THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: Kugai on 28 Jun 2015, 14:58
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A busy time ahead for Lord Jeph.
Hope it all goes well for him and we'll just have to be patient as events unfold.
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I need to start a popular webcomic so I can move to Canada too.
And Clinton is overthinking this. Just show up at Emily's place some morning and tell her you like her! Worked for Marten.
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#Buttrocket! Clinton's got the aerodynamics all figured out, stop being so tiresome, Claire!
That's just no way to treat your brother - boring? That's what you tell somebody you really don't want to talk with. 'Fix your personality'? That's just mean. But, on the other hand, I feel bad for Clinton now - I didn't think that was possible, but I see where he's got the foot-in-mouth thing from.
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I think that this just a normal exchange between Claire and Clinton, nothing unusual for them.
Remember too. Clinton was ready to stomp on Marten if he hurt her, so I think that they have a farily good relationship as brother and sister, but exchanges like this are just something that happens between them.
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And, of all of that, he just kinda innocently adds, "and I'm moving to Canada."
:-o
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hmm. Now I need to figure out how to smuggle myself into Jeph's luggage...
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I think that this just a normal exchange between Claire and Clinton, nothing unusual for them.
Remember too. Clinton was ready to stomp on Marten if he hurt her, so I think that they have a farily good relationship as brother and sister, but exchanges like this are just something that happens between them.
Yeah, but it's Clinton who tells her he cares for her, and tries to protect her, even if it's in a really roundabout and annoying way (thanking Marten for not being weird about Claire snuggling him), and Claire who makes fun of him or just insults him without even being funny. When has Clinton ever returned the favour and has been mean to Claire?
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#Buttrocket! Clinton's got the aerodynamics all figured out, stop being so tiresome, Claire!
That's just no way to treat your brother - boring? That's what you tell somebody you really don't want to talk with. 'Fix your personality'? That's just mean. But, on the other hand, I feel bad for Clinton now - I didn't think that was possible, but I see where he's got the foot-in-mouth thing from.
My take is that this is their dynamic. Sometimes, Claire doesn't want to talk to Clinton, because as we all know, Clinton tends not to shut the hell up. Unless Emily is involved. Then, he's mysteriously unable to refuse any suggested activity.
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Claire think's he's being manipulative making her wait for the call when really he's probably having trouble working up the nerve. She's wrong, but it's a understandable misunderstanding.
Finding the buttrocket boring however...Don't try and hide your feelings Claire. I saw those sparkles and bubbles (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2987).
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The plaid shirt is a better look for Clinton. I'm not saying it's a good look - just better.
And he kept the tattoo. Fascinating.
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The plaid shirt is a better look for Clinton. I'm not saying it's a good look - just better.
And he kept the tattoo. Fascinating.
Getting rid of it would be more painful again.
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#Buttrocket! Clinton's got the aerodynamics all figured out, stop being so tiresome, Claire!
That's just no way to treat your brother - boring? That's what you tell somebody you really don't want to talk with. 'Fix your personality'? That's just mean. But, on the other hand, I feel bad for Clinton now - I didn't think that was possible, but I see where he's got the foot-in-mouth thing from.
My take is that this is their dynamic......
I don't have any siblings, but I've been told that little brothers are annoying.
And if Clinton was my brother, I'd probably talk to him the same way.
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Perhaps she should tell her brother to talk to Marten? From her perspective, he's got to be doing a pretty good job overall.
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little brothers are annoying.
That we are. (I would know, I am one.)
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little brothers are annoying.
That we are. (I would know, I am one.)
It's our main purpose in life
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Ah, sibling dynamics. I think Claire is really just going for playful ribbing in this strip. (You know how it's easier to say harsh things to close friends without actually getting serious about it? Well that's the relationship I have with my younger brother, so I might be biased, but it seems like a reasonable model to assume for Claire and Clinton. Also, Clinton has definitely retaliated before (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2941), even if he's not very good at it.)
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If I had far more time on my hands, I'd be tempted to make a ButtRocket in Kerbal Space Program.
Who am I kidding, this is the internet. Someone almost certainly already has.
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little brothers are annoying.
That we are. (I would know, I am one.)
All younger siblings are. I'm one too!
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Well, three things from today's comic:
- Clinton, acting as Jeph's mouthpiece, confirms that Butt-rocket was non-canon and something weird in Clinton's head;
- A nice new autmnal Claire costume;
- As several forum members have pointed out previously, Clinton's family background has left him somewhat at sea as far as judging what is appropriate male behavior.
I'm thinking that the long-foreseen time skip has happened. Just long enough (no more than a week or so) that Claire can point out that one date and avoidance does not make for a relationship! The whole feel of today's strip is of the Fall.
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Whenever Claire is even a little mean to Clinton, there are inevitably people who accuse her of going overboard. My opinion of these people, of course, is that they are probably only children. lol
Granted yes I know that not every pair/set of siblings is like this, but usually when you've been stuck living with someone relatively close to your age for most of your life, and they in turn have been stuck living with you for all of theirs, it doesn't matter how much you care about each other, you *are* going to get on each other's nerves, sometimes a whole heck of a lot. And yes, the catty banter is part of that wonderful package deal. :P
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Just another thought about Claire and Clinton: For a while, I've thought that they're a good example of two siblings who love each other as siblings should but don't really like each other very much. There is one bit of evidence that doesn't fit with this idea though: What were they doing together in today's strip? As far as I can tell, there is no indication that there was a higher cause for them to meet, they just got together in the park to spend time together. The fact that they've taken time out from their academic schedules to spend a morning or afternoon together just talking (and allowing Clinton to start raving to Claire about a weird dream he had where Hannelore launched a rocket shaped like a butt) indicates that they actually quite like each other's company.
I just think that the two Augustus kids have abrasive personalities and this is reflected in their speech patterns. Edit that out and you see that Claire thinks that Clinton is far too good a person to string Emily along. Oh, and that listening to other people's description of their dreams is weird and there are few people actively enjoy it.
