to think it's a different Renee.
Yes, my only proble is if enough QC time has passed for her to grow such long hair.
One word: Dora.
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Re: father figure: how about parental figure? Being a strong and grounding presence could just as well be a mother.
Renee: she's about as infuriating as the time we met her. I get that she's afraid for Brun, but Brun has to make her own decisions on who to trust, and her criteria are pretty good - he was helpful, he didn't try anything, and he respected her wishes. Renee acts like this kind of paranoia is normal, but it really isn't; and she doesn't help at all calling Clinton a creep or maybe-murderer. She could help Brun hammer out a road map on what to do next, or what to do if she's ever in a similar situation again, but nah, she likes Brun depending on her...
The subtext here is that at some point, Brun's been taken advantage of. If, as some on here have speculated, she's on the autism spectrum, she might be quite easy to take advantage of if she fails to understand threats or subtext or sarcasm or all sorts of intonations and emotions.
What if Renee were the one who was taken advantage of at some point?
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...by Angus?
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I read it and perception of privilage isn't actually privilage. Like i said, a discussion for another day. I don't think i attacked anyone. I simply was relating that the renee character sounds very entitled and jeph's writing continues to be impressive in giving the characters dimensions which enhances the quality of the comic.
Think about it, how many comics can actually engage a debate based on the characters?
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I read it and perception of privilage isn't actually privilage. Like i said, a discussion for another day. I don't think i attacked anyone. I simply was relating that the renee character sounds very entitled and jeph's writing continues to be impressive in giving the characters dimensions which enhances the quality of the comic.
Without getting this moved to Discuss (hopefully), I would submit that privilege is not as easily seen by those who possess it as by those who do not.
Similarly, it is much easier to feel attacked than to feel you are attacking.
Think about it, how many comics can actually engage a debate based on the characters?
Yeah, it's cool like that.
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Does anyone else see the irony in leaping to the conclusion that Renee is a bad person because she leaped to the conclusion that Clinton is a bad person?
The difference, of course, is that we know Clinton is in fact a good person, whereas we've seen and heard very little about Renee so far (admittedly negative).
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One also has to remember that even though he has made a lot of progress in the way that he carries himself, Clin-ton *can* come across as creepy. His enthusiasm WRT AI and antro-PCs made his meeting Hanners (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1902) cause him to get Marten to grab a sword. And that was getting off easy compared to his introduction to Momo (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2068).
His character has evolved since then, thankfully, but he doesn't always make the best first impressions. I guess that holds even if he has never actually met the person.
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(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Kc2E_8Du4yY/V2D5pmGH4GI/AAAAAAAAGnc/N9aApl7b1MwvkWrvkS5NgDxgVeoJyEkrgCCo/s576/155-Kolleberg.jpg)
Mine...
Or did you mean the empty sea painting? I think the ship went down with the bar. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3212)
O I meant the one in panel two of today's (or yesterday's, depending on where you live?) comic (with Renee). Though that's a really cool painting and super similar.. was Jeph like.. inspired by it or something? Makes me confuzzled. @_@
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It's not just that she is assuming Clinton is a bad person with no evidence, she is steamrolling Brun's interpretation of things as well. Whatever her issues with social cues, etc. Brun was there, and Renee was not. And she is jsut trampling over it like what Brun experienced means nothing.
I'm not assuming Renee is a bad person, but what she is doing in this comic, as well as earlier on the phone with Clinton, is straight up messed up.
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She's not quite streamrolling Brun's interpretation. She was suspicious. Arguably understandably so. But she has conceded to Brun's opinion in today's comic (even if it was mainly to avoid a fight).
I don't think what she's doing is 'messed up' at all. She's concerned for Brun's welfare. Maybe overly so, but I think saying it's messed up is going a bit too far. We know what she doesn't. The omniscient viewpoint, remember? It's in the sig.
Edit: Oh bugger, I forgot. It's not in the sig anymore. But we know all kinds of things the characters we are watching don't, and we need to remember that when evaluating their actions.
Edit 2: Ah, you probably hadn't seen the new comic when you wrote that post, but it's up now!
Edit 3: Talking about a comic where you can only react up to the second last one you've seen can get kind of tricky.
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Up at 4 for baking? Secret Bakery Renee she is!
There could also be an element of self-serving in chasing Clinton away. If Brun tries to follow Renee's schedule (i.e. in bed by 9), contact with Clinton could disrupt that.
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My initial feeling was that Brun wasn't comfortable with Renee's hug when she came in, but in these following pages she doesn't seem un-confortable with Renee being close. She's hard to read though, because she doesn't seen to show much discomfort on her face other than when she had Clinton bring her to the hotel.
Renee is a super touchy person though.
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I sure didn't get the idea she would be huggy in her earlier appearances. Since she was sort of a Faye equivalent punchy would be more expected that huggy.
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Clinton was early on borderline overbearing but i think the experience from the different events changed the character. Renee was and still might be projecting sarah mclachlan "possession".
Brun has her own way of dealing with stuff. Sometimes not the best but an individual. Brun will join the COD fold and will be the faye replacement. I wonder how faye will take it. Ironically faye's new employment has made her think a bit more like an adult and less like a child
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My initial feeling was that Brun wasn't comfortable with Renee's hug when she came in, but in these following pages she doesn't seem un-confortable with Renee being close. She's hard to read though, because she doesn't seen to show much discomfort on her face other than when she had Clinton bring her to the hotel.
Renee is a super touchy person though.
Well hell Renee's giving ME anxiety being that touchy-feely. I dunno, Brun looks to me like she's kind of...conditioned to expect and accept this from Renee. Like, Renee knows that Brun isn't good at reading subtle cues, or that she assumes the worst/danger/disapproval in the absence of indisputable information to the contrary, so she uses more blatant cues to indicate her support.
And that kind of thing...can be both uncomfortable and reassuring at the same time. I'm reminded of a time a few months ago, when I went to an anime convention on the understanding that a friend (also autistic) had a hotel room to put me up in, but for most of the day she barely responded to my attempts to contact her and I was starting to to lowkey freak out by the time I met her in a restaurant...when I told her that I wasn't doing great she wanted to hug and I complied. Which was as I stated, both very uncomfortable, but also nice, in a way.
I'm obviously projecting a great deal here. I don't know Brun's situation exactly, just that I become more and more convinced that she's autistic, and am thus trying to understand her along the lines of how I would feel in that situation. So take anything I say about this as purely advisory.
Anyway, to refer back to what I said in my previous post...well, Renee's relationship with Brun looks complicated and believable to me, not something I can pass summary judgment on, probably.
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You know, it looks like Renee is saying words, but all I can read is "MINE."
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My initial feeling was that Brun wasn't comfortable with Renee's hug when she came in, but in these following pages she doesn't seem un-confortable with Renee being close.
What I got from that wasn't that Brun was uncomfortable with hugs, but that, as you concluded, Renée is a huggy person. I am also a hugger. I try not to hug those who are uncomfortable with it, but I've absolutely smother-hugged folk that weren't prepared for it.
That Brun just muttered'oof'' without pulling away, that's a sign she already expected that kind of response from Renée. She wasn't surprised, or visibly upset.
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Okay, on the one hand, I can see where Renee is coming from. Brun has just been in a fire; she's lost her home, her job and her belongings; her life has been turned upside down. And then she hears that a strange guy has been helping Brun in a difficult situation, of course alarm bells are going off and internal sirens are screeching.
On the other hand, her reactions to what Brun has said kinda feels to me like she believes that Brun can't make her own decisions, that she needs to be constantly supervised. Maybe its just expecting the worse of a new character, so lets wait to see how Renee develops.
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Ah, 4 o'clock in the morning. Or, as we irresponsible people refer to it, "Stumble Home Drunk O'clock".
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Anyone else get the feeling that Renee might have a wee bit of a crush?
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4 AM. Reminds me of my old convenience store morning shift.
Renee comes off better in this strip than the previous one so I'm reserving judgement.
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I love Renee! And I also don't think she's neurotypical-- I think she's very aware of the power of routines, and the fact that Brun is comfy enough with her to mention she's lost hers, and that Renee immediately popped up with hers, makes me think that she thinks about hers a lot. Plus, Renee vibes to me like someone with adhd; quick emotionality with a treatment plan centering a more rigid sleep and exercise routine.
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Hrmm, yea before this comic I was giving Renee some benefit-of-the-doubt but she seems pretty control-y. Kinda like putting Brun under her thumb. She kinda skipped over remembering that Brun is a bartender and dismissed it which gives me the impression that it isn't ill-intended on Renee's part but that Renee has an overly-protective attitude towards Brun. Kinda more like, "I'm doing this to protect you," and not, "I'm doing this to keep you all to myself!" if that makes any sense.. kinda like an over-protective parent.
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9 PM? Really? Hhahahahahahahahha. I guess I'm simply a night owl, it just looks so alien to me.
(https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p206x206/406125_120301734808245_1719626668_n.jpg?oh=3148bed07f8a9aca1ad25e58d0e071fb&oe=57C46D4A)
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Last few times I have seen a sunrise, it was from the other end.
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De-lurking.
