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Marten and Faye

Marigold and Momo

Dale and May

Steve and Cossette

Renee and Brun

Marten and Claire

Hannelore and Uncanny Valley Winslow

ClaireMom and Chad

Faye and Claire

Other

[Mr_Rose]

If it weren't for the fire, would Faye and Marten have become roommates?

I still suspect Faye set the fire deliberately.

By contrast, did we, or anyone in the strip, ever have solid evidence that the fire actually happened?
Seriously, the first, and last, thing we ever hear of it is Faye's original intro; no newspaper clippings, no news reports, not even Dora (who was Faye's friend/boss before she moved in with Marten) asking if she was able to get much out of her insurer…

[Mr. Skawronska]

Well, it's official:  I have a new favorite QC character to fanboy over: Bubbles.
(PS: Loved her in The Whiteboard crossover)

Because her treatment of that bottle is a set of feelings and behaviors I know...uh...intimately.

But yeah...Bubbles is my new Comic Bestie. 

And yes, I did notice the bit about the speech bubbles and the underlying subtleties...I just chose to focus on Bubbles...

Mmmm...Bubbles...Bubbles...Bubbles...

...I wonder if I can still buy those little bottles of soap with a bubble wand in them...?

[FunkyTuba]

Calling it here: Bubbles and May will switch chassis. Hilarity, hugs and destruction ensue.

[Kugai]

Hmmmm

Between Faye's artistic welding skills and Bubbles soon to be revealed glass blowing skills these two could go into business together.

[Welu]

Amazing strip today. It's made me laugh multiple times today as I hear Faye's impression in my head.

[TheEvilDog]

I'm starting to get the feeling that Punch-bot is the QC-verse version of the Zen Master, Ryokan.

Good thing that Punch-bot doesn't wear pants.

[BenRG]

Okay, I thought that this was the case but this is the proof: Punchbot isn't interested in 'winning', he's only interested in hitting things and suffering serious chassis damage. If he were human I'd call him a masochist with an injury fetish but he's not so I'm just going to call him weird. It also explains why Punchbot had no hard feelings about Bubbles tossing him. To him, it was an act of affection from which he gets pleasure!

I was reading back through old threads and I noted something I said about the fighting ring when it was first introduced which this strip makes me want to revisit. Just how many of Corpse Witch's 'employees' does she not have to pay because either inflicting violence or having violence inflicted on them is what they want out of life?

[Tova]

Not sure why you think that doing something you want out of life means you wouldn't or shouldn't be paid for it.

Punchbot's probably their star attraction.

[hedgie]

I think that Hank the Dismemberer is probably a bit more popular.  But Punchbot is quite fun.

[brasca]

Okay, I thought that this was the case but this is the proof: Punchbot isn't interested in 'winning', he's only interested in hitting things and suffering serious chassis damage. If he were human I'd call him a masochist with an injury fetish but he's not so I'm just going to call him weird. It also explains why Punchbot had no hard feelings about Bubbles tossing him. To him, it was an act of affection from which he gets pleasure!

I was reading back through old threads and I noted something I said about the fighting ring when it was first introduced which this strip makes me want to revisit. Just how many of Corpse Witch's 'employees' does she not have to pay because either inflicting violence or having violence inflicted on them is what they want out of life?

I'm actually more curious as to why May would want Punchbot's autograph on her butt if he never wins a fight. 

[Akima]

I think Punchbot getting damaged and dismembered is just part of the Robot Fight kayfabe... The fans expect to see some hydraulic fluid flowing, so the fighters deliver.

[Welu]

He may choose to be what is known in RASSLIN as a "jobber". It's not glamorous but someone has to be a consistent loser so there's a consistent winner and makes others look good.

There's been nothing to suggest the fights are predetermined but with the names and chassis designs, there seems to be a bit of intentional showmanship.

While you were searching through gifs for ten minutes, someone else made a post making a related point in a more succinct way. However you didn't find that gif for nothing so click post anyway.

[Gyrre]

Not sure why you think that doing something you want out of life means you wouldn't or shouldn't be paid for it.

Punchbot's probably their star attraction.

A very good question for all those folks that offer to "pay" artists with 'exposure' and expect them to be greatful for it.

