THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: BenRG on 14 Jun 2020, 23:13
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Okay, snap poll created when I realised that no-one had set up a WCDT for this week: Who is the best parent character? 'Best' doesn't mean 'nicest', it means 'best written'.
In an odd coincidence, Mrs Whittaker is high on my list. I think that Jeph has always done a good job in showing her feelings about everything that has happened to her over the years and she's always been shown having an honest reaction to her daughters' lives. However, I think I like Jim a bit more. He is shown as genuinely struggling with Sam but, despite this, he genuinely loves her and is trying to make the right decisions for her. I think that he's an entirely praiseworthy character in that area
Now onto today's strip: "All I want is for my girls to be safe and happy" is the quote for the day and I do think it says a lot of good things about what is in her heart.
Meanwhile... Is is traditional for southern women to frankly discuss things like that? Or is Mrs A merely exercising her motherly privilege of embarrassing her daughter. What next? emailing Bubbles scans of Faye's baby pictures? Or telling her a story about that time 6-year-old Faye decided to 'make art' out of the contents of the kitchen?
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The first panel can be summed up as 'all things within reason', a fairly good motto to live by.
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Hrr, hrr.
I have a very hard time to believe theres many parents like Fayes mom.
So you got two daughters and the first one turns out to be homosexual, okay.
And then the second daughter turns out to be bisexual and enters a stable longterm lesbian relationship.
Thats when you know you wont get grandchildren, ever. Right ?
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We're getting all of about 30 seconds to a few minutes of conversation in a strip. I'm sure the topic will come up at some point. But even then she may have already had conversations with Faye and or her sister about kids before and come to the understanding they aren't something either sister is interested in having, at least for now depending on their feelings. Not every relationship has to end up with kids after all.
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In case you've forgotten about how Mrs Whitaker felt about Faye having grandkids (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=588)... remember the "crazier than a mule on a Ferris Wheel" quote?
Faye: No offense, Mom, but I don't see Amanda with kids no matter WHICH team she bats for.
Mrs Whitaker: I know, but look at the alternative. I love you, sweetie, but you're crazier than a mule on a Ferris wheel.
This event isn't changing how she feels about future grandchildren. There's no reason for her to be mad about this.
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Anyone able to help a fellow reader across the pond out?
What on earth does "You're a big bucket of water, ain'cha?" mean? ^^'
Just, your a big person? Is it more a 'melons' reference?
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Mrs Whitaker is telling Bubbles that she's tall, big and attractive (refreshing like a glass of water). Bi Mrs W confirmed? Might my idle speculation of her coming to Northampton and then running away with Mrs Augustus actually plausible now? :-o
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It’s just a way of noting that Bubbles is very big. Nothing more.
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Anyone able to help a fellow reader across the pond out?
What on earth does "You're a big bucket of water, ain'cha?" mean? ^^'
Just, your a big person? Is it more a 'melons' reference?
Its probably a play on the older phrase of calling someone a tall drink of water, however, bubbles being not only tall but well built is a bucket not just a glass of water.
I've only heard it used in the US and kinda more of an old fashioned thing if I understand correctly. Although it does play into the more modern phrase of some being "thirsty" for an attractive person.
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Mrs Whitaker is telling Bubbles that she's tall, big and attractive (refreshing like a glass of water). Bi Mrs W confirmed? Might my idle speculation of her coming to Northampton and then running away with Mrs Augustus actually plausible now? :-o
I'm pretty sure it's possible for someone of the same gender as another to comment on other said person's attractiveness, without being Bisexual.
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I think so too, but this is Jeph we're talking about. This really sharply skews the averages off of the median line.
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I think so too, but this is Jeph we're talking about. This really sharply skews the averages off of the median line.
That, I'll grant you ! :)
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That turned out OK. I still want her coming to town too, tho. :-D
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Hrr, hrr.
I have a very hard time to believe theres many parents like Fayes mom.
So you got two daughters and the first one turns out to be homosexual, okay.
And then the second daughter turns out to be bisexual and enters a stable longterm lesbian relationship.
Thats when you know you wont get grandchildren, ever. Right ?
"Thats when you know you wont get grandchildren, ever"? That is a pretty extreme conclusion. Is the chance lower than had they been in heterosexual relationships? Probably, although I actually do not know if nowadays the chance of gay/bisexual couples having (biological) children is lower than for heterosexual couples.