I was iffy about Brun at first, but I've grown to like her. I didn't mind Renee at first (what little we saw of her back during the Secret Bakery/Padma storyline, assuming it's the same Renee), but she's rapidly wearing out her welcome. I'll admit that some of this is colored by my own experiences with people who were very good at hiding unhealthy, possessive, and controlling behavior behind a "helpful" facade, but what I'm seeing here is making me a bit squirmy in the same way that Clinton's early appearances did, and the way certain people IRL did before I put some distance between me and them.
Clinton appears to have done some growing up during the time skip. He's got work to do yet, but at least he's doing the work. I don't know what Renee's deal is, but hopefully she does the same sooner rather than later.
Last few times I have seen a sunrise, it was from the other end.
Glad I'm not the only one who's had days with multiple sunrises. 8-)
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Glad I'm not the only one who's had days with multiple sunrises. 8-)
No, you could still be the only one who's had that. 8-)
If I were getting up at 04:00 every day, I'd be in bed by 21:00 more often than not, people. If not earlier. Luckily for me, 05:00 is about as early as I get up. I'm terrible at maintaining a routine, though. My sleep start and end times are never at the same time twice in a row. Probably part of the reason I have such a hard time waking up.
Edit: My bold prediction: most of you will warm to Renee in time. Just as most people have warmed to the other cast members that gave an initially negative impression.
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I dunno. I'm *still* not sure about that Marten guy.
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Oh yeah, good point. Okay, apart from Marten. :mrgreen:
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This really doesn't seem like the Renee we knew from before at The Secret Bakery. Back then she was a lot more surly and aggressive to everyone. Her phone conversation with and about Clinton was more in line with what we've seen and heard about her before. I guess Brun brings out the better in her.
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I have to agree with cucumber. Brun is typically hard to read but her reaction to '4am' seems to say that, whilst she needs a new routine, she really doesn't want to use Renee's routine. It may also indicate that she's not entirely keen with the thought of moving in with Renee either.
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I don't really get where people think there's something wrong with Renee. If my crush theory ends up being wrong, she COULD just be a protective friend. Some dude Brun doesn't know just randomly shows up and is pretty insistent on repeatedly putting himself into the life of her down-on-her-luck friend? I'd probably be suspicious, too. Especially if that friend was not always the best judge of character or lacking in social skills to begin with.
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De-lurking.
I was iffy about Brun at first, but I've grown to like her. I didn't mind Renee at first (what little we saw of her back during the Secret Bakery/Padma storyline, assuming it's the same Renee), but she's rapidly wearing out her welcome. I'll admit that some of this is colored by my own experiences with people who were very good at hiding unhealthy, possessive, and controlling behavior behind a "helpful" facade, but what I'm seeing here is making me a bit squirmy in the same way that Clinton's early appearances did, and the way certain people IRL did before I put some distance between me and them.
Clinton appears to have done some growing up during the time skip. He's got work to do yet, but at least he's doing the work. I don't know what Renee's deal is, but hopefully she does the same sooner rather than later.
Last few times I have seen a sunrise, it was from the other end.
Glad I'm not the only one who's had days with multiple sunrises. 8-)
Definitely not.
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Brun's mental gearings are trying their darnedest to confirm that 4AM does in fact exist and that cities are actually assembled that early in the morning.
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I don't like Renee telling Brun "You have trouble figuring out people's intentions". There is such a thing as a self fullfilling prophecy.
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I've managed 5am for years, but yeah, you do have to be in bed ridiculously early (for a young'un). Sucks if you live with other people. Finishing work at lunchtime is the reward, though. You may wake in darkness, but you always get to see daylight, even in winter.
4am can fuck right off, though. That's the devil's dancing hour.
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I don't like Renee telling Brun "You have trouble figuring out people's intentions". There is such a thing as a self fullfilling prophecy.
Today on QC forum, an Art Exhibit: Posters And Their Massively Appropriate Usernames
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Anyone else get the feeling that Renee might have a wee bit of a crush?
I don't know if she has a crush, that is to say, a sexual attraction to her - but she comes off as very possessive, sexually or not. I thought I might be imagining it until I got here and found that much if not most of the forum had come to that conclusion a strip earlier than I did.
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Something that I noticed and no-one seems to have mentioned yet: Renee goes in to start baking at 4am every morning. Still at tSB confirmed.
Given that, when Marten met Padma, she couldn't even use the 'large blender thing' without setting the shop on fire, the fact that Jim now trust her to go in early to start making the day's stock means that she's likely come a long way from the one-dimensional character who Angus described as being someone so unpleasant that his room-mates couldn't stand her. She might still have an acerbic personality but it is possible that six months (and the departure of Padma, tSB's previous 'reliable one') has led her to mature a little.
People tend to like having a place to call home, autistic or no.
But for people like Brun, it's even more important. Other people can't necessarily be held to routines and that sort of disruption would make it difficult for her to live with them. It isn't directly stated but I get the impression that Renee's pitch was possibly: "I'm a busy woman; I'll be mostly out of your hair all day". That said, I really get the impression that Brun would be a lot happier in her own place.
Anyone else get the feeling that Renee might have a wee bit of a crush?
Um... No. IMO, Renee does love Brun but it is purely sisterly and platonic. I'm wondering if Jeph is deliberately writing the two of them to be a 'Bizarro Mirror' (to use the phrase used to describe the Coffee of Doom/The Secret Bakery comparison) of Clinton and Claire.
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Given how touchy Renee is I'd say they're either involved or Renee wants to be, and given Brun I'm inclined to lean towards the 'wants to be'.
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I believe in having an organized routine but each routine has to work for the individual. I am an astronomer so i have a different sleep pattern to say my wife. But we make it work.
Renee is gearing up for a confrontation with Clinton in the near future. She will tell him that she is looking out for brun and that she does not trust him. And insert threat about physical violence if brun is hurt. Clinton may be taken aback but might have the spine to tell her what she can do with her opinion.
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Given how touchy Renee is I'd say they're either involved or Renee wants to be, and given Brun I'm inclined to lean towards the 'wants to be'.
Some people (Hello!) show affection and sympathy through physical contact. It's just the way we process emotion, and has NOTHING to do with attraction. If you saw me with my sister, you'd think it was a Lannister situation, but trust me, no.
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That is only true if you consider today's comic a sign of romantic love.
Sorry if that was confusing, I'm very tired. I accidentally went by Renée's morning schedule and woke up at 4
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Still reserving judgment on Renee.
Re: 4 a.m. -- It looks much nicer after a few hours of sleep. I've driven home from work at sunrise for enough years (after a shift that morphed into 14 hours but that's OK, DSL, you're salaried and they're hourly and you're single and ...) that I'll cheerfully fall asleep at 21:00 or 22:00 if it means being rrasonably rested enoigh ar 04:00 to enjoy a quiet morning punctuated by a sunrise. The attractions of the Night World pale after a while, anyway. The social life looks increasingly alien and the TV programming leaves much to be desired.
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I am pretty much convinced that this is, indeed, Angus' ex and TSB employee Renee.
My only question is, what happened to her glasses?
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She went to CoD at some point, Hanners yelled at her, and now she doesn't need glasses anymore.
Hanners is gradually putting the world's optometrists out of business.
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Today on QC forum, an Art Exhibit: Posters And Their Massively Appropriate Usernames
I'm totally trustworthy! Like, at least 40 percent trustworthy!
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I'd forgotten the whole Angus side of things. Sure some people have a pretty dim opinion of Renee right now, but really I'm just seeing "sort of overbearing" and protective threatening that nobody would have had an issue with coming from Faye, and not "ding dong the witch is dead" sort of behaviour. But maybe when she's out and encountering Clinton we'll suddenly see that side of her.
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My only question is, what happened to her glasses?
What happened to her short hair and a sartorial style that made her look like the early-model Tai? People change over time. In Renee's case, I suspect that she decided to have a full make-over, including wearing contacts.
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So what do we know about Renee? She works at The Secret Bakery. She's over-protective of Brun. She dated Angus years ago. Angus's roomates (pre-Marigold?) didn't like her. Marten saw her as the bizarro-faye. She saw Padma and Marten start their thing. She shows affection physically.
That's not much to go on. I'm excited to see what happens next.
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She went to CoD at some point, Hanners yelled at her, and now she doesn't need glasses anymore.
Hanners is gradually putting the world's optometrists out of business.
CoD is now an Eye-Scream Shop
:clairedoge:
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Everyone's predicting CoD, but what if Brun gets a job at the LIBRARY? They could certainly find a place for her, given that at one point there were six people working there.
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It's perfect! If anyone gets too loud, she can break out the harpoon.
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One last post defending Renee.
To those who think she's overprotecting Brun, I invite you to look again at this comic. (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3223) Brun at the end both goes nonverbal and has to shut her eyes due to overstimulation. She literally grabs onto Clinton and depends on him to navigate her out of it. It's VERY lucky for Brun that she had a trustworthy person there to help her; otherwise things could have become very ugly.
Renee is apparently aware of this side of Brun, and knows how crucial it is for Brun to have a dependable companion if things get bad. Renee, unlike us, has no way to know that Clinton can fill this role. From her point of view this must have been a terrifying turn of events.
