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Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: shanejayell on 27 Nov 2022, 20:51

Title: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: shanejayell on 27 Nov 2022, 20:51
Moray is ALSO a crash balloon?

That's... comforting? I guess. 

Poll added, 2 votes per user.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: St.Clair on 27 Nov 2022, 20:54
Given how easily she seems to have sprung a leak in a previous strip, I have considerable doubts about her external membrane's ability to stand up to the stresses of an automobile collision at any significant speed.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Gyrre on 27 Nov 2022, 20:58
Other; Try to go jelly cat to reduce risk of injury.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Farideh on 27 Nov 2022, 21:44
Other: convert to any religion quickly and pray.

Re. the comic: does this mean that Moray doesn't have a membrane, or just that the membrane is very stretchy? Like how you can push your hand through a balloon if it's party deflated.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: BenRG on 27 Nov 2022, 23:31
I think that today's strip shows that Moray doesn't have a 'membrane' of any kind but it made entirely of a fluid whose viscosity she can consciously control and every molecule of which she can purpose as she likes. Need light-sensitive bits! Okay. Need sound-detection membrane? Put it there. I'm wondering if, like the T1000, she doesn't have a central brain core but her intelligence comes from the interactions of these billions of individual molecules interacting with each other.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Mr_Rose on 28 Nov 2022, 00:49
I like how Moray assures Claire that it doesn’t hurt her at all, coincidentally entirely failing to address the effects on the person sticking their hand in her goo. Which sounds way more dubious than I intended, reading it back. Oh well.

Why is the mother apologising to Marten though? The kid didn’t stick his hand through Marten’s face….
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Farideh on 28 Nov 2022, 00:54
I feel like the mom is apologizing to Marten since he's the only one currently available to apologize to. Moray is quite busy and Claire is too far away.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: traroth on 28 Nov 2022, 02:37
In a previous comic, Moray kind of... leaked...
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: baronvonfritz on 28 Nov 2022, 08:27
Whoa.... Did not expect that level of squishiness...

I also read the poll wrong in the worst way.

Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: notStanley on 28 Nov 2022, 10:52
>function as a safety device

Does that only work if she is already sitting on your lap?  (though that can get a ticket by itself)  Or are her reflexes fast enough to spread throughout the cabin when a crash occurs?
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Perfectly Reasonable on 28 Nov 2022, 11:41
While Moray has eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, and teeth, I suspect their chief use is for communication with humans. She is able to talk without lungs, think without a visible brain. Her body is translucent protoplasmic goo with lumps suspended in it. I like the idea that her life functions are an emergent phenomenon. Calling her a 'robot' is stretching the word -- we'll need a new word for what she really is.

( cue the scarecrows lament )
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: dutchrvl on 28 Nov 2022, 11:57
Did anyone read Moray's comment in Raymond (i.e. Rainman) voice? "I am a very good driver"

Edit: yes I know in the movie he said "I'm an excellent driver". Nonetheless this reminded me immediately of that movie.

Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Ampersand8888 on 28 Nov 2022, 15:33
Other: see if Moray can eat the car like in the latest Kirby game. Then switch the radio for some happy jamming tunes and drive onward to Halifax.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Storel on 28 Nov 2022, 17:46
I like how Moray assures Claire that it doesn’t hurt her at all, coincidentally entirely failing to address the effects on the person sticking their hand in her goo. Which sounds way more dubious than I intended, reading it back. Oh well.

"It doesn't hurt me at all!"

*kid starts screaming as his arm starts smoking*

"Oh, I forgot it would hurt you..."
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Near Lurker on 28 Nov 2022, 18:32
...is that a Gallicization of "doner"?