[edit]
Boy! Haven't Claire and Clinton changed in appearance a lot since their first appearances in the strip? Claire is a lot more aware of the fact that she can be attractive and dresses appropriately. Clinton has clearly decided to abandon the 'tech nerd' look altogether!
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As somebody with a brother close to my age (older, but mentally younger), this interaction between Clinton and Claire - and the fact that they seemed to be hanging out for no particular reason - seemed 100% normal to me.
Also, as someone with a dad who sucks, I'm really interested to hear more about how Clinton and Claire's dad sucks. I like story arcs and characters that I can relate to!
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Whenever Claire is even a little mean to Clinton, there are inevitably people who accuse her of going overboard. My opinion of these people, of course, is that they are probably only children. lol
Granted yes I know that not every pair/set of siblings is like this, but usually when you've been stuck living with someone relatively close to your age for most of your life, and they in turn have been stuck living with you for all of theirs, it doesn't matter how much you care about each other, you *are* going to get on each other's nerves, sometimes a whole heck of a lot. And yes, the catty banter is part of that wonderful package deal. :P
No, I just treat my younger brother like a person, you know? Yes, younger siblings are annoying, but Clinton's 21 and Claire's 24, and they're not living together any more. Clinton's living on the campus while Claire still lives at home. At this stage, sibling relationships change - you don't see each other that much any more, both are out of puberty, parents don't have that much influence any more, so you can actually enjoy the time you spend together because you don't have to spend it together at all. So, if they were 10 and 13, those insults would be normal and very usual for a sibling relationship, but they are adults now, with responsibilities and limited time. Why would you choose to spend that time with somebody who just insults you?
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Also, as someone with a dad who sucks, I'm really interested to hear more about how Clinton and Claire's dad sucks. I like story arcs and characters that I can relate to!
If memory serves, he cheated on their mom and left the family.
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Also, as someone with a dad who sucks, I'm really interested to hear more about how Clinton and Claire's dad sucks. I like story arcs and characters that I can relate to!
If memory serves, he cheated on their mom and left the family.
And that really is all we know about him so far. He hasn't been mentioned much in the story. We don't even have a name for him, aside from maybe 'Mr Agustus'. And that's assuming the family or the kids at least had/kept his last name.
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I'm still hoping his name is "Claudius Tiberius Augustus". :-D
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Has anybody got a notion of how much time has elapsed since Clinton and Emily's date?
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Whenever Claire is even a little mean to Clinton, there are inevitably people who accuse her of going overboard. My opinion of these people, of course, is that they are probably only children. lol
Granted yes I know that not every pair/set of siblings is like this, but usually when you've been stuck living with someone relatively close to your age for most of your life, and they in turn have been stuck living with you for all of theirs, it doesn't matter how much you care about each other, you *are* going to get on each other's nerves, sometimes a whole heck of a lot. And yes, the catty banter is part of that wonderful package deal. :P
No, I just treat my younger brother like a person, you know? Yes, younger siblings are annoying, but Clinton's 21 and Claire's 24, and they're not living together any more. Clinton's living on the campus while Claire still lives at home. At this stage, sibling relationships change - you don't see each other that much any more, both are out of puberty, parents don't have that much influence any more, so you can actually enjoy the time you spend together because you don't have to spend it together at all. So, if they were 10 and 13, those insults would be normal and very usual for a sibling relationship, but they are adults now, with responsibilities and limited time. Why would you choose to spend that time with somebody who just insults you?
THANK YOU. I'm a younger sibling that less than a year ago moved out of my mom's place so we are all independent now. I fucked up big time several times with my sis and my mom back when we were all living together and the chemistry changes dramatically once everyone living on their own. It's insane!
I now have the best relantionship I could ask for with both of them (same with dad but he lives even further away from me, hence why I didn't mention it)... I wouldn't spend time with them at all if they were acting like douches. Clinton has never shown any signs that he enjoys even slightly that kind of behaviour from his sister.
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Has anybody got a notion of how much time has elapsed since Clinton and Emily's date?
I would hazard a guess of a couple of days, no more than a week.
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I live a hundred miles away from my parents and older brother. By Texas standards this is not quite next door.
In middle school and high school, due to my fucked-up mental health, my brother was my best friend and at times my ONLY friend. We're still very close.
We have conversations like the one in today's strip ALL THE TIME. I'm 32, he's 34. Some siblings never outgrow it.
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I wonder how much of their dynamic relates back to when they were brother and brother instead of brother and sister. Especially Claire's joke about how Clinton lost his hand. That seems much more like something an older brother would say.
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That may be part of it improvnerd. Like I said earlier, this is just probably the dynamic between these two.
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Whenever Claire is even a little mean to Clinton, there are inevitably people who accuse her of going overboard. My opinion of these people, of course, is that they are probably only children. lol
Granted yes I know that not every pair/set of siblings is like this, but usually when you've been stuck living with someone relatively close to your age for most of your life, and they in turn have been stuck living with you for all of theirs, it doesn't matter how much you care about each other, you *are* going to get on each other's nerves, sometimes a whole heck of a lot. And yes, the catty banter is part of that wonderful package deal. :P
No, I just treat my younger brother like a person, you know? Yes, younger siblings are annoying, but Clinton's 21 and Claire's 24, and they're not living together any more. Clinton's living on the campus while Claire still lives at home. At this stage, sibling relationships change - you don't see each other that much any more, both are out of puberty, parents don't have that much influence any more, so you can actually enjoy the time you spend together because you don't have to spend it together at all. So, if they were 10 and 13, those insults would be normal and very usual for a sibling relationship, but they are adults now, with responsibilities and limited time. Why would you choose to spend that time with somebody who just insults you?
