Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

Marten and I are going to go get a beer.

2 (3.1%)

W-we are? "We are."

5 (7.7%)

Tell Faye I loved her!

12 (18.5%)

I mean, not in a romantic way... YANK!

8 (12.3%)

So, uh, is this about Padma? "Yes."

0 (0%)

"I'm sorry, Elliot, but Weeping Hour is only on Thursdays."

3 (4.6%)

You've been into her all this time and never said anything?

0 (0%)

Been here for three years. Boss offered her a promotion if she stayed.

0 (0%)

...Are you taking NOTES?

8 (12.3%)

My life has been entirely devoid of pathos! This is primo material!

4 (6.2%)

I thought you were gonna kick my @$$.

0 (0%)

Big, unrealistic fantasy.

0 (0%)

DEFINITELY not gonna happen if you don't tell her.

0 (0%)

You think I have a chance?

0 (0%)

Faye gets informed about the hike

0 (0%)

I'm pretty sure he could take you in a fight.

1 (1.5%)

She's moving back to LA in a few weeks.

0 (0%)

You did it before, you better not do it again.

3 (4.6%)

Actually, I never would have met all you guys if I hadn't...

5 (7.7%)

Stop it you are frightening me

14 (21.5%)

Total Members Voted: 60

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

Of course the thing about Padma is we really know nothing of her background other than that her family lives in LA.  She might be third or fourth generation Indian-American and her family is pretty much "Americanised," with little more than names and a few cultural practices linking them to India.

[themacnut]

For comic #2022...

3. As for men crying...

 - Men don't cry!  Men don't blubber! We stand strong! Resolute! Uncaring to anything that may-

 - *pat pat pat* Daddy, I brought you a drawing I made of you and me from the time we saved those baby bunnies <3 .

 - .... baaaa huh huh huhhh...waaah huh huh uhhh

LMAO! Bonus points for it being a daughter bringing the drawing, little girls almost always have daddy wrapped around their little finger.

[Carl-E]

Little? 



It doesn't change much when they grow up - mine are 18 and 21...   

[themacnut]

  I stand corrected.

[stoutfiles]

If he does indeed like Padma, then why was he talking about her within earshot when Marten/Hanners first go to the bakery?  I'm going to assume Jeph hadn't decided who he would like yet, and chose Padma later on when he knew it would lead to maximum awkwardness.

[Izzy]

could it be something, other than feelings, that he wants to convey to Padma but just doesn't know how?

[jwhouk]

On the topic of Faye and Angus moving in together: keep in mind that it took Dora a little over 1,000 strips to broach the matter with Marten in their relationship. By that reckoning, we're not gonna be hearing about Angus moving in with Faye (or vice-versa) until around strip 2750 or so.

EDIT: ...which won't be, at the current rate, until sometime in 2014 or so.

[Is it cold in here?]

Now that Momo's bringing in an income, Marigold could afford the rent without another roommate. If she got one, it would be for the company, which is historically not a large motivation for her.

[HiFranc]

Now that Momo's bringing in an income, Marigold could afford the rent without another roommate. If she got one, it would be for the company, which is historically not a large motivation for her.

It all depends how long it takes to pay off the debt caused by Momo getting a new body.

[Cornan]

Does anyone else fell that since the "Bros" shirt has been at the bottom of the page that's it's been like an extra panel to every comic? And Works especially well with this one?

I've actually been reading the comic this way since the shirt went up. It's made for some pretty funny juxtaposition a few times.

[rje]

I'm not confused. And not every word spoken in QC is character development, either.

WHAAAAT
You mean a joke in QC might...actually...be...only a joke??? And mean nothing else besides the author thought it was a funny thing to write? And not actually contain anything to analyze?
Preposterous.


But as to today's comic -- I lol'd heartily at Wil's line.
Poor Elliot Someone give that man a hug.
If it is indeed Hugging Hour.

