WCDT - August 8 to August 12, 2022 (strips #4846 to #4850)

[shanejayell]

Oooh. several month time jump? Interesting.

[obafgkm]

I was wondering about that.

[Gyrre]

Do we have a name for Tief[1] there from that bird site, or is she/they a one off gag?

[1]short for 'tiefling'. I suppose 'Ling' could also work?

[BenRG]

That's probably the best portrayal of Clinton and Claire that I've seen in a while. Meanwhile, is Lil Demon Bot a Burger Oni fan or did they coincidentally just use the same basic aesthetic of Marigold's avatar?

[St.Clair]

Girls With Horns crossover?

[Perfectly Reasonable]

During the timeskip there was a mysterious mutant plague that caused everyone to have long long hair.

( even pintsize )

Burger Oni Not is cute. She should totally do a collab with La-le-li-lu Girl.

[BenRG]

Okay, the new strip is up.

It occurs to me that Claire deliberately asked Clinton about Elliot so he'd retaliate by asking about Marten just so she could mention the job offer from Canada without seeming too self-absorbed. It isn't as if Marten has any particular ties to Northampton that he can't keep up by phone call or video message, so I'm now calling it that there is a very high chance that he and Claire are going to be leaving the regular cast after Dora and Tai's wedding.

[cesium133]

Advice to Claire:

1) Don't get internet from Rogers. Seriously, just don't.
2) When applying for PR, you can take your time getting your criminal record check from RCMP. It is only valid for six months and it will probably be more than six months before you hear back from immigration. So, save yourself $50 and a trip to wherever the office is in Nova Scotia.

I'll probably have more later, but right now I'm typing on my phone at work...

Edit — also I'm with Clinton on this one. Canada isn't all that different from the U.S. Though I am in southern Ontario, and I'm told some things might be different elsewhere. Maybe.

[zioninavision]

this is quite intriguing!!  is it possible that they (either Claire and Marten or also Pintsize) are going move to Halifax??   that would make sense and be quite fun;

I agree with BenRG that there is some chance they will not appear as often, but i am hopeful that there may be many new adventures and characters whereever they will be!!

Halifax Central Library - Halifax, NS



Image: Canadian Architect

If you conduct a quick Google search for the best libraries across Canada, almost every list is bound to feature this glass giant in Halifax.

[shanejayell]

Oooh, Canada.

(My poll option of Marten fleeing was oddly apt.)

As the strip's really no longer focused on 'em anyway...

[MrNumbers]

Okay, the new strip is up.

It occurs to me that Claire deliberately asked Clinton about Elliot so he'd retaliate by asking about Marten just so she could mention the job offer from Canada without seeming too self-absorbed. It isn't as if Marten has any particular ties to Northampton that he can't keep up by phone call or video message, so I'm now calling it that there is a very high chance that he and Claire are going to be leaving the regular cast after Dora and Tai's wedding.

Okay, so, I just want to point out what a big stressing point being asked to move for a relationship is to Marten specifically. I don't think this is signposting Marten leaving the cast, I think this is signposting Marten being presented with his personal trigger point.

[Stoon]

It's true.  We can get touchy about being compared to Americans.

[hedgie]

Who wouldn't?

[Scarlet Manuka]

It occurs to me that Claire deliberately asked Clinton about Elliot so he'd retaliate by asking about Marten just so she could mention the job offer from Canada without seeming too self-absorbed.

Yep, I think this is pretty evident from the expressions in panel 2 and how quickly she jumps in to answer in panel 3.

[TV4Fun]

Apparently Russia invaded Ukraine in the QC-verse too.

[Ravenswing]

Okay, so, I just want to point out what a big stressing point being asked to move for a relationship is to Marten specifically. I don't think this is signposting Marten leaving the cast, I think this is signposting Marten being presented with his personal trigger point.

As against that, though, look.  Certainly in the real world, western Massachusetts is a hard, hard, hard place for librarians to get work.  There is a lot of competition for jobs, very few fulltime positions, and it's quite common for those who can get jobs to string together a dozen hours a week in this system, a dozen hours a week in that system, and a dozen hours a week waiting tables at the diner in the next town over.