EDIT: Yes, yes it is.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: shanejayell on 28 Nov 2022, 18:38
You don't have donair in the US?
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Near Lurker on 28 Nov 2022, 18:42
We have [doner] kebabs and gyros... is there a substantial difference?  (I'm a vegetarian anyway.)
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Farideh on 28 Nov 2022, 18:45
It seems like Marten and Ol' Boaty have a lot to talk about.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Wombat on 28 Nov 2022, 18:50
You don't have donair in the US?
I've actually never the term donair before. Like, I tried to guess what it is when reading the comic-- which admittedly is not that much context-- and I was not close. I know food that is (from what I'm seeing) very similar to/the same as donair, but yeah, didn't know it by that term. Certainly didn't know that donair is the official food of Halifax, or that we're getting close to National Donair Day (December 8th). So today's comic ended up leading to a bit of education.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: badbum61 on 28 Nov 2022, 19:04
It's 'doner kebab' here in Oz too.
Near as I can tell, 'donair' is strictly Canadian.
Have discussed this in depth with a bud in HFX, so I feel like my intel comes from the source...
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Stoon on 28 Nov 2022, 19:22
I never liked Donairs.  The sauce is WAY too sweet. 
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Timemaster on 28 Nov 2022, 22:09
Döner Kebab ist really common here in Germany, but I had never heard of Donair before. But apart from the german Ö vovel it is pronounced mostly the same. Fun fact: the doner or döner with it‘s more elaborate salad, garlicy yoghurt sauce and hot sauce seems to have turkish roots, the donair with it‘s sweet creamy sauce rather greek roots.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: traroth on 28 Nov 2022, 23:19
Döner Kebab ist really common here in Germany, but I had never heard of Donair before. But apart from the german Ö vovel it is pronounced mostly the same. Fun fact: the doner or döner with it‘s more elaborate salad, garlicy yoghurt sauce and hot sauce seems to have turkish roots, the donair with it‘s sweet creamy sauce rather greek roots.

It's pretty common here in France too. It somehow crossed the Rhine...

In Strasbourg, we call them Döner Kebab, like in Germany. But in the rest of France, they are called "greek sandwich", which is not historically accurate.

I, for one, had too much as a student, and I avoid them now.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: snubnose on 29 Nov 2022, 01:16
I cant comment on Döner Kebab. I was already vegetarian when they became common. The only Döner Kebab I ever had had merely salad. As in the vegetable itself, not the type of food. Not even any sauce. Unsurprisingly not the greatest food I've ever eaten.

I think that today's strip shows [...]
... that Jeph will do with his characters whatever he fancies and doesnt care too much for consistency.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: immortalfrieza on 29 Nov 2022, 10:50
I didn't expect such an incredibly old QC strip reference. Marten, nobody likes to be thrown up on.

Of course, such a statement is a cue for the contrary to show up.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: notStanley on 29 Nov 2022, 10:58
I didn't expect such an incredibly old QC strip reference. Marten, nobody likes to be thrown up on.

But Marten is a master!  That is why he prefers slip-on shoes instead of sneaker or boots.  No laces makes for much easier cleanup :}
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Perfectly Reasonable on 29 Nov 2022, 15:34
Aww... I wanted to see Moray eat a donair.

This must be the Boaty McBoatface I've heard about.

Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: shanejayell on 29 Nov 2022, 20:34
New comic

WELL. I'm SURE this will turn out well.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: ihaveavoice on 29 Nov 2022, 22:41
merely salad. As in the vegetable itself, not the type of food.

May I ask what country you're from? This was very confusing to me until I had a vague memory of hearing an English(?) person referring to lettuce as salad at some point.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: snubnose on 30 Nov 2022, 00:03
May I ask what country you're from?
Germany.

Dict.leo.org says "Salat" translates to "salad". "Lettuce" is also given as an option, but since the german word is "Salat" unsurprisingly "salad" is the one in my active vocabulary.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: BenRG on 30 Nov 2022, 01:26
Doesn't Driscoll look a lot like Marten's friend the pulp romance writing trucker? Probably just a coincidence.

Meanwhile, I suspect that Claire and Marten are about to find themselves the token normal folk in a floating lunatic asylum. So, more or less just like home but with more salt-water corrosion.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Gyrre on 30 Nov 2022, 01:52
I like how Moray assures Claire that it doesn’t hurt her at all, coincidentally entirely failing to address the effects on the person sticking their hand in her goo. Which sounds way more dubious than I intended, reading it back. Oh well.

Why is the mother apologising to Marten though? The kid didn’t stick his hand through Marten’s face….

Here's hoping it's not a situation like with Unity's nanite blood (Skin Horse, by Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells with colors by Pacha Diaz).

EDIT: fixing citation

Also, strip stating such. https://skin-horse.com/comic/todays-comic-795/ That goop gets injected into a mountain goat and various other animals in this arc (a nod to The Sword in the Stone (1963). Unity's blood also comes into play in the werewolf story arc.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Mr_Rose on 30 Nov 2022, 02:23
Doesn't Driscoll look a lot like Marten's friend the pulp romance writing trucker? Probably just a coincidence.
Almost certainly, what with Jimbo having been permanently banned from Canada. Fairly sure it was him, anyway.