[FunkyTuba]

jwhouk: when you tally the first poll this week, please take one away from Momo's chassis and add one to bonercat... Thanks!

[rje]

Or is he really in love with Marten, and is bummed to find he's straight?  

...
.....
...........

i'd read that 

[TinPenguin]

Man, "bummed" is a poor choice of word there.

[Akima]

As one minority to another, it is highly possible your observations are at least slightly tainted by your desire for that to be true.

Uh huh...

For now, speaking from experience, I corroborate the difficulty of outsiders enjoying healthy relationships with members of these groups, as the constant tentacle to pull back those who try to deviate from the accepted can be too much to overcome.

If a potential boyfriend from outside my ancestral culture used the generally perjorative (unless you're talking about a squid or something) word "tentacle" to describe its influence over me, I would certainly regard him as rejecting rather than accepting it. As I said, the "push away" is at least as strong as the "pull in".

Edit: I was unnecessarily confrontational in tone. Fixed.

[FunkyTuba]

I think there's still an outside chance that the big reveal here is going to be about Padma herself, not necessarily Elliot's feelings for her, and whatever it is is making Elliot sad about Padma's general condition and he feels he needs to warn Marten off her for Some Other Reason.

Guess we'll find out tonight/tomorrow

[mattcoz]

Oh no!  The beer! 

[Mr_Rose]

Anyone else get the impression that there's a hidden familial relationship here?
Like Elliot is Jim's brother (in-law?) and so Sam's uncle?

[Sorflakne]

Ah man, now I feel sorry for Elliot.

[Kugai]

Elliott will brobably wind up crying in his Beer.

Well, surprisingly I did call it.



One cannot help being sorry for the big lug.

[jwhouk]

Padma's leaving on a jet plane - what's the fallout?

Marten sulks while Faye gloats.    - 9 (8.8%)
Marten asks out Renee - with disastrous results.    - 5 (4.9%)
Elliot reveals his crush on Padma.    - 34 (33.3%)
It's all a ruse: Padma's been talking about leaving for years.    - 22 (21.6%)
He runs into Jim's ex-wife.    - 3 (2.9%)
...and ends up in the ER.    - 1 (1%)
More wacky APC hijinks.    - 2 (2%)
Momo's old chassis DISAPPEARS!    - 6 (4.9%)
Happy Toaster makes YUMMY Waffles!    - 8 (7.8%)
Sven's new venture: beat poetry!    - 4 (3.9%)
Bonercatzilla Rampage!    - 10 (8.8%)

Total Voters: 102

[Tova]

Elliott will brobably wind up crying in his Beer.

Well, surprisingly I did call it.

Yep you did; although honestly, your use of the word* "brobably" makes me want to cry in my beer myself. Ugh.

I'm disappointed that you were right, only because it caused me to have to look at that post again.

* "word" in a very loose sense

[Blackjoker]

Looking at Elliot again I almost wonder if what happened was that the anger was building up, as was the frustration, and some part of him wanted to tear Marten apart. But Martens trying to be nice to him, to be easygoing about it, etc. sort of disarmed him and pushed him from anger to despair. The whole 'man up' thing has a point, but also let's not forget how many people might include part of manning up to kick the crap out of Marten, and maybe when Elliot couldn't bring himself to do that he figured he was sunk.

[gprimr1]

If The Secret Bakery is supposed to be the mirror image of Coffee of Doom, perhaps:

Elliot represents Faye and her inability to love Martin.

Elliot represents Dora, torn apart by Martin and Padma.

[snubnose]

Hmm. I cant weep, so big guy weeping makes me think. I actually kind of envy him. Its a form of expressing feelings that I am simply unable to do.

Ah man, now I feel sorry for Elliot.

Err. Only just NOW ? 

