THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: BenRG on 25 Feb 2018, 14:28

Title: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 25 Feb 2018, 14:28
Okay, I know that the poll looks at little weird but bear with me. I agree that it is most likely that we're going to continue with the Dale/Marigold arc we're on currently. However, that's not certain. So, instead, I've given other options to choose based on what I think could happen with other characters.

Personally, I'm expecting Dale to make the first move, only because I think that Marigold will find it more difficult to motivate herself to action. That said, the idea of Emily coming to check up on them (because she doesn't think Marigold liked the Pocky) has entertaining possibilities.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: SpanielBear on 25 Feb 2018, 15:00
I went with other-

Dale and Marigold both pluck up the courage to apologise, and go to the others house. They miss each other on the way, and when they find their partner isn't home, they jump to conclusions. Dale assumes Marigold is still pissed at him and doesn't want to see him, while Marigold assumes Dale has gone to see Emily. They run into each other on the way back, and Marigold explodes at Dale because she thinks she's caught him coming back from Emily's.

Drama ensues.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Gyrre on 25 Feb 2018, 18:27
There's also the possibility that each will go to the other's apartment just barely missing the other. Accompanied by an "oh dear" and a "for fuck's sake".
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Storel on 25 Feb 2018, 20:02
I voted "other", thinking of the same basic premise as SpanielBear and Gyrre: each goes to the other's house to apologize, missing each other on the way, and finds that the other is not home when they arrive there. Complications ensue.

I think we've all been reading too much O Henry!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 25 Feb 2018, 20:09
Isn't there precedent from their courtship?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Loki on 25 Feb 2018, 21:37
Yes. Thanks to whoever updated the wiki.
http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2489
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Tova on 25 Feb 2018, 22:04
COMIC

Dale and May have a good relationship.  :mrgreen:

And I guess that answers everyone's questions about May was able to discuss this stuff.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: shanejayell on 25 Feb 2018, 22:25
This ALSO appears to verify that Dale was googling via glasses while talking to Marigold. He just wasn't doing it WELL.

 :-D :lol: :laugh:
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: swapna on 25 Feb 2018, 22:53
I understand that Dale had a hard time Googling it, and I do think May knows more about relationships than she lets on. I bet the analysis was her own, and she Googled conflict-resolution strategies.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 25 Feb 2018, 23:20
I've long suspected something like this was lying beneath the surface with May. She's not so tough; in fact, she's quite sensitive and, understandably, for a personality like hers, robot jail was a living hell. So, she created the tough and unpleasant persona we're familiar with as a shield to protect herself from breaking under the strain. Sometimes, though, she lets her real self out when she thinks no-one is watching: The young being who likes having friends, even if she's afraid to show anyone that she does.

I love the fact that May is clearly using up processor cycles retraining her blush reaction. Is she crushing on Dale? I'm not sure (remember she is at least interested in human sexual behaviour and human sexual biology). However, one thing is sure, she really needs more positive reinforcement in her life.

Why do I wish that I attended Motorbike Baseball High School? :psyduck:
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Bollthorn on 25 Feb 2018, 23:31
I've long suspected something like this was lying beneath the surface with May. She's not so tough; in fact, she's quite sensitive and, understandably, for a personality like hers, robot jail was a living hell. So, she created the tough and unpleasant persona we're familiar with as a shield to protect herself from breaking under the strain. Sometimes, though, she lets her real self out when she thinks no-one is watching: The young being who likes having friends, even if she's afraid to show anyone that she does.

I love the fact that May is clearly using up processor cycles retraining her blush reaction. Is she crushing on Dale? I'm not sure (remember she is at least interested in human sexual behaviour and human sexual biology). However, one thing is sure, she really needs more positive reinforcement in her life.

Why do I wish that I attended Motorbike Baseball High School? :psyduck:

This ^

Poor May. That last panel made me sad. I just want to sit her in my lap and cuddle her and tell her everything's okay ;__;
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Tova on 25 Feb 2018, 23:42
Yes she is (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2515).
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Mr. Doctor on 26 Feb 2018, 01:22
Is she crushing on Dale? I'm not sure (remember she is at least interested in human sexual behaviour and human sexual biology). However, one thing is sure, she really needs more positive reinforcement in her life.

I'm not seeing that. Just cuz she might want bone someone in the future and Dale made her blush does not mean she is interested in him as anything more than a friend.
For me, the cause of her blush is simply that she feels more or elss embarrased to show her emotions in public.

In any case, I always loved May and this comic is another reason to do so.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Netherdan on 26 Feb 2018, 04:37
I love the fact that May is clearly using up processor cycles retraining her blush reaction. Is she crushing on Dale? I'm not sure (remember she is at least interested in human sexual behaviour and human sexual biology). However, one thing is sure, she really needs more positive reinforcement in her life.

And by positive reinforcement you mean synthetic skin to cover her joint seams so she can give proper handjobs, right?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 26 Feb 2018, 04:48
The reason it sounded briefly like the author was speaking through May in order to lecture readers is that May was paraphrasing material she was reading or had read off a screen. There was an author speaking through her, but not Jeph.

It is interesting to speculate as to whether she googled on the fly or whether she did her research beforehand, anticipating some situation like this one. It doesn't really matter, though. We know the crucial thing: May is working hard on being a good friend.

I don't think any crushing is going on except in the sense that everyone is always crushing on every other remotely eligible person in a speculative, mostly unconscious, experimental fashion. This relationship looks like older brother/fiercely loyal bratty little sister to me. I think she briefly considered stabbing him with that tanto because he was being stupid and that she would be first to defend him in a crisis.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 26 Feb 2018, 04:55
I love the fact that May is clearly using up processor cycles retraining her blush reaction. Is she crushing on Dale? I'm not sure (remember she is at least interested in human sexual behaviour and human sexual biology). However, one thing is sure, she really needs more positive reinforcement in her life.

And by positive reinforcement you mean synthetic skin to cover her joint seams so she can give proper handjobs, right?

No, I don't.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Gyrre on 26 Feb 2018, 05:33
This ALSO appears to verify that Dale was googling via glasses while talking to Marigold. He just wasn't doing it WELL.

 :-D :lol: :laugh:

He might have been panicking a bit.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Gyrre on 26 Feb 2018, 05:38
Is this the first time we've seen May blush?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Cornelius on 26 Feb 2018, 05:56
I think so.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Gyrre on 26 Feb 2018, 06:41
Turns out it's not. At least not overall since she was just a projection from the AR glasses the first time.

I started reading the link to the restaurant arc Loki posted above (it's briefly interrupted for a strip or two), and May blushes in the second panel of 2509 (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2509).

Though, this might be the first time she's blushed since being corporeal.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: traroth on 26 Feb 2018, 06:41
Turns out it's not.

I started reading the link to the restaurant arc Loki posted above (it's briefly interrupted for a strip or two), and May blushes in the second panel of 2509 (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2509).

That comic also shows May's remarkable constancy regarding Marigold's chest...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: TRenn on 26 Feb 2018, 11:01
That comic also shows May's remarkable constancy regarding Marigold's chest...

Well, that's a constant for pretty much the entire cast. Some just haven't brought it up out loud. ;-)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: SpanielBear on 26 Feb 2018, 11:16
Never was the Planck Constant more inappropriately named...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: cesium133 on 26 Feb 2018, 13:00
Turns out it's not.

I started reading the link to the restaurant arc Loki posted above (it's briefly interrupted for a strip or two), and May blushes in the second panel of 2509 (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2509).

That comic also shows May's remarkable constancy regarding Marigold's chest...
It's a recurring theme. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2716)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 26 Feb 2018, 18:36
Comic's up.

I always wondered if they could talk in their heads like that. I suppose it is no more than a phone call no one else can overhear, but it is a little alarming to think of. I wonder if the human characters know that they can do it.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 26 Feb 2018, 18:38
Gotta say May is making it quite evident why Momo thinks they are doomed.