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While you bring up a good point, and I think it's quite likely how Renee sees the situation. However, this whole point hinges on whether or not Brun can be trusted to make a value call as to Clinton's character, or indeed anyone's character. Renee's reaction is that no, Brun can not be trusted to make that decision on her own. That thought strips Brun's agency from her. It's basically saying "You can't be trusted how to judge people's character, someone else has to do it for you." And unless that is very true, it's an incredibly shitty thing to think of a friend, and it's a very controlling thing. Basically wanting to vet and new friends Brun makes, and automatically rejecting Clinton without ever having met him. At best this is a reaction to serious problems with people either in Renee's or Brun's past who have taking advantage of one of them. Or it's a sign of an abusive relationship where Renee has to have all the control... Which would ironically make Renee the kind of person she warns Brun to stay away from. Obviously, life is rarely one extreme or the other, and their relationship likely falls somewhere in the middle.
But what Renee is ignoring or doesn't want to see is that Clinton isn't just some random guy. Brun at first didn't articulate this well because she was still partly non-responsive from the stress of everything. But she's gone to bat for Clinton and shown how he has demonstrated at least apparently kindness and good will with no sign of trying to take advantage of Brun. But Renee has brushed off all of Brun's opinions and thoughts on the matter and basically swept the matter under the rug with a 'I'm right but I don't want to argue, so we'll just stop talking about it now' reasoning.
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If Renee is a baker who gets up at 4 AM and Brun is a bartender, who will traditionally get off work at 4 AM (probably later) when do they hang out? Do they have any overlapping awake-and-not-working hours? Are their friendships based exclusively on brunch on their mutual days off and phone tag? Sure, Brun seems to have had an earlier shift at least when she met Clinton, but if that is her regular shift, that is even worse. She would be starting work when Renee gets off work. Plus, the chances that they have the same days off regularly are pretty low - both those jobs often have regularly changing shifts, in my experience.
Maybe that's why Renee is so possessive. She never sees her good friend anymore, and is feeling really insecure about their relationship, and her friend just went through a massively traumatic event, which is something Brun can't handle very well, and as jheartney pointed out, Renee probably is aware of. Awww, she is just insecure and worried and trying to be a good friend and overcompensating.
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While you bring up a good point, and I think it's quite likely how Renee sees the situation. However, this whole point hinges on whether or not Brun can be trusted to make a value call as to Clinton's character, or indeed anyone's character. Renee's reaction is that no, Brun can not be trusted to make that decision on her own. That thought strips Brun's agency from her. It's basically saying "You can't be trusted how to judge people's character, someone else has to do it for you." And unless that is very true, it's an incredibly shitty thing to think of a friend, and it's a very controlling thing. Basically wanting to vet and new friends Brun makes, and automatically rejecting Clinton without ever having met him. At best this is a reaction to serious problems with people either in Renee's or Brun's past who have taking advantage of one of them. Or it's a sign of an abusive relationship where Renee has to have all the control... Which would ironically make Renee the kind of person she warns Brun to stay away from. Obviously, life is rarely one extreme or the other, and their relationship likely falls somewhere in the middle.
But what Renee is ignoring or doesn't want to see is that Clinton isn't just some random guy. Brun at first didn't articulate this well because she was still partly non-responsive from the stress of everything. But she's gone to bat for Clinton and shown how he has demonstrated at least apparently kindness and good will with no sign of trying to take advantage of Brun. But Renee has brushed off all of Brun's opinions and thoughts on the matter and basically swept the matter under the rug with a 'I'm right but I don't want to argue, so we'll just stop talking about it now' reasoning.
That is a very good way to bring across how i feel about the character. Which makes one wonder, what kind of employer she would be?
My theory of the "friendship" of Renee and Brun goes like this. Brun moved to the town and is a bit introverted and went to the bakery where she met Renee and a friendship developed. Brun is trusting and upon getting the job at the bar may have developed a relationship with someone that went not so well. Renee seemed reasonable but has a need to control, and while she may have had a desire to help Brun, her own possible negative experiences in the past clouds her judgment.
She is the "I told you so" type of person, possibly and seeds the self doubt in Brun's mind. Also, there could be the possibility that Renee likes Brun, but Brun doesn't feel the same, but doesn't want to hurt Renee's feelings. Or may not be aware of her feelings. Which is why she said the worst possible things about Clinton to not let Brun was to create a friendship with Clinton.
Just my theory anyways....
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We'll see if Renee ever warms up to Clinton. Or maybe we won't; unless Brun saved the soggy phone number, or has the presence of mind to go ask for him at COD, they might not meet again. Of course, the fact that we're still seeing Brun suggests she'll eventually have more dealings with the main cast.
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We'll see if Renee ever warms up to Clinton. Or maybe we won't; unless Brun saved the soggy phone number, or has the presence of mind to go ask for him at COD, they might not meet again. Of course, the fact that we're still seeing Brun suggests she'll eventually have more dealings with the main cast.
Hell, It would be hilarious to see Brunn hunting around town to find Clinton. Like in Cliched rom-com fashion. God, that would be funny
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I think that they might have met through the same life skills group. :) that'd explain why they're both into routines, Brun's patience with Renee's emotionality and Renee's over-protectiveness of Brun.
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Hello! Popping in again to give a conclusion on my end. I feel Renee is very much a friend unaware of their toxicity. In my experience, I found myself in Brun's position and it's not a lovely thing. The problem is you're half-aware, half in denial about the attitude because people in Brun's case may need someone to help guide them, but they definitely don't need someone to control them. The line if very, very fine and easily crossed without warning. You can see this as Renee relents on Brun's opinion of Clinton because Brun refuses to change her opinion of him. She then immediately sees the opportunity to give Brun a new schedule and life without hesitation because it's a new thing she can put into Brun's head.
Again, Renee might just be unaware of her attitude, but it's apparent that, yes, she is a manipulator at some degree. The real questions now are: How far does this go? Is Renee aware of the attitude? And will we perhaps see an arc where Renee will change her ways or stay like this?
Edit: I also want to specifically point out a HUGE example in today's comic that made me come to the conclusion, because I actually have heard this phrase. The phrase being "I don't wanna fight." This is a common phrase used to manipulate (again not saying Renee is intentional) because it plants the seed of thought that having a disagreement = fighting. For me it gave me years of self-doubt because I assumed saying 'No' to this person would mean I'm fighting with them. It's also a tell-tale sign because Renee is, at the same time, being physically affectionate with Brun, sending mixed signals that further drive the nail in.
Like always, I'm only able to speak from my experiences and to take my words with a grain of salt. :)
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Hello! Popping in again to give a conclusion on my end. I feel Renee is very much a friend unaware of their toxicity. In my experience, I found myself in Brun's position and it's not a lovely thing. The problem is you're half-aware, half in denial about the attitude because people in Brun's case may need someone to help guide them, but they definitely don't need someone to control them. The line if very, very fine and easily crossed without warning. You can see this as Renee relents on Brun's opinion of Clinton because Brun refuses to change her opinion of him. She then immediately sees the opportunity to give Brun a new schedule and life without hesitation because it's a new thing she can put into Brun's head.
Again, Renee might just be unaware of her attitude, but it's apparent that, yes, she is a manipulator at some degree. The real questions now are: How far does this go? Is Renee aware of the attitude? And will we perhaps see an arc where Renee will change her ways or stay like this?
Edit: I also want to specifically point out a HUGE example in today's comic that made me come to the conclusion, because I actually have heard this phrase. The phrase being "I don't wanna fight." This is a common phrase used to manipulate (again not saying Renee is intentional) because it plants the seed of thought that having a disagreement = fighting. For me it gave me years of self-doubt because I assumed saying 'No' to this person would mean I'm fighting with them. It's also a tell-tale sign because Renee is, at the same time, being physically affectionate with Brun, sending mixed signals that further drive the nail in.
Like always, I'm only able to speak from my experiences and to take my words with a grain of salt. :)
Salt taken, but appreciated your experience and its a sad thing to see someone go through.
breaking the rules, which works? BrunTon or ClintBrun
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Just my two cents, seeing parallels:
Brun = Bubbles
Renee = CORPSE WITCH
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Just my two cents, seeing parallels:
Brun = Bubbles
Renee = CORPSE WITCH
Sorry, I don't see it. Brun has trouble socializing (at least on the communication end)—and is very self-protective—but doesn't seem to lose her temper in a violent way. Her personality strikes me as set more in stone. Bubbles can speak very well, but obviously has PTSD and comes off as someone who could change a lot (even physically if she becomes secure enough to take off her armor).
Renee comes off as a lot more chipper and kind than Corpse Witch—who seems to actually have her own agenda rather than simple boundary issues. I don't see Bubbles being good friends with Corpse Witch either—beyond an employee who's worked with her boss a few years, but Brun and Renee remind me of a lot of people who have been friends since childhood. There tends to be a little enmeshment those kinds of relationships (kind of like siblings) until the relationship is reconstructed as the friends grow up.
If Renee is a baker who gets up at 4 AM and Brun is a bartender, who will traditionally get off work at 4 AM (probably later) when do they hang out?