Looking at Elliot again I almost wonder if what happened was that the anger was building up, as was the frustration, and some part of him wanted to tear Marten apart. But Martens trying to be nice to him, to be easygoing about it, etc. sort of disarmed him and pushed him from anger to despair. The whole 'man up' thing has a point, but also let's not forget how many people might include part of manning up to kick the crap out of Marten, and maybe when Elliot couldn't bring himself to do that he figured he was sunk.

I have no idea how you managed to get such a bad opinion of Elliot. He's just a guy who isnt very socially skilled. Of course he was angry at Marten for Marten being interested in Elliots crush, but I dont believe Elliot ever, at any point, actively planned to do anything violent to Marten. That idea was clearly just played purely for laughts. So I believe Elliot simply wanted to have a mantalk about Padma - but then the realization of her leaving really hit him.

[Cornan]

I don't actually think that's Wil. I believe we've seen a similar looking bartender prior to Wil getting a job there. Posting this as a placeholder while I do a forum dive (or while someone else does it faster and finds it first ).

EDIT THE FIRST:

Ok, so here's the current strip Strip 2022
And here's a strip where we see Wil in work uniform Strip 1688

I think the cheekbones on the bartender in 2022 are higher and the eyes seem different. They don't look like the same person to me. Going to keep digging and see if I can find the strip I'm actually looking for...

[Soulsynger]

Comic 2022
... what a horrible pun in the title. Maybe Eliot is weeping about that?

[akronnick]

I don't actually think that's Wil. I believe we've seen a similar looking bartender prior to Wil getting a job there. Posting this as a placeholder while I do a forum dive (or while someone else does it faster and finds it first ).

EDIT THE FIRST:

Ok, so here's the current strip Strip 2022
And here's a strip where we see Wil in work uniform Strip 1688

I think the cheekbones on the bartender in 2022 are higher and the eyes seem different. They don't look like the same person to me. Going to keep digging and see if I can find the strip I'm actually looking for...

It's him. He's not wearing glasses in 2022. That's why his eyes and cheekbones look different.

[Skewbrow]

If he does indeed like Padma, then why was he talking about her within earshot when Marten/Hanners first go to the bakery?  I'm going to assume Jeph hadn't decided who he would like yet, and chose Padma later on when he knew it would lead to maximum awkwardness.

I am guilty of overanalyzing that very point myself, but am gradually realizing the futility of such an exercise. Your theory may be as good as any.

I don't know, if Jeph plans the plot carefully enough for details like that to fit in seamlessly. I don't know, if he should? Probably he has planned the major plot developments several months ahead of time, and leads up to them so that when they happen, they make sense. But when it comes to details, playing by the ear seems to work for him.

[Cornan]

I don't actually think that's Wil. I believe we've seen a similar looking bartender prior to Wil getting a job there. Posting this as a placeholder while I do a forum dive (or while someone else does it faster and finds it first ).

EDIT THE FIRST:

Ok, so here's the current strip Strip 2022
And here's a strip where we see Wil in work uniform Strip 1688

I think the cheekbones on the bartender in 2022 are higher and the eyes seem different. They don't look like the same person to me. Going to keep digging and see if I can find the strip I'm actually looking for...

It's him. He's not wearing glasses in 2022. That's why his eyes and cheekbones look different.

Yup. I do believe you're right. Strip 1480 shows the guy I was thinking of. My memory played tricks on me. So I guess that means we're seeing Wil, Marten, and Elliot all together in one scene. I wonder if Wil is going to actually partake of the conversation.

EDIT FOR ADDITIONAL RESPONSE

If he does indeed like Padma, then why was he talking about her within earshot when Marten/Hanners first go to the bakery?  I'm going to assume Jeph hadn't decided who he would like yet, and chose Padma later on when he knew it would lead to maximum awkwardness.

I am guilty of overanalyzing that very point myself, but am gradually realizing the futility of such an exercise. Your theory may be as good as any.