Your post would have some merit, IF Claire seemed like she was actually being serious. However, she doesn't, so I feel like you're being overly critical just for the sake of it (as people in these forums seem to have a habit of being). And even if I'm wrong, and she does mean some of what she says, so what if they still bug each other? It's not like they only see each other once a year and spend the rest of the time hundreds of kilometers apart. They might be living under separate roofs, but they're still in the same city, and given Clinton's age he probably hasn't been away from home for very long yet either. Their sibling dynamic probably hasn't really had the time or space to evolve beyond the "Mooooom, he won't get out of my room!" stage. A little bit of snarkiness also doesn't necessarily mean that they wouldn't still do anything to help the other out of a bind either. That's the wonderful thing about sibling relationships, you can be meaner than rattlesnakes to one another, but when the chips are down, you still have each others' backs. lol
Now granted, maybe I'm a little biased, and their relationship seems less hostile to me because their age difference and dynamic is so similar to my brother's and mine. I'm 25 (and trans too), and he's 21. We can't seem to spend more than about 5 minutes together without taking jabs at one another, but that doesn't mean we care about each other any less than we would if we were best buds. Heck, I held off transitioning for 4 years so he could go through high school without having to deal with crap from his ignorant peers because of it, and he's been supportive of me (albeit with the occasional shot taken) the entire time. Soooo you know, maybe I'm wrong and Claire really is just a mean spirited person who doesn't care about Clinton at all, and she really does view him as nothing more than a blight on her life, but I highly suspect that my whole "you're being overly critical" thing is probably closer to the mark here.
Some sibling relationships are all unicorn farts and puppy kisses, while others come just short of strangling each other with the telephone cord. What I see when I look at Clinton and Claire is a happy medium, prooobably leaning a bit more towards unicorn farts. :P
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I'm pretty sure I said this before, but I'm going to say it again just in case; I think at least a small part of the dynamic here is Clinton trying to be the older brother to Claire and her having none of it because he's still her annoying kid brother and that will never change.
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I think at least a small part of the dynamic here is Clinton trying to be the older brother to Claire
Makes sense. He's trying to treat her like a woman, but clearly has no idea how to treat women, trans or otherwise.
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If memory serves, he cheated on their mom and left the family.
Do you recall when that was mentioned in the comic? I don't remember that.
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If memory serves, he cheated on their mom and left the family.
Do you recall when that was mentioned in the comic? I don't remember that.
Here. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2371)
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Comic.
Everyone who voted "Emily Glomping Clinton," you have been confirmed as correct.
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As of now, Clin-ton has not yet been glomped.
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"Hey, you still have your haircut!"
"W-well yeah, I mean, it doesn't grow THAT fas--"
"And you still have your tattoo!"
"Big surprise, there."
"How long ago was our date, anyway?"
"Um, three or four days, I think? Maybe a week? Or two?"
"Really? Doesn't seem like it was that long ago..."
"Eh, who knows, the timeline has been kind of screwed up lately."
"What?"
"What?"
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Boring Clinton is boring...
Emily, do NOT lick that tattoo. Something weird will happen...
Meanwhile, somewhere underground, Faye is crafting the Murder Chassis to end all murders.
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If she licks it, if anything she'll be disappointed when it doesn't spark.
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Yup. I smell a setup here. "Dear Brother of mine, why don't we go for a walk in the park for no particular reason." I wonder if Emily has been talking about her date with Clin-ton at work. Nonstop.
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Yay, the Clinton saga continues. :-D
Neko_Ali, you may be right. It really looks like Claire set her brother up so he will "occasionally stumble" over Emily.
I wonder if he´ll fuck this up again as much as the original date. And if Emily will like it nonetheless.
And I wonder what will happen when he finally has to take a step back and show her his nerdy, dorky self. Will she still find him interesting?
It is of cause unevitable sooner or later and absolutely necessary if something real shall emerge from these dates.
So we are in for at least one week of Clinton and Emily. I´m sure that this will be interesting and amusing.
I only hope that we will return to CoD and Dora sometime near. I´m very curious how the coffeshop has develloped since Faye has left. And there has to be some kind of encounter between Faye and Dora. When Marten and Dors split up it took them quite a while ´till they spoke again at Tai´s party and became cool with each other. Given the glacial passage of time in QC this may take some time to happen between Faye and Dora in meatspace...
TM
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Jeph may claim that today's strip is jetlag-enabled. However, I found it strongly in-character for Emily to behave in that way. I wonder if, on a certain level, she was expecting him to metamorphose back to his pre-date form because he didn't like her or something! I believe that a very, very interesting conversation (possibly ending in a clinch of some kind) is in the offing!
Shot in the dark - Claire's reaction was too practised. Did she plan this ambush ahead of time?
A note: I think that Clinton has been avoiding Emily because he really doesn't know what to do next. Well... maybe that's a good thing. Previously, his plans on these sort of things (human interaction) haven't worked out so well.
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Clairebutt.
I appreciate the swerve where she's just playing mean sister to do something nice.
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I'm also not sure that Clinton wanted to see Emily again, based on his reaction in panel 2.
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I just came to say I love the colours in the Claire and Clinton combo. These last two comics made my day just for Claire's shirt and hair, Clinton's shirt and hair, and the pretty backgrounds.
I will just stare and dribble now.
Buhbuhbuhbuh
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Emily seems genuinely pleased to see Clinton again. That's a good sign.
Clinton doesn't have a clue what to do, but that's normal for Clinton. Actually it's normal for just about any guy with as little dating experience as Clinton. And Emily has just as little experience, so she has no clue that Clinton has no clue. I'd say this is working out well for both of them.
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Emily seems genuinely pleased to see Clinton again. That's a good sign.
Clinton doesn't have a clue what to do, but that's normal for Clinton. Actually it's normal for just about any guy with as little dating experience as Clinton. And Emily has just as little experience, so she has no clue that Clinton has no clue. I'd say this is working out well for both of them.
