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Mutual self-perpetuating sleep-deprivation freakouts!

10 (17.5%)

"I tried. Five times. They keep forgetting."

5 (8.8%)

"You're not stupid!"

0 (0%)

Just takes her hobbies very seriously.

0 (0%)

Who sets their alarm for 9:17?

2 (3.5%)

MARIGOLD LOUISE FARMER!

6 (10.5%)

Hanners grounds Marigold!

6 (10.5%)

JOU JOU YUUJOU! BANJI MAJI KACHOU!!!

5 (8.8%)

Hi dad... No, I didn't BREAK SOMETHING... No, it's not the Red Chinese...

0 (0%)

You run a SHOE WEBSITE.

0 (0%)

I'm not lying! I swear! Talk to my dad, he'll prove it!

1 (1.8%)

Your father wants me to extend it to a week (AUGH!)

6 (10.5%)

No video games for the next three days!

0 (0%)

Sad eyes at Momo! (It's for your own good)

0 (0%)

Th - the Mitsubishi PX-3500?

0 (0%)

But it costs thirty thousand...

0 (0%)

I'LL TAKE OUT A LOAN JUST LET ME PLAY SOME FRIGGIN' VIDEO GAMES

7 (12.3%)

Were you serious about the new chassis?

0 (0%)

'Sides, I like you just the way you are.

3 (5.3%)

Momo fills out her resume!

5 (8.8%)

14 Elm Grove Lane (no such number)

1 (1.8%)

Total Members Voted: 51

[snubnose]

I dont get this poll. So my answer is Hanners !

[Welu]

On the topic of the alarm, if I usually set my alarms for times like X:27 or X:12 because it just seems to wake me up better than setting it at a round time. If I set it a couple minutes earlier, I tend to watch the time for those couple of minutes and get up when it hits the round number. So if I set an alarm at X:30, actually wake up about X:32, I'm going to stare at the clock until X:35. It just gives an extra couple wake up minutes to the day. Also bus times being at X:38 and making short films has taught me to think in terms of individual minutes than in lumps of fives.

Back to comic:
I'd like met Mr. Farmer. His extending it shows he knows what his daughter is like or at least that she hasn't changed since she lived at home.

I also had to look up that ringtone and watch the OKGo. It's rather addicting.

[riot_invoked]

I dont get this poll. So my answer is Hanners !

You don't get it?

[stoutfiles]

While I don't agree with Marigolds constant video game playing as a healthy lifestyle choice, Hanners has no right to tell her how to live her life.  She can ask Marigold to leave but that's about it, all this "grounding" stuff is silly nonsense.

[akronnick]

Sometimes friends have to intervene to protect us from ourselves.

Marigold's gaming habits are causing her harm. Hanners has a duty to take action to prevent this.

If Marigold feels this is unreasonable, she has the right to leave and do as she will, but I suspect that on some level, she knows that her habits are harmful, by submitting to Hanners's "punishment" she is taking steps to correct this, even if she is not ready to completely acknowledge the problem.

[Mr. Doctor]

I've seen less than half of those middle names... Who do you guys know the rest of them?

[lepetitfromage]

What's the explanation for Hanners knowing Marigirl's full name?

Bonus points if your explanation involves something creepy.

It was stitched into Marigold's underwear; Hanners found it when she was tidying up Mari's room.

That works, I think, but it's not very creepy…maybe if I noted that this is possibly the least clothing we've seen Hannelore wearing? Is that enough?

creepy enough or not- i LOVE this explanation. I enjoy the little idiosyncrasies that our friends in QC have/develop and there is something endearing about the possibilities that Mari has labeled her underpants. 

[jwhouk]

Hm...total nerd, partial shut-in, domineering father....Marigold is reminding me more and more of Amber from Shortpacked.

(don't tell Jeph I said that  )

She looks nothing like Amber.

[jwhouk]

You're thinking Tiberius, and even that's not right since his father was a stick in the mud.

That was intentional.