[Case]

Ok, emotional, check; but the 'donk' and the last panel also made me laugh.  Jeph captures the blend of life so well...  I'm quite sure the only reason my wife & I are still together after thirty years is that we're able to laugh together at life.

“Lots Of Laughter And Sex”

You said, when we embarked on this great adventure together, that lots of laughter was essential in a relationship.
 I agreed.
You also made the point that a great deal of sex was of equal importance.
 Again, I agreed. Wholeheartedly.
In fact I remember your exact words: laughter and sex are the barometers of a relationship. This was the statement you made, if I remember correctly.
 Don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t agree more. But no at the same time, ya fucking cow.     
         
(Irvine Welsh, "The Acid House", 1995)                                                                                               

[theMarc]

At least Punchbot's doing what he loves?

[Method of Madness]

While you were searching through gifs for ten minutes, someone else made a post making a related point in a more succinct way. However you didn't find that gif for nothing so click post anyway.

...where's the gif?

[Welu]

It was there but I had to take it out because for some reason the link kept breaking. Forgot to edit the post to explain that.

[Kugai]

It ain't about how hard you get hit

[SubaruStephen]

He may choose to be what is known in RASSLIN as a "jobber". It's not glamorous but someone has to be a consistent loser so there's a consistent winner and makes others look good.

Nah, the more I see of Punchbot, the more I'm convinced he's a masochist. He's like a demolition derby driver, except he is also the car.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

You can always depend on Punchbot. A day without punches is a day without purpose.

The shards of that whisky bottle will become --- what? Perhaps a snowglobe, suggesting manifold possibilities...

[neurocase]

It might just be me, but Faye almost seems a little flirtatious in today's strip? Most especially her actions and her expression in the third panel.

[theMarc]

Synthetic musculature, hmm... I never really thought about it, but now I'm curious about Bubbles's inner workings.

[BlueFatima]

It might just be me, but Faye almost seems a little flirtatious in today's strip? Most especially her actions and her expression in the third panel.

No, I kind of thought so, too. Tickling someone is... well... The closest I can think is the gay dude in denial on IT crowd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQpjS-dMjro

[Kugai]

I wonder if this is slowly leading up to one of Jephs famed 'Relationship Bombshell' moments

And will we see Bubbles dump the armor

[BenRG]

Poor Bubbles! I do think that she's a bit of an innocent abroad when confronting Faye's increasing intimacy and boundary-crossing.

In some ways, Jeph is writing this as a human/Vulcan relationship story. Bubbles has emotions but generally has them under a tight rein so that, when they get loose, it's pretty dramatic. She's also inexperienced enough with human social interaction that she has some difficulty judging accurately what Faye's intentions are. She responds with this cute, innocent and polite confusion that I find really endearing.

Yes, Faye, Bubbles did explain that she had a 'skin' under her armour. Just a note, I'm pretty sure that it's as much a social faux pas to ask to see it as it would be with a human.

P.S.
AIs can download a patch to make them ticklish? I wonder whose idea that was? I'm betting that it was an AI who wanted a more complete physical experience; it doesn't sound like the sort of thing a human scientist or engineer (or even marketing person) would come up with!

[Gyrre]

Synthetic musculature, hmm... I never really thought about it, but now I'm curious about Bubbles's inner workings.

well, from the joke at the bottom  of the comic, we might infer that there are ball bearings to help facilitate the movement in her hip joints. I wonder how small they are.

EDIT: How small the ball bearings are.

[WoaLG]

AIs can download a patch to make them ticklish? I wonder whose idea that was? I'm betting that it was an AI who wanted a more complete physical experience; it doesn't sound like the sort of thing a human scientist or engineer (or even marketing person) would come up with!

I could see a human who was friendly with an AI coming up with the idea. If they tried to tickle their AI friend like Faye just did and were told that AIs couldn't be ticklish, I can imagine a few characters in the QC universe immediately pulling out their laptop to remedy that situation. Emily, for example. or Hannelore's dad.

[brasca]

Wonder if this is similar to the app that turns Momo's hair different colors whenever her belly button is touched. 