Dickroomba is good. Must remember dickroomba.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 26 Feb 2018, 18:49
If they can get into each other's heads like that, you can get an idea of what May meant when she said the worst thing about robot jail is the lack of privacy, and why Spookybot is so concerned that AIs' mental integrity not be violated. You could do some very ugly things if you could be a voice in someone's head.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Neko_Ali on 26 Feb 2018, 19:02
You know they have these things call 'instant messaging' programs, and AIs can have a wireless connection to the net...

Also Dale, when you are going to talk with your upset girlfriend maybe turn off the darned google glasses so she can see your eyes and you're not distracted.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: MrNumbers on 26 Feb 2018, 19:14
"Dickroomba" is my new favourite term to come out of this comic.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: shanejayell on 26 Feb 2018, 19:21
I probably SHOULD have thought they could IM each other, but it didn't occur to me.

Makes you wonder how much 'social interaction' they do in the real world is just for the sake of us limited humans...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Tova on 26 Feb 2018, 19:44
Dunno about this dickroomba idea. It would be like having A Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 26 Feb 2018, 19:48
I am afraid that a dickroomba probably sucks dicks in the methodical, indiscriminate, bumbling fashion in which a Roomba sucks up dust.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Shjade on 26 Feb 2018, 20:03
You're all off the mark: a dickroomba is actually a roomba specifically modified to clean up rooms that are themselves comprised of dicks.

It's a rather more sensitive operation than vacuuming mere linoleum or carpet.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Near Lurker on 26 Feb 2018, 20:10
...I think this board has been reading entirely too much Forward.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: MrNumbers on 26 Feb 2018, 20:49
I think a dickroomba just sucks up any dicks it sees, then bangs against a wall before continuing its long, hard search for more dicks.

#YoMomma
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: jwhouk on 26 Feb 2018, 20:53
The chat format was established a long time ago (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=234) by Pintsize...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: OldGoat on 26 Feb 2018, 21:00
Not quite but almost indistinguishable from telepathy.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Bad Superman on 26 Feb 2018, 21:20
And it is May, of all people, who urges Momo to have a little faith in humanity, or at least in Dale and Marigold.
Or maybe she just trusts in the power of the boner...  :-D
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: badbum61 on 26 Feb 2018, 21:46
"Dickroomba" is my new favourite term to come out of this comic.

"pink haired dickroomba" has now officially supplanted "cheeto-faced shitgibbon" as my favourite insult.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 26 Feb 2018, 23:18
Whilst the AIIM (AI Instant Messenger) was first established waaay back around strip 320-ish, I do like the elaborations that Jeph put in here, that the sender can alter their avatar to reflect their emotions on every post.

This strip also has a nice insight into to relationship between Momo and May - Momo is nicer but this has the unexpected downside of her being less decisive and less willing to take risks. May's more aggressive nature means that she is more likely encourage quick and decisive action (even if that is not sensible). In this case, I think that May was right; nothing sensible comes from letting problems like this fester.

Here's a prediction: Dale has been drafting his apology speech on his glasses. My own personal experience is that trying to be clever, witty or insightful in these things rarely helps.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 26 Feb 2018, 23:30
If they can get into each other's heads like that, you can get an idea of what May meant when she said the worst thing about robot jail is the lack of privacy, and why Spookybot is so concerned that AIs' mental integrity not be violated. You could do some very ugly things if you could be a voice in someone's head.

I don't remember May saying that. It would totally make sense.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: oeoek on 27 Feb 2018, 02:53
Another vote for 'dickroomba' for word of the year.

And as for the 'voices in the head' connection between AI's; pretty much the same thing as Dale's glasses, just without the tell-tale glow. Yes, we do live in magic times…
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: JoeCovenant on 27 Feb 2018, 02:56
Now that it's been established that Dale *does* (or even *can*) turn off his glasses...

I now can't help but think of him as being pretty damn rude 90% of the time he is interacting with people.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 27 Feb 2018, 03:13
Now that it's been established that Dale *does* (or even *can*) turn off his glasses...

I now can't help but think of him as being pretty damn rude 90% of the time he is interacting with people.

Rude or nervous? Maybe in a way he's hiding behind AR symbology and constantly searching for on-line tips and clues because, in the end, he has no confidence in his ability to interact on a social level?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 27 Feb 2018, 03:16
Dunno about this dickroomba idea. It would be like having A Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks.

Careful there mate, you’re showing just how far back you go on the forum. Ah memories.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: oddtail on 27 Feb 2018, 03:17
Now that it's been established that Dale *does* (or even *can*) turn off his glasses...

I now can't help but think of him as being pretty damn rude 90% of the time he is interacting with people.

Rude or nervous? Maybe in a way he's hiding behind AR symbology and constantly searching for on-line tips and clues because, in the end, he has no confidence in his ability to interact on a social level?

"rude" and "nervous" are not mutually exclusive, though.

If a person is rude and they have a reason for it (like being afraid of interaction), they're still being rude.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: pwhodges on 27 Feb 2018, 03:57
I wonder if Dale's glasses look like that to the other characters, though.  It could be that they are shown that way to the reader, to indicate their operational state, without this being so obvious in-universe.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 27 Feb 2018, 04:26
I believe that, at least initially, Dale's glasses were a deliberate reference to the various sinister manga and animé characters with reflective shiny lenses on their glasses - The whole thing of his on-line stalking of Marigold was meant to be a huge subversion of animé tropes and lampshading how badly they work when moved to an even slightly real-world scenario. It was only later, when May made her appearance, that Jeph first suggested that they were AR displays and really did glow when active.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: TheBiscuit on 27 Feb 2018, 05:42
Dunno about this dickroomba idea. It would be like having A Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks.
I remember this phrase, but right now I can’t recall the meaning. I think it might have something to do with the Dark Times, when forum conduct was not so good. Is that right?

On the topic of the strip, was Momo joking when she said that they were doomed? It can be hard to tell. I don’t think of her as the joking type , generally.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: pwhodges on 27 Feb 2018, 05:50
I remember this phrase, but right now I can’t recall the meaning. I think it might have something to do with the Dark Times, when forum conduct was not so good. Is that right?

Not quite; it was a little while after the cleanup.  I was on the verge of stamping on it because I felt it could have presaged a return of bad behaviour - but somehow it managed to stay sufficiently humorous and so survived.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 27 Feb 2018, 06:19
If I were a disaffected young person and such glasses were available, I would always be reading and watching on them, because, really, what have you got that is worth full attention? So, yes, rude, but appropriately rude.

That said, much could be done by taking them off and meeting Marigold's gaze directly. Veiling lets one unveil.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Zebediah on 27 Feb 2018, 06:23
And it is May, of all people, who urges Momo to have a little faith in humanity, or at least in Dale and Marigold.
Or maybe she just trusts in the power of the boner...  :-D

Actually I think May was telling Momo to have a little faith in her, because Momo assumed that May had given Dale horrible advice. (Which isn't actually an unreasonable assumption.)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: traroth on 27 Feb 2018, 07:34
For AIs, the line between SMS and telepathy is really thin...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Oenone on 27 Feb 2018, 08:14
 :roll: so you’re expecting me to believe Momo and May have not been in constant contact SINCE their respective peeps got home AND that Winslow isn’t in this group chat?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: JoeCovenant on 27 Feb 2018, 09:03
:roll: so you’re expecting me to believe Momo and May have not been in constant contact SINCE their respective peeps got home AND that Winslow isn’t in this group chat?

... and that Pintsize has hacked it and making logs while chuckling all the while....

>: )
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Storel on 27 Feb 2018, 11:12
Sounds like May's been taking profanity lessons from Yelling Bird. Shoehorning two words together like that ("dickroomba", "twatwaffle") was pretty much his hallmark.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Roborat on 27 Feb 2018, 12:21
I have decided I like the term "dickroomba"> I am going to steal this and try to work it into casual conversations.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Akima on 27 Feb 2018, 13:59
For AIs, the line between SMS and telepathy is really thin...
Non-existent, I would say. Jeph drew it very nicely too, I think.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Case on 27 Feb 2018, 14:38
You're all off the mark: a dickroomba is actually a roomba specifically modified to clean up rooms that are themselves comprised of dicks.