Clinton, get a clue! She just walked up to you, smiled, complimented you, reminded you of your last time together, and HELD YOUR HAND. Is it gonna take a whack from a clue-by-four?
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Clinton, get a clue! She just walked up to you, smiled, complimented you, reminded you of your last time together, and HELD YOUR HAND. Is it gonna take a whack from a clue-by-four?
Probably yes. Speaking as a person who has trouble parsing social cues.
Sometimes I think I'm ASD, but if so, mildly. I can parse social cues aimed at others okay (years of practice). Aim a social cue at me, and it is either going to go over my head (my reflexes are not fast. I would not catch it) or I'll see it but SOCIAL ANXIETY! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!/1/1/111111ELEVEN
Clinton didn't seem to have that social anxiety problem, but social cluelessness? Yes. Emily is a random social hook up he arranged sight unseen and ended up being someone he's mildly afraid of (because she summons elder gods at compile time). His Model for "manhood" is, by his own estimate non-existent and his model for dealing with women seems to be his life with mom and Claire. all other things aside, he seems to correctly assume that his sibling rivalry thing with his sister is not how you start a relationship, and he probably doesn't want to be playing beta punching bag with a girl anyway.
In short, there're a whole lot of reasons he would be immune to clues, right now.
That said, clues from Emily could mean anything.
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I'm also not sure that Clinton wanted to see Emily again, based on his reaction in panel 2.
Oh, he does want to see her again, but when he's managed to make himself feel in control of the situation by careful preparation and planning, not now when he'll have to think on his feet.
Being thrown in the deep end like this might yet be the making of him... or it could be an excuse for a whole trail of comedy. We'll see.
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You assume that Clinton wants to associate with Emily.
Look at his body language and what he's saying during the entire interaction. He's pulling away from her. He does not want this interaction to happen.
To put it another way... I think he's realized why it was so malicious that Claire hooked him up with Emily, and "screwing up" is now no longer one of his concerns.
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You assume that Clinton wants to associate with Emily.
Look at his body language and what he's saying during the entire interaction. He's pulling away from her. He does not want this interaction to happen.
He's nervous but to claim that he doesn't want to interact with her on a conscious level would contradict the way he was talking to Claire about her - Her opinion clearly matters to him and he wouldn't keep on talking about it if he wanted nothing more to do with her.
What I think this is about is that, fundamentally, he does not know what to do. That's manifesting itself as a subconscious fear response. Add on to that, Emily is an extremely tactile person and someone, like Clinton, with only limited socialisation experience may be made uncomfortable by this.
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Actually, his lines are slight toward Emily in Panel 3 and Panel 4 his near arm is being lifted, which would tend to tilt his body away. His expression seems mildly dry, as opposed to repulsed, repelled or afraid.
He probably doesn't want this, right now, but he's not necessarily against going with it. Insufficient data.
Were I to read into it, I'd guess that he's reacting to Claire in Panel 4. That is, following the haircut comment with the tattoo was enough to remind him of what his sister said just moments before
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You assume that Clinton wants to associate with Emily.
Look at his body language and what he's saying during the entire interaction. He's pulling away from her. He does not want this interaction to happen.
To put it another way... I think he's realized why it was so malicious that Claire hooked him up with Emily, and "screwing up" is now no longer one of his concerns.
If that is what's going on, I'd feel really sorry for Emily, considering what we know about Emily's history (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2568).
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We now Break from our regular scheduled events for another week with the relationship between an unique young lady and an utter pillock.
this should be entertaining, if only to see Clinton wallow in his own uselessness.
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Whenever Claire is even a little mean to Clinton, there are inevitably people who accuse her of going overboard. My opinion of these people, of course, is that they are probably only children. lol
Granted yes I know that not every pair/set of siblings is like this, but usually when you've been stuck living with someone relatively close to your age for most of your life, and they in turn have been stuck living with you for all of theirs, it doesn't matter how much you care about each other, you *are* going to get on each other's nerves, sometimes a whole heck of a lot. And yes, the catty banter is part of that wonderful package deal. :P
No, I just treat my younger brother like a person, you know? Yes, younger siblings are annoying, but Clinton's 21 and Claire's 24, and they're not living together any more. Clinton's living on the campus while Claire still lives at home. At this stage, sibling relationships change - you don't see each other that much any more, both are out of puberty, parents don't have that much influence any more, so you can actually enjoy the time you spend together because you don't have to spend it together at all. So, if they were 10 and 13, those insults would be normal and very usual for a sibling relationship, but they are adults now, with responsibilities and limited time. Why would you choose to spend that time with somebody who just insults you?
Your post would have some merit, IF Claire seemed like she was actually being serious. However, she doesn't, so I feel like you're being overly critical just for the sake of it (as people in these forums seem to have a habit of being). And even if I'm wrong, and she does mean some of what she says, so what if they still bug each other? It's not like they only see each other once a year and spend the rest of the time hundreds of kilometers apart. They might be living under separate roofs, but they're still in the same city, and given Clinton's age he probably hasn't been away from home for very long yet either. Their sibling dynamic probably hasn't really had the time or space to evolve beyond the "Mooooom, he won't get out of my room!" stage. A little bit of snarkiness also doesn't necessarily mean that they wouldn't still do anything to help the other out of a bind either. That's the wonderful thing about sibling relationships, you can be meaner than rattlesnakes to one another, but when the chips are down, you still have each others' backs. lol
[snip]
Some sibling relationships are all unicorn farts and puppy kisses, while others come just short of strangling each other with the telephone cord. What I see when I look at Clinton and Claire is a happy medium, prooobably leaning a bit more towards unicorn farts. :P
So, maybe I didn't express myself correctly - I didn't mean to say that Claire wants to be mean, she just is. Clinton didn't mean to be creepy towards Hannelore, but he was. She's just not a very nice person, but some people put her in her place (such as Faye) and some people don't. I'm sure she cares about Clinton, and that her jabs at him are meant to be friendly and all, but there's a fine line between friendly jabs and insults (for example 'Such a male stereotype - you're better than that' is a jab at his actions, but still supportive, but 'talking to you is so boring' is just insulting. If she had phrased it differently, it might not have been, but tact and courtesy is something Claire demands of others but not herself.)