[Lubricus]

AIs can download a patch to make them ticklish? I wonder whose idea that was? I'm betting that it was an AI who wanted a more complete physical experience; it doesn't sound like the sort of thing a human scientist or engineer (or even marketing person) would come up with!

No? I'm absolutely sure there are people who have sexual fantasies about tickling robots, just like about everything else... 

[MrNumbers]

Admittedly, a slinky filled with ball bearings is a really solid engineering practice for the kind of range of motion you'd expect from that portion of Bubble's armor.

[BenRG]

So, what does everyone expect for tomorrow? I'm thinking of some kind of cliffhanger where we are left to wonder over the weekend what direction Faye and Bubbles will jump. Maybe Faye and Bubbles will get a bit too into poking and prodding each other's meat and realise they may have crosssed a line? Or, maybe, Bubbles will tamely indulge Faye's curiosity about her actual body under her armour and will end the strip by saying something that makes it abundantly clear that Faye holds a very, very important place in her emotional life?

Admittedly, a slinky filled with ball bearings is a really solid engineering practice for the kind of range of motion you'd expect from that portion of Bubble's armor.

Jeph does like to reseach his scripts and art; it's reasonable to assume that he tried to figure out Faye - who now has three or so months practical robotics engineering experience - would likely actually say.

well, from the joke at the bottom  of the comic, we might infer that there are ball bearings to help facilitate the movement in her hip joints.

Based on the arc where Bubbles and Faye are fixing May's chassis, I think it was pretty much established that bearings are commonly used in robot limb-to-torso joints. That said, I'm thinking that Jeph was making an indirect 'literal buns of steel' joke.

[Thrudd]

Synthetic musculature, hmm... I never really thought about it, but now I'm curious about Bubbles's inner workings.

well, from the joke at the bottom  of the comic, we might infer that there are ball bearings to help facilitate the movement in her hip joints. I wonder how small they are.
EDIT: How small the ball bearings are.

I see two basic styles of chassis here with a whole range of variation in each category and some possible overlap.

Punchbot seems to be more industrial.
The chassis lacks any extraneous sensors or accessories like hair or ears.
Design seems to be very industrial with a mixture of internal framework and external shell both providing structural support.
Limbs have full freedom of movement based on  how they are assembled.
Hydraulics would be the most practical for speed and power though fine motor control is also doable.
Most likely it is a mix of hydraulic and electromagnetic servos.

Full anthropomorphic chassis like Momo and possibly Bubbles, are modeled on a humans skeleton and musculature structure.
Ranges of movement and strength levels will therefore be similar or regulated to keep them scale-able to the human norm.
So dermal layers are more like organic skin and provide a protective layer as well as having the option of embedded micro-sensors of the required types like pressure, temperature, light, etc.
As for locomotion there are already in existence various technologies based on memory metals and plastics that can be assembled as fibers to look and behave like muscle tissue.
So no need to go all industrial with a rotating asymmetric ring design.

TL:DR
Full Anthropomorphic AIs have synthetic muscles and can be as sculpted as a Greek statue.

Warning - while you were typing a new reply has been posted. You may wish to revise your engineering speculation. Also a micro black hole drank your coffee.

[Ysobel]

Admittedly, a slinky filled with ball bearings is a really solid engineering practice for the kind of range of motion you'd expect from that portion of Bubble's armor.

Personally, I can't get my head around the concept. To me a slinky is mostly transversal motion,
while ball bearings perform radial/circular motion.
How is that supposed to work or even look, what is it supposed to achieve?
At most I can imagine a slinky attached to two bearings, for the torso to bend over and sideways, perhaps,
"filled with" just plain confuses me.

Or is it stacked ball bearings we are talking about here? "Slinky" invokes some helical structure, and, ah!, I think I kind of get the idea as I write:
balls sliding along a helical band to allow for both helical and transversal motion, somehow?  I was thinking of multiple separate circular bearings, that
concept specificially didn't parse.

[MrNumbers]

It'd look like some models of expensive squirmy dildo.

I'd link a picture, buuuuuut-

[retrosteve]

I just went to vote in the 'odd couple' poll and I found "Faye and Bubbles" wasn't there!

I want to vote Faye and Bubbles. 

[jwhouk]

Muffins.