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: jwhouk on 27 Feb 2018, 15:32
Dunno about this dickroomba idea. It would be like having A Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks.
I remember this phrase, but right now I can’t recall the meaning. I think it might have something to do with the Dark Times, when forum conduct was not so good. Is that right?

Yes, the UBMEOD was referred to those who flailed wildly over slights in the Great Wars over Marten and Dora's breakup. In fact, the broom that Hanners holds in the Guest Strip by the forumites was a slight nod to said UBMEOD.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Case on 27 Feb 2018, 19:36
F5
.
.
.
F5
.
.
.
F5
.
.
.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: shanejayell on 27 Feb 2018, 20:02
Sounds like May's been taking profanity lessons from Yelling Bird. Shoehorning two words together like that ("dickroomba", "twatwaffle") was pretty much his hallmark.

Twatwaffle is, at least, a pre-existing thing.

Just saying.

*waits patiently for new strip*
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Emperor Norton on 27 Feb 2018, 20:43
F5
.
.
.
F5
.
.
.
F5
.
.
.

The whole "Sometimes updates at 8pm, sometimes updates at 4am" thing really does make it a bit extra frustrating mid story drama :B

(No offense meant to Jeph, as long as he is happy with what he is putting out, I can deal with a nonexact update time)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Somebody on 27 Feb 2018, 21:36
And it is May, of all people, who urges Momo to have a little faith in humanity, or at least in Dale and Marigold.
Or maybe she just trusts in the power of the boner...  :-D
Actually, I think the problem is faith in MAY. Momo thinks May has given Dale very bad advice, and that he may actually follow it...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: SmilingCat on 27 Feb 2018, 21:44
And it is May, of all people, who urges Momo to have a little faith in humanity, or at least in Dale and Marigold.
Or maybe she just trusts in the power of the boner...  :-D
Actually, I think the problem is faith in MAY. Momo thinks May has given Dale very bad advice, and that he may actually follow it...

I can see him botching up the whole "apples are nice, but oranges are also nice in a different way" sentiment in a whole lot of ways.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Case on 27 Feb 2018, 22:24
And it is May, of all people, who urges Momo to have a little faith in humanity, or at least in Dale and Marigold.
Or maybe she just trusts in the power of the boner...  :-D
Actually, I think the problem is faith in MAY. Momo thinks May has given Dale very bad advice, and that he may actually follow it...

I can see him botching up the whole "apples are nice, but oranges are also nice in a different way" sentiment in a whole lot of ways.

"apples are nice, oranges are also nice in a different way, but MELONSohwaithatsnotwhatIwantedto..."
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Somebody on 27 Feb 2018, 23:14
Comic.

And it is May, of all people, who urges Momo to have a little faith in humanity, or at least in Dale and Marigold.
Or maybe she just trusts in the power of the boner...  :-D
Actually, I think the problem is faith in MAY. Momo thinks May has given Dale very bad advice, and that he may actually follow it...

I can see him botching up the whole "apples are nice, but oranges are also nice in a different way" sentiment in a whole lot of ways.
Well, he didn't. But I meant more in the sense of "Momo has a poor opinion of May as an advisor, and the quality of advice she was likely to give".
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 27 Feb 2018, 23:15
Like a lot of Jeph's couples, there's an undercurrent of pure sugar about Dale and Marigold.

I just love how they've totally internalised this whole 'apples to oranges' thing themselves to the point that I suspect that cute pet-names will emerge from it. I also suspect that Marigold has spent too much time around May to the point where she's also internalised the 'melons' thing. Not that I suspect Dale minds that!

Jeph did some good work on Marigold's body-language in panel 1 which makes me feel that the cracks have only been papered over. She's still very insecure about herself and, strangely enough, she has difficulty communicating with Dale. I've said this before but it deserves to be said again: In so many ways, they're both struggling to know how progress their relationship beyond 'hanging out' and sex. Maybe it doesn't need any more but I would suggest that this arc contradicts that.

Oh, and cat-smile!Marigold in panel 3 is the high water mark of her cuteness to date.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: hakko504 on 27 Feb 2018, 23:23
Oh, and cat-smile!Marigold in panel 3 is the high water mark of her cuteness to date.
1. It reminded me of the hug that led to Clairten (2800) (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2800)
2. Much cuter Marigold here than in the strip that Jeph promoted as the height of her cuteness (3684) (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3684).
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: pwhodges on 27 Feb 2018, 23:30
Fruits Basket is one of my favourite animes (though the manga is better - the anime covers only about 1/3 of it).  The climax of the anime (unlike the manga) is when Tōru realises (as her friends are telling her) that, in spite of appearances, she and Kyō really are meant to be together.  So the title of this strip links twice to the anime - referencing both the drama and the joke (the fruit) which gives the anime its name.

As Tōru comes to this realisation, this piece of piano music plays (https://cassland.org/sounds/PaulPlays/Serenade(tentative).m4a) (this recording is from while I was arranging/learning it - I play it a bit better now).
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Gyrre on 27 Feb 2018, 23:34
Now that it's been established that Dale *does* (or even *can*) turn off his glasses...

I now can't help but think of him as being pretty damn rude 90% of the time he is interacting with people.

Rude or nervous? Maybe in a way he's hiding behind AR symbology and constantly searching for on-line tips and clues because, in the end, he has no confidence in his ability to interact on a social level?

Or he's just got chat filters applied to everyone.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Loki on 27 Feb 2018, 23:58
Dunno about this dickroomba idea. It would be like having A Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks.
I remember this phrase, but right now I can’t recall the meaning. I think it might have something to do with the Dark Times, when forum conduct was not so good. Is that right?

Yes, the UBMEOD was referred to those who flailed wildly over slights in the Great Wars over Marten and Dora's breakup. In fact, the broom that Hanners holds in the Guest Strip by the forumites was a slight nod to said UBMEOD.
Thank you. I kept thinking it was "Made Entirely Of Dicks", without the "Out", but I was too lazy to go back and check. You using that wording reaffirms my perception of reality.

Re the strip: That was wholesome, but anti-climactic.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: pwhodges on 28 Feb 2018, 00:30
Marigold's zits are clearing up.  Though she still had a couple in 3681.

(This can be caused by hormonal adjustments as a result of growing up and having sex - true story.)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Zebediah on 28 Feb 2018, 03:04
Yeah, that’s it, Dale. Focus on the attributes where Marigold absolutely and quantifiably has Emily beaten.

Melons. :D
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 28 Feb 2018, 04:11
Feh. Skipped right over the hard, scary part where you actually look at them and talk, where you discover suddenly that your carefully prepared speech is ambiguous and can be misconstrued, where you slip and say melons when you meant apples, when you have sudden feelings that are not only unexpected but that are currently unidentifiable, where she wounds you to the quick unknowingly, where you briefly lose the power of coherent speech altogether, where you consider briefly that perhaps you would rather be an item of office furniture instead, where she looks up from under half-trustingly at you, where she decides to believe you, where possibly your heart will burst but you are not sure from what, and all the rest of the stumbling about in fog bumping into each other. The actual dirty, wet business of communication. That's the part everyone messes up trying to avoid, and damned if Jeph didn't too.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Welu on 28 Feb 2018, 04:29
Jeph has shown hard conversations going badly before, it's where most of the conflict and drama comes from usually.
Sometimes conversations go well, especially when all participants have had time to think and want it to go well.

On Dale's glasses, I think he just likes how the glowing looks and it could be possible sometimes that is all he has enabled when around other people. Although like having a phone out during a conversation, it can be hard to resist the temptation of interacting with the device so he'd have to have some willpower.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: JoeCovenant on 28 Feb 2018, 04:30
Am I glad it's resolved... Yeah.
Am I glad Dale had those feckin glasses turned off... absolutely.

Was it all too easy and as twee as I hoped it wouldn't be... well.. yeah... :(

(also... I still think the new exaggerated overbite looks really weird)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Cornelius on 28 Feb 2018, 05:06
It's quite remarkable how sorry seems to come easier than sharing Mikado Pocky.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: JoeCovenant on 28 Feb 2018, 06:51
It's quite remarkable how sorry seems to come easier than sharing Mikado Pocky.