I don't know, if Jeph plans the plot carefully enough for details like that to fit in seamlessly. I don't know, if he should? Probably he has planned the major plot developments several months ahead of time, and leads up to them so that when they happen, they make sense. But when it comes to details, playing by the ear seems to work for him.

I read that strip as being from across a room. If it was a TV show there would have either been a pan to Elliot's part of the conversation or a cut with a long view of the room to show that they weren't actually right next to each other. Dagnabit. Now I have to find that strip...

EDIT FOR MORE CONTENT!

Ok, Here we go. 1845. They are pretty close together. Given that we see the side of the display case in panel 3 I guess they're probably about six feet apart or so? I think the only thing I could think to say would be that Padma is probably distracted enough by the "blender thing in the back" being on fire to miss out on the conversation.

On further thought, I think the odds are good that Elliot and...the other dude whose name I can't recall...know Padma well enough to know that if they just talked in pronouns "If you're so 'in love' with her..." she'd never figure out who they were talking about even if she overheard every single word.

Alright, I'm going to bed now.

[VonKleist]

Heh, Will shamelessly exploiting his fellow human's ill luck to his artistical gain


Poor Elliot. At least now he knows he can totally pull off the whole tie and bowler outfit.
Yeah and why not tell Padma. Probably won't change a thing but maybe the poor guy can get some closure!

[vsonics]

Oh the fancy clothes. I was hoping that we wouldn't get through this without them.

Poor Elliot, though. Even his fancy garb is down in the dumps. Look how wrinkled and depressed his tie is. What nice details.

So it does look like Padma will be leaving for sure, but I'm thinking that if when Elliot tells her his feelings something good will happen. You can't have a guy blubbering away in a bar like that and then have things NOT work out. (Right, Jeph? Eh?)

A part of me hopes that Padma has known all along and prove to be much less oblivious than everyone thinks she is.

And then happy ending.

[TinPenguin]

"If she had feelings for me, she would have acted on them by now"

Yeah, Elliot, because you've set such a stellar example in that regard, haven't you?

If The Secret Bakery is supposed to be the mirror image of Coffee of Doom

But. It isn't. That's just a throwaway joke.

Poor Elliot, though. Even his fancy garb is down in the dumps. Look how wrinkled and depressed his tie is. What nice details.

Aye, I thought it looked almost like he'd been forced into them. He hasn't bothered to do it all up properly because his heart isn't really in it. Indeed, it is a very nice touch.

[Akima]

Heh, Will shamelessly exploiting his fellow human's ill luck to his artistical gain

It is just as well that Elliot is not like a certain other bowler-hatted young man, or he might relieve his feelings with a horrorshow spot of ultra-violence.

[snubnose]

You can't have a guy blubbering away in a bar like that and then have things NOT work out. (Right, Jeph? Eh?)

HAHAHAHAHAHA !!!

Yeah, right, thats how reallife works ... especially for people with poor social skills like Elliot ...

Oh wait, you mean Hollywood movies ? Yeah they wouldnt allow that.

I dunno if QC is more reallife or more Hollywood.

"If she had feelings for me, she would have acted on them by now"

Yeah, Elliot, because you've set such a stellar example in that regard, haven't you? [...]

Actually Elliot is a very different person from Padma. I doubt she'd be very subtle if she would be interested in a man.

[Torlek]

Marten and Elliot will now engage in an (18)80's montage to work up Elliot's courage to talk to Padma.

[TinPenguin]

"If she had feelings for me, she would have acted on them by now"
Yeah, Elliot, because you've set such a stellar example in that regard, haven't you? [...]

Actually Elliot is a very different person from Padma. I doubt she'd be very subtle if she would be interested in a man.

Nonetheless, it's a classic logical flaw.

[Welu]

...the other dude whose name I can't recall...

This has reminded me that I want to see more of Scarneck guy. What's his deal?

Huzzah for the fancy clothes. The detail on the tie and vest not being done up properly is really nice. I wonder if Marten might bring up his ex story but that would probably contradict him trying to convince Elliot to tell Padma about his feelings.