That's one.  The other is that this is just plain a transient college town.  I *live* in Northampton, on the 2nd floor of a duplex, and we're about to get our fourth set of downstairs roommates in four years.  By the exigencies of comicdom, it's been an extremely stable group of twentysomethings for a long time.

[Gyrre]

It's true.  We can get touchy about being compared to Americans.

What about having your country referred to as 'three companies/corporations in a trenchcoat' (or however that goes)?

[Jimor]

Oooh. several month time jump? Interesting.

I know somebody had been keeping track of how much time has actually passed in the QC Universe, and if it wasn't for these multi-months time skips, we'd still be in the first year I'm pretty sure. Even with them, it's like less than 5 in-universe years I think?

[BenRG]

Halifax Central Library - Halifax, NS



Image: Canadian Architect

If you conduct a quick Google search for the best libraries across Canada, almost every list is bound to feature this glass giant in Halifax.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that this is the 'cool library' where Claire is interviewing.

[Tova]

Is the claim that "Canada's barely another country" actually a thing that people think? 

[Welu]

Oh dang, potential big changes afoot.

[de_la_Nae]

Is the claim that "Canada's barely another country" actually a thing that people think? 

it's another blatantly colonial project empire, it's *right there*, it's controlled by whites in a partially-ethnic caste system
it tracks more than it doesn't in a lot of ways

[de_la_Nae]

like, it's baby's first not!America

[Akima]

Is the claim that "Canada's barely another country" actually a thing that people think? 

Aa bit like us and New Zealand? And I'm guessing an ear, nose, and throat specialist?

[MrNumbers]

Snip

As ironic as this is to say given what your signature is, I believe I've been misunderstood here.

QC is a fictional story with fully developed general AI in it. By narrative conceit, it could be given a new, very cool library for Claire to work in. If that doesn't happen, it's not really about reality, it's about what the story being told is.

Marten was introduced to the story as someone who'd moved across the country pursuing a relationship, and then immediately getting dumped and needing to start a new life in the place he'd ended up. That's the premise of this arc: Would Marten be willing to take that risk again, after having been burned on it once, for Claire. And if 'no', would Claire be willing to leave Marten for her dream job?

Those are the actually interesting questions to ask, which I think is what gets lost if you focus on the real-life logic of the premise.

Like, Claire's not going to get this job. This is going to be about what happens when there's a chance she could.

[Tormuse]

"Canada's, like, barely another country, though."  Ooh, them's fightin' words!  As a Canadian, I'm going to have to politely disagree! 

Seriously, though, I'm not gonna give a historical/cultural lecture;  all I'm gonna say is that I've lived in Canada for 40 years, and I could never, ever live in the US;  in fact, things are so messed up there, I'd be scared to even visit.

[John Allenson]

Having friends who have degrees in library science looking for jobs in Canada as Canadians; I find it doubtful that Claire would be in serious competition.

I agree that Canadians are likely to get irate at being told we're barely different from the USA.  I also saw the same thing when I lived in Europe when someone mistook a Swiss or Austrian for a German.  You'll even get the same reaction if you referred to Scotland as being the same as England even though they've been the same country since James I.

[shanejayell]

"Canada's, like, barely another country, though."

I blame South Park.

[Tova]

Is the claim that "Canada's barely another country" actually a thing that people think? 

it's another blatantly colonial project empire, it's *right there*, it's controlled by whites in a partially-ethnic caste system
it tracks more than it doesn't in a lot of ways

I'll accept "more similar than different" but "barely another country" is risible.

[pwhodges]

Jeph, having moved from one to the other, is just making a point.

Marten OTOH, being from California, might see it differently.

[SmilingCat]

Apparently Russia invaded Ukraine in the QC-verse too.

It could be that Gregor the shop owner is just proud of his homeland. It doesn't appear to be a typical Ukrainian name, but you never know.