Mr.Doctor: I made up many of the options, but I'm suspicious that some of them might be dead on for some of our characters. Like Faye, for example. You know that either mom or dad had some sort of GWTW fandom in them.

And I guessed that Hanner's dad would get to choose the middle name - which would mean choosing Mr. Babbage's SysAdmin (Ada Lovelace).

As for Steve: I'm willing to bet right now that his full name is Steven Stephano Stevens (or Stephenson). Kinda like Wilson on Home Improvement.

[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]

I have no reason to, but I'm getting a kick out of imagining Marigold's dad as the Cave Johnson of online shoe retail.

Re: silly grounding nonsense.  For me 1993 is funny for the same reason 1772 and 1473 are: silly characters being silly strip is a nice break every once in a while.

[foozlesprite]

Good to know I'm not the only Nichijou/Hyadain fan out there, lol. My friggin' husband hums that thing so much that I can't SLEEP for that song being stuck in my head.  You know, maybe knowing that song is the source of Jeph's sleep problems...? lol

[sitnspin]

Hanners is definitely channeling her mother here, especially in panel four. It looks good on her.

[TheBiscuit]

Hanners is being a bit silly considering that SHE had apparently been up all night and was zoning out too. It's all very well to talk to your friends when they are making unhealthy choices, but if you're making the exact same choices... you look dumb. Would have been better if Mari had been the only one who was freaking out at the coffee shop. Might also have been better if her lifestyle was having any noticeable effects on her life. If she still has money for vidya games and overpriced espresso, then she can't be doing too bad.

[Somebody]

Hanners is being a bit silly considering that SHE had apparently been up all night and was zoning out too. It's all very well to talk to your friends when they are making unhealthy choices, but if you're making the exact same choices... you look dumb.

She's not - having hit her limit, she went home and had a long nap.

Whereas, having hit the same limit, Marigold followed Hanners home - ostensibly to take a nap - and played her DS instead. That's a step beyond Hanners' problem.

[Border Reiver]

You can't get much more parental than invoking someone's full name when they are in trouble.

I knew I was in trouble when my mother addressed me by the formal form of my family title...

Hanners knows Marigold's middle name because she has Mari's apartment wired, just in case. Considering that Marigold is be pretty close to being a shut-in, electronic grounding would seem the only way to bring her down to earth.  

With that level of prep, that makes Hanners the goddam Batman.

No. She's Pizza Girl. Didn't you get the memo?

EDIT: New poll up. Bonus points if you get some of the references.

I go that memo, and you may be correct.  Hanners likely doesn't need Alfred to look after the cave and keep it organized, and I must admit that her suit is not as "anatomically correct" as a particularly bad Batman costume. 

[stoutfiles]

Hanners is being a bit silly considering that SHE had apparently been up all night and was zoning out too. It's all very well to talk to your friends when they are making unhealthy choices, but if you're making the exact same choices... you look dumb.

She's not - having hit her limit, she went home and had a long nap.

Whereas, having hit the same limit, Marigold followed Hanners home - ostensibly to take a nap - and played her DS instead. That's a step beyond Hanners' problem.

Did she?  For all we know she woke up ten minutes ago and turned on her DS, so innocent till proven guilty.

Hanners is about the worst person to take advice from, from what I know she's living off her parents money and just does whatever.  It doesn't translate to other people who don't have that security blanket.

Besides, if you take away her video games for a week, what will Marigold do?  She won't branch out more, shell just read her books and watch TV more.  An introvert will remain introverted unless you present activities to them.  Now that I think about it, I can see this going to a "you have nothing to do so join the band oh crap you're awesome at it how convenient" plot.

I have no reason to, but I'm getting a kick out of imagining Marigold's dad as the Cave Johnson of online shoe retail.

I wish they had just called him J. J. Jameson since that's the character hes portraying.  Hell, he's even voiced by the guy who plays him in the three movies.

[Is it cold in here?]

Hanners has a freelance business.

EDIT: and a W-2 type job at Coffee of Doom.