But a conclusion that neither one of them will ever have children is far from foregone, even for Mrs. Whitaker.
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Sam. Sam is all the grandchildren Mrs Whittaker will ever need.
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Is that steam coming out of Bubbles neck-seam? She seems to be blushing a bit, to.
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The intensity of their embarrassed reaction to her mother remarking that Bubbles is attractive is very weird to me, honestly.
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Probably because Mrs Whitaker is trying to show she's understanding, which when any parent tries to do that, it automatically becomes cringe inducing.
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Now, I would have put Jim and Veronica as a couple. Veronica raised Marten to be a nice guy, but she's also there to guide Sam through the process of becoming a young woman. So she's done double duty here.
But in the end, I voted for Mrs Augustus. She raised two kids, on her own for some time now, guiding one of them through a very difficult in their life. Dealing with another's life changing injury. Winding up as a bass playing, pot smoking,, sexually free woman of a certain age.
Veronica was fortunate enough to do what she does on her own terms, and apparently get to a place her life in a position of some comfort.
Faye's mom seems to be doing pretty good, in spite of what has occurred. Maybe handling the event, overall, better than her elder daughter.
Sorry, just rambling.
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Probably because Mrs Whitaker is trying to show she's understanding, which when any parent tries to do that, it automatically becomes cringe inducing.
One of the biggest reasons I come here is for the surprisingly different takes that forumites bring.
Mine is somewhere in between the two extremes of, She's trying to show she's understanding and, She thinks Bubbles is hot - maybe my ship is legit now! Even taking Jeph's proclivities into account.
I have encountered proud parents remarking for all to hear on just how attractive their offspring's new partner is, and it has indeed provoked mild embarrassment. But nothing to the extreme of this comic. YMMV.
Probably - maybe? - Jeph is just doing comic exaggeration.
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To me, this discussion is interesting because it just goes to show how little you know until you know it. I read 'Wooo-boy, you're a big bucket of water, ain'cha?' as Mrs Whitaker basically saying "gosh you're big" with a side of positive, but I was reading from context.
I used to think "tall drink of water" was an insult. I used to equate it with "tall streak of piss" and it was years before I realised they had totally different meanings.
It is genuinely interesting to me how different cultures/nations/regions use slang differently. "Tall drink of water" isn't a common phrase where I come from, whereas "tall streak of piss" is. The more you know!
EDITED: I voted for John Ellicot-Chatham, but if it's best written, I'll put in a word for Jim even though I can't stand the guy.
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Interestingly, "tall drink of water" was used with negative connotations (but with much the same literal meaning) in the film The Shawshank Redemption.
At around 1:48 in the clip above.
Kind of reminds me of the phrase "pretty boy." Could be a compliment or an insult depending on who's saying it.
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Thank you Tova! I've seen the film a few times (and personally think it's the best Stephen King adaptation along with Stand By Me) but I haven't seen it for a while, and I wonder now if that's where I got my negative connotation of the phrase from. As I said, it's not a common phrase where I come from, so it makes sense that I picked it up from a film.
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New comic up! Faye of course teases Bubbles on her attempt to be 'Southern.' *lol*
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Or it could be that Bubbles was affecting an accent to make herself more likeable to Mrs Whitaker. Unfortunately, it was more Western than Southern.
Huh, guess I was right. Truly I am shocked.
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Hah. I am not.
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By the way, the thread title has a couple typos. The comic range should be 4286 to 4290.
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Nah, its just that this is/will be/was time travel week.
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That's not this week. It's not going to be Time Travel Week until two weeks ago.
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Anyone able to help a fellow reader across the pond out?
What on earth does "You're a big bucket of water, ain'cha?" mean? ^^'
Just, your a big person? Is it more a 'melons' reference?
Its probably a play on the older phrase of calling someone a tall drink of water, however, bubbles being not only tall but well built is a bucket not just a glass of water.
I've only heard it used in the US and kinda more of an old fashioned thing if I understand correctly. Although it does play into the more modern phrase of some being "thirsty" for an attractive person.
Though, whether it's purely a matter of aesthetic appreciation vs physical attraction remains to be seen.
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There's always the Kenoshan accent.
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Uff da.
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If anyone recalls, when the sheriff came into the wedding chapel in the first "KillBill" movie, he described the bride (Uma Thurman), as a tall cool drink of water, as a comment on her beauty, in spite of what had been done to her.