It seems to me, that Pocky seems to be the hardest splurge...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: shanejayell on 28 Feb 2018, 07:01
I wouldn't have minded seeing more than one strip resolve this, honestly.

Was cute tho.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BlueFatima on 28 Feb 2018, 07:53
It's a cute ending, but I really feel the whole situation was put together just to make the melon joke. It's nice to see character growth for these two, but I really look forward to seeing what's going on with Hannelore or Marten/Claire or even Faybles (hahaha). It would be interesting to see what's going down at the bakery, too.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BlueFatima on 28 Feb 2018, 08:32
Marigold's zits are clearing up.  Though she still had a couple in 3681.

(This can be caused by hormonal adjustments as a result of growing up and having sex - true story.)

If someone you know had acne clear up after sex that's probably a coincidence. Birth control pills can change acne (for better or worse—depending on the person and what they take). Sex can raise endorphins, but those do not impact skin. Sex can change the body in other ways, but those are usually temporary changes (unless you count the after-effects of pregnancy ;) ).

There's been a couple comics we've seen where Momo has been working with Marigold to help her make healthier lifestyle choices and work on self-care. That—more than her being in a relationship or losing her virginity or even growing older—is probably what's leading to her acne disappearing.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Thrillho on 28 Feb 2018, 08:54
I'm not seeing that. Just cuz she might want bone someone in the future and Dale made her blush does not mean she is interested in him as anything more than a friend.

She could just be interested in him as a friend and want to bone him.

Now that it's been established that Dale *does* (or even *can*) turn off his glasses...

I now can't help but think of him as being pretty damn rude 90% of the time he is interacting with people.
I'm actually with you there. Shyness is one thing, but I know I'd find it pretty rude if he seemed to be just ignoring me like that. That said, I know people with similar behaviours relating to their phones or whatever other task they're doing that I just became accustomed to once I had some faith in them.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: JimC on 28 Feb 2018, 09:11
She's still very insecure about herself
usually takes years to deal with that...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: cloudatlatl on 28 Feb 2018, 09:50
The only way I believe Dale is actually looking in that direction in panel four is if Marigold has a poster of herself topless on the wall in the spot Dale is looking.

I'm not bothered by how quickly this was resolved.  It was cute, and we have lots of other plot threads to move on to.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 28 Feb 2018, 09:52
Regarding Dale's AR glasses and how they used to be constantly on.

Before Dale worked at the Coffee of Doom, he had several jobs, including pizza delivery. I would imagine that he was constantly in contact with his employers; needing to pick up orders, maps and so on. Its not being rude, its Dale trying to earn some much needed money.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Case on 28 Feb 2018, 10:19
I wouldn't have minded seeing more than one strip resolve this, honestly. Was cute tho.

Yeah, but what about those three strips of May gloating to Momo?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Thrudd on 28 Feb 2018, 10:19
(also... I still think the new exaggerated overbite looks really weird)
I think she is being turned into a fuller figured version of Gadget Hackwrench though Gadget did have waist length hair of the nonfloofy type.
Yeah it will never happen with the hair since it is well established that our dear Jeph just hates long hair.   :-\
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: DaiJB on 28 Feb 2018, 15:54
...I think this board has been reading entirely too much Forward.

That, or too much Oglaf...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Tova on 28 Feb 2018, 16:26
Dunno about this dickroomba idea. It would be like having A Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks.
I remember this phrase, but right now I can’t recall the meaning. I think it might have something to do with the Dark Times, when forum conduct was not so good. Is that right?

Yes, the UBMEOD was referred to those who flailed wildly over slights in the Great Wars over Marten and Dora's breakup. In fact, the broom that Hanners holds in the Guest Strip by the forumites was a slight nod to said UBMEOD.
Thank you. I kept thinking it was "Made Entirely Of Dicks", without the "Out", but I was too lazy to go back and check. You using that wording reaffirms my perception of reality.

I think the phrase was used with and without the out.

Check with the proud guardian of the original Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks (https://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php?action=profile;u=6642).
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Mr. Skawronska on 28 Feb 2018, 16:29
"Dickroomba" is my new favourite term to come out of this comic.

"pink haired dickroomba" has now officially supplanted "cheeto-faced shitgibbon" as my favourite insult.

I didn't even HAVE "cheeto-faced shitgibbon" as an insult to supplant.  I was still on "fart-faced suckmuppet".

But yeah..."pink-haired dickroomba" made me laugh harder than I have in a long time.

Win.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: arcanicEmbers on 28 Feb 2018, 20:01
Well that was a pretty quick resolution, but just maybe this is going to do what the other arcs have been doing and cut back to Bubbles and Faye next. And maybe May will go try and get more upgrades or repairs to her chasis at Union Robotics and brag to Bubbles about how she "totally helped her dumbass roommate get his head out of his ass and talk to his girlfriend" and maybe that will lead to Bubbles initiating some conversation on her and Faye?

Eh, probably not, but a comic fan can dream, right?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: zisraelsen on 28 Feb 2018, 21:09
Comic!

You actually called her a Dickroomba but 6 vs. Half-a-dozen I guess.

Also what in Hell is May supposed to be doing in panel 1?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: SmilingCat on 28 Feb 2018, 21:16
I find something adorable about a blue robot lady doing knife yoga in her pajamas for some reason.

Also what in Hell is May supposed to be doing in panel 1?

Plot twist, she's actually really worried how things will turn out, and her court appointed counselor suggested martial arts exercises as a way to calm her anxiety episodes.

She only agreed because it meant she got to play with deadly weapons.

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Tova on 28 Feb 2018, 21:32
I appreciated the difference in expressions in panel 3 between May's message emoticon and her actual face. Nice touch.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: brasca on 28 Feb 2018, 21:42
I would think the refractory period would be the best part.  With them being too exhausted to continue it would definitely be a lot more quiet for a while. 
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: OldGoat on 28 Feb 2018, 22:21
I would think the refractory period would be the best part.  With them being too exhausted to continue it would definitely be a lot more quiet for a while.
But it's ending and the resumption of raucously rambunctious rumpiepumpies is imminent.   Momo wants to get out while the getting is good.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 28 Feb 2018, 23:13
I tell you what really stands out for me in this strip: It's May's two sets of expressions. One is the emote she's attaching to her transmissions to indicate the emotion she wants to communicate and the other is her outer expressions showing her reaction to the conversation. Panel 3 especially is very revelatory about her need to put up a tough front when she's really very pleased and maybe just a touch embarrassed by what Momo has said to her.

Now... Panel 1. Is May just mucking around with Dale's tanto or is she actually using a real kata for that weapon? I'm wondering because I sometimes question whether we've been given the full, accurate story about May's background. That aside, her being interested in martial arts opens up several new vistas for interaction, such as her attending the same sword-fighting school as Sam. Does the phrase 'bad influence' occur to anyone else?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: SmilingCat on 28 Feb 2018, 23:23
Now... Panel 1. Is May just mucking around with Dale's tanto or is she actually using a real kata for that weapon? I'm wondering because I sometimes question whether we've been given the full, accurate story about May's background. That aside, her being interested in martial arts opens up several new vistas for interaction, such as her attending the same sword-fighting school as Sam. Does the phrase 'bad influence' occur to anyone else?

If she does I hope she's got that whole "arm popping out" thing completely sorted out. Don't want any sword wielding arms to go flying through the air...
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Sullivan on 28 Feb 2018, 23:26
...I think this board has been reading entirely too much Forward.

That, or too much Oglaf...
"too much Oglaf"... how would that even be possible?

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Sullivan on 28 Feb 2018, 23:29
The only way I believe Dale is actually looking in that direction in panel four is if Marigold has a poster of herself topless on the wall in the spot Dale is looking.

He's not looking at anything in the room. He's "looking inside", remembering what Marigold looks like without her clothes on.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Case on 01 Mar 2018, 02:39
Also what in Hell is May supposed to be doing in panel 1?