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The only way Clinton could have made it a better date for Emily would have been to bring her a basket of mice.
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I get the feeling that Emily is the first girl he's been on anything serious like a DATE date before and has no idea what to do now.
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Comic's up. :wow:
:clairedoge:
(http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/dogs/happy-puppy-smiley-emoticon.gif)
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:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:
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They're fuzzy.
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In recent news, Emily has been identified as a distant descendant of Snow White
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Shelby?
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Fuzzy they are indeed. But OH MY GOD THE SHEER AMOUNT OF DOGE. THAT IS AN ALARMING AMOUNT OF DOGE.
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In recent news, Emily has been identified as a distant descendant of Snow White
But I thought Claire was the Secret Disney Princess (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2749).
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There could be two of those.
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There can only be one!
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I just had a vision of Emily, in old age, as some kind of crazy dog lady. And a squirrel perched on her shoulder, because Emily.
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There can only be one!
Then it'll be Claire. Cutting her head can't be easy with all the ClaireHair around, and Emily took a scissor to her incredibly smooth and straight hair, basically freeing the way for beheadings.
I just had a vision of Emily, in old age, as some kind of crazy dog lady. And a squirrel perched on her shoulder, because Emily.
The squirrel being a descendant of the one Momo knocked into oblivion (http://questionablecontent.net/1485) and attacking every single pink-haired human-looking thing that passes by in revenge.
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I get the feeling that Emily is the first girl he's been on anything serious like a DATE date before and has no idea what to do now.
I still don't understand what a "date" is. Even with the longest-term ex, I don't think that we ever went for official "dates", we just merely spent time, et good food, and otherwise spent time together.
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DOGS.
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Uhhh...are we sure Emily is...human?
First the eldritch program, now this.
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I'm having a Maison Ikkoku flashback here. Where the tennis guy, wossname, proposes to wossername, the girl with all the dogs, because he thinks he's gotten her pregnant, when it's one of her dogs that's pregnant.
Meanwhile, in her secret underground lab, Faye is creating the ultimate Murder Engine that will murder ALL THE DOGS.
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DOOOGS! :laugh:
I like dogs. Dogs are fuzzy.
I have a dog too. Her name is Luna. She is fuzzy. And very nice.
Emily likes dogs. She is not fuzzy. But the dogs like her.
I like Emily. I think Luna would like her too.
Clinton likes Emily too. His hair is fuzzy. But he is not a dog.
He does not act like a dog too. He acts more like a sheep. Sheep are also fuzzy.
Sheep do not like dogs in general. Does Clinton like dogs?
If Clinton does not like dogs, will Emily still like Clinton?
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Okay, so either Emily is the local designated dog walker or, not implausibly, she has the Disney princess-like ability to summon and control dogs with her song!
Wait a minute! Do you guys know what this means?
Emily is Poochie-Girl!!! :-o
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Uhhh...are we sure Emily is...human?
First the eldritch program, now this.
She's unusual, that's for sure. Human? Does that matter? She's a nice person. That's all that's important.
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Uhhh...are we sure Emily is...human?
First the eldritch program, now this.
I'm broadly satisfied that Emily is human. However, on occasion, there is something about her that makes me wonder if she is a relative of David's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.I._Artificial_Intelligence).
FWIW, a storyline where it is revealed that Mr or Mrs Azuma either used to work for Ellicott-Chatham or still do and that Emily was a gift to them from Dr John after it was revealed that they couldn't have a child of their own would be plausible. In this scenario, Emily may not be aware of the fact that she's a synthetic but that, as the years have passed and she has 'grown' (a really sophisticated human-simulation chassis) a part of her has been increasingly aware that there is something 'different' about her. This is leading her to strange behaviours as she tries to identify what is the cause of this sense of difference. Or maybe her AI algorithm came from the same batch as Pintsize, the infamous "Defective Batch 2005/ECC/1125/****", originating from when a summer intern at the labs spilt a soda on one of the data junctions in the AI algorithm generation mainframe.
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Does Emily's voice have harmonics in the dog-whistle band?
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That is quite possible. Even if she's not secretly a werewolf, Claire (and I think Marten) saw her howling along to wolf videos at the library.
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Dogs rule.
That is all.
:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:
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Those dogs need leashes!
Otherwise they could just run up to people and give them cuddles and doggie kisses!
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That's exactly what my dogs do.
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dooooggggggggggggss
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Those dogs need leashes!
Otherwise they could just run up to people and give them cuddles and doggie kisses!
Oh, yeah. I really want a critter that eats its own shit to lick me.
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Happy Canada Daaaaay~
I wish I had the ability to summon dogs at will :/ Actually I wish I had the ability to summon cats at will...
I'm guessing Emily doesn't really need to work (based on the really nice, fairly large lake-side "cottage" her parents own, they're probably pretty loaded), so a fairly low-stress job like dog-walking isn't implausible.
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All Dogs go to Emily
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Emily looks easy to write dialog for - just have her say one thing and then repeat it for the rest of the comic. Jeph did it here too. (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2854)
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I don't think she's a dog walker...I just think she goes to the park to play with dogs. Can't say I blame her.
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Meh. I'm a cat person.
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Meh. I'm a cat person.
Me too! Don't you hate coughing up hairballs in the morning?
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From now on, this is what Emily's voice will sound like to me.
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This would be a good excuse for Jeph to bring back some old character we haven't seen in a while. They come to find their dog, spend some time with Clinton and Emily, then freak out when Emily leads them to Coffee of Doom and they encounter one of the regulars.