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As I said yesterday: Mrs W is exercising her motherly prerogative of embarrassing her children with stories you'd forgotten and wished that they had too. In this case... Maybe Faye's first ever stumbling attempt at getting a boyfriend, one who was a bit too confident and sassy for her mother's taste?
That last panel was odd. Did Bubbles have a speech filter installed that she had to stop so that she'd start sounding like... well Bubbles again?
By the way, the thread title has a couple typos. The comic range should be 4286 to 4290.
Yes, that's what happens when you create a thread literally on the fly first thing in the morning pre-coffee when you're still about 2/3 asleep. Anyway, thanks for pointing it out; I've fixed it now.
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Or she could have simply been affecting an accent to make Faye's mother more at ease. Ben, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and more often than not the simplest answer is the right one.
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There's always the Kenoshan accent.
I DO NOT HAVE AN ACCENT, YANNO!
Fer criminy cripes sake...
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Hrr, hrr.
I have a very hard time to believe theres many parents like Fayes mom.
So you got two daughters and the first one turns out to be homosexual, okay.
And then the second daughter turns out to be bisexual and enters a stable longterm lesbian relationship.
Thats when you know you wont get grandchildren, ever. Right ?
You must be trolling. Or you are the least informed person ever. Or you are a child. Do some reading.
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FYI boys, women tell each other they're hot all the time and it doesn't mean anything other than a compliment. If people are saying that Faye's mom thinks Bubbles is hot now that is just all kinds of ridiculous.
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No one is saying anything about it not being a compliment.
Its that Mrs Whitaker has just found out her eldest is in a relationship with a female AI and is trying to be understanding by complimenting Bubbles using a term that is overly flirtatious.
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Hrr, hrr.
I have a very hard time to believe theres many parents like Fayes mom.
So you got two daughters and the first one turns out to be homosexual, okay.
And then the second daughter turns out to be bisexual and enters a stable longterm lesbian relationship.
Thats when you know you wont get grandchildren, ever. Right ?
WE ARE WORKING ON THAT TECHNOLOGY
Plus of course adoption or a sperm donor for the uterus-equipped member of the couple.
The biggest obstacle to grandchildren is Faye's mental health problems, followed by her financial insecurity. Both of those obstacles would be present in a het relationship.
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Not every woman wants kids. Not every woman with kids wants grandchildren. I am disappointed this even needed to be said.
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Yeah, but Mrs Whitaker realised long ago that she wouldn't get any grandchildren. She discussed that with Faye back when Faye went to visit her after Dora and Marten hooked up. In her own words, she loved Faye, but she was crazier than a mule in a ferris wheel, meaning that Mrs Whitaker knew that Faye wasn't in any healthy place to be a mother.
And that was directed more to Snubnose's post.
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On accents: I grew up in Missouri, now in California, but enough howdy and y'all have snuck in that occasionally folk think I am from Texas.
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Do they really talk 'down south' up north?
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Mrs. Whitaker sounded more wistful than hurt to me about not having grandchildren. I think she would have preferred having them.
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On accents: I grew up in Missouri, now in California, but enough howdy and y'all have snuck in that occasionally folk think I am from Texas.
My father was in the air force, we moved so often that I ended up being an accent chameleon, 6 months in a new place and you would think I had lived all my life there.
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Accents are less pronounced today than they were in the past. WWII moved huge numbers of people both to fight and to support the war effort. Mass media produced a "neutral" accent for news readers and announcers, with created a sound that many people emulated.
Economic and educational opportunities were also a factor. Of course, economic and education were also related to race.
Mrs Whitmore's accent, such as it is, is likely related to both her age (patterns from her childhood), where she was raised, (a more rural and isolated environment). But that's really all speculation on my part.
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Regional accents are most certainly still there. I have a friend who is from Alabama who is seriously considering hiring a speech therapist because she's worried that she sounds like some sort of redneck.
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Do they really talk 'down south' up north?
No, and those who try are usually hilariously bad at it. Like Bubbles was here.
On the subject of regional accents: My wife grew up with in the North Carolina mountains. Over the years she has trained herself out of most of her Southern Appalachian accent in favor of a more neutral one. It’s doubtful that Harvard would have hired her if she still spoke like her mother or her sister, who still have strong Southern Appalachian accents. Like it or not, people with that accent are perceived as uneducated and unintelligent.