[jheartney]

I guess yesterday's donuts are already gone.

Seriously, I can only imagine what it would be like to go to work to the smell of fresh baked bread everyday. Would you get sick of carbs? Have cravings for steak and salad?

[EcoReck]

So how late am I to the party where I just now realized that this is the same Renee from Secret Bakery?

I guess she drastically changed her personality and looks.

[wlewisiii]

I guess yesterday's donuts are already gone.

Seriously, I can only imagine what it would be like to go to work to the smell of fresh baked bread everyday. Would you get sick of carbs? Have cravings for steak and salad?

Sometimes. I worked in a pizzaria and after awhile you do get tired of the free pizza. Thankfully they also had a saladbar and pasta.

[comicalArchitect]

I wonder if Renee and Brun will run into any of the main cast at the Secret Bakery. Mayhaps some COD staff will be there facilitating a coffee/baked goods trade.

[jheartney]

I wonder if Renee and Brun will run into any of the main cast at the Secret Bakery. Mayhaps some COD staff will be there facilitating a coffee/baked goods trade.

If we're still following Renee and Brun, then there must be a junction with the main cast coming up. And not just Pintsize on Tinder.

[SubaruStephen]

So how late am I to the party where I just now realized that this is the same Renee from Secret Bakery?

I guess she drastically changed her personality and looks.

We've been speculating she was THAT Renee for a while, this just confirms it.


...(unless Jeph throws us a curveball and they walk into a different bakery)

[Tova]

This doesn't confirm anything that hasn't already been confirmed - we learned that she worked at a bakery way back in the second comic she featured in.

http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3244

[MrNumbers]

The new design is certainly more inspired than "Tai palette swap", which is good.

Still, that hip to waist ratio on Brun in panel 4. Dang.

[Kugai]

She's scrunched down in the seat there MrNumbers, that can sometimes distort things


And I'd prefer Bacon and Cheese Rolls.

[hedgie]

Seriously, I can only imagine what it would be like to go to work to the smell of fresh baked bread everyday. Would you get sick of carbs? Have cravings for steak and salad?

At the coffee shop I worked at, I only had to take a bake shift once, maybe twice a week.[1]  I'll never eat a muffin or scone ever again.

[1] Even then, I still had to smell it every day.

[Tova]

I've never worked as a baker, but I did go through a phase of eating muffins almost daily during a time when they were kind of trendy (kind of like the way doughnuts, then cronuts, then ... etc became trendy, only back in the days when there was no Instagram around to magnify the trend). And yes, I did eventually get sick of them. I almost never eat them even now. It doesn't help that commercial muffins are almost always waaay too big.

I hope I never get sick of scones. I only ever eat them when I've made them myself, which isn't nearly often enough for any chance of that happening.

[brasca]

Nice of Renee to invite Brun to work, but what does she expect her to do there all day other than feast on day old baked goods.  Unless they got a computer or tablet handy it's not like she can apply for jobs while there. 

[BenRG]

I think we can definitely apply the old phrase "The lady doth protest too much" to Brun today. Quite frankly, Renee had her at 'muffins', no matter how much she grumbles about it.

As for what she's going to do all day? Well, she doesn't have to stay at The Secret Bakery all day! Renee was just using the lure of muffins in an attempt to normalise Brun's sleeping patterns so something vaguely diurnal-seeming. It is also possible that she's hoping that, after she sees it, Brun will like it enough to ask for a job there.

That said, Brun is free to roam the early-morning Northampton if she so wishes. If Jeph chooses to go that route, she can be our point of view as he takes us through the various characters' morning routines.

I just went to vote in the 'odd couple' poll and I found "Faye and Bubbles" wasn't there!

I want to vote Faye and Bubbles. 

Are you sure that you understand the poll? An 'odd couple' are room-mates who are so unlikely and incompatible that they are a possible threat to each other's health and safety. Do you really think that about Faye and Bubbles?

Speaking of Faye and Bubbles, it looks like I was right to predict some kind of cliffhanger about them. I suspect that the next we'll know about them is when they turn up at Coffee of Doom for a post-work coffee (Faye) and tea trip (Bubbles).

[USS Martenclaire]

....I want muffins now.