(I just kinda want the QC-verse to be a happy place where world threatening crap like Putin just doesn't happen, is all I'm saying)

[gprimr1]

I have a friend in Canada who actually got worked up when I said I considered Canada an international flight from the USA. I'm like "Wait, don't Canadians usually get upset when Americans think Canada is part of America?"

[zioninavision]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that this is the 'cool library' where Claire is interviewing.

i hoped so too; but now it is actually going to be Cubetown!!!!   

this may be why with the time jump the art now has the appearance of a heartfelt homage to Studio Ghibli, while still being the QC verse multistyle simultaneously!!
Cubetown seems like something from QC meets Ghibli, with a lot of appreciation of the story styles of old school newspaper comics too!!  Cubetown feels like an idea of that era, which adds to how much QC already is good at tuning into those frequencies of energetic humor!!!!

maybe they will still be able to visit Halifax but also now Jeph is creating a new part of Nova Scotia!!  maybe there will be an experimental concert venue inside Cubetown?? 

[shanejayell]

Clinton, that's JUST a bit excessive. Just saying.

[MrGone]

I'm missing what callback Jeph is talking about in the latest comic...

[St.Clair]

QC is a fictional story with fully developed general AI in it. By narrative conceit, it could be given a new, very cool library for Claire to work in. If that doesn't happen, it's not really about reality, it's about what the story being told is.

You were saying?

(Also, is it just me or does all of this establishing the current status quo, that Clinton has a cyberhand (which his sister would already know), etc etc feel like an "on-boarding" chapter for the start of a new book?)

[badbum61]

So I guess we know now what happened in the time-skip...The Singularity!

[Wombat]

So I guess we know now what happened in the time-skip...The Singularity!

Didn't that happen, like, thousands of comics ago?
https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1777

[Tova]

According to the internet! And it's not as though someone would just go on the internet and tell lies.

[Gyrre]

"Canada's, like, barely another country, though."  Ooh, them's fightin' words!  As a Canadian, I'm going to have to politely disagree! 

Seriously, though, I'm not gonna give a historical/cultural lecture;  all I'm gonna say is that I've lived in Canada for 40 years, and I could never, ever live in the US;  in fact, things are so messed up there, I'd be scared to even visit.

Also, you all had your Trump in power before we did. Just saying.

[sitnspin]

As a Native, I don't see any difference. Both Canada and the US have a track record of historical and ongoing oppression of Indigenous people. Canadians love to see themselves as morally superior to their southern neighbours, but it's self-delusion.

[MrNumbers]

QC is a fictional story with fully developed general AI in it. By narrative conceit, it could be given a new, very cool library for Claire to work in. If that doesn't happen, it's not really about reality, it's about what the story being told is.

You were saying?

I have been vindicated in my lifetime.

(To be clear, what I meant is "that Claire doesn't have to move country for". There isn't a 'real' reason it needs to be there. Emphasizing that it's not a real library just underlines what I was saying.)

[Perfectly Reasonable]

Clinton will now stun Claire and assume her identity.

I wonder what font that could have been? Certainly not one of the scary ones.

[John Allenson]

I've been in Clinton's role before.

For Claire - this can be really scary.  Especially when your confidence has eroded from a lot of rejection from earlier applications.  A push, even from ridiculous hyperboly, helps to keep taking risks.

[Tormuse]

Also, you all had your Trump in power before we did. Just saying.

I am curious to know who you would consider to be "Canada's Trump."

[Perfectly Reasonable]

I'm missing what callback Jeph is talking about in the latest comic...

"That thing the robots are building in Halifax is CRAZY."
Says Steve in https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3055

[shanejayell]

Also, you all had your Trump in power before we did. Just saying.

I am curious to know who you would consider to be "Canada's Trump."

Stephen Harper?

[cesium133]

Stephen Harper was Canada's George W. Bush. Kevin O'Leary hasn't become PM yet.

[Tova]

I wrote a post then changed my mind and decided to withdraw from this conversation. Have fun.

[badbum61]

BUBBLE TEA!
BUBBLES TEA
BUBBLE BOBBLE

Hmmm...what platform is the Bubble Bobble for? Do I need an emulator?