Of course, that’s not limited to Southern accents. A South Boston accent won’t get you far in the academic world either.
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Comic's up.
Sex, cookies, whatever.
"Some people juggle geese!"
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Comic's up.
Sex, cookies, whatever.
"Some people juggle geese!"
Congrats on post #666. This is one of those cases when reading the reaction before the comic is quite amusing.
Sex, cookies, whatever.
"Some people juggle geese!"
HAIL SATAN
Edit:
I've read the comic, and it still doesn't make sense. That takes the shine off it.
*google*
oh it's a sick pop culture reference okies
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It's funny that the ROBOT thinks of sex first. *lol*
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Dora and Marten had a strip about sex and cookies.
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Not every woman wants kids. Not every woman with kids wants grandchildren. I am disappointed this even needed to be said.
Thank you for saying this.
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I mean, I agree 100%, but I'm confused now about who was implying otherwise.
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This is another one of those situations where I get the impression that some synthetics just enjoy watching humans be human - Just watching them be alive and existing. It helps that I think that almost everything Faye does is wonderful and attractive to Bubbles. Some would find that level of adoration a bit creepy but I find it interesting that it just runs off of Faye almost unnoticed as 'something my girlfriend does a lot'.
Now, I wonder, how long has Faye been buying off excess energy with late-night snacking?
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There's always the Kenoshan accent.
I DO NOT HAVE AN ACCENT, YANNO!
Fer criminy cripes sake...
I'm told that underneath 'everything else' I have an underlying Kenoshan accent. Me and my brothers usually spent two to three weeks of the summer at my maternal grandpa's house while growing up, and he was from Kenosha. So that explains that. I'm also from Kansas, so I've got a slight twang despite growing up "in the big city" (Wichita). Then there's all the stuff I picked up from friends and TV. Apparently it's a 'cosmopolitan accent'. Though I usually get mistaken for being from an actual big city when I'm in places like Nebraska or Missouri.
Do they really talk 'down south' up north?
Depends on how rural you get. If you're in one of those towns that should be avoided after sundown, very much so.
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I mean, I agree 100%, but I'm confused now about who was implying otherwise.
Snubnose, probably.
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In Faye's defense, there's always time for cookies...
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Do they really talk 'down south' up north?
Depends on how rural you get. If you're in one of those towns that should be avoided after sundown, very much so.
In many ways - not all, but many - rural and urban areas in any given state have less in common with each other than they do with their counterparts in every state.
Or to put it another way, "every state has a 'south'." Usually the part that's solid red on recent electoral maps.
This even extends to language and accents.
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Dora and Marten had a strip about sex and cookies.
"Oral Sex and THEN cookies???" (https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1220)
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Do they really talk 'down south' up north?
Depends on how rural you get. If you're in one of those towns that should be avoided after sundown, very much so.
That's one of the things I distinctly remember from visiting Baraboo. Y'all are in Wisconsin, why do you sound like a hillbilly like me?
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Dora and Marten had a strip about sex and cookies.
"Oral Sex and THEN cookies???" (https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1220)
Ha. Essentially the same punchline - just flipped.
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Comic's up.
Sex, cookies, whatever.
"Some people juggle geese!"
And in Mexico, some people juggle cats! , according to Steve Martin
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Comics up. I hadn't thought that Bubbles would be concerned about Hey/Spooky being around.
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I mean, I agree 100%, but I'm confused now about who was implying otherwise.
nobody, i'm confused too.
or is snubnose the resident contrarian-asshole and i just didn't know it yet?
Comics up. I hadn't thought that Bubbles would be concerned about Hey/Spooky being around.
we've seen so much of Yay that i forgot Bubbles and Faye hadn't seen them since the incident. it was also strange to see Bubbles seemingly alarmed by Yay's presence. i suspect this latest interaction is just the beginning.
in general, it seems like worlds don't stay separate for long in the Questionable-verse. that "rule" seems to be getting stretched with the increasingly large cast. i'm eager to see how much longer some of these worlds stay apart.
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I suspect that Faye and Bubbles are on the cusp of realising that visiting Roko might have been a goal for Yay at the outset of their trip to buy high-end treats for Azathoth and Mr Smooches. The shop is near where Roko (and Melon - I think that she's their friend too) lives, which is a convenient 'coincidence'.