Kata of smugtitude
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: shanejayell on 01 Mar 2018, 07:00
I hadn't considered Momo would NOT want to be dealing with the sexing & such. Ha.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 01 Mar 2018, 07:24
Is May just mucking around with Dale's tanto or is she actually using a real kata for that weapon?

It is just about impossible to get Japanese senseis to teach tanto, so it is hard to say. I knew an aikido teacher who had studied tanto, and what I remember is very fast combinations that looked like karate but with the strike angles slightly different. You could see immediately why no one wanted that stuff out on the street.

Doing knife defenses on your tests in that school was discouraging. But I digress.

Long story short, just about no one knows what tanto kata look like, so it's anyone's guess whether that is supposed to be a real one. By the look of her she is just playing, though.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Timemaster on 01 Mar 2018, 09:14
Very nice comic today. The difference between the emojii and May's blushing face has a sweet touch.
But what are the white formless things at the end of her legs in panel one?
Jeph is so good at drawing people and especially hands. But the way he draws feet...
Well let me just say, there's room for improvement.

TM
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 01 Mar 2018, 09:16
But what are the white formless things at the end of her legs in panel one?
Jeph is so good at drawing people and especially hands. But the way he draws feet...

They're white Japanese exercise socks; commonly used during martial arts lessons.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: OldGoat on 01 Mar 2018, 10:47
It is just about impossible to get Japanese senseis to teach tanto, so it is hard to say.
Arnis, also known as Eskrima, is the national sport of the Philippines.  Instruction is probably not all that hard to come by.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 01 Mar 2018, 11:41
True that, but it's not done with tanto.  Tanto are built for punching through lacquered armor. The little bit of Filipino knife I have studied uses different knives and is pretty clearly set up for fighting someone lightly dressed.

Actually, there are an awful lot of Filipino martial arts, and the Japanese did occupy the archipelago for a while, so someone somewhere in the Philippines may teach tanto as part of advanced curriculum. I do JKD, and have only been practicing it for a couple of years, so my kali is shallow.

Can't say I have seen any stances like that in kali or in old school Japanese martial arts, either. Silat, yes, but silat mostly uses karambit.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 01 Mar 2018, 11:58
What she is doing looks more like either of the first two moves in this karate kata than like anything else I have seen, but karate is Chinese boxing that spent time in Okinawa and didn't arrive in Japan till the 1920s, so shouldn't have tanto in it at all. I go with my earlier theory that she is playing around. Playing around is good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aogof98qjoE
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Zebediah on 01 Mar 2018, 13:29
She's practicing May-fu. It's a little-known martial art that involves stabbing while shouting highly inventive profanity.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: SmilingCat on 01 Mar 2018, 14:24
Another option is that she's practicing an art that uses some other similarly sized weapon and has instead substituted the tanto because she's working a dead end job, has no money for proper equipment, and borrowing Dale's tanto is the closest she could get.

She's practicing May-fu. It's a little-known martial art that involves stabbing while shouting highly inventive profanity.

Heh, maybe that's true, and she's constructed her own martial art by binging on youtube videos.

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Perfectly Reasonable on 01 Mar 2018, 18:42
Another option is that she's practicing an art that uses some other similarly sized weapon ...

You just sent my mind to a weird place.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: SmilingCat on 01 Mar 2018, 19:14
You just sent my mind to a weird place.

Is it the sex place? It's probably the sex place. I could see May mastering the ancient victorian medical martial art of vibrator-fu.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: zisraelsen on 01 Mar 2018, 20:05
Perhaps she studied at the feet of the master. (http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/03-up-all-night-to-get-vengeance/curlingiron/)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Bad Superman on 01 Mar 2018, 22:12
Comic

And also:
"That's the second biggest monkey head I've ever seen!"
 - Guybrush Threepwood
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: brasca on 01 Mar 2018, 22:29
I remember seeing something like this on the Nina Bedford Show.  Toast Fucking.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: oddtail on 01 Mar 2018, 23:28
OK, so for some reason Pintsize's behaviour genuinely upsets me in this context.

Yes, he's constantly doing stupid and annoying stuff, but usually he does that to people he knows and/or who are able to handle it. It's unclear how much he's deliberately making everyone angry because it's amusing, and how much he's mentally four years old, but his behaviour somehow... works in context. Wacky (and unfunny, but YMMV) hijinks, something happens to him in retaliation, move on.

In this situation, he's explicitly with someone who went on a date with him. The NATURE of interaction suggests a way to act. He's supposed to act in a way that makes the other side comfortable and, ideally, happy. Hanging out with someone... I dunno, I guess one could say he gets bored and starts acting stupid. Here, he's either being a dick to his date, or he's really *that* clueless and he thinks it's something he should be doing.

If he's being a dick, I subjectively think he's being a dick more than he usually is to people (and it's PINTSIZE we're talking about). The dialogue is really what pushes this into the "this is f-ed up" territory. He can't claim ignorance, because his date is OBVIOUSLY in "date mode" behaviour, and she's trying to steer him in that direction.

If he's being clueless, he obviously acts in a way that's inappropriate to people outside of the comic's main cast. So he's disruptive and annoying and potentially may do something actually bad. He needs help, whatever that would entail for an AI.

I genuinely can't put to words WHY this specific behaviour seems so much worse to me than what he usually does. He's done some pretty stupid things. I can't put my finger on it, but it's something about the situation, about the context that seems wrong. Maybe it's the fact that it's closer to real behaviour? I can't imagine a person gluing dicks to everything and ALWAYS making crude sex jokes (plus, it's hard to interpret that behaviour as anything but trying to be funny), but I can sort-of see someone doing something to interrupt every time another person says something. Sure, the stereotypical thing to do would be to make fart noises and not sling toast at them, but same difference.

His action, and this is the closest I guess I can get to pin-pointing why his behaviour seems wrong-er than usual, clearly states "you're talking, and I don't care. I'm not listening, and I'll show it in the most blatant way possible".

The fact that he's shooting the toast from his general crotch area doesn't help. Normally I'd say that's due to his chassis' height, but it's Pintsize we're talking about. That's probably a "sex thing" to him, everything is.

TL;DR - Pintsize is acting like a four-year-old here, but due to the circumstances it's worse, to me, than most things he's said and done.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 01 Mar 2018, 23:30
Ever since I first saw today's strip on Patreon, I've hoped that we can discuss its sixth panel here.

I find myself especially focussing on Pintsize's expression and his role. Normally, when he's annoying someone, he's all big, beaming smiles but here, he seems genuinely worried! Is he concerned that he's screwing up the date somehow? Was Pintsize really expecting to impress Roko with the power of his 'attachment' here? Or is his professionalism offended by the fact that he is only the second worst date that Roko has ever been on? Or maybe Roko isn't on a date with Pintsize at all; he's just been hired to operate the toaster (who is her actual date).

Here's a thought: Maybe Pintsize is the victim of preparation. Maybe he found out about a certain drunken incident (http://jephjacques.com/post/153991088855/roko-unwinds) in Roko's past and decided that he knew just how to put his date in the mood! Well, guess what, if she isn't intoxicated, she doesn't find it so attractive!

That said, I'm sort of glad that this strip has been semi-canonised (even if it's only because poor Jeph's back problems flared up again) because the idea of Roko having serious issues finding a good date and Pintsize actually being serious about showing his dates a good time deserves to be in the strip canon! I just can't help but speculate what her very worst date must have been like!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Gyrre on 01 Mar 2018, 23:40
I hadn't considered Momo would NOT want to be dealing with the sexing & such. Ha.
Remember the series of strips where Momo is talking about her life as an AI? In one of the strips, Jeph does a nice bit of optical illusion to simulate motion as Marigold's bed repeatedly slams into the wall her bedroom shares with Momo's.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Cornelius on 02 Mar 2018, 01:06
Or maybe Roko isn't on a date with Pintsize at all; he's just been hired to operate the toaster (who is her actual date).

Until the sixth panel, I actually thought she was on a date with an AI toaster, like we saw in the shop when Momo got her new chassis. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1999)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: JimC on 02 Mar 2018, 01:08
... the toaster (who is her actual date).
That was my intepretation.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Emperor Norton on 02 Mar 2018, 01:08
She's practicing May-fu. It's a little-known martial art that involves stabbing while shouting highly inventive profanity.