Besides, I’m pretty sure “scruffy trucker dude” is a Look now rather than just a coincidence of circumstance.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Storel on 30 Nov 2022, 10:16
Doesn't Driscoll look a lot like Marten's friend the pulp romance writing trucker? Probably just a coincidence.
Almost certainly, what with Jimbo having been permanently banned from Canada. Fairly sure it was him, anyway.
Yes, he had to escape Canada by hiding in the trunk of his agent's car.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: cesium133 on 30 Nov 2022, 10:22
Doesn't Driscoll look a lot like Marten's friend the pulp romance writing trucker? Probably just a coincidence.

Jimbo was banned from Canada for impersonating Driscoll.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: pendrake on 30 Nov 2022, 18:38
For comic #4929... (https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4929)

Always worth a good chuckle to see a Callback Joke.  :D

And to save Time for those who will be wondering/asking... [Comic #3152: Yer a TA, Harry] (https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3152).  ;)
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Stoon on 30 Nov 2022, 18:57
Heilung calls their concerts The Ritual.  Just sayin'.

Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: badbum61 on 30 Nov 2022, 19:00
Marten's expression in the last panel is pure manga. Nice.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: shanejayell on 30 Nov 2022, 19:57
The RITUAL...

OoooEEEEooooo....
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: immortalfrieza on 30 Nov 2022, 20:02
I didn't expect such an incredibly old QC strip reference.
And today makes 2. Don't tell me old strip references are going to be a thing with this storyline.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: St.Clair on 01 Dec 2022, 03:48
For comic #4929... (https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4929)

Always worth a good chuckle to see a Callback Joke.  :D

And to save Time for those who will be wondering/asking... [Comic #3152: Yer a TA, Harry] (https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3152).  ;)

Wow, I'd forgotten that era/segment of Jeph's style evolution.

I didn't expect such an incredibly old QC strip reference.
And today makes 2. Don't tell me old strip references are going to be a thing with this storyline.

Okay, we won't tell you.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: JimC on 01 Dec 2022, 07:58
Well, I got inspired to find an on line recipe for this Donair... That sauce is *weird*. It really didn't work for me. I ended up making my normal burger sauce and using that instead. Maybe my implementation of it was no good...
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Cypher on 01 Dec 2022, 10:38
Good grief, does Claire have to be so... stern? Severe? Such a killjoy? He's hardly saying anything out of line, is he?
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: hedgie on 01 Dec 2022, 10:42
She’s probably stressed/nervous, and isn’t in the frame of mind where a repeat joke is appreciated.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: JimC on 01 Dec 2022, 10:58
He's hardly saying anything out of line, is he?
Well that depends... Nothing is signed yet is it? Doesn't this still have aspects of a job interview? And (apologies if you've already discussed this) it could well be  that the only potential employment for Marten in Cubetown might be as Claire's junior...
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Mr_Rose on 01 Dec 2022, 12:34
She’s probably stressed/nervous, and isn’t in the frame of mind where a repeat joke is appreciated.
He's hardly saying anything out of line, is he?
Well that depends... Nothing is signed yet is it? Doesn't this still have aspects of a job interview? And (apologies if you've already discussed this) it could well be  that the only potential employment for Marten in Cubetown might be as Claire's junior...
Yes this, plus maaybe a wee hint of the green eyed monster there. Nowhere near Dora-level but I’m sure she doesn’t have room in her head right now, between the other things, to appreciate her boyfriend getting along famously with this random girl they just met.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: shanejayell on 01 Dec 2022, 18:17
Hi, Boaty! *lol*
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Near Lurker on 01 Dec 2022, 18:20
...I'm going to assume Moray-21 is approximately as buoyant as a human, but would Boaty have made Momo wear a life jacket if she'd been on board, since we know it wouldn't do anything for her?  (They're typically rated at, what, 50 N?  Not enough to hold up Little Miss Metal Mario.)
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Farideh on 01 Dec 2022, 18:27
I'm surprised Moray is wearing a life jacket. Is she doing that because Ol' Boaty insists on it, or to make Claire and Marten feel less awkward? I assume she floats really well, so...
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Wombat on 01 Dec 2022, 19:02
I'm surprised Moray is wearing a life jacket. Is she doing that because Ol' Boaty insists on it, or to make Claire and Marten feel less awkward? I assume she floats really well, so...
Well, he does say they're mandatory.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Perfectly Reasonable on 01 Dec 2022, 19:11
I've been waiting for someone to mention that there was rolly-chair jousting at Coffee of doom. No customers were harmed.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Gyrre on 01 Dec 2022, 20:41
While Moray has eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, and teeth, I suspect their chief use is for communication with humans. She is able to talk without lungs, think without a visible brain. Her body is translucent protoplasmic goo with lumps suspended in it. I like the idea that her life functions are an emergent phenomenon. Calling her a 'robot' is stretching the word -- we'll need a new word for what she really is.