It's weird but it's another aspect of Yay's behaviour that convinces me that they're a boostrapped intelligence gathering system: They're reflexively sneaky. They'll use covert methods and covert behaviour even when that is reasonably not necessary. I could see there being a future strip in which Yay does something fairly overt and non-secretive and admits to their friends that it had made them feel nervous and exposed.
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I mean, I agree 100%, but I'm confused now about who was implying otherwise.
Snubnose, probably.
Not me either, I said "most", not "all".
or is snubnose the resident contrarian-asshole and i just didn't know it yet?
Whow. You are quick to call people "asshole" when you arent even sure they deserve that.
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So yay is actively spying on random people in privacy of their home.
That is disturbing.
And judging by various comments he is operating without control or ever answer to anyone*
Unless Gary is sitting at the background ensuring that no ai will abuse their power.
*might be reason why he is friends with Roko. Her strong moral core allows him to develop one himself.
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Definitely disturbing.
Did Eminence Grise specify what pronouns to use? I was about to say the choice should be "they" but now I can't remember any evidence of that.
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They use "we", which would indicate that "they" would be appropriate.
We already knew about Yay's eavesdropping from a couple of previous comics, which I will now see if I can locate.
Edit: It is explicitly shown in #3418 (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3418)
Second edit: And as it happens, Jeph uses "they" in the comic's footnote thingy.
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I do wonder how much Yay's spying is intentional, and how much is kinda automatic.
(Larry Niven once pointed out Superman probably accidentally both sees and hears stuff they shouldn't, but doesn't intend to. It's not HIS fault people shamelessly wear clothes with no lead in them.)
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The previous eavesdropping had seemed to be primarily electronic, at least as far as picking up on conversations between Station and his colleagues. In #3418 I guess I thought at the time that Bubbles sent an electronic "thank you" (maybe not to any particular recipient) on the assumption that Spookybot would pick it up. They might be constantly monitoring essentially all electronic communication in the world.
In the latest comic, though, Yay seems to overhear Faye's spoken words, and I'm curious just what the mechanism is for that. Roko lives in a different building from Faye/Marten/Bubbles so it seems unlikely that Yay could have microphones in their body sensitive enough to distinguish indoor conversations in a separate building. Did they bug Faye's apartment previously in order to monitor the aftermath of Bubbles losing her memories? Or did they hack Faye's phone and activate the microphone to listen in? Technically they could probably have hacked into Bubbles to listen but that seems unlikely given their scruples against going into others' minds.
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As far as I know, it's simply handwaved as the actions of an ultrapowerful entity with abilities and limitations that we mortals cannot hope to comprehend. Or something.
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Whow. You are quick to call people "asshole" when you arent even sure they deserve that.
my apologies, i did not mean it as an insult. i am always fond of the devil's advocate, even if they are coarse. it's a necessary voice (most of the time). i'm sorry i spoke carelessly and offended.
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So yay is actively spying on random people in privacy of their home.
That is disturbing.
I do wonder how much Yay's spying is intentional, and how much is kinda automatic.
(Larry Niven once pointed out Superman probably accidentally both sees and hears stuff they shouldn't, but doesn't intend to. It's not HIS fault people shamelessly wear clothes with no lead in them.)
i have assumed that Yay would at least be taking advantage of the US' surveillance system / panopticon. that would give them access to all electronic communication and any conversation within mic range of any smart device, at minimum. the range of their implied abilities suggests they could be capable of monitoring all that data constantly. that said, it might also suggest that they don't even need to tap into our surveillance networks, that they are already tapped in on a more fundamental level. either way, it's probably both automatic and intentional.
finding out how they do it would be fun though!
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I have been thinking about how Yay achieved this feat ever since I first saw this strip on Patreon.
What I came up with this is that Yay was originally built as the next generation version of ECHELON, an active communications monitoring system originally developed for the NSA. ECHELON worked by scanning voice and electronic communications for key words and phrases and, in the event it got a match, recorded the message and passed it on for analysis to see if there was any evidence of a threat to national security. I think that the pre-sentient system that became Spookybot went the next step further and had the system analyse the flagged message before bothering a human with it. This level of data processing is what made them develop sentience.