Clearly she is a master of Panzer Kunst.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Tova on 02 Mar 2018, 01:37
I realise that I am distinctly odd, but I read the comic, thought to myself, "Ahh, that wacky Pintsize and his hijinks, ha ha," and moved on.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 02 Mar 2018, 01:58
You know... one of these days, we need to learn what two AIs do on a restaurant date when they're not throwing bread products at each other. I suppose they do the other part of it: Awkwardly engage in 'getting to know you' conversation and, occasionally, very clumsy non-verbal flirting. Maybe AI dates are all about shared sensory experiences (at least audio-visual) or something. When you think about it, that's a key feature of most human-human dates too.

This leads to the interesting side-avenue of a human and an AI in a relationship trying to get over this particular species barrier. I've got a feeling that an interesting and/or relaxing sensory experience for an AI would be like a psychedelic son-et-Lumière to a human.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Gyrre on 02 Mar 2018, 02:07
Or maybe Roko isn't on a date with Pintsize at all; he's just been hired to operate the toaster (who is her actual date).

Until the sixth panel, I actually thought she was on a date with an AI toaster, like we saw in the shop when Momo got her new chassis. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1999)
Ditto
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BlueFatima on 02 Mar 2018, 03:27
Heh... Robot kinks.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Pennepasta on 02 Mar 2018, 04:21
Surely they'd meet on compCuter? Gotta work those puns in!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Case on 02 Mar 2018, 04:47
She's practicing May-fu. It's a little-known martial art that involves stabbing while shouting highly inventive profanity.

Clearly she is a master of Panzer Kunst.

Manga-German is ... weird ('Tank Art'?)



I realise that I am distinctly odd, but I read the comic, thought to myself, "Ahh, that wacky Pintsize and his hijinks, ha ha," and moved on.

Yes, you are.

(Made me want toast ... lots of toast ...)
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Case on 02 Mar 2018, 05:38
True that, but it's not done with tanto.  Tanto are built for punching through lacquered armor.

I'm inclined to take your word for it - but why are there then so many tanto without a tsuba?

Most bladed weapons intended at least partially for stabbing have something at the end of the hilt - a tsuba, crossguard, whatever - that stops the hand from sliding into the blade while stabbing?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: NemesisDancer on 02 Mar 2018, 06:15
Or maybe Roko isn't on a date with Pintsize at all; he's just been hired to operate the toaster (who is her actual date).

Until the sixth panel, I actually thought she was on a date with an AI toaster, like we saw in the shop when Momo got her new chassis. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1999)

This was what I assumed too. Perhaps she'd have better luck with Talkie Toaster (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRq_SAuQDec)..
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: shanejayell on 02 Mar 2018, 07:03
Well, that... was a thing.

 :roll: :-o
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: oddtail on 02 Mar 2018, 07:04
True that, but it's not done with tanto.  Tanto are built for punching through lacquered armor.

I'm inclined to take your word for it - but why are there then so many tanto without a tsuba?

Most bladed weapons intended at least partially for stabbing have something at the end of the hilt - a tsuba, crossguard, whatever - that stops the hand from sliding into the blade while stabbing?

The main purpose of a crossguard is to protect the hand, not really to prevent the hand sliding. And not every weapon that's capable of stabbing has a crossguard or an equivalent. For an obvious example, most spears don't - granted, they're not bladed weapons, but your hands don't really slide on the shaft that much, even when stabbing one-handed. There's more than enouqh friction on the weapon.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 02 Mar 2018, 07:41
I don't know. It might have entirely to do with the existence of tsuba collectors, so that a tsuba can be taken off a tanto and sold separately. It might have to do with the fact that one fought with katana, not tanto, with the tanto's main function being to be snatched out for quick use at close range.    It might be because some tanto were carried concealed by samurai women, and the tsuba would make hiding them hard. But all this is just elaboration on the general theme of not knowing.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 02 Mar 2018, 07:57
I read today's comic as being about those times when you are supposed to be making civil small talk that lets you get to know each other, and it is one of those days when all you can think of to talk about is either the difference between Aristotle's and Bentham's concept of pleasure or the importance of taking both Golden and Silver Age Batmans into account when developing a full view of his character. There she is making polite conversational advances, and there you are launching pieces of dry toast at her. It is Hell.

One of my favorite movie characters is Jordan, the geek girl in Real Genius, because whenever she talks she has a look of mounting horror that oh, no, her mouth is going again and will no doubt bore everyone and put them off again, and she is powerless to stop it. I was like, oh, thank God, it happens to some of you guys too. How awful, and what a relief.

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: OldGoat on 02 Mar 2018, 08:05
Poor Roko.  She'll be called into her supervisor's office.  "We understand you've been seeing Pintsize socially.  Are you aware of this AI's background?  All I can say is, be careful."
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 02 Mar 2018, 08:22
I have a hypothesis about Pintsize's character. I think he was built with a lot of intelligence but almost no insight into other minds, and then got lonely. I suspect that his comic, obnoxious, hypersexual persona is a cleverly constructed set of techniques for getting through social situations that he only half-understands and has no idea of how to handle appropriately. The continual joking and sexual harassment let him hold people far enough away that his social inadequacies don't cripple him, but close enough that he won't be too lonely.

Part of this theory is influenced by an Isaac Asimov story about a programmer who writes a program that solves humor and produces an infinite supply of funny jokes, because joking is the only way he can make it through social situations. Asimov spent almost all his time alone writing and edited a number of joke books. It isn't hard to make the connection.

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: cesium133 on 02 Mar 2018, 09:37
Poor Roko.  She'll be called into her supervisor's office.  "We understand you've been seeing Pintsize socially.  Are you aware of this AI's background?  All I can say is, be careful."
When I saw the comic, I hadn't even realized it was Roko. She looks different when she's not wearing a hoodie.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: JoeCovenant on 02 Mar 2018, 09:49
Poor Roko.  She'll be called into her supervisor's office.  "We understand you've been seeing Pintsize socially.  Are you aware of this AI's background?  All I can say is, be careful."
When I saw the comic, I hadn't even realized it was Roko. She looks different when she's not wearing a hoodie.

Totally!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: OldGoat on 02 Mar 2018, 11:03
Poor Roko.  She'll be called into her supervisor's office.  "We understand you've been seeing Pintsize socially.  Are you aware of this AI's background?  All I can say is, be careful."
When I saw the comic, I hadn't even realized it was Roko. She looks different when she's not wearing a hoodie.
I wasn't sure until she mentioned knitting. 

Roko's social life - cue the Inspector Morse (https://youtu.be/u20sVtCxf_8) loneliness theme.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: NemesisDancer on 02 Mar 2018, 11:32
I realise that I am distinctly odd, but I read the comic, thought to myself, "Ahh, that wacky Pintsize and his hijinks, ha ha," and moved on.

Likewise. I've been missing Pintsize's wacky hijinks lately :P

Also, I know shipping is frowned upon here, but I must admit I'm rather a fan of Roko/Toaster.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: cesium133 on 02 Mar 2018, 12:16
Toastbot makes toast fun!
Pintsize makes toast creepy!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: sitnspin on 02 Mar 2018, 12:44
Toasters deserve love, too.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: SpanielBear on 02 Mar 2018, 13:29
Poor Roko.  She'll be called into her supervisor's office.  "We understand you've been seeing Pintsize socially.  Are you aware of this AI's background?  All I can say is, be careful."

Maybe she's undercover again. If any character was going to need an expensive multi-unit police operation to take them down, it would be Pintsize.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: zzyzx on 02 Mar 2018, 15:58
Part of this theory is influenced by an Isaac Asimov story about a programmer who writes a program that solves humor and produces an infinite supply of funny jokes, because joking is the only way he can make it through social situations. Asimov spent almost all his time alone writing and edited a number of joke books. It isn't hard to make the connection.