I'd forgotten how fun Wil is, it'd be nice to see him interact in the conversation more. It's nice to hear his and Pen-pen's relationship is going well since we haven't seen much of either of them lately.

[Method of Madness]

Heh, Will shamelessly exploiting his fellow human's ill luck to his artistical gain

It is just as well that Elliot is not like a certain other bowler-hatted young man, or he might relieve his feelings with a horrorshow spot of ultra-violence.

That's not milk-plus he's drinking.

[VonKleist]

Heh, Will shamelessly exploiting his fellow human's ill luck to his artistical gain

It is just as well that Elliot is not like a certain other bowler-hatted young man, or he might relieve his feelings with a horrorshow spot of ultra-violence.

That's not milk-plus he's drinking.

Maybe he´s into Beethoven, though

[WAYF]

I think that if Marten takes this opportunity to read the signs and direct Elliott away from the logic flaw that TinPenguin pointed out, it'd be very good for his own character development as well as Elliott's.

Of course, this is JEPH we're talking about, so odds are that if they work together, Marten and Elliott will get some of the way there, but not quite enough.

[stoutfiles]

Looking at Elliot again I almost wonder if what happened was that the anger was building up, as was the frustration, and some part of him wanted to tear Marten apart. But Martens trying to be nice to him, to be easygoing about it, etc. sort of disarmed him and pushed him from anger to despair. The whole 'man up' thing has a point, but also let's not forget how many people might include part of manning up to kick the crap out of Marten, and maybe when Elliot couldn't bring himself to do that he figured he was sunk.

I have no idea how you managed to get such a bad opinion of Elliot. He's just a guy who isnt very socially skilled. Of course he was angry at Marten for Marten being interested in Elliots crush, but I dont believe Elliot ever, at any point, actively planned to do anything violent to Marten. That idea was clearly just played purely for laughts. So I believe Elliot simply wanted to have a mantalk about Padma - but then the realization of her leaving really hit him.

Laughs for who?  The reader?  Considering the characters have never acknowledged the fourth wall, Marten's terrified look when no one is looking at him conveys that he actually thought he would get pummeled.  If not, maybe Marten should just wink at us when he's being silly for no one in particular.

[jwhouk]

Heh, Will shamelessly exploiting his fellow human's ill luck to his artistical gain

It is just as well that Elliot is not like a certain other bowler-hatted young man, or he might relieve his feelings with a horrorshow spot of ultra-violence.

That's not milk-plus he's drinking.

Maybe he´s into Beethoven, though

That's funny, my clock just turned orange.

[Moonsaves]

Padma is a lesbian. Calling it now.

[jwhouk]

Nah. Way too cliche.

[DSL]

Epiphany for Marten in 5, 4, 3, green, 6 1/2,  , 12, 23, 2, 13,  ...

[FunkyTuba]

I think there's still an outside chance that the big reveal here is going to be about Padma herself
[...]
Guess we'll find out tonight/tomorrow

Oh well...

[Throg]

One thing about Padma's 'cluelessness' / wilful obliviousness / subtle chain-yanking: in the comic where Marten was being dragged off panel by a grumpy Eliot, she actually did look worried. She knew something was going down. 

It would be interesting to see Marten convince Eliot to take his advice, get it off his chest, confess to Padma -- and then hit the jackpot. That would be the noble, upright, selfless thing for Marten to do...and it might actually make him feel worse. 

[iduguphergrave]

I'm sure Elliott will think differently once he hears Marten's story about him and Faye. I'm pretty convinced he'll tell him about that. How that will affect Marten though, I couldn't say.

[ecstaticjoy]

Marten and Elliot will now engage in an (18)80's montage to work up Elliot's courage to talk to Padma.

show me the fever
into the fire
taking it higher and higher
nothing to fear
it's only desire
taking you higher and higher!