[Y]

Hanners better take away her phone too. She's likely to have games on there as well.

[HiFranc]

Hanners better take away her phone too. She's likely to have games on there as well.

If Hannelore doesn't have a charger that fits, that's a self-correcting problem.  Modern smartphones drain battery life like nothing else.

[sitnspin]

Hanners does not live off her parents' money, this has been firmly established. She has actively refused to take money from her mother. She operates her own business AND works a job at CoD. Having rich parents does not preclude someone paying their own way in life.

[Mr. Doctor]

Heh, it's obvious that some people don't read the comics too carefully and make up their own stories.
Hanners clearly doesn't live off her parents' money. She has two jobs. Just because we're not seeing her doing the counting business in the comics doesn't mean she's not working on that anymore.

[Emperor Norton]

I like how the forums response to a cute joke scene in a webcomic is to be appalled at the behavior of one or more characters.

I'm serious, has there been a time in the entire comic where someone wasn't bitching about SOMETHING another character did?

[Emperor Norton]

I like how a few people's responses...

Sorry the, generalisation was unintended. I meant it more in the "Why is everything a moral quandary here to some people?".

Its like, we can't just enjoy a funny joke to some of the people here. I just, don't see why this has to be serious business. I wasn't referring to people who are obviously not taking it as serious business, just the fact that, at all times a significant portion of conversation on these threads is about how X is wrong or Y is a bitch etc etc.

For once I was expecting to come in and people just commenting on how amusing this whole interaction was. I was somewhat annoyed that it was once again a debate on how half the characters are being mean or wrong.

If it sounded like I was taking it out on the people uninvolved in doing this, I apologise, that was not the intention.

[iduguphergrave]

Are you sure you have over a hundred posts? Because you sound like you're MUCH newer to this forum than that. 

[Tova]

We just have a couple of truly absorbed followers, that's all.

[pwhodges]

I just, don't see why this has to be serious business.

But you joined the forum at the time of the breakup!  Are you really comparing the way people are viewing the comic at present with the sort of thing that was going on in the forum at that time?

[Emperor Norton]

Are you sure you have over a hundred posts? Because you sound like you're MUCH newer to this forum than that.  

I go in and out. Mostly because I find that people take things way too seriously and are incredibly judgmental about things, and when they do it, makes me take them too seriously. So I rarely feel the need to post.

I've hung around the ustreams occasionally as well.

@pwhodges: I joined around the breakup, but I was a lurker for a LONG time before that, since the signups were broken and no one bothered to fix them until then. I'm not saying its as bad as it was then. But being not as bad, doesn't mean its not still annoying.

[Akima]

I wouldn't be surprised if the problem does turn out to be the Red Chinese....

In Red China, the problem turns out to be you. 

Tough love Hanners is tough!

[iduguphergrave]

We just have a couple of truly absorbed followers, that's all.

I see what you did there

[pwhodges]

I find that people take things way too seriously and are incredibly judgemental about things, and when they do it, makes me take them too seriously.

So when people take things too seriously, you take them too seriously....  It looks to me as if there's a loop there that you could break.

But being not as bad, doesn't mean its not still annoying.

There's no forum rule about being annoyingly serious, so long as it doesn't cause or incite trouble.

[Emperor Norton]

@pwhodges: Yes, I am part of the problem in that. Its why I commented above that I rarely post. Its why I didn't post in defense of any character or even try to directly confront any person on the forums. I'm just stating that, I'm curious as to WHY some people feel the need to be constantly judgmental towards the actions (some of which are meant to be cute or just funny) of fictional characters.

Just a quick note to account for your edit: Where did I say that they should be punished? or that it was against the rules, or anything like that. All I said was that I found it annoying.

OF course, part of it could be, I'm just being grumpy. I've been on vicodin for some serious pain problems and its mostly left me either still in pain or loopy depending on how much I take, so yeah, just ignore my last few meandering complaint posts.  