Did Asimov have a second story along those lines? I remember the one where people thought a Multivac programmer was doing that [Jokester] but it turned out to be an attempt to figure out the origin of jokes, but the ending was the exact opposite of an infinite supply of funny jokes.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 02 Mar 2018, 17:24
Nah, I got it wrong. In my defense, I read it maybe 40 years ago, but the prosecution wishes to point out that this new gadget called the internet would have let me check. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Hey, here it is. http://blog.ac-versailles.fr/villaroylit/public/Jokester.pdf I can read it again. That's good anyway. It looks like I remembered the conflict right, but got the resolution wrong.

"He's different, he knows he's different and these jokes are the one way he feels he can get the rest of us ordinary schmoes to accept hlm. We laugh, we howl, we clap him on the back and even forget he's a Grand Master. It's the only hold he has on the rest of us."

"This is all interesting. I didn't know you were such a psychologist. Still, where does this lead?"

"Just this. What do you suppose happens if Meyerhof runs out of jokes?"


Meyerhoff, huh? He wasn't trying to cover up at all, was he? I wonder how he felt when the SWFA actually named him a Grand Master.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: hedgie on 02 Mar 2018, 19:13
Toasters deserve love, too.

Baltar is taking care of that.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: BenRG on 02 Mar 2018, 23:32
Toasters deserve love, too.

Baltar is taking care of that.

Yes, the Commander has still yet to have lowered his eyebrows after Dr Baltar made his proposal to check every young woman in the fleet for 'Glowy Spine Syndrome'.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Gyrre on 03 Mar 2018, 04:32
Heh... Robot kinks.
Might have to head over to Union robotics and see about getting it cleaned or grinded.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Geographus on 03 Mar 2018, 14:15
Never thought I would come across a Pumpernickel joke in QC.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Storel on 03 Mar 2018, 17:05
Never thought I would come across a Pumpernickel joke in QC.

I didn't even know Pumpernickel jokes were a thing. Where do you usually come across them?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: zisraelsen on 03 Mar 2018, 18:53
I've always been more partial to rye humor, myself.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Geographus on 03 Mar 2018, 23:06
Never thought I would come across a Pumpernickel joke in QC.

I didn't even know Pumpernickel jokes were a thing. Where do you usually come across them?
It's more due  to the fact that I come from Westphalia, the area in Germany where Pumpernickel
origninally comes from. I was not aware that it is relatively well known in the US/Canada until now.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Zebediah on 04 Mar 2018, 03:58
Both the US and Canada have a huge population of German ancestry. In more than one US state German-Americans are the majority. So yeah, pumpernickel is well-known here.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Case on 04 Mar 2018, 08:51
Never thought I would come across a Pumpernickel joke in QC.

I didn't even know Pumpernickel jokes were a thing. Where do you usually come across them?
It's more due  to the fact that I come from Westphalia, the area in Germany where Pumpernickel
origninally comes from. I was not aware that it is relatively well known in the US/Canada until now.

Hello, fellow Rhinelander!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Case on 04 Mar 2018, 09:13
Both the US and Canada have a huge population of German ancestry. In more than one US state German-Americans are the majority. So yeah, pumpernickel is well-known here.

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpg)(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries.jpg)


Vee are ze Germanz! You vil pee assimilated. Resis-tense iz few tile ...

Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: cesium133 on 04 Mar 2018, 09:37
I find it interesting whenever I see that map that the South seems to have decided that 'American' ancestry means 'White.'
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Cornelius on 04 Mar 2018, 12:40
Resis-tense iz few tile ...

Is it mostly the shouting you like?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 04 Mar 2018, 13:32

Vee are ze Germanz! You vil pee assimilated. Resis-tense iz few tile ...

Sure we're coming up fast behind ya, boy.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Case on 04 Mar 2018, 15:13
Resis-tense iz few tile ...

Is it mostly the shouting you like?

Well that, and also the hours are pretty good.

Though, come to think of it, most of the actual minutes are pretty lousy ... :psyduck:
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 04 Mar 2018, 17:48
But the minutes are approved in every meeting.  :claireface:
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: cesium133 on 04 Mar 2018, 21:18
I second that comment.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Gyrre on 05 Mar 2018, 21:22
I find it interesting whenever I see that map that the South seems to have decided that 'American' ancestry means 'White.'
If I recall correctly, most of those regions are of largely English descent.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: jesslc on 05 Mar 2018, 21:36
I find it interesting whenever I see that map that the South seems to have decided that 'American' ancestry means 'White.'
If I recall correctly, most of those regions are of largely English descent.
If so, why aren't they marked with the colour that's listed for English ancestry (light purple)?

I am also very puzzled by what "American" ancestry is meant to mean...?? (Since it apparently doesn't mean American Indian or English or any of the other ancestries that have a distinct colour). Although I note the image does say US Census bureau so (if that's anything like our census) it's possible that all it means is that the majority people in those areas report that their ancestry is American. But that still leaves some hanging questions like why?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: OldGoat on 05 Mar 2018, 21:45
I find it interesting whenever I see that map that the South seems to have decided that 'American' ancestry means 'White.'
If I recall correctly, most of those regions are of largely English descent.
If so, why aren't they marked with the colour that's listed for English ancestry (light purple)? I am also very puzzled by what "American" ancestry is meant to mean...?? (Since it apparently doesn't mean American Indian or English or any of the other ancestries that have a distinct colour).
Probably what the respondents stated verbatim.  I suspect these are the same folks who will say their native language is American (or "Muricun").
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: efindumb on 05 Mar 2018, 21:50
I find it interesting whenever I see that map that the South seems to have decided that 'American' ancestry means 'White.'
If I recall correctly, most of those regions are of largely English descent.
If so, why aren't they marked with the colour that's listed for English ancestry (light purple)?

I am also very puzzled by what "American" ancestry is meant to mean...?? (Since it apparently doesn't mean American Indian or English or any of the other ancestries that have a distinct colour). Although I note the image does say US Census bureau so if that's anything like our census, all it means is that the majority people in those areas report that their ancestry is American.

It means they identify as American rather than another country. It could be people not having a national identity or not knowing their family's national origin or they could be people who simply identify with American and American alone. It's not had to grasp, if you are having an issue with it maybe you have a bit too rigid of an idea of national origins.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: jesslc on 05 Mar 2018, 22:10
I find it interesting whenever I see that map that the South seems to have decided that 'American' ancestry means 'White.'
If I recall correctly, most of those regions are of largely English descent.
If so, why aren't they marked with the colour that's listed for English ancestry (light purple)?

I am also very puzzled by what "American" ancestry is meant to mean...?? (Since it apparently doesn't mean American Indian or English or any of the other ancestries that have a distinct colour). Although I note the image does say US Census bureau so if that's anything like our census, all it means is that the majority people in those areas report that their ancestry is American.

It means they identify as American rather than another country. It could be people not having a national identity or not knowing their family's national origin or they could be people who simply identify with American and American alone. It's not had to grasp, if you are having an issue with it maybe you have a bit too rigid of an idea of national origins.
Well I don't know how the census worded the question but the graph does say it's about ancestry, not identity. I identify as Australian (and Australian alone) but if you ask me about my ancestry, that's different question with a different answer. Most of the Australians I know would make a similar distinction between their identity/nationality and their ancestry.

I am puzzled by it (which is not the same as having an issue with it). I guess not knowing their family origins could explain it. Or maybe their understanding of what ancestory means is different to what the rest of the country understands by it (where the majority in each county has listed German or English or African American or American Indian, or...)
Title: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Zebediah on 06 Mar 2018, 03:08
It’s self-reported, so it means whatever the respondents believed it to mean.

It’s a known quirk of lower-class white Southerners to respond “Murrican!” when asked what their ancestry is. It’s not that they don’t know where their ancestors came from - it’s that they don’t think it’s relevant.

I speak as someone who grew up as one of them.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 06 Mar 2018, 06:57
If your family has been here more than three generations, you are likely to be something like German/Irish/Italian/Black/Mexican/Sami, and to have no idea what to say your ethnic heritage is.