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Meh. I'm a cat person.
Me too! Don't you hate coughing up hairballs in the morning?
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From now on, this is what Emily's voice will sound like to me.
Oh god. I hated (and still hate) her with the passion of a thousand burning suns.
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She was the kind of character you'd like to see an Acme 1000lb Anvil drop on permanently
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The Paul Schrader version was fairly interesting, but you should really try to see the Val Lewton Cat People from 1942. Beautifully made, it uses suggestion rather than special effects, and has a terrific performance from Simone Simon.
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I have
Like both.
Meow
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WRT today's comic, Clinton needs to strap himself in; life with Emily will never be what he's expecting. She's crazy and smart, and could take him places he'll never forget.
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Shades of manic Pixie dream girl, methinks.
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She missed Shebly
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So, maybe I didn't express myself correctly - I didn't mean to say that Claire wants to be mean, she just is. Clinton didn't mean to be creepy towards Hannelore, but he was. She's just not a very nice person, but some people put her in her place (such as Faye) and some people don't. I'm sure she cares about Clinton, and that her jabs at him are meant to be friendly and all, but there's a fine line between friendly jabs and insults (for example 'Such a male stereotype - you're better than that' is a jab at his actions, but still supportive, but 'talking to you is so boring' is just insulting. If she had phrased it differently, it might not have been, but tact and courtesy is something Claire demands of others but not herself.)
I know Claire isn't perfect, I just thought that you and some other people were being a little harsh in your assessment of her treatment of Clinton. I mean yes, okay, sure she can be a bit of a brat to him sometimes, but I don't think that she treats him as less than human, as you stated in your original reply to my first post. I think that she treats him like a little brother who can, at times, be annoying if not down right humiliating. Nothing about their interactions has struck me as spiteful, it's just typical sibling banter, albeit with a few more snide remarks or embarrassing blurtations (new word, woo!) than some people may be used to experiencing from/with their own siblings, but typical nonetheless.
Also, @ today's strip, Inspector Pancakes totally needs his own comic, or at least a mini series. :P
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Also, @ today's strip, Inspector Pancakes totally needs his own comic, or at least a mini series. :P
Wish granted (sorta) (http://inspectorpancakes.com)
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Also, @ today's strip, Inspector Pancakes totally needs his own comic, or at least a mini series. :P
Wish granted (sorta) (http://inspectorpancakes.com)
LOL Thank you! I kind of thought it was a cameo, but I wasn't sure. I still think that he should have a comic strip though, preferably one where he teams up with Shelby or Randy. :P
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WRT today's comic, Clinton needs to strap himself in; life with Emily will never be what he's expecting. She's crazy and smart, and could take him places he'll never forget.
Like federal prison!
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Oh come on. Clinton can be socially awkward, but I don't think he's so spineless as to just go with something that would land them in prison.
Okay so that was a lie, Clinton's pretty spineless.
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I'm with Emily! If those aren't those dogs' names and back-stories, well then they ought to be!
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I know it's anatomically more correct, but did Jeph have to draw the anatomically correct bits on that last dog? I'm just so used to not seeing them on cartoon animals.
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:clairedoge:
Doggies :)
Woof. Woof. Woof!
:clairedoge:
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I know it's anatomically more correct, but did Jeph have to draw the anatomically correct bits on that last dog? I'm just so used to not seeing them on cartoon animals.
Considering who the dog is... yeah.
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Jeph's history of anatomically correct animals (specifically bonercat) led to his being ousted from several streaming services in turn for drawing them.
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Oh come on. Clinton can be socially awkward, but I don't think he's so spineless as to just go with something that would land them in prison.
Okay so that was a lie, Clinton's pretty spineless.
I suspect he'd be accused of spinelessness if he didn't go along with it, too. It's a popular insult around these parts.
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(sighs) I like Quirky Emily. I like Goofy Emily. I like Weird Emily. I do.
I really do not like Completely Unmoored From Sanity Emily.
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Like federal prison!
Do they have co-ed prisons?
This strip reminds me of the Larson cartoon about the names we give dogs vs. the names they give themselves (https://theroadtoserendipity.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/dognames.jpg).
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I think we've finally gotten a glimpse inside Emily's head. She's constantly making up stories about the world, because otherwise it's so much less interesting.
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She was the kind of character you'd like to see an Acme 1000lb Anvil drop on permanently
No. Just no. The word to use is repeatedly.
Repeatedly until her her Bruis-able yet indestructible frame is pounded into the very core of the earth.
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Like federal prison!
Do they have co-ed prisons?
They'd just be visiting.
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They're playing Monopoly?
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No, they actually went to Atlantic City and visited a jail.
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Nobody there wore a tophat or owned Boardwalk, so Emily went out and bought a tophat and the entire boardwalk and gave it to a prisoner.
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Dammit, Jeph inspired me to go back to my old avatar.
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Showing my awful memory, but was your last one "that's a dick" or was there one in between that one and this one?
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My last one was That's A Dick, which I'll probably go back to soon. I also had one in the style of this character poster (http://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TO&Product_Code=QC-FRIENDS-PRINT&Category_Code=QC) for a long time.
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Right! Sheamus, right? I had Pintsize from that poster for the longest time (until trigodogetry).
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Yep!
I even made a Christmas variant.
(http://)
Still one of the cutest drawings I have ever done. :laugh:
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(sighs) I like Quirky Emily. I like Goofy Emily. I like Weird Emily. I do.
I really do not like Completely Unmoored From Sanity Emily.
Of all the things indicating insanity, this is it for you? Having pet names for dogs?
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I like Emily because she's the one character who's almost always joyful. If you're going to be nuts, you might as well be happy doing it.
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"Does Emily suffer from mental illness?"
"Lots of people do, but she seems to enjoy it."
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wow, is Emily weird and quirky?