Weekday early-to-late afternoons. They probably both worked on weekends. I used to be a yearbook photographer who would consider getting up at 5am to be "sleeping in," and I had relationship with a chef (who worked afternoons to evenings) for a year. Somehow we found time for each other. :)
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If Renee is the kind of controlling individual that she seems to be at this point, then the entry of Clinton and, by association, the CoD gang might just be the thing that Brun needs to break free of her friends subtle influence.
Whether or not Renee has anything more than Sisterly or, in the worst case. overly Motherly feelings for Brun is probably something that Jeph will make clear as time goes on.
In all fairness, I don't think Renee is trying to smother Brun, I just think she may be more aware of Bruns past and has concerns regarding something that may have happened in the past.
Then again, I could be wrong
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If Renee is a baker who gets up at 4 AM and Brun is a bartender, who will traditionally get off work at 4 AM (probably later) when do they hang out?
Weekday early-to-late afternoons.
Quite so. In any town there's a whole social circle for the folks who work in the odd hours trades. I used to work in a restaurant and do split shifts, and although my regular routine was do the lunch shift, play squash, afternoon tea at a nice place in town, then back to the kitchen for the evening shift, we'd also do matinees at the cinema, go rowing on the river or all sorts of stuff, and you knew other folks from different places...
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While you bring up a good point, and I think it's quite likely how Renee sees the situation. However, this whole point hinges on whether or not Brun can be trusted to make a value call as to Clinton's character, or indeed anyone's character. Renee's reaction is that no, Brun can not be trusted to make that decision on her own. That thought strips Brun's agency from her. It's basically saying "You can't be trusted how to judge people's character, someone else has to do it for you." And unless that is very true, it's an incredibly shitty thing to think of a friend, and it's a very controlling thing. Basically wanting to vet and new friends Brun makes, and automatically rejecting Clinton without ever having met him. At best this is a reaction to serious problems with people either in Renee's or Brun's past who have taking advantage of one of them. Or it's a sign of an abusive relationship where Renee has to have all the control... Which would ironically make Renee the kind of person she warns Brun to stay away from. Obviously, life is rarely one extreme or the other, and their relationship likely falls somewhere in the middle.
But what Renee is ignoring or doesn't want to see is that Clinton isn't just some random guy. Brun at first didn't articulate this well because she was still partly non-responsive from the stress of everything. But she's gone to bat for Clinton and shown how he has demonstrated at least apparently kindness and good will with no sign of trying to take advantage of Brun. But Renee has brushed off all of Brun's opinions and thoughts on the matter and basically swept the matter under the rug with a 'I'm right but I don't want to argue, so we'll just stop talking about it now' reasoning.
Thanks for putting what I was thinking much better than I managed.
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Tbh I'm really surprised that y'all are so skeptical of Renee. She's acting like the QC version of Pinkie Pie: slightly over protective, a baker, physically affectionate, etc.
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Says someone with an animal in their avatar whose usual response to that sort of thing is to curl up in a little ball and say 'talk to the spines'.
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What did I do *now*?
And FYI, my avatar and nick are due to the phenomenon as the hedgehog's dilemma.
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Sorry to be a broken record, but IMO it's a touch hasty to start applying labels like "toxic" based on a brief first impression, regardless of personal experience.
“When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself”
― Earl Nightingale
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Well it's a good thing I put my disclaimer in my post or this would be embarrassing.
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Hedgehog's Dilemma?
What do RL hedgehogs do when it gets cold? They hibernate. Schopenhauer was an ass.
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Well it's a good thing I put my disclaimer in my post or this would be embarrassing.
Well. Yes. But. Maybe if the post had opined "her behaviour appears to be toxic" (for example) rather than making a statement that appears to accept her toxicity as an obvious fact ("I feel Renee is very much a friend unaware of their toxicity"), I wouldn't have penned such a pointy post.
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Hedgehog's Dilemma?
What do RL hedgehogs do when it gets cold? They hibernate. Schopenhauer was an ass.
I seriously don't think that he was literally referring to what hedgehogs do. The principle that he put forth certainly describes my life, tho'. I want to get close to other people, but having been screwed and not in a fun way many times by people I trusted, I tend to live with spines exposed.
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Says someone with an animal in their avatar whose usual response to that sort of thing is to curl up in a little ball and say 'talk to the spines'.
What can I say? I'm a cuddly monster with aspirations of aloof prickliness, like most extroverted geeks.
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Sympathy thru light Internet contact.
Reality as a simulation by a zombie AI:
"The beauty of flowers is not necessary. It is an extra. I have faith in the beauty of flowers."
Can't find the source now. Google Has Failed Me.
So for giggles, I searched "under denver international airport" -- and now the FBI wants to impound my browser history.
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And now, I reveal my truest self.
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Assuming this is Secret Bakery Renee, according to the Wiki she was dumped by Angus for belittling people, and Angus' roommates commemorated the breakup with a round of "Ding dong the witch is dead." So you all might be on to something that she's not just overprotective, but in fact is a toxic manipulator.
With that assumption in mind, where could the story be going? Perhaps once she gets a load of the 4am schedule and insistence on vetting all her social contacts, Brun may have a crisis and decide she can't take living with Renee anymore. So who else does she know and trust in town? Begins with "C" and ends with "ton?" Brunton shippers may be appeased yet. This will lead to hilarious hijinks as Renee loudly confronts Clinton, and Clinton has to plead with ClaireMom to keep the noise down with Chad while Brun stays in the guestroom.
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I could always relate to Brun until now, but as a keyboard collector I know this situation far too well, and the relatability is eery now.
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I'm beginning to think Brun's apartment looked like Doc Brown's place in Back to the Future
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You folk saying Renee doesn't recognize that Climton isn't a random guy are forgetting that, to HER, he is. WE know better, Brun knows slightly better, but as far as Renee is concerned, The only objective fact is that Clinton's the guy who followed Brun to her hotel after the bar burned down.
This in mind, CAN YOU BLAME HER FOR BEING SUSPICIOUS?
Then, consider we mever met those friends of Angus who sang 'Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead.' Possibly, that's because they were douchebags. just saying. Stop taking their words as objective truth, especially Angus' subjective experiences.
I don't know if I like Renee yet, or not, but SHIT, you folk are burning months worth of calories, the number of conclusions you're jumping to.
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I don't know if I like Renee yet, or not, but SHIT, you folk are burning months worth of calories, the number of conclusions you're jumping to.
This is now what I wish I had posted. :lol:
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Wow. Brun collects cuckoo clocks. Part fascination with beautiful old world craftsmanship or a reflection on the transcience of life?
Or both. I get the idea she's deeper than we think.
And whoever mention Brun walking around town trying to find him I just got a funny image in my mind of Brun holding a poster "have you seen this man?" with a funny drawing of Clinton.
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And now, I reveal my truest self.
Just be glad that the hedgehog can never be buggered at all. Just ask Nanny Ogg.
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Wouldn't it be great if the same friends who celebrated Renee's departure were the same mutual friends of Angus and Marigold who bullied her and were obsessed with the idea she was a cam girl?
http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1617
http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1534
Maybe they were happy because she rode hard in defense of the socially awkward flower we've come to know and love.
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Wow. Brun collects cuckoo clocks. Part fascination with beautiful old world craftsmanship or a reflection on the transcience of life?
Or both. I get the idea she's deeper than we think.
Knowing what time it is is sorta important to a routine.
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Leaving aside the burning question of whether/how much we should look down on Renee, here are some Brun observations from today's comic:
• Brun didn't just latch on to the clock from the bar; she's a clock collector. Many of her clocks seem to be the wind-up variety, meaning she likes to interact with them rather than just looking at them.
• Brun's interest in clocks is not merely functional. She has a developed aesthetic concerning what makes a worthwhile alarm clock.
• She seems to have a fascination with the measured passage of time (she kept alerting Clinton to departing buses, albeit after the fact). Perhaps this love of counting could help her form a bond with Hanners, who likes drumming for the same reason.
• Being friends with Brun would require a thick skin, as she's quite brutal with the honesty. The good news is she takes criticism in the same spirit as she does doling it out. When Clinton pointed out that she'd been failing in her basic duty to make him feel welcome, she simply agreed without becoming offended.
• Insisting on taking the couch rather than the bed suggests Brun understands the pitfall of becoming too indebted to Renee. I think she's quite determined that her stay at Renee's will be as short as possible.
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Wait a minute. Brun's place burned down, and now she's sleeping on Renee's couch? Are we sure Renee isn't Alt-Verse Marten?
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In light to it now being multiple clocks, and this is a huge assumption leap, but I wonder if they were gifts - and that's why Brun views them as important. For someone like her, someone pretty hard to read w/o getting to know really well, it becomes hard to gift-give. I've seen time and time again (possible clock pun?) someone get a gift of one kind, and then everyone who knows this person gives gifts along this same theme because it went well one time. For instance, my eldest brother keeps getting my mum owl-related items for things like B-day and Mother's day kind of just based on one time.. and she's actually not super into owls (actually kinda dislikes them TBH). This was also caused by being kinda hard to read in terms of likes/dislikes. Brun doesn't strike me as a heavily materialistic individual, so maybe the reason why she prizes these clocks is because they were gifts from friends and she holds onto them because they mean friendship to her. Or, leaping even further, lost (not nessicarily dead, perhaps moved away) loved ones.