( cue the scarecrows lament )

Sentient conglomerate?

EDIT: How about 'monosapient conglomeration'?
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Akima on 02 Dec 2022, 03:04
You've got to love popular art that references relativistic time dilation:
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Marco on 02 Dec 2022, 03:30
...I'm going to assume Moray-21 is approximately as buoyant as a human, but would Boaty have made Momo wear a life jacket if she'd been on board, since we know it wouldn't do anything for her?  (They're typically rated at, what, 50 N?  Not enough to hold up Little Miss Metal Mario.)

She could float well assuming she is made of a water- or organic solvent-based liquid. If she is made of some kind of liquid silicone, ionic liquid or something more exotic, her density may be quite high for buoyancy.

EDIT: I was talking about Moray, of course. As of Momo, I don't think she (or most humanoid AIs) got that much metal in her. Remember that Bubbles needed an armour. A guy like Punchbout would sink right to the bottom, tough.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: pwhodges on 02 Dec 2022, 03:40
You've got to love popular art that references relativistic time dilation

An example in anime which makes it a key plot point is Gunbuster, from 1988 (also known as Top o Nerae! - Aim for the Top!), and its 2004 successor Diebuster.  It was the first series directed by Hideaki Anno, who went on the produce Neon Genesis Evangelion, and many other anime series and films, as well as a number of live films as well (e.g. Shin Godzilla from 2016).
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: JimC on 02 Dec 2022, 04:29
Momo wear a life jacket ... since we know it wouldn't do anything for her?  (They're typically rated at, what, 50 N?  Not enough to hold up Little Miss Metal Mario.)
They vary greatly. 50N is a buoyancy aid, typically used for immersion watersports. Not bulky so not clumsy. But if you fall off a ship into a serious sea and aren't pulled out immediately all a 50N aid will really do is make it easier for the coastguard/lifeboatmen (delete as appt. for location) to find your corpse.   A full on lifejecket may be up to 275N, which is designed to turn you the right way up and keep nose/mouth clear of the water.  Biggest risk for humans (with lifejeckets - and should I say 'people with lungs') may be secondary drowning. Momo presumably just needs to float, although I wonder what salt water tolerance is like for a retail grade AI chassis.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: SmilingCat on 02 Dec 2022, 12:39
Weird how little things stir up memories.

When I was a kid, 10-11 years old, I spent a couple summers working on my grampa's charter boat (I was "assistant deck hand", mostly I was there to do the jobs my brother didn't want to). We never wore life jackets. We had them for the passengers if they wanted them, but we never wore them. Not even me, who was a child who never bothered to learn to swim. None of the boat crews did, and they weren't required to by law unless we were in a situation that the skipper determined was hazardous.

A fair number of years after my short time down there, one of the local boats (whose deckhand was supposed to be a cousin of mine until he swapped at the last minute) got caught in a bad sea and went over. Of the nineteen people on her, the deckhand and seven passengers survived. Of the survivors, six of them had managed to get on the life jackets stored in the cabin. Of the ones who didn't make it, only one had a life jacket.

So yeah. 
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: hedgie on 02 Dec 2022, 14:53
Biggest risk for humans (with lifejeckets - and should I say 'people with lungs') may be secondary drowning. Momo presumably just needs to float, although I wonder what salt water tolerance is like for a retail grade AI chassis.

At the lake party, she was able to walk along the bottom just fine.  Then again, that’s fresh water, but everything important is presumably water-tight.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Mr_Rose on 02 Dec 2022, 19:17
Biggest risk for humans (with lifejeckets - and should I say 'people with lungs') may be secondary drowning. Momo presumably just needs to float, although I wonder what salt water tolerance is like for a retail grade AI chassis.
At the lake party, she was able to walk along the bottom just fine.  Then again, that’s fresh water, but everything important is presumably water-tight.
She was also able to pull herself to the surface by only slightly terrifying Marten, who only had an ordinary float-ring for extra buoyancy. Or was it a pool noodle?
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: hedgie on 02 Dec 2022, 21:13
I think that it was a pool noodle.
Title: Re: WCDT Nov 28 - Dec 2 (strips #4926 to #4930)
Post by: Wingy on 03 Dec 2022, 05:25
Well, as long as this ride isn't a 3-hour tour...

And Claire is clearly in "interview mode" with Moray, while Marten is just hangin' out and making some conversation.  So yes, Claire is a little tense, and maybe she should be.