I mean, I've been kinda getting that vibe. But maybe Jeph should be more overt and explicit. This nuanced portrayal might be a bit too subtle for me.
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To paraphrase Raven, the ultimate relationship barometer is if she emits a scent and he doesn't get too grossed out to keep going. :psyduck:
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That's known as "talking out your glands".
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I don't know why, but I really like the way Jeph draws big dogs. I don't even like dogs in real life, and in fact they terrify me, but when Jeph draws big dogs they just look so happy.
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Suppose she CAN summon snakes? What would that mean to you, Clin-ton?
(Faye, told that the new specs will include Snake Summoning, drops her hammer and goes "WTF?")
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I think they suit each other perfectly
Well, someone had to say it!
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She could go on a hike with Sam again and practice.
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Wait a minute... she said his name correctly! :psyduck:
Pretty sure this is the first time? I have zero idea what to make of that.
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Every strong relationship has a solid basis in fear.
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I don't know why, but I really like the way Jeph draws big dogs. I don't even like dogs in real life, and in fact they terrify me, but when Jeph draws big dogs they just look so happy.
Can't blame you for not liking dogs. The reason I carry a mixture of CS spray and pepper spray is because of all the fucking mutts that have tried to attack me. And if it happens again, I'll spray another dose into the eyes of their human. Cats, OTOH, love me, and even the feral ones want to be my BFF.
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Mae cŵn yn niwlog. Nadroedd, nid yn gymaint.
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Clinton, something tells me that going into an interaction with Emily with expectations or a plan is probably simply not viable. It's best to simply swim with the tide and try to direct it in the direction that you want to go.
I think that there's a good chance that this conversation will extend into next week and that, thus, strip 3000 will be the conclusion of this arc. I wonder if Jeph is planning a Wham! for that day?
Such as what? It is interesting. This is another hint that we've been given that, on a certain level, Emily is not a baseline human. He may choose to address this.
In one tabletop role playing game system I once played, there was a mutant power called 'Total Bio-control', where the character could consciously make his or her body do anything. That would include re-purposing their pheromone glands in the way Emily is proposing here. It's just a vague connection in my mind but one does wonder exactly what Emily's real story is.
I've already mentioned my 'android child' theory. The other is, of course, that one or both of the Azumas are geneticists and bioengineers. Emily's genome was artificially threaded in an attempt to make the perfect woman but, unfortunately, all the enhancements put together resulted in one or two issues with her brain's social development, leaving Emily capable of doing all sorts of amazing things but also somewhere on the Autistic spectrum.
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Wednesday's comic made me go
(http://i.imgur.com/qilAfZu.png)
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Oh dear, Cinton.
It is obvious, that he is far from his comfort zone here. He´s uncomfortable with dogs (I suppose he didn´t have much contact with them so far), snakes (Nature! Eeek!) and weird thought-jumps and associations. He was hoping for an attractive girl he coud talk to, find a conection and establish some kind of relationship. But he is obviosly not connecing here.
I´m not sure if they wil be able to find a ground common enough for the both of them. Emily will not (be able to) change her behavior to fit his expectations. So it woud be up to him to adjust the boundaries of his comfort zone so she can find a place in it.
Will he be able to do that?
Does he even want to do that?
Maybe Cinton will join Emily and Sam on a trip into the woods. I certainly woud be a lif-changing experience for him, I´m sure. :-D
TM
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With the robot hand he just may be able to pry snakes off as they try and squeeze the life out of him.
Maybe.
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I've already mentioned my 'android child' theory. The other is, of course, that one or both of the Azumas are geneticists and bioengineers. Emily's genome was artificially threaded in an attempt to make the perfect woman but, unfortunately, all the enhancements put together resulted in one or two issues with her brain's social development, leaving Emily capable of doing all sorts of amazing things but also somewhere on the Autistic spectrum.
Shoot, you don't need genetic engineering for that.
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I don't know why, but I really like the way Jeph draws big dogs. I don't even like dogs in real life, and in fact they terrify me, but when Jeph draws big dogs they just look so happy.
I really love how he draws dogs too. I kind of want tattoos of them.
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Y'know, to those of you complaining that Emily is coming off as a bit too quirky or weird, I'd just like to remind you that she's surrounded by like, a million awesome and adorable dogs. You try it and see what happens to your brain.
:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :clairedoge: :clairedoge: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:
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"Does Emily suffer from mental illness?"
"Lots of people do, but she seems to enjoy it."
No.
Just like in the scene where Pippi Longstocking goes into a drug store.
"No."
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"I am answering the question on the sign in you window: 'do you suffer from freckles?' No, I don't."
"But your face is full of freckles."
"Yes, but I do not suffer from them."
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Mae cŵn yn niwlog. Nadroedd, nid yn gymaint.
Det er nemt for dig at sige.
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Why Ludwig Amadeus Mozarf? Wolfgang is doggier and also not confusing Mozart and Beethoven.
(I had a Beagle named Ludwig. Strange dog.)
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It's almost as though Emily is a bit confused!
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Why Ludwig Amadeus Mozarf? Wolfgang is doggier and also not confusing Mozart and Beethoven.
(I had a Beagle named Ludwig. Strange dog.)
Then you couldn't have Virginia Wolf because then it would be two wolf themed names.
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Just like in the scene where Pippi Longstocking goes into a drug store.
"No."
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"I am answering the question on the sign in you window: 'do you suffer from freckles?' No, I don't."
"But your face is full of freckles."
"Yes, but I do not suffer from them."
Or the Catholic radio station I occasionally listen to in the car (when there's a boring story on NPR) that is very, very unhappy about last week's Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality. Stop talking about "people suffering from same-sex attraction," you guys. They're getting married, so I'm pretty sure they're not suffering.
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They're getting married, so I'm pretty sure they're not suffering.
Give 'em a few years...
Remember, the marriage success rate in the U.S. is 50%.
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Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
I'd bet vast sums of money that the gay divorce rate will be lower than that, by a fair margin.