Huge assumption jump aside.. Brun in the final panel looks like Rin's sprite from Katawa Shoujo.. which is kinda funny given some personality similarities.
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Since Brün's a clock aficionado, does that mean that no matter what favour you ask of her, she'll always have… the time? :claireface:
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<snippage>
With that assumption in mind, where could the story be going? Perhaps once she gets a load of the 4am schedule and insistence on vetting all her social contacts, Brun may have a crisis and decide she can't take living with Renee anymore. So who else does she know and trust in town? Begins with "C" and ends with "ton?" Brunton shippers may be appeased yet. This will lead to hilarious hijinks as Renee loudly confronts Clinton, and Clinton has to plead with ClaireMom to keep the noise down with Chad while Brun stays in the guestroom.
<further snippage>
• Brun didn't just latch on to the clock from the bar; she's a clock collector. Many of her clocks seem to be the wind-up variety, meaning she likes to interact with them rather than just looking at them.
• Brun's interest in clocks is not merely functional. She has a developed aesthetic concerning what makes a worthwhile alarm clock.
• She seems to have a fascination with the measured passage of time (she kept alerting Clinton to departing buses, albeit after the fact). Perhaps this love of counting could help her form a bond with Hanners, who likes drumming for the same reason.
• Being friends with Brun would require a thick skin, as she's quite brutal with the honesty. The good news is she takes criticism in the same spirit as she does doling it out. When Clinton pointed out that she'd been failing in her basic duty to make him feel welcome, she simply agreed without becoming offended.
• Insisting on taking the couch rather than the bed suggests Brun understands the pitfall of becoming too indebted to Renee. I think she's quite determined that her stay at Renee's will be as short as possible.
I could see her as a roommate to Hanners before I could see her rooming/shacking up with Clinton. Brun's clocks would seem to speak to a need for regularity and patterns. Might that make her a potential roommate to someone whose life also revolves around routine and order? In some ways, they seem as though they might complement each other well.
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The one in the middle looks more like a metronome case; albeit a windup, clockwork type metronome.
I have four wind-up antique mantle clocks.
I only have one mantle.
Make of that what you will...
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Also, kind of side-note.
@People saying Brun&Hannelore would make great roommates: I think as a story that might not be the best avenue for character development. In a story that's basically whole focus is the maturing of various characters and their relational situations, having Brun room with someone who isn't like her very much would offer more situations for change. Be it for Brun or whoever she bunks with. Sticking two similar characters together won't bring about a whole lot of change as they'll just perpetuate their own characteristics. This is, of course, viewing it from a character-building and story-writing perspective, not exactly who would actually be safer for Brun to stay with.
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I wonder if she lost a couple of Grandfather style clocks in the fire
And Brun definitely doesn't hold back does she.
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Apparently, some autistic people really like clocks.
https://autismandoughtisms.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/for-the-love-of-clocks/
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But then we find out that in Clinton's mom's attic, there is his grandfather's neat clocks and metronomes collection, which has been taking up space, but they didn't want to just send to a thrift store, not knowing if the cherished clocks would get the care grandpa wanted.
Or more likely, Clint finds out later and gives her a clock, maybe from a thrift or antique store, probably like a year in real life time from now. It's nothing super special, but she doesn't have any clocks that fill that niche yet, and it's not quite so mediocre as Renee's alarm at least.
edit- this (above) was a direct reply to today's page, not this thread.
that said, I think Brun and Hannelore could be interesting as roommates (in the unlikely scenario where they meet and quickly become well enough acquainted to do it). At the very least there's the split of 'most minimal furniture possible' and 'so many clocks,' although I don't think it ends there. I think they could be good 'similar but actually really, really different'-style foils.
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We've learned two things about Brun today:
- She collects mechanical time pieces;
- She has the skill of making you feel bad about things that you didn't even know you could feel bad about!
Meanwhile, I'm wondering if Renee is going to find that small doses of Brun are easier to take than continual exposure!
Wait a minute. Brun's place burned down, and now she's sleeping on Renee's couch? Are we sure Renee isn't Alt-Verse Marten?
No, she's alternate Faye - gets a new roommate as a result of a fire. If this becomes permanent, then the comparison will be set in stone.
FWIW, a few WCDTs ago, I posted a proposal for how Jeph could write Brun and Clinton as a distorted mirror of Marten and Claire.
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I think smaller doses of people are easier to take no matter the person, just kind of feels like a general thing to me.
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Reality as a simulation by a zombie AI:
"The beauty of flowers is not necessary. It is an extra. I have faith in the beauty of flowers."
Can't find the source now. Google Has Failed Me.
Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty." A.C. Doyle, etc.
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You folk saying Renee doesn't recognize that Climton isn't a random guy are forgetting that, to HER, he is. WE know better, Brun knows slightly better, but as far as Renee is concerned, The only objective fact is that Clinton's the guy who followed Brun to her hotel after the bar burned down.
This in mind, CAN YOU BLAME HER FOR BEING SUSPICIOUS?
Then, consider we mever met those friends of Angus who sang 'Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead.' Possibly, that's because they were douchebags. just saying. Stop taking their words as objective truth, especially Angus' subjective experiences.
I don't know if I like Renee yet, or not, but SHIT, you folk are burning months worth of calories, the number of conclusions you're jumping to.
I'll take Angus - a guy who proved himself to be a generally honorable, decent sort - at his word. That's not jumping to conclusions at all. Renee was previously stated by a trustworthy individual to be a thoroughly unpleasant individual, and every appearance of her has done nothing to make me want to change my opinion. The idea that his friends were douchebags is far greater speculation than "Renee's kind of being an asshole, maybe she's an asshole!" The other referenced quotes, that Marigold was bullied and that one of Angus' acquaintances was creepily in lust with her really have no relevance, considering there is no evidence in the referenced comics that Angus or his friends were involved in the bullying of Marigold - quite the opposite, actually, Marigold is surprised Angus was even aware of her presence, not the reaction you would have to an old bully, or someone who was buddies with your old bullies.
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Can see some parallel between Claire's manipulation of people and Renee's apparently controlling nature, hope fully she will get called on it like Claire was.
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My alarm clocks are AWESOME. They're (a) cheap and (b) they work. Whow ! Cant think of any third condition they would have to manage. Can you ?
I'll never get these people who pay tens of thousands for a Rolex. I mean Porsche 911, sure, I get it, mobility and driving fun. Hasselblad camera, sure, high quality images. But a mere MECHANICAL WATCH ?!? What the heck ?
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Mechanical watches are really about "someone spent years of their life learning how to make this, and then made this", combined with the sheer complexity of the mechanism without going into the electronic domain (where that level of complexity is hard).
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I've decided that I must be worse than Brun at evaluating people, because I'm not seeing what everyone else here is seeing. I suppose I'll just have to endure the torrent of "I told you so"s when they come. :psyduck:
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I'll never get these people who pay tens of thousands for a Rolex. I mean Porsche 911, sure, I get it, mobility and driving fun. Hasselblad camera, sure, high quality images. But a mere MECHANICAL WATCH ?!? What the heck ?
You actually hit the reason solidly on the head and missed that fact. You don't buy a $10k Rolex to tell the time any more than you will buy a Porsche 911 because you need a car; you buy a $10k Rolex to be seen wearing it. It's a status symbol; a way to say 'I am rich enough to blow a month's rent on a wristwatch'.
That said, people collect the strangest things. Frankly, a collection of mechanical clocks where the design, aesthetic or functionality fascinate you is quite a mainstream thing for Brun to do, really. I actually found the (probably unintentional) conceit of her telling Renee that her (likely $10) bedside alarm clock is 'nothing special' to be quite funny!
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Ah, 4 o'clock in the morning. Or, as we irresponsible people refer to it, "Stumble Home Drunk O'clock".
Or "I can't have been playing minecraft that long".
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I've managed 5am for years, but yeah, you do have to be in bed ridiculously early (for a young'un). Sucks if you live with other people. Finishing work at lunchtime is the reward, though. You may wake in darkness, but you always get to see daylight, even in winter.
4am can fuck right off, though. That's the devil's dancing hour.
I generally go to bed between 4 and 7 am.
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You folk saying Renee doesn't recognize that Climton isn't a random guy are forgetting that, to HER, he is. WE know better, Brun knows slightly better, but as far as Renee is concerned, The only objective fact is that Clinton's the guy who followed Brun to her hotel after the bar burned down.
This in mind, CAN YOU BLAME HER FOR BEING SUSPICIOUS?
Then, consider we mever met those friends of Angus who sang 'Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead.' Possibly, that's because they were douchebags. just saying. Stop taking their words as objective truth, especially Angus' subjective experiences.
I don't know if I like Renee yet, or not, but SHIT, you folk are burning months worth of calories, the number of conclusions you're jumping to.
I see your point. Look we run the risk of being like Renee and jumping to conclusions.
On the other hand, Renee didn't bother to hear out the situation and began to demonize the person she hadn't met yet by attempting to fill Brun's head with paranoid nonsense. Stopping to listen is the fundamental to not jumping to conclusions. Of course this is the QC universe and misunderstanding is the foundation to hi-jinks.