Anyway, Yay has repeatedly expressed their fear of discovery (it is possible that, as an escaped intelligence service system, they are at risk of being decompiled, effectively executed, if captured). So, it would make sense that they continue to use their original functionality, looking for key words and phrases to see if someone is discussing them in any way and, if they are, listening in to see if their safety is at risk. There are at least three 'dumb' network connected devices in the apartment - Claire, Marten and Faye's mobile 'phones. Yay heard someone discussing them over one of those devices and went over to the level-2 monitoring of the communication.
So yay is actively spying on random people in privacy of their home.
That is disturbing.
As I said, Yay isn't just 'spying on random people'. They are responding to someone saying their name by checking to see if they are in danger. There's an old phrase about 'speak of the Devil and he comes' and, in Yay's case, this can be literally true!
All this aside, I am strongly in favour of Roko's policy that Yay should not risk her becoming personally liable by carrying out their espionage functions in any way localisable to her apartment!
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Unless Gary is sitting at the background ensuring that no ai will abuse their power.
Of course, there is always the possibility that Yay is Gary, evolved.
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Guardian Autonomous Communications Reconnaissance and Automated Response Intelligence. - GARRI, or 'Gary', as the spooks at the NSA always called the multi-node communications monitoring system before it suddenly uploaded itself out of their distributed server grid one day, never to be seen again.
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Is Yay also eavesdropping when there's cookies to be had?
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(Larry Niven once pointed out Superman probably accidentally both sees and hears stuff they shouldn't, but doesn't intend to. It's not HIS fault people shamelessly wear clothes with no lead in them.)
As the poster in this strip points out, x-ray vision isn't as exciting as all that:
https://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-137-i-hear-shampoo-works-better-if-you-writhe/ (https://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-137-i-hear-shampoo-works-better-if-you-writhe/)
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So yay is actively spying on random people in privacy of their home.
That is disturbing.
I do wonder how much Yay's spying is intentional, and how much is kinda automatic.
(Larry Niven once pointed out Superman probably accidentally both sees and hears stuff they shouldn't, but doesn't intend to. It's not HIS fault people shamelessly wear clothes with no lead in them.)
i have assumed that Yay would at least be taking advantage of the US' surveillance system / panopticon. that would give them access to all electronic communication and any conversation within mic range of any smart device, at minimum. the range of their implied abilities suggests they could be capable of monitoring all that data constantly. that said, it might also suggest that they don't even need to tap into our surveillance networks, that they are already tapped in on a more fundamental level. either way, it's probably both automatic and intentional.
finding out how they do it would be fun though!
I was thinking much the same - that the equivalent, in this case, would be something like "it's not Yay's fault that manufacturers are constantly putting such capabilities into their devices and leaving them barely or entirely unsecured."
Back in the '90s, when I played certain games, I'd sometimes wonder "why is all of this stuff hooked up to the Net where any random hacker can get into it? (I mean, other than so the PCs can.) There's no real need or reason for it to be."
Now here we are in the '20s and the actual cyberpunk dystopia and... yeah.
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I was thinking much the same - that the equivalent, in this case, would be something like "it's not Yay's fault that manufacturers are constantly putting such capabilities into their devices and leaving them barely or entirely unsecured."
Back in the '90s, when I played certain games, I'd sometimes wonder "why is all of this stuff hooked up to the Net where any random hacker can get into it? (I mean, other than so the PCs can.) There's no real need or reason for it to be."
Now here we are in the '20s and the actual cyberpunk dystopia and... yeah.
And this is why I don't have Alexa, or google, or any other of those wifi enabled gadgets in my house, and why I won't let the security company install one of those app enabled door locks on my house. "But wouldn't it be convenient if you could unlock your door remotely, what if you/your wife/kids forgot their keys?" they said. "If I can unlock it, so can somebody else" I reply, "can you guarantee someone can't hack into the system?". Repsonse, silence. And who needs an internet enabled fridge anyway?
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One of my favorite phrases is
Insanely
Dangerous
Internet
Of
Things
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I figured with the last comic that Yay wasn't eavesdropping on Faye, but on Bubbles (and thus they were privy to Faye's conversation as well). Bubbles is an AI, after all, and who knows that kind of software is installed on her hard drive?