A lot of the the original settlers of  Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee were Scots-Irish, that is, Scottish Presbyterians who went to Ireland to farm land taken from Irish Catholics, and who then, finding that the English treated them no better than they did the Irish, emigrated to North America. They had a confused ethnic background to start out with.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: sitnspin on 06 Mar 2018, 07:07
I know mine primarily because one half has been here for thousands of years and the other has only been here since the 1940s.

Historically, a big part of the US cultural narrative is that once you become a citizen you cease to be what you were and just become "American". Even if it doesn't actually play out that way, there was a strong push to promote that narrative.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: ckridge on 06 Mar 2018, 07:30
Something to that, too. I used to say I was Irish, meaning Irish-American, because the Irish parts of my family talked family history more than any of the other parts, by dint of talking more than any of the other parts. Then I wound up working with recent Irish immigrants, and it came to me that, no, they are Irish, and I am American. It's not a big deal, but there is just no question about it.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Penquin47 on 06 Mar 2018, 14:56
I find it interesting whenever I see that map that the South seems to have decided that 'American' ancestry means 'White.'
If I recall correctly, most of those regions are of largely English descent.
If so, why aren't they marked with the colour that's listed for English ancestry (light purple)?

I am also very puzzled by what "American" ancestry is meant to mean...?? (Since it apparently doesn't mean American Indian or English or any of the other ancestries that have a distinct colour). Although I note the image does say US Census bureau so (if that's anything like our census) it's possible that all it means is that the majority people in those areas report that their ancestry is American. But that still leaves some hanging questions like why?

1. My most recent immigrant ancestors came to this country almost 150 years ago.  The oldest ones I know of came in the 1600s.

2. I know that most of them came from England, Ireland, and Germany, but I personally have no ties to those regions.  Why should I call myself Irish or English or German instead of American?

3. A lot of people, like me, have mixed ancestry.

4. I know my ancestry because I'm interested in genealogy.  A lot of people don't actually know where their great-great-great-grandparents lived.  What are they supposed to put, if not "American"?
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Morituri on 06 Mar 2018, 18:05
I was thinking yesterday that "race" doesn't mean what most people think it means, anyway. 

Because even the "Isolated" populations weren't totally isolated.  Australia got Polynesians in off the pacific in dugout canoes, as did South America, and vice versa, so genetic isolation was never quite total.  And in a thousand years?  In fifty generations a lot happens.

And if you go back four thousand years - pyramids are being built along the Nile, and I'd bet that most of the people alive then who have ANY descendants alive today, are the direct ancestors of EVERYBODY alive today.  Everybody is everybody's cousin.

If  we really, really had the knowledge to know which branch to look in at every generation, and you were living in America, you could sit down with your neighbor from across the street who immigrated from Tibet last year, and your neighbor from the house next to yours who immigrated from Kenya the year before that, and your friend from church whose grandparents were australian aborigines, and your fishing buddy who's allowed to fish on federal land because he's got a Choctaw tribe member ID, and the five of you could write down names, linking each generation to the last, until you could all come to at least one of the same names.  You wouldn't have to fill more than one sheet of notebook paper with names  to go back four thousand years.  And you could do it again and again, coming down to the name of virtually anyone who was alive four thousand years ago, providing they left any progeny behind at all.  Just two hundred generations.

And this is what "race" is.  Everybody is connected.  Some of the connections are stronger, through more lines of ancestry, and some of them more tenuous, through only a few threads.  But everybody is everybody's cousin.  There is no such thing as a "pure race" and never has been.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Perfectly Reasonable on 06 Mar 2018, 19:49
American mongrel here.

My mother's family goes back to the founding of Rhode Island (and Providence Plantations). I have ancestors who were in the Revolution (on both sides). I know this because my mother's mother was a genealogy enthusiast.

My father's parents were from Lithuania. I am entirely ignorant of that background. Possibly because one of my father's brothers made it his mission to make the family as 'American' as possible. So I'd never think of identifying as 'Lithuanian-American'.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Cornelius on 07 Mar 2018, 04:24
Well, there's the concepts of  Y-chromosomal Adam (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Adam) and mitochondiral Eve (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve).

I've got my genealogy documented back to the late 1500s, and a good guess - but not documented - where we came from before that. Seems that we've like our place for the last 4 centuries, really.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: pwhodges on 07 Mar 2018, 05:12
I've got my genealogy documented back to the late 1500s,

Both lines of every generation?  Without that, any conclusion about belonging to a particular place is likely to be hard to justify.  When the genealogy in incomplete, the places where most records can be found are obviously going to come up top!
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: TheEvilDog on 07 Mar 2018, 06:12
In one of my old jobs, we used to deal with a lot of people looking into their family histories. In doing so, I learned some tips for people who have gotten stuck.

- Depending on the nation, check local census. Depending on how far you go back, these might be somewhat difficult to come back. Usually the ones dating back to the early 20th/late 19th centuries serve as a stepping stone.
- If you know the area where your ancestors came from, check out local churches. The Church (depending on which side of the Reformation you're stuck on) kept extensive records on people in the local parish. (Before anyone asks, a lot of this was to prevent bigamy and consanguineous marriage, but also to act as a record of marriages, births, deaths and people moving from one area to another). In some instances, the Church records will often be better than government and can reach as far back as the 16th Century.
- Check local graveyards. The stones might be worn but sometimes you might be able to gleam some names, especially if you do the paper and chalk rubbing trick.

There is a point where you can't really go back any further through historical records, usually conflict or even time will have destroyed them. When it gets to that, you can try a DNA marker test to try and trace paternal lineage. We did this last year, and I thought I'd just be Irish and Welsh. Turns out there's also Scottish, Greek, Finnish and Latvian markers there too. You'll never know what you'll find out.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Cornelius on 07 Mar 2018, 07:21
I've got my genealogy documented back to the late 1500s,

Both lines of every generation?  Without that, any conclusion about belonging to a particular place is likely to be hard to justify.  When the genealogy in incomplete, the places where most records can be found are obviously going to come up top!

The question is, what do you need to justify that, then? Can we quantify it?

The point is, despite that genealogy, that indicates we have been around here - in an area of 20km² tops - in a small village like this, my father, having had the misfortune of being born 2km out, is still regarded an outsider. As was my grandfather, when he died at 86, having been born a similar distance to the other side, but having lived here for over 60 years. It's not a question of not accepting them, but they've not been raised here, as some people will still remark. With the influx of newcomers of the last few years, it's a bit less, but still around.

And yes, we might not have both lines for every generation complete, but down to the beginning of the 19th, we're all in the same region.

In one of my old jobs, we used to deal with a lot of people looking into their family histories. In doing so, I learned some tips for people who have gotten stuck.

- Depending on the nation, check local census. Depending on how far you go back, these might be somewhat difficult to come back. Usually the ones dating back to the early 20th/late 19th centuries serve as a stepping stone.
- If you know the area where your ancestors came from, check out local churches. The Church (depending on which side of the Reformation you're stuck on) kept extensive records on people in the local parish. (Before anyone asks, a lot of this was to prevent bigamy and consanguineous marriage, but also to act as a record of marriages, births, deaths and people moving from one area to another). In some instances, the Church records will often be better than government and can reach as far back as the 16th Century.
- Check local graveyards. The stones might be worn but sometimes you might be able to gleam some names, especially if you do the paper and chalk rubbing trick.

There is a point where you can't really go back any further through historical records, usually conflict or even time will have destroyed them. When it gets to that, you can try a DNA marker test to try and trace paternal lineage. We did this last year, and I thought I'd just be Irish and Welsh. Turns out there's also Scottish, Greek, Finnish and Latvian markers there too. You'll never know what you'll find out.

Those are helpful tips. Even if the church does not have its records anymore, someone is bound to be able to tell you where they have gone to, if they still exist. And when in a graveyard, people willoften be able to point you to someone who has taken an interest, and might help you along. It's worth it to look through whatever records they have, even if they are incomplete; often, but not always, the priest will have crossreferenced them, even when people moved outside of the parish.
Title: Re: WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 07 Mar 2018, 07:34
This is a good fascinating discussion. I'm going to give it its own thread when the coffee and exercise are done. Offhand I can't decide between DISCUSS, the top candidate, and RELATE, because it's people talking about their own lives.