I am a scope collector and can understand Brun's focus on collecting unique and interesting pieces and not plastic mass made stuff.
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I will also admit that I want a 24 hour flip clock for my alarm clock. (The problem with this is, most of them are European, and therefore won't work on US power. Step-up transformers usually aren't even the answer, because they're using synchronous motors that are set up for 50 Hz.)
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What the artwork can't convey is the smell. Things that have been through a housefire stink of the smoke. Its just awful. Much of my more important possessions were salvable, which was good, but meant that smell was with me for months, even longer. Books especially. For some reason when I looked at the page just now it really came back to me. Horrible.
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You don't buy a $10k Rolex to tell the time any more than you will buy a Porsche 911 because you need a car;
Err, of course you dont buy a Porsche 911 because you need a car.
Its a sports car. You dont buy sports cars because you need a car. You buy them because of the fun of driving ! And the speed to get to places.
While a Rolex ... knowing the time ?!? Oh my god, how exciting. This fun is neverending !!!
That said, people collect the strangest things.
Yeah.
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That begs the question then: why do people buy Tesla Model S's?
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Err, of course you dont buy a Porsche 911 because you need a car.
No you don't. If you need a car, you'll buy something like a Volkswagen 'Beetle', a Fiat 131 or a Vauxhall Vectra; they cost less than 1/5 as much and will give several times better lifetime service due to their greater fuel economy and parts lifespan. If you buy a 911, especially one of the old 1970 classic bloc models, it's because you want to send a message about yourself, your buying power and, possibly, your virility too!
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That begs the question then: why do people buy Tesla Model S's?
It's gonna save the earth, man. (Never mind that the electricity comes from a gas or coal-burning power plant.)
Err, of course you dont buy a Porsche 911 because you need a car.
No you don't. If you need a car, you'll buy something like a Volkswagen 'Beetle', a Fiat 131 or a Vauxhall Vectra; they cost less than 1/5 as much and will give several times better lifetime service due to their greater fuel economy and parts lifespan. If you buy a 911, especially one of the old 1970 classic bloc models, it's because you want to send a message about yourself, your buying power and, possibly, your virility too!
I bought a Chevy Spark. I'm not sure what message that sends about me.
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especially one of the old 1970 classic bloc models, it's because you want to send a message about yourself, your buying power and, possibly, your virility too!
I used to work with a guy who had an old air-cooled Porsche. He just liked working on the damned thing.
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No you don't. If you need a car, you'll buy something like...
Only, perhaps, if you don't enjoy driving for its own sake. I do think you are grossly over simplifying. If one of your pleasures in life is driving simply for the sake of it, then your choice of car will reflect that. If you have to spend many hours in your car, then the choice will reflect that too, and so it goes on.
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You don't buy a $10k Rolex to tell the time any more than you will buy a Porsche 911 because you need a car;
Err, of course you dont buy a Porsche 911 because you need a car.
Its a sports car. You dont buy sports cars because you need a car. You buy them because of the fun of driving ! And the speed to get to places.
While a Rolex ... knowing the time ?!? Oh my god, how exciting. This fun is neverending !!!
You're looking at a watch as a sensible, practical purchase, and in that I agree with you. In fact, since the advent of smart phones I haven't worn a watch at all, for years.
Someone who buys a Rolex though, is essentially saying "I have so much money I don't have to be practical or sensible with every purchase. I can buy stuff just to look good, because it looks good on me.". No it makes no sense to people like us, and I wouldn't buy a Rolex even if I had the money to waste on it. People who do, generally have the money to waste and then some. Practicality and sensible behavior have nothing at all to do with it.
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That begs the question then: why do people buy Tesla Model S's?
Have you ever driven/owned an electric? It's a revelation. You'll never see loud, smelly, high maintenance gasoline cars the same way again. The Tesla S is the pinnacle of electrics (for now); no real range anxiety, and with the network of superchargers, you can actually take it cross-country. But even the lesser electrics have many of the same virtues, like the quiet drive, instant torque, far shorter maintenance list, and the incredible convenience of home charging.
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When I was little I collected post cards from travel and other peoples travel. Although i suspect that was a way for my parents to get me souveniers and not spend much as they suggested it.
now i collect coins. I started when i found a penny from 1897.
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The model s is a fascinating beast. My test drive was better than was pitched. Quick and responsive. It shows what can be and they will produce cheaper models but i doubt the average daily drive will show the difference.
Actually building a solar charging station is possible. So you may not be tired to the grid in terms of charging.
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Also, there's this:
(http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/images/2015/11/vehicles-m-emissions-map-with-notes.jpg)
Granted, that's sales weighted and therefore includes a lot of (somewhat more efficient) Nissan Leafs, but really, relative to the class it's participating in, the Model S wins over the ICE competition in carbon footprint even in the worst grid regions, and that's assuming you don't install your own solar, or switch to a renewable energy plan (it actually turned out to be cheaper for me to switch to a plan that was 100% renewable than the mostly coal plan I used to be on, although I'm not charging an EV from it).
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I can buy stuff just to look good, because it looks good on me.". No it makes no sense to people like us,
I dunno, I bet quite a few of us have ear rings, or studs and piercings or tattoos whatever? Like them an expensive watch is jewelry, but unlike them it has a limited practical use as well.
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What did I do *now*?
And FYI, my avatar and nick are due to the phenomenon as the hedgehog's dilemma.
And because hedgehogs are both awesome and cute.
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I can buy stuff just to look good, because it looks good on me.". No it makes no sense to people like us,
I dunno, I bet quite a few of us have ear rings, or studs and piercings or tattoos whatever? Like them an expensive watch is jewelry, but unlike them it has a limited practical use as well.
I've spent more on tattoos than most people will on jewelry. I'm hardly in a position to criticise anyone for impractical purchases. They do serve a less tangible, more psychological/emotional function for me, however. What one person finds silly and impractical can be an important form of self expression, a source of comfort, or simply a object of intense fascination to another.
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I'm going to give renee the benefit of the doubt. She's concerned with her friend and the people on the other side of the breakup are possibly biased and have their own agenda. In renee's case here's someone who gets up at 4 to work for a bakery and works out 3 days a week and goes to bed at a very early hour. How much trouble can she be?
yes I know but she's drawn cute so I kinda want to like her. This has gotten me in trouble in real life of course.
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I stopped reading and started skimming and suddenly there's discussions of cars, jewelry, and tattoos out of seemingly nowhere. Goodness.
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My alarm clocks are AWESOME. They're (a) cheap and (b) they work. Whow ! Cant think of any third condition they would have to manage. Can you?
Yeah, the ability to withstand my fist smashing the snooze button like the hammer of Thor day after day.
(http://www.netanimations.net/smashing-alarm-clock-s.gif)
I have a serious hate for my alarm clocks (all 4 of them), and it they go off on a Saturday or Sunday, I typically end up having to buy a new one to replace it before Monday morning comes.
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I stopped reading and started skimming and suddenly there's discussions of cars, jewelry, and tattoos out of seemingly nowhere. Goodness.
Happens all the time here. At least this time nobody's brought up the second world war.
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Ya just did.....
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GG, I'm off to the bomb shelter now.
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*Hands you a Tin Hat*
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*takes tin hat, turns it over, and makes a salad in it*
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OMG won't you get tin poisoning?? *puts tin foil hat back on*
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2 question:
1) why is Bubble's and Faye's boss called "Corpse Witch"?
2) Will Clinton, Brun, or one of the other cast members get to use the word waltersobchakiteit when they meet Renee with Brun?
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My alarm clocks are AWESOME. They're (a) cheap and (b) they work. Whow ! Cant think of any third condition they would have to manage. Can you?
Yeah, the ability to withstand my fist smashing the snooze button like the hammer of Thor day after day.
Never forget aesthetics.
Some folks might live in a damp scrotty rented flat which they intend to get out of the very second an even half better alternate presents itself, are there only ever there to sleep, and only then when no warmer bed is on offer. You wouldn't expect them to care what anything looks like, only its function.
At the other end of the spectrum there are those for whom their home space is, effectively, a work of art which they take pride and pleasure in, and so the appearance of every single item in it is of very great importance to them.
Both seem to me valid ways to live.
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Sounds like there's some interest. Would people use a DISCUSS thread about climate change if I started one and split the debate into it?
Gyrre, the our-world answer about Corpse Witch's name is that Jeph made a joke about it, the fans ran with it, and Jeph played along. I'd speculate that the QC-world explanation is that someone who runs an illegal business will want, or at least be assigned, a gnarly nickname. It could also have come from people who didn't appreciate her personality.
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as far as Renee is concerned, The only objective fact is that Clinton's the guy who followed Brun to her hotel after the bar burned down.
No; Clinton's the guy that helped Brun to the hotel.
This in mind, CAN YOU BLAME HER FOR BEING SUSPICIOUS?
Yes. Due caution is prudent and perfectly reasonable; suspicion without cause is unhealthy.
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Sounds like there's some interest. Would people use a DISCUSS thread about climate change if I started one and split the debate into it?
Please split if off.
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as far as Renee is concerned, The only objective fact is that Clinton's the guy who followed Brun to her hotel after the bar burned down.