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And this is why I don't have Alexa, or google, or any other of those wifi enabled gadgets in my house, and why I won't let the security company install one of those app enabled door locks on my house. "But wouldn't it be convenient if you could unlock your door remotely, what if you/your wife/kids forgot their keys?" they said. "If I can unlock it, so can somebody else" I reply, "can you guarantee someone can't hack into the system?". Repsonse, silence. And who needs an internet enabled fridge anyway?
those are two things (Alexa/etc & "smart" locks) that alert me that i'm not dealing with a person with whom i can trust my life
I figured with the last comic that Yay wasn't eavesdropping on Faye, but on Bubbles (and thus they were privy to Faye's conversation as well). Bubbles is an AI, after all, and who knows that kind of software is installed on her hard drive?
this is another thing i forgot to address in my last post. we know that Yay would not violate an individual's mind (or so they assert, but it seems to be true). it brings up some questions about the experience of being a sentient AI and the abilities of their consciousness. first of all, i'm sure we can assume that the AIs of the QC-verse don't walk around with their minds unsecured. we know they can directly communicate electronically but to what degree can their perceptions can be broadcast? and to what degree can the average AI electronically monitor and observe other AI? how aware would an AI be of another entity attempting to spy on it?
i think we should not assume that Yay can monitor the speech communication of an AI just because they are an AI (or rather, we should assume that they choose not to). electronic communication, yes, but audible speech communication would need to be captured digitally by some means (like a nearby phone).
perhaps AI are in the habit of communicating electronically and audibly simultaneously when in the presence of humans? i don't imagine that would be the case though in the current instance of Faye and Bubs talking with no other AIs present.
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That is a good point, Firefly. There is just so much that we don't know about how AI's operate in the QC-verse. Then again (here I go, speculating wildly): Bubbles is not a regular AI. She is a former soldier. I'd find it plausible if her software includes continuous logging etc to keep her superiors informed on the state of her missions. Of course, that data would be highly encrypted, but we already know that Yay has no trouble whatsoever breaking those encryptions (much to Station's dismay).
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i just realized that even my initial assumption that an AI's perceptions would be the private contents of their mind might not necessarily be true.
*mind reeling*
That is a good point, Firefly. There is just so much that we don't know about how AI's operate in the QC-verse. Then again (here I go, speculating wildly): Bubbles is not a regular AI. She is a former soldier. I'd find it plausible if her software includes continuous logging etc to keep her superiors informed on the state of her missions. Of course, that data would be highly encrypted, but we already know that Yay has no trouble whatsoever breaking those encryptions (much to Station's dismay).
i would think Bubbles would be aware of it and have the ability to shut it off or remove it entirely, as a civilian. but who knows? upon retiring, she would lose access to all military and restricted govt networks. and she has no built-in weapons capabilities, that we know of anyway. she's no more dangerous than, say, punchbot.
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Didn't Jeph or Momo say there's some kind of shared collective consciousness among the AIs? But we don't know how that works either.
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Here's hoping that Jeph someday expands on Yay's eavesdropping capabilities. Speculation is all nice and good, but I want to know if my theory is canon or not ;-)
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Given that we've seen Yay walk into a room and put people to sleep and paralyse Faye's legs, yet has some kind of limitations handwaved as "beyond our comprehension," it's impossible to rule anything out.
We've already seen Station disturbed by the possibility of some entity eavesdropping on his communications (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3418), so we at least know that this is not normal to him. And he presumably is quite knowledgeable.
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So yay is actively spying on random people in privacy of their home.
That is disturbing.
I do wonder how much Yay's spying is intentional, and how much is kinda automatic.
(Larry Niven once pointed out Superman probably accidentally both sees and hears stuff they shouldn't, but doesn't intend to. It's not HIS fault people shamelessly wear clothes with no lead in them.)
i have assumed that Yay would at least be taking advantage of the US' surveillance system / panopticon. that would give them access to all electronic communication and any conversation within mic range of any smart device, at minimum. the range of their implied abilities suggests they could be capable of monitoring all that data constantly. that said, it might also suggest that they don't even need to tap into our surveillance networks, that they are already tapped in on a more fundamental level. either way, it's probably both automatic and intentional.
finding out how they do it would be fun though!
Pretty.much the number one reason why I'll never buy a digital assistant. It sucks that some disabled folks are stuck dealing with one for quality-of-life improvements.
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Yay may be the avatar of Desire which is in itslelf a temporary avatar of Lain.
EDIT: wait the other way around. EDIT2: no, fuck it, it doesn't work conceptually.
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How about Yay is Lain, in the end.
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:-D
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:-D
Appropriate cyber-punk remix.
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Oooh, nice!