[DSL]

*Raises a glass to the Emperor.*

[pwhodges]

Just a quick note to account for your edit: Where did I say that they should be punished? or that it was against the rules, or anything like that. All I said was that I found it annoying.

You didn't; I was merely saying that at present any people who are annoying you are doing it within the rules. 

As for why: well, one of the attractions of fiction in any form is that it throws a particular light on some aspect of the world.  We often like fiction that relates to our own lives or world-views in some way, and for some people this becomes a kind of identification which then causes real upset when the fictional world parts company from their own.

[Is it cold in here?]

Jeph writes believable characters, so we treat them like real people.

Jeph writes them to be funny, which means they keep doing things that would be inadvisable or inappropriate in real life.

Put the two together, and you get people reacting vigorously to jokes in a webcomic.

[jwhouk]

The coolest middle name in QC is:

Louise (Marigold)    - 2 (3.2%)
Ann (Penelope)    - 2 (3.2%) {Ann just seems like it'd be her middle name.}
Scarlett (Faye)    - 9 (14.5%) {Frankly, my dear, her father didn't give a damn.}
Maria (Dora)    - 0 (0%) {Watch - it's probably really something ultra-exotic, like Britt.}
Tiberion (Marten)    - 12 (19.4%) {Not quite Tiberius, which may have been the compromise.}
Lovelace (Hannelore)    - 15 (24.2%) {Ah, Mr. Babbage, someone got the joke!}
Stephano (Steve)    - 1 (1.6%) {Steven Stephano Stephenson the Second.}
Kristin (Tai)    - 2 (3.2%) {Wait: shouldn't we guess her last name, first?}
Raven (Blodwyn)    - 13 (21%) {The only other one we actually know}
Sixtythree (Pintsize)    - 1 (1.6%) {Pintsize Sixty-three Thousand}
i (Winslow)    - 0 (0%) {Winslow i RoboPC, by Apple.}
Waffles.    - 1 (1.6%) {Mandatory option.}
Jacques (he's hidden his real last name all along!)    - 4 (6.5%) {His real last name is "Breathed".}

Total Voters: 62

[Penquin47]

Had to vote for Kristin.  It's even SPELLED right.  Of course I'm nothing LIKE Tai, but hey.

[Method of Madness]

Between her hyphenated name and her tendency to say her first/last name, I've always assumed Hanners didn't have a middle name.  I voted for Jeph, his full name is Jeph Jacques Leibowitz.

[CrowFairy]

Marigold is acting like a teenager, so Hanners is treating her like one. Notice that she's not fighting the grounding--she knows she needs it. She's irritable about it, but on a deeper level, she knows that Hanners is taking care of her.

Honestly? I'm a lot like Hanners in certain ways, and I would probably do the same to a friend like her. My best friend is a gamer, too, but he's usually a lot happier being around people and being outside. Gaming is good. But when you don't have much else to do, you go insane. This is truth. Marigold needs this intervention. Remember how much fun she had when she was offline? She enjoyed being around people and wearing a dress and being called pretty. If Hanners can get through to her, then she'll be much more apt to strike a balance between gaming and having an offline social life. Sometimes, people need tough love in order to see that they're being self-destructive (whether they're cutting, saying suicidal things, feeling sorry for themselves when they have people who care about them, or spending too much time online). I'm always more than happy to dispense tough love to my friends when they do things like that. And they're always proud of me for saying what they actually needed to hear because it makes them feel better and reminds them that I am not a doormat, that I can be their mother and friend when no one else will be honest with them.

Also, WoW is a social game. While it seems she doesn't have a lot of friends, I'd be willing to bet that she's made a lot of friends in her guild through working together and just chatting when they're not in a raid or instance. So do keep that in mind.

Still, she needs to get out more, and she knows it. She wants to go be around people, but she's not sure how to go about doing so. It's a hard transition, and Hanners has been through it and knows how to help her out.

Just let the characters do what they gotta do. It may be appalling or offensive to you, but this is what needs to happen for the characters and the plot. I speak from experience.