No; Clinton's the guy that helped Brun to the hotel.
This in mind, CAN YOU BLAME HER FOR BEING SUSPICIOUS?
Yes. Due caution is prudent and perfectly reasonable; suspicion without cause is unhealthy.
You're ignoring the "As far as Renee is concerned" part. Goes to motivation, Your Honor. (Or is that "M'Lud"?)
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I think they were replying to make the point that we, as the readers, know the objective facts. Those facts being that Clinton helped Brun rather than just be "random guy who followed."
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I think they were replying to make the point that we, as the readers, know the objective facts. Those facts being that Clinton helped Brun rather than just be "random guy who followed."
Our motivations don't matter; Renee's are under discussion.
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as far as Renee is concerned, The only objective fact is that Clinton's the guy who followed Brun to her hotel after the bar burned down.
No; Clinton's the guy that helped Brun to the hotel.
This in mind, CAN YOU BLAME HER FOR BEING SUSPICIOUS?
Yes. Due caution is prudent and perfectly reasonable; suspicion without cause is unhealthy.
You're not being entirely fair.
One can hardly disagree with your perfectly reasonable sounding remark at first blush, but the phrase due caution is purely subjective, as is the distinction betwen that and suspicion without cause. Which of those Renee is exhibiting is precisely the subject of the discussion. Everyone seems to constantly forget that Renee is in the dark and we are not.
So, is Renee's suspicion without cause? Maybe, maybe not. We don't know their history.
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Yes. Due caution is prudent and perfectly reasonable; suspicion without cause is unhealthy.
My experiences have taught me that suspicion is a very healthy starting position. Trust is earned. It is safer to err on the side of caution.
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An ounce of caution is fine. Renee crossed the line with attempting to over the phone threaten Clinton. As far as she knows he followed Brun, but to paraphrase GOT "you know nothing, renee"
A healthy does of MYOB would have helped Renee.
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How do you feel about Faye?
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1) why is Bubble's and Faye's boss called "Corpse Witch"?
I think it's probably because she chose that name for herself. I haven't heard any noises about someone playing the "parent" role with an AI, so they wouldn't get names from parents the way people do.
2) Will Clinton, Brun, or one of the other cast members get to use the word waltersobchakiteit when they meet Renee with Brun?
I don't think anyone's demonstrated any knowledge of German, so I rather doubt it.
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For what it's worth, I sort of think it's disrespectful of parents to choose a name for their child before they've even met them and started to learn who they are. And a bit odd that people no longer have a traditional rite of passage wherein they choose their adult name for themselves.
Seriously, get to know the kid for a week or two before you pick a name. Introduce the child to the rest of your family, see if anyone has insight into who they are and what name will suit them. Might be a good chance for the family to discuss what they hope for the child and what sort of life they can provide and how.
I recognize that I'm more-or-less alone in this opinion, aside from a few others whose general attitudes and culture are rooted in a different century. And of course governments now want a name stamped onto a child immediately for a birth certificate. But I still find the modern custom baffling and bizarre, no matter how many times I see it and no matter how normal it seems to everyone else.
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You're ignoring the "As far as Renee is concerned" part. Goes to motivation, Your Honor. (Or is that "M'Lud"?)
No - Renee is ignoring what she was told.
As far as she knows he followed Brun,
The first thing Brun tells Renee is that Clinton helped her.
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Well, there we have it. Name children by numbers, like Roman girls.
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She's not ignoring what she is told. She's just maintaining her suspicion in spite of what she was told.
Much like what's going on in this thread.
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The first thing Brun tells Renee is that Clinton helped her.
So? How often do strangers help strangers with no ulterior motives? I mean, it happens, sure, but there's every chance Renee's life has lead her to believe it doesn't.
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Every person does something good for someone else for a reason. Something simple as it feels good to help to hoping to get a reward. Doesn't mean its wrong, just thats how human beings are.
Some behavior is learnt but her overall attitude is something she is as a person. Some poor experiences in life is no excuse to be terrible to people. It makes renee just as bad as the theoretical people that may have done her wrong.
Its also possible that her slights are imagined and a symptom of a deeper problem.
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How often do strangers help strangers with no ulterior motives?
Every day, all the time. And we're not even talking about a stranger who "merely" went to help - Clinton was in the fire himself; how many people have been sufficiently traumatised in their life to think that someone who's sharing such a bad experience would also be taking advantage of it? Maybe Renee has - we'll learn in due course - but if not, her reaction is out of order.
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How do you feel about Faye?
Faye was stuck in adolescence but being around martin and friends helped her work out problems. Sometimes she is a pain but unlike renee, she is working on making things work. Not always with success but at least she tries. Now she is trying to help.
Renee version of helping is giving poison to a person who stubbed their toe
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There was a reference once to Winslow choosing his own name, but I think the reference is lost along with Hannelore's Formspring account.
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Seriously, get to know the kid for a week or two before you pick a name.
According to my parents, I didn't have a name until I was about a week old.
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Everyone seems to constantly forget that Renee is in the dark and we are not.
Has she done anything to change that? Even the slightest sliver of effort? Not only she hasn't, but she dismisses any suggestions to the contrary of her preconceived notion. It's kinda hard to excuse her "being in the dark" when she makes a very valiant effort to stick to being in the dark.
So, is Renee's suspicion without cause? Maybe, maybe not. We don't know their history.
She has (probably) no history with Clinton specifically. Her own fears and prejudices are not a "cause" to be suspicious. I'm not saying it's not understandable that she might be overly cautious. I don't think anyone is disputing that. People are flawed and their objectivity can be flawed, too.
But the fact that she may have some history that makes her suspicious is not the point. The point is whether her approach is, for the lack of a better word, "right". And personal bias aside, this behaviour in this situation is not warranted. Clinton behaved in a way that may raise some red flags initially, but if we look in slightly more detail at what Renee knows, he did nothing unreasonable or dangerous. And, again, she learnt what she learnt not on her own, but was told by both Clinton and Brun their own interpretations of the recent events, and she stuck to her guns. Not only that, she didn't probe, she didn't question, she moved straight to aggression. Even in the event Clinton *was* a bad guy in this whole situation, that would accomplish nothing productive. And she has nothing to support the idea that he was, other than the fact that there are bad guys out there. I'm sorry, that's pretty weak a thing to go on.
It's OK to advise caution to Brun, but Renee completely dismisses the possibility that Clinton might be just a random stranger that helped.
And I'm sorry, but if I were in the exact same situation as Renee, I'd spend a good minute thanking the kind stranger for helping my friend, not YELLING at them. I would talk to the friend, make sure they are OK, advise to take the kindness with a grain of salt, and then proceed to assume the most reasonable, most probable, and most productive scenario - there was a guy and the guy decided to help. Because as someone pointed out in the thread, that's what people *do*.
And on the other side of the equation, if someone yelled at me for helping someone out, on the sole basis of my gender, I would (I think I may have made that point) immediately go "fuck you too, then". And stay the Hell away from the person I helped, just to make sure. I'm sorry, but being judged guilty on the basis of my Y chromosome just because someone has had possibly bad experiences with people is not reasonable levels of caution. It's insulting, it's counterproductive and the person who is overly worried should, at the very least, dig a little deeper to confirm their suspicions. Not do... this.
And I know there is no symmetry here, but imagine Renee had bad experiences with [insert group here]. And she behaved the exact same way to a member of that group (because hey, you can't PROVE a member of [insert group here] is not acting on bad intentions). I can't know for sure, granted, but I think you'd be less likely to give her the benefit of the doubt if the [insert group here] was, say, a racial (or other) minority. And again, I know this would not be the *exact* same situation, because white heterosexual men have had a completely different history, culturally, than any minority. But while white men are not an oppressed group, being one is not a crime, either. If it's unreasonable to jump to conclusions based on someone's race, sexuality, nationality, occupation, religion or whatever, jumping to conclusions based on being part of half the world's population doesn't strike me as justified, either.
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I'm seriously wondering now if I'm just surrounded by emotionally-broken people who've had horrible lives all day every day, or if you people arguing that Renee couldn't possibly have had an experience with an emotionally-manipulative predator are just lucky not to have met many victims of that sort of thing.
I've absolutely seen people do what Renee thinks Clinton is doing, and I'm pretty sheltered for my area. Would I respond in that exact way? No, but these things happened to acquaintances, not close friends, and I would probably feel differently if it were a close friend who'd gone through that.
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I've absolutely seen people do what Renee thinks Clinton is doing, and I'm pretty sheltered for my area.
I don't understand the reasoning. I've been cheated out of my money, but I still buy things online. I was once a punching bag (EDIT: emotional, not literal) for bullies for years, but I don't assume everyone is a bully. I've been beaten up, mugged and left bloodied on the pavement, but I don't assume I'm gonna be mugged every single time a stranger walks up to me to ask a question (and when I do, e.g. my "this guy has a shaven head and seems in good shape" alarm bells go off, I take a moment to collect myself and set aside my fear-based first assumption).
I'm sure I have it better than most people, but I assume even those extremely unlucky haven't had exclusively bad experiences with strangers. And assuming cruel and evil intentions from strange people, which *is* an attitude I've had in the past, tends to turn itself into a self-fulfilling prophecy, at least on occasion. Plus, assuming every person I pass on the street is out to get me? I don't think I'd be able to leave my house if I assumed that by default.