Not because gays are better at marriage, but because a majority of them will have been with the person they marry for a long long time, already.
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They're getting married, so I'm pretty sure they're not suffering.
Give 'em a few years...
"You want an amendment against same-sex marriage? Anyone who's ever been married knows it's always the same sex!"
--Robin Williams (PBUH)
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Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
I'd bet vast sums of money that the gay divorce rate will be lower than that, by a fair margin.
Not because gays are better at marriage, but because a majority of them will have been with the person they marry for a long long time, already.
Okay, so we give 'em a bunch MORE years.
It'll level out eventually, but in the meantime, we can point out marriage success rates across orientation-lines to shut bigots the fuck up
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"You want an amendment against same-sex marriage? Anyone who's ever been married knows it's always the same sex!"
--Robin Williams (PBUH)
And here I thought that marriage would mean no sex.
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Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
I'd bet vast sums of money that the gay divorce rate will be lower than that, by a fair margin.
Not because gays are better at marriage, but because a majority of them will have been with the person they marry for a long long time, already.
Okay, so we give 'em a bunch MORE years.
It'll level out eventually, but in the meantime, we can point out marriage success rates across orientation-lines to shut bigots the fuck up
Tru dat. I was going to say that ought to have leveled out by 2030 when the newest cohort is hitting mid 30's and a bunch of the people who will be getting married over the next few months have died. But that's seemed kind of morbid.
Then I had a good meal and didn't care about being morbid.
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"You want an amendment against same-sex marriage? Anyone who's ever been married knows it's always the same sex!"
--Robin Williams (PBUH)
And here I thought that marriage would mean no sex.
Zero is technically similar enough to zero to count as "the same" for most purposes, no?
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Or the Catholic radio station I occasionally listen to in the car (when there's a boring story on NPR) that is very, very unhappy about last week's Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality. Stop talking about "people suffering from same-sex attraction," you guys. They're getting married, so I'm pretty sure they're not suffering.
Some people suffer from religion.
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Many people suffer from religion, even those who don't have it.
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You know, I've been thinking about why I am just not a big fan of this plotline, and I think I've nailed it. There are several reasons:
When Emily was introduced she was a real character, she had the potential to develop and was more nuanced. Now she seems to be a caricature. I don't see any potential for character growth. The sense that nothing will really impact Emily and that she seems to purely exist to be "quirky and weird" makes me care less about her as a character.
This current plotline really seems to be taking us into manic pixie dreamgirl territory. A plotline that has been hashed out before, in several different mediums, ad nauseum. In short, a plot that will be all about Clinton's growth, and the magical effect that Emily will have on him. How Whimsical!
The more time Clinton spends with Emily, the less happy he seems. Maybe Emily will kiss Clinton at some point, and he will be over the moon! But only because he's been kissed by a girl! not because he actually enjoys spending time with Emily or cares about her.
Who knows, maybe Jeph is going to eventually take this plotline somewhere unexpected. If he plans to do that, I hope he dos it fast.
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I hope he takes it exactly where you just implied.
Emily suddenly gets dead, dead, fucking serious.
'Clinton, tell me something you know about me. Anything.'
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Hannelore started out looking like a caricature. There is hope for Emily.
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I'm not even sure Emily did have much of a real character when introduced. She was always the wacky caricature, and I seem to remember people complained about that on this forum back then.
I like her better since the date with Clinton, because she seems to have shown some ability to have a coherent conversation, even if we didn't see all the details.
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Clinton and Emily are not really a match made in heaven.
These means there are four possible outcomes for this story.
1) They have actual struggles, fumbling toward some. We learn who they are beyond their surface treatments. Rainbows and Hearts, sitting in a tree. Kay eye ess ess, and all that rot.
2) They have actual struggles, fumbling toward some. We learn who they are beyond their surface treatments. Storm clouds and slow sad music. Perhaps a mime trapped in an invisible box.
3) Jeph drops the ball. It goes to a silly punchline, It is otherwise abdondoned.
4) Jeph drops the ball. Go directly to rainbows and hearts. Do not pass GO. Do not collect any plot or character development.
That's about as comprehensive as it gets.
As for subtle clues, if Jeph's doing more than comic relief, then he's doing just fine. Emily is being her normal, not quite present self, and Clinton is 20something who has never touched a boob. I've touched plenty of boob and I hardly know what to make of myself or anyone else after 1 date. Those first dates that have gone fairy tale well have always been with wildly incompatible people. Those dates that left me wondering tended to lead some place not too bad. And seemingly wildly compatible people don't find me attractive.
I'm just one guy, so I'm hardly the ur-case for humanity, but there's really nothing to see here. We don't have enough info to know what either of their motives are.
Which is, come to think of it, kinda dull.
Eh. It was enough to get me to write this comment. Good enough for governement work.
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Y'know, to those of you complaining that Emily is coming off as a bit too quirky or weird, I'd just like to remind you that she's surrounded by like, a million awesome and adorable dogs. You try it and see what happens to your brain.
:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :clairedoge: :clairedoge: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:
They are fuzzy.
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When Emily was introduced she was a real character, she had the potential to develop and was more nuanced. Now she seems to be a caricature. I don't see any potential for character growth. The sense that nothing will really impact Emily and that she seems to purely exist to be "quirky and weird" makes me care less about her as a character.
Would you like Raven back? (You do realize that Emily is Raven 2.0?)
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I'd argue that Raven was at least capable of carrying on a coherent conversation most of the time. She was flaky and kind of a ditz, but she still managed to seem like she could function, if not normally, in normal society.
Emily, on the other hand, seems to have become more and more out of it, for lack of a better phrase. Or maybe more unrealistically disassociated with how most human beings function in real life. She seemed quirky but at her base, still resembled a reasonably functional person early on. Now she seems to be weird just for the sake of being weird, without any of the relatable traits she had before.