[Alus]

its gone!

[cesariojpn]

Shoe website, eh? I can't help but feel Mr. Farmer runs one of those companies that commands legions of ill-grammared spambots to advertise free air jordans on every single unrelated forum on the internet.

I wouldn't be surprised if the problem does turn out to be the Red Chinese....

LITTLE RED SHOE BOOK!! LITTLE RED SHOE BOOK!! LITTLE RED SHOE BOOK!! LITTLE RED SHOE BOOK!!

[DSL]

He sells RED WING Shoes, mayhap?

Movie night with Marigold Louise: The Man With One Red Shoe.

[wrwight]

um, Alus, I'm going to go with yes. Try a real girl next time.

[Is it cold in here?]

(moderator)
Our host listed "creepy character fetishization" as one of the top things he hates to see.
(/moderator)

[rje]

lol you guise you gotta go grab Google Goggles http://goggles.sneakygcr.net/ and go check out the front page

(also this thing is SO FUN
NSFW warning)

[VonKleist]

Yay! Mechwarrior reference

[Vurogj]

Had to vote for Kristin.  It's even SPELLED right.  Of course I'm nothing LIKE Tai, but hey.

I guess I'll out myself as the other Kristin voter then. 99% for Hersh, and 1% because I like Tai, and know someone a bit like her.

[pendrake]

For comic #1994...

1. Looking at strip numbers and timing, unless we get some Guest Strips or if Jeph is smothered to death by a large fluffy white dog, comic Number 2000 should occur on a Friday.  Will there be something special?  or some millenial-turning weekend cliffhanger?  Guess we will see...

2. Unsurprisingly, as most also anticipated, Hannelore has recruited Momo to her "stern parenting" cause.  It will be interesting to see how Momo will prevent Marigold from finding a video game "fix."

3. While it is likely that the next strip(s) will be Marigold trying to feed her addiction, I personally would prefer to see Marigold going out and doing other things to try and get her mind off her video games.  Perhaps hanging out at Coffee of Doom (or even trying out being a barista for a few days!), or visiting SMIF Library, or running into Sven again, or getting some actual sleep, or something completely different (but outside her apartment).  Plenty of humor angles that does not involve Marigold acting like a drug addict, which after this strip I think is pretty much what she has become .

4. Or on a darker theme, she could run into Dale, who tempts her addiction with his WiFi laptop if only she makes a WoW Alliance character and run a few instance-Dungeons with him and his guildies...  But I was never particularly fond or interested in that story-angle (Dale vs Marigold) anyway, and this is coming from a WoW-player.

5. I would only approve of Momo giving in to Marigold's $30,000 bribe if the Mitsubishi PX-3500 chassis is the equivalent of a "theorhetically possible" chassis...

[iduguphergrave]

I like the angle of Marigold having addict-like symptoms after a day of the punishment. Like have her beat up Angus for forgetting to run the dishwasher.

[Tova]

After the drama we've been through, it's quite enjoyable to read a story arc that just brings the funny.

[Blackjoker]

If I miight make a point, it isn't like the others, save Hannelore, have done a whole lot to reach out to Marigold beyond the first initial time they had her come to the bar with them. One time while at Coffee Of Doom Dora nearly bit her head off when Marigold essentially said that the website was decent given Doras lack of formal training. Hannelore comes to visit but by and large most of the others aren't coming out to see her, hell part of why she might enjoy WoW is that she at least has some people on there she might enjoy hanging out with or at least playing alongside. (Hell, before I quit WoW the big thing stopping me was just that I'd miss a few of the friends I'd made, so we ended up swapping numbers and then I did end up quitting.) I'm just saying here that part of it might just be that they generally haven't given Marigold a reason to come and hang out with them. Hannelores thing might be 'for her own good' but I could say the same thing about spreading dust over Hannelores floor or telling her she isn't allowed to clean for six weeks, after all the dirt won't kill her. But I seem to be the minority opinion here, so meh.