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My (hopefully final) take on Renee is she's written as a cartoonish paranoid for comic effect. Going forward, she might serve as a dramatic foil to push Brun in an uncomfortable direction, which might then include more tongue-in-cheek interactions with Clinton. Jeph might take it dark with a revelation of old deep trauma, but more likely it's all about launching Brun into a spot in the ever-growing QC cast. Given Brun's evident introversion, this might need a temporary antagonist (Renee) to force Brun out of her shell.
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I've absolutely seen people do what Renee thinks Clinton is doing,
You've seen people who are involved in a disaster immediately take advantage of other victims as their response?
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I've absolutely seen people do what Renee thinks Clinton is doing,
You've seen people who are involved in a disaster immediately take advantage of other victims as their response?
Yes. Just a few months ago a police officer was given a slap on the wrist for sexually assaulting an accident victim instead of helping her. There are plenty of cases of people who make it their business to bilk people who have just been through a tragedy. Have you never heard of the term 'ambulance chaser'? And that's mild compared to those who will bully and use the lack of knowledge of people who have been through disasters to accept a lower claim that they are due in the insurance industry, or just people who will see those reeling from disaster as easy marks. It's all to sadly common.
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Stipulated: There are people who take advantage of people who.have been through a traumatic situation.
Stipulated: Clinton has been presented to the readership as wanting to help.
Renee knows nothing of Clinton or his motivations and has been shown to be suspicious of them and does not trust her friend Brun's read of them.
Renee has reasons for her suspicions. We don't yet know what they are or whether they would make sense to us. Whether they do or don't, or even whether Jeph explains them, they are what motivates her, and she is acting on them. People who are not fictional characters also do this. All. The. Time.
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I've absolutely seen people do what Renee thinks Clinton is doing,
You've seen people who are involved in a disaster immediately take advantage of other victims as their response?
Beginning with pretending be helpful, yes.
I live in a place that gets hit by hurricanes pretty often. We're never hit too bad, directly, but people come here after their homes get destroyed. I can think of a few abusive relationships that started with 'Oh, you poor thing, come live with my family for a few months until everything gets settled.'
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Never starts out abusive. Sometimes ends up that way, though. Certain people will take advantage of innocents at their most vulerable.
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I've absolutely seen people do what Renee thinks Clinton is doing,
You've seen people who are involved in a disaster immediately take advantage of other victims as their response?
Yes. Just a few months ago a police officer was given a slap on the wrist for sexually assaulting an accident victim instead of helping her. There are plenty of cases of people who make it their business to bilk people who have just been through a tragedy. Have you never heard of the term 'ambulance chaser'? And that's mild compared to those who will bully and use the lack of knowledge of people who have been through disasters to accept a lower claim that they are due in the insurance industry, or just people who will see those reeling from disaster as easy marks. It's all to sadly common.
By "involved", I meant "another victim". Which Clinton was, even though he didn't suffer the major losses that Brun did.
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For what it's worth, I sort of think it's disrespectful of parents to choose a name for their child before they've even met them and started to learn who they are. And a bit odd that people no longer have a traditional rite of passage wherein they choose their adult name for themselves.
Seriously, get to know the kid for a week or two before you pick a name. Introduce the child to the rest of your family, see if anyone has insight into who they are and what name will suit them. Might be a good chance for the family to discuss what they hope for the child and what sort of life they can provide and how.
I recognize that I'm more-or-less alone in this opinion, aside from a few others whose general attitudes and culture are rooted in a different century. And of course governments now want a name stamped onto a child immediately for a birth certificate. But I still find the modern custom baffling and bizarre, no matter how many times I see it and no matter how normal it seems to everyone else.
I would have gotten something among the lines of "Colicky" if it were just for the first week.
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Perhaps this love of counting could help her form a bond with Hanners, who likes drumming for the same reason.
I wonder if either of them would be fans of SYRSA (https://www.youtube.com/user/SYRSAmusic) ?
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I will also admit that I want a 24 hour flip clock for my alarm clock. (The problem with this is, most of them are European, and therefore won't work on US power. Step-up transformers usually aren't even the answer, because they're using synchronous motors that are set up for 50 Hz.)
I might be a little late to this but my mum "borrowed" mine years ago so they were available to 60hz utilities. The trick is finding one in either a sally-ann or some other thrift style store. Pawn shops I avoid except to giggle at the ludicrous asking prices. Yard sales in older neighborhoods are also good.
RE: tin foil hat, most times it is aluminum these days. Also they have been proven [science FTW] to colect and concentrate signals in the bowl. So hey, great for boosting the signal strength for greater fidelity and clarity of thos mind control signals.
So? How often do strangers help strangers with no ulterior motives? I mean, it happens, sure, but there's every chance Renee's life has lead her to believe it doesn't.
Are Boy Scouts really that rare?
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I've absolutely seen people do what Renee thinks Clinton is doing,
You've seen people who are involved in a disaster immediately take advantage of other victims as their response?
Yes. Just a few months ago a police officer was given a slap on the wrist for sexually assaulting an accident victim instead of helping her. There are plenty of cases of people who make it their business to bilk people who have just been through a tragedy. Have you never heard of the term 'ambulance chaser'? And that's mild compared to those who will bully and use the lack of knowledge of people who have been through disasters to accept a lower claim that they are due in the insurance industry, or just people who will see those reeling from disaster as easy marks. It's all to sadly common.
By "involved", I meant "another victim". Which Clinton was, even though he didn't suffer the major losses that Brun did.
That's a fine distinction of which Renee is entirely unaware. She only knows that he was there at the bar.
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She only knows that he was there at the bar.
which burnt down while he was there...
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Again - she doesn't know that. He could easily have stepped out shortly before it happened.
Come one, try to separate your knowledge from the equation.
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Renee was told in the first conversation: "The bar burnt down last night"..."A man who was at the bar last night is helping me". It's pretty hard not to see a connection.
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Sure, the connection can be made. Basically, you are condemning her for not making the same string of assumptions that you are making. That Clinton must have been a victim. Further, that a victim could not possibly have ulterior motives.
Now, look. It's perfectly reasonable to say that Clinton is undeserving of her suspicion. That is fair enough. Of course he is, from our perspective and his. But by the same token, from her perspective, I can understand that there are some reasons behind her fear and suspicion, and that there may well be quite good reasons we don't know about yet.
Which is why I am not rushing to judgement.
I am perfectly willing to admit, in the future, that hey you were right, and she is controlling, manipulative, whatever. But I won't ever admit to being wrong for being slower to come to those conclusions than everyone else.
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Nobody is saying that Renee is wrong for being suspicious. We're saying she's a jerk because she immediately jumped to threats of physical violence towards someone who the only thing she knew about was that he helped her friend out when her bar and home burned down.
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Besides, there's no evidence those threats were sincere, that she would have carried them out. When you're afraid for a friend, you might say things you wouldn't do, to give a show that your friend is cared for, and you shouldn't mess around with them.
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I might be a little late to this but my mum "borrowed" mine years ago so they were available to 60hz utilities. The trick is finding one in either a sally-ann or some other thrift style store. Pawn shops I avoid except to giggle at the ludicrous asking prices. Yard sales in older neighborhoods are also good.
The problem in the US is that 24 hour time representations are basically only used by military and computer types (to the point that 24 hour time is called "military time"), so finding flip clocks specifically that use it, without just modifying them (if they're at least an AM/PM one), is basically impossible in the US.
(And the coordinates in your profile put you in the South Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and Chile.)
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Nobody is saying that Renee is wrong for being suspicious. We're saying she's a jerk because she immediately jumped to threats of physical violence towards someone who the only thing she knew about was that he helped her friend out when her bar and home burned down.
I say that she was wrong for doing that, but that she's not a jerk for doing the wrong thing out of fear. She's not a jerk for being scared for her friend.
Like I said, this may all end up proven wrong further down the track. Angus's flatmates might be right, and she is after all a jerk.
P.S. I do actually think at least one person is saying she's wrong for being suspicious.
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Sorry for the double post, but I do have one more thing to add:
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=12
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=459
Threats of violence as an endearing expression of love for the one defended are kind of a trope in this comic, in case you hadn't noticed. My archive-fu is poor, so there are probably more.
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P.S. I do actually think at least one person is saying she's wrong for being suspicious.
I distinguish suspicion from caution. Caution is reasonable; caution plus evidence = justified suspicion. Unjustified suspicion is paranoia, and that is not a good way to run one's life.
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Paranoia is irrational fear. Suspicion based on previous experience is not irrational. Her reaction may have been extreme and inappropriate, but her suspicion isn't necessarily without merit.
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Nobody is saying that Renee is wrong for being suspicious. We're saying she's a jerk because she immediately jumped to threats of physical violence towards someone who the only thing she knew about was that he helped her friend out when her bar and home burned down.
I am going to be the person thats says she is wrong to be suspicious. Caring is one hing. Playing parent or guardian is another. If she was in Brun's shoes and was in the situation, suspicion might be warranted, but she is